Kim Kitsuragi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aceslow) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
jigokulogs2022-03-07 04:51 pm
aceslow) wrote in jigokulogs2022-03-07 04:51 pm
[ OPEN ] sunrise, sunset
Who ⬤ Kim Kitsuragi & YOU
What ⬤ March substories (night parade & babysitting bad trips) & more!
When ⬤ Throughout March
Where ⬤ Throughout Jigoku-cho
Content Warnings ⬤ Drug use for the applicable substory, otherwise n/a
a. high definition.
[ When Kim notices people exiting the drug testing location looking decidedly worse for wear, his first instinct is to simply ignore them. They knew what they signed up for, did so willingly, and evidently did so without having the contingency of planning for a friend to accompany them and keep them safe afterwards. He stands off to the side for a frankly unconsciable amount of time, reasoning that some good samaritan will choose to be helpful. It doesn't have to be him. He's done enough of babysitting people on unadvisable drug trips for an entire lifetime, and he's not keen on repeating the experience.
Except it quickly becomes clear that nobody else is going to step in, even when he's given one or two passer-bys a hopeful glance. Whether it's the blindness, hallucinations, or general revelry that influences people to make terrible decisions, participants in the study are going to wind up being a danger to themselves or others, Kim decides, and reluctantly approaches one of them. ]
Khm. Excuse me. Are you all right?
[ He knows the answer to that question. It's no, because agreeing to be the guinea pig for unknown drugs as administered by some bizarre rabbit creatures is not something you do when you're all right, but he makes the executive decision to err on the side of politeness anyway. ]
b. night parade.
i. decorating.
[ Assisting with the parade seems like an easy way of currying favour with his superiors and to at least put on the pretense of helping out, so Kim gladly accepts the task of hanging up the decorations. He'll be around to help hold ladders, move boxes from point A to point B, or toss a bottle of water to one of his fellow assistants who looks as though they've failed to hydrate through any of their hard labour.
He does, however, become more invested in it than he specifically means to as he stands back, hands tucked neatly behind him, and scrutinizes one of the stalls' decorations, in a very interesting colour scheme. ]
No. I'm sorry, this needs to come down. These colours are... [ There is a polite way of putting this. ] ...very ugly.
ii. eyes needed.
[ Kim, having been deemed a very responsible looking man (probably because he's one of the older people here, he thinks with a sigh), has been tasked with sorting the fireworks and putting them in appropriate storage. Some need to be stored at certain temperatures to maintain the brilliance of their colours, and others need to be put under lock and key in a nearby storage unit because in the wrong hands, they have the capacity to do an awful lot of damage.
Which is fine. Kim is more than capable of handling this. Only he's supposed to be reading the criminally tiny fine print along the sides of the tubes. He holds them away from his face as far as possible in a desperate bid to translate it, but to no avail. He could rely on guesswork, but...
Reluctantly, he turns to one of his fellows, roped into helping with the parade as well. ] Can you make this out?
[ He's secretly hoping the answer is no, which is a possibility. It would be less embarrassing that way. ]
c. sutoku district & housing.
[ Otherwise, Kim can be found wandering around what he's been told is his new home, pausing occasionally to look at the huge, flashy arcades, the blindingly bright department stores, or perhaps dwelling a little too long on one of the vehicles parked along the side of the road. Shopping isn't the most exciting thing, perhaps, but Kim has plenty he needs to get with his first paycheck: groceries (largely frozen and canned foods, specialty-made for the consummate bachelor), a first-aid kit, cigarettes and toiletries, instant coffee, and a pitstop where he inspects a truly tragic looking pot of mint planted in ruinously dry soil.
By the end of the evening, he can be found on the balcony of the long line of depressing apartments that all of the newcomers have been put into, staring out at the night sky with a cigarette dangling from his fingers and a convenience store bag filled with premade food hanging off the crook of his elbow. He's willing to share, if interest is shown -- a cigarette for the adults, or a an extra onigiri for the kids. If he's going to eat a depressing late-night dinner standing out here, he may as well have some company. ]
d. wildcard.
[ want something else? I'd love to make a starter for you! just hit me up at my ooc comment here and we'll figure something out. ]
What ⬤ March substories (night parade & babysitting bad trips) & more!
When ⬤ Throughout March
Where ⬤ Throughout Jigoku-cho
Content Warnings ⬤ Drug use for the applicable substory, otherwise n/a
a. high definition.
[ When Kim notices people exiting the drug testing location looking decidedly worse for wear, his first instinct is to simply ignore them. They knew what they signed up for, did so willingly, and evidently did so without having the contingency of planning for a friend to accompany them and keep them safe afterwards. He stands off to the side for a frankly unconsciable amount of time, reasoning that some good samaritan will choose to be helpful. It doesn't have to be him. He's done enough of babysitting people on unadvisable drug trips for an entire lifetime, and he's not keen on repeating the experience.
Except it quickly becomes clear that nobody else is going to step in, even when he's given one or two passer-bys a hopeful glance. Whether it's the blindness, hallucinations, or general revelry that influences people to make terrible decisions, participants in the study are going to wind up being a danger to themselves or others, Kim decides, and reluctantly approaches one of them. ]
Khm. Excuse me. Are you all right?
[ He knows the answer to that question. It's no, because agreeing to be the guinea pig for unknown drugs as administered by some bizarre rabbit creatures is not something you do when you're all right, but he makes the executive decision to err on the side of politeness anyway. ]
b. night parade.
i. decorating.
[ Assisting with the parade seems like an easy way of currying favour with his superiors and to at least put on the pretense of helping out, so Kim gladly accepts the task of hanging up the decorations. He'll be around to help hold ladders, move boxes from point A to point B, or toss a bottle of water to one of his fellow assistants who looks as though they've failed to hydrate through any of their hard labour.
He does, however, become more invested in it than he specifically means to as he stands back, hands tucked neatly behind him, and scrutinizes one of the stalls' decorations, in a very interesting colour scheme. ]
No. I'm sorry, this needs to come down. These colours are... [ There is a polite way of putting this. ] ...very ugly.
ii. eyes needed.
[ Kim, having been deemed a very responsible looking man (probably because he's one of the older people here, he thinks with a sigh), has been tasked with sorting the fireworks and putting them in appropriate storage. Some need to be stored at certain temperatures to maintain the brilliance of their colours, and others need to be put under lock and key in a nearby storage unit because in the wrong hands, they have the capacity to do an awful lot of damage.
Which is fine. Kim is more than capable of handling this. Only he's supposed to be reading the criminally tiny fine print along the sides of the tubes. He holds them away from his face as far as possible in a desperate bid to translate it, but to no avail. He could rely on guesswork, but...
Reluctantly, he turns to one of his fellows, roped into helping with the parade as well. ] Can you make this out?
[ He's secretly hoping the answer is no, which is a possibility. It would be less embarrassing that way. ]
c. sutoku district & housing.
[ Otherwise, Kim can be found wandering around what he's been told is his new home, pausing occasionally to look at the huge, flashy arcades, the blindingly bright department stores, or perhaps dwelling a little too long on one of the vehicles parked along the side of the road. Shopping isn't the most exciting thing, perhaps, but Kim has plenty he needs to get with his first paycheck: groceries (largely frozen and canned foods, specialty-made for the consummate bachelor), a first-aid kit, cigarettes and toiletries, instant coffee, and a pitstop where he inspects a truly tragic looking pot of mint planted in ruinously dry soil.
By the end of the evening, he can be found on the balcony of the long line of depressing apartments that all of the newcomers have been put into, staring out at the night sky with a cigarette dangling from his fingers and a convenience store bag filled with premade food hanging off the crook of his elbow. He's willing to share, if interest is shown -- a cigarette for the adults, or a an extra onigiri for the kids. If he's going to eat a depressing late-night dinner standing out here, he may as well have some company. ]
d. wildcard.
[ want something else? I'd love to make a starter for you! just hit me up at my ooc comment here and we'll figure something out. ]
no subject
[ He doesn't consider himself old. Rather, he considers himself to be a fourty-three year old with quite a bit of vitality to him. Nonetheless, he's always been set in his ways, and he has neither the time nor the money nor the energy to pursue entirely new skills.
He becomes more serious as Matoba does, though, tilting his head as he considers his words. He can't comment on the ayakishi feeling that he's the strange one - that may be the case in morphology, but he doubts he's strange in personality or pastimes - but the lack of presence of human spirits has given him great pause. To him, it's evidence that this isn't the afterlife at all. ]
But... yes, I have to agree with that. I was never a great believer in the afterlife, but one usually thinks that they'll be reunited with the dead there. Are we really to believe that out of the trillions of dead humans, we are the only ones who have made our way here? [ He shakes his head. ] Have you found any evidence that there are other cities like this one? The most I've been able to discover is that we simply can't exit the city.
no subject
[Perhaps the man undervalued his own skillset; he didn't seem like the type to undersell himself intentionally, but he was also in the Sutoku Alliance, so maybe it was giving too little credit towards his capability for deceit.]
[Matoba shakes his own head, tying off another decoration to hand off to Kim.] No, nor have I. In fact, from what I have gathered, everything outside of this city is a desolate wasteland which even spirits cannot subsist in.
...Hm, are you sure that is not your 'Pale'?
no subject
[ He crosses his arms, thinking. It had looked like a desert, or what pictures he's seen of desertland in books and in movies back home. There must be more to it, he thinks. The city is well-populated, and filled with towers that fill the sky; why wouldn't they extend city bounds if that was all there was? What dangers are out there? And what lies beyond it?
Kim doesn't know, and he lacks the enterprising spirit to find out. He's cautious by nature, and he would prefer for others to take the risks and for himself to reap the benefits of that investigation. He would not call himself fearful by any measure - you cannot be fearful and still become a cop in Revachol - but he has the common sense to know when certain things should be avoided. ]
Frankly, the Pale is far more intimidating than what's out there. Pale is odourless, colourless -- nothingness, as far as the eye can see. But what's out there looked as though it's simply inhospitable land. There must be more to it, though I don't care to find out for myself.
no subject
[He felt that he would like to see it someday.]
I haven't gone to look, [Matoba finally comments, although now he finds himself curious. Perhaps, when there is something to be..... seen, he will give it a try.] I wonder why it is that they speak in such hushed tones of the wastes. If it's just a desert, it shouldn't be anything that despairing.
There must be a power to it that not even the ayakashi who will dwell in places abandoned by humans will touch, if it's treated as something like capital punishment to be sent there.
no subject
[ He frowns, crossing his arms. The whole thing is quite discomforting. Not as discomforting as the Pale, but certainly a good reason to keep their heads down and act as good clanmembers, at least in public; in private, he's certain they can get away with at least shirking the more distasteful duties, or avoiding the feuds between the clans. ]
They seem afraid of it. It makes this city itself odd -- how is an entire city an oasis from what surrounds it? And what are really the dangers out there? They must go beyond the simple lack of food or water or shelter. If it didn't, I imagine they would have already expanded the city itself.
[ He glances over at Matoba. ]
Are there any particularly terrifying ayakishi you haven't seen here that could be lurking out there? What else could they possibly be so afraid of?
no subject
The simple fact of where we are should be explanation enough. This city may feel mortal in some ways, but do not forget that we are in the land of the dead. Its entire existence is predicated on it being devoid of life. Although "life" may not be the best word to describe it... [But getting into the nitty-gritty of yin vs yang energies, the differences between ayakashi and human existences, was perhaps a bit granular for someone unversed in the supernatural. Someday, Kim- he's going to give you a whole series of lessons on the nature of ayakashi and the spiritual world.]
...Honestly, I could think of many nasty sorts who might not get along with the... sociable clans of ayakashi that have gathered here in the city. But as to whether even they could survive out in that vast nothingness....
no subject
[ Kim chooses not to argue that they are or aren't in the land of the dead. He does not believe that this is Hell, but he can't dispute this is some world's afterlife. It's just not his own. He truly believes that. All the same, he doesn't feel the need to argue with another's beliefs if they counteract his own; what difference does it really make in the end? ]
Hell - [ or whatever this place is ] - must be much vaster than this one city. To cross that plain would not be an escape... but perhaps there's another city like this one on the other side? This can't be all that there is.
[ To that point, it's something they've discussed before: if this is Hell, then where is everyone else? ]
I can't say for sure. And I'm not sure that even the authorities here would know for sure. [ After all, they went thousands of years without knowing what lay beyond the Pale. A whole world, waiting to be discovered. ] But I have a hard time believing that this is all there is.
no subject
[Matoba pauses to consider something, hitting him the same as it does Kim.] ....I have wondered where all the human spirits might be, given the population of this city.... So, perhaps.
Perhaps we will find out? [Matoba smiles, cheerfully.] With time.