Gensokyo's Future | 🍺 | Aged Spirits

[Reitisen]

Time for another plot exploration!  Future Plot!

What is being talked about

• Touhou's story being in a post-future state in which characters have changed (in appearance, thinking, maturity, or living status/ETC.) disregards ZUN's floating timeline, which ages characters according to when it is needed.
   
• How the setting could've changed: If you've been part of the fanbase for long enough, you've probably heard about spell card rules and other interesting tidbits that make up the plot for Touhou. All of that could change over time, as Gensokyo is currently seen as a safe place for both humans and youkai, though it might see bigger threats that could topple this law.

Based on these I'm going to create an example of Gensokyo's future.

Keep in mind that this is a theoretical piece based on current information with a tinge of dissolution of the actual ramifications of the plot. Basically trying to be loose on official information while trying to be something else for a bit of fun.

Just think like Akyuu is writing this.

Now time to introduce the changes!

The Story

We aren't going to take this too far into the future in which the MCs are long gone (that's for another time), but probably around an era in which the main characters have sort of already done most of the incident resolution enough to become somewhat pros in dealing with major threats (something around young to mid-adults 25–30).

Incidents around this time are few, with much of the dispute being settled in Danmaku play, but violent youkai are one of the major reasons for some of these incidents occurring on a wide scale given the situation on the outside world being quite chaotic and influencing some of the denizens who are affected by these thoughts.

Reimu

Reimu, at this point in time, had to take up the full mantle of dealing with both youkai and humans who turned into youkai, along with being a dutiful shrine maiden. (If that really mattered in the first place.) Her demeanor is rather more mature given the responsibilities she was saddled with, though her attitude is still reminiscent of her teenage version. Her clothing would more closely represent traditional shrine maiden clothes, though more outfitted for movement, comfort, and the standard array of accessories she would usually have. Whacking the yin-yang orb and bashing her enemies with her gohei stick along with her ofudas (needles) are still her favorite modes of punishment and execution. That much aside, she still is friends with many Youkai who she deems are not harmful to disrupting the peace of Gensokyo; that much doesn't help her reputation with the humans in the village, who still think her shrine is a place filled with dangerous Youkai.

Marisa

Given how Marisa is constantly seeking to empower herself and is in constant contact with incidents, Marisa would've probably been on her way to becoming somewhat of a youkai magician given her obsession with mushrooms and magic, leading her to become something akin to Patchouli and Alice. Though her magic powers would probably be on par with Reimu's given the fact that both of them train with each other in both power and Danmaku, Her personality is rather reserved, but somewhat outgoing and upbeat to those who see it from a public perspective. Aside from her attitude, her clothes are still quite the same, but they have been adjusted to fit more items within various magic pouches and her size. Her usual routines are more refined than in her younger years, as she has focused her efforts on acquiring important magical items that she has deemed necessary for her potions and magic. She has often taken up the job of clearing out problematic and dangerous youkai within the forest and paths of Gensokyo. Her arsenal is still quite the same, but her spell cards are vast in terms of firepower, learned over many years of adapting other spell cards to her own. Her mini-Hakkero and broom stick are still her tools of the trade.

Youkai Of Gensokyo

As with all Youkai, most are rather the types that are good and the ones that are terrible for the balance of Gensokyo. Most youkai try to stay out of trouble given their reputation, which relies on both human fear and the avoidance of exterminators who drive them out of places where they lurk. The treaties of the land are still held as they were years ago, so not much has happened in the years as much of the underworld Youkai are respecting the rules made.

That aside, some youkai do rise up and cause a fuss whenever they feel bored or have some type of plan in action, though it is usually the former rather than the latter. Otherwise, some youkai just outright cause panic and mayhem due to their personality being quite prude and hot to those that don't fit their personality. All of them are equalized with a good beatdown or extermination.

Sages of Gensokyo

Due to the unknown nature of the sages of Gensokyo, not many know of their operations or who their identities are within meetings. One thing is for certain, though: they are one of the most powerful in Gensokyo and keep the peace as they represent the many factions within the barrier. That aside, they mostly operate within their own areas and only convene whenever a credible threat needs their attention. They remain neutral for the time being.

Yakumos

One of the more prosperous yet mysterious clans is probably one of the most important to keeping Gensokyo thriving both outside and inside. The head of the clan is the well-known Yakumo Yukari, who seems to be in different places at different times. She still holds a close connection with the Hakurei shrine maiden and the magician, which has led both of them to become quite the exterminators. (quite ironic) Yukari's personality still remains the same as ever for a youkai, as she still makes others do stuff for her while she sleeps (most of it being her two Shikigami, Ran and Chen), though all of it seems to be keeping the peace of Gensokyo. She still wears her current attire for work and sleep but has been seen in other clothes aside from the usual. 

Right going to end that for the examples.

All of this is an exploration of what a future Gensokyo would be like in a not-quite-so-distant future. I haven't gone quite into the drastic future in which everything is thrown at the wall yet, but that is for another time.

[Juuni]

I think this type of stuff is the most fun to headcanon. Thinking on what an immediate future for a character is very different than awhile ahead, so I’ve really liked the ideas presented here. The only thing I’d say isn’t too well supported is that Marisa strays far away from magic that would turn her to a youkai, as she feels it’s unnecessary and she doesn’t need it. It’s essentially her big piece of pride in her work with magic. Some of my thoughts for characters going forward in the future has mostly been of Keiki. Keiki is an interesting case as she’s stated to have left the animal realm to live on the surface. She wasn’t welcome in the animal realm largely because her nature of making humans to idols upset the realms balance and caused incidents, so she moved to stop that. The interesting part is that this would cause her to lose her intial source of faith, only really having mayumi left as a consistent source. My headcanon is that this causes Keiki to lose godhood and become a normal youkai, Hina style. She would basically be doomed to wander the surface, not really fitting anywhere and having a hard time to adjust. I don’t exactly know what she would do from there, but my feeling is that she might either seek revenge on who she thinks got her there, or try to seek shelter with one of the religion groups. So yeah, many characters are fun to think about where they would end up as results of incidents and time in my opinion! Sorry for rambling about something slightly unrelated though.