With a groan, you pull and manage to finally get your suitcase to the top of the stairs. One of them, anyway. When you were accepted to Gensokyo Academy for Talented Girls, the brochure stated that you were allowed to bring up to two suitcases worth of clothes plus a school-supplied duffel bag for anything extra you wanted to bring along. Like almost every other girl climbing these stairs, you naturally picked your two biggest suitcases so you could bring a lot of different outfits. Unfortunately, several things stacked up to make your first day somewhat miserable. First, you had to lug both suitcases through the six inches of snow on the ground in order to get anywhere on campus, and second, you had to drag them up the stairs to get to your assigned dorm room.

Luckily, with two problems came two saving graces. The first was that one of your suitcases was an old leather beater with no wheels, so it had to be carried on the rolling suitcase. While that made the rolling suitcase heavier, it meant you wouldn't have to leave one suitcase behind while lugging the other upstairs. The second saving grace was that you only had to pull them up the one flight of stairs. Your room happens to be on the second floor, and once you find your room, you dump your bags onto your bed unceremoniously. You're not even sure you want to bother unpacking, so you instead just plop down onto the bed near your bags and take stock of the room.

Underneath the only window in the room is an extra-wide desk, probably so it can sit both yourself and your roommate simultaneously. There's another bed on the other side of the room, though you can't make out any identifying features of its occupant. Unsurprisingly, since you'd read about them in the brochure, there's a mini-kitchen and a full bathroom, virtually right next to each other. With that in mind, you certainly hope your roommate isn't the type to use up all the hot water early in the morning. You're no stranger to cold showers, but having to take one day after day because of a selfish roommate isn't exactly appealing.

Still, that's besides the point and you continue to look around the room. The be

You come to cold and damp. Opening your eyes, you note that you’re face down in a puddle. Your head hurts something fierce, like you were using it as a hammer. Or maybe you were the nail. Maybe you picked a fight or had a bit too much to drink. It doesn’t matter.

What does matter is someone’s rifling through your pockets. That kinda crap won’t fly.

You haul yourself standing and someone falls back with a squeak. Glaring over, you can see it’s just a kid. Dirty mess of blonde hair and real tired grey eyes. Looks homeless, but right now, you’re no looker yourself.

“Well damn,” the kid says, “found a live one this time.” She’s got the kind of voice that speaks of hard times.

“The hell kinda kid robs dead folk for a living?” you grind out.

The kid grimaces. “One who’s desperate. Belief’s getting scarce these days. Us smalltime gods take what we can get.”

“A god? You?” You suppress a chuckle.

“Don’t laugh!” Girl pulls a switchblade from somewhere. “I was someone once. I mattered.”

“Whoa there, calm down.” A quick check confirms you’re not armed. Might even be your blade she’s got.

“Long as you know who’s in charge here.” She slips it back up her sleeve. “Not often I find someone that ain’t too far gone, but that’s society’s fault, not mine”

“If you were somebody, how did you wind up digging in gutters to stay fed?” You figure the girl won’t think about stabbing if you can keep her mouth running.

“That’s the thing. Name, memories, powers, and faith. All gone. Bet she left me with a scrap just to make a point. I can still taste the power I had once.”

“Who?”

“Yasaka,” she spits the unfamiliar name like a curse. “No such thing as competition with her around. She may as well own the damn country. Kanacorp has its fangs in every kind of business you can name, not just the legal ones. Best guess is I was a rival.”

“How long ago do you figure that was?”

“Five years? I haven’t been keeping track beyond seasons.” The girl takes a deep sn

First thread: >>47422
Previous thread: >>48096

Recap:

Conner is just a normal guy living in the city, trying to get by as well as he can. Up until recently he’s had no real job, choosing instead to make end meet by jumping from one temporary position to the next. His siblings Rinnosuke and Nazrin (not related by blood) disapprove of this kind of lifestyle, but so far he’s found no real desire to settle down into anything more stable.

Conner has always been a weirdness magnet, but recent events have proven to be odder that even what he is used to.

-A recent investigation into a low-paying job for the Nitori Corporation has landed you a testing role directly under the company’s head engineer, Nitori Kawashiro. So far the position has mostly involved dodging explosions caused by the various things this young woman has invented, but hopefully the pay will be worth it in the end. (Assuming you live long enough to collect your first paycheck)
-A recent outing with your journalist friend Aya has netted you two things; the wrath of a princess from the moon, and a gauntlet that has seemingly merged itself to your right hand. You doubt that you need to worry much about the former seeing as you don’t expect to encounter her again, but the latter has caused you some grief. After digging around a bit, you’ve discovered that the gauntlet is holy in nature, originating from a people who call themselves “Celestials”. It seems doubtful that the gauntlet will cause you any direct harm, but all the same you’d like to learn how to get it off your hand as soon as you can.
-What you originally thought was a babysitting job has turned into something much, much more. Remilia Scarlet (a vampire, of all things) has designated you as the primary caretaker of her younger sister, Flandre (also a vampire). Flandre seems to have some sort of immense power that she is attempting to keep under control, as well as some sort of trau

The calm before the tempest of youth.

Previous thread >>59104
Character blurbs: www.touhou-project.com/others/theater

--


I could tell that the stress from upcoming exams was already getting to people. My classmates were liable to start snapping over small things like not returning a borrowed eraser suitably clean. The worst part was that the usual escape valve, clubs and after school activities were suspended for the duration of the exam period. That didn't usually affect me nor Suika but even goody two-shoes like the class rep became insufferable.

It wasn't hard to get Kaguya to agree to partner up with me. I asked her directly, without hesitation, confident that she'd say yes. The last time we were on the roof together she seemed to be open to the idea, after all. She was thrilled, modestly stating that she wasn't sure that she would be able to be of much use to me. I smiled and told her it was okay, making sure to gloat at the other poor fool that had approached Kaguya a few seconds before me. His intention was clear but he hesitated, likely intimidated.

Things got off to a very regular start. We decided to meet in the library for our study sessions and started covering the year's material methodically. I didn't have a lot in the way of notes, for obvious reasons, but I managed to get enough spare copies of old printouts to have a coherent enough structure. We sat side by side, and did a different subject per day. When we had covered most of the topics, we decided to focus on particularly tricky areas that we had struggled on previously.

“I suppose that literature is the main problem I have,” Kaguya stated. It was about time for the library to close and we were putting all of our study materials away.

“Hmm, that's surprising,” I told her, cramming a pile of papers into my my bag. The poor thing barely got any real use most of the year and now it was stuffed to the brim with notebooks, stationary and printouts. “I thought you liked literature.”

“Very much so,” she said quietly, trying not to di

Thread One: >>>/others/50686
Thread Two: >>>/others/51316
Thread Three: >>>/others/52862

Who are you?
What is your name?
What is it that you desire?

...You are... you. Youmu Konpaku, Age 32 in human years. You are a half-ghost, Something That Should Not Be, yet here you are. You are our last, best hope against the evil machinations of Remilia Scarlet, our last line of defense against a vampire whose power is limitless in its destruction.

It all began when Yukari asked you to go on a journey. It was one of noble importance; you were to head "Outside", into the real world, as it were, in order to fight an order of vampire's known as "Camarilla" - a cabal dead set on upsetting the fragile balance of the Sealed Lands; places like Valhalla, Avalon... Gensokyo. You traveled to France with Remilia while another set of allies - Marisa, Sakuya, and Sanae - approached from the East. But of course, all was not to be as planned.

Remilia betrayed you, revealing that she had brought Flandre along in disguise. The vampiress, mad with power, nearly killed you, breaking your beloved katana Roukanken in the process. But you almost killed her in turn, and you escaped into the city, making contact with Byakuren, who promised help. It was all you heard that day, as you passed out from your injuries.

In your slumber, you learned of your link to Flandre Scarlet, her power sealed off thanks to your Myon, which she stole during your battle with her. The Camarilla did unspeakable things to her, and it was then that you realized that not even Flandre deserved such a fate. So you set out to rescue the vampire, utilizing your wits over your dimished power. You succeeded and escaped, though it was only barely. Resolving to get Flandre away from this horrible place, you left the city, teaming up with reinforcements - Reisen and Nazrin. Through them you learned of the others' s

If you told me it was going to be the fairies, I'd have laughed. Fairies? The hell are fairies going to do? Well, individually, not much, of course. So we ignored them, when we weren't using them as maids, practice targets, cannon fodder, what have you.

They were always willing to take up a cause in an incident, willing to take it up and die for it. Of course, 'dying for a cause' is a bit different for a fairy, given that death to them is at most an inconvenience for a couple of hours. So they take up the cause in the name of fun and shooting, and are inevitably shot to pieces by whichever resident troubleshooter is on the case.

So life continued, fairies got involved in incidents in peripheral roles, incidents continued to be solved with force applied in a brute manner, Gensokyo was saved yet again, and the world kept spinning.

I assume the world's still spinning.

This is an assumption, as we're no longer on that world.

The fairies were learning. And waiting.

–

And now, all that remains of Gensokyo, all that remains of the world perhaps, is me, and the approximately thirty thousand escapees. Hell, I don't even need to approximate it. We took a census. There are thirty thousand and eighty two of us.

You see, the fairies decided one day to create an incident of their own. Not to move under someone else's instruction, or on their own individual whimsy, but as a unified, overwhelming force. Reimu Hakurei, Sanae Kochiya, all the other big names in troubleshooting shot the trouble. And fairies. They shot a lot of fairies. But it wasn't enough, and the waves and waves of fairies broke them. It was a shock that they managed to get out alive at all.

And then there was the fire. The Human Village was only the beginning, torched to the ground. The Hakurei shrine, a crater. The Moriya Shrine was picked up, piece by piece, and thrown in the Misty Lake. The Scarlet Devil Mansion received the same treatment.

All that sounds like a regional, controlled problem, right?

Well, it would have been, if the fairies hadn't broken down the Hakurei Barrier. Shit, nobody knows how they ma

The endless rumba of youth.

Previous thread >>58743
Character blurbs: www.touhou-project.com/others/theater

-

I didn't feel like getting up. It was way too early. Normal people like me liked to sleep in.

“Wake up please,” the voice resumed. Along with the request came gentle prodding of my sides. How very annoying. I was liable to wake up if that kept up.

I rolled over, protecting my belly and other tender areas from prodding. There was a sigh somewhere. But it didn't dissuade the voice. “This is ridiculous,” it said as I felt the mattress beneath me shift. I waited patiently. If the disturbance was to end I had to act swiftly and precisely. Otherwise the whole of my brain was going to wake up.

“Eeek!” the voice shouted out as I reached out and grabbed it. Without skipping a beat I pulled the person down firmly onto the bed. They laid right across from me. Mission accomplished. I could finally go back to sleep.

“...”

“...”

“...........”

“.................”

Despite the newly found peace and quiet, I was more awake than ever. I straddled the border of consciousness. The presence I felt just a few centimeters from my face was intense. I was getting stared at intently. And that made me uncomfortable. I found myself gulping as my eyes finally opened.

“Good morning,” Marisa said softly, her face close enough for her breath to tickle my nose. So that's what that was. Without pausing, like she wasn't really thinking too much, she added, “you looked so happy sleeping, kind of a shame that I woke you up.”

“This isn't that bad of a start to a day,” I said, already getting over being woken up before my body wanted to. The faint smell of her shampoo inspired feelings of contentment within me. Life was good.

“Oh,” she realized what I meant and smiled, “this is awkward. I guess I'm not sure what to say.”

“Want to sleep in with me?” I asked, tossing the sheet over her as well. Deeds, not words. That was the important bit.

When a person has lived a long and (not so) prosper lifetime of kicking ass and drinking tea, what a recently deceased spirit desires most is to move onto the next stage of the cycle of reincarnation. It took an ungodly amount of time wasted on paperwork -- why cannot those shinigami bureaucrats keep it simple? -- but finally, the spirit was ready to leave Higan and take on her new incarnation.

How would her new life unravel, she wondered. Will she become a rich lady living in a mansion? A carefree boy living and playing in the village? Perhaps she will take up the broom and wand and become a magician? But knowing her luck and karma, she probably won't even be a human. She sure hoped she wouldn't turn into a fox. She already had experienced a taste of that in her previous life, and it sucked big time.

"Nice try, but it won't be that easy."

But before the spirit could float down the tunnel of light that leaded to her new life, she felt a sudden gut-twisting wrenching -- despite not having a body yet. Everything went pitch black, while the spirit heard a dry voice chuckle in her ear -- if she still had an ear.

"You thought you'd take on a fresh, uncorrupted mortal form? A fresh-faced young girl, strong and vital, ready to exterminate my undead hordes and ruin my plans? Ahahahahaha!" The voice cackled. "That won't do. That won't do at all. I have a much better idea."

Uh-oh, thought the spirit, as the darkness swirled around her head -- again, if she had one. She felt the very fabric of her soul getting yanked violently against her will, which filled her with an intense, excruciating, indescribable pain that threatened to tear her essence apart.

Somehow, the spirit knew this was not the way reincarnation should go at all.

============================================================================

The excess and vainglory of youth.

Previous thread >>58010
Character blurbs: www.touhou-project.com/others/theater

-

Blood pressure dropping. The patient was about to crash and crash hard. If he didn't get help right away, he would be a goner.

“Dammit man, I'm a doctor not a miracle worker,” I whispered to myself as I continued to play out the ER fantasy. Anything to keep my mind off dark thoughts as I weaved through corridors and took the stairs to the nurse's office. It was too late though, the patient had gone into cardiac arrest. Things were dire.

Eirin was sweeping her own office with an old bamboo-handled broom. “And what's the matter with you today?” she asked with tried and true cynicism. It wasn't that she wasn't glad to see me, I felt. It was just that she likely dealt with more than her fair share of hypochondriacs and malingerers. Doubly understandable since I was a likely candidate for the latter category.

“I'm really feeling sick,” I told her, “have some sympathy.”

“Oh,” she feigned concern. “Don't tell me, let me guess – either your heart is beating really fast every time you see me or you're worried about how stiff a certain part of your body becomes when you look at pretty girls. Am I right?”

“Well, that's just offensive,” I shook my head. Her deep clear eyes twinkled with the same enigmatic energy as always. She wasn't manipulative like Big Sis was but shared many of her qualities nonetheless. Mainly being able to cut right through any bullcrap. “You should expect better from me.”

“Let's hear it then. What are you feeling?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Now you've just ruined it,” I pouted, “forget it, I guess I just came by to see you for a bit. Hope you're not too surly to chew the fat a little with one of your most beloved students.”

“Fine, fine,” she acquiesced to my idiocy. “I'll get the kettle on and we can chat for a bit if you wish. It's not like they pay me to do

1st Thread: >>51178
2nd Thread: >>55139

Recap:

The vampiric magical girl known as Fl_ndre, and her friend Words, are thrown into a thrashing conflict. The feud is mainly between the Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia Scarlet, and the magician, Patchouli Knowledge. Despite the efforts of Fl_ndre and Words, the conflict escalates to a dangerous level. In a rare chance to try again, the two obtain the legendary timepiece called the Luna Dial and use it to go back in time.

Unfortunately, Remilia also travel with them. In the new timeline, she continues to weave her plot of destruction. Fl_ndre and Words, in the meantime, experience a hectic day. They manage to discover the motives behind everyone involved in the dark conflict, and also meet a sweet young girl who helps Fl_ndre realize the true meaning of “family.”

In their attempts to reason with Remilia and reunite the family of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, an inter-planar demon, titled Phantasm, takes possession of Remilia. The demon seeks to consume Gensokyo and quite possibly the world beyond.

Angered by Phantasm, Fl_ndre takes chase.

Welcome to Not-Life.