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

Little hardcore for my usual tastes. But you can't deny they've got those harmonies down.

[Emerging from the cafe with a briefcase in one hand and a paper tray of four coffee cups in the other, Godot smirks up at the ridiculous sight before turning his attention back to Kim. He gives an acknowledging little nod of his head.]

Ms. Wexler. I see you're also keeping busy. [A gesture to his briefcase.] Settling in well?

[At his voice, Kim's head pops back up with a snap, mid-laugh, and she immediately schools herself into something approaching respectability... but her expression stays bright.]

Godot! Yes–– lots to do. The Department of the Enma has a bit of a staffing problem, so I'm taking the opportunity to jump in. What faction did you contract with?

I guess the Sutoku Alliance snapped up my contract before the Enma could. [Being a prosecutor (now) and all, he fully expected to be put to work in Hell's own version of the district courts.] So it would seem the tables have turned for both of us.

[He gestures at the table beside hers.]

Mind if I set up camp? It never hurts to do a little networking.

Not at all, sit. [She reaches to close up her books, stacking them up in a neat pile, and then she gestures at the birds over their heads.] Assuming these guys don't drown us out.

[And she turns her chair around so she can face him better at his table.]

How is it so far?

Mood music.

[He has a seat at the other chair, setting down his briefcase and his carrier of coffee. With a gesture, he offers one of them to Kim, because he's a gentleman.]

Well, if I had to ascribe a word to it, I might choose... eclectic. [There. That sounds nice and neutral.] Quite the ragtag crew. Though I have to say, "diversity as a strength" seems to be working out better than expected.

And how about Enma? [A wry grin.] The way some people pronounce it, you'd think the very word tasted bad.

[She'll never say no to coffee.]

Thank you. Enma is... complicated. The Department's reputation seems pretty poor, and morale is low. [To Kim, this does not feel like showing their cards; it's just confirmation of what could be surmised from the outside.] The law is a hard sell for people who didn't choose it for themselves.

[A braced smile.]

Sutoku seems exciting, though. You certainly have wild parties.

[She heard all about the toys.]

Oh, yes. I can imagine it is a hard sell. [Just look at some of the crazy characters he's seen around so far. Take a quarter of them and tell them they're "The Man" now. The very idea gives him a headache.

Or maybe that's that he hasn't had any coffee in a bit. Bottoms up!]

Ha...! A ridiculous affair. I spent most of the time on the sidelines, watching drunk people failing to puzzle out childrens' board games.

[And he didn't get intensely frustrated with Candyland or Simon or Twister and go storming off into the corner at any point, no matter what anybody says.]

What'd you guys do? Hide and seek?

[She tries to imagine what Godot looks like drunk, whether his outlandish sincerity transforms to something else under the influence, but it doesn't come to her. He certainly wouldn't be the swooning, effusive (and very beloved) mess that Jimmy had come to her as.

She smiles, but answers without a trace of a joke:]

Questionnaires on a rotating 30 minute schedule. Drinks were cut off when people started getting out of hand. But at least there was a buffet!

[Try face-down on a table stone cold unconscious. (He generally sticks with coffee, for that and other reasons.)]

Enforced teambuilding mixers. This really is Hell. [He has made that crack before and no doubt will again.] Sure hope they're not wondering why morale is so low.

Even colleagues at home would have put up a fight at that. [Her included; there's a reason some people remember her the instant she says bourbon shots. Kim shakes her head.] Here... I don't know. I'm not much of a team leader, so I don't expect to be able to turn it around.

[What matters is doing her job well. Getting paid.]

Are people happy in Sutoku?

One body is rarely enough to jam the wheels of a speeding bus. [Spoken as genuinely as though it's some sort of profound pearl of wisdom, then moved on from without the slightest bit of irony.]

I wouldn't say "happy." Half of them seem like they're barely functional. [Coming from paragon of healthy, functional, totally normal person Godot, this is rich.] But there's a spirit there. A sort of scrappy defiance that drives them. People used to being underestimated, taking some glee in "sticking it" to expectations.

I imagine Shuten and Tamamo have their own sort of spirit, in that sense.

[It sounds like the right place for Saul Goodman, and that is enough for her. Whether it's good for Jimmy... remains to be seen.]

I don't know much about Tamamo, other than it being excessive. Shuten, too, but with violence that's hard to ignore. [She shakes her head. A confession, delivered mildly:] I got mugged by a young man from Shuten in my first few days here. He went easy on me, but it didn't leave me with the best impression of what flies over there.

[The corner of his lip quirks into a frown at that news.] Sorry to hear that. Glad they didn't leave you more worse for wear.

[A pause for a sip of coffee.]

That's the way those tough punks roll. Always about who's bigger and badder than whom. The real cowards look for cheap targets. [He kind of goes still a moment, thoughtful.] Also seems to be a lot of bad blood between Shuten and Sutoku, specifically.

Though it's hard to read motives into anything when the groups are so varied-- and so full of needy recruits, as we've discussed before.

I've flipped through that app. Half of Shuten's recruits don't even look old enough to have graduated high school.

[Curious:]

What's the conflict between Shuten and Sutoku?

Who better to talk into your fistfights than a bunch of teenage boys?

[Speaking from experience there, perhaps...

He shrugs at the question.]

I haven't dug up anything specifically. Just seem to hear them brought up a lot, and not necessarily in flattering ways. [Siiiiiip.] But then, that goes for the Enma too.

[Kim ponders that –– the broad-scale reaping of young men into a culture of violence, the decision to sequester the oddballs. She shakes her head, suddenly.]

Every organization is going to have its culture, but this feels like a powder keg. And it's going to get worse, with all the money on the table for the kidnapping. The Department isn't going to agree with how the Shuten or Sutoku approach it.

[God knows what the Tamamo care about.]

No. I don't expect they will.

But I suppose, if the situation was easily solvable, they wouldn't bother recruiting random outsiders into the cause at all. [A sip, followed by an unnecessarily dramatic gesture with his cup.] Stack up the posturing higher and higher until the whole thing gets lit up.

[That metaphor got a bit off track, though he thinks the intention is clear enough. (If you speak moon logic.)]

Can't say I particularly care about factional drama. At least, not to the level of loyalty our overseers might hope for.

[This guy and his metaphors –– all Kim can do is listen politely, the vaguest confusion behind her eyes, but she gets the gist. Hopefully.]

They aren't paying enough upfront for that kind of loyalty. [Saying that makes her feel a twist in her gut, but she tells herself she doesn't care; she lifts her chin.] But at the end of the day, we're here to do jobs. What happens when they require us to act against each other?

[Pretty much the only reasonable response to a line that bizarre.]

Ha...! I'd agree not.

[What happens when they require the Lost Souls to act against one another? Godot cracks a somewhat cynical grin, and his tone is absolutely dripping with hinting sarcasm.] Well of course... I plan to follow my orders to the best of my ability.

We're only human, after all... little mistakes are bound to happen here and there.

[Telling him to be careful seems redundant, but the thought crosses her mind anyway, and the apprehension is there.]

There's only so many times that can happen before there are consequences.

What are they gonna do? Send me to Hell?

[Even he can admit that was flippant. And that there probably are things worse than so-called "hell" that a group of youkai can inflict on a regular old human person.

But announcing that he simply doesn't care doesn't seem like the most helpful input, here.]

Not that I intend to press my luck. I'll save the "oopsies" for a time they're truly necessary. In the meantime, if doing menial paperwork puts me in somebody's good graces, then it's fine by me.

I don't mind paperwork. [She says, sat with her books and a notepad with several pages rolled over the binding, a neat row of highlighters and pens lined up on the side.] Nobody wants to be in cornfield, but that's being new.

[This definitely isn't the Hell she'd ever pondered, but the vast potential is scarier. Difficult to anticipate. Carrying herself with confidence until she can is the only option.]

On the other hand...

[She gestures up at the birds.]

I'm not picking up extra work as an exterminator.

[He gives a little, semi-genuine chuckle at the last bit, glancing up at the birds as well.]

Me neither. I find them rather charming.

[Because however annoying they are, watching other people get even more annoyed at them is way, way funnier.]

Wonder if I could school them in a little Donald Byrd.

[Donald Byrd, huh? Kim smiles, her gaze cast upwards at the birds for an instant, then back at Godot.]

It'd be nicer than metal, that's for sure. Can't hurt to try.

Heh... maybe later. I can't sing in front of an audience.

[He takes another long swig from his coffee, then idly changes the subject.]

Sure seems to be a surplus of attorneys down here. There's me, you, the Dracula guy... and there's another gentleman lawyer in the Sutoku Alliance who's also fresh off the proverbial boat.

birbs

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject