I really feel like I have to contest the validity of that last panel.
Isn't the whole point of yukkuri winter nesting behavior to get a bunch of food and then seal themselves in with the food? So how does additional snow sealing them into their nests cause them any distress, when they NEVER INTENDED TO GO OUTSIDE THE NESTS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
If they didn't stockpile enough food to last the winter, it doesn't really matter if they can't get out of the nest anyway, since there's no food outside either, and the snow itself will kill them if they're in contact with it for too long.
If it's in a series, then there's no more food inside the nest to eat. Distressed and losing even yukkuri level of rational thoughts, they would want to go out and look for something, although being yukkuri, they'd likely run back inside after feeling the cold snow and wind. Then realizing the door can't be opened, it's even more distressing. There's a big difference between sealing yourself (and having control) and getting sealed (out of your control).
Right, the issue here is starvation due to not enough stockpiled food. However, the text says that they died because they were trapped inside, implying that somehow had they been able to leave the nest after running out of food, they would have lived. And that's the point which is irrelevant. They would have died of starvation regardless of if the nest was blocked off.
There's still chance. For normal yukkuri... they have to be awesome to be able to find food, plus luck, maybe they will barely survive. Predators and scum could have raided another (still surviving) yukkuri nest before time runs out. Although this is late winter (not winter night) so the chance is slim. Those feeling suicidal could try going to human's village and raid/ask for food.
I really don't think there are many chances of survival in the wild during a snowy winter, yukkuris are shown to be extra weak to cold, without all their preparations and reserves, they just don't make it, they can't stand long at the mercy of the cold and snow, neither can they hunt properly on it. Only those cold proof or thougher types of yukkuris can prevail in the cold of winter.
Of course this is in the wild, in the city it's different.
Well, going out and taking a (slim) chance to collect food and survive in winter, it's anyway better than being trapped in empty nest and starving to death. There's no other choices for those who haven't made enough preparation for winter.
The issue here is that the one trapped is Remilia. While vegetative food is rare in winter field, (hibernating) yukkuris may not be so. While some Remilia stock their food, there could be some who also hunt in winter, provided that the others' nests are abundant and handy.
Yes I know getting out your warm flat to purchase your meal under snow is uneasy, but it's not that difficult if the restaurant is not too far away. Especially you've run out of the instant food like noodles and cookies and what.
You have to consider how hard cold affects yukkuris, it's not just "uncomfort" it basically slowly kills them by just stepping 1 foot outside, plus depending of the location there may not be other yukkuri nests nearby or they maybe covered by snow, and that without counting if YOUR nest's entrance is completely covered in snow like this remirya's.
My previous comment was in general, but's not hard to think that even Remiryas would have a hard time in the snow if they were forced to go out in winter out of not preparing well for winter, if not outright being as doomed as an average yu, unless by chance there are 5 or 8 yukkuri nests nearby to pillage from, and by nearby I mean VERY CLOSE.
Those that regularly survived winter probably never know the situation of their nest from outside. With enough food and probably warmth from the family, there's no need to check on the nest's barrier until warm spring air melted the snow and unsealed their nest. For all they know, the nest is still very accessible.
Then, which I think also works on average human in pressure. 1. Better try your chance than sit there to die. If you're gonna die, better die trying. 2. Want to get out of this fuckin' coffin! I'm not dead yet!
Suddenly I found it hilarious that we're arguing on habitat and biology of purely fictional characters. Not organisms of any known form, but -- buns! It's like there's already a serious subject studying the biological functions of buns, their response toward various stimuli (coldness, heat, stress of starving, reproduction); and amazingly, there're well-established, validated theories to predict and explain the behaviour of such creatures.
Sometimes or another, when I was feeling uneasy in translating very violent or tragic works, or feeling the urge to participate in an argue-it-easy, all I did is to take a deep breath, turn to the last few pages of the posts, and see what the yukkuris initially look like. No violence (or little). No biology (or little). A lot of hilarious, stupid and interesting stories. Turn to page 2317 (at this moment), it's the origin of the origin. Page 2316, the classic work by Makako, including some light teasing. Page 2315, DOS' story depicting yukkuri as food producer, still limited to strange creatures in Gensokyo. They're some of the earliest work. Where did the biology thingies come from?
The biology thingies came from works SINCE those earliest works, and extrapolation based on the whole 'living pastry' thing. If you'll note, there's already a huge departure from DOS' earlier work and Yukkuri Seasons, which is also fairly early. The Marisa did not die despite being out in the rain after having been ripped open. Yukkuri Seasons, on the other hand, depicts them as dying rapidly in rains that only last for tens of minutes.
The thing is, we're not discussing yukkuris back in 2009 or whenever. We're 3 years down the road (haha, yes, me saying this, as a newcomer who just discovered yukkuris last month). Because it's a fandom the Rules and perceptions are constantly evolving. You can't just wipe the slate clean and go back to the beginning at this point. Especially not in a discussion about yukkuri behavior.
I would say that cold is far more damaging to yukkuris than humans, because, well, yukkuris are small. They don't have fur. They are naked, and even the bodied ones don't wear particularly warm clothing. Assuming they need to maintain a certain temperature to keep functioning, once exposed to the cold their core temperature is gonna drop MUCH faster than a human's, as a result of their size and composition.
Also, a human's skin is mostly waterproof. When we touch snow, our body heat will cause the snow to melt into water, but that water is then gonna run off. Further, when chilled, our bodies reroute bloodflow into deeper vessels and away from the skin, so that's gonna keep the heat transfer from our blood into that water somewhat limited.
But for a yukkuri, with its absorbant skin... its body heat will melt the snow into water, and the extremely cold water will be absorbed directly into the yukkuri's filling through its skin. That's going to lower the yukkuri's body temperature MUCH faster compared to a human's.
Heptoct, it happens in All fictions ever created, fandoms love to discuss the setting of their fiction, the rules of it, how things works and what make creatures of that fiction tick. Ever seen those giant robo discussions about their capacities or such, or comparing the advantages and disadvantages of certain space ship classes or making paralels between 2 characters and their combat styles? that's all part of fandom discussion.
Even pseudo biology for monster fauna like yukkuris count, hell, we have many fictions on which even golems get a basic set of biological rules even if they are still living rock without proper organs, so you bet that our golem pastries would make members of the fandom speculate or define pseudo biological rules for them.
Half of the fun of yukkuris is discussing their nature, the other half is enjoy their cuteness or abyuse or both.
heptoct said: Suddenly I found it hilarious that we're arguing on habitat and biology of purely fictional characters.
If you really break it down they're not actually arguing about yukkuri, but rather who has the better opinion/perspective. Such a thing is nothing new for the touhou fandom in general.
Though in our case it's tame compared to what happens in the MAIN touhou fandom, aside of how each discussion helps us build up and change our own views of the yukkuris. It may not look like it, but us discussing them actually is a positive thing for yukkuri lore since that means we are constantly constructing and changing aspects of them to enrich their lore. All this is because yukkuris lack a true "canon" which even the very lacking of plot Touhou has, so each discussion we have, the greater and the better we shape our fanon as.
I would assume during the winter, yukkuri would undergo some kind of shift in their body that would cause them to hibernate. They can stockpile food, but since the humidity is dry and the temperature goes down, I'd assume some kind of solidifying goes on within them, thus allowing them to suspend their spinning paste, sleep, and pass through winter. Winter is a long time, and I severely doubt any underground food supply, save ones they plant and tend to themselves, could make it that long without rotting out.