March Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: October 25th
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki



Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are, should they allow it, guided to the Meeting Hall, where a traditionally styled dojo and training ground have been made available for the day. The gods and shinki are free to take their time during this day to learn about the details of their new life from Amaterasu's shinki or from the many veteran new god and shinki volunteers.




God Training

Newly arrived gods are escorted into what looks like an old, large warehouse behind the Meeting Hall for an informational meeting covering the basics of proper god behavior. Several chairs have been moved in, but they're squeezed together between packed shelves and boxes of old ritual clothing, scrolls and rusty or chipped household goods. A minor deity is giving the speech, and none of the white-robed shinki enter. They are encouraged to discuss the information with each other and ask questions of more experienced gods, as well as instructed to guide their new shinki appropriately.

Shinki Training

Various shinki in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's hosuehold are stationed around the dojo, passing out helpful informational pamphlets. They will be happy to instruct the newcomers in the use of the borderline as well as offering an explanation of what is expected of a shinki and the importance of teamwork with other shinki and with gods. Shinki are encouraged to work together to practice what they've learned and discuss their perspectives.

Back copies of the "From Ama" magazine, including puff pieces about new or rising gods or successful shinki, advice columns for resolving problems between gods and shinki, temple photographs and other articles of interest to gods and shinki, have been brought out in boxes and piled up next to a table holding a few remaining copies of the shinki questionnaire for any new shinki who want to keep one around until they can answer the included questions.


What is your name?

What is your god's name?

How do you see your duties as a shinki?

What is your favorite part of life with your god?

What is your least favorite part of life with your god?

What advice would you like to give your god?

Do you wish to be assigned to a different god? []Y []N

Physical Training

The dojo is stocked with a wide variety of practice weapons, traditional and modern, to offer some practice opportunity to gods who, for example, find themselves with a sword shinki but are at risk of cutting off their own toes. It's also useful for veteran new gods wishing to train with their current partner shinki. Several magically animated straw-stuffed training dummies, many of which have been carefully mended and patched with neat black stitching, are set up on the lawn with a white-robed shinki hovering nearby to watch over them. They make good training partners, although anyone who comes too close risks being targeted for a sparring match whether they wanted one or not.

The white-robed shinki are still busy cleaning and preparing the Meeting Hall for the big annual meeting of the gods. They'll recruit anyone who looks as though they're not too busy in order to help scrub floors, weed, sweep paths and walkways, and shoo away any unwelcome little spirits that are hiding away in dark corners of the hall. Heavy lifting is good exercise... right?

Rest and Refreshments

There are casks of fresh, cold water near the dojo to make sure no one gets dehydrated, but for those who've finished working, hot tea and enough seasonal treats are available to make it look as though the Heavens bought out an entire sweet shop. They're being distributed by a few shinki in indigo-blue and plain brown robes with the sleeves tied back, who aren't above teasing the newcomers a bit.

Young shinki are playing in the nicely manicured garden, trying to catch crayfish at the lake edge, dashing around playing tag and hide-and-seek. Just be careful you don't get caught in the middle of a game of "Kagome"! If you do, you'll really be stuck until you guess someone's name.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Get in some training
• Enjoy a traditional tea
• Spectate if you want
• Have fun~

Comments

[revolutionfalcon]

That doesn't mean I'm going to give her a pass for doing this sort of thing. Chinatsu deserves better people around her than that. [Especially considering he's felt her uncertainties and dislikes when it comes to things like not being in control. He can sympathise, which is perhaps part of why he's so steadfastly taking her side on this.]

Judging by her garbage excuse for an "apology", though, I can't argue with that comparison. [The flowers and the melodrama gave the impression she was expecting that to be some kind of emotional climax to a story.]

[nopixiedust]

I'm not asking you to give her a pass, I'm asking you to just not attack her with vultures.

[revolutionfalcon]

If you want that, she needs to learn when not to try ordering me around. There are things that will shorten my temper even further than usual.

[Like mourning, for example, which Hibiki has interrupted him during twice.]

[nopixiedust]

I'll give her a lesson in "Shun Management Techniques", then.

[It's a single lesson, and it's "stop bugging Shun". Well, maybe a couple of lessons...]

[revolutionfalcon]

Somehow I don't think just a lesson is going to work if she hasn't taken the hint yet.

[Granted, he hasn't exactly had reason to set vultures on her their last few meetings, but she's still made token attempts to order him around before he reminded her of what that would likely lead to.]

[nopixiedust]

Some people need things spelled out for them, Shun.

[Especially if they're a dumb noble.]

[revolutionfalcon]

I don't have the patience for people who need that sort of coddling.

[At least he's honest, though he's also more patient with people like that than he'd like to admit if they actually bother to get close to him first.]

[nopixiedust]

And I do, which is why I keep telling you to call me.

[revolutionfalcon]

I'm not going to babysit her for you. You're my friend, and she's yours for some reason, so I'm not going to do her any actual injury for your sake, but someone like her needs to know she's not above consequences.

[Shun has an outstandingly low opinion of people who fall into the category of thinking they're above consequences, which has never helped this relationship.]

[nopixiedust]

Shun, you're not the one babysitting her.

Trust me.

[That's Wendy's job, thank you very much.]

[revolutionfalcon]

You're certainly expecting me to make exceptions for her that I wouldn't for others.

[If anyone else had, on two separate occasions, come onto his temple ground to screech at him while he was preoccupied with personal problems, they probably would've left with a broken jaw.]

[nopixiedust]

Well, has anyone asked?

[Because Wendy is pretty sure her god is the only one with this kind of luck, and Wendy is the only one with relations between both of them where she's determined to quit making the two of them dumb.]

[revolutionfalcon]

Why would asking make a difference?

[If Shun's not making exceptions for something or someone, it's highly unlikely he's going to do it just because someone directly asked him to. He's never been one to give much of a damn about manners in any way, shape or form.]

[nopixiedust]

What I mean is that no one else is really in the same kind of position I am, either with Hibiki or anyone else.

[A pause before she shrugs.]

Unless they are.

[revolutionfalcon]

That depends on what you mean by the same kind of position. [Dealing with Hibiki, dealing with Shun, or dealing with the enmity while being friends with both of them. If it's the latter, he could think of one other person, though the enmity in that case isn't actively violent so much as it is outrageously passive-aggressive.]

[nopixiedust]

I mean, dealing with both of you at the same time.

[They're two very different people with social circles that don't tend to overlap much.]

[revolutionfalcon]

There's probably people here in similar ones, if not exactly the same. [Some people here have some radically different friends, some of whom probably also don't get on well. He hears enough complaining about people on the BBS to assume this is along the lines of business as usual.]

It doesn't make a difference to what I was saying, anyway.

[nopixiedust]

I'd like to meet them, especially to see if they've met someone as stubborn as you.

[Because Shun is pretty darn stubborn.]

I'm just trying to make the situation not as bad for both of you. I don't get how that's a bad thing.

[revolutionfalcon]

Letting her off easy so she can go and do something stupid again the next day isn't making it not as bad for me. The only thing that's making her think twice at this point is her being afraid of me.

[And from his tone, it's pretty obvious he's not planning to change that anytime soon. As long as it's useful to him for her to be afraid of him, then he'll keep it that way.]

[nopixiedust]

And if there comes a point where she stops being afraid of you?

[revolutionfalcon]

I'll give her a refresher. Considering all it takes to scare her is to rough up her ridiculous clothes a little.

[She'd practically had a heart attack when he'd lightly decayed her clothing when she was spying on him in the lead up to the god meeting.]

[nopixiedust]

...Did you set the vultures on her again?

[revolutionfalcon]

Not since she made that pathetic attempt to apologise to Chinatsu. She was stalking me during the setup for that god meeting, and refused to tell me why until I started rotting her useless accessories.

[So...he's branching out in his creative ways of making Hibiki repulsed by his presence, if nothing else. Then again, he hadn't had the vultures with him at the time.]

[nopixiedust]

[there's an argument for what constitutes 'useless', but, whatever.]

....So what was the reason?

[revolutionfalcon]

Apparently she was investigating the spell barrier, though she should've known better than trying to hide from me and creep around instead of going the other way.

[She'd been so reluctant to talk that it had looked suspicious as hell to boot.]