i am a sord lol (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
swordianmaster) wrote2013-10-13 12:17 pm
swordianmaster) wrote2013-10-13 12:17 pm
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TOUHOU HEADCANON HOUR: Alice ramblings.
So, in thinking about what makes Alice tick, I started looking through supplemental material on the Touhou Wiki and I came across a few things I hadn't noticed before, and saw a few connections I... wouldn't have, on my own. As of such, I'm putting them here for my own records, and to share with others.
The PCB Stage 3 song title Doll Maker of Bucuresti implies a link... somehow... from Alice to Bucharest. To Romania.
This implies the direct possibility of New!Alice arriving in Gensokyo at roughly the same time as the Scarlet Devil Mansion did, which is tied into exactly why. See, Yukari spirits away humans from the Outside World for several reasons. Notably, though, they're meant to be food for youkai, as Cage in Lunatic Runagate suggests that, and I quote, "Humans from [Gensokyo's Human Village] are generally not for their eating under the contract."
"The contract" in this case very likely refers to the Vampire Incident, where "a vampire" was defeated by "a powerful youkai", and a contract was signed where humans would be provided by the youkai as a food source, but in return, the native humans would not be attacked by the vampire. It served as a lead-in to the drafting of the Spell Card rules, which was the effective first noteworthy event specifically attached to the Windows Era. There's no direct implication that the "vampire" and "youkai" are Remilia and Yukari, respectively, but the probability is high in both cases, with Yukari's involvement being all but an unstated certainty.
What does this all have to do with Doll Maker of Bucuresti and, more particularly, Alice?
The answer is hidden in the two sets of liner notes/story narrative attached to Dolls of Pseudo Paradise, the first volume of ZUN's Music Collection, the albums serving as unofficial "soundtracks" to the series. The "Story" in the version released at Comiket 62 goes through a small Incident of sorts amongst eight new arrivals to Gensokyo, and has a very And Then There Were None styled motif to it.
I'll typically take from kafka-fuura's translation over the Wiki's, though the differences are typically minor and only in semantic wording. I'll note differences in translations as necessary.
We – the honest village, were originally a group of just eight.
We had all decided together to move into the eastern mountains and pass the time for two years. Everyday was an honest tedium.
One day, one of our number found a small hole in the curve of a peach tree. Yes, it was from then on that we stumbled into paradise.
Then and there, I quit being human.
Right away from the 'prologue', we've got the scene set: eight vagrant, hardworking (implied by the word "honest", as in "to make an honest living") humans spirited into Gensokyo.
There's no real suggestion of where the village was from, just that they found an odd hole in a peach tree and "stumbled" into "paradise", already showing noticable Alice in Wonderland parallels. More noticable is the final line.
"Immediately, I gave up being human," if we go by an indirect Google Translate. The important parts are the speed of the 'transformation' - it's seen as essentially instantaneous - and the voluntary nature - "quit", "gave up", or "stopped" (as per the Touhou Wiki's translation) all suggest a choice in the matter.
1. The Legend of Hourai
I, the most curious of our group, hurried ahead first and set my sights deep into the forest. There I was stopped by a mysterious clown. For whatever reason it happily held out to me the jeweled branch of Hourai. When I reached out to take it, in that very instant my head was separated from my body. I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t ever see my friends again.
And then there were seven honest ones left.
The Touhou Wiki uses "honest men", but the 'men' in this case is shorthand for 'person'. More strangely, "mysterious clown" in this case is a direct translation: "nazo de piero", or at its most literal, "puzzling/enigmatic pierrot".
There's not much to say here, it simply sets the stage. It does give our first hint of the nationality of these new visitors, though - the nationality is likely Japanese, given the familiarity with the Trials of Princess Kaguya. This does sever the alleged tie to Europe I had suggested, I'm aware, but it was perhaps a red herring.
2. Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White
In the morning, I saw a red and white shrine maiden dancing on the surface of a pond. The earliest riser of our group, I was fascinated by her ruthless and radical [Touhou Wiki: "most vigorous"] dance for quite some time. Eventually it began to rain, and when I came to my senses, the shrine maiden had vanished.
The remaining humans encounter Reimu. It's simple, and rather hard to argue. The questions are more in the actions than anything else: Does anyone know of Reimu dancing? It's metaphor. What does Reimu do that could be described as "ruthless" or "vigorous"?
If you said youkai extermination, you'd be on the same track I'm on.
Who would she exterminate, though? Would it just be some random youkai? My thought here, personally, is the "mysterious clown" mentioned in the prior text. A youkai had tricked and killed a human who had been spirited away, and Reimu was doing her job and exterminating it.
Interestingly, the non-C62 version of the liner notes, usually mostly irrelevant, do have something to note here:
"It looks like another strange person’s found their way in again.
I should do something before they make it to the shrine…
Ah, that girl… it doesn’t seem like she is either human or youkai…"
Sounds like narrative from Reimu's perspective, doesn't it? But who's "that girl" who doesn't seem like she's either human or youkai?
Moving on, for now.
3. Lovely Mound of Cherry Blossoms ~ Japanese Flower
The rain knew no end. A shrine maiden, her body drenched, was disappearing as if she were melting into the rain. While I was captivated by the shrine maiden, the rain became a frightful storm, and I, the most beautiful of our group, was captured by a clown. Then the clown vanished into the storm, and I was unable to return to our group.
And then there were six honest ones left.
The Touhou Wiki perhaps incorrectly translates the penultimate line as "I disappeared into the storm along with [the clown]", when no mention of the narrator at the time is actually brought up. This is an important distinction, and key to my argument. The narrator (possibly the same as from the passage/track prior) was "captured"/"taken captive" by the clown, but never is actually implied to be murdered, aside from the typical "I was unable to return to the group" closer.
As you'll see, that doesn't quite mesh.
4. Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17
At night, we six held an exotic party. I, the youngest of our group could not yet drink alcohol or smoke opium, so I was extremely bored. Alone I crept away from the event, but in the pitch darkness I was captured by an ominous clown. My head was easily taken. I was never again able to be bored.
And then there were five honest ones left.
The clown again. This is recurring motif, and is, I assume, meant to be a metaphorical implication of someone "playing the fool". More noticably, there's a descriptive word again. You'll notice the last "murder" didn't have one; it was simply "the clown". Likewise, we once again have a clear means of death: beheading, just like the first time.
5. Eastern Fantastic Tale
I ran until I was out of breath. I, the most cowardly of our group, had grown afraid of this paradise. I had thought as much, but no matter how far I ran, I couldn’t find the way back. Already the one I loved had disappeared, and whether or not she was alive there was nothing I could do – at length and in despair I strung a rope over a thick branch and tied it around my neck.
…For some reason, I’m conscious. Was the rope too brittle?…
I, the most cowardly of our group, was reborn. Having nothing left to lose, I decided to pretend to be human just once more.
The feminine pronoun here is Kafka-fuura's implication. The Touhou Wiki reads the line as "All the people I cared about had disappeared, and I thought I had no more reason to live", which is more technically accurate. As of such, I'll shift that away as an exaggerated detail. It's largely unimportant anyway. What's more important is the other part.
Someone is noticing the murders, panics, and tries to hang themself. The rope breaks, and in their surprise, the person decides to try to "pretend to be human just once more" - something both translations are agree upon with no ambiguity. This leaves two objects of suspicion: the "beautiful one" who simply disappeared, or the "cowardly one" who already believed they had been reborn into something inhuman.
6. Enigmatic Doll
When I woke up, the five of us were in the dark. According to one of us, we were belaid by a strange clown. The other four were constructing infantile escape plans. I, the most wise of our group, saw that it would be fine to just wait it out, but in the end, I never said it aloud.
The four’s plan was carried out according to plan, and against my calculations suceeded, but I was never able to escape from the darkness.
While I was killing time in endless darkness, I felt a presence right behind me, but I just let things go as they would. I felt something hot on my back.
We've got another discrepancy: this time the "x honest ones left" phrase isn't used with a murder. On the other hand, this is very sincerely a murder. The question, then, is what "something hot on my back" is, and what the darkness truly is.
7. Circus Reverie
We were able to make our brilliant escape. We felt like geniuses, and went back to the place we were staying at in paradise.
No one had any doubts about the other.
We were all honest. We were all great friends…
This is a single passage, but I have nothing to add here, except "hahahaha nope".
8. Forest of Dolls
Paradise prepared us a perfect building to live in. This ancient western mansion deep in the forest has always let us stay in. It always has a great store of food, but now we do with half. Since when was our honest number halved?
This is the point where the Touhou Wiki's translation clarifies things a bit: An old-fashioned, Western-styled manor? Where there's always enough to feed the entire group of eight, but since there's only four humans left, only half of the food gets eaten each time?
I'm suddenly reminded of a certain magician's willingness to take in lost travelers.
9. Witch of Love Potion
We always have tea in the afternoon, and the bitter coffee I always have today tasted a bit sweet.
Was this the one with the love potion in it?…
I, the most mature of our group, in love with a beautiful clown, happily fell asleep.
And then there were three honest ones left.
At this point, things kick into high gear. "Love Potion" is an obvious allusion to poison, given the Magical Death Clown, though the question is who exactly was intending to give it to who. The victim obviously knew about it, however... perhaps an attempt to catch the murderer before they struck again, an attempt that backfired?
More noticably, "a beautiful clown". It's an accurate translation, too - compare "utsukushi boku" and "utsukushiki no piero". Perhaps an extension of the "love potion" motif, or maybe not...
10. Reincarnation
I saw that one of my friends was clearly killed with poison. There’s no way it could have been suicide. I was the one who chose everyone’s coffee according to their tastes and carried it to their rooms. I didn’t tell the other two of his death. I, the most wary of out group, didn’t eat anything besides the food I prepared myself. I desperately stayed awake until the other two were sound asleep. We had gone into separate rooms and locked the doors. Yes, I suspected one of the two.
Somewhere near by I heard the sound of a something being nailed into a tree. Which of them is behind this? In the darkness my face twisted in fear. Matched in time with the sounds, my hands and legs began to hurt. It felt as if 15 centimeter nails were being knocked into them. I considered whether I should consult a medium, and then I realized the obvious.
Of course, I’m being nailed into a tree and can’t move. Which of them is doing it?
Then I felt the final nail against my brow.
Then just as I predicted I saw a face.
Before I had time to yell out, the light went completely out.
wara-ningyo ni, wara-ningyo ni, wara-ningyo ni, gosun gosun gosun kugi...
As much as I hate mentioning that song due to how it portrays Alice, it's the quickest way to illustrate that Alice has a history of making and nailing curse dolls to trees...
Interestingly, the "gosun kugi" mentioned is the same one here - "fifteen-centimeter nail", more colliquially translated as "spikes".
-interlude
You were way too much of a coward.
Don’t you realize that an honest man looks like a fool?
This sort of retirement living brings out an old sharp sensation… paralysis?
Don’t you yearn for the bustling town, for riches and happiness?
I, in the past was a thief with the rest, and I just wanted to re-live my life.
Having finished the job, I began preparations for breakfast, and waited for night to lift.
This is the weakest point of the kafka-fuura translation, as it reads rather clunkily, and I question the use of "coward". For comparison, the full version of the interlude from the Touhou Wiki:
Interlude
You were such an incredible fool.
Don't you understand how the honest men look like fools?
Don't you think that sharpened sense from long ago has dulled with such a peaceful lifestyle?
Don't you want to hear the bustle of the city once again? Don't you miss the fortune and prosperity?
I ended up in a group of theives with everyone, like the old days, despite wanting to fix my life. Upon finishing my job, I started preparing breakfast and waited for the dawn.
It's the same basic message aside from the "coward"/"incredible fool" distinction, but it's far easier to get the actual meaning.
This is obviously narrated from the viewpoint of the murderer, whomever they may be. The most interesting part:
"I ended up in a group of thieves with the others, just like in the past/the old days". An honest person has stopped being honest, a human has stopped being human. We still have two suspects: one present with the group (the cowardly one) and one who had disappeared (the beautiful one).
11. U.N. Owen Was Her?
Barely hanging on to consciousness, I, the earliest riser, was already at death’s door. There was something in this morning’s ham and eggs. How stupid of me, to not know anything even though we’ve come down to two. It was all that person's fault, I should have killed them when they went mad.
But whatever I might do, it’s just too late.
I felt that I saw a shrine maiden, was this just an hallucination of mine?
Even so, was the color of her hair really that blonde?
In exchange for my life, I wished that I could see this hallucination just a little while longer. It seemed that wish was only granted to one before me.
Blonde? Now, granted, the "hallucination of a shrine maiden" makes a lot of people assume that Flandre is being talked about, given the shared red/white color scheme and blonde hair, to say nothing of the blatant And Then There Were None motifs going on here.
There's three problems with that theory. One, Flandre would never be able to move around in the rain. Even if she was killing a large number of people, she's a Touhou vampire. Running water can't be crossed. Two, she's still locked in Remilia's basement, unless Dolls in Pseudo Paradise somehow happens after Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Three, and most damningly: This isn't Flandre's style. She thinks humans are fun meat balloons to pop. Poison and voodoo curse dolls are things she probably doesn't even know exist, much less acceptable forms of "play". This is methodical, from someone who knows how to end a life, as opposed to someone who does it on accident.
There's only a few other blondes in Windows-era Touhou, though...
12. Eternal Shrine Maiden
I, the one who had been reborn, yesterday after dinner was assaulted by an intense sleepiness. My head hurt like it was going to split in two. I can’t remember anything that happened last night, just that it felt like I was watching a long dream. If only I didn’t have to watch the reality facing me now…
Just what is this? One poisoned by coffee, one nailed to a tree, and another beheaded….
I whispered the last having prepared a chair and a rope. The last one killed had to have been the one poisoned by the coffee.
So, just what is the meaning of this?
It’s probably that.
There was something put into my food last night.
But what does that matter? Now I’m all alone.
This time I tied a strong rope to the ceiling, and kicked a tall chair.
This time for sure, my body won’t ever hit the ground again.
And then the honest group was none.
And so it ends - just like in And Then There Were None, with a proper hanging. There's two ways to take this - the "cowardly one" (who had "been reborn") was either drugged shortly before the last three murders... or we have a split personality situation going on here.
Either way, hanging's gotta suck even if you're a youkai, I can't see that working out very well.
But wait, there's one more track...
13. The Strange Everyday Life of the Flying Shrine Maiden
The shrine maiden of paradise spent the summer in an unchanging peace.
On one of those summer days, the shrine maiden wrote this in her diary.
August ○th
About all that happened today was that I met a beautiful blonde haired girl walking out from the direction of the ruins of the western style mansion in the forest. I felt like I had seen that girl somewhere before, but I didn’t waste my thoughts on such a trivial thing. In jest, that girl stuck out her tongue and quickly bowed with a great smile on her face and went off in the direction of the exit to paradise. What a strange girl.
Now that I think of it. That girl was the only female in that group of honest eight. But what does that matter.
Ah… today’s another boring day.
In this paradise called “Gensokyo” the number of humans dropped by eight, and seven corpses were safely carried off by youkai. Gensokyo has lost these honest people for all eternity. Well, it’s just a numerical shift.
That’s not important news.
And suddenly, Reimu clears it up. A "beautiful blonde-haired girl". "I felt like I had seen that girl somewhere before". "The number of humans dropped by eight, and seven corpses were carried off by youkai".
Here's how I think things went down.
First note: The title "Doll Maker of Bucuresti" isn't indicative of physical location, but temporal location. Bucuresti is the native version of Bucarest... one of the largest cities in Romania. Romania would certainly be a locale where a vampire could call themselves a "descendent of Vlad Tepes", wouldn't it...? That, plus the fact that this album was released in a rough correspondence with Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, is why I suggest that Alice appeared in Windows!Gensokyo around the same time as the Scarlet Devil Manor did.
The PCB Stage 3 song title Doll Maker of Bucuresti implies a link... somehow... from Alice to Bucharest. To Romania.
This implies the direct possibility of New!Alice arriving in Gensokyo at roughly the same time as the Scarlet Devil Mansion did, which is tied into exactly why. See, Yukari spirits away humans from the Outside World for several reasons. Notably, though, they're meant to be food for youkai, as Cage in Lunatic Runagate suggests that, and I quote, "Humans from [Gensokyo's Human Village] are generally not for their eating under the contract."
"The contract" in this case very likely refers to the Vampire Incident, where "a vampire" was defeated by "a powerful youkai", and a contract was signed where humans would be provided by the youkai as a food source, but in return, the native humans would not be attacked by the vampire. It served as a lead-in to the drafting of the Spell Card rules, which was the effective first noteworthy event specifically attached to the Windows Era. There's no direct implication that the "vampire" and "youkai" are Remilia and Yukari, respectively, but the probability is high in both cases, with Yukari's involvement being all but an unstated certainty.
What does this all have to do with Doll Maker of Bucuresti and, more particularly, Alice?
The answer is hidden in the two sets of liner notes/story narrative attached to Dolls of Pseudo Paradise, the first volume of ZUN's Music Collection, the albums serving as unofficial "soundtracks" to the series. The "Story" in the version released at Comiket 62 goes through a small Incident of sorts amongst eight new arrivals to Gensokyo, and has a very And Then There Were None styled motif to it.
I'll typically take from kafka-fuura's translation over the Wiki's, though the differences are typically minor and only in semantic wording. I'll note differences in translations as necessary.
We – the honest village, were originally a group of just eight.
We had all decided together to move into the eastern mountains and pass the time for two years. Everyday was an honest tedium.
One day, one of our number found a small hole in the curve of a peach tree. Yes, it was from then on that we stumbled into paradise.
Then and there, I quit being human.
Right away from the 'prologue', we've got the scene set: eight vagrant, hardworking (implied by the word "honest", as in "to make an honest living") humans spirited into Gensokyo.
There's no real suggestion of where the village was from, just that they found an odd hole in a peach tree and "stumbled" into "paradise", already showing noticable Alice in Wonderland parallels. More noticable is the final line.
"Immediately, I gave up being human," if we go by an indirect Google Translate. The important parts are the speed of the 'transformation' - it's seen as essentially instantaneous - and the voluntary nature - "quit", "gave up", or "stopped" (as per the Touhou Wiki's translation) all suggest a choice in the matter.
1. The Legend of Hourai
I, the most curious of our group, hurried ahead first and set my sights deep into the forest. There I was stopped by a mysterious clown. For whatever reason it happily held out to me the jeweled branch of Hourai. When I reached out to take it, in that very instant my head was separated from my body. I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t ever see my friends again.
And then there were seven honest ones left.
The Touhou Wiki uses "honest men", but the 'men' in this case is shorthand for 'person'. More strangely, "mysterious clown" in this case is a direct translation: "nazo de piero", or at its most literal, "puzzling/enigmatic pierrot".
There's not much to say here, it simply sets the stage. It does give our first hint of the nationality of these new visitors, though - the nationality is likely Japanese, given the familiarity with the Trials of Princess Kaguya. This does sever the alleged tie to Europe I had suggested, I'm aware, but it was perhaps a red herring.
2. Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White
In the morning, I saw a red and white shrine maiden dancing on the surface of a pond. The earliest riser of our group, I was fascinated by her ruthless and radical [Touhou Wiki: "most vigorous"] dance for quite some time. Eventually it began to rain, and when I came to my senses, the shrine maiden had vanished.
The remaining humans encounter Reimu. It's simple, and rather hard to argue. The questions are more in the actions than anything else: Does anyone know of Reimu dancing? It's metaphor. What does Reimu do that could be described as "ruthless" or "vigorous"?
If you said youkai extermination, you'd be on the same track I'm on.
Who would she exterminate, though? Would it just be some random youkai? My thought here, personally, is the "mysterious clown" mentioned in the prior text. A youkai had tricked and killed a human who had been spirited away, and Reimu was doing her job and exterminating it.
Interestingly, the non-C62 version of the liner notes, usually mostly irrelevant, do have something to note here:
"It looks like another strange person’s found their way in again.
I should do something before they make it to the shrine…
Ah, that girl… it doesn’t seem like she is either human or youkai…"
Sounds like narrative from Reimu's perspective, doesn't it? But who's "that girl" who doesn't seem like she's either human or youkai?
Moving on, for now.
3. Lovely Mound of Cherry Blossoms ~ Japanese Flower
The rain knew no end. A shrine maiden, her body drenched, was disappearing as if she were melting into the rain. While I was captivated by the shrine maiden, the rain became a frightful storm, and I, the most beautiful of our group, was captured by a clown. Then the clown vanished into the storm, and I was unable to return to our group.
And then there were six honest ones left.
The Touhou Wiki perhaps incorrectly translates the penultimate line as "I disappeared into the storm along with [the clown]", when no mention of the narrator at the time is actually brought up. This is an important distinction, and key to my argument. The narrator (possibly the same as from the passage/track prior) was "captured"/"taken captive" by the clown, but never is actually implied to be murdered, aside from the typical "I was unable to return to the group" closer.
As you'll see, that doesn't quite mesh.
4. Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17
At night, we six held an exotic party. I, the youngest of our group could not yet drink alcohol or smoke opium, so I was extremely bored. Alone I crept away from the event, but in the pitch darkness I was captured by an ominous clown. My head was easily taken. I was never again able to be bored.
And then there were five honest ones left.
The clown again. This is recurring motif, and is, I assume, meant to be a metaphorical implication of someone "playing the fool". More noticably, there's a descriptive word again. You'll notice the last "murder" didn't have one; it was simply "the clown". Likewise, we once again have a clear means of death: beheading, just like the first time.
5. Eastern Fantastic Tale
I ran until I was out of breath. I, the most cowardly of our group, had grown afraid of this paradise. I had thought as much, but no matter how far I ran, I couldn’t find the way back. Already the one I loved had disappeared, and whether or not she was alive there was nothing I could do – at length and in despair I strung a rope over a thick branch and tied it around my neck.
…For some reason, I’m conscious. Was the rope too brittle?…
I, the most cowardly of our group, was reborn. Having nothing left to lose, I decided to pretend to be human just once more.
The feminine pronoun here is Kafka-fuura's implication. The Touhou Wiki reads the line as "All the people I cared about had disappeared, and I thought I had no more reason to live", which is more technically accurate. As of such, I'll shift that away as an exaggerated detail. It's largely unimportant anyway. What's more important is the other part.
Someone is noticing the murders, panics, and tries to hang themself. The rope breaks, and in their surprise, the person decides to try to "pretend to be human just once more" - something both translations are agree upon with no ambiguity. This leaves two objects of suspicion: the "beautiful one" who simply disappeared, or the "cowardly one" who already believed they had been reborn into something inhuman.
6. Enigmatic Doll
When I woke up, the five of us were in the dark. According to one of us, we were belaid by a strange clown. The other four were constructing infantile escape plans. I, the most wise of our group, saw that it would be fine to just wait it out, but in the end, I never said it aloud.
The four’s plan was carried out according to plan, and against my calculations suceeded, but I was never able to escape from the darkness.
While I was killing time in endless darkness, I felt a presence right behind me, but I just let things go as they would. I felt something hot on my back.
We've got another discrepancy: this time the "x honest ones left" phrase isn't used with a murder. On the other hand, this is very sincerely a murder. The question, then, is what "something hot on my back" is, and what the darkness truly is.
7. Circus Reverie
We were able to make our brilliant escape. We felt like geniuses, and went back to the place we were staying at in paradise.
No one had any doubts about the other.
We were all honest. We were all great friends…
This is a single passage, but I have nothing to add here, except "hahahaha nope".
8. Forest of Dolls
Paradise prepared us a perfect building to live in. This ancient western mansion deep in the forest has always let us stay in. It always has a great store of food, but now we do with half. Since when was our honest number halved?
This is the point where the Touhou Wiki's translation clarifies things a bit: An old-fashioned, Western-styled manor? Where there's always enough to feed the entire group of eight, but since there's only four humans left, only half of the food gets eaten each time?
I'm suddenly reminded of a certain magician's willingness to take in lost travelers.
9. Witch of Love Potion
We always have tea in the afternoon, and the bitter coffee I always have today tasted a bit sweet.
Was this the one with the love potion in it?…
I, the most mature of our group, in love with a beautiful clown, happily fell asleep.
And then there were three honest ones left.
At this point, things kick into high gear. "Love Potion" is an obvious allusion to poison, given the Magical Death Clown, though the question is who exactly was intending to give it to who. The victim obviously knew about it, however... perhaps an attempt to catch the murderer before they struck again, an attempt that backfired?
More noticably, "a beautiful clown". It's an accurate translation, too - compare "utsukushi boku" and "utsukushiki no piero". Perhaps an extension of the "love potion" motif, or maybe not...
10. Reincarnation
I saw that one of my friends was clearly killed with poison. There’s no way it could have been suicide. I was the one who chose everyone’s coffee according to their tastes and carried it to their rooms. I didn’t tell the other two of his death. I, the most wary of out group, didn’t eat anything besides the food I prepared myself. I desperately stayed awake until the other two were sound asleep. We had gone into separate rooms and locked the doors. Yes, I suspected one of the two.
Somewhere near by I heard the sound of a something being nailed into a tree. Which of them is behind this? In the darkness my face twisted in fear. Matched in time with the sounds, my hands and legs began to hurt. It felt as if 15 centimeter nails were being knocked into them. I considered whether I should consult a medium, and then I realized the obvious.
Of course, I’m being nailed into a tree and can’t move. Which of them is doing it?
Then I felt the final nail against my brow.
Then just as I predicted I saw a face.
Before I had time to yell out, the light went completely out.
wara-ningyo ni, wara-ningyo ni, wara-ningyo ni, gosun gosun gosun kugi...
As much as I hate mentioning that song due to how it portrays Alice, it's the quickest way to illustrate that Alice has a history of making and nailing curse dolls to trees...
Interestingly, the "gosun kugi" mentioned is the same one here - "fifteen-centimeter nail", more colliquially translated as "spikes".
-interlude
You were way too much of a coward.
Don’t you realize that an honest man looks like a fool?
This sort of retirement living brings out an old sharp sensation… paralysis?
Don’t you yearn for the bustling town, for riches and happiness?
I, in the past was a thief with the rest, and I just wanted to re-live my life.
Having finished the job, I began preparations for breakfast, and waited for night to lift.
This is the weakest point of the kafka-fuura translation, as it reads rather clunkily, and I question the use of "coward". For comparison, the full version of the interlude from the Touhou Wiki:
Interlude
You were such an incredible fool.
Don't you understand how the honest men look like fools?
Don't you think that sharpened sense from long ago has dulled with such a peaceful lifestyle?
Don't you want to hear the bustle of the city once again? Don't you miss the fortune and prosperity?
I ended up in a group of theives with everyone, like the old days, despite wanting to fix my life. Upon finishing my job, I started preparing breakfast and waited for the dawn.
It's the same basic message aside from the "coward"/"incredible fool" distinction, but it's far easier to get the actual meaning.
This is obviously narrated from the viewpoint of the murderer, whomever they may be. The most interesting part:
"I ended up in a group of thieves with the others, just like in the past/the old days". An honest person has stopped being honest, a human has stopped being human. We still have two suspects: one present with the group (the cowardly one) and one who had disappeared (the beautiful one).
11. U.N. Owen Was Her?
Barely hanging on to consciousness, I, the earliest riser, was already at death’s door. There was something in this morning’s ham and eggs. How stupid of me, to not know anything even though we’ve come down to two. It was all that person's fault, I should have killed them when they went mad.
But whatever I might do, it’s just too late.
I felt that I saw a shrine maiden, was this just an hallucination of mine?
Even so, was the color of her hair really that blonde?
In exchange for my life, I wished that I could see this hallucination just a little while longer. It seemed that wish was only granted to one before me.
Blonde? Now, granted, the "hallucination of a shrine maiden" makes a lot of people assume that Flandre is being talked about, given the shared red/white color scheme and blonde hair, to say nothing of the blatant And Then There Were None motifs going on here.
There's three problems with that theory. One, Flandre would never be able to move around in the rain. Even if she was killing a large number of people, she's a Touhou vampire. Running water can't be crossed. Two, she's still locked in Remilia's basement, unless Dolls in Pseudo Paradise somehow happens after Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Three, and most damningly: This isn't Flandre's style. She thinks humans are fun meat balloons to pop. Poison and voodoo curse dolls are things she probably doesn't even know exist, much less acceptable forms of "play". This is methodical, from someone who knows how to end a life, as opposed to someone who does it on accident.
There's only a few other blondes in Windows-era Touhou, though...
12. Eternal Shrine Maiden
I, the one who had been reborn, yesterday after dinner was assaulted by an intense sleepiness. My head hurt like it was going to split in two. I can’t remember anything that happened last night, just that it felt like I was watching a long dream. If only I didn’t have to watch the reality facing me now…
Just what is this? One poisoned by coffee, one nailed to a tree, and another beheaded….
I whispered the last having prepared a chair and a rope. The last one killed had to have been the one poisoned by the coffee.
So, just what is the meaning of this?
It’s probably that.
There was something put into my food last night.
But what does that matter? Now I’m all alone.
This time I tied a strong rope to the ceiling, and kicked a tall chair.
This time for sure, my body won’t ever hit the ground again.
And then the honest group was none.
And so it ends - just like in And Then There Were None, with a proper hanging. There's two ways to take this - the "cowardly one" (who had "been reborn") was either drugged shortly before the last three murders... or we have a split personality situation going on here.
Either way, hanging's gotta suck even if you're a youkai, I can't see that working out very well.
But wait, there's one more track...
13. The Strange Everyday Life of the Flying Shrine Maiden
The shrine maiden of paradise spent the summer in an unchanging peace.
On one of those summer days, the shrine maiden wrote this in her diary.
August ○th
About all that happened today was that I met a beautiful blonde haired girl walking out from the direction of the ruins of the western style mansion in the forest. I felt like I had seen that girl somewhere before, but I didn’t waste my thoughts on such a trivial thing. In jest, that girl stuck out her tongue and quickly bowed with a great smile on her face and went off in the direction of the exit to paradise. What a strange girl.
Now that I think of it. That girl was the only female in that group of honest eight. But what does that matter.
Ah… today’s another boring day.
In this paradise called “Gensokyo” the number of humans dropped by eight, and seven corpses were safely carried off by youkai. Gensokyo has lost these honest people for all eternity. Well, it’s just a numerical shift.
That’s not important news.
And suddenly, Reimu clears it up. A "beautiful blonde-haired girl". "I felt like I had seen that girl somewhere before". "The number of humans dropped by eight, and seven corpses were carried off by youkai".
Here's how I think things went down.
First note: The title "Doll Maker of Bucuresti" isn't indicative of physical location, but temporal location. Bucuresti is the native version of Bucarest... one of the largest cities in Romania. Romania would certainly be a locale where a vampire could call themselves a "descendent of Vlad Tepes", wouldn't it...? That, plus the fact that this album was released in a rough correspondence with Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, is why I suggest that Alice appeared in Windows!Gensokyo around the same time as the Scarlet Devil Manor did.
- A group of eight vagrant humans is spirited away to Gensokyo in the middle of the night. Quickly, "the most curious one" runs off from the others and is torn apart by youkai. Given the "clown" motif, it's likely that all of the murders are performed by, if not a single person, then multiple people with similar traits. In this case, females with blonde hair.
- The morning after the first murder, the humans come across Reimu exterminating a youkai in the midst of a morning sunstorm. "The beautiful one" is captivated by the battle, and stays behind to watch. Afterwards, the youkai - beaten and likely in severe pain but not dead due to the new Spell Card rules in Gensokyo - comes and takes that person away... not by murdering them, but by giving them the knowledge they need to become a youkai themselves.
- That night, "the youngest one" slips away from the rest of the group, unable to partake in their adult pasttimes. He's murdered by "the beautiful one", who manages to use the act to fully transition into becoming something properly inhuman.
- In a panic, "the most cowardly one" notices that three of their number have already died in less than twenty four hours time. Wracked with grief, he tries to hang himself. However, feeling a bit of guilt herself, "the beautiful one" manages to cut down the rope before her former companion takes his own life. She didn't intend to murder any others; she did what she wanted to.
- "The cowardly one", confused by that course of events, hurries and catches up with the others... only to get trapped in "endless darkness" with them. Four of them devise a plan to escape, but "the wisest one" stays behind... only to be eaten by the creator of the darkness.
- The remaining humans - as well as "the beautiful one", trailing behind them - come across an abandoned manor in the forest and make it their home. Food is already plentiful, for unexplained reasons.
- However, things started going sour. Suspecting "the cowardly one", "the mature one" drugged his meal. In the shocked realization that her former companions were going to die anyway, "the beautiful one" chose this time to hasten the process, drugging "the mature one's" coffee - fatally.
- Moving right on with her plan to make things relatively quick, "the beautiful one" prepared a curse doll of "the wary one" and hammered it to a tree while he was fretting in his paranoia.
- Afterward, she prepared a similarly drugged breakfast for "the earliest riser", who saw her in his final moments, confusing her with the shrine maiden in his delirium - after all, that incident in the storm was the last time he had seen either woman. For an unknown reason, she also beheaded him - possibly to strengthen herself as she did with "the youngest one", or possibly to make it yet a quicker death at his request.
- "The cowardly one" recovered from his weaker drugging shortly after, coming across the three bodies of his companions and falling into an even deeper despair than before. He proceeded to hang himself, and this time was not stopped.
- Finally, "the beautiful one" disposed of the bodies, being spotted by the shrine maiden after the fact. Just another boring day in Gensokyo.
Obviously, "the beautiful one" would, in this theory, be Alice. The question is... was she the only murderer? No.
I posit that the first "clown" was either a particularly troll-happy Yukari, or an unrelated youkai - the one 'testing the waters' for her own amusement, as well as luring Alice to fully take the step into becoming a youkai. Becoming a youkai magician is simple: find a way to bypass age and hunger. In Alice's case, she quite literally stole the lifeforce/soul of "the youngest one", causing her to 'end up as a thief again, like in the old days'. She wouldn't just kidnap the others though, would she? No, not right away. "The wisest one" was slain by an unseen clown, but a clown nonetheless - one with powers over darkness. You see, even a youkai like Rumia gets a meal now and then.
Afterwards, everything progressed as expected, with a sudden burst of paranoia and malcontent, and Alice proceeding to murder the others. And since that was the first time she'd been seen in Gensokyo, it would seem to everyone there that she had always been there, living in that seemingly abandoned western manor, by herself...
Now, the question is, "what about PC-98?" There's two options there, if I'm to take it as canon: either MS!Alice is not Windows!Alice, or something happened (likely involving the Grimoire and/or the sealing of Makai) that pushed Alice out of Gensokyo where she could age and live as a human for some time, only to return and stumble upon the Grimoire once more by complete accident. Either way, Alice would have no recollection of Mystic Square (or Shinki), knowing only that she's never to actually open the grimoire in her possession lest she unleash destructive energy upon all of Gensokyo. The reason Alice recognized Reimu in PCB was because of Dolls in Pseudo Paradise, not Mystic Square.
At least, this is my headcanon. There are many that may or may not be like it, but this one is mine.