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jigokufever2022-06-24 11:00 am
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-06-24 11:00 am
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June 2022 Test Drive
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. CLEAN UP
The curse has broken, finally banishing the oppressive air around the city and the many sightless eyes of the accursed haniwa. Life will have to return to normal now but first there is lingering clean-up that must be attended to:SHUTEN CLAN
The Shuten Clan is out in force to rebuild damaged storefronts. Eager oni appear in their festival happi, singing oni working tunes. You can pick up the words easily enough, join in and help out. The mood starts bright, but after a number of unlucky accidents there is less singing and more grumbling. The cursed energy left behind has made all of you much more prone to workplace accidents but the storefronts need to be scrubbed, broken glass needs sweeping, new furniture needs construction. There are any number of thumbs smashed by hammers, hands cut on saws, heads hit with falling debris or that board of wood you didn’t see someone carrying towards you. It’s a cursed day to be out on the job.
Rewards will come in the form of free drinks for a week from specific bars and a generous amount of chips for the casinos. If you aren’t of age to drink or gamble? Well… they’ll look the other way this time. Have fun.
It should be noted that the uniform -- a happi, a hachimaki, and fundoshi -- is required. The Shuten Clan is very traditional, after all.TAMAMO CLAN
The bathhouses in Tamamo clan territory remain full of bloodied water. They need to be drained and scrubbed to make them new again. However, reaching the drains is a tricky business. You can’t simply reach in to pull out the plug, you will have to wade into the water to twist it free. Easy enough, right?
Unfortunately, residual curse energy has made this a very dangerous task. Phantasmal hands will reach out and try to drag you under as you get too close to the drain. The phantasms can be distracted, so you’ll need some teamwork to succeed. Your reward is a significant amount of free bath coupons. Some of the advertised baths even have “special” properties. Take the chance to relax, you probably need it.
Those that are rejuvenated in the newly purified baths will find themselves with seemingly limitless vigor. That vigor may sometimes manifest in the form of desperately needing to fuck the first thing willing to do so. Which might turn out somewhat embarrassing...SUTOKU CLAN
The residual cursed energy in the Sutoku Alliance territory has congregated in their many arcades. The prizes in the UFO catcher machines seem off and they keep shifting around. If you happen to win a prize, the prize slot snaps shut on your hand with amazing force: the machine out for blood. To clear the curse, the prizes need to be removed from the machines and purified with the help of a local shrine maiden. Unfortunately, the key ring to open the machines has been stolen by some of the unruly prizes. You will need to use your UFO catcher skills to fish it back out.
Try not to lose any fingers.
Other machines are shooting tokens out of their coin slots at astonishingly painful speeds. A strange phenomenon, as even the machines that take swipe cards are doing it. Where are those tokens even coming from? You will have to get the machines open and give them a deep cleaning to get all the residual blood off the coins and mechanisms. You need the same keys that are stuck inside the UFO catcher…. Better hope you can fish out the one you need.
For your troubles, you will be given unlimited free plays for a month. Perfect for winning a totally-not-cursed prize for your sweetie.ENMA DEPARTMENT
It’s the Department of the Enma’s turn to go begging for good will. They are considered to be mostly responsible for the way the cursed haniwa were handled in the first place. Enma souls should get out on the streets and see what the people need: Food, clean water, housing repairs and maintenance, as well as exorcisms. They’re all high on people’s priority lists and most people want it done pronto. Try not to get snappy with the angry people, the department’s reputation is on the line.
The Enma is slated to give a press conference at some point. It's up to the rest of the Department to assure that there will be reception to his words. They are likely to be of grave importance to the rest of the city.
A hard day’s work is its own reward, but you’ll also get a day pass to a theme park on the edge of the city – in the name of community outreach, of course.
2. GHOST SHARKS
The very streets themselves are treacherous with residual curses. The isonades may have been intimidated out of town for the moment but the anger of their ancestors lingers in the bloody puddles that still glisten in the streets. Come too close to these puddles and spectral sharks will lunge from beneath the surface: Blood for blood! Lives for lives!
While spectral in nature, the teeth on these sharks can still do real harm to anyone they lash out at. They don’t seem to take damage in kind, but will pop and disperse for a moment when struck. The ghostly sharks are being populated by a magic totem that has been partially buried in the dirt of a local park. Destroy it and the sharks will disappear.
Unfortunately, a pack of snotty local children have taken a shine to this magic totem. They are not keen to let you take it from them, nor break it. It’s theirs. It’s special. If you’re feeling brutish or cruel, you can fight the children or deceive them, but your boss would probably suggest you try to bargain with them for appearance’s sake. They’re entirely unreasonable though, as children can be, and it will be quite a chore to get them to agree to your terms.
3. CURSED CORNERS
There are certain corners and alleyways which are simply predisposed to gather cursed energy. These areas are still haunted enough to affect the reality around you. You may experience hallucinations or visions of lost loved ones, past regrets, personal failings. These visions are played out in the area for all to see. You will remain frozen in place until your moment is done, or someone brave comes to pull you out.
Now that the worst of it is over, some of the more morbid and voyeuristic members of the public may be lurking around these haunted areas, waiting to see what horrors will be unveiled. They have out their phones and their cameras to record the show.
The cruelest of the spectators provide commentary to their social media followings as they observe. Anything for that monetization!
The biggest of the streams is a kerakera onna who goes by her channel name: Lipsticki. She leans in over the rooftops to cackle loudly at people’s misfortunes and give petty, scathing commentary about their misdeeds and failings.
4. THE ENMA SPEAKS (PLOT RELEVANT)
Outside the hospital where the Enma was being treated, there is a huge press gathering. The judge arbiter has been deemed fit enough to release. Hungry for word, journalists from every publication swarm the area. Most press-outlets in the city are controlled by the Sutoku Alliance, who have a vested interested in interrogating the Enma.
A number of other onlookers have tacked on as well, including Lost Souls both old and new. Lost Souls may even find themselves ordered to attend the statement by their faction.
It is assumed that the Enma must have something of grave importance to say, after all.
The Enma approaches the podium. He is dressed in his usual suit, his crown, and his stern expression; it puts a hush over the crowd through its tremendous pressure alone. No questions have been asked, yet, but a statement has been prepared. He clears his throat:
"The cause of the curse, the enemy of Jigokucho, is... Haniyasu. The Department's focus will be shifting to determining our next action in regards to this entity. That is all."
Just like, the Enma's secretary and a retinue of armored shinigami move to flank the Enma and guide them to a waiting limo down the steps. The press yells their questions over one another, but are pushed back. The Enma doesn't even seem to perceive them, simply focusing on getting into the car.
Unfortunately, if you're a representative for one of the factions -- especially the Department of the Enma -- that makes you fair game to hound for questioning too. Do you stand your ground or try to run away?
[[banner art by s-tokimura]]
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no subject
Meanwhile, the poor frog croak-squeaked, but didn't seem to really mind being handled so roughly- his voice warbled like an accordion when he went to speak, but it was still bright and hopeful. ]
Kawase-san is right! We're all here to help you!!
[ ...being cheered on by his imaginary creation was actually a little cringe, even to Tama. Even if this wasn't the first time. His cheeks colored, and he looked even more pointedly away. ] You should know I don't have any senses to come back to...Kawase's the one who always says so. [ More petulance, and a pout, but he wanted to help bring levity, maybe. Even if he'd started this whole thing. ] And I wasn't the only one who missed you. We didn't celebrate Minakami's birthday because it didn't feel right, without all of us together. So...if we're all here, if it all happened...then I want to keep sticking together. I...want that daisy-chain, and to be our obnoxious selves, that nobody else can stand...okay?
no subject
[He falls silent after that. "Come to your senses"... something about that settles in his mind, next to the odd twist of emotion on seeing Tamamori exuberantly greet Kawase at first, or his own immediate feeling of freefall when Kawase had dragged him out of the crowds that had nothing to do with being physically off-balance, or Kawase's stunned look during that "duel". There's something...]
[He breaks out of his reverie for a second, sounding puzzled:] Story? [He'd remember if any of Tama's writings had a little frog yokai, right? Unless it was one of the ones Kawase had "reviewed" first. Come to think, that was the most likely answer. Oi.] Eh, you made your point, put him down.
[that word again... why are you two like this..... Somehow, somewhere, across the underworld, Minakami can tell Tama's dragon friend has their ears pricked up. He clears his throat, feeling the colour rise in his face again, trying not to rouse the tsukumogami around them as he does so.]
It's true, you know. It's one of the first things he said, when we ran into each other here. [The first part of that, he... also can't deny it, said out loud like that. This is mortifying, all of it, everything being said; more than anything he wishes this could all be understood somehow without saying so. Ah, and yet that's how they all got into this mess to begin with, isn't it?] ...why do you think I followed you two to the capital? Even though you know I-I wasn't... I only... wanted to see you all succeed, and be a part of it.
no subject
He can remember, those few years ago, when he'd announced his plans. At the time, he hadn't known what would happen, if he would just move on to the capital alone, and his two dearest friends would stay in a village that still felt like home. Even in his loneliness, he hadn't expected both of them to come with him; and he's not sure, after everything, if it was a blessing or a curse.
But even hearing... all of this... He could still remember that day a month or so ago, when they'd originally celebrated Minakami's birthday. For some reason it had always felt like it would be the last time, maybe in no small part because of his effort to hide the truth about Hanazawa and Ikeda. In the end, it had been that man from the future's fault, but... Being together again, like they'd always been (like they always should've been), wanting to stay together, and being missed... He's overjoyed, honestly, like that flushed sort of tingling after a fit of vertigo. It was something he couldn't have even dreamed about. But he still can't help but feel like that happiness and gratitude and relief was festering inside him, like what he'd desperately tried to dig out on the train back to Aizu. Especially with something so fragile.
He ends up forgetting Minakami's chastisement, squeezing the Frog Man between his hands a little too tightly... but he comes back to attention when he realizes it, and quickly places the poor frog back on the ground.]
...Okay.
[Quiet, almost a whisper; though probably not for the sake of the poor, sleeping tsukumogami. But it's soft, without any of the bite he can never seem to remove. He takes a small, careful step out of the way, so he could turn and actually look at both of them despite the lack of eye contact; or at least so it doesn't feel like he's the one being looked at.]
As long as it's the two of you, I'd be happy. Even if I'm not good enough, if it's still what you want... Then I can't say no. [Maybe he does actually sound a little happy, in spite of himself.]