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

[mechspeed]

[It lasts the whole video—

He’s a robot, he’s patient and he doesn’t really care if the look she’s giving implies any discomfort or annoyance. But at the very least it’s because she’s no longer browsing the food on offer that he loses the need to keep observing in silence.

Pasta and Salad…hmm…]

What influenced your decision?

[disagree]

[ eula almost jumps at the sudden voice. almost. look, she'd seen him talk at the mingle that day so it shouldn't be so unnerving, but it is. nevertheless, she retains her composure. ]

My decision for what...?

[mechspeed]

Your food.

[disagree]

[ looks down at her plate, then at metal. ]

Did... Did you want some?

1/2

[mechspeed]

I do not have a mouth.

[mechspeed]

[Alright, alright, he gets it. He’s clearly withholding too much information about his intentions here to broach the topic properly.

It’s his fault for being such an untalkative guy half the time.]

Unlike organic life forms I do not require food for sustenance, nor do I possess a means of tasting it.

I was curious what influenced your decision with regard to your chosen foods.

[disagree]

[ oh, that's... kinda sad, actually? imagine not being able to taste food, much less needing it for sustenance. ]

In truth, I'm not actually that hungry. I only picked these ones since the salad is healthy, and the pasta does look appealing.

[ but she is rather curious, and so: ]

If you don't need to eat food, what sustains you?

[mechspeed]

I possess an internal power coil which generates energy via electromagnetic induction.

[That definitely won't go over her head so surely it explains everything.]

However, it is somewhat inadequate for long term use. In that regard, my limited functionality in this place is optimal for continued performance.

[If he was blasting around with his jet without a better power source he'd run out of juice pretty quick. Robot life, y'know.]

[disagree]

[ ohhh, like those things that drop from ruin guards when you defeat them. gotcha. except no, not really, but they're gonna be here all day if she lets this little guy keep talking. ]

I suppose that makes sense. Perhaps the Department will reward you with more sustainable power sources should you keep working hard.

[ that's usually how it is, here. prove yourself, and the enma might just give you your stuff back. easy. ]

Are you not curious as to what these foodstuffs taste like? That is the reason why you're curious in the first place, isn't it?

[mechspeed]

Much as you cannot understand what it is like to recieve power from electromagnetic induction, I cannot understand what it is like to recieve nourishment from foodstuffs.

However, do not misunderstand. From my perspective, the process is suboptimal - an inefficient process that cannot utilize the entirety of what you consume. I would not substitute my internal engine for a stomach.

[He's happier being a robot, really. Who'd want to be a dumb organic and need to eat or sleep or whatever?]

However...[A beat.] I was just wondering...if I were capable of tasting what I would enjoy. What I would not enjoy. No matter how much data I possess, these are questions I will never be capable of answering.

[With sentience comes a greater degree of understanding and curiosity, even if he won't admit it.]

[disagree]

[ that's a lot of big words??? eula's immediately reminded of the highfaluting jaron the lawrence clan had kept feeding her and she makes a little face. ]

I suppose even Ruin Guards are capable of curiosity, though I will admit that I have never met someone like you before. Or at least one that's as tiny as you.

[ wait till hoyo releases bitty automatons that'll be annoying to beat in a couple of patches ]

I'm not the right person to ask, but if you have shown your worth in the Department, you might be able to get upgrades from the Enma himself. You might think that it's too asinine, but you'll find out how sweetness and bitterness are, and your preferences as a whole will broaden the more you stay here.

[ eula would know. ]

1/2

[mechspeed]

I possess a wide variety of skills and abilities tailor made for conquest that have been lost to me. To waste any "upgrades" on something so asinine [YEAH HE SAID IT] would lead me to question how competent he really is.

[Speaking in hypotheticals here, that's all. No opinion on the big guy just yet.]

[mechspeed]

Furthermore, I assume you are drawing comparisons between myself and some form of mechanical construct in your world, but I am no "ruin guard".

My name is Sonic.

[He's gonna establish his identity theft so hard here, gotta clear it up asap when he can.]

[disagree]

Oh, you'll find that the Enma is a rather nice person.

[ she smiles. that's a thinly-veiled insult, by the way. she's still bitter about what happened a couple of months ago with the haniwa and how he'd pretty much thrown the entire department under the bus after the incident. ]

And I apologize for the confusion just now, Sonic. You have to understand that Ruin Guards and its ilk are the only mechanical constructs in my realm as far as I know, thus I admit that I'm not thoroughly adept with technology compared to certain people from other worlds.

1/2 this is the last time ill multi tag i swear

[mechspeed]

[sis that's kinda sus

Oh well. Not like Metal really notices; even if he did he wouldn't bring it up.]

[mechspeed]

It's...irrelevant, I suppose.

[That's his way of saying her lack of knowledge is fine.]

In truth I have found those "adept with technology" to be in the minority, so far. I have come to expect a reaction like yours more often than not.

[disagree]

That is rather strange, isn't it? Given how we are in a modern version of Inazuma or at least a place that is inspired by that nation.

[ it's japan, eula ]

But it's all right. I adapt quite easily, but it'll take me a while before I can type on the computer as fast as the others, as an example.

[ she's just going to move this conversation to an empty table, if metal sonic is still interested in pursuing this talk. ]

type on the computer......grandma eula cutest

[mechspeed]

[Yeah, sure. He's overheard talk of ~team building questions~ while he was with Eula and frankly anything sounds better than that. He follows along and takes a seat, legs dangling off the edge of his chair. Tiny ruin guard indeed.]

Are you a warrior of any kind?

[Awfully sudden subject change, but he's going somewhere with it really...]

shakes claymore-shaped cane..... whippersnapper-bot

[disagree]

[ also cute... ]

I'm a knight where I'm from, as a matter of fact.

[ give her a moment as she munches on some salad ]

[mechspeed]

[A nod.]

Then you should try to approach the skill of typing as you would battle.

[disagree]

...What.

[ oh no, not this again................ ]

[mechspeed]

Dexterity.

[disagree]

I know what that means. I was just wondering why you'd put it like that.

[mechspeed]

Attempting to learn a new skill can be daunting when there is no groundwork. You seemed to imply there was no groundwork.

Drawing comparisons between transferable skills is a useful way to overcome that.

[There he was trying to be helpful…]

Do you find my suggestion unacceptable?

[disagree]

I'm not that inflexible. I learned how to drive vehicles and acquired a license to prove it.

[ she's really proud of it, okay ]

But I see what you mean, in a way. Though I'd rather be off doing fieldwork than sit down and manage paperwork...