#qualia;

[tragectory]

  ♕  --- a headcanon.             (Gods do adore their tea parties - much like witches!)

For Composers in Shiki’s dimension, it is a frequent norm to host or attend a social function.

These functions serve many purposes. Here, Composers can demonstrate or change the social perception of their prowess or standing before other Composers - can network with Composers besides those from neighboring grounds - and can exchange information or gossip in a more public venue.

The functions also allow Composers to keep each other in check through a public form of peer review; Composers can evaluate each other, provide direct feedback (as advice or mockery; usually mockery, or otherwise obtuse advice), report problems or request assistance for said problems. (Whether any actual help is provided in the last case is not guaranteed.)

But the true main purpose of these gatherings is to abate boredom - as Composers must complete a hundred years of duty before they can interact with the living, lest they wish to receive divine retribution for breaking a law enforced by the Higher Plane. Within Shiki’s dimension, essentially, this leaves Composers bound to the UG, forcing them to find interesting ways to wait out a century.

Shiki has been to a fair number of social functions since becoming Composer. At these functions, she tends to mingle with Composers with a clear taste and interest in fashion; her relationship with such Composers is very amicable. On the other hand, while she tries not to catch their attention, she also tends to get dragged into the bothersome company of Composers who either dislike her or just like playing around with her - resulting in them trying to press her buttons in various ways, such as with competitive little games, poking fun at her personality or capability, or even by forcing her to spar with them.

As such, though Shiki does appreciate the opportunity to talk to others on a somewhat to more or less equal footing - she sometimes hesitates to accept an invitation, and refuses to host a function unless the pros are more than the cons. These gatherings are for Composers alone, meaning she must be able to fend for herself for however long among very bored, vicious gods.

And while Shiki has learnt to navigate this social battlefield to some extent, it hasn’t stopped being exhausting. It probably never will.

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!!

Send ‘!!’ and I’ll write a para description of your muse from mine’s perspective! | Accepting

She looks just like you.

—No, no, that’s not the right way to describe her. She looks like you, but she isn’t you. She looks like how you did as a teenager, before you died and were given a second chance. But she looks like someone grabbed that second chance by the throat and never let go, not until she actually did come back to life.

She looks like you, had things been much more ideal. She is you in a very warm and bright world, surrounded by things and people that she will never take for granted again, that you are sure she will always remember to cherish and keep close. She is you in her determination and in her strong love for those dearest.

She was you, before your heart was forced to bleed dry - before your kindness was buried so you could be an unbiased judge, before your softness was stamped out for efficiency and leadership.

She is you, isn’t you, could have been you and vice versa. A dream. A precious possibility. Someone you want to see flourishing to the very end, to be better than what you’ve become.

You’re happy for her, and how far she has come.

[tragectory]

16: How does your muse see themselves in 5 years? What about 10?

simple but invasive headcanons galore!!!!!! | Accepting!

Bold of you to assume she can really see herself existing anywhere into the future.

Shiki has the distinct impression that nothing will change in the next five to ten years - at least, when it comes to her job. The global stage can easily shake and affect her dear little ward, making anything possible and the exact hue of the future difficult to assume, much less determine. But even then, as she’s been the Composer for decades as is, another decade or half of one as Shibuya’s supervisor seems inevitable, if not expected even.

She does hope, though, that Shibuya grows a little more positively. (And that, perhaps, someone promising shows up to succeed her.)

[tragectory]

13: What is your muse's saddest memory from their childhood? 🌻

simple but invasive headcanons galore! | Accepting

When Shiki was very small, she couldn’t quite comprehend the idea of people going away for a time - she understood the idea of people leaving because they would be returning to a place they should be, like home, but just not the idea of people parting from her and creating a brief but obvious absence. People either just stayed with her or didn’t.

This meant that when her father began to travel abroad for his work, little Shiki was an absolute crying mess the day he left. As a child, she thought her beloved parents would be permanent fixtures in their presence - the idea of her father simply being not around was terrifying, especially as she didn’t quite understand that this would be temporary.

Now, though, she’s outgrown this silly form of object permanence and sees this particular memory as something really embarrassing. But honestly? She still feels a lingering bit of distress at the idea of her loved ones being far from her reach.

[tragectory]

"Miss Composer, humor me: do you have wings? If so, what do your feathers look like?"

“Why would you ask me a question like that?” A question for a question - you don’t expect a response to it, however. Just hypothetical musings now. “But to answer it - I do.”

“The feathers look… somewhat translucent, with a white tint. Kind of like silk organza with a white weave in my opinion. Sometimes though, they seem more like glass or even plastic, especially when light hits them at a right enough angle - my wings aren’t opaque, so the feathers can refract light into different colors.”

[tragectory]

❗ "What do you fear the most?"

Send a “❗” to force the truth out of my muse. | Accepting!

Oh, ouroboros, do eat your own tail into oblivion, will you not?

In an unbroken cycle, in a perfect eternity, everything falls into place and not a single mistake will draw the world apart into formless disarray. But that’s for a dream, perhaps. This is reality, and your tongue is not your own for the moment.

So speak without hesitance, speak without delicacy - speak unfiltered, raw unwanted terror borne of human fallacy -

“Being erased.” You squeeze Mr. Mew into a death hold. “But suddenly. Without a chance to realise it - to prepare for it. To feel prepared for it, at least.”

Your end is inevitable - it is fact, as much as you don’t want to acknowledge it. You will disappear into utter nothingness at some point in the future. But knowing that, at the very least, you need to go out with the seeds for a better world left behind. Whoever usurps you needs to be a good person, everything has to be in order, the city in good shape and left in good hands—

You need to feel like there was a point - some point - any point! - to your life, and the way it ended up. Or else, really - “I don’t want my life to amount to absolutely nothing.”

[tragectory]

⛔️ - How does your muse react to others breaking the law? If they would do it themselves, what is their reasoning? :0

Thought-Provoking Headcanon Meme aka Help Flower Procrastinate | Accepting!

As some might like to say, the law is based on morality and guides our ethics.

Though at the same time, who is to say the law is always right? When the law sanctions cruelty normalized as righteousness, nothing can erase the fact that it is cruel.

So! Philosophical spiel aside - it kinda depends! Shiki has a strong moral compass that boils down to don’t hurt people which is the point of most laws. However, as a Composer, the special supernatural-y laws mandate that she does her god damn job of putting people through a week-long gamble of life and death against their consent. As a result, her base morals have been revised to don’t hurt people if you have a choice.

Thus, in general, Shiki is against the breaking of laws, especially when they concern the wellbeing of others on any level. However, in breaking a law that leads to harmless or even beneficial consequences - well, she won’t encourage you to do it, but she won’t stop you in the least either. That sort of reasoning applies to herself as well—if she needs to break laws, it’s likely because it’s an emergency involving people’s safety and she has no alternatives to try.