jigokulogs | APRIL 2022 EVENT

APRIL 2022 EVENT

1. HANAMI

The week of the Night Parade is marked by the traditional symbols of Spring in Japan. Somehow, several city blocks have been turned into cherry blossom groves as a show of goodwill by the Sutoku Alliance. These cherry trees don't feel normal. They are more like spectral manifestations. Rumor has it they grew so quickly because they're planted on top of a graveyard. That's just a rumor, though. Don't pay it any mind! Don't listen to any whispers you might hear if you walk through the rows of trees alone and certainly don't dig under them for proof of their provenance.

Accompanying the hanami are copious amounts of food and drink. Such as dango, specialized bento, sake, and festive drinks. They are all available to purchase from stalls near the spectral grove. The refreshments may have a little something special added to them:
Ingredients that promote peace (calming any angry or upset feelings)
Ingredients that promote romance (gives soft, warm feelings towards the first person you see).
These effects are mild and only last as long as you're in the boundary of the grove. Eat, drink, and be merry with your fellow lost souls.

2. KANAMARA MATSURI (NSFW IMAGERY)

In addition to the simple joys of flower viewing and the cherry blossoms blooming, new festivals pop everywhere. They are inspired by various regional festivals from all over Japan. Some of these are benign and feature your normal festival fair. Others are a little more unusual, such as the Kanamara matsuri-inspired treats. You can thank the Tamamo Clan for this. Don't mind the giant phallus being carried down the street or the wooden phalluses you can ride on or the interesting mascots walking down the sidewalk, or the suggestive vegetable carvings.

Surprisingly, none of these foods are spiked, at least not more than the experimental recipes had been during the parade preparations. The spirit of the thing is more just the amusement of genital-based foods rather than anything meant to entice a sexy sort of good time. That will come as the parade rounds out onto the bath district...

3. HADAKA MATSURI

cw: nonsexual nudity

If that cheeky festival isn't your kind of fun, maybe the hadaka matsuri is more your speed. The Department of the Enma are probably the most stressed out faction in the entire city, so the Enma has allowed them to put on a festival to blow off some steam! It's a bit different from the traditional celebration: it's not contained to just men and it's not contained to a shrine.

This event is a mobile mob of nearly naked people and youkai running after a cart with a masked person throwing out small sticks. They represent good luck for the people who manage to nab them. There are far fewer sticks than there are people present and everyone will do a lot to get one of the coveted prizes. Try not to get in their way!

Or you can get caught up in it all and try to snag one yourself to see what your fortune holds. (No, the Enma isn't participating. Too dirty, for his tastes.)

4. FESTIVE FUN

A. SUMO
Some other festivities you might come across are miniature sumo tournaments put on by the Shuten Clan. Raised dirt circles with chalk rings on the outer perimeter pop up seemingly everywhere. Two people are allowed in the ring at one time and there are strict rules to be followed. If you disobey the rules, you may find yourself suddenly ejected from the ring with magical or physical means, and at the mercy of a Shuten enforcer.

Play by the rules to beat your opponent and victors will find themselves rewarded with a strong bottle of booze. The winners of each bout are handed out a commendation by Toraguma himself, which comes in the form of a commemorative sake gourd. This is probably the kind of prize you'd expect from an Oni at a festival like this.

B. FOOD RUNNERS WANTED
If you're in the mood to pad your pockets, maybe you want to help the Tamamo Clan out by running food delivery. This opportunity is available to anyone regardless of affiliation. Runners will be fitted with a contraption to carry the food orders on their person and may proceed either on foot or on a small motorbike. Be careful and make sure not to drop anything! Any ruined or undelivered orders will come directly out of your pay.

It's harder than it looks not to drop the food with all the excitement going on and your delivery recipient may be similarly hard to locate.

C. HOT BATHS (NSFW + cw: optional aphro)
The Tamamo Clan has set up a sanctioned orgy in one of their larger brothels. Rooms are available for whatever your heart desires, including one with exposed windows if you like being watched or if you want to watch in kind. Baths and pools are available for all your indulgent fantasies. Everything you could need is at your disposal: toys, restraints, costumes, lubricants, condoms, aphrodisiacs in many forms. It's a proper bacchanal celebration!

All that matters is your consent and enthusiasm.

5. NIGHT PARADE

One of the primary highlights of the Night Parade are the fantastical floats depicting scenes of legendary events. Keen-eyed observers may note that the humans are portrayed as the bad guys in most of them. While a few of these are mounted on motorized vehicles, most of them are carried by people. That means you'll probably be called on to help carry one along the parade route. It's a fun job, if exhausting.

If you're not the type to wear yourself out carrying a float, ride on one instead! There's plenty of things to toss out into the crowd along the street; candies and trinkets. Dress up in a fitting costume and walk around the float. Have fun scaring bystanders or just have fun hamming it up and celebrate the peaceful night.

5. FIREWORKS

The parade's central stop is the festival square in the heart of the city, just under the shadow of the Kaigo no Bou Tower. There is a stage set up here where the four faction leaders and their personal entourages have assembled. All of them are giving pretty typical speeches. The Enma has declined to give one, having no patience for unnecessary oration. Tenkohime gives praise to the unifying factors of love in the city, while Toraguma rallies the crowd like a sports hero; encouraging them to get stronger and do better in the coming year.

The Daitengu is the last to speak and they also seem to have the largest entourage. The entourage is quite conspicuous: White Wolf Tengu, each standing well-taller than the Daitengu themselves. They are carrying massive broadswords strapped to their backs and hunting about the area for anything suspicious with keen eyes that seem to see right through the crowd and the heat of night.

The Daitengu's speech is also pretty typical, although much more humble than their fellows. Mostly, they just wants to hurry up and get to the fireworks. Just as they finish speaking, the sky lights up.
There are a few peaceful moments beneath this spectacle as the crowd enjoys the display of unity and phantasmal wonder that this unique and strange world has created.

But the explosions aren't just in the sky. One particularly loud boom seems to rattle the very earth beneath the crowd. That is the only warning anyone gets before...

6. A NIGHT PARADE TO REMEMBER

Every manhole cover on the street bursts open, injuring anyone that was standing nearby. Far worse is the deluge of steam that rushes out from the underground. Pillars of hot, blinding steam spill into the air, quickly filling the streets. The luminescence of the festival lamps and city lights are diffused and blurred into singular blobs of color, obscuring all vision and making it impossible to see what's going on. The panicked cries of the crowd also make it impossible to hear. Everything happens so suddenly, so violently, that ascertaining what's going on takes time.

Too much time.

In the chaos, gunshots are heard. They seem to come from several directions. Fighting is breaking out. It's difficult to tell from where and who is in the brawl. Previously unseen figures in full-body black coverings appear from nowhere, rushing the stage. They zoom past any Lost Souls nearby, ignoring their presence. They are focused on a singular goal. The barking of the White Wolf Tengu further indicates the goal of the attack.

Struggle in the steam, help others get to safety, get caught up in fighting the other factions, try to protect the Faction leaders, or try to keep up with the black-suited youkai rushing the stage; do as much as you can.

When the steam finally begins to clear, however, there will at least be one thing that is certain: the Daitengu has been killed.

Welcome to the April event!

If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
We also have OOC top levels for Shuten Sumo Results, Tamamo Partner Cards, and Hadaka Luck Draws!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[in all the rush of today's food delivery orders, Wei Wuxian happened to pick one up from an NPC who owned one of the city's classy club establishments -- the ones with music, live entertainment, et cetera. he'd been given an expectedly classy food order and a note to deliver, with the NPC's compliments. the NPC hadn't actually known the receipient's name (unexpected), but he'd been told to look out for the incredibly aesthetic musician performing at the hanami grove. you'll know him when you see him, he'd been told, and Wei Wuxian was there to make money, not to question this too much.

he'd still read the note on the way, of course, enough to get the gist that they were trying to woo this mysterious recipient to come perform at their club. which? neat. it beat out getting pressganged off the street, like he had been by that host club in Tamamo soon after arrival. who was this mysteriously desirable performer, huh?

well, now he's here with this bag of still-warm food (he gives good service, thank you very much), scanning the grove. there's the usual crowd wandering through, but not really anything musical going on right now except...for...

...

he's about to turn on his heel to go, but he's also walked far enough in and is a distinctive enough figure that Lan Wangji has absolutely spotted him by now. oh no.]

[if he'd come at another time, he might have gotten away with it. Lan Wangji is never unaware of his surroundings -- his cultivator training is too deeply ingrained in him for that -- but he can certainly become absorbed in a task, and that's what's happened here. he can feel the reassuring flow of his spiritual energy through his meridians for the first time in weeks, warm and shining, and he's letting it ripple out through the strings of his qin into the air, and he feels... at peace.

this is what makes a home away from home: the techniques his uncle patiently taught him, the reminder of his family, the silver-bright sound of the notes in the air... the gentle perfume of flowers. the whisper of curious spirits, telling him that even in the afterlife, someone still needs to help the wayward rest.

what are you thinking of?, he asks the ghosts, and they come to reply. blood, several answer, the too-eager notes of their replies dissolving into a disappointed vibration of the strings when they see his frown. but there's also the auntie complaining about how her daughter-in-law ended up with a hairpin that was meant for her cousin's girl, and she wouldn't have made a fuss about it, but if someone is going to come and put a tree in her, she feels she has the right to complain, thank you very much! her cousin's girl would have sold it for drink, another ghost makes sure Lan Wangji knows, and then they're arguing; he can feel the tremble of offense in the air even if they're not using his qin to do it.

look there, it's that crazy young man who keeps talking to himself, another ghost points out. Lan Wangji looks. then he keeps looking, eyes wide on Wei Wuxian's face again under the trees.]

...

Wei Ying.

[my cousin's girl is better-looking, the auntie plucking the strings of his qin observes. go stare at her like that instead.]

Edited 2022-04-05 05:11 (UTC)

[he'd be a bit indignant, if he could tell what the ghosts were saying, but he can't when it's through the Inquiry technique of course. he is indignant regardless, both at the fact that Lan Wangji has somehow gotten back the skill he's been trying to exercise for half the festival to no avail, and at the fact that it turned out to be Lan Wangji he was sent to deliver food to, period.

he doesn't quite want to be rude to him in a place like this, with these ghosts all round, though, so he settles for 'flippant']

Ah, hello, Hanguang-Jun. Someone ordered you lunch, isn't that fortunate? I'll just leave it over here for when you have time to get to it.

[seeing Wei Wuxian in a setting like this, thinking of the Cloud Recesses with the soft drift of flower petals all around them, lures Lan Wangji into... not so much a misstep, but a moment that's less guarded than he might have been. in the strongly nostalgic atmosphere, he lets himself wonder if Wei Wuxian noticed that he'd sent him food a couple of weeks before; if the "someone" who ordered him lunch was perhaps Wei Wuxian himself, who felt like he should return the meal and decided to do it in a veiled and unrevealing fashion. it wouldn't have been out of character or the bounds of possibility, if Wei Wuxian didn't hate him so much now. he hesitates...]

...

[... and, possibly lets the wistful impulse carry him a little too far.]

Bring it here?

[it's only a question by virtue of the fact that most of his statements couldn't possibly be mistaken for anything else, and this one is more ambiguous. but the nuance is there.]

[he breathes out slowly through his nose instead of snapping. because Wei Wuxian is weird and sometimes thoughtless, his not snapping is ultimately less on the surroundings, or on what Lan Wangji has done lately--

(and he's done a lot for you, despite everything, a more honest inner voice whispers for a moment--)

--and more on having been following a script and a set of requirements the entire time he's been working all festival. if he's rude to a customer, he risks losing the gig altogether or at least getting paid less, after all.]

Ah, all right.

[he'll rest it on the grass beside Lan Wangji instead, not close enough for him to hit with an elbow if he keeps playing the guqin.]

Edited 2022-04-06 05:51 (UTC)

My thanks.

[his voice is soft, still not quite sure of where this interaction is coming from or where they stand. he'll take his hands away from the guqin (the strings jangle in complaint for a moment before going quieter again) and pick up the note to read...

ah. all right, not a sideways reconciliatory gesture after all. in retrospect, that was stupid thing to hope for.

he closes his eyes to block out the note for a moment, then opens them again and looks back to Wei Wuxian.]

...

Did the owner say more?

[hums and shrugs, glancing away. he's clearly a little uncomfortable, but not quite giving enough tells about it that it's easy to tell where, exactly, the discomfort is coming from.]

They seemed rather taken with you. And it wasn't an establishment that would offend your sensibilities? You might do well to take the offer.

[...

that mostly just implies that Wei Wuxian read his mail. which, okay, that was always likelier to have happened than the other thing he was thinking. he lets out a huffy little breath, wryly annoyed but not enough so to actually take issue with it. he doesn't have many secrets he'd wish to hide from Wei Wuxian, anyway.]

Not enough information to say.

[he'll fold the note up again, careful, and regard the food containers.

he's already had lunch. Eating more than three bowls is prohibited, his conscience reminds him.]

Have you dined?

[he doesn't care if Lan Wangji knows he read his mail! he didn't even know he was supposed to be getting it; it was free game. what kind of information-gathering faction member is he if he doesn't check out information when it's put into his hands?

he does balk at the question, though]

Ah, here and there. No shortage of food, you know? That's one of the points of festivals, after all.

[unless you are Lans, and have the worst banquets known to the history of man instead.]

[this is three for three on Wei Wuxian refusing to actually eat with him; he was expecting it. it's consistent.]

All right.

[he'll nod to Wei Wuxian politely, gaze steady and serious. it really is all right. he doesn't need this food, but he has another idea.]

...

One moment.

Please wait. I will pay.

[and he's reaching for the guqin strings again...?]

[his eyebrows go all the way up]

No need. The whole point is that it's already paid for, remember?

[he'll wait after saying that, though, but tension's noticeably settled further into his shoulders.]

[Lan Wangji doesn't bother to answer him -- the reason he said that will become obvious soon enough. in the meantime, he plays a few notes, seeking after one particular ghost who confessed her troubles earlier in the day: an old woman who wistfully spoke of her beloved partner of many years. "We'd always eat like kings at festivals," she'd told him. "We'd dress to the nines and go to the finest restaurants, make them bring out the most expensive foods. I'd spend a week of pay in one go! She was insatiable! Ahhh, she's a beauty. I would have spoiled her forever. Has she found another woman with a good pocketbook? Who will treat her if I'm not here?"

Lan Wangji plays now:
"Your wife.

What was her name? Her direction?"

...

when he has his answer, he'll make some reply, then write a note in his neat, precise handwriting -- he has a brush pen rather than a ballpoint now, Wei Wuxian would note if he were interested. he couldn't take it any more.

he'll fold that up with a fallen cherry blossom, add the name and address to the outside, remove enough cash to cover the going rate for deliveries from his sleeve, and offer all of it back Wei Wuxian with the return of the delivery basket.]

If you would.

[he can tell that Wei Wuxian is working. he can't demand he stay. at least he can help both the man he wants to protect and one of the spirits together this way.]

--huh? You want me to send it off to someone else? How cold. Should I deliver the bad news back to the sender, too, as a bonus?

[his gaze flicks over the outside of the note, the unfamiliar information, the curiosity evident in his face.

this is slightly less confusing than Lan Wangji trying to pay him twice for the same meal, at least, and his hands move in a brisk and automatic way, getting everything resettled and making the money vanish up his sleeve, one he's confirmed that Lan Wangji has, in fact, handed him money for just the delivery.]

[he tipped him, but it was more or less the correct amount for a tip, maybe a couple dollars extra. an appropriate tip for a young master who's used to having money.

he'll shake his head in response to Wei Wuxian's question.]

No message.

[it would be better to arrive in person and see for himself what offer the establishment owner has in mind. he can do that later; perhaps after the festival, even. he's not sure that he's ready to stop trying to gather information on the streets themselves quite yet.

...

there's a hesitation before his next words, but he's still nothing if not stubborn. the conversations they haven't had since they learned of the other's arrival are still waiting behind the bristling wall of Wei Wuxian's hostility. Lan Wangji will wait forever, but he will not forget them.]

Wei Ying.

Later, we should speak as well.

[that sure is a lot of complicated emotions crossing his face! he shifts his stance uncomfortably, though the weight of the food on his elbow keeps him from folding his arms.

confusion and wariness and puzzlement are a level down from the unbridled rage he launched at Lan Wangji in their first conversation here, but it doesn't mean the rage can't still break through at any time.]

What about.

[Lan Wangji breathes. he feels the stretch of the scars on his back, a phantom of pain.]

Not here.

Not until your work is done.

[he cannot even begin to summarize everything he wants to say to Wei Wuxian in a few words stolen between food deliveries.]

[his eyes flicker; his mouth thins.]

Fine. But I'd advise you pick your words carefully, Hanguang-Jun.

[once again, Lan Wangji doesn't bother dignifying that with a response. he always picks his words carefully. the problem is that they still never seem to be right.]

Will you return here?

[shrugging]

Sure. It's nice here.

Very well. I will wait.

[he turns back to his qin. the complete unconcern he appears to feel in Wei Wuxian's presence could be taken as an insult, if you were expecting him to be scared of Wei Wuxian in the first place.]

[it's fine, because he also doesn't answer; he turns his back on him entirely, and jogs away through the crowds, to check the note and head towards an unforeseen adventure of his own with a ghost spouse. thanks(?), Lan Wangji.]

Edited 2022-04-07 05:27 (UTC)

[the note says:

"Regards to the recipient of this note on the occasion of the Night Festival. If she has not yet found a finer restaurant than the one with the plum wine, she should be looking harder.

Please receive this offering in memory of Mistress Imai Hanako."

if he follows the address he'll take it to a glamorous older woman in a nice little apartment that doesn't quite match her boho style, who owns two cats and bursts into tears and laughs and tries to make him take some of the food.]

[he wiggles out of taking more than a single steamed bun (please, lovely lady, I couldn't, it's a romantic gift from your love), and stows it in his sleeve for later once he escapes. he carries back a note of his own for the ghost, and drops off a couple of other deliveries on his way back, as a means of delaying. his head is spinning in confusion. why make him the middleman for something like that...?

he hasn't arrived at any easy answers by the time he enters the cherry groves again.]

[it's close to sunset by the time he returns. that means that red-stained sunlight is pouring between the spectral trees like so much dark honey, rendering ~~any Lan Wangjis~~ anyone sitting among them even more at risk to be painted by a portrait artist with no sense of subtlety. honestly fucked up.

Lan Wangji himself has shifted to another part of the grove and put away his qin, for now. he has his eyes closed in meditation and his hands quiet in his lap, not immediately reacting to Wei Wuxian's approach.]

[his feet have carried him there, but he still wrestles with himself as he pauses at the edge of the trees. he could just walk away. he could just come back after Lan Wangji's ridiculous curfew and set the note down for the ghost then. he could get more deliveries done and make more money. he could do anything with this night that isn't speaking to Lan Wangji again.

he has purchased another meal, for two this time (not so fancy as the one the club owner sent, but he's not exactly flush with cash, and he picked something good). he doesn't know why. it's stll hot for now; it rapidly won't be if he dallies any longer. aaaaaaaaaaa.]

hanami, to start

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