jigokulogs | May 2022 IC Mingle

1. WELCOMING COMMITTEE

The influx of fresh Lost Souls means the factions need to have a little welcoming party for them. The leaders realize things have been chaotic in the city. So some recreational activities are in order. All Lost Souls will receive a message from their respective faction leaders with orders to go have some fun.

The Shuten Clan are given an advance on their first paycheck and told to go to the Celestial Phoenix Casino. A big sign on the half boarded up door proudly proclaims UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. What happened to the old management? It doesn't matter and stop asking questions! The important part is that all games and machines are half-price and there are special prizes available in exchange for your chips and tokens. Games range from the traditional Western style (poker, roulette, slots) to Japanese favorites (cee-lo, koi koi, cho-han).

As for prizes, they have a selection of designer goods, including some particularly nice bracelets, necklaces, and watches!

The Tamamo Clan are given a considerable number of drink vouchers for Crimson Moon Karaoke, where they can sing their hearts out and while absolutely smashed. Private rooms are cheap to rent and they even offer a special discount for groups of two or more. The karaoke machines have any songs you could possibly want, which is a little suspicious, but don't question it! Just get drunk and have fun. By all means, extend your time as you wish and drink up to get in the proper mood. This is an important bonding opportunity.

Oh yeah, as an important note: the rooms are soundproof. You can get as loud as you like, be it with singing or... something else. Don’t do anything Tenko-hime wouldn’t do!

Members of The Sutoku Alliance are given tickets to Fiance of the Funeral Procession at the Pluto Theatre and Cafe. The tickets include free food at the cafe, including beer. Sure, the star may not be a Sutoku member but that doesn't matter too much: getting butts into seats at Sutoku-owned theaters is what’s important. The Daitengu rented the theater out for the day, so there is plenty of time to mill around both before and after the show.

Make a day, or night, of it!

A funeral-based romantic comedy melodrama as the viewing fare is probably a tasteless joke on the Daitengu's part. But hey, y'all aren't still mad that they crashed their own funeral and then took off laughing, right?

Right?

The Department of the Enma members are told that they're going to be doing a team-building exercise. What exactly does that mean? That's right, it's community cleanup time! You get to clean up cans and trash in the street! You get the honor of using a department-issued bike with an attached cart to wheel around the city and pick up trash! How exciting! Teamwork is encouraged, of course. Teams that collect enough garbage will get one (1) voucher for mini-golf.

Please be aware of the local homeless population as you work, they won’t be happy to see you. They normally collect the cans in the mornings as a meager source of income that you’ll be dipping into. They're probably just not happy with Enma officials in general though. Sorry!

2. IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING...

By the time you're done with your faction-sponsored fun, the sky has decided to open up. Hope you brought your umbrella! The rain is bad enough that walking home might not be an option right now. So take refuge in one of the many nearby nightlife spots.

Not in your faction's home territory? Doesn't matter! Make some friends outside your group or maybe get into a fight and cause some trouble. There's always the third option of ignoring everyone and drinking yourself silly instead! The rain has to let up eventually… right?

Hopefully you aren't caught near one of the cursed Haniwa figures that have been popping up around town. Their aura really dampens the mood and may even start to cause some dramatic and frightening hallucinations if you and your rain-stranded friends stay near them for too long. But remember! Do not break the figurine. Just try to move it somewhere else? And hopefully not get drenched in the process.

Welcome to the IC mingle!

If you have any questions about the mingle content, please ask them here!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
For Rewards, threads in the Mingle log count for One (1) point!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're on, then!

[ No. This is Tama Mizumori. He will always double down, he will never relent, and he will turn all his determination in to a cudgel if he must. If there was a time to stop, he has passed it by for eighteen years. ] You may have me at every disadvantage, but that only makes me more determined...!! We'll see who's calling who 'senior' come the end of the summer!

[Are you sure you're not a Shuten, kid.]

[Matoba stares at him for a moment, in the space of his outburst, and then puffs out in another fit of chuckling laughter. What spirit, indeed!]

[He was going to crush it.]

Very well. Shall we make a wager on it? [Don't do it Tama. Remember what he told you about debts--] If you are ahead of me by the end of the summer, I'll teach you how you might be able to subjugate that thing. No promises, but imagine- no longer being controlled by its whims. It will be yours to do with as you wish.

Doesn't that sound appealing?

Subjugate...the hashihime?

[ That hardly seems possible, but...his experience is limited. He doesn't like the thought of asserting superiority over something that sits in his mind, silent and seemingly judging, but not having to worry about it transferring to his best friends- that would finally relieve the tension he's felt ever since he came to truly understand the weight of having it with him. So he stupidly, idiotically, foolishly nods, and juts his hand out to shake on it. ]

I don't know what I could offer in exchange, but I'm sure someone like you could come up with something ridiculous. It's a wager.

[He knows it is an offer he cannot refuse, because he knows how he must feel to have the weight of this unknowable thing in your body which you cannot control. He knows the contract that he might have made, in order to be free of its weight.]

[Too bad lizard-tan wasn't any use subjugating; unlike the hashihime, it couldn't even do anything.]

Oh, I am sure I will think of something else to add to your list, [Matoba cheerfully replies, and soon they are standing out in the lobby, by the large doors leading outward. Matoba can see through the panes of glass that it had begun to rain heavily. He frowns, and sighs, and untucks the parasol from his belt that he always kept, just in case.] Until then, do your best.

Did you have any other plans tonight, Mizumori-san?

[ Tama pouts, arms crossing; taking out an umbrella is so normal to his existence that he doesn't think much about it at first, or look away from Matoba. ] Well, I was planning to cash in my free food, since you cruelly didn't share those little...

[ It's the smell, that makes him trail off. His sense of smell has always been particularly sensitive, maybe to account for his ability to weave in and out of aural and visual focus; but the scent of rain is one that overpowers even the salty, sugary lobby of the cafe and theater. He looks off to the glass doors, first staring out at the downpour, then seeing his own reflection in the glass. He can hear his heart beat in time with the downpour, and it draws him to the doors like a man in a trance. ]

...rain. [ He doesn't sound spirited anymore, or even like the same person. There's a certain dullness when he glances back at Matoba. ] Has it...rained here, before?

Hmmm?

[Tama is wondering off to the doors before Matoba can ask what he was going to say; even in the reflection of the glass, Matoba could see that his expression was quite... downtrodden.]

[The rain.... He had mentioned the rain before, hadn't he?] From time to time, yes. Odd, isn't it? Weather in the Underworld.

[He looks at him for another moment, and observes his eyes. If he concentrated his own hard enough...] ...I see. That is the connection.

[ It's not clear if Tama is even listening. He's trying, on some level- trying to do anything to take away the scent of rainwater, or the pulsing of it from his skin. But there's no way he can block this out, not when it's a barely-healed wound. Tamamori only jumps back to life when his heart finally seizes up from the stress, and that reminds him of the multiple ways he's seen dead bodies crumpled before him. Time will always be too slow a healer for those sorts of memories. ]

Minakami. I- I have to get to Minakami- [ It's more an exhale then words, and without taking even a second longer to dwell on the potential danger, Tama snaps the front door of the theater open. It's a bit of a stumble at first, going out of his way to dodge a rapidly-forming puddle, then taking a sharp, veering turn down the road, but it's clear he's panicking. With any luck, he'll think to stop at the bus stop...surely. ]

May 2022 IC Mingle

i hate him so much

no subject

no subject

no subject

i will release you from this endless waltz of a thread soon i swear

no subject

no subject