Feng Lengshun
Z-Program Researcher
- Location
- Indonesia
A New World by IcedFairy
With that said, it's still one of my favorite fanfics and my favorite Touhou fanfic and fan-made story, period. First of all, it uses the Maribel and Renko duo which are underused characters and it also dives headfirst into the "Maribel and Yukari" plot/theory, which are something a lot of fan, me included, love to talk about. The gist of it is that Yukari was the creator of Gensokyo, with the power to manipulate the boundary of everything, and Maribel from the "spin-off", you can say, have the same power (or at least developing into the same power). Maribel would often go to Gensokyo when she's sleeping and dreaming, so there is probably some connection between the two, though it's never confirmed.
The story starts from where the Maribel and Renko story originally ended (it has since been continued), when Maribel tries to go to the Lunarian's true moon by altering the boundary between the moon and the full moon's reflection - which is the method Yukari uses when she opens a portal to the moon.
They're found by the Watatsuki sisters and, since they didn't reach the true moon by accident and know they've reached the true moon, they wouldn't forget about it even when sent back to Earth. So they're sent to Gensokyo instead. Except this is 300 years since the death of Yukari Yakumo, who was the one maintaining the Great Hakurei Border that allows Youkai to exists with the meager belief in their existence left in the world. With her death, the border becomes completely solid so no one can get in and out, and no one was there to spirit away humans and corpses from the Outside for the Youkai's foods. With Reimu's death, there isn't a strong Hakurei who can nonchalantly beat Youkai, get along with them, and maintain the rules with ruthless efficiency. So Gensokyo is no longer the carefree place it once was, and the balance it currently hangs on is untenable.
But as the second part's summary said, Gensokyo isn't the only one having problem. Outside world Humans have commercialized moon tour and colonization, and with them they bring the filth/impurity/kegare inherent to all things that are part of the cycle of life and death. The Lunarian are only immortal and so strong because they are Pure being, and with even the true moon being affected by impurity, things aren't looking so well for them. On top of that, there are more than a few people with beef with the old Yakumo, and hearing that her reincarnation is alive and well in Gensokyo, well. They might as well enact their revenge.
This culminates in the third part which is the best part; an all-out magical war. The "magical war in a world that has muggles/masquerade" plotline is one of my favorite plotlines of all, especially when it's more Eastern/Japanese urban fantasy than Western. Shakugan no Shana series still hold a dear place in my heart because of its epic magical war in the last season. This one is no different, with the Lunarian side desperate for revenge and the Gensokyo side being divided. On top of that, a clash between a race of uber-strong magical humans with technology more advanced than 24th century humans (by a millennium) and thousands of equally strong mythical beings isn't going to go without its collateral damages.
The result is an extremely pitched battle where characters can and do die (not many, but still). All while everyone still dances to Yukari's tune, even three centuries after her death. The moment in the end when it's revealed what her true plan is... mh, still my favorite moment in Touhou fanfiction. If you're familiar with Shakugan no Shana, then it's like Yuuji pulling "This was all a decoy" in S3E23.
While the first two parts are enjoyable, especially for Touhou fans since there are a lot of fanservice/continuity with canon (at the time) in it, it's that third part that makes it all so great. And I highly recommend it as the best damn Touhou fic I've ever read due to, if for nothing else, that part alone. Of course, the Touhou fandom having so many people with highly variable preferences in it might make some people not into it because it pushed their pet peeves button or two - but IcedFairy's work is generally well-received by most people on SB, so the writer is good even if they have their own interest in what they write.
Anyway, that's my rec. If you like it, try IcedFairy's other works, as they're very good as well (in particular, check out Makai Shopping Trip -> Witches' Ball -> Walpurgisnacht -> Witches' Duel -> Marisa's Summer Camp of the Magician series, which is a damn fine series of Touhou fanfic focusing on Marisa, Alice, Patchouli, and Koakuma)
edit: I forgot, Transformation is the one where the Magician trio finally got together. Well, since I'm including the more romance parts of the Magician series anyway: Transformations-> Magician's Wedding (part of Magician series proper) | Three Christmas Gifts -> Chain Reaction -> Hopeless Prank (not part of Magician series proper, cracky) | Hiroshima Investigation Trip (dunno how it plays into the series since I haven't finished reading it)
So, this series is for people who are semi-familiar with Touhou. You can still enjoy it even if you aren't familiar with Touhou, but the premise is very continuity-heavy - if you aren't semi-familiar with Touhou, a lot of the first part wouldn't be as enjoyable. This is because the story is set around ~300 years past (at the time) current Touhou years so a lot of the delight in the first part is seeing how things have changed from the time of canon and what happened to the characters. Also, it used developments from the author's other stories, the Magicians series, and some people aren't into that specific pairings.
With that said, it's still one of my favorite fanfics and my favorite Touhou fanfic and fan-made story, period. First of all, it uses the Maribel and Renko duo which are underused characters and it also dives headfirst into the "Maribel and Yukari" plot/theory, which are something a lot of fan, me included, love to talk about. The gist of it is that Yukari was the creator of Gensokyo, with the power to manipulate the boundary of everything, and Maribel from the "spin-off", you can say, have the same power (or at least developing into the same power). Maribel would often go to Gensokyo when she's sleeping and dreaming, so there is probably some connection between the two, though it's never confirmed.
The story starts from where the Maribel and Renko story originally ended (it has since been continued), when Maribel tries to go to the Lunarian's true moon by altering the boundary between the moon and the full moon's reflection - which is the method Yukari uses when she opens a portal to the moon.
They're found by the Watatsuki sisters and, since they didn't reach the true moon by accident and know they've reached the true moon, they wouldn't forget about it even when sent back to Earth. So they're sent to Gensokyo instead. Except this is 300 years since the death of Yukari Yakumo, who was the one maintaining the Great Hakurei Border that allows Youkai to exists with the meager belief in their existence left in the world. With her death, the border becomes completely solid so no one can get in and out, and no one was there to spirit away humans and corpses from the Outside for the Youkai's foods. With Reimu's death, there isn't a strong Hakurei who can nonchalantly beat Youkai, get along with them, and maintain the rules with ruthless efficiency. So Gensokyo is no longer the carefree place it once was, and the balance it currently hangs on is untenable.
But as the second part's summary said, Gensokyo isn't the only one having problem. Outside world Humans have commercialized moon tour and colonization, and with them they bring the filth/impurity/kegare inherent to all things that are part of the cycle of life and death. The Lunarian are only immortal and so strong because they are Pure being, and with even the true moon being affected by impurity, things aren't looking so well for them. On top of that, there are more than a few people with beef with the old Yakumo, and hearing that her reincarnation is alive and well in Gensokyo, well. They might as well enact their revenge.
This culminates in the third part which is the best part; an all-out magical war. The "magical war in a world that has muggles/masquerade" plotline is one of my favorite plotlines of all, especially when it's more Eastern/Japanese urban fantasy than Western. Shakugan no Shana series still hold a dear place in my heart because of its epic magical war in the last season. This one is no different, with the Lunarian side desperate for revenge and the Gensokyo side being divided. On top of that, a clash between a race of uber-strong magical humans with technology more advanced than 24th century humans (by a millennium) and thousands of equally strong mythical beings isn't going to go without its collateral damages.
The result is an extremely pitched battle where characters can and do die (not many, but still). All while everyone still dances to Yukari's tune, even three centuries after her death. The moment in the end when it's revealed what her true plan is... mh, still my favorite moment in Touhou fanfiction. If you're familiar with Shakugan no Shana, then it's like Yuuji pulling "This was all a decoy" in S3E23.
While the first two parts are enjoyable, especially for Touhou fans since there are a lot of fanservice/continuity with canon (at the time) in it, it's that third part that makes it all so great. And I highly recommend it as the best damn Touhou fic I've ever read due to, if for nothing else, that part alone. Of course, the Touhou fandom having so many people with highly variable preferences in it might make some people not into it because it pushed their pet peeves button or two - but IcedFairy's work is generally well-received by most people on SB, so the writer is good even if they have their own interest in what they write.
Anyway, that's my rec. If you like it, try IcedFairy's other works, as they're very good as well (in particular, check out Makai Shopping Trip -> Witches' Ball -> Walpurgisnacht -> Witches' Duel -> Marisa's Summer Camp of the Magician series, which is a damn fine series of Touhou fanfic focusing on Marisa, Alice, Patchouli, and Koakuma)
edit: I forgot, Transformation is the one where the Magician trio finally got together. Well, since I'm including the more romance parts of the Magician series anyway: Transformations-> Magician's Wedding (part of Magician series proper) | Three Christmas Gifts -> Chain Reaction -> Hopeless Prank (not part of Magician series proper, cracky) | Hiroshima Investigation Trip (dunno how it plays into the series since I haven't finished reading it)
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