Heaven's BBS - text

[returnedfromtheline]

Posted: Saturday April 23, 2016 10:15
From: Yukine
---


[Since one oblique mention of it a while ago, Yukine had been keeping an eye out.
And now it has come up on the BBS in ways he couldn’t brush off as being a mistake, even if he tried.

A few – probably quite more than a few – of the new shinki have become nora.

Biting firmly on the inside of his mouth and clutching his phone tightly in both hands, a lot of thoughts fly through his mind. Dark thoughts, like how could a group of strays be dealt with if they put their mind to something dangerous? Angry thoughts that these people seemed so damn attracted to whatever everyone else told them was abhorrent. (That was a new word he’d learned that was just perfect for this situation, wasn’t it!) Small, scared thoughts of his own defeats at the hands of nora— no, he’s not scared of them!

Should he tell someone and let them deal with it? Should he tell them off himself?
Yukine starts and deletes several messages before deciding that none of them would give him the information he wants.

Nora are dangerous and have rotten personalities. He doubts that these new nora are much different. So what he wants— is a way to protect himself and Yato from them. And that means getting their names. Their regular names are not a problem, but the new shinki are weird. They don't have names based on their kanji like normal. So that just means to be safe Yukine has to get all their names, including the vessel name.
Most of them likely don’t know the significance their name has. And the ones that do and don’t share their names... they obviously have something to hide, right?]


I saw the post a little while ago asking about having more than one god, and have seen some other people mention the same. Wow, I’m surprised that it sounds like a lot of you have become nora. I really wonder what kind of situations made you do it. I’d be interested to hear about it and how many names you have now. Or for gods, how many shinki you have now.

Comments

Re: Private

[nailed_navigation]

Careful Yukine. A lot of them are like children playing in the sandbox, unaware of the scorpion in their castle.

Private

[returnedfromtheline]

[?? Kazuma-san... he kinda gets what you mean but-]

You can just say what you mean, you know.

I only need them to talk at me. I'm not out to make any ties.

[konobakazaru]

I only have one god now

But I only asked the others so I could protect them because they couldn't protect themselves

Elsa's shinki was hurt and he's my friend and Elsa took care of me while Susano'o was gone

Konzen was trapped without his shinki

I just didn't want them to die

[returnedfromtheline]

I'm glad you have only one god now.

I know that Susano'o-sama neglected you horribly. [That time with the blight for three days? He remembers that.]

private message

[reformedsinner]

You seem concerned, Yukine.

Is it that dangerous to be a nora?

perma-private

[returnedfromtheline]

They probably won't see it that way, but I think it is.
Don't worry, Hakkai-san. I won't start anything. I just want information.

[missingache]

[This post makes Roxas think about questions he's had on this for a while.]

If a god accepts someone who's a nora already, how does the blight thing work? Would all the gods be hit by the same amount?

And what if I have a shinki that's way too dangerous to use in their vessel form? What other choice do I have?

[returnedfromtheline]

I don't know. Maybe someone else will field that.

...And I've never heard of a shinki that's too dangerous for his own god to use. I guess a god will also have to answer that.

[killsthebuddha]

With these damn "gods" disappearing left and right, it starts to look like hedging your bets is the real reason to go stray.

[returnedfromtheline]

Hedging your bets against what? You'd never be left without a god for long.

[doestheickyjobs]

I don't see how it's that surprising. What's the big deal?

[returnedfromtheline]

The new gods and shinki don't think it's a big deal, but it's mostly surprising just because they were asked to not do that.

[spes_phthisica]

i dont understand it
to me the idea feels so repulsive and wrong
but it seems as if some of the others dont feel like that at all

i kind of feel bad about it but i cant help distrusting the ones that have done it

1/2

[returnedfromtheline]

[YES! Friend!]

Then you understand how the gods and shinki feel.

Private

[5yenwish]

hey yukine
don't push 2 hard ok?

[...he's actually more worried about his shinki than these nora, lol...]

[returnedfromtheline]

I'm not going to start anything. I'm just out for information.

It's not going like I hoped, but I'm still going to figure out some way to get all their names.

Text;

[sanzohoshi]

Hello, Yukine!! ( ´∀｀)ノ～ ♡

Not a lot of gods replying right now, huh?? I guess shinki feel a bit more strongly on the topic. But I think this is something discussed between a shinki and their god, and it's up to the shinki. ╮(︶︿︶)╭ After all, I don't own them. They're their own people still!

Anyway, when I first arrived, I wasn't given an official shinki! (*ﾉ▽ﾉ) I got into some trouble when Susano'o attacked, and a nice shinki gave me some help! It wasn't until after that I got an official one.

And I'm happy about having an official one! Really happy ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ He seems really great and strong! And i like his hat! (⌒▽⌒)☆ I think we get along well!

I don't think he has an interest in being nora, he seems really against it, and that's fine! He doesn't have to go to anyone else if he doesn't want to, I would never force that, and I respect his decision of course. I only plan on having one more nora after this, but communication is key, you know?? (≧▽≦)/

[oops she wrote a lot]

Aaahh I wrote a lot, huh?? Sorry, sorry! (シ_ _)シ

Re: Text;

[returnedfromtheline]

[Planning on having a nora? He could kind of understand becoming a nora in the need of a moment, like it sounds like Goku did. Like he himself had been asked to do once.

But planning it? Yukine's so dumbfounded by this he has to ask-]

I agree that communication is key between god and shinki. I've said that a lot myself.

But why would you need to plan to have a nora? And why not release the shinki that helped you once the moment was over?

[mybadhabit]

I only have one shinki, but he's also my second. I did not release my first, and I'm certain he didn't somehow die again. He's just gone. When such things are possible, it's natural for people to want to reach out for any feeling of security they can find, don't you think? Having a nora on backup is a good way to mitigate the risk of suddenly losing your exemplar to forces unknown.

You have to remember, us new gods aren't like the old gods. We're not so ineffable; we were human once, and we haven't been here long enough to lose sight of that humanity.

[returnedfromtheline]

[... 'Nora on backup'. Yukine knows exactly what that's like.
His emotions are getting the better of him on this one, but he doesn't care. It has to be said.]

Having a nora on 'backup' is an insult to your shinki, no matter whether they'll disappear suddenly or not.

[And after taking a second to look up 'ineffable'... you know what, Sonic-sama has a good point there.]

There are some gods who were once human. [Tenjin.] But you're right- that's another thing that makes you new gods so strange.

[erogappa]

I guess Ive got three now

[returnedfromtheline]

Thanks for actually answering the question!

Really, I was mostly only curious about how many nora are out there and who they are.

What are their names?

[okitactless]

[YAMATO HAS A LOT OF FEELINGS.

Until Shepard's disappearance, the very thought of being wielded by another was horrifying. It isn't even a thought that had naturally occurred to him, so devoted is he to his first (and only, in his mind) goddess. He's no master of the BBS board, not even with his steadily improving skills, but he'd caught wind of it here and there, and it had been nigh incomprehensible as a concept.

But this is his second week under Ayumu's care since Shepard's disappearance. He'd recoiled so violently that first night, and spent the next few days mired in despair, a breath away from catatonic. It was only after he'd met and spoken to Souji that some of his guilt and loneliness had eased, and even then, it had been necessity that spurred him into fighting with his "new" goddess.

After all of that... the idea of serving a second god doesn't taste quite so sour in his mouth. But just like with Yuuki, these are circumstances out of anyone's control. Ayumu is his friend, and he's happy to work with her as a shinki, because that's all they can do until Shepard comes back. (And she will. He believes that with all his heart.) But to willingly lend yourself out to other gods when your own still has need of you... that idea is still confusing and mildly repulsive.

(Yeah, he's looking at you, Sanzo and Axel. Especially you, Axel. Don't be a bad influence on Ayumu!!! l o l)]

I agree with souji-kun [Because that's his new best friend!! And he really wants everyone to know it!!!] you should love your god right?? why wouldn't you unless they were really terrible... but i think most of the time they love you too and you're comrades right so why would you betray them?? if your god goes away and they want you to work with another god until your god comes back then maybe its' okay right? but I don't understand why you'd do it yourself. that's kind of [What's a good, eloquent word to describe these feelings...] gross

1/2

[returnedfromtheline]

['gross' is a good word for it, Yamato-san.]

Thank you, Yamato-san. You're right. (although 'love' is maybe a strong word...)

[skyleopardess]

If one of my shinki was attacked and I couldn't get to them in time, I'd rather they go nora than get themselves killed because they were worried about hurting my feelings.

They just met me after all--that's not nearly enough time to develop the sort of devotion you're implying they should have.

[returnedfromtheline]

Although I didn't start this post to have a discussion like this, I'm definitely getting the picture now.
For regular shinki, that devotion is strongly connected to our name. Which is something not the same with the new shinki, because they came here with a name, apparently.

[fullcowl]

[For some reason, the way it's written makes it sound aggressive.

Maybe if he just answers concisely?]

Two.

[returnedfromtheline]

[what you talking about? Yukine is being super-polite, given the topic!]

[Having learnt his lesson, he wants to clarify-]

Thanks for answering the question!
Two shinki, or two nora?

private

[pachintoki]

oh

seems like youre worried about something.

Re: private

[returnedfromtheline]

I don't know how it seems that way, because I'm not. I'm just asking for some information.
Were you going to answer, Gintoki-sama?

[subtract]

I know of one who was given a second name against his will to save his life. He was released soon after, so it doesn't really matter now. A lot of shinki here don't seem to have reasons that desperate, though.

Having more than one god with power over you seems like more of a disadvantage than an advantage.

[returnedfromtheline]

That's a really disturbing story, even if the shinki was released in the end.

That's another way to look at it, yes. [way to put it negatively, Add. But he'll take it.]

[koukai_kirai]

I've arrived just recently, and I only have the one shinki.

I don't need more than that. Certainly not enough to take them from other gods, though if someone else turned up and needed me, I'd do my best to take care of them.

[He's not a very black and white thinker, so he can see situations where he'd use someone else's shinki in an emergency (and then release them), or take in a shinki with an absent or troublesome god, or perhaps even use an existing nora for something necessary but disgraceful... but as a general rule, he sees shinki the way he saw samurai, back in the old days. Serving another master without even having the decency to get your old master's blessing to leave? What sort of disloyal bastard does that?]

1/2

[returnedfromtheline]

[What kind of disloyal bastard indeed?]

[Yukine is very glad to see another like-minded person, and a god this time!]

Thank you for that. I hope that kind of situation doesn't come up for you.

anon

[tsuku]

[ One of Amaterasu's shinki let him borrow a spare smartphone, hence the anonymous name. ]

I think the Heavens might have noticed. At least, Heavens shinki gossip off duty.

I wonder if that's why I can't go out. They're worried I'll become a Nora and that's bad? I wouldn't, but it's that common for the weird Shinki, I guess.

[returnedfromtheline]

[??? Yukine wonders if he missed something on the BBS... a new shinki is detained besides Goku?]

I wouldn't be surprised. [Both that heaven noticed, and that they've done nothing about it.]

Being a nora is definitely looked down on, yes. And from all the other posts it does sound like it's common for the new shinki. I can't say if it's a reason to detain you, though.

[Nora herself roams free, after all, damn her.]

[very_goodman]

Heh, yeah, that was me. Kinda regretting bringin' it up at all, to be honest. I didn't know it was gonna turn into a whole big thing.

[returnedfromtheline]

[Him too, honestly.]

Me either. I thought it was a simple question to answer, but everyone has a lot of opinions about nora they want to talk about instead.

private

[shadowrevenger]

[Because it seems like Yukine is still getting a lot of "well, what's the big deal" and not a whole lot of "right, what the heck is up with that."]

I don't like it. If my shinki was that dissatisfied with me or felt he worked better with someone else, I'd rather he just told me so I could let him go.

With a life threatening situation, I guess I'm grateful that my shinki came out of it alive, but I'd still prefer another option.

private

[returnedfromtheline]

Thank you, Suzugamori-sama. Honestly, I'm glad to hear you feel this way.

You noticed that new gods and shinki who think like this are outnumbered though, right?
Is that why you're talking to me in private?

I don't mind. I'm just checking.

[noli_oblivisci]

I only have one god and I can't imagine having another.

However, is there a particular reason not to make more than one contract? It doesn't seem like it's a standard up here, based on how you talk about it.


[Not to mention is just feels wrong to her to make more contracts.]

[returnedfromtheline]

It's not standard. At all.

It has a lot to do with honouring the god-given name and the life given because of it.
A spirit wandering on the Near Shore is basically going to be ayakashi food unless it gets named by a god.

But seems like the new shinki generally don't think much of it.

[galactically]

when i learned about noras for the first time from Kazuma, i thought they were shinki who sneak around their god's backs to join with another one. that'd be like cheating, right?? ¯\_( ՞ ︿ ՞ )_/¯

now i have a nora of my own after he tried to save me during that attack
he's very loud and sometimes a little gruff, but also enthusiastically sweet (•́⌄•́๑)

i'm not sure what to think anymore... perhaps it all depends on the shinki's true nature

[She may or may not also be encouraging one of her goddess friends to pursue a nora romantically... oops?]

[returnedfromtheline]

[Considering that Yukine thinks that a nora's nature is 'dangerous', 'underhanded', and basically 'rotten across the board'... that doesn't fly with him.]

I'm sure Kazuma-san explained it well.

Sheryl-sama, is there a reason you kept the nora?

[moonfang]

Nora? Is that the word for it?

Anyway, to answer your question, two. I let Yoruichi-sensei give me a name because we were attacked by some monsters. Jin's fine with it, he really couldn't give less of a shit. They're both great in their own ways. I can go all out with Jin, but sensei is helping me get stronger. I don't see the problem.

[returnedfromtheline]

That's the word for it. It means 'stray'.

I'm finding that 'not seeing the problem' is a theme with the new shinki.

[To the point that by now he's about ready to ragequit his own post. All the new shinki are so ---- arg!]

[lilys_poise]

Is being a nora really that bad?

[returnedfromtheline]

[Sorry, new shinki. Yukine is running out of patience.
But not being familiar with this name, maybe this shinki is new enough that she really doesn't know.
(sigh) Senpai mode, on.]

As you can read above, the new shinki generally have a different opinion on it.

Here, with the regular gods and shinki, the idea of a shinki with more than one name is abhorrent. The idea of giving more than one name to a human feels naturally wrong, but it's bad mostly because it runs against showing thanks and loyalty to your god for the god-given name that saved your spirit. (That's the super-short explanation.)

Private | To Yukine (And Kazuma probably reading over her shoulder)

[dominatriarch]

What I'm taking away is these new shinkis' casual approach to allowing themselves to be noras is because they lack any attachment to their god.

I'm certain we understand why.

My question now is what are we going to do about it or are we going to do anything about it at all to begin with.

private back

[returnedfromtheline]

[Get all their names. All of them. The ones who don't volunteer them have something to hide.
Who knows how the new shinki react to spells. They have to be ready.]

We should talk about it. I'll ask Yato to bring us over there.