jigokulogs | September 2022 Mingle!

September 2022 Mingle!

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

3 am Kitchen Cryptid Collective [Sutoku]

[Maybe you're stumbling home after the team building exercise. Maybe you're just getting up to leave for it. It didn't matter; there's someone in the communal kitchen. There always seemed to be.

Kaede was squished into a corner of the counter seating by the windows, looking out over a strange city that didn't sleep. All very poetic, down to the mug of tea in her hands. It'd long gone cold, and Kaede only remembered its existence sporadically—usually when she heard some creak or scuff that might be an approaching set of footsteps. Her fingers tightened on the cup like it was some ceramic stress ball, and the blunt horned diclonius turned to look at whatever the sound was.]

Gift of Song [ota]

[Normally, Kaede was kind to animals, in her own way.

Normally, magpies weren't singing at full volume in her ears constantly, everywhere, and really, really, really trying her patience.

There was no coaxing required to get her to act. Once she'd spotted a group of the birds she'd barely stopped to put on a face mask in a vain attempt to keep her identity concealed to stop the things from snitching on her wherever she went. With her horns and pink hair, though, that was probably unlikely.

There was a canvas bag over her shoulder, the type one usually stuffed laundry or mail into. It seems occupied with rather opinionated, squawky cargo, at least three things with beaks wriggling a bit inside. The birds don't seem to be ill or injured in any way—on the contrary, they seem to be sharing lyrics with each other, even debating on the merits of each, and occasionally squabbling when one inevitably disagreed.

The last magpie, of course, wasn't getting in the bag. No sir. He's perched on top of a light pole and squawking the bird equivalent of expletives, demanding the mean pink lady return his friends, or, or, or—

Upon spotting someone else the magpie immediately changes his tune, fluttering his wings plaintively and making his voice all thin and whimpery.]

"Please, please, you have to help! She's got my friends in that bag, I don't know what she's going to do with them!"

[Kaede says nothing, and the mask obscured the lower part of her face. But she's probably scowling.

Intervene? Or assist in the kidnapping?]

[Wildcard]

[For Third Options or custom prompts! My plotting post is here.]

[ Food is plentiful and cheap in Sutoku where there's no lack of places to grab a quick bite, but more days than not Yuri finds himself preferring the taste of something homemade. He comes slinking into the communal kitchens at an odd hour, because his kind of business is the kind to finish late. Yuri moves quietly enough that he might have escaped notice if he didn't start to rummage through the cabinets, clinking together pots and pans. ]

No need to look all tense. I'm not up to anything nefarious. Not now, anyway. [ He says wryly to the youkai(?) he finds staring at him, producing a pot and setting it on the stove. ]

[There was only sound to guide Kaede now; no vectors to act like whiskers or a trembling spider web in the air to give her any early warnings. It left her feeling quite a bit more cagey and disgruntled than usual. Her suspicious staring persisted, though broken up by a huff. Her shoulders remained stiff, but she at least stopped trying to strangle the tea cup. Needed to keep her hands ready to lash out if he tried something.

Which he continued not doing, fishing for cooking pots across the room instead.]

How am I supposed to know that?

[Kaede's voice didn't do anything to dispel the Clearly Unusual classification, being a sullen contralto grumble that didn't match her frame in the slightest.]

[ Yuri glances at her for a brief moment before his eyes return to the counter. She's a new face, presumably, and understandably on guard. ]

What do you think I'll get up to in the kitchen? Poison the stew?

[ He continues his rummaging. If he grabs a knife, don't worry. It's only so he can cut up the vegetables he's brought with him, which he does with the deftness of someone practiced with a blade. ]

[Flatly:] Yes.

[Ironically, Kaede wasn't wary of the knife when she did see it dispatching some ingredients. She'd never had to worry about knives, and by the time she remembered that her power wouldn't be helpful here the knife had ceased to be threatening. Except to potatoes.]

Don't trust people.

[A heavy statement that's definitely not holding back trauma, or anything.]

You should never trust too easily, but seeing as we're in the same clan, let's do try to get along.

[ He gets it. He didn't come from the sort place where people always acted with honest intention, and she has the look of someone who's once been burned. You don't prod a cat with their hackles raised, so Yuri busies himself with prepping the ingredients. Slices of potatoes, carrots, and onions are dropped into the pot, and he gets the fire going to sautee them. ]

[He continued staying Over There, and Kaede was content to stay Over Here. Did this count as getting along? It should, in Kaede's not at all biased opinion.]

You the babysitter or something?

[Her voice wasn't quite as sullen and borderline hostile as before; cooking onions always smelled nice, and she'd lived hungry for too many years to not pay attention when there was food around even if she wasn't that hungry herself.]

They don't pay me enough to keep an eye on anyone.

[ He responds with a chuckle that's more of a snicker. Yuri is content to leave her be as he dices up herbs and stirs them into the pot for flavor. A pleasant smell has filled the kitchen by the time he's adding in the broth and turning the fire up to a simmer. ]

Can't sleep?

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long_live_the_queen - 2022-09-25 18:45 (UTC) - Expand

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playfoul - 2022-09-26 04:36 (UTC) - Expand

[ Also in the 3am cryptid group is one Shun Akiyama. 3am is a perfect time for a cup of tea when you have no schedule and no one to keep you on track for other responsibilities. He notices Kaede -- how could he not -- but he's careful not to disturb her too much as he approaches the window. ]

You want a fresh cup?

[ It's obvious that tea's gone cold. Even he has qualms about drinking room temperature tea. ]

[She caught movement in her peripheral vision, though it wasn't a quick moving, immediately dangerous one. Kaede turned her head to look, steely eyed and with fatigue haunting her frown.

The horned girl didn't answer immediately, even pointedly keeping eye contact while taking a sip.

And she grimaced. Oversteeped and cold, ugh.]

...guess I should get one.

[ Oh, she has seen some shit. It's hard to deter Akiyama, though. He shakes his head and offers her his cup. ]

Here, take mine. I can make another. Or I can make it for you.

[This time her shoulders huddled up like a cat about to bristle, subtly turning a bit so her back was facing the wall. The man kept a reasonable distance, cup aside. Kaede didn't take it, regarding it with suspicion. What if he was up to something? What if he'd done something to it? This was hell, and she was allegedly dead--but all the paranoia she'd learned in her life wouldn't just up and leave.]

Hot water is fine.

[Kaede had already snagged some teabags to shove in her pockets, she was Prepared.]

[ The suspicion doesn't bother him -- he gets it. Akiyama is a strange man approaching her and offering her a cup of unknown liquid. He simply shrugs, takes a drink from his cup, and goes to fetch her the hot water. He makes sure Kaede can see exactly what he's doing as he pours hot water from the electric kettle on the counter. ]

Here. [ Again, Akiyama stays back, offering the cup at a respectful distance. ] Are you normally up at this hour?

[Kaede's bristling didn't immediately subside when the man got up, but in bits and pieces when he turned away from her and poured a new cup of water. The mug came from the same cabinet she'd already used, the water from the same kettle. If either was poisoned, she'd have known about it already.

She still snatched the mug quickly when it was offered, stare lingering a moment before the diclonius withdrew to her corner. It was only after Kaede had stuck a teabag in it that she answered him.]

Don't really sleep well.

[ He isn't too put off by her behavior. She's a thorny one, but she's still talking to him. It's enough of an opening for him to take, though he maintains a careful balance. Akiyama leans towards the window to look out over the city. You wouldn't know how late it is with how many people are still on the streets. ]

I don't keep a normal schedule, either. [ Living and working in a redlight district sort of necessitated that. Nevermind the fact he should keep regular business hours. He's not exactly a "regular" person. ] You run into interesting people this time of night.

Name's Shun Akiyama.

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long_live_the_queen - 2022-09-26 02:46 (UTC) - Expand

[ In the early hours of the morning, when Kim usually gets off work when he has the misfortune of working night shift, Kim rarely ever sees anyone else haunting the communal kitchen. They are undoubtedly up, the members of Sutoku being an eclectic and marvelously poorly-rested bunch, but usually they're off wandering the streets or having a nighttime cigarette. He pauses once he sees Kaede, a little surprised. By the looks of it, she's surprised as well. ]

Good evening, [ he says, weary but pleasant enough. He sets the numerous plastic bags he's carrying on the counter and begins to empty them, revealing all sorts of goods: onigiri, buns, fruit and vegetable plates, all in the plastic and clamshell wrapping of a convenience store. ] Did you want any of this? It's for everyone to share.

[Kaede glanced at the food, then--stared incredulously right back up at the man's face, blinking. He--what? Sure, all those packages seemed a little excessive for one person to eat, but people didn't just do that.

Did they?]

You serious?

[On one hand: food. Kaede liked food. She'd spent a big chunk of her life not knowing where her next meal was coming from, and the habit had stuck. On the other hand, she habitually distrusted everyone she met for the first time. What was he after? What did he want?]

I'm not offering it just to take it away, if that's what you mean.

[ He gestures at the packages in front of him, gloved fingers flexing. ]

It's not the freshest in the world, but it's still good. It's from work -- technically, we're supposed to throw out the day's food to make room for fresh goods, but it seems like an awful waste. So I bring it here instead.

[ Would he get in trouble for it? Maybe. Maybe not. But at this point, it would be a relief. ]

[Freely given food? Suspicious. Potentially stolen goods? Much more trustworthy. Especially since it was all individually wrapped and sealed. Unless this man had done...something and then repackaged them all himself. And he did look tired.

But, also, food. It was hard to conceal her interest at this point. Her gaze flicked down at the packages, and back to his face as if something changed in the moment she looked away. It had not.]

...if you're sure.

[Kaede reached a hand out--stopping halfway through. When something terrible proceeded to not happen, she snagged the corner of an onigiri container and skittered back to her corner like a racoon who'd successfully filched something.]

Edited (the one time I don't triple check the html tags smh) 2022-09-24 02:42 (UTC)

[Oh she was coming back from it all right. Mostly to get her pay before heading back out towards her apartment. So very many new faces mixed in with the recent happenings had her mind in a tizzy. Not enough that she doesn't notice the pink bundle in the corner.

She was tired and debated on passing her by.

Then stopped.]

It might crack if you grip it too tightly.

[She offers the younger girl a smile. Tired, but still friendly and warm.]

[Again, someone had spotted her. Though Kaede admittedly wasn't trying very hard to actually hide. Her shoulders stiffened habitually, though the smile slightly deflected some of her usual prickle.]

I know that.

[The horned girl didn't relax her grip immediately, though, letting a few moments pass first. A bit of contrary stubbornness getting through.]

[She kept the smile plastered on her face. Peering down to give Kaede's a peak. Looking to catch her eyes.]

Then you know you'll also hurt your hands doing.

[Enty thought for a moment then mentally sighed. This girl was far too stressed and tense.]

...I was going to grab some fresh coffee. Would you like to share the pot with me? It would go to waste otherwise.

[Or, she is now. The night is long, and something told the Kan sen this girl might need a bit of company to help see her through it.]

[Another mumble.]

Why'd that matter to you?

[Stressed, tense, and Depressed. A great combo.]

[Kaede's wariness remained in place, though she was getting a bit tired of holding the shield up by now. Being defensive and on edge all the time was exhausting, and fatigued lines creased her face.]

...maybe. I guess.

[She was usually ambivalent to coffee. But it'd be a warm and comforting thing to hold onto instead of this cold mug.]

[The smell of the fresh grounds filling the air with their comforting scent, warm scent. She kept her body off to the side to let the girl see what she was doing, as she grabbed two mugs. One for herself and one for Kaede.]

It always matters when someone is hurt.

[The statement came as she filled the filter and turned the machine on. Soon the sound of heating water filled the room.]

Would I be right in saying that you've just arrived?

[Ah. That was nice. Kaede promptly stuffed that feeling down with the others, watching what the other person in the room was doing carefully. Those mugs came from the same place as all the others, and where her cold tea mug had come from too. So far, nothing to be concerned about.]

Someone pulled me out of the river recently, if that's what you mean.

September 2022 Mingle!

Kaede | Elfen Lied | Sutoku

3am cryptids

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3AM!

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3 am at dennys

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