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jigokufever2022-08-25 05:44 pm
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-08-25 05:44 pm
Entry tags:
AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. SHUTEN TERRITORY - Muscling In
art by tohdraws
In the aftermath of the curse crisis, the Shuten Clan forgave a bunch of protection payments in the region, and helped cover the costs for rebuilding. Unfortunately, some of the street gangs in the area are much less civically minded. They have used the Shuten's relaxed policies as an opportunity to turn their own screws on the local business owners. These unaffiliated youth gangs have been much rougher with the locals, and have been asking for even larger collection fees. This has pissed off the folks who are just trying to get their lives and businesses back on track!
Unfortunately, the opening of Sai no Kawara in the underground drew so much of the clan's focus and manpower, that the issues up top just slipped through the cracks. Until now! Toraguma is in a bad mood and is looking for people to take it out on: the youth gangs will do just fine.
Volunteers are being solicited to join the regular Shuten enforcers in driving these interlopers out of Shuten territory. The gangs are wise to the usual Shuten tactics, though, and they're prepared for a fight. They are also appealing to the influx of Lost Souls: they act as though they're the victims of the factions' power struggles! They propose that taking up arms against the Shuten Clan will win them favor with the other groups in the city. (It will look less good with the Shuten Clan, should you be assigned to them.)
Fight with the Shutens, or with the gangs. Either way, a fight is coming.
2. TAMAMO TERRITORY - Throat Goat (NSFW)
at by akai riotThis prompt is overtly sexual in nature. Please use the proper NSFW labelling in your top levels and threads.
While the Palace of Sai in the underground is doing well, that doesn't mean the other businesses in the Tamamo Clan's collection have been slacking. One of the least "classy" soaplands has decided they're going to hold a contest to drive up business for themselves! They are partnering with some of the other sex clubs in the area for the sleaziest of events.
The Hyottoko Cup is looking for volunteer participants! The competition is pretty straightforward: a ruler is drawn on the throat of each participant and an array of members is presented to swallow. Whichever contestant can take the guests deepest and longest will take home the "coveted" Hyottoko Cup! Ok, there's a little judge favoritism involved too, so put on a show.
The guests have likewise been pulled in as volunteers, with instructions that they don't have to make this easy on the participants. Guests are provided with special seals that they can use for the length of the competition to enhance their natural assets. For those lacking the equipment entirely, there's a seal for that too.
Have fun and play nice.
3. TAMAMO TERRITORY - Strike a Poise (GEN)
Other businesses looking to jump start this month's earnings are also getting in on the spirit of competition! Businesses less oriented towards sexual service have come together as a means to draw in the high dollar clients, and one local club has proposed something old school.
Sign up for the Poise Contest, where contestants are placed into more and more ridiculous geta while tasked with serving drinks to the guest. Spills are expected, and the guests are cheerfully kitted out with cheap club-branded ponchos to protect their clothes. (Marketing, am I right?) While spills are expected, the contestant will lose points for each of the spilled drinks. Try to keep your balance as you attend to increasingly absurd drink orders. The intensity of the traditional footwear will only make your job that much harder.
Do you have what it takes to pour a champagne fountain while wearing teetering tengu geta? Prove your balance and dexterity is the best and the take home prize is some sweet cash. For Lost Souls freshly in the city, the chance to win some extra money can't really be passed up, huh…
4. SUTOKU TERRITORY - Jigokucho's Got Talent
Ever since Moonday's beloved singer – Ringo-chan – was kidnapped at the Tanabata festival, the band has had to cancel all of their scheduled gigs. Unfortunately, they were a hugely popular act, booked solid in most of the Sutoku Alliance's various nightclubs. This has left a ton of empty spots that need to be filled quickly, before the crowds get upset and demand… refunds.
That's where you come in, Lost Souls! Desperate promoters and talent bookers are literally grabbing Lost Souls off the street and begging, pleading, with them to perform a set for the night. They just need to have something to fill the space Moonday would have otherwise occupied. At least give the crowd something to see!
Acts do not need to be of the musical variety. Any performing talent is accepted, no matter how esoteric or bizarre! If it can fill out a 15-30 minute set, the club owners will be happy and the customers will at least see something interesting; even if it's a bad kind of interesting. So get on stage and show this city what you've got!
( Help us fill our time slots, please! We're desperate! 😩)
5. DEPARTMENT OF THE ENMA - Sticky Paws II: Outta the Bag
The Enma Department is busy: they have a kidnapping to investigate, a primordial god to pin down, and the crisis of their ever-shifting public image to manage. However, crime never sleeps and is always there to add to the troubled Department's workload. Worse still, we thought this little crime spree was over six months ago! But here it is again, much to the Enma's chagrin.
Cat cafés are a popular tourist attraction all across Jigokucho. About six months ago, a gang of bakeneko infiltrated several of the cafés to rob customers occupied with kitty bliss. Wallets, jewelry, and anything else those sticky paws could snatch away were being picked in droves. The cat capers are afoot once more!
Are you a hapless victim of these furry thieves, or are you helping the Department of the Enma track down these cat burglars? Unfortunately, the bakeneko are exceptionally clever and are using a seal to disguise their secondary tails. This makes them look just about like any normal cat. Better make sure your lead is good, or you'll be chasing down an ordinary Felis Catus. Soft to pet, but not going to return your pilfered cash.
Of course, the café staff might be in on this caper too… It's never easy to tell who's getting a cut of the profits. Be careful who you trust out there.
6. ALL OVER - The 100 Billion Yen Man (PLOT RELEVANT)
The local TV news has been announcing that Kaberou Kannazaki – the legendary finance wolf and the father of kidnapping victim, Ringo-chan – will be making an announcement this week. People have flocked to television sets throughout the city; at the squares, around TVs in bars, electronic stores, each other's phones, and any other venue with a connection. The kidnapping has been a highly public ordeal and the talk of the town. Many of the locals were present at the festival and witnessed the crime. They want to hear what the word is!
The public doesn't have to wait long. Wolf-eared Kaberou sits at a press desk, surrounded by microphones, and dazzled with flashbulbs. He clears his throat and, as he begins to speak, he is direct and to the point; not unlike a wolf lunging for the throat."As of today, I am issuing a bounty on the man known as the Iron Bear, who has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of my daughter, Ringo Kannazaki. The payout to the party responsible for bringing me Iron Bear, dead or alive, is 100 Billion Yen. Individuals or groups, I don't care. Just bring my daughter back to me, and the money is yours."
Well! The Department of the Enma's hopes of an orderly investigation have been dashed, but this is certainly an opportunity for anyone brave enough – or, more accurately, stupid enough – to traverse the Wasteland. Maybe one of you out there will find the legendary Iron Bear and bring him to some form of justice.
Local businesses are quick to leap at this opportunity, too. They begin to aggressively push sponsorships at would-be bounty hunters. Weapons? Armor? Survival gear? All at discount prices! Each faction has their interest in collecting the massive bounty as well. They will all be putting a lot of pressure on recruits to get ready to head out to the Wastes.
If you just got here? Well, it would definitely be in your interest to start finding gear, and finding people willing to collect that bounty with you. It could mean a big step forward toward your eventual contract, after all.
Welcome to the test drive meme!
- First of all, big thanks to our discord chat for the "Throat Goat" prompt idea. Stay golden, gang.
- IF YOU'RE TOP-LEVELING A NEW CHARACTER, post it here!
- Characters already in the game can top level as well.
- Threads here can be considered game canon.
- Characters can be recruited to do work for any faction until they're given their official assignment.
- If you have any questions about the TDM content, please ask them here! You can find information on the story so far here!
- If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
- Reserves are open until September 5th.
Bai Lin | OC
-1: Muscling In-
And in the middle, a slightly dirty young woman holding her hands out in a "Hold on" gesture towards each side as she tries to prevent violence.
"I mean, when you get right down to it, if you all start fighting here, there won't really be any winners. You'll all get beat up and you'll be planting the seeds of future anger. Wouldn't it be better if we could all just sit down and talk this out? I'm sure there's a way everyone can get what they want!"
A few people on each side actually did look thoughtful for a moment. Then one of the oni spoke up. "What are you talking about!? Of course there'll be winners! WE'LL be the winners when we beat these clowns up!"
Lin started to marshal a counter argument, but let it die on her lips. People on both sides were shouting, now, and tempers were spiraling back out of control. And here SHE was right between them! "Well," she muttered to herself as she stepped back towards on of the walls. "I had to try, at least."
-2: Throat Goat (NSFW!)-
From there, one thing led to another, and now Lin found herself in a VERY immodest outfit, while someone was drawing a ruler on her neck. She was having second thoughts.
But she wasn't backing out. Not QUITE yet. She was looking around to see how everyone else was handling this. Were the other contestants looking as awkward about this as she felt? Was everyone staring at her? She felt like everyone was staring at her. Some of the "guests" were DEFINITELY staring at her.
Depending on how the next few minutes went, it was about fifty-fifty odds on whether Lin ran from the building, red in the face, or whether she made an honest attempt to be the next Throat Goat.
-3: Strike a Pose-
She found the comically tall shoes to be surprisingly easy to walk around in. Standing still proved to be a bit more of a challenge, but balance and dexterity were Lin's strongest points. The only reason she didn't strut about the room was that it didn't occur to her. She wasn't REALLY the type to show off, most of the time, so she just got about the business of serving drinks, with no spills and only a little bit of wobbling.
-4: All Over-
One look and Lin knew, in her heart, that going out there was a death sentence. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring blankly at the blasted desert that lay beyond Jigoku-cho. She had spent a while trying to survive in the wastelands of her home, she wasn't sure how long, and had nearly gone mad in the process. And this wasteland? This made the post-apocalyptic wastes of home look like an oasis.
She stopped someone trying to walk out there, blocking their progress with one arm.
"I wouldn't go out there, if I were you. Not even a billion yen is worth that. The only thing out there is death."
-999: Wildcard-
no subject
"Strictly speaking, there's at least two things out there. Death, and the Iron Bear. Still, probably not worth it for a billion yen."
Then, she started walking towards the Wasteland again. "Good thing the reward is a hundred billion yen."
no subject
She looked dubious.
3!
Unlike those people, his server is cut from a different cloth! Yizhi cranes his head to peer at Bai Lin’s geta as she comes over, earnestly impressed.
“Wow, Miss, you’re really good at balancing! Thank you for the tea.”
no subject
“Am I? I guess so.”
She poured the tea, with considerably less grace but it all ended up in the cup, which was the important thing.
Oh right. Customer service. She’s supposed to be polite and friendly.
“You are most welcome, sir.”
no subject
Despite his focus on his drink, Bai Lin’s relative lack of grace and self-correction didn’t escape his notice either- but he didn’t mind, honestly. He could guess that she was new and it always took time for new Lost Souls to find work they were comfortable in. Yizhi glanced up from the tea back to her and smiled back.
“We can make normal small talk if you prefer, but I don’t mind being more casual either. Like- this is a competition, right? Do you think you’re winning?”
no subject
She lifted one leg slightly, so she could get a look at the geta sandal on her foot. Only for a second or two, though. She could balance in these fine, but balancing on one foot was a bit much even for her. “I’m definitely doing better than some of the other people, at least, but I have training to have a good sense of balance.”
no subject
“Are you a dancer? Or an acrobat? Oh- if this is too forward, I apologise. I might be letting my curiosity get the better of me.”
1
This voice of cynicism issued from a girl watching the proceedings. She looked out of place in a dark alley, to say the least. Fine clothes, and small enough that she looked like she'd crumple if one of the toughs so much as bumped into her - weapons entirely aside.
"To be honest, I thought you were going to try to hold them back yourself."
She's... proper enough to affect a tone of concern. But it's unlikely she's much more concerned about a stranger like Lin than the brawlers she's writing off so easily, isn't it?
no subject
She eyed Reines with a bit of concern. Lin was dirty and calloused and wearing sturdy clothes. She didn’t look out of place here, unlike this vision of a softer world before her (though she didn’t miss the trace of cynical venom in there.). “…are you on your own out here?”
no subject
"That's a dangerous question to ask. You might give someone the impression that you're hunting for loners to pick off."
She didn't sound particularly concerned about the possibility, but she didn't sound like she was entirely joking either. Trust was in higher demand and shorter supply than ever, now, and words of concern from strangers stood out as both golden opportunities and sinister threats. Lin had done a good job standing out as sentimental and pacifistic with the scuffle just now, but that was only a single impression.
no subject
"I'm not!" Lin insisted, almost reflexively, though she doubted that just saying that would accomplish much of anything. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't, like...lost?"
"You don't really look like you fit in in this part of town." She went on, slightly sheepishly.
no subject
"I know the way I came, if that's what you're asking. But that's a different matter from being on my own. A Lost Soul arriving unaccompanied is to be expected, isn't it? Aren't you on your own?"