Shikyoin Hibiki (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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thenearshore2019-06-16 04:56 pm
priforprince) wrote in thenearshore2019-06-16 04:56 pm
June Training
Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: June 7th, 2017
Where: Apollo's Temple, The Far Shore
Summary: FIRST-CLASS ENTERTAINME---er, training for extant gods and shinki
Determining which temple to visit for today's training is not difficult. For one thing, Apollo's Temple is setting off fireworks periodically to entice newcomers through its high, Hibiki-statue-flanked doors. For another, anyone leaving their own temples will find themselves immediately confronted with an adorable purple goat robot wearing sunglasses and a bow tie. The goat has a silver platform suspended above it, atop which has been set a single purple rose and a brief note:
I shall be maa-ttending you today. Follow me.
Said goat will continue to follow your character until they give in and do as the note suggests. In fact, even once they do, the goat shall accompany them for the duration of today's log, seeing to their every need. Ask the goat to fetch something, and it shall be fetched. Ask the goat for directions within Hibiki's castle - "Where is the god training?", "Isn't there an amusement park in here?" - and guidance shall be provided maa-ccordingly.
It seems, today, everyone will receive a full Celebrity Maa-xperience.
Introductions
God Training
Shinki Training
Self-Improvement Training
Rest and Refreshments
In Summary:
What: Information and Training
When: June 7th, 2017
Where: Apollo's Temple, The Far Shore
Summary: FIRST-CLASS ENTERTAINME---er, training for extant gods and shinki
Determining which temple to visit for today's training is not difficult. For one thing, Apollo's Temple is setting off fireworks periodically to entice newcomers through its high, Hibiki-statue-flanked doors. For another, anyone leaving their own temples will find themselves immediately confronted with an adorable purple goat robot wearing sunglasses and a bow tie. The goat has a silver platform suspended above it, atop which has been set a single purple rose and a brief note:
I shall be maa-ttending you today. Follow me.
Said goat will continue to follow your character until they give in and do as the note suggests. In fact, even once they do, the goat shall accompany them for the duration of today's log, seeing to their every need. Ask the goat to fetch something, and it shall be fetched. Ask the goat for directions within Hibiki's castle - "Where is the god training?", "Isn't there an amusement park in here?" - and guidance shall be provided maa-ccordingly.
It seems, today, everyone will receive a full Celebrity Maa-xperience.
Introductions
- Incidentally, Hibiki's temple does indeed contain an amusement park. Everyone shall be directed there first, to enjoy the roller coasters, spinny teacups, and merry-go-round to their hearts' content until all the TVs in the area switch on at once. (Should your character not be positioned by one of the many televisions scattered throughout the area, have no fear. Your maa-ttendant has just rolled away and come back with one.)
"CelePara Prince Hour!"
Hibiki's face appears on the screen. She's a decent amount of space back from the screen, for once, and seated upon her throne. There's a brilliant sun motif on the wall behind her - or is it a crown? It's both, perhaps.
"Everyone, it's been a while. Shikyoin Hibiki here. Have your hearts been astonished by the peerless excellence I've delivered to you today?"
The maa-ttendants all nod. Which is hard for robots without neck joints to do, so they rock in place on their wheeled platforms instead. Clatter, clatter. Hibiki, for her part, nods back as if she's witnessed this occurrance.
"Splendid. The three characteristics of divinity are - Majestic. Unparalleled. And...Possessing great love." A smirk. "It's as if the position exists just for me. But those of you tasked with a duty you're currently incapable of fulfilling need not despair. I've arranged a variety of beneficial exercises for gods and shinki alike. Engaging in them is best, so we can create it."
She raises an arm, as if showing everyone ascending from her beneficial guidance. "Together with me - the ultimate puniverse!"
The TVs switch off. Those closest to gods display, on a map, where the god training is. Those closest to shinki display the shinki training. All indicate the physical training and the refreshments. The refreshments seem to be.....outside? With a time marked for dinner?
Pay that no mind. It's probably fine.
God Training
- Hibiki isn't at the god training, either, which is taking place in a banquet hall. And which appears to be, ah....a swanky tea party. With a sign indicating there's a sauna next door. She does, however, appear on a large TV a bevy of spygoats push into position once any new gods have entered the room. Behold!
"So-called gods, glad you could make it. Yours is the tremendous task of assisting me, the God of Fortune Apollo, to bring radiance to the scrap-heap puniverse known as the Near Shore. As satisfying your followers with anything less than a Top-Class showing is insufficient, I'll give this chance to steep in a celebrity atmosphere to you. The chosen deities require no throat-drying or sweat-inducing hardship. Open the new celeb world."
And, with that, the tea party begins. Those not wishing to enjoy the top-class light sweets or delicious first flush teas may rid themselves of their average-person cares in Hibiki's special detoxing sauna. Those seeking an example to follow may take in a movie (in a theater featuring opulent reclining seats) starring Shikyoin Hibiki, or enjoy that the Shikyoin Hibiki History Exhibit has returned for a limited time only to this wing of the temple. Learn all about her many accomplishments, and be inspired!
If you're looking for Hibiki, however.....Well. Your maa-ttendant is willing to show you the way, especially if you're a shinki or a god seeking suggestions for a matchup. But there are two obstacles to reaching her. First, you have to successfully kick a soccer ball past a spygoat goalie. Second, you have to read from a college history textbook provided by a spygoat in a pasteboard hat - and get all the kanji right.
Or you could force your way through, or raise a fuss until Hibiki emerges, but who'd conceive of that?! Clearly everything will go as Hibiki intends!
Shinki Training
- The good news for the shinki in attendance- or any gods who ran away from Hibiki’s tea party to see what else is happening- is that they don’t have to further deal with Hibiki. Or being proper. Instead, everyone’s maa-tendants will guide them to a large indoor space that has been purposefully, uh, repurposed for today. As there are a lot of big extravagant rooms in Hibiki’s castle, it wasn’t very hard to change it into what is essentially the inside of an acrobatic circus. Wendy will already be waiting for everyone to arrive, seated happily on top of some push up bars. “That’s everyone, isn’t it? Alright then!”
Since there are no newcomers as far as Wendy can tell, she gladly skips over “how to shinki” issues and instead offers some quick explanations and instructions to everyone in attendance. People are more than welcome to do the usual borderline practicing, of course, and Wendy will give a quick instruction for those who somehow missed that particular lesson. But that’s the boring way, and she didn’t set up all of this to be boring. In fact, there’s a particular shinki trait that she feels not a lot of people have really utilized: the strange shared trait that they’re all extremely light and can do things like leap ridiculous distances.
So everyone will be encouraged to use the various pieces of equipment that are around. People who are unsure of themselves can use basic things such as monkey bars, low balancing beams, and the other sorts of things that they’ve seen Heaven use in their training sessions such as jumping from stump-like platforms to another. There are even some trampolines for those who want to see how high a shinki can go before their head cracks into the very high ceiling. (And an almost extravagantly large bouncy castle for the kids and kids-at-heart.) But they’re really encouraged to use things that are a little more… high skill. Such as the tightrope extended high above the ground, or the swinging trapeze set. For those who want a bit of a challenge, Wendy even has a route set up where they have to go through just about everything that’s set up in the space… while she has another person practicing throwing borderlines at them to either dodge or deflect. Also the goats might get in the way. Is that part of the training, or is that just how the goats how?
Any random god that comes in will hardly get a blink besides Wendy ushering them in with an off-handed, “Sick of the tea, huh?”
Self-Improvement Training
- Those looking for something less...extreme...than Wendy's contribution will find it in Hibiki's gaming arcade, which has been newly restocked with a row of PriPara arcade machines. These machines encourage you to create a customizable character and dress them up, then perform a rhythm game with the character dancing in the background. Successful completion earns you a ticket with more clothes that can be used on your character. It seems that a sense of rhythm improves intuition, which is useful for gods and shinki alike.
Also of use to all: the ability to ad-lib with a partner in an unusual environment! Which is what anyone who ventures into this concert hall will find. It looks like there's an improv contest going on. Grab a partner and be assigned a random scenario. You now have to act out that scenario in hopes of getting perfect 10s from a row of extremely Judge-Looking spygoats (they are wearing berets and glasses, to look Artsy, except for one who got the kind of judge wrong and showed up in a powdered wig instead.)
Now, pick your chosen field of battle! No sparring prompt is required to hone one's competitive urges and divine might.
Rest and Refreshments
- Anyone desiring a change of scenery, as well as everyone once the sun begins to set, will be guided out the back of the temple by their maa-ttendant. A splendid dinner table has been set out upon the pirate ship in Hibiki's backyard, and everyone has a place reserved just for them. Why, their favorite drink is already awaiting them in their glass!
Food is available from a variety of sources. For those who prefer self service, a buffet table has been laid out next to one railing, arranged with a variety of high-class, gourmet foods. Filet mignon? Caviar? Lobster? Fugu? Vegetable delicacies? All are available (though none come with instructions - do have fun with the lobster). The maa-tendants are also happy to double as waiters and fetch food, for those who prefer the full service celebrity treatment.
Those seeking a more low-key, though no less eclectic, dining experience can find it along the other side of the deck, set up on a nice table with a tablecloth and some flowers for decoration. It seems one of Hibiki's shinki has decided to grace everyone with a bountiful spread! Poke, acai bowls, salad, malasalada, chocolate macademia, strawberry mochi, and manapua are all available, with placards indicating what each dish is and any potential allergens. This entire temple devotes itself to hospitality.
Still missing, however: the host, though there's a throne awaiting her at the head of the table, a cup of tea already in place. Music is also being provided by goats in the corners, who seem to have full stereo systems hooked up where the maa-ttendants have trays. Baroque classical music recordings softly waft over the diners, lending the entire experience a distinctly elegant air.
This aura of peaceful refinement shall remain until everyone who seems inclined to go aboard has done so (the goats do seem to maa-ccomend you board, but it is not enforced - sit this out, if you wish). At that point, all goats will roll up to their gods or shinki, carrying another sign - Please take care. The music dies down. So do the lights.
And beneath everyone, the Starship PriPirates's...rocket engines...rumble to life. And a triumphant peal of laughter, high above everyone - rings out!
In Summary:
- Delight in your precious new robot BFF (maa-ttendants are OK to NPC & adopt!)
- Learn absolutely nothing from anybody actually charged with hosting this informational session
- Engage in various "training" activities with no ulterior motives behind them whatsoever
- Be kidnapped by pirates?????
- Have fun~
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The topic earns a tiny frown. Not unhappy or displeased, but it's something she's been thinking on a lot.]
It's what I expected, though I'm waiting for whatever further plans she has.
[Considering how the god hasn't made a personal appearance, there's definitely one more thing planned. A performance, perhaps? Ginia can't imagine Hibiki not performing with people gathered at her temple.]
Though the lack of new arrivals bothers me.
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[On both counts. It's bothering everyone by the tone of his voice. But he's not sure it's everything on her mind.]
Things haven't quite had that Hibiki razzle dazzle yet. There's no way she isn't setting up a show stopper.
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[Wouldn't that be a sight. Ginia's not quite sure temples are modular or moveable in that way, but if anyone around had a rocket, it'd be Hibiki.]
Think you'll run one of these sessions sometime?
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Haven't seen him here yet, though.
[His head tilts as he considers that.]
If I can rope Iskandar into it and find somewhere to set up after I get a handle on everything. Neither of us really has the grounds to hold it, and I'm wondering if we should let people into Temple? The Stone Menace would have a riot teasing them and if you're not part of the household, it won't hold back. Even if I appeased it earlier with sacrifices. But setting up something in the abandoned temples should be doable for the training part at least.
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[Ginia cracks a small smile. She never saw the more temperamental side of the temple, but she also kept it that way.]
I wonder who around even has the space to host training sessions? Or if it's maybe time to repurpose these into something else?
[Roles may change, but if no one new is coming, the onboarding portion isn't needed as much. Most people do physical training on their own or in smaller groups anyway. Only eight months, but it's sad to think how much has changed since then.]
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[HUFF SMILE. Maybe they'll give Temple a chance to terrorize like a proper Egyptian temple one day.]
I think there's going to need to be some flexibility going forward. There's no telling if this is going to be a continuing trend or if there will be an upswing.
What I'd suggest is private onboarding and tutoring for anyone new and changing roles, and abolishing the God and Shinki separate training sessions and focusing on more group orientated sessions.
Hunting ayakashi for instance takes a bit more than combat skills. Sometimes you have to track down the beast, and the tactics needed in dealing with something like that are different than a human opponent. Especially if you're dealing with more than one. Or ones that require multiple pairs to defeat the creature.
I don't know of too many gods that hunt in teams or are really used to unit based teamwork outside of working with their partners. Iskandar's remarked on it too.
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[Small ayakashi are a problem in groups and can be fast, but wouldn't be too hard for even a newcomer to handle. Anything larger is good practice. If no one else is coming in, might as well put skills to use.]
I've worked well with Shun plenty of times. Ayumeric strikes me as a natural leader. Chris and Tsubasa are a natural team too. Shen Wei has a large set of skills that would make him valuable in any group.
[Making connections, remembering people's skills, setting up alliances. It's what she's good at, but her expression falls a little as Ginia realizes where the skills came from too.]
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I like Shun and Shen Wei from the little we've interacted. Aymeric, I don't know him too well. We briefly encountered each other at the compound and that's it. I should reach out. Chris and Tsubasa, well... I shouldn't have to say anything there.
[Plan: Adoption is in full swing. Iskandar needs people in his life other than Waver... and honestly, Waver does too. He knows he's discussed this a little with Ginia.
... and there it is. Final confirmation there's more on Ginia's mind.]
You okay?
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Luger is a gun for Chris, a rifle for her. The name is fitting as well, but did that come before or after the form. Does it say more about him or does it say something about her as well?
Now she knows definitely she's a sniper. Her specialty even. A low sigh escapes as she looks back at Waver.
Once, she might have said something. Thrown a coin in the cup and poured out her feelings.
But once Waver was a shinki and he's not now.]
Thinking about who else might have helped if they were still around. Trying to remember who else is around. Shiro too? He's pretty steady.
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[Yeah?
Bullshit.
That's one of the terrifying things about the transition. Relationships tossed the air like salad and who knows where it all comes down.
In which... he's coming down to her level and quietly wrapping her in a hug.]
You need one.
[He should have given more during his life. But he can do better now.]
CW: PTSD, references to abuse
Logically, she knows this is a hug. This is what people do to comfort each other. It is a normal human gesture of support and comfort and understanding and is a nonthreatening act.
But.
The second Waver's arms circle around her, Ginia judges the angle needed to smash her forehead into his nose and how quickly she can drive her fists into his gut. He's a Heroic Spirit so she only has a second before he retaliates and destroys her with a spell. She's seen his spells. She's seen Heroic Spirits in action. If she can time her headbutt and fists into the same second she can also drop a borderline and run--
--Shit, no, the moment Iskandar finds out, she'll have to content with him. New plan. Do nothing. Weather it out, go passive, don't give him a reason to react aggressively. He'll leave when he's bored, maybe he won't even go after Beth. Or Hannah. Or Ivy.
Oh.
But they aren't here, are they.
Past and present collide as tectonic plates smash and grind against each other, shoring off more fragments. Ginia stares straight ahead, struggling to remember the appropriate response for the situation. Because this is a different place with different rules and Waver wouldn't hurt her.
)Maybe.
Because everyone here would do harm to another because everyone has people they want to protect. Alliances are a paper thin list and Ginia knows she ranks very low on the majority. It's fine. It's not as if she doesn't prioritize people either.)
Three seconds after initial contact, Ginia raises her arms and returns the hug. (She's very good at fast calculations; need to be when you're calculating bullet over distance with wind working against you.) Does she need the hug? Or does Waver need a hug and to feel like he's doing something? Does it matter? No, everything matters to someone in some way.
It's harder now. Everything feels harder and more complicated and Ginia can't shut off the part of her brain now unleashed by new memories. The calculating side, the cautious side, the side willing to balance out the cost of taking the life of a civilian and her infant child against the survival of herself and her team.
Squeeze. Pat. Pat. There. A perfectly socially acceptable hug. Ginia pulls away and puts on a smile.]
Thank you.
[She signs as if anyone would believe it.]
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Both of them are fast on the draw when they need to be. That's true given his life Waver now understands and what he's inferred about hers. His eyes shade over saddened for a moment. It's a skill both of them still need - it's not like Waver could ever escape that as a shinki, because he needed to play the games Gods played, better than the Gods themselves. He didn't have the safety nets he does now. And everyone has to play the deception game here to some extent.
Honne and tatemae... is that what they fall into sometimes? Is that the right term for the masks they wear, especially here? (A concept Iskandar probably would recoil at, though for all the wearing his heart on his sleeve, it's a mask for the layers below). Or is it something else?]
You're my best friend. Anytime.
[Remember you're important to him, Ginia. Remember you're a person he'd want to protect.]
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Best friend. Ginia scoffs lightly because honestly, there are much better friends to have, but she holds her hands. It's not as if Waver isn't a good friend, and it's nice to hear. It's that she thinks she's completely disliked, but there are the obligations and ties formed by temples, then there are the ties she's made herself.
How many would unravel if they knew for certain she was an assassin? How many people are already suspecting?
...Well. Shun saw her execute a man so he's probably not judging much there.]
Be careful with 'anytime.' You know my work. I could sure call in a lot of favors in the middle of the night.
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[Aren't they all monsters in some way, though? The fangs and claws have to come from somewhere. His hands aren't lily white. What would she think if he started listing off his sins. He ordered Berserker to tear through those cultists. He tortured cultists with Chikusa. He killed at least one himself. And that's just here.
He loves Iskandar. But he isn't blind to what conquest means. Where he could go following him. And follow he will. Chose him he will. Even set against the world.
Honestly she should meet Richard if she hasn't already. There's someone else who has the same issues of not believing that people truly care about him.
They're so much more than just monsters. That's a fragment of their whole.]
And I'll take my risks.
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[Rather than face the sincerity of his words, Ginia retreats behind flippancy, a teasing smile as good a wall as anything. She's not even sure why his words feel a step too far. It's not as if best friends and important are mutually exclusive.
Maybe it's the weight of importance. The willingness to take risks for another. In her skewed sense of self, Ginia knows what she would do for the people important to her. She doesn't like it in return because it feels unbalanced.
Ginia watches Waver. Nothing has changed since he became a god. Everything has changed since he became a god. Though a shinki turned god understands more what shinki go through, it doesn't change the fact they're still gods.
He got everything he wanted. She should be happy for him. Is happy. Yet a 'but' hangs with the thought every time, trailing into feelings she can't place or explain. They're not happy ones though and so she swallows them down and keeps them close so no one has to know.]
We once speculated how old we were. So what's the truth?
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But his eyes drop as he thinks about it.]
I was born October 3, 1975. I died December 31, 2017. Technically I'm forty-two. Technically.
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Well, maybe not that far off.]
Technically. Because you're a Heroic Spirit?
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...
I'm not going to say here what those circumstances were, but I'm... or maybe now, was, something more complex than a normal Servant. I told you I actually am Zhuge Liang... and at the same time not. It's called being a Pseudo-Servant... a merger between a human and an Heroic or Divine Spirit when the Spirit can't manifest on its own. What results can play out a number of different ways.
It's best to compare my case to the New Gods here. I'm his incarnation, and yet myself, just a bit more complete then the others here.
That was when I was alive.
1/5
But as Waver continues on...]
2/5
3/5
4/5
5/5
Okay. Deep breath. Back track a little. Just... break it down bit by bit.]
So if you were in a gacha game, you'd be a limited SSR introducing a new mechanic into the system.
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...
...
That's life. The human involved gains most of the abilities of the Spirit combined with them, but that doesn't actually change the human into one in that case. They're performing a role. Being a Pseudo-Servant is meant to be temporary, and usually death of the combined entity just results in a split; the Heroic Spirit returning to the Throne and the Throne resurrecting the human without recording them and making them a Spirit themselves
Due to those circumstances and other outside factors, my death seems like it was like one of exceptions as it could meet the criteria. I feel different... the state of me like him. So Heroic Spirit. But there was an incomplete split, maybe. Zhuge Liang isn't here. But everything that made him up came with me.
Sorry. There's no way to make that anything but confusing as fuck.
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It also feels like a complicated mess. Her brow furrows a little as she tries to piece it all together.]
No hard feelings if I continue calling you Waver and leave it at that?
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