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!

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Comments

[mechspeed]

[...if.

Yes, he's considered that. But for the sake of his sanity he isn't going to dwell on it; if this all ends up being a farce it might not end well. Even for him.

So he just nods.]

Then that is reason enough to keep going for now.

[sisterlyshield]

['If' is important. It's foolish to believe things without questioning them. At a time in her life, it's not certain whether Kisara would have come to that realisation or not without things having fallen into place the way they did. In fact, had he known her only weeks or months before, she might not have thought such a thing. But with the way things are now...

She cannot ever allow herself to be fooled again.]

I'm sure it's the same for many of the people here. Everyone wants something, large or small. Just depends on how badly that something is wanted. If one's really passionate about it, then perhaps nothing will stop them.

[mechspeed]

[He nods, arms crossing.]

There are some who feel uncomfortable partaking in this conflict between the four powers here, even with the promise of some great reward in the aftermath.

[His conversation with Thoma was about just that, but he wouldn't really need to talk to anyone to ascertain it either. It's just a question of numbers.]

But I would consider myself prioritizing things as you describe. While it is nothing personal, I will crush the other factions in pursuit of my goal if need be.

[sisterlyshield]

I don't like that part of this is pitting the territories against one another.

[Feels like they're just little play pieces on a board, being used for someone else's amusement and she's not about that. Dahnans weren't so different back home when it came to how they were treated by the Renans. Kisara takes it personally if she's an object as opposed to a person. But it's unrealistic to expect her opinions to align with everyone else's.]

I get that it's just survival, but if it were up to me, it'd be unifying. Not dividing. If people are trying to achieve the same end result, it shouldn't matter if they work together or not. The only thing stopping that from happening are feuds that existed before any of us came here.

[That is, she can't support his way of doing things, but... She can't stop it either.]

[mechspeed]

Do not misunderstand what I am about to say. I am not one to blindly trust others.

[Farrrrrrrrrr from it, really. He doesn't trust people put into the other factions by default now, as well as harboring some mistrust towards the people in the department who've shown themselves to be too kind - in his eyes - for what's expected of them here. He considers them a liability.]

However...you talk of unity and survival. But you must realise that for some it is unlikely to be about just survival. While it is possible the four heads of this battle are simply saying what we want to hear in order to force our cooperation, that for some is a risk worth taking. That they can offer what nobody else can give them so long as they bring "victory".

That is why this conflict is inevitable.

[sisterlyshield]

[She hears him. Plainly. He’s right, of course. Thinking that everyone is just doing what they have to in order to survive is naive. There are people who enjoy the chaotic energy. They enjoy the fight and the brutality. And though she doesn’t like the thought, they enjoy making others suffer. Some people are just like that.

Kisara doesn’t respond immediately, mostly because she wants to give his words the due consideration they deserve. It’s the least she can offer, given that she just can’t bring herself to emotionally agree with everything he’s sharing.]

I’m aware the stakes are different for every single one of us. But I can’t lie and I’m not going to. No matter what’s in my contract, it isn’t reason enough to mistreat another person. I can’t abide that. I won’t. I’ll do as I’m required to, but I’m going to find my own way to do it. I won’t put that expectation on anyone else, but when I leave, I’ll make sure I can still face myself.

[Because to her, the self-serving, regardless of the reason, willing to step on anyone and anything just to get what they want, despite the damage they cause along the way? That’s unforgivable.]

[mechspeed]

[Well, she's getting added to the list of people he thinks might be a liability.

However...look, he at least understands that everyone has different goals being here. It is unreasonable to expect people to just neatly go along with a war of all things - if he'd been taken here even an hour earlier (from his perspective) he'd be strutting around demanding the future overlord of earth be released so he can complete his takeover. Now? He was served a humilitating defeat and he cares a lot less about everything going on around him. His only focus is on the potential the Enma can give him what he couldn't get for himself.

So...sure, people can have their own reasons. He understands it a lot better as he is now than how he was.]

...to an extent, that is fine. Even I admit it is unresonable to expect cooperation despite my own stance on the matter.

But while your priority may be on ensuring those in other factions do not find themselves harmed by us, ensure the opposite is true as well.

[He doesn't mean this the way it sounds.

He couldn't care less for his fellow Enma, he just wants to fulfill his contract. She seems like concern could be a good enough reason to at least cast a tiny bit of doubt. That might leave room in the future to push her a bit in the right (from his perspective) direction.]

[sisterlyshield]

[She's still listening. It's hard to hear, but differing opinions to her own are important to hear. Her perspective can't be the only one and she understands that she has to be willing to cooperate with others when the time calls for it. What she thinks of them, how she feels about them, that doesn't matter in the grand spectrum of things.

She needs to remember not to get caught up in that. She can have her own feelings without placing them on others. And she doesn't have to explain why she's got them either.]

I am not just thinking about the others. I'm thinking about all of us, Enma included. Just because I'm not interested in hurting others doesn't mean I'm interested in the rest of us getting hurt either. I'm here in this place to do what I'm best at, which is protecting other people. I'll leave the politicking to those who want it.

[She doesn't have the head or the heart for it and she's seen what happens when someone doesn't get more involved with said politicking.]

Those who are better at it, anyway. That's not a forte of mine and I have the consideration to admit to it, so no one tries to put me in that situation.

[mechspeed]

...very well.

[The conversation isn't gonna go anywhere he particularly cares for, so he figures it's better to relent. In his experience he found organic life tended to be so.........soft. It doesn't vibe with him. But it's lead to him just assuming most people will throw department loyalty to the wind.]

Given the circumstances, even that amount of cooperation is all anyone can ask for.

[sisterlyshield]

[If they aren’t biting at one another’s throats, Kisara will consider that a ‘win,’ small though it may be. She’s not here to convert anyone and it’s a respect that she expects in return, even if she doesn’t say it, though admittedly, she’s sure that’s an expectation set too high for many of the other Lost like herself.]

I think everyone wants to cooperate in their own way. Without losing their identity and they have a right to that. If people start being restricted, forced to behave a certain way for the benefit of a single leader, those people are nothing more than slaves. I don’t want anyone here to think they have to hide themselves or what they believe in our of fear of repercussion. If I sound strong on it, I am. That’s the world I came from. I didn’t come here just to relive the incidents in my world. I also don’t want that for anyone else.

[So he can call it a liability, if he wants. It can’t and won’t stop her from simply being herself. The heart is a strong thing, even in its weaknesses, though she supposes any construct (which she assumes he must be on some level) would have a difficult time even remotely understanding that. She can’t fault him for that. He can’t help who or what he is.]

[mechspeed]

[It's true; if a "heart" can be defined as the mindset of a more sensitive kind of life form, Metal definitely lacks it. Even when she talks about cooperation and unity, this whole time he's rationalized it as a tactic for survival on her part. He found organic life forms often banded together to make up for their own failings. They were soft.

Numbers.

He struggles not to see things as numbers.

The idea that she's doing this out of compassion for her fellow man is something he hasn't even considered.]

At the very least, I can agree with that. [Loosely.] I fought to secure my own freedom only recently. That is why I am being forthright with my intentions; I will not compromise to save face with the rest of you.

[Whether he believes in the sanctity of other's freedom if it comes as a threat to his own is another thing he doesnt]

[sisterlyshield]

I can respect that.

[She does, even. Having freedom affects people in different ways. Some just want to hold onto it, no matter what. Some want to save other people from enduring the same injustice that lacking freedom provokes. The differences are part of what make people so interesting.

He might necessarily be a person in the same way she is, but Kisara believes, even if she may not agree personally, that he’s entitled to his own feelings. Thoughts. Beliefs.]

I don’t think any of us are likely to approach things the exact same way. This is vague, but in the end if we’re accomplishing what we’re being told to do, then the method may not necessarily matter. It won’t make sense if we just assume that others will agree with what we do. I think it’s better to expect that others won’t.