thenearshore | [OPEN] Every way you look in the city

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[OPEN] Every way you look in the city

Who: Open to everyone!
When: November 22nd and onward
Where: Around the Near Shore
What: An open shopping log for people to use for all their shopping needs! Winter and holidays are coming so it's a good time to get a winter wardrobe and think about gifts for other people. Or yourself. Nothing wrong with buying gifts for yourself. Free to shop wherever and whenever, but some prompts are included under the cut if you need ideas.

Raffle Rush
To drive up business, several local shopping streets are holding raffles! Each purchase at a store earns you a ticket. The grand prize of a hot spring vacation package is already claimed in a few areas, but maybe you'll be one of the lucky winners in some of the remaining spots? Or if not, there's always the second place prize of a cozy new kotatsu, or other prize packages including coupons or local goods.

You're the Piano Man
Various pianos have been set up around the Near Shore with signs encouraging passersby to play. Do you dare sit down and play a few notes? Maybe encourage someone shyly watching from a distance to play. Or maybe you'll sit down and enchant everyone with an impromptu concert.

Winter Illuminations
Multiple shopping centers and shopping streets are alight with winter illuminations. Thousands of twinkling lights strung overhead, covering bushes and trees, or in the shape of snowflakes, snowmen, and other festive shapes light the night. Enjoy the sight alone or walk through with a loved one, these displays will be around through the end of the year.

Always Ayakashi
Packed shopping malls, not being able to find the shirt you want in your size, frustrated shoppers, there's a lot of negativity brewing around and minor ayakashi eager to feed. Help lighten the mood for everyone around and take some ayakashi out as you browse between stores?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Magic, what a casual delight. Ginia giggles at the hovering clothes. So much easier to sort everything out. She tries on the tank top Celestia gave her with one of the shorts. The tank top fits nicely, the straps wide enough to cover the thick bands of her sports bra. The shorts are nice too; her muscular, hirsute legs look great.

However, the pockets are too short to fit her phone into. Ginia gives an annoyed huff at her phone half-sticking out of the back pocket.]

[Oh, Celestia is quite pleased with her selection for Ginia. Human figures are so very different than equine, and need to be emphasized very differently. But she paused, midway through fastening her own shorts, to test the pocket of them.]

Oh dear.` Well, I suppose they look good...?

[Verify that please, Ginia? Honestly these shorts don't leave much thigh to the imagination at all.]

[The lack of decent sized pockets are a crime. What kind of monster creates pants that can't fit a phone or wallet inside them? At least these shorts haven't fallen prey to the true act of evil known as fake pockets.

Ginia fumes over the shorts a little longer, debating whether the short pockets are enough of a negative to reject them outright. There's a place for fashion, yes, but there's no reason fashion can't also be functional.

She glances at Celestia. The shorts show off quite an amount of leg. Not unpleasant at all, but Celestia looks a bit confused.]

You look very nice, but if you aren't comfortable showing off that much skin, I'd put them back. Also the pockets don't look very deep.

Oh, I don't have any problem with it myself... Should I? The pockets are inconvenient, but to be honest, I am used to not having any anyway. It looks all right then?

[She turns to give Ginia a better view from behind, tossing her hair off to one side as she cranes her head to try to appraise herself. Backsides are something humans put a lot of important into, right?]

If you're fine and you like it, then it's fine.

[If the clothes weren't meant to be worn by someone, why would they be sold in a store? Ginia admires how Celestia looks a few seconds longer before changing out of the shorts and trying on the skirt.

The lack of pockets is an expected disappointment, but Ginia sways back and forth, watching how the light fabric picks up and flows around. It's too cold to wear locally, but certainly a nice, light option for anywhere with warmer weather.]

I think I'll have to get sandals for this one. What do you think?

[Just because clothing is sold in a store does not mean it is necessary acceptable in the culture outside! She really doesn't quite understand what humans want to see covered up, after all. Those bathing suits they have are more revealing than most underwear, but it is acceptable to be seen in one and not the other? There's so clearly a strong cultural element here she doesn't quite comprehend, so she's playing it safe.]

Oh, that's... almost hypnotic. [Celestia giggles a little at the sway of cloth around Ginia's legs. The question goes unanswered for a moment, till she registers it and looks down.] It DOES look too light and fancy for anything else.

[Ginia gives a full turn. The skirt flows around her feet as she turns, an elegant lift of fabric. And if Celestia isn't focused on Ginia's legs, she'll also see the splash of red on Ginia's shoulder, the character that makes up her name and identity as a shinki.]

I'm going to try one of the other tops with this skirt, let me know how it looks.

[Ginia pulls off the tank top and changes it into a fitted tee with a floral pattern in blue trailing from the shoulder down to the waist. The color and pattern work nice with the skirt; she admires herself in the mirror before turning toward Celestia.]

[Celestia notes the shinki name simply as a matter of course. She has a sun on her flanks in her pony form, after all. Why should a marking matter more than a fact?]

[While Ginia changes, Celestia takes the opportunity to tug on a different top, perfectly straddling the line between innate grace and casual apathy towards the garment. Once she has it on over her head, she turns back to look, then smiles brightly once more.]

I am starting to wonder if anything could look bad on you. But probably not, since the clothes are just accentuating the mare.

[Ginia quickly shakes her head at the compliment. Oh no, there has to be something, she's certain. But Celestia on the other hand? Ginia's convinced she could make a burlap sack look elegant.]

You're too nice to me, Celestia.

[Sometimes it feels a bit much, if only because Ginia doesn't know how to pay it back. With her friendship, so insists the pony, but Ginia's still certain her friendship can't be worth that much.]

[Ginia undervalues friendship. Particularly friendship to a pony of ancient years and few relationships not affected by her position.]

[To the comment, she shakes her head, still smiling.]

Never. You are beautiful, and that is simply a fact. I'm just telling you the truth!

[A fact. Ginia smiles, laughs, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes as she looks in the mirror. Yes, she's attractive, people have made that known, but it doesn't feel like it means anything. Maybe it means people are nice, maybe it means it's easy to wield to get what she wants.

Mostly, Ginia wonders if people would still like her if she wasn't beautiful. Would people even pay attention her way?

Oddly, the possibility of being ignored feels strangely nice.

She studies her outfit a little longer before deciding it's a keeper. She continues to try on more outfits, already sorting out the ones to keep and ones to put back. Finally, it's time for the swimsuit. She tries on the bottoms over her underwear, tugging a bit at the side ties and looking at how it clings to her rear.

The halter-top style top is nice, but Ginia frowns slightly, tugging lightly on the straps.]

I feel like I'm going to fall out if a wave hits me.

[Ginia is thinking rather foolishly if she believes that being an attractive human is what has earned her any attention from a pony. But then, Celestia would understand that line of thinking, albeit in a different way. She is a standard and model of beauty for Equestria, but to what end? It is simply a fact, such as having wings or a tail, except that her beauty serves no purpose whatsoever.]

[Celestia herself has an easy time trying on the suit, with magic to help her tie strings and whatnot, so she has ample opportunity to consider Ginia's problem and accept that she might share it.]

Perhaps we need two tops. One for appearances, one for actual swimming.

Why do you need a second top for appearances? Why not get one that fits both purposes?

[Wouldn't it be a pain to have two tops to have to change into? And who really cares about appearances when the only people that can reliably see them are others from the Far Shore?

As it stands, lounging on the beach or poolside and looking good is not a part of Ginia's life.

She studies the swimsuit a little longer before changing out of it and back into her outfit. There's a few new outfits, so major plus there! On the other hand, she still doesn't have anything good for winter weather. Sigh.]

Sometimes appearances count. [That distills lessons from centuries of rule, diplomatic negotiation and protocol, persuasion and sometimes manipulation, down into a very simple lesson. But after a moment, Celestia hides an embarrassing smile behind her hand.] But if I'm being terribly honest, sometimes these days I want to look good simply for the pleasure of looking good. Without anything more behind it. Don't you ever feel that urge?

[No. Never. Ginia shakes her head, glancing at herself in the mirror. She wakes up, throws on clothes to workout in, cleans up, and changes into her clothes for the day. Clothes simply are.

But doesn't she have a skirt floating in front as something she wants? A few shirts with different patterns?]

I guess I'm figuring it out.

I long ago gave up wearing dresses or fancy outfits to all but the most formal occasion. [As Celestia sorts their outfits into their floating piles, she too works on changing. She has been compared to a magical girl before, the way she simply whisks outfits on -- though not out loud -- and the comparison is truly not all that far off...] It simply caused too much hassle. They are usually constraining and stop being comfortable after a while, and every selection gets scrutinized and judged and passed down as the style to match, from the palace to Canterlot to all of Equestria. So much hassle...

But you know, taking on a human form and needing to wear clothes has been oddly liberating. I am not setting styles here, but I cannot avoid wearing them so I have to make some choices... and it's resulted in me actually caring, a little, about how I look.

[Choices. The freedom to choose, to make mistakes or find the right path. It's getting easier if only because everyone around has given her the space to make decisions without judgement while also nudging her to decide things for herself.

Would it matter caring more? Putting more effort into her appearance on the day to day and experimenting with more styles? It can't hurt even though it seems like so much effort. She looks at her wallet and the money Archer had given her to spend, looks at the tags and quickly calculates the total including tax.]

Maybe I'll get a dress. I don't have any.

I have distracted you terribly from your original goal, haven't I? Though I hope you'll have the chance to put these all to use soon. [That is as close as a direct invitation to come down to the Southern Hemisphere as Celestia is willing to front at the moment. Right now, she simply counts herself fortunate for the time she has to spend with her friend here. It feels a little illicit, running into her, like stealing.] You'll want a dress for the formal occasions, I think, unless you prefer to wear stal-- ah, what is typically considered men's clothing. I wouldn't blame you, since they keep erupting into battles with ayakashi.

[Celestia rolls her eyes.]

I certainly find myself favoring them.

I'm sure I will in time.

[Ginia misses the subtle invitation, but all things in time, she's sure.]

I had a nice suit for the meeting, but it was ruined. It'll be nice having a formal dress, but I see people wearing cute dress on the day to day too.

[There's definitely one thing to be said about people watching in Shibuya; the styles are incredible.

Ginia gathers up her clothes and sorts out the final keep and return pile. Clothes in each hand, she checks to see how Celestia is doing. Ready to go?]

Oh, in the battle. [Celestia frowns, regretting that she won't see it again. She forgets how fragile clothing can be, since she never wears it at times when it is likely to be endangered. That begs a question: humans, overall, seem to be a group with a stronger history of violence and war than ponykind, from what she has seen and gleaned from her time and experience here. Why did their culture favor clothing so much? It had to just be a complete nuisance in the middle of battle.]

[Well, she understands that she will likely never understand, and so files that one away as a ponderable as her two different stacks settle into her hands.]

After you. [She gestures with the one pile to the door, smiling in amusement at her own affectation of courtly manners.]

[It is only a suit. Granted, there's some attachment as it was one of the first pieces of clothing she'd bought after joining Caster's temple and Archer helped her pick it out, but it is only a suit. There will be other suits, other outfits, and other formal occasions to wear them at. At least she was able to retrieve her shoes after accidentally leaving them behind on a rooftop.

Ginia hangs the clothes she's returning on a rack by the dressing room and heads into the store. She browses over the collection of dresses and other attire better suited for the colder weather, but nothing stands out. Oh well, there are more stores. She's happy with the outfits she has now and joins the line at the cash register.]

Thank you for suggesting looking at summer clothes.

[Celestia does her own browsing, but fur and magic mean she has to worry less about keeping herself warm in the winter, and she doesn't particularly like being constrained. Her formal suit is so nicely tailored that she barely notices it when she's dressed up, but you can't expect to get that sort of quality at even a decent off-the-shelf store. So she passes on what's available, while making a note that she needs to pick up a good scarf sometime soon.]

[But she's looking forward to wearing these summer clothes. The experience had been wonderful. And so when Ginia thanks her, she waves it off with a smile.] Thank you for the help and advice. And for making this feel like less of a chore.

[Ginia pays for her clothes and loops the shopping bag around her arm as she waits for Celestia to pay. Once they're both finished, they step out of the store together.]

I think I'm going to keep shopping, but I don't want to keep you from anything if you're busy or have other things to do. But if you don't have other plans, your company is always welcome.

Ginia, if you truly believe I would rather be doing anything then spending time with you enjoying the day, you are nuts.

[The gentle gibe sounds even more outlandish thanks to Celestia's calm serenity, though as she turns her smile on the other woman her expression twitches slightly in surprise. She leans slightly to her left to get a view.]

Now that's odd. There's a piano there.

[Ginia is certain there are plenty of other things Celestia could do with her time without her presence and she huffs at the absurdity of the statement, but she smiles as her cheeks redden.

Piano? Ginia turns to see what Celestia is looking at and yes, indeed there's an upright piano with colorful decorations on the side.]

I saw that earlier. I think it's there for people to play on.

[OPEN] Every way you look in the city

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