the Hakurei Shrine Experience

[Anonymous No.]

Thread #32 of the HSE
—
This thread is for the spinoffs of the spinoffs of a fan work.
>“Hana Hakurei is the daughter of Reimu Hakurei and her husband, Anon. As the future protector of Gensokyo, Hana was never going to have a normal life, but it was worse than it should have been.”
—
Useful links:
OG work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43718466/chapters/109935363
Hana's story: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52050766/chapters/131634781
1st chapter of the HSE: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51816529
HSE collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/The_Hakurei_Shrine_Experience
—
previous thread:>>47380704

[Anonymous No.]

RECAP!
—
“And here is a drawing of you and your father doing it in the bathroom.” The tengu, JP, flips the black-and-white page. “Here's one of you and your mother doing it in the pond,” another flip. “And here's you three letting your bottled-up passions free under a tree—such a wholesome family moment!”

Hana had no words for a moment, red as an apple, yet soon they found their way out: “… Do you take commissions?”
—
>Anon knits a bunch of clothes for the people in need, though that mixed with the anxiety of knowing the HSE will reopen eventually makes him think about his home and what the village, which never helped his family, means to him, conflicted as he ponders his wedding band and why he keeps it still;
>Yukari snuggles with Anon on bed and tells him about the state of the village and have sex before she goes to meet Keine, holding her daughter as a threatening visage. They talk after Mokou comes about the Solstice and Keine's participation in it after some chit-chat and an odd sisterhood between the two suffering women, but the teacher manages to convince Yukari she doesn't need her in the Solstice, with Yukari going along with it because of Sekai's existence and her, presumably, plans to steal Keine's powers with the Sword in the Lake;
>Hana finally manages to catch JP and they talk, with Hana getting flabberghasted by how insanely lewd and staut the tengu is with her art, ensuing a bigger battle across the skies that ends with Hana nealy executing Crimson Slasher-style the tengu, who's saved by Hana's hesitation twice, first for no said motive, likely empathy, and the second when she witnesses Keine dying;
>Aya rises from the dead to bully a cat with free classes on how to spot a liar and lie yourself, with Toutetsu elated by the show and Ran acting her usual helicopter mother. It ends better than expected with Chen beating Aya in her own game and making the poor tengu cry because she thought Anon didn't want to see her again. After that trauma, Aya goes to check on her explosive devices and the effect Marisa's master spark might have had on them; finds some were destroyed and that someone apart from the 'Risa handled them. Momiji finds Aya being weird and, after being told the truth and getting suspicious though not much following the crow's explanation, lets her go, trusting Aya that their 'attack' on Youkai Mountain won’t be too drastic. Making her way to Hatate intending to beg for them to switch jobs (Hatate has the Moriyans, Aya the Sanzu; they're covering Keine's Festival), it proves hard at first with Hatate not bulging, but after trespassing Aya finds Hatate apparently enjoys too much the videos of her essentially giving birth, and after a sad back and forth, destroys all evidence and leaves after exchanging jobs with the purple princess. On the way there, laments her fucked up life full of pervs;
>Mokou works as police for the rebuilding village, with Miko occasionally assisting her to find revolutionaries and rebels, which she destroys the mind of using her """harmless""" blue flames that make people essentially speedrun crippling clinical depression, and they talk why the people, mainly some Youkai, don't appreciate their work to make the village more welcoming for them, and Miko says it's all about power. They leave for the Kamishirasawa Estate and bump on Chen along the way, who's giving knitted wares to the people in need. Miko continues, but Mokou stays and helps Chen, whose bag was too heavy for her, and as they distribute stuff, they talk, their conversation ending with Chen elaborating to Mokou why she loves Anon despite his mortality and how that love works with frameworks of life so different, crying as the dam almost breaks and she ponders Reimu's attempting suicide, Yukari’s estrangement and other bad stuff of her life. She goes to sleep, and Mokou reaches the estate to meet Keine and Miko talking to Yukari and Ran at the Memorial Garden, Yukari holding her daughter. Talks are tense, with Yukari trying to fish Keine to her side, but nothing comes out of it, only trauma for the ex-revolutionaries. Miko says she'll take care of things, and Mokou and Keine go to their bedroom, where Keine shows that, with her powers, she can lactate and feed Aki. They talk more about her powers and what she's done with them and, after bringing up an escape hidden in the Memorial Garden using the souls of the lost, Keine asks if Mokou will stand by her no matter what. She says yes;
>Seija goes to Yukari after leaving Goro with two demons (Flandre and Chen), and the two women talk about cribs and baby names like the obabas that they are, with Yukari questioning her then on the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which makes Seija ruminate her relationship to Goro and to her Amanojaku self before returning to the others, snuggling with them. Adorable~
>Suika and Anon have a nice talk, and she tells him about the nature of Gensokyo's past and how she and a soldier fucked while covered in blood. V-Very cool…

[Anonymous No.]

[All entries of the HSE here in chronological posting order!]
>>47155400 | Part 1-22
>>47065336 | Part 23
>>47210937 | Part 24
>>47380706 | Part 25

[Last thread chapters]
>>47387666 | 41-Yukari
>>47394326 | 23-26-Suika
>>47394331 |
>>47394343 |
>>47394350 |
>>47415692 | 9-Toyosayomimi no Miko
>>47415700 | 36-Mokou
>>47422801 | 184-Yamashiro/Seija
>>47428909 | 65-66-Ran/Chen
>>47428911 |
>>47429253 | 238-240-Hana
>>47429265 |
>>47429271 |
>>47449751 | 37-Mokou
>>47449754 | 55-Keine
>>47449757 | 10-Toyosatomimi no Miko
>>47449759 | 38-Mokou
>>47455972 | 94-95-Aya
>>47455980 |
>>47458600 | 185-187-Yamashiro/Seija
>>47458613 |
>>47458620 |
>>47470442 | 96-97-Aya
>>47470455 |
>>47490155 | 4-Anon
>>47491276 | 98-99-Aya
>>47502286 |
>>47508491 | 241-244-Hana
>>47508495 |
>>47508505 |
>>47508514 |
(1449 entries)

[for phoneanons that can't access the dead threads, here's the last thread. Link to all others in the 'all entries']:
>>/jp/thread/47380704 | 31st thread

[pastebin for the finale -- for writers, full of spoilers]
https://pastebin.com/zqS1Krp7

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515159
Definitely a higher bitching and moaning to chapter ratio than normal.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515240
Hanaanon said he's been busy with family stuff; Ayaanon got back to writing and I pretty much am done with everything I wanted to write pre-Solstice. We're gonna be taking easy now that there's so little between us and the finale~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515269
>Hanaanon said he's been busy with family stuff; Ayaanon got back to writing and I pretty much am done with everything I wanted to write pre-Solstice. We're gonna be taking easy now that there's so little between us and the finale~
So with the rate these threads are going, we're gonna get the solstice around the actual irl winter solstice?
Also it's been a bit since we've had a writer head count and readiness report.
So!
Who's doing what for the solstice and what are your plans, remember to remind the guy who owns the pastebin to update it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515526
>Also it's been a bit since we've had a writer head count and readiness report.
I'm guessing there's still:
>me, Reimuanon
>Hananon
>Takaneanon
>Ayaanon
>Mimaanon
>Patchyanon (don't know for certain, he's said he was swamped by other writing responsibilities and awaiting the Festival to end to continue with his Voilé renovations + Meiling comes to the Voilé
>Suzuanon (don't know for certain, he's said in thread 30 that he'd write his chapters)
so either 5, 6 or 7
>Who's doing what for the solstice and what are your plans
I'll be focusing on Yukari, Reimu, Marisa and Kasen's finishing arcs and my plans are to traumatize Chen forever; conclude Sekai's birth, flesh out some secondaries and generally wrapping up the main character arcs of my hus

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515269
>there's so little between us and the finale
uh huh

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515955
I'll tell you what Reimuanon, this really is something else you all have going here but you may have ended up already doing some incidental mild Chen traumatizing without even having finished your current respective writings.
I'm none of the named anons there and I'm certainly no contributor to...any of this. I've been slightly aware of its existence but haven't really bothered to check out what the fuss has been all about this whole time.

Oops !
I have been met with a terrible, TERRIBLE fate.

Even from what little deep-diving I've done there's been a lot of crying & horrified captivation but...here I am anyways I guess!
There's no fucking way I nor anyone just now tuning in (figures I'd waltz through just in time for the end) could reasonably consume this entire mess of stories in any realistically timely fashion but I suppose I'll give you all some amount of luck/regard towards wrapping things up.
If I am to offer anything at all beyond my telegraphed existential terror & admittedly sick fascination as a fellow humble ""writer"" (highly dubious).

Jesus Fuck...Holy Shit...my Heart...

[Anonymous No.]

I bet he hasn't even gotten to the Yukari/Shanghai one-shot yet.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516096
the HSE isn't for the faint of heart, and not just in the sense it's brutal, but because it's so oceanically cathartic. It was built on top of suffering only parallel in its greatness by love not gonna spoiler if you ever find yourself reading it; it refers to Yukari's storyline, everywhere you look there's suffering, deep and wounded, but tempered by love in various shapes and forms -- Chen's towards Anon; Reimu towards Hana and so on --, and I'm glad we never shied away from either in the course of this project. Don't think we'd have come this far without that balance.
the Gensokyo we built is a world every school of thought and government has failed, but I love it nonetheless.
thanks for coming by, and if you ever find yourself reading more beyond that little deep diving, I wish that good luck right back at you~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516096
It’s a massive read, but I think it’s pretty good. I’d place it up there with Osana Reimu and KKHTA

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516310
>I'd place it up there with Osana Reimu and KKHTA
I'm literally one of the writers here but come on now. Not only is this not equal to something like Osana Reimu, but fucking KKHTA isn't equal to something like Osana Reimu.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516326
Personally, I wouldn't even put the HSE on the same level of KKHTA.

>>47516096
Just remember to only read from the archive and not the threads themselves and you should be fine, wish you luck.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516310
same, this has been my comfort ff since last year

[Anonymous No.]

Actually really happy about discarding my idea from the last thread because I think it's going to result in something much better. But Oh my God is it hard to write in a whole new way.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516488
>But Oh my God is it hard to write in a whole new way.
This scares me, what do you mean by writing in a whole new way? Since you (unfortunately) decided to drop the retcon idea has something else taken it's place?
Still holding out hope for a retcon to the early Seija chapters as well as everything to do with Okina.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516488
>But Oh my God is it hard to write in a whole new way.
If you aren't carving the chapter on a bronze plate I'll be sorely disappointed

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515119
>>47515141
Man, you must really like those pictures of Suzu.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47516654
it's a very pleasant one-two, one to avoid any mistakes of suddenly two HSE threads popping up simultaneously and two to connect the previous thread to the new one for vanity's sake. And they're adorable images of my 3rd favorite hu

[Anonymous No.]

Minutiae details are lost when your life takes so many turns, and a revolution coupled with the rise of the HSE made me forget that today marks the 10th anniversary of Akyuu's death. I still vividly recall how abruptly everything happened; we believed we’d have one more year to enjoy to the fullest until the curse of being a Child of Miare took her…

… Before that final year even began, she was taken by the curse.

The pain this day brings is soothed by our recent meeting on the shores of the Sanzu, yet it's not lost on me how… empty her cemetery is this year’s evening. Prior years would always have an entourage surrounding her grave, and even as night fell, her father would sit by her and tell Haikais to the wind, sometimes training or sharpening his sword. He'd goad me when I'd bring my children and husband, boasting how overjoyed Akyuu would be to see her 'sister' all grown-up with kids.

… Keine said we wouldn't build Mr. Hieda a grave. It's a conflicting feeling, one I refrain from delving much into.

Kato is watching the kids while they play in the background, and I tend to Akyuu's gravestone despite the pointlessness: Mokou—since Miko-san and Keine are busy today—brought here this morning the remnants of the Hieda State, from the samurai to the handmaidens, and they mourned and cleaned the grave before resuming their duties, but there's a peaceful feeling hidden in menial work, similar to that of reorganizing the bookshelves of the Suzunnan and rearranging categories and subcategories across the store—in a sense, that’s business methodology—bells jingling and a smiling spreading, if by a little: The Suzunnan is getting so much traffic recently because of my newfound popularity as 'Revolutionary Leader', even if it was for mere hours~who'd have thought? Typical and unremarkable Motoori Kosuzu: revolutionary leader and HSE plunderer!

Things—people—have changed…

Suddenly, for no motive at all, chills run up my spine and I come to a complete halt as… humming reaches my ears. Calm notes—a feminine voice I've come to know all too well these past months.

I frown the deepest I can, chastising this reaction and crediting it to the cold before turning to Keine coming down the path, circled by old gravestones, dark cloak I once wore—so painfully heavy—licking the moss and gravel, the dying golden sunlight consumed by the shadows of the burning regal cloak.

She looks like a specter, those swords clinking ever so faintly…

… Heh, better not say that in front of her. She'd probably laugh considering her deaths, but still, it'd be uncouth.

Fumi and Dai take off towards the reborn, yelling of 'sensei!' with excitement, and Keine meets their eyes by kneeling; her smile now graduated from that of a teacher to motherly. “Are you teaching again next spring? The new teacher sucks; he gave us so much winter homework! Please don't die again!” I cringe in embarrassment at Dai's innocent questions and Fumiko's nods, Kato mirroring me by staunchly pinching his nose.

—but before any of us could intervene, Keine chuckles, “Of course I will; don't worry~but do your homework properly; I'll be grading whatever he gave you.” The kids groan, and it's… Weirdly cathartic: their biggest problems are the piles of homework I or Kato often help with, not famine or the freezing winter.

It was a concern for one or two days, but it's not anymore, not at the rate we're rebuilding the village and the many hands on deck…

Putting the cleaning materials down and rising to my feet, hands wiped clean on my apron, I approach the kids, Kato having the same idea, and Keine stands up. “Good evening, beautiful family~”

“Hello, Keine!” We hug before she exchanges a nod with Kato, who then turns to deal with the children, who rush to their toys, bored by their sensei's presence already; weird, they didn't even question or scowl at her horns and tail… Even so, Keine giggles and I sigh with embarrassment as we march to Akyuu's gravestone, her smile melting away. “Thanks for coming~I thought you wouldn't make it.”

“Miko is filling in for me—I owe her milkshake and Pocky—but I won't stay long; we ought to thank the people from that Forest Shrine who have been assisting the villagers in need.” Forest Shrine…? Oh, Mima-san's shrine! My reaction must've been telling, for she was staring at me… though not particularly surprised. “You know them; I take it?”

“Well… Y-Yes. They're good people, the lot of them, and—”

“—and they’re Yukari’s enemies.”

I freeze.

Standing in front of Akyuu's gravestone, my body went numb; the shrill laughter of my children behind me muffled as my heartbeat boomed, my perplexed gaze shifting to meet Keine's.

She looked like a specter when she walked in—

Stoic, staring serenely at my face, her frame looming over my body, horns casting shadows on Akyuu's gravestone and tail swinging leisurely, cloak fluttering.

“Yukari came to me yesterday, Suzu. She threatened my children; talked about you…”

—Now, she looks like a demon.

[Anonymous No.]

“… So I wanted to apologize to you, Suzu.”

And the facade breaks. I blink, confused, eyes as wide as an open book, brow furrowed, heart rate through the clouds. Her face had lost its edge and showed me turmoil spearheaded by… despair. My hands join as this accelerated heart rate boils fear into something soft and tender. “Apologize?” Staring into those red eyes that seemed so monstrous just now, I mumbled in a daze.

“I've been keeping something from you.” Her eyes shift away to Akyuu's grave, body language uncharacteristically hushed. “Weeks ago, Yukari and Seiga spoke to Mokou and… threatened our kids. We haven't told anyone about that, but it's been a constant in my life.” Narrowed eyes, tail stiffening. Not a demon. “Every day I wake up afraid their cradle will be empty; that at any moment they'll be gone off my arms through a Gap and get eate—” She can't finish the sentence; I do not let her, firmly grasping her shoulder. Her eyes are of weary solace. “—those fears were realized yesterday. She held A-Aki in front of me, Suzu. She could’ve done anything to her and I’d be powerless to stop her…” Utter terror shows roots in her eyes and voice, my hand's grasp viselike—one stray tear rolls down my cheek, for I have no words, only emotions. “… I apologize for putting even more… of everything,” vague, but understandable. “—on your shoulders. You've been enduring being under Yukari's attention way before me, and then our revolution—if I knew beforehand…”

Peering into her face adorned by bare secrets, I am transported back to that day at Eientei, where I held her hand and struggled with panic attacks each time the heartbeat monitor changed to a thin line. I saw first a specter, then a demon—

… Ah. Gee, she chose a bad day. I was already so emotional with Akyuu's death; now this…?

Composure, Kosuzu Motoori! Don't break down because of this terrible, inescapable situation you are in! Not now, at least, in front of a friend in need.

“… It’s tearing you apart, this fear.” I affirm, and there’s no hesitation in her nodding. The dread of helplessness—I know well that one. “I can endure more.” I hum, and Keine looks between the grave and me for a long, long moment. … “I accept your apology.”

She purses her lips and her mouth straights, and a barrage that's been long dormant yet that never starved finally breaks, hidden as her upper-body bends a little and she finds way to my opened arms, careful not to stab those horns through me, motions ending in an awkward hug as the deluge makes me glad I always wear this apron. It brings back memories of difficult times—times I’d cradle Kato in my arms—or when Dai or Fumi needed their mother's warmth to cope with burning antiseptics slathered on playground bruises.

—now, as she cries, I see a friend who's been through a lot. To think I compared her to those empty eyes of Hieda, of the carnage he brought…

Yet, that feeling—that cold—sticks to the memory like a parasite, tainting it with whispers and questions, of doubts that remain despite one hand holding Keine's back and the other patting the top of her head.

Keine Kamishirasawa is not like that. She's not a demon.

She is my friend.

Minutes pass, and I hear Kato's muffled voice guiding the children away from the graveyard, telling them that 'mama is busy' while dodging their questions about why their sensei is crying so very much. As the ache in my legs from standing and the dampness seeping into my winter clothes beneath the apron become too uncomfortable, Keine sniffles one last time and breaks the hug. “Do you feel better?” I ask, forcing a genuine smile.

“It didn’t kill Yukari, but it’s as good as it gets~” We chuckle at the morbidity of our situation towards that… hag! “Thanks, Suzu. If you ever need a shoulder too…”

My smile stretches, eyes on Akyuu's gravestone. “Don’t fret; I already have a safe outlet for these feelings,” Keine blinks, confused, but merely nods, seemingly satisfied by something… Still, a passing thought emerges, the day a churning well of emotions, and the words ride the wind before my mind could catch up: “Are we really not getting Mr. Hieda a grave…?”

Her frown deepens, an apology about to leave me— “It'd be vandalized immediately. Hate for the Hieda Clan is unavoidable, and even protecting this cemetery has been hard.” She looks back at the path leading out of the forest to the Kamishirasawa Estate. “Still, considering the day,” I watch, interested, as one of her hands retracts into the royal cloak and she rummages for a while before producing a…

… A revolver, which she gently placed on top of Akyuu's grave, the metallic weapon rusting supernaturally fast. From its barrel sprouted a chrysanthemum much like the ones in the Memorial Garden, though this one was of a frenzied yellow.

“It'd be cruel to separate a family.”

I nod, heart aching.

“… Hana—she'll defeat Yukari and end this nightmare, right…?”

I pause, the ‘how?’ silent, yet soon answer with another nod. Keine seems at peace.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47517538
>>47517533
Happy Akyuu's death day, though a bit late!
ah, coming so long and the Suzu is still Keine's main emotional support, always there no matter if she's vomiting and panicking in a school bathroom or struggling with the fear of being a plaything on Yukari's hand. And I like the ambiguity of this scene~
for Suzuanon: if you're still around and didn't like the portrayal of Suzu in this scene/have plans that this scene makes impossible, tell me and I'll pull the chapter out!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47517538
>>47517533
Pretty neat suzu chapter, poor little thing has no idea how far Keines already gone. Hopefully the silly cowe doesn't fumble her friendship!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47517549
I have a breeding lust to the cowe recently and there's not enough stuff to quench it :(

[Anonymous No.]

>>47518743
Funny, I was just dreaming about a thin justification for the cowe to molest Hana.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47520886
>breeding lust
>cowe molesting Hana
sensei would rather molest Hana's brain with a lengthy class on modern STDs, their effects and how to properly combat them than anything these cursed implications might imply

[Anonymous No.]

>>47521875
Mokou already mentioned fucking Keine with a flame cock, as well it is fully within cowes powers to grow a cock. You can land that issue firmly at the feet of cowfag, he wrote in the ability to alter biology on the fly without thinking things through.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47522917
Hello, Keineanon here. It's not because you can do something that you will, must or even should do it. Same goes for The Gap and Mamizou's takuki powers. That's my take on the cock situation, that's about it, see ya.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47523172
Anon, your entire story is doing things you shouldn't do just because the cowe could. You made this beast, now cowe before it

[Anonymous No.]

>>47523208
… you know what, man? I'll go back to writing.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47523172
Like the Anon said, if fucking someone with a flaming cock, which is significantly more dangerous, is possible and acceptable then Keine giving herself a cock should also be safe.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47524221
Jokes aside let's not actually bring futa into this. More was silly enough

[Anonymous No.]

>>47524482
>>47508737
One writer is already waiting until the cock runs out, but we don't know who's cock it is.
With all the deepthroating Keine has been getting latley it's likely cowe cock, we already have mpreg in the story due to Takaneanon and his pet Goro so we've been in the ball park for quite a while.
Joke's aside that's something closer to with he who must not be named would write in his shitty splinter tf thread so it should be avoided on general principle and to maintain the antagonism towards him/

[Anonymous No.]

>>47524482
Agreed, please listen to Marika-sensei
https://youtu.be/ifl_CE2CODc?si=kUsZJ57vYzYa8wih

[Anonymous No.]

interesting, tomorrow is international youth day; gonna be writing a couple of pieces for the tragedy children of the HSE, namely: Hana, Sekai and Chen
>captcha: J0YVX
a joyous occasion indeed.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47525564
If the children are Gensokyo's future than the future of Gensokyo is looking darker and darker.
The mutts will doom them all.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47526009
they're blood of the man that survived the oni miko herself, they'll do just fine

[Anonymous No.]

>>47527585
Half Youkai, half pushover.
I'm sure that will go great, no problems what so ever. It's not like Gensokyo is predicated on a careful balance between Youkai and humans which all these half-breeds could mess up.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47527694
Perfect, they'll aimlessly wonder around like a good youkai... it certainly won't lead to something crazy like a new village forming or oppurnistic factions filling up their ranks with the children of a demigod

[Anonymous No.]

>>47527694
To be fair with the sheer amount of kids the man is literally gonna elevate to a god of fertility with his sheer prowess whether he likes it or not and absolutely nobody would be surprised.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47528019
Anon will live happily ever after with his mountain of kids with his not-wife in his own haven that he'll build by being a god of fertility and family!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47527694
>Half Youkai, half pushover
Easy recipe for full yook in time.

[Past -- Internation Youth Day No.]

For good reasons, the past is often compared to a ball and chain. Some understand them better than others, despite everyone suffering in their own way, and now, as morning rises in the distance and sleep hasn't claimed me the whole night, I let the powers of my cursed heritage course through me as I follow to the window, giving the naked komainu on the bed a sideways glance—heart throbs, be it in the flames of lust or the mild thunderstorm of guilt—before jumping out and into a flight that quickly takes me to the skies, my worn-out uniform older than me and the soft wind that buffets my face; perhaps older than mother and her mother before her, a past that clings like glue or the breathless rubbing of two vaginas. I click my tongue, letting the rising sun scrub those thoughts away with its saturated, luxurious rays that remind me of golden locks and a black-and-white hat, silly in nature yet carrying infinite fondness in its importance…

… A hat that disappeared for the better half of my life.

I squirm and turn amidst the blue, flying against the tailwind, bitterness exacerbated as my eyes wander to that building a short flight away and father trapped within its many layers of lies and magic imprinted on wood and stone, the deeds done behind them impossible to be swept by the sun, but rather they simmer as memories—memories of the heat and how Yukari would quench it inside that parody of a shrine…

It’s enough to well up tears in my eyes, which I wipe away as I land safely by the markets.

An eye for good cuts and good fish—“look at the tip of their mouths; it is telling of its freshness, and if you focus, you may even see a little isopod napping on their tongue, unaware of the repurposing of its home,” as taught by an explorer. An eye for good prices—“never let them think they can make the prices; act as if what they're selling is trash, and you're only pity buying,” as taught by a greedy devil. Their words remain the same, but the tone flips erratically, from a great sadness to burning ire, and both of those echo as I glance towards a particular alleyway, left-hand massaging lightly the bridge of my nose.

The sound of the ball and chain scraping follows me everywhere I go, its starkness tearing my ears apart as the weight pulls me toward the ground with apathy… But they—the ball and chain—aren't there anymore. I rid myself of them the day me and father left that abusive monster, meaning to never go back, yet their influence lingers on invisible maimed skin and phantom pain, making me a slave to something I had thought myself freed of.

Lifting flight, I flee from the growing crowd and ignore their whispering—just as they had ignored the not-so-secret hell that was my childhood—that phantom weight echoing a nigh-paralyzing past.

A weight that should've been left at the Hakurei Shrine.

As I open the front door, I can’t help but cast a glance at the HSE, and the bitterness is nigh overwhelming: it remains, just with a different coat of paint—

—“WELCOME BACK!”

The unexpected hug is twofold: both Aunns cling to me, their tails wagging and their mouths peppering my exposed neck with love—not lust—and I have to balance myself so that the full bags I carry don’t fall to the ground. “We missed you~” One of the Aunns says before her mouth meets mine, a chaste kiss that fills the other Aunn with jealousy to the point she rips the other away and takes my mouth on hers.

I can't help but laugh as that becomes a game to see who can kiss the longest. “Calm down, you—mmhp—t-two! I'll fall down!”

“Oh, the groceries!” They free me and rush to get the bags out of my hands, the relief spreading like a welcoming stream in mid-summer. “What’s for breakfast, hm?” She asks the other Aunn.

“I dunno, something… Ugh…” They rummage through the bags now set on the kitchen's table. “More traditional, I guess?”

“—Like steak?!”

“YES! Yes, steak!!” They look at me, seeking approval, eyes immense and tails wagging so quickly it disarms me like nothing else.

I was thinking of preparing that for Marisa-sensei, but… Ah, doesn't matter. “… Fine, steak for breakfast.”

Before another word leaves me, I'm being assaulted again by kisses, hugs and frantic words of gratitude. I don't fight this time, enjoying the love they pour, the sweet taste that overtakes the interior of my mouth and the warmth that rises… Deafening sounds of the rusted iron called lust, yet…

It was tempered by something that could only be described as being brighter than those rays that roll through the windows and reflect perfectly in their wide smiles and gleaming eyes.

Something mine to always cherish.

It's impossible to run away from these memories. They'll be present in every single facet of my life as I trudge through it…

… But that means I'm still standing and marching forward, despite the pain. The sun will eventually melt away the iron, and the maimed skin will heal.

As long as I keep on moving, refusing to be chained down…

Freedom is within reach.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47534508
Cute sisterly-bonding with some good development for the 'ana. The talk with Suwako finally got through to her.
I dunno much about Youth Day but I've got a quick-and-dirty idea I think I can pump out before midnight. Just something lighthearted.

[Present -- International Youth Day No.]

There's gratification in making the most of every second, and a present is only as good as its intentions. You cannot gift the dead—putting flowers on their graves doesn't count—and the uncertainty of the future in this harsh winter makes it nigh impossible to make plans. That's why, despite my frostbitten ankles and shivered tails, scarf drenched in frost sweat—Mr. Anon said the body works overtime to keep itself warm—to the point of being uncomfortable—and hair gluing to my nape, I pulled out blue chrysanthemums. People worked around me, be it moving debris or finishing rebuilding the village; they occasionally gave me strange looks but didn’t try to stop me: the lovely horned lady—Mokou-chan's bride—had told me it was alright to gather flowers for as many bouquets as I wanted.

So I did it, arms aching and knees wobbling, back hurting with the haul of many shimmering flowers, yet it didn't stop me as, considering my work here done, I lifted flight, eager in mind and body, spinning in laughter as some Kurodanis walking around, cozy in their handcrafted—just a few, most were tarsus-crafted~—clothes waved at me, soon finding a nice ledge to perch on after cleaning it from residual water, bag tossed to the side and wrapping paper in hands, smile wide and heart clenching for… I don't understand plainly why the winter breeze sweeping over and threatening to take the flowers away, fleeting and harsh as it was. That feeling came from deep down, yet it also seemed to come from very far away, like a farewell that'd knitted a face for itself. It echoed as I grabbed the blue flowers and, arduously, started to build them into bouquets, crochet bands in brioche—for strength—holding it all together, claws aiding with the most meticulous parts of keeping a bunch of flowers neatly bundled.

Mr. Anon sometimes says I feel too much, that I perceive the world through my heart and not my mind, and I wonder if this weird feeling is part of that observation. But what can I do? I like to help and make frens.

I feel alive through the people I love.

… It'll hurt a lot already when Mr. Anon's natural life comes to a close or Ms. Reimu pursues her s-suicide to save Hana. Yamame-san herself has told me about the hole. I know a crushing pain like no other awaits me—so very close…

Mere days away, maybe…

I stare at my hands as the third bouquet starts to take form, somewhat unsurprised by them trembling as leaves on the wind, face locked in a smile I couldn't erase even if I tried, heart pounding and legs shaking violently, not because of the cold.

That odd feeling. I think I know its name.

It's sudden. Confusing.

Why now?

… Why now do I realize how screwed up I am?

It's so intense, it's funny.

I look out at the village, alone in the shade and covered in the bitter cold of winter, my eyes welling with tears as I shake my head and try not to think about anything specific, my shuddering hands smothering the flowers.

I may lose so many of the people I've come to love—I've lost Yukari already; I almost lost Yamame-san in whatever happened in the village recently—and there's nothing I can do. I can't fight, not at the level the others fight; I can't change their minds; the situation has spiraled out of control; perhaps on that day Reimu-san held me, imagining I was sleeping, and sang to me.

It's as hopeless as it gets.

By now, there's nothing anyone can do.

… B-But that ain't an excuse, right?

Hands steady, if by a little, and I take a deep breath, curled tails slowly returning to their usual position, this tender heart protesting against the death of its sad.

A past that means nothing and an uncertain future.

So what?

Why care about this agonizing situation; about the mortality of those I love—m-my own mortality… I don't wanna go, Mr. Anon. I'm scared—and the destruction of everything around me?

Why care about losing everything?

I still have this present; these blessed few days I can carefreely wrap-up some bouquets for the people I love, hug them and proclaim as loud as I can how much they mean to me! SEE, WORLD! See this beautiful bouquet wrapped in moss-green! T-This one, in blue-and-white! This other in red and white; black-and-white; another blue-and-white but with goat patterns! See that I have loved; that I created memories while I could and will carry in my heart as I grow old and gray!

See, please, because it may be everything I have at the end…

I try wiping away my tears, but they keep flowing, so I muster the widest smile I can so people focus on it, not the crushing sad forming as the thought of a hole, dark and ever-consuming, cradles my soul as a tangible reality rather than a scary nightmare.

There's a past, and there's a future.

But this…

Mr. Anon smiles wide as he pats me on the head, eyes large and in awe with the beauty of the chrysanthemums; Ran holds it with fondness; Ms. Reimu blushes; Aya-chan seems overjoyed; and Tetsu brags about it as if on top of the world.

… This is what truly matters.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47536843
I'm unsure if it's canon -- it is a special, after all --, gonna leave it up to Hanaanon, which is why I was so vague on the timeframe

[Anonymous No.]

>>47515133
This is a pretty weak op picture, a good picture in general, but a strong op picture is more subtly insane.
Please choose a better op picture next thread.

[Anonymous No.]

Aya flew through the hallways, rushing past ferocious battles between former friends and bitter rivals. Stray bullets of magic and lead whizzed past her head, but she was used to dodging fire ten times harsher than this! Finally, in the back of the evil witch’s lair, Aya kicked open the doors to the inner sanctum. There sat Anon, tied to a golden throne by ropes made of gaps that exerted gravity twenty times that of Earth! Drawing her sword, Aya said a prayer before slicing through the bindings with a blade enchanted with the powers of a goddess. In an instant, the human bound within was free, not a scratch on him. There, in the darkest place in the world, the two lovers finally embraced each other…

“Then the evil witch, Yakumo-gumo broke through the walls and started attacking Aya and Dad!” A young man’s voice cut off his elder sister’s narration. “Mom-I mean Aya- was waiting for this moment! Ever since the evil Yakumo-gumo ensnared all of Gensokyo in her web of lies, the great reporter-warrior Aya Shameimaru used her knowledge of human and tengu swordsmanship to develop the Suki-kiri technique, cutting away the gap between boundaries! But the Yakumo witch turned herself into a spider wielding six different cursed swords, all tainted with her jealousy!”

“Shut up, Waku! That’s totally not how it happened!” The eldest girl was fuming, her little wings fully unfurled and flapping. “Mom and Dad were separated for so long that when they finally got back together, they had a really romantic and touching moment! Mom said so herself!”

“She also said it was super dangerous and that she had to fight for her life. And since Mom’s super strong, Yakumo would need six swords to even be a threat to her!” To illustrate his point, Waku held one pencil in his hand and six in the other, imitating the struggle between both combatants atop the dining room table.

“But why would she transform?… Ugh, whatever. So Aya and the Yakumo-gumo fought each other. Aya could feel the witch’s burning obsession soaked into each sword, only barely neutralized by the charms provided by her patron goddess. However, even the secret martial arts of the tengu were no match for the witch’s dirty tricks. One slice was met with two. Two slashes were parried with four. Four cuts were countered by ten. Were this a fair fight, Aya would have easily bested the frail enchantress. But, the witch used every underhanded trick possible to attack the tengu from every third, fourth and fifth-dimensional angle. With her blessed sword knocked away and her back to the ground, all hope seemed lost. But then, when darkness threatened to snuff out her last ray of light-”

“The ceiling bursts open! While Yakumo-gumo was focused on landing the final blow on her tengu adversary, she was totally distracted—allowing the ultimate weapon refined by the kappa to launch into action! The ground quaked, the skies shook, and the souls of evildoers around the world quivered in fear as the shining Hisoutensoku flew onto the scene, breaking through the witch’s wards! Powered by justice and tempered by rage, the Thermonuclear Titan Hisoutensoku responded to the call in Aya’s heart!”

“Dang it Takezo, not you too! Why do boys only care about swords and robots? This is a love story, not an action movie!” Takezo and Waku gave each other high fives, their older sister successfully peeved.

“Maybe you should just get to the point. Every time I hear another patented ‘Midori’s Drawn-Out and Sappy Moment’, I wanna fall asleep! Plus, Mom DID say that she had a lot of help. Who better to ask for help than the robot fueled by love and justice, Hisoutensoku?”

“Fine! The big robot burst through the ceiling right when Yakumo-gumo is about to stab Mom. If you’re so good at storytelling, what happens next, smart guy?” Takezo always took Midori’s meanness as a challenge. Since she was always being mean, she was always challenging to have as an older sister.

“Obviously, Hisoutensoku’s arrival gives Aya an opening to push the foul witch back! Then, Hisoutensoku creates a force field that neutralizes magic around him, rendering Yakumo-gumo unable to use her gaps.” Takezo, bolder than Waku, stood on top of his chair while pointing his fist down to the table. He held his outstretched wrist, striking a pose he’d practiced a thousand times. “Seeing her opportunity to stamp out evil forever, Aya traps the witch in a ferocious whirlwind, while Hisoutensoku charges his rocket punch!”

“But how does Mom do that if she can’t use magic?” Enamored with her three siblings bickering over their story, the youngest girl finally pipes up. “Shouldn’t the force field affect everyone?” Takezo’s younger sister brought up a valid flaw in his logic, but refused to give up. Not while Midori sat there with a smug look on her face.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47537539
“Good catch Tomoe, but Mom is a tengu! Her wings can whip up whirlwinds with one flap, and the Yukari-gumo is weak without her magic! Trapped by the gales, the witch struggles in vain until BOOM! Hisoutensoku blasts his iron fist down, crushing the witch and burying her under his holy metal! Now, Aya and Anon are finally alone AND the threat is gone so they can have their sappy ending. Your turn, Midori.”

“Thank you. Now, with Aya and Anon all alone, Aya turns to the man she loves and finally-”

“-But wait!” Midori was shocked. Instead of her annoying brothers, Tomoe was the one interrupting. “They aren’t all alone. Hisoutensoku’s still there. And Mom did say she was alone with Dad…”

Midori just wanted to get back to her carefully crafted scene of Mom and Dad embracing each other before Dad proposes and Mom takes him back to the Mountain to get married. “Fine. Hisoutensoku reads the room and decides to leave. He would never get in the way of true love.”

“No! I think Hisoutensoku is still there because he got possessed!” Takezo and Midori were shocked, with Takezo almost tumbling down to the floor. Waku, however, was completely on board.

“Yeah! The Yakumo witch knew she couldn’t beat Hisoutensoku, so she possessed him! Now Aya and Anon are face-to-face with a massive robot they once called a friend, bloodied and battered, but not yet beaten. With no way to escape, Aya picks up her and Yakumo’s swords, wielding both the goddess’ holy power and the curse of the possessive witch!”

“Hold on a minute!” Takezo, now down from his chair, was getting serious. “Hisoutensoku is the clear-minded god of peace and prosperity! All of his power comes from his lack of worldly desires. It makes no sense for some stupid witch to possess him, that goes against Soku’s entire existence!”

Midori, sitting with her journal filled out with a perfectly normal and happy ending in front of her, shook her head. “You guys are all so immature. Mom and Dad were already alone before you had to add in the dumb fight scene. All the battles are just little details. How Mom and Dad felt about each other was the part that actually mattered.”

Takezo was ready to give his bossy sister a piece of his mind. “Again with the ‘immature’ stuff. You were only laid first by a couple seconds!”

Tomoe wasn’t satisfied with either of her older siblings. “But Mom said she had a goddess helping her the whole time! It wouldn’t make sense if it was just to break into the room. Plus, nobody knows what happened to Hisoutensoku after the battle with the Yakumo witch. Maybe Mom was forced to destroy him with the goddess’ power?”

The tengu continued to argue, pointing pencils at each other over the dining table. It made for a distressing sight when Aya walked into her home, witnessing her children making violent gestures towards each other.

“Why are you all yelling at each other?!” The kids immediately went quiet, cowed by their mother. “I thought you guys were just practicing your writing for Aunt Megumu’s next visit?” A bag of groceries was all that kept the reporter from finding out just what her kids were squabbling over.

“We are! We were just trying to figure out how you and Dad fell in love!” Midori was always speaking for her siblings at times like this. Even though she was always bickering with her siblings, she was the first to put herself in line for a scolding. She only looked out for brothers and sister because she loved them, after all. Aya stopped for a moment, her heart melting a little. But, she still had to tell them off for fighting.

“We just got to the part when Soku defeated the Yakumo witch in the HSE prison— huh. Mom, why was dad in a prison again?“

Not this story again. No matter how vague she or Anon kept the details, her kids just kept prying for more. “I told you guys, the witch was very lonely and wanted Anon all to herself. So, she built a prison to trap him in.”

“Yeah, but why was it called the Hakurei Shrine Experience? What was Dad experiencing inside?”

__________
Aya jolted awake, her eyes fluttering open in the darkness of her bedroom. She leaned over the side of her bed to check on her incubator across the room. Her eggs stood smooth and shiny, even in the dead of night. As the stress quickly left her bones, tiredness set back in. Scratching her stomach, the tengu tucked herself back under her blankets. She’d have to buy some extra stationary before her kids hatched. It was important to remember, but not enough to get out of bed and write down. Making a mental note of it, Aya returned to sleep, happy her kids were giving her enough trouble in the land of dreams to prepare her for the real thing.

[Anonymous No.]

Today is was International Children's Day + Finale approaching soon + HSE thread = the natural conclusion of children writing the HSE finale. If I were planning a bigger story, I might have tried to make something for Marisa's unborn kids as well, but this was a spontaneous decision and I got too distracted by Hisoutensoku's OST to write more in a timely manner. Either way, I thought it would be fun and good practice for writing various crack endings. As always, only as canon as you want it to be. Although, the dream part kinda makes it definitively non-canon. Unless it's some non-linear time fuckery with dreams because her eggs are charged with backdoor juice, idk. Not as hard to make canon as the Thanksgiving Special, but not easy.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47536916
Chen's life is suffering in the land of the HSE, she doesn't really deserve all this bullshit.

[Future -- nternational Youth Day No.]

The future is a tree of canopy and branches so incomprehensibly extensive one could lose themselves in thought about it for the duration humanity has walked this planet twice and still not completely wrap their minds around it. The fascination, too, is as eternal as the aforementioned branches—it also works very well to quell boredom and dread—and every time I catch one of the tumbling leaves of ethereal energy that waft all the way from the cosmos to the top of my hat or brush against my nose, I can't help but peer into the history imprinted on arteries of translucent glass and godlike chlorophyll: the one I just snatched from my hair counts about a dead path that'd have happened should Father have decided to name Sister Hana… 'Hanna'; it's almost laughable, especially as I keep watching it unfold, surprised with the sheer size of changes such a simple choice brought forth.

I let the leaf blow away in wind of my own creation, my back against one of many gargantuan roots—the size of hills and just as bulky—real grass beneath me, thanks to Mother Meiling. The creatures, aspects of True Mother's in-depth magic not even she can comprehend fully, eat and graze such grass…

… The future is truly unpredictable.

Anxiety grows as it often does with thoughts like these, and I decide to follow Mother Meiling's advice—she hasn't given me it already, but she will eventually—and, getting up, go out for a short walk.

There is little you can do in solitude and still unborn; sisters have not come, and Father's quieter than usual, so I just wander away from the shrine and my tree, mother Sakuya's power stretching the lands to lengths that, when walked, eventually make my tree that pierces the skies invisible to the naked eye. I do just that and, unsurprisingly, the thoughts remain. Frowning, I close hundreds of thousands of kilometers of hinterlands with a Gap, now sitting by Father. “Hi again, dad.” I mumble to no answer, drowning the wave of sorrow in a tsunami of fondness nurtured by the memory of a single moment—a hand on his cheek. “… My death approaches. I trust Mother Meiling and Patchouli to revive me, I've told you—yet I don't think I'll ever stomach the fact I decided to have that be my future.” I look over at dad; his eyes narrowed and focused on his knitting. A world—two centimeters—apart. “I'll never symbolize the HSE; that's a birth I refuse… But… I keep asking myself about it: if I’d just been born as the receptacle of your pain, would you have loved me all the same? It’s frustrating…” This question has no answer from father or the leaves, and I shift my gaze to my tree. That birth would be guaranteed: I could've maintained the HSE intact with fate manipulation and have the gestation done by the first winter star.

A body made by the HSE, by the faith and magic poured onto it—by lifetimes of horror and suffering…

That is no future. That is just another hell.

… The choice I made might give me no future at all.

I let myself fall slowly, my head hitting his thighs and almost phasing through him if I hadn't used the Gap to stop myself, yearning that a hand would tenderly caress my hair and reassure me that everything would be alright—bringing Father Goro here would kill his soul due to shock, it's best not to mess with True Mother's experiment—my tense eyes on the tree.

Mother Patchouli made me a promise, one backed by a determination so pure and beautiful it still gets a tear out of me, but they—Mother Patchy and Meiling—are just people, prone to fail and stumble…

One simple twist of fate, not infinite or ever-expanding: a toss of a coin that'll determinate… me.

It's terrifying.

… Yet, also inevitable.

To fear it is nothing more than futile, and I've given them everything they need to succeed: magic and rituals beyond all that they've seen or heard of, tailoring a combination of brilliant intellect and an incomparable body to maximize my odds.

Beyond that, I trust them.

“I wanna go places with them, father. I want to see China by myself, eat a lot of food and do lots of stuff—with all of you…” I join my hands beneath my head, my hat falling to the side. “Despite the unpredictability of our futures, they'll still come… And be assured, I'll go every distance to make sure ours happens. It won't be flawless—it's absurd to think our futures could be perfect—maybe not even g-good, but they'll be okay. They'll be ours.” I feel the tears streaming, closing my eyes and Gapping them somewhere very far away from me, my lips pursued. Father doesn't answer, not even flinch or reach out to me. “And if not, if they fail, that's okay too, I guess. It was just not m-meant to be then… Perhaps leaving this world is not even as scary as it seems, heh…” My mumbles fall on deaf ears, traveling an infinitely green landscape and, with furrowed brows, the tiredness of these tears and an arduous walk settles, sleep calling for me. “… I'm scared, dad.”

Dad doesn't answer.

The embrace of two ghostly bodies lessens that fear.

[Future -- nternational Youth Day No.]

>>47534508
>>47536916
>>47537761
past, present and future. Gensokyo's gonna survive, a way or another, and these children will inherit it…
… poor, poor things.
>>47537725
life would be dream if whether someone deserves or not something played a role in the repercussions, poor cat…

[Anonymous No.]

>>47537761
Poor Sekai, she's not even real and she's still suffering. The HSE should've donated to a youth center in the village. Get these kids a place to vent their existential crises through sports or something.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47537865
>The HSE should've donated to a youth center in the village.
Huh, you don't say?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47537539
>>47537541
cute retards, already lying and creating fake stories too! Before you know it, they'll be writing Bunbunmaru articles~
very sweet two-shot
>>47537567
>distracted by Hisoutensoku's OST
where are your fed-meds for ADHD?
>canonicity
the ambiguously of a dream works well for the case.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47537567
That reminds me, isn't Hisoutensoku going to show up during the finale, or has that been dropped?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47541322
still happening, no talks or desires to drop it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47541322
Might happen, depending on whose going to bother writing in Sanae... or dolly...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47534508
Really cute, loved the little interlude. Its really nice considering Hana is currently in Vietnam, she'll need some Komainu healing once she returns home.
>>47536929
Canon to me

[Anonymous No.]

>>47543340
>>47541910
I just ask since it seems like one of those random ones off things that would appear during the dark age of the HSE and either be immediately forgotten or would, like the Eirin/Reisen stuff, be continued due to sheer momentum and no other reason.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47543780
Pretty much hit nail on the head, I personally have no plans to include it. It's a little too memey for my tastes and would detract from the more serious tone of things.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47543817
I'd find it almost comically tone-deaf. This isn't Evangelion where there were giant robots from the start. You can't just got through like a million words of this story and then someone says 'her man who has literally no power over every woman in his life, here's a giant robot' and expect me to just continue like nothing changed. Like...what's he going to do in it? most of the fighting is close quarters and it's not like the giant robot is going to be making much difference in the fight and honestly I feel like a lot of the fighting shouldn't even be of the bombastic sort but more metaphysical and weird.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47543843
The fighting is going to be emotionally charged or calculated depending on the fight. Theres a couple pc 98 asspulls and the sword stuff and sekai that will throw a wrench in things

[Anonymous No.]

>>47543843
>>47543817
I'm glad we're all in agreement on this, now all Hanaanon needs to do is remove it from the pastebin and we can all count ourselves lucky that something like this was caught before hand and that the project be better off for it's removal.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545005
>>47543843
>>47543817
Ah yes the assclown and his cronies is back again to kill literally anything that they can get away with. I'm so glad this shit story is gonna die the autistic death it deserves because everyone is a spineless cuck who won't defend shit against this microcephic mouth breather taking a massive fucking shit on a project multiple people work on. Literally worthless faggots.

[Anonymous No.]

I think we should remove all storylines that lack any faries and then renovate the HSE into a story of how Cirno saved Gensokyo from the evil robot pirate menace

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545285
Nah, just kill the project, let it die entirely, let at least some of the writefags survive the unholy shitstain on this board.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545285
Remove all females from the project so it's just a story about two schizophrenic men wondering around in the forest.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545303
This, it is now Anon, Goro, and Rinnosuke bro trip to Austin, Texas in order to go to a roadside barbecue joint

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545263
Anon, just because the broken-clock thread autist latches on to a legitimate criticism by writers of something poorly thought out and added in for a meme without any build up doesn't make the notion wrong.
Its there if someone wants it, but as far as I go I'm not planning on touching it when it comes time for the Moriya gang to get into things. The balls in the court of whoever is going be touching the kappa and stuff.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545361
But you haven't actually written shit worth half a shit though. Nobody gives a remote fuck about Sanae and her shitty literally who underlings and kanako and suwako have done absolutely fucking nothing all story, according to your nonsense your writing could be cut out of the story entirely and absolutely nothing of importance would have occurred. This is the exact shit you just argued.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545411
Okay

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545435
My point was simply put your argument was stupid, and I was trying to make a point on how that fucknugget people keep allowing to randomly delete shit is just a cancerous death cycle that's only gonna kill this shit. Stop randomly deleting shit, stop pandering to the cancel culture faggot.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545442
You seem to entirely miss the point, thats okay. You are just as autistic as the other guy, I am not angry with you for i understand you.
That is enough nonsense for now. I best finish up my bit. Have a wacky suwacky and calm down.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545442
Anon, no writer chimed in, only other readers, and this stuff began because an idiot decided to entertain the thread's orangutan when everyone else was ignoring him after he made a fool of himself thinking because two Anons agreed with him he had say over the project. Calm down, if we writers are to remove something we'll discuss it first among ourselves, any reader discussion about plot and characters is not meant to be taken at immediate change, only suggestion. And Ayaanon said it's still there if someone wants to use it or not, it wasn't removed because one guy said so, Hananon's fairies are still canon as long as Hanaanon wants them to be and other stuff in that same line.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545442
It's not 'randomly deleting stuff' only one writer's stuff entirely has been removed from the project and because everybody hates it and it's legit the worst stuff ever to come out of the HSE, even Hananon agrees, and Hisoutensoku is legit just another meme of the same tier like the rock.
He may be annoying but like >>47545361 the things he's targeting are poorly thought out memes with no build up, that the others writer, namely Hananon also dislike. Besides, none of the writers as is have any plans for the robot so its's likely going to fall by the wayside anyways.

[Anonymous No.]

Only the specials are canon. All explicit details are true, anything that's merely implied is up to interpretation.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47546972
>Only the specials are canon
where's the Maribel Sparda follow-up storyline, Lebowski?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47547130
Where's my Christmas special 2.0!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545285
You joke but one person here would have written that into the HSE unironically and not make it a special either.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47508514

Acrid scents of gunpowder filled the air by now, dark clouds filling the night sky and pushing out the lively scent of the underworld’s unique fiery incense. Around the northern side of the square, where the sake carts and catcalling performers once danced under the envious eyes of those stationed along the walls, were nothing but gutted remains and the ashen lumps of corpses from those too slow to escape the immortal’s murderous onslaught. The ground glassy and packed from the firestorm, flurries of glowing embers still escape into the wind and fires burn along whatever fuel they can find.

The middle of the square was like a scene from hell, gutted corpses funneled between shattered carts and ruined lives. The blood mixed into the dirt, gravity and foot mixed it into a slurry that seemed to beckon any foolish to step into to join their neighbors below, their cold claws seemed to catch the ankle of any unwary. it was where the hordes of men and youkai trampled each other in blind panic, fear of fire and death made some run and others fight or freeze. In time they learned that spending time here was death for all, even those who fought were pushed back by injury or joined those below.

Southern side of the square was where life still clung, riotous crowds milled behind carts and stalls pushed together to form thick barricades. Youkai dug into the earth making berms or using powers to shore up whatever they could alongside their human conspirators to block the constant curtains of bullets that kept them suppressed. Any that flew up or went over the barricades made easy targets to the sharpshooters, bullets could wear the name of any in that crowd. The roiling masses lamented, gawked, fought, or aided each other as they pleased with little cohesion. Though even from a distance it was clear that their eyes and thoughts were on the burning estate ahead, hatred and sorrow painted their features without care for the soul who wore it.

Behind even them, sat the injured and infirmed attended to by youkai and man. Children wandered around for their mothers, and mothers looked for their children. Lovers wept in each other’s arms or searched fruitlessly for their other half, in some cases they found their lovers laying alongside the other unmoving and sat alongside them.

Along all corners of the square much the same was taking place in smaller scale; side streets crowded and bodies pushing to see, with groups of the foolish trying to test their fates ducking between shattered carts to silence the guns. Danmaku poured forth from these crowds and from behind whatever cover they could find, those that took to the air for too long, or pressed too hard into the festival grounds only met the obvious fate. All around them the village burned, its northern half awash in orange flames that threatened to spread with the winds coming from the north. A keen eye could spot the firefighters and concerned who rushed to contain the blazes before they consume everyone.

In the air above it all battled Sanae and Mokou, raging firestorms met brilliant displays of danmaku and the miracles of gods. Stars of danmaku and magic slammed against torrents of flame, brilliant bullets aimed at destroying the immortal’s body. Unlike the elaborate patterns normally employed, it focused on the sole purpose of exterminating the immortal and forcing her into narrow corridors as Sanae’s spell cards and sheer experience shaped the battlefield.

Mokou’s own flames threatened to incinerate the miko along with her maidens in the air above the blazing Heida estate. Vast pillars of fire, gouts of flames, and smaller streams of arching yellow death reached out like the tendrils of a hungry beast. The inferno was only held at bay the girl’s seals and power their faith and training bestowed upon them, yet even then flames licked and injured the girls while more errant gouts poured into the village below. There was simply no telling how many below made it out before the first of the seals failed and the streets below their brawl shifted from a haven from the burning buildings to a firestorm where only oni could walk.

The village was in hell, as even now the masses who cared little for the revolution flooded the streets as no one could ignore the carnage and destruction that threated to kill them all. Only the cursed building, the HSE, stood lit and happy. It’s proprietress and her fellows obvious to any who cared to look its way, yet it did little to comfort any who approached its doors. Only youkai and the truly desperate dared entry into its brightly lit walls.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47547868

Alone, Hana felt numb watching it all. Kanako’s commanding voice restrained her from leaping in as she watched youkai rip samurai and man apart. Her strong and calm presence kept Hana from interfering as she watched men who wore the clan markings of the Heida, people who had stayed home previously and simply had faith this would all pan out, attack and get attacked by other men and youkai who answered their arms and training with ferocious and brutal assaults. Without any coordination between the mobs of wondering revolutionaries and vigilantes that wandered the side streets and alleys, violence was often unpredictable as their targets could be anything they pleased.

Kanako was right, this kind of violence was not the place for the Hakurei miko to interfere in. This was a human matter; it was politics and not her place to interfere as someone who honored and spoke for the gods. All she could do was turn her eyes and ignore the familiar faces she knew twist into anger, pain, horror, and fear as they ripped each other to shreds with blade, bullet, or magic. She could only watch as youkai she’d let go as policy for some minor troublemaking shred a hunter, one of those cocky young men she’d pass sometimes on patrol, into ribbons with teeth and claw. She could only watch as a loyalist impaled her neighbor, one of the kindly older men who greeted her as ‘Hakurei-sama’ and prayed at her branch shrine every day, with a sharp dagger as the old man tried bashing his head open with a crude club.

Suwako’s grave tone and brutal assessment of the situation kept Hana from jumping in while the flames spread. She knew she would’ve succeeded using her barriers and seals to halt the flames that devoured so many, she could’ve erected something to shelter those that had to flee the center of the festival only to be cut down in the first volleys; something that could’ve stopped the flood of danmaku that poured back to the walls of the estate. As destructive as her seals were, they could protect and mother taught her how to use them to stop bleeding and poisons. How many could she have saved if she had been on the ground?

However, Suwako was right in that Hana would only have gotten herself in danger. That she needed her in the background and away from combat so she could focus on helping her many miko. If Hana had gone in to help like she wanted too, like with the elderly stall owner that made Aunn’s favorite fried treats, as he ducked behind the solid walls of his stall and kitchen waiting for the bullets to stop. She herself would certainly have been hit without the goddesses’ attention paid to her, it would’ve ensured that Sanae’s apprentices would start taking casualties as every youkai with a grudge and combat crazed samurai on the walls would target her. It was what Hana told herself as she watched the flames consume the elderly man in his cart, she turned her gaze once she saw a figure burst from the stall only for it fall only a few feet away.

Hana skirted the tops of buildings behind it all, avoiding flying in the air to avoid the greasy clouds of acrid air that burned her eyes and lungs. It was hard to get a full picture like this, her eyes had limits even with her powers and the danger of getting too close to those youkai who trusted their reflexes and poured danmaku across the square was simply too high. If she got hit by one of those fast little danmaku pellets it could simply kill her in an instant, she just couldn’t figure out a good counter to them that didn’t involve just putting up barrier after barrier. That isn’t even going into how many of those youkai would start taking shots at her as well…

Even her intuition and sense of danger could only do so much, she couldn’t float like mother could. Worst yet, she couldn’t think clearly. Even as she tried cleared her mind the fog wouldn’t dissipate for long; she could feel her mind want to wonder and for some reason it was just so important that she patrol and witness what was going… Even if she couldn’t, shouldn’t interfere she had to watch… Surely there was something she could do, wasn’t she a miko? The one charged with maintaining the balance? Why was she so powerless despite her training? She couldn’t protect anyone.

She could only ignore the burning sliver of purple that was ever present, it made her shudder despite the sweat that made brow damp. Yukari was watching of course; it was the whole reason Kanako and Suwako had to watch her so closely… Even now her presence made her powerless… if Hana got too close, she’d become a target to everyone’s intentions. Loyalist or revolutionary, youkai or human, there were plenty of reasons or the lack of one to commit violence today and Hana had plenty herself. All it’d take is some random person getting in a lucky shot, taking their attention away from Sanae and the others… It’d be all her fault, this time in truth it’d be her fault that someone got hurt… or worse!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47547907

Sayori’s prissy face flashed through her mind along with the other idiot girls there, to think that they’d die because of her- It made her ill and clam up. To think of Sanae having to compensate for this mistake and getting washed over with flame… It nearly kept her rooted to the roof she kept her haphazard watch from.

Still, the stealthy miko scurried along, jumping across rooves in the darkness and dodging chimneys, spectating bystanders, and the injured and dead youkai who’d fallen from the night above. She thought it served them right, any human would for what they brought to the village. Any sane human anyways, she was right to hate them, look at what they had done to her home! Her little abode would be swallowed in the flames if they weren’t contained, so many had died already!

Hatred scored her mind as she glanced between the hollow eyes of those uppity weakling youkai, so high and mighty in their durable bodies that could stave off wounds they casually inflicted on their prey… They must have taunted their begging victims before reducing their bodies to such a state many times over, the ones still alive begged with their eyes like their victims must have. Did they not know that any treatment Hana could give with her blessings would destroy their weak souls? They were well beyond the small first aid kit she carried around… Moving them would be death as well…

Loathing their eyes, their pleading eyes that knew no future… a youkai’s entire being was their soul, if they died that meant that their soul expired right? It was pathetic how they still had some kind of hope that they could be saved by her, as if she would help! There was nothing she could do but scurry along, those idiot youkai should know that! They should just accept their actions and lay in the consequences!

Out of it all, she hated that all her training as a miko, as the future miko of the Hakurei, that she knew nothing of how to do anything to a youkai but slay it or let it to their fate… Why was she so damn powerless when it mattered! If she was more serious about communing and channeling the gods, if she learned potion brewing from Marisa properly, so why- why couldn’t they just look away?!

Ignoring the feeling of danger, potent and real, she dived off of the rooves and ended her patrol. It was too hot up there and she just- Hana propped herself up against the wall of the alleyway she found herself in, embers drifted by- embers? Crap, did she get so close-? Another wave of nausea overcame her as she expelled the last bit of the festival from her guts, it was all she could do to hold her sidelocks back with a free hand.

[Anonymous No.]

I had this bit done last night but fell asleep before I finished checking it, woops!
Next time: Hana has an unfortunate encounter, Heida summons the spirits vietnam jet fighters, Sanae takes a nap, and more!
First image is an edit of someone else's work from one of the old OC threads, I had way to much fun coloring it

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545263
You can piss and shit and cry all you want I'm right and the writefags agree with me, or at least the Hana writefag agrees with me and he's practically the one who started all of this, he said so himself last thread.
All trying to keep the shit in which nobody likes is take away from the work, and you know what, despite me disagreeing with the writefags about how this project should be "free and open" nothing is topping you from writing about Hisoutensoku all you like.
Although it would be up to the writefags if they want to consider it cannon or not.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47547923
>>47547907
>>47547868
my man here pulling up with that Blood Meridian to balance the thread back to its ethos after melancholic introspection and cute kid moments, damn, fucking carnage
your descriptions in the first one remember me a lot of Tolkien's prose regarding warfare and its battlefields; wonder if that's your basis of inspiration, another book or just the nightmare of unsupervised use of internet at a young age. Considering where we are...
poor Hana, collecting PTSD as if cool and unique bottle caps, at least she'll be more ready for the Solstice and the new assortment of traumas that'll come with it.
thanks for the chapters!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47548272
nta, it's doubtful we're gonna get more writers, despite the project being open and free. It's just too daunting to join and has an entire culture behind it fermented for an entire year now, 1400+ chapters and counting. Feels like too much pressure for a newcomer.
I like this way, we have good balance and synergy between the ones we have.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47548855
On the topic of new writers, the holidays might be a time for any nervous readers to take a shot in the dark. Specials are usually non-canon and don't have to fit in with the current timeline. Nobody's going to chew someone out for making a special that misses the mark, and one that hits will be a pleasant surprise.
Besides, we're still missing a dedicated Wriggle storyline. She's the key to all of this. If we can get Wriggle written, 'cause she's a funnier character than we've ever had.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47548855
I agree that the project is all the better for it's current smaller cast of writers, the 'open and free' meme is just that, a meme, and when it was taken seriously during the dark ages of the HSE all it led too was the worst contributions to the project which will doubtless end up forgotten and trampled over.
Besides the writers which didn't stick around didn't contribute much of value in the first place and we can count ourselves lucky for them stepping out of the picture.
Hopefully the anon making that story chart will remember to remove the extraneous bits next time he posts an update.

>>47548973
Well she's a better character than any of the fairies or any of the characters added/written by a certain 'contributer' so I'd be glad to see how you handle her.
If you are a writefag that is.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47548632
>spoiler
Bit of both, Philip k dick and Vietnam/ww2 vet interviews in this case

[Anonymous No.]

>>46890910

I made my way towards where the wounded lay. The chaos in the make-shift field hospital almost matched the chaos raging on outside the safety of the barrier. Inaba rushed about giving out treatments to the patients, and the air was thick with the smell of burned flesh and blood. Patients moaned and sobbed, while the Inaba muttered out reassurances and gave out orders. I found one on the outskirts of the crowd, rubbing some sort of ointment onto a man’s burned leg. I caught sight of it and looked away, feeling queasy. Checking out of the corner of my eye, I waited until it seemed like she was done, tucking away the ointment bottle.

“Excuse me, I just need a moment” I said, not sounding much like a leader at all.

The inaba got to her feet, brushing off some dirt from her dress, pregnant belly as clear as day. She looked like hell. Her movements were sluggish and nothing could hide the exhaustion on her face, the stress of the situation wearing down on her.


Unfortunate circumstances behind her pregnancy or not, this is no place for a pregnant woman.

“Just make it quick” She sighs out.

“How long do you think you can hold out?” I ask

“I don’t know, we managed to scavenge some first aid supplies, and I don’t know how well the others are doing. We managed to stabilize some of the patients, but we’re not equipped to deal with injures this severe. They’ll need real treatment” The inaba looks over to all the other rabbits doing their best to tend to the wounded.

“We’re going to make a way out of here, you think you could tell the others to get ready to transport the patients? It’ll be for the best if you’re all ready to move the moment it’s possible” I say, adjusting my cloak to hang a bit higher on my shoulders to look taller and more leader-y

“I’ll see if I can spread the message. I’d say most of those patients are in good enough shape to move out. You’ve got a place in mind? We’ll want to meet up with Eientei as soon as possible” She moved onto the next patient, a woman staring hazily at the sky as blood poured from her head. Pulling out a small roll of gauze, she did her best to wrap it around the wound. She tsked. Muttering something about needing stitches later.

“No, nothing definite yet. Just find somewhere far enough from here where it’s safe and worry about contacting us later. You think Eientei is already sending some staff over?” I respond. If they really were sending over nurses and supplies, that would be a huge weight off our shoulders.

“The entire fucking village is burning, of course they’ll find out” She snips back, having wrapped the woman’s head enough to her liking. “Even with how swamped we are with work and with how reclusive the doctor has been they’re probably rushing out a team now. Ugh, this is a fucking disaster” I want to agree with her, but more negativity is the last thing we need right now.

“What should we do about the others?” She turns her head and I follow her gaze. There, laying far away from all the crowds, were the people that couldn't be saved. There were far too many. This really was a disaster.

“Focus on getting the ones that need treatment out first. We can leave the others if we need to” The words were bitter coming out of my mouth, knowing I was likely condemning them all to be consumed by the flames. “I’ll see if I can get more help for you all. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

The inaba gives me a curt nod. “Alright, you do that. Now just let me work” She heads off, heading down the rows and rows of injured, looking for her next patient.

Heading back to crowds of the less injured, I wait for a null in the chatter so I can speak up. I know I should have more of a presence, but it still felt wrong to talk over others. “We’re going to evacuate. All of you that can and want to leave, I want you to help out. We need to carry the wounded out, and if you can’t do that help carry the supplies. We need to make this quick”

The crowd remained unresponsive, so I waved an arm towards the hospital ward. Some of them got the message, and a trickle of people made their way towards the ward, fanning out as they looked for ways to help.

“Now” I say, addressing the rest of the crowd. “We’ll need to deal with the remaining enemy forces. If any of you are willing to stay here then..”

Cries of dismay and frustration erupt from the crowd. I honestly couldn’t blame them. It would take a master orator to convince a group of scared unarmed men and women to face off against overwhelming odds, and I am not one.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552772
“I’m not asking you to fight, it’s likely all we need to do is detain them. They can’t hold out forever, and there needs to be someone there for when they give up” I address the crowds, my words struggle to compete with the sounds of explosions, gunshots and screaming. They had enough munitions to start a war with heaven, how long have they been stockpiling weapons? But they had to be running out, otherwise at this rate the village would be-

“I’ll stay” came a small voice. Barely noticeable, but it relief it gave me was immense. Mystia stepped forward, looking exhausted and on the verge of collapsing, but still trying to stand tall. “If- If we run now, then who knows what will happen? They might be able to regroup, hunt us down while we hide, do even more harm to the village and everyone else. All the death today, it would all be for nothing. We have the opportunity to end it here and now”

Apprehensive mummers and quiet conversations now emerge from the gathered crowd. I give an appreciative nod towards Mystia, quietly letting out an exhale as to not let anyone see how tense I was. I actually knew what to say now.

“She’s right” I address the crowd. “They might appear strong now, but they’re weaker then they seem. They’ve taken many casualties already, spent so many of their weapons, and their morale is hanging on by a thread. If we were to stay here and find the right moment to make a blow, they’ll crumble. But if they were to declare victory here, and find the time to regain their strength and take back control-” I breathe in, thoughts going to my family laying blissfully aware of the inferno raging around them “They’ll hunt us down, and get rid of all of us.”

The threat of death washed over everyone-even me-like a bucket of icy water, silencing them. The energy that had been going through them just moments before was no more. I must have done something wrong, destroyed their motivation.

“Well, Guess we got no choice then. I’ve wanted to bash them around every since they started this mess. I wasn’t looking forward to running anyways” A young man says as he cocks his head, projecting an aura of confidence and strength.

With the first volunteer holding his head high, more voices sprung up. “I ain’t running!” says one “They shot my mom! I can’t let them get away with that!” cries another. “Fuck ‘em!” yells someone.

Somehow, the fire of the revolution, thought to be extinguished, had reignited. It was just enough to hang onto until the real leader came back. I adjust the cloak again, feeling comforted by the weight around my shoulders.

I open my eyes to an uptick in chattering and pointed fingers. Following them, I see another group of survivors, just barely visible through all the smoke and flames, running for the safety of the golden walls. I walk over so I can greet them when they arrive and catch them up on our plans. They’re just within reach of safety when there’s the screaming of a descending mortar-

-and just like that they’re gone. My feet come to a halt, eyes shut, doubled over and sucking in air as I force down the vomit rising in my throat. Feeling queasy, I wait for my knees to stop shaking before I look up again. Spouting from the spent shells on the ground were clouds of gas. Some sort of weapon? The clouds washed over the bodies strewn outside the walls and I got my answer. I snapped my head away. Some of those people were still alive. The walls of the pillar expanded, expelling flames and deadly gas. The expanded room didn’t do much to make me feel safe.

Then, another wave of explosions rocked the walls of the golden pillar. Screams of horror and cries of fear erupted from all around me, and I looked up. Cracks. The golden walls of magic we had all trusted to keep us safe were about to fall. Fuck! That’s our only source of safety, and if it were to fall then we’d have no chance in hell.

“Everyone, just remain calm! They can’t harm us, and panicking won’t do anything! The walls are still holding!” I bark out as panic sweeps through the survivors.

Managing to hold back from breaking out in a full panicked sprint; betraying my despair wouldn’t do any good, I hurry over to Miko.

From behind, the saint was as rigid and imposing as ever, but moving to her front betrayed her. Her expression was pained, her breath ragged. Blood ran down her face from an open wound on her forehead.
“It’s more then I expected” she whispered, eyes on the sky as death continued to rain down. “Holding up the barrier, expanding it, filtering out the gas and smoke”

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552780
Then, a second sun appears in the sky. A blue flame so intense and bright that even from behind the faltering protection of the barrier I can feel the heat on my skin. I advert my eyes away, waiting for the light to fade and my eyes to recover to look back.

When I look back, I can see Sanae and her assistant maidens floating in the sky. But a brief survey of the skies made it clear. Mokou was gone.

“She’s been sealed.” Miko pants out, exhaustion clear on her face.

Shit. This is bad. Without Mokou around, we had no chance in hell of getting out of this. None of us are in very good shape to fight, and with how weakened Miko seemed to be, I doubt she could step in. She might have to throw down the barriers to go on the offensive, and that wasn’t an option. Regrettably, there was only one path left to take.

I’d have to throw myself at Sanae’s feet and plead for her to help us. Not very heroic, it just had to work. Duty to the village or not, she wasn’t the type of person to participate in a slaughter like this. So if I begged her to let us go, we could work someone out. Maybe I could even avoid being executed. Everyone would understand, right? This is the best I can do with my abilities. I’d be a coward and a disappointment, but it might mean all of us might live.

But before I can even think of getting Sanae’s attention, there’s the crack of gunfire, and she lurches in place, wobbling in the air for just a moment before she crashes to the ground. A second later, one of the apprentices crashes down near her. The others try to scatter, but the relentless gunfire cuts some of them down. It took a moment for it all to ink in. Hieda issued the order to have them shot. Had he truly gone mad? For what reason would he gun down someone that just protected him? But there’s no time to question the motives of a madman. If they stay out there, they’ll be cooked to death.

Ignoring the cries of everyone still trapped within the pillar, I rush out into the hell outside. Coughing as the arid smoke fills my lungs, I look around for someone to drag back. There, writhing on the ground is a younger apprentice. She seemed about thirteen of fourteen, and here she was holding a bleeding knee while sobbing. I bend over, carefully picking her up. She lets out a pained scream as she puts weight on one of her legs, slumping in my arms. Leaning against me for support, we make our way back to the relative safety of the pillar. As we close in, a few of the braver souls make their way past us, to where the other shrine maidens lie. Slowly and carefully, I lead the injured girl over to the make shift hospital, laying her down next to a man hacking and coughing, fresh vomit on his clothing.

“Hey, it’ll be okay, just stay here and you’ll get help” I tell the whimpering girl as I hold onto her hand. She nods, tears in her eyes, too tired and in pain to argue.

I get up and see a figure in the distance, beyond the golden walls. Waiting for them to get a bit closer, I catch the familiar sight of long white hair standing out from all the smoke and flames. Could it be? I sprint towards the figure, renewed hope giving me some energy. It’s definitely her alright, stumbling forwards into the protection of the pillar. I’m not sure how or why she’s still here, but this is great news. With her around we can do something, anything to win this. I just have to think of something. She makes her way over to Keine’s picking her up with one arm. I close the distance between us. “Mokou, are you okay? We could use some help you know..”

Then she turns around and gives me a look of anger. Or as angry as someone can look with half their head missing. One one and half a mouth was all she needed to get her point across. I wince at and try not to feel sick. I had seen anatomical drawings before, but nothing prepares you for seeing the inside of a woman’s skull, her brain twitching and pulsating as it regrows. Or seeing the entire complex system that makes up a human, bones and muscles and vessels and skin being woven into existence as if by invisible spiders. She stared at me and nodded, this simple act causing a newly grown eye to roll around listlessly. Then she continued onwards to to a more secluded spot, survivors parting to give her space. Putting Keine down gingerly, she sat next to her lover.
I suppose even someone like Mokou has her limits and needed time to grieve.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552785
But there was another crisis to deal with. Leaving Mokou to herself, I turn back to the makeshift hospital. Sanae had been brought in, and many concerned onlookers were crowded around, muttering to themselves. Today Sanae might have been against us, but she was still beloved by many. A living goddess that had been apart of their lives for years. Whatever reasons she had for standing by Hieda were all forgiven. Even the youkai seemed saddened by her state, the animosity between youkai and shrine maiden forgotten in this dire moment. Mystia was here, on the verge of tears as she watched on.

I squeeze through the crowd and crotch down next to her, iniba and a man- a doctor maybe- already starting to unpack supplies to treat her. It’s not looking good, A sea of red slowly growing on the front of her outfit, her breathing slow and ragged as she laid there on the ground.

“I don’t think they hit any vitals. We can extract the bullets and make sure she doesn’t lose too much blood. That should stabilize her” The doctor mused as the iniba prepared a drip and surgical tools. Rummaging through his bag, he pulled out some scissors, a syringe and a small vial. As he carefully filled the syringe up, an inaba cut open the front of her dress just enough to allow access to her wounds but still preserve her modesty. The doctor injected the substance into her midsection, Sanae simply moaning slightly. “We’re going to have to extract the bullets here. Do any of you have surgical experience?”

“I do” said a inaba with short brown hair as she shifted to adjust her pregnant belly.

“Good. I want you to extract them for me” The doctor said as he removed a cloth bundle and unrolled it on the ground next to the inaba, revealing it to be an assortment of surgical tools. “You. You’ll be her assistant. Follow her orders and watch the patient closely to see if something seems wrong” He pointed a finger at Mystia, who could only mutter out something that seemed to be an agreement. “How’s the IV drip going along?”

“Give me a moment here, almost done” came the response of the other inaba as she worked to secure a small bag to a metal stand.

I continue stare down at Sanae as everyone prepared to save her life. To think the great Sanae would be brought slow as something as mundane as a bullet. It was gut-wrenching to see a friend so close to death and knowing there was nothing I could do to help her. I stay there, just silently hoping that it would all turn out alright, that this unprepared surgery would be a success.

As the Inaba carefully makes an incision to widen a bullet wound, I notice someone suddenly standing right near me. I glance up at the newcomer and see...Hana?

Why is she here? I wouldn’t wish this hell on anyone, but for a teenager who had been through so much, it must be devastating for her. She should have been safe, with the Moriyans and not here. But the wail of the mourners all around me gave me an answer to that. She’s the next Hakurei Shrine Maiden. Whenever there’s a disaster or an incident she’ll be the one to put an end to any danger. A massacre in the village would be someone she’d have to put an end to.

Hana stepped forward shakily, her eyes locked into Sanae. The teenager looked ready to collapse at any moment. Sanae was always sweet with her, almost motherly in a way. I couldn’t even imagine how devastating it would be to her after everything she’s been through.

As she gets nearer, I step away to give her space. Hana bends down to hold one of Sanae’s hands. The doctor pauses in his work and started to reach over to her, but I held his hand and gave him a small shake of my head.

As Hana grasps Sanae’s hands, it seems she’s breathing just a little easier. The IV drip was prepared and attached to her free wrist, the Inaba nurse successfully dug out a bullet from Sanae’s gut, it seemed Sanae started to breathe a little easier, her pained gasps coming less often and less urgent.


It seemed like there were all busy. I turn around, collecting myself as to not let my despair show. Maybe there was something else to do, however minor. But as I turn around, I come to see Miko staring at the two Moriyan goddesses. I’ve never been more relived to see them. With two powerful goddesses at our side, we’d be able to pull out a victory. They’d see reason and join us to stop Hieda from doing anymore damage.

Or they would have, if Sanae hadn’t been shot as a result of all of this.
I gulp and adjust my cloak a bit more as I head over.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552791
A few people mutter among themselves. Even with death looming in every direction, seeing three powerful figures in the same place was still noticeable. As the saint approached the two goddesses, a small buzz ran through those who were watching. Whatever came out of this would not doubt be something memorable.

Miko stopped in front of the goddesses. Kanako looked towards the makeshift hospital, looking a bit anxious. Without a word she made her way towards it. Ah, she was worried about Sanae, of course she was.

Suwako was the first to break the silence “You, of all people, helping with this revolution… Guess it makes sense why I have heard nothing of you between the ones opposing Yukari” She said with a dismissive and disrespectful tone that could only have come about after hundreds of years of ruling over others as a god.

“Don't be salty about whom I decide or not to land my help to; unlike other temples, I found myself sane enough as to not play directly on the hand of the devil and accept its invitation.” Miko shoots back, letting words out of her mouth that made me doubt her reputation as a masterful negotiator. But we’re all in a very stressful situation, so maybe the two of them are just feeling catty.

“What do you make of our situation?” Miko said, trying to steer the conversation back to something that could pass as civil.

“Problematic” Suwako huffed out. “There are ways to become an Oni. “Most Oni are born; others are humans who used objects or were so bad in life they became Oni in death...But for a man to turn into one naturally while still alive?” She turns her gaze towards Miko. “I have my priorities, Miko; I'll gather my flock and Hana and immediately leave—I'm not dying today.”

I had the feeling that some of those words were meant for me. Even after all those years, the shadow from that incident would still loom over my life. Suwako gave no name for the man that turned into an oni, but it wasn’t needed. There were all sorts of old stories of people with hearts twisted by hatred turning into an oni both body and mind. Wicked people who would turn into a monster to continue their campaign of evil. There was only one man I could think of that had his mind warped enough for this to happen.

When I called upon the full power of the night parade scroll, it was near instant. Like a hunter lost in the woods being pounced on by a predator, there was no time to react before my mind was just...gone. It was like being drowned in a dark pool, no idea what was going on until the thing was exorcised from me. Was becoming an oni in life like that, or was it slow and consuming like a cancer?

“You're facing Yukari in a few weeks, aren't you? Does a natural-born oni scares you so much compared to our sage?” Miko’s retort snaps me out of my thoughts. Even she knew of our plans. It’s bad enough Yukari found out and was ready for us; but knowing even the reclusive Miko somehow found out made all those secretive meetings seem sort of pointless. I look around behind me to see if there was any sort of reaction, but there was nothing on the faces of the survivors to indicate they understood anything being said.

“Don't be foolish, Miko. She’s one problem; that man is another one entirely. Reimu, Yukari, Okina and Kasen—those people can fix your problem. Are any of them here now to help us? No, they’re not… Tsk, you'll die if you choose to stay around, and you know there's barely anything to be won here today-” Suwako was arguing. It’s not my place to understand the motives of those so close to the divine, but was now the time for bickering? With death pounding on the walls and so much suffering going on, how would they just stand here and scold each other?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552797
“I..” I start to speak when Suwako throws her gaze over to me. The words don’t come out. Despite her being just a bit bigger than my daughter, I find myself frozen from her glare. It was a wrath of an ancient deity, the kind that meant the end of whoever angered them. Here I was, a blasphemer that played a role in Sanae-a descendant of hers-being shot and on the verge of death. I stand frozen, looking into those eyes. Eyes that must have seen hundreds of men and women plead for mercy where there was none to give.


“Don't dare, please. My shrine maiden and her disciples nearly perished in this enormous mess, and whatever that teacher attempted to accomplish here today crashed and burned…” Suwako says pointedly. It was far more lenient then smiting, but the words dug deep.

Suwako breathes in, and just like that some of the godly pressure she’s been projecting seems to dissipate. “Staying here is putting these innocents in danger. It’s not worth it. I and Kanako can open a path for them to get to safety while Hana goes and fetches Reimu—”

“I-I understand, Moriya-sama! B-But I'm not leaving. Not until I see this through.” The words suddenly find themselves flowing out of me, the jumbled mess of emotions flowing within myself somehow managing to form into sentences. The goddess cocks an eyebrow, confused at my outburst. Here was a plan that could save all of us and bring in those capable of moping up Hieda’s forces-who had just been joined by Hieda himself turned into a demon-and I was been stubborn and refusing to budge.

My hand moves to my chest, feeling how fast and unsteady my breathing has become. The cloak shifts around me gently, a reminder of why I was here. Everything that happened today was in some way our fault. We all joined the revolution in the hopes it would make things better, that we could somehow direct the coming crisis and mitigate the fallout of all of it. None of us could have predicted that one gunshot would ruin everything and turned the village into an inferno.

But to just run and leave the responsibility solely in the hands of others is just wrong. What would Keine think if she woke up and saw all her loyal revolutionaries have fled? She’d be devastated, and just sitting somewhere safe and waiting for news to come for the battle’s end just wouldn’t bring me any closure. I needed to see this with my own eyes. I just needed to hang on a little longer.

. “I beg you that yes, you do take our ill and innocent to safety, Moriya-sama!” I pleaded with the goddess, hoping she had just a sherd of mercy left for the revolutionaries that did her so much harm. “B-But as it stands, me and—m-my revolutionaries will stay here and hold fort… Awaiting Keine-san!” I turn towards Miko, looking for any sort of support from her

“I-I know Keine-san will return! She might have died, but she'll return! She has two sweet babies awaiting her—a marriage we whispered about—a revolution to finish…” The words are just flowing out now, I’m perhaps saying more then I should, but damn the consequences for now. “Keine died fighting for the weak, and by it, she’ll return, and together we’ll make Gensokyo better for everyone that stands behind us! And I… I am certain that if someone is capable of resurrecting, it'd be her!”

I catch my breath, waiting for some sign my words got through. Miko gives me a curt nod, an endorsement as good as any. I feel so much weight lift off my shoulders.

“So, please, I'll be more than glad to help you! Take my husband and children to safety; everyone who so desires, I beg of you—we'll hold our ground until Reimu-san comes and saves us… and we'll greet Keine-san when she returns to us.” I bow, just hoping they’ll allow this selfish desire of mine.

Then a shout breaks out from behind me. I jump in fear until I process what it is. It’s not a shout of fear, or sadness. A war cry. A shout of someone trying to summon up all hr bravery they had left and throwing themselves behind someone they trusted. I smile and inhale. The next words came easy.

“K-Keine-sensei will return!”

Cheers erupt from all around me. It’s amazing how quickly morale can be lost and regained. Despite how awful things seemed, everyone found that last bit of hope within themselves to keep going. With safe passage guaranteed and powerful fighters coming against Hieda, the end was in sight.

Then the monster appeared.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552802
Monster.

It’s a word any human living the village would know well. Children grow up learning about how dangerous the youkai lurking outside in the shadows are. Adults gossip about them, spinning stories about disappearances and hidden conspiracies to control the village. Even the stories from Outside World books had no shortage of horrifying beings lurking within.

I had once believed in all those stories being spun about youkai as well. Then I had found myself being thrust into a new world, laying just behind the one I had lived in up to that point. I found all those rumors about man-eating beasts were just wrong. When I had first met them, Aya and Mamizou had made themselves off to be manipulators that would kill me the moment I went against them. But the longer the more I saw behind that, and found they had desires and habits and flaws just any human would. The same went for the other youkai I had met. Mystia seemed to be a weak youkai that would harass humans and leave her children to die, but under it all she was a scared mother unsure how to care for all her children. Even Yukari, normally incomprehensible and a disgusting bitch, had human qualities. How possessive she seemed of Hana at that party, all the emotions she had poured into drawing up the plans for the prison known as the HSE; I would never call them good human qualities but they were human nonetheless.

But the thing that stood before us was a monster in the truest sense of the word. I had known the Hieda patriarch for years. I’d seen him proud and full of energy when he was telling stories about his days protecting the village, careful and collected when he was meeting with others to discuss how to manage the village, and devastated at the funeral of his own daughter.

There wasn’t a shred of him left in the monster making his way towards us. The only thing tying him to his old life was that old armor of his that he loved so much, faceplate discarded to show something terribly, terribly wrong. It was the face of a corpse, but no corpse could have such rage etched on its face. It was like some cruel sculptor-god reached down and tore open his face, rearranging itno some sick facsimile of what a human should look like, leaving it half-finished as to mock his victim and everyone that looked upon him.

Unaffected by the flames; like any being born of hell would be, he made his way towards the barrier and paused. Even through all the smoke and flames, the glowing pits where his eyes once were stood out, deep and hot as the pits of hell. The cheers soon died down and gave way to horrified gasps and whispers as everyone realized that stood before us.

Moving far too naturally for something not meant to be he pointed his katana at the fracturing shields. The signal was obvious and I step back, my heart racing in my chest. This is terrifying, its dangerous, and-

Simple. For once the path was clear to me. No political webs to untangle, or worries about how my actions would effect others. In the stories whenever the hero comes across monsters, all he needs to win is to beat them. It doesn’t matter if its an island full of onis, or some flesh-eating monster raiding a king’s banquet hall, or a bull-headed man stalking sacrifices in a maze. If the monster falls, the hero wins and their story gets closer to the ending.

I stand there, not budging any inch. I’m no hero, never was, never will be. But I don’t have to be. As long as the revolutionaries and I just hang on a little more, then we’ll be there as the oni draws his final breath and we will win. The revolutionaries seem to understand this as well, a few of the braver ones firing off jeers and insults at the oni.

There’s a whistling sound, and I look out in dread just in time to see another round of mortars smashing into the pillar-

Destroying it like glass.

Miko falls to her knees as our only line of defense is brought down, the pain too much to bear even for her. Mokou jumps into action almost instantly. A tsunami of blue flame erupts from her, too much and too fast to avoid. I brave himself for the impact as it rolls over me only to- be fine. The wave passes over me without as much as making my skin tingle. The confusion was widespread among the other survivors, most of them too confused and amazed to do anything but wade through the flames.

“CURSE YOU, HIEDA!” came a roar from above my head. Snapping around to look, I should see some shape-no guesses on who-impact the ground like a meteor, sending up a pillar of fire.

Oh yeah. There’s going to be a fight among some very powerful people and we’ve all in the way.

“Run! Everyone, run away from the fight!!” I scream.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552806

I sprint towards where I last saw my family, I have no control over how the evacuation will begin but I can at least ensure the safety of the people that matter to me the most. I weave my way through the throngs of people, confusion starting to set in as there’s no clear escape route. But it doesn’t last for long as I’m not even partway to my family’s last location when Miko’s booming proclamation reaches out to all of us, a golden trail of light soon giving the weary a guide. A few more steps, and I nearly lose my balance as a powerful gust of wind blows, clearing a path through the flame. Looking for the culprit, I see Kanako hoisting up every single of of her shrine maidens without a hint of a struggle. Holy shit, that’s impressive. As she sprints down the newly cleared path, Suwako follows; iron walls jutting up from the ground behind her, acting as shields from harmful debris

With an escape route, everyone springs into action. Picking up the wounded, scooping up supplies, or guiding their loved ones, the evacuation begins in earnest. All of those who couldn’t or didn’t want to fight would be safe. I continue towards where I last saw my family, hoping that with all the chaos they would still be fine. I soon get my answer. They’re still lying there, a bit ruffled bit as unharmed as I last saw them, the blue flames at my feet coating them in a weird glow. Now to make sure they get out of here.

Standing out from the flow of people heading towards safety is a man going the opposite way. “Hey! Over here!” I shout at him. He notices and jogs over.

He glances down at my family at my feet “Are they-?”

“No, no! They’ve alive. Just unconscious. Please, this isn’t the place for them” I plead.

He bends over, briefly checking the pulse of Kato, the concern on his face soon clearing. Hoisting Fumiko up, he waves over a group of men; instructing them to help him carry the rest of my family.

“I’ll make sure they’re safe and meet up with you later. Good luck” Joining the others, he melts into the parade of people fleeing the plaza, leaving only those still willing to fight.

The brave warriors joined together without any orders given, picking up any sort of weapon they could find. Our army wielded planks and rocks and the few serviceable tools that could be scavenged from the ruins of the festival. The youaki spun pellets of danmaku, as if trying to convince themselves they still remembered how. We all stand there, watching as Mokou thunders after Hieda, each blow a volcanic eruption. We all stand there, frozen and on the lookout for any chance to assist in the fight.

The demon and the immortal clash, each punch from Mokou thrown with enough force to cremate a normal man and toss his ashes into the wind, but Hieda shrugs off everything and counters with his sword.

It was doubtful any of us would be able to help.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see Mystia, swirling a few pellets of danmaku around her fist. “We can attack from the air” she says hesitantly “It’ll help”

“Right. To the skies, assist Mokou!” I order, feeling like I’ve made a mistake by endangering them already. Mystia and the others take off, flying around and peppering Hieda as he clashes with Mokou.

In the span of time to takes to draw a few breaths, another complication joins the fight in the form of Miko. The three of them fought. The graceful and skilled movements of the saint as she skillfulyl wielded her sword and flickered around. The powerful and near-suicidal attacks from the immortal, each blow like a volcanic eruption, too blinded from rage and knowing nothing could harm her to care. The unflinching movements and raw power of the demon, as immovable as death itself. Heaven, Earth and Hell, all in one battle.


As Mokou and Miko desperately tried to end his life, Hieda rambled on about delusions of Akyuu still being alive, of watching him spar the Hakurei miko. For a man seeminly stuck in some fantasy, he fought on too well, shrugging off attacks from all sides, keeping even Miko and Mokou on their toes.

As the oni suddenly appeared in front of Miko and swung; only a sudden teleportation saving her for a grievous wound, my heart sunk in my chest.

This wasn’t enough. If this went on any longer, he might win. If things get worse then this we would-

“TENNOHEIKA BANZAI”

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552811
My attention snapped towards the interruption . With a collective shout somehow loud enough to be heard over all the chaos, the remaining samurai left their defenses and charged towards the fight. Fear of their new master? Desperation to see an end to all of this madness? Are maybe they’re just out of their minds? No matter what it was the last of Hieda’s forces found it within themselves to join in the fight again. The warriors around me did their best to hold their ground, wielding broken pieces of wood or discarded tools against guns and swords.


The samurai formed a firing line, shooting up at the youkai in the sky as their brethren closed the distance, swords in hand. I only counted a few gunmen left, so their shots are ineffective-

-Until Mystia started to fly with a scream, holding a leg.

Mokou shouted out and leapt to protect her, only to be intercepted by Hieda who sliced her in half as easily as paper. The charging samurai got every closer, direction changed towards an easy kill. Damnit all! The warriors around me tensed up, weighing when to engage. I take a step backwards involuntary and my foot collides with a clump of blue fire. It’s everywhere, almost as heavy as-

Snow.

“Watch, scum! Watch what it truly means to fight!” Hieda roared, his voice clear and imposing for coming out of a mouth with no tongue or lips.

I bend down, grabbing some of the fire in my hands, squeezing it together, memories of childhood snowball fights coming to mind as I make a ball. Pleading for this to somehow work, I let it fly.

“Your poor attempt at mimicry ends today—” The ball of blue fire hits him in the face. He was unharmed from it, but it was enough to give him pause.

“TOSS THE FIRE!” I shout, swooping up more flame for another throw. “Make a curtain so Mystia-chan can be rescued !”

With a chorus of yells everyone obeys, tossing fireballs to the encroaching enemies. It served well to block off their movements, but we were doing disappointingly little damage. But it was enough to halt the charge of the samurai and to prevent their bullets from hitting their targets. As the samurai are flinching under the onslaught some of the other youaki catch Mystia midair and cart her off safely.

I breathe a sigh of relief. We were holding on, just barely. As I’m about to bend downto collect more fire, a shiver runs down my spine. Something is wrong. I turn my gaze and-

Meet the glare of Hieda.

Miko shouts to Mokou, but he passes right through her. With fire under his feet, he sprints towards me. My comrades form a wall between the two of us, brandishing whatever they had. A volley of fireballs did nothing at all. A thrown brick bounced harmlessly off his armor. A man leaped in his path, striking him over the head with a plank. When it broke, Hieda barreled him over without breaking stride, crushing him underfoot. Their heroic attempts to save me don’t even slow him down.
Without warning, Miko blinks into existence before me, grabbing onto my sleeve. She locks eyes with Hieda; almost within arms reach, and does nothing. The oni closes the gap, sword raised, ready to cut through the saint. No! She’s too important to die!

His sword hits nothing but air, close enough that I can feel the displacement. Just as it settles in that I shoved her, Hieda tugs me by the cloak. When did he-?

He pulls me behind him as I try pitifully to brake his movements by dragging my feet on the ground like a child. I scream and thrash, but it does nothing. One man charges at him and leaps into a tackle-

Only to be caught midair by Hieda’s sword and mercilessly kicked off. I close my eyes after that. The other few brave or unlucky enough to stand in his way met a similar fate. I crane my head around, looking for a savior. On one side, his samurai have resumed their charge, getting closer and closer. On another, Miko flies towards me- too far away. In the monster’s path huge geysers of fire exploded out of the ground, doing nothing at all to stop the oni.

Miko and Mokou converge and tried closing in but the moment he twisted his head around to glare at them lighting crashed down from the clear sky. Miko stood there, frazzled but standing. Mokou-

Her obliterated body collapses, her stomach popping like a ballon and I cry out as near-boiling blood splashes on my face.

Hieda stops, throwing me in front of him. Those hellish pits look down on me.

Then his sword cuts into my flesh.

[Anonymous No.]

Suzu-Sorry for the delay, I honestly couldn't find the time to sit down and catch up and type this all out until recently. Sorry for not writing during the climax of the festival.


>>47517533
>>47517538
>>47517549

I think it's a great chapter, better then what I was planning. Altough it's not clear if Keine knows how many of her future students are the products of the HSE. I think at this point Kosuzu would be dbating on if she should tell them her suspensions or not. On one hand, it's something she thinks Anon should learn become ti becomes widely known, on the other, she would she Keine deserves to know at this point. No matter how much it might hurt her to find out.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552772
>>47552780
>>47552785
>>47552791
>>47552797
>>47552802
>>47552806
>>47552811
>>47552824
glad to see you around still, man! And I'll say, there's a certain apathy when you write about a bunch of strong people and how they react to the fragile world that makes everything else seem weak and unremarkable, going with the motions set by them, the strong, in a sense. But your writing of the Suzu in the same situation as those strong is a goddamn gut-punch. Her personal thoughts and descriptions of the burning world, as well as how squashed she felt between everyone and everything, and how that internal struggle motivated her to fight and do her best to ensure a happy ending for her family, herself, and her friends—that part before Sanae got shot, damn…—It was a treat, and it brought a level of pungency to the festival I couldn’t add myself.
If I'd describe her during it, it'd be:
REVOLUTIONARY LEADER.
ARRIVING.
ON THE SCENE.
thanks for the great chapters, and it is evident that you put a lot of yourself into them; there were very few grammatical errors and the writing was clear. Good job.
>>47552850
don't worry man, your personal life come first, the Nipponese warmongering, child-traumatizing and Geneva-denying writing project comes later.
glad you enjoyed it those chapters!
>spoiler
oh, that's because I fucking forgot it…
but stopping to think now, I remember Suzu decided not to tell about it, and Keine hasn't had the time to go to Eientei; though you could say her fixing the bodies' of everyone that was still alive and pregnant gave her some insight about the parentage of the kids.
Would you like to write that, Suzu confronting the cowe about the pregnancy crisis who may or may not know about it (I'd leave it up to you to decide)? If you don't, it's okay; I'll come up with something, but if you do, just tell me~!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47552824
>>47552811
>>47552806
>>47552802
>>47552797
>>47552791
>>47552785
>>47552780
>>47552772
Cowe ascension
Miko's political fun and games
Vietnam simulator with Hana
And now RTS gaming with suzu
Poor suzu is going to have a bad time of things till the cows come home

[Anonymous No.]

>>47557323
she's been shish kebab'd by a skeleton, that's like rock bottom in bad time-terms
... Wait, oh no...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47557362
Thats it, I wish suzu gets molested by Hana!

[Anonymous No.]

Apologizes for the delay, I have been sleep deprived, but I guess that's partly a good thing since there's more revolution content and I'd rather not write the Keine meeting missing context if I don't have to.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47557792
she can't keep getting away with it!!
>>47557856
take it easy~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47545411
You shouldn't be so mean to him, nobody but you finds what he's wrote to be annoying and unlike some people he both actually follows the rules and has made meaningful contributions that add to the HSE instead of taking away from it.
Unlike some people he will actually be fondly remembered unlike that shit stain you keep simping for.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558012
nta, he didn't mean the stuff he said, just used it as example (>>47545442) to how the other guy sounds like.
> he will actually be fondly remembered
love Ayaanon, glad he managed to overcome his writer's block

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558039
That's no reason for him to be rude and fellate by proxy the worst stuff ever to come out of the HSE.
Honestly he's worse than the guy he constantly complains about, because at least the other one has a point and is agreed with by the writefags.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558012
>>47558156
Well you have a point, I'm the stupid fucking assclown simp for trying to care while some guy just comes in and tears everything down piece by piece. Thank you for this wonderful enlightenment, and thank you for freeing me from this mess.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558223
>tears everything down piece by piece.
Literally not what is happening, everything that;s ever been 'removed' is due to a mutual agreement between the actual authors of this work.
You're just as delusional as he is if you think these things only happen because of him, Hisoutensoku hasn't even been removed from the pastebin, even if it is a stupid idea.
Literally all you're doing is coming in here and complaining about people not liking the things you like, nobody is stopping you from reading what was written by the worst former writer of the HSE and nobody is stopping you from enjoying it.
But when you barge in and demand people have the same taste as you, then of course people are going to take offense to you.

[Anonymous No.]

>was watching a video about chickens
>the guy talks about the cloaca, which I thought was just a bird pussy
>turns out it's a 3 for 1 hole. Number 1, 2 and baby hole, all that shit
>remember Ayanon especially wrote Aya to have one of those
does Aya here have an ass? Is she ass-less? Or is there some Youkai biology fuckery at play that makes crow tengu have both?
It's a VERY important question, Ayaanon...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558304
Wait did he? Haha holy shit, now I need to know too

[Anonymous No.]

>>47553563
I'll have to see if I can come up with a reason that Keine is in the dark after the knowledge buff she got, but I'd like to write it out

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558304
>anon fucked that
grim

[Anonymous No.]

>>47559489
>grim
grim

[Anonymous No.]

>>47560184
>>grim
>grim
grim

[Anonymous No.]

>>47559489
>>47560184
>>47560191
pls stop, she cleans herself religiously and preens often, there's nothing wrong with her. If you wanna grim thoughts think Hatate

[Anonymous No.]

>>47559476
Write in that Anon's fate is beyond her control, and thus she didn't know. Same vein as how she can't Yukari. Kinda thin justification but it'll work for now without being a huge plothole. It'd also make sense as to why she didn't act on the truth behind the HSE earlier.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47559476
the idea I scripted is that she does know, but also thinks she's alone in knowing that -- save for Eirin and maybe Yukari -- because of the ways she discovered it, and doesn't know what to do with the information or how to parse it, as it is a problem she'll have to deal with eventually as new ruler of the village, so she's repressing the looming problem by busying herself with more important things, like making sure the village survives the week after the revolution; the Suzu showing she also knows about the extension of the crisis would be a good support and ways to start figuring out this nightmare
>>47560318
interesting thought, but would exchange it to be Anon's fate is beyond her control while inside Yukari's magic and the HSE; outside -- for now -- he's just another human prone to that, though only bodily manipulation. His mind's strong~

whatever you choose, Suzuanon, or goes with an idea you concocted, don't worry, I'll work around it the best I can.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47560605
>outside -- for now -- he's just another human
I would say that due to his nature of being bound to two of the most powerful women in gensokyo, who are immune to her powers. His fate in so far as the hse and the things that happened prior and after(sekai, 'mu and kari ends, sdm adoption, potential rise to godhood) should all be well out of the cowes hands as his fate would be linked to those crazy broads

[Anonymous No.]

>>47561424
Don't forget about the optional giant robot which may or may not be canon anymore, although more seriously I think Anon becoming a god is stupid.
I understand the in universe logic, but it feels kind of contrived, jumping the shark, trying to hard to give him a good ending sort of thing.
Like that joke about Gensokyo becoming centered around Sekai, it seem like it's just something which is overly convenient and annoyingly steers too hard in the direction of giving Anon a good ending.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47561535
Sekai makes sense as does anon god mode, really depends on the writefag in question of how much they're going to include what element in their ending. Epilogues are free-form after all

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562104
Still don't like it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562149
Is what it is, I doubt most waifufag endings will touch on anything more than the feels

[Anonymous No.]

>>47561424
the thing about the cowe's power is that it rewrites past and eats future individually, not fate per se, so even though Hana, for example, is Reimu's heir and has her fate bound to Yukari and many others, Keine can still use her powers on her. It's like an attempt at true manip of fate like Remilia's, but downgraded and much more high-maintenance.
a good way to put it would be:
rewrite of past
>Hana has the last milisecond of her mind manipulated so, for the next minute, she'll want to only walk in circles
>Yukari comes and, as Hana walks in circles, she grabs her hand and leads Hana to walk normally, despite the time remaining
>the manip breaks because of interferance Keine doesn't have control over, as Yukari is beyond her powers
eating of future
>Hana's body is walking forward, but Keine eats the next 10 seconds of her walking forward, so Hana literally cannot go forward for 10 secs, despite her wanting to still move forward
>Yukari comes, grabs her hand, and leads her forward, despite the timer
>the future rewrites itself because of Yukari's interferance
apply the second example to Anon (outside the HSE) and, say, Keine eats any instance of him eating meat in the future. He still enjoys eating it, but won't do so for reasons he doesn’t understand… until Sanae comes with some cool meat dish and spoon-feeds him some of it, the changes Keine made are erased, and his future readjusts. Same goes for Hana in the walking forward example: if she just turns 360° 180° and moonwalks, she can still follow the path she was on.
There are ways to circumvent that (example: going with his mind being weak and prone to manip), like rewriting the past so, in the future, Anon becomes vegetarian and, by his volition, denies it when Sanae offers the meat. He can be convinced to go back to eating meat by someone stronger than Keine, as they aren’t affected by her rewriting of history/eating of future.
For comparison, Remilia's manip of fate would make Anon never eat meat again, even if it's the only thing there is to eat, and he'd die without explicit further manipulation
it's like a puzzle Keine's power, where she has to gauge if she can or not interfere with the subject's history, if the subject not human but a concept/thing, then if she can or not rewrite its history or eat its future like she did with the revolver after Mr. Hieda died, with the ever-present possibility of someone stronger than her coming into play and basically undoing all of her changes, the power becoming more and more a Damocles sword as the rewrites/eatings accumulate
enough to make someone go mad…
>tl;dr: Keine’s powers try to be Remilia's, but they fail. Remilia is still da best.
sorry for the lengthy explanation.
>>47561535
if he were to become a god, though, it'd take a long time—maybe even decades—to accumulate enough faith, and by that time he probably would've already rebuilt his life and have a good ending.
>Like that joke about Gensokyo becoming centered around Sekai
it is a joke, after all. Sekai has shown no desire to become the figurehead of Gensokyo; she's a kid after all and wants to visit China with her cool metaphysical mothers and, funnily enough, that her dysfunctional parents don't get a divorce and so on. Can't talk for everyone, but that's my view on it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562247
>it is a joke
There are some things which shouldn't even be entertained as jokes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562475
This is a very serious fanfic after all

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562247
>sorry for the lengthy explanation
Makes a lot more sense then it once did, I'll give you that. Much easier to write with now that the asspull has been established.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562643
It's not that this project is or should be treated as one-hundred-percent serious, there are just some ideas too bad or too out of tone to where they don't have a place in the fanfic.
I'm sure this is something we should all agree on.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47562691
Well its no longer a concern that they'll be written out of jokes or spite since the writers have scope and perspective. No need go agitate against the writers propping up the project, the retards are gone. Have a happy hug and sleep well

[Anonymous No.]

>>47564768
>the retard is gone
fixed that for you, you shouldn't wrap other writers as being in the same boat as him.
But I agree, as long as nobody else joins things should be fine.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47564768
this Patchy image makes me imagine she holding Sekai's face and saying everything will be alright. Yukari doesn't deserve the love she gets...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47547923

Sweat dripped down her forehead into the dark of the alley, only the wind and… sounds of people moving and shouting. People out in the streets, they were fighting here it seemed to the rhythm of gunfire and explosions. Youkai died above their heads, men died below while the revolution carried on in this bloody night, anyone interested in peace burned in the immortal’s fires or cowered in the safety of the herd.

Hana couldn’t stay here; it would only make things harder for everyone if she got caught. Before she could commit, she felt a hesitation root her feet to the spot; the rooves… faces flashed by her mind. The panting miko breathed deeply and cleared her mind as she let the worldlines tense, slowly finding a path along the smoke and between the violence to anywhere but here.

Head throbbing with the fumes of blood and gunpowder she steeled her nerves and took a few pacing steps towards the distant road. Before she found a good path she felt it, death came from behind and her body moved as it was trained too. Despite her fatigue, she snapped back towards the rush of wind and shriek of blood lust that raked her mind. Gohei already in hand, it jerked up and with a shockwave formed of divine blessing she stops the stained claws of a youkai in human form.

Mind focused now that her blood was pumping and heart pounding in her ears, she could smell the blood on his hands and practically tasted the death that clung to him. The thing snickered as its feet skittered lightly on the dirt, as if it weighed nothing, “Another stray wondered into the dark? I was right to linger here for souls, the winter is just a wonderful season!”

A grating voice met Hana’s ears, the youkai in front of her spoke with all the passion their kind usually did. She wanted to just get away, to just step back and fly along the worldlines, but that smell and the blood on his claws… he’s been hunting people beyond any idle threat…

It was something to do, something that only she could do to help even if it was just swinging her gohei! Still, she needed to learn more and keep this idiot talking if she didn’t want to make a mistake. The weight of what would happen to Sanae and Sayori if she was forced to get help weighed heavily.

Without ceremony she spat acid out, “Where in the hells do you think you’re stabbing your dirty claws!? I could smell the stench of an oni’s fundoshi them!”

It seemed to irk him enough, the snickering stopped and a clear note of bitterness entered his annoyingly scratchy voice, “W-what?! Are all you humans so insulting?! Can’t you tell who I am from my presence alone?! I bring pain from the underworld and ride on the northern winds, spreading death and stealing souls, I am Anaji-sama!”

Gohei extended and limbs almost twitching from the anticipation of further violence, Hana mustered her thoughts, “Like I care what some third-rate youkai with a fourth-rate name thinks of themselves, the only winds you ride come out my rear!”

In truth Hana had heard of him, a spirit that rumored to be the winter wind itself that would bring death to the unwary. Supposedly free to walk in the underworld and only comes up to the surface for the winters, an annoying sort who shifted with the winds like some annoying tengu. A violent sort, and cocky as all hell it seemed. Small fry, but making even the slightest mistake here could force their hand.

It seemed that she got to him, magic swirled behind as a circle of light illuminated the alleyway and made Hana squint lightly. Frigid winds started blowing down the alleyway from seemingly nowhere, forcing a crisscrossing barrier of fantasy seals in response to break the wind and chill from robbing her warmth. It felt as if the wind itself beckoned one to death, lifeless and stagnant, the icy gusts stealing more than her warmth. Dammnit… Guess it wasn’t hyperbole about this guy.

A grumbling bark rang out of his fanged mouth, situated on a rather disgusting face now that his rage exposed his turned-up nose that reminded her of a bat. Head sporting sick dark hair which dangled freely to his back and sat above blackened eyes that reminded her of the shell of a beetle. His body was still humanoid and clothed at least, garbed in contrastingly tasteful looking clothing that wouldn’t look out of place on a fashion conscious merchant. If it wasn’t for the gore splattered on the chest and sleeves of the outfit it would’ve blended in to the occasion.

He raised a viscera caked paw to point it at the miko, as if matching her gohei, “Damn brats these days have tongues too sharp for their own good, once I kill you, I won’t even make your soul serve me like the others; I’ll dump into the Sanzu itself and laugh as you drown!”

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569539


The wind intensified and blew down the alley like a gale, spreading frost along the walls and threatening to blow her away. The deathly winds would’ve consumed her body if not for the barrier she channeled her blessings into with muttered prayers of protection. The faux yin-yang orb that represented its physical form shone with power as it broke the wind and its deadly effects.

Riding the wind he summoned, the monster dashed forward intent on running her through with the filthy claws she despised. She dashed forward herself, divine power propelling her forward along with flight magic to connect gohei and claw once again. However, the expected contact wasn’t made; the winds shifted as they’re like to do and like a puff of smoke in the mountaintops he vanished into thin air!

The winds started blowing from behind her, he must have-! Without a moment to think the barrier cracked as his claws rendered the blessings asunder, her body reacted before her mind did once again. Training beaten into her made her dig her foot into the frozen dirt, the frozen mass giving slightly as she dug in and spun on the tip of her boot.

Extreme stresses on her body being abated by the blessings of her patron god, momentum being shifted and flowing into her arm as her body turned; arm crooked holding the gohei over her shoulder ready to be swung with one arm while the other acted as counterbalance.

The pirouette saw her spun around quickly, but the beast was just as quick and already the winds shifted again. She saw the reaver vanish into the air again, but this time the glow from her magic would see a faint whisp blow in a large spiral as he materialized above her! Claw met barrier again as off-foot now, Hana swung her gohei into empty air as she was forced to recover by force once more. Flight magic propelled her backwards onto her backfoot with a sudden harsh burst of air pressure. It allowed her to reset her posture as the barrier cracked once more, the potent blessings being destroyed by an incarnation of violence and death itself.

By the time she recovered the beast attacked the barrier once more, his other claw coming down like a spear to dig into the shield that protected her from his fell magics. Grabbing a seal out of her pouch she threw it off to the ‘side’ of her, letting it travel along the worldlines along a roundabout path. Her gohei thrust up to meet the creature’s claws, like a lance it flew to meet the spears of her opponent.

Power gushed forth from the shide covered tip of her gohei, sending a blast of divine power into the air above her in a tight pike-thrust. Roiling energy pushed the air around her as the destructive power of the blast hurled itself into the night air above, white seething energy burned into her eyes but she couldn’t dare do more than squint and turn her eyes a bit to avoid the glare. She felt the creature’s claws met her gohei, it was a hit but she still felt him slip away!

A shriek fills the air, bloodcurdling and pained as she tracks the tempest around her. Fantasy seals flare to life as her eyes and senses fail to find him, is he hiding? There wasn’t much of a chance for an answer, the shriek was ongoing and piercing; she couldn’t hear anything but the creature as she blinked out the bright spots in her eyes. This damn thing finally got angry, it didn’t matter if it survived by sheer power or luck, she was in trouble if she didn’t finish this quickly!

She felt the killing intent again, stronger and brutal now, but focused and coming from-! Fantasy seals reacted as Hana took the strained worldlines, flying along their roundabout paths as Hana fell ‘backwards’ to intercept. Her powers were focused now, she flew along the worldlines without care of how cramped the alley was; Her powers opened the path before so the walls were as open as the sky above.

It felt like the creature was moving slowly, its form was blurred by that strange black fog youkai are so fond of. Despite the faintly glowing afterimage in her eyes, she realized that it was its true form now. A large monstrous thing the size of two men or so, it had four large leathery wings and a hairy body yet it’s legs and feet were like a hawks’; one of the wings seemed to be reduced to a non-moving husk. Its face was as ugly as expected, the face of a man but nose and mouth of a bat, in his gaping fanged maw sat eight souls snagged between its teeth.

Its mistake was being seen; the seal Hana had sent along the world lines came rushing back now. It’s power potent enough to draw the thing’s eyes as his wings readjusted mid dive to face the oncoming threat. The seal’s power flared as if she was channeling a weakened strike with her gohei, a ruse the creature fell for as his powerful talons raised to meet the oncoming strike.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569555

In his full form he was a master on the air, his three wings flexed and in a jet of air he spiraled around the strike; he was clearly not taking any chances either as she moved to intercept the miko he thought was behind the seal.

The path was clear, the fantasy seals started to meet the thing in midflight, sapping its senses and strength enough to the point that it must not have noticed the real threat. With a speed that made the beast’s movements seem sluggish she traveled to the creature’s side, staring down at his face from above as she her gohei moved on its own.

It felt slow, as her gohei came down in a gentle arc with it’s shide fluttering in the wind; the thing must have seemed to appear from far away despite Hana being but an arm’s distance away. From that flying rat’s perspective it must have seemed as a small toothpick appeared, only for it to suddenly expand and catch his neck like a clothesline catches foolish drunks. It took his head off in one stroke, the powers corroding the thick trunk the thing called a neck into a melted stump of blackened flesh.

The majority of his body flew by the decoy in an elegant arc, the spiral he was on as he rounded the decoy spun his body about as he crashed through the wall of an empty workshop. His razor-sharp talons grasping the air and ripping the wall on contact in a speed too fast for her to see normally.

Its head flew in much the same way, except the smaller object lacked the same momentum and fell short of its target. Instead smashing into the ground with a wet thud, it still twitched as Hana approached with gohei in hand and fantasy seals pouring onto the thrashing body to dissolve it entirely.

Heart pounding in her ears along with a faint ringing, the miko cautiously stepped forward with red eyes locked on the only remaining part of the thing still left. The smell of its foul magics still lingered in the air and the cold made Hana tighten her muffler, she could see her breathe in large puffs under the blue glow of her fantasy seals. The head itself still wheezed, its breath smelled of sulfur and blood; pungent even from here.

Hana could feel it try to gather magics to itself, to reform its body despite his lost power. It would never quit, even now she could feel the deathly stagnancy in the air grow. It wanted her dead and would stop at nothing, her boot met its large head, the thing alone the size of her torso if she had to guess, and rolled it over from its face down position.

She could hear it now; the disgusting sounds of vicious liquid being moved. She could see it now too, the disgusting sight of a proboscis-like tongue extending out from the dark of its gaping tooth-lined maw impaling one of the souls that floundered between its teeth. She could hear their wails and lamentations from here, agony and terror still fresh in their minds as recent as their deaths were.

Her gohei quickly pierced it between the eyes, the thing’s flesh dissolving like its soul as she felt its presence fade entirely the alley. She prayed for a moment, for the souls that weakly flew into the air seeking their peace. The seals around her faded away as a momentary peace settled over the alleyway, the sounds of combat were gone from this street at least. Though the embers grew greater and sounds of explosions only intensified along with the rapport from the gunfire. Unconsciously she pinched the bridge of her nose, she closed her eyes and for a blessed moment she wasn’t there; In her mind’s eye she was in the tender arms of her friends. She rid herself of that fantasy before it consumed her and opened her eyes a moment later.

Hana took to the air; a single giant inferno was being spun upwards. She could fell the immense power of faith even from here as the power of the Moriya gods were channeled by someone she couldn’t see, looking too closely at the fake sun would only irritate her eyes. Traveling along tense worldlines she kept to the rooves, avoided the burning neighborhoods devoid of life and those filled with mobs who ripped their victim’s limb from limb. She wanted it to be over, but she didn’t dare turn her eyes. It was all she could do.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569560
>>47569555
>Magics
This has been bugging me for a bit, but I don't like the use of the term "magics" it feels wrong.
That's all I have to say.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569539
>>47569555 check 'em for Hana's first blood
>>47569560
look at her go! Killing that silly guy from Castlevania, so proud of the 'Ana! Though her fear from intervening and being a burden will get Sanae in a deep quagmire…
hopefully she doesn't blame herself too much~
nice frantic action scene, there's only one way to grow up from a kid to an adult in the 'Nam after all~
>>47569845
kinda rough when Gensokyo has magicians…

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569903
Hopefully she kills shitkina next.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569845
Oh well, slight typos make the world go round. At least I remembered the proper use of moriya this time around
>>47569903
The fight scene was fun to write once I got in the swing of things. I usually don't like writing them, but I realized its danmaku combat i care little to write. Its much more intuitive like this

[Anonymous No.]

>>47570513
The fanfic has little to no danmaku in the first place it's fine to ignore it, no one will complain.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47570513
>Its much more intuitive like this
Agreed. Danmaku as it is presented in the games doesn't really work from a writing perspective; it's too reactionary, like chess, and while it's good in the visual medium, putting it in sole words, no images or activity to keep your focused, more often than not ends up with something that sounds more like a shopping list than combat. Though I like to mix the culture of Danmaku when I write battles -- the absurd dodges, projectile spam and methodical movement --, the timer, turn-based use of spellcards and the dead time between actions is too much. It was a good choice of yours to switch to something you're more comfortable with~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569539
>>47569555
>>47569560
crimson slasher reborn

[Anonymous No.]

flowchart of last thread coming through! Late because ya boy decided to join Calamity, Thorium, Stars Above and Fargo's into an ungodly orgy and play that seizure simulator (Terraria) non-stop.
https://files.catbox.moe/p7wgn0.png
for writeanons to guide themselves and readeranons to confuse it with a W40K lore tablet

[Anonymous No.]

>>47578180
Better than not doing anything at all, but just barely.
You probably did miss some stuff but I can't remember what you missed so I'll leave that for other readers to point out.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47578180
Thanks for your hard work!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47578180
H-Hana's tower reached the abyss...

[Anonymous No.]

Word reached Eientei through visiting patients, gestating mothers who gossiped nonstop with the nurses, and soon the idea of an upcoming festival in the village—protest, but that part was eclipsed by the promise of good food, talks about concerts by some popular musicians, and a bunch of other bore—festered among the nurses on maternity leave—an opportunity to leave Eientei and explore the village, mystical in their rather sheltered eyes. Tewi hadn't liked that for motives I didn't care at the time—it didn't help she was quoting Tengu newspapers—but after a bunch of promises and sermons of dos and don'ts, the girls had a day off planned.

Thirty-seven of them went; most stayed due to fear of the unknown, the sluggishness of pregnancy or other motives, like the lack of a baby in their bellies, meaning they weren't on maternity leave.

Out of thirty-seven, only ten came back to Eientei.

I watched from afar the funeral the rabbits prepared for their lost, unconcerned about the frigid weather and snow under their galoshes as heavy crying, heartbroken hugs, and mumbled words were shared, petite ornamented urns—all empty: bodies lost in the traumatic infernos, pernicious vapors, and shellings; all irrecoverable. I don't believe it either—neatly placed on a beautiful spot amidst the bamboo—quite unnatural, too, rapidly attributed to Kaguya watching the little ritual from one of the infinitely shifting windows of Eientei—by the entrance, framed pictures and drawings of those that had passed away surrounded by trinkets and the various personal stuff they’d managed to gather following behind, and the eyes of the newborns most Inabas clutched to their chests watched it nonchalantly.

The survivors carried mochi, which they laid around the shrine, eyes shifting to the motionless Inaba matriarch standing silently before the memorial.

A rabbit litter typically consists of seven children, with a physical maximum of twenty-four. On top of twenty-seven staff members, then, it's safe to say another hundred eighty-nine unborn were lost, and it was visible in Tewi's eyes she felt each loss.

… Such a waste of my time, but I recognize the role I play for these nurses. Eientei doesn't function without them, and keeping the morale high, even through small gestures like the head physician witnessing their moment of grief, should mean something. Still, every Inaba lost in that festival will be replenished within the generation, so there's no concern…

Scowling for no apparent reason, I follow Tewi's nape as her gaze moves from picture to picture, her body relaxed; two smaller rabbits—non-pregnant; Sana and Sara, if I’m not mistaken—hugging her waist, crying their sorrows and mumbling prayers of safety to their human sister. Reisen stands a little behind, uneasy yet anguished; recent events have soured her relationship with the other nurses, but even she couldn't stay out of this funeral.

Sisters, nieces and mothers. All crying for lost kin, as is the fate of every mortal who chooses to continue the destructive cycle of existence.

… I tenderly caress my belly…

Fools, all of them. Life is precious, yet to get attached to it is nothing but a recipe for disaster—which is why, like their mother, all my perfect children will bear the gift of immortality. To leave to fate a choice rather than demand it, to erase it and rob it of its biological finality would be my greatest mistake as a soon-to-be mother of conquerors of solar systems whole and beyond. Infinite time, infinite possibilities and never, ever a chance that something might go wrong… It'd have sickened me in the faraway past, but now all I feel as I watch Tewi turn and see those teary eyes full of uncharacteristic lament and fury is pity. Pity of the fragile, perishable coil.

After the girls let her go and found solace in the arms of others, Tewi said words that buzzed softly in my ears, yet it intensified the crying and hugging with finality. I realized that my silent support here is no longer required, and I turn to go back inside and continue genetic research—remember to prepare for Yukari's next appointment—when, perplexingly, a few stray words catch me: “—The ones we lost, reclaimed by the earth, shall live in our hearts and through the children to come. The cycle will continue, and in each turn, we'll continue to love and respect the family, for it is the most important thing in the world, usa~” There were more, much more, marred by tears and words of comfort between her and the other nurses, but I didn't stay to listen.

Worthless idea—cycle of life: use and reuse are what define everything—finite. Their lineage is not an uroboros that'll persist through the sands of time; Ozymandias thought the same.

Neither has the intellect, the willpower nor resources I do; the universe—the biological Gap between everything—in the palm of my hand.

This infinite knowledge I've accumulated through millennia will not be erased by time.

Not while my perfect children and I remain.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47581036
just a little thing focusing on the rabbits post-festival and Eirin; peripheral chapters while I wait the big stuff.
scratching the itch before it grows too much...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47581036
Damn thats a lot of dead rabbit, Keine has already killed more of Anon's children than Yukari in one night than the sages entire scheme has accomplished

[Anonymous No.]

>>47581036
>crucified
Is that an Army of Lovers reference?
>Out of thirty-seven, only ten came back to Eientei.
Twenty seven dead rabbits, huh? Tewi won't be happy about that.
>Eirin villain monologue
Yawn, I know nothing is going to be done about it, since unlike with Okina Eirin being stupid it isn't the fault of he who must not be named, but I hate how Eirin is portrayed in this story. I was hoping that she would be excluded from the finale so I could ignore her but seeing her so callous here especially towards the death of unborn children, is really grating.
Tewi herself as also suffered, being the victim of the horny bunny meme and not doing much, which is more fine that Eirin being so evil since the story isn't about her. But I also can't see any version of Tewi not following up the death in the family with no response.
So is the plan for Tewi to participate in the finale or show up after festival but before the finale? If so, please reconsider, there's already enough going on and I don't think the Eientei plot will add much except for more bodies and plot threads that just exist.
If Tewi isn't going to show up later, why have this chapter at all? Honestly unless you can explain why exactly you wrote this, it doesn't feel very thought out and I'd rather it be non-canon so there isn't any weirdness with either Tewi not showing up later or the other writers having more on their plate then they already have, also less dead kids, there are too many dead unborn children in this story.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47582740
>So is the plan for Tewi to participate in the finale or show up after festival but before the finale?
Inaba are sidelined to support like the the grassroots
>If Tewi isn't going to show up later, why have this chapter at all?
For fun you autistic jackass, kill yourself for trying to police writers

[Anonymous No.]

>>47582740
>I just can't see any version of Tewi not following up the death in the family with no response
same reason I was against any of Yamame's family dying in the festival, there's just no scenario I can see where that happens and she just shrugs and says 'oh well.'
tewi's one of the smartest characters in the series and can definitely hold a grudge

[Anonymous No.]

>>47582819
First of all there is no need to be rude, and for Tewi personally multiple members of her family dying plus their unborn children is an escalation to the point where I find it unbelievable they would just stick to the sidelines.

>>47582825
I have the same complaints there as well, at the very least Keine might have their opposition in a potential sequel, but Yamamae and Tewi only staying to the sidelines when their family is getting killed is unbelievable.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47582740
>Is that an Army of Lovers reference?
yup
>Tewi won't be happy about that.
she's not, indeed
>canon
It's canon to the project, but you can see it as non-canon if it pleases your personal canon. I wrote it to continue the peripheral-story I have with Eirin and make a set-up. No one of Eientei shall show up during the Solstice to fight, it is the consensus.
>>47582825
the thing is, hold up a grudge against whom? Keine for being shot dead when Tewi herself knew from 'Tate's newspapers things in the village were reaching a boiling point? Miko for protecting who she could or Mokou for fighting Hieda/Sanae as people were being shelled, poisoned and fired at; the collateral damage she created during the fight, who Tewi doesn't even know if it killed some of her family? Hieda who's dead and his clan that's disgraced? Sanae for not dealing with Hieda earlier? Suzu for not inviting Yuuka and preventing a war? Or the revolution as a whole for trying to make a better Gensokyo for children the rabbits would consider their own family, as they also come from Anon?
Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity, and at this point someone like Tewi going around pointing fingers wouldn't do her or her grieving family any good, in- and out- of universe -- still, no matter how smart one is, resentment and frustration if left to simmer will indeed dwarf a logical mind with grudges~she knows, though, that the smart thing to do now is to mourn with her family.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47583744
>It's canon to the project, but you can see it as non-canon if it pleases your personal canon. I wrote it to continue the peripheral-story I have with Eirin and make a set-up. No one of Eientei shall show up during the Solstice to fight, it is the consensus.
I already said why I don't agree with it being canon, it makes so sense now for Tewi to be on the sidelines when things go down.
I understand the Eirin stuff is meant to be a peripheral-story, even if I don't like it, but I think this chapter goes a step too far in that it gives Tewi some form of motive for intervening.

>for trying to make a better Gensokyo for children the rabbits would consider their own family, as they also come from Anon?
I don't think Tewi is stupid enough to think that will work, she's been around since before Gensokyo was even a thing and she should know how dumb the revolution's ideas is.
Plus with Keine starting this whole thing and brainwashing people, Tewi would definitely oppose her on that alone. Now that her actions got 27+ rabbits killed, I don't see her ever liking Keine.
>Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity, and at this point someone like Tewi going around pointing fingers wouldn't do her or her grieving family any good, in- and out- of universe -- still, no matter how smart one is, resentment and frustration if left to simmer will indeed dwarf a logical mind with grudges~she knows, though, that the smart thing to do now is to mourn with her family.
Ah yes, the smart thing to do, sit on the sidelines and do nothing as Gensokyo crumbles around you and your family members drop like flies. Maybe I could understand if it was a handful of Inaba, but 27+ is too large a number to be overlooked and everything is going to shit anyways.
Besides the whole
>Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity
Makes no sense for Tewi to care about now since she didn't care about it earlier, it's a complete 180 in how she's been acting.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47584033
>I already said why I don't agree with it being canon[...]
it's okay, you don't need to agree, but your opinion won't change the chapter being canon to the project. If Hanaanon, who wrote Tewi first, doesn't like that portrayal of her he knows he can talk to me and I'll make the chapter non-canon. The revolutionaries vs. loyalists war has nothing to do with the Solstice beyond superficial connections; Eientei is neutral as a whole due to Eirin's experiments with Yukari; and going against Reimu and Yuuka or Yukari and Kasen is the opposite of what a smart rabbit concerned about the survival of her family would do.
>I don't think Tewi is stupid enough to think that will work[...]
different views on the character I suppose. I see her as someone who wouldn't be cynical enough to denounce all attempts to change the terrible status quo as total failures, especially not when it might benefit her growing family. She doesn't know about the brainwashing, though, and pinning 27 individual deaths on a person that died, came back after the bulk of deaths and fought the oni that committed genocide, shot Sanae and her apprentices and declared intents on total youkai extermination wouldn't help her cause in any shape or form. She liking or not Keine and the things she's doing doesn't matter, not when the fish starts rotting from the head, and she saw that firsthand during the birthday party.
>Ah yes, the smart thing to do[...]
things aren't going to shit. There's hope in the characters and family to be born, and throwing themselves to the wind in a fight against the likes of Reimu, Yuuka and Okina is the opposite of caring for family. There'll be a winner in the Solstice, and the rabbits will either latch to that winner for survival through Kaguya and Eirin or they'll hide in Eientei/The Bamboo Forest until the fire dies out and the winner stops hunting them. Maybe there'll be more or variations in Hanaanon's ending or someone else's, but I can't speak for them.
>Makes no sense for Tewi[...]
that sentence is just a way to perceive a difficult dilemma, like who's to blame for the war that took 27 relatives from her, and revolves around choosing the option with the fewer assumptions to it; it wasn't a statement about Tewi's character.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47586303
>the terrible status quo as total failures
Yes, but what Keine is doing is dumb and is going to get everybody killed if she succedes, the entire revolution is also her fault in the first place for starting it.
So yes, Keine is responsible for the things that happened at the festival.
>Eientei is neutral as a whole due to Eirin's experiments with Yukari; and going against Reimu and Yuuka or Yukari and Kasen is the opposite of what a smart rabbit concerned about the survival of her family would do.
Eh, Eientei needs the rabbits to run it's pharmacy and also for Tewi's protection from the Lunarians if they become a threat, I don't see Tewi ever blindly following Eirin and neither would the rabbits since they only answer to Eientei through Tewi. Worse case scenario for the rabbits they go to ground and stop providing Eientei with protection, but I don't think anybody would care enough to go after them or could.
>things aren't going to shit.
Have we been reading the same story? Things have only gotten worse so far and the light at the end of the tunnel is that somehow both Okina and Yukari will die and things will somehow work out a-okay.
Not that keeping them both alive is any better, they're both pure evil and need to go. Although I think the rabbits will be fine no matter what, if Eirin trusts Tewi to be able to keep Eientei away from the Lunarians she can probably keep it away from Yukari or Okina if she feels like it.
> like who's to blame for the war that took 27 relatives from her
Probably the woman who started a war in the village, as well as Heida and that woman's wife who's done nothing but enable her.
Maybe Suzu as well since she's also been enabling keine, but poor little Suzu is too sweet to hold anything against.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47586366
>1st, 2nd and 4th points
fair, everyone has their opinions.
>Have we been reading the same story?[...]
yes, we have, just have a different outlook on things. The project would've failed otherwise. Agreed the rabbits will be fine, they're like cockroaches at this point and gladly won't have to fear their children getting eaten~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47586545
>Seija
Cursed, but fairs fair, we can agree to disagree.
But things have been getting worse and worse, hopefully Gensokyo will survive the eventual apocalyptic battle and the sages all get killed and replace with people who aren't mass rapists.
Anyways have a good night.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47582740
I don't see why tewi would show up from reading all this stuff, if anything involving the lunar capital commenting and eyeballing the hse thanks to tewi somehow getting propaganda up there is canon then she's already being perfectly in character from her lightly mentioned lolk beef with the moonies. Getting herself involved would ruin any plans involve said beef with the moonies. A damn shame a few of her litter died but it won't be the last for a very long time, Daikoku is more important and using anon and hana in long term plans to get him back so long as the possibility seems open.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47586788
nta but I don't think any of that was ever mentioned in the story, to my knowledge it was only ever jokes and writeranons who would talk with the cirnofag who floated the idea.
Nothing explicit to my knowledge was written and now that they aren't here anymore it's like double triple not cannon.

[Anonymous No.]

It was roughly mid-morning when Hong Meiling walked into the library. Patchouli only half-caught her, since she was buried deep in the last few pages of Sekai's book, and she was determined to see it finished today. The space above their heads had, by this point, transformed from a veritable universe to what Patchouli imagined the universe to look like immediately following the Big Bang. There were so many glyphs floating above that they had begun to look less like a universe and more like an omnipresent light. It had gotten so bad that, on the last occasion that Remi had visited the library, she had immediately turned and ran before coming back with a parasol. This had then led to a short argument about whether or not Sekai's universe above their heads was better or worse than the sun outside.

In short, Patchouli was busy, and for that reason, she didn't give the new arrival the attention she should have. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, plenty of red hair and blue eyes, and that could only be Hong Meiling. "Wow. She wasn't joking." The girl said. "Remodel might be a bit of a weak word for this." Had Patchouli told Meiling about her plans regarding the library? Perhaps, but she'd been so buried in Sekai's book lately that she might have forgotten. "And...Wow. Like the sun up there. Hello~!?"

Patchouli placed a bookmark in Sekai's book and slammed it shut. The sound echoed in the library, making Koakuma - Busy switching around the labels for the piles of books she'd created when she thought Patchouli wasn't looking - jump. "I'm here." Patchouli said. The redhead turned her head to the side, then wandered over, burying her hands in the pockets of her dress. Dress...? Patchouli only spared her a glance before getting back to the plans laid out on her desk. "You're late, Meiling."

Silence followed her words. It stretched out, taking any chance of pretending it was normal with it. "...Is that right?" That...Wasn't Meiling's voice. Patchouli looked up, frowning. She looked like Meiling. She had the same blue eyes, the same sort of face, and the same red hair. Hers was far more unmanageable, it seemed. Patchouli had never seen Meiling with her hair sticking out in every direction quite like this before. Plus, she was missing Meiling's signature braids. For once, Patchouli found herself on the back foot. "Ah. Er, my apologies." She stammered, standing up straight. "You just-"

"Look like a certain someone? Trust me, I've heard it all before. Over and over." The girl who was not Meiling nodded quickly, raising her hands. "It's fine. Don't worry about it. Let's worry about something else, instead." She swept her arm back over the remains of the library. Her arm, Patchouli caught, was tightly bandaged. In fact, so was her stomach - Which Patchouli could see given the girl's attire. She wore a tank top that came most of the way down her body, though it was loose enough that it exposed her navel as she moved. Said navel was tightly wrapped in bandages at the moment, and when she turned slightly further to the side, Patchouli caught the barest hint of a wince. "You were expecting someone, right?"

Patchouli stepped out and around her desk, coming closer to the girl. "I was, yes. A Kurodani. You are...?"

"A Kurodani. Yep, that's me. Yams sent me up to get the preliminary stuff out of the way. She'd have come herself, but..." The Kurodani girl trailed off, and her hand unconsciously went to her bandaged arm. "She's got her hands full at the moment, and I volunteered." Yamame Kurodani had seemed perfectly fine when Patchouli had seen her. In fact, the injuries seemed a little beyond the scope of a minor accident. "Don't worry - She's fine, and her daughters are all fine, and so are her sisters. We're good for work."

Patchouli thought for a moment longer. There was only one likely cause for the injuries, and it had to be the exact event that the Kurodani sister Patchouli had spoken to previously was worried about.

"...The festival?" Patchouli asked, watching the redheaded Kurodani girl for her reaction. If it had all gone badly, she expected anger or annoyance. Perhaps fear or worry.

Instead...She got sadness. Sadness and pain. "Went to hell. Plenty of us got badly injured, and I know Yams thought that a few of us Kurodani girls died, but...Well, it was touch and go with a few of us, but we survived." The Kurodani girl trailed off for a moment. "...Others weren't so lucky." She looked...haunted as she took in a shaky breath and rubbed her eyes. "Why can't they all be like him...?" She whispered quietly.

Patchouli felt slightly tongue-tied, but pushed past it. "I apologise for bringing it up." She finally murmured. "We can move past it."

The redhead took in a sharp breath and wiped her eyes. "Right. Course. Yeah, let's move past it. So, the library is looking..."

"Feel free to speak your mind." Patchouli told the girl. "It's the only way we'll get anything done."

[Anonymous No.]

"Right! So, it looks like a bomb went off. I mean, that's nothing to us – We work in Former Hell, after all - but..." She thought for a moment. "Yams said that money was no object?"

"Correct."

"Great! So, it's your library. Any ideas? Requirements?" Patchouli thought about it. She had plenty of ideas, of course. So many that they'd have competed against the universe of glyphs crowding the ceiling. Narrowing them down had proven surprisingly tricky.

Still, first things first "I believe we will not be using this space any longer. Not only is it rather destroyed, but I am bound by the limitations of the rooms surrounding it. Do you handle excavation, too?"

The Kurodani girl leaned forward. "We don't, but we know someone who does. So...A basement, yeah? Somewhere underground?" Patchouli nodded silently. "I hear that this building's inside is bigger than the outside. Is that...?"

"Correct. The new library would have a much greater depth than the current library." Patchouli wondered...Would Sekai's new body be able to handle a fall in the new library? "And plenty else besides. Might I ask for your goals today?"

Yamame’s sister shrugged. "I'm mostly here to just get an idea of the place and what it is you want to do to it. You know, budget and things. Honestly, I wasn't supposed to be here at all, but..." But, Patchouli surmised, whichever Kurodani was supposed to be here was not currently in the right condition to make the meeting. Whatever had happened in the village, it had had repercussions. "A-Anyway, my little sister who was supposed to be here today was supposed to sketch out the area so that Yams knew what to work with, but I don't think it matters if we aren't working here at all. Plus, she lost an arm, so she's not too handy at the moment."

"I...See." Patchouli slowly replied. This particular Kurodani girl was rather confusing. "Fortunately, I suspected that this might be the case. Here," She turned back to her desk and lifted an envelope, "Are the assorted drafts. What this room looked like, what I would like to be taken into account when designing the new room, and what needs to be done in regards to scalability. Feel free to make a return trip if there is more you need."

Cheerfully, the Kurodani girl smiled widely. "Wow, you're all sorts of prepared, huh? Yams' husband would’ve loved you."

"So I hear." And again, Patchouli felt that itch in the back of her mind. Something, somewhere, bleeding through the fabric of reality. "Alas, I can only hear it, for I seem to have been just a little too late to meet him myself."

The youkai smiled again, but it was sad this time. "Yeah, you were a little too late. Still, that's humanity for you, I suppose. They make you love them, then die of old age before you know it." She sighed heavily. "Sorry, er, I didn't mean to be a downer. Or to dump all of my personal thoughts on you. I'll get this back to Yams, and she'll probably send someone over with contracts before long."

"Understood." Patchouli nodded. "My apologies once more for whatever tragedies befell you in the village. I am, unfortunately, well versed in going to the village and having a far worse experience than expected." Something that she was still a little worried Meiling wasn't dealing with as she should. Unlike Patchouli, Meiling had more or less just gone back to work as usual, standing in front of the same gate day after day as if she hadn't been stuck in the same building for a year.

"Yeah, thanks. Plenty of us got a little beaten up, but we can handle that. If there’s one thing you can trust a spider with, it’s getting the hell away when we know something’s getting too big. Majority of us scattered the second things kicked off, and us older ones rounded up the rest and got right out of there. Had to do a lot of calming Yams down before she tried to give those Hieda fuckers – What’s left of them, anyway - a disease that'd make her the most feared youkai in Gensokyo, but we got there eventually." The Kurodani girl shrugged again. "Course, I'll do anything for my wonderful little sister."

"I understand the feeling." Patchouli nodded, her fingers tracing Sekai's book. Remi and Flandre, too. Remi, despite her demeanour, would go to the ends of the Earth for Flandre if necessary. As would Flan. "I apologise for missing the mess in the village. I was very close to stopping by, and...I could have helped." Could have helped. Could have, unlike before. Unlike when she had spent a year in the HSE, watching and unable to help with anything. Unable to do something as little as placing a hand on Anon's shoulder when he sat in the room of the Shrine that must have been Hana Hakurei's room on the outside, tears rolling down his face as he stared at the wall emotionlessly.

[Anonymous No.]

"I think you did help, Miss Patchouli. More than you'd think.” The Kurodani girl looked torn between reaching out to pat her on the shoulder and keeping her hands to herself. “Just before things, uh, kicked off, Yams was telling me about her meeting with you. She said...She felt like you had brought the memories back very clearly. Said she would have given you a great big hug if she didn't think you'd roast her for it."

"She would be right." Patchouli replied dryly. "Maybe, if I'm feeling extremely magnanimous when the library is finished, I will reconsider. Do not bet on it, however." The redhead laughed, then laughed harder. Patchouli wondered for a brief moment if the girl was okay. Clearly, she had been through something in the village that had affected her dearly. "Ah, I almost forgot." Patchouli turned and lifted another envelope from the desk. "Remilia Scarlet has entrusted me with this. A gift of sorts, you might say. In honour of our new relationship." She handed the envelope over and watched the girl opposite her open it. She blinked, then pulled the envelope open further to check inside. Then, she slowly looked back at Patchouli. "I know not the habits of earth spiders...But we thought it might be appreciated. With some good humour, if nothing else." With a trembling hand, the earth spider extracted from the envelope some of its contents. Small and brown, the coffee granules slipped from her fingers back into the envelope.

"Th-This..." Her lip trembled, and she only managed to hold out long enough to seal the envelope and place it back down before she burst back into laughter until tears were streaming from her eyes and she was gasping for breath. Patchouli even found a slight smile escaping her lips. "O-Oh, okay...Thanks. Yams will love seeing that, and not because coffee is like aphrodisiac to us."

Patchouli rested her chin on her hand. "May I hazard a guess as to why?"

"Hmm. Sure." With a nod, her guest awaited Patchouli’s answer.

"Yamame's husband must have had his struggles with her love of coffee, too. More than likely, he complained at length about it. Is that correct?" Patchouli watched the spider. She didn't laugh this time, but her eyes took on a reminiscing quality.

"Yeah...Yeah, he did...He used to hide Yams' supply of coffee and she'd get to stomping around the house in a mood for the next few days, swearing to never speak to him again. Never lasted, of course." Patchouli silently nodded. "That was them, I suppose. Never argued about anything for more than a few days, and then it was back to loving each other to death. Ah..." Rubbing her eyes, the redhead sighed despondently. "Sorry. I know it's not what I'm here to discuss."

"It's fine." Patchouli replied. "Those who leave us live in our memories." She opened Sekai's book, then extracted another sigil from it, which she sent up to join the rest crowing the significantly more expanded library roof. Another reason to get the plans for the new library in place as soon as possible. This was not sustainable, and even Sakuya's impressive skills at bending space could only stretch so far before collapsing in on itself.

"Well...As long as I don't forget my memories, I guess." The Kurodani girl mumbled, still looking like she needed comforting. It wasn't exactly Patchouli's wheelhouse. "I don't want to forget my funny human brother."

It might not have been Patchouli's wheelhouse, but... "Stories." She replied, making the earth spider blink in confusion. "Stories are what keep us alive. What keeps our memories alive. Stories are where our memories go when we can remember no more." She smiled thinly. "Just make sure it's a good story, hmm?"

The spider stared at her silently, her eyes wide. Then, she shakily nodded. After another moment of silence, she drew in a sharp breath and clapped her hands together. "Right! Sorry, sorry, I've spent too long rambling. I'll get these back to Yams and we'll go from there. Well, as long as she doesn't decide that she needs to go and get some revenge for the girls that got injured, but I'm working on that!" She slipped the envelope into her clothes and took hold of the thicker envelope with all of the details. "Thanks for putting all of this together, Miss Patchouli. It'll save us a whole lot of back-and-forth." She bowed slightly, her red hair bouncing in every direction. "Right, I'll be off, then. Thanks again." She waved, then spun and headed for the door.

At this point, she walked into a mirror.

[Anonymous No.]

With twin cries, The redheaded youkai stumbled backward as her Chinese mirror image did the same. Both pressed a hand to their foreheads, groaning and whining. "Ouch..." Meiling mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. She cracked an eye open, then paused to stare blankly. "Um..." Perhaps just to take the joke even further, her mirror image reached out toward her at the same time. Right as they were about to connect, Meiling jumped back, falling into a offensive stance. "W-Who the hell are you!? Why do you look like O- Like me?" Opposite her, the other redhead rubbed her forehead and groaned. "I wasn't re-examining my self today." Meiling had jumped past the doors of the library, so Patchouli couldn't catch sight of her anymore. Idly, she thought to herself that there was a serious concentration of redheads in the library today. "What are you? A trick? A trap!? Have you hurt Lady Patchouli!?"

"Er..." The Kurodani girl mumbled, wiping a stray tear from her eye. "I'm just a humble earth spider..." Meiling's voice stopped then, so Patchouli wandered around to get a better look. The Chinese gatekeeper was staring at her opposite in confusion, and the confusion only deepened when Patchouli stepped around to the spider’s shoulder. The girl was taller than her, but Patchouli reached up to tap her on the shoulder and clear her throat regardless. "Oh! Um, sorry, yeah..." The earth spider nodded hurriedly and stepped forward. "Hello! You must be Miss Meiling. I've, er, heard a lot about you - For one particular reason." She raised her free hand to indicate her hair and face. "I'm, er, Kurodani. Just, um, here to pick up some documents for the library project, so I'll be off now." Nodding rapidly, the redhead hurried toward Meiling, who just about relaxed from her offensive pose, looking mystified. They passed, looking at each other, and Patchouli stared in amazement at the sheer similarity between the two.

And after that, the Kurodani representative was gone. Meiling stared back in confusion, then over at Patchouli. "What...Um, Lady Patchouli, was that a clone?"

"A clone?" Patchouli repeated incredulously. "Meiling, if I were to create a clone of you, that would not be her dress sense." Shaking her head, she strode over to Meiling, who managed to wander into the library. "I detest coincidence, but from my understanding, she truly is the biggest one of all. A girl who looks exactly like you. She's with the Kurodani, and they're going to be working on the library."

Meiling blinked, then looked around. "The li- Ah! The library!"

Of course, the library's current state was nowhere near as bad as it had been days earlier. Koakuma had made heady progress in sorting the books that had been scattered everywhere, and she'd even gotten it into her head to do some adventuring, which had involved donning a very impractical-looking outfit and venturing into those black spaces where the floor had collapsed so that she could search for more books that had fallen into the strange non-space left behind by Sakuya's space alterations. After the first of those trips had ended with Patchouli whacking her in the head with a book and forcing her to tie a rope to her waist in case she accidentally fell out of reality somehow, she had taken a slower approach and had, in fact, recovered a number of tomes. From there, she'd decided that the current state of the floor was an unacceptable hazard and had decided to do the Kurodani family's job for them, cutting away the jagged ends of the floor into something a little smoother. Patchouli had been forced to redirect her back into sorting the books before she made Patchouli's plans for moving the whole library further into the basement levels pointless.

All that to say, the library was still a bombed out mess, but a slightly more habitable one. Of course, Meiling was seeing it for the first time, so Patchouli wasn't all that surprised at her reaction. "But - I mean - This..." The gatekeeper slowly turned back to her. "Your spell did...this?"

"My incomplete, hazardous, sleep-deprived mess of an experiment, yes. It won't be going down as one of my greatest moments, I'm afraid to say." Patchouli shook her head and sighed. "Fortunately, everything immediately useful, as well as enough of the floor to stand on, survived. I hate troublesome things, and doing all of this in the air above that void over there would certainly be troublesome enough."

Meiling scratched her head and nodded. "I...I see. But...Did the ceiling go, too? It's really bright in here, Lady Patchouli."

Patchouli frowned at her. "Have you, and forgive me if this is an outlandish suggestion, but have you tried looking up?" Meiling flushed immediately, then did as she suggested and looked up, shielding her eyes with her hand. At first, she didn't say anything. Then, she managed to let out a weak gasp that slowly grew in intensity until it was a cry of surprise and wonder.

[Anonymous No.]

"Th-That's - That's a whole...that's the night sky, Lady Patchouli!" Meiling cried. "It's so beautiful! Like constellations and star systems! Is that...I mean, is it from...?"

Patchouli tutted in slight annoyance. "Yes. It is indeed the pint-sized annoyance's book. All the spells required to bring her body to life, separated and sorted. It has taken no small amount of work to bring things to this stage, and some sacrifices." Patchouli reached up, intending to adjust her cap. Instead, her hand knocked against her head and she muttered some curse under her breath.

That, apparently, was enough to draw Meiling's attention back. "Oh, I was going to ask about that, too! Your...Your head, Lady Patchouli..."

"Yes?" Patchouli testily asked. "Is there something the matter? It is still connected to my shoulders, or so it was the last time I checked."

"No, no, it's just...You're not wearing your hat." And indeed, Patchouli was not wearing the hat that had made its home on her head for decades. Instead, she'd - Somewhat embarrassingly - Had to enlist Sakuya and Koakuma to assist her in managing the long strands of her hair which she typically only tied at the front. They'd pulled them back into a ponytail that was tied with a rather ornate bow. It was a look that Patchouli had only ever sported once in her life, when she was a twenty-something year old witch just feeling things out for the first time. Wearing it again felt like putting on an old face from a past long discarded, and it was taking her some time to get used to it.

"I'm trying something out." She grumbled to Meiling, opting not to explain.

"R-Right..." Meiling replied weakly, adjusting her own cap. "It - Um, I think it looks quite good on you, Lady Patchouli."

Patchouli blinked, then stammered as Meiling's words filtered through her mind. "Ah - Er, I...Thank you, Meiling." She shook her head and got back on track. "Well, I've not called you here specifically so you can compliment my appearance. Come with me." She beckoned Meiling with one finger, turning and floating in the direction of her desk, upon which sat Sekai's book. "I've been busy, these last few days. Sekai's book is quite the challenge, and I've had no shortage of distractions. Still, I believe I've made the majority of the progress I needed to make in order to fashion Sekai's body. The ingredients are all gathered and in stasis, and now it is simply a matter of finding a time when the stars align."

"When the stars align?" Meiling asked, stopping in front of the desk and Patchouli slid into her seat. "Are you that busy?"

"No, Meiling. That wasn't a euphemism." Patchouli shook her head tiredly. "Fortunately, the East Wing is relatively undamaged, and I don't plan to perform the ritual until the stars have aligned just right." When dealing with something as esoteric and poetic as alchemy, it was best to make use of every available resource. "I need a clear night. One where the constellation of Aquarius is in sight. Particularly, the stars Sadalmelik and Sadalsuud. They...signify luck and fortune." As she'd been reiterating to herself the whole time, nothing could go wrong. Those stars might just grant her the edge she needed to perfectly pull the ritual off. Of course, it was the wrong time of year for seeing Aquarius, but she would have to make do. Another good constellation would be Canopus, which was at least slightly more likely. Patchouli looked down at Sekai's book, then flipped to a new page.


Tonight.


That was all that was written. Still, it told Patchouli far more than one word could. She grit her teeth and sucked in a breath. "Um...Lady Patchouli...?" Meiling tentatively asked as Patchouli screwed her eyes shut. "Is something-"

Patchouli's eyes snapped open. "Koakuma!" She yelled. Meiling jumped, and across the room, Koakuma did too. "Fetch the enchanted bag I left in SSL-4!" She gathered up Sekai's book, shoving it back into the non-space generated by the sigil on her arm, and swept out from behind the desk.

"L-Lady Patchouli, what are you-?" Meiling tried to ask, moving toward her.

"There's been a change of plans. Or rather, I've suddenly been made aware of our current fate. Tonight is the best chance we'll get, and we need to move." Patchouli floated across the room. Meiling stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, then shook her head and hurried to keep pace. "I've no reason to believe that the brat is incorrect when it comes to fate. If she says that the best time is tonight, then we have little time to prepare. The sun sinks low already, Meiling. Are you with me?" She looked back at the gatekeeper. "Are you with me, Meiling?"

[Anonymous No.]

"I-I..." Meiling stammered, then narrowed her eyes and nodded, her jaw clenched. "Always, Lady Patchouli."

"Good. Come with me. We need to move to the East Wing, and we'll need to open the observatory. I need to see the stars. " Patchouli sped up, shooting through the less damaged bookshelves of the library, full of grimoires, Outside World history, and non-fiction. Meiling broke into a sprint behind her, keeping pace easily. The library had expanded over the years since Patchouli had last used the East Wing, and it meant that the journey there was longer than the entire mansion was from the outside, but eventually Patchouli found herself in a clear, open space. Bookshelves still surrounded, gargantuan things reaching up to the ceiling, but they left an open space in the middle that was perfect for Patchouli's needs. Thankful that she had long since treated this area with inflammable properties, Patchouli swept an arm out toward Meiling. "Stand back." Patchouli extended her hand over the space. Pausing for a moment to place the spell in her mind, she watched as an octagonal set of magical barriers erected themselves in the centre of the space, reaching almost out to the edges. Not enough for anything major, but perfect for her next spell. "And for my next trick..." She murmured under her breath, drawing in a deep breath which she held in her lungs. She snapped her fingers and swung her hand outward, and a torrent of flame issued forth, burning through the space she had just set up.

"Wah!" Meiling cried. "L-Lady Patchouli, wasn't the library damaged enough!?" The gatekeeper nearly jumped back, but when she noticed that Patchouli seemed entirely unsurprised by the goings on, she hesitantly relaxed her body. "I...Lady Patchouli, what is this...?"

Deeming the space sufficiently cleansed, Patchouli muttered another spell under her breath. Instantly, the space in the centre was momentarily turned into a vacuum, and the fire winked out of existence. For how intense these spells sounded, they weren't all that useful in combat. The shield was too weak. The fire both uncontrollable and too costly to her stamina. The vacuum spell lasted for too short a period to do anything to a target. They were better as household spells, to her amusement. "Sterilisation, Meiling. Ah, hold on."

She raised her hands once more, encasing both Meiling and herself inside another set of barriers. This part was always unpleasant, but for this sort of alchemy, with this sort of all important objective, it felt necessary. Like an all-important medical procedure. Before Meiling could ask, Patchouli snapped her fingers and drenched both of them in a torrent of localised rain. It was freezing cold, like icicles in her skin and her clothing. Meiling shrieked loudly, but Patchouli held the spell for a second longer before dispelling it and looking over. The drenched gatekeeper looked back, confused and miserable. Patchouli raised yet more barriers. First, she sent an even more powerful flame spell through the first barrier, drying the pair of them instantly. Then, she sent another vacuum spell running through the whole thing, extinguishing the second fire and leaving Patchouli dried, if a little scattered. Meiling, meanwhile, just looked completely mystified, her red hair scattered in different directions. "I - What...?" Meiling asked blankly.

Patchouli shrugged. "Sterilisation. We are creating a living body, after all. Even if it may be just a shell for the moment, there's no sense bringing it into being in a dirty area." She stepped forward, clasping her hands behind her back as she walked across the warm floor toward the centre of the room. "Now..." She murmured under her breath. "How to set this up...?" She stalked the centre of the room, thinking. There were a rather expansive selection of ingredients involved, so a simple table wouldn't cover it. The space itself would do, but even for the circle, she needed something with meaning. Patchouli summoned Sekai's book into her hand, then looked over her shoulder and offered the book to Meiling. "If you would be so kind." She said, nodding as Meiling hesitantly took the book from her.

"What...am I doing with it?" The gatekeeper asked hesitantly. Patchouli sharply told her to open it. "Um, okay..." The tell-tale rustle of pages turning signified that she had done so.

[Anonymous No.]

There was no sound other than Patchouli pacing across the floor for a moment. Finally, Patchouli frowned. "Meiling? Well?" She looked back, only to find that the gatekeeper had frozen. Her gaze was fixed upon the book, and she didn't seem to be moving. "What?" Patchouli asked, feeling a little bit testy. "Meiling, what is wrong with you?" The magician stomped over, wondering what the annoying brat of the HSE had done to cause this reaction. "Let me see." She told Meiling, only to realise that the gatekeeper was holding the book at a height where Patchouli couldn't quite see inside it properly. Huffing to herself, Patchouli floated up to Meiling's height so she could see inside the book properly. "What...?" She trailed off, looking inside the book.

A drawing covered the page, bright and colourful in a way that made Patchouli certain that she should have seen it earlier. In it, a small child tightly hugged Meiling, in an outdoor environment that looked like mountains. The scenery was identical to that within Meiling's memories of China. Written next to it, in suitably childish writing, were the words 'You can do it, Mother!' Really, it was no wonder that it had all but frozen Meiling. It was just about perfectly tailored to her. Patchouli knew by now that the child could have written that in a very different way that might have appealed more to Patchouli herself, should she need some encouragement. Was that what this was, then? How did this serve Meiling? She wouldn't have stumbled upon it now unless it had meaning.

Meiling stared at it, looking surprisingly misty-eyed. Patchouli observed as she sniffed, then clenched her jaw for a moment and nodded. "I, um...Yeah. Yeah, we'll save her."

"We already resolved to do that. Are you going to need constant encouragement the whole way through? Meiling, you are capable, and you are strong enough to know you'll succeed without Sekai reassuring you every few minutes." Patchouli had to float slightly so that she could tell Meiling properly, but the gatekeeper smiled back. "Good, now turn it to the next page. The brat will tell me what I need to know, or I'll see to it that her first experiences of the real world are performing prep work in the kitchens." Meiling laughed a little, then turned the page.


I think you need to set it up like the ones you've used in the past? Um, sorry, but I don't really understand how these sorts of things work. But...as for what you need to use...I think you know already.


Patchouli stared at the book as if willing it to reveal something of actual use to her. She knew what it meant. It was obvious. This wasn't just alchemy, after all. It was a ritual. A summoning and a transmutation all in one. She knew what she needed to do, but it was hard to bring herself to do it. Examining her mind, she was fairly sure that it was an aversion brought about by the injuries she'd sustained leaving the HSE. Still, she had made a promise and she was committed to seeing it through. And that meant... "Blood." Patchouli murmured. "We need to use our blood."

Meiling turned to her, eyes wide as saucers. "Our...blood?" Patchouli nodded grimly. "I...okay. Um, how much? I don't think you've got that much to spare..."

Patchouli probably should have smacked her for that remark, but she let it slide. After all, for someone as anaemic as her, it wasn't exactly incorrect. "For something such as this..." She stared at the available space, thinking. "Not...an overly large amount. I think." Even to herself, she didn't sound very confident. Matters of blood were always tricky. "It's best if we start before we lose our nerve." Patchouli swallowed, then paused as she heard footsteps from the distance. Turning, she watched as Koakuma performed something midway between a run and a stagger, dragging the massive case that contained all of the ingredients Patchouli had collected. "Ah, perfect timing."

Meiling turned too, looking at the exhausted little devil. "That case...? Is that the one from-"

"SSL-4, yes. Secure Storage Locker, number four." Patchouli placed a finger on the case and quickly solved the locking algorithm she had placed on it. Immediately, the case popped open, revealing the bag that Patchouli had placed inside it containing all of the ingredients she had settled on. "I decided that the risk of unpleasant reactions was high enough for it to need safe storage. Now, Koakuma, would you please fetch me a bowl? A large one." Koakuma, hunched over and resting her hands on her knees, looked up and nodded, apparently too out of breath to verbally signal her agreement.

Thus, a few minutes later, Patchouli and Meiling stood waiting. Meiling was still looking at Sekai's book in wonder, flipping through the pages randomly. "So...She's been leaving you messages through this the whole time?" The gatekeeper slowly asked. “I thought it was just that note that fell out of the book when we first checked it.”

[Anonymous No.]

"Yes." Patchouli muttered, concentrating on stimulating the blood production in her body. "Mostly annoying, inconsequential, borderline unhelpful messages, but yes. She has apparently come to the conclusion that I cannot be trusted to act without needing her to commentate on my every action, thus most of the messages are inane nonsense. And she's still grounded."

The rustle of a page being turned. "Oh." Meiling exclaimed. "She didn't like that..."

"No, I doubt it. Unfortunately, considering I – We – are quite literally bringing her into this world, I'm getting the final say." Patchouli fell silent for a moment, thinking about what she was about to do. "Meiling." She finally murmured. "I apologise for not showing you the book earlier. It is as much yours as it is mine, and you deserved to be able to see it too." She turned to look at the gatekeeper, who was staring at her with the book open in one hand.

"Lady Patchouli..." Meiling replied, slowly closing the book. "It's okay. I'm...I know that you needed it so you could work on these rituals and things. I'll get to see Sekai all I want when we pull this off." She looked determined. Good. That was good. They would succeed. "Sekai said that she’s sorry she didn’t get to speak to me more often, too, but she knew that making sure she gets brought through to the real world was more important. So, it's okay if you need to take the book for now." She handed the book over to Patchouli, who flipped it open and looked down. Fortunately, with the veritable universe taking up the entire roof of the library, she could see the words in the book just fine.


I'm looking forward to seeing you both in the real world, too. Good luck with the ritual, Mother.


Patchouli flipped to the next page, certain she already knew what would be there.


Oh, but...I suppose I already know how it comes out!


"Little brat." Patchouli muttered, trying hard to ignore the slight smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

"L-Lady - Lady Patch-" Patchouli looked up from the book, finding Koakuma jogging back toward them, her face completely red and sweaty. A large bucket was clutched in her hands. It seemed that she couldn't quite get full words out anymore. "I've - Bucket..."

Patchouli nodded. "Thank you, Koakuma. Sit down and catch your breath. Your assistance might be necessary later." Almost definitely, Patchouli thought to herself darkly. This was dangerous magic - The kind that intersected science and fantasy. Her blood and Meiling's blood were the key that would set them upon the path of eventually bringing Sekai through to this world.

And unfortunately, Patchouli was an anaemic with not much blood to spare.

Doubly unfortunately, she was out of time for alternative approaches. "Okay. We've only a short amount of time to set things up. Meiling, come over here." Patchouli lifted the bucket magically, then settled it on the ground in front of her and Meiling.

Drawing in a breath, the magician pulled her hair away from the front of her clothes, then shrugged her robes off. Underneath, she wore a second gown with short sleeves, which left her arms, pale from lack of sunlight, exposed to the air of the library. "Um, Lady Patchouli, are you sure about this...?" Meiling asked hesitantly. "Couldn't we find someone else who means as much to Sekai? Maybe, um...the Shrine Maiden's daughter...?" It was a question borne out of concern for Patchouli's health, which made it useless in this context.

"No." Patchouli muttered, reaching into the storage locker and withdrawing a wickedly sharp knife that she had sterilised right after returning from her gathering mission. With a grim smile, she raised it to her arm and looked up at the gatekeeper, her eyes full of concern. "It has to be me. Someone else might get it wrong."

And with that, she sliced her arm open.

The burning pain was practically nothing. As if Patchouli wasn't used to some measure of pain after the time spent in the HSE. She clenched her fist, watching the blood flow down it. At the end of her fist, it dripped freely, landing in the bucket. Reaching back into the storage locker with her free hand and forcing her body to remain still, Patchouli withdrew the backup knife that she had kept in there. This, she offered to Meiling, who was watching her with wide eyes. Her arms were stuck somewhere halfway toward Patchouli, like she couldn't decide whether to help or not. "Your turn, Meiling." Patchouli muttered through gritted teeth. "It has to be both of us. I need you." Meiling stared for a second longer, then swallowed and reached out, taking the knife from the magician. "Do hurry, if you wouldn't mind." She indicated her arm, awash with red liquid. "The clock, I should say, is ticking."

"R-Right. Understood, Lady Patchouli." Over to her other side, Koakuma watched with wide eyes, but didn't speak or attempt to interfere. She was a good assistant, after all.

[Anonymous No.]

Meiling took in a breath. Then, her face hardened. Her jaw clenched and her nose flared, and suddenly it was no longer the sleepy gatekeeper kneeling next to her, but the warrior. "Look at me, Meiling." Patchouli whispered even as Meiling raised the knife to her forearm. "Remember why we're doing this." She glanced down at the bucket, where the bottom was already coated in a layer of blood. The flow of blood was faster than she'd anticipated.

"How could I forget?" Meiling murmured back. Still staring into Patchouli's eyes, Meiling's arm suddenly moved. The way her eyes twitched and a slight grimace came over her became the only indication that Patchouli recieved. She spared a glance down and found that the gatekeeper bled now too, the flow running down her arm and dripping from her extended fingers into the bucket to join Patchouli. "How much do you think we'll need?" Meiling asked in a whisper.

Patchouli tried to think. A decent amount. Enough for a modified summoning circle large enough to channel the right amount of power through it. It'd be big. "Enough for a relatively even mixture." She replied. "We will have to perform the ritual quickly, or I may...pass out from the blood loss. Anaemia is a tricky mistress..."

Meiling's clear blue eyes intensified. "We'll make it, Lady Patchouli." She told her. In the blink of an eye, she moved her bleeding arm. She shifted it forward, and before Patchouli could blink, the gatekeeper was prying her fingers loose. “Just – Just hold on with me.”

"Ah - No, the blood flow..." Patchouli mumbled, unable to do anything with her hands to particularly stop the action. "What are you...?" And suddenly, Meiling's hand slipped into hers. She intertwined their fingers, both of their hands slick with blood. Taking her hand tightly, Meiling squeezed it. "A-Ah...I see..." Increased blood flow, and a reassurance that they would see things through. Perhaps Patchouli did need that. The blood continued to drip down, and Patchouli tried her best to keep track of how much they needed. And finally, after several more minutes where Meiling squeezed Patchouli's hand, Patchouli finally sat back and breathed out heavily. Her vision was slightly blurry. Her breathing slightly too heavy. "Okay. Okay, Meiling, you can let go." Meiling seemed not to hear her at first, though she relinquished her grip a moment later.

Now, a small amount of the bucket was filled. It didn't seem like much, but Patchouli was fairly sure that it was enough for their needs. "Let me..." She began, pausing to take another deep breath. "Let me see your arm." They both still bled freely, but they couldn't spare all the free time for careful healing. "A quick solution..." Patchouli murmured, bringing her finger to her own wound. Gritting her teeth, she summoned flames, forcing out a hiss under her breath as they cauterised the wound. It wasn't even healing by any metric, but it would keep her from bleeding for now. Meiling didn't hesitate to offer Patchouli her arm, and Patchouli repeated the process. Meiling didn't even blink. Her tolerance was strong.

With the blood flow halted, Patchouli could refocus. At least, she could do her best. She was already hazy and struggling slightly, and if she'd had more time, she would have prepared better. She would have at least ensured that Sakuya was at hand for both healing purposes and for being able to ensure that Patchouli and Meiling could keep going. "Need...focus..." She gasped, cursing her weak body. After a few seconds, she succeeded in drawing some measure of control back. Forcing herself forward, she shoved a hand into the locker once more and dragged out a brush. This was mostly territory only charted by the insane and the desperate. Right now, Patchouli felt like she was both. "Meiling, I need you." She said, forcing herself up. "We need to open the ceiling. Koakuma can tell you how." She nodded to the little devil, who straightened up and offered a salute. "I'll draw the circle. When we're both done and everything is ready, then both of us will power it, together. It's the only way."

"Lady Patchouli..." Meiling murmured, looking at her with wide eyes. "You're shaking slightly..." True, she was weakened, but it would take far, far more than that to keep her from seeing this through.

"I'm fine. Get moving, or we run the risk of me not being fine by the time we finish." Meiling clenched her jaw and nodded, then turned and hurried over to Koakuma. The ceiling here needed to be pulled back before the night truly enveloped the world. It was very possible that Patchouli would need to do some weather manipulation to ensure that the sky above the Scarlet Devil Mansion remained clear and true, and she needed the extra time to account for it.

[Anonymous No.]

She itched to bring out Sekai's book, if only to confirm that she was on the right path. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she mercilessly crushed it. The path she pursued was right. She didn't need the reassurance. Sekai's words could come later.

As for now, she dipped her brush into the bucket of blood and began to draw. It was mentally taxing work. Not only did she have to compose the circle on the fly, but she had to do it while woozy and struggling to think straight. Twice more, she forced herself not to bring out Sekai's book. The idea seemed distasteful. This - This was Patchouli's side of the bargain. It just wouldn't have been right if she'd required even more of Sekai's help to pull it off. The help Sekai's book had provided already was more than enough.

Up above her, she heard an echoing grinding noise. She spared a glance upward, squinting, and felt a small smile overtake her as she saw the gears - Maintained by Sakuya, of course - begin to move. During Remi's moon excursion, the fairies had opened the rooftop by using large ropes. This had felt a little bit inelegant to Patchouli, so she had gone ahead and devised something a little less strenuous. Satisfied by the sight of the evening sky beginning to pour through the widening crack in the ceiling, Patchouli looked back down and continued to paint the circle across the floor. The coppery tang of blood filled her nostrils and she grimaced, trying her best to speed up.

The blood loss was getting the best of her, though. It had been too much, too quickly. Stupid of her, and now she was using most of her focus just to keep herself moving. It was all that mattered - Finishing the circle. Performing the ritual.

Save Sekai.

Just save the child.

It was all that...


"...-Dy Patchouli!" Patchouli blinked. She was staring at a dark sky. But...it had been evening just a second ago. "Lady Patchouli!" Why was she lying down? What...She blinked. No, she wasn't lying down. She'd collapsed. "Lady Patchouli, can - Can you hear me?" And that was Meiling, kneeling and resting Patchouli's head in the crook of her arm while she held the magician's body up slightly. "You - You collapsed. It was - Koakuma says it must have been your anaemia..."

"...Stop fussing, Meiling..." Patchouli murmured. She forced her head up, squinting tiredly. "We aren't finished..." She murmured, trying to force her body upright again. "The ritual needs to happen when the moon is above us. That's when we have our best chance, and..." Finally, what had happened to her filtered through. "And I've been asleep too long. You should have woken me up sooner." She blamed her Remnant self. That girl had a level of endurance that the real Patchouli just didn’t have thanks to her physical limitations.

Meiling frowned deeply as she helped Patchouli sit up. "You didn't look good, Lady Patchouli! I was worried that waking you up too soon would be dangerous..."

"Not, Meiling, as dangerous as failing to craft Sekai's body." Patchouli growled. The circle was so close, too. And...the blood in the bucket was only going to be good for a short time longer. If they didn't finish the circle right now, then they would have to bleed again, and if they had to bleed again...Patchouli wouldn't see it through. "We have precious little time left, now. Meiling, I need you. You have to help me finish the circle."

Meiling nodded immediately. "Of course, Lady Patchouli!" And the gatekeeper wrapped Patchouli's arm around her shoulder, then hoisted her up with her other arm. Even though the motion made Patchouli's head swim slightly, she pushed through, grabbing the brush when Meiling offered it back to her. Carefully kneeling, supported all the while, Patchouli wet the brush with the mixture of blood once more.

"Koakuma..." Patchouli murmured. The little devil had been standing by, her face full of concern and her mind seemingly torn between rushing over or not. "When I finish the circle...I'll need a burst of energy. I need...I need you to do that for me. Can you handle that?"

Koakuma straightened up, concern and excitement warring in her face. "I - If you're sure, Lady Patchouli, then I'll do my best!" It was something that Patchouli had always forbade Koakuma from doing. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury of choice anymore.

Patchouli had Meiling lower her so she could continue filling out the scripture between the points of the star which stretched across the entire circle. "Lady Patchouli..." Meiling whispered to her as Patchouli reached the final stages of the circle. "Isn't this pushing you too hard? What if you pass out halfway through the ritual...?" It was a point worth considering. The library's destruction had come about that exact same way, after all.

[Anonymous No.]

"I've considered that, Meiling." Patchouli muttered in reply. "And I've decided that it won't happen." Meiling didn't seem pleased with that answer. Unfortunately, it was the only one that Patchouli was giving. "Here..." She murmured, scraping up more blood on her brush to finish the last of the scriptures. They'd let her smoothly summon all of the glyphs related to body creation across the library, leaving the rest intact for when she needed to compress them down for Sekai's awakening. "Thank you for worrying about me, Meiling." She whispered as she drew in the last few characters. "It's a different feeling compared to Sakuya or Remi's worrying. I find...that it isn't one I am wholly opposed to."

"W-Wow, Lady Patchouli. Um, you're welcome." Meiling stammered in reply. When Patchouli spared her a glance, it was to find that the gatekeeper's cheeks were red. Forcing her gaze back down, Patchouli finally brushed in the final lines of scripture using the very last of their blood.

As soon as it was done, she gasped, feeling the magic flow through her. She had just made an offer to forces beyond her. Now, she had to prove that she could hold her side of the bargain. Unfortunately, she was very weak at the moment, and sagged in Meiling's arms immediately. Koakuma..." She croaked. "Need...you..."

Ritual circles like these didn't care where your magic came from. They just cared that you could feed them enough for what you had bargained for. "Yes, Lady Patchouli!" Her little devil cried, rushing forward and dropping to Patchouli's side. "I'll do it now!" She reached for Patchouli, but Meiling shied away unthinkingly.

"Let her, Meiling..." Patchouli whispered through lidded eyes.

Meiling, though her mouth was in an unhappy line, nodded and let Koakuma get closer. The little devil gently took Patchouli's body from Meiling and cradled her to her chest. "I hid the tea bags, Lady Patchouli." She whispered, smiling cheerfully.

Patchouli tried to force some sort of disapproving noise out, but failed. "Strung up...for eight hours." She whispered. "Do it, Koakuma."

Succubi had a number of tricks up their sleeves for attracting and preying on their targets. Disguises, auras, magical words...even a seductive smile issued in the right place. Once they had their prey, they could go a step further. A kiss from a succubus could bolster a male's sexual arousal tenfold. A bite, however...Koakuma was not a particularly good succubus when measured against others of her species. She loved books, and she struggled with those typical seduction tricks, due in part to an atypical lack of interest. This, perhaps, was why Patchouli kept her around. However, those innate techniques still existed within her.

Koakuma gently tilted Patchouli's head up and lowered her head. Her lips brushed against Patchouli's neck. And then, she bit down.

Patchouli's eyes flew open and she jerked out of Koakuma's grip, collapsing to the floor even as she forced a huge breath through her lungs. Her body felt like it was on fire, and she felt her every limb seizing up for what felt like an eternity. Heat rushed through her, and for a split-second, she forgot what was happening. "L-Lady Patchouli!" Meiling cried. Still gasping in deep breaths, Patchouli managed to focus her gaze.

Koakuma and Meiling. The ritual circle surrounding them. She only had until the aphrodisiac that was currently pumping adrenaline through her body wore off. Raising a hand to her neck, she wiped the blood from Koakuma's bite away. "Thank you, Koakuma. That will be enough to get me through this. Meiling, get up! We've no time to waste." Patchouli hopped to her feet, feeling like she could run the length of Gensokyo. Forcing herself to remain calm, she strode forward. Adrenaline like this only made her feel as if she was fine. She was still dangerously low on blood. "Koakuma, I would advise standing back." Patchouli murmured to her little devil, who nodded and jumped back to the edge of the bookcases surrounding the open space. She was breathing heavily, too. Patchouli had never asked something like this from her before, and she supposed that the succubus might not have been used to it.

"Lady Patchouli...Are you sure you're okay?" Meiling asked slowly, watching as Patchouli walked back and forth, inspecting the circle surrounding them. "You looked very weak a moment ago."

"Okay?" Patchouli repeated, crouching down and checking one section of the circle. "Not in the slightest. I've drained a sizable amount of my blood, and I didn't have much to spare in the first place. The adrenaline will get me through, but I will likely pass out not long afterward."

"But...a succubus..." Meiling hesitantly replied.

She seemed to find it a bit of a sticking point. "Yes, Meiling. A succubus. The adrenaline is what matters. If you must know, I am also experiencing a heightened state of sexual arousal. I'm just ignoring it."

[Anonymous No.]

Meiling blushed and stammered. "A-Ah, no, um..." And finally, she scrambled to her feet. "Um, I mean...Let's just do this..."

"Excellent answer." Patchouli replied with an approving nod. She looked up to the sky she could see through the open rooftop. Dark and full of stars. Fortunately, it was a clear night. "One moment." She told Meiling, taking to the air and floating upward until she broke through the opening and out into the winter air. Another benefit of the bite Koakuma had bestowed in her - The heat rolling through her kept her from feeling cold. Patchouli spun, getting her bearings back from the haziness that had nearly claimed her, then turned to face the horizon. She scanned it for a silent moment. "...Aquarius is in view..." She murmured. "Well, Sekai. It is now or never. Let us do without the suspense, next time." The wind enveloped her words. "When you are here with us." Patchouli whispered.

She dropped back into the library and landed in the centre of the circle. Already, she could feel that hun. The circle was impatiently anticipating the magic she needed to feed into it. "Meiling, the bag." She motioned Meiling over to join her at the final contents of SSL-4. The various ingredients she had found to create Sekai's body. A spider leg. A spool of thread. Bark from the Forest of Magic. All manner of items that Patchouli had decided would best assist in the creation of the body. And there, sitting right at the top of the bag and practically staring out at her, lay a crescent moon. "It is no small task, creating a body." Patchouli said, spinning to look at Meiling. "One cannot look upon it as a burdensome task. It is, and must always be, a labour of love. We must truly believe in the body's existence. We must believe that we are doing this for the sake of what we are creating, rather than for our own enjoyment."

Meiling nodded, her brow set. "I understand, Lady Patchouli. I just want to see Sekai free from the HSE. It's not...There's no other reason."

"Be sure." Patchouli told her sternly. "Cast all doubt from your mind. Clear thoughts. Brave heart, Meiling. Here we go now." Meiling nodded determinedly.

"We need to split the ingredients between the points of the star equally." Patchouli reached down and retrieved Yamame Kurodani's moulted leg. "Don't keep ingredients that are too similar together. We don't want to overwhelm one point of the circle. The thread from Yamame Kurodani, for example, should go as far from the leg as possible. Understood?" Meiling nodded once more. "Good. Off we go, then." And Patchouli spun, heading to the first point on the star. Here, she lowered the moulted leg, placing it on the point of the star. Then, she followed it up with the bark from the Forest of Magic, and the sap she had tapped from a tree at the foot of Youkai Mountain. On the opposite side, Meiling placed the spool of thread, followed by a lock of hair that Patchouli had acquired from a goddess, as well as water collected in a glass bottle. Together, they moved around opposite sides of the circle, placing various items at the points of the star.

Finally, Patchouli stood at the northern point, weighing the crescent moon crest in her hand. "Unto thee, I bequeath mine own heart..." She murmured under her breath, crouching down to place it in the middle of the point. Above, she could see the edge of the moon, breaking into view through the open ceiling. "We are just about ready." She looked over at Meiling, who stood at one of the other points. Her collection of materials looked slightly light, Patchouli realised. Was something missing...?

Meiling was fidgeting with her sleeves, but looked up when Patchouli called her name. "Huh? Oh, um, it's nothing." She mumbled. Patchouli stared her down, sure that she would break before long. "It's just...you're giving up that crescent moon, but I haven't given anything up. And...I think I should. I think it should show my love of this place, just like my love for my homeland. Right?" And Meiling reached into her vest, withdrawing something. A small bracelet - Black in colour and curling upward in the centre, surrounded by a fabric cuff that wrapped around her wrist. Patchouli thought back. She'd seen it before - Meiling had worn it at random times, most notably when Hieda no Akyuu had sketched the gatekeeper for her update to the Gensokyo Chronicle.

"That, Meiling?" Patchouli asked curiously.

"It was...um, a gift. Miss Sakuya gave it to me, but it was from Remi. For the anniversary of the date I started working here. It's...It's always been something that I consider proof that I do have a place here." Meiling looked down at the bracelet with a fond smile. "Something that I didn't really have in China. In those mountains, the accessories I wore had specific Feng Shui purposes, and I got scolded if I took them off."

[Anonymous No.]

Patchouli nodded silently, listening with interest. In the back of her mind, she wondered how Koakuma was handling any of these conversations, since she'd missed all of the actual plot developments.

The fact that she was wondering that and listening to Meiling at the same time wasn't lost on her. Her mind was currently in quite the state thanks to that succubus bite. She'd pay for it later, but later was, most importantly, not now. Now was the ritual, and ensuring that Sekai's body was fashioned with no issues. "It holds meaning to you, Meiling. Ultimately, it is your decision. I cannot influence you here, in this place, at this time. We reside in a space beyond sense at this current moment. Emotion rules our world right now. Emotion and thought. If you truly believe...then you know what to do."

Meiling looked from the bracelet back up at her with determination in her eyes. "I do. I do, Lady Patchouli. I want Sekai to have a life free of everything that...that building represents. I want her to be free, and to have a place here, with us. I want that implicitly. So...I need to show her that she does have a place here." She nodded. Meiling crouched down and gently placed the bracelet on the point of the star. "I hope...I hope that the Scarlet Devil Mansion is just as much of a home to Sekai as it is to me. To us." She whispered, eyes affixed on the bracelet. The gatekeeper stood, her fingertips slipping away from the bracelet like she could hardly believe she was letting it go. Patchouli had felt similar emotions looking at her crescent moon. "So...Lady Patchouli, how do we...?"

Patchouli looked up once more. The moon had just about cleared the edges of the hole in the ceiling. "Wait..." Patchouli murmured, performing a number of calculations in her head. She needed to start...about a minute and twelve seconds from now to finish right when the moon was directly above. "Focus your thoughts on what we are doing, Meiling." She said. "Koakuma, I suggest you remove yourself from this area for now. Nothing like the accident will happen. I give you my word."

Koakuma hesitantly nodded. "Y-Yes, Lady Patchouli. Um...please take care!" She bowed, then turned and hurried out of the room, her tail flicking behind her.

Patchouli paused once more, taking in a deep breath. "Twelve seconds to go." She whispered. "Are you watching, Sekai?" And...showtime.

Immediately, Patchouli dropped to one knee, pressing her fingers into the outer ring of the circle. Electricity shot through her, forcing her to look up to the sky and growl as she got used to the feeling. "Yes." She whispered, forcing her voice to remain steady. "Yes, I will offer up what is required of me." She forced the words out. She was striking the deal with magic itself. The game was in place now, and she couldn't back out. "Meiling, place your hand on the outer border. Let your magic infuse." Meiling nodded, repeating her gesture. Just as Patchouli had, she stiffened. "The toll is placed." Patchouli grit her teeth. "When we push our magic more thoroughly, we must both focus on the creation of the body that can house Sekai's soul. The ingredients."

Patchouli pushed a small amount of magic into the circle, then sucked in a breath as the circle nearly consumed her in its near-infinite greed. It was too much energy. Far, far too much for her and Meiling. But then, that was the point of Sekai's book. To provide the energy that Patchouli could never amass herself. "The- The ingredients, Meiling!" She forced the words out, feeling sweat run down her forehead. "Focus on the body they will create!" Patchouli had spent days thinking about this very thing, from as soon as she had realised that she would need to create Sekai's body in this manner. There was something more than that required, though. It wasn't as simple as getting the ingredients and putting them together, even with the addition of Patchouli's crescent moon and Meiling's bracelet. This was the body of a goddess. It needed something more to become what it was truly meant to be. It needed that spark of divinity.

Patchouli had found it in the depths of the forest surrounding the Hakurei Shrine. She'd watched Hana Hakurei leave for the festival, and then she'd wandered further behind the Shrine, looking for something that seemed to be calling to her from somewhere. And eventually, far behind the Shrine, she'd found the remains of a collapsed cave. She didn't know what its purpose was, but there was a scent of Old Magic all over it. Once she'd magically removed enough of the rubble blocking the entrance to squeeze through, she'd found...nothing. Nothing but silence and, across the floor, the remains of what may have once been a gateway.

[Anonymous No.]

She'd emerged with a scrap of something. A piece of cloth, blue in colour. She'd thought it part of Reimu Hakurei's outfit, but a second of staring at it confirmed otherwise. It was a piece of the divine. Perhaps once the outfit of a goddess, or perhaps an angel. She might still be out there for all she knew, but just because the scrap had been left behind, it didn't mean that it had lost its divine nature. It was perfect.

And now, the blue scrap sat at one of the points of the star. It, Patchouli believed, would be what allowed this body of Sekai's to be capable of housing a goddess. Otherwise, they'd be condemning whatever body they did make to try and contain Sekai's entirety in too small a container. Like pouring far too much water into a small cup. Patchouli looked up at the night sky, estimating how much further the moon had to move before it was directly overhead. It wouldn't be long, but she had just enough time. "Meiling, do you remember Yggdrasil?" She asked with a strained voice as the circle demanded more magic from her than she could ever hope to supply. "The - The Tree of Life."

"Sekai's tree." Meiling murmured in reply. She seemed to be handling the energy pull surprisingly well. "Yes. I do remember." That made sense, since it lived in the back of her mind still. "Why?"

"In Norse mythology...Yggdrasil was supported by three roots. One - One went to the spring known as Hvergelmir, one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the Heavens, and one to the well Mímisbrunnr." Patchouli felt another insistent tug from the circle. Just a little longer... "You might say that Sekai's roots are something similar. Her true mother and father - And - And all of us. All those people that she's pulled from when they enter the HSE."

"O-Okay...?" Meiling hesitantly replied. "Um, what does that have to do with this...?" Suddenly, her eyes widened and she jolted, her head falling down slightly. Her fingers remained stuck to the circle. Neither of them were going anywhere unless it was with the ritual either successfully completed, or with them both as drained husks. "L-Lady Patchouli, this is starting to..."

"I know, Meiling..." Patchouli wheezed. "Mímisbrunnr - The well. It was said to contain much wisdom." She let a slight smile come over her face. "Sekai told me to distil her book down to a single spell when she gave it to me, for when we transfer her body. She told me to come up with something." Meiling nodded, grunting slightly as the strain washed over her. "Something that could be boiled down to a single trigger phrase. She meant it for the Solstice, but I won't let the brat dictate how I use her spells. So, I've come up with one just for this." She looked up. The moon was just barely off from the centre now. "A trigger phase - One for this particular spell from Sekai's book." Without meaning to, she laughed. Her shoulders shook and her head dropped as the circle flared below her fingers. Well, Patchouli thought to herself. What was wrong with a little bit of theatrics? Thus, she threw her head skyward now.

"Mímisbrunnr, Sekai! The well of wisdom! The Well of Knowledge!"

And she slammed her palms flat against the circle, throwing herself into it. As she did, she felt the shift in the air - A great movement. The circle flared with life once more and this time, it didn't stop. It began to glow a bright blue, running first from the outer circles and through the star itself. A discordant hum began to grow in the air surrounding them.

And from out of the dark, they came. The universe that Patchouli had spent so long assembling in the ceiling above the library - All those glyphs and sigils - They came racing out of the dark, swirling around the circle. Sekai's book had explained it, of course. Each glyph, while responsible for some subset of the spell as a whole, contained a cell of energy. This spell, in particular, was for the construction of Sekai's body. It comprised a relatively small section of the universe in the rafters. The rest were for the Solstice. If taken in all at once, it would have probably caused Patchouli to explode. "Meiling, you must consent!" Patchouli shouted over the steadily increasing hum of the circle. "The power must flow equally through both of us!"

"I consent!" Meiling shouted back. The swirling motes of light split, funnelled into two distinct packs which began to flow toward Patchouli and Meiling respectively.

"Push!" Patchouli shouted just as the first set hit her. They crashed into her body, and Patchouli's mind lit up once more. Unlike Koakuma's bite, this was not the burn of adrenaline rushing through her. Instead, this felt like the invigorating cool feeling of drinking cold water in the early hours of the morning, when one's throat was dry and parched. This filled Patchouli's heart with ice and, had she not been otherwise engaged, might have had her screaming. As the energy first filled her before transferring through her like a conduit and into the circle,

[Anonymous No.]

Patchouli got a slight taste for what Meiling was to go through during the Solstice. This was nothing compared to that. Patchouli could tell just how much energy was being forced through both her and Meiling from the book, and she could also tell just as keenly that it was a mere fraction of what the book was capable of. A book that Sekai had created with so little work, and it contained such immense reserves of energy that if it were not bound and kept under utmost secrecy, the power it contained could start and end wars. With that in mind, perhaps it was time to stop calling Sekai a little brat.

No, actually. She needed to call her that to keep her head from getting too big.

The energy from the book filled her faster and faster as she forced it through her body and into the circle, which glowed with increasing intensity. "Lady Patchouli!" Meiling roared about the maelstrom of noise filling the room. "Sekai's body - Is it working!?"

The piles of ingredients were starting to glow themselves, lifting off the ground and floating in the air. "It's working!" Patchouli shouted back. "Keep going!" She threw her head skyward again. No time to lose. She concentrated her thoughts, bringing together the impressions that filled her mind unbidden. Sekai's body could be anything she wanted, once she was in it. Yet more energy crashed through her like a tsunami, threatening to sweep her along, and words failed her. All that escaped her lips now was an unceasing roar as the circle grew brighter still. With no recourse, Patchouli opened herself up completely. She could tell that Meiling was doing the same opposite her, though it was hard to see anything beyond the glow of the circle. Only as Patchouli held on for dear life and let the unceasing pool of energy boil through her did she manage to focus her mind on the end result. Only as she felt like she was reaching the end of her tether did she finally force herself to say the words. "I do love you, Sekai." She whispered, the words inaudible over the roar. "And this, I do for you."

It might only have been a quiet affirmation to herself, but in this moment, it held unimaginable power. Nothing was stronger - Nothing could be stronger. And it filled Patchouli's body with the strength to keep going, to keep letting that energy pour through her, to keep pushing until the end. Across from her, she could barely make out Meiling's figure, just as hunched over as she was. She seemed to be handling it better. That was good. She was stronger than Patchouli was, and she knew very clearly how she felt about Sekai. And, of course, her body was much more used to handling energy in this sense. She had a much bigger day ahead of her, and Patchouli wouldn't be able to help her then.

The ingredients Patchouli had painstakingly gathered floated now, of their own accord. They floated upward, converging on the centre of the circle. There, their glow intensified until Patchouli was forced to look away. With one final push, suddenly it was over. Everything stopped. The glow of the circle disappeared. The library went silent. Patchouli's fingers slipped from the edge of the circle, and she landed heavily on her hands and knees, panting for breath. Too much in too little time, and her body would pay the price very soon. "Lady...Lady Patchouli..." Meiling's voice gasped. Patchouli was struggling to see that far. "Did it...?"

Patchouli forced her gaze to the centre of the circle. There, looking completely unassuming, as if she was just asleep, lay the body of a small child.

Patchouli fell back and sucked in a weak breath. "It worked, Meiling. Sekai's body is safe. Get Koakuma to put the body in a private bedroom." She heard a shuffling sound, then found the vague shape of Meiling looking over her. She looked weak and exhausted, too. Weakly, Patchouli summoned Sekai's book to her and, through great strain, forced it open.


I knew you could do it, Mothers! When I'm free of the HSE, I'll hug you both to death! Thank you, thank you! And you didn't even find the drawing I did of you, Mother Patchouli!


Patchouli stared at the words on the page, then forced her fingers to shift to the next page. The drawing was the same childish sort that Meiling had gotten, with a figure vaguely resembling Patchouli holding hands with a figure vaguely resembling Sekai. On Patchouli's other side, she held hands with a Meiling-shaped figure. The background looked to be like Meiling's mental image of China.

And through pained breath and burning fingers from the sheer energy that had just passed through her, Patchouli Knowledge burst into laughter, and she didn't stop until the darkness claimed her.

[Anonymous No.]

ANOTHER HOME RUN FOR YURIBROS
LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!!

[Anonymous No.]

Patchbros eating well tonight

[Anonymous No.]

>>47587592
>>47587588
>>47587584
>>47587577
>>47587572
>>47587569
>>47587566
>>47587559
>>47587553
>>47587551
>>47587546
>>47587539
>>47587536
>>47587532
>>47587528
three dubs, blessed
great to see you're alive and packed with chapters~was expecting the cameo, but it was also more emotional than I thought I'd have been, and it was a nice levity before what was to come. Very interesting how you handled the alchemical ritual to create Sekai's body, not grandiose as I thought it'd have been, but making it more personal to the three characters tasted great, and the whole process through it, from sanitizing the area, to meticulously bloodletting to the chaotic yet emotionally charged “right here, right now” got me engrossed; it didn't even look like more than 10 chapters had passed already~
Patchy's one-liners were spot on here too
>"Mímisbrunnr, Sekai! The well of wisdom! The Well of Knowledge!"
she incarnated Sekai's chuuni… adorable, and gave it that memorable pang to the scene
wasn't expecting the sudden general release of succubi crack-cocaine, and I wonder if there was a dosage of restraint on your part to not make comical use of Patchy suddenly having goblin mode elixir coursing through her veins.
still, what truly got me was the development you took with Patchy’s and Meiling’s relationship. I had flirted with the idea before in vague and dismissible terms to not force upon you a romance, but the gestures of this scene, from the small ones like Meiling shielding Patchy when Koa tried to give her the succubi special to the big shots like them essentially mixing their blood to create a child further than the absolutely necessary, do point toward romantic feelings blossoming.
Maybe I'm just jumping at shadows, but in the case I'm not, I'd like to know your stance on this and how we should proceed. I'm on-board with taking them that route; there's more than enough material and justification for it and I'm a sucker for brittle rose-iron giant relationships. Approaching it, however, would be rather tricky with the in-universe timeframe, but it's workable with their past and, considering their characters, things wouldn't go too far in these few days, which is good.
I'll be discarding the thought should you not desire to pursue it; it's a two-way lane after all
thanks for the chapters; it was a very good read!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47588655
rhe HSE is a Yuri fanfiction after all

[Anonymous No.]

>>47592710
perhaps that's Anon's godly power: making women around him mega gay so he doesn't have to deal with their bullshit anymore.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47594027
GIWTWM

[Anonymous No.]

was writing Remi's chapters and noticed a neat little coincidence:
>Sekai calls her tree Yggdrasil because it's what will give her life
>Patchy called her spell the Well of Knowledge, part of Yggdrasil
>Remi wields Gungnir, Odin's spear
Soon enough we'll have an entire pantheon~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47588655
>spoiler
my feelings are just that I try and write it so that it's sort of still up to interpretation, even if it's a little more on one side than the other this time around. I'm perfectly happy for you to take it further if you want to, but with the timescale I don't think you could put all that many tangible developments in without it feeling unrealistic. Go forth and develop your brittle rose/iron giant relationship goal if you so wish, but just remember to restrain yourself from trying to jump the gun and fit an entire relationship's worth of development into what amounts to a couple days in-universe.
I mean, who even knows when the next time I write for this will be. It took something like four months just to get this part finished.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47602142

>I don't think you could put all that many tangible developments in without it feeling unrealistic.
I perfectly agree here; the characters' dimensions are far too large for 2 weeks worth of anything to hold them in place for this sort of big shift. Preferably, focus should lay on just one development that could still align with your up-to-interpretation approach while making it a rope bridge rather than solid concrete, quite like your last chapters. I'd enjoy that balance.
>remember to restrain yourself from trying to jump the gun and fit an entire relationship's worth of development into what amounts to a couple days in-universe.
don't blame me, I was a Romeo and Juliet kid growing up~; just kidding, no worry in that department, last thing I want is to ruin a possible relationship in the making for half a year of threads now by letting it burn too quickly.
and platonic is still as beautiful of a conclusion at the end of the day, I would have no bad feelings in that regard.
>It took something like four months just to get this part finished.
life is busy, that sucks. I'll be doing my best to minimize the time I take to finish my part, probably coming out monday, so you have as much time as possible to write yours~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47602307
Good luck, were all hoping you get more free time. It's a premium for writers here!
I need to start my new chapter already, I hate making rent

[Anonymous No.]

The serpentine corridors of the mansion are mere suggestions after so many decades, and I prowl them expertly with usual elegance and tact, cold stares thrown around meticulously and easily scraping away the laziness of the fairies. We have a guest—despite her boisterousness and modern sense of wear, she’s still a guest of the Scarlet Devil Mansion—and to present ourselves with nothing short of excellence is a crime punishable by stabbing. Multiple stabbings, that is. Though, beneath the scowl, I do find myself lacking in true edge as Meiling’s words about maternity echo inside.

What is a child? A messy little pile of headaches; a hazard-seeker and object of obsession to perplexing causes of death—in my experience—and to have one running these lightless corridors without, let’s say, Flandre’s resistance is but a recipe for disaster. If Meiling wants one or has lied to me and is indeed carrying one, first the word of the mistress will determine the child’s fate, and if it remains, next would be baby-proofing a mansion that, hypothetically rebuilt to resemble a straight line, would span half of this country.

A nightmare put into words.

Ah, but that doesn’t matter. Meiling is too much of a… dork for such baffling consequences.

Sweeping the thoughts away, I arrive at my destination, the doors double my size barely muffling the sound that came from behind them, and I stop time so as not to disturb the mistress in her time of recreation. The world's gray sepia disappears, and I stand in the background with my hands clasped over my uniform, presence and profile perfectly maintained—not that she would notice, focused as she was, but it matters not. I watch, better yet, listen, in silent wonder as the mistress—dressed for the occasion in a sophisticated, flowing light-purple dress meant for formal balls, save for the delicate ballet shoes—plays the keys and pedals as if greeting an old friend.

And the massive pipe organ, made with mahogany for wood and zinc for its winding pipes, given to the mistress’ family by the man who’d then mentored the mistress at the tender age of two hundred, answered her every gesticulation with eerily beautiful music.

Her hands flew from the first row to the second to the third to the fourth and to the fifth, then from the fifth to the fourth to the third to the second and to the first with exquisite technique, one older than the composition she was playing, the pedals an afterthought yet tasteful anyway, each finger of her reconstructed hands used and challenged, be it in tempo or reach, and eventually the mistress found herself on the end of the scoresheet. The world grays to me, the mistress blinks, and the page has turned by itself. I can hear her smile as she keeps on playing unperturbed, her silence more meaningful than any words, that unspoken smile corroding in the flow of melody as it carries on—a statement to which I know the origins of.

The burning curiosity clashing with respect; the Yakumo woman and her chessboard, treating us as pawns; the subtle bitterness of watching fires and being unable to put them out…

My nature calls, and the knives strapped to every inch of my body—some more visible than others—lust to clean what ails the mistress, but I hold back as every good maid would: acting without command would be disgraceful.

So I watch, as always, from the shadows as the mistress pours anger and frustration on every note, every movement, ready for when the next shoe falls and this body is summoned to speak the language of violence.

The only language it speaks now, however, is one of applause as the mistress reaches the closing of her composition and leans away from the pipe organ, breathing in, her face glimmering in the candlelight with sweat. “Thank you, thank you~” She says, playfully, turning to me, still sitting as she bowed gracefully her upper-body as every organist with pride to maintain would.

“Do your new arms hurt, mistress?” I ask, eyes on the redness of the fingertips and the small strain of the pulses, clearly weary after being conduits of the mistress’ heart.

“They’re serving me well; don’t fret, Sakuya,” she waves one hand dismissively, and that’s it, the world graying around me. The mistress barely blinks, and I stand by her, holding a golden tray of her favorite flavor of red, her right-hand fishing the goblet as if already knowing it’d be there. “There’s an ache on the tendons, I must say, but it’ll fade overtime—you can’t expect a servant to be perfect from the very start.” She gives me a smug look, and I can’t help but smile nostalgically at the reminder of those early and, unfortunately, very cumbersome days. “How’s our guest faring? Has she found her way to the library?” Idly, she sips her wine.

The world bleeds color; the mistress blinks. “She has, mistress, and is now on her way out. She’s also sustained a wound on the forehead, likely having bumped on something.” Reporting it is quick, concise and straightforward—the way she likes it.

[Anonymous No.]

“An earth spider, clumsy…? Well, there’s always one to prove stereotypes wrong, for worse or better~” she muses, crossing her legs and supporting her chin on a plain hand before her eyes fall on me, analyzing this body from the toes to the top of the head. I do not attempt to fix something or straighten my posture, not when I know of the perfection in which I stand, and I merely close my eyes and let the mistress seek whatever it was that she was seeking. It comes, then, a couple of seconds later. “You seem distressed, Sakuya.”

How to put these into words? Decades of servitude have brought forward personal understanding of her, but the uncomfortable human feeling of laying bare someone's character may never fade away. “Your… feelings while playing got to me, mistress.” She raises an eyebrow, awaiting more. “Anger, frustration, sadness—I can't exactly pinpoint… It was a very pungent performance.” A drop of sweat rivulets down my spine, hands holding each other tighter than usual. Bodily punishment matters not, but the thought of upsetting the mistress' feelings with my words is revolting.

“… Oh, I see,” another sipping, followed by thoughtful consideration. “Tell me, Sakuya, how big is the mistake I have committed by allying with the Yakumo?”

The pressure is released, and my body relaxes.

Still, moments like these are when a volatile maid is necessary. Many would prostrate themselves, figuratively or not, and deem their mistress perfect and incapable of erring. Those maids are better at the bottom of dumpsters that are preferably on fire. “Considering our situation and Okina’s actions, there was little we could’ve done at the time, mistress. In my inequality, I couldn’t save Lady Flandre from the sage's hands, and the Yakumo had hold of her by the time we came to her. It was an innocent sin to trust that woman.” A sin anyway, and the mistress reluctantly nods in agreement, staring at the gyrating scarlet liquid as she motions the chalice. “… It was done to protect Lady Flandre from monsters.” It brings no solace to the mistress; it only narrows her eyes.

“I know, but I should’ve foreseen that putting a saddle on the back of a scorpion to combat another would end with me stung no matter what—she’s toying with us,” The mistress turns, her hand not holding the chalice softly caressing the mahogany. “And for what? Power for the sake of power? Who does she think I am…?” Rage burns in the slits of her eyes.

“Whoever she thinks you are, she is.” I offer, and the mistress stops, holds it for a moment, then sighs, turning back to me.

“Thank you for the kind words, Sakuya… Our plans have changed with this little maneuver of the Yakumo; through manipulation of fate, I can guarantee our survival, but not its means.” She ponders the glass of red. Once, blood; now, wine. “… So much bloodshed in the village, times past—futures that could’ve been, that I could’ve performed myself—the more things change… The more they stay the same. The Yakumo knows of that guarantee, and it’d be asinine to not be of the assumption she has something in her sleeve to counter it. Manipulation of boundaries—invisible and beyond my grasp? Something else with Ibaraki Kasen? Maybe she’s gone and made a pact with Lucifer.” The vexation of not knowing burdens the mistress, and she closes her eyes and furrows her brows before putting the chalice away. “Whatever it is, we must stay vigilant and be of the preparedness that the Solstice to come is nothing but a giant death trap for all participants, with goals that only that hag survives by the end. I refuse to let the woman have its way, as I refuse to let the pedophilic monster breathe longer than necessary, and to achieve that, we’re going to shake the plans she’s laid: we’ll fight her war as intended on its first quarter—prioritize not killing, and you’ll be the guarding angel of ours, Sakuya—but, following whatever gallows await Okina, we’ll turn, and we all—” Flandre included, that’s the meaning of the emphasis. “—will butcher the Yakumo woman. To let her live would be outrageous.”

Betrayal, then. Good. “Yes, mistress. Should I make ours part of the plan?”

“Not now. The Yakumo woman is intelligent; she knows that I’ve seen through her smoke and mirrors, and to leave any of mine open to her schemes would be disastrous. I’m trusting your time-stop to sway any attempts on your mind.” I nod with an affirmative vocalization; if she says so, it’ll be done as such. “At the last possible moment, before the battles fall upon us, however, I want you, their guardian angel, to discreetly make them aware of the plan. I depend on you for our victory, Sakuya.” She puts her hand forward, and a world without colors doesn’t dissuade her eyes as they fall on me, kneeling and gently holding her pale hand, my forehead touching the back of her hand with deserved reverence.

“I will not fail you.” Simple words with an iron-like meaning.

[Anonymous No.]

“Excellent. Her goons are beyond saving, and by that point, I concede our mansion permission to neutralize, lethally or not, the Yakumo’s lackeys that’ll stand against us—I doubt a few more won’t be turning against her also~” The fleeting cheerfulness lasts a moment before, receding her hand, the mistress stands up from the bench and spreads her arms to mimic a ‘T’, a sign clear: the world turns gray, she blinks, and she’s preened in her usual dignified attire, not a twine misplaced. I stand behind her, holding a closed, rose-colored parasol. “Should that fail and things seem more dangerous—primarily, my manipulation of fate falls apart—then we’ll run, lick our wounds, gather our strength and prepare for the war my mistake will bring upon us.” Her words are tainted by guilt and resoluteness, and the perfect and elegant maid, a framework honed for decades, nicely volatile in times of need, gives way and thus I step forward, standing by the mistress. It’s a gesture that doesn’t go unnoticed, a statement to which words couldn’t aggregate.

And, for the mistress, it’s what drowns the guilt and brings forth the casual, opulent-with-reason smile. Still… “The sky is beautiful outside, mistress. The stars have come out and sunlight filters through the moon at an acceptable rate; the clouds are hollow and the frigid winter is kind.” The information, laid out and bare like a charred field, may be a little too on the nose, but it matters not.

She needs to clear her head, and the natural world will bend for that if needed.

“Really~?” She stares knowingly at the parasol. “Perhaps I could go for a little walk, then. Guide me, Sakuya.” The world blurs gray, and now I stand by the mistress in my winter clothes, removed when I entered the mansion earlier; despite her words, she’s already following the winds and her whims, an unchainable soul. I follow suit, as every perfect and elegant maid would.

—

The cold, nightly breeze is welcomed and the stars are appreciated as it’s their purpose. The gardens behind the mansion are picturesque in the soft moonlight and the looming shadows are welcoming to their princess. Sakuya follows closely, the parasol stopping any stray snowflake from lodging into my hair, and the peace and quiet are paramount to quelling the pounding headache I fear might begin to show eventually. How exactly has Gensokyo turned out like this? It’s a question I find myself facing often… Despite already knowing the answer.

It all began with Reimu.

Knowing what hid beneath the relatively peaceful household of Hakurei was shocking, disgusting, and in time, as Reimu’s sins continued to pile up despite pleas and tries, it shattered our friendship, creating an immeasurable chasm between us. The anger, oceanic as not even a lengthy performance in the pipe organ has scrubbed it from my mind for today, flares up: distancing myself in my friend’s time of need? To let her destroy all that made her a woman of righteousness? What exactly compelled me to recreate those mistakes I’ve committed towards my dear little sister? Instead of helping, seeking to extinguish the spark of Prometheus that fed the bonfire of sin that Reimu had become, I ignored the problem and let it fester like an open wound… Now, the Yakumo has her man trapped in a dungeon that’d make executioners of old puke their guts; Gensokyo is as readable as Patchouli’s bookmarks and the future remains as bleak as nightfall, all while her family suffers.

All because I didn't help a friend. I could’ve done something. Anything.

I did nothing…

What a monumental mess.

“Mistress?” Sakuya calls, concerned.

I stop, eyes on the blankets of snow covering the dead bushes around the garden. Someone else—that filthy Shikigami—filled the role I should’ve assumed, and though I find solace knowing Reimu is of a sound mind now because of her, going to the maiden under the scrutinizing eye of the Yakumo would be suicide, and it’ll remain so until I know precisely what she’s hiding that’d counter my manipulation of fate.

It’s never too late to make changes; Reimu, as per Sakuya's report of Marisa’s words—and the ordinary witch herself too—is proof of that… She’s changed, and thus will be my approach. I’ll pursue the renewal of our friendship relentlessly after the wretched Solstice.

… Things will be better by then.

The thought brings peace of mind. “It’s nothing, just parsing a few ideas.” I let my frown fade and as we walked the path into the forest, moonlight filtering through cracks between branches and foliage, I mused, “Anything interesting in your mind, Sakuya?” Naturally, I don’t expect much. Despite the agonizing secrecy of Hong Meiling and Patchy and the tiresome cloak and dagger maneuvers of the Yakumo, the Scarlet Devil Mansion finds itself away from the epicenter of chaos surrounding Gensokyo; that spot goes to that simpleton revolutionary teacher. Ah, revolutions~it brings me back to my time at Engl—

“—Hong Meiling has asked me about pregnancy today.”

[Anonymous No.]

… W-What?

I turn to Sakuya, eyes wide and frowning. She looks as perfect and elegant as ever, but a smile can be seen beneath that porcelain mask. “Our Meiling, pregnant…?”

“Somewhat. She’s asked me this morning about its innuendos and moving pieces and what I would do if I were to become with baby—she appeared positively embarrassed.”

Huh. That’s… new. I taste the idea as I resume walking, the occasional animal making way as its primal mind realizes what walks in its direction is a descendant of the first, innocuous vampire bat that, in its inconspicuousness, managed to take a bite of the fruit of the tree of life. “And what was your response? Do you seek something as intimate as a baby to call yours, Sakuya~?” Though I jest, there’s a certain… softness to the thought. Hana Hakurei made Reimu, even if for a brief while, bearable again. One should never undervalue the influence a baby has over its mother, and it would be entertaining to watch what one would do to Sakuya.

“I don’t. I am content with servitude.”

“Perhaps you should.” Sakuya blinks, the rare sight of her composure faltering rather amusing. “There’s more to life—a human life, anyway—than eternal routine. Your time may be boundless, but each passing second is irrecoverable.”

“… Do you want me to become pregnant, mistress? Order, and it’ll be done.”

“That was not what I said, and I trust you understood it, Sakuya.” She straightens her whole being at the sudden harsh tone, perfectly collected despite it. “Either way, I didn’t think our Meiling had it in her~” Hm… Connections to that explosion and the things she and Patchy are covering up seem like a stretch, but a gut feeling tells me otherwise. The timing coincides almost too precisely.

“She’s adamant she’s not pregnant, just… curious.” I raise an eyebrow, and Sakuya nods. “She’s never been a good liar.” I nod now, continuing my walk. “Should we start preparations?”

“No. Let her belly grow big, and let us act dumb through the process. It’ll be funnier that way as she tries to explain the 'supernatural' changes in her body~”

Sakuya giggles. It’s a nice sound. “Of course, mistress.”

Enjoying the gossip, I line another quip, my heart soothed and mind at ease—

—But then, the world comes to a complete halt. Every hair on my body stands and my pupils constrict into slivers, my body arching forward as a pang, primordial in nature, thrashes my innermost apocalyptic mind and demands that my head turn towards the mansion in the distance, cloaked by the tall and dark trees. The skies above were sucked out of their stars, as if they all decided to disintegrate at once, and all that remained was the moving moon. Sakuya to my side had lost all matter of casualness, two knives in her hands and eyes sharp as their gleaming edge; “Mistress?!” She calls, awaiting instructions, but I give none, my undead heart thumping with the fundamental comprehension of what’s happening.

To a vampire, the homestead is everything. A man cannot exist without his palace, whatever shape it takes, and to defile that holy concept is absolutely deplorable—sinful, even.

The same goes for the vampire.

You cannot assail a vampire’s domain without expecting them to always know where you are…

… And the eldritch presence that has wormed its way into mine, uncaring of my rules and exerting its Old Magic carelessly, as if a child with a knife, inside my mansion is concentrated completely within the Voilé.

Rage boils up in infinite cold, nails growing into ten swords, each parched for blood as the rational mind pumps the idea that my servants—my friends—are under attack without their master to protect them.

Inexcusable.

“With me, Sakuya!” Dark wings unfold and the forest shrieks as I fly the path towards my home, teeth clenched and eyes bulged, claws ready to rip and tear, resoluteness in Sakuya’s presence right behind me—

Until it wasn’t.

I turn my head around, perplexed, and no one is there. I’m alone. “Sakuya?!” I scream, but nothing… The world is painted red as that bloodthirstiness grows, my gaze shifting to the mansion, feeling the flickering of a creature beyond my understanding ravage my domain with its Old Magic. My flight is now desperate, pulses of red energy echoing and annihilating every critter in my path, bodies left dry as the blood conjoins in my hand in the form of Gungnir… Yet, no matter how much I try to close the distance, the mansion doesn’t seem to be any closer. What is happening?

Grasping invisible threads of fate, I try alternating them so my arrival at the mansion is lightning fast…

… It doesn’t change.

Whatever is happening at the mansion is messing with my manipulation of fate.

Yukari Yakumo.

Oceanic fury reverberates, directed not only at the creature destroying my house but also at my own failures—friend, sister, and master… To lose use of my powers, to fall into this horrible trap…

What have I done? I trusted the devil; now I pay the price!

No! I will not let everything end like this!

[Anonymous No.]

The forest screams as my agonizing attempts to escape it continue to fail; even when I try changing directions, I don’t move! What matter of usurping is this?! Attempting to fly straight up and above the trees seemed absurd because every tree in the area grew infinitely enormous, but then I’d stop and see myself back on the ground with the trees the same size as before. Frustration was searing and violent, trying to destroy my demeanor as my heart bled with terror for those under my guidance. What'll it be of Patchy? Meiling? Koa, Sakuya… Flandre? Oh, my poor little sister, if the Yakumo can toy with manipulation of fate, what’s not to say the ability to destroy anything?

They're vulnerable to the Yakumo monster; they're alone against her overwhelming power. They need me!

Hair was wild, clothes ripped to tattered shreds as they snagged on branches and briars I’d easily dodge with a sane mind. But I am of no sane mind now; these eyes are taken by blistering red, heart hollers and in the back of my mind, I feel that invading presence finally receding, done with whatever disgraces it had wreaked upon my home—

—I glide out of the forest at neck-breaking speed and onto the gardens, bare feet—shoes lost in a wooden crevice or another—hurling a cloud of dirt and snow forward, my eyes protuberant and mind rushing. W-What…

“R-Rem—Mistress!” Sakuya’s voice is of sickening worry, and I turn to her; she had just left the forest too, trembling hands holding a knife and the other her clock… I look away, breathing unevenly, and my proud scarlet mansion towers before us.

The Voilé.

Sakuya attempted to say more, but I ignored her, lifting flight and watching the mansion from above, eyes immediately finding the roof of the observatory in the East Wing… closing?!—Ruthlessly, I sprint and, even with manipulation of fate, am half a second too late, the rooftop shutting with an echoing screech.

Other paths to the library would take far too long, distressed mind not registering Sakuya’s existence as she blinks to my side.

I’ll make my own way, then.

Rising until the infinite silver moon layers my back, uncaring of what I am about to do, I wind up Gungnir as if an Olympic thrower before slamming it onto the roof, cracking it open like an eggshell, debris pulverized in the blood energy of my lineage and giving me clear passage to what lied in the middle below, wings taking me down: there was Patchouli Knowledge and Hong Meiling, the first a stringless doll and the second holding onto such a doll with wide-eyes… eyes not turned to either the magician or Koakuma in the backdrop, the succubi all manner of perplexed and pale, both women staring at one single thing.

The scent of blood was thick; Meiling and Patchouli were basically covered in it. Both alive. Around, no signs of battle; nothing.

Only silence and the charred remnants of what seems to be a ritual.

When I followed their gaze, my rage morphed into confusion: a child, bare and limp.

With the moonlight casting a veil over me, I descend, causing the stunned onlookers below—in Meiling’s case, awestruck—to gawk at me. Controlling the choler that threatens to load the next words is exceptionally hard, my heart feeling as if about to explode: “… What has happened here?”

Meiling’s eyes, upon closer inspection as I land, are foggy and utterly tired, yet they have a shine beyond what can be explained by words; Sakuya stares at the motionless child incredulously. “Protect her…” The words of the redhead, however, demand attention across the room. “… F-From Yukari. Hide her. My p-poor… Sekai…” The last word is whispered with reverence that, perhaps, was the only thing keeping the woman standing: a plea, one that softens my furrowed eyebrows. By the next moment, Hong Meiling folds like paper, as much of a stringless doll as Patchy still held firm in her arms.

… Wordless, I look over at the child, her closed eyes and pale face staring at the destroyed roof of the Voilé. Koakuma is speaking frantically to Sakuya, trying to get to me, but I ignore both and close the distance, kneeling by the child with sprawled hazelnut hair.

She seems oddly familiar, and the more I look, the more things become unmistakable: she possesses a round face much like Patchy’s and slightly narrowed eyes like Meiling’s, a characteristic of the yellow man. Those stand out, but minor details here and there are noticeable… I take a deep breath, already feeling the incoming headache.

Her face is a mixture of my mightiest muscle and brightest mind.

Just what the hell have they done…?

Whatever it was, it plays no role in my next words: “Sakuya, go fetch blankets to ward off the cold this child is feeling, and take these three to your most hidden room.” She hesitates for a moment, the greatest sign of how agitated she is, before nodding. I blink and they are gone, leaving me alone with the stressed succubi. I shoot her a sidelong glance, and Koakuma lurches slightly. “… And you, Koa, start explaining.”

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609259
>>47609251
>>47609245
>>47609239
>>47609233
part 1 out of 2, decided to focus a bit on Remi for this one; next will be of Patchy and Meiling! Next part until monday.
decided to try a different way of writing. Rather than sets of 5000 characters, I just wrote until I was satisfied then chopped into parts. Felt pretty nice personally~
Remi was playing Winter, by Vivaldi.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609233
>fairies

[Anonymous No.]

gee patchouli, how come you get two writefags?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609578
Because she's a fat piece of shit determined to hog all the word count while Okina starves.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609815
What are you even gonna get out of another okina chapter? More moustache twirling and thinly veiled (or just straight up now) references to her wanting to diddle little girls? It's pretty late in the game to be coming up with any real motivations for her beyond whats already there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609841
What's already there is shit but at least the authors care enough about Remi to fix her and undo the damage caused by bad jokes, all the while they refuse to fix Okina dispute having months and months to do so.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609859
Literally the only reason Remi was fixed was because Patchyanon came back from getting milk and cigarettes and decided that he hated how she'd been portrayed, so he just wrote the version of her he wanted to work with his Patchouli. The old Remi wasn't particularly popular in the first place, so no one really minded. It only worked because Remi had comparatively few appearances and could be reworked with ease. Okina's a main antagonist and would need a dedicated writer to fix her over a whole lot of posts, but it'll make all her previous appearances confusing unless it's handled REALLY will
Tl;dr ain't nobody got time for that

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609933
Anon we have months the writers have enough time just not the will.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609082
thanks brother, always glad for incoming weekends~good luck with your own chapters!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609859
If you want something done right, do it yourself.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47615630
No, there are already enough writers and I don't want to dilute the quality, besides it should be the moral imperative of the people who are already writers to fix their own mess.
Yes I know it's all cirnofag's fault for Okina being the way she is but I blame the other writers for tolerating that sperg when nothing he ever wrote should have been accepted.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47615789
You're already diluting the threads with single-sentence posts bitching about cirno stories months after the writer already de-canonized his own contributions. There's nothing stopping (You) from writing what (You) think needs to be added to the HSE, or airing your ideas for writers to make into a cohesive part of the story.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47615824
I already do air my own ideas, it should be the moral imperative of the writers to fix Okina and I'm not going to write myself as I agree that there shouldn't be any more writers and the thread should push back and resist any outsiders 'contributions'

[Anonymous No.]

>>47615851
Re-read what you just replied to.
>Added
>Make into a cohesive part of the story
Ranting about removing and deleting characters you don't like is neither an addition nor a cohesive way to contribute to the HSE. It's the opposite: It subtracts from the HSE as a whole and makes the story less cohesive by removing established plot-points writers have already expanded on or based other plot points on.
Additionally, fuck off with the sanctimonious tone. There's nothing 'moral' about anything happening in this thread, /jp/, 4chan, or the Internet. Next time you come up with a reason for writefags to do what you say, use your brain.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47615851
You don't even know how you want okina fixed. No one has a moral imperative to fix a character if they don't care about them. She works fine as an antagonist at the moment and no one cares to make her more than that.
So either start talking or shut up.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47615923
>Ranting about removing and deleting characters you don't like is neither an addition nor a cohesive way to contribute to the HSE. It's the opposite: It subtracts from the HSE as a whole and makes the story less cohesive by removing established plot-points writers have already expanded on or based other plot points on.
This is provably false, I don't want Okina removed or any currently existing character for that matter and the only time when something was removed from the story it added to the work as a whole and was a benefit to the writers and something they all agree with. Just look at what Hanaanon has posted in response to me before.
>Additionally, fuck off with the sanctimonious tone. There's nothing 'moral' about anything happening in this thread, /jp/, 4chan, or the Internet. Next time you come up with a reason for writefags to do what you say, use your brain.
Hey, people dislikes the disrespect Remi got, so why shouldn't more disrespected character's get fixed, it's the same logic. If the writers are willing to give Remi the respect she deserves than all other characters should get it, I just care enough about Okina to campaign for her.

>>47615933
This is the truth, the authors don't care and don't like Okina enough to do anything about her, even if she'd the worse character who's actually in the HSE and could be great in stead of just serviceable.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616129
>just look at what Hanaanon has posted in response to me before.
Which thread? I see the fairy wars writer agreeing with you in thread #31. If you've got a post to cite of Hanaanon tripping or something and clearly supporting you, that's good for you. Not that what Hanaanon thinks changes my mind or legitimizes your arguments. With all due respect to Hanaanon, I do not give a shit if he hates Okina and Cirno or masturbates to them everyday. Every writer itt has their own brain. That's why writers discuss additions to the story before and after posting updates.
If you really and truly want more respect for Okina, suggest ways for Okina to gain respect. Respect is not given, it's earned. Nobody's going to dramatically change Okina's role in the story unless you give them a reason to. Or, better yet, you write it yourself.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616274
Isn't the person who wrote the fairy wars Hanaanon? I'm certain he is, he's also the writer who started this whole thing as his words should hold the most weight, also he does likes the fairies for some godforasken reason beyond me, he just refuses to fix them because it's too much work.
I'm not even demanding Okina's role to be dramatically changed, just that she be given respect.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616291
>because its too much work
And there's the answer to why okina hasn't been fixed. Fixing her means trying to justify her previous stance while also writing basically the opposite of it from now on. Remi had touched barely any plot lines and there was nothing much from her perspective, so it wasn't as hard to justify her new perspective and character.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616354
Not wanting to do something because it's too much work is just laziness, I guess the only benefit to his laziness it that the fairies haven't reappeared.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616291
I genuinely do not know or care who wrote the fairy wars anymore, except for the fact that (>>47472234) refers to Hanaanon in the third-person. I assumed they're the same person replying in chain to you, but I truly do not care.
I was fine with fairy wars. Whether it went anywhere or not, it would have been a neat side-plot to the Hana birthday. I was fine with lemontene. I had some issues with Rikako and the birthday debacle was an issue, but it got resolved by writers discussing shit and I even began to like it when Rikakotene was in Makai. I really liked cirno stuff. Myouren temple shenanigans were bold, like Nazrin being punished. Koishi getting pregnant added even more layers of fucked-up to the growing HSE debauchery. Cirno doing actual danmaku was neat when danmaku got plot-excused out of the story. Then he de-canonized it himself to spare some of the messy details like Genji's funeral and Okina's plans with Cirno. Fuck it, he tried to respect Okina by humanizing her with Cirno instead of being a one-dimensional evil-doer. The manipulation implications were primarily thread talk, nothing officially canonized yet. But, whether I wanted it or not, de-canonizing it was his decision. Takaneanon picked up the Myouren Temple folk with Goro, Genji is with Mima, Koishi is officially a mother, and Nazrin is a transient member of Okina's backdoor realm while Cirno floats in non-existence. Maybe she'll meet Sekai in her state of flux. Either way, cirnoanon's writings are no longer on AO3 and there's a giant brown eyesore on the HSE chart that tries to appease everyone by being ambiguous while braching into non-sequiter plot boxes. Thanks, faggot.
>given respect
Nobody's going to just give Okina respect. Write and earn it instead of hypocritically calling writers lazy while you lay back, bitching and moaning.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616387
It was shit and you should stop simping for the worst writer here, the HSE is literally better off in every single way with it's removal and nobody forced that faggot to call his stuff non-cannon in the first place so you should have a problem with him not me.
The guy who makes the flowchart is similarly to
blame for those ugly brown stains, although they are a good metaphor for that faggot's impact on the HSE as a whole.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616464
The problem is (You) bringing up cirnoanon unprompted. Even after cirnoanon de-canonized his stuff here and on AO3 you still complain about it for some autistic reason. Even in this thread when the subject is Okina, you default to blaming all your problems on your personal Judas, cirnoanon. If you don't want the blame for dredging up cirnoanon, stop dredging up cirnoanon.
Ironic that you're criticizing the flowchart when you tried making a similar edit, except you didn't even add anything new to yours.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47616677
Fine, I will.
But I'm still going to complain about Okina.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47609578
Sekai gave her two writers
that kid's favoritism is absurd sometimes

[Anonymous No.]

Patchouli tops Meiling.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47619600
There are no coincidences

[Anonymous No.]

>>47578180
The pastebin looks pretty cool on a phone, but you missed Doremy's room getting destroyed, that was also written by the Cirnofag.
Just keep that in mind for the next edition of the flowchart.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47622418
>Pastebin
Fuck meant catbox

[Anonymous No.]

>>47624192
I hope the Ana's line survives the abyss...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47624229
The rhombus is a little worrisome but the Marisa pregnancy roots it. One of the boxes mentions the Mima so it'll survive.
Now the Keine line: Yuuka's garden is holding onto the Aki/Kuramochi box but all the boxes under that are heavy. The abyss is eating good if Mr. Hieda going Super Senior breaks off.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47624676
In the next update the brown boxes should fall into the abyss for extra comedy.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47619600
they're lucky she didn't participate in the poll, it'd have been a tsunami...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47624733
afer thousands of years, the stickmen's work would also be a victim of the passage of time, and the lava waiting at the bottom of the abyss would consume all that remains of the survivors like one big, cruel joke.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47569560

Winds blew to the south and carried death, explosions failed to root out the pockets of resistance in the square and streets. The mobs were gaining ground despite the toll on them, rage carried them forward with haphazard uses of powers and a single-minded bloodlust as they pushed forward through the cratered yard and streets. Tunnels being dug by the powers of those with domain over the earth while danmaku met the explosives in the air to provide any form of defense against the ceaseless bombardment.

Behind them were men and youkai, trying and failing to make the distance between the walls with nothing more to their mind but violence. The carnage in these shallow ditches was only matched by the slaughter of the unwary, despite not being organized word was quickly spread by word of mouth and those that could read the winds. Desperate men and youkai tried their lucks in groups of as many they could muster; it was all too often that they never made it to their objective. However, those that did met equally terrible fates as the samurai on the walls were driven by desperation and gave no quarter as they were given none.

Men and youkai joined the danmaku that peppered the walls; in the hands of man tools of their labor and weapons of self-defense met blade and firearm’s turned clubs. They met the armor of the samurai and ripped in where the armor was lacking, the blades and clubs of the samurai met the unprotected flesh of their wards. Each side parted each other’s bodies and broke bone with gusto, neither side considered each other kin any longer and in its place was a sort of rabid yet intelligent violence most youkai could only dream of harnessing.

The men were opportunistic and already knew they were dead with a fatalistic delirium, striking from blind-spots, ganging up on stragglers, and slaughtering unarmed staff without mercy. The young and able-bodied female nurses as well as the teenaged cargo haulers who couldn’t get away in time were butchered as their neighbors tore them open with saw, pitchfork, and axe. The men and samurai could no long could see each other as human, they were simple rabid beasts that needed to be slaughtered. Each side obliged each other with their own methods as more and more men from both sides poured into the fray, the villagers who survived the harrowing march were just as crazed as those that came before. Only a youkai could hope to stay sane in the face of such carnage.

Youkai and samurai met each other in equal fury, as expected samurai fell one after another, giving some breathing room to the men who assaulted alongside their companions. Even the normally docile among them had been riled up with the sheer amount of bloodlust coming from their previously gentle companions. Youkai are weak to the milk of human kindness, and the opposite was the only truth one could draw by any who could watch the fray. The maws and talons of their true monstrous form exposed their nature as they ripped into armor or caught blade, their attacks were much more brutal than their counterparts. Jagged teeth and impossibly sharp claw parted armor easily and sprayed hot blood; on the same token bullet and enchanted blades, handy work of the Moriya apprentices and their own training, saw the more experienced strike crippling injuries on their attackers.

Teams of samurai, men who’ve trained together for years if not longer in their own social cliques waded into the fray alongside their younger companions. Their training and experience in their old battles made them the perfect reaction force Heida needed, they stayed away form the walls and fled their burning estate straight into carnage with the desire to avenge their friends and defend their clan. They stuck youkai with spears while gunners and swordsman shredded their forms with sheer coordination lacking from the younger men-at-arms and samurai the Heida clan employed. Their amor was heavier and enchanted, higher quality and passed down by their families to the point the tool spirits in their gear faithfully did their work and imbued their attacks with a magical quality all its own. They were death in their own right, honed for decades and though few in numbers they slaughtered their enemies efficiently to desperately protect those they viewed as family from the calamity brought to their doorstep.

Perhaps it was because of those breeches, or perhaps it was because of the fury of battle, or madness… but regardless a new wave of shells fell form the sky. These ones didn’t have the explosive quality of their fellows, landing in the square, the streets, and in the middle of the panicked masses. Out from these age-faded shells came a cursed gas that surprised those that could afford attention to it, those that did witnessed a nightmare come to life as it corroded the flesh of man and souls of youkai alike.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47633289

Only those that saw the rapidly spreading haze of malevolence made manifest were able to react in time. They ran from the wall of death that came for all regardless of clan colors or species, they didn’t care where they ran as long as the air was clean. Those farther afield were more fortunate, but the trampling hordes of once-mad enemies and melting men who were licked by the smoke paid no heed for those who fell. They didn’t pay attention to the injured, nor the weak or young in their panic, the weight of the numbers behind them and wall of death ensured they had no time to think.

In the distance, like a beacon in the dark, shone a golden resilient light that radiated nobility. It flared to life as the walls of that flesh-melting curse spread along the northern winds and relentlessly pushed south. The choice obvious to the masses still searching for refugee from the terrors around them, everyone recognized the aura and ancient sigils of the Taoists; and in particular its sainted owner.

-

A seal flew along the embers as the fires whipped the ravenous gas and helped disperse it further, it glided over the heads of the unwary hordes below who rushed onwards to the golden walls of the living saint. Their single-minded determination to reach safety superseded all else as neither the shattered families, who clung to each other as they sprinted; nor the bloodied combatants, who had abandoned their hatred for survival, paid any mind to the slip of paper that flew overhead. It flew silently and only the perceptive among them had any inkling of its existence.

Tendrils of the massive beast poked from alleyways as its eyes peaked over the rooves of buildings before its’ massive bulk poured over and around the structures to scour it of life. The street the seal flew down was no different to any other side street once occupied by the festival, the hordes of milling and fighting masses were overwhelmed by the flood of desperate souls who fled the force of calamity that corroded their flesh and eroded the souls of youkai. Much like the other streets upwind, the malice rushed in from multiple ends as it burned flesh and entered huffing lungs.

Panic took hold as men and youkai; bearing discolored, raw weeping flesh, and blinded yellowed eyes stumbled into clean air or were dragged there by those who had the ability to do. The beast gave no quarter, its fingers prodded down alleyways and backstreets with the twisted plan of surrounding the panicking crowds who had finally realized the hell that was to come. Youkai took to the sky alone or with their lovers in tow, men dashed down the streets with their families, an unfortunate few froze in panic. The billowing clouds gave no exception as it closed around the masses, as if eager to claim as many souls as possible.

A crackling pop met the claw of the beast that poured out of the alleyway, the seal slamming into the sickly brown tendril as if it latched to the cloud like the limb restraints used at Eientei. As if met with a glass wall the tendril pushed and strained but could not budge forward, the crackling energies contained the evil that the gas spread as it froze it into place.

Another seal appeared, this one out of the worldlines with a powerful energy that crackled to life as it came in contact with the main wall of sick fog. It came from behind and chased the panicked mob to the hermit’s light, only to be slowed by the powerful energies that tore away at the evil within it just as much as it strained to consume more. Out of the cloud painful figures emerged, those forgotten and too slow to keep up, clinging to life as they wheezed down clean air that had eluded them for torturous minutes.

Ahead of them were the masses who were largely unaware of what had transpired, unaware of the danger they were outpacing and the walking dead they were leaving behind. Many couldn’t keep on their feet as the pain accumulated, dropping not but a small distance from the wall behind them while the few that could rushed onwards with failing bodies and dim eyes.

Above the crowds, who stampeded down the main roads and side streets a new rain of death appeared; explosive shells rained down in force around the crowds being channeled. Along the major routes and the southern half of the square the bombs fell without mercy to slaughter what the gas corralled. Even now the gas was spreading, intent on covering all who survived in a blanket of death as it wrapped around the buildings and rasped at the doorways of those who cowered.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47633299

Hana knew there was no stopping it entirely, it was with morbid curiosity that she sent a paper doll out to the southwest side of the village where her home sat. It was quiet there and she was tempted to just crawl into bed and await whatever happens, but Aunn wasn’t there and the worry mounted as she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her. She felt numb at the implications, a gnawing worry she put at the back of her mind… Aunn would be fine, it’s hard to harm something stone and even-

Cold fear was gulped down, there was no time to mull it over; not when so many were hurting, it was greedy and unbefitting and a real miko… She set the doll to cling to doorway of the home as her shared link to it faded, if Aunn would pass by it she’d know and it would be enough for her. It was all she could do for now; it would have to be enough.

Focusing on what was in front of her she watched as that fog spread, it was a terror in of itself. She felt it just as surely as she felt the bloodlust from the crowds below, that fog’s nature was a curse. A potent and terrible curse from the outside world just like all the other evil Heida had summoned tonight. It ate the flesh and could harm the soul itself, for men they expired long before that, but for youkai? Their flesh was resilient enough, at first, and enough for them to make it out of the clouds on powerful legs and magics that let them rise above it. However, it clung to them like all curses do, and in such large amounts that they were exposed too? It drained them and she saw more than a few fall from the sky after shaking like a poisoned bug, the lucky landed in the golden light and had a chance but the rest.

It was why when she saw her neighbors milling along entrance to the little sideroad that fed off from the main streets watching the spectacle she knew she had to act. The gas was going to spread all the way to the gates and over before it dissipated, there was no doubts about that and they were going to be caught in the middle of it all. It was spreading fast too, too fast the elderly and the young who watched onwards to react in time. At best they’d be trampled by some mob.

It was easy to send a seal there, there was no way she could perform a full ritual here to dispel a curse this massive; especially not alone and not on such short notice. Even just cleaning the residue of this curse would an undertaking and a half for her, instead all she could do was channel her power into prayer. A violent power that hated curses and evils, one that she’d used piecemeal before for fools that crossed the wrong witches and youkai. She’d never tried to disperse an evil this massive, it was too refined and its hatred too strong to take on as haphazard as she was doing.

Still, the horrified miko could halt it even if she didn’t understand it’s nature or even origin. The violent energies ate away at the curse, destroying it entirely and reducing it to nothing, but the curse itself seemed endless with its main body already so spread and given so much power in its slaughter. It was all she could do to halt the maw of the beast from devouring people and letting them outpace something blown by the ceaseless wind.

It was tedious work that it drained her and her resources, and she couldn’t stop to rest and meditate along the rooves. The curse threatened even her as it lapped the edges and poured over once the fog was satisfied at the death below, and where it didn’t fire and leaden rain threatened one’s life. Instead she ran, leaping along rooves through relaxed worldlines and sending seals along the worldlines to the alleys where the fingers of the groping beast poured from.

With relief she noted that the barrier she slapped together at the mouth of her home street prevented the gasses from the pouring in, at least those along her block had made it inside… Not that the encroaching fires of the immortals would spare them…
Still, she barely had time for that dark thought as she kept pace with the hordes below; all panicked and rushing away and around the fogs, men pouring out of the clouds that pounced into the streets before she could react, and more that were caught in it from the next street over. Some got help, a shoulder to help them or a hand to guide them as the curse seemed to rob their eyes, but many more were left stumbling forward… Plenty she couldn’t stop to help as the seals she sent further back were corroded in turn. Older alleys behind the bulk of the horde breaking off one by one in the face of this prime evil.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47633308

It drained her heavily to maintain so many powerful seals, like lead weights were attached to her body. Each seal she had to channel potent blessings into, and there were plenty of alleys and side roads to cover. It was all she could do to keep up with the bulk of the crowd and create new seals as the old were destroyed or dropped to make way for new barriers. She didn’t wish to look back at those that were too slow or injured to make it on their own, especially not those that had escaped the clouds only be reclaimed because of their failing bodies…

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was surely only seconds Hana was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The crowd made for the square and towards the golden light of the saint, they were close but the clouds that filled the square poured out to cut them off. Hana was tired, such a massive wall was impossible to stop in her condition. It was like when she was a child and would play too much in the hot sun, her body was heavy and heart pounding even with the blessings taking the most extreme of her burden away.

Sweat poured from her as she focused her mind again, the seals protecting those stragglers faded as the curse won out. The panic below intensified as people ducked into backstreets and alleyways to avoid the wall of death that poured out from the square to greet them. Like relaxing a tense muscle, she let the seals behind her fade away, the tendrils that were frozen started to flow once again. like forcing herself forward after taking a blow to the head, she poured her powers into another seal. It nearly floored her as she stumbled forward, but the seal flew true along the worldlines and tackled the massive wall of a curse.

Despite the monster’s best efforts in cutting off the stampede, the seal met with the curse in a burst of sparking white light that could’ve reduced the block to rubble. Still, it was only enough to hold it at bay as the curse’s massive bulk ate away at the divine power like two snakes at each other’s tail. Hana could barely keep herself upright, she had to keep moving or the fog behind her would catch up. It was already settling in places as spread as it was, but there was no chance she’d risk it washing over the roof as whipped up by the inferno as it was.

Her own eyes glazed over as she realized how spread out these people were now, crammed into smaller routes as the crowd split… there was no way she could effectively cover them all, she’d used dozens of ofuda as it is and the fantasy seals just weren’t up to the task. I-if she released the main barriers holding back the fog early, she could save some, the power she needed for it was massive. She could guarantee she’d save a few instead of risking everyone if she just spread out that power…

A whistling sound approached from the sky; a terrible sound Hana had gotten all too acquainted with over the night. On instinct she slipped into the tense worldlines to escape, fantasy seals, all she could summon without passing out, flew against the explosive warheads detonating some in the air as the strange buttons clicked on impact. Too many more fell to the ground.

It was all she could to do look below as the bombs took too many of the lives she had herded. She felt a chill seep in as more seals poured forth from the divine powers she channeled under duress, the wall of fog that could spell death for so many was held at bay but only a minute or so more. Her eyes glanced upwards to the battle in the sky, she could see someone, Sanae she supposed, forming the core of a powerful seal.

She could feel the seals holding the cloud of death finally break as the curse actively ate it, the fantasy seals she spewed fruitlessly poured out to intercept the bombs as the alleyways became death for all who made it. She was tired, so so tired. Sweat still poured form her despite the chill in the air and she felt faint, she knew her limits well. The thought of messing up at such a time, getting everyone killed if she were to fall from the sky here…

She glanced the golden aura that encased the milling masses on the south street, she looked below at the scurrying souls who pushed through the thin fogs that were starting to leak into the alleyway. They danced around craters, ran from burning rubble, and dragged their dying through hell. She looked up at the death arriving, more and more were focusing on the golden barrier for all the effect it was having.

Hana was tired, the only thing she could think to do was rest. It was all she could do to fly towards the protection of that sly Taoist saint. She turned her eyes from those below as the final barriers broke, the fog spread easily and soon there was no safe streets.

[Anonymous No.]

Woops, all trauma!
I'm sure our whimsical gal will do just fine during her visit to Mr.Heida's happy campers', I'm sure she'll have a blast and a silly little time as she talks the finer points of having weird and desperate relationships with your family.
I'm sure this event will have no bearing on her personality nor values going forward, boy if Eirin wasn't giving her free healthcare she'd be getting Hakurei rich

[Anonymous No.]

>>47633316
>>47633308
>>47633299
>>47633289
actual superhero behavior. Really was expecting you to just jump into action with Sanae getting gunned, but stopping to really give Hana a subtle yet so fucking important role in the war like stopping the plumes of mustard gas? That's the Hakurei miko in action~
wonder if we'll get a Reimu/Hana chapter post this and before Kasen, perhaps during the time Reimu is on the village and she addresses Hana about it. Our golden girl needs infinite commendation for her work. I'd love to write that should you feel okay after finishing with the Hana in the festival and don't want to write it yourself something alike.
poor girl, hope she doesn't end up mirroring Yukari's “too much power, yet powerless when it truly mattered” trauma; we all know the monstrous influence that particular one has over the person…
thanks for the chapters!
>>47633340
>Hakurei rich
she's out there giving 100 years loans, I'm pretty sure she and the Hana would be able to work something out~!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47633605
>spoiler
Feel free! After I'll be jumping into a slightly altered version of the Hana's Heida fight and the wrap up with the cowe(writing her pov for that conversation will be a great storm of autism and sinking feelings

[Anonymous No.]

Any Ao3 2hu story recommendations that don't involve graphic sex? Regular romance is fine.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47634963
>[...]that don't involve graphic sex

[Anonymous No.]

>>47634963
Anon i...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47634963
>Ao3
>Regular romance
>No graphic sex

[Anonymous No.]

>>47634963
>"A touhou fanfiction..."
>"... Without graphic and purple description of coitus"
>"Heavens, now this is some food for this devil's workshop"

[Anonymous No.]

>>47634963
>"A touhou fanfiction..."
>"... Without graphic and purple description of coitus"
>"Heavens, now this is some food for this devil's workshop"

[Anonymous No.]

>>47634188
hell yeah, nice!
>After I'll be jumping into a slightly altered version of the Hana's Heida fight and the wrap up with the cowe
hyped, didn't write much of the Hana during that fight expecting this very scenario~have a good writing!

[Anonymous No.]

Bump

[Anonymous No.]

>>47642979
... on page 8?
Sadge, was aiming to finish editing my chapters and post them on page 9

[Anonymous No.]

>>47642989
I was autistically waiting to bump on 10

[Anonymous No.]

>was waiting to bump on 10 too
are we a fucking hive mind?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47643153
Autism mind

[Anonymous No.]

>>47643153
>>47643140
>Page 10
Grim

[Anonymous No.]

Muffled music is what welcomes me back to the world of the living, eyes burning and refusing to open; a pounding headache and mental fog—two problems no amount of magic and rituals can ameliorate—at least, not without special equipment and hot tea—though none of that matters as the word ‘ritual’ works as a trigger that fires all cylinders of my human trifecta, eyes jostling open and arms supporting me… For a brief moment, that is, before a simmering pain flashed through my arm and plunged my back onto the mattress once more, groans escaping my mouth with the severity of the light above.

Ah, perhaps it was a good idea at the moment, but cooking the epidermis and melting tissues and all matter of cells, from overworking platelets to scarce blood cells high on succubi aphrodisiac heroin, into an amalgamation ready for infection might’ve not been my brightest plan. I should thank Sakuya that I still have my two arms. The music had disappeared, and in turn a voice that, though I recall receiving the same trial by fire, was not affected in the slightest: “Oh, Lady Patchouli.” Meiling calls, and I blink repeatedly as I attempt to recall the ending of the ritual: aberrant flickers of aquamarine light, sensations too otherworldly to rightfully put into words, and… And…

… And life.

Pained eyes don’t dare blink—otherwise, that pale thought might disappear—, yet they narrow and fill with relief. It worked, as expected. As if Patchouli Knowledge would ever fail in the field of ground-breaking magic. I look to my side, a rather rustic set of paraphernalia feeding the liquid of life to my veins and an assortment of other medication, likely distilled vitamins spanning the whole alphabet. On the ground, a trash bin containing emptied blood bags… Success at great cost is still success.

My thoughts are cut-short, though, when that once muffled music returns, much more understandable now as metaphorical cotton doesn’t fill my ears, Chinese in its timbre and hummed like a bedtime song or an army in formulation—it’s nigh impossible to differentiate both at times—and I launch my groggy eyes to Meiling and Sekai, the latter laying peacefully on clean bedsheets and pillows, her brown hair neatly kept—Meiling fixed it, probably?—to not be all sprawled. Of the little I could see of her lower-body, mainly the pale hand Meiling held on hers, she was draped in white pajamas. “Don’t worry. Sakuya sanitized everything—thrice over~” I hadn’t even noticed she was looking at me, but nod. Good. Sekai’s body lacks its soul, and works like the bodies of comatose patients: it needs constant watch and care.

Also. “Stop singing, she’s not listening,” I grumbled, folding the pillow underneath me—ah, what a mess of purple, my braids undone and the maddening locks going everywhere but straight—to block out the sounds… Though soon realization comes and I turn red, the words trying their earnest to come to the forefront.

Meiling is faster. “… Are you sure~? Well, why’d she ask me to sing for her, then?” The smug in there is grating, though her tone is far away from snide.

I walked directly into that forest, and thus I’ll burn it down remorselessly; the flickering ruby-colored flames should hide the soft blush and fluttering grin: “Probably to revel in her mother’s embarrassment, born from a moment of vulnerability. I hope she enjoys assisting Sakuya with the chores~” I remark, voice raspy and parched throat yearning for some cold wonder to put this body barely strung together by electricity and magic back to working order. And then morning tea. A lot of morning tea.

Meiling blinks, and soon her laugh booms throughout the room, the sound cleaning the remaining complaints of an ancient reptilian brain of the prospect of leaving the bed, one hand gently taking off the IVs—the right way, of course; it’d be a mistake to waste all of this O type blood because I couldn’t bother with patience… Damn, I want to see my child’s face—and other mechanisms, likely warning Sakuya that I am now awake. Better prepare, then, because I doubt Remi finding the aftermath of the ritual, me and Meiling covered in blood, an unknown child to the side, and at least me knocked-out cold was a calm and reasonable occasion… Still, even though I know that, I find myself getting up and, slowly, approaching Sekai’s bed—between us an empty bed, likely where Meiling herself rested. How long did it take for her to pass out after the ritual, I wonder?—and Meiling stands up to try helping me. I wave for her to stop. “I can do this. I am no… geriatric yet.” Help when needed or asked for is acceptable, but to live in weakness is the fool’s way of life.

Meiling blinks, mouth opening to say something; mine turns into a line, silver tongue preparing to argue with the expected pity years of frailty have wrongly garnered— “Okay. I’ll get you a glass of water.” Calmly, she steps back, opening the way for me to get to Sekai.

[Anonymous No.]

I pause, stare at her, neck bending due to height difference… She scratches her nape with a dull laugh, flushed and visibly uncomfortable, and there’s little need of words for the handful of pieces to connect. It seems the message finally got across.

An expression of effortless thankfulness takes over my face, and I decide to spare her the embarrassment of trying to put it into words: “That’d be lovely, Meiling.”

Resuming my way to Sekai as the relieved gatekeeper goes to the other side of the room where many cabinets rest—Sakuya’s magic, I assume, creating a pocket of slowed-down time around a block of ice of sorts inside one of the cabinets to properly store water and such in subzero temperatures—not even a limp in the movements of her body. Maybe I should use my small understanding of the Ki to heal myself as effectively as she has…

But that’s for later; there’s something more important right in front of me.

Magic well drained from the ludicrous use of Sekai’s book before its intended moment—as if. Much like with my Remnant, it’s impossible to believe she hadn’t already foreseen this… Clever girl—and body a mess, I sit on the edge of Meiling's bed with a sigh, my eyes on the child’s sleeping visage, her pale hand left on top of the blankets. Tenderly, I reach for it, impressed and a little taken aback with the tingling warmth in this palm of a tiny hand, captured by the delicate and syncopated ‘doki-doki’, as the Japanese like Marisa call it, when two of my fingers press onto her wrist and feel the pulsation of a beating heart. Even without a soul to pilot it or a mind to make use of the reverberating electricity of the cells, she’s as warm and alive as the pages of a book read under the sun, touching it—holding it—just as satisfactory, my two hands grasping hers even if one arm whimpers in agony.

Then it hits me.

A child.

Not a doll, not a golem—a child. I’ve created this child in a way no one has ever done.

… Patchouli Knowledge, mother in every sense of the word.

It doesn't sound half bad.

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” My eyes move from Sekai’s face to Meiling kneeling to my side, still tall enough to reach about my neck, a tumbler of cool water in her hand that I take after nodding a ‘thank you’; her other hand, with measured movements, sweeps through Sekai’s square-shaped bangs, exposing the girl’s forehead. Her green eyes shine with the vista, and her smirk matures into a special breed of smile—like all of her face participates in it, not only the muscles of the mouth.

I wonder why I never noticed that before.

“… Yes, very…”

My eyes gravitate back to Sekai as I gulp the cold water, the inner workings of the mind blossoming like the sunflower under a summer day… And with that clarity, I can’t help but suddenly realize something as I watch Meiling brush her brown hair: if she’s warm and every system underneath the thin skin and muscle seem perfectly functional, then why is this body—the body of a goddess—so… intriguingly pale?

Noticing it means it cannot go unnoticed, and the more I stare into her ethereal visage, the more details emerge—details that cause me to lean closer after putting the tumbler away, brow furrowing as a wave of fear, born of rumbling paranoia, travels up my body, good hand squeezing Sekai's tighter.

Seeing my reaction, Meiling slowly loses her smile, also in silent puzzlement.

This paleness, despite her bodily warmth, was… sickly.

… No, no, no, no…

T-This cannot be! It’s the body of a goddess; there was everything in the ritual! Everything to counter and absolutely destroy any dirty remnant—it’s just— “Lady Patchouli…? W-Why are you panicking?” I ignore Meiling’s words, hand holding firmly onto Sekai’s hand, lower-lip munched on as swollen eyes begin to process the harrowing truth. Mine was not inherited; it was developed… But Sekai inherited everything we put on that circle, from the esoteric to the simple. Genetics were not taken into the equation— “Patchy! Listen to me! What’s happening?!” My attention shifts entirely from Sekai to Meiling, her hands clasping on both my shoulders, our eyes meeting, and, finally, I sense a faint stream of scalding water trailing down my face, good hand cleaning it as Meiling holds a gaze of trepidation.

“I…” The disorienting and unpredictable struggle is not one I’m used to, a master of dictation and versed in the puzzle that is the construction of a sentence, always keeping my cool, but I’m also not used to this utter, oppressing feeling of defeat and failure that echoes inside of me. I was tasked with building the body of a goddess; how could I—yet, before the maw of horror grew overpowering, the strong fingers anchoring me in place begged that I’d speak, my neck bending down to stare into her eyes. Sekai is as much hers as she is mine—for better… or for worse. “Sekai’s body… It might have inherited my anemia.”

[Anonymous No.]

To say it makes real, and the room around us is now the depths of a cold, dark ocean; that shine in Meiling’s eyes has vanished. She tries speaking once, twice, mouth opening like a fish's, then she looks away towards Sekai sleeping, the rhythm of her chest changing as fast as a flash of light, my head pounding with the potential consequences: her body was tailor-made for a soul of incomprehensible size and of powers so paralyzing trying to quantify it might as well be equal to using pi in its entirety… And my blood may have tainted it with innate weakness and frailty. It's a despairing notion. “Oh. This is… W-What do we do, Patchy…?” Meiling sounded shattered, her eyes glazed. For some reason beyond me, my eyes sought traces of anger and resentment amidst the suffocating despondency and terror that’d sparked in her expression.

Does she blame me for ultimately ruining the child?

I don’t know, and it scares me.

… No… It doesn't matter. It’s not set in stone yet, no.

Sekai has all-encompassing control of fate itself, and she’d have spotted something like this exactly because now I am noticing it! There’s no way she’d have let something so mundane like a human illness disrupt her creation—

—and there’s a way to know it. Heart clenching and body warming up, I take Meiling’s hands off my shoulders and say, “The book. Where’s the brat’s book?”

A spark of understanding, a spark of hope. Meiling springs up without a word and fetches the book from a table across the cabinet she’d taken the water from, her hands shaking, while my eyes run back to the child—it’s just coincidence, right? This foolish mother of yours just woke from a slumber brought by the pain of your unusual childbirth; she is jumping at shadows, paranoid now that you exist in this world, weak and defenseless without a soul. You have many mothers, but it'll be this one and that shivering mess of red that'll protect you; we will not fail you, Sekai. “Here.” Meiling gives me the book, looming behind me with eyes of eagerness and anxiety, yet I pay that no attention, letting the pages swim maddeningly: a substantial number of pages had disappeared, likely the battery cells used to make this godly body—not the drawings, they remain. I’d have sighed in relief if I wasn’t on the brink of neurosis.


“Hello, mothers.”


“I have no head for your antics, child! Is your body anemic?” I flip the pages; the words actually hissed; in shock, Meiling jumped a little, but said nothing.


“… Don’t blame yourself, Mother. It’s not your fault.”


A clearer answer and the book would’ve been glowing. The ground beneath me plunges into a muddy, dark abyss, my heart thudding, my legs falling limp, and the magic book was lowered until it rested on my trembling knees as my left-hand rose to massage my throbbing head…

I created a goddess myself, and I gave her anemia.

I…

This is awful. It’s terrifying.

Sekai cannot use her manipulation of fate to foresee after her death; what’s to say this godly body will be strong enough to host her soul? Has something as unnervingly ordinary as infirmity jeopardized a ritual so intricate and elaborated, likely impossible to be performed again as the resources we have as of now dwindle and the Solstice draws near? The atmosphere of fleeting tranquility has been shattered, already but a memory. Meiling behind me impossible to read—what does she think? What is she feeling? Does she blame me?—, my eyes glued to the pages of the heavy book. “… Is there… anything we can do, Sekai? To change this and… better our chances?” Meiling didn’t want to say it, her voice the weakest I’ve ever heard, but something to better our chances—to fix her body before the Solstice—would be welcome.


“There is nothing, Mother Meiling…” I clench my teeth, expecting the next words to be some sort of saccharine, sludge of reassurance, or another motivational remark about how this is not my fault. “… Because I wanted to be born this way.”


… What…?

The abyss below consumes. The room, the beds. Everything but me, Meiling and this book, and the abrupt, shivering cold. Before any words could leave me, eyes followed the remained scribbled-down sentence, and the only sign of reaction I had of Meiling behind me was a gasp.


“I knew of the anemia and asthma during the ritual. I decided to do nothing about them.”


I could not gasp like Meiling; I was too shaken, brow creased, and heartbeat, already burning from the initial anxiety and realization of this child’s ails now a frenzied, puzzled inferno.

The void below, as if regurgitating an idea far too stupid, far too inane to be consumed, reverberated the words through every synapse of my mind: Sekai knew of them…

… And chose to do nothing.

[Anonymous No.]

The hands holding the book tremble non-stop, the heart is furious, and, suddenly, with bulging eyes, one question leaves me: “… Why?” And it worked as the opening of a lid, busted by the following deluge. “Why did you do that? I-If you knew, then why—why have you put all of our work on the line?!” I ask in-between a coughed yell and a cold, throaty intonation, the white rage bubbling from the depths of the well making even my eyes burn in its ferocity. Meiling was trying to say something, but I couldn’t care less, my quivering hands working by themselves and flipping the pages haphazardly, palms squeezing the book as if small, soft shoulders, eyes jumping from the pages to the sickly pale—anemic, asthmatic. My blood. Sekai chose this—ghost nestled underneath the sheets. “You had knowledge of every individual element of my life when you constructed that phantom body of mine, and you know well, brat, the misery I’ve been through my life because of these conditions. You know all that, you ungrateful child! And you have cursed yourself with them, on the verge of greatness! Why in the world have you done this, Sekai?!”

A part of my mind was confused at itself, scared even: when was the last time I’ve been this… altered? Body shivering with scalding blood and freezing adrenaline, sweat coursing down my back, and face red with primal anger. I’ve never felt like this, not throughout a lifetime of earth-shaking rituals, of facing dictators and monsters of all ways of life, with armaments, magic, or something else in between that more often than not would defy conventional knowledge. A lifetime of perils, of peering beyond the abyss, yet…

… In all my years, I have never…

Huffing bug-eyed, I look down in utter exasperation, each of my bones craving something—words, secrets, explanations. Please, I need to know why—that'd demystify the terrifying notion that this child—my child—may have been cursed because of the grime I spewed into that bucket, one leg bouncing up and down and my lower lip being chewed on.


“… I’m sorry…”


There was more; just the overpowering rage spoke first. “Sorry? You are sorry?! You may have destroyed your chances of being born at all—you understand that, Sekai?” Words behind me, calling. I couldn’t care a bit. “That everything we’ve done, that year me and your mother spent locked in the HSE, alone and bodiless, watching your father suffer and—a-and—then that war, your plan, a divine body no one has ever triumphed in conceiving except me: everything! You may’ve wasted it all!” The ugly urge to throw this invaluable magic book against the wall like a porcelain vase washes over me like a tidal wave, and I would have done it if a steadfast hand hadn’t hooked me in place. Instead, my wide eyes turn to Meiling, taking the form of a thousand sharp daggers.

[Anonymous No.]

I am met with green eyes that, if struck with those daggers, would’ve completely disintegrated them, hand firm as that of a statue and voice perturbed but composed. “Calm down, Patchy!” Perplexed with her hushed yet brash sudden callout, I froze. No, hold off; there’s something else. Something deeper: In her eyes I found a fury much like mine, and it was clear Meiling had just sloppily scrubbed her eyes before addressing me… And in her hold, that same bloody grip we shared over the bucket, determination red as her hair and pungent as the lime green of her eyes. Electrochemistry, tangled in this dance of rage, fright, and despair, soothes under her pressure, and I reassemble my breathing, which the martial artist quickly notices, sighing. “Gee… I’m angry and confused too, but getting mad and shouting at her will get us nowhere. Let’s hear her, okay? All she’s done until now has had a purpose…” Meiling sounded unsure, but where she excelled in empathy, confidence in its application was but a dim bulb.

I don't have that problem.

My eyes shift from hers to the book, her hand on my shoulder loosening, my leg still rocking up and down, and the back of my throat hurts from the massive ice block that’d lodged in there… But I nodded, swallowing the thing down. This last year has taught me extensively of Meiling’s empathetic soul—not the mentality of seeing good in everything; that’s merely retardation—and though the anger feels justified, perhaps…

… Ah, who am I trying to fool?

Pushing down dark feelings, I turn back to the book—a small, shaky ‘Thank you’ is written there, and I doubt it’s directed at me. It burns a little—and continue reading, the adrenaline refusing to fade and making my heart thump like drums.


“I know of your pain, Mother Patchouli, and what these illnesses mean to you, what they mean to my birth…” Reaching the ending of the page, I jump to the next, and this thumping heart withers: black spots, thinned out and round like liquid that’s dried, are scattered around the page and the scribbled down words. “B-But I refuse to accept anything but all of you! You two went long distances to give me a beautiful and suitable body, parts of yourselves, and I welcomed it all! Doesn’t matter what, from the mole Mother Meiling has on her hip to these ailments, to the meaning of your precious trinkets… T-True mother wants me to be born ‘perfect’. To not have any flaw; to be an adorer that’ll never question her, and no matter how much I love her, I hate what she thinks I am. I don’t want to survey every cell of my body looking out for imperfections, mistakes—for things to fix, as if a product on a line of production! I am Hata no Sekai! I am no doll, no golem for anyone to decide how I’ll be born! I am your daughter, proud daughter of my father, Anon Hakurei—a-and every child ever born was deemed p-perfect by their parents, right?! Right, mothers?! No matter what happened, they were still loved… So why must I be different?” As the words go, the harder it is to read and the more dark spots layer the page. My hands tremble, as do Meiling’s. “… I am so sorry; I know it’ll make the chances the ritual works worse, and I know it hurts you to see me suffer, Mothers; it is a selfish thing to do… But I trust this to be transient: I’ll live, and one day we’ll find a way to cure our bodies, and we’ll be healthy and happy! Mother Meiling will help; I know she will. I want to become a c-cool master of Ki too! And when everyone is well and sound, we’ll travel t-to China, all around this big w-world! So please, forgive me, please, I love you, please, please, please…”

[Anonymous No.]

The words go on for a little more, and each chaotically written ‘please’ breaks my heart a tad more: she knows very well doing that was a mistake. Egotistical, even, and the simmering rage threatens to bubble up with every passing thought of those words, their meaning, and the unstoppable overlapping of one year of terrible, terrible flashes; of watching that man cry and be helpless to help, Remi’s arms exploded and… And more. Much more. But a firm hand remains, despite the cold and tremble; despite the overwhelmingly awful emotions—it remains.

It’s good to not be alone.

A sigh leaves me, eyes jumping from the book to the dormant body of an ill child on the bed—'we’ll find a way to cure our bodies'—and all that anguish, all the emotion, slowly fizzles out. They don’t disappear; I don’t know if they’ll ever fully do, but they find a small, secluded cranny in the back of my mind to rest as something much more prominent and powerful comes forth, and hurt expressiveness wins the race against rational thought: “How can you be so certain, Sekai? That your body will survive the Solstice…?” Concern that soaks every ounce of cartilage and twists every bone into a different direction, contracting and expanding at the same time, establishing an orchestra of drums out of a puny, anemic heart.

There’s a second of fear before I turn the page full of dried-up tears and pleas…

… But this body is still Patchouli Knowledge, and the shadows on the wall of the cave are but that—shadows.

The page is clean, and bears only one sentence in its center.


“Because it’s the body you built me.”


… I proclaimed it during the ritual, whispered and true, as I poured all of my being into magic so otherworldly it may someday be used to create the basis of a new branch on the ever-expanding tree of magic—my own well of knowledge, roots for generations to come—, and it was true at the time. It was true a moment ago, too… Yet, as this mixture of pure wrath and deep frustration and worry, of warmth infinite and shaky hands, agitated smile and rocking leg, teary eyes and burning mind, constricting heart and churning blood finally come together in a disorganized, kaleidoscopic ocean of sheer feelings inside this body; the words that escape me are far more than true. They are mine, they are yours, and they are real. “… I love you, brat, but you’re going to be the death of me.” A giggle echoing from behind is almost awarded with a gaze of death from me, held off by a sigh of this worn-out mind and body and head shake, hand nearly lazily flipping onto the next page, energy sapped out of me like humanity’s petrol cars sapped the black lifeblood of the primordial world.


“I’ll impress Mother Sakuya with just how many chores I can handle, promise~!” A pause then, eyes scurrying the last paragraph etched on the bottom of the page. “… Mother Sakuya and Remi will be arriving in about three minutes, so you should prepare for that. Never forget I love you, mothers, even in my selfishness. In time, I’ll say the words with a real mouth and real vocal cords. Hope these are enough for that little while longer.”


… I think about saying something, anything, but can’t find the right words, so I close the book quietly, eyebrows furrowed, and sigh out loud. The tsunami of feelings has come and gone, and the wasteland it left behind is an unfathomable undertaking of natural art, imploring insight I don’t have and a thread of thought I can’t see beginning nor ending. Yamame Kurodani probably would’ve been capable of discerning its expanse, but I am not her. Gladly, there’s someone just as good to my side, and, clicking my tongue, I try my best to put this calamity into words: “… I don’t know what to make of this.” The words were aimed at the hand that gently drifts off my shoulders, my eyes locked on the sleeping brunette, book put away on the mattress, and, with free hands, I massage my temples. Meiling had moved as I did so, now sitting to my side, elbows on her knees and hands under her chin, with her eyes also on Sekai, pensive. “She wants to be born, but has actively hindered our chances to do so, and for what? To endure my illnesses before we eventually cure them with your Ki training? It doesn’t make any sense, this course of action…”

The silence holds for a moment, Meiling’s own brows furrowing before softening, a gesture followed by words: “I think it’s an act of rebellion—against Yukari, the universe… Maybe even us?” My eyes narrow at the last words, and I stare at her. Meiling doesn’t share our stare, but rather hunches forward a little to catch Sekai’s exposed hand with her two, the little girl’s hand dwarfed in the grasp. “She’s never enjoyed letting others decide her future for her, and the way she spoke of Yukari, how she wants a perfect adorer, not a daughter… It infuriates me too. In the end, she’s just a child, isn’t she? It’s unlikely that she’ll make sense half of the time~”

“… I’ll go gray if I have to deal with this on a daily basis.”

[Anonymous No.]

Meiling laughs. “Me too, but… I’m fine with it.” My gaze wanders to Sekai, her hand cloaked by Meiling’s, a peacefulness of sorts befalling me: there’s no one who’d make her safer. “I don’t want her to think she owes me for the things I’ve done for her, that I must be compensated for this struggle and, y’know, the rest of the… stuff… Her simply existing; finding happiness and enjoyment in the life we’ll provide for her, would be more than enough for me. She’s Hata no Sekai, our daughter—not an adorer, a doll, or golem—, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

I nod absentmindedly, the warm words sticking to the walls of my brain like glue as thoughts of anger and senseless, childish rebellion clash with the torment of being born in a cage, gilded as it was, and being victim to the whims of creatures much beyond one's comprehension, alone and scared. A child, conceived in her personal hell… My child to save, nurture, and adequately punish for being a brat.

My selfish brat, my Sekai.

The mental fog of this situation and echoing feelings is still thick, but understanding is sharpened with grinding confusion and bewilderment on an empathetic stone, and with eyes on those gargantuan hands holding a tiny, frail one with all the care of the world, I find myself glad once more that in the unquestionably stressful and exhausting journey that is motherhood, I won’t be alone.

She'll be born into a family that loves her, free to be smart and dumb like any child should, and she'll call the Scarlet Devil Mansion her home.

A child who owes nothing to the universe.

As if growing consciousness of its own, my good hand moves towards Meiling’s and Sekai’s, intended on making part of that inconspicuous silent gesture—

—but a knock on the door stops me, and I withdraw my hand hastily. “Three exact minutes.” The gatekeeper mutters in mild amusement, tucking Sekai’s hand back underneath the mountain of blankets. A small spell is cast onto my face, and the redness of these eyes, the remnants of trailed tears, and such disperse, leaving behind a semi-presentable face. Can’t say the same for my hair, unfortunately. It is still a monumental mess.

Oh well, it doesn’t matter; I haven't drunk my morning tea yet, and my child has spoiled my emotional state, so I have all the right to look grumpy.

“… You think Lady Remilia is mad at us?” Meiling ask, and I throw her a tired glance. She sighs, resigned as she walks up to open the door, before mumbling, “Dumb question.”

Dumb question indeed.

Remi must be beyond fuming.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47644232
>>47644228
>>47644224
>>47644209
>>47644204
>>47644196
>>47644190
and that's it for my side of Patchy/Meiling! Sorry for leaving you with a metal beyblade of a situation, Patchyanon, but I'm sure you'll manage it~
addressing your concern about time, why don't we work with a time limit? Give it a month after this chapter, and if you haven't posted anything I'll begin writing the next entry. If you feel like you need more time, just say and I won't. It'll keep us updated you're still alive and time constraints always help with consistency~
welp, gonna go write some Okina now.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47644245
She doesn't exactly have much going on but I hope you have fun with her.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47644245
>image
Got me for a second, I was having trouble imagining that was a real tag

[Anonymous No.]

>>47644245
great chapters, was teary-eyed the whole thing but sekai's
>“Because it’s the body you built me.”
got me crying good
just find the lack of Patchy topping Meiling concerning, solve that posthaste to fit with the lore >>47619600
waited just before bump to fuck with the other autistics

[Anonymous No.]

>>47645774
if I remember correctly, Takaneanon made a drawing of Sekai. She could probably have her tag eventually.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47653188
This is the only drawing I think I've made of her.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47653213
cute! Always got a laugh off of your spelling errors, though I'm glad they're fixed in the archives, drunkanon can really ruin the mood of some scenes...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47654262
Don't even remind me, no matter how hard I spell check there is always a new error somewhere

[Anonymous No.]

>>47658140
can't think of realer words...

[Anonymous No.]

this is the future sensei wants for (You)! Wake up, HSE!
source: https://e-hentai.org/g/3038786/9718a50613/

[Anonymous No.]

finished archiving up to thread 31 and posted the next chapter. Man, I feel boned, thread 28-31 were mega fucking busy, almost 200k words all by themselves. Good job everyone.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47661496
Thanks for your hard work! Let's all wait warmly while writers toast~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47661496
Thanks for all the hard work, everybody appreciate your efforts as well.
Managing and archiving the official version of the HSE can't be easy.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47664137
>>47664391
much appreciated
>Managing and archiving the official version of the HSE can't be easy.
it's really not, mainly the peer-reviewing of small grammar mistakes and missing punctuation, but it's very rewarding. The project holds a small place in my heart, and I enjoy seeing it going the distance.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47664550
Well then I appreciate your efforts despite how little they are.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47665221
oh, guess that “it's really not” came out confusing, I was answering the “can't be easy” part, not saying there's little effort involved. Will now be defenestrating myself because of that blunder.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47664137
I keep bouncing between Marisa and Okina, hopefully can finish some chapters by today or tomorrow~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47558304
<<VAU Orgasm>> (Aya)
(GEM multiplier x3)
STA-70 ENE-100
Die-uh-log is hard and I'm essentially just writing a long argument between Aya and Kanako. 'tis related to Okina but on the basis on their opinion of Okina, not what she actually is doing so I'm not stepping on toes with that. Just trying to find the right balance between talking, thinking and observational details to keep the flow interesting. Got two posts-worth written and I'm not even halfway done with the scene yet.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47671591
>Anon fucked that
grim
>spoiler
oh, nice~good writing for you! Okina will be basically inaccessible the day prior (after the Anon's Frens reunion + the exchange in the Underground), the day of and half the next day of the Festival, so everything should be okay! Anything you want, though, just talk to me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47665261
>Will now be defenestrating myself because of that blunder.
grim

[Anonymous No.]

>>47671591

[Anonymous No.]

>>47672815
grim

[Anonymous No.]

>>47672815
thanks doc

[Anonymous No.]

>>47672815
Thanks I hate it

[Anonymous No.]

“Goodbye for now, beautiful people~!”

The backdoor closes with a loud thud, hiding from view the exasperated faces of the residents of the dragon, the Earth Palace, and the Underground. Around me, a vast, infinite dark void, punctuated by the occasional backdoor popping into and out of existence… Amidst the pitch-blackness, any semblance of casualness or happiness—the grandeur smile so easily plasticized—of mine vanishes, and I linger on my throne like a statue, staring at nothingness, eyes glazed and mouth a thin line. An iridescent dragon the size of buildings, unsusceptible to magic, ‘old’ as it is called, yet born long after the height of its species' civilization; a sword of incomprehensible potential; flames that burn something that lies just beneath my skin, something I didn’t even know still existed inside. Eyes, red, sharp fangs, with the power to kill anyone and anything.

Eyes, pink, strength extraordinary.

Eyes, purple…

I look down, both my arms resting on the arms of the throne, and observe in bitter awe how the godly flesh shudders; how one of my legs rocks up and down, displacing slightly the yellow-orange tabard and green skirt, the embroidered Saptarshis on the fabric peering at me. Indra-savani seems confused; Kratu overjoyed with what lurks behind my eyes. What are they watching? What more secrets do they see buried underneath the surface of their Matarajin, her lips dry and eyes bulging, heart fast?

… What does she look like when all the facade is stripped?

My right-hand shoots and grabs the left wrist, bubbling rage climbing my spine. Calm down, Okina Matara, secret goddess—yes, goddess!—calm down.

You’re better; you’re stronger.

You’re n-not going to die because of preventable mistakes…

Towering flames, simmering the very magic; scarlet powers, destruction of everything, anything. Pink thunders that come and go in milliseconds, quicker than the Scarlet destruction. A dragon, massive, invulnerable. Purple eyes, a sick smile. I should have ended this when it began…

Calm down…

A backdoor opens and closes, and I see myself in my hidden corner of the Land of Backdoors—hidden? No, Yukari has broken into this place once; I’m not safe. Careful—and immediately there are people surrounding me, their voices overpowering each other with concern, but I can’t see to understand any of it; everything is muffled. Why is everything so muffled? No, doesn’t matter. There are a bunch of new factors at play; I must attend to them immediately.

I push past the people, eyes blurring, heart frenetically beating. Why does… why does my arm itch so very much?

Doesn’t matter. The Solstice is bearing down on me.

Almost stumbling—where’s the grace? You’re a goddess; where’s your grace?—I place both my hands on a war table I’ve become sickly used to in the past months: each marking, each individual, prominent scribbled note on the side, and moving pieces—a massive red structure shining on my eyes like the sun. A backdoor opens over it, and the piece of a dragon falls next to so many, many other pieces… It wasn’t that crowded until a few weeks ago. How’s she gotten heaps of allies so quickly?

It wasn’t meant to be like that.

Flandre should’ve destroyed her operation, so insanely unpredictable.

So very unpredictable, I wasn’t expecting her to become one of Yukari’s triumphs. Kasen cannot change sides anymore, not with Yukari having control over Koutei—how? How could you let something like that happen, Kasen?—it’s not good…

It’s not fucking good.

There are voices around me full of worry, but all they manage to do is boil the rising anger with the loud noises, my heart so frantic and… Calm down; you’re losing track. Focus. Focus. You’ve already committed far too many mistakes.

The constellation watches your mistakes; the people around you watch too.

Sweat pours down my forehead, I scratch my eyes, trying to clear the confusing blurring, my whole body itching in uncomfortable heat—it’s rising from my arm all the way towards my heart, and the loud noises make my nails scratch the paper underneath—it’s trembling, it’s becoming hard to think, to do anything… If I knew Yukari’s little game would evolve into a plot to kill me for good, to steal my powers, would I have let her have her way at the beginning? Even with the threat of the Dragon God looming over us?

No, I would have not.

But there’s no coming back now.

Reimu Hakurei and those flames—what are they? When have they become a factor? I thought during Hana’s birthday party they were mere channels of the Hakurei God… Just remembering what they did to the backdoor I tried to use to snuff them shivers my body, and the rage she threw at me for eyeing Yukari’s cat—blistering rage: idiot, idiot! Can’t you control yourself? You cannot become an enemy of that! You just cannot! Or are you already the enemy of the shrine maiden? Will I need to kill her too? No, she’s too powerful; she’s necessary to contain Kasen and Koutei…

Something bad is about to happen.

[Anonymous No.]

Stop, this is paranoia! Focus! Right here, right now—but with all this noise; this frantic heart; this pile of red pointers against me, smeared together into one giant red taint, mine’s blue and… Sparse; weak. Decentralized.

Fodder, most of it.

Yuuka, Toutetsu, the Moriyans, and Myourens, but they aren’t infallible. Koutei is.

Something rises inside my throat.

I try covering my ears, but my arms aren’t moving. My heart is clenching so violently, why… The shades of red almost seem to be gaining life of their own, growing and growing because I did nothing to stop them when I had the chance. And why?! Because of your vices? Because of a haphazard plan of filling your empty, vast life with… something?

… Calm down; the Solstice is coming; there are things you haven’t considered—

The noises grow. My heart is aflame.

—There are mistakes that have backfired against you—

The noises grow; their hands pull on me, trying to gather my attention.

—You aren’t going to win. You’re going to die because you let Yukari become more powerful than anything—

My brain is melting; each nerve is corroding.

—and why? Because, after thousands of years of existence, all that remains within…

My hands sink into the wood.

… Is nothing.

And that boiling rage inside just… snaps.

My eyesight turns razor sharp; my breathing ceases to exist. The Land of Backdoors falls on complete silence, yet ears buzzed as that rage sprouted from beneath my skin, taking form in many backdoors opening all around the table and exploding it into many pieces, the painstakingly made papers on top of it full of sensitive information, positions, and probable war tactics ripped to thousands of shreds, but that massive red shadow is gone. A momentary relief… Then thuds behind me—felt rather than heard, ears still buzzing—and I turn in silent confusion, my throne scrapping the ground—

Y-Yukari? She’s here…

She wants to kill me.

Before she can even move, I hurriedly throw one hand forward and coat her body on backdoors, all of which then open simultaneously… Bringing forth an apocalyptic flood of blood and guts that fly everywhere as if a bomb that’d just exploded within my Sister Sage, smearing my clothes and smothering the Saptarishis’ gazes of despondency.

Stunned, my heart pounds, arms still itching all over: she’s dead…? Ha, she committed a mistake! I’m not alone.

But Yukari wasn't alone! Her allies are here too; I must kill them before they kill me. Eyes flicker, and Flandre is there—

—I explode her before she can kill me.

Two for the count! Just more two… Wait, weren't there more…?

No, it doesn’t matter; my hand pushes forward, intended on destroying my second sister sage— “NOO!! O-OKINA-SAMA, STOP!!” Someone had just jumped on top of me, teeth grinding with my inattention. I should've known they'd ambush me! As me and the villain tumble to the ground out of the throne, I prepare yet another set of backdoors to kill her, blurry eyes full of fear turning to…

Salty water falls on my face, cooling the skin beneath. Hiccups, ones I remember well of a little girl and her friend, lost and confused, crying their lungs out for a hero…

I see locks of blonde.

H-Huh?

“… Mai?” I mumble, perplexed eyes on the blonde dancer. Her clothes are drenched in blood and her eyes shut, and she cries and trembles like a broken leaf. Why is Mai crying…?

No, that doesn’t matter! She’s just given Kasen a breach! I need to kill her before she tries to…

… But if Yukari is dead, then why…

I turn to Kasen, violent heart rate slowing down and edges of my vision that I’d thought razor-sharp unbarring—tunnel vision…? Me?—And rather than my pink Sister Sage, it’s Satono who stands there completely immobilized, staring at me with bloodshot wide eyes and just as covered in blood as Mai. Besides her, two small bodies liquified by the backdoors.

Understanding is slow, but soon comes under Mai’s sobs and Satono’s traumatized gaze.

I… Cannot say anything. My throat is swollen and sore, my hands become numb, my brain pounds like a blacksmith’s hammer, and the blood that soaks up my clothes feels… innocent.

The silence aside from Mai’s piercing wail is thick as leather.

You’re a goddess. Why haven’t you done something already? You have committed a mistake! Do something! Anything!

Red eyes, fangs; towering flames; a serpentine body long as skyscrapers.

Two pink eyes, power to move mountains.

Two purple eyes, staring at me.

I…

… I gently grasp Mai’s shoulders and move her away from me, the girl now kneeling on the ground, weeping her eyes out as she kept both hidden with her hands, unable to watch the carnage. Satono watches the mangled bodies wordlessly. “… You two clean this mess, please.” The soft and slightly wobbly words are accentuated by a backdoor that opens in front of me as I get up, clothes heavy with blood, uncaring that I stand on my two own legs. “I’ll… be back in a few days.” And then scurry through the backdoor, which unceremoniously shuts behind me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47674440
>>47674435
part 1! Already have the script, and should be done with Okina in about 12–16 chapters. Time to explore the consequences of letting mistakes accumulate; the back-to-back that was discovering Koutei and Kasen aren't switching sides midfight and Reimu carries Jesus juice (forma del fogo) in her veins and she might've angered her; and how agonizingly evened, if not toppled, the battlefield has become. In better words, time to peel off the facade and have a look at things how they really are~

[Anonymous No.]

>>47674440
>>47674435
Silly dork goddess... as autistic as gappy...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47678270
ah yes, the trademark of every silly dork: severe panic attack that devolves into momentary psychosis

[Anonymous No.]

>>47678381
Trademark of the silliest(tm) dorks

[Anonymous No.]

stop with this slander at once! She's not silly, she just had a very bad day! And Yukari is 10 times more autistic than her.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47674440
lots of death in recent threads...

[Anonymous No.]

>>47683335
all youkai, so they don't matter. Here, a distraction!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47684259
Imagine being Aunn and getting to pero pero that on demand

[Anonymous No.]

>>47687461
don't fuck the dog.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47687461
Fuck the dog.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47689861
>>47689648
Who do I believe?!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47693455
the ana has already fucked the dog many times, so if she'll continue to do so, at least she should do it with care. So yeah, fuck the dog.
... we should thank Eirin STDs don't exist in Gensokyo.

[Anonymous No.]

>writing Okina
>about 7 chapters in already, and am still in the first thirtd of the script
Initially, I planned to write 12-16 chapters, but now I am having so much fun exploring the character that I’m not so sure anymore... Oh well, it happens~

[Anonymous No.]

>28 days to go
damn…

[Anonymous No.]

what the fuck is this

[Anonymous No.]

>>47703935
It's in the title, it's the HSE: This thread is for the spinoffs of the spinoffs of a fan work.

[Anonymous No.]

This time a year ago, Hana was happily begging Marisa to teach her how to fight in a Spellcard Duel.
How times change.
>>/jp/thread/44478667#p44523238

[Anonymous No.]

>>47706350
after one year of pure suffering, it's crazy she's still standing. She's one tough girl, after all.

[Anonymous No.]

The backdoor closes behind me, and I stand again in another vast and empty spot as the cold, mountainous wind of India’s December blows past me. To my south, Kamet's eternally frozen peak rises, piercing clouds and the stars I guide; its molten glaciers feed rivers and aqueducts that crisscross the Valley of Flowers to my right, where thousands of perennial species I have seen cultivated over hundreds of years are sunk beneath the snow and frigid temperatures, waiting for spring to arrive. The Elephant Peak clouds my vision, though glimpses of the several mountain chains behind it remind me, even without flight, that the land is immense and its accumulated snow oceanic in quantity—which eventually will melt and flood the peninsula below, and a de facto ocean should well slumber in the isolated valley much like the Traeth Ma, before its ocean was cut off and drained by human hands—and if I close my eyes, forgetting blood sapping into my clothes and sweat pouring down my nape, I can even picture a vast, empty ocean… And the things, dead or alive, lurking beneath the surface.

But I don’t close my eyes; rather, I turn them downward at my trembling, blood-soaked hands. I’ve killed my share of people; every one who’s lived as long as I have has yet to try remembering anything before I exploded those two gifts me nothing but rotting images, an endeavor that echoes inside a terrible notion of self: am I losing control? Right here, as the Solstice edges and the maws of enemies I’ve thought mere amusement expose sharp and large rows of teeth, desperate to gnaw at my flesh… Such gaping maw, I, in all my experience of three thousand years, decided to place my head inside.

Shame, bubbling rage, warm blood.

The constellations soaked in red stare at me, grossed out and in disappointment, and I turn, shaking violently and don’t think for another second before stripping these clothes—the discomfort is excruciating, the itching of the skin is like ants crawling underneath it, and the cocktail of agonizing emotions hits the back of my head like a child with a piñata—, moving with urgency to the only building nearby and reason why I came here: a humble house, confusedly Japanese in its design yet with traces of ancient Indian architecture. Beside it, a spring neatly carved into the ground, steam rising with the backdoors that preserve it and the lava way beneath the rocks and soil, ever-blossoming trees surrounding it bearing vibrant, crimson canopies. I ignore nature’s beauty, bare nude in the arctic Himalayan atmosphere, trembling body frigid and hot at the same time, and jump into the hot springs, thermal shock enough to kill a man, but this goddess only sighs, her back against the stones and eyes, tense and strained, watching the lumbering clouds, vast and empty… Slowly, everything starts to melt away—the itchiness of the skin, the discomfort, the fear, and the innocent blood; backdoors opening on the sludge and carrying it away—and I again sigh, letting my sensitive body melt in the healing waters and smooth stone, golden locks swimming on the vibrancy as my hands finally—finally—stopped trembling.

A backdoor opens a little behind, and bathing supplies tucked in a basket fall neatly on the rock, steady hand reaching out for the soap. Most of the blood is gone, but a lot remains, the cleaning process done mechanically as my mind drifted away to just how… sensitive my body feels, bitterness lading my tongue with the perception. Lies. Lies behind more lies, and on top of them—lies.

How exactly did you manage to maintain the facade for so long, Okina Matara?

The facade that you’re a raging pedophile?

And why have you done so?

The bar of soap travels through the surface of my breasts, leaving red marks behind the untouched skin, and I think of just about everything I’ve pursued in the last 150—175?—years. I’ve recorded movies of softcore, was bought using photos of undergarments, and have hounded the princess of the Underground for sex I know I’ll never get. My reputation is tarnished with it, and I’ve noticed how I’ve leaned towards finally going all the distance. Flandre’s visage as I got her to the HSE comes back to mind… But I’ve always chickened out, and given excuses.

This body hasn’t felt the touch of another in so, so very long…

… And why?

The water boils as does my blood, and teeth clench as eyes narrow, the answer lurking just beneath the vast mantles of snow or above the rolling clouds of white. The answer is somewhere here, uncloaked and unmasked, bare-naked and sporting red blemishes all over her body, her mind repeating Mai's wails and Satono's look of terror—they're not ready for the war to come—, yet to look at it, to make it finally a truth… Crimson flames high and mighty, capable of burning magic down to the concept; pure, unadulterated destruction. Strength, infinite. Those
purple eyes…

The monster grown, the markings of red on my skin, a truth.

It brings attention to me. That's the answer.

[Anonymous No.]

So what if I burn those pictures Aya Shameimaru brings to me? The idea left on her mind is more than anything a simple contract would’ve done. So what if those movies are destroyed, never to be watched? If some delinquent fairies are to be let go with a simple slap on the wrist? The intonation, the very assumption, is enough. Satori Komeiji might deny my ‘advances’ or whatever, but her reactions always make me laugh; make me feel… Nothing of that matters if I’m remembered—a way or another, and three thousand years of life have taught me people will always remember the worst of everyone; no matter how many of them look up towards my stars and pray for protection or no hindrances, and I answer with blessings of every sort.

That faith is forgotten eventually.

The unchained truths continue as I look down at my ‘dysfunctional’ legs, the vileness of their lies spawning from the idea that losing to someone people often think inferior makes the victory that much more sweet, my visage and exploits remaining in their minds.

A crippled goddess! Ha!

Lies, lies, lies…

Every single lie ever told, an effort to introduce something—anything—back into this tired yet powerful body; into this mind yearning for one more dopamine rush, but the veil is continually being lifted, and though the forming snow of December tries to hide it, the seasons will change and spring will come no matter what.

How many hundreds of years have I lived in this white addiction…?

Wings of fire, scales of verdant green; pure destruction. Pink eyes, purple eyes.

Stars are to be watched, even if they’ve died already, and all that remains is the bright light burned into the vast and empty night sky.

Heart rate threatens to rise to a bursting degree, hands clamping and body shuddering, preparing for the worst as the gears of the Solstice turn inside my head and the prophesized day, stripped of its amusement factor under the dead stars, shows its true colors as a bloodbath that’ll bring either spring or perpetuate this eternal winter, waiting for the next fireworks…

Mind flashes back to two small corpses that only wanted to help.

My teeth clench, eyes wide, and suddenly inside burns rage—at me, at Yukari—whispering continuously one thing: I am a goddess! A goddess, through and through! If I were so inclined, I could melt the snow that blankets the Himalayas and flood the human world, and what’d they do if not squirm under power beyond their very comprehension?!

One single backdoor on the bottom of the ocean, and Gensokyo dies!

… But nothing comes out of that volatile rage—to harm Gensokyo like that… ? Aya has just had her babies; she named them Midori, Waku, Tomoe, and Takezo—and in record time it is snuffed into a cold feeling—the lack of a rush of anything good or bad—settling a void inside this old heart.

It’s not the first time, this void, but as I slowly get out of the water, small backdoors carrying the condensation elsewhere and drying me from impurities, I fear it might be the last.

Unconcerned about nudity in such an inhospitable environment, I move to the house, humble in both interior and exterior, with numerous hidden mini-backdoors keeping the single room clean and suitable, even if it has not been checked out in about 200 years. The neurosis of the last hour subsides a little as nostalgia floods in with the trinkets I’ve stored in this unused personal respite, though I narrow my eyes as they shift from the bed, ancient swords and jewelry, tapestries hanging on the walls, and propaganda posters about the future—fills me with pride how many bear stars—my stars—the guides of humanity's future, regardless of culture~—and land on…

Ah, yes, this is what I was doing before it lost its luster and I sought another vice.

I approach gingerly the dismantled device, one hand shooting towards the fireplace and igniting it with two backdoors on the oxygen there, the friction of two simultaneous suctions igniting the two centuries old lumber, and stop before the things nearly organized next to an eclectic collection of Japanese texts about a ‘hero’ who was boiled alive: a pipe of aged acacia wood with golden adornments, a large needle of brass to the side resting on top of a spirit lamp, and an empty container. The things I’d use to smoke opium. I still feel in my veins how the euphoric rush would reinvigorate and refresh a body too exhausted from keeping the monsters lurking in the deep cosmos at bay through the ever-expanding Abyss of Backdoors, then a calm of a nature I couldn’t really explain would spread and…

For the first years, anyway.

Then the Nirvana stopped, and like the vice before it—ah, the emergence of the sparkling champagne: ‘You can see stars!’ What a time to be alive—I had to move onto the next thing that’d make my heart jump.

As time passes, even teasing sexual abuse has lost its vibrancy, though the fear of what next thing I’ll have to employ to drive off the boredom of a life too long is as old as the Hakurei Barrier…

[Anonymous No.]

Wordless, I move to the side, a massive box resting there, the lid easily removable to a goddess like me, and, immediately, a gust of frigidity rises—a fridge before fridges were invented~—and I reach inside of it, looking for a tablet of opium paste…

It brings a shine to my eye and a grin to my face, though, that the first thing I find is a small box, one I recognize without even needing to read the label: ‘silkworm eggs’, frozen and waiting the next breeding season, an ‘art’ of sorts Kokoro always seemed to like.

… How’s she doing? How’s Aunn doing?

I miss them.

Satono and Mai come to mind, and that smile is gone. One had eyes of trauma, and the other was crying like crazy before I just… left them, heart throbbing with shame and an ache to return to the Land of Backdoors, comfort them, and figure things out. But that hurt soon dies at the hands of how I’d almost killed them in an episode of psychosis.

An episode! Me, a goddess! How can that be possible?! How could I display so much weakness…?

Gums stiffen, legs tremble, and, despite the aching desire to see those two and make sure they are okay, I can’t bring myself to look at them in the eye after… this.

No, no, no… Something is very wrong. I’m too stressed—the Solstice, Yukari; how she’s turned the tables, and how it was all my fault. I should’ve stopped her sooner, much sooner—just thinking about my enemies makes me dizzy.

It’s overbearing, impossible to maintain the mask.

I need some good time. I need to recover.

I’ll lose the war otherwise.

I leave the frozen eggs inside and scurry urgently for the paste, finally finding it, and with blood pumping hot like a soldering iron, I sit on the bed of fine pelts of animals from all around the world, the whitest coats to brave winter to the slim ones for temperate weather, and soon stick the pipe between my lips, spirit lamp burning the paste, brain begging that the general release of chemicals calm down this worn-out mind, and… It does nothing. Eyes narrow as the smoke floods lungs and trachea, giving me little but empty promises of another minute of joy and amusement—a minute that I try to reach continuously, leg rocking up and down and naked body shuddering—

—Suddenly, the paste is gone. There’s nothing more of it, and that fleeting minute, just within reach, escapes me.

This time, the rage that rises is one I act upon, lifting myself from the bed, winding it up—a backdoor opens in front of me—and, with a creak, I throw the pipe into the maw of a volcano… A moment passes, another backdoor opens on top of me, and I catch the falling pipe, rushing to the box, desperate to find anymore paste and—

“W-What the hell am I doing?!” I hiss to myself, wide eyes on the thing, which, by the next second, bursts into a thousand pieces that scatter about, my breathing rough and anguished. “Can’t you control yourself, Okina Matara?! You’re a goddess! You have a war to win against Yukari Yakumo, two traumatized servants you should be caring for! You have apologies to make to the Myouren for killing one of them—stop chasing vices! You’re better than that! Your life may be empty, but… But…” Any argument lacing my tongue fades, thoughts trying to elaborate something to say to myself… Nothing comes despite my efforts, and I am sitting on the bed once again, hands rising to hide my eyes. “… But what? The Solstice will be the high of all highs, huh? You’ll fight your two sister sages, alongside some of the most impressive powerhouses you’ve ever seen in your life. It’ll last one, maybe two hours, all for one single man.” Memories of the start of this whole mess flooding in: it all seemed like one big game sanctioned by my sister sage. We’d fight, the world would squirm under our movements, and that’s it. It was supposed to be mindless fun to abate the boredom of vast, empty lives. We’re past that point, and silhouettes laden the shadows the burning acacia cast. “Then it’ll be over. You may die, you may not… It’s hopeless you’ll have such another high, but you’ll keep seeking it, right?” I let gravity take me, my naked body sprawling on the bed… It takes a moment, but one of my hands travels down and gets in between my legs. My expressionless doesn’t change, even with the masturbation. “What more do you have if not this pursuit…?”

I sigh, closing my eyes, making movements around the most sensitive spot. Other hand reaches for a red panda pelt masterfully stitched together, and I cover myself, the insertion of a finger echoing the promise of something good.

And I chase it, even if it easily manages to maintain the distance between us.

My servants are traumatized; innocent blood paints my hands, and a war on the horizon—a monster I’ve let grow—bears down on me with its dragon-shaped maw.

I gasp, two fingers pumping in and out.

Tiredness calls me; I haven’t slept in 72 hours now…

Silhouettes stare at me from the shadows.

… Exhaustion wins the race, the sweet release frustratingly denied as my heavy eyelids shut.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708276
>>47708263
>>47708258
part 2 of schizo sage! More passive chapters since I had to build upon the things laid out in the first two chapters with her alone. Next will be more active.
man, had to scurry the entire archive to make sure never once Okina expressed pedophilic desires that couldn't be explained as a vice rather than wild taste—the Flandre part—, gladly everything else I found was from the perspective of other characters, so the facade works~
>one runs seek to part ways from her true feelings—a part of herself—and suffers because of it
>the one seeks a feeling she already have, but can't see, so very blinded by her trauma
>the last one feels nothing, bound to seek something that's long gone and thus destroying herself in the process
no wonder Gensokyo is so fucked.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47674440
Wait, who'd she kill?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708430
Naz and Cirno. Should give an explanation why they disappeared after being in Aya, Yukari, Goro and in other chapters while it works well for Okina's reevaluation of self.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708430
What this guy said >>47708536 but you have to remember Yukari threatened to put Cirno in a infinite torture dimension earlier so she's probably there while Nazein is dead.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708536
why are we canonising cirnoanon's retarded killing of nazrin? I'm not even that guy who usually complains here, but I did complain about that when it happened. It made no goddamn sense, not only because okina has an outstanding debt to nazrin for something that nazrin helped okina with long in the past, but bishamonten is a significantly bigger deal than okina and would literally tear her entire backdoor dimension to pieces for killing one of his most trusted subordinates.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708709
I think you misunderstand, isn't Yukari the one who killed those two here, or am I having an even bigger reading misunderstanding?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708709
Not canonizing that though, Naz and Cirno were alive; Okina had her psychosis and then killed both off thinking Yukari was attacking her. Those cirnoanon chapters didn't go into the archive for obvious reasons.
>>47708727
Nope, it was Okina herself. She was freaking out, had a hallucination and then killed off both two characters.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708784
Well Cirno will probably be back then, too bad for Nazrin.
At least those stains on the HSE have finally been washed away and can be fully ignored along with the people who wanted to bring them back for some reason.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708784
Different reason, same overall effect of killing them off for shock value.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708536
Apparently I'm retarded because I thought Okina killed off one of her attendants in her schizophrenic delusions and had the other clean up.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708980
>... I gently grasp Mai’s shoulders and move her away from me, the girl now kneeling on the ground, weeping her eyes out as she kept both hidden with her hands, unable to watch the carnage. Satono watches the mangled bodies wordlessly. “… You two clean this mess, please.
it's okay, Anon. According to the old saying, I think you're very cute!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708258
>>47708263

[Anonymous No.]

>>47709043
Go back to v

[Anonymous No.]

Congratulations on Cirno and Dai-chan for being reunited in the afterlife!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47708276
>>47708263
>>47708258
Oh boy, another Okina chapter to actively avoid mentioning ever again. Let's not canonize this shall we? Retarded edgy shkt resulting in character death like this for thr purpose of 'just because lol' is the worst. Feel bad for writing this nonsense again

[Anonymous No.]

>>47710723
I'm glad you're not one of the writers with shit opinions like this

[Anonymous No.]

>>47710812
Wow, its almost like we didn't have a time and a half removing cirnoanons shit for the exact same reason.
Character death and half thought out overly edgy shit like this is frowned upon for a reason

[Anonymous No.]

>>47710076
Anon, cirno's a fairy she'll be fine and I don't think either of them exist in this story in the first place.
So she can't exactly die if she never existed, can she?

[Anonymous No.]

>>47710723
>>47710902
Literally you are the only person who cares about either of them or the fag who added them into the story in the first place.
None of the writefags have any plans for them and their deaths just like their inclusion in the story add nothing.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47710723
>>47710902
>is a pedophilic moustache-twirling evildoer who's just sat back and watched as the world burned around her, a literal carboard cutout
>every bad thing catches up to her, she has a panic attack due to the stress and commits a terrible crime in her eyes and that cuts two abandoned characters while using their deaths for something
>leaves to have a reevalutation of herself and to keep her servants safe from her, her characters develops beyond the puddle deep that it's been since the inception of the project and her retarded evil deeds up until now have a believable explanation that doesn't excuse, rather explains them
>is still being developed
>Anon somehow sees that as a bad thing
you should go back to Stupid Town, they miss their king

[Anonymous No.]

Ah, the wait to post your chapter since you finished it right as thread dead.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47712573
>>47712481
Sorry idiots, just because you think it's a good reason to merc characters before finale(something we all agreed to not do) AND think recanonizing something we all worked to remove doesn't make it a good idea.
There is no way this should be canon and I firmly believe the only who care are the two thread pests we all know.
One of them can't use quotes right and the other is probably cirnofag himself. The opinions of a tourist and a schizoid are worthless.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47712573
Not that anon, but I didn't like it either, Okina's just a waste of time and should have been killed off unceremoniously like those two tumors she got rid of.
She's only marginally better then them since she has an actual reason to be included in the story and was better written by actual writers.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47712595
just a few more hours, wait warmly~!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47712683
Time to take it easy

[Anonymous No.]

>>47712639
Your self awareness is staggering

[Anonymous No.]

>>47713127
>Your self awareness is staggeringly massive
Ftfy, little typo there

[Anonymous No.]

noice, 58 chapters compared to last thread's 33, bounced back from the average of 40~
good job, everyone!

[Anonymous No.]

>>47713774
Its how it be when things do be how it is. Such is life, such is the tao

[Anonymous No.]

and a cool thing: there's been roughly 3 million posts since the HSE began, with an average of 330ish posts per thread, that's 10,560 posts.
meaning just about 14.2% of the HSE is made up of chapters. Hana's whole board of chapters wouldn't fill one thread, for example.
I find it neat.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47713894
also, ignore the 28-32; was tidying it up and didn't notice it there

[Anonymous No.]

GODDAMNIT I FORGOT TO DO A LABOR DAY SPECIAL
Does anyone know any other Labor Days happening soon? There'a an 80% chance we might finish before another year passes.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47713894
fixed

[Anonymous No.]

>>47713945
here, the HSE labour's day special (Kazakhstan edition)!
man, felt the same when I nearly missed Breastfeeding Week~got lucky I managed to pump that Keine chapter before it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>47713907
I'm eagerly awaiting the upload of threads 28-31! Do your best nerd anon!
>>47713951
Nice work, the archive must grow

[Anonymous No.]

baking in 30 min or so, need to finish dinner

[Anonymous No.]

baking!

[Anonymous No.]

new thread, gents and hus in disguise!
>>47715136
>>47715136
>>47715136
>>47715136
>>47715136

[Anonymous No.]

>>47714095
Google won't give me a straight answer on who the kazakhstanhu is so digits decide who goes into labour one month from now (koishi is exempt from canon experience and cirno is contentious material, to say the least
1 - Sanae
2 - Clownpiece
3 - Reimu (Hana)
4 - Youmu
5 - Marisa
6 - Sakuya
7 - Reisen (Again)
8 - Iku
9 - Shinki
0 - Yukari
Dubs - Goro