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.

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Comments

[fursuit]

[ He nods in response to the name, then again with the clarification about the teams. Like, that’s what LILITH had said, sure, but is that how it actually panned out? That was what he was curious about. ]

Good to know. Last place that I was hangin’ wasn’t quite so egalitarian. But better to be workin’ together with dire circumstances and whatever.

[ He waves a hand dismissively, which might be answer enough to the question. But after taking a quick drag on the cigarette and pulling it away, he nods. ]

But, yeah, I am. Used to do it a hell of a lot more, but there just aren’t that many in my world anymore. [ But he chuckles, then adds: ] Well, unless you count intelligent dinosaurs, I guess. There’s plenty of them, and I went huntin’ for them not infrequently.

[ his canon is normal, ]

[lifeprice]

It's worth getting to know your teammates either way, if you want to work together with them. Some of the missions will include being in teams with them, but when we fight the kaiju we just need to kill them.

[ Aki doesn't think he knows that many people in Revelation, but that's because his closest friends are in Everlight, so he spends a little bit more time there. ]

I don't know if I count intelligent dinosaurs, but...

[ That's. Certainly interesting. ]

They happen fairly regularly, every few months or so. Between those missions, we take care of the city and travel around doing whatever else LILITH wants us to do.

[fursuit]

[ Tezcatlipoca nods, since that’s indeed quite the change. He’ll miss the conflict of bitter factions for sure, but at least there’s still a war for the fate of the world. He can be satisfied with that. ]

Yeah, I’ve noticed that. Admittedly, takin’ care of the city and its people ain’t exactly my speed. Fightin’ the kaiju, fine, but bein’ a caretaker this way, eh. Should be up to the people here, since it’s not like we’re sticking around.

[ He knows that’s not something most people would agree with, though. He just has a different view on “help”, since his help tends to be weightier than most. Not here, sure, but he still wouldn’t change his mind regardless of how much power he has. ]

…So, how’s it been? Good gig or a shit one?

[lifeprice]

Some of us have been here for up to six months. It might not be 'sticking around', but we're living here as well. It's sensible, to try and keep it as taken care of as possible.

[ Not that Aki necessarily goes out of his way that often to deal with the people here, or take care of them, but he does what he has to do. He's happy enough to do that, because he is living here - and it reminds him enough at home.

Glancing back over, he takes another long drag of his cigarette. ]

It's fine. Just like home for me.

[fursuit]

Oh, huh, only six months? Figured it was longer.

[ He makes a thoughtful noise, since he’s not sure which side his misconception falls on. Are the people he’s talked to just well acclimated? Or maybe it’s just a gap in what he’d expect from people… Both are possible, and it works for him either way. If LILITH’s “chosen” are this adaptable, he considers that a positive.

But as Aki looks his way and gives his answer, Tezcatlipoca tosses him a little smirk. ]

Yeah, same. Actually, it’s a lil’ less dire. [ That’s true of his previous stop and the Lostbelt both, so he shrugs with a little laugh. ] But, hey, glad to hear it, in a way. If LILITH was pickin’ people that didn’t know what they were doing, I’d be concerned.

[lifeprice]

Do I give that impression?

[ Aki wouldn't say he's one of the more put together people here, but he is one who is more accustomed to fighting monsters than not, so he's fine with it. He's adjusted here, mostly because he's alive and he doesn't have to worry about the Future, in the literal sense.

Nodding, he flicks the ash off the end of his cigarette. ]

That would be more work for us, and for them, so it seems unlikely.

[ Imagine having to train people between fighting kaiju. Annoying. ]

We're well equipped, if nothing else.

[fursuit]

Sure, but in the same way that most of the people I’ve met so far do. Just the impression that this is all routine. Speaks well for how people adjust, I guess.

[ He shrugs, but it is something he’s interested to note. Considering where he’d come from, he thinks this group is doing better than the last one in that regard. ]

—But I also got a special interest in that kind of thing. Might be an old-fashioned word for it, since I dunno how many people here would pick it for themselves, but. I favor warriors. So, not surprised that I showed up, in a sense.

[ Obviously, the way he talks about it is strange, even setting aside the “old-fashioned” nature of how he phrases it. It’s distant and a bit impersonal, like this is something that happens to him all the time. ]

[lifeprice]

I’m used to fighting Devils, which aren’t that different from kaiju, so maybe it’s that. It is routine for me, in a way.

[ To Aki, at least, this is simply an extension of the life that he had been leading before he’d come here. Fighting these monsters isn’t that different from Devils, and the truth of the matter is that in some ways they’re easier. He has his contracts, he has the ability to fight, and he has his family.

What more could he need?

His eyebrow does raise at the idea of ‘favouring warriors’, though. ]

You’re not shocked to wake up in a place like this?

[fursuit]

Devils, huh? Yeah, don’t imagine that’s an easy gig, so good training for this one, I guess.

[ Granted, he’s not confident that he knows what Aki means, since even besides the different worlds thing, devils just weren’t really a thing in his mythology. That’s a word that came solidly from the East, though he’s been observing the world long enough since to at least have picked up the vibe, same as kaiju.

To the question, he shrugs again, then it’s his turn to flick off some ash. ]

But, nah, not really. Technically, was hangin’ out in a place in a similar situation before here, but even beyond that. The idea itself ain’t that strange. ‘Course, I prefer to be asked, and I’ll give LILITH a piece of my mind about that once I find someone more accountable for the process itself…

[ He means shoot them. Don’t worry about it. But as he gets to his point, he tosses Aki a small, muted little grin. ]

I’m a god. So, I got different knowledge of the way the world works. Makes this annoying, not a surprise.

[lifeprice]

[ It’s obvious from the look on Aki’s face that he doesn’t quite believe that the man he’s talking to is a God, but given the fact that the man he’s dating is literally a sword spirit… It makes it at least a little more believable. He doesn’t question it for now, but his expression flickers. ]

It’s hard to speak to anyone in charge. It’s easy to meet to doctor, especially if you need surgery, and the people who run missions can sometimes send messages.

[ As Aki mentions surgery, he wiggles his fingers absently. ]

Things here could be worse. I’m not saying they’re perfect, but it could be far more dangerous.