jigokucho | EMBER 2.0 - A Social App for Lost Souls! [July Substory]

UPDATE 7.17.2022
EMBER 2.1 (OVERFLOW)

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The EMBER Application icon flashes alive on the homescreen of all the Lost Soul devices across Jigoku-cho. Not a surprise if your character has been using it since launch, but perhaps unsettling to newbies or those who deleted it previously. It pops open on it's own, welcoming the user and telling them that all Lost Souls need to update to the newest version!

It doesn't specify by whose order, or if it actually is mandatory, but why think too hard about it? A lengthy and extremely technically worded Terms of Service appears, even if it's been gone through before, it has some updates. Again, why scroll up to read all that? There's a large ACCEPT button front and center! (There doesn't seem to be a Decline button. Closing out of the App is the only way to not agree... Might want to just delete the App to be safe.)

Accepting moves users forward to App Permissions! A Helpful Window says "Accept All and your profile will be quickly updated or auto-generated for you! Great for speeding set up along! (Recommended)". If that doesn't sway, then each Permission question can be prompted individually. The subsequent windows ask for a variety of totally standard and absolutely above board access prompts. Location Data, Photo/Video Access, etc etc etc- Yes or No! REMINDER: The app will function better if all access is granted!

It doesn't seem to matter what is pressed- all, some, or nothing- the App moves forward for users regardless.
Have fun connecting with your fellow Lost Souls!
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WELCOME to EMBER 2.0
A Social Network for Lost Souls!
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EXAMPLE PROFILE

YDRIS (Immortal)
SUTOKU ALLIANCE
☆☆☆☆☆ Creator

✓ ✕
FUCK | FIGHT

STAR RANK
For "who even knows why" reasons, users on Ember now have ☆'s denoting... something. The only clarity is that they come with a Title besides them. These are not, as it might first seem, faction star rankings. They're just something new! The example profile has the highest rank to be found, 5 stars and the title of Creator.

Everybody else gets between 1 and 4 stars with what seems like an algorithmically generated title. These could be anything from ☆ Stink Man up to more illustrious ☆☆☆☆ Faction Hero.

(These cannot be edited or changed ICly by a character and are fully an OOC choice of rank and title! Characters who know Ydris will find themselves with more curated titles, though not necessarily nicer ones.)

Higher star ranks seem to be weighted in favor of getting Green Checkmarks via the algorithm. Hmm.

SWIPE ¹

Swipe Left or Right, accepting the green or red... proposals? Is that what they are? The App immediately starts a Live Chat between the two parties, complete with recommendations for either highly rated Love Hotels or... discreet alleyways with nearby emergency clinics. (These might get presented to the wrong matches from time to time, coding is hard).

ALGORITHM
Stalling on the profile for more than a few seconds results in a loading graphic of a little dancing fire. **Calculating!** it says;

Ding! The In App Algorithm has decided for you! How convenient. The person whose profile was being looked at automatically gets sent a FUCK ✓ or FIGHT ✕, complete with that same live chat initiation mentioned above.

Rarely, there's a third option, essentially an algorithm fail state called CHILL, which still initiates the live chat. That means the system didn't find either of the other two options appropriate. Bummer. It generates completely random suggestions on where to meet, doesn't the DMV sounds like a great place to hang?

¹ [ DISCLAIMER: At the insistence of one Kim Kitsuragi, there is a link to an additional Terms and Conditions document for which the tl;dr is to "All Ember users engaging in matters of passion and/or violence are encouraged to practice such activities in a manner which remains safe, sane, and consensual.
Any injuries resulting from following through on an EMBER suggestion are not the responsibility of the application. ]

NEW FEATURES - JULY
So, what is in the Update to EMBER? Plenty! And much of it unseen to Lost Souls. Ydris has spent most of their time creating a splinter branch of the app denoted as "EMBER Premium" and it is for Celestials only. It is a pay to access service with a delightful little thing called microtransactions. Seems those Dragon Coins from answering Profile Questions do have some purpose! While Lost Souls cannot interact with the Celestials via the app, the Celestials have some functionality, namely they can donate Dragon Coins to their favorite Lost Souls.

Dragon Coins can be cashed out through the app for a small cash bonus- some extra spending money, nothing too crazy. By what rate compared to what they're being purchases at is unclear... Oh well. It's a little extra pay! Why not side hustle from your phone? There's even a leader board!

How does one become one of the favored souls, anyways-?

ONLY~~FANS~~ CELESTIALS

-MORE PHOTOS: Simple enough, the Celestials are very visual! They're more likely to donate if a Lost Soul has appealing photos on their profile.

-PLAYLISTS: Some curious Celestials like to see what music tastes are had among the Lost Souls. List a few songs you character is fond of or just selected at random to fill the missing profile element for a Dragon Coin bonus.

-QUEST NOTIFICATION: Some Celestials like to be a little more involved, so they spend to create a Quest. These can be sent to individual Souls or picked up from a virtual Bulletin Board. They are experiences or tasks to do around town and document! The app provides a location map should it require going to a certain place. These are largely benign requests such as "Take a photo drinking the new boba tea at this shop!" or "Share a story about your homeworld" or "Post video performing your favorite karaoke number!" Sometimes, they are requests to do good deeds or participate in local volunteer efforts.

Very occasionally, they are more saucy requests for lewd photos. Those requests cannot be sent to individuals! The Celestials get what they get when asking for those on the bulletin board!

Whether it's a rare moment of Ydris' coding filtering correctly or just the Celestials having collectively better judgement than those in Hell; no illegal, harassing, nor dangerous requests can be posted.

-LEADER BOARD: OOC OPT IN/OUT here to have your character added to/kept off of the HEAVENLY HOTNESS LEADERBOARD. This will be a purely RNG'd list of characters the Celestial's favor most. It will be updated every 1-2 weeks for the next (2) months, as I have time! Watch the rise and fall as a variety of results play out.

The Current Leader Board is linked here!

-PRIVATE PROFILE: Don't want the attention of these strange beings? Profiles can be set to Private! This doesn't actually block off from other Lost Souls, but it's an easy way to opt-out of any of this funny business. The cost is "all Dragon Coins" currently on account. If you're not playing, they why bother with those?

(Due to some obtuse design choices, it might be difficult to find this option... Your character would be forgiven for not even realizing it's there!)

PROFILE HTML
(Use squared Image for best profile template fit!)

FUCK ✓ / FIGHT ✕ / CHILL O HTML
✓ ✕ O

-EMBER is a separate app on a character's phone which functions using the main network.
-This is fully canon to the game! Threads on this post or using the prompts above for Log Posts of your own both count as a SUBSTORY thread. Per mods, these can be used for rewards!
-Post a profile below, engage with other Lost Souls or Only Celestials prompts, and/or tag around to other characters using the SWIPE, ALGORITHM, or just start a chat! Blame as much as you like on Ydris' at times shoddy programing! Have fun!
-FOR CHARACTERS NEW TO THE GAME please post a link to your TL in the New Users header below! This is so new people aren't so easily lost in the shuffle. Keep in mind this post is active from July to end of August, the next EMBER goes up in September!
-Feel free to repost the Profile HTML provided for IC inboxes if you like, but please do not take these out of this post and make individual EMBER profiles on the Network, as that would clutter up the main network very fast.
-Check out Ydris' OPT-IN if you want them to have access to your character's information through this app. This is NOT required to play around with this. The ToS basically just applies normal network rules to this post, messages are public unless explicitly marked [private] in the header. (Ydris will not have access to Private Messages unless the player Opts-In!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Exorcists would be for naught if it were only to protect themselves. My clan was founded in feudal times to raise our bows to ayakashi attacks against human villages. In those days, low-class samurai were disparate. We were and still are a mercenary clan. Those who don't have a choice are different from the ones who should know better.

[He ain't like the curse users in your world Megumi, don't worry.]

Our roles back in our worlds aren't too different, then.

Even though I told you I was the head, I don't actually consider myself a part of a clan. [ Actually sharing about himself? Maybe they have gotten somewhat closer. ]

Bad blood between clans and clanmembers isn't as uncommon as you might think.

[This hits a little personal. Good thing it's over text.]

May I ask why you left?

[ From the text, that first statement sounds knowing, like there's background behind it and it isn't just a statement made from observation. He knows that to be true, anyway. Bad blood seemed to be the only kinds of relationships between clanmembers, as far as he's seen. ]

It's not so much that I left ... I was never a part of it to begin with. They just decided on a whim to name me as head because of my technique. [ He was born with the coveted inherited technique, and in those clans, the quality of your inherited technique is the measure of your value. ]

It is customary to name the most powerful member of the clan as the next head, so that does make some sense. Unorthodox, if you were already split off, but not unheard of. Then, your ancestors made the split?

[Father, grandfather- however far back it might have been, he was sure the clan must have been aware that their bloodline's power could pass down, and that they would have been watched at least from afar. He's sure Megumi's circumstances must be quite complicated.]

[...He thinks again of Natori, and his family's various complications.]

My father, apparently. I don't have any details on that.

The less I hear about him, the better. He's probably off doing whatever he wants right now. [ There was no need to add that last line, but the fact that he did very clearly speaks of bitterness. In fact, the bitterness is practically dripping off the text. There's also some distance there, like he doesn't quite know this father of his. ]

[Oh]

[The threads of the web that entangled Megumi into clan politics are much more clearly defined all of a sudden. Given everything else the boy has told him, Matoba can now see the path of an estranged heir, or- as the case may be- an estranged not heir.]

[It's enough to make him laugh to himself, in the privacy of this text conversation. He wonders what would happen. If children were born to her of greater power.... He would not discard the option, no.]

I see. I suppose it does not matter. You are the one with power, and not him- or so I am to presume, but that is only a guess from my own standpoint. There isn't any need to assign arbitrary worth to someone who has not earned it from you.

[Not for family, not for anyone. In a way- it was telling him that he understood what he meant- and that he didn't disagree.]

[ Somehow, with vague clues he had given, Matoba seems to have read between the lines and pieced things together. Megumi ... doesn't like that. He feels quite seen right now. ]

Who's assigning worth ... I don't give a crap about that guy. I don't care if I never meet him. [ The rare swear word from the usually polite and reserved boy. People who claim to not care about things usually care much more than they would like to admit. ]

This is annoying now. Let's talk about something else.

[What a nerve that's been struck. Matoba feels satisfied enough with what he's learned, though- no need to push any further. He values his junior too much for that.]

Is that so? My apologies, I didn't mean to offend. Then, shall we leave it at that? Let's have another fruitful chat at a later date. I enjoy our little conversations. It is interesting to listen to the situations of other exorcists, is it not?

[Even someone like Matoba, in his stilted and distant way, likes having others to relate to.]

I guess so ... [ He's noting that the problems seem similar across the board, anyway. Then again, as his teacher likes to say, you have to be a bit crazy to be a sorcerer. ]

I'll talk to you later then.

[ and because we are handwaving that they have fed stray animals together i assume??? ]

Don't feed only the cats. [ the dogs too!!!!!! ]

EMBER 2.0 - A Social App for Lost Souls! [July Substory]

LMAO SORRY............

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