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

(He looks at Ryouma and looks back again. Ah. That's definitely a look he knows. If he'd looked like this when they first met, he would have recognized him right away.

He makes a point to not stare there though and quickly looks away. He makes a sound that might be something like a half-laugh.

Heh...)

No way I'm losing to you.

(And he raises his cheap rifle up, takes aim, and... fires. It shoots low and he scowls. This thing has no force which makes sense, considering it's just a toy, but still!!!)

Haha! Well, alright then!

[ it's officially a contest! there was always a chance hizen might decide to choose a different stall instead to avoid the headache. ]

I suppose you must've picked up shooting with your mystery job then?

[ ryouma looks proud even though he shouldn't. because it has nothing to do with him. but that's just very forward-thinking of hizen, what with being a sword and using a gun anyway. it's good!!! ryouma should get to take a little credit for that, right? for being the forward-thinking guy who had like two seconds of influence. right?? ~~he's doing his best.~~ ]

I'll even give you that one as a freebie. Since I got here before you did and all.

[ so he's had a little practise; might as well make it a fair competition. ]

Don't talk about things you don't know.

(He's as prickly as ever but he's missing some of his usual bite as he focuses more on adjusting his aim.)

It makes you sound stupid.

(And he tries again. Closer but still low. He sucks on his teeth. It's Ryouma's turn now.)

I don't need your pity, either.

(Even if he's not doing so well? He doesn't need it!)

If I don't know, you could always tell me and set me straight.

[ he plays this same game with izō, gently nudging him into telling him things and filling in the blanks. he does not expect it to work with hizen. ]

And it's not pity; it won't count if I don't beat you at your best, right?

Or you could just give up.

(No, he isn't telling Ryouma but he also doesn't expect him to give up.)

Just shut up and shoot already. (He wants to go again.) You'd never beat me at my best.

(Granted, his best wouldn't be at a hecking shooting game but still!!!)

I could, but I won't.

[ he was giving hizen a chance since he's been messing around with this silly air gun for a while, so it's pretty easy to hit one of the targets exactly how he wants. he picked one of the easy targets, at least! ]

Better? And why don't we find out?

[ his competitive spirit remains intact. ]

Tch.

(Annoying. Aggravating. He kind of wants to fight Ryouma.)

...

(Of course. Ryouma would be good at something like this. If he was a smarter spirit, he would have thought about this already. But because he isn't he just buckles down stubbornly and aims again for his next turn. He's focused...! He hits his target but its on the very edge. It barely even counts and he growls.)

It's rigged.

(Yes. This is definitely why he sucks.)

Aw, don't be like that.

[ he says that to izō so often, it just rolls off so easily as the natural response to fussiness. ]

You'd definitely win from the start if it were a sword fight.

[ he chooses a harder target this time, for the points. if he's going to continue being aggravating, he should actually make sure he'll do well enough to win the prize at all and not an inferior level of prize. ]

Don't tell me what to do!

(He will be like this? Ryouma can't stop him. And he shoots out of frustration this time!

And it actually hits the target. Oh, his mood seems to instantly improve and he's back to talking trash,)

Damned right I would.

(if this was a sword fight, he'd win every single prize here! He'd clean them out!)

Hoh, looks like the game is on now.

[ especially because his luck doesn't hold out while he tries for a trickier target. his ability to compensate for the weirdness of the toy gun is all well and good, but the fact that it's a cheap toy means sometimes the gun just decides to suck. ]

A sword spirit would be able to bring out the full potential of a blade in ways no human ever could, I bet.

Regular humans don't stand a chance.

(They don't even compare to what a touken danshi can do. He claims his prize and then gets ready to go again. He's competitive,)

If people were good enough... (He aims and fires. Again, it takes getting used to and the gun is finnicky but he refuses to lose to Ryouma.) ... They'd use people instead of us.

(No, he will not elaborate on what he means by "they" and for what purpose.)

Hmm? What're you trying to say?

[ he assumes hizen is trying to make a dig against heroic spirits, so he lays a little mock offence on for fun. it's not like he cares for any other reason. ]

But you're right. Regular humans can't do much, but that's why we have a job to do...

[ he fires another shot, which doesn't screw him over this time, so he celebrates a little more than the other times. ]

I'm saying I'd kick your ass in a real fight.

(Well, not exactly but he's saying it now. He isn't sure how Ryouma would fare as a spirit but... if he's Izo's sword, he'll show everyone how strong he is.

Ryouma's success makes him rise up even more though. Another aim, and this one hits but given how the game works... there's no force. It doesn't leave a mark on the target at all? But he knows he has the right position so when he tries again, there it is. A decent enough hit. What did he even win? Some stupid dog plush or something.)

Well, that may be true. I doubt I could beat either you or Izō in a real fight.

[ he's about to aim and fire again but he stops, annoyingly, to add to the thought. ]

Although, I suppose that wouldn't matter in your case, would it? See—... well, you would know, wouldn't you? Izō is truly a genius. [ never an opportunity to lavish izō with praise when he's not around wasted. ] I'm nothing like him at all. But Izō is Izō, and when he was young he was even more impatient. If he fought me and didn't have to hold back, I think he would beat me before I could do anything. It isn't fair to fight a person when they can't do their best. But you have a lot more experience, don't you? You could probably beat me easily and not have to kill me. You already know how I fight anyway too, huh? Haha!

[ has he thought about sword boy mechanics a lot? maybe a little. ]

Hey, how many more before I can win all that candy anyway? This works up an appetite.

[ he only intends to steal one but there's no reason to admit he's not in it to win it for selfish reasons. the illusion of stakes!! ]

...

(Something that Ryouma says seems to catch Hizen off guard. He lowers his gun just slightly and glances over in his direction, brows knit close together and frowning.

He doesn't know much about Izo from before he was given to him. That chapter of his story begins later. If anything, that time in Hizen's history was occupied by... no, he doesn't want to think about it and he looks away.)

You don't know me.

(So don't talk about what his experiences may or may not be.

From the sideline, the stand's owner chimes in to say Ryouma will NOT be winning all of the prizes and their next one will be their last one! He's not letting anyone clean him out! He has a business to run.)

It's 'cause you keep wasting your energy talking instead of shooting.

Well, technically—...

[ true, he doesn't know hizen as a person — but he's trying! — but when it comes to history... ]

I don't know-know, but I know that you're a lot older than you look, so you can probably figure that you're experienced. It's science!

[ he can like, do that now?? barely. ryouma has never claimed to be a good student but the knowledge he picks up always manages to be useful. he bows a little politely to the poor owner who has had to put up with them all this time, so he chooses his last target carefully. ]

I bet... if I can hit that one right there— [ he points. ] —... then I want two of those. And then I'll be satisfied.

[ what he wants is cotton candy. because he's never had cotton candy. but if he gets two he can share. it can be a moment of western enlightenment, hizen!!! ]

(He snorts. Yes, he's older than he looks but his experiences before receiving this form were plenty limited. He's only had this form for a few short years. He manifested into this world already knowing how to fight, just like he already knew how to walk and breathe.)

Keep talking. 'S got nothing to do with science.

(It's all magic! And keep being wrong. Or at least, less than completely right.

The owner laughs too. Cotton candy is cheap and it's the spirit of the festival so he can afford to be a little generous, especially when there's no way both of them are going to win something. Hizen also doesn't seem optimistic and rolls his eyes.)

Me making guesses based on stuff we know does, though.

[ that's how he gets ahead in the only arguments he's willing to engage in — which is convincing people to think more highly of themselves. can't argue with the facts! but when it comes to hizen (and izō) he knows that they're going to try and that's fine.

more importantly, there's cotton candy to be had. he'd picked a target he doesn't think should be too difficult to hit considering how he's been doing so far. it all comes down to the gun behaving as he wants. he sticks his tongue out a little when he aims — because now you know it's serious, what with his very determined expression and all — and takes the shot that by sound and action is incredibly anticlimactic.

but hey, now that he knocked the target over there's candy??? ]

Hah! How's that?!

(One last shot and another miss. He only has his one prize and it's enough for him. The real loss is watching Ryouma walk off with more. Disgusting. Terrible. He hates this game. In fact, he's decide it's the worst game here.

He's taking his snacks from the owner and avoiding all contact with Ryouma.)

Wasn't looking.

(He was.)

It's just a game anyway, right?

[ he'll be taking a pink one and a blue one, thanks. ]

You ever had this stuff before? Can't be bitter if you're eating pure sugar~

[ ryouma realises that hizen will probably try, and that's fine. but still: it's the coolest thing?! ]

No.

(He! Has! Never! Had cotton candy before! And he is looking but not taking.)

Edited 2022-04-21 06:17 (UTC)

Good!

[ time to do something about it! he moves away from the game stand a bit so they aren't occupying the space other people might need and then presents hizen with a choice. ]

Blue or pink then?

Pink.

(Because the police are blue and fuck the police.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL 2022 EVENT

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject