September 2022 Mingle!

[jigokumods]

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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.
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Comments

[saintclaire]

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.

[beenwaitinglong]

[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.

[saintclaire]

[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.

[beenwaitinglong]

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.

[saintclaire]

[That gets an involuntary laugh.]

Barok van Zieks. [It's not exactly a correction –– more a confirmation. She pauses, passing her coffee cup between her hands, and she ventures a question:] What do you think of Saul Goodman?

[Gentleman sounds promising, but she has to be sure.]

[beenwaitinglong]

Yeah, Baron von Whatever. [It's amazing how such a condescending remark is delivered so naturally, buttery smooth that it doesn't sound like he means it poorly.]

And Saul Goodman... [A grin.] I know a fellow showman when I see one. It's a fine quality in an attorney, if you ask me.

[saintclaire]

[There's some relief there, the line of her shoulders relaxing. She's often been privy to what's said about Jimmy behind his back, and the past few months have been particularly poor for that –– someone with a good first impression feels like an exaltation of everything she's watched him work so hard for.

Barok is a good colleague, but right now, he's a mote of dust. Her voice is remarkably calm and pragmatic despite the ease on her face:]

You should see him in court. He's spectacular.

[beenwaitinglong]

I hope to. Always fun to see how the performance holds up under pressure. Not to mention, we may end up sitting in the well together one of these days.

[With another long sip, he finishes off his first cup of coffee.]

Friend of yours, then?

[saintclaire]

[Wouldn't that be a sight, Jimmy working with another lawyer. Kim relishes replying:]

He's my husband.

[beenwaitinglong]

No kidding? How classically quaint. Husband and wife attorneys...

[There's a pause there, and his unreadable smile flickers for a moment before settling a little bit gentler.]

Just imagine the dinner table arguments.

[saintclaire]

[She catches that flicker, but isn't quite sure what to make of it. She eyes him as she replies.]

Those are easy to avoid if you skip owning a table entirely and just eat take-out on the couch instead.

[Home before dark? Never.]

[beenwaitinglong]

Heh... good point. Also, probably more realistic an expectation.

[After all, when did he ever have time for sit-down dinners in the middle of a crazy case?

Also, he's glad he was complimentary about Mr. Goodman just now. That could have gotten unintentionally awkward.]

They're pretty strict on these dumb faction rules. Even for a married couple?

[saintclaire]

[She shakes her head, remarks:]

There's a couple in the Department. I swear Martin doesn't go five minutes without bringing up Jon, even though they live and work together. [She almost crinkles her nose.] But you can't even visit anyone in an opposing faction without a chaperone.

[beenwaitinglong]

Well, how hunky dory for them. [Okay, that sounded a little salty. How dare couples get to be happy, right?

He's a little more focused on the second part. Like, really?] What is this, boarding school? A chaperone from where?

[saintclaire]

They're lucky.

[Kim, who took to living together as cause to stop peeling herself from bed at some absurd hour just to grind out a few more accomplishments, feels robbed of her own luck.

It's just easier to rip on the housing.]

The staff that run the housing buildings. Try inviting someone from another faction in for a cup of coffee. [Not that anyone would want to, given how pathetic the apartments are, but––] It's ridiculous.

[beenwaitinglong]

Ha...!

[With a disgusted shake of his head, he takes the top few inches off his second cup of coffee. It's not like he has any reason in the world to care about the injustice of this... he just doesn't like being told what to do, and Kim's situation is irksome on principle.]

What a stupid rule. They can't possibly enforce that. It's not like they can watch every east side window on the first floor, third from the right.

[saintclaire]

[She’d considered the windows, in a pique of her own indignant annoyance. If the rising storeys hadn’t stopped her, Jimmy’s knees and her spindly high heels would have. But with enough time, who knows?]

Sure, but who wants to feel like a teenager crawling out a bedroom window? We’ve just been getting hotels.

[Her wallet is screaming.]

[beenwaitinglong]

[That window seemed to be a popular ingress and egress to the Sutoku residences late at night, he'd noticed, up in the obscene hours of the morning. (He doesn't sleep much for some reason, go figure.)

He shrugs, the corner of his lip lifting in a wry grin.] That works too, I guess.

And I suppose, once you're rich and powerful enough around here, you're not stuck living in the dorms with demon RAs breathing down your necks. [That's probably part of the whole stupid idea.]

They did plan this out, didn't they?

[saintclaire]

It's that way by design. [She feels sure of that.] If someone wanted to conspire with a member of another faction, they'd have to be pretty bold to conduct that business inside a faction dorm.

[It's almost meaningless. What does it matter to a woman who has handed her phone over to her husband multiple times, to a woman who has helped her husband film his own introduction to Sutoku?]

I wouldn't blame anyone for wanting a better apartment, all things considered.

[beenwaitinglong]

I'm going to run out of room for my coffee machines. [Also, probably drain all the power from the building and cause rolling blackouts.] Better digs are one thing, but as for prestige and promotions... more responsibility isn't exactly what I had in mind for my sunny Hell vacation.

[He recalls what Mr. Kitsuragi told him. If they're in this for that long of a haul...]

I've heard of Lost Souls who've been here over half a year already. That's pretty good incentive to get more comfortable arrangements in place.