34 - Love is in the Air

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: An enterprising pair of shinki is trying to spread love throughout the Far Shore with exciting blind dates.
When: February 14
Where: Hot romantic spots throughout Tokyo
Summary: Blind dates on Valentine's Day? Sounds like fun (or possibly a disaster, but everyone needs some good disaster stories.) That's not all that's going on, though. Ayakashi are looking to chow down on the negative emotions that a romantic holiday can generate, and those who aren't busy with their own dates might be sucked into helping out followers who need help to make the day go well.






The Dates

Blind Date Matchups

Those who have signed up -- or whose friends and colleagues have signed them up -- for dates will get cards with specified times and meeting places inside for the big event. The cards don't list their dates' names, but instead have a matching symbol to allow everyone to find their proper partner. If anyone tries to stand up their date, they can expect a small and angry owl to harass them until they give in.


• Date One: The Romantic Brunch.
  Couples will find themselves with reservations (and pre-paid coupons for the prix fixe menu) at a swanky French restaurant with a wide balcony overlooking the lake in a central Tokyo park. They can dine on dainty pastries, sweet milk coffees, bowls of grapes and hothouse strawberries, and a selection of fancy chocolates and petit-fours-- plus, some of the trees in the park are blooming in holiday-appropriate red and white!



• Date Two: The Aquarium.
  Couples scheduled for this date have tickets to a rooftop aquarium in Ikebukuro: brightly colored fish, animals including penguins, seals and pelicans, a small petting zoo and plenty of shadowy, secluded nooks to cuddle in make for a fun lunchtime date. The tickets even include admission to the one o'clock penguin and seal show!



• Date Three: The Amusement Park.
  This date sends couples to spend the evening enjoying themselves at a seaside amusement park. Ride the roller coasters! Take selfies with the costumed attendants! Share an overpriced ice cream cone while you watch the fireworks after sunset, then wind up the night with a ride on the colorfully lit Ferris wheel with a romantic view of the Tokyo skyline.

Ayakashi Menace

There's more than just romantic couples out to enjoy themselves today. Romantic holidays can be tough for those whose love lives aren't so rosy, and as always, those negative feelings draw in ayakashi who are ready to ruin everybody's day.

All across the city, besides the usual ayakashi, characters might encounter the following:

Flocks of dove ayakashi whose mournful call induces self-doubt, suspicion and paranoia in everyone who hears it. Are your friends really your friends? Is your lover betraying you? Shouldn't you hurry up and stab them in the back before they can do it to you? These ayakashi are small and agile, difficult to catch but easy to destroy once they're caught... if you can overcome the urge to turn on your allies first.

Long-fingered shadow ayakashi, large and powerful, and capable of sneaking around by blending into genuine shadows. These ayakashi draw those who are alone into their clutches, filling them with resentment and despair. Anyone battling them needs to watch out for the humans they might already have influenced, who may become unpredictable and violent as the ayakashi influencing them grows more desperate.

Cute teddy bear ayakashi, that influence anyone they cling to into greedy obsession: they need attention, affection and gifts, and they can never have enough. When attacked, the teddy bears turn out to fight a little more like a grizzly bear than a stuffed toy, so gods and shinki beware!

Praying for Love

Those who aren't busy with their own dates might find themselves busy taking care of other people's instead. On a day like this one, everyone's praying that things turn out perfectly! Prayers gods might hear include:

"He's just got to ask me out! I made him the biggest box of chocolates... please, let senpai notice me!"

"Does she really like me? Please, give me a sign."

"I got concert tickets for our date, but it's supposed to rain. Please let me find a way to make this work out anyway!"

"The restaurant I wanted to take him to isn't taking any more reservations for tonight. What can I do? I can't cook!"

Wild Card -- players are free to make up their own romance-adjacent prayers for their characters to fulfill.

In Summary:

• Enjoy your dates
• Fight some ayakashi
• Make sure to answer prayers for a good Valentine's Day
• Have fun~

Comments

against shen wei's will lmao but yup

[artificialrose]

Hm?

[Actually being spoken to is often a sign that someone is from the Far Shore; Garry has certainly cottoned onto that much in the time that he's been a shinki. Straightening up he turns around and automatically gives a soft smile.]

Oh, yes, I am. [Just to be more clear, he holds up his invitation with the symbol on it. It doesn't take long to find its matching partner.] Then, it looks like the two of us are matched for here? I'm Garry, and it's a pleasure to meet you.

[He seems pretty nice, after all... A little quiet, definitely attractive. An aquarium seems like the perfect fit for him.]

it's not the first time tbh XD

[cloakedinruins]

[ Shen Wei held his up just to confirm that yes, he was the date for this location. Then tucking the invitation into his jacket, he held out his hand. ]

I'm Shen Wei. I hope you don't mind that I am unuse to this dating idea.

what is it about you, shen wei

[artificialrose]

[Oh, thank goodness, they're using western greetings. Garry has been trying to accumulate to the culture of the Far Shore, but it's been a little tricky. While bowing seem to be the normal in some ways in Japan, it also seems to not be exactly kosher among shinki... So, with some relief, he uses his free hand to accept the handshake.]

Oh, it's fine. I'm not quite sure what to do myself. [It's not like he can remember if he's had any dates before he died, after all...] We can figure it out together, I'm sure. An aquarium isn't really a place where things get rushed.

he's a 10000 yr old shy boy hiding behind a mask?

[cloakedinruins]

[ Luckily for Garry, Shen Wei was not one to bow. Not even the Dijun could make him bow, only lower his eyes in respect. Would he bow to the older gods in the Eastern sector? Maybe not. It wasn't natural for him to even think that. ]

Mm, it is a nice place to visit even if we're not sure what we are doing.

[ He adjusts his glasses, and turns around to look at the entrance and the people walking around. There were a few couples, but also a lot of school-aged children and small families. Smiling a little as a father and daughter passed by ( the little girl calling out that she will get a penguin plushie this time ), he glanced over at Garry. ]

Do you have anything you want to look at first, or should we just go exploring?

[artificialrose]

Exploring sounds like a good way to start.

[Might as well start from the beginning and work their way through, right? Or at least for as long as this whole blind date thing goes well. If it doesn't, well. The aquarium looks like it's a decently sized place. There's plenty of ways for them to drift apart without it being too awkward. At least, he hopes.]

[With a faint smile in the direction of the family himself, he shakes his head a little to keep his attention focused. As he begin to make his way to the entrance into the aquarium proper- the invite hadn't mentioned anything about money, even if he plans on at least spending a little at the shop just to be supportive- he nods his head in Shen Wei's direction.]

Have you visited aquariums a lot before, then?

[cloakedinruins]

Okay, exploring it is.

[ He was trying to not look as awkward as he felt even as he glanced at the adverts along the wall talking about new exhibits and the shows. It was new in a way, something he hadn't really seen at all even though he had spent some time in zoos and other places during his time as an undergrad. He just never paid as much attention to the sights as he was working. ]

Not too often. I studied biology and the effects of mutations and genetics on adaptation, but never really explored much while researching materials.

[ And Dixing did not have these kinds of attractions. Before the war, there had been other things to explore and look at - the pieces of the ship that brought them to the planet, the languages and cultures slowly being lost, and the celebrations and tales. It had been different then. ]

If I visited one when I was young, I don't remember.

[artificialrose]

At least in that aspect, we're similar then.

[It's one of the unfortunate things about being a shinki. Oh, Garry knows it's better than the alternative, which is presumably nothingness. This way, at least he's still experiencing things and bonding with people. If things go as they seem to do for the regular shinki of this place, he might even have decades or centuries to do all of that.]

[But, well... It doesn't change the fact that there's a lot of the normal life experiences which are lost to him, now. Garry tries not to think about it too hard, smiling slightly to take the depressing edge off of the idea. Besides, there's something much more interesting to talk about, which he ventures into while making sure not to walk into an unaware mortal.]

Did you specialize in marine biology, then? Maybe I should have been the one to ask if you there was an exhibit in particular that you wanted to visit.

[At least, now that they're entering what seems like the main area of the aquarium, they won't be inclined to get lost easily. While there's no doubt that the exhibits all connect to another somewhere, their entrances are more than helpfully labeled here and most of them seem to be represented. That's handy.]

[cloakedinruins]

That must be hard, to know that you have forgotten something that might have been a good memory.

[ It was hard too to not speak to someone as if they remembered what he had remembered. Shen Wei wasn't sure what he could and could not tell Zhao Yunlan, and he couldn't imagine what that was like for others as well. ]

Ah, no. I specialized in bio-engineering with a focus on genetics and mutations. I also dabbled a fair bit in the myths and legends of Haixing and have a fairly decent background in Chinese literature.

[ Technically he was a figure in a few pieces of legends, though they often gave him disturbing names like 'Lord Soul Eater' and 'Lord Ghost Slayer'. Shen Wei had published a few pieces about the myths which had been academically gotten some mixed reviews by his peers. He often wondered if those grad pieces was why the Dean was always making him teach the 8 am Chinese Lit 10 class. ]

I use to teach several classes on genetics and biology as well. [ Most of the groups of people were moving to the right, and he saw no reason to go against the flow. The first area seemed devoted to several fresh water amphibians. ]

[artificialrose]

We all find a way to manage, right?

[Or, well, it's a waste of an afterlife. What else can he do? Remembering apparently is bad for them. Certainly every time he's tried, his own mind has recoiled at the very thought. It's better to just move on and make new memories.]

[Like today, having what will hopefully end up a nice date with someone who seems equally nice and just as attractive.]

Genetic and mutations... Then, maybe- [He inspects the various exhibits, most seeming to focus on a particular sort of ocean environment. Lakes and arctic seas are very different from one another, after all.] Why don't we start off with the tropical exhibit? I mean... All the different variations of colorful fish seem to have something to do with that, don't they?

...Hm. [He taps his jaw, brow tilting in a little.] That might have sounded a little better in my head.

[cloakedinruins]

Of course. It is all the markings of life. Or whatever you wish to call this.

[ He remembers far too much. Sometimes he thought it would have been a blessing to drink from the Stream of Forgetfulness but then he shook that thought off. He would never have liked to forget those precious moments with Zhao Yunlan even if they hurt. ]

There are many different causes for the way they had evolved to survive their environs. [ Shen Wei smiles a little and makes a note of which direction the exhibit laid in. ] It should be interesting to look at them, so let's go.

[artificialrose]

[Good, he made the right choice! That's something to be pleased about, even if it's a small thing.]

I'll look forward to what you have to say! [Laughing softy, he makes his way along to the entrance of the exhibit. Already everything is so colorful and interesting in the architecture chosen. He's looking forward to the inside.] I think I'm a bit more of an art type than science.

[At least, he certainly seems to have more knowledge about it than science, although he likes to think he could make it decently through a basic class.]

[cloakedinruins]

I'm sure that it will be a little boring. I know that I can get a little long winded.

[ Though his classes never seem to find them boring. He wasn't sure if they thought he was a good teacher, or if they were there to just to watch him and daydream, though he didn't get very many failing students. He actually got a few students that weren't technically on his class list, and even some visiting experts from time to time, but those he considered flukes. ]

You can look at the various animals as artworks - the colors, the way they are shaped, the various protections they have grown is a kind of natural artwork created to maximize their presence in the world. It may be life, but living is an art as well.

[ Displays in shaped stone and painted woods, the soft glow of lights arrange to maximize the effects of the fish as they swam around. There were so many colors and shapes that She Wei found himself drifting to the center display. ]

[artificialrose]

Oh, I'm sure that's not how you come off as! You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I think... When someone has so much passion involved in a subject, to the point that they can go on for a long time, that sort of feeling shows through. It can get people interested in what you're saying, even if some things go over their head.

[Certainly that's how he wants to think, at any rate. It's why good teachers can make all the difference, although he hasn't had to deal with too many. At least, none that he can remember. It seems as if it should just be something known, regardless.]

[Maybe he's wrong. Maybe he'll get to hear for himself and make a decision that way. It's a problem for the future. Here, in the present, a sense of calm washes over him to enter the soft lighting, the room almost seeming tinted a faint blue from the large amount of water surrounding them. Garry drifts after Shen Wei out of habit, barely paying his attention to his own actions.]

How lovely... [Keeping his hands away from the glass, Garry still leans in a little closer.] It sounds quite romantic when you put it like that. But, it's interesting... It seems that for the kind of animals that often are the most colorful, it usually signals that they're dangerous, doesn't it?

[A lionfish drifts by, all bright spikes and orange that is contentedly lax in its containment.]