[x] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his
[x] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his
Choice 194: [x] He needs to consult Luna, since the house is as much hers as his
Choice 195: Meet with Luna in...
[ ] Japan
[ ] Albion
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Japan
The way I see it, this way we can see the house of Luna's father that was set up and what Luna has been up to there.
[X]Japan
[x] Japan
[x] Albion
I don't see how we have time for going on a trip when we have to stay with our squad and train/do missions. Even with instant travel (?) that's still out of line. But seeing where the majority of votes lie, hope I'm missing something.
Choice 195: [X] Japan
Choice 196: Probably best for Mohammad to go to the mountain, rather than force the mountain to come to Mohammad, as they say. Which in this case meant that the boy had to go to Japan to see Luna, and not wait for her to come to him. Best to be proactive about these things, since he'd tried the other way, and well...he remembered what had happened on the island after Luna became annoyed at him.
He hadn't known she was capable of that kind of rage and intensity, though he should have. He really should have, and would have, if he'd paid more attention to her instead of taking her for granted.
He didn't want to make the same mistake again, so it was off to Japan he'd go.
Of course, Zelkova was wrapping things up in Japan as well (presumably with Luna), so...
[ ] Get to the point, and talk to Luna first
[ ] Seek out Zelkova, since the kodama has probably been with Luna and might help him know her mindset
[ ] Talk to Kaiduka about the whole situation, since the old kitsune probably knows what Luna is up to at the moment
[ ] See if Shiroe has any advice for him (and if his old friend might be willing to do him a favor, now that formality / family honor isn't at stake)
(Rin mental health roll: 9)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Talk to Kaiduka about the whole situation, since the old kitsune probably knows what Luna is up to at the moment
I want to talk to Zelkova or Luna but Shinji needs wisdom first and advice and Kaiduka got that in spades. Kaiduka has experience life as both a male and a female, has had lovers and lived well beyond the little time Shinji has, I think Kaiduka can shed new light to Shinji. Kaiduka already knows Shinji's new status so I think this is the best option.
Shiroe has already given his advice and that would just be dragging it out.
[X] Talk to Kaiduka about the whole situation, since the old kitsune probably knows what Luna is up to at the moment
I think this may be the most fitting at that point, knowing how to bring up the topic of past Shinji's death & "leftovers Shinji" condition takes priority I feel. Especially since Shinji would have stabilized himself at that point.
Zelkova would have been a helpful support too, I assume, but we have stuff to discuss with him as well, and that may keeps us busy a while. Better to do things in order, I feel.
Last edited by Daiki; July 15th, 2020 at 06:02 PM.
[X]Talk to Kaiduka about the whole situation, since the old kitsune probably knows what Luna is up to at the moment
[X]Talk to Kaiduka about the whole situation, since the old kitsune probably knows what Luna is up to at the moment
Such a close vote. But really, all this Luna situation has long since lost my interest, so kinda ambivalent on this vote. Following Luna's trail brings much less joy than fighting for the ideals of Sion, exploring Shinji's changes and so on.
Maybe to me Luna is just the part of original!Shinji that drags him down, hm.
[X] Talk to Kaiduka about the whole situation, since the old kitsune probably knows what Luna is up to at the moment
Choice 197: Beyond what's going on with Luna, and Shinji's whole new life situation, anything else you want to ask Kaiduka while you have him available for questioning?
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[x] Shinji needs a good lawyer with decent knowledge of international magical laws. Can Kaiduka recommend someone capable?
If you fail in something hard, hire a specialist. Maybe they will be able to rub some common sense in mystical area of diplomacy onto us.
[x] Ask him what being a quintessential Onmyouji actually entails, in terms of philosophy, where they sit in the balance between men and nature, where priorities should lie, common mistakes to avoid, etc...
Don't get me wrong, we have been doing a rather decent job so far in term of progression when it comes Onmyoudou skills, however, we're still learning from a book and through our connection to Zelkova - though that one is mitigated given the youkai's rather peculiar personality and nature. We have no master for the discipline right now - we could ask others to teach us later, but this is a decent moment to review the fundamentals with the elder fox since we happen to be in the Land of Yamato. We've been just "reborn" as an Onmyouji after all.
SION!!! can carry us through many things, but there's nothing wrong with brushing on the basics or obtain a couple advice.
[x] Ask if purchasing an update in ofuda paper is possible given Shinji's actual level.
Don't need to actually be final tier (mahoutokoro treebark) paper, just unlocking an upgrade is enough - we might actually need that during the rest of the year.
[x]Ask him what being a quintessential Onmyouji actually entails, in terms of philosophy, where they sit in the balance between men and nature, where priorities should lie, common mistakes to avoid, etc...
[x]Ask if purchasing an update in ofuda paper is possible given Shinji's actual level.
[x] Explain his own mental reconstruction attempt for a balance between his dragon aspect, and his remaining humanity by grounding his psyche as that of a Onmyouji, a being of twilight that merges the physical and the spiritual sides. Ask Kaiduka on his view of this and if he has any tidbits or wisdom on this subject as Shinji is not entirely sure that his view of Onmyouji due to his rush/outsider training is fully correct especially given how little he has actually seen/study of the subject.
Ok there is many things to ask here but I agree with Daiki that Shinji does not have a good grasp of the philosophy of an Onmyouji that he should seek wisdom from an actual master of Onmyouji, one that has trained many many onmyouji and has seen generations come and go. Honestly Daiki's write in works here but I figured I would attempt to have a write in address some of the underlining worries Shinji has as well as actually reference the past vote language of what Shinji choose to become. So I gave a crack at doing a write in.
Paper request is fine with me but it really feels like asking for a boon the likes of what Shinji already had the option to ask for with Kaiduka. If Kaiduka is going to offer one, I would say go for it but I rather wait until Kaiduka prompts it IF he does at all.
Last edited by Skull Leader; August 2nd, 2020 at 04:05 PM.
[x] Explain his own mental reconstruction attempt for a balance between his dragon aspect, and his remaining humanity by grounding his psyche as that of a Onmyouji, a being of twilight that merges the physical and the spiritual sides. Ask Kaiduka on his view of this and if he has any tidbits or wisdom on this subject as Shinji is not entirely sure that his view of Onmyouji due to his rush/outsider training is fully correct especially given how little he has actually seen/study of the subject.
Sounds good. I'll get to updating soonish!
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
So, life has happened. It's been a hectic few months, to be sure, and I realize I owe you an update. That's still a work in progress, especially with work being work and my anxiety level not having completely come down from the US Elections. In the meantime, I suppose I can give you a choice - a rather significant one too, since I know some of you don't like choices which are just about what information to get or which seem a bit vague.
Choice 198: After explaining his actions - and what he was - as best he could, Shinji waited to hear how Luna would respond, as she'd been very quiet through everything he'd had to say. He'd half-expected her to speak up before, and to be fair, she'd looked like she'd wanted to comment several times, but she'd held her tongue. Then again, she'd never been particularly fond of interrupting others so maybe she was just being polite? Not that he knew if he deserved it or not. Hell, he was still figuring out who he was in some ways, and not in the ways that most teens had to deal with.
After all, most teens didn't end up learning how mortal they were by actually dying (and having Death Himself clarify that the person you thought you were was dead, with you being a spiritually, if not legally, distinct entity based on the former). And though he'd tried to prove himself since then, and had in fact carried out his first mission successfully, it had not been an unqualified success, with one of his subordinates - someone neither he nor the person he was based on had exactly treated in a healthy fashion - falling into a coma. An investigation had cleared him of wrongdoing in the matter, since he'd had no way of knowing - and no reason to know - how badly Tohsaka being exposed to the boggart would go, but nevertheless it weighed on him.
How many people would he end up hurting through this actions (or inaction), knowingly or knowingly? How many would suffer for the sake of...what? His ego? His blind spots? A belief that he was someone he wasn't - and couldn't ever be?
So much of what he had was...inherited, for lack of a better word, from the Matou Shinji who used to be, yet, even from what memories he had (and he knew he didn't have them all), he knew that Matou Shinji could be a very complex person. Not always a good person, either, given how quick he'd been to ignore those who cared about him, or to write people off as too much trouble because they didn't hang on his every word.
(Perhaps if the Matou Shinji who'd once been had not been so quick to throw away those former friends, he wouldn't have found himself so confused by someone like Tohsaka, who had in fact hung on his every word, almost worshipping the ground he walked on, how little he deserved that.)
And so he simply stood there as Luna Lovegood, the old Matou Shinji's closest companion finally spoke.
"I have a few things on my mind, but first, I have a question," were her words. Her voice was soft, gentler than he'd expected - than he'd had any right to expect after telling her that the person she'd fallen in love with was dead. That he'd died on the island, with the entity - him - who had come back being merely a Matou Shinji-shaped thing thought and acted in much the same way. Yet the way she looked at him...it wasn't like he was an imposter or thing of dirt. As if he wasn't a thief who had stepped into her lover's form, nor a wretched thing who had very nearly succumbed to temptation with Tohsaka - though he of course, cast the blame for that mostly on the old Shinji, as it was his thoughts who'd come to the surface when the girl had kissed him. Those false memories of carnal bliss in the arms of a girl his old self had once desired.
She didn't look at him with eyes brimming with adoration and worship, nor a gaze filled with scorn and betrayal.
She merely looked at him with curiosity and...was that compassion? (It damned well wasn't pity - he knew that that looked like all too well).
"Y-yes?" Shinji replied, taken aback. He'd already explained everything, laying it out as best as he could. What more could she possibly want to know?
"What about us?" she asked.
Shinji froze.
She...he'd never expected her to ask that question.
"Um..."
"I know you don't consider yourself to be the Matou Shinji I fell in love with. And whether you are or not, you're right that he wasn't the best person - the best lover - in the world. He had his faults. He could be very needy sometimes. Very insecure. Very thoughtless - and tactless - in word and deed." She paused, shaking her head. "And yet...he was - you are - a good person, all the same, despite how you try to deny it."
"I--"
"Let me finish," she interrupted, with Shinji finding himself shocked speechless at the fact that she'd actually cut him off. "Like it or not, the Matou Shinji before me, the one who met Death and came back is much like the one who didn't. Maybe you're not quite the same as you were when we last saw each other, but the thing is, he wouldn't be either. Life changes people, molds them like a current wearing away at stone. And after all the things you've seen and done, I wouldn't expect you to be the same as the Shinji who didn't come back from the island. But you are still Matou Shinji, are you not?"
Not trusting himself to speak, the boy merely nodded.
"Then I need an answer to something."
"Anything."
"I know you're still figuring things out for yourself, as we all are, moment by moment, but...I need to know if you still want to try and make this work. Us, that is. Even with everything that's happened, I think we still have a chance, if we're willing to put time and effort into whatever we have between us. But what I think doesn't really matter if you don't want to, does it?" She smiled sadly. "So, what say you, whoever you are?"
"I..."
How does Shinji respond?
[ ] I'm sorry. The man you loved is dead and it would be wrong to give you hope when there's none to have (No, let's have a clean break).
[ ] ...this is too sudden. I don't even really know who I am yet, and it would be unfair of me to answer you before knowing even that much. (I need to think about it)
[ ] ...yes. Whatever has happened, and whatever might come, let's at least try.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
Well here we go again, entangling Shinji's life in the web of words we fail to fully comprehend, arguing for the implied definitions and leading ourselves by the nose. (Ah, good times.)
...At least, that's what I expected until actually reaching the choices. Thanks for giving an explanation, Alf, you know us too well, heh.
A-and I'm reminded that Shinji is not the only one following the path of embracing inhumanity. Wonder how that one side of Luna's life is looking."Life changes people, molds them like a current wearing away at stone."
[x] I'm sorry. The man you loved is dead and it would be wrong to give you hope when there's none to have (No, let's have a clean break).
If this relationship means no romance with Sion going forward, maybe it's better to end this now. You know what the wise say: "More than one waifu will ruin your laifu."
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
