jigokulogs | September 2022 Mingle!

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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

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[ ah, whoops. he'll take that off dosei's hands with a sheepish chuckle and hands him some kinda fizzy orange drink. ]

Pardon me for that. But yes, some humans can be wonderfully reckless for a number of reasons. Wizards, however, are a different kind of reckless -- but I'm sure you already know that.

[ he continues to watch the scene unfold: a couple running for their lives, with the boyfriend being caught in the slasher killer's clutches and the girlfriend weeping for his release. it's that kind of movie, huh... ]

[ there, much better. your sins have been given. dosei takes the offered drink with an eye of scrutiny, but finally sets it in his lap with a show of approval. ]

<< you mean an annoying kind. >>

[ the younger offers a side-eye before scoffing and turning back to the film. more whimpering and whining...ugh, he rolls his eyes and goes to open the tab on the drink, shifting himself to the side-

and with a guttural scream, the entire screen is plunged into darkness, making the gymnasium pitch black. there's the loud clatter of a can, a sharp intake of breath, and shylock will abruptly feel a hand latch onto his arm and squeeze, nails growing a bit sharper than they were originally.

his eyes are glowing in the dark, an eerie shade of blue, but they're blown wide and darting this way and that in a fit of obvious panic. ]

[ the dark has never bothered shylock; he can simply cast a bit of light magic in order to illuminate his surroundings once more. but he did not expect dosei clutching his arm in a vice grip, his glowing eyes seemingly the only source of light in the darkness. ]

Shh.

[ his hands reach over to touch dosei's wrist, a simple enough gesture that shouldn't be too much for a touch-averse boy like him. if nothing else, shylock then reaches for his phone and unlocks the screen, providing some dim light in the room. luckily everyone else is focused on the movie, some of them even spooked with the sudden darkness just now. ]

[ he barely even noticed he's latched onto somebody, chest constricting as the music thrums in the dark. it's supposed to create drama, suspense- and all it's doing is making his heart beat like a jackhammer against his ribcage. if his grip tightens a bit, it's subconsciously.

dosei actively flinches at the touch, seizing up momentarily as his gaze flies downwards as if trying to gaze what's touching him even if he knows, really. he heard that voice, and there's only one person sitting next to him. there's a tense pause in which his fingers are twitching, anxiously, before there's the soft click of a phone and the other man's features are softly illuminated in dim light.

after a few seconds, the tensions slowly leaks from his shoulders, and a few seconds after that the movie slowly begins with brighten. it's dramatic, a horrible mess of flesh and blood spattered about coming into view, but it just makes his chest slowly heave in near-relief.

then he realizes he's latched onto shylock still, and very nearly whips his hand off, turning his face as his cheeks darkens with an odd glimmer in the reddish light. he isn't looking at him anymore, and his signs are quick and sloppy, but enough to understand. ]

<< YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING >>

[ how adorable, shylock thinks. but also curiouser and curiouser -- it's more than obvious that dosei did not thrive in the environment where he's from, but there's also the fact that it's only an irrational fear of the dark. it's the most common fear out there, after all.

so when dosei angrily signs at him to keep mum, shylock brings up a hand to cover his own eyes, his smile wide and all too knowing. what's there to be ashamed about? being afraid is not necessarily a weakness. it's an impulse to help keep you safe.

not that anything bad will happen to them while watching the movie anyway. shylock settles down, and reaches for another can of soda for dosei to take -- grape, this time. like nothing had happened between them. ]

[ admitting he has any fears is bad enough, because the last thing he wants to do is give anybody any fuel to make fun of him, or lord something over him. it makes him twitch, makes him itchy- not quite as much as his actual fears do, but still.

dosei gives shylock an unimpressed look at that gesture, and a further scowl at the smile. don't look at him like that.

still, he glares at the can like it's going to bite him before he finally takes it, condensation on the can wetting his fingers as he ignores the horrified gasps on screen as whatever horrific scene is on has been discovered. there's the pop of the tab, and for once, he doesn't bother using a straw- he just tips it back and gulps it in an attempt to clear his head faster. naturally, a stream of purple slides down his chin, and it soaks into his stitches, a fact he notes as he swipes a tongue across his lips as best he can once he finally drops his head back.

he wipes his mouth with his arm for a second, glaring at the sticky sugar like it's offended him before dropping his arms across his bent knees. when he lifts his hand to sign, the gesture is sloppy, and dosei only side-eyes shylock in the process. ]

<< least you got a brain. unlike captain masochist. >>

[ should've offered him a straw too. but shylock's just relieved that he's reverted to his usual disgruntled self -- he wouldn't want dosei to change just because shylock has seen him at one of his worsts. that's up to him, ultimately.

he takes another sip of his beer, glancing back at what dosei has to say. er, sign. ]

Captain Masochist? Might I know this person?

[ there are a lot of masochistic wizards? and dosei is looking at one of them, though he'll be forgiven if he can't tell right away. ]

[ not even god who knock the bitch out of him, unfortunately. it's his overwritten, default settings now. if anything, shylock seeing it has just made him even more grumpy than usual...not even the faux overdramatic gore on the screen can fix that.

doesn't help he's tense as hell, like he's waiting for the lights to plunge off again for another jumpscare.

the question makes him snort, at least. ]

<< duh. you're the one who mentioned him earlier. i still hope he plays in traffic. >>

[ oh, owen...beloved worstie. die in a fire. ]

September 2022 Mingle!

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