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

[Wei Wuxian, being Wei Wuxian, misinterprets this.]

I can't exactly assist you with getting a reply? They may have chosen to give you back some of your abilities, but they seem a little more cautious of returning mine, ha. You'll have to do the work; I'll just pass the message.

[that passing a message back to the living is work appears to have escaped his notice.]

Yes. I appreciate this.

[this, at least, is easy to clarify. Lan Wangji is still watching him, steady.]

[waves it away...]

It's nothing. I'll let you know.

...

Other than this. Have you been well?

[he asks, knowing that it's not going to get a good reaction. but he wants to know, from Wei Wuxian's own mouth, and how many more times is he going to get the chance to do so? Wei Wuxian opened the door for it, with this forced-light conversation he's insisted on so far. it's not that Lan Wangji minds it; he's just waiting for the other shoe to drop.]

[drop the shoe does, though not so explosively as it would have a couple of weeks before; Wei Wuxian only looks at him narrow-eyed, the casual mask slipping as easily as he donned it.]

As well as someone anticipating an unpleasant conversation might be; and yourself?

[honestly, it's neither unfair nor inaccurate as a description of Lan Wangji's current life experience. he breathes through it easily enough, the blow not as bad as he'd expected.]

...

Wished to offer what events you might desire to know of, after your death.

[there's a finality to it: Wei Wuxian already knows his time only extends past Wei Wuxian's for three months, by his own admission. but it's three months of the life of his brother and anyone else in the cultivation world he might still care for that as far as Lan Wangji knows, Wei Wuxian knows nothing about.]

[his hands clench in the edges of his sleeves, his mouth thinning. is Lan Wangji mocking him? is this belated remorse for participating in the murder of Wei Wuxian and the Wens, this odd kindness? he's not having it.]

If I really want details of such things, I'll ask Nie Huaisang.

Edited 2022-04-21 17:51 (UTC)

[it's telling that Wei Wuxian reaches so easily for an explanation that assumes Lan Wangji's ill intentions towards him. based on what he's seen today, he could just as easily describe this as Lan Wangji's impulse to take pity on a ghost.

for now, his hands tense in his lap, his own mouth tamping flatter in turn. he can't help it.]

Will you.

Edited 2022-04-21 18:30 (UTC)

Why shouldn't I? At least I know he didn't participate. At least I know he thinks it shouldn't have happened--hell if I know if he'd have said that to my face if he wasn't so much older, but at least he said it.

[that Lan Wangji also said as much in their first conversation here simply does not cross his mind; that's how thoroughly he's written it off as a lie.]

[Lan Wangji stares at the trees through blurry eyes, not seeing them. he has nothing in particular against Nie Huisang in principle, but hearing that his word was taken as fact while Lan Wangji's wasn't hits like a knife and curdles like bad blood in his stomach.

he'd been ready to be jealous a moment ago, the straightforward jealousy of his youth, and now he sincerely wishes for it back. this is something past jealousy, a miserable grinding desolation without hope. it's not just that Wei Wuxian prefers someone else's company to his; it's that everything Lan Wangji ever wanted to be in the world has been so thoroughly rejected that he might as well not exist in front of Wei Wuxian's eyes, except as an object to taunt with how his words and actions didn't matter. it's like being told he should have stayed on the steps of his mother's house and died too when he was six, because nothing he's done since then has meant anything.]

...

I am glad.

[he still is, is the horrible thing. Wei Wuxian should hear "it was wrong" from at least one person he finds worth listening to. he closes his eyes and counts his heartbeats, trying to stay still.]

Edited 2022-04-21 19:06 (UTC)

[he lets out a terrible little laugh, and the words pour off his tongue like acid, like igniting sparks. it matters so very much to him that Lan Wangji betrayed him in his perceptions, when he thought he'd been upright and admirable all their lives, and he can't examine the reason why it matters too closely, or it will burn him too...]

Are you? Is it because that gives you another target you might want to strike down, for expressing any sympathy for me? Should I be issuing him a warning, that you'll do that and then celebrate with that man from the Jins?

Celebrate?

[Lan Wangji's voice trembles slightly, pushed close to some hard limit; it's barely noticeable.]

You say you didn't do anything wrong; Jin Guangyao says it shouldn't matter because he's already died and lost everything and turned into some kind of yao, and I should sympathize, ah? You both disgust me.

[Lan Wangji's voice comes out weirdly normal in his own ears, stern and cool as always. he feels like his heart is soaked in that acid Wei Wuxian's words evoked, stinging and sore in his chest. his face feels numb.]

He had died, as well?

Died, gone somewhere else, and become some kind of huli jing, apparently, I don't know, I don't care. He's in Tamamo, if you want to catch up the last several years with him over tea.

Edited 2022-04-21 21:43 (UTC)

There is nothing I would say to him.

[his speech is lower now, nearly contemplative. the quiver has disappeared, though his throat is still tight. it nearly always goes this way. no matter how upset he gets, something in him steadies before he can start screaming. he doesn't know if it's resolve or resignation.

Jin Guangyao dead... he remembers Wei Wuxian alluding to time being malleable here, during their first conversation. he takes a moment to consider the grief of some future Lan Xichen.

he really hopes he didn't die too. painful as his family relations are right now in the wake of the siege, he doesn't want his brother to be wholly alone for his own grief, any more than he's let Lan Wangji be.

it's sobering to remember that his own loss is far from the only bleeding hole in the world, but he'll reflect more on that later, he thinks. here and now, in this strange hell, there are still practical things to make sure he's given their correct consideration...]

You spoke, then.

And he did not wish to make further war.

Edited 2022-04-21 22:21 (UTC)

Oh, that's what he said. It's so nice that I'm surrounded by liars in this city, don't you think?

[he does not have the room to pity someone who was an acquaintance by sight at best, when they played a part in the siege of the Burial Mounds. Wei Wuxian has never been described as selfless or forgiving even in his best days, and these are so far from his best days he almost has to laugh at it.]

Mm.

Will observe his actions.

[Lan Wangji is apparently just straight up ignoring Wei Wuxian's attempts to turn the knives on him, at this point. from the outside, one can only conclude that he's gone numb to it, or never cared in the first place.

either way, Wei Wuxian raises a good point; Jin Guangyao has never been someone without hidden motives. Lan Wangji's sympathy for his brother's feelings didn't stop him from fighting his family. he's not going to hesitate to defend Wei Wuxian from the slyest of the Jins -- much less the person who he still blames for betraying the Wen siblings Lan Wangji had tried to defend. the cultivation world's last chances at reconciliation with Wei Wuxian went up in smoke on that pyre. Lan Wangji has not forgiven them.]

[that's an interesting reaction; he supposes, for all Hanguang-Jun might be a filthy hypocrite, his personality hasn't changed. he wouldn't celebrate with Jin Guangyao. Lan Wangji has never been the celebrating type. but it doesn't mean he'd disapprove if Jin Guangyao knifed him in the back one day, either.]

Is that all you wanted to discuss?

[Lan Wangji shakes his head. his body and face are still composed, sitting quietly on the grass.]

What I said before.

Which I've already refused; or are you choosing to ignore that?

It is the answer to your question.

[breathes in, out...]

...

Not all is publicly known.

So you had private reasons to come murder my people, too? Hanguang-Jun! Here I thought gossiping was forbidden.

[his fingers clench and then untense again in his lap... frustration?]

Wei Ying.

[his voice goes flat again, grave-cold]

I don't want to hear it.

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