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.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ah.

[ well that is definitely a term. jack freezes for a second, cupping their chin with their fingers as they consider the definition. in that case, they would probably fall under that term, no? does this mean something akin to the throne or something more spiritual? is there a difference?

ah, right. this person. they give him a trained smile, hands placed on their hips as they continue. ]

I see... now I'm curious. How do you know about this sort of thing? Are you a specialist?

[And that's definitely a reaction to the term. Based on how a lot of Natori's conversations in Jigoku-cho around this have gone, he'd guess this person is an ayakashi who hasn't considered themselves in that dichotomy-- human vs. other-- before now. There are an awful lot of ayakashi here who don't consider themselves ayakashi. Normally, this might be a sign that he has to change his way of thinking about them, but Natori will not be taking constructive criticism.]

Haha, you could say that. I work as an exorcist back in the human world. We protect people from spirits who have become violent or dangerous. [Not necessarily the best profession to be in upon arriving to youkai hell!] Obviously things are a little different here.

[ close, but not quite. as something of a legend, jack's definition of themselves is blurred to the point that they would never be able to define it on their own. being a heroic spirit only blurs the line even further.

perhaps, the only one that could have truly defined them was whoever was capable of stopping them, if they ever existed in the first place. and if natori thinks of them as evil because of this, well, jack would not have the heart to change their mind. they know what they are enshrined after and, perhaps, hatred is all that they deserve. ]

I see. Yes, I suppose that it must be quite different in a place that literally calls itself Hell. The supernatural walks among us every waking second... it must be strange to you.

Mm, well. There are an awful lot of ayakashi in the human world as well. It's more like I'm used to being the only one who sees them.

[Not literally; there's an exorcist community, other people who do the same work. But even after he started attending meetings as a teenager, he's always held himself a little apart from them. They're colleagues, not a true community.]

--Well, that and it's odd to see so many in a city like this. I'm used to them being a lot more... [He pauses not to think of a word, but because there's an enthusiastic youkai crooning along to a J-pop song and his voice just cracked on the high note.] Reclusive. Out in the mountains shunning human things, instead of... all of this.

Demons should know their place.

[ a pause, followed by a sardonic smile-- self-deprecating, but natori doesn't need to know that. ]

In that case, I only think that it's fitting for them to be having the time of their lives here, if you could even call it a life. [ there's a small shrug of their shoulders, as they continue casually, ] Even the fact that they are imitating human culture does not seem so far-fetched when you think about it carefully. Aren't humans the reason that demons exist in the first place? Their fears and apprehensions build up until it creates them; a wish for something to fear and loathe.

May 2022 IC Mingle

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