thenearshore | 018 | Season Spirits

018 | Season Spirits

Who: Everyone!
What: Season spirits and spooky things
When: IC August 1-15
Where: The Near Shore and Far Shore
Summary: It's the time for spirits to get a bit more 'lively'.

August is a spiritual season in Japan with many people preparing for the Obon festival but many others get into the spirit in another way. All across Japan, people have begun to share their favorite summer ghost stories. Movie theaters advertise the hottest horror flick of the season, teenagers challenge each other to do trials of courage, haunted houses begin to pop up, and it feels like you can't change the channel without switching to some ghost hunting urban legend special. All of this talk about spirits comes at a cost, though.

July comes and passes easily enough but it's almost as if as soon as August begins, so do the incidents. There's an increase in spiritual activity and shenanigans on both shores. Some of them are harmless spooks but others are much more sinister. Arm yourselves with all of the ofuda and omamori you can find and get out there and restore peace!

Possessed Possessions

Inhabitants of the Far Shore may awaken to find their sheets trying to strangle them and shoes stomping on the floor around them. Others may go about their day and find out their teapots suddenly only serve lukewarm tea or their weapons are trying to take swings at them. They're just playful spirits that will abandon their hosts if you shove any ofuda/omamori at them or yell loudly enough. They aren't malicious spirits... they were only just trying to have some fun.

Spirited Festivals

There's a festival every weekend and some of them have set up haunted houses for patrons to visit. You have your standard haunted house thrills... costume make up, jump scares, special effects smoke, the usual! But it looks like some real ghosts have made themselves at home here. Visitors are going in and emerging hours later absolutely traumatized. It looks like once you enter, the real spirits walk you around in circles and give you real scares. There are some spirits here just to have fun thrills and these are spirits that can be chased away with regular ofuda. But it looks like the more violent ones are actually ayakashi out for vengeance. Be careful in there!

Cursed Charms

There sure are some weird trends out there, huh? The latest one is buying cursed trinkets off the internet and passing them off as gifts to unsuspecting victims whether it be to prank a friend or get revenge on an enemy. Cursed mirrors, dolls, fake ofuda, VHS tapes, and so on are being passed around the Near Shore and spreading all sorts of curses.

Bad luck. As long as you're in possession of the cursed item, you'll be followed by bad luck to varying degrees depending on the quality of the charm.
Fear. Holding onto this charm results in intense, crippling fear. The fear can manifest as an intense paranoia at all times or being frozen with fear in the face of danger. Some say you can even die of fright...
Sickness. This charm is pretty straightforward. Having this charm just makes you feel incredibly under the weather and your health will worsen the longer you have the charm.
Evil. Holding onto this charm results in you being followed attracting evil instead of warding it. Suddenly, you feel as though you are always being followed, as if something is stalking you and clearly out to get you. You begin to run into smaller ayakashi at first but they keep growing in strength and number until you can't fight anymore.
Bad romance. Someone's meddled with a romance charm so it ends relationships instead of making them! People stuck with this charm are suddenly hyper aware of the faults of others. Everything gets on your nerves and you can't stand being around that person because they're just that annoying. It doesn't just work on couples! It also works on friends and relatives too.
Bears? An oddly specific curse. It looks like someone has taken a protection from bears charm and made it so now you attract bears where ever you go. Some of them are nice but others...

You can try to destroy the charms but you will find that unless you have purification powers or rend it, the effects last. It looks like most people have been able to shake off the effects by simply disposing of them at temples and buying another charm to counter the effects.

Haunting Hour

There are reports of violent attacks at night-- people being pulled into alleys and attacked, school children being chased by slashers while walking home from school, homes being broken into-- and all of it is done without a single clue left behind to explain who did it. People are warned to be careful at night and as the sun begins to set, something happens. The hour between sunset and dark is supposed to be the scariest hour them all. At this time, the shadows are suspiciously bigger and darker and you constantly see things just out of the corner of your eye. Suddenly, the wind blows cold and there's a rotten smell in the air like blood. It's Oumagatoki, the hour evil spirits meet. Small time ayakashi and spirits on the verge of becoming ayakashi spill into the streets and begin to terrorize others. Protect the people of the Near Shore and watch your own backs.*

* These are just generic ayakashi! Nothing special, nothing specific. Feel free to make up and NPC your own two-bit ayakashi.

THEN WHO WAS PHONE?

In the evening, everyone will receive a set of coordinates and a message from an Anonymous sender,

I want to talk about the
mysterious things that have been happening
lately.
OF course, i
NEED
EVERYONE to come. so don't be
late! see
yoU.
:)

Everyone receives it and there is no way to track where the message came from. If you follow the directions, you'll arrive at a small temple on the outskirts of a city. A sacred fire is lit on the grounds for people to dispose of any cursed or old charms they may have collected. Hang around a bit and it'll become obvious that no one knows who has gathered all of you here tonight. The only ones around are gods and shinki. It doesn't look like any evil spirits are around so other than being invited to the middle of no where at night... there's nothing to worry about. If you wait around, nothing will happen. So while you're here, you might as well discuss the strange happenings! Or tell ghost stories around the fire.

Wildcard

Choose your own adventure! Feel free to make up your own prompts. Ronald Knox's player (

diehardreaper) has offered up their temple as a test of courage in the Far Shore for those who want to try their luck. Check out their description under the Baron's manor.

In Summary:

Beat the heat by feeling a scary chill
Deal with cursed and spirit-imbued items
Keep the Near Shore people safe
Chat about your scary encounters
Have fun~

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If someone's only your friend because you're giving them free stuff, they're not your friend. [At least that's the only part of that remark Shun directly has a problem with, though he's not entirely sure how well trying to befriend spirits that know family members' spirits would go.

Shun can definitely see that smirk, but the bigger issue is the attempt at a nudge - as soon as she makes the motion, Shun brings up a hand to block her elbow. It's gentle for what it is, but it's still a firm refusal.]

Touching me without warning is a bad idea unless I trust you. And I trust less than a handful of people here enough for that. [Given her age, he doesn't go into detail about how bad he can be with that sort of thing, but he feels this is probably enough for now. As it is, his tone isn't admonishing or negative; it just seems like he's trying to avoid something they'd both regret pretty quickly.]

Yeah but it's a good start to being friends! I mean, you can't really give away free stuff all the time! [Although, it'll sure be nice to have a friend who has a few perks here and there. However, she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her mind. She can't be too selfish here!

But when Shun blocked her elbow a little, she simply raised an eyebrow. Oh dear, she didn't go too far, did she? The last thing she wanted was to make a potentional friend mad at her already!]

Oh. [With that, there was a slight pause.] Well, I can understand. I know a few people aren't too touchy feely or something! But I hope that you'll have a lot more people you can trust in the future!

[Not that she was implying that maybe one day he could trust her. She didn't know what made him to be like this but hopefully he'll have more friends in the future! The people around here could be trusted right?

Right??]

Not really. The best basis for a friendship is mutual experiences. [There's a slight severity to his tone, that of a corrective statement. Shun takes his friendship altogether too seriously, so the idea of basing one on something like that just seems hollow to him.

Since she seems to understand some aspect of the issue with touching him, Shun drops his hand on the assumption she won't try it again. The sentiment gets a slight narrow of the eyes, though, as if he's trying to read an ulterior motive out of it.

After a moment, he shakes his head slightly and lets out a breath.] Just having a few is fine as well, but it depends how things go. You seem like one of those people who's determined to make friends with everyone.

Of course! Why wouldn't I try and befriend everyone I meet? I think it's a good thing to have a lot of friends! Especially during those times when you need it too!

[Although, now that she thought about it, why did she feel the need to befriend a lot of people? She wasn't so sure but given how she doesn't have her memories here, maybe it could have been something from her previous life?

It wasn't something she wanted to think about and especially knowing that she was suppose to be dead.

Either way, she shook those thoughts out of her head! Focus, Mabel, focus! You shouldn't be thinking that way, you should be looking forward right now!]

I don't know, it seems like the right thing to do!

Having lots of friends is useful, but not everyone is trustworthy. Being that careless with who you befriend is opening yourself up to trouble more than help. [At least it sounds more like he's trying to warn her in this case than being outright dismissive of her attitude, as he's been known to with older people who keep similar habits. Hajime comes to mind pretty quickly.

Still, if it's something she can't come up with an adequate reason for, chances are it's rooted in her previous life, which she can't really think about too hard. So Shun just shakes his head.]

There's no point arguing about it, but someone your age needs to be careful. Most people here are decent, but it's definitely not everyone.

[Again, Mabel simply just stared at him. While she had thought about that a few times, the people seemed friendly with her. Sure, there were a couple that were kind of grumpy but they never really did anything with the intention to harm.]

You really think so? I thought it meant that you didn't have to be alone.

[Although, there was this feeling she couldn't quite shake. It felt vaguely familiar and yet, it didn't. Was it really something she had to learn in her previous life? She didn't want to think too much about it, not when it was so depressing.

Slowly, but surely, the smile on her face started to turn into a small frown. That and he was killing the good vibe around here. Good job.]

You can not be alone without befriending everyone. You're acting like there's only those two extremes.

[And while Shun has been a bit like that in the past, it's not so much a problem anymore. He's satisfied with the friends he has right now and the speed he makes new ones at, and even if he's not everyone's friend, he's also not alone.

Still, if that's what she's worried about, he should probably say something more reassuring than that, and he looks over her with a slightly softer eye.]

There's enough different people here that whichever way you choose to do it, I doubt you'll ever be completely alone.

[As Mabel kept looking at him, she didn't know what to say back. While what he said was right, it felt like she was being scolded at. What was she suppose to do in a situation like this?]

Well, I don't know, I just don't want anyone to feel like they can't have someone to talk to? I mean, there are people who are suppose to be dead and all.

[Again, she didn't want to think about it nor did she want to think about how people are dealing with that fact.]

And I just want to help them out! It feels like it's the right thing to do.

[It's frustrating, because Shun knows exactly what she's getting at - it reminds him of Ruri, honestly, a bit too much to be comfortable. But it's been a while since he's been naive enough to believe it's that simple, and he lets out a long and rather weary breath.]

I understand that, and I know what it feels like. Even if you want to help, you can do that without necessarily trusting the person you're helping. Not all of them are going to trust you, either - if you just walk up to someone and expect that they're going to open their thoughts to you, it might just make them think worse of you.

[Shun, at least, won't begrudge a kid that sort of behaviour, but he's absolutely reacted like that to people closer to his age doing it.]

[As Mabel kept looking at him, she simply stared at the ground processing at what was being said. It just seemed so weird, everyone had been really nice to her so far. Even the grumpy ones didn't seem that bad either! What was she to say or do when someone was conflicting with her ideals?

Especially when she seemed to agree with what they were saying?]

You really think so? Yeah, I know a lot of people probably aren't going to like me but it's still worth a shot! It seems better than nothing.

[She mumbled to herself a little.]

[If nothing else, that staring at the ground is concerning enough to tell Shun he might want to make some sort of concession here. While he tends to impress realism upon people as much as he can, it seems like it might have been a little much here.

So he leans down a bit, his expression softening slightly. It's not much, but it's marginally better than the hard neutral he's largely been trying to maintain.]

If that's what you believe in, then there are ways to still make it work. It's not always necessary to agree with someone who sees the world completely differently than you. [Which seems to be the case with her and him.]

[It was a rather difficult concept for her to understand. She knew that there were going to be people who wouldn't agree with her and yet, she just didn't know why it bothered her.

She couldn't put her finger on it but this felt rather familiar. Should she really be thinking about something like this?]

Yeah but...does it still mean that we can be friends even though we don't really agree with one another?

[Because that was the most important thing to her]

It depends on the person. Some people are still happy to make friends with people whose philosophies disagree with theirs, but some won't be. [It's hard to know before trying, but that circles back around to the original problem of being too open in her attempts to befriend people.]

If you're asking about me personally, it takes me a long time to call anyone a friend, but if I come to trust them that much then what they believe isn't really a problem anymore.

[If it was something he aggressively disagreed with, chances are he wouldn't have let them get to that level of trust in the first place.]

In other words, maybe we can be acquaintances!

[Not that Mabel really liked the idea of that but if it was going to make Shun feel more comfortable, then that was the best she's got! With that, she simply gave her hand out to him]

...At least, if you want me to be your acquaintance or something.

[She wasn't sure how he'll react but a part of her hoped he'll take it.]

[Given Shun has in fact used that term plenty of times for people he isn't ready to call friends yet, it draws a faint snort out of him. While he does peer at her hand at length for a moment as if making sure it's not concealing something, he eventually reaches out to shake it. His grip is firm, but the movement is awkward and unpracticed, as if he's unused to such formalities.]

That's fine. [Though they probably need to know each other's names for that, so after a few moments, he adds it.] Kurosaki Shun, or Nekhbet when I'm working as a god. Call me Kurosaki.

[Given her assumption of Halloween as the celebration here and what that probably means is her home culture, he's erring on the safe side with regards to his distaste for people immediately using his first name to refer to him.]

[In the back of Mabel's mind, she gave a sigh of relief! At least she was getting somewhere with him, that's a start! In fact, she wouldn't know what to do if he rejected her! The moment he shook her hand, she couldn't help but shake it rather vigorously.

She was just so excited to be able to make another 'friend' here!]

Then it's very nice to meet you, Kurosaki! The name's Mabel and it rhymes with a table!

[She giggled a little] And you know what else it rhymes with? Shinki....able!

[It's not particularly surprising that her handshake is as enthusiastic as everything else about her - she may notice that his hand clenches very slightly at the sudden movement, but he's getting better at shouting his reflexes down on this sort of thing. He also withdraws his hand as soon as she chooses to let go of it.

Her introduction is...pretty bizarre, honestly, even by the standards of the people Shun's met here. For a moment or two, he watches her with a rather neutral look as if trying to figure out the joke, and then, with absolutely no change in expression, makes a comment.]

You're a strange kid, huh. [It's not a derogatory comment - if anything, there might be a hair of some kind of resigned amusement in it. He seems to draw weird people, if his boyfriend and all of the non-soulless shinki he's ever had here are any sign. And his new friends from back home, for that matter.]

[She wasn't surprised at his reaction. It seemed pretty similar to she met her God, that slight bit of resistance as well as hesitation on her end. But she sure hoped that things will turn out for the better as time goes on!

When he just stared at her for a moment or two. As she gave a giant grin, she was so happy to see that he was willing to be an acquaintance of hers! Especially when no one has really said out loud that they were her 'friend'!]

And that's not a bad thing! Never be normal, I say! Be as strange and as weird as you want!

[All the while placing her hands on her hips before giving off a hardy laugh!]

[Well, if there's one thing that's obvious about this kid, it's that she's about the furthest thing from scared to be herself as it's possible to be. Not necessarily something Shun looks for, but it's a noteworthy attribute.]

I don't think many people here can really describe themselves as "normal" anyway. There's people from all kinds of different worlds, and what's normal to one person is going to be weird to at least one other. They'd have to be entirely mundane to slip under the radar.

[And there's not a great deal of people he's met here who have an air of mundanity about them, especially given even the people who are mundane in the sense of having no powers generally aren't in personality.]

Then they'll just have to be weird in their own way! And besides, even if they were completely normal, it doesn't mean they have to be!

[She said before trying to think of something up. Was this a good way for her to figure out how to open Shun up? Let's see here...!]

I mean, I could be completely fine but I can twist my tongue! See?

[With that, she opened her mouth before attempting to twist said tongue! ...Of course, it really doesn't work but oh well!]

I suppose being a normal god or a mundane shinki isn't going to do anyone any favours. [Since gods seem to rely a lot on followers here, they need to make themselves either reliable or memorable, or both so that they stick in people's minds as much as a Far Shore resident can. An average god is going to vanish from memory quickly.

While her suggestion makes Shun raise a brow slightly, he does at least watch her attempt to twist her tongue. And then just keeps watching with the exact same neutral expression for a bit longer.]

There's not much to see.

Of course there is! It's not everyday you get to see someone twisting their tongue at you!

[She said all the while twisting her tongue at the same time! It sure was a lot harder than it looks and especially while she was trying to hold it for him!

Was he really that hard to impress?]

I know it's suppose to be a hard thing to do! How about you try it?

[Well, at least she's doing a slightly better job of it now. He is definitely a hard person to impress, though, so he mostly just keeps watching her attempts until she makes the offer to him.

After a moment of blank, subtle surprise, he turns his head away slightly with a faint snort.]

Somehow I doubt my tongue is as flexible as the rest of me. I'll pass. [Also it sounds silly, but she seems like a silly person, so he doubts that excuse would work on her any more than it would on someone like Ren or Hajime.]

[For a moment, Mabel was starting to flatter just a little. Just how does she deal with someone who was so anti-fun as he was? While it probably wasn't a good idea to keep egging him on, it was something she was willing to try!]

Then how about we try something different? Oh, I know! How about we can go and see if you can put your fingers into a V sign?

[She said before attempting to make said sign to him]

It's not something everybody can do so why don't you give it a try?

[Just saying!]

[On one hand, Shun knows what she's trying to get at here, since it's not an unusual sort of reaction for someone like him to get - if he can't be convinced to do one thing, present something slightly less silly, but still unusual. Still, his humouring her extends here largely to allowing her to spin on into other suggestions, which doesn't necessarily mean agreeing with them.]

I know I can do that already. People did it in photos a lot when I was younger. [One of the scarce things he does actually remember well about that. It probably helps that he still has a photo around of Ruri trying to get him and Yuto to be more enthusiastic about getting it taken.] You could probably get just about anyone else here to pose like that with you.

[He figures that's missing the point - or the challenge, possibly - but he might as well mention it.]

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