ACTUAL COMMAND:>"What was life like for the fairies while they were there, anyway?"
BABBLE:>"It's pretty much designed so that can't happen, yeah," says Renko. "Not that I blame them. The way I hear it, if the barrier went down, this place would pretty much go kaput."
If this is not common knowledge, it's pretty damning evidence that Renko's benefactor is Yukari. Who else would know that? Though she'd seem more the sort to go after the SDM for revenge against Sakuya than for looting...
Perhaps I should go on a treatise regarding this!
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What we know about Renko's benefactor:
- She either doesn't like the SDM or likes to steal, loot, and live in luxury (possibly both) - if they don't like the SDM, they were likely on the wrong end of the PCB, IN, IaMP, and/or SWR incidents, particularly PCB and IN as those were largely unilateral.
- Alternatively, she's turning Renko into an incident for her own amusement and/or to aggravate Maribel.
- She's subtle and manipulative
- She's secretive and somewhat paranoid
- She doesn't like/care about fairies very much
- She knows about Orin and her fairy brigade
- She has a 'secret weapon' she's working on or preparing for the battle
- She's a youkai (unless Renko is mistaken, but at least not human and probably not a fairy)
- She's 'known for' something
- She might be a magician if she could measure Renko's abilities so easily
- She might be morally loose or ruthless
- She knows about the nature of Gensokyo and she's 'been all over'
So, who fits these criteria? Koishi fits some. Yukari fits some. Suwako might fit some, but owes Patchouli too much (Z-machine) to dream of attacking the SDM, unless something terrible happened in Okuu Quest.
But thinking about it some more? Alice fits the most of those criteria - she's the sneaky sort, not very sociable, known for puppeteering, a magician, was beaten by Sakuya in PCB, saw Orin in action through Marisa in SA, and we saw her playing with a giant doll earlier which might be considered a 'secret weapon,' at least moreso than whatever magic others might be taking time to conjure up.
Of course, Mary doesn't know that, does she? Whoopsies~
(much more feeble crack theory: Flandre being subtle about wanting out)
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In other news,
(3:03:13 AM) E mouse2000: Of course, we can always just be sneaky and distract the fairies with shiny things, ruining the plot entirely...
Making a spellcard or two might serve just as well as getting Byakuren's power boost, especially if Patchouli's right about the permanency and sub-optimal nature of the enchantment she's probably offering; while we should probably get Renko back in her right mind before asking again about whether to stay or what to become, I think Mary has relatively little reason to go back at this point. We might as well do the youkai thing properly if we go down that route. Of course, snapping Renko out of her megalomania comes first. Then we can find out what she really wants.
(2:39:36 AM) E mouse2000: "I'm not fighting to defend the mansion, Renko. I'm not fighting because I hate you. I'm fighting because I want to keep my best friend from doing something she'll regret. This is going to hurt both of us, but... let's begin."
Renko lost it because all the rules she relied on were broken the moment she woke up in Gensokyo. Or rather, all the
physical rules. Right now, she's overgeneralizing that to disregarding
moral 'rules' as well, which she'll need to be reminded of. This may have to be done by force, with a gentle hand, as that is what she understands right now. Bringing up the difficulties of keeping the mansion and fairies afterward is a valid argument and might actually make her hesitate, but I can't think of any argument she'd readily accept as invalidating her position entirely, especially surrounded by fairies as she is. I wonder if she (accidentally?) killed any of them yet.
The main thing is to guarantee we're facing Renko on even ground. Her benefactor and the fairies are quite willing to bend the rules alongside her as it is. Dividing them up would be a tremendous help. After that? We have flexibility, a little practice, and Marisa's potion to tilt the odds in our favor. But we need to distract or divert Renko's benefactor and the fairies first.
... I wonder. What if we asked the SDM to set up something benign and interesting (boardgames?) at the mansion as a distraction from fairies trying to attack and loot the place, and/or act as a trap for if they decide to anyway? Still, betrayal of trust...
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... there are two or three main reasons/motivations Renko's claiming as justification for the raid. First, the rights and treatment of the fairies, especially at the Manor. Second, chasing out some pompous, mean, unlikeable, stuck-up rich bastards hiding away in their mansion. Finally, getting to be a pompous, mean, unlikeable, stuck-up rich bastard herself. These are of varying validity and 'justness' - fairy rights is downright noble, the SDM being filled with jerks is ambiguous, and robbery is at the core of Mary's objections.
So, let's separate those issues, shall we? If the fairies seriously want more recognition, respect, and rights out of this - which Dai, at least, might be clever enough to wrap her mind around and represent - then invading the SDM is not strictly necessary. Odds are good that it's more a lashing out and show of strength to get attention so that they're listened to or an act of perceived revenge than a specific desire. So what if you skipped the step of acting up to get that attention and respect and brought in someone willing to show it already, neatly removing that as a valid motivation? Like, say, Byakuren, and perhaps someone from the SDM for labor negotiations? If successful, this would expose the true nature of Renko's motivations, so she can no longer hide behind that justification... not that she seems to be doing it much anyway...
Showing whether the SDM is full of jerks can be readily tested by actually talking with them and seeing how bad they really are. But, uh, they might still be jerks, so no guarantees there. Sakuya or Remilia being willing to sit down and talk with the fairies civilly would go a long way toward dispelling this perception, especially if the fairies weren't treated that badly in the first place (but we haven't seen much of that yet).
It sounds increasingly like grand theft is Renko's core motivation, but she doesn't seem to realize the implications of that. If you strip away her other justifications before pointing that out... that's how cognitive dissonance would hit her hardest, and odds are best of her realizing her mistake. Pointing out that overgeneralization of physical rules being shattered to disregarding moral rules would be most effective then. She may realize it. She may not. But
we don't do it until we're ready to fight her if we have to. For now? We get information to pick apart her motives with so we can corner her later, and prepare to tilt the odds if necessary.
