jigokulogs | July 2022 IC Mingle

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

[ The magic spell captures her attention, leaving Aerith charmed and rapt. She follows the change, but it happens like a snap of the fingers, and before she knows it's happened, it's done. Her expression slackens into shock then blooms into a big, wide, smile. Gingerly, she reaches out to take the flower by the stem. Seems more like he paid her in order to perform for her, in truth, but she's too engaged with the flower for now. It's a deep pink, like the light show has been all night, like paint drops, or perhaps even beets. ]

Wow... now there's a magic trick.

[ The Lifestream, as a conglomeration of souls, emotions, and moments in time, has shown to her as a procession before. A twisting, vibrant verdant of energy like the Aurora Borealis, curling and swirling in on itself as it flows like the current. In that way, it's true that Cain's magic is no different from Cetra abilities. Even so, Aerith could never say she's seen this before.

She places it behind her ear. It may be several shades deeper than her dress, but it's not too far off from the bow in her hair. ] What do you think?

[The Cetra and wizards would have a lot in common, if not only for their love of nature and its beauty. But for now Cain was just happy that his dumb little trick seemed to make her so delighted.]

You look even more beautiful! I'm glad it matches, aha...Sorry, I can only really do small things like this but you can consider it thanks for letting me see such a pretty flower. As wizards, we get our power from nature and our surroundings. So it's refreshing to see."

[ It catches for her, something in his words. With a nod, she looks out into the crowd that's been slowly growing in size over the course of the evening. ]

You'll have to tell me more about that some day. I just... really like the flowers. It's nice to have them back. They have something important to tell us, about this place. How they grow, and feel... it's all because of this place.

[He was listening to her curiously, and with rapt attention. Speaking to flowers, huh...]

I don't know how possible it is to speak with the spirits where I'm from. Sometimes I wish I could. But the fact that you can speak to them, and listen to them...well, I'm a bit envious. I'm glad you have your flowers back. I've been sorely missing them.

Oh, I have to buy another one for me, don't I?

[He didn't quite think that one through.]

[ She gives him a gentle hum, but retrieves one more flower for him without fuss. Really, the trade-off seems fine to her. A zinnia in a luscious shade of purple to contrast all that warmth he's got. The red hair is one thing, but he really is a Summer shade, isn't he? ]

On the house. Consider it a trade, if you want.

[ Of speaking to the flowers, she doesn't say anything. In truth, that's the first time someone actually took her seriously— and was right. Hmmm... ]

[Oh, that one was very pretty. Cain is no strangers to wearing flowers all over his hair and clothes, but at the moment he was having a hard time figuring out where to put it. Eventually he just gave up and secured it to his hair with magic, hoping that was enough to at least last the whole day.]

Thank you-I'm not sure I really did anything, but wear it gladly!

[In truth, he wanted to ask her a bit more about speaking to the flowers, but there seemed to be some sort of...hesitation. It wouldn't be a suprise to him if she faced persecution for her own abilities, seeing what people did to wizards and witches where he was from.]

So do you have your own garden here, then? I haven't really seen too many patches of soil around.

[ Oh, they match now...! A fond little chuckle leaves her as she laces her fingers together over her abdomen. He looks handsome like that, she thinks, the yellow a lovely compliment all the sunniness in his expression. ]

Most gardens are private here. Well, maybe it's more like all of them... sometimes you can find some overgrown areas, but flowers don't grow in the city. [ Whether this is careful wording on her part or not, you pick. She doesn't dwell long. ] It took a while, but I managed to get a patch going. I've got some helpers, so I decided to advertise tonight. [ She gestures out, where the crowds are immeasurable and joyous. ]

So, yeah. Pretty much!

[Cain's not one to really look for hidden meanings unless he has too, so he's just going to be believing her. He's not surprised by flowers not growing here; it was probably hard with all stone and trash and people gathered together.

But Aerith just seemed to have an aura around her that plants would gravitate to, so if anyone could work miracles like that, it would be her.]

I'll have to give a shout out to everyone I know for you, then. Say, I don't know if you know Nero, but he's a friend of mine that might be interested. He's a chef and normally has an herb garden at the manor we live in, but he's probably feeling that's not possible right now.

Oh, I mean unless you're only working with flowers..

[ Speaking of Nero... She considers this for a moment, before shaking her head. The answer is quite simple. ]

I can make herbs! To tell you the truth, it's basically anything I've seen before...

[ She rubs her palms together, though, and balances on one of her heels idly, thinking. ]

Is Nero like you...? [ Does he need to be touched, she means? ]

Oh, that's good. I'm sure it will be lucrative for you!

[Though Aerith didn't seem to be in it solely for the money, and while that wasn't a bad thing, it was comforting to have someone else care for and speak to the natural world. He'd definitely hit Nero up later, then.

At her next question though, his head tilted curiously.]

Like me? We're both wizards, yeah. So he can use the same type of magic I do. He's a lot older though. There's five of us here in total now.

But isn't Shylock, too? [ Idly, Aerith moves her weight from foot to foot, as if balancing the weight of her memories with the mentioned man. Not once does she remember having to touch him for both of them to see each other. It seems like Cain alone is cursed in this way.

It is a curse, isn't it? In some ways, he must be terribly lonely... ]

And with you, I've got to hold your hand for us to see one another. So... what about Nero? [ Maybe Shylock is just incredibly lucky? ]

[It seemed almost tailor made for Cain to make him miserable, remind him of how powerless he is...but for all he knew about the Great Calamity there was no explaining what happened.]

Yep. Shylock and Nero are wizards like me-both of them Sage's wizards. [He's still thinking that Aerith's asking about wizards in general, though he's clued into a little of it.]

I'm the only one you have to do this for. Not everyone was cursed in the same way. It's just all the people who fought the moon. Unless that's what you're asking?

[ She's going for the million dollar question. After all, how can't she? With that casual drop, she has to know. ]

Found the moon? [ A beat. So he must have... ] You were cursed for that... why did you need to fight it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

July 2022 IC Mingle

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject