DOWNTIME MINGLE #3

[synfluxmods]

DOWNTIME MINGLE #3

CONTENT WARNINGS: natural disaster, forced scenarios.

▶ 001. A JOB WELL DONE.

As Outsiders head back from Okinawa (or, perhaps they are already back, characters were able to leave Okinawa through the dataportal whenever) with plenty of coconut crab and mutated fish, Outsiders can expect to have the cafeteria filled with crab and fish food for the next.. well, undetermined amount of time. The power outages have been restored on the LILITH base, and while Outsiders have been enjoying their change of pace in Okinawa, there has been some celebratory news across the Outsider's ocular implants. It looks like it is a message from the big guy himself! Whoever that is. Wasn't his name.. Eiji something? Elijah?

"I'm not going to waste my time with introductions, because we have more important matters to discuss. First of all, good work. Second, while we have been met with several successes, don't let it get to your head. Third, continue following the lead of Yamakawa. ... This is why I don't do celebratory speeches. CODENAMES MONEYBAGS, DUELWIELD, BUSTERMOVE, CHAINSAW MAN and CURSE... great work. You'll see the rewards of your hard work momentarily. Report to me for a payout."

The announcement won't leave an Outsider's implant until it has been read, but just as the voice said, Outsiders will find a Sampo themed pachinko machine installed by the cafeteria near the vending machines. It looks like it's ready to be played! Why not give it a go? Because who wouldn't want to see this charm willingly.

A lot of toy companies are also wanting their skin in this game and have introduced the set of several actions figures based off Yzak and Dearka's gundams, which can be seen distributed on base. The caveat, however, is that you will need to build them piece-by-piece. Alongside this, there will also be Denji-themed plushies, even if it looks like a cross between a dog and human.

Thanks to Choso, hair care on the base has also gotten a lot better. Due to sponsorships, Outsiders are readily able to access more shampoo and conditioner options. Though, maybe thanks to the pictures on the bottle— buns are now trending.

Maybe give the pachinko machine a spin? Or try Choso's brand of shampoo your team's wing communal shower?

▶ 002. TRADITIONAL TANABATA.

The sun is hot but summer is traditionally festival season in Neo Tokyo; these old traditions have managed to hold up in this gritty society in attempts to keep a positive morale, so some citizens and organizers try to keep the tradition going and lift spirits by celebrating local festivals. Many districts and neighborhoods have their own festivals as well. One day, you might stumble onto a shopping district’s wind chime festival and the next day, you might find flyers for a neighborhood’s morning glory festival.

The largest festival of the month is the Tanabata festival. Since the holiday falls in an odd weekday this year, the main celebration is held the next weekend. Civilians and Outsiders can find various shrines, shopping centers, and community buildings with bamboo branches on display with holographic slips of paper that alternate colors. Characters that pass by may submit their wishes on their implants; a new way to keep the old tradition.

On the weekend, some stalls have been set up for people to celebrate. Attendance is low because of the heat and due to a food shortage, the options are lacking. However, there are plenty of games such as a toy shooting range with laser guns and kaiju targets. There are also goldfish catching games where people can catch a cheap goldfish drone that can “swim” in the air and water and shoot bubbles. As a bonus, LILITH will provide Outsiders with an outfit upgrade to help lift spirits. The outfit consists of a traditional summer yukata or jinbei.

Fireworks have gone out of style due to attracting kaiju attention. However, at the festival’s end, there is a drone light show. Hundreds of customized hummingbird drones take to the sky and create elaborate illuminations and shapes in the sky while music plays.

▶ 003. DR. RATIO'S RENOVATIONS.

Festival season means LILITH also has to get in on the action, and while a certain Outsider named Dr. Ratio has raised concerns over the stated of the LILITH base Library, LILITH has actually listened to his desperate plea to renovate the library. What a perfect opportunity for LILITH to use the festival as a way of raising funds so they don't have to dip into their kaiju payout funds (and pizza party fund.) It's time for LILITH's annual SUMMER FESTA. Every year, LILITH comes together with local organizations like fire stations, police stations, clinics, and nonprofits to promote public safety and awareness. It's a one day festival where people can get information about what to do to stay safe not only during kaiju attacks but in their daily lives. The funds raised at the festival will go to training, supplies, research, and maintaining services.

As usual, LILITH is raising money for disaster relief supplies and renovation projects across Neo Tokyo. Per request, LILITH has agreed to set aside some funds to help renovate the facilities on base, including the library. However, they will task the Outsiders with raising the money.

It's a festival so how they raise the money is both up up to them or they may take the suggestions according to their team placement below. Either way, Outsiders are required to work with other people on their same team but they're encouraged to make it fun. Set up game stalls, sell food, do performances, and ask for donations to raise as much money as possible for their projects. The team that raises the most money is promised a prize while the losers will be punished. Here are the team suggestions below and some of them may have some new, modern twists:

Everlight: Kingyo-sukui, which is goldfish catching with a paper scoop. Managing the takoyaki stands.
Revelation: Yoyo-tsuri, fishing for water-filled balloons with a “fishing pole” with a paper string. Managing the mask stands.
Brimstone: Shateki, shooting at targets for prizes. Managing the sparklers stands.. sparklers shouldn't catch kaiju attention, right?
Redemption: Wanage, ring toss. Managing the onigiri stands.

Outsiders will be given a week to prepare for the festival and they only have a single day to raise funds. In the evening, the winning team is announced: Revelation. All team members will receive can badges and a pizza party. A special donation will also be made to the library on their behalf: A stack full of self help books, yes, REAL books and not holograms or digital books, such as "Overcoming Your Depression for Dummies" and "How to Make Friends 101." Thank you for your effort, Team Revelation!

As for the losers, they will be given options: Sign up or the final fundraising event of the night or help clean up at the end of the festival. The final fundraiser is a punishment game where volunteers from each organization are dunked in tubs of water or pied in the face. It seems like a certain person (Seok Dang) was supposed to be LILITH’s tribute but he is nowhere to be found… maybe one of the other losers will step up and take his place to be dunked in water or pied in the face? Characters may also sign up a loser character without their consent. Come on, be a good sport!

▶ 004. MONSOON SEASON.

Despite the celebrations and attempts to raise morale, the heatwave persists in Neo Tokyo and with it, the problems from the beginning of the month. Food continues to go bad quickly and while fundraising attempts have provided some relief, the city is huge and shelf stable supplies begin to run low again. The energy crisis improves slightly with blackouts occurring less frequently as emergency personnel attempt to intervene. Though the weather is dreary, the renovations must press on! Fortunately, most of the things to do around the Library consist of staying inside. Dr. Ratio has given the following orders which Outsiders may help with in the Library:

- Install better lighting.
- Organize and add more books.
- Set up and secure tables and chairs.
- Add couches to once section of the library to convert it into a lounging area.

Characters may work together to help, or maybe they prefer to laze around and give the newly renovated Library a test run!

After a few days, finally, the rain meteorologists have promised arrives. The skies darken and heavy rain falls on the city which brings much cooler temperatures. People stay inside more often as it becomes too inconvenient to go out when the rain and wind are so strong. The rainstorms grow stronger and eventually become fully fledged storms. The ground shakes from thunder and lightning strikes light up the sky.

Everyone’s ocular implants will frequently give warnings about the weather. LILITH will task Outsiders with assisting across the city. Help evacuate citizens to higher ground during flash floods. After the storms subside, help clear the streets of debris and trees. Some neighborhoods will lose power because of lightning strikes and need their generators restored. However, every time they finish their tasks, a new storm will occur a few days later and they’ll have to repeat.

At first, it seems like the typical summer storm season but meteorologists become concerned when more storms begin to happen without following clear weather patterns and even the locals remark the season seems very active this year… could it be another kaiju? The last time Neo Tokyo had floods, it was sea water, but this is caused by heavy rain. Like clockwork, LILITH's investigating team is on the lookout for energy from a rift or any leads to what could be causing all of the heavy rain. Outsiders are instructed to keep an eye out for any emergency messages.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our third downtime mingle! While we would typically have a texting prompt, we instead have player plots for this event! Thank you Abbel and Eski for the Tanabata and festival player prompt and Sky for the Library renovations plot! We appreciate Eski for spending 500 bonus points to provide everyone with something to wear for Tanabata. For the character-run stalls as part of the renovation prompt, players are not limited to the suggestions given by the mods and are free to come up with their own stall ideas. Additionally, for characters signing up other characters for the dunk tank, please make sure you get OOC permission from their players first.

Please note also we have added new rewards: the Poison Dagger, Cat Ear Visor, and the Elemental Swords now come in the models Ice and Lightning. Please see the REWARDS page for more information.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points.

EVENT BREAKDOWN (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. A JOB WELL DONE: The kaiju heavy hitters get recognition with.. a pachinko machine and shampoo sponsorship? Outsiders can react to their fellow colleagues about this development, or maybe even talk to the winners themselves around the base.

2. TRADITIONAL TANABATA: It's Tanabata season, even in a post-apocalyptic world! Put on some old, traditional attire with your friends and enjoy a drone show.

3. DR. RATIO'S RENOVATIONS: LILITH has teamed up with the local safety personnel to get in on the festival season. Characters are encouraged to fundraise for renovations at the LILITH base Library. Teams may also visit other teams events and stands to donate, partake in, and.. maybe deliver some competitive harassment.

4. MONSOON SEASON: With the weather being hot and renovations needing done, LILITH works together to improve the Library. A few days later, the weather gets suspiciously intense and Outsiders are instructed to help civilians with power outages, flash flooding, debris from heavy wind and rain.

code

Comments

[wheft]

[ literally do not be sorry for him, queen. he deserves it. ]

Yeah, I figured. It hasn't been easy since Abnormalities are going rampant in the City. We're even tasked to suppress them if we come across them in our journey back home.

[ haha, "home". but you get what she means. ]

At least this world finds time to hold festivals...

[wheft]

[ now that got her brows to knit together in deep thought. is she satisfied? not necessarily. she doesn't have big wants in life, especially when she'd only known recently that it's okay to want big, but... ]

Not entirely. But I guess I do have it pretty good lately. It's been surreal, honestly.

[ she manages a sheepish chuckle, like any other normal person would have. she is pretty happy all things considered, and that means she is free to be slightly nosy to those who aren't yet satisfied with their own lives. ]

Considering what? No one's going to judge you if that's what you're worried about.

[ she won't judge........ maybe.... ]

[blastedass]

[It was a nice change of pace, before Yato had to step on a landmine. Luckily the explosion is over as quick as it went off, little more than a growl when the other answers him back. Is that how he continues to view himself? Even if Yato was a god in his world, that doesn't mean he's one here! Though perhaps Bakugo shouldn't be speaking; he refuses to give up his identity as a hero even when the vocation fails to exist in this world.

But reading other people's wishes is rude when you're physical! Not a single shit's given at Yato being however many centuries or more older. He's a mortal now, wandering around the world like the rest of them. Ergo, not someone to go looking at wishes when they're not written for his eyes! They're for... uh... whatever other pantheon is here. Though it's Japan, still, so technically they'd have the same gods. Probably many people stopped believing in them due to the kaiju, but with the Outsiders here, maybe? There are a number of shrines around the city, some abandoned, some shoddy, some well kept. Who the fuck knows.

Bakugo shoots Yato a glare regardless.] When someone writes one to you, dammit.

[Hell if he knows how it works. He's never been big into religious beliefs, most of his trips to shrines or festivals being out of tradition rather than any real belief.]

I said we've only been here that long. They won't tell us how long the kaiju have been attacking.

[No start date on "the first attack occurred" ever given.]

[emancipating]

[ something in zagreus' expression crumbles just a touch; the usual smile on his face colored with something not quite like sadness — longing, maybe. an old ache that looks a little out of place on his youthful features. ]

Who's to say if it is or it isn't. But I believe if it's something you want, more than anything, you'd take that chance. Even if it may seem like a waste... even if you may not get it in the end.

[blastedass]

[If he wants to run around and start generators or deal with the power grid, Kadaj can go for it. That isn't Bakugo's area of expertise. He's better at rescue operations and clearing out debris, so that's where his focus lies.

Which he starts in on right away, blowing a tree trunk in half with one hard blast. But the next one gets a pause. That's not a tree trunk. That's a power pole. He scans it over, finding it's not snapped, but rather completely "melted" free from the ground, the floodwaters washing the dirt away down to the slab it's anchored in.

Phase shifting, huh... Someone's got more skills than he let on.]

Clear the sidewalk. We'll put the pole there.

[For when the electricians return to get it properly set back up.]

[fursuit]

Sure. Or, alternate theory, you’re the first one to ditch. Just unlucky that it’s you and me, huh?

[ He’d been getting bored enough that he figured he’d slip out at the first chance, but it’s definitely ironic that it happened to be Izou that prompted it. Unlucky for Izou, anyways. Tezcatlipoca was much more neutral about the prospect.

He catches the glance to his lighter and considers it… And at least has some time to do so. He fiddles with getting it lit, which takes a try or two with the light breeze, but it’s plenty of time for Izou to start up again. He figured he might just leave it at that, so he’s a little surprised that he keeps talking and actually explains.

Well, that makes the consideration easier, at least. He doesn’t tuck them away again, but instead pops out another cig and holds it out for Izou to take. He’s not being nice, exactly, but he’ll reward Izou for doing what he wants… ]

Well, that’s the modern era for ya in general. Everything is crazy commercial. Like, I kind of respect it, since that’s human innovation for ya. But, yeah, if people still celebrated toxcatl, it’d be strange for that one to be like this. Lose the art and all that.

[ And most likely, loose the human sacrifice? Lame. ]

So, what’s this one for? That the same as your time, or has it shifted?

[blastedass]

[Good luck getting him to admit it, but apparently Bakugo and Yzak are peas in a pod when it comes to getting melodramatic angry over the stupidest shit. Because damn right would his own reaction be similar! High expectations. Easily bruised ego. Quick tempered. What a mirror match.

Which means it's WAY more enticing to keep messing with this stuck up prick. Hypocrite to the max.

Bakugo doesn't even bother looking to the side; he can straight up hear the expression on Yzak's face.]

What'd ya go deaf, weirdo?

[Don't make him spell this out for you, because he doesn't have he time for that bullshit. He dares beautifully. Just how badly is he gonna troll this guy?]

Spare parts.

[A lot.]

[busternaut]

[Heeyyyyyy, it's Bakugo! Dearka remembers him, obviously. How could he not? The grumpy teen leaves quite the impression. And it looks like he's staying true to form... Unsurprisingly, Dearka laughs.]

Hey, careful! There might be kids around who could catch you doing that.

[There aren't, at least not at the moment. But like. There COULD be.

(He is laughing when he says it. He does not actually care super much if kids happen to see a teenager flipping someone off. They're bound to get exposed to that sort of thing eventually, right??? So why wait?)]

[bemist]

[ You've got that fish.

Eventually. ]

Obsidian... [ Hm. So like the stone. Calling it a dark, smoked mirror sounds fitting. But also, there's so much poetry in that name, not something anyone from the Backstreets would speak, even when they'd made their own simplistic dialogue their own-- ]

So an overarching meaning, too. That's a pretty all-consuming name you've got.

[coordination]

Of course I am, it's tradition. [ Spoken nonchalantly (especially because he ALWAYS looks sharp) as he mirrors Dearka's movement with the takoyaki he grabs for himself; a cute little air cheers between them. The little goldfish drone "swims" down and around Yzak's arm and then up Dearka's. ] Plus, I like this festival, as well as the legend behind it.

[ And on the subject of their fits, Yzak likewise makes a note when he takes Dearka's in, (sure, he looks particularly good in his; that untapped part of Yzak's subconscious knows that he looks really good in it. but then again, Dearka himself always looks really good. but on the surface, it's just something Yzak notes as a fact as he could regarding all of these other cute and handsome outsiders celebrating today) and speaks it outloud. ]

You haven't gotten to wear something like this very often recently, either.

god talk? no. fishie,

[fursuit]

Well, got a pretty all-consuming position. Fits pretty well. I'm omni—

[ He starts to explain, but he cuts off abruptly as a fish is very much swimming into his reach. It's a good thing he has the sunglasses, because while it might not be extreme, his pupils still dilate, and with a quick, elegant swipe into the water—

Up comes a fish!

Even he seems surprised for a moment that it worked, but he's quick to break into a grin. ]

Ha! Finally! Piece of shit!

[ even cussing up a storm, his joy in this moment is pure... ]

[siffriend]

[ Siffrin stifles a laugh, looking at the... wishful gradients, the sheen odd to his colorblind eyes. It's pretty, of course. But odd. ]

If he loses his voice, we'll know what happened.

[ Poor Elysium, probably. ]

... Have you met anyone you'd like to meet again?

BOTH BOYS YOU SHALL HAVE!!

[busternaut]

[Heeyyyy, there's their fellow pilot. Feeling a little judgemental, maybe? Or maybe jealous? Doesn't matter. Dearka shrugs it off with a little smirk. He doesn't feel ashamed about taking advantage of the situation becauuuusse...]

Eh, it's all for a good cause, right? Nothing saying you couldn't use yours to the same effect for Brimstone.

[He pauses, tilts his head and kind of glances curiously at Elan askance.]

...I suppose I can see why you might also want to avoid that, though.

[They haven't really had the chance to talk much in the time since that ocular glitch let him snoop in on Elan's... Dream??? Memory?? Whatever the hell it was. But he's been wondering about it a lot.]

[blastedass]

[He'd be insulted if Dearka forgot him. Good thing he met the pilot before the gundam; he would've recognized his mech instead. Good to know this guy's not lost any of his cheer from the Vegas experience.]

So what?! They've seen worse!

[These kids live in a world where monsters show up every damn month! A middle finger and some curse words aren't going to scar them. Is Dearka some kind of family man, guardian of childhood?

As much as Bakugo would like to blast himself up to sit on the mech, he's at least respectful of the limits and rules. Just cause he knows the pilot doesn't mean he gets to cut in line. (Though he'd say he should be able to...)]

Who gets to ride in it?

[zauneyete]

[ His tone lowered slightly; ]

Ah, it's a proper scam, then?

[ Silco, you can't just say that. Does he care? Not really, but his lips curl slightly at the thought of it being a rip off. Sure, he doesn't actually care about the charity, but he does enjoy a little criminal enterprise, no matter how it manifested. Call it his natural predisposition. The fact that it's less genuine actually seems to relax the man slightly, his shoulders not quite so tight and high, his grip on the gun a touch more relaxed, and casual. ]

I can't imagine anyone without reason to use one here. [ He said a touch louder, but then he did casually lift the weapon, and pointed it at one of the targets, and pulled the trigger, and — ]

[bemist]

... They're actually rampaging in the City... [ Well, maybe that was only natural. There were other branches of Lobotomy Corp. Not all of the Abnormalities had been sealed inside the Library, lying dormant until suppressed again.

That's not a task she'd really want Ishmael to have to deal with, but she can't really be that useful now, can she. ]

It doesn't seem like a daily problem, at least. Not here. But it's still weird as hell to see everyone being so involved in things.

[zauneyete]

Don't know, but it is to me.

[ He answered, but while Silco was a smart man who used his brains to get himself out of plenty situations, he was neither a genius nor a particularly curious man about anything other than his tiny little corner of the gathered universes. Which meant someone else's culture? Only useful enough for what it got him. ]

You have it correct, though. I don't wish to be here. In fact, if one were to deposit me back where I came before, I would be rather pleased.

You can't tell me you want to... help with all this nonsense, do you?

[ This Nonsense, meaning everything from this festival to... well. Everything they were being asked to do. ]

[zauneyete]

Oh no! [ He said, a soft gasp and his hand to his mouth. ] Hated? By the masses more focused on doing what they see as Righteous? [ His tone turned from surprised to deep, and dour. His lips curled down into a sneer. ] Say it isn't so.

[ To be fair, when people hated and derided him, he did better. It also confirmed a suspicion that Silco held, that the people here, the ones brought with them were by and large the type to see themselves as heroes. The type to think they were doing right no matter what they were doing. ]

And while they proclaim themselves the heroes, these people here do nothing more than grow lazy and fat on our efforts. I could care less if they hate me for it, they do them no service by solving the problem for them.

So no, I'm not interested in being a commodity for them. [ The lives, bodies, and suffering in his wake attested to that fact. He would never be a commodity for anyone, especially those who wanted to use it to save themselves. He'd had too much he was working for, that they have taken him away from.

He paused, and exhaled a thick plume of smoke into the air. ]

You speak from experience? With regard to how they... feel. About subversive tendencies?

[emancipating]

[ hate that u would do this to me

anyway, zagreus' expression turns a little sheepish once he sees that he didn't actually offend wriothesley, glad to know he didn't mess things up this early. ]

It's still your wish, is it not? It doesn't have to be unique. At the heart of it, don't most mortals want the same things?

[zauneyete]

[ His eyes flick to the blade, before he blinked (one eye) and then his gaze returned to his face, and his lips twitched. ]

Do I look like I'm winning any fights?

[ Hands spread, to gesture toward himself. Look at him, he's practically skin and bones. ]

No, no, I would prefer not. Call it only curiosity, given not very many people have returned from our benefactor's sanctions activities looking quite so... [ his head tipped, as if he's searching for a word that isn't "covered in gore" ] messy.

It only makes me wonder what he did.

[ He doesn't move, but there's no hostility in his frame, surprisingly. There's also no fear, or hesitation, despite the (softly) implied threat. ]

[assassinsgreed]

Ishmael. Hm.

_{[ He’s thinking for a moment; how to phrase something like this tactfully. He idly drums two of his fingers on his chin. ]}

We decided not to anymore.

_{[ He does not need to drag Ishmael’s personal business into this conversation. She and Toji had a clear heart to heart about things and agreed on the same thing: pursuing romance with their respectful interests. And typically, Toji wouldn’t be verbal about being in a relationship, but he’s very smitten and proud of the girl he has, and Izou, unfortunately, is the person he feels comfortable talking to about this. ]}

I have a woman, now, and I devoted myself to her. Not sure what Ishmael is doing. Not my business.

[sensehispresence]

[ Foods were new to Kadaj. So, he doesn't expect the other to have hope that he'd like the food. Was it meant to taste a certain way? He didn't really know. Though, he did find that he liked it. ]

Is it better with fruit in it?

[ Yuji was, if the other wasn't careful, going to ruin him where foods were concerned. Or, at the very least, where rice balls were concerned.

That isn't to say that he doesn't take the new one from Yuji to take a bite out of it. This one? He isn't entirely sure if he likes but it might be due to the slight hint of sourness from the plum. Or maybe it was something else that he couldn't quite pinpoint. ]

[gundemn]

[ Okay, sounds easy enough. Unless the other kid is also a trained marksman secretly masquerading as a civilian, Elan thinks he has this competition in the bag. He won't go in for the kill though, firing with the intention to throw some shots to keep their scores close and the competition intense. Perhaps belying his experience, he himself looks relaxed while it's going on and even glances Ishmael's way. ]

What do I get if I win?

TANABATA

[zauneyete]

[ He had not been willing to submit a wish, actually. He'd been passing by, only taking a moment to pause and consider his surroundings, when Zagreus approached, with the soft question of what he had wished for.

Now, two things happen in this moment. First of all, he is asked a question that is... relatively probing. One that has a lot of context, anger, and desperation laced to it. Second of all, he turned his head slightly, to meet the questioner's gaze head-on, and a single eye blinked a touch owlishly, because. Well. He's never seen someone with a gaze quite like his own before. ]

That's a rather personal question, isn't it? [ He asked automatically, his mouth moving even as his eye blinked, almost curiously. ] I didn't make one.

[ His lips twitch. He wouldn't wish for what he wanted anyway, not where someone could see, or hear it, or who knew if LILITH could see. He didn't dare. After all, he'd nearly had it, when it had been ripped away from him, on arrival here. (He hadn't been close.) ]

[gundemn]

[ The unexpected suggestion draws out a snort of amusement from Elan (Formerly). ]

What, like yours?

[ Honestly, he's put aside thinking about a new name for now. Especially when there are other, more pressing matters bothering him, like the constant threat of death or kaiju meat on his cafeteria plate. ]