>I have complicated feelings about the post I'm replying to, and most
>of them have to do with its author being mostly right. :/
>
>>On a more serious note, this is the first time in as far as I can
>>remember when I've been disappointed after reading a new release from
>>you.
>
>I suspected this might happen. Not specifically to you, but to
>someone, or possibly everyone. I don't usually post when I have
>misgivings about what I'm posting, but I did it this time, for one
>very simple but, you may conclude, questionably valid reason, to wit:
>
>Remember back when I used to do this series to a deadline, and the
>rule was, whatever state I got a given episode to by the end of the
>week, that's what went out? Well, this damn episode has been
>sitting in my line of sight for five years, and I'm tired of
>looking at it. I need it out of my way so I can move on to the things
>I have a more solid line on. And it was already running to a
>length where I had to break it off and move what was supposed to be
>the climax to a third episode.

I totally understand that. I've been working on a fanfic with a friend, and it sat there for over 6 months as we poked at it, until I just decided to throw what we had out there and continue. And it was definitely the right move, even if we had to go back and Stalinize some parts I'd thrown in that didn't work out right.

>>Reimu would definitely be
>>"shoot first, ask questions later" about this, as she tends to be in
>>canon, and her prejudice against youkai fits as well.
>
>You reckon I should've just Chandler's Lawed the hangar scene? G's
>standing there discussing naval armaments and—whoa! Hey, what
>the hell? What's your problem, Red? Do I owe you money?!
>
>(That wasn't sarcasm, btw, I'm kinda seriously wondering if I
>should've done that now. For the moment, let's continue.)

That very much fits her MO.

>>I'm not directly opposed to the idea that Gryphon could beat Reimu,
>>but I feel it requires proof, it requires showing your work.
>>Canonically, she has beaten immortals, she has beaten swordmasters,
>>she has beaten wielders of strange magic. So his victory feels like a
>>"dude, just trust me".
>
>I'm not trying to tell you how to feel here, or anything like that,
>but can I just point out that canonically, she's beaten all of those
>people because she's rigged the functioning of the world they inhabit
>so that she can't lose? Seriously. She imposed the combat rules they
>all have to operate under, and they are in many cases the only
>reason she defeats entities she has no business even surviving a
>confrontation with. That is... obviously not the case here. She's
>not wearing her player character Underoos.

I wrote this and realized that it felt like nitpicking and fandom "I know more than you" dickmeasuring, but I couldn't bring myself to delete it, so I'm just gonna small it so you can take a look if you want and skip it if you don't.

It's actually the opposite: The spellcard rules are canonically designed so that Reimu can lose fights without having to die (which would potentially collapse the barrier separating Gensokyo from the outside world). She loses rather often in the spin-off games, especially the fighting games where (unlike most normal games) every single fight happens in the same timeline.

Danmaku also forces battles to be about cleverness and beauty rather than raw power. Mystia Lorelei is a sparrow youkai with the power to cause night blindness. This power doesn't have any direct combat use once your enemy has shown up and started lighting up the sky; however, she can create spellcards which use both that power and the feeling created by it.

In a way, it's sort of a metaphysical version of Rose Duels.

>>Also, here the fact that he drank more than anyone else and still
>>didn't wake up with a hangover feels kind of like an unnecessary
>>victory lap.
>
>In fairness to me, it's not like I could really avoid that
>part. That's just how his biology works. He had to drink the
>most or he would have had to spend the whole evening being the only
>sober person in the group, which wouldn't have been very entertaining,
>and it's not as though he could help not having a hangover. What was
>he supposed to do, feign one?
>
>The rest of your criticisms are completely valid--in most cases
>uncomfortably so--and I will accept them, but this one feels like a
>rummage around the back of the drawer in search of an And Another
>Thing. :)

No, what I was trying to say is I guess that if he lost the battle, then he'd get a win by being disgustingly self-possessed for someone who'd gotten the shit kicked out of him and then supremely sloshed the night before. Their reactions would definitely be interesting, the way Remilia's were once she saw how he recuperated from "playing" with Flandre.

But that's something I probably should have explained better when I first posted it.

>>I had kind of expected some sort
>>of shit to hit the fan in Paris on the Friday night of the new moon,
>>but it really would be far more inconvenient for him (and thus
>>convenient for drama) for it to happen while he's off saving the
>>Hyperion.
>
>Aha, well, here is a point on which, at last, I have the high ground.
>The new moon is SATURDAY night. :)

Hah. I just mostly extrapolated from the full moon being on Friday. The moon cycle isn't precisely 28 days, though, so the days of full and new moons must change at some point. Well bowled.

Anyways, yeah, I can definitely empathize with the creative problems this story has had. And you've been knocking it out of the park recently, hit after hit with mechanical precision. It's okay to bunt every once in a while.