September 2022 Mingle!

[jigokumods]

MAIN NAVIGATION


The influx of fresh Lost Souls means the factions need to have a little welcoming party for them. So some recreational activities are in order. All Lost Souls will receive a message from their respective faction leaders with orders to go have some fun.

Shuten - WEENIES ON PARADE

Shuten Clan newbies will be summoned to the Arena, which has been set up with a very different kind of fight than usual. The members of the Shuten Clan do nothing by half-measures. Partying, drinking, and eating are all encouraged to excess. This time they're inviting new recruits to test their mettle in various eating contests. You'll need nerves of steel and a stomach of iron to succeed. Hot dogs, marshmallows, pizza, lobster rolls, breakfast cereals, rice, and more are all on offer.

See how much you can eat and try not to get sick! Competitive eating is a messy, disgusting affair, regardless of the emergency buckets stationed strategically throughout the building.

If you're feeling especially ballsy, you can take on the biggest onis and other youkai by teaming up with your fellow Shutens. They're all confident enough to take that bet.

Glory, prize money, and antacids to the winners. Shame to the losers – they'll be run through town in weenie costumes.

Better eat up 🙂

Tamamo - ALL NIGHT LONG

The newest Tamamo recruits are summoned to a local gymnasium. Strangely, rather than sports equipment laid out on the court, there are a number of light futons, blankets, and pillows. Everyone will be sorted into one of two yukata patterns – one purple and one blue – and sent to their respective sides of the court to lie down in bed and pull up the covers.

It is then that the referee will explain the rules of competitive pillow fighting. When the whistle blows, jump up and grab one of the authorized pillows at the center of the court. It's a game much like dodgeball, but the goal is to hit the opposing team's king with a pillow from your half of the court. Team members use blankets and sometimes their bodies to protect their king.

There will be a few rounds, and you can rotate who is king at your discretion. Protect them with your life! Or whatever. Star players will receive a bonus and a coupon to one of the best Tamamo spas.

When the competitive stuff is done, the sleepover proper will begin. There will be liquor, sodas, and light snacks for everyone while movies are projected onto a screen late into the morning. The movies range from classic dramas and romances to outrageous yokai comedies.

Sutoku - GROSSERY GANG

The Alliance has found themselves in the possession of an entire truckload's worth of reject children's toys. Ever the opportunist, the Daitengu has assigned the project of inventorying and trashing the particularly offensive ones to the new guys.

Of course, you're expected to play with a few of them as well. Maybe one of them is decently fun, and they could sell the rest, you know? Many of these toys are gross out bathroom humor in nature, and spit water randomly at anyone who loses their round. The Daitengu has thoughtfully provided a selection of alcohol to make this game a little more adult friendly. Toys that lack the appropriate spitting mechanism can still be played over shots, really, go nuts.

While you 'work', there will be plenty of motivating music piped into the warehouse. The sound quality is not great, but they tried?

Everyone who sorts through a decent amount of toys will get a little extra pay, although who is really paying that much attention to who's doing what here?

Credit where it's due: We turned kids toys into drinking games

Enma - BREAKING THE ICE

Welcome to the Department of the Enma. New Lost Soul recruits will be summoned to a large conference room in Kaigo no Bou, which has been outfitted with a variety of buffet table offerings and tables which seat between 5 - 6 people comfortably. You are invited to fill your plates at your discretion, the craft services people are used to feeding bottomless yokai stomachs and the food will not run out.

Clipboards with a variety of icebreaker questions have been provided at each table. The pens have assuredly been firmly affixed to the clipboard. Please return them together.

Every 30 minutes Captain Shiki will blow her whistle to signal that you are to migrate to another table with fresh companions. You are, indeed, being forced to get to know your coworkers, lucky you. This isn't tedious at all.

Pick a few of the questions below to answer, and get chatting. Or Captain Shiki may come over to stare at you with intense disapproval. You can't get away with just zoning out to that sweet smooth jazz playing overhead!

1. If you had a time machine that would work only once, what point in the future or in history would you visit? 2. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? 3. If your house was burning down, what three objects would you try and save? 4. If you could talk to any one person now dead or alive, who would it be and why? 5. If you HAD to give up one of your senses (hearing, seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting) which would it be and why? 6. If you were an animal, what would you be and why? 7. Do you have a pet? If not, what sort of pet would you like? 8. Name a gift you will never forget? 9. Name one thing you really like about yourself. 10. What's your favorite thing to do in the summer? 11. Who's your favorite cartoon character, and why? 12. Does your name have a special meaning and/or were you named after someone special? 13. What is the hardest thing you have ever done? 14. If you are at a friend's or relative's house for dinner and you find a dead insect in your salad, what would you do? 15. What was the best thing that happened to you this past week? 16. If you had this week over again, what would you do differently? 17. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about 'God'? 18. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? 19. If you could change one problem in the world today, what would you like to change? 20. What book, movie or video have you seen/read recently you would recommend? Why?

All Factions - THE GIFT OF SONG

Did you all enjoy having some of your wishes granted? Well, so did a flock of those annoying magpie! They asked for the gift of music. These feathered nuisances, however, have fallen in love with an old school metal band. That is all they will be singing for the foreseeable future! Different members of the flock have taken up different instrumentals and vocals for the track, spread out across electrical wires and rooftops, singing their favorite rockin' tune to the skies!

Lost Souls have been asked to please catch them and get them to knock it off, they are truly annoying everyone, across all factions.

Should you catch these musical magpies, and not one of the other clans, they will tell you their sorry tale! They love this band, but the group broke up years ago. All the magpie want is for their favorite old dudes to be reunited to jam with them, one more time!

The old dudes are out there in the city, but who knows why they broke up and if they can even be convinced out of retirement. Good luck, if you succeed your boss will give you a favorable bonus, which would be a great boon to a newbie just getting settled.

In the meantime:

Shabadabadia
Shabadabadia
Babababa
Babababa
Babababa

Welcome to the IC mingle!

• If you have any questions about the mingle content, please ask them here! We're trying something a little different to help reduce comment clutter a bit, so that link actually goes back to a header on the Substory post.
• If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
• For Rewards, threads in the mingle will be worth one (1) point!

Comments

sen | tamamo

[reifies]

i. (tamamo) pillow fight

[ Sen is not the athletic sort at all. He's very thin and his legs look like sticks. It doesn't stop him from trying to play anyway, hurling pillows at the other side. For anyone who gets hit, there's no real power behind Sen's throws, so just expect it to hit your feet without any grand fanfare. Expect him to scurry away like a child caught doing something bad though.

Or at some point, you might see a futon moving sluggishly across the battlefield. Someone is clearly under it though... until they just stop moving. ]

ii. (tamamo) afterparty

[ It's free food, so despite Sen's constitution, he's always seen eating some small snack. He has a small bottle of liquor next to him as he watches the movie, but his attention is clearly divided between that and him trying to build something like a card tower, but made out of snacks that resemble cheez-its. He's making decent progress! However, he ends up quietly sneezing, which flings the cheez-it cracker from his hand upwards and sorry, but you may now have a cracker in your hair.

Alternatively, Sen is starting to feel tired, so he's borrowing someone's lap to use as a pillow. He won't be sleeping, but here he is, being a nuisance. ]

iii. (OTA) the gift of heavy metal

[ This is Sen's first time experiencing heavy metal as music, and he seems fascinated that the magpies are so in sync with different parts of the instrumentals. However, the fascination wears off pretty quickly, so he tries to catch one. Sen is trying to beckon one to come over as he stretches his arms out towards them. Please come rest on his arms.

None of them take the bait except one magpie, who decided that it would be a better idea to nest into Sen's white hair. Sen would say this is a success except this magpie carries the part of the lead vocalist. Every time Sen makes an attempt to get it off his head, it sings even louder to the point of Sen's ears hurting. Sen tried despite that, but then it pecked as his hands. It's deterred Sen from plucking the bird out of his hair and now he has a bird on his head and bandaged fingers.

If you're passing by, Sen gives you a rather hopeless look. If you look and walk away even faster, you bet he will try to catch up. Help. ]

wildcard

[ If these prompts don't fit, feel free to write something else! ]

i

[cutcloud]

[ The battlefield is a vicious place, even when it's full of pillows and blankets with prints of ducks and foxes on them. Chongyun takes it quite seriously, intent on using the opportunity as training to further his skills. Dodge, throw, kneel, block. All useful in real life.

He doesn't notice the futon sluggishly crossing the battlefield. At first, anyway. His focus is on grabbing pillows and chucking them across the way, trying to catch their opponents while they're busy trying to block a different attack. He steps to the right, where he thought was clear minutes ago, but instead ends up tripping on the edge of a mysterious futon.

Off balance, he goes down, and bodily flops right on top of it.

Poof.

...Why is it hard underneath?! ]

Huh??

[reifies]

[ Chongyun could be a tiny chihuahua and him flopping on Sen over the futon would still feel as if Sen can't breathe. There's a startled shriek that lasts just a second before Sen tries his best to poke his head out from under it. It's so hot. Help. ]

Crossing... through...

[cutcloud]

[ Oh god it's a person—!

He reels back as quickly as he can, but he's worried the damage has been done. He may be a slight young man standing at only 5 feet 3 inches, but he's also muscular under his loose clothing. ]

Please, turn away from the light! It isn't time for you yet.

[ Quickly, he reaches forward to tug the futon up and then lightly slap Sen's cheeks. Stay with us! ]

[reifies]

[ In comparison, Sen is at a 5 feet 9 inches, but he's a twig under his yukata. He whines when his cheeks are lightly slapped. ]

Stop... everywhere is so bright...

[cutcloud]

You can't be swayed to go toward death. I won't allow it!

[ He never thought he would murder a man by falling on him, but here they are. The picturesque scene of a fallen man on the battlefield and his comrade refusing his end, though... they don't know each other, and Chongyun was the one who squashed poor Sen's ribs in the first place.

At least, he does stop papping his hands on the guy's cheeks. ]

You can pull through this.

iii, here's auntie again

[recluserose]

... Sen.

[Look who it is! Amelia had been listening to the music of the magpies with mild interest and the spectacle they were causing around the poor young man. She walks up to him as the bird on his head continues to warble.]

Good to see you, but it looks like you're stuck in the middle of their concert.

[reifies]

[ :V goes the magpie as it continues to sing the song of its people.

Maybe it's the lighting. Perhaps it's the imagination. Whatever it is, it's making Sen look like he's about to cry (he isn't). ]

Does concert mean problem, because that's what I feel right now. It's what I get for trying to get the birds, I'm sure.

[recluserose]

[Oh, another word he doesn't know... But her voice is actually patient as she explains and proceeds to walk up to Sen trying to see if she can swat the magpie away from his head.]

A concert is a performance where a vocalist... Someone who sings or people who play instruments make music for the enjoyment of other people.

These birds are quite the headache though. I don't know who's enjoying this.

[She swats at the magpie. Shoo! Off of his head!!]

[reifies]

I liked it at first—

[ Because birds harmonizing a metal song! A metal song on its own is new to Sen, but then the unfortunate events occur which leads up to present time, where a magpie screeches at Amelia and tries to peck at her hands. You do not shoo the main vocals!!

Sen whines because of how loud the magpie is squawking. ]

[recluserose]

[Okay, shooing doesn't work, how about KARATE CHOP— it goes about as well as expected. Amelia flinches and waves her hand after it gets pecked.]

Alright then. We'll have to think of a different solution. Does it just cling to your hair when you shake your head?

i.

[chevaliered]

[ it is very difficult for crow not to spot the futon wiggling across the room. he’s keeping an eye out for any surprise attacks that might be coming his way and— well. this one is notable. not that it’s really an attack.

he hops down from his perch, pillow still in hand and just follows the mysterious lump as it sluggishly makes a break for freedom. the futon might feel the vibration of footsteps behind it, but they aren’t rushing or making any suddenly movements towards it. it’s only when it stops that crow does speed up.

only so he can whap the mysterious futon creature with a pillow while they are defenceless. ]

Point to me.

[reifies]

[ Sen pokes his head out from under the futon. ]

I'm on your team!

[ Apparently, he's acting as very distracting bait and is using the futon as a shield of some sorts, but it's too hot under it. Help. ]

[chevaliered]

[ ......


he baps him with a pillow again. ]

Point to me again.

[reifies]

Wh—

[ pomf. Sen just wants to play dead already, but he doesn't like how Crow did that, so. ]

You are such a rascal—

[ Sen gets up and tries to throw the futon over at Crow to make it devour him completely. It won't be a good attempt, but it's an attempt. ]

[chevaliered]

Rascal?

[ help, he’ll be called a rapscallion next. the blanket makes a valiant effort to smother crow in revenge, but all it manages is to smack his shoulder and sllliiiiiddddeeee off it almost a little depressingly.

an attempt was made.





crow just aims another pillow. ]

iii

[truestrength]

[ As he passes by, Kurogane makes the briefest of eye contact with Sen, noticing the magpie in his hair, before he starts walking faster.

Not today. Especially not when he's wearing a stupid weenie costume that doesn't even fit right. The costume runes tight across his chest and shoulders too, making it look even more ridiculous—at least in Kurogane's opinion. ]

[reifies]

[ The costume is ridiculous, which is why when they make eye contact, Sen watches Kurogane leave for a second, before he starts running. ]

[truestrength]

[ Bye, he's walking faster now.

...


The costume swishes loudly as he does so. ]

[reifies]

[ Sen runs faster, even though he knows he can't keep this up for too long. The noises coming from Kurogane's costume make him laugh so hard that it becomes even more difficult to run. ]

[truestrength]

[ The laughing is what gets Kurogane to stop running, only so he can whip around and glare at Sen. ]

Shut up!

the gift of heavy metal

[vivens]

[ slides in here hopefully it is fine being this late...

but either way, sabo isn't going to run away from sen but he also isn't going to be doing much actively to deal with the situation. it's very likely that he had been watching sen struggle for a while as a means of trying to plan out what it is that he could do, which sabo eventually comes to realize isn't a whole lot.

unfortunate for the matter at hand, but the plus side is that he doesn't have a magpie screaming at him, at least? ]

Quite the situation you've gotten yourself into.

[ he shouldn't look so amused but he is. i'm not that sorry. ]

[reifies]

[ 100% fine

Sen looks at Sabo helplessly with the magpie singing metal on his head and quite enjoying itself. Meanwhile, he feels like his ears are about to burst. ]

Help.

[ He's being straightforward! Wow! ]

[vivens]

[ and sabo will continue to look at sen dead in the eyes as he asks for help. the smile on his face never wavering for a moment but he does, after a moment, go to cover his ears before responding. truly sen is suffering. ]

Help with what? It looks like you have things handled pretty well.

[ you know, in the loosest way possibly mentioned. ]

[reifies]

I don't-- why are you covering the ears?!

[ Sabo!! Sen would shake him by the shoulders if he could. The magpie laughs. Suffer, Sen. ]