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*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.

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

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. 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). 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! 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 :) 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

Thank you very much for this information. Added to the list.

Found some info about Sanae Shooting, namely a trailer for the game itself and a couple more things. The site with the demo version has a Falsh player element. When trying to play it using an emulator, it gives an error. The error shows that the player had a link to a video from Niconico embedded in it. And the video itself is gameplay by the game developer. Here is the video itself and a link to the channel: https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm13131369 https://www.nicovideo.jp/user/925893?rf=nvpc&rp=watch&ra=video_information The author also has a page on Pixiv. Here is the link: https://web.archive.org/web/20160118165230/http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=399251 And I can also share some promo art of the game.

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. 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. 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).

List of Commonly Accepted ‘Misconceptions’ about Outsiders The oceans on Earth are fresh water. Outsiders believe the Moon is made of Cheese, and the Apollo 18 mission was to determine which kind. Star Wars is a historic epic set sometime after the Bible but before Lord of the Rings. Corporations frequently fight using organized militaries, with the most recent conflicts being the Cola Wars and the Console Wars. Outsiders watch static on their TVs in order to communicate with the afterlife. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The rush of thoughts that came at the question was a sensation Oscar still wasn’t used to. He may have been accustomed to lying in the Outside World, but that was for performance’s sake in front of small children. Now, he had to invent a convenient half-truth in mere seconds. His thoughts boiled like so many bubbles in a pot before one rose to the surface and burst. “We play a truly complex card game as an intricate clash of our minds. Our wills summoning monstrous beings and sinister traps to fight in our stead.” That was one way to describe Yu-Gi-Oh. “Huh. Neato.” Marisa responded after a moment of thought. “You’ll have to teach it sometime. See you, Osu-san!” With a backwards wave, the shimmering witch took a seat upon her broom. Before it surged into the blue sky overhead. The black and white dot slowly vanishing overhead. As the people in the street turned into ants, and then were swallowed by the receding town, she turned ahead with a sigh. The girl in the raincoat had unearthed memories she thought she had made peace with. Marisa had long ago assumed her surrogate mother had simply died after her disappearance. But if what the raincoat girl said was true… A cold chill ran over her at the thought, unsure what she could expect. If she should be excited or afraid… Oh well. It was Osu-san’s problem now. The name flashing in her mind drew her attention back to the present. Her eyes opened, tongue drifting to the side of her mouth as she reached for her pocket. Pulling out the worn black wallet inside. Eyes shimmered with excitement. Marisa may not have recognized it, but it was almost certainly a money bag of some sort. Her suspicions were confirmed as she opened it, finding a handful of green bills she readily stuffed into her pocket. Outsider currency may not be exchanged like Mon, but it still had its use as promissory notes. There were other things inside the wallet as well however. Perhaps there was even an artifact she could use. There was a card with his picture, looking markedly different, with strange letters that shimmered in the sun. Another had the image of a book on it...a key to his library perhaps? It was as she was emptying the wallet, that she noticed the last thing inside. And nearly fell from her broom “Huh?” =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Oscar let out a slow breath. The tension around the near-battlefield simmering as Marisa vanished. The students watched for a moment, before they let out a cheer. Rushing towards him in a chorus of voices. “Wow mister!” “Are you and Marisa friends?” “Can you really summon monsters with cards?” “I wanna see it!” The excitement had palpably returned. Bright and shining faces looked up at him with fresh wonder. The rush was familiar. One he might have enjoyed if he had any idea how he was going to calm the situation. It was with no little relief that the school bell chimed. Calling the students back to class. The youngsters turned, racing back towards the school building. The Outsider watching them go with a smile, before he bent down to collect his things. His mind was turned from cleanup again as a small hand took his cape, giving it a gentle pull. The red-haired child looked up at him. His sharp, long nose framing brown eyes filled with wonder. “You’ll be back tomorrow mister, right?” The correct answer was one he doubted the child would like. So Oscar only smiled down at him. “If the winds of fate bring us together, then I shall.” The answer seemed to satisfy the child. Leaving Oscar with his sleepy, disguised friends and the unflappable Agappa. It was only then Oscar allowed himself a sigh. Reaching a hand into his pocket to pull out the string of coins he had collected. “No idea if this is enough to eat on, but I guess we’ll find out.” “Huh?” The heads of the four girls all seemed to crook in concern, each to varying degrees. Daiyousei’s was the most normal, while Cirno’s face was almost sideways, threatening to let her wig fall again. “Have you had nothing to eat?” Mystia asked softly. Oscar’s first instinct was to put on a brave face. The four of them might be new acquaintances, but they had always treated him like a friend, and he didn’t want to worry them. The building complaints of his empty stomach however forced the truth from his lips. “Not since before we met.” “Oh, why didn’t you say so?” Cirno asked. Lips blossoming in fresh optimism. As though completing her thought, the Night Sparrow nodded beneath her long brown hair. “My shop is nearby. I can make you something. I’m not sure what you will like but...most people like it. What would you like?” The promise of food brought with it a fresh smile on Oscar’s face. After a few more formalities, the four led on towards the ‘izakaya’. So excited was he, Oscar did not notice the missing weight in his jacket. Nor the figure of Agappa gazing at the distant speck that was Marisa. One of her hands raised, following the drifting witch. “Threatening an agent of the Yamas. Punishment, misfortune.” Her low and dolorous voice passed like an ominous wind. Before she turned to follow the others. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= New Quests Added: Find Rumia, Decipher Prophecy =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The nice bird woman wants to cook you lunch. What are you in the mood for? (Rolls using this choice have an additional two points until nightfall) = Fish sharpens the mind and rice fills the belly. Sushi please. = Food is only as good as the people you share it with. Tempura please! = I dunno how this ties to occultism but Onigiri please. = Hey Mystia, you know about Barbeque, right? Do you know any other Outside World dishes?

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Lies, lies and more lies is what happens when you fail to lie correctly, either due to a lack of knowledge or just plain stupidity. We have a lot of lies and none of the skills required to back them up, but not lying would have likely killed Oscar in one way or another very quickly and without mercy. This lie just staves of at best a massive laser at Agappa for a little bit and at worst gets Oscar also shot at in five different ways. Or Marisa would be a bit too vindictive for just an ordinary magician. 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. 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.

Alright, as part of research to create a timeline for fan activity within Western Touhou Fandom, I discovered a some neat info about a lost Touhou circle called Distant Union. Distant Union was a circle in the United States that published physical Touhou fan books alongside pdfs online. This was paired with an online store site called Doublepuma Store. Distant Union appeared to be active from 2013 to 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141221052720/http://distantunion.com/works.html https://web.archive.org/web/20130520135541/http://doublepuma.bigcartel.com/ https://doublepuma.com/doujin/ The members involved within the circle, going by the their work’s credits, included Leo Modesto, Rubin, Jelajade, Siegmund, and DL. As for who these members were, they were all artists that did Touhou art and were all once active on Tumblr. Leo Modesto is now called Lina, who was the creator of the Ask Udonge blog. https://askudonge.tumblr.com/ https://www.tumblr.com/rabbitlegs Rubin is an artist and was also the creator of the Ask Kogasa blog. https://www.tumblr.com/ask-kogasa https://rubindraws.tumblr.com/ Jelajade is an artist who now works on comics. https://jelajade.com/ https://mspabooru.com/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=12197 Siegmund is an artist. https://x.com/SieggyStardust https://web.archive.org/web/20130607110831/http://fluffychainsaw.tumblr.com/ DL is an artist. https://dlanon.carrd.co/# https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/4632687 Works Update: All of their works can be downloaded on: https://doublepuma.com/doujin/works.html The spoiler below describes secondhand accounts on the works before the discoveries of Distant Union's works themselves, so it has been kept for historical usefulness. Connections It appears that Touhou Tuesday had some connection with Leo Modesto as there are podcast episodes and Facebook posts where he advertises to his audience to buy Raiders of the Lost Ask Box and The Gensokyo Menagerie Vol. 1. He also did an interview with Leo Modesto. http://imgur.com/a/jI5BL https://kngi.org/touhou-tuesday-2012-09-25-leo-hijack-interview-with-leo-modesto-of-ask-udonge/ https://kngi.org/touhou-tuesday-2013-01-29-3lmfao/ https://kngi.org/touhou-tuesday-2013-02-26-one-year-of-miracles-and-butts/ https://kngi.org/touhou-tuesday-2013-04-02-lovingly-playing-tyrian2000-at-gunpoint/ https://www.facebook.com/TouhouTuesday/posts/httpleomodestotumblrcompost46766031914-while-i-was-out-for-the-weekend-my-friend/195490277241601/ There was an ad on Leo Modesto’s Twitter account about purchasing Distant Union fanbooks. https://x.com/linaciari/status/487983729101766656 Lastly, Rubin appeared at Anime Boston 2014 for the Touhou Panel where she cites her experience with Ask Touhou Tumblr blogs and Distant Union. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k38mzHX6QWc&list=PLYimcvkHGXREKfRiJTls2jU3gRUyg6ctR&index=8 (Start at 2:02) All in all, Distant Union was and still is as of 2024 the only Touhou circle in the United States that has published Touhou fan books. The only other Touhou circle in the United States I know of is Fantasy Mechanics, which deals with fangame creation instead of fan books.