[Video]

[koukai_kirai]

Posted: June 4th
From: Hachiman

[The video feed shows a rather spartan room in what appears to be a simple, old-fashioned Japanese building -- dark-stained wood framing, tatami with a hint of green left in the grass, a shoji screen that's been pushed open to reveal part of the gardens. Hijikata sits in the middle of the screen, dressed in a plain black yukata with a simple crest embroidered into the shoulders. Those familiar with Shinto mythology might recognize it as Hachiman's, though it's common enough to have been used for a number of different groups and households, including Hijikata's own in life.]

This is Hijikata Toshizou, the current incarnation of Hachiman. I apologize if any of this has already been said on the BBS. I'm still not as accustomed to this sort of technology as I'd like to be, so I'm sure I've missed a number of previous discussions. That said, I have a couple of open announcements.

Regarding the recent incident at a festival on the Near Shore:

It strikes me that the creatures we fought there were, in a sense, not unlike many of us. Souls taken from their proper time and place, and brought here. It doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility, or even likelihood, that the incident had a connection to whatever force disposed of our predecessors and has been bringing us here to replace them.

[His expression, already serious, hardens into something outright murderous for a moment.]

If that's true, then on the off-chance that whoever is behind it monitors this network, I want them aware that my opposition to them is now a personal matter.

[He pauses, calming himself a little.]

I'd also like to discuss more generally the concerns that have come up in recent weeks and months about the treatment of shinki. If a shinki has no power to reject an unwanted bond with a god they never chose, then it seems to me that gods are going to need to be responsible for policing each other's behavior towards their shinki. Anyone interested in being part of such an effort should discuss the matter with me. I'm especially interested in hearing from shinki about what sort of systems it would be helpful for them to have in place.

That will be all, for the time being.

[[OOC: tl;dr of what's behind the cut: Hijikata is pissed about his theory about the zombie incident, and interested in brainstorming about forming some kind of Shinki Defense Squad with any other gods who think the shinki situation is pretty BS, hit him up!]]

Comments

[koukai_kirai]

Yes. I recall how they were acting.

But it seems more likely to me that the original party tried doing something different with the souls they've been bringing in from outside than that there are two parties independently bringing in outside souls. It's not impossible, but it seems like a bit of a stretch without further evidence.

And if there's a welfare office for shinki, then it hasn't goddamn well been doing enough.

[noli_oblivisci]

Maybe. The question is, why they'd feel the need to do it differently this time? If they just wanted to bring souls from the outside, they've proven they can.

I see...I haven't had any dealings with them myself so I don't even know how you would approach them. So I think that would be a start in itself - just giving shinki freely available information to let them know they have options available to them in the first place, as well as someone who is willing to help them if they end up trapped in a situation like that.

[koukai_kirai]

Hoping to make more agreeable puppets, perhaps? Or they made some sort of mistake and imported more souls than they had missing gods to replace...

I agree with that, absolutely. If no one knows who to contact or how, then there might as well not be any help out there at all, so getting the word out will be crucial.

[noli_oblivisci]

Or maybe even just, the fact the undead were in actual bodies for the most part? I mean, shinki are dead but they don't rot like those ones did.

[Shortly after, as though from some hesitation, another message followed]

Considering how well the Heavens is seemingly prepared for new gods and replacements, I thought they had something to do with the import of souls.

But then again, they've been pretty boggled by how the new gods and shinki work.

[koukai_kirai]

Perhaps making a shinki from a soul that's not from here necessitates the creation of a "body" of some sort for that soul. Someone could have been trying to... cut corners, as it were. Use their resources more efficiently.

They certainly haven't been prepared to deal with some of the behavioral differences. Shinki who resent their position, gods who resent being taken from their homes or disagree with the conventions around here.

Out of curiosity, though, what made you think they were involved?

[noli_oblivisci]

Well, I don't think they were involved with what happened at the festival. Assuming that the culprit is different from what usually happens.

But when I came here, we'd all been given a note from Amaterasu greeting us and asking for help with an incident at a school. The heavens offered explanations and apparently paired us with who we were 'meant' to be with so it'd feel strange if they weren't somehow involved with souls being brought to replace old gods. Unless they're just taking advantage of the situation.

[koukai_kirai]

If they were involved, they've been remarkably haphazard about actually integrating us into their existing structure. Our presence doesn't strike me as something they planned for, or at least not something they had the time to plan well for.

[noli_oblivisci]

Maybe.

It'd be useful to know about how they reacted to people just showing up, exactly. Or at least when they started showing up in the first place. I know one person who said they've been here since March and it sounded like by then the Heavens were already knew enough about them to put them to work even back then.