36 - Dragon Dance

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Help the Heavens cover for a missing goddess at her temple festival.
When: March 18
Where: Near the Sensou-ji temple in Asakusa
Summary: After Kannon's disappearance last year, the Heavens are concerned that things might go wrong at her temple's March 18 omikoshi festival. They've asked new gods and shinki to attend the festival and keep an eye out for trouble. Meanwhile, trusted newcomers and older gods and shinki alike are watching over the cultists that have been identified.






The Festival

Shrine-carriers, musicians and dancers congregate early in the morning in their matching outfits to get organized into their parade. Luckily, all of the parade participants this time are alive and well. There aren't even any troublesome ayakashi hanging around... so why is everyone having such bad luck?! Laces are breaking, costumes tearing, small children are getting sick from nerves, and even the drums seem to have gone out of tune. It looks like this parade is going to need a whole lot of help to prevent disaster.

For those who aren't busy with the parade preparations, food and souvenir booths throng the area in front of the temple. There's traveling games, too, and plenty of people showing up early with their families to find a good spot to watch the parade. This is one of Tokyo's most popular temples, so it's quite a crowd!

The Stakeouts

Any gods or shinki who were told about the cult problem by Amaterasu -- or anyone who might have heard from friends and allies about the plans -- can help Amaterasu's shinki keep a tight watch on all of the known cult members. Her shinki are looking for any sign of the young gods who she believes are behind all of this trouble, but are there other clues that might be found by a keen observer? Join in on staking out a cult member, and see what you can see.

Current cult members that the shinki are watching include:

• Mitsui Ryou - lives alone in a medium-sized apartment, appears to work a 9 - 5 schedule with occasional late nights.
• Imai Takeru - lives in a small two-story house by himself, has an unpredictable schedule.
• Shimoda Tsuki - lives alone in a small apartment with a lot of plants, works retail with varying shifts.
• Oota Saburo- lives in a medium-sized apartment with his wife and two young children, works a 9 - 5 schedule with frequent work trips.
• Maeda Shinnosuke - lives alone in a small, messy apartment, works construction (early mornings, long days.)
If your character is taking part in the surveillance of any of these people, please feel free to comment to the Cult Clues thread below with the name of the character they're watching, and the times that they're watching that character, in order to learn what they might see. (Note: surveillance doesn't have to take place only on the 18th. Characters can take part in watching the cult members at any time after Amaterasu's announcement on March 8.)

The Parade

At noon, the parade begins. Misfortune is still dogging the participants and the crowds around them, but it looks as though everything will go all right up until the final turn as the heavy, gilded shrine turns back towards the main temple building, tips, and slowly falls over sideways, straight for the crowd.

What's worse, when the shrine hits the ground, it cracks open -- and a huge, jellyfish-like ayakashi wearing a giant white mask with a single black eye inscribed on it heaves its way out and begins lashing its tentacles in every direction. People stung by the tentacles are driven into a furious frenzy, and fights are breaking out everywhere. Stop the humans from fighting, take care of the injured, and destroy the ayakashi before the situation gets any worse.

The Pursuit

In the middle of the fighting crowd, two white-robed shinki are chasing after a very average-looking salaryman in a tan coat. He doesn't seem to know that the shinki are chasing him, but he is moving fast, and they're in danger of losing track of him. They're calling out to any Far Shore denizen close enough to hear, shinki or god:

"Don't let that guy get away! He knows what happened!"

Anyone who has met or spent time staking out Mitsui Ryou will recognize him as the escaping salaryman. If your character takes part in the pursuit, please comment to the Cult Clues thread with a link to your thread - the character who successfully catches Mitsui will be determined by RNG on January 6, 2019.

In Summary:

• Attend the Sensou-ji festival
• Enjoy food and games
• Help Amaterasu's shinki stake out the cult
• Fight a masked ayakashi
• Have fun~

Comments

[bakusatsuo]

For fuck's sake, how many are there? [Bakugou's been aware of at least one of them, but that's a lot of people to keep track of for a teenager who doesn't exactly go out of his way to socialize with people casually.]

[unlucky7]

Just the three. Shen Wei, who you probably know about.

[Considering how fast Zhao latched onto Shen Wei, it would be a damn miracle if Bakugou wasn't aware of him. It also raises other questions given the emotional link between god and shinki, but that's real awkward to ask.]

Da Qing, shinki. Zhao's cat? I haven't met him, but Shen Wei says he was assigned to him as a shinki.

From the last training session, Zhu Hong, god. Zhao's coworker.

[Talk about a real popular shinki, huh.]

[bakusatsuo]

He never mentioned the cat in his dream... [Bakugou's eyes narrow as he thinks back.] Shen Wei and Zhu Hong...so Zhao's arm candy and the snake lady.

[Yes, that's how he remembers them.]

He never actually said what the hell Zhu Hong's job was.

[unlucky7]

I saw the cat. Big party, lots of food, New Year's eve I believe.

[A lighter day, a happier day, a triumphant day. She remembers the still room, lights off and no one left after the dream broke. Ginia's expression falls a little; it's nothing she can dwell on, but it's a little sad to remember what she did.]

Coworker, that much I know. I think Zhao's her boss? Or maybe it's an affectionate title. Coworkers, let's leave it at that. Better to ask her since she can tell you.

[bakusatsuo]

From what I gathered, Zhao's the boss of his whole department, so yeah, he's probably her boss.

So she's here as a god, huh? What about the others? Which of them remember shit and which don't?

[unlucky7]

Like I said, Da Qing's a shinki, assigned to Shen Wei. Shen Wei's probably the better to ask about things right now.

[Boyfriend, so all the emotional details there, but he also has the benefit of more time. With Zhu Hong's reaction on her arrival, Zhao feels a bit like a delicate topic. She's still not sure what was all happening there. Personal details, not her problem.]

Want the list of who he asked me to remember for him?

[bakusatsuo]

What about Zhu Hong?

And you can give it to me if you want, but when I was in his dream he introduced me to everyone there. Maybe you met other people or he told you more names than I got, I don't know, but it felt like his whole department so I shouldn't be missing anybody. I haven't missed the ones that showed up here because I don't know who the hell I'm looking for, I've missed 'em 'cause I literally haven't fucking seen 'em.

...although I admit he never fucking told me about the cat. Probably 'cause the cat didn't stay in their department or whatever.

[unlucky7]

God, as I mentioned. Nuwa in the contact list.

[As Da Qing was there at the party she saw, it's possible they saw different dreams. Or maybe people had moved around a little. Probably best to mention the list he gave her then.]

Chu Shuzi, Lin Jeng, Guo Changcheng, Old Li, Wang Zheng, and Sang Zan were the other names I was given. He pointed them out on a picture.

[Ginia pauses, fingertips tapping together because what she wants to say is dangerous for a shinki to consider. It's safe to say to Bakugou of course, but the feelings are hard for her.]

I'm glad he had a lot of friends. I'm glad he has some here.

[Did anyone care about her when she was alive? Was she close to anyone like he was at that party?]

[bakusatsuo]

Tch...it's one thing to be happy he had a lot of friends back home, but there's no point being happy they're here for him. He doesn't get anything out of it, and they're probably miserable about being forgotten and not even being able to tell him what they know. As bad as shinki have it, I think gods have got it even worse 'cause shinki get to be ignorant. You can't miss what you don't remember.

[Does Bakugou's bitter tone and the way he's not looking directly at Ginia suggest he's got some personal stake in this subject? It sure does.]

[unlucky7]

[There's no denying it sucks for a god to know a shinki. There's maybe the chance the shinki will remember, but it's a dice roll what a shinki does and doesn't remember. But it's not as if ignorance is easy. It assumes the shinki isn't aware enough to piece together things they can't ask because it'll kill them. It assumes that ignorance can't get a shinki in trouble. What if an enemy arrived and used the shinki's state of amnesia to take advantage of them? It sucks all around, in different ways.

Ginia reads between the lines. It's not Zhao they're talking about now, are they. She lightly waves a hand to get his attention.]

There's a shinki you know, isn't there. I'm sorry.

[bakusatsuo]

[That's right, Bakugou, you can't just look away from the person using sign language to communicate with you, no matter how much you can't tell and don't like what expression you might be making. He glances back at Ginia, trying to compromise for a maximum level of having his face turned away with a minimum level of inability to see her hands.]

It doesn't matter. We're all fucked in different ways being here, and we've all just gotta suck it up and deal.

[unlucky7]

[The response is effectively a yes. Ginia doesn't know Bakugou well enough to give any kind of supportive gesture or even make a promise to keep an eye on whoever might be here or show up. Granted, she didn't know Zhao that well either, but circumstances were different.]

I agree to a point. Heaven is pretty set in its ways and even upstarts like us won't sway them much. But our group is closer than the old ones because we aren't here by choice.

If we're all dealing with the same shit, find someone to talk to about it. Don't act like you need to suck it up and deal with it on your own.

[bakusatsuo]

Everyone needs to suck it up and deal with it on their own. Sure, it sounds nice to crowdsource your coping mechanisms, but you need to be able to stand on your own if your supports are taken away, too. People disappear all the fucking time here, so if you're relying on other people to be able to manage even your most basic shit, are you gonna wake up one day to find yourself fucked because someone's kicked your proverbial prosthetic legs out from under you?

Support's nice, it can make shit easier, but you need to be able to go without it at the end of the day if you have to. Otherwise you're just dependent on other people, and that's gonna fuck you over sooner or later because nobody can be there for you all the fucking time.

Besides, I've already talked to Zhao about it. I never said sucking it up meant you can't talk to people or whatever, I just meant we all have to fucking deal with the fact that shit sucks and complaining about it won't make it go away.

[unlucky7]

[Oh. He's that kind of person. Ginia's expression remains level, but her eyebrows raise and her mouth tightens. There's a point where she might have agreed with him to some point. There was a point where removing all her weaknesses and growing stronger was one of the most important things for her to do.

These days, she's slowly learning to acknowledge her weaknesses and accept help from others. It's a growing process, it's still easy to fixate on her weaknesses, but she's getting by with the help of her temple. They can't always be there for her, but their care is also giving her the strength to stand on her own too.]

If you think trusting in people to watch your back is the same as having them do everything for you, I'm not sure we have anything else to talk about. Live how you want. After all, a god is always right.

[Ginia overly signs the last sentence, dragging out each word in a sarcastic drawl.]

[bakusatsuo]

[Believe it or not, Ginia, Bakugou is on the exact same road to recovery as you are from the belief you think he currently has. Her response gets a scowl.] And if you think saying that being able to take care of yourself without help when you need to is the same as saying you can't ever fucking accept help from other people at all, I'm not sure you were ever fucking listening. I literally just fucking told you I did talk to someone else like you said I should, so it's not like I'm fucking allergic to getting people's help. [Anymore.] I also just fucking explained that what I was saying is that we all have to accept that shit sucks for all of us - everybody who got dragged to heaven against our wills - and no amount of getting support from other people fucking changes that fact. Group therapy is just coping with how things are; it doesn't affect the bottom line. If we want to change things, then we need to get off our asses and act.

If you're too fucking busy looking for people who will make you feel better about being here, if you just wanna make yourself happy here to the point where you can pretend things are fine and none of us were handed a raw deal at all, then you're in fucking denial. You're relying on others to make the intolerable bearable 'cause you're too weak to face the truth and do something about it. And if you lose the people around you, if the heavens take 'em away from you, then you'll fall apart. You won't even be able to act to dig yourself out of the shit you're in then, because you've had the supports you relied on kicked out from under you and you were using them as load-bearing pillars instead of mobility aids. Just 'cause friends and help make shit easier doesn't mean you can afford to be able to not even function without 'em, especially with the heavens making people just disappear whenever the fuck they please.

So if you think me telling you that you need to be able to face our problems head-on and work to fix them, whether or not other people have your back, is somehow bad fucking advice - if you think saying that being able to work solo as well as being able to accept the help of others is the same as saying you can't accept help from anyone ever - then yeah, those words you put in my fucking mouth sure would sound goddamn stupid if I'd ever said them. But if you need to go as far as bending the reality of what people are saying to you so you can blow 'em off as being idiots, maybe you're the one who thinks she needs to be right all the time. You must have some really goddamn pressing reason to not want to hear me.

Either way, I'm not wasting my time talking to somebody who doesn't listen. [And he turns to go.]