Gensokyo Survival Guide OoC and Off-Topic

[kymoh]

Yup, I think I'm finally starting to understand Oscar . Until now I've mostly been focusing on his brave and kind side, such as the numerous times he barely escaped the clutches of death, or the many friends he has made using his enchanting charisma. But as Motaromc and Nyoko pointed out, his real skill lies in putting on a fake smile and telling people what they want to hear. Which he really took advantage of last chapter.

22 hours ago, Motaromc said:

As for the story, I'm starting to feel bad for Marisa, she even hugged Oscar, believing his claims to be a real deal, even if I just voted that for an easy escape.

Same here, not only that but I even feel bad for Oscar himself :(   Because can we really blame him for the lies? Deep inside I feel like Oscar would much rather resolve things with pure honesty and heart, but it's just too risky- he's constantly facing unimaginably powerful dangers around every corner of this mysterious world -and is forced to use his dirtiest tricks to get by. And even when he's not fending for his life (such as making money or telling people his former occupation), he's fooling people. Which I can't blame him for either.

But these lies are starting to add up. Makes me feel bad because they're the only way for him to stay alive (as Nyoko said).

23 hours ago, Motaromc said:

from now on I declare that Oscar Diggs 4th will start to try to fulfill his promises! Or at least I'll vote for that, this is a democracy after all.

And so I had an idea, maybe lies aren't the only way? if we can manage to force Yumetou into a corner, he'll HAVE to write his way out .  

For example "Marisa charges her master spark and points it straight at Agappa. What does Oscar say to defuse the situation?"

                    -> "Walk in between the two and see what happens."

Yes, we can choose the most awesome options and immortalize Oscar! ...okay, maybe not that crazy but I still got your back Motaromc!

 

On 7/31/2024 at 3:30 AM, kymoh said:

By the way did anyone else think the latest chapter felt pretty intense? I was fully expecting Marisa to lose her patience and go all out on Oscar, or steal what little earnings he made, thankfully neither of which happened... whew, close one. One small verbal mistake and I think he could've been blasted into ashes there. Or maybe I'm overreacting. I admit, I was the only one that chose "flee from Marisa" option last time haha.

Oh, and look what happened. I was out of town so this is a bit late, but now I can annoyingly yell... I TOLD YOU SO!!!!

Joking aside, I don't mind at all. Don't take the previous line seriously :)

 

14 hours ago, Nyoko said:

As for my choice: cards are as universal as dice and it is not a long shot to say that I find this the most believable lie out of the four and the one we can utilize the second we have a deck of cards... which is likely to be shot down by Kochiya when we meet her but that is a problem for later and we may be able to use Danmaku: obscure type of Poker edition. Also because my own experience with one particular physical card game makes it seem like you would need to be a magician to play the game. it only requires a singular deck of playing cards, as well.

For this week's choices I thought this was really reasonable, it sounds mysterious but convincing enough to get Marisa off Oscar's back. And I don't think Sanae breaking the illusion will be much of a problem, as I expect it will happen far enough in the future, if at all. Alright, you've convinced me to switch answers.... wait, what's that?

Sorry Nyoko, you'll probably hate this but I'll be choosing the more fun option with Motaromc this time :D

[kymoh]

PS Keep up the amazing work as always Yumetou! It's really cool of you to implement some of the things we discussed here. And I'm really loving all the sudden twists in the past few chapters

[Yumetou]

*sigh* I hate making posts like this. Big long ones with twists and implications. But I have to cut the monster post off with the most banal choice imaginable. :D Partly as compensation, and partly because I think I need to make the effects of choices more apparent, I decided to make the next choice a powerup. Letting you all potentially misbehave at least once every two posts until nightfall. If you chose not to use the powerup, don't worry. I'll turn it into a one-time use for the next day.

 

Sorry one and all for not reading your thoughts or replying as much as I should. Work has just gotten much more grueling. A couple coworkers moved on to other jobs, and one won't be able to work for a few weeks due to Corona. Leaving five of us to man a 24 hour medical facility. I've precious little free time, and I am afraid it may bleed into the story, but keep sending your thoughts. I'll read your criticism. Whether constructive, destructive or supportive. Your smiles mean a lot to me, and I want to keep them bright.

Edited August 26, 2024 by Yumetou

[Motaromc]

Evil! This cliffhanger will keep me awake for the rest of this week! At first, I was like OMG, what can a guy have in his wallet that would be so interesting to a witch? Maybe a photo of his family? I certainly have one in my wallet, not like I have a lot of things there nowadays but then BAM, cursed with misfortuned, maybe she hits a tree while being distracted? Anyway for my vote this week, I went with the friend option because... I dunno, I don't have much insight about this one, let's try to be happy while we can.

On 8/19/2024 at 9:18 AM, Nyoko said:

As for you: the subtext in the notes of the Survival Guide likely states that Gensokyo can still be entered and exited, which would be impossible if the Great Hakurei Barrier decided to weld itself shut. Either that or the Survival Guide states things that OV would do after the Barrier became itself again, but the first is more likely. The timer does not exist in this world, at least from what we know and what knowledge I can glean from trying to put myself into the same headspace as Yumetou.

Well, if you say so then I think I can be at ease, or not, maybe Yumetou is luring us into a false sense of safety before pulling a fast one on us... Regardless, I'll try to keep an eye out for such things from now on, since you are much more knowledgeable about this matter than me then do tell me if you catch something off.

 

On 8/20/2024 at 12:23 AM, kymoh said:

Sorry Nyoko, you'll probably hate this but I'll be choosing the more fun option with Motaromc this time :D

I can see that we are going to be great friends no? my ally! Anyway, the logical part of my brain told me to pick Yu Gi Oh as well, it's much more feasible than a Minecraft spell after all, maybe Rinnosuke has a deck somewhere? But be honest with me, look at the following picture and tell me if this isn't cool.

PS: Never tried to include images here before, should I do a disclaimer? I'm not the owner of this image, it probably belongs to the YouTube channel It'sJerryAndHarry, Also Minecraft belongs to Microsoft! (I'm 100% sure of this one).

[Jaz:3]

hello everyone, I've never read a fanfiction before so I'm just curious to see what this is all about, where do I read the fanfic? And what does "OoC" means? Thank you in advance.

OMG im dumb as hell, it was in "written works" in Akyuu's studio, nvm. I still don't know what Ooc means tho

Edited August 28, 2024 by Jaz:3
lol, me dummy

[Yumetou]

15 hours ago, Jaz:3 said:

hello everyone, I've never read a fanfiction before so I'm just curious to see what this is all about, where do I read the fanfic? And what does "OoC" means? Thank you in advance.

OMG im dumb as hell, it was in "written works" in Akyuu's studio, nvm. I still don't know what Ooc means tho

Heya Jaz! Yeah, fanfiction can vary wildly. From something childish and inconsistent to high effort of novel quality. I'm not sure if that fits what I am doing, but I'm trying. OoC stands for Out of Context. Its used in forums to describe a post where people can talk about an RPG or story without actually writing it in the story thread.

[Motaromc]

First of all, sorry for the late voting, I was sure that I had voted on Tempura on the same day you posted the last chapter Yume but I guess my sleepy self actually dreamed it, dang it Doremy-chan, it's not yet time! But, moving on, today we had a rather calm update, probably to give us time to prepare for the next bomb you are going to drop on us, and man I was right. 

The votes right now are all tempting, but it's safe to say that the only real option here is to go search for Kosuzu, her skills are the best way to aid us with that book Marisa gave us and probably could help Oscar with this pesky language barrier. However, the SDM option is really interesting too, despite being by far the riskiest option we have right now, without magic I think we are going to be deep in trouble there making it impossible to keep our magical persona intact, Reimu is also a good start but considering one of your earlier comments and the fact that she is probably going to encourage us to give up makes her a possible dead end.

Hold on though, there is still one last option... Yes, our long-gone senpai, the infamous fortune teller! I never expected this guy to have actual relevancy and yet here we are. I'll be honest with you, this is either the meme option or the very questionable one but I'll pick this one regardless, despite his infamy, senpai had actual skills by being the one puppet who could see his strings, it's a shame he committed the ultimate sin of being male a villager who became a Youkai, but Oscar is no villager is he? haha, I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out for us.

[Yumetou]

Whew...life doesn't get easier as you get older. I finished that entry just minutes before bed. Don't worry Mota. You might worry your vote made me rewrite part of the story, but I still hadn't decided which choice to go with, so I actually wrote both while I decided.

 

I'mma be honest. I never read Forbidden Scrollery. While that's partly because I only got into Touhou recently, I'm going to blame being busy all the time instead. That said, I think the themes behind him tie nicely to our human sorcerer and his decidedly not-human friends. As well as the wild youkai, come to think of it. That said I imagine he has a number of nasty hexes he may have left behind his old place of work, perhaps even by accident. And its likely some people who know the area might not like Oscar was sniffing around there...then again its probably a good source of magic and might let Oscar divine this prophecy thing he's saddled with...

As usual. I do my best not to prod you towards any choices good or ill. I just make things happen afterwards.

 

Tomorrow I have some time off, and I am mostly done with my other work. Hopefully that gives me time to blitz through Scrollery and insure I present Fortune Teller as authentically as possible. I want to respect not just Touhou and its lore, but my readers.

[kymoh]

Yup, very nice and relaxed chapter this time :)

In fact I'm struggling to put into words the overwhelming bliss I felt, when I re-read it after I took a refreshing shower and got cozy; For a moment I even felt like I was Oscar -taking a bite of tempura after days of starvation- total paradise            ...And I'm not exaggerating haha

 

On 9/2/2024 at 3:39 AM, Motaromc said:

Hold on though, there is still one last option... Yes, our long-gone senpai, the infamous fortune teller! I never expected this guy to have actual relevancy and yet here we are. I'll be honest with you, this is either the meme option or the very questionable one but I'll pick this one regardless, despite his infamy, senpai had actual skills by being the one puppet who could see his strings, it's a shame he committed the ultimate sin of being male a villager who became a Youkai, but Oscar is no villager is he? haha, I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out for us.

Anyways, I chose that option too. Going to a library and reading books sounds boooring, and visiting Reimu or exploring the forest again seems straight-up dangerous. I guess it would make more sense to visit a library and study the new grimoire and some japanese... but oh well, I wanted to choose an option that sounded more interesting.

Also Mr.Mota, I believe Ossy won't be meeting Ryunosuke face-to-face. Re-reading the ending, it looks more like Mystia was suggesting searching his old shop. Or maybe I'm just misunderstanding you :)

Also also, I'm left wondering how language works in this story. We know Oscar doesn't speak japanese, and I bet his friends didn't simply notice his red hair + green eyes and start speaking English for him haha... So the Gods automatically inserted the language into his brain like an isekai? But why can't he read?! What?!?!

[Yumetou]

Post is up! A longer one, but after reading Kymoh enjoying the cozy vibes of the last, I thought it fit. I also tried to make this one a little longer as an apology while I wait on a copy of Forbidden Scrollery...or money to buy it.

 

I promise, there is a very specific reason why Oscar isn't having trouble understanding the others. I can't recall if I thought of this at the start of writing this or as he ran into Team 9, but its a not something pulled from nowhere...not completely at least.

 

So! Creepy abandoned house up ahead. Real spoop hours have descended. Will our heroes find anything helpful? Will they leave cursed? Will they die horrifically? Was Fortune Teller Old Man Willard the whole time?! Find out next time!

Edited September 9, 2024 by Yumetou

[Motaromc]

Nice chapter as always, I can already feel the homely aura oozing from that cozy house... Alright so I know I'm a bit late today but it can't be helped this time, feeling a bit unwell since yesterday, it's not like I didn't have the time but I was so dizzy that I couldn't read anything at all but on the brighter side I get to slack off today, meaning a free Monday review yay!

Let's get to business now, shall we? Everyone went first and chose the "rope trick" option and to be honest I'm glad they did, it made me remember some old cartoons like Woody Woodpecker when he fought that Indian guy back in the good old days. Still, it's not like we would lose the opportunity to show off, right? Gensokyo is all about showing off after all.

On 9/4/2024 at 11:43 PM, kymoh said:

Also Mr.Mota, I believe Ossy won't be meeting Ryunosuke face-to-face. Re-reading the ending, it looks more like Mystia was suggesting searching his old shop. Or maybe I'm just misunderstanding you :)

Good to see you around, my ally! So, I had to read this 2 times before understanding that you are not proposing to raid Kourindou lol. However, I must ask who was Ryunosuke again? I'm pretty sure his name was Rinnosuke and I just wanted to say that maybe he has a Yu Gi Oh deck lying around somewhere, or perhaps you are talking about Fortune Teller? If that is the case then I agree, he is dead and sealed at this point so it's improbable to find him around, unless we use the logic in forbidden scrollery that when you read a book, the author is always watching over you, even if he is dead.

On 9/4/2024 at 11:43 PM, kymoh said:

Also also, I'm left wondering how language works in this story. We know Oscar doesn't speak japanese, and I bet his friends didn't simply notice his red hair + green eyes and start speaking English for him haha... So the Gods automatically inserted the language into his brain like an isekai? But why can't he read?! What?!?!

This is a good question, people often don't think about this but I believe that the common agreement we use nowadays is that the barrier affects language in some way to make communications easier between parties, for example, it was stated in forbidden scrollery once that Tengus have an "ancient language" that most Tengus wouldn't be able to read today, which implies that the Tengus have their own separate language, Kappas are probably similar in a way, not to mention that some youkais might not originate from Japan. Considering that, it's not far-fetched to assume that Yukarin and the sages messed with the boundaries of languages or something related, the only hole in this theory is that it doesn't affect written works at all, maybe it's purposeful to not destroy anyone's culture. Regardless, Yume has the final say about this, I'm just theorizing things

 

13 hours ago, Yumetou said:

Post is up! A longer one, but after reading Kymoh enjoying the cozy vibes of the last, I thought it fit. I also tried to make this one a little longer as an apology while I wait on a copy of Forbidden Scrollery...or money to buy it.

It's a good read, especially if you want to know more about how myth works in Gensokyo, and what some characters think about it, the fortune teller is completely unremarkable though, he briefly appeared and was promptly shot down as soon as he did. His work, however, is commendable even if his abilities were not suited for a fight face to face, his capacity to gather information went above and beyond, a shame he was not able to see the bigger picture due to his resentment and ended up painting a target on his back.

 

[kymoh]

Sorry for being so terribly late! I've barely had time to go on this site in the past week or two, in fact it's only just now that I read and voted on the latest chapter >.<

Ah well, looks like everyone else here slowed down a bit too...

 

On 9/9/2024 at 2:43 PM, Motaromc said:

Good to see you around, my ally! So, I had to read this 2 times before understanding that you are not proposing to raid Kourindou lol. However, I must ask who was Ryunosuke again? I'm pretty sure his name was Rinnosuke and I just wanted to say that maybe he has a Yu Gi Oh deck lying around somewhere, or perhaps you are talking about Fortune Teller? If that is the case then I agree, he is dead and sealed at this point so it's improbable to find him around, unless we use the logic in forbidden scrollery that when you read a book, the author is always watching over you, even if he is dead.

HUUGE MISUNDERSTANDING ON MY PART!! It seems like I not only mixed up Rinnosuke and the Fortune Teller, but even further mixed him up with Ryunosuke (who even is that?!). Anyways, before I realized my grave mistake Oscar and the gang had already plunged into a haunted house adventure so I guess it's fine :)

 

As a side note, I was curious about the "Indian Rope Trick" ever since the option was mentioned for the village entrance. So it was cool to finally see it in action, though it was simpler than I expected :D

 

Now for the "new" chapter from last week! I'm not sure if Yummy Toes is taking a break this week or simply running late, but I'll take the chance to vote and discuss it nevertheless. It looks like the actual exploration isn't starting until next chapter, and we get to choose Oscar's buddy for now.

..Despite me listening to an awesome cirno remix right now, I think I'll go with Agappa this time :)    Wriggle also seems like a logical option but something tells me Oscar needs a close and reliable friend for a time like this. After all, Agappa's been at his side practically since the beginning of this whole story! And who knows, her scavenging instincts might come in handy here

What does everyone else think? Is it just me, or is Agappa basically Oscar's bestie now, and overall a really interesting character?

[Gri]

8 hours ago, kymoh said:

Sorry for being so terribly late! I've barely had time to go on this site in the past week or two, in fact it's only just now that I read and voted on the latest chapter >.<

You're not the only one. Though I have voted last week, I've been meaning to write a post yet never took the time. My apologies for disappearing. So, let's start over...

Greetings.

Not much to add over what kymoh already said: We couldn't pass the chance to see the Indian Rope Trick a 2nd time. As for the vote this time, an interesting one, much like the one where we got to choose where Oscar would start his search. Now, I voted Wriggle not because I think she'd make a great team with Oscar over Cirno or Aggapa, but because Cirno & Aggapa together could be very funny.

EDIT:
I'd argue that Aggapa would be an interesting in this case, cause she's already with Oscar 24/7, so she'll get her moments to shine (for instance, the poem she spoke when seeing Marisa).

Edited September 25, 2024 by Gri

[Yumetou]

Ahh...life was supposed to get easier as you got older...

 

Finally got an entry up! Sorry about the delay. I could list all the reasons why I have been slow to reply, but the long and short is I have been working more to help gaps in the schedule, and have had a lot of demands on my scant freetime. I ended up working until almost 4 AM for an event outside of work last Friday, and until 1 AM yesterday for instance.

 

This one is shorter. But its nothing too important...or is it? After all, hiding a key moment in something entirely banal is something I would do to surprise and amuse you all. But what if this is all just a fake out and I am trying to get you to think in circles? Why would Agappa have a reaction like that to an old door? Is there something concerning about it, do her eyes see something Oscar doesn't? Or is she being a creepy weirdo? Whooo knowwwsss.

 

@kymoh @Gri Yeah, this is a much simpler version of the rope trick. I described it in brief in the post. But supposedly, it had several components described by English visitors to India in the 1800s:

 

• The performer (usually a yogi) would call up into a low-hanging cloud and speak with a voice with no source
• He would make a rope go rigid
• He would send a servant to climb up the rope, who would vanish from view
• He would call up to the servant
• He would then cut the rope with a sword
• The rope would fall to the ground with no sign of the servant

 

The stage performance version is much simpler. You made a rope go straight and climbed it. How this was realistically performed...was variable. No two stage magicians seemed to share the same technique. Some just used a smoke machine to make a cloud to hide a fishing line holding up the rope. Oscar's version uses bamboo segments which slide together when he pulls the right cord. Which seems the most realistic and sensible option to me. Though when you and all your friends can fly, it probably doesn't seem that impressive.

Glad you like Agappa! Its always nerve-wracking introducing a character to a story. Especially one with fan favorites like Cirno and Marisa running around. I hope her strangeness can make your days just a little brighter.

[Soshmal]

Hey! I've been lurking here following the Survival Guide for a bit now and thought it was about time I pop in to say thank you for your work, I love it! I've been thinking about trying to get into creative writing for a while now and if you don't mind my asking, do you have any advice on how you structure stories? I know the Guide is a CYOA but it still reads as well thought out.

Quote

Glad you like Agappa! Its always nerve-wracking introducing a character to a story. Especially one with fan favorites like Cirno and Marisa running around. I hope her strangeness can make your days just a little brighter.

Also, Agappa is definitely my favorite character. She has this dark & mysterious yet also silly and at times even lighthearted energy that really matches with the essence of touhou :)

[Motaromc]

On 9/25/2024 at 1:10 AM, kymoh said:

Yummy Toes

I knew it! It's perfect and you just proved it to me! From the start, I knew we were going to get along just fine, but this is just what I needed to confirm it. For starters, I feel like I need to apologize, despite calling you my ally, I still had my doubts about our alliance and never actually had plans to uphold this relationship... until right now! With this single move, you have already acquired my eternal loyalty, from now on, I'll be the first to back up all your decisions whenever I can.

Alright, let's be serious now, to answer your unasked question, I actually missed my cue to review in the day, Yume posted the last update, and then in the following week, I decided to wait for his update so I could review both at the same time. Turned out Yummy didn't post anything at all... kinda funny no? So, I was stuck in this awkward loop of Should I wait? Should I review it? Thankfully, my dilemma is now over, although, I would 100% send you a message the moment I read "Yummy Toes". Ah, and before I forget, don't worry about the misunderstanding because such a trivial thing won't get in the way of our alliance ever.

On 9/25/2024 at 1:10 AM, kymoh said:

Despite me listening to an awesome cirno remix right now

By the way, this is a nice remix, sounds so much like Cirno's math class.

 

2 hours ago, Yumetou said:

Ahh...life was supposed to get easier as you got older...

Aaaay Yumeee, I get the feeling, but don't worry, I'm not sure if you noticed but even with your brief absence your fanbase is still steadily growing, call it the fruits of honest work, and be proud because you really deserve it, friend. Now, if I could help you with something... oh I get it, listen, "The walls here were pain, flecked with dust and little else.", I think you meant plain instead of pain? Just one small typo, nothing to sweat over but it's enough to make me feel a bit satisfied considering that I finally managed to write an actual review at least once because, you know, most of my "reviews" are just me rambling haha.

 

On 9/25/2024 at 9:20 AM, Gri said:

I'd argue that Aggapa would be an interesting in this case, cause she's already with Oscar 24/7, so she'll get her moments to shine (for instance, the poem she spoke when seeing Marisa).

Nice to meet you master Gri, for some reason, I think of a Jedi Master whenever I read your nickname, are you an actual Jedi, master Gri? Well, since both Master and Ally have given their opinions about Aggapa then it's only fair I give my take too. First of all, despite my thoughts on her, she is someone we absolutely can't afford to lose in any circumstances, why? She fills an essential role right now, spiritual perception, Ozzy can't see past what normal eyes can see, be it curses or loot (don't think I forgot how she was looting that corpse when we first encountered her). The second reason is rather simple, she calls Oscar "Ningen" or human, which further proves my point about her perception stat being above the norm and it also means that, even if unknowingly, Aggapa is the closest person in Gensokyo to Oscar's true self, this is both good for his mental health and it also means that we can safely pull a Joseph Joestar near her without fearing any damage to his magician persona.

Ops, I forgot to mention what I think about her, hmm... how do I say it? I can't tell for sure how she is going to act, at first, she seemed like any youkai interested in Oscar, perhaps scouting him to see if he could be safely eaten? Then, she passed the Keine radar without problems, which made me think that she was just a quiet girl who was being a bit curious about the weird guy, until her apparent outburst against Marisa put me on edge again, until now, this recent chapter had her act like a scared girl. I can't figure her out at all, feels like she might change sides at any moment but at the same time she is probably our closest ally.

1 hour ago, Soshmal said:

Hey! I've been lurking here following the Survival Guide for a bit now and thought it was about time I pop in to say thank you for your work, I love it! I've been thinking about trying to get into creative writing for a while now and if you don't mind my asking, do you have any advice on how you structure stories? I know the Guide is a CYOA but it still reads as well thought out.

Hello there Sosh! I'm glad to see you are probably having as much fun as I am reading this, I wish I could advise you about writing, but I'm completely untalented in this, in fact, I'm mediocre at best in most forms of arts that the human being could ever invent, music, drawing, painting or writing you name it! The only thing I can do reliably is rambling, so if you ever start writing something, you can count on me being there to ramble about your story as soon as I can. Before I forget, Ozzy used to be a roleplaying project that Yume started a while ago, I believe the name is Illusionary Nirvana, you should take a look if you feel like it.

Without further ado, I believe it's time for me to finally talk about the update... actually, I took so long to greet everyone that I forgot about what I wanted to discuss, thankfully I can just open another window and re-read it real quick. Coin Flip! I wrote a fun review for Nyoko a while ago, I remember asking for a coin flip to deal with a tie that I had with my ally, never expected I would see it here again and even less win! That's quite the winning streak.

For my choice this week, I went with the only option that remotely presented us a chance to know what might be behind that suspicious door, maybe the right answer for such an unprepared duo would be to go past it as soon as possible and then return with the whole squad for safety but we can't rule out the possibility of that door hiding something useful, asking Aggapa a question probably won't get us in trouble as long as we don't go near it.

[Gri]

Greetings.

A short'n'sweet chapter this week. I totally forgot about the Coin Flip when there's a draw and both options cannot be done. Now, Aggapa being scared is certainly a first. If I remember correctly, according to the Youkai she's based on, she should be scared of things with many holes in it (due to her bad eyes, she confused them for eyes watching her), but I doubt that's a mere doors full of holes would cause that kind of reaction.

Fitting reaction for Cirno to enthusiastically accept her mission, but Wriggle "thank you" was a funny addition, as is "thanks for not making me team up with the freak" + "thanks for letting me keep an eye out on my clumsy friend".

While I would be all for exploring the house further, I think giving Aggapa the chance to talk a bit more may help her grow as a character. So far, she's been the silent-mysterious girl who seems unfazed by anything. Having her talk about her fear (or failing to do so) should help cause tension as well as make her and Oscar closer friend (right now, they are pretty much companion out of necessity. Aggapa stalks Oscar cause of her job, Oscar keeps her around cause he'd be alone otherwise)
 

18 hours ago, Motaromc said:

Nice to meet you master Gri, for some reason, I think of a Jedi Master whenever I read your nickname, are you an actual Jedi, master Gri?

Hello to you. I am not a master Jedi, but I am almost a veteran Lunatic player (I just have UFO MarisaB to clear, and I will have cleared every game with every shoot-types on Lunatic. Any day now). Would that suffice?

[Sun.]

Amazing chapter, I've been binge reading the whole thing and I've just caught up!

[kymoh]

On 9/25/2024 at 12:20 PM, Gri said:

Now, I voted Wriggle not because I think she'd make a great team with Oscar over Cirno or Aggapa, but because Cirno & Aggapa together could be very funny.

Ah you brought up a really good point, I never considered it from that angle! I thought of changing my vote, but in my defense I didn't want to confuse Yumetou who had probably already started writing by then. Maybe next time :)

On 9/30/2024 at 5:46 AM, Motaromc said:

With this single move, you have already acquired my eternal loyalty, from now on, I'll be the first to back up all your decisions whenever I can.

Yaay! My ally!! :D

 

About the latest chapter, I voted a bit late but it looks like I wasn't going to have an effect anyway... unless I immediately mobilize five alt accounts and perhaps convince my ally to switch his vote XD . 

And before everyone accuses me of trying to be different, allow me to explain my 1-6 vote: I chose to ignore the door was because if something so horrifying is behind that it, something that can frighten the always-calm Agappa, then learning about it will probably only convince Oscar to ignore it anyways. Sure, Master Gri and Mr. Motor Home bring up logical arguments, but I say let mysteries be mysteries. No need to waste time scaring Oscar, and no need to push our terrified little Agappa to dwell on it longer.

[Yumetou]

Finally got a reply up, and barely in time...I need to think about some of my other hobbies to slow down on, because I ended up working six days this week because of scheduling gaps. I hope this chapter, relatively poor as it is, amuses you on another rough Monday. :)

[Motaromc]

On 9/30/2024 at 9:46 PM, Gri said:

Hello to you. I am not a master Jedi, but I am almost a veteran Lunatic player (I just have UFO MarisaB to clear, and I will have cleared every game with every shoot-types on Lunatic. Any day now). Would that suffice?

A Master of Lunatic then, safe to say that's almost just as impressive as a Jedi, for someone like me, Touhou main games are a distant reality, bullet hell is probably beyond my mortal self. From now on, Master Green, this puny human will pay close attention to your wise teachings.

 

On 10/6/2024 at 12:58 AM, kymoh said:

About the latest chapter, I voted a bit late but it looks like I wasn't going to have an effect anyway... unless I immediately mobilize five alt accounts and perhaps convince my ally to switch his vote XD

It is actually easier than you think, before Yummy Toes, my plans for our alliance were superficial and because of this I mostly planned to do my own thing but after I experienced the Yummy Toes, I could see that your person is truly charismatic, to the point I had to make a solemn oath of eternal friendship. Speaking seriously now, I'm always up for a little debate even if I don't linger much around, if you feel like your choice is optimal then by all means, I'm ready to read your opinion and back you up, this is partly of the reason why I always explain here why I decided on a certain option.

With this in mind, I hope that not only Ki-moon <- (Ally), but everyone else who disagrees with my decision to feel free to point it out and try to convince me otherwise, be warned though that Ally -> (Kim Moh) will take priority due to a previously established alliance.

 

On 9/30/2024 at 10:15 PM, Jamqx said:

Amazing chapter, I've been binge reading the whole thing and I've just caught up!

Heya, it's nice to know that you are probably enjoying this little pastime as much as I am, feel free to stick around and/or send us your thoughts whenever you want. Have fun lurking around Jimmyqx!

 

2 hours ago, Yumetou said:

Finally got a reply up, and barely in time...I need to think about some of my other hobbies to slow down on, because I ended up working six days this week because of scheduling gaps. I hope this chapter, relatively poor as it is, amuses you on another rough Monday. :)

Yume, no worries, but I do hope you are not overworking yourself lately, feel free to take a rest if you feel like you need it, many of us are probably going to suffer from withdrawal but I think we can manage. Also, regarding your schedule issues, I advise you to act more like me, if you haven't noticed yet, I always review on Sundays despite being around sometimes on Wednesdays, this commitment is essential to aid you in keeping your schedule organized, even now, I reply to you on a Sunday... WAIT, it's past midnight? Meaning that it's Monday already? What about my Sunday only reviews? Was it all a LIE???

See? Even I, the scheduled one, can fail sometimes...

 

Now, I can finally get to the chapter, sometimes, I waste so much time greeting everyone that I even forget what I just read some moments ago, thankfully, I can ALT + Tab my way to the chapter easily. And it seems that Agappa was only scared about the door after all, or not, that hair is ominous as it can be and I'm almost sure that Ozzy is close to turn into a special grade curse from that hair alone. For this reason, maybe going after the little shrine would be a good option? If it's a benevolent thing then perhaps a little bit of guidance should help to sustain what little remains of Oscar's sanity.

As for the other options, I'm sure that Cirno and Wriggle should be able to find any item that our old senpai might have left behind in the storeroom, the office would be a good idea if Ozzy was literate but that's beyond his skills for now. When we are done here, a visit to Suzunaan should be our main priority, on the other hand, what are the chances of a grown ass man enrolling into Keine's school?

[Gri]

Greetings.

First off....

On 10/5/2024 at 11:58 PM, kymoh said:

And before everyone accuses me of trying to be different, allow me to explain my 1-6 vote: I chose to ignore the door was because if something so horrifying is behind that it, something that can frighten the always-calm Agappa, then learning about it will probably only convince Oscar to ignore it anyways. Sure, Master Gri and Mr. Motor Home bring up logical arguments, but I say let mysteries be mysteries. No need to waste time scaring Oscar, and no need to push our terrified little Agappa to dwell on it longer.

Don't try to deny it. You have wasted a perfect opportunity to troll Yumetou: after a very close vote where we had to break the tie with luck, now everyone voted for the same thing. Everyone, except you who wanted to be SO different. Bah, we have more pressing matters now.

So, turns out Oscar can't read Japanese (how could have I forgotten this simple fact). Gathering books/text left by the fortune teller might be useless after all. And turns out I was right about Agappa being scared of "eyes", too bad it was useless to Oscar, as he still don't understand what scared her exactly.

Our options now, going to the study would probably be useless, unless the fortune teller had some plan/formula written down (Oscar can't read them, but if he left only a few behind it can be manageable). The storeroom could contained potential cursed artifact, but since there currently does seem to be any danger Oscar can go (he can run if things go south). Regrouping is also an option, but it hasn't been that long since the group entered the building, so checking up on them won't be of much use (unless Oscar is worried about them).

I'll go with the storage room for now, to explore the place a little more until Oscar find something more promising, or runs into something dangerous, or half of Team9 does something stupid.

 

17 hours ago, Motaromc said:

A Master of Lunatic then, safe to say that's almost just as impressive as a Jedi, for someone like me, Touhou main games are a distant reality, bullet hell is probably beyond my mortal self. From now on, Master Green, this puny human will pay close attention to your wise teachings.

Bullet hell aren't that bad difficulty wise. Don't let the Lunatic gameplay scares you from trying the game, that's what difficulty levels are for (It's like rhythm games. Nobody's born a pro, so there's no shame playing lower difficulty first, then increasing it if you enjoy the challenge). Bullet hell is a very unique genre that I recommend anyone to try at least once (especially Touhou fans so that they at least experienced the game that spawn character/lore/music they are so fond of. Demo are available for the latest games, so money isn't an excuse, and a full game last ~30-40m so time isn't an excuse either). The goal of the game and the controls are extremely simple compared to more modern game, so it's very quick to learn how to play those (just make sure to read up the short introduction that's on this site to learn the basics). It's not for everyone, so no big deal if you don't like it, but it's an experience that deserve to be tried.

Edited October 7, 2024 by Gri

[Sun.]

The omniscient narration is real

[Yumetou]

Haa, just made it...Its more of a horror and plot episode. Mysterious happenings afoot in a haunted building. I know the readers don't care as much for horror scenes, but I hope you enjoy the entry all the same.

 

On 10/7/2024 at 1:39 AM, Motaromc said:

Yume, no worries, but I do hope you are not overworking yourself lately, feel free to take a rest if you feel like you need it, many of us are probably going to suffer from withdrawal but I think we can manage. Also, regarding your schedule issues, I advise you to act more like me, if you haven't noticed yet, I always review on Sundays despite being around sometimes on Wednesdays, this commitment is essential to aid you in keeping your schedule organized, even now, I reply to you on a Sunday... WAIT, it's past midnight? Meaning that it's Monday already? What about my Sunday only reviews? Was it all a LIE???

See? Even I, the scheduled one, can fail sometimes...

True but...I don't know. It genuinely makes me happy to think you guys might enjoy my writing while I am stuck at work doing work things. The thought of brightening your day makes mine brighter all the same. Its also a source of stability for me. Part of me is nervous if I stop doing this, real life will swallow me whole. Never to be heard of again.

 

Update on life. We've lost a few members of our department, so I've been taking another ten hour shift to help cover work. Its gotten better. We have all our night positions filled, so we don't have to do call now. But we're definitely being overworked on the day shift. I scarcely have time to do more than eat or sleep when its not the weekend, even then I usually spend Saturday morning sleeping.

[Soshmal]

Great chapter! The flow and framing of it was really well done; the slow build up of tension as the characters start to fight/realize something was… wrong, the reveal of the monster, and the cut back to Oscar reminded me a lot of a Stephen King novel.

 

I’ve been copying this story over to a google doc so I can better take notes on it, and this entry officially makes over 100 pages of written content! It’s currently sitting at about 103 pages, and that’s including some editing I’ve done to make it take up less space.

 

Also, it was great seeing Wriggle finally getting a bit of the spotlight! Of all the misty lake crew, she seems to have gotten the least amount of attention so far. And Rumia got another mention too! I don’t know if I’m reading into things too much, but I feel like she’s had this subtle character arc going on in the background, which I’ve interpreted as her struggling with her (in)humanity. If I find the time this week, I’ll sit down and break the story apart and maybe write a little post about this, as well as some other tin foil-hat inducing theories that I don’t think I’ve seen others here talking about.

 

As for this week’s vote, I went for the intrigue option because throwing his magic at things and booking it seems to be Oscar’s M.O. at this point lol. The other options were all good as well, though I didn’t quite understand what was meant by the intelligence option.

 

1 hour ago, Yumetou said:

True but...I don't know. It genuinely makes me happy to think you guys might enjoy my writing while I am stuck at work doing work things. The thought of brightening your day makes mine brighter all the same. Its also a source of stability for me. Part of me is nervous if I stop doing this, real life will swallow me whole. Never to be heard of again.

I’m no wiseman nor am I your mom, but if you wouldn’t mind hearing out the advice of a ‘professional internet idiot & busy-body™’, I’d suggest you take a breather when you can and weigh out your priorities. Does the value (happiness, stability) you get out of writing these posts outweigh the cost (time, energy) of making them? This seems like a tight-knit community, so while I think I can safely say your work would be missed if you decided to slow down or take a break, I also think that the people here wouldn’t want this all to come at the cost of your sanity. 

 

Thanks as always for the story! Wishing you the best, my man.