GODLY AUDIENCES - TAKAOMI SHISHIMARU

[divus]

Comments

[divus]

...you mean in general? [It's a good question though since Merriment isn't sure how to answer.] Keep traveling, I guess. I wouldn't have anywhere else to be, so I could just keep doing what I was doing before.

[bakaomi]

Were you satisfied with that?

[ he can't quite bring himself to say happy instead ]

[divus]

Well. When I was doing my own thing I had less of a chance to screw up, so satisfied's an interesting word. [This got depressing, so Merriment laughs a little.] But I made kids happy and that was always a good thing. So yeah. I guess so.

[bakaomi]

[ well that answer was a mixed bag of emotions. ]

Would there be anything you'd change?

[divus]

...I never really explained to you what that hole was, did I?

[bakaomi]

... not really.

[ just that it was something he wanted to avoid, so taka avoided asking more about it. ]

[divus]

[Siiigh.] Okay. So the hole, as it turned out, was actually a trap. [Wait, start over.]

...for the last three-hundred years I didn't know who I was or where I came from. I had a new name and a new purpose but I didn't have any memory of why I was chosen for anything. I finally found a way to get those memories back, but they were stolen. The hole was a trap to get me to leave the warren unguarded, and I heard someone calling my name down there.

I got my memories back, but the warren was destroyed and Easter was ruined. I'd let everybody down. So. That's what I'd change.

[bakaomi]

[ he's nodding his head along the story and like. merriment is obviously skipping parts, which is understandable, because taka doesn't expect to get every single detail? so it's fine

he has no idea what the warren is, but okay, it must be something important if it needs to be guarded and then ]

... Easter?

[divus]

Yeah. Oh wait do you not know what that is? [He's trying to remember if Japan knows anything about Easter, but that's not his domain so...]

[bakaomi]

No. I mean, yes, I know what Easter is. I think you missed a few stops on your explanation?

[divus]

...Bunny needed a few extra hands to prepare for Easter. We painted the eggs and we were getting ready to send them out of the warren so they could be hidden for Easter morning, but because I wasn't there to protect the warren all of the eggs were destroyed and Easter was ruined. Kids stopped believing in Bunny, and he started fading away. Not really sure what happened to all of them after that since I left.

[bakaomi]

[bakaomi]

I...

Merriment, there is a very large culture clash from where we come from.

[divus]

Yeah, I noticed. [...] Have you ever heard of Santa Claus? Or the Tooth Fairy? Or the Sandman?

[bakaomi]

[ his eyes widen ]

Are you Santa?

[divus]

[This time he bursts out laughing.] No, no...definitely not. But I used to work with him, sort of. Kind of on-site training for this position he offered me.

[bakaomi]

[ oh my god merriment is a fucking elf ]

And the warren is...?

[divus]

...it's Bunny's burrow where he preps everything for Easter. North, Tooth and Bunny all have their own domains. Sandy...used to go wherever. I'm not really sure where he came from.

[bakaomi]

... and now you're here.

[divus]

Yeah. I thought maybe this was another chance to try and fix things. They were doing fine without me, and I already told them a while ago that I wasn't going to be a good fit.

So. Now you know. I'm not sure I deserve to be a god either, but I wasn't about to say no when given the chance.

[bakaomi]

... I think you're doing fine.

[ taka can't say he's doing amazing because honestly he has no idea how gods work outside of the context of this specific game, but

it took another god hitting zero followers for him to even entertain the thought of switching from merriment. ]

[divus]

Hah...thanks kiddo. I'm trying. [Which is also why it's important to him that Taka tries. He looks back toward the window though.] I've got a lot to learn from these guys even if I've been doing this kind of thing for longer than they have.

[A pause.] ...but I did get some of my memories back. That's how I created my wing last week.

[bakaomi]

Your sister, right?

[ who he was also. previously vague on outside of admitting that it was her voice and that she was safe. ]

[divus]

Yeah. I had a family once including a little sister. We lived in a village and I even had friends. We used to play a lot of games and in the winter we'd go skating on a pond not far from our house.

[Why is he telling Taka this...]

[bakaomi]

[ because they're bonding shut up

but that does make him pause ]

Pond...