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

[ it's interesting if just for the fact that mort enjoyed challenging others. while this was normally and quite explicitly reserved to those who liked to challenge to a more physical contest, it didn't hurt to spark others to grow and develop. maybe regaining this life really had taught him something...

regardless, he seems to nod along. ] And who would be the judge of that?

[ obviously, he's assuming it's himself... ]

If you're not gettin' enough food, you can just say so.

[If he's just trying to get fed, Nero can do that.]

[ wow...

this is the first time he's ever been treated as some common glutton. while normally he might have had something to say about this, he promptly decides it'd be against his own goals to find out more about this place. hence, he curbs this desire to provide a rebuttal. sort of. ]

Do... [ he starts off slowly. ] You normally offer your services for free?

No. But considerin' nobody here knows me or my skills, you can consider this a free sample.

[It's just marketing, really. He needs to make his name known and have enough people be aware of his skills that they'll spread the word. In this specific case it makes plenty of sense to him to feed at least a handful of people.]

[ well, he won't deny an opportunity to learn. this man was obviously equipped with more knowledge of the cuisine here and who knew what information would yield importance later.

hence, he doesn't think twice before giving a curt nod. ] Very well. I accept your goodwill. [ ... and maybe he will remember this for the future. it would be a shame to think a dragon wouldn't be able to return a favor to someone. ]

[Nero just knows how to cook in general. He's not sure if it's important that he knows how to cook. Besides perhaps avoiding the front of house work that Tamamo shops seem to need more of.]

Great. I'll make you something. When are you free?

[ in mort's eyes, nero would have been perfectly capable of being in the front of the house had he desired it. while it would be difficult to ascertain what kind of person the stranger before him was, he did think he seemed relatively... agreeable? he supposed that's all such an individual would need. little does he know about the actual struggles of being in any line of work revolving around "customers," especially in tamamo territory. ]

I admit, I do have quite a bit of free time on my hands since arriving here. [ a brief pause of consideration. ] Tomorrow? [ how quaint. he never expected to be making plans with anyone for the next day...

even amongst those he would label a friend (aka, just alencia), they hardly wanted him around after all... ]

Works for me. Tell me where you live and I'll be over.

[Nero's basically been forcibly flung into making pans with other people. Specifically because his fellow wizards love to hang out. Or rather, the South, West and Central ones are all extremely social, and all the Northern ones are extremely hungry.]

[ mort shares the location of his "home" with nero. to be honest, while some would practice some semblance of caution with someone they've just met, mort has no such concerns. he is in not way fazed or concerned on the possibility this man would come to kill him. but, if he did... well, mort would welcome it. ]

I look forward to you being my first guest. [ ... and what's a better way to get to know someone than within close quarters. ]

I will have to come up with a surprise to repay you.

[You'd have to have a very good reason to be killed before Nero went for it. Robbing, maybe. Or even just casing the joint for fun.]

Huh. You don't have to.

Are you opposed to it?

[ he seems to ponder over this, a brief tilt of his head. or perhaps, he had his reservations? ] Unfortunately, unlike back in Dragon Valley, I can't promise it'd be quite as luxurious as jewels or gold...

But, you may look forward to it. [ nothing can go wrong with this.... ]

I'm not opposed.

Definitely doesn't have to be jewels or gold.

[ honestly, they say that sometimes creatures would deposit the carcass of smaller prey as a show of goodwill. which isn't a bad plan since he's a cook and could likely use it, but then again, his subordinates always complained about cleaning up corpses (granted, he's piled up so many of them and they definitely weren't just smaller prey at all, but actual humans or dragons) so... ]

Before I leave it to your imaginations, what was the best gift you've ever received? [ because he may want to use that as a gauge before its left entirely up to fate and his own unique considerations. ]

[Where is he even going to store an entire animal carcass. It's not like this city has the space for it. The starter apartments that he's living in definitely don't.]

The best? [His thoughts drift away to his magical artifact.]

Some real nice silverware. [Nero's a man of simple tastes.]

[ that's a fair point... but, it's definitely a point mort wouldn't have considered if just for the fact that he's never had to worry about space constraints before. perhaps it was time he learned. ]

Silverware...? [ then again, who knows if they were enchanted or had other special properties. considering mort's own "best" partner to achieve his goals was a mere... stone, well. it could be anything. ]

Just so you are aware, I do not have any skills to enchant items. [ after a thought, he decides to put that out there. ]

[He blinks and wonders what about what he just said implied the silverware was at all enchanted. It's just nice, normal silverware.

They're only magic because Nero's kept them for so long.]

That's fine. I just like quality silverware.

I see.

[ a long pause. ]

I see you have a preference for simple items. [ not a bad thing, just an observation. ] I thought most people look for more. Or that's always been my experience. But, perhaps greed is just specific to my kind.

[ a small nod to himself if just confirming that, well, returning this favor would be easier than he thoughnt. thank u, nero. ]

July 2022 IC Mingle

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