20 | Shopping Frenzy!

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Helping a grand opening go well
When: August 21
Where: The Near Shore
Summary: The owners and employees at a new shopping center are begging for help. Bad luck has plagued them, and their grand opening is this weekend! Gods and shinki alike have been asked to respond to their prayers on Opening Day, find the source of their misfortune and ensure that the opening goes smoothly.



The Yamada Corporation is opening a new, high-class department store in a Tokyo suburb. They've been running advertisements for weeks and excitement among their prospective customers is at a fever pitch. Unfortunately, things inside the project aren't going so well. Construction has been delayed, deliveries are wrong, employees keep getting sick or hurt on the job and it's starting to look like the grand opening will be a grand disaster. Their fervent prayers for help have reached the Heavens, who are passing them along to you to be granted... but with an addition: Heaven, too, is very interested in learning where that bad luck is coming from.



Maintenance Madness

For a brand-new building, Yamada Department Store is having a lot of maintenance issues. Toilets are overflowing, lights are burning out, stair railings are coming loose, and either the air conditioning is set so cold there's frost on the vents or it's not working at all. The overworked maintenance crew needs all the help they can get! How many gods does it take to change a light bulb?

Secret Shoppers

Are you really going undercover to make sure you stop problems before they start, or just enjoying a day of high-class shopping on Heaven's dime? Whatever your real motivation is, all expenses are covered... but you'll still want to keep an eye out for mishaps. Unfortunately, the grocery and bakery in the basement are under construction (they've had some flooding problems) but there are still six floors of designer clothes, consumer goods and restaurants to enjoy.

Retail Rescue

Between mysterious accidents and that nasty flu that seems to be going around, the department store is badly understaffed. Grab an employee uniform and someone else's nametag and pitch in before the lines get too long. There are positions open in every department, from the restaurant on the top floor to book sales on floor one.

It's not just sales and service you have to worry about: thanks to the store's misfortune, displays are toppling over, the wrong orders are coming in, fancy candies are melting all over the shelves and ink tags are exploding on their own. This is hard work!

Intrepid Investigators

The Heavens aren't just sending so much supernatural help to this department store to keep their faithful followers happy. They have reason to suspect that there's something more sinister behind this mysterious streak of extra-bad luck. Between keeping the lights on and the customers happy,
you've been asked to search the store and investigate all of the "unlucky" incidents in order to determine what's going on. The shinki who brought you this request hinted that Heaven would look favorably on anyone who uncovered something particularly useful....

If your character is investigating the department store and needs to know what they have found, please comment to the "Investigations" thread below with a link to your thread. Your hint will be provided.

Investigation threads longer than 10 comments will earn 200 followers for every god in the thread and 20 exp for every shinki. Once your thread reaches that length, please turn it in by replying to your hint under the "Investigations" thread to let us know you've earned the bonus.

In Summary:

• Keep the lights on
• Take some time out to enjoy a shopping trip
• Make sure the customers are happy
• Discover the cause of the bad luck
• Have fun~

Comments

[redotiertwo]

[A: Secret Shoppers]

[So Davesprite totally isn't being lazy, but...okay, yeah, he's totally being lazy and also taking advantage of the shop and/or the Heavens bankrolling all their spending here. He can primarily be found hovering around either the 1st floor music department or the 5th floor electronics, looking at sound systems, various music mixing devices, and headphones with the kind of rapt interest characteristic of a musician.]

Damn, they've got some high-quality shit here, what do I even pick...

--

[B: Retail Rescue]

[There's a whole one place Davesprite can get away with revealing himself to customers: the toy department. Anyone who comes by him there has just assumed they've dressed someone up as a promotional stunt, and he's gotten a few compliments on the realistic costume and how patient he must have been to get painted up like this. He's okay enough with that, though, because it means he can keep an eye on displays that keep toppling very specifically towards the nearest customer.

Which may include heavenly residents, so Davesprite may swoop in front of any falling displays angling for hapless helpers. Unfortunately, pushing the entire contents of a display back up is a bit of a crapshoot.]

...Okay, a little help here, maybe.

[kokuyoyo]

...For music...?

[Chikusa isn't entirely sure how he's ended up in this part of the shopping center, but that's happening a lot lately. The only thing that keeps him from being more twitchy is the knowledge that Ken is nearby, so he's fine with just.... trying to figure out how to get back to the doors.]

[However, Davesprite is a familiar face, and Chikusa is faintly sure he saw something about this on the BBS before, so he drifts to a stop nearby.]

[redotiertwo]

No, for decoration, the music is just for bonus points. What the fuck kind of scrub buys headphones or mixing tables for music, right.

[Sorry Chikusa, but he kind of had to take that deadpan potshot given the department he's in right now. It's basically the general musical shenanigans area of the electronics section, and it's just a good thing their speaker displays don't seem to be working, or it'd be even more obvious exactly which part of the store they're in.]

[kokuyoyo]

...Anyone not a hipster....

[#aesthetic and all that]

[Still, Chikusa kind of shuffles over, looking at what Davesprite is currently eyeing up. He knows approximately shit all about music.]

....How much room does your temple have...

[redotiertwo]

Wow, come on, some hipsters at least have the sense to buy music shit for music. Also they'd be buying an actual fucking phonograph, not a turntable.

[Fucking hipsters. Davesprite sure isn't one and definitely never has been at any point of his existence, clearly.]

It's not huge, but it's not small. My room's pretty big and I haven't filled it with shit yet, so there should be room for a good setup.

[kokuyoyo]

[There's a long thoughtful pause about this.]

Neo-hipsters.

[jfc chikusa]

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite just looks at Chikusa for a very long and measured moment after he says that.]

If you weren't already dead then I'd say you were going to hell just for suggesting that concept.

[Normal hipsters are bad enough, they don't need hipster hipsters.]

[kokuyoyo]

Can still wrack up credit....

[But since he's already suggested one of the Worst Possible Things, Chikusa shuffles a little closer to look at the selection of equipment.]

....Could make a top three list and decide from there...

[redotiertwo]

Is hell credit the kind of credit you really want to be racking up.

[Just because they're not in hell right now doesn't mean they can't be kicked downstairs for such awful transgressions as suggesting neo-hipsters.]

I'd kinda still have trouble narrowing down to top three, most of the brands that do studio-level shit are pretty fucking good, and when you take price out of the equation that just makes it harder.

Secret Shoppers

[pure_radiantics]

[She miiiight be tagging along purely out of hope to get to know Davesprite better. She hasn't called him 'brother' the way she did the old temple family. Knowing him as she does, she didn't think he'd appreciate it, but at the same time she isn't sure it's right yet. Maybe she's still trying to figure out how best to interact with Davesprite... but then again, that's the whole reason she's approached him now. More hang-out time.]

Do you want any help, D-S?

[Maybe a nickname to start.]

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite never really got to know Yuto properly, so as the local exemplar, he feels kind of obliged to do it with Kairi. At least he probably gets on with her better already than he did Yuto, though he still has his doubts about how much he's actually going to be contributing here.

Still, he's definitely not opposed to some second opinions, and he waves a taloned hand across a display of headphones.]

Mostly trying to figure out which of these options actually has the orgasmic sound quality every audio company worth its salt likes to lay claim to.

[pure_radiantics]

Oh... that's... good.

[ She's trying to figure out what all of his words mean and the Disney side of her brain is just record-skipping over 'orgasmic'. ]

So if I put two different headphones on and tell you which seems better, that would help you out?

[redotiertwo]

Maybe. I mean, sometimes experts overthink shit and miss what stands out to amateurs. No offense meant, but you don't look like you've handled this level of audio equipment in your unlife.

[His tone is as deadpan as ever, which may help his case on not trying to be rude. But it is true that she might have something to offer despite her inexperience.

After a moment of consideration, Davesprite hooks a bulkier pair of headphones off the display.] Try these.

[pure_radiantics]

Well you're right about that! [She takes the headphones from Davesprite.] The last time I went shopping for headphones, it was more about the physical qualities - something that would work for Dust's ears.

[She holds the headphones in one hand and then uses her free hand to put it up on top of her head for a visual representation.]

Let's see...

[And she slips on the pair that Davesprite handed her.]

[redotiertwo]

[That's a familiar name, though not enough that Davesprite doesn't need a minute.] I think I've heard someone mention that guy before, when I was asking about other not-human people we have hanging out here. Haven't seen him enough to know what you'd need for that, though.

[Thankfully, Davesprite's ears are entirely human, but for maybe a slightly thinner and more angular tip and a little feather fuzz behind them.

When Kairi slips on the headphones, Davesprite circles around her briefly.] Not offensively huge, I can work with that. If there's anything striking you about the sound, just say when.

[He tweaks the volume knob on the display for that set of headphones a little, just in case they're set too low.]

[pure_radiantics]

[Kairi moves the headrest part forward and backwards on her head, trying to feel where it's most comfortable, then listens for when he starts turning the knob.]

Oh... oh it's almost like being in a small room with a loud sound going. Is it supposed to do that?

[There's a noise-cancellation setting she's got turned on, so that plus the full-ear covering makes the sensation happen. She lifts one of the headphones off to better hear his response.]

[redotiertwo]

[Davesprite turns it down a little once she remarks on that, tipping his hand a bit.] It depends on your preference, but yeah, if you're talking small room like one you can't hear any other sounds in, that's usually a good thing. You don't want other sounds in fucking with your main one.

[And effective full-coverage ones can help calm things down a bit if you're performing, too, so there's that.]

shopping!

[papillonprincess]

I'd been asking myself the same question but I think our needs might vary.

[ She's currently in the market for a decent set of headphones herself. Something decent for a gaming laptop. But she does notice those fancy cat ear headphones with the LED lights. ]

Though I don't suppose those would be to your tastes.

[redotiertwo]

Nah, can't pull off cat and bird at the same time while I'm already also pulling off ghost and human. There's such a thing as too much. Also, I'm not seeing any orange LEDs in there.

[Still, if Hime's looking for headphones, she could probably do worse, and he floats over to pick a pair up and inspect them.]

You'd do a way fucking better job of it, though.

[papillonprincess]

Far too many halves for your liking? Bird, ghost, human... adding cat to the mix would probably be a bit more complicated.

[ But she'll settle for something on the lower racks. It's far simpler than the LED 'phones. ]

If I was in it for the look of it, maybe. They're a bit too much for what I need.

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, I'd need to start looking into being multiple people for that. [As if to demonstrate his point, he conjures a semi-transparent imprint of himself next to him before waving a hand through it to dismiss it.] Pretty sure that isn't all it's cracked up to be.

[He is kind of curious what Hime's in the market for, though, so he leans down to look at those.] So casual use, otherwise there's no reason to be working on a budget when someone else is paying the tab anyway.

[Guess who was really obviously looking at the DJ and studio headphones, all of which are in the "expensive as hell" range.]

[papillonprincess]

[ Trippy. She's never seen anything like it before... as far as she knows, at least. ]

I can only imagine the level of identity crisis one would have so many halves...

[ It's a Sennheiser, what she has on hand. Less flashier but apparently better stats? ]

Though you have a point, it just seems to be a waste to get something complicated just for home use... Mostly to drown out sound and learn songs, really.

[redotiertwo]

Probably at least as many levels of identity crisis as halves they have. And then probably a new one for every way their different halves interact, so that's a shitload of identity crises.

[This is clearly a subject Davesprite has put a lot of thought into and definitely isn't bullshitting stuff about.

Nonetheless, since Hime knows what she's going for, Davesprite can help her a bit there, and he taps at the set she has in her hand.]

If you're going for something like that, these are a solid brand, and since someone else is picking up the bill, you can go up the scale to their pricier casual ones. They do a lot of studio shit too, but that just means they know their way around a pair of headphones.

[papillonprincess]

I've been looking up some good brands, actually so I recognize the name but there are more selections than I thought there would be to begin with.

[ But his advice is solid and she's sure he knows what he's talking about so she'll set what she has down, deciding to look through everything else they have on display. Though she'll have to take his word on the halves bit. ]

So... how have things been going with you?

[redotiertwo]

Yeah, headphones are a pretty packed market, hard to get a monopoly on an industry where there's gonna be so much difference in what people want out of them. As long as they sound good enough, they're just as valid a player as any other company's.

[Or really, if they sound like shit and look good. It really depends on what people are prioritising. In any case, Davesprite hands her back that pair and returns to browsing the studio headphone models as he answers that question.]

Alright. Hajime had another shinki move in recently, but I haven't seen the other guy who's supposed to live with us since last night. I'm trying not to assume the worst, but you kinda assume the worst when that happens around here.

[Davesprite doesn't sound particularly broken up, even if he sounds serious enough - he didn't dislike Yuto, but they'd never really gotten on.]