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

Yurei are some of the worst. Trust me. You're doing them a serious favor if you're making sure the spirits actually pass on without regret.

[She said that with a very firm nod. She had a little bit of experience with ghosts of one variety or another, and they were all so painfully annoying if you asked her.]

Oh. They're definitely dangerous. [A snort] Well, some of them anyway. The small fries are just kind of sad sacs, but youkai can definitely have some nasty tricks up their sleeves.

It can be tough and especially when you try to figure out what is making them stay! But that comes with the job even when it gets really messy.

[She said with a pause. As much as she didn't want to go into too much details, trying to clean up regrets from ghosts can be tricky!]

Which makes it all the more troublesome when all they want to do is create havoc! Don't they know how I have other ghosts to take care of too? They can be so pesky.

Oh... so you're an exorcist too? That kind of makes you like someone I know that way. I guess I 'could' be one if I really wanted, but it's never seemed my place.

[On the plus side? Hu Tao didn't need to explain too much. That was something tenshi understood.]

They're really self-centered. I mean, I 'get it' why they're like that, but when they get like that? It's almost impossible to really reason with them. They're sort of trapped in one moment in time.

I wouldn't say that, it's more that I'm someone who can see spirits and can help them sometimes! Besides, I believe Choungyun would be upset if I said I was.

[Not to mention that she really didn't want to get on his bad side too!]

And why it's so difficult to handle them. All we wish is for them to pass into the afterlife with no regrets. It's nothing to harm them but it can be tricky.

Ah. Ok, more of a medium then. That's fine. Spirits must flock to you. They have so many problems that they go on and on about.

[She shrugged]

Sometimes, you have to kick them around though. If they're causing too much trouble after all.

More like people come to me to ask about the spirits and other various superstitions they encounter. I don't mind as long as people are aware when it gets dangerous.

[Otherwise, most of them were harmless.]

Speaking of which, it sounds like you had your fair share of them.

So... there's a bit of a story to that.

[She shrugged and considered for a moment.]

Sometime, about a century ago? Something like that. I'm not a historian. A family of exorcists sealed one valley away, so that mortals wouldn't enter. All of the youkai, the yurei not in the afterlife, the oni and monsters came to dwell there with only a few exceptions.

Humans had stopped believing, and it had gotten messy. Now? It's a valley with a big village of humans that still believe and countless spirits, all bored as shit and getting up to mischief at each other's expense because it's not safe to be outside the barrier anymore.

So, yeah, I run into a lot when I visit.

[Despite the heavy rain that was already soaking her feet (and some of her clothes), all Hu Tao could do was stare at her for a moment. Although, it didn't take before the girl to shake her head.]

I see. I suppose it's not that different from my world. There are still countless people that believe in the supernatural but most of it is things they don't have a clear idea of. To be honest, a lot of them believe that spirits can curse them and make them die within seconds.

[Pause]

Although, I can't imagine how much trouble it would cause those people if they keep playing pranks all the time. [Not that she was one to speak but...!]

Well... it's exciting, certainly. But really? The human village has a whole bunch of defenders, and they're all pretty powerful. Whenever something happens, there's a priestess who comes down and exorcises the problem. That, or her lazy klepto of a witch friend. They both can do a lot. So everyone's fine.

but there's always something going on. Spirits get really bored. It sounds like it's a little like that for you too?

More like they tend to stay around and linger as they can't go into the afterlife. Although, there are occasional spirits that can cause trouble but they're rare.

[Pause]

If that happens, Chongyun or I might have to the one who will have to exorcise them. Granted, it would depend on how bad that spirit could be as we don't know how powerful they are.

I think... yeah, it's a little different. Your spirits are actually in trouble a little. Ours are just where they are and folks have forgotten them. That's how youkai tend to be. Forgotten and doing things to act out so folks don't forget them again.

Your world actually sounds more serious than mine.

Between fighting hilichurls and how dangerous the various nations could be, it can be tiring! Especially when you never know if an ancient god might be unleashed and attack a city.

[Because she's looking at you, Childe.]

Sometimes it sounds so much like mine, but if everyone was taking things deadly serious.

[So, despite her antics? Most folks in Gensokyo actually did take things seriously. She was the dumbass who did an earthquake to get attention and thought it was grand fun when they beat the snot out of her.]

Say, do you want to get out of the rain? We're getting a little more serious in the talking now and it's still raining.

May 2022 IC Mingle

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