jigokulogs | June 2022 Event

June 2022 Event

1. SWIMSUIT TROUBLES (1 POINT)

As the city goes through its daily motions, the heat bears down harder and harder while bringing out some increasingly overheated behavior from the local population. Summer is here and the natives are flocking to the shopping district: both as a respite from the scorching temperatures and to stock up on the needed supplies to beat the heat.

That means one noticeable problem: the bathing suits left on the racks aren’t the most fashionable at this point! Suits are scarce and what is left over are the skimpy, the oddly-patterned, a size too small, or all of the above. Then again, you are probably just feeling lucky you aren’t in the Shuten Clan, who have been provided their own precious supply of freshly laundered tiger stripe bikinis. And nothing else.

You may be able to borrow around within your own faction, where the pickings might not be so slim, but are still unlikely to match your personal style. Better hope you ran out to buy something nice when the Daitengu first announced the party.

2. BEACH GAMES (1 POINT)

The indoor beach facility that the Alliance has provided is extraordinary. It’s massive! It seems to extend to the size of an entire soccer field. With the combinations of Kappa tech and Tengu magic, the experience has been made as close to a natural one as anyone could ask for. The heat of the beach feels true to the real world, the sand is white and pure, and the waves rolling in and out are just like the mortal realm. Even the palm trees and beach scrub seem entirely authentic. The vibe is immaculate.

Each faction has their own area set up for meeting and mingling but everyone is welcome to let loose and interact among all the groups.

SHUTEN CLAN

The Shuten Clan has set up their beach fort with food and drinks. The drinks on offer are a particularly strong Oni beer and a few spirits (especially sake). These drinks have been mixed so that anyone who imbibes them will feel a heightened sense of competition and the need to prove themselves!

There are plenty of opportunities to show off:
Learning surfing with a few knowledgeable Oni.
Volleyball matches.
Shoulder chicken tournaments.
Beer pong.
Drinking contests that never seem to stop.
And friendly scuffles with some of the Shuten who are feeling more rowdy than usual.
In particular, the volleyball matches appear to be the Shuten Clan’s sport of choice. They’re taking these matches deathly serious. With all powers allowed in play, the game is truly deadly with how powerful, how fast, and how fierce those spikes and volleys are. Hold nothing back and leave it all in the ring!

Toraguma himself is here in his tiger striped best! He’s observing the games and taking note of which Shutens do well and which ones shame the clan with their defeat. He’ll give out rewards to those he thinks are exemplifying the pride of the clan. Don’t worry though, if you’re not up to snuff you won’t be punished; except with Toraguma’s obvious disappointment.

TAMAMO CLAN

The Tamamo Clan doesn't disappoint either. Their tiki bar is set up with a far greater variety in stock than the Shutens. Every drink seems to be made to that Lost Soul’s exact tastes. Watch out, this may compel you to pound them back more quickly than normal. The drinks will make you feel much closer to those around you — either in camaraderie, or something more intimate. The Tamamos have arranged a number of floats, inner tubes, and water wings lounging in the water. Enjoy your time together!

When you aren’t relaxing, the Tamamo Clan has also arranged huge buckets of water balloons and have filled their water guns. The instructions are clear: whether sniping from afar or going in on a full assault, go nuts. Especially against the Shutens. Lady Tenkohime herself has a high-caliber, sniper-grade water rifle with her at her lounge chair. She will occasionally pick some unlucky soul to fire off devastating rounds against. She is not soaking them in just water, of course. This is the Tamamo clan’s patented ‘perfume’, which inspires the most amorous feelings.

Finally, the Tamamo have also inspired a spicy wet t-shirt contest. It’s essentially a sexy beauty contest, but given the variety of bodies and hidden ‘talents’ tucked away under everyone’s clothes, it should prove interesting! Tenkohime has described the simple rules:
One must wear the provided white shirt and only that shirt.
The crowd will soak them down.
And the crowd will judge how well they pull it off.

SUTOKU CLAN

The Sutoku Clan has been given free reign on a fleet of jet skis and paddle boats; perfect for two. There are boogie boards and larger inner tubes ready to be attached to different jet skis. Just be careful, ok?

A large snack bar has been provided with cheerful yokai behind the counter ready and willing to serve up your heart’s desire. There are some strange candies towards the end of the bar, they taste a bit funny but once you eat one you’re compelled to have a few more. These sweets will give you the power to breathe underwater. What is the meaning of this power? Well, you’re in the Alliance, after all, you figure out what’s under the waves.

Sutoku games include things like kan jam and frisbees, but Sutoku Souls are also very much encouraged to participate in the Shuten Clan’s volleyball tournament. Much to Toraguma’s frustration, the Alliance has planted a Tengu referee who seems to really favor the Alliance players over his own. Use your powers liberally.

The Daitengu is in attendance with sunscreen marks on their mask, for some reason. They’re being a total busybody, as usual. They’re really taking the time to chat up Tenkohime and Toraguma, even if the two want to rip each other’s throats out. Could a resolution to the turf war be on the way? One can only hope!

ENMA DEPARTMENT

The Enma is instructing the members of the Department to volunteer (aka voluntold) for lifeguard duty. The shifts are short — it is ultimately a party — and participation will net you both free food and drink from any of the vendors, as well as license to let loose for the rest of the party! The fare provided by the Enma vendors is pretty staid, but it does fill you with the odd need to run down the beach shallows in slow motion. Not sure what that’s about.

There is one further task that is expected of the Enma Department: suikawari. It is a big deal and to be taken seriously! This is the Enma’s favorite beach activity and the only diversion that he cares about. Your guess is as good as anyone’s, but it’s probably because the game resembles a form of execution. Regardless! Every officer is expected to do at least one round of the game as a form of initiation to the Department itself. Captain Shiki hosts the game in the absence of the Enma. Someone should tell her to chill out with that whistle, though.

3. BONFIRE (1 POINT)

As the hosts of the event, the Sutoku Alliance has set up a massive bonfire as the sun begins to set and stars light up the magical sky. There’s a romantic feeling in the air. Things seem as chill as they ever could be, there are no Haniwa in sight! Things feel peaceful for the first time in a while.

A final happy hour is declared, with free libations for everyone to close out the night. It’s time to finish this party in style. For anyone particularly watchful, they may spy the extraordinary sight of Toraguma and Tenkohime together. Off in the shadows while the party rages on, they are sitting together and watching the waves roll in. What could they be discussing? It will remain a mystery, getting any closer to them would be a deadly mistake.

The evening closes without any major incidents. Nothing seems like it could spoil the mood. It almost feels too good to be true.

4. AND THEN... (2 POINTS)

As all the party goers change back into their clothes and exit the facility, there is a rumble of thunder over Jigokucho. The stars are quickly swallowed by a darkening sky and the ground shakes. A minor earthquake? That’s not unheard of but the sky above is looking threatening. Evil. Darkness washes out over the entire city, none of its many bright lights able to cut through. Something is wrong. Something is happening.

A warm rain begins to fall, spattering across you and your surroundings. It becomes quickly apparent that you are not doused with water, but with blood.

The silence is shattered suddenly when a scream cuts across the whole of Jigokucho. An accursed miasma pours out from every direction. Then you see them: the Haniwa. They are everywhere, gazing from every direction, pressing in. Something has gone terribly wrong.

Captain Shiki is the first to act. She makes a call to Kaigo no Bou, but what she hears is enough to freeze her in her tracks.

The containment center deep beneath the tower where the Haniwa were being stored has been compromised. All of the cursed energy that was stored there has leaked out into the city from below. The guards below are dead. No one is answering their radio. It is not just the containment center that has been compromised, but all of Kaigo no Bou.

Captain Shiki struggles to remain calm as she gives out orders. Her entire command structure has been decimated, but she has to keep these people safe. She urges everyone to seek shelter, immediately. Everyone needs to partner up and stick together.

None of the faction leaders present arguments and they enforce this ruling with their Souls. They direct everyone to make their way back to their home base. Shuten to the Arena, Tamamo to Mizukume, and Sutoku to Konoha. There, their faction leaders can protect them.

As for the Enma officers: they are on rescue duty. You will be heading out into the city to rescue as many people as possible from the nightmarish effects of the cursed energy on the city. Captain Shiki will act as their point of command at the indoor beach.

Good luck, everyone.

5. IN THE CURSED NIGHT (2 POINTS)

A rain of blood is sprinkling all around you. It pings off sign posts and garbage bins, it splatters wetly onto the concrete and your face. The scent is pungent and thick; spoiling. It is soaking in to your hair, your clothes, your skin. It is driving you mad: your pulse spinning, breathing short.

There are noises in the impenetrable darkness. Fox feet on the pavement, crow wings shifting on a perch, a stranger's cruel laughter. The dark energy that has swallowed you is bemused by your smallness, is lurking at the edges and waiting for the moment to strike. Hold tight to your fellows, lest in the darkness another hand be placed in yours. Do you know who you walk with? What you walk with?

The Haniwa are watching you from every surface; crowded together as one with their empty eye sockets and open mouths. Their dark eyes turn to follow where you go as you stumble through your nightmares and your delusions. They breathe in your suffering on the air.

Beware the onibi, they will lead you astray.
Beware the grasping hands in the trees.
Beware the whispers in the distance.
Beware the slope to the river.
Beware. Beware.

Welcome to the June event!

Art by astrono77153462
Special shoutout to vandalisto for coming up with the meat of this event; the beach party. They approached us with this as a player plot, and it was good enough that we made it into the full event for the month. Excellent work, Vandal!
If you have any questions about event content, please ask them here!
If your character participated in the volleyball games, see here! If they participated in the wet t-shirt contest, see here!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The world turns to rust and rot, into nightmares and paranoia. It is a horrific, terrible thing, she thinks, raising her head from the table. Aerith could have fallen asleep, or maybe she never did. It's hard to tell. The world moves like it's sinking. She should be working, should be doing something. But just like with her mother, she gets away with too much.

So the door creaks open, hanging ajar in a way that feels like the exact opposite of welcoming, and when she looks around to find herself as alone as a body in a mausoleum, she wonders.

There is only forward. Standing, Aerith mumbles. ]

Mm... My head. Did I sleep too long...? [ Or is it this place? Time and space as she once knew it?

She'll take the path leading her out. Where to, she doesn't know, and she won't leave without picking up her staff. It's cold in her grip, as if left out in the rain. ]

[her feet lead her down into a small building, the light and sounds of fire growing stronger as she descends. the floor is smooth, concrete. there is an incinerator going, the source of light, searing whatever's been put in it - that is its job. metal and stone - the efficiency of modernity, even as rust and age leave their marks. it burns, and what else needs to be burned waits patiently for its turn. they have the shape of bodies, but no scent - no breathing, no blood.

dolls, with familiar brown hair and empty glass eyes. each one twisted or broken somehow. this one's arms are broken. this one has a hole in the head. this one was already scorched by flame. this one has a gash all the way through. this one lost her head. just ruined and worthless dolls, identical save for their injuries, what's led them to be discarded. somehow, she'll know, there's another pile in there, being reduced to ash.

outside the building, half visible through the window, is...

given the look on her face, Aerith would be forgiven for thinking she was simply another of the dolls. the silent witness, the one who has to dispose of every failure. even if it's her own face she has to carry.]

[ The figure outside the building can stare all she wants. She'll see a young woman descend with a pixie-like curiosity, worry seeping into the corners of her features like tea bleeding into water. The sight is somber and meticulous to her gaze, and Aerith's green eyes rove the scene with reverence. ]

Emily...?

[ Each doll, with it's natural beauty, fills her heart with lead. Heavier and heavier, as she inspects them. She has never burned bodies before, but it seems terribly cruel to leave them discarded like this. If they must be taken care of, then she'll do it. Aerith thinks little of how strange this is. She just wants to pay her respects, and so she does.

First: she gently arranges one doll. Smooths it's yarn-like hair, adjusts it's dress, crosses it's arms when she can. If it is eternal rest for them, then they deserve to be comfortable. Settled into their little cardboard coffins, each of them go, one by one. Gently, and with little kind whispers. She's dreamed like this before, seen worlds and happenstances she could never have otherwise. It has been a long, long time, but if that thread has been sewn back, she won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Secondly: She will close the lid of each box. With great care, their tops are secured, and then they are lined up. Placed just so. She wishes, as she closes the boxes, that she could close their pretty eyes. They reflect her somber face back at her, ever watching.

Finally: She prays for them. Her hands come together in prayer, she closes her eyes, and sees them off. ]

Rest, now. I'll take care of you. [ With her respects paid, they are each placed upon the belt, so they may find peace. So they may return to the Planet, like all things must.

It is only when she is looking for a way to get the belt moving that she looks up, and spots the familiar face. ]

...Emily... [ So... it is her, but... not quite. It is something akin to her. A dream? A nightmare? Her own will? The gardener walks to the window to get a better look at the angel watching over her. ]

Heya. You're really cutting these all off, aren't you?

Edited (wow.) 2022-06-20 07:30 (UTC)

...There's nothing else to do with them. They're no more than objects to litter the ground.

[every single one a failure. and sometimes she fails on purpose, so others might succeed. every one crushed and broken and destroyed by another method, endless, made to be undone.]

You don't have to be nice to them, you know.

[she had seen and watched. seen the care, and felt strange. as if tending to each doll reflected on her. what they felt, she did. when they burned, she felt it, rising in her core. fever hot and bright, another little piece falling away like ash. she can't come nearer, or the heat will be unbearable. silently, the belt begins to move, taking the new load of dolls into the fire. for how the machinery looks, it operates with no fearsome sound - it knows its purpose, and does it quietly.]

Flames are all the kindness they deserve. The ashes will help things grow - they'll be more useful like that.

[ There's something like the Planet's whispers in her mind when this Emily speaks. She uses her voice, a sound not unlike little strokes of a grand piano's keys, the same way someone would use an alarm. A rude awakening that jolts you back to reality. While Aerith listens, her expression twists into a sad smile.

It makes her think of the yellow flowers. With each new flower, there is petals. And each petal will fall, sooner or later, rotten and dead. Turning her head, she watches the procession of dead Emilys with that same sad smile. ]

Don't be silly. [ Shaking her head, she looks back to Emily. Raises her hand to place it on the window. It is impossibly cold out there, she discovers— or maybe it's impossibly hot in here, with Aerith. ] You'll carry the past with you no matter what, won't you? But the future is waiting to be written.

That applies to those with a future. Anyone else is merely borrowing against time to extend their present.

[it's cold out there because it has to be. ice numbs pain. ice means the finer details don't come through. if they burn, it is because they deserve no better. they deserve to be flung into the machine without a care, swept up like so much garbage to burn and burn until they become something helpful - that will make things better. if she could grind each shining eye into dust beneath her heel, she would.

don't look at them. don't care about them. let them be nothing. something to use until it breaks. it's what they're good for.]

[ A great number of things come to her mind in that moment. They surface like forgotten artefacts being spit out of the ocean. Aerith looks away, to the machine that chugs along. It leads the procession with great purpose. She envisions it as a scalpel, sloughing off what is unneeded now. ]

Everyone dies, eventually.

That feeling of uselessness, the sadness and anger it comes from: it's one thing that can make us strong. [ Is this experience speaking? If Emily thinks that, Aerith will never correct her. Perhaps it's better to think of her in those ways. ] We have to always want to move forward, to do better. It's how we change, for the better.

[ You're lying to yourself, Emily. ]

"Don't think about that person anymore. Be better. Do better. This is all you're good for." That's the kind of thing that you're saying here, isn't it? You already started carving out a future... by getting rid of them.

[ They're burning up now, their remains disintegrating. They'll never be seen again. ]

Dilly dally, shilly shally.

Did they look strong, to you?

[impossible to tell. they're already burning. they had been limp, fragile things. at least flowers are beautiful. bodies never are. they are cloth/flesh/porcelain/bone/blood/stuffing and they are dropped, forgotten, left to disintegrate.

the window cracks in spiderwebs before it breaks, icy air battling the warmth of the incinerator. as if the outside were a freezer, preserving all in it.]

A corpse has no future.

[it can only be repurposed, made into something else. left alone to rot. there is nothing that can be done.]

[ The window cracks as Emily speaks, and Aerith thinks of being stuck in a tube in Hojo's lab. It's a sick sort of memory, the kind that will haunt her. Emily speaks of corpses, of lost chances and bitter nothings. Aerith's insides writhe with upset for a moment before she looks into Emily's eyes; a decision has been made. She has never been a woman of inaction. ]

This window doesn't look very strong.

[ It takes a moment to look around, to search for a key. It is not, in fact, shaped like a key. Instead, she picks up the heaviest thing she can find; a sturdy chair. Before it is a mess she barely registers, and then she does the obvious. ]

I'm coming for you.

[ Aerith throws the chair at the window with all her might. ]

Stop-

[the window breaks.

and in contrast to the incinerator, where it's warm and silent, death held as a shroud and hushed respect, outside the wind howls, shrieks like a living and wounded thing. it's as cold as a freezer out there, and the air is heavy, the smoke acrid from where all the dolls burn, traces of gunpowder left behind. this is not a place where things live.

go. flee. go back up, out of the underworld.

(you cannot save her.)

she is bound to the spot, thorned vines growing around, through her legs, pinning her there. waiting for her next death. a poison bite would be kindness, comparatively.

(you cannot save her.)

someone's voice, floating to Aerith, calling her name from behind her.

look back.]

[ How terribly cruel it is. There is a number of reasons that this hurts, feels like the glass shards she's crawling over are stabbing her in the heart, but there is one thing that sticks out above all else. Cloud Strife cannot be with her. It is a number of things, and she thinks of them all when she hears his voice. Every little syllable is like pinpricks to her soul.

— But the truth is—

Aerith has never been very good at looking behind her. ]

...I'm sorry.

[ Cloud's voice nearly gets her. It nearly does. But she's afraid of what will happen if she doesn't look forward, if she lets what's at her back take her, and so Aerith climbs out, and goes after Emily anyway. ]

Really. I am. For everything.

[ For using you, for lying to you, for... letting you go through this, for her own gain. For her own benefit. (They both him, so much. If only she knew.)

A shard of glass that's rooted in the window sill still tears through the skirt of her flowy dress, which billows in the harsh wind now. It's smile. Hard to see, just like everything else when you look at it too closely. She keeps looking ahead, approaches Emily, and lets the thorns cut her palms.

(she looks, anyway.

peeks, like a child on christmas morning.

maybe it just isn't meant for her. cloud, zack, or any of it.) ]

[she looks, and she sees him there, standing on the blooming ridge near her home. the sun is set, and the moonlight turns the world silver, flowers bending their heads to the breeze. the stars glitter above like so many dewdrops in the morning, and he is looking back at her, green eyes full of hope. somehow she knows, if she went to him, she could hug him tight, and he would be warm. like sunshine, like a fireplace, like the feeling of healing magic in her blood.

he steps forward, and offers his hand.

to look where she was, there is nothing. no Emily, no dead world, no incinerator, no sad glass eyes.

Aerith's dress is still torn, but that could just be an accident, right? something missed, overlooked. unobtrusive, and dealt with later.

(go back, and spring will come again.)]

[ It hurts. Not just the pain of crawling over glass, of standing in the cold. She was meant to play the game, but it plays her instead, playing the old grand piano of her heartstrings. It would be nice, wouldn't it? To go home and taste her mother's cooking. It meant so much to her after growing up on cafeteria food that Shinra threw at her. A world full of flowers, and the future, and there he is. ]

...It's a nice trick, Emily.

[ Because it's Emily. Even as she stares at Cloud's smiling, beckoning face, she knows. There's not enough guilt her, not enough grittiness here. The grime and mess is missing, the way that she loves hard but in such a manner that "confused" is the only way to describe it. ]

But... that's all it is. [ The real Cloud is someone she hasn't met yet.

Maybe now she can— but it won't be back home, in her mother's house. It'll be here, out in the cold, confused and alone. ]

Come on. I'm gonna take you home. A real home, one we make together.

[perhaps it's for the best that Emily has gone. because those words would have broken her like bullets, shattered her porcelain bones and flesh. instead, the dream gets to blow away with the breeze, like dandelion seeds, losing pieces, until-

Aerith is back in Jigokucho, looking into the darkness of a maintenance closet. she's a long way from her home. a long way from the underworld. a long way from the apartment where the real Emily Dyer is making medicine so that her and Shylock can work with Aerith's powers, looking to save everyone they can.

it's just a dream.

(right?)]

[ It comes for her. The dream, a sort of veil of normalcy. A life she could have had, in better places, in happier spaces. Emily shows her a kindness that Aerith doesn't think many have in them. It's a need to please her, this illusion, and she knows it is so. Because Cloud himself would not know what to feel of it, of the want or pleasure that derives from the idea of a home with a loved one and a future of tending to the garden with family. The family that chose you.

And it goes from her, stardust shooting through time, leaving her breathless. It's gone in the same instant as a bird flapping it's wings. ]

... [ She checks her dress. There is a tear. Her brow furrows— why?

She decides not to dwell too long. She'll make her way back, knowing she's in for a scolding or inspection of some kind when she gets back to Emily's apartment. Truthfully, it delights her a little. Makes her think of her mother, and so when the door opens, she only lets out a cheerful greeting. ]

Sorry about that! Miss me? [ Locking the door behind her, Aerith hums. ] I'll make us some of that tea.

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June 2022 Event

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