[OPEN] someone please suggest cut text and subject title for me

[mahoraga]

Who ⬤ Megumi and awesome people (YOU)
What ⬤ May catch-all - substories, IC Mingle log, Megumi's part-time job, anything else that comes up
When ⬤ Throughout May
Where ⬤ Various places
Content Warnings ⬤ N/A - will add as I go


SUBSTORY #1: thanks mods i happen to love body heat meme

[ This is just about the last time he takes free food from anyone, even if they look like a harmless rabbit. Curse his slight fondness for rabbits. While Megumi went a good half hour with no side effects, the chill gradually sets in after that, his long-sleeved clothing and large collar that usually keep him fairly warm no longer making the cut. The worst part is, the effects set in right in the middle of the busy pavement. He would be able to deal with this better if he could wrap himself up at home.

Megumi tries to tough it out for as long as he is able to, arms wrapping around himself as he tries to keep the shivers at bay. He doesn't particularly like to draw attention to himself or make people worry about him, but it's hard to walk normally when the chill seems to have permeated every inch of his body. ]

What did she feed me ... [ Another day he wishes he could summon Divine Dog. Their fur would actually feel divine right about now.

Eventually, his hands seem to seek heat on their own, grabbing the sleeve of someone nearby to give them a light tug closer. ]

SUBSTORY #2: the one with the butts and wild goose chase

[ As if life couldn't get any harder, upon Megumi's refusal to help it with its pointless request, the shirime in all its eye-in-butt glory has taken to following him around, harassing him with its request incessantly.

"So, you'll help me, right? Hey, are you listening? Will you help me? I want the A5! You'll help me, right?"

There's only so much of being followed around and pestered that a boy can take. He doesn't even know which vending machine the shirime is talking about and it keeps ignoring the question when he asks.

There's only one way to solve this problem: Pawn it on someone else. Though he feels a little bad about this, there's no other choice. Megumi addresses whoever might be nearby, thumbing at the silly-looking yokai who's following him. ]

You. Can you help him?

IC MINGLE #1: welcome wagon

[ Megumi doesn't particularly care about movies, preferring to spend his evenings with a good book. When he does watch movies, it's when he's being roped into it by someone else.

He doesn't have much interest in using the movie ticket but it also feels like a waste to throw it away when someone else might want to use it. Anyone who's hovering around the theater will be approached by a tall young man with a deadpan expression. He straight up puts his ticket in your hand. ]

Here. Enjoy.

IC MINGLE #2: haniwa dolls

[ As the night goes on, and the partying locals and lost souls continue to drink themselves silly, a lot of people are focused on having a good time and paying less and less attention to the sporadically emerging dolls. They were creepy at first, but after the fourth time you see one popping up, it becomes a bit easier to ignore, apparently. It's because people are paying less attention that they're being less cautious and allowing themselves to be exposed to its cursed effects.

At a local nightclub, a fight seems to have broken out, a wolf demon randomly breaking out into some paranoid hysteria about everyone else's faces changing, and charging at the other patrons with his sharp claws. At the center of it all is a haniwa figure, and though Megumi's spiritual senses have dulled immensely, he can still pick up its off-putting, dreadful aura.

The other patrons, some also succumbing to the hallucinations, are obviously going to return in kind. A bottle thrown by one of the angry patrons sails through the air towards your character. Before it can hit, they'll be yanked to the side by a young man with dark hair. ]

I have to get rid of that figure. [ He turns to the person he's grabbing now. ] Go somewhere else.

[ He can handle this!!! (Allegedly ... )

ooc: As a note, Megumi is a helpful boy who will be trying to remove the statues as advised by Enma. He might succumb to the effects after a while and i'm happy to plot it out with whoever ]

PART TIME JOB: book shop boys (later in the month)

[ Megumi has found a part-time job at a local bookstore in the Sutoku Alliance. There are books of all sorts available, and the colourful and upbeat members of the staff (with the exception of .. Megumi, who stands out with how quiet he is by comparison) are always ready to help out.

A: If your character looks unsure of what they want to browse, they'll be approached by a quiet young man in a blue apron, who will point at one particular book in the non-fiction section. ]

This one wasn't bad.

[ The title reads 'Everything You Need to Know About Concrete Engineering'. That's ... so boring, why would anyone (who isn't a builder) ever read it??? ]

[ B: Or, if your character happened to wander near the shelves behind some bashful yuki-onna who quickly takes off and leaves, they might get falsely accused of a book-related crime.

Megumi will approach them with a book in hand (a romance story, apparently) and open up the cover. Written on the pages are the romantic exchanges between two regular patrons, who have chosen to trade their love notes through this one book.

The latest one reads "There isn't a day I go on without thinking about you. I long for the touch of your fingers, to hear the sound of your voice. My heart can take no more of this cruel fate that separates us."

Love between enemy faction members? Whatever, he doesn't care. Megumi looks very unimpressed. ]

Please have your love affair somewhere else.

[ OOC: Do something else with me??? You can reach me via PM or at charsiu (feel free to add) ]

Comments

[mahoraga]

[ So he's an outlier in his family. Every now and then, the right genetic combination leads to the birth of a sorcerer in families without sight. ]

It reminds me of my shikigami. [ With his fingers, he makes a shadow puppet of a dog against the dim light of the theater. There's a sense of some aura flowing into his shadow, but ultimately nothing happens. There's a sigh. Of course it wouldn't. Megumi wouldn't usually go telling a new acquaintance about his abilities, but Natori's shared a lot about himself already, and Megumi feels a desire to help him. ]

If it's similar to that, you could control it after the conditions are met. [ It's a possibility, and probably the more optimistic one. The other options - that it's a curse, or he's been marked by something more sinister - are less favourable. ]

[paperpusher]

Does it? [Now that's interesting. Natori can feel the start of... something in that hand signal that fizzles out before it goes anywhere-- something he's drawing on his own energy to create? More like Matoba's shiki than his own.] Hm. Are your shiki inherent to you, then? I'd need to form a contract with an ayakashi to use it as my shiki, and this one doesn't understand human speech. Or, well, if it does, it's never chosen to engage with it.

[mahoraga]

[ Interesting. Megumi can imagine it be possible to form contracts with curses, but the ones that understand human speech would usually be filled with so much malice and evil that it would only ever be a terrible idea. Where he comes from, curses are an accumulation of negativity after all, with the sentient ones higher grade than the rest. ]

It's a technique passed down my bloodline. [ He doesn't say 'in my family', because these people are not his family. ]

What have you tried to get rid of it? [ Since it doesn't look like Natori likes having the lizard around at all. ]

[paperpusher]

Ah, I see. [Natori's not sure, with that phrasing, whether Megumi means it as knowledge passed down through his clan or something he literally inherited through his blood. The exorcist community thrives on a mix of the two-- inborn power channeled through proprietary techniques. It's splitting hairs at that point to make the distinction, and he doesn't think Megumi will go into it anyway. Exorcist clans could be very protective of their techniques.] You might be the first person to say it reminds you of anything, honestly. It's not something anyone in my community has seen before.

[Anyway. It's cute that this teenager is trying to help him. He smiles reassuringly, tilting his head just slightly to the side.] A few things, but don't worry about it. It's not doing anything harmful [...as far as anyone knows, anyway.] besides showing up in some film scenes where it wasn't invited. But you must know a lot about this sort of thing, huh? You're already working as an exorcist at your age?

[mahoraga]

I know a fair amount. Started when I was 12. [ Not entirely by choice, but it's not something he laments or would change - the alternative would have been much worse. Megumi isn't liberal with the information he's willing to share about himself to others, so he doesn't give any information beyond that.

He still feels like he wants to help Natori, but it sounds like the older man has tried quite a few things and doesn't exactly want to get into that topic either. Megumi isn't a pushy person, so he doesn't pursue it. Since he doesn't know what else to say after that, so the conversation just lulls .... sorry. ]

[paperpusher]

12? As in, taking jobs when you were 12?

[It's fine, because Natori is happy to keep a conversation going with reticent teenagers (shout out to "are you free this weekend?" "no"), especially when the facts they are dropping are alarming in and of themselves. Natori grumbled a lot as a teenager at constantly getting scolded out of meetings because "children aren't allowed," but now as a (technical) adult he understands the reasoning behind it. It's a bit of a culture shock to hear something so different, but the sad thing is that it's not unbelievable.]

Sheesh. So you're from one of those clan families, huh. [There's no way some independent kid was off doing this on his own without some older adult exorcist supporting it. He can't do anything about that, but it still sets his teeth on edge.] Well, I know you don't need me lecturing you about it, but I still feel like I'd be remiss as an adult not to offer my support.

[He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out another blank paper doll, offering it out like he would a business card.] I'm Natori. --Well, I suppose you've heard that by now... Anyway, this will come find me if you need anything. Humor me for a minute and accept it.

[mahoraga]

[ Megumi doesn't exactly consider himself part of the Zenin clan (even if he shares their blood and inherited their technique), but he's also technically the head of the clan now, so maybe he is part of the clan? His circumstances are generally confusing and a hassle to explain, especially for a person who generally dislikes sharing very much about themselves. He opts not to correct Natori on that. It's true that an adult exorcist was responsible for his introduction into jujutsu society, however. ]

Being an adult doesn't mean you have to watch over everyone younger than you... [ Megumi's not the type of person who believes people should live by roles imposed onto them. He's also a stubborn teenager who wouldn't have any way of understanding the feelings of adults.

Still, the more sensitive part of him does acknowledge that this is coming out of a place of care, and there are benefits to making connections in this place (also, he is so curious about mr. lizard). He'll accept the branch being extended to him. ]

Fushiguro Megumi. [ A girl's name, because sorcerer parents are weird. The 'nice to meet you' goes unsaid. ]