Touhou Doujin: Dawitsu's Folly
Sakuya turned red, and instinctively knifed the too-stupid-for-his-own-good youkai.
"Am I wrong?" the pained mimicker spluttered before being kneed in the crotch.
Sakuya simply said, "You're a masochist, aren't you? Just like that celestial who caused the scarlet weather disaster. Or did you expect anything else?"
"You know, attacking someone for bringing up a perfectly valid point doesn't make you superior to them..." the weakened youkai mumbled from the floor.
"Well I... shut up." Sakuya abandoned any hope of winning the argument in word, so simply added four more knives to the guy's back.
Touhou Doujin: Dawitsu's Folly is the first of a misleadingly named series of Touhou fanfics written by Duwee Davis II of Fanfiction.net, and does not involve Doujin of any sort, although the description of the first book implies it started off that way. The series goes as follows:
- Touhou Doujin: Dawitsu's Folly
- Touhou Doujin: Grimoire of Dawitsu (encyclopedic spin-off)
- Touhou Doujin: Holiday Edition
- Touhou Doujin: Dawitsu's Recompense
- Touhou Doujin: Jean's Magical Education
- Touhou Doujin: The Forbidden Love of Yukari Yakumo (stylistic in-universe spinoff parody of Badfic, poorly received, yet still in progress.)
- Touhou Doujin: The Misadventures of Yukari Yakumo (another stylistic homage spinoff, this time as a Lemony Narrator. Still in progress.)
The plot more or less centers around another incident in Gensokyo, this time caused by a (Brace Yourselves) a Male Self Insert Subverted Gary Stu Original Character named Mateyuu Dawitsu and his incredibly Moe Shikigami, Yutaka Hadekawa, who have the powers of Mimicry and Manipulation of Scenery. He decides to steal Flandre Scarlet's sword Laevateinn for the lulz. Naturally, this doesn't impress her Big Sister, who blames the incident on the local witch, Marisa Kirisame, and tries to force her to give it back by leveling her house. Going to the local hero for help, she and Reimu Hakurei end up trying to find the location of this new thief on the block. Hilarity Ensues.
- Actual Pacifist: Yutaka (most of the time)
- Adorkable Dawitsu, although YMMV.
- Breaking The Fourth Wall: A ton of it, the main culprits being Dawitsu and Marisa.
- British Stuffiness: Averted big time with Dawitsu, and later with Tomasu.
- Buxom is Better: Dawitsu fully averts this. His tastes in women include Sakuya (who in this continuity, is the pad-wearing, flat-chested version.), Alice Margatroid, who's bust size is never explicitly mentioned, and Yutaka, who by all means is written as looking pretty young for her age, and is mentioned to not be much in the chest department off-hand.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Dawitsu.
- Calling Your Attacks: As per Touhou.
- The Chew Toy: Dawitsu, of the humorous variety. Tokage later on.
- Department Of Redundancy Department: Sporadically used, sometimes intentional, sometimes obviously unintentional.
- Double Standards Massively Averted. The writer seems about as Gender Conscious as an amoeba. In a good way.
- Dramatic... Ellipses: Used... an awful... lot... lampshaded by the Author in the Author's notes several times.
- Eyes Always Closed: Yutaka.
- Gary Stu: Subverted. Dawitsu is openly stated to be a self-insert, yet is described as tall, thin and scrawny, oftentimes with stubble, is far from liked by everyone but at the same time isn't persecuted unfairly. Sort of like a normal person, only with the ability to copy your actions.
- Genre Savvy: Who do you think?
- Just Friends: Or so Dawitsu and Yutaka say...
- Kawaiiko: Flandre Scarlet and Chen. Subverted with Yutaka, who, while having a young-looking body, is most certainly mature, more so than her boss.
- Lampshade Hanging: There's an absolute ton of it.
- Occidental Otaku: Dawitsu, and how!
- Oh My Gods!: Averted. Despite being of an area in which there are Gods, Shinigami, and Youkai, many characters will simply say 'Oh God' instead of applicable reverences to their applicable deity.
- Really 700 years old: Yutaka Hadekawa, who has the body of a fifteen-to-seventeen year old, and Dawitsu, who has the body of a man in his early twenties, are around one hundred and fifty and three hundred respectively.
- Reference Overdosed
- Running Gag: Is Dawitsu a tengu? Everyone seems to mistake him for one, but he insists he's a mimicker.
- Shout Outs: Oh so many.
- Stepford Smiler: Yutaka
- Sweat Drop
- The Not-Love Interest: Dawitsu and Yutaka, big time. There's even a little flirtation despite Yutaka's Incompatible Orientiation.
- Tsundere: Unsurprisingly, Reimu is depicted as a Type A.
Tropes that apply to Dawitsu's Folly
- A-Cup Angst: Sakuya has this before Dawitsu convinces her that she's better without pads.
- All's Well That Ends Well: The name of the final chapter.
- Awkward Silence: Whenever Yutaka, Reimu and Marisa share a lift in the Dawitsu Mansion.
- Affably Evil: Dawitsu tries to be this to Reimu and Marisa, but fails miserably in the 'Evil' part.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space/Space Is Noisy: When Yutaka switches the battle arena for Dawitsu, Reimu and Marisa, one of the areas is space, yet not one person seems to have problems breathing. However, considering Yutaka's ability to change the scenery, it could be just as likely that she added oxygen to the 'space'.
- Battle Butler: Contrary to Touhou style, Yutaka averts this by simply letting the two heroines through to where Dawitsu is without a fight. (Albeit with a large tour beforehand).
- Buffy Speak: 'The Scarlet Sisters... they accused me of stealing... that laser... fire-sword thing that Flandre has...'
- The Cameo: A virtual replica of Wheatley, Zora Eggs, various pictures of 'Starmen' as well as one of a busty, red-haired maid, a pink shell house on a floor known as Locria's Level, and books that gain teeth and attack people..
- Calling Your Bluff: Yukari claims Dawitsu wouldn't have Flandre destroy her house. Dawitsu proves otherwise, and almost fails to stop Flandre carrying out his threat once Yukari agrees to give Yutaka back. Thankfully Patchouli saves the day.
- Can't Live Without You: More or less said exactly by Dawitsu as he breaks down at the thought of losing Yutaka.
- Cargo Ship: Aya and her press. Squick
- Companion Cube: Aya's press. Again.
- Deadpan Snarker: Yutaka has her moments in this, not as prominent as in later books.
- Did you just flip off Cthulhu?: Dawitsu manages to calmly state to Yukari that Ran is now his Shikigami and that she has no rights making orders to her. And even convinces her to give Yutaka back without swapping her for Ran using Flandre Scarlet. However, it may be noted that later books confirm Yukari let him have his way.
- Diving Save: Of a sort. Dawitsu rushes in front of Yutaka and activates a shield using Laevateinn to protect her from Marisa's Master Spark.
- Drinking Contest: Dawitsu and Suika have an unseen one in the later stages of the 'free slaps' event held by Dawitsu.
- Dumbass Has A Point: Dawitsu, a few times.
- Early Installment Weirdness: The writing style is far less descriptive, the characters are more unrealistic, the whole plot's a little less thought out than in later books.
- Does What It Says On The Tin: The Lifts in the Dawitsu Mansion are labelled 'Lift'.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Considering the harsh depiction of Remilia and Yukari, Remilia is quite the protective sister, if anything.
- Falcon... PAWNCH!
- Fantastic Racism: Not exactly extreme, but Aya puts on a 'human impression' voice while imitating Marisa. Sort of makes sense, given Youkai are a different species to the short-lived humans.
- Fight Scene: Two, one between Reimu, Marisa, and Dawitsu, the other Yukari and Ran Yakumo versus Dawitsu and Yutaka.
- For The Lulz: The reason Dawitsu steals Laevateinn is so he can cause an incident to 'introduce (himself) to the place'.
- Glomp: Sakuya glomps Dawitsu suddenly, declaring him 'kind'. This is superficially disliked by Dawitsu, but we all know he loved it...
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Yukari and Dawitsu's Danmaku Battle eventually becomes the Gensokyo equivilent of that, that is, a melee-only fight.
- Hammerspace Dawitsu is stated to have this power.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Remilia makes 'negotiations' with Dawitsu by making Dawitsu up his offer every time they try and come to a new deal instead of meeting him halfway.
- Heroic BSOD: Dawitsu 'copes' with losing Yutaka by drinking whiskey all alone, and is found lying on his dining room table by Aya.
- Hidden Depths: Aya may be the bane of everyone's existence and a massive slanderer, but she trusts and appreciates Reimu's heroism more than many in Gensokyo. She also counsels Dawitsu during his BSOD.
- Humiliation Conga: Dawitsu somewhat masochistically allows a 'free slap session' in his mansion as some strange form of Atonement for his transgressions.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Yutaka certainly plays this role while Dawitsu is fighting Reimu and Marisa, and seems to be the only one actually noticing the two planning their assault.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Yutaka tries to subtly point out that Patchouli Knowledge is standing right behind him as he discusses whether her sexuality is compatible with Yutaka. He comically misses the point until it's too late. Followed by Patchouli playing the exact same trope as she says 'Your Boss doesn't speak to people all that well, does he?' and Dawitsu lampshading it.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: See Affably Evil above.
- Innocent Cohabitation: Patchouli Knowledge spends the night at the Dawitsu Mansion in a totally innocuous manner, yet all it takes is Aya to twist this into an... interesting conclusion and/or hypothesis.
- Insistent Terminology: Dawitsu is Yutaka's BOSS, not Master.
- It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time: Dawitsu literally says this word-for-word about being hungover after having an unseen drinking contest with Suika.
- Japanese Honorifics: Awkwardly used in places. Thankfully rarely seen in the later books.
- Large Ham: Aya, Dawitsu.
- Mistaken For Gay: Sakuya briefly thinks Dawitsu could be gay. She is mistaken.
- Meat Sheild: Yukari uses Ran as one.
- Mimicry for Dummies
- Morning Routine
- Big 'No!': Dawitsu, after finding out that Yukari obtained ownership of Yutaka.
- Person Of Mass Destruction: Flandre Scarlet, more so than in the other books, where instead her personality is explored rather than her raw power.
- Petite Pride: Dawitsu wants Sakuya to feel this way.
- Pinch Me: Reimu visits the Dawitsu Mansion in chapter twelve to find Sakuya, Patchouli, Ran, and Chen cohabiting in the house with Dawitsu and Yutaka. She concludes it has to be a dream, and tries to confirm this by hitting her head against the wall. She is in the real world...
- The Power Of Love: A subtle example (compared to love being transformed into Frickin' Laser Beams, at least). The reason Chen, Ran, and Sakuya all prefer Dawitsu to their respective Mistresses or ex-Mistresses is due to his caring attitude towards them.
- Precision F-Strike: Ran Yakumo saying 'Give me the damn thing!' wouldn't be as powerful if it wasn't coming from the same person who never swears again in the rest of the series. It even causes Chen's tails to go between her legs.
- Pretend Prejudice: Downplayed. Alice joins Marisa in her mockery of Patchouli's supposed 'homosexuality' (which turns out to be true anyway) by saying she considers attraction to the same gender 'simply unforgivable'. Turns out she's gay for Marisa.
- Replacement Goldfish: Ran attempts to be this to Yutaka, even dressing up as her to try and replace her. Dawitsu does not take kindly to it.
- Roaring Rampage Of Revenge: Dawitsu, already under stress due to his up and coming battle with Yukari, receives news that Aya did publish her findings on him, Yutaka, and Patchouli. The results aren't pretty, and it took Yutaka opening her eyes and pleading with her boss to stop him from burning down her house.
- Ron The Death Eater: Remilia and Yukari. Rounded out later in the series, but UNFORGIVABLY so here.
- Running Gag: Aya's persistent breaking of everyone's walls instead of knocking on the door.
- Sarcasm Mode: Reimu is noteably far more snarky in the first installment than the ones after, and uses this a lot.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Sakuya snaps and leaves her Mistress temporarily against her wishes because Remilia dropped a China Cup on the floor just so Sakuya could pick it up.
- Security Cling: Dawitsu holds on to Yutaka while he hysterically tells her that he couldn't live without her at the prospect of losing her to Yukari.
- Self Deprecation: Dawitsu, of his entire gender- 'Yes, I'm a guy. You know, the uglier, flat-chested, short-haired version of a woman.'
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Dawitsu tries this on Yukari by using the word 'Duplicitous', who responds by saying 'Stop using long words to make yourself sound intelligent. You're not.'.
- Big "Shut up!": Remilia gives one while punching Dawitsu to the ground after pointing out that she has no right being protective of her sister when she locks her in the mansion basement.
- Sweet Tooth: Most likely an obvious allusion to her Type A Tsundere attributes, Reimu requests Strawberry Tea from Yutaka after beating Dawitsu, which in itself isn't strange. It's the fact she wants sugar adding to it that's slightly odd.
- Training Montage: Although not quite as spectacularly averted in Jean's Magical Education, Dawitsu averts this when training for his up-coming fight against Yukari.
- Tranquil Fury: Played For Laughs. Aya breaks through Reimu's wall just as she's rebuilt it, causing Reimu to calmly say 'I hate you so much.'. Even funnier when Alice comes out with the exact same line to Marisa regarding her laziness and Aya lampshades it.
- What Do You Mean Its Not Heinous?: Inverted. Yuyuko comes home to find her house destroyed by Yukari and Dawitsu's brawling. The response? 'Oh, I think the 'destroyed look' is very in...'
- The Woobie: Ran. She is reportedly abused by Yukari, taken for granted and treated as inferior to Yutaka by Dawitsu, and is almost made to be a bargaining chip as part of Dawitsu's plan to get Yutaka back.
- You Just Told Me: Aya claims to have several sources accusing Dawitsu of sexually harrassing Sakuya Izayoi. Dawitsu is quick to deny this, saying 'I just joked about her wearing pads.... This bites him in the ass when Aya reveals she didn't really have any sources, and that this is going down in print.
- You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours: Dawitsu says this word-for-word when asking Remilia to let him observe Patchouli and Sakuya as part of his training. Humorously taken literally by Remilia.
Tropes that apply to Grimoire of Dawitsu
- Accidental Innuendo: In-Universe. To quote; 'If you're Seiga, this means you have to move about a lot, and focus on curving your Danmaku, and getting your electric balls to move... uh, that came out wrong...'
- All There In The Manual: Wondering why certain character interactions are the way they are in Holiday Edition onward? It's most likely here.
- All Work vs All Play: Dawitsu wants Ran to relax a lot more than she currently is, claiming she works too hard (he actually has to command her to relax). In later books, she learns to relax, but overshoots a little...
- Ambition Is Evil: Dawitsu is more than condemnatory about Seiga Kaku's abandonment of all of her family just to become a Taoist Hermit, gain eternal life and awesome powers...
- And Then John Was A Zombie: Parodied. Dawitsu began over thinking Nue's shapeshifting ability, and came to the idiotic conclusion that he himself may be Nue.
- ASCII Art: While not exactly art, Dawitsu has Yutaka have an 'ASCII Diagram' of what a Longitudinal Wave (the same type of wave a sound wave is) using the diagram 'I I I III I I I I I III I I I I'.
- Backstory: Yutaka's is explained in detail on her article, Dawitsu seemingly having forgotten the purpose of the book was to teach any aspiring mimickers to imitate whoever the article applies to.
- Beautiful Dreamer: Dawitsu mentions in Yutaka's article that on the way back from a Holiday to Ibiza, Yutaka fell asleep on the plane, and he looked over her, most likely in a crush-like manner...
- Berserk Button: Dawitsu suggests using the Berserk Buttons of many of the more calm characters to rile them up into showing off some of their attacks as a method of observation for his 'budding mimickers'.
- Black Comedy: Somewhat subverted. Dawitsu says he would laugh at the fact Mokou's father apparently got pecked to death by swallows while trying to obtain their Cowry Shell, but says because it isn't in a cartoon, and that the person was a father, that it was absolutely not funny.
- Brutal Honesty: Yutaka doesn't want to pour cold water on Dawitsu's efforts to make tea for her, but she openly states he's terrible at making it.
- Brilliant, But Lazy: Dawitsu claims Lyrica is just as talented as her sisters, but puts next to no effort into her performance, and apparently it shows.
- But for Me It Was Tuesday/Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Dawitsu, when confronted by Komachi and discussing his own death with her, simply gets bored and asks why she isn't working. For him, it's Tuesday. Yutaka, on the other hand, is openly frightened of her, mainly because she's far taller than her and is discussing, well, death.
- Call A Rabbit A "Smeerp": In-universe. Dawitsu is at a loss for what to call the Hakurei Shrine's Patron God, so he decides to give it his own name- Chomalungma.
- Call Back: Considering the short length of the only preceding book to it, quite a lot...
- Captain Obvious: Omens and luck are closely related. You don't say...
- Cargo Ship: Dawitsu seems to be onto Aya's overly-affectionate treatment of her press...
- Casual Kink: Mild example. Dawitsu repeatedly asks Yutaka to slap him at one point, and Yutaka fears he may be developing Masochism. Also, Dawitsu seems to think Tenshi's a masochist for obvious reasons.
- Chaotic Good: Dawitsu even compares Mamizou to Robin Hood in her antics of pranking and stealing from rich people and giving to poor.
- Civilized Animal: All of the Animal Youkai, but Yutaka particularly notes Shou Toramaru for this, and reveals some Hidden Depths about her.
- Clone Degeneration: Dawitsu's Chibi Clones suffer from this.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Dawitsu thinks Yuyuko is this. He couldn't be more wrong.
- Companion Cube: Once again, Aya's press, but also, Yutaka seems to have a Raggedy Andy Doll which she treasures and reassures it that it won't be abandoned. It is never mentioned again in the series.
- Conflict Ball: Dawitsu considers the reasoning behind the feud between Mokou and Kaguya to have disappeared, and they now only continue it as a tradition, comparing it to the feud of the Montegues and the Capulets.
- Constructive Criticism: Although the book doesn't show Dawitsu's reaction to Shikieiki's criticism of him, he does say that Shikieiki is the constructive critic, and that if you want self-improvement, she's your woman.
- Covert Pervert: Subverted. Dawitsu tries to be covert about it, but Yutaka clocks on and exploits the hell out of his slip of the tongue... in which he said he finds the observation sessions of Sakuya's cleaning... 'pretty enjoyable'.
- Creepy Awesome: An in-universe example. In one of his tangents, Dawitsu mentions that the Cheshire Cat has a creepy, but 'just plain awesome' smile.
- The Cynic: Dawitsu believes Lunasa to be one quite close the Trope Namers.
- A Dog Named Dog: Dawitsu lampshades the fact that Satori Komeiji's given name is her own species. For some reason, he doesn't do the same for Nue Houjuu.
- Deadpan Snarker: Yutaka and Dawitsu both have their moments, Yutaka especially due to being the typist. Many of the girls are also depicted by Dawitsu as such.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Discussed. Dawitsu finds it odd that Suwako Moriya and Kanako Yasaka are on such good terms despite their warring eons ago.
- Did Not Do The Research: Not common, mostly averted, however, one notable one got spotted by a reviewer- the book said Jiang Shi were part of Japanese Mythology, when they're actually from Chinese Mythology. The author corrected it, however.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Dawitsu describes Flandre Scarlet as being 'cute, the same way a puppy is', but also 'like a Staffordshire Bull Terrier- too powerful for her own good.'
- Double Agent: According to Dawitsu, Nue was this during the events of UFO. Somewhat supported by Canon.
- Draco In Leather Pants: Not exactly an extreme example, Dawitsu seems to not mention Yuuka Kazami in too much of a bad light, considering she's quite sadistic, even in Canon. Perhaps it's because he's a Youkai as well.
- Dude, Not Funny!: In-universe example. Yutaka's reaction to his childish implications that she has a thing for Patchouli Knowledge. Equally so by Dawitsu in the following article when Yutaka gets her sweet revenge.
- Empathic Environment: Averted. Dawitsu claims he met Yutaka on a rainy day, yet he clearly views her as the one person who changed his life for the better.
- Epileptic Trees: In-Universe. Dawitsu has quite a few fan theories on some of the more mysterious Touhou Girls...
- Extreme Omnivore: According to Dawitsu, Yoshika is such a glutton that she won't make the distinction between humans and youkai when eating brains.
- Family Feud: Apparently this happened between Futo and Tojiko's families (the Mononobes and Sogas respectively). Don't be quick to believe it, though...
- Finger Gun: Apparently this is the way one imitates Reisen's shots.
- The Four Loves: Openly mentioned in Yutaka's article. Yutaka considers her relationship with Dawitsu Agape.
- Freud Was Right: Discussed. Dawitsu talks about Freudian Psychology in Koishi's article, and claims that a Male's Id is far more sex-drive based than women, hence the patterning of Koishi's Id-based spell-card varies with gender.
- Genius Bonus: Several of the more scientific-sounding sections are based on high-level scientific principles, and even some of the more basic sciences go into such detail that it can be hard to keep up.
- A God Am I: Downplayed. Dawitsu believes Cirno to have a somewhat justified Invincibility Complex due to her ability to perpetually respawn.
- Flashback: Yutaka's article may as well be this.
- Foreshadowing Mainly to the next book, Holiday Edition. Dawitsu and Yutaka frequently mention the ideas of going to the outside world and visiting Dawitsu's Brother (although Dawitsu seems to be relectant about the latter. Also a little to the other books, but mainly Holiday Edition.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Dawitsu most certainly isn't. He says he believes in Kanako Yasaka because, well, she's right there.
- Flying Car: Dawitsu claims that the best way to mimic Futo's flying boat is to mimic another source with flying types of vehicles that don't normally fly, like Super Mario Bros. or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
- Frickin Laser Beams: Somewhat exaggerated. Dawitsu rants and raves about how he never managed to beat Touhou Ten's extra stage- er... observe Suwako Moriya sufficiently due to how much lasers she uses.
- Friend To Bugs: Dawitsu claims that he never kills bugs 'unless he has to', and condemns Wriggles usage of them as projectiles, claiming she's just killing off the competition so no others can turn into Insect Youkai.
- Girl On Girl Is Hot: Dawitsu says he doesn't mind Yuri Doujin, but Yaoi... that's just creepy. He also claims he wouldn't mind a Lesbian Version of Romeo and Juliet, irritating the very much homosexual Yutaka.
- Gone Horribly Right: Discussed. Yutaka considers teaching Nitori basic quantum physics and low-grade magic to assist her in inventing machines all by herself without mimicking outside-world technology. She quickly abandons the idea after considering that if she became too skilled, she'd probably end up like a lot of gifted mechanics in fiction, and end up creating a robot army...
- Graceful Loser: Unlike in the first book, Dawitsu seems to have learnt his lesson and accepts he will most likely be beaten by Yukari should he ever try to fight her.
- Grass Is Greener: Dawitsu mentions that humans always desire long lifespans, but Youkai know they're over-rated, and suggests the reason is due to the fact they themselves only have very short lifespans.
- G-Rated Drug: Aya apparently has an ink-sniffing habit, which is actually Truth in Television as people actually do snort solvents such as ink to get high.
- Green Eyed Monster: Played With in Parsee Mizuhashi's article. To quote Dawitsu: 'Parsee Mizuhashi is a Youkai most famous for her ability to manipulate Jealousy. Oh, you may laugh, you may think it's a vague, worthless power, but DAMN, do I want that power! It makes me envious! Argh!'.
- Half-Human Hybrid: Dawitsu is not sure whether Youmu is this or not, and wonders how a ghost and human can get it on. Probably a Shout-Out to Un Lun Dun.
- He Who Must Not Be Heard: Unzan is speculated to talk to Ichirin in the same way Sooty talks to his puppeteers.
- Hikikomori: Dawitsu considers this to be the reason Hatate is such a whelp in terms of power compared to Aya.
- Honor Among Thieves: Yutaka explains that after pulling a particularly nasty Mind Screw on Nazrin, she promised to never attempt to steal from the Dawitsu Mansion again, and apparently, she kept her word.
- Hypocritical Humor: See Girl On Girl Is Hot above.
- I Just Want To Be Beautiful: Yutaka speculates the only reason Yoshika doesn't look any more decayed than she is is because she embalms herself to keep up her appearance...
- I Let You Win: Dawitsu believes that Letty, Alice and Yukari hold back in battle. There's actually evidence for the latter, as well.
- Immortal Immaturity: Dawitsu considers Remilia, Flandre, and Kaguya to be extremely immature for their age despite their immortality. Averted with his opinion of Eirin and Fujiwara no Mokou.
- Immortality Seeker: Dawitsu believes Seiga Kaku to be this along with being power-hungry.
- I Work Alone: Yutaka is glad that Dawitsu is anything but that, and says she likes how he isn't too proud to refuse help.
- Know When To Fold 'Em: Dawitsu admittedly gave up on mimicking many different denizens of Gensokyo, such as Alice, Youmu, and Yukari. Also said of Star Sapphire, in that she knows when to run away and let her fellow mischievous fairies take the fall.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Dawitsu believes Shou Toramaru to be the operator of such a laser guide in her work for Bishamonten.
- Little Bit Beastly: Dawitsu deconstructs this, wondering if he could buy Ran some clothes from the outside world while taking into account her nine fox-tails.
- Living Forever Is Awesome: Dawitsu doesn't seem to understand that Kaguya and Mokou most likely hate being immortal and seems to be jealous of them.
- Lolicon: Dawitsu, his tastes openly exposed in Satori's chapter but alluded to several times before. Yutaka seems to have a problem with this, too...
- Love Confession: Dawitsu attempted this with Yutaka in the past, apparently, but it went wrong, and she assumed he was only confessing that he was a Youkai. He awkwardly went along with that, and settled for her being the Not-Love Interest.
- MacGuffin One of the reasons Dawitsu falls short in being to mimic some of the girls is due to their possession of one of these.
- Magic Versus Science: Of the 'Magic is an Ideology' type. There are many times Dawitsu can't explain away the magic various Touhou girls use with science, but there's an equal amount of times he can't. He seems to merely accept that both exist, although he has doubts whether Patchouli Knowledge has an issue with science. She doesn't.
- Mega Manning: Pretty much the whole in-universe point of this book is to document each Touhou Character so that mimickers just like Dawitsu can learn to copy their powers.
- Meganekko: Dawitsu draws attention to how Mamizou's glasses make her look intelligent.
- Memetic Mutation: The sheer amount of memes mentioned is practically innumerable in this book.
- The Messiah: Dawitsu, being a youkai himself, regards Byakuren as a savior figure, and revers her as the one person who has done more to bridge the rift between humans and youkai than anyone else. Yutaka even calls Byakuren her idol.
- Mind Over Matter: Dawitsu claims that most of the bullets that 'hit' you against Reisen Udongein Inaba are most likely nowhere near you, but the image is so real to you that it hurts like a bullet would.
- Mind Screw: Yutaka claims to have pulled a mean one off to Nazrin (who was attempting to burgle the Dawitsu Mansion)- using her scenery manipulation to form an endless corridor to disorientate and confuse Nazrin until she called for help, forcing her to see a resident of the mansion face to face. Needless to say she never returned for a second try.
- My Instincts Are Showing: Dawitsu eats Minoriko Aki (after remarking that Reimu claimed she smells tasty) and in true Youkai fashion, does an 'off-screen' eating of her despite being humanoid. He gets his cummupance all the way in Jean's Magical Education.
- The Napoleon: Yutaka, subverted. She is aware of her short height, isn't that happy with it, but is in no way hot-blooded or aggressive.
- Not Bad, For A Human: Dawitsu, as a Youkai, is impressed by Reimu and Marisa's skills, saying they're particularly impressive considering that they are humans.
- Note from Ed: Yutaka, being the typist, pulls this off regularly in the 'Typist's Notes' section.
- Not So Different: Dawitsu acknowledges Marisa, Satori, and Byakuren as fellow mimickers. He also claims that he and Aya are similar in that they don't try in battle, and puts forward a slight Ship Tease with her before swiftly sinking it.
- Otaku Dawitsu considers himself, Merlin, and Sanae. He supposedly gets along with Sanae for this reason, and states that he wouldn't mind dating Merlin if it wasn't for the fact she's... well, a Poltergeist.
- Piano Drop: Dawitsu wonders if all the misfortune Hina Kagoyama has gathered over the years has made her unfortunate enough to have a piano fall on her head.
- Pirate: Nazrin is one according to Dawitsu, however, he considers Minamitsu Murasa to be a sailor and Shou to be a disciple of Buddhism, despite their involvement in stealing treasure also.
- Playboy Bunny: Apparently Dawitsu has a set of bunny-girl outfits, and even made Yutaka wear one on a 'Nerdy Night Out'. Yikes.
- The Power Of Love: Played for Laughs. Dawitsu mention's Koishi's heart-shaped Danmaku, stating that she's got the power of love, before hamming it up and claiming that thus, they are all doomed.
- Product Placement: A George Foreman Toaster is given to Nitori Kawashiro to examine as a gift.
- Rags to Riches: Dawitsu speculates that Yukari may have had a humble origin, like being a Fence Youkai (Hey, if Kogasa can come from an umbrella, anything's possible) that came to represent all sorts of boundaries... of course, this could be entirely false. Dawitsu is an Unreliable Narrator, after all.
- Rashomon Style: Discussed and Lampshaded. Dawitsu mentions certain stage six bosses being thwarted by a human, and then says how it's one out of either Marisa or Reimu, and that he keeps forgetting to ask who really thwarted the applicable boss.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Being the only two characters directly interacting with the reader, Dawitsu and Yutaka are this, Dawitsu being the Red to Yutaka's Blue.
- Ron The Death Eater: A side effect of the Unreliable Narrator, Dawitsu is biased against many people to the point of demonizing them.
- Rouge Angles Of Satin: A few instances of them, noticeable when they do appear.
- Satellite Character: Dawitsu treats Minoriko Aki like one, referencing the Touhou Fandom's lack of focus on this character. He even eats her.
- Satiating Sandwich: In Meiling's Article, Dawitsu orders Ran to make him and Yutaka a sandwich. She ends up creating a sandwich so tasty that he declares 'Ran, you genius!', and even Yutaka turns the Typist's Notes into a culinary review.
- Sealed Evil In A Can: Dawitsu considers the Grimoire of Alice to be this.
- Secret Keeper: Subverted in that it may or may not be true. Yutaka mentions in Suika's article that Dawitsu is scary when drunk, and that he hangs all over you, tells you he loves you, and mentions a lot of deep, dark secrets. One includes he has a set of crossplay outfits in a special wardrobe. However, the reliability of the story goes downhill when he reveals this 'special wardrobe' leads to Narnia.
- Sesquipedalian Smith: Dawitsu lampshades Keine Kamishirasawa's incredibly long name by saying, 'Boy, that's a mouthful...'. He also has trouble saying Shikieiki Yamaxanadu and Toyosatomimi no Miko's names too.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend!: Both Het and Les Yay versions. See Shipper On Deck and Dude, Not Funny!
- Shipper on Deck: Dawitsu shipping Yutaka and Patchouli, Yutaka shipping Dawitsu and Sakuya. The Former ends up happening later in the series.
- Ship Tease: Dawitsu mentions he wouldn't mind going out with several of the touhou girls, but doesn't seem to take any of them seriously. Well, perhaps one...
- Shout-Out: Too many to list.
- Sinister Scythe: Dawitsu thinks Komachi's scythe is frickin' sweet.
- Slumber Party: Yutaka apparently has a totally platonic one with Patchouli Knowledge.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Surprisingly, Dawitsu doesn't consider Cirno to be this due to her most likely truly being the strongest fairy. However, he does think this of Sunny Milk, claiming the only reason she's the leader of the three mischievous fairies is because the others don't challenge her on that.
- Stock British Phrases: While not as common as some American Works due to the writer being British himself, Dawitsu does spout the occasional Steroetypical British colloquialism, such as 'Blighter', or 'Can't be Arsed'.
- Split Personality: Dawitsu claims Nazrin acts as both a grandiose leader of mice and a subservient minon to Shou Toramaru, even labelling such as a split personality.
- Squee: Surprisingly, despite Dawitsu's Occidental Otaku status, Yutaka delivers a typed equivilent in her notes on Chen's article- 'Chen is simply adorable.'.
- Stalker With A Crush: Dawitsu considers Alice to be a less severe variant of this.
- The Stoic: Many of the characters are mentioned to be so calm, that getting them to attack (and thus give Dawitsu's 'budding mimickers' an opportunity to mimic them) is almost impossible.
- "Stop Having Fun" Gal: In-universe. After Merlin steals his 'games console' and thus his means of playing Ikaruga, insisting that she will complete it, Dawitsu claims she's a 'Masochistic Gamer'.
- Straw Hypocrite: Dawitsu considers Miko to be this.
- Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Dawitsu tries his hardest to explain magic in scientific terms, however, he occasionally fails to do so, usually in cases where he can't mimic the character or he requires some kind of MacGuffin to mimic their abilities.
- Super-Deformed: Dawitsu can form Chibi Clones of himself. D'awwwwwwwww...
- Tampering With Food And Drink: Yutaka mentions putting Adrenaline in Patchouli's Tea and Tranquillisers in Dawitsu's tea to treat their targets' Lethargy and Insomnia respectively. However, she mixes the two up by accident...
- Notably, Adrenaline cannot enter a body and have an effect on the system unless injected...
- Techno Babble: Both Dawitsu and Yutaka are prone to this.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Dawitsu believes Tenshi is this, and is even disparaging of her despite showing shades of masochism himself...
- Tutorial Level: Dawitsu considers mimicry of first-boss level characters as this for his 'budding mimickers'.
- Undying Loyalty: Dawitsu considers Captain Murasa's journey to Makai to free Byakuren proof of her loyalty, and respects her for this despite her checkered past.
- Universe Bible: This book serves an alternate purpose of showing what areas of Fanon the Author has accepted, and which he hasn't, as well as showing whether or not Dawitsu likes the character and whether or not he can mimic them.
- The Unseen: Tomasu Dawitsu, Mateyuu's brother, is mentioned in Lyrica's article. Although unseen in this book, he does appear in Holiday Edition.
- Unreliable Narrator: Dawitsu's opinions are not always correct, and are... somewhat biased against rivals.
- Unskilled, But Strong: Dawitsu believes Utsuho Reiuji to be this.
- Wiki Walk: Dawitsu goes off on some pretty wild tangents at times...
- Who's Laughing Now?: Downplayed. Yutaka's small-scale vengeance by humiliating Dawitsu by exposing his crush of Sakuya for doing the exact same regarding her and Patchouli.
- Who Wants To Live Forever?: While Dawitsu seems to believe Living Forever Is Awesome, Yutaka is the converse, and doesn't want to live forever.
- Workaholic: Dawitsu considers Hong Meiling to be this, despite her common depiction as a lazy, incompetent guard. Strangely enough, this is closer to her Canon depiction than most depictions of her.
- Writer on Board: In Sakuya's article, there's Typist's Notes, Dawitsu's Notes, Author's Notes and Chuck Norris' Notes. The Author's Notes are there simply to remark how many more notes can exist in one chapter, before Chuck Norris tells him: ONE.
- Written Sound Effect: Lampshaded by the Lampshade Hanger himself, Dawitsu asks if Yutakas typing Onomatopoeia again...
- You're Cute When You're Angry: Dawitsu remarks that Yutaka's 'cute when she blushes' after she gets exposed regarding her feelings for Patchouli Knowledge.
Tropes that apply to Holiday Edition
- The Alcoholic: Suika comes along for the ride.
- All Work vs. All Play: An expansion on the theme brought up in Grimoire, once gain relating to Ran's hard working nature and Dawitsu trying to get her to chill out.
- Aloof Big Brother: Inverted. Tomasu is certainly aloof, having a great disdain for his older brother for his Otakuism. He almost slips out, "I can't go out with a bunch of geeks..." upon suggesting that he, Yutaka, and Dawitsu go out and take Ran and Chen along with them. He stops himself, though, and actually loves his brother very much, though.
- Always Second Best: Dawitsu does a 'See, this is why Yutaka's an awesome Shikigami' type dialogue to Ran more than once...
- Anger Born of Worry: Sakuya slaps Dawitsu in the face for pretending to be hurt by crossing the border, even saying the Trope Page Quote.
- Appeal to Flattery: Dawitsu tries this on Yukari, and succeeds in stalling her for a while by complimenting how good-looking she is.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The gang almost revealed Youkai-kind to the outside world, blew up a restaurant, and took the Eurostar, in Dawitsu's words.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh Shiny!: Dawitsu wishes this was the case with Sakuya and his father as he digs himself deeper and deeper into an awkward conversation, the narration saying he wants to jingle some keys at them and keep them distracted.
- Aw Look, They Really Do Love Each Other: Reimu becomes concerned about Suika and Aya when Yukari mentions locking the border so the Holiday-goers can never return to Gensokyo, causing her to mentally lampshade it by thinking it's strange that she'd actually show concern for others. Also, later on, in the same instance as But Now I Must Go, Tomasu shows his true colors by wanting to go with Dawitsu to Gensokyo... or so it seems, but he just meant for the journey.
- Badass Boast: Yukari's threats to Dawitsu- 'There are a million ways I can kill you right now, using only this Parasol. I don't have to do this, of course. There are a million more ways that I can kill you with my bare hands, and a number bordering a billion other ways I can kill you. I've been nice to you up until now, so tell me one good reason why I should let you live if you won't give me what's rightfully mine?'.
- Bad Date: Subverted in that the meal at the restaurant in chapter five was never a date from the beginning, Sakuya was only trying to make it that way to call Dawitsu out on calling her his wife to protect her from rabid Otaku. Needless to say the effort fails miserably. A closer to straight example in the last chapter, in which Yutaka tries the moves on Patchouli, and in confessing to her, sets off her asthma. It didn't go quite as planned, but they ultimately hook up anyways.
- Beginner's Luck: Sakuya seems to have this in her gaming ability, but in actual fact, it's because she's a n00b.
- "Be Quiet!" Nudge: Yutaka kicks Dawitsu from under the table at a restaurant for being a Jerkass to the waiter.
- Berserk Button: Subverted. French Bar Staff implying Suika cannot take her drink does have disastrous results, but it's not because she's angry; it's merely to prove she is a real Oni.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Sakuya to Dawitsu, after she finds out that she was saved by his surgery.
- Big Eater: If there's one thing Dawitsu and his brother have in common, it's their appetite, as shown when they get a Subway. Yutaka and Ran Invert this with their modest appetites (Ran only has salad in her sub), while Sakuya, Aya, Chen, and Patchouli simply Avert with normal appetites. Suika has no appetite for food at all, and prefers to just drink alcohol.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: A notable case in which the narration states that 'even the narration got bored, and moved to a different scene.' Pretty Anvilicious, obviously.
- But for Me It Was Tuesday: Suika shrugs off the fact Dawitsu's car crash with her in it as merely a 'twitch'.
- But Now I Must Go: When Dawitsu is saying his final goodbyes to Tomasu, the whole scene has a general air of this, even though it's only to return home.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: Dawitsu and co bluff this is the case to explain why Suika is so drunk in a museum, although they know this is anything but true.
- Casual Kink: Once again, Dawitsu seems to enjoy being slapped... also, Dawitsu's father begins to think his son has joined some kind of fetish club relating to animé girls... however, he is mistaken.
- Chekhov's Gun: The secret entrance used by Yutaka and Chen is only next referenced all the way into Jean's Magical Education, and is used by Medicine Melancholy in a murder attempt.
- Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Spectacularly Averted. Yutaka even goes out of her way in the museum containing the Bayeux Tapestry to talk of France's war-waging history.
- The Chessmaster: Not as pronounced as her later appearances, but Yutaka certainly thought ahead by bringing a copy of the Grimoire of Dawitsu with her to show Sakuya that Dawitsu really does love Sakuya.
- Christmas Episode: Well, somewhat obvious. The whole story kind of revolves around the main characters going on Holiday to the Outside World to celebrate Christmas.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: While not showing much of the latter, Sakuya certainly is one clingy girlfriend (both physically and figuratively) and almost instantly causes Dawitsu to have doubts upon asking her out.
- Constantly Curious: Pretty much every Gensokyo Dweller to the outside world, especially the stowaway, Aya.
- Converse with the Unconscious: After the car crash, Sakuya is severely injured and the only one seriously affected by the impact. Patchouli runs over to where her unconscious body is and keeps asking her to wake up.
- Cosplay Otaku Girl: Dawitsu gets the idea on how to make the Gensokyo Girls' weird outfits seem comparatively inconspicuous in the outside world... by pretending they're cosplayers, of course!
- Covert Pervert: Tomasu is only a tad more covert than Dawitsu is, so once again is a subversion. Also, Yukari off-handedly mentions to Reimu that 'It's not like I haven't seen you half-naked before...' when she warps to her house in the middle of her washing her top.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Really, who expected Dawitsu of all people to be the one protecting his peers whenever they came into trouble due to their ineptitude regarding the outside world.
- Deus Ex Machina: Chuck Norris post Heel Face Turn.
- Diabolus Ex Machina: Chuck Norris, before his Heel Face Turn.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Chen of all people manages to knock Yukari out. With a frying pan. Needless to say everyone's a little surprised Yukari was actually hurt by it.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Averted, thankfully. Dawitsu's parents are implied to be divorced, and he even implies to Tomasu that it could be awkward inviting both parents to the Christmas party. Turns out Dawitsu's father has a new wife, and Dawitsu mother actually gets on well with this new wife, so the situation seems pretty much permenent.
- Dope Slap: Subverted. Dawitsu is tempted to do it to Suika, but in the end doesn't.
- Double Standard: The tone of the book Averts this, but Dawitsu's mother certainly believes in The Unfair Sex, and believes men should give up what they want for their beloved.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Averted in favor of realism. After Aya randomly pops out of the boot of his Cadillac, Dawitsu loses control and crashes the car on the motorway, causing the car to be damaged beyond repair, but not exploded. The injuries are the greater concern...
- Face Palm: Or Face Sleeve in Yutaka's case...
- Feigning Intelligence: Dawitsu does it quite a bit in Holiday Edition...
- First Gray Hair: Tomasu winds up Dawitsu by pretending he can see one shortly after they reunite.
- French Cuisine Is Haughty: Played With. While the restaurant the main cast go to is certainly intended to be high-class, there doesn't seem to be any more emphasis placed on the Ecargot and Cuisses de Grenuilles ordered by Yutaka and Patchouli than on Dawitsu's steak and Sakuya's Carbonara.
- Fridge Logic: In-universe example. It's only after getting to the outside world Ran considers how on earth she's going to hide her fox tails in order to make herself blend in with humans.
- Friends with Benefits: The name of the final chapter. Referring to Sakuya and Dawitsu's relationship by the end. It doesn't last into the next book, fortunately.
- Gamer Chick: Sakuya briefly becomes this, getting addicted to Modern Warfare Two. She's also quite good, but only via cheap tactics, so is actually a Subversion.
- Genki Girl: Whenever Chen is asking about Father Christmas, she becomes this, and is very enthusiastic about finding out more about the figurehead of Christmas.
- Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Chuck Norris. Just Chuck Norris.
- Glomp Once again, Sakuya's all over this trope. Dawitsu even does it to Reimu as he discovers that she really does love Suika and Aya.
- The Heart: Yutaka very briefly is this, helping to stop arguments between Tomasu and Mateyuu Dawitsu.
- Heart Is An Awesome Power: Tomasu, Mateyuu Dawitsu's brother, has the somewhat lame-sounding power to control fish. How does he use it? Not to save the world, oh no... only to keep an aquarium of all the world's rarest fish and make a killing from marine researchers and fish collectors. Needless to say he's doing pretty well for himself.
- Hidden Depths: Dawitsu may be silly and wacky most of the time, but when life or death is involved, he's focused, serious, and highly efficient.
- Hollywood Healing: Triumphantly Averted in Chapter Three, in which mentions of body parts and surgical procedures are fairly close to the real thing.
- Hypocritical Humor: Dawitsu complains about Tesco establishing a monopoly, and muses 'Damn fat cats' while Yutaka thinks about, but ultimately fails to point out that he owns a mansion.
- I Don't Want To Ruin Our Friendship: One of Dawitsu's many excuses not to get with Sakuya.
- Incompatible Orientation: Dawitsu rants to Sakuya about why it's best they shouldn't be together, one reason being 'I once wanted Yutaka in that exact same way... but in the end the forged relationship I've had with her hasn't been a romantic one. Do you know why that is?' to which Sakuya responds with, 'Because she's a lesbian and you're not a girl?'. Dawitsu tries his best to laugh it off.
- Insecure Love Interest: Dawitsu... and how!
- It's Not You, It's Me: Related to above. Dawitsu attempts to break it off with Sakuya, this being one of the reasons.
- Large Ham: Dawitsu is still hammy, though not quite as much as in the first book. He's particularly hammy when he's acting as Father Christmas.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Averted. An X-box 360 is mentioned in name.
- Likes Older Women: Inverted. Sakuya like older men. After Tomasu's 'gray hair' remark, Dawitsu whispers to Sakuya, "I don't look old, do I?", and Sakuya replies with, "Not in a bad way...", prompting him to ask, "What the hell does that mean?"
- Little Stowaway: If you count Suika as little...
- Love At First Sight: Discussed between Yutaka and Ran, both of which consider it contrived and not at all realistic.
- Mail Order Bride: Tomasu taunts Dawitsu by joking that the only reason he has all these women surrounding him is because he's ordered them all as Mail-Order Brides...
- The Matchmaker: Initially Yutaka to Sakuya and Dawitsu, and in the final chapter, Dawitsu to Yutaka and Patchouli.
- Mayfly December Romance: One of the reasons Dawitsu doesn't want to get with Sakuya is the significant age gap (nineteen to three-hundred and eighteen) as well as her comparatively short life span...
- Meddling Parents: Dawitsu's Mother is concerned and well-meaning, but also somewhat pushy. Dawitsu's father is the exact opposite, and doesn't seem to treat Dawitsu as anything more than a good friend.
- Mistaken For Pedophile: A random man within the Bayeux Tapestry's museum tries to feel both Ran and Chen's tails to see if they're real or cosplay, and Dawitsu notices this and briefly becomes a Papa Wolf to Chen, until the man explains his motivations...
- Moment Killer: Of the Fatal Fumble sort. Sakuya awkwardly tries to start up conversations with Dawitsu but keeps saying dialogue which is somewhat difficult to keep a conversation going from. Fortunately, Dawitsu is prepared to throw in Conversation Fuel to the fire.
- Mood Whiplash: The end of chapter two, and how!
- Most Gamers Are Male: Considering Sakuya's the only female in an eighteen player game of Modern Warfare Two, this is certainly the case here. The author even slips in an obvious Take That to misogynistic online gamers.
- My God, What Have I Done: Dawitsu, almost the moment he accepts going out with Sakuya just to get her off his brother's X-box.
- Nice To The Waiter: Yutaka, Ran, and Patchouli play this straight. Dawitsu, however, inverts this and is somewhat a Jerkass, though at times, he doesn't know it. Suika,on the other hand, frackin' destroys the restaurant and thus is not the best of customers.
- Nosebleed: The Otaku mentioned below. One of them gets increasingly violent nosebleeds the more Sakuya reveals about herself. In the end Dawitsu has to pretend to be her husband just to get them to back off.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Yuyuko has a bit of fun doing this to mess with Youmu and Yukari, stealth mocking Yukari for being knocked out by a stage two boss with a frying pan.
- Oblivious To Love: Dawitsu averts this, at least in this book. He actually plays on Sakuya's crush on him to attempt to get her off Tomasu's X-box.
- Occidental Otaku: More noteably than the rest of the series, as there are others to Dawitsu here (as the Holiday is to the outside world). They are far worse than Dawitsu in terms of their perversion and social awkwardness, making Dawitsu look plain downplayed.
- One Thing Led To Another: Out-and-out named by Dawitsu... one moment gaming with Sakuya, next in bed with her... what's the difference?
- One Steve Limit: Enforced- the narration has been referring to Dawitsu as... just that, Dawitsu. So, upon meeting Dawitsu's brother Tomasu, who in turn, also has the surname Dawitsu, quite often the narration will refer to Dawitsu as 'Mateyuu' Dawitsu, or at the very least consistently refer to Tomasu as 'Tomasu', not 'Dawitsu' also.
- Organization With Unlimited Funding: Justified- thanks to Yutaka's matter-altering abilities, all of the holiday-goers are this. Lampshaded by a security guard, who's surprised at the main cast paying for a trip on the Eurostar in cash.
- Overly Pre-Prepared Gag: The story starts off with one in a shout out to the infamous 'Chocolate Pudding' scene from Rugrats
- Pair The Smart Ones: Patchouli and Yutaka. It may seem to come out of nowhere, but a reread actually shows subtext that one will miss first time round...
- Papa Wolf: Surprisingly, the Adorkable Dawitsu has his moment protecting Chen from what he thought was a pervert.
- Plot Armor: Reimu has it and knows it.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Subverted. Tomasu tries to be this, but often his humor slips towards Jerkass territory.
- Pride Before A Fall: Subverted and Parodied. Dawitsu lets his pride get the better of him by trying to prove Patchouli wrong by going through the border of Gensokyo (to show it's safe). He then feigns being hurt, and cries for help, but it turns out he was kidding around, much to Yutaka and Sakuya's chagrin.
- Queer As Tropes: Parodied. Dawitsu gets rather defensive about Yutaka's choice of car upon its formation... it's a Pink Cadillac. Yutaka seems to be Genre Savvy enough to know that people would give Dawitsu weird looks for travelling around with a bunch of young-looking girls unless there's a glaringly obvious hint that Dawitsu is gay (even though he isn't). He also plays thumping techno in said Pink Cadillac to enforce the image.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Yutaka is Blue to Dawitsu's Red, Ran is Blue to Dawitsu's Red, Dawitsu is Blue to Tomasu's Red.
- Santa's Existence Clause: Subverted. Santa really isn't real, but Dawitsu still dresses up as the guy to keep Chen's dreams alive (he is a mimicker, after all, he can do a convincing act.).
- Sarcasm Mode: Once again, Reimu is particularly sarcastic despite her brief role in this story.
- Seamless Spontaneous Lie: Dawitsu is very good at this trope, coming up with at least three spontaneous lies, all of which are believed.
- Shopping Montage: While not a Montage, one of Dawitsu's attempts to get Ran to relax is to go down to the Human Village and do some shopping with Yutaka to get herself a new outfit. She ends up finding it too difficult to choose an outfit, leaving her more tense than before.
- Sibling Rivalry: The reason Dawitsu's reluctant to go to his birth town despite being fine with going to his ex-hometown.
- Sliding Scale Of Silliness Versus Seriousness: Dawitsu slides all the way from silly to serious when he discovers Sakuya is injured by the car crash, and keeps that way until he succeeds in sealing her hemorrhage. It seems even the Comic Relief has a serious side...
- Smash Cut: Of a sort. Dawitsu ends chapter four by saying they have to find the two British Tourists with Aya's camera or the reality of Gensokyo could be revealed to all. Chapter five begins with the main characters in a restaurant, with Dawitsu still apparently angry about the fact two tourists have Aya's camera, but Yutaka's forcing him to forget about it for now.
- Some Kind Of Forcefield: The Border of Gensokyo is described as being bluish, and like water, to the point that it ripples when touched.
- Spit Take: Parodied. To quote: 'Dawitsu spat... a non-existent drink in disbelief.'
- Stage Magician: Yutaka pretends to be this as part of Dawitsu's Seamless Spontaneous Lie.
- Straw Feminist: The Narration claims Dawitsu's mother is almost anti-male enough to be one, but just avoids being so.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Suika only goes and blows up an entire restaurant to prove she can handle her drink. Almost blows up a club as well, after buying ecstacy, but fortunately passed out before doing so.
- Strangled By The Red String: Played With. Sakuya and Dawitsu certainly seem to be playing this straight, however, a big subversion comes in at the end, in which Dawitsu decides it's better if they are simply Friends With Benefits. This is further played with by Recompense, in which Sakuya breaks up with Dawitsu because she's found someone who takes her seriously, which triggers the entire events of Recompense...
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: A sign that's intended to be a triple bluff- a sign saying 'This is not a secret entrance' is meant to seem like such an obvious bluff that it could be a double bluff. Of course, it's only bluffing that it's a double bluff.
- Take That: To teenage drinking culture. To quote: 'He whispered, "She's a Youkai that really likes to drink alcohol, so don't listen to anything that she says, okay?" "More than a human teenager?" "Surprisingly, yes." he replied.'
- This And That: Dawitsu tries his very best to avoid actively saying the word 'sex', and Sakuya lampshades this.
- Token Romance: Dawitsu discusses this with Sakuya, asking her what they've done as a couple since getting together as a gentle way of dumping her.
- Translation Convention: Thoroughly Averted with the speech of any of the French people in Bayeux and Paris. Some of the French people working in tourism-based places speak Broken English, but most of them prefer to speak their original language.
- Triang Relations: Dawitsu's Mother presumes a type 7 is going on between Dawitsu, Yutaka, and Sakuya, as she seems unable to accept Yutaka is The Not Love Interest. She doesn't approve.
- Troll: The only description one can give to the brief scene with Yuyuko in this book.
- The Unfair Sex: See Double Standard above.
- Weirdness Censor: Dawitsu and Yukari have a Danmaku fight above a crowd of outside-worlders. They think it's a magic show. Riiiiiiiight...
- William Telling: Sakuya does this to a British Tourist, impaling a Snickers Bar from on top of his head while leaving the man unharmed, so as to back up Dawitsu's lie that they are a bunch of illusionist film-makers.
- Will They Or Won't They?: Sakuya and Dawitsu, not exactly well done. In the end, they... kinda do.
- Xtreme Kool Letterz: Aya certainly thinks 'X' is cool, what with starting her spelling game round with the letter 'X'.
- Yandere Sakuya has shades of this, but nothing too extreme. The Narration even lampshades this.
Tropes that apply to Dawitsu's Recompense
- Accidental Nightmare Fuel: In-universe. It's one of Dawitsu's Subconscious' sections- the 'Accidental Nightmare Fuel that you strangely find entertaining and addictive' section.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Dawitsu in his more Wangsty moments begins to believe this.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Dawitsu doesn't believe in Rangoli patterns giving good luck, yet he clearly practices various forms of magic.
- The Atoner: Dawitsu, of course. It's the whole theme of the book, after all...
- Bad Liar: Dawitsu. Just check below. He's very Trope Overdosed in this book...
- Batman Gambit: A brief one from Yutaka and Ran. Yutaka gets Alice to admit to knocking Dawitsu out by saying that Dawitsu could easily best any resident of the Forest of Magic in battle. Naturally, pride gets the better of Alice, and she blurts out that she didn't even need to fire a bullet to knock him out.
- Bear Hug: Suika, according to the narration, hugs Reimu the same way a vice does...
- Beautiful Dreamer: In a subversion, the reader sees Dawitsu's dreams, and as the narrative switches to Dawitsu waking up, he's found out Flandre has been watching him sleep, making it the same trope, but from the other perspective.
- Blatant Lies: Dawitsu has a fair few, some of which are only believed because the target is too naive to put two and two together.
- Canon Sue: In-universe. Dawitsu out-and-out names Reimu as one, after Yutaka mistakes the Plot Armor-clad Protagonist (from that description alone) for Dawitsu, not Reimu.
- Casual Kink: Taken to the point of Flanderization with Dawitsu. His Sex Drive's embodiment is Nue Houjuu, notably because of her thigh-high socks...
- Change The Uncomfortable Subject: Dawitsu does this a couple of times to try and shift atention away from his more embarrassing secrets. Unfortunately for him (and to the amusement of everyone else) he isn't very good at it.
- Character Development: Dawitsu, Alice, Yutaka, Sakuya, Flandre, Ran... they all seem to emotionally grow in this book. Even the now Out of Focus Reimu gets some...
- Cruel To Be Kind: Rationality's purpose. Also, Dawitsu has a moment in which he actually punishes Ran for overplaying video games in order to stop her becoming a hopeless addict.
- Cuddle Bug: Inverted. Everyone seems to view Dawitsu as a hugging object, Dawitsu mentally lampshading that, in his opinion, he's the guy girls love to hug, but never kiss.
- The Cynic: Dawitsu's embodiment of Rationality may as well be called 'Cynicism'.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Played With to death with Flandre. Dawitsu helps her overcome this and become a better person during the book...
- Dump Them All: An odd Subversion, as Dawitsu has the hots for Alice, Sakuya and Yutaka, not vice versa, and briefly considers 'erasing the Eros file' for all of them.
- Empathic Environment: Played straight this time around... the snow is rather heavy when Dawitsu goes out only to get dumped by Sakuya.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Sex Drive- kinky to the point of fetishizing anything and everything, always acting as slutty as a mental embodiment possibly can... but much prefers sexual desire stemmed from Love rather than raw Lust alone due to dissatisfaction...
- Even The Guys Want Him: Sakuya assumes this is the reason Dawitsu asks Sakuya how Rinnosuke is in bed. Dawitsu denies his man-crush on Rinnosuke, claiming that spot has already been taken by Itsuki Koizumi.
- Face Palm: Done by a few people, not all of them Deadpan Snarkers either.
- First Girl Wins: Dawitsu, under self-examination, realizes he still very much has a crush on Yutaka. In the end, he decides he's probably going to have a hard time falling in love with anyone else.
- Fix Fic: In-universe allusion to it in the third chapter's name. Some might say that seen as Dawitsu is addressing all the formerly unaddressed wrongs he's done, that this doubles as a Meta example also.
- Flash Back: Naturally Dawitsu's embodiment of Memory allows this to happen.
- Freudian Slip: Dawitsu calls Yutaka 'my Love' during his BSOD. He doesn't even try to cover it up, he merely tells her that he doesn't tell her he loves her enough...
- Gamer Chick: Ran isn't as stereotypical a gamer chick as Sakuya was in Holiday Edition, and prefers classics such as Majora's Mask and Mother 3.
- Gossipy Hens: Yutaka is a subversion in that she does not actively spread gossip, but is merely interested in the intimate details of others, sometimes merely so she can offer advice.
- Green Eyed Monster: You'll never guess who Dawitsu's jealousy is represented by...
- Guilty Pleasures: Dawitsu has a chicken suit which he does not want using as matter for rebuilding Alice's house.
- Heroic BSOD: Dawitsu has a brief one when he's confronted by his more negative personality traits in his Dreamscape.
- Hidden Depths: Compare Dawitsu's opinion of Alice Margatroid in Grimoire to his opinion of Alice by the end of the book. She's very different to him once he gets to know her.
- Hold Me: Dawitsu asks this of Yutaka during a brief Heroic BSOD.
- Honor Before Reason: Dawitsu is in the middle of sawing scaffolds to rebuild Alice's house, and Yutaka suggests she just form the larger scaffold into two smaller ones with her powers. Dawitsu refuses on the grounds that he has to make amends, seen as he was the one to cause the event that destroyed her house.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Invoked. Dawitsu, upon introspection, realizes he's wronged a great many people, and takes it upon himself to right these wrongs.
- Love At First Sight: Dawitsu hates himself for how in the past, he'd simply fall in love with women almost instantaneously.
- If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Her: Downplayed. Dawitsu asks Rinnosuke not to take Sakuya for granted, possibly because, as he mentioned in Holiday Edition, that's what he himself was guilty of.
- I Hate Past Me: Dawitsu seems to think his former self is more inept than his current self.
- I Let You Win: A far more non-violent version, Yutaka is said to be coming up with a 'suitably strategic, yet highly flawed move' when playing against Chen in Chess so as to give an adequate challenge while still giving her a chance at victory.
- Improbable Chopsticks Skill: Inverted with Dawitsu. He sucks at using chopsticks, but still insists on using them just to be polite to Alice.
- Incompatible Orientation: Dawitsu, not only with Yutaka, but with Alice too. Dawitsu even lampshades how he always seems to like girls he can't have (Lesbians and humans)
- Insistent Terminology: Parodied briefly by the narrator, stating a Todd Mcfarlane Halo 3 action figure to be a doll.
- I Want My Beloved To Be Happy: Played With. After finding out Sakuya is now with Rinnosuke, Dawitsu berates himself mentally, thinking that he should be happy for them. However, he has a realistically hard time doing so, but eventually gets over it, preferring to stay a good friend of Sakuya's.
- Journey To The Center Of The Mind: The whole basis of the book is mental exploration.
- Loners Are Freaks: Violently Deconstructed with Alice, she turns out to be an extremely kind-hearted individual once Dawitsu and co get to know her.
- Medium Awareness: Dawitsu's Pride considers Dawitsu 'the greatest original character ever made.' Also, Dawitsu mentions that he isn't part of official works at one point.
- Moe: Flandre Scarlet has a ton of Moe moments. That, and Yutaka in a Gothic Lolita outfit, complete with Nosebleed courtesy of Dawitsu. The Author lampshades how Moe his depiction of Flandre in the Author's Notes of chapter four.
- Out-Of-Character Moment: Yutaka whips Dawitsu as small-scale revenge for being lazy the majority of the time. Dawitsu responds with, 'I didn't realise that was your style, but sure, whatever, we can do that stuff, if you want. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. But not now, I'm working.'
- Pride: The embodiment of Dawitsu's Pride is a mirror image of himself, which would also make it Vanity as well...
- Punch A Wall: Subverted. Upon being dumped by Sakuya, Dawitsu goes on a Wangsty self-blame trip, and punches the trunk of a spruce tree in frustration at himself. The snow-covered tree proceeds to dump a load of snow onto Dawitsu... not Played For Laughs.
- The Four Loves: Dawitsu's 'Love' section of his subconscious is split into four 'server rooms'- Storge, Philia, Eros, and Agape. Reportedly Alice's is the same, except her section of Love is a book with four applicable chapters.
- The Reveal: A really early one in Chapter One: Sakuya got tired of being Friends with Benefits with Dawitsu and decided to get with a man who takes her seriously- Rinnosuke. Also, when Chapter 5 ends keeping which 'love file' Dawitsu kept unknown, Chapter 6's ending reveals it's... Yutaka.
- Rouge Angles Of Satin: 'Fazed' is often spelled as 'phased' throughout the book.
- Running Gag: Defied as Dawitsu assists Reimu in fortifying her walls to be fully Aya-proof, thus rendering her Running Gag of bursting in through the wall impossible.
- Sacred Hospitality: Yutaka tells Alice to not refuse Dawitsu's offer for her to stay at his mansion because apparently he considers it an insult whenever someone refuses his generosity.
- Security Cling: Dawitsu does this during his Hold Me moment.
- Ship Tease: Boy, is there a lot of this...
- Shout Out: Every dream sequence of Dawitsu's is shouting out to some other series, partially justified in that he's a mimicker... his mind works on referencing things. Yutaka even makes a Lampshaded reference to the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
- Speak Of The Devil: Wrongly lampshaded as a Deus Ex Machina, Alice asks Dawitsu where his Shikigami is right before Yutaka knocks on her door.
- Stockholm Syndrome: Discussed by the narrator. To quote, 'Now, normally when one gets attacked, kidnapped, and asked a favour, they adamantly refuse to help and run as far away as possible. But, for reasons other than Stockholm's Syndrome, Dawitsu agreed, and decided to take Alice with him to his house, so they could get some supplies.'
- Strangled By The Red String: Finally brought full-circle after Holiday Edition and Deconstructed. After ending Holiday Edition as Friends with Benefits, Sakuya breaks up with Dawitsu as she's found someone willing to have a committed relationship with her.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: A variation on this trope. Alice is disappointed in Dawitsu's scrawny chest, as she's under the impression all men should be 'Tall, Handsome, and Muscular'. She claims he fits one of the catagories. When Dawitsu asks which one, she gives the disappointing answer- 'tall'.
- Training Montage: Once again, Averted, this time with Dawitsu teaching Flandre how to read.
- Tone Shift: And HOW! From the wacky hijinks of the first and second non-spinoff books to a very introspective, characterization-heavy story with serious examination of the personalities of the two original characters and canon characters. The focus on the mundane and personal in this book is something that neither the preceding nor the succeeding books really pulled off. Hell, the author even lampshades the Tone Shift by asking readers if they are okay with it in the Author's Notes.
- Too Kinky To Torture: Dawitsu's embodiment of Sex Drive gets turned on by everything. Even false accusations.
- Visual Pun: Or Olfactory Pun, even. Koishi Komeiji's image is Dawitsu's representative for his Conscience... how does she show that he has an Unclean Conscience? Well, by having hair that's a mess, and reportedly stinking.
- You Are What You Hate: Alice fears that Yutaka might mock her homosexual desires, causing Yutaka to deconstruct this trope, and tell her there's no way she'd bash a member of her own sexuality.
- Zettai Ryouiki: Dawitsu's embodiment for Sex Drive is Nue Houjuu. Make of that what you will.