June Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: December 7th
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 rear of 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.

Once they've had a chance to have things explained, they'll have the chance to relax and enjoy an afternoon party.




Meeting Hall

God Training

Newly arrived gods are escorted into a much nicer room than the warehouse where the last set of new gods got their informational speech. It's a smaller meeting room, with tatami floors and a small dais at the front of the room where the speaker stands. A minor deity is giving the speech, and none of the white-robed shinki enter.

The speaker delivers her welcome speech with the intonation of someone who's practiced it many times. Newly arrived gods 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. They are allowed to remain in the room as long as they wish, should they want to discuss questions with each other or with more experienced gods who are here to help out.

Shinki Training

Various shinki in the white-and-gold of Amaterasu's hosuehold are stationed around the dojo, passing out informational pamphlets that have been freshly printed. They will be happy to answer any questions or instruct the newcomers in the use of the borderline. They also accompany their answers, or lessons, with 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.

The dojo is back to its old, fully functional self; a set of motionless straw targets line one wall, to be used by people practicing with any of the weapons spread out on tables or hanging in racks on the walls. Outside, six animated straw targets wait in an area marked off with red ribbons and warning signs. Anyone entering the marked area may find themselves in combat with one (or more) of the magical training dummies. Those who leave the marked area, though, won't be chased.

Physical Training

Beyond the dojo, a scavenger hunt has been set up throughout the grounds of the Meeting Hall. Brightly colored plastic balls are hidden in shrubbery, tucked into support beams, floating among reeds in the ponds, and lurking in even cleverer hiding places. When a god or shinki gets their hand on one of them, they will burst open to reveal a hidden prize, such as candy, small toys, or accessories. How many can you find?

As well as the scavenger hunt, the white-robed shinki are engaging in more serious physical training and will be happy to let new gods or shinki join them. Sparring matches with practice weapons from the dojo, jogging laps around the hall, sit-ups, push-ups... or, for the younger shinki, competing to see who's the fastest to climb a tree.

Rest and Refreshments

Midafternoon, once the last of the scavenger-hunt prizes have been found, the white-robed shinki will turn their hands to clearing away the training equipment and laying out a lovely buffet table. Bright lanterns are hung from the trees, and a few shinki even take up a station on one side of the training area and begin playing shamisen, koto, wooden flute and drum. Although their instruments are traditional, their music selection ranges from some very classic Japanese tunes to others that sound surprisingly modern. The koto player can really rock!

Old and new gods and shinki alike are welcome to circulate, socialize with their friends, partake of the buffet food and enjoy the music. There's even room for those who feel inspired to dance, and plenty of privacy offered by the extensive garden for those who would rather retreat with their new partners to have a serious conversation.

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
• Relax at a party
• Have fun~

Comments

[reloves]

[ Minako might seem a little oblivious and ditzy - and, well, she's definitely the latter, but not as much the former as it might seem. The moment Shun speaks up with that sort of tone, she knows exactly that he's not really super enthusiastic to help her.

But she's dealt with types like that before. And Minako "social steamroller" Aino doesn't give up that easily. She smiles at him like he just gave a super enthusiastic response to her, pulling the pamphlet back to her chest. ]

Just reading all that stuff off a piece of paper is a little weird considering the situation, don't you think? This whole situation is super overwhelming! [ Even though Minako doesn't really seme panicked or anything like that. ] Did they just make you read when you first showed up here too?

[ As.. suming he did..? She's not too sure if there's people around here who just have been here forever or something. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

It's better than no information at all, because that's what shinki used to get when they came here. [Shun puts that very bluntly, though he doesn't sound impressed with it at the same time. He never did like the original expectation that shinki would get informed by their god and too bad if that god happened to be garbage.

He shakes his head in the end, though, because that's not generally how it goes for gods.] Gods get told the information directly. Though they still don't tell us everything, because the old gods and newcomers have different ideas of what's important. That's where that thing has an advantage, because it was written by a newcomer.

[Shun indicates the pamphlet with a reserved gesture. Though the original author of it may be gone now, it's still supposed to be getting updates.]

[reloves]

[ Something about what he's saying makes Minako turn a little more serious. She goes more quiet for a moment and actually glances down at the pamphlet, seeming to read over something again before looking back at Shun. ]

You say the old gods and the newcomers have different ideas of what's important.. So you're saying not all gods treat their shinki the same way then? [ She doesn't want to end up with some rude god, okay. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

That's right. Old gods treat shinki more like servants. [There's definitely a trace of bitterness in Shun's tone at that. It's all too obvious sometimes that that's all the old gods seem to consider where shinki are concerned.]

We've had newcomers who treat shinki like dirt as well, but most of us prefer to work alongside our shinki than stand over them. Especially since there doesn't seem to be any real reasoning for who ends up as what.

[Even the dead can end up as gods among the newcomers.]

[reloves]

[ Well, that sure is some comforting information when she hasn't met her own god yet and has no idea how it'll turn out!! Thankfully Minako is pretty good at covering up her own worries, and although she still seems a little serious, she doesn't look particularly worried or sad. ]

Well.. Guess I'll have to wait and see who my god is first then! [ TOTALLY NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT. YUP. NOT AT ALL. NOPE SIREE. ]

It sounds like your shinki are pretty lucky though. [ Despite this person not seeming like the fun type that Minako would prefer. ] You know, since they're stuck with someone who's nice to them.

[revolutionfalcon]

If they do turn out bad, there are plenty of people prepared to step in. [The way Shun puts that is almost disturbingly blunt, though at least he didn't say "take care of it", which is more accurate considering what generally happens to gods like that among the newcomers.

As soon as the word "nice" comes out of Minako's mouth, though, Shun looks, if anything, even more sour than he did a moment ago.] You're quick to jump to conclusions. I'm not that kind of person.

[He might be less irritable about it if half of his current shinki hadn't been caused severe problems largely due to their connection to him.]

[reloves]

[ Minako sure is getting a "take care of it" vibe from it, almost instinctively.. Which is kind of more of an intense and extreme thought than she'd like to have right now in this situation, so she tries to shove it aside as quickly as possible.

Maybe it's better to take a lighter approach. Especially when he's already not looking very happy. ]

Are you saying that because you're one of those types? [ For a moment she almost sounds serious, like that "those" is referring to something important, but then-- ] .. Tsundere?

[revolutionfalcon]

[That just gets her a lengthy, unimpressed state. "Lightening the mood" isn't really something that tends to work with Shun bar rare cases with people he's close to.]

Or I'm saying it because you're making assumptions about things you know nothing about. [At the very least, he doesn't sound hostile, just blunt. It could be a lot worse, considering.] Besides, I didn't say I didn't care about them, just that I'm not the kind of person to be "nice".

[He's not exactly versed in the specifics of how people use "tsundere", but he figures it's a bit more extreme than his behaviour.]

[reloves]

[ Tough crowd, huh. Thankfully all negativity just seems to (at least outwardly) bounce off Minako pretty easily. So she won't mind the fact that he's saying she's making assumptions too much.

Not that it means she's fully going to let anyone walk all over her. She crosses her arms, letting out a small sigh. ]

Well, I can notice that now.. [ If she got any more cold shoulder vibes from him, she'd practically be frozen by now. ] Are you always so serious because of the situation here, or are you just always like this? Because it won't kill you to lighten up just a little bit, you know!

[revolutionfalcon]

[That just gets an irritable sigh, the tone of someone who's heard the same thing a thousand times before and didn't listen then, either.] Does it matter that much? If nobody was serious about what's going on here, we'd be in an even worse position than we already are. "Lightening up won't kill you" is a stupid thing to say to someone you just met in a world you just entered.

[Shun is in the unfortunate position of both having come from a world where lightening up could absolutely kill him, and being entrenched enough in what's going on here that the same is essentially true. Some others who are less involved might get away with it, but as a God of Fortune and one of the maybe dozen people keeping close tabs on what the hell's going on around them, he doesn't have that luxury.]

[reloves]

[ Minako did hear some slight negative things from other people, but no one seemed to be as much of a serious downer about this place and what goes on here as he does. She's not sure why - she figures it has to at least be partially due to his natural personality, right? - but hearing him say that still makes an uncomfortable feeling form at the pit of her stomach. ]

Then.. what? You're not planning on ever having even the slightest bit of fun or enjoying something? You'd just work yourself to death without ever having lived!

[ Nevermind the fact that this is the afterlife, okay, it still counts. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

You're overreacting. And making more assumptions. [Shun isn't one to get into the details of how he spends his time with someone he only just met, but in his experience people seem to think there's no middle ground between having nothing but fun and having no fun at all. True, it's probably not what other people would call "fun", and it's not really relaxing, but he has his small enjoyments as much as everyone else.]

You're going to wear yourself out quickly if you care this much about the habits of someone you only just met. There's a decent amount of people here with my kind of attitude.

[reloves]

I'm just handing out advice! [ Even though no one, let alone Shun, asked for it to begin with.. But Minako is just a meddler. And an overreacter. And all of those things. ]

Besides, what else do you expect me to care about, huh? You might have been here for a long time and have tons of memories, but everyone around me is pretty much all I've got right now. [ Which she doesn't sound angry about, per se, but definitely a little wry. ] I'm just trying to socialize!

[revolutionfalcon]

Not everyone wants bad advice from an outside party. [Shun, being a spectacularly blunt sort of person, figures he might as well just point out the obvious flaw in that defense.

Her way of framing it all in the end gets a slight aside glance from him, in the manner of someone subtly considering something.]

Consider caring about what happened before you got here, because it's going to affect both you and those people you're trying to socialise with before long.

[reloves]

[ Caring about what happened before she got here? Does he mean her dying? But she doesn't even remember that happening, just that it happened in.. some way. Which she also doesn't remember. Very helpful.

So his statement is mostly just confusing to Minako, and she ends up frowning at him. ]

What's that supposed to mean?

[revolutionfalcon]

Events. Incidents. People being drawn to this place has been happening for most of a year now. [Shun doesn't hesitate to clarify, at least, especially since he's been one of the people responsible for trying to organise that kind of information in his time here.]

It's quiet today, but that doesn't mean things are peaceful here. There's more problems than just ayakashi to deal with, and it's useful to know the kinds of things you might be dealing with before they hit.

[reloves]

[ So it's stuff about this place instead. It's not like she didn't expect to hear as much with some of the things Shun already said and some of the lines she did already read from the pamphlet, but.. you know, it's still a huge bummer when you end up in a situation like this and try to be optimistic and some people just have to make it harder.

And, you know, the childish side to Minako that hates feeling like she's being nagged at sure doesn't help. ]

Aren't you the one now that's giving advice that wasn't asked for? I was just asking for someone to read the pamphlet together with me so it'd be less boring, not some bad news bearer!

[revolutionfalcon]

The difference is that mine isn't completely useless. [Shun never said he wasn't some level of hypocrite, but he does still consider it two different things in this scenario.] If I explained what's in the pamphlet in more detail, then it'd probably have just as much bad news added anyway. The things written in there are mostly what we had to learn ourselves about newcomer shinki in the time this has been going on.

[Izuku had been the one to initially write it, a god himself, so Shun knows it's still slightly more from a god's perspective even if he did ask for help from shinki. Usually he's relatively open to explaining things, but her attitude is starting to grate a bit.]

[reloves]

[ Minako can sense that she's not going to get much more out of this. Practical information, sure, but that's not all she was after here. And practical information is something she can get from anyone-- probably, anyway. She'll risk having to read it for herself if she's wrong.

So she huffs. ]

Fine, then I'll just read it by myself! [ Or, more likely, find someone else to talk to about it. ] I don't need some big party pooper to ruin it for me!

[ She sticks her tongue out at him - the icon of maturity indeed!! - before turning around to leave. ]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun isn't the type to force his help where it isn't wanted unless it's regarding people he's close to being stubborn idiots, so Minako is free to go. He offers a careless shrug and turns in a different direction.]

Suit yourself. [If she'd prefer to learn the hard way when things go sour what information she might need to know, then he's not going to stop her. Maybe her god might at least have more sense than she does.]