synfluxmods: (Default)
𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚡 𝙼𝚘𝚍𝚜 ([personal profile] synfluxmods) wrote in [community profile] synflux2025-05-15 08:31 am

DOWNTIME MINGLE #8

DOWNTIME MINGLE #8


CONTENT WARNINGS: disease, epidemics, COVID-like illness, lockdowns

▶ 001. WINNER'S CIRCLE

In light of everyone's recent help with both the ocean exploration and the clinical trials, the Outsiders will return one day to a surprisingly well-decorated area within the mess hall at the Kyoto base. It's been adorned with some of the flowers that have wildly bloomed on the outskirts of the city in various areas, as well as those that the researchers had been personally working on fostering in the LILITH greenhouses. Beneath it will be not a pizza party for once, and charcuterie and other donated food items will be there for Outsiders to enjoy. There is even some recognizable cuisine from Egypt for them as well!
GOOD JOB:
FORGERY (K.O.)
AKATSUKI (600)
BANKERBOY (600)
Thanks to the Outsiders’ hard work, they are met with positive reception by the general public, which seems to have grown astronomically since the past two missions. This has only grown from their recent success abroad. Per usual, there are a few oddities that have caught on in the city.

While Neo Tokyo has always been noted as being a city of technology (even with their dwindling resources), a new trend of collecting swords has sparked in the city. Maybe they've seen it in certain Outsiders, but the idea of both collecting swords, displaying them, or even holding exhibitions for them have become more common. Some have even taken to hunting for them in the wild.

If any Outsiders are interested, there appears to be several posts online in which they think older blades may be laying in sleep. But, as with most rumors, there's no guarantee it isn't a wild goose chase.

On TV, the new spring line up is out. A new live action series featuring a group of friends who fight kaiju using mecha has made its debut. Their mecha are animal themed and can combine to create a super mecha. The new lead is a hot headed female character with a lion mecha, which spawns a line of action figures in stores across the city. The lion mecha is the most popular and often resold online for inflated prices. Maybe an Outsider can get their hands on one without paying the scalping fee?

Oftentimes when it comes to the Outsiders and the general masses, there's a distinct disconnect. Which is why it all seems to hinge on rumors and hearsay. Who knows where the information stems from, but they heard a certain Outsider has a liking for bread. There will be no shortage of bread sponsorships for the base, though... some may be far more experimental. However, some claim lab-grown bread may actually be tastier? Only one way to put it to the test. The lab-grown bread conveniently also comes in cans.

▶ 002. FROM SUMER WITH LOVE.

Around the same time, a few LILITH employees show signs of a common cold – nothing noteworthy at first really, if only out-of-season. But then the disease starts spreading at an alarming rate within the headquarters, its symptoms evolving from a mere cold to a severe life-threatening flu. Preliminary analysis reveals the disease to be unlike any known on this planet – perhaps this is why no medicines work. Symptoms include chest pain, trouble breathing, nausea, excessive vomiting and diarrhea, chills and high fever.

To make matters worse, news from LILITH locations around the world reveal all known bases to be afflicted by the same mysterious epidemic, only affecting LILITH staff and not Outsiders at this time. This cannot be a coincidence: LILITH is under attack.. but how is something like this possible?

As researchers race to try and understand the disease, LILITH will request everyone to quarantine themselves on base for the safety of the public. Gradually, the disease spreads across the base only for tests to reveal: the Outsiders are left unaffected.

As the month progresses, more and more of LILITH’s employees find themselves bedridden with the deadly disease until by the 30th of May, only Outsiders are left standing and healthy; all the LILITH crew has been affected. The civilian population outside the base is safe for now, but for how long? Unless something is done, it is estimated all humans working for LILITH will be dead by late June.

"Greetings, my children. Worry not. I come here to report some concerning news: both Captain Yamakawa and Commander Shiro have fallen gravely ill. Since I am an A.I assistant, my health is optimal. Seok Dang has also fallen ill, though he is still in denial of it. I will do my best to take care of each and every one of— "


"BULLSHIT!! This is nothing! I've had hangovers worse than this, you hear me? Calm your terabyte-tits, bitch. I'm here. There ain't nothin' that is gonna stop me, in fact, with the higher ups feelin' like shit, that would put me in command, right? W-Wait, hold that thought, I.. feel like I'm gonna throw up."


Seok Dang tried to stay on the line, but all that was heard was gut-wretching vomiting, to which SYNTHIA promptly cuts his connection. Sorry about that.

It is up to the Outsiders to find the source of the disease and resolve the crisis before all hope is lost. Is this somehow related to those Outsiders who recently disappeared? Wait, aren’t there a few Outsiders here who have seen this flu before and can recognize it…?

▶ 003. LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCKDOWN.

While everyone is quarantined on base, they are encouraged to communicate with each other through the network. During this time, they can do research, share ideas, and try to figure out what is happening as the disease spreads across base and around the world.

While they are in lock down, LILITH encourages the Outsiders to pick up some new hobbies and interests to keep themselves active. They will have access to various workout videos. Some of the videos are hosted by cyborg coaches that expect Outsiders to do things with their bodies that probably aren't physically possible. Other Outsiders might get simple ovens and jars of suspicious "starters" to bake. Of course, there are other hobbies like growing miniature artificial plants, board games, virtual reality games, and more to keep them interested while they're trapped inside!

After about a week, when it becomes obvious the Outsiders are unaffected, they will be allowed to leave their rooms and roam freely to assist. LILITH does not understand why they are not affected but they are depending on the Outsiders for help now more than ever.

Though they are free to wander and seem to be immune for the time being, LILITH warns if they experience any cold-like symptoms, they should report their status and quarantine immediately.

▶ 004. AFTERWORD + SPECIAL NOTE.

Welcome to May's downtime mingle! All tags on this log are worth 2 points.

The June Event is a player plot that is going to differ from regular events in a few ways: Outsiders have to find the location for the next Kaiju fight on their own using hints given in the From Sumer With Love prompt, and correlating them with the past and ongoing disappearance of various Outsiders. They can use LILITH’s equipment to look for anomalies across the globe, however there is not enough time to scan or contact every region in the world. Outsiders need to guess where the anomaly likely is before they can get confirmation. There is a PLOTTING post for this event over here.

Furthermore, they will have to reach this destination through their own means as there is no LILITH staff left to fly them there. Vehicles can be requisitioned, but will have to be flown by Outsiders on their own. This also means Outsiders are free to stay behind at the base if they prefer, as nobody will force them to go. Pain-relieving medicines can also be developed if the true nature of the disease is found and the appropriate characters work on it, though nothing short of defeating the anomaly will solve this crisis and save everyone.

Last but not least: this event will have two Kaiju battles, one on each log as well as many different challenges the Outsiders will have to solve on their own if they want to save LILITH and bring home their missing friends! Please use this thread to ask questions and offer your proposals as to what the Outsiders should do (location guessing, transport, etc). Proposals made in this thread will affect the first and second prompts of the first log.


EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)
1. WINNER'S CIRCLE: The heavy hitters/KO winners of the last kaiju fight receive their sponsorships and inspire new trends, including an interest in collecting swords, a new live action series (like Power Rangers), and free bread.

2. FROM SUMER WITH LOVE: A mysterious disease spreads across LILITH's bases. The symptoms are like the common cold/flu but much more severe. There is currently no cure. Outsiders seem to be immune to the disease. After quarantining, they are encouraged to investigate and come up with plans for the battle to come.

3. LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCKDOWN: While on lockdown, Outsiders are encouraged to try some new hobbies. They can also communicate through the network and do research to uncover additional clues and come up with more plans.
coordination: (10 years ago Twitter was a bird sound)

[personal profile] coordination 2025-05-30 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm neither!!

[ He bristles up like a cranky cat. Good work on how fast you made that happen, Muramasa, even though it's not near the record time. ]

I'm the opposite of those things, actually!! And what I said wasn't even untrue.

[ Now he's giving this guy a once over, raising an eyebrow. It's not dismissive, because he's been here long enough to know not to judge any short, young looking book by its cover. (he looks adult aged by his own peoples' standards anyway)

And because due to that aforementioned nosiness, he wants to watch what he's doing. ]
misclassed: FANART; <user name="misuko_mm" site="twitter.com"> (☸ 96)

[personal profile] misclassed 2025-05-30 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Really?

[ It's just spreading clay onto metal, which shines a dull, barely polished silver color in the afternoon light. It even looks easy — a testament to just how good is at his work. Part of the effect comes from the way his hands steady and gentle, as if he were working with ink and a brush rather than a chisel covered with dark grey clay.

The other part, unfortunately, is in his ability to snark back at Yzak without even looking at him.
]

'Cause you could have fooled me, just now.
coordination: (The ugly comes from my mom)

[personal profile] coordination 2025-05-30 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe that's a you problem.

[ The snarkening continues.

As someone who knows what skill looks like due to his own extremely long list of them (which thank god he doesn't brag about right now to make this worse), he notes Muramasa's ease of the craft.

Of course as a folklore and history nerd, he's familiar with the name Muramasa. But even despite that, swordmaking itself isn't something he's too knowledgeable about, he's from the future. So even keeping his own blade he carries with him sharp is as easy as using the sharpening tools that come with their weapons kits. ]


Has he been behaving? Aventurine.
misclassed: FANART; <user name="desu_wayo" site="twitter.com"> (☸ 167)

[personal profile] misclassed 2025-06-10 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd be a poor host, to complain about my guest. [ fuck you man he's not telling you shit.

But some things speak for themselves: like the quiet, peaceful feeling of standing in Muramasa's forge. The way one of Aventurine's cats sits on the step leading up into the small of the main building. The lack of dramatic posts on the network or flying flamboyant monsters, clad in a fragment of a god's power. The fact that Aventurine has finally started joining him at mealtimes. But he's not telling anyone that.

(The same way Muramasa will never tell anyone that he looked at Aventurine the first time they met, and saw a heart that had suffered, raw and angry at the world, suffering that had eclipsed the rest of him when Ratio disappeared.)

He owes Aventurine a sword, that's all. And until he gets it, Muramasa will make sure Aventurine lives to get it.

Pausing, Muramasa sets aside his clay chisel, and extends a hand towards Yzak.
]

You said you brought a blade? Give it here.
Edited (punctuation.) 2025-06-11 00:26 (UTC)
coordination: (pic#16729276)

[personal profile] coordination 2025-06-13 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's not poor hosting to complain if the guest is being a little goblin ass, though!

Yzak notes the atmosphere, though. Ironically, because a peaceful one is something he doesn't find himself in very often so it's that much more potent when he's in it.

He does as suggested, reaching for his combat knife to hand it over to Muramasa. It's ... pretty well taken care of! Some wear for sure, but someone likes ensuring that he's always prepared to stab someone efficiently if needed. ]