Editing Touhou (section)

=== Why Gensokyo is a terrible place ===
Youkai aren't allowed to kill humans living in Gensokyo, under penalty of [[blam]], but their nature as youkai means they ''have'' to threaten humans or risk fading away and there aren't very many humans to go around. But if the humans ever managed to purge the youkai menace the Gensokyo barrier would disappear and they would be trapped in the modern world, since the barrier was created with youkai energy. Enter the Spell Card system, the in-universe explanation for why conflicts are resolved through [[Laser Cleric|ridiculous bullet spam]] rather than actual fights where the many retired gods and archdemons would just /win. Duels of beauty in battle, of styles over substance. Youkai and humans (who can pack quite a spiritual punch here) can duel on more or less equal terms, and the loser follows the winner.

"But wait!" I hear you say, "aren't there tons of cryptids that eat people?" You would be right, and the answer to that is [[Grimdark|they eat people from the outside world.]] The Powers that Be in Gensokyo create small tears in the barrier and pull people through (generally the suicidal and [[Fags of 4chan|other people who won't be missed]], giving the "brb gensokyo" meme a new and terrifying meaning) to be hunted down and killed by whatever youkai stumble across them. If this happens to you your ''only'' chance is to make the hellrun to the human village, where you will be given two choices: go back to the normal world where all of this will feel like a bad dream, or stay in Gensokyo with your PvP flag disabled as a villager. This gets downplayed a lot in spin-off material, but it's always there in the background.