Standmaku

"'These are called Standmaku. Your mother Eirin has one too, and only people who posses Standmaku have the capability of seeing other Standmaku.' -Kaguya Houraisan, Spellcard is Impossible, Ch.02 - Family Matters"Standmaku ( lit. Ghostly Barrage) is a manifestation of a person's "mental energy" (心的エネルギー). It is an ability that may either be latent in a person, or brought out through external means. These powers are not new in humans, and have existed since even before the evolution of modern man, though humans are not the only ones capable of wielding them.

In general, those capable of wielding Standmakus are called Standmaku users (スタンドマク使い), or simply 'users'. Standmaku generally take the form of a figure why may hover behind their user, though Standmaku occupy all shapes and sizes ranging from humanoid, animalistic or beastlike, or seemingly everyday object. Each Standmaku has its own glowing aura that surround them though this is seemingly random and does not bear any significant meaning.

Definition
Whether in humans, animals or youkai, Standmaku in a sense, represent the will of its user. This is why Hecatia Lapislazuli became gravely ill in in the year 2002 when PADIO's return in Reimu's body caused an imbalance in the spiritual realm and caused many latent users to gain a Standmaku, many before they were able to properly prepare for it. Since the Standmaku actually physically draws on a person's mental energy similar to a battery, for a person who is weak willed, this can be potentially fatal. Such was the case with Keine Kamishirawa and her Standmaku, that manifested on her began and since she was a peaceful, somewhat timid woman, it began to draw from her very life force (生命エネルギー) itself.

"'... given enough time, it'll grow to cover her whole body. She'll suffer from diseases due to her immune system shutting down and eventually lapse into a coma and die.' -Fujiwara no Mokou, Standmaku Crusaders Chapter 8, Mile High Club"

Standmaku And Their Users
Generally, Standmaku are invisible. Only those who also possess Standmaku (e;g other users) are able to see them. Still, they can very much interact with and change the physical world.

Standmaku users often have names for their Standmaku and often invoke these names to summon them to their side, though strictly speaking, this isn't necessary. 90% of Standmaku do not have any kind of sentience though in rare cases it is possible for Standmaku to almost have a will of their own, though the user has the maximum amount of control possible over them. Indeed, Standmaku have an innate sense of self preservation, such as when Kaguya shot herself with the pistol in Chapter 1 of Standmaku Crusaders and her Star Sapphire effortlessly caught the bullet in midair at point blank range.

In the case of a user's death, it has been shown during the deaths of both Chen, Reisen and during Eirin's 'temporary' death, that the Standmaku seemingly dissipates, turning grey before being reduced to a fine powder that disintegrates. Normal incapacitation however, such as a user being knocked unconscious, simply recalls the Standmaku and not destroy like the death of its user. The opposite situation, where the Standmaku is destroyed, is slightly more complicated. In general, damage done to Standmaku will oftentimes reflect on its user as well. Youmu's Silver Queen had part of its leg cut off by Flandre Scarlet's Vanilla Ice, and this injury also reflected on her. However there are often exceptions to this rule and its not always set in stone when this happens. Arturo Watanabe for example experienced almost no injuries from his Pearl Jam being struck, though it did affect him when Hecatia swung the Standmaku while it was trapped inside a rubber glove.

Finally, it is a hard rule that a person may only have one Standmaku. Though users like Suwako Moriya can have their Standmaku 'evolve', they are essentially the same Standmaku. Standmaku that consist of many smaller entities, like Raiko Horikawa's Voodoo Child, or Koakuma's Little Feet, which can split itself, also count as a single Standmkau.

Usage
As being formed from one's mental energy, they act on instinct. They have a sense of self preservation and will unconsciously defend their users, however they can also somewhat be manually controlled. It can be best described as 'willing' them into action. A unskilled user may find this difficult at first, but those with latent powers seem to have a sense on how to use them. Kaguya Houraisan effortlessly manipulated her Standmaku during her first fight with Mokou. Similarly, Hecatia Lapislazuli managed to also figure out how to use her abilities without any instruction. The abilities of these Standmaku can also grow with as their users gain more experience in wielding them through trial and error. This can even translate to entirely new abilities coming out, like Kaguya's ability to stop time with Star Sapphire.

Gaining a Standmaku
There are two main ways that users gain Standmaku. Either through latent ability, or through external means. In Spellcard is Impossible, the concept of a Standmaku creating bow and arrow was introduced which could give those with the mental fortitude a Standmaku and instantly kill those without it. Suwako Moriya was struck through the neck with the arrow and slowly, gained the Standmaku Tusk, which hatched out of an anomalous egg that manifested. The stress of Raiko Horikawa's attacks also served to bring out her abilities.

A different case is that of Hecatia Lapislazuli. While her Standmaku awoken with PADIO's awakening, it is implied that had inherited her Standmaku from her mother, Eirin. This could also be seen as a case of laten abilities and its possible a parent could pass this ability onto their next of kin.

History
See also: Bow and Arrow

Thousands of years ago, a meteorite crash landed in the North-Eastern region of the island now known as Hokkaido. This meteorite formed what would now be known as the Mount Youkai (山の妖怪) in Gensokyo's Central Province. Scientists and historians theorize the intense solar radiation from this event is what caused the divergent species that appeared in and around the crash site and remained endemic to Gensokyo; the precursors to modern youkai species. They were odd, sentient, ape-like creatures with vast intelligence and unusual psychic abilities. These youkai, known as satori (覚 lit. consciousness) would create the bow and arrow from remnants of the crashed meteorite. Supposedly, these youkai were the first Standmaku users, leveraging their incredible mental energies. What happened to the satori and the bow and arrow remains a mystery. A common folk legend popular among the mountain dwelling youkai tribes of live on Mount Youkai, states that fearing this new power, a group of satori hid the arrowheads away and destroyed the bow so that no one else could wield the frightening power of the Standmaku.

In 1929, a group of Kappa hired by a local mining company discovered the supposed remains of one of these satori during a deep excavation near the base of Mount Youkai. From this they discovered that they had been infected with some form of unidentifiable virus the likes of which had never been seen on earth before. This virus seemingly survived thousands of years, clinging to the inside of a satori that had been dead for centuries and preserved under tons of rock. After samples had been sent to the better equipped scientists in Japan, the conclusion was that this virus had somehow had some effect on living brain tissue. What it did exactly wasn't clear.

Fast forward to the year 1999, strange sharpened arrowheads were discovered by treasure hunters at the bottom of the Misty Lake, near Ningen no Sato. Believing them to be artifacts from ancient humans, these were then sold at an auction where it ended up in the hands of a wealthy Yakuza matriarch based in Tokyo. Half of these were then sold off to another buyer who went by the name Ichirin Kumoi who later discovered these could be used to create Standmaku. Thus, PADIO's The World was born from such an arrow and one such item even ended up in Mayohiga, entrusted to the Horikawa family for safekeeping.

Appearance
Standmku range in size, shape and form. They vary widely to being human looking, to more synthetic, to a mixture of both or even seemingly normal looking objects. Generally, these can be broke down into the following different types

Humanoid Type
These are Standmaku that have roughly human shapes and characteristics. They tend to be taller than the average person, ranging from around 6-7 feet tall. Examples include Kaguya's Star Sapphire and Hecatia's Crazy Diamond or Mokou's Fujiyama Volcano

Cybermorphic Type
These Standmaku are similar to humanoid types, though have distinctly mechanical looking parts. Why they take on this appearance is not entirely clear. Examples include Reisen's Lunatic Red and Youmu's Silver Queen

Beast Type
These take on more animalistic appearances as the name suggests and can have features of both humanoid or cybermorphic types. Examples include Chen's Survivor and Aya's In a Silent Way.

Inanimate Type
These Standmaku take the form of inanimate objects or other kinds of machinery. These tend to be non-sentient. Examples include Mike O.'s Sex Pistol and Mizuhashi Parsee's Prisoner of Love.

Ability Type
These Standmaku are the odd one out, lacking a physical form, or are somehow integrated with their user. Examples include Nemuno Sakata's Love Plus.