jigokulogs | March 2022 Mini Event

March 2022 Mini Event

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The Night Parade is fast-approaching and each faction will be busy with their own preparations.

1. SHUTEN CLAN

The Celestial Phoenix Casino, a fairly popular casino in the Shuten territory, is overdue on its protection money. This money is sorely needed for parade preparations. Unfortunately, the casino has decided it doesn't need to pay up because they've hired some new unaffiliated muscle. Neither the manager nor their new muscle are the type to listen to reason, so be prepared to exert some intimidation and force to convince these new bodyguards to take their business elsewhere.

The brute squad working for the Celestial Phoenix seems to be made up of several different youkai. Some of them are more human looking than others, but you'll notice no Oni. Even independent Oni wouldn't dare turn against the Shuten Clan. Even lacking in Oni, these thugs are armed to the teeth, swinging several deadly weapons and even a few firearms. This could get rough, so be prepared for the worst. Take the gangsters protecting the Celestial Phoenix out or convince them it’s not worth it.

Once inside, you'll discover that the owner, in a panic, has locked himself inside the casino's value with the protection money owed. This might take some doing to get open...

2. SUTOKU ALLIANCE

The Kappa want to be left alone and the Daitengu has asked Sutoku Alliance members to assure their wishes are respected. Members are tasked with convincing people to stay away from the Kappa's riverside facilities by whatever means necessary. Of course, you may want to take a look for yourself to see what they’re being so secretive about. That’s not recommended, if you don’t want to get into trouble.

It’s not just strangers who are nosy, though. Retinues from both the Shuten and Tamamo clans are making an appearance and asking why the inspections are taking so long. Why are the Kappa dragging their feet? The Alliance prefers to avoid direct violence, so it's up to you to talk to these clan captains in a way that convinces them to leave the Kappa alone.

If you're curious enough to dive deeper into the Kappa's business, however, even your Alliance membership isn't going to keep you safe. The Kappa themselves seem to disappear from sight the further into the sewers you go, as if invisible. Preventing yourself from being spotted by a security camera or a patrolling Kappa is almost impossible. Cover your faces, stick to the shadows, and you might just notice that... they’re building something down there.

Something for the Parade? Who knows? But it’s definitely not decorations or a float...

3. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA

The parade route for the Night Parade needs to be "cleaned up". The Department is tasked with getting the low level street gangs and squatters to clear out. The homeless population will resist and may not be so easily persuaded to give up their spots. Your best bet is to offer them food, booze, or shelter for the night. The street gangs will assuredly fight back. Use your strength or your wits to get the job done.

The gangs will not typically be that tough, most don’t want to step up to the Department's goon squad too heavily lest they wind up in a cell for the rest of their lives. Still, some might be hopped up on encouraging substances and try to escalate. Don’t worry, though. You have the authority of the Enma on your side! Don’t think they will get away with waving a weapon in your face.

The homeless, though, lack strength or weapons. They are more fueled by desperation to keep their spots. Winter hasn't been kind to them, after all, and they don’t have much respect for the Enma's authority. Their belligerent behavior is loud, and often violent despite their absence of means to properly defend themselves. At worst, they’ll probably try to use biological warfare. Don’t ask what's in those bottles...

4. TAMAMO CLAN

Parade costumes need to be designed, crafted, modeled, and then likely mended knowing the rough and tumble yokai. The textile shops and tailors of the area need Tamamo Clan members to help them out. Costumes vary from extremely ornate to extremely sexy. These costumes need to merge form and function, for the Tamamo clan parade marchers that means they need to be able to sell their specific wares while wearing them. (wink wonk)

None of the costumes are floor ready and the shop bosses urge you that these cannot be seen by the public until they are ready. This won’t stop some peeping toms and tammies from trying to scope out the goods. Most of the voyeurs are spying for perverted reasons, but some are from shops outside of Tamamo’s influence trying to copy the designs for themselves. Either way, Tamamo Clan members aren't expected to be just pretty faces. So rough’em up.

5. TASTE TEST (ALL FACTIONS)

For those less interested in their faction's work, the restaurants in the Tamamo territory also need help finalizing their menu offerings for the Night Parade. Taste testers and creative cooks wanted! These aren’t just any dishes though and may have some interesting effects. One may be so spicy that everything burns, your face turns red, and you need to cool yourself off. Or maybe your dish is so good that you need to take a nap – it doesn't matter where you are, you'll just fall asleep right on the spot. Another possibility is a dish that gives you unstoppable energy – literally. It will make you want to get up and go and never stop moving. If you stop moving, it may cause a bigger problem.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Haha, that's very wise of you! [The memories, at least. Natori's a little too irritated about the fact that his clan in particular seems so determined to justify his preexisting paranoia around taking food from ayakashi to find much fun in the idea of passing out even properly-warned-for surprises at a night parade. Especially with so many of the people here unused to interacting with ayakashi. Even more especially when Natori can't even muster up the spiritual energy to make a simple paper charm to do anything about it.

Whatever. Wallowing is unbecoming. He swallows it down along with a bite of takoyaki before answering with another lighthearted] Natori. Likewise, circumstances of interdimensional press-gang servitude excluded. There might not be much of a point in my offering, but this isn't my first time in the ayakashi realm, so I'm happy to help with any questions to the extent I'm able right now.

I try.

[ Another slight pause to give a brief smile. Of course, all of his memories are tainted a soft grey palette; neither happy nor unhappy. They just happened. Everything just happened. Nothing good, nothing bad; he is moving steadily forward to order and that is all that matters.

He lifts his chin up, and tips his head at the name. ]

Oh, I don't know about it being pointless. Though, I must admit that I'm too much of a layman to even know what sort of question that I should ask. [ Soma gives a brief, helpless look. ] How about I ask a broad one?

What do you think I should know?

Haha, that's certainly one way to go about it. Let me think...

[He takes a moment to think about it-- about what could be relevant in the circumstances where they've found themselves, on their territory and practically powerless. He chews through another takoyaki before he nods.]

I guess the most important thing is that humans and creatures like youkai are fundamentally different. They experience life in different ways, focus on different things. Often they have a very hard time grasping how time passes for us-- they don't realize how long 50 years is, and that we'll grow older and change while they stay the same. It's life on a different scale with a different value system, so you can't just treat them as humans with some interesting features.

[He drops that vague bit of shoujo manga nonsense as if it's something inherently profound, then adds as an afterthought]

Also, they take contracts very seriously. It's truly a life-or-death thing to them. I'm not trying to imply that you don't, but if you come across anyone taking the contracts that we signed lightly... Well, part of what I was talking about before, about ayakashi experiencing things differently. My work would be a lot easier if I didn't have to deal with so many cases of an ayakashi taking an offhand comment as a promise or a threat and reacting to it.

I wonder how many people would think that is a contradiction.

[ He muses aloud as he takes in what the young man has said. Clicking his chopsticks together, he looks over the takoyaki he has left -- deciding which one to eat next. ]

That they live for centuries, uncomprehending of the flow of time, but they are particular about the words that people say to them.

[ Click, click, click. ]

Personally, I think that makes sense. A person's word is their bond and they're willing to take that a step further. If the world moves forward, we have to believe in the words that we share with one another as truth.

[ He finally chooses a takoyaki; picking it up, he squeezes the ball slightly with the chopsticks until the soft skin breaks and some of the insides threaten to spew out. ]

At least... that's how I'm willing to interpret what you've said.

Ah, Soma-san, you're being poetic again! [he says in a cheerful sing-song.] I think that's a good way to look at it, except it can be even more literal than that. Sometimes the words we share become the truth.

[He pokes around in his food for a second as he scrounges up for an example beyond the one that first comes to his mind, the one that's at least part of the reason why he's stuck here.]

For instance, exorcists are able to create contracts with ayakashi to have them serve as-- familiars, I guess you'd say. Shiki, if you know the term? [He's not expecting Soma to know it, but it feels only polite to account for the possibility.] When doing so, the exorcist gives the ayakashi a new name to be bound by. They both agree to treat the contract name as if it has its own meaning, and in doing so... [He gestures vaguely, a little turn of his hand that back home could summon his shiki or another exorcist tool. He's aware of just how useless a gesture it is here.] When you call the new name, they arrive. It'd be like if I started to call you some pseudonym and you were suddenly able to use it as your legal name.

Edited 2022-03-21 01:52 (UTC)

I guess I am.

[ After playing with his food, he finally eats the takoyaki that he was mercilessly squeezing. All for the best, really, since if he kept it up; he'd probably ruin his suit more with the hot filling. ]

I'm afraid I've never heard that term before. [ Soma smiles, and feels enamored with the description. He thinks that his own name has made him like a shiki to his handlers. There is no bitterness that he feels about it; such emotions had long since been bled out of him. ]

Fascinating, isn't it? To be able to make truth from your own words? To remake something because of a truth that you wanted to be real?

Mm, it's the character for "ceremony" or "system." [He draws a quick 式 in the air with a finger to demonstrate, completely oblivious to Soma's alarming (un)emotional reaction. To the contrary, he's feeling his own bubble of familiarity. He drops his hand back to his food, and adds fondly] That's kind of how I felt about it when I learned all of this for the first time.

[When he realized that he could draw symbols on a piece of paper and make magic happen; that he could scratch out a circle in the dirt to stop a creature from bothering humans who roam through the forest; that he could tame the untamable creatures that had always haunted the corner of his vision if he just chanted the right archaic words. That he could do something about the natural world around him.

But by nature, he's always extremely aware of his public image, and that gushing on about spiritual abilities to someone who doesn't have them is at least a little tone-deaf.]

I'm sure I just ruined any of the mystique I had up until this point! Sometimes I let my earnestness get the best of me.

Everything has a system to help it make sense.

[ There is order in everything, even things that seem like they are chaotic. He can appreciate that sentiment, at the very least. ]

Oh, don't worry too much about it, Natori-kun. [ His hand reaches out to lightly pat the young man's shoulder; he even goes so far as to give it a small, quick squeeze. ] It is good that you have this sort of power and love for what you are doing.

[ A slight smile appears as he warmly adds: ] I believe finding a purpose in life helps to ensure everything else also finds balance.

[There's something about this avuncular turn-- the friendly honorific, the light squeeze to his shoulder, the warm tone-- that makes Natori feel vaguely unsettled. Maybe it's because he isn't used to getting that sort of reaction when he's being sincere about something (when he's acting, all bets are off); maybe it's because he's very suddenly reminded that Soma is covered in blood, and it has to have come from somewhere. The point is that he's feeling quite self-conscious for rambling on like this, and so he does what he always does when he feels like things have gotten too real: he fakes like everything is fine, and changes the subject fast.]

Haha, thank you very much, Soma-san! [In contrast to the smaller, more guarded smile he had a moment earlier, the one he gives now is much more comfortable, an effortless(-seeming) one he trots out for media engagements to match the formulaic phrases:] I'll do my best, so thank you for the wise words! It's a little embarrassing to be going on like this when I can't do any of it here, so I'm sorry for taking up so much time talking about something that isn't really relevant.

[The lizard scurries across the bridge of his nose and down to the back of his neck with a quick rustling noise.]

Can I ask about your purpose in turn?

Edited (wtf is a "haded") 2022-03-21 03:18 (UTC)

[ His head tilts slightly as he watches the change come over Natori. He narrows his eyes slightly before his own expression softens; he isn't sure what has happened but it seems he has stepped in something. Rather than feel insulted, he feels vaguely pleased for reasons that he isn't quite sure of himself. ]

Don't worry about it at all. I had a nice time listening to your thoughts and I feel I gained some insight. So, there's nothing wrong about rambling.

[ He gives a quick little smile before polishing off the last of the food he has. Chewing thoughtfully, his eyebrows lift at the question of what he considers his purpose. Running his tongue along his teeth, he muses to himself if he should get into it or not.

Well, he was given such an honest response before that it seems rude not to be a little courteous back. ]

You can, of course. [ He sniffles. ] My purpose is to be a tool. I consider [ A pause as he rolls his eyes, trying to find the right words. ] it important to pave the way for other people. That is what fills me with a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

[ Leaning in: ] Seeing others achieve what they so desperately want. [ And he sits back, chuckling to himself. ]

Haha, you're too kind. [This is better. Recontextualizing their conversation as just smalltalk (which it is; just two strangers making smalltalk) makes him feel more comfortable. He knows how this script goes. Maybe not exactly what Soma's next line will be, but enough of an idea that he won't have to worry about something so vulnerable as, like, saying what he actually feels about anything.

Though he's certainly not expecting Soma to say he lives to be a tool. Natori blinks in surprise, though he's able to keep the pleasant, casual expression on his face.] Well, that wasn't going to be one of my first guesses!

[...It sounds like something Matoba would say. No, like something someone would say to Matoba, if they wanted to suck up and didn't know how to go about it. It's odd hearing it said so... straightforwardly, so much so that Natori isn't sure if he's hearing a real answer or if Soma is also good at putting on the well-rehearsed public-facing persona.] Mm, politics? It sounds like the sort of thing a candidate might say.

You wouldn't be the first to think so. [ Again, he chuckles to himself. ] Though, you may be in the minority as of right now. [ He tugs on his suit, giving a brief look over the damage to it. Sniffling, he pauses to take out a handkerchief to blow his nose. The material is stained a little red; a bit of a bloody nose but it's already seems done. Good, good. ]

What would be your first guess?

[ Setting the empty tray to the side, he props his elbow on his knee; tilting his head he looks Natori over with a kind smile. ] Does it? I don't think that they'd admit that they have no desire for the limelight. [ Because Soma doesn't. He much prefers the shadows over the light. ]

Haha, if it's the sort of thing people want to hear, maybe. 'I want to help all of you achieve your goals, not anything for myself.' But you're right, that would be disingenuous of them to say. [Based on that response, it feels safe to say no, not a politician.]

Mm, well, I guess it depends on what you do. Don't laugh at me if I'm wrong, okay? [A self-deprecating smile, a tilt of his head; he instinctively pauses as if half expecting to hear the screams of an audience reacting to the little move.] So you're someone who's normally thought of as kind, present circumstances excluded. [...It really is an awful lot of blood.]

Hmm. Entertainment? Not on the front lines, but as a talent manager or something like that.

[ Soma presses his lips together into a thin line. It is not one of annoyance, but he did somewhat agree that he wouldn't laugh at the suggestion of what he was.

The corners of his eyes crinkle at the idea that he was thought of as kind. But he supposes that isn't wrong. He generally is not aggressive, so people consider him not that much of a threat or hostile.

That is as close to "kind" as one can be thought of in that world. ]

No. [ He finally is able to say. ] The leader of a criminal organization. Though... I was one that worked in the back and let someone else handle the front lines. [ He claps his hands. ] So, bravo. You got some of it right.

[Ah. Well then. His face doesn't change at all for a moment as he resets the many incorrect assumptions he's made to this point, then he lets out an exaggerated sigh.]

Now you're just humoring me. The only part I got right was what you already told me.

[Cool cool cool cool cool. Well. He supposes they're all members of a criminal organization right now, and ones run by ayakashi at that. He tilts his head at that same angle and smiles again.]

If that's the case, if we could only combine our expertise, we'd be perfectly equipped to handle this place, huh.

A win is a win.

[ Doesn't matter how one acquires it, right? ]

If only. [ Soma lets out his own small sigh. His shoulders lifting and lowering before he starts sniffling for real. He has to pause to take a handkerchief out of his suit pocket -- pause to check to ensure it didn't get stained with blood -- before he presses it to his nose. ]

I can give you some advice like you gave me, but I don't know if you'll be able to follow it.

Haha, with an introduction like that, I don't know if I will either.

[He pauses briefly to fish out his remaining takoyaki before gesturing for Soma to go on. He figures there's at least a 60% chance that this advice will be at best impossible and at worst a disguised insult, because that's the sort of advice people tend to give him. It's tough out there as an exorcist who's constantly accused of not taking things seriously because his face also appears on ridiculous movie posters.]

But you very kindly didn't laugh at me, so I promise I'll take it to heart and do my best.

Yes, well, I also shouldn't judge a book by its cover, hm?

[ He breathes in sharp to indicate that he is about to sneeze. Which he does a few seconds later; sneezing loudly into his handkerchief and sniffling immediately afterward. Soma takes a second to sniffle yet again before tucking the handkerchief back away. ]

No reason to ruin a nice conversation with cruel laughter.

[ It is what he decides to add before giving his own advice. ]

Most of my advice is rather simple. You already know not to take the contract lightly which means that you'll work hard on anything that you're given. [ A smile. ] It depends on what you want to do with yourself. There is some criminality here, but from what I've found, some "legit" means to carry oneself forward.

I wouldn't be able to help with the legit means, but I would know what to do if you wish to be an enforcer, a debt collector, a proper owner of a ladies' club. [ He lets out a sigh. ] It isn't just being violent... though, there is violence to it, of course. Obviously. [ His own suit says that much. ]

It's the threat of it. No, not just the threat of it. The threat that you'll go further than what they're capable of handling. [ He hums. ] Killing someone is something, but leaving them alive is its own reward.

You follow?

[Natori politely ignores the sneeze, though some part of his mind idly wonders if Soma's got a nosebleed from all of the violence he's clearly been a part of. He nods along, face clear as if he's any novice taking advice from a senpai, as if he the pretty-boy actor-exorcist could possibly approach these sorts of tasks in the same way as the man describing them to him.

He can't help but think to himself, wryly, that Soma was right to question whether he'd be able to follow the advice. If his options were do or die, Natori thinks he could muddle his way through it. They're talking about ayakashi, after all, not people; he knows ways to dispose of difficult ayakashi, of leveraging the threat of an exorcism against an unruly spirit. He could probably pull it off. But as much as he hates ayakashi in general, the idea of being actively cruel to them, in the name of furthering the goals of an already too-powerful ayakashi clan leader...

Natori knows what sort of acting jobs he should pass over, the sort of performances that don't suit him.]

I think I do, yes. [He smiles self-deprecatingly, lightly but comically despairing.] But your assessment was likely right the first time, Soma-san. Luckily for me and my employer both, I'm probably better suited to staying on the 'legit' side. I'm sure I'd make a mess of it, and not in the way Tenko-hime might intend me to.

Honestly, I find that surprising, but --

[ His eyebrows lift as he tilts his head to the side. He lets out a long, pleased sigh; he finally is starting to feel a little more alive now that he has food in his belly and able to rest on the bench. ]

-- I suppose not exorcists are the same, hm?

Do you? I suppose I should feel flattered. It might be a different story if most of my abilities hadn't been sealed, but as it is, I'm only working with what you see in front of you!

[He smiles his friendly media smile again, gesturing down at himself self-deprecatingly. The Natori clan specializes in paper-based spells, and boy do his arms show it (read: scrawny boy).]

Mm, and in this place it seems there are as many different types of exorcists as there are ayakashi. [That said, there's only two of them who insist on using the word 'ayakashi' instead of 'youkai' just about every time they speak, to the detriment of Natori's "pretend he doesn't know who Matoba is" mode of operations.]

And that lizard of yours?

[ He cocks his head to the side, wondering exactly what that is about. Soma feels he has been polite about it this entire time, but it is time to address the lizard in the room. ]

Is that so? [ His expression softens at that remark; he fixes his stare at Natori's face and muses to himself about what is said. The young man's hiding something, but he can't quite pin what it is. Is it the connection to Matoba? What other exorcists are present? Bad blood? The list is endless as to what it could be. ]

Have you run into many? [ Let's start there. ]

Haha, that's just a freeloader. [His face stays neutral and his voice is light as he says it, but it's still a sore spot, doubly so when it's stuck around when all of his spiritual abilities have left him. He turns his head to look over his own shoulder, towards where the lizard is currently resting on his back under his clothes, and jerks in its general direction with his thumb.] My shiki are a lot more useful, but this thing doesn't do anything at all. [As far as he knows, anyway. Gone are the days where he'd obsess over what the lizard could possibly indicate, whether it's a curse or bad luck or something feeding off his lifeforce. Instead, he's reached a stage of zen nihilism over it: either it will kill him or it won't, and there's no use wondering about it when he can't change it.] Ah, but do you want to hear something creepy? It's been on my body for as long as I can remember, but it's never once gone on my left leg. Weird, right?

[Exorcist chat can come in a sec; he needs to be self-loathing about the lizard he's incapable of exorcising first.]

[ His head cants to the opposite when the lizard is named "a freeloader." He muses over the idea that it doesn't do anything at all, but it doesn't seem to be a lie. ]

Guess that means something is not great about that left leg, hm?

[ A pause. ] Pardon me. [ Soma attempts to lean in close to reach out so that he could lightly poke Natori's cheek -- once, twice. It's missing the lizard, but he's just curious. ]

Hello. Kazuki Soma here. Are you able to communicate at all? [ He supposes he could have asked the person themselves, but as mentioned, he was just curious. ]

Probably, right? The doctors have never found anything strange about it, but I still ask at every checkup just in case!

[No he doesn't; he doesn't ask anyone questions about it anymore, not when the best guesses of the exorcist community were that he'd lose that leg one day. Zen nihilism. It is what it is.

It's not the first time that someone's tried to poke the lizard, but it is the first time did it when the lizard wasn't even visible. His cheerful expression turns quickly into sheer bafflement, though Soma gets his pokes in before Natori bats his fingers away with his hand.] It's not even-- it's on my back right now.

[Not that he wants Soma poking his back either?? He leans away like he honestly thinks Soma might follow up.]

It doesn't respond to anything, for the record. [He cuts the "and I could have told you that" tone out of his voice as much as possible, because what a power play for Soma to say he's involved in organized crime and then just poke Natori's face like that.]

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