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File 165904667952.jpg - (83.14KB, 577x599, cryptic_metaphor.jpg)
cryptic_metaphor
It’s hard to pinpoint the precise moment you went from “nothing” to “something”. All you can really say for sure is that once you weren’t, but now you are.

Or… something along those lines. These are pretty complicated thoughts for what’s essentially a newborn.

But are you really? A newborn, that is. Before the nothing that was before the something, you could sometimes grasp the frayed threads of another life. That life was so vastly different from what you are now that you have trouble thinking of it as “your” life, but the sense of familiarity (and sometimes yearning) the memories give you are harder to deny. You were once human, then you were nothing, and now you’re something.

But enough of that for now. Your thoughts tend to ramble when you let them, so it’s best to cut them off her or nothing will ever get done.

Compared to your previous life, your senses are now completely different. Sight, smell, taste, and hearing are all gone entirely, actually. You felt like you should maybe be horrified by that fact, but the memories of your previous life had come in some time after you came into existence, so you had already adjusted to the state of things before realizing you had lost anything at all.

Your world begins and ends with your sense of touch. Perhaps some of the things you lump together with “touch” in your mind are something else entirely, but it just makes sense to do so. The most prominent thing you feel is the soothing coolness that encases you completely from all sides. If you were still capable of doing so, you would regularly be giving contented sighs. Even if you do nothing, the coolness leaves you feeling nourished and healthy at all times. If this was all there was to your life, well… you wouldn’t complain.

Alas, hypotheticals are hypotheticals, and this is reality. There exists something beyond your present state of stockpiling energy, and you intend to explore it with the little control you have. Several options are open to you, but your limited understanding prevents you from the risks and benefits of each choice.

Ah well, suppose you’ll just have to follow your gut on this one. You decide to:
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Wojo, your mojo caught me!
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Warmly waiting.
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waiting with cold fury

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What purpose did this bloodshed serve?

Qin Feng gripped his bow tightly.

Fists tight enough to draw blood.

Teeth clenched hard enough to shatter at any moment.

The once great and respected Heavenly Mountain Sect, gone; its legacies wiped in a single day.

Dozens of swords pierced his body, yet he did not feel the pain.

The regrets inside his heart far exceeded the pain of his body.

"Shuhang.." He discovered the discarded corpse of his comrade.
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Qin Feng was currently standing on the mountain, awaiting the heaven's judgement. Nascent Soul's tribulation is not a chaotic thunderstorm, it's a refined trial to test the cultivator's spirit.

The first lightning struck Qin Feng, just the impact would've been deadly to any mortals. His whole body shook uncontrollably, his dantians sounded like they were going to burst violently. Qin Feng gritted his teeth and endured.

The Nascent Soul realm is the first true step to becoming an immortal, a realm where one defies the heavens!

Not long after he got his body back into order, he was yet smited by another lightning bolt. The sheer size of it was enough to completely obliterate Qin Feng's new home, Kojirou already moved far away. The terrifying sound of rumbles of Qin Feng's tribulation made him shook in fear.

Then comes the third, fourth, and the fifth bolts. At this point Qin Feng was already starting to lose grasp of his conciousness, the thunders were slowing remolding his body to that of an immortal's. The process was excruciatingly painful, each strikes had double the power of the previous one. By this point the whole process could be seen throughout Gensokyo.

RUMBLE!

The sixth lightning struck him, so fiercely that it seemed to be roaring. The moment it slammed onto Qin Feng's body, he let out a miserable cry of pain. He instictively activated his Broken Void Divine Art to redirect some of the lightning into the Void(*1).

"Damnit! Why the hell didn't I do this since the beginning?!" He said quite loudly, he couldn't be bothered to even lower his voice in the current state he's in.
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UPDATE IS THE POST ABOVE

yeah apparently i forgot to mark update, here it is.
shit ton of mistakes cause i pressed reply instead of preview
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Untitled
"AAGH!" The man screamed in agony, everytime he replied with silence also decreases the count of intact fingers on his hand, "Stop! I'll tell you everything!"

"Oh, guess I didn't have to resort to that method." Qin Feng murmured, the man shivered in fear as Qin Feng apparoached him.

He grabbed the man by the hair and asked him, "Ready to answer now?" The man went on a thorough and detailed explanation. His name was Yang Mian, he told Qin Feng that he was from a sect hidden away. He was sent here on an order to assasinate Qin Feng while his cultivation base was still unstable from the tribulation.

All of this information was useless to Qin Feng as it seemed to him that they were just a group of mortals who just happened to stumble upon the methods of cultivation, "Also our sect has a Demigod realm powerhou-" As soon as the words left his mouth, a terrifying thunder landed right next to them. Yang Mian jumped instictively but could not get away as he was held by Qin Feng.

Qin Feng's eyebrows furrowed at this, "Even saying the name of the realm causes an undulation in the heavens, that's how powerful a Demigod realm powerhouse is." Currently he was deep in thought, there was actually a demigod aiming for his head!

"Where's your sect located?" Although seemingly a question, the way he spoke it would make anyone realize that it's a command or a threat.

Yang Mian trembled in fear, "There's a teleportation array in the bamboo forest right over there.." Qin Feng looked over at the direction he was pointing at, there seemed to really be an aura eminating from there.

He looked over to Yang Mian, who was sweating profusely, "Merely a middle-stage Qi Condensation disciple, they won't care if you're gone."
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Th075Reimu
First story, little lack of knowledge about touhou. Let's see how it goes

-Muenzuka, Gensokyo-

The home to purple cherry blossoms, once a year those cherry blossoms will purify the soil of Muenzuka. Truly a sight to behold and yet the sorrowful sights make it seem like the place itself is weeping.

-Anon's POV-

This attempt is the one.
You thought to yourself as you sit infront of your laptop on a plastic chair while your hands are constantly pressing keys on your butterfly keyboard.
If someone has looked closely enough they'd have noticed that on your laptop's screen, was none other than your puny attempt at trying to beat Subterranean Animism's extra stage as Reimu Hakurei.

'Holy shit, that was close. Thank god for Reimu's absurdly small hitbox' You thought to yourself as you barely dodged Koishi's "Danmaku Paranoia".

"C'mon man, when the hell is this gonna time out?" You thought as you barely graze through each bullet Koishi launches at you.
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godspeed author
may you come back twice as strong
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Good luck with your studies, Author!
I'll miss this period of daily updates but will await the adventures of MAN nonetheless.
For your fiction reading, I recommend a web novel called Peculiar Soul; certain parts deal with how and why a power that can control ideas, especially in people's heads, is a frightful ability. It's also just well-written fiction, in my opinion.
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>>204001
thanks, i'll definitely check it out.
both things I need to definitely think about is more knowledge of touhou and just my story in general. might start a new story thread just to try new techniques.

ill be back on MAN's adventure before you know it.

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d53bf5n-b8c9c5f3-24aa-40ef-b1af-9f4d2007882a
(Background music, if you'd like:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7arsbCRNP8)

Image source: (https://www.deviantart.com/kane-neko/art/Touhou-Loved-Gensokyo-307902587)



Early morning rays accompanied cheerful birdsong gliding over grass covered hills and embracing soft meadowlands. In the East, the sun sluggishly began its long trek towards its apex, the plants of the meadows basked contentedly in its bright golden hue. Distantly, cattle could be spotted grazing absentmindedly in their pastures, from elsewhere a cicada was heard testing its voice. The fields and hills of Gensokyo were entranced in a harmonious serenity.

“This would make for a very good painting,” Keiko remarked to himself, though the name of the land was unknown to him.

What must’ve been a few minutes ago, on his early morning travels, he had noticed a worn dirt path out of the corner of his eye. The path branched off from the one he normally traversed, concealed snugly among the surrounding forest. He hadn’t recalled seeing the path during his previous trips, and feeling uncharacteristically adventurous, he had decided to see where this new path would take him.

He hadn’t travelled for long before all around the crowded woodland unveiled into the sprawling fields that now lay before him. It was strange, he pondered, for an entire countryside to be tucked away here without him ever noticing, after having lived near the woods for most of his adult life. Though whatever questions he had on mind were quickly dismissed, deciding that none of them were all that important.

Keiko let the strap of his duffel fall to the ground as he seated himself on the top of a particularly high hill. From here he held a lookout over a large part of the grasslands. The sight was so picturesque to him, that he half-heartedly wondered if he had stumbled into someone’s painting. He could almost see it: his back to the viewer, bag by his side, perched upon a pastel hill, the land stretching down and
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I've been working on and off on the next part, I want it long enough to be satisfying after the wait. In the meantime, here's a drawing of the two that I'm more proud of. Sorry for the delay.
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__onozuka_komachi_touhou_drawn_by_koto_inari__samp
Image drawn by the talented Koto Inari, you can check out his artwork if you're into a creepy, Grimm-esque spin on Touhou Project.



“The Sanzu River?” Keiko asked, “Like, with the ferryman and the ghosts, and all that?”

“Unless you know of any other rivers that dead people are ferried across, this has to be the Sanzu, and we’re standing on Shigan right now,” Kaitou grimaced.

Keiko took a moment to consider everything around them, the quiet shore stretched outwards forever, rock formations rose above the river’s water, a sunset gazed over the horizon and washed, what Keiko supposed really was the Sanzu River, in its orange hue. The ghosts that gathered near the water’s edge appeared to change shape as they mingled with one another, Keiko found it hard to see any definite features on them.Even the afterlife exists here, he thought, awestruck by the surrealism of that.

“Keiko,” the badger’s voice brought him back to the present moment, his companion looked up at him worriedly, “This place isn’t meant for the living, Keiko. We shouldn’t be here, it isn’t right.”

Keiko was surprised at how frightened the badger sounded, and he began to feel pretty uneasy himself. If the fairytale monster was worried, then odds were, he had a damn good reason to be.

“You’re scared?”

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[X] - A rowboat upturned not too far from the water's edge.

I like the protagonist's motivations. Adventure!

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20210515063545_1
Notice: There will be open spoilers for both Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 8: Village going forward. This will be the only warning you'll get.
=====================================================
Everything is dark, and everything is numb.

You can tell your eyes are open, at least, but there is nothing else observable to you. Your mind is as blank as your senses, your only emotion being a complex mixture of lingering sadness and relief... and a hint of anger?

Slowly, feeling begins to return, and your entire body feels sore.

That soreness quickly evolves into pain, and you close your eyes. Not that it matters. Everything is pitch black, wherever you are.

After a moment, the deafening silence of the void is broken by a woman's voice.

"My, my, still holding on, after all that? You certainly never disappoint."

You open your eyes again, but the source of the voice is too far away to make out clearly. You recognize the color purple, but little else. Which is strange, since it sounded like she was right next to you.
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[X] Head back into the village and try to find Alice ASAP. If you can explain the full situation, you might be able to keep Reimu in the dark long enough to get you home.

Immediately confronting and trying to explain to the duo seems too risky, they're too likely to disbelieve him after they realise he already lied about being a human named Leon, and direct combat with two of the most powerful fighters of Gensokyo would not be a good idea.

Having Alice be there to vouch for him, however, seems more likely to lead to a favourable outcome.
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[X] Head back into the village and try to find Alice ASAP. If you can explain the full situation, you might be able to keep Reimu in the dark long enough to get you home.

full agreement with the msg above me.

>>203655

regarding point c, since Remilia knows Dimitrecsu that implies that the outside world for this Genshokyo IS the Resident Evil world... which means that Sanae *definitely* knows about resident evil as and the news that's probably starting to tricking into the Moriya Shrine is probably starting to ring some alarms bells in her head.

granted this next point is probably undermining the vote I'm making, but Sanae is not the only one that has arrived recent enough to Genshokyo to know about the events of resident evil. There's also Mamizou... which means we stand a chance of seeing her when/if we go looking for Alice in the Village... with her being at the very least concerned about a potential outbreak...
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[X] Head back into the village and try to find Alice ASAP. If you can explain the full situation, you might be able to keep Reimu in the dark long enough to get you home.

Seems the most reasonable

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d4b9ebh-536d7d84-9dbe-4519-827b-e74606e70f78
[-] Meet Sakuya's mistress.

You knew Sakuya would be back with her mistress, she'd promised as much. You also knew someone with the ability to stop time could show up quite literally out of nowhere. It would not be inaccurate to say you were dreading whatever it was she had in store for you, and yet when she showed up with several people in tow, you were focused enough on Satori that it still caught you off guard.

Which is all a longwinded way of saying, curse Sakuya's sudden yet inevitable arrival.

The moment the door cracks open, Satori pushes away from you, making a show of getting up and dusting herself off. For lack of a better idea, you do the same as you survey the people entering. You don't see the guard from earlier, but Sakuya ushers in a purple haired woman wearing what you're pretty sure are pink pajamas, and... a much younger vampire than you were expecting. With wings that could be best described as rainbow crystal windchimes, but that's surprisingly low on the weirdness scale these days.

You can see Satori tense up at the vampire's presence, but she gives the group a flat look and a nod. "Patchouli. I'm glad to see you've fully recovered from last time."

The purpled haired woman stares coldly back, and if her pale face and the bags under her eyes count as recovered, you'd hate to see what sick (injured?) was like. "Satori. I'd say I'm pleased to see you, but you're difficult to lie to."

As your captors take seats around a table in the center of the gazebo, Satori returns fire. "Not as difficult as usual. I take it I have you to thank for that?"

It's then that you place Patchouli's name, and you grimace as you remember the context. "Please tell me this isn't another grudge match with someone who broke into your house."
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>>203665
Close, but not exactly. The thought process you're describing is basically the trick she used to take down Marisa, but her normal danmaku is actually non-lethal. I'll address it a bit more in the next update, as Sumireko is going to want to know where exactly the boundaries of the danmaku's non-lethality actually lie.
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really liking Hina so far, looking forward to the next update!
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File 164622831773.jpg - (16.94KB, 416x225, Chimi.jpg)
Chimi
Hello everyone! And welcome to a new episode of 'Chimata Says'!

Today we are in the Human Village. One of the most beautiful places in Gensokyo.

It has very beautiful canals that the fishermen can enjoy, great markets people can enjoy, tourists from many places, but unfortunately also... pickpockets

Pickpockets are a really big problem here in the Domstad. In fact, it is the largest form of theft that occurs here in the Human Village. Rivaled only by the amount of fairy murder but the latter isn’t a crime.

But what exactly is pickpocketing? What are the tricks of the pickpockets?
And most importantly, what can you do about it?

You can see it here today on 'Chimata Says'!

Pickpocketing is the unwanted removal of things from, for example, your jacket pocket or from your bag.
This often concerns your wallet, money, or your very clothes. Annoyingly, the victim often doesn't realize it's gone. So that person can go to the store, look for his wallet in his bag and can't find it. Not only did you not notice that it was taken, but someone else now has your cards and your money.
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>>203525
As a loyal viewer of Chimata Says, I hope next week's episode is held in Hell There is a large captive audience here that regularly watches Chimata Says. An episode here would be most delightful.
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I also vote for Hell
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Bring it to Old Hell instead.

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tải xuống
Spring, the season of new beginnings, a time of happiness and joy with countless festivals and traditions to go along with it. Ironic, because right now you are meeting your end, and you are not happy about it.
You never have any interest in Japan, the land of the rising sun, you only went there because your friends basically dragged you there on their holidays. Not going to lie, the trip did have its moment, eating across the land and seeing your friends make a fool of themselves along the way. Sure, you may not know Japanese at much as some of the others do, but being a social person isn’t one of your perk anyway.
Unfortunately, looking like a bunch of foreign idiots making every one look helpless and easy target for mugging, which it did
After a particular night which involved a lot of drinking, betting and dancing around (The alcohol is one of the few things you genuinely enjoy) with your fellow “adventurer”, you decided to wander the street a bit to clear your head and enjoy some alone time. Midway through your journey of “self-discovery”, trouble find you in the form of a group of four people surrounding you with knife, pipe and…. a gallon jug? At first you thought that they were a prank orchestrated by your friends, that thought is out of the window the moment you got bash across the head with the pipe. Normally you would’ve ran away or at least put up a good fight (This isn’t the first street fight you’ve gotten yourself into). But with the influences of alcohol and the mind council in shamble because of it, your body can’t even work properly to put up a proper block, getting beaten down and stabbed felt pretty bad, whatever was in your system at the time can’t numb the pain enough, your body lie on the cold ground, the only warmth that the body felt is on the pool of blood that is forming around you… dying a stupid death like this just….
When you finally wake up again, you never truly expected where you ended up, it isn’t on a hospital bed with equipment, personnel and friends surrounding you, rather it is on a rocky ground… god, my back hurt…
Getting up and looking around, you notice that where you are is a riverbank with souls, both human
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>>203256
Only the second thread will show up in the archives if you do that. It'd be better to just adopt a trip now and ask Teruyo to add it to the OP.
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[x] Agree to have your hand chopped off.
[x] Do be fast about though, like the good old 1 2 suddenly it's cut off kind of thing.

I demand she gives us a lolipop afterwards, but eh, be a big boy ghost manager.
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Testing, can this be sent or not?

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[-]Why are we even talking about this? We both agree Satori's our best bet for getting home, so we should concentrate on cracking the urban legend puzzle. If that doesn't pan out, then consider other options, but we shouldn't split our focus.

You're still a little off balance, from your injuries to dealing with Koishi and Satori to everything else going on in Gensokyo, but you do get where Sumi's coming from. It's a serious situation, one where she can't blast her way out through pure magical firepower, and she feels responsible for it. And she has a point in that what's best for the two of you would be to get home, regardless of how that's accomplished. You don't blame her for that, but at the same time, you can't agree. Satori needs your help, and you're her best if not only chance of fixing Koishi. What good is magical power if you can't make a difference with it?

But you won't make any headway with that argument against Sumi. She'd roll her eyes, call you an idealist, and point out that you've known Satori for less than twenty-four hours total. Which would all be true without doing anything to change your mind, and leave both of you arguing past each other. Fortunately, you don't need to have this fight now, because the right thing is also the strategic thing.

Sumi, keeping options open is one thing, but let's not risk plan A because you have to have a plan B.

Well, of course not. I'm not doing anything like that.

Really? Because as you may have noticed, Satori's a mind-reader.

Which is exactly why I went to these lengths to have this conversation in private.

Let me finish! She almost certainly knows you don't trust her, and while I don't think that actually bothers her, if you start making plans on how to escape Gensokyo while ignoring her sister, she would absolutely notice, and probably take it as a betrayal. And honestly, you think such a reaction would be justified, but let&#
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Thanks for the update. Its rather bittersweet.
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Amazing writing :). Loved it as always
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buddhists and the crime
Previous >>201720



The image of the merchant’s fat face was one that seemed to be burned into Kenji’s mind. For a moment, it was all that the beast could think about. Why? Well, jumping a little back in the story, Gotoh—if the name is to be recalled—had entered a fruitful partnership with the self-exiled gangster. Both had profited immensely, with Kenji skimming off the top of lucrative new ventures fomented by a mixture of beastly cunning and ingenuity. Indeed, he had been one of the main beneficiaries of the festival and would profit from a multi-layered scheme of brokerage fees and commission. Even if sales were abysmal, as they might be after the youkai-initiated brawl, the venture had already generated sizeable earnings.

In other words, Gotoh would win no matter what.

As would Yachie. Kenji knew that for sure. That was the brilliance of the Kiketsu stratagem. Appreciating its intricacies was not really at the fore of the beast’s tired mind, however. He was tired, bloodied and a very sharp claw had just penetrated deep into his chest.

It had not been a deliberate lowering of his guard that allowed this grievous injury. Not in the sort of sense that martyrs are lionized for welcoming. In cold, rational terms, he could not resist effectively anymore. His movements were slow. His counters predictable. His zeal lacking. Many facts could be pointed at and used as an explanation. Cold rationality and explanations could not, however, reveal the truth of the matter.

Perhaps the White Lotus’ teachings had had more of an impact on his way of thinking than the beast would care to admit. That revelation would gladden the priestess, no doubt. Certainly the awesome display she had produced when facing Saki had created unexpressed relief in the beast’s mind. He was appreciated and belonged where he chose to be. In summary: Kenji Yajuu had accepted a truth within him that could be described in scripture but only understood by a readied mind.

All of that was why the smirk did not leave his lips even as Yoko delivered a would-be deathblow. That there was no he
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A beautiful end to the story. I loved all of the character interactions throughout. The cast was a fun ensemble.
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I set out to write this on a whim for nanowrimo last year after thinking about the concept for a while. There is a lot of imagery and symbolism in East Asian gangsters that takes inspiration from Buddhism so I used that as a starting point since there's not enough known about the Beast Realm to set a story there. Well, without doing a massive amount of world building and relying on mostly original characters.

Still, I think that there's something of a natural fit with the (to say the least) unconventional attitude of the Myouren Temple and of Byakuren. Showing how a youkai could come to embrace her ways despite it being against their nature is interesting to me. The specifics of faith or doctrine aren't as important as the characters and how their relationship evolves against the backdrop of events that are beyond their control.

Even though I kept update length down in a bid to update daily, I still had to take a long break because of life and a lack of motivation. Still, thanks for taking the time to read this and I'd like to do more on the types of characters that don't get to be in the limelight too often. That and the type of relationships that are a little unconventional and multifaceted.

Every vote and every comment is motivating and helps me keep on writing. So I'd like to thank you again for bothering as it's appreciated.

P.S. Lala is cute and deserves hugs from a gruff beast who is bad at expressing his feelings in a non-violent way.
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>>203226
The Beast Realm itself is something of Buddhist concept, although IIRC it's more something with origins in China, given the whole "hell and all other worlds are a giant, hierarchically organised ball of structures-within-structures" thing.

>The specifics of faith or doctrine
The Myouren's doctrine is kind of unreadable from the outside, anyway. It's a weird hodgepodge with a Zen-ish coating, a Pure Land filling with some Vajrayana-ish crunch, and a heterodoxy centre. At least, that's what I read based on what's available in official sources. So, yeah, kind of a pain in the ass to get into.

>Even though I kept the update length down in a bid to update daily, I still had to take a long break
Happens to the best of us, mate. I'm just glad you got back, personally. And whilst daily updates wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for any given story, the wait for a well-written story like this one has never been bad.

>I'd like to do more on the types of characters that don't get to be in the limelight too often
Looking forward to whatever you come out with next!

>So I'd like to thank you again for bothering
It wasn't a bother for me at all, nor should it ever be for anyone else. I appreciate the subtlety that often goes into your stories, and poring over things to find what I missed the first time is fun.

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