------< Spoiler Space Again! >-------

More discussion regarding Yuu Yuu
Hakusho and Fushigi Yuugi. If you
haven't seen up to the Insect Flute
in Yuu Yuu or the end of FY, you'll
regret reading this message!

More importantly, this discussion
pretty much spoils a lot of what
will happen in the fanfic! ^_^

Um, which demon-insect story? The one with Setsui?

I'm specifically referring to the story where Suzaku and the other 4
leaders of the Youma use the insect flute to control demon-insects that
infect and posess humans in order to try to force Koenma to lift the
barrier and allow them access to the human world.  And Yuusuke et al
have to fight their way up the castle, defeating each of the demons from
Genbu to Suzaku.  

Okay, now I think I know what you're referring to. I
recall that you're taking this from the manga, right?
Well, I saw the anime, and it was a little different.
I don't remember the specifics, but in the anime
they didn't get to fight Suzaku, Genbu, Seiryuu, etc.
They only fought four leaders, including this big
cat, and the cool looking bad guy whose name I
can't remember. Furthermore, since local dub of
the anime changes the names of the characters
at times, there was no mention whatsoever of
Suzaku or Seiryuu.

That pretty much explains why I didn't recognize
what you were trying to do. 
 

I'm pretty sure that after he defeated Suzaku, Yuusuke would have been
more than strong enough to take out Nakago.  But Yuusuke and Kuwabara
always seem really cocky, and begin each fight by vastly underestimating
their opponents strength and using only the least powerful attacks.
It's not until they've had the crap beat out of them that they start to
fight seriously.  ^_^

Well, as I mentioned, there was no fight between Yuusuke
and Suzaku in the anime. At least, not that I know of. Your
appraisal of Yuusuke and Kuwabara's fighting philosophy is
quite accurate, but still, Yuusuke would have trouble defeating
Nakago after the Demon Insect story, by my estimate.

Nakago's stronger than you give him credit, and the Yuu Yuu 
team isn't terribly strong at this point of the story. In fact, I'd
say they're pretty wimpy at thiz point. Yuusuke's Reigan is
still weak and probably just a bit stronger than Nakago's normal
mind attack. Hiei can't even control the Kokoryuha, and Kurama
has no particularly powerful attacks at this point. Kuwabara,
well, Kuwabara is Kuwabara. ^_^  No matter what point in the
series you take him, Kuwabara is still Kuwabara. ^_^ ^_^ ^_^
 

As I recall, in FY as soon as Yui made the final wish to unseal Suzaku,
the four ghosts of the dead seishi (Hotohori, Nuriko, Mistukake, and
Chiriko) show up and Miaka uses their combined power to summon Suzaku.  

Oh, okay. My memory on this is a little blurry, but I
do recall that all Miaka's seishi appeared to help at
this point. I also recall that all the seishi help out to
kick Nakago's butt, although Nakago kicks all their
butts. ^_^  
 

They like to make dramatic entrances?  ^_^  Seriously though, if they
show up too early, the four of them would have no trouble with Nakago.

Hmm, not really. Nakago's stronger than he looks, hehehe.
But that's my opinion, of course. But looking at how the
YYH story often goes, Kuwa and Yuusuke usually end up
getting into a big fight first before Kurama or Hiei show up.
The two morons usually also get their butt kicked, too! ^_^

I seriously don't think Nakago is on Hiei's level.  I figure that they
only show up when they're really needed, which would be when the dragon
god actually appears in the human world.  As long as Yuusuke and
Kuwabara were only fighting Nakago, there wouldn't have been anything
for them to do.  

Okay. Just checking why you want them to show up later. 
 

Right.  Miaka and Yui had just the right spiritual qualifications to act
as channels for the beast-gods.  Also, I think the human miko has to
actually call the beast-god and willingly give them their body.  That's
why they promise wishes - to convince the respective miko to call on
their appropriate god.  Previous attempts to call the gods were

Ah, okay. It's just that it's a different rationale behind
the normal FY continuity so I'm a little confused as to
what you're trying to do. 

abortive, in the one case because the girl's father killed her before
she could be consumed, and in the other because the girl had strong
enough spiritual energy to keep from being used.   It doesn't really
have to be because there are two of them at once.  But I also think that

Ah, ok. So Miaka's a spiritual wimp. I like that idea. ^_^
In seriousness, though, that explains your idea.

Seiryuu and Suzaku would have maintained the charade of being nice,
wish-granting gods up until the time Suzaku was summoned, so that the
two of them could take over the human world together.  After they were

Yup, definitely different from normal FY continuity.

Both of them.  In my opinion, Hiei defeated Seiryuu way too easily.  And
the Suzaku that Yuusuke fought was strong, but certainly not on the same
level as the Suzaku of FY.  So obviously they were dividing their energy
during those fights, keeping the book as their trump card in case the
insect flute didn't work.  But now they were entirely manifested in the
human world, so they wouldn't have to hold back.

Well, I can't say much here because I never saw Yuusuke
fight Suzaku or Hiei Seiryuu. At least, not that I remember.
 

No, like you said below, Koenma didn't want the 4 beasts to invade and
destroy the human world.  That was the whole reason he sent Yuusuke et
al to fight them the first time.  This time, they invaded the human
world surreptitiously so Koenma didn't realize until it was almost too
late, until the fighting started. 

So Seiryuu and Suzaku basically just want to break through
the book to get to the Human World JUST to destroy it?!?
Don't they want to buckle up and settle down here or something?
What exactly is the motivation of the 4 god/demons of the book?
 

More than you realize.  There's an entire other aspect to this story
that I didn't realize until I got home last night.  Destroying the book
itself in order to stop the gods probably wouldn't help, as the gods are
already in the human world.  All that would do is close the door.  If
the inhabitants of the book are really alive, and have souls, then what
happens to that world and those people if you kill the gods who are
keeping that world alive?  Would the world survive on it's own, and
develope a Klingon-type religion?  ^_^  More likely, the world inside
the book would cease to exist.  Can the other two gods keep the world in
the book alive themselves?  Would they even bother now that their plan
has been found out?  So what happens to the world in the book?  If you
kill the gods and the world is eliminated, the even more important
question, at least in the eyes of Koenma, would be what would happen to
the souls of the people living there.  There's a good possibility that
they would be trapped in limbo for eternity, which is probably one of
the worst things that could possibly happen.  I don't think Enma would
be altogether happy.  I also wonder if maybe Suzaku et al might have

Wait, if the book was just created by the 4 god/demons, then
how come the people there have souls? What is the motivation
for the 4 god/demons to go to destroy the human world? If
they're strong enough to make a world with souls, what are
they worried about Koenma and Enma? Or did they just "steal"
some souls from under Koenma's nose throughout the entire
existence of the book?

enjoyed being "gods".  They might even be fond of their seishi, the way
you might be fond of a pet goldfish or a housplant.  You spend time

So if they're fond of being gods, what's their motivation
for going to Ningenkai to destroy it?

So maybe the goal, instead of killing Suzaku and Seiryuu, should be to
force them to leave the human world and to permanently trap them in the
book.  It's not like they've been bad as gods, is it?  But would the

Trapping someone into a world which he himself created?
I'm starting to see some holes in the patchwork of the plot
here. If Suzaku-tachi created the world in the book, and
the book was actually a weakness in the dimensional
rifts to allow them access to Ningenkai, then doesn't that
mean that Suzaku-tachi have the power to make a hole
in the dimensional rifts to get to Ningenkai? So what do
they need the world of the book for? Why did they have
to expend so much energy to maintain it, and to "steal"
some souls from Koenma?

Um, my head's starting to ache from all this metaphysical
pondering. ^_^

people of that universe, knowing the truth, really want them back?  Most
people probably wouldn't ever have to know, but what about those that
do?  Would Tamahome, Chichiri, and Tasuki ever really be satisfied
knowing that their world and their powers are derived from an evil
megalomaniac?  

Yeah, but where did Suzaku-tachi get all the souls to
populate their world? If Suzaku-tachi were strong
enough to make an entire world, what do they need
to go to Ningenkai to destroy it for? Why not just
destroy Konan country? Does Suzaku-tachi have
some sort of destructive urge to destroy Ningenkai
for some reason, although Konan country is basically
the same as Ningenkai in almost all respects? Or
do you perceive any particular difference between
Ningenkai and Konan Country? Is Konan country
inferior in anyway to Ningenkai in terms of being a
world?
 

No, yes, and yes.  The 4 gods of the book are the same as the 4 demon
beasts that Yuusuke et al fought early in the YYH series.  The 4 gods
were only using the book as a way to invade the human world.  Which

Didn't the 4 demon gods make the book in the first place? They
made the world in it according to your idea, right? Did the book
come into existence because of the world Suzaku-tachi created,
or did Suzaku-tachi use the power of the book to create the world?
What is the book? Just a conduit between worlds, or is supposed
to be some sort of great evil artifact, greater than Suzaku-tachi,
which allowed them to create Konan country?

really throws the religion and philosophy behind FY into chaos, doesn't
it?  How do you react when you find out that your god, the source of all
your power, is really an evil monster bent on world domination, and that
your entire life you've been nothing more than a pawn in a much larger
game?  Somehow, I don't think Nakago would be at all happy about this

I'm used to it. Everyday religion has already showed me as much.
What is the purpose of religion in today's world, anyhow? No,
don't answer that, I don't want to talk about such things now. ^_^

turn of events either.  I had another thought about this.  Can the
seishi even fight against their gods?  If all their powers are derived
from their gods, then it wouldn't make sense that they could be used
against them.  In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Suzaku and

Although the gods give their seishi certain powers, not all a
seishi's abilities comes from their god. For example, 
Mitsukake is a healer, Suzaku or not. Tamahome is still
a martial artist, Suzaku or not. But Suzaku-tachi
definitely does give them stronger power.

Seiryuu could control every aspect of their pawns.  At least those with
relatively weak wills.  But I bet Nakago could oppose them, and Tamahome
when Miaka is threatened.  Also, in order to be a seishi it would have
to require some innate spiritual ability.  So IMHO, at least some of
their power might be their own.  Of course, we wouldn't find out until

Yeah, I'm sure the seishi have some power that is their
own. Chichiri is the best indication of this, and Nakago,
I think.

they actually tried to fight.  This might come off as a pro-Nakago
story, for all you Nakago fans out there who weren't happy with the way
he died in FY.  ^_^  

That's good, cuz I hate how they handle Nakago 
throughout the entire FY series. Maybe the reason
why you think Nakago is so weak is because they
almost never gave him any good scenes. Nakago's
got a lot of power, you know. It's just that he always
just says something like, "I've beaten the crap out
of you. Now I'll go home and you can live for now,"
or some such. I'll send you an excerpt from the
DX Manual which "explains" this thing known as
the "Nakago Syndrome" one of these days.
 

Toguro hasn't shown up yet.  This takes place just after Yuusuke et al
defeat the 4 beasts, and before Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei rescue
Yukina.

Uh huh. I was just a little confused as to what part you
were jumpin in because, as I mentioned, I never saw
the Yuusuke vs. Suzaku thing.
 

You know, with all this discussion, I don't think I'll have
any surprises left to read when you actually do write
the fic. I think we're covering everything right here.
This is one reason why I kept it private, so other
readers will get surprised when you write the fic. 
When I read a fanfic, part of the thrill is not knowing
what will happen next. Now, I practically know everything
about the fic, plotwise, anyway.

=====
As an aside from the fic discussion:

-"Small of Two Pieces" lyrics by Masato Kato, end theme of Xenogears

So, do you know who the singer is? I'd like to know.
And was it the same as the singer of "I am the Wind"
from Castlevania? And who sang the Creid versions?