BBS - Video

[nopixiedust]

Name: Wendy
Date: April 25

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Hey, everyone!

[Since things have... seemed to relax a little bit, Wendy is dressed properly, in a frilly sort of sundress and relaxing on the lawn of Hibiki's ostentatious temple. Somehow she's managed to position the camera so that it's not being blinded by one of the many gold statues around.]

A lot more important things have been happening for a while, but now seems like a pretty good time to ask about some things that I was wondering about. Basically, what were some things you wondered about or had a lot of questions on when you first arrived here? Or maybe they're questions you still have.

For example, I know that there are a bunch of people who struggled with figuring out the phones, since I was one of them.

Basically, things about being a shinki, or a god.... the Near Shore and the Far Shore... Even stuff about Japan in general.

Call this a professional interest!

[Linking her hands together underneath her chin, Wendy tilts her head to the side and smiles.]

Comments

video!

[incinerators]

[ here's an old friend pyrrha hasn't talked to in a while! she smiles warmly and waves into the camera. ]

Hello, Wendy!

[ now that that's out of the way: ] Let's see... I know I did have quite a few questions when I arrived here. It's a little blurry now, but...

[ she hums, deep in thought. ] Well, I suppose I'm still curious as to how we were paired up. I understand that it may be better if that's kept a mystery, but it's something that I think about from time to time.

[nopixiedust]

Hey, Pyrrha!

[Grinning, Wendy waggles her fingers right back. It's good to catch up with people. With how ridiculous things can get, it's easy to lose track of friends.]

You know, that's a good question... When I met my first god- well, she was a dog. So I can only guess about how she felt. But it was like she met me and she got really anxious. I always wondered if that had something to do with her being able to find me.

[incinerators]

[ a dog? she tilts her head. you know, she's seen a lot of things here, but not a dog-god. ]

That's interesting... [ to say the least. ] What is it like, communicating with her?

[nopixiedust]

Um... Guesswork, mostly?

[It was such a long time ago, now that she really thinks about it... She has so many more memories of living with and working under Hibiki than Rosie, although the dog was important to her.]

I mean, she definitely understood me, so that made it a little easier. We could come up with 'yes or no' type questions. Besides that, I guess context and body language was also pretty helpful.

Text: Ginia

[unlucky7]

Cute dress!

I know our generation views roles and the system differently, but I don't think it's explained anywhere what an exemplar is or what they're expected to do. I get it changes temple to temple, but it doesn't seem to be something that's discussed.

Also learning kanji is really hard?????

[nopixiedust]

Kanji is so hard!!!!!!!!
ther'e sos much of it and apparently mos tnromal people never even learn it a lot??
But it's everywhere if you're a shinki!
It's a good thing that school is around or this would be such a bigger pain

But you're right abotu the exemplar thing
Isn't it just the shinki leader or something?

[unlucky7]

We need a list of common/useful kanji and their meanings as a cheatsheet.

I ended up going the route of cramming workbooks. I've also had to learn a lot of language used in business. It's a nightmare!

Basically? It's the whole "shinki are the moral guides for their gods" thing, so the exemplar is supposed to guide the god and any other shinki in the temple. I guess the exemplar can also represent their god at meetings or other formal things, or if working between temples.

But it doesn't seem anyone talks about what an exemplar does or should do. I'm not sure if it matters as much with our generation either since we're so different.

[nopixiedust]

It might still not be helpful when it comes to the kanji that are used for our names
but I guess we can only do so much
Maybe that'll be a fun thing of the day

I would love to see someone try to be a moral guide for hibiki
Befcause I'm pretty sure no one could stop her

[unlucky7]

I feel like most shinki I know don't have visible names anyway. The few names I do know were told to me. I have a friend with the same kanji I had for my first name. Talk about a coincidence.

I guess that's the other difference with our generation; the old shinki introduce themselves with all three names. Puts everyone on even ground. That rule goes out the window if you're nora though.

Same. Or how about Shun?

They're like an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

[hypomeneo]

Alright... what are the more unusual facts about gods and shinki that never seem to come up that you've seen?

[Hell... this one is directed at anyone. Waver is ready to be schooled.]

[unlucky7]

Shinki have the whole lightness thing, right? Gods can take that a step further and float/fly.

[Hey, he said it was directed at anyone.]

[hypomeneo]

Well... that explains a certain chair incident with Hibiki. I did not know that. That is fascinating.

Makes me wonder if all shinki abilities are a distillation of their God's power, or if there are any that are innate.

[... he might be going full mage and nerd here. HMM HMMM HMMMMM...]

Heck, I want the full list for both. What are both sides capable of?

[unlucky7]

What chair incident? Spill.

It's a good question. The whole lightness thing is probably because we're spirits and these forms aren't entirely physical, but I've tried flying or even floating since finding out gods could and no luck there. It's not like it's an automatic thing either; I had to learn about the whole lightness thing and moving like that in the first place. So I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of gods didn't know they could float/fly? Or found out by accident as an extension of the whole lightness thing.

Also gods don't have a borderline or anything like that and you'd think they'd want something to protect themselves with. So that's something that's unique to shinki. I think spells too? At least the shinki and song spell variety.

Shinki and gods never feel full when they eat. In the same vein, we don't have to eat or sleep, but it's good resting?

Gods can teleport at will, shinki have to use shrines. Both can move spirits or animals, but not living people.

I can't think of too many other things, though I'm sure I'm forgetting things. There are all the differences between the old and new generations too, etiquette included.

I feel like there's a lot of etiquette we don't learn.

[hypomeneo]

Hibiki provided Iskandar a magnificent chair, as someone of her magnificence does when meeting a fellow luminary. Iskandar's own magnificence threatened to overwhelm it and I was wondering how it was withstanding him until it finally had to bow to him.

Clearly the lesson learned was that only divine craftsmen are capable of providing furnishings to the Gods.

[Very dry and smiling.]

Do the Gods have the constant hunger thing as well? I was under the impression that it was unique to shinki. ... it's okay resting, I suppose. Sleep is a... task... at times.

We need an etiquette guide, honestly. It makes my job harder when I don't know all the rules. I wonder if your temple's shinki would write one up.

[nopixiedust]

Anyway, if you're done with talking Ginia's ears off...

[This should be a fine enough time to interrupt. God knows someone had to, with these two huge nerds.]

Apparently gods can fly, I guess? On their own, with no wings or anything. I think that's what Shun's been doing. Also, ummm.... I'm not sure we can get hungry? At least, we definitely don't get full. I think everyone kind of realizes it, eventually, but it's not really a normal person conversation.

Oh, and gods don't have to be human. That might be really obvious to some people, but I don't think they realize how far it can go. My first god was a dog, for example. She didn't talk. She just barked.

[hypomeneo]

[Worst nerd. Would theorize for hours if things would let him.

... and okay, that's interesting. Unsurprising, for some strange reason, though mythology has plenty of deities that are non human, even abstract concepts, but...]

A dog? ... no... that doesn't sound too strange, but...

How was communicating with her like? I'm going to assume she had some way of getting what she needed across.

[nopixiedust]

She barked.

[...Not sure what else you expected there, Waver.]

And there were other things, like body language, and stuff like that. She definitely understood me, so it wasn't as hard as it might have been otherwise. I think she might have been magical.... I couldn't tell you how, 'tho.

VIdeo; from Kairi

[pure_radiantics]

[ She giggles. ]

I know this isn't what you intended, but now I'm just sitting here imagining all of the things that we talked about when we were still new, Wendy! The phone, of course, but other things too.

[ She laughs again. ]

[nopixiedust]

Hey, don't make fun of me for being an innocent little girl who couldn't remember anything!

[...Even if she's hardly innocent, and the whole not knowing about cell phone things kind of was a whole different thing than amnesia... But whatever.]

But besides the phone, what other things were you thinking of? Or remembering. They're the same.

[pure_radiantics]

I'm not making fun of you, Wendy! They're very fond memories of mine, that's all!

I remember us going shopping together, and the different styles of clothes were so different - along with how we did the shopping, like how we paid for it and tried things on. Some other things we found along the way were different too, like the setup of malls and shopping centers. Plus, later on, we all got to shop in Japan and France and all over!

[nopixiedust]

Bullying. Horrible, horrible bullying.

[But naw, she's just messing with her.]

I remember that! It was one of the first times I really got to speak with Hibiki, besides when I first met her at the beach. Honestly, it really worked out for me in the end.

[What, with being her main god for months now, and all.]

Although that gets me thinking... I wonder if that would be a good thing to regularly plan out?

Video

[handsome_genius]

Definitely the technology - everything from the phones to the kitchens. How you can buy just about anything, including clothes that fit you without ever meeting a tailor or making it yourself! Oh - and how we were allowed to go in the library anytime we wanted... Read anything, anytime!

The thing about shinki and god... and how some gods aren't that bad, they don't make you work for them like a servant. I really didn't believe that for a long time.

[nopixiedust]

There really is a whole lot, when you put it that way... If you put all of it together, it'd be a whole book, huh? That's so much work...

[And she's not a great typist, either. The phones make it a little easier, but still.]

At least the god thing is a little easier to handle. Everyone's differences can be so different from one to the other, so that wouldn't be a bad thing. People with good gods, or gods they're okay with... I guess there wouldn't be a lot of people who'd want to talk about bad experiences, huh?

[handsome_genius]

I think it depends on the person - and whether or not the gods are still around. I wouldn't mind talking about the ones who are gone.

You're probably right that all of this stuff could fill a book. What are you going to do?

[nopixiedust]

Who knows.

[What? She's mostly honest. Wendy leans back, one foot bouncing through the air, and heaves out a sigh.]

I mean, I have been thinking about making a magazine, of sorts... I think handing out a huge thick book would be way too heavy for most people, and way too much to digest. So maybe something a little lighter would be better. But I've never made one before, so it's just a matter of figuring that out, and what to put it in from day to day....