"Good morning."

-- Music: Phantasmagoria of Flower View - Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Ancient Temple. --

Just a minute ago, Ran had opened the door to the garden, her hand following the texture of the polished cherrywood doorframe. On the raised wooden back porch, she had found a table for two, on which Alice had prepared a teapot and two small cups.

But the smell of the gently steaming tea hadn't been the reason Ran had come to Alice's house, here in the Forest of Magic. It had been the doll that was sat lifelessly in the left chair, a blonde 5'9'' prop dressed in Alice's classic red-white-and-blue Bucureszti design. Two antlers decorated the doll's head. Alice's dolls don't have antlers, she recalled. Except this one. For some reason.

A mild creaking sound had emerged under her feet as Ran had walked towards the table. Her two-pointed Shikigami hat, which normally covered her vulpine ears, had been carefully placed on the doll's antlers. Upon sitting down, she had felt the backrest of the chair brushing up against her nine tails. Humans, she had thought. Humans don't have tails, so they don't have to design their chairs in ways that accommodate them.

Once the fox had finally found a comfortable sitting position, she had closed her eyes, put her elbows onto the table, and formed "O" shapes with her fingers.

-- Music: Perfect Cherry Blossom - Charming Domination --

What Ran Yakumo had just set into motion was something nobody had attempted before, and she knew that. Equipped with the brain of an experienced youkai fox, she was well aware of the implications and side effects. But this was something that she had wanted to do for a very long time, and both Alice and Yukari had given their approval. If there had ever been any doubts in the nine-tailed fox' mind, they had long since been quenched.

Only a few seconds had passed until the fox found herself shaken by a sudden feeling of emptiness and silence. When she reopened her eyes, the doll in the other chair had started moving, and its porcelain eyes had shifted from a l

I must admit, there is a certain novelty in receiving gifts from strangers. Of course, with every incentive comes a motive. Insidious as the aura surrounding her may be, Kirisame Marisa’s boon carried no such ill will. Therefore, I will dedicate myself to the intention she had in mind when bestowing me this… notepad.

I am Konpaku Youmu, Hakugyoukurou’s humble gardener, and Sworn Protector of Lady Saigyouji Yuyuko until my very last dying breath.

With that out of the way… what was I going to write again?

Ah. Hmhm, Kirisame Marisa had bestowed upon me this trinket due to my “terrible short term memory.” and instructed me to write down my internal thoughts, and to her specification, enunciate all of my internal thoughts onto paper, even including the ellipses, unnecessary run-on sentences, stray thoughts, and the struggle of recollection. I personally do not believe such a mundane task such as could aid in strengthening my memory, as I am able to recall Lady Yuyuko’s orders with perfect clarity no matter how much time has passed. However, such a labor is reminiscent of my master’s teachings of constant self-reflection in times of peace. Perhaps this endeavor too, could result in the sakura’s blossoms?

Regardless of the present, I must remain prudent in my search of gathering information on the ‘Scarlet Mist’ Incident as per Lady Yuyuko’s wishes. Although I have been unable to collect the information needed to present a collection of events that would prove satisfactory to my lady’s wishes, this ‘notepad’ should provide at bare minimum: the proof of my efforts.

…Perhaps that altercation at the "grocery store" proved beneficial after all, in the end.

Now… where were my wayward thoughts pointing to again?

Yes, yes… that should work. If the Scarlet Mist Incident was resolved without issue, then I must find evidence of the mighty warriors who have put a stop to such errant maliciousness. I could ask for Kirisame’s aid, but I have not a clue as to where she resides, nor do I wish to trample upon her more than gracious hospital

[2] Stay focused! Lady Mima needs you to stay on task.
[10] Stop for a visit. You’ll make it quick…

Why would any of them miss me? I never really made an effort to connect with any of the other devils. Did I really misjudge things that bad? Your cheeks heat up with shame as you consider that uncomfortable possibility.

It feels like sacrilege to dwell on it at all, let alone for as long as you have been. But these were people you knew. Maybe not very well, but they were still acquaintances. You can’t let them continue thinking you had been permanently exorcised like Elis did. If they remember you, even slightly, then you owe it to them to clear things up, don’t you?

“Ten minutes,” you manage out after a long battle with your inner demons. “In and out. Just to let them know that I’m okay.”

A triumphant grin explodes across her face. With how suddenly her newfound vigor took hold, it’d be impossible to tell she was so sentimental seconds ago. “Glad to see there’s still a little bit of the girl I knew in there.”

Grimacing, your fingers dig deeper into the rope. Lady Mima surely understands. I’m just tying up loose ends before getting back on track. This is a necessary diversion.

She would understand that. Right?

The weightless rock suddenly feels very heavy in your arms.

Elis seriously wasn’t kidding when she said Vina had been expanded. What had once been an endless field of marble rubble, cracked pillars, and crumbling archways has been transformed into a veritable cityscape of weathered statues, dry fountains, and winding roads carved with elaborate patterns. All of it is in a state of deliberate decay, constructed to look ancient rather than actually be ancient, no doubt designed to impress foreigners with the illusion of a rich and storied past.

And, at the center of it all, still towering over the ruins as proudly as it had back then, stands the temple. There is no official name for it, or if there is, you’ve never known it as anything other than j

YAKUMO NO KITSUNE
by Sarielist
Story 1: Teatime at Alice's house.

-- Inspiration and AI disclosure:
I fact-checked the plausibility of some aspects of the story with the help of the Touhou Wiki and ChatGPT.
Any plotholes discovered through this process were stitched up with my own ideas.
ChatGPT also made a few suggestions for details, of which the only one I adopted was the eye colour change.

The plot, character choices, and format choice were developed by me.
Obviously, the underlying worldbuilding is that of the Touhou Project by ZUN, with whom this fan-written story is not affiliated.
The format is loosely inspired by the works of Shakespeare and Schiller.
All of the writing, wording, grammar, formatting and spelling are my own, with no input from AI, grammarly, Word, or any other spell checker.
--

-----------
Chapter 1.
-----------

Music: Touhou 2 - Forest of Tohno

*Alice's house in the Forest of Magic.*

*Wooden terrace at the back of the house. A rotund wooden table for two, featuring a teapot and two small cups. In the left chair, a 5'9'' doll of Alice's design. Eyes open but empty, face neutral, palms flat on the table. Two antlers on the doll's head.*

*Enter Yakumo Ran from the house's terrace door on the left.*
*Ran walks into the foreground of the table, pulls the right chair, places her hat onto the doll's antlers, and sits down.*
*She places both elbows on the table, closes her eyes, assumes a neutral face, and forms O shapes between her thumbs and pointer fingers.*

Music: Touhou 7 - Charming Domination ~ Who done it!

*About two seconds pass, then the doll's eyes turn brown and start moving. A few seconds later, the nine-tailed fox reopens her now blue eyes. Both the doll and the fox start moving their limbs.*

Music: Touhou 2 - Forest of Tohno

Doll. Good morning.
Fox. *slowly* Wh- what happened? Who are... who am I? Am I... awake?

[-] Medical treatment received.

"That's the last one," Reisen said softly, tying off the final bandage. "How are you feeling?"

Sitting listlessly on the gap, you looked down at the results. Your injured tails outnumbered the healthy ones, with no fewer than five wrapped up in makeshift casts. The pride and joy of any kitsune, the mark of their power and experience... well, they certainly marked something, alright.

How did it go this wrong? How?

"Ran? Is there any pain?"

You wrenched your eyes shut, barely holding back the dam of tears. It wasn’t like despair was anything new to you. In fact, it was a foundational experience - your current life as a shikigami began amidst the shattered remnants of your past self’s life, leaving your early days swamped by the emotion… and despite your progress in both control and stability, you could never truly seem to leave it behind. Sooner or later, no matter what tactics you tried or how promising your efforts seemed, you’d find yourself here.

Useless.

A hand gently pressed against your forehead, and you sucked in the breath at the unexpected touch. "There's no fever, at least."

You blinked, realizing the moon rabbit was watching you with open concern... and then her question from before finally registered. You blinked a few more times, focusing until Reisen's face came into view.

"Sorry. Can't feel the breaks, they just ache a little. Painkillers must be kicking in." And definitely not any other reason for your mind to be in tatters.

Reisen nodded, her red eyes leaving gleaming afterimages. "Could you rate it on a scale from one to ten?"

You reached for the glass of water, taking a drink as you marshalled your thoughts. "My tails are all between zero and three. Can't feel those two at all." You pointed in the vague direction of the ones most thoroughly wrapped up. "Main body... call it a four. Six if I move the wrong way."

Your nurse gave you a sharp nod, pulling out a small container of pills. "In that case, some painkillers are in order. I used a light

Author’s Note: Full disclosure, this is a crossover with the mobile gacha game Fire Emblem Heroes plus my fanfiction ideas for it. I’ll, of course, try to write this so you don’t need any prior knowledge and explain stuff as necessary, but do ask questions when you don’t understand something. It’s also my first CYOA, so… Let’s see how it goes, huh?

“Begin documentation. Eitri, the Eternal Sage speaking. Preparing soul transfer #3784. Standard operating procedure. The new vessel is male, adult, athletic. Brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin. Alias will be Will Thompson. Beginning after recording end. End documentation.”

“Begin documentation. Loki, the lovely trickster god speaking. Preparing soul transfer interruption prank #0001. Question: How angry will Eitri get when I mess with her experiment? Hypothesis: She will throw quite the fit. Materials: Eitri’s lab equipment, plus one vessel, […]

Sex:
[] Male
[] Female

Age:
[] Prepubescent
[] Adolescent
[] Adult

[…], alias… Well, I suppose I have no say in that… Procedure: While Eitri is unconscious, I will pause the soul transfer process, reprogram everything to put her in the wrong body, then drop her off in my little pet project world. Beginning after recording end. End documentation.”

Author’s Note: So, whenever I thought about starting a CYOA, I always ran into the problem of “Does my idea for this MC feel like it’s the audience’s or the author’s?” Now, of course it should be both, but my fear was that with me at the helm, it might feel like I’m either trying to make the MC so much the audience’s that there’s a choice every paragraph, or so much mine that it might as well not be a CYOA. I thought this might be a happy medium between the two: The MC has a preestablished personality, past, and goal, but you get to pick the appearance and actions to reach the goal. Also, in case it wasn’t clear, in addition to choosing the age and sex, you are also invited to create na

Awake from its three-year hibernation!

On the road which leads to the Temple, taking refuge among the many stone sculptures, the beast once again finds its slumber disturbed.

"How long has this been here?"

An inquisitive tone accompanied a prod to the beast's side.

Apart from irritation, the beast felt that this scenario was somehow familiar.

[] - - What is a lazy lizard to do?

Autumn in Kyoto brought with it a subtle chill in the air. Nothing too severe, but it was enough to provide a subtle reminder that winter was right around the corner.

Within the autumn-colored metropolis, two friends are currently chatting at a coffee shop while they await your arrival.

"Renko, I'm telling you, there's a spaceship parked deep within the nearby forest! I wasn't able to get a good look, but I don't think it originates from this world OR Gensokyo! This could be a huge discovery!"

Renko takes a long sip from her coffee and sighs.

"Merry, even if we actually found this alleged spaceship, I'm sure someone else already owns it, and they won't be happy about us trespassing. Besides, what do either of us know about piloting a spaceship?"

Maribel giggles. "Renko, you study stars, remember?"

"There's a difference between stars and rocket science. Wouldn't it be easier to just visit a local shrine? We already know they're a consistent entry point to Gensokyo."

Right after she says that, you finally arrive at the coffee shop, and the two girls turn to you.

"Ah, [Name], it's good to see you! It would appear we're in need of a tiebreaker, so..."

"Where do you think we should go?"

[] - The (alleged) spaceship

[] - The local shrine

(By the way, what do you guys think our name should be? I don't wanna use Y/N L/N cause that's really lame lol.)

(Probably should've asked this during the setup, but I forgot)

Eternal has been bugging me to crosspost this here, and since I'm getting close to finish editing the second and third chapter I've complied. Be warned, this is a JJK crossover.
In 2007 stories of spiriting away have been passed down around an isolated Japanese village. In that village, two girls have been wrongfully identified as the culprits behind the recent uptick in disappearances.
This is their story. (Cirno and Dai take the place of the Hasaba sisters)

August, 2007

"Cirno." Daiyousei muttered, hugging her sister closer to her.

Cirno and Daiyousei Hibana huddled close within their stone cell with its iron bars, their blue and green hair intermixing. They had broken through the wood one on their first day, but the guard outside had caught them. It just made everyone else angrier and Daiyousei hadn't been able to fight back when Cirno was out cold. There had been disappearances happening since either of them could remember, people who were called uncles, aunts, and grandparents despite only having a vague relation to the community. Their mama, who Daiyousei couldn't remember the face of. She didn't know if their mama's disappearance was why everyone hated them, she didn't know what they had done wrong. They'd never made anyone disappear like mama had! They didn't do it, someone else was taking people! It made her tear up just thinking about How could they be responsible? Just because Cirno knew what 'Jujutsu Sorcery' was, didn't mean she did anything wrong. Cirno was her big sister, and a part of Daiyousei believed that if they just treated her nicely then they could all get along.

"It's okay, Dai, just follow my lead. You remember what I taught you?"

She nodded, muttering under her breath as she shook. "Take a deep breath, feel the cursed energy, take it into your gut, breathe out, feel it move through you, wrap your body in a shell of cursed energy, circulate it through your brain, and activate your technique."

She nodded, following her elder twin sister's command, remembering the days when they had first s

(Setup Phase)

Before we begin, we need to figure out who we know and what we are doing (name will change depending on what type of story we are doing)

So with that being said, what are we?

[] - Tourist with Louise (Starting in Makai, we're immune to the Makai miasma so this is possible)

[] - Sumireko's friend (Starting in modern day Outside World)

[] - Hifuu Club member (Starting in the RenMerry timeframe)

[] - We're all alone (for now) (Starting in modern day outside world)

(This is my first time hosting a CYOA here, so I hope I did the format properly. We're playing as a human OC if you're wondering)