jigokulogs | July 2022 IC Mingle

1. ITADAKIMASU!

After the harrowing incidents involving the curse last month, unity is the theme for welcoming the new influx of Lost Souls. The factions are still busy with cleanup efforts and making sure their personnel are in fighting shape. What’s more, most of the usual spots that would play host to the factions’ parties are either closed until they’re repaired, or in no state to be hosting parties that big.

Thus, an agreement has been reached. All of the factions will hold their mingles together and host a food truck/yatai festival in the blocks surrounding Theater Square, in the Sutoku Alliance’s territory. This gets money into the hands of the local vendors, and allows the community to spend time together in relative peace. It’s still Jigokucho, there are punks prowling to start fights and steal wallets, like they always are, but it’s a breath of fresh air after everything that’s been happening lately. Just keep your wits about you and enjoy the food. Takoyaki is one of the most popular items and competition between the carts motivates chefs to make them flair and style!

Kushiten, yakitori, dango, croquettes, senbei, onigiri, yakisoba, taiyaki, you name it, it’s probably represented here in some form. There are even any number of your favorite treats from home, even if your home isn’t Earth. It might take a little poking around to find them, but isn’t that part of the delight of exploring a city’s food?

The falling Stardust has made its way into the food as well. You may notice that some vendors are grinding up the glowing stellar fragments and putting them into the food itself as a spice. Are… you supposed to eat that?! Oh well! When it’s time to party, you can’t go wrong with a little Stardust.

2. MUSIC GOT ME FEELIN SO FREE

In the center of Theater Square, surrounded on all sides by the many colorful food stalls, they’ve set up a stage for local artists to perform on. There are a great variety of acts who come and go to play a few songs. The music reaches all throughout the square and may be little more than background noise, until just the right tune catches your ear.

Jenny⁣ – This all-girls story of hidden love should be hitting all the ladies in the crowd a certain kind of way. Have you been admiring a friend or coworker and just never taken the plunge? Now’s the time for that kiss, the music is playing.
KONNANじゃないっ⁣⁣ – This sweet idol bop about striding bravely towards your best future fills you with inspiration and hope for the future. You may feel compelled to bring your hopes and dreams into every conversation. The future is bright!
Running Up That Hill⁣⁣ – As the singer performs some kind of interpretive dance, she sings about her frustrations with never truly being able to see from another person’s perspective. What would you do to show your true self? Maybe it’s time to iron out that ongoing misunderstanding you’ve been circling.
Love Warriors⁣⁣ – A simple act with a guitarist and singer, she sings a mellow piece about the true value of love. What a beautiful message. Your heart might begin to overflow with feelings of care and affection. Will you finally spill those all-important three words? I-love-you.
One More Time⁣⁣ – The last act of the evening is lively, colored lights flashing out across the square. They begin to play an impossibly catchy beat that no one can resist dancing too. Dance like no one is watching and enjoy the sweet catharsis of a good dance session. You’ll feel better for it tomorrow.

(Players are more than welcome to use their own song and effect. 💖)

3. BIRD BOMBS

At some point during the festivities, the Daitengu takes the stage. They’re in exceptionally high spirits. They give a shout-out to Toraguma and Tenkohime for helping to make this happen. As usual, The Enma is not present. However, the Daitengu forgoes any snide remarks, although they do seem a bit let down. Hope springs eternal, one supposes.

Next they would like to announce that they have even more reasons to celebrate: a truce has been declared between the Shuten and Tamamo clans. The war for the Underground is over (for now) and new construction has started on a new casino and adult entertainment complex in the once-contested territory. They hope that this will lead to an ongoing era of financial cooperation between the three factions.

They thank Sakamoto Ryouma for making all of this happen and give him a shoutout in the crowd. Word has spread all over the Alliance about their deeds, and what they managed to pull off; a blessing and a curse. It becomes obvious that not every tribe within the Sutoku Alliance was okay with putting the Alliance itself up as collateral to make this happen. The Kasasagi Tengu Tribe, in particular, has decided to let their protest be known by storming the party in a flood of aggressive magpies. They vulture the food, they pick at jewelry, they’re an absolute menace.

Good luck shooing them away. The vibes are counting on you to deal with these feathered buzzkills.

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, given both the Stardust and Turf War prompts are involved in all three, threads in the Mingle log count for TWO (2) points!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Coming from the slums, Aerith isn't exactly in the business of exploiting her fellow workingwoman. Though Mima's face is completely new to her, her smile fresh and surprisingly youthful even beneath the unforgiving sway of the distant remnants of stage and lantern lights, she knows from that familiar pin placed perfectly on her that this is one of her fellow foxes. As someone newly appointed with a title within the faction, it seems like she should have some level of responsibility here. Even if she can't conjure it up, however, she knows what the pay check looked like. The early weeks of making her own way in Hell resembled nothing but instant noodles for meals, cheap blankets, and a bad futon, waking up only to rush to work in search of enough to get by. It would be easy to take the fifteen hundred yen for a few flowers, but it wouldn't be what she was raised to do, or true to her.

Her mother had taught her better. You help people by giving them odd jobs, and the means to survive, not by taking. Sector 5 may not have been the ideal place to live all the time, but it had at least prepared her for taking care of others. Mima is dripping with natural charisma, and she feels out of place not on the stage when she's got that smile and easy going nature, but there are better ways to use it than just preying upon her. So, Aerith makes a decision. ]

I'll cut you a deal.

[ She's not about to take you for all your worth, Aerith decides. She holds out the basket in her arms; hopefully Mima doesn't think that this is coming for free. ] I've got a lot to sell. So, how about this: I'll give you the basket. Sell what you can for what you think it's worth, and I'll find you at the end of the night. You can keep what you don't sell, and we'll split the earnings.

[ Nothing's free in Hell, but it's as free as Aerith can make it. ]

Sound fair?

[ Mima is used to a thin wallet and shoebox lodgings, but meager as her pay had been, years of idol work had afforded some comfort for herself in Tokyo. Her apartment had been (at one point) clean and tidy, filled from floor to ceiling with pieces of her she'd gathered slowly over the years. The mattress waiting on her Tokyo apartment's floor and her puffy comforter are both more comfortable than the thin, worn-through futon which waited for her, and her cheap assigned lodgings had been used and abused, sponging in enough careless mess and odors that her persistent scrubbing stood no chance against stain or stink. Four dreary, bare walls penning her in with the voices lofting up from downstairs until the small hours.

So the woman's offer - the trust that she places in Mima with that extended basket of beautiful flowers, the promise of more resources for each flower she sells - buzzes through her. She looks at the colourful basket with glimmering, eager eyes. ]

Really? [ She takes the basket delicately, looping her thin arm through its wicker handle, and bobs her head, ] Of course! Thank you so much. I'll do my best!

[ The trip outside had been more refreshing than Mima could have anticipated. She adjusts her stance with the basket, balancing the handle in the crook of her elbow, its wicker bowl on the curve of her hip. ]

[ She's sweet, and cute, and with all that wrapped up into one package, every flower will be an easy sell. It's already been easy, admittedly; it's not like anyone wants to say no to a flower. Uncommon in the city itself, they're rarely seen as anything but a luxury. To bring it out here to the general public an invite them to take it home for a cheap price is ludicrous. No one will say no. If they do, they just need to shook down until they buy! Besides, it's a lousy few hundred yen. Cough it up!

With her hands on her hips, Aerith nods back at Mima. Spoken like a real saleswoman. This will be easy as pie. ]

I'm Aerith! [ If Mima remembers the name, it'll be because of Musashi mentioning her on the network. While she may not have as many stars as the rest of her friends, she's still got some public credibility. Still, as far as a senior goes... ]

I grow these myself, so treat them delicately, okay? Each of these children has a home to find.

[ Okay, she's a little weird. ]

July 2022 IC Mingle

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