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jigokufever2022-08-25 05:44 pm
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-08-25 05:44 pm
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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.
Nikolai Gogol | Bungo Stray Dogs
ii. Jigokucho's Got Talent...?
iii. The 100 Billion Yen Man
iv. Wildcard
{ ooc. Anything goes! But if you'd like a custom starter give me a holler through DMs! }
II
Sure. Shoot.
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That's the spirit! As a rule I'll give you thirty seconds to answer. Now get yourself ready to fill in the blank—
Coulrophobia is the fear of...?
[ It's also a joke if you squint, because, clearly... the answer is right in front of her. It's exactly what he is. ]
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That'd be "clowns."
[She's seen It, and it clicks with the man in front of her.]
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[ Since his contestant appears both self-assured and with it Gogol holds up three fingers. One immediately drops back down--indicating that he'll be asking three questions in total. ]
How many circles of torment were depicted in Dante's Inferno?
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Nine circles. Which do you think this is?
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[ How convenient. The remaining two fingers curl into a fist since, technically, she's gone and asked the third question. He'd been planning on taking this to a more candid conversation about the current predicament anyway.
Nikolai takes his time answering. Even goes to the trouble of finding a seat at the edge of the stage and dangling his legs off of it while he does. ]
Does it matter much which it is? It certainly has superseded every previously held expectation so my guess is "none of the above"! Buuut don't you think that's the interesting part?
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[ As he talks a gradually pensive gaze drops downwards. A smile tugs at his lips but there's a superficiality around the edges of it. This is skirting close to what Gogol considers to be his favorite most irksome topic. Pretty much a raison d'etre. ]
But what about you?
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She says, simply:]
Greed.
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II im coming for you clown
really, he should have been here earlier, judging by the damage. quite a far cry from what he was expecting, but perhaps that's what he should get used to around here. still, the crowds are beginning to thin as they shuffle out, him soon to be among them- at least until he spies someone else crawling on stage.
a flourish, an aim, and he finds that finger aimed right at himself, eyebrow quirking curiously before he leans back with an amused look on his face. ]
Picking me? Well, I suppose I've got the time to spare.
[ and well...pop quizzes aren't something he's unfamiliar with, anyway. ]
but what if he's coming 4u instead (threatening)
[ There's a dramatic pause for effect. Although, honestly, he usually uses this as a tactic to drop leading questions that preface something devious... but today that's not on the agenda so he has to think of something else. Gogol gives his new contestant a real look up and down with a squinty eyed look. Then, as if magnetized, that pale eye of his slides over to the bandage on the man's forehead. ]
It's the limits of the human body, of course! Okay, so first question.
...How much lateral acceleration can the human body experience before it gives up the ghost?
[clown on all 4s]
...an interesting choice. not that he's complaining. ]
Acceleration...admittedly not my field of choice.
[ naturally, however, it doesn't mean he doesn't have an inkling. ]
I believe 9 G's is the maximum.
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[ Source: trust me bro. Interestingly, in all sense of the word he's getting the feeling that this contestant is educated. Something about that field of choice comment. Speaking of which—in the next moment he's prompting the other man to talk with a point. ]
Just now you made it sound like there's a field you'd rather be talking about, didn't you.
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[ look at this funny little man. this jester. this absolute clown. this is one way to amuse oneself, he supposes- not that he's complaining. it's not like he's got much else going on himself at the moment, anyway.
luchino lets out a soft hum at that. well, if you're asking... ]
While I don't balk at the chance to discuss science in general, I will admit my specialty is Herpetology.
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[ Wow, a veritable nerd caught out in the wild. Gogol cups a hand around one ear as if to hear the answer better. Why yes, yes this now is part of the pop quiz. Also yes he does find this amusing. ]
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A branch of zoology, that specifies with amphibians and reptiles. Reptiles, however, are moreso my specialty.
[ a sharp talon taps against his arm from where they're crossed against his chest, against the scales hidden under white. yes, specialty indeed. ]
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Uh huh, and what does a lizard-guy got to do to end up in hell with the rest of us?
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What does anybody do to end up in hell, truly? [ there's a minute silence, a soft hum escaping as his eyes narrow a bit. ] Every human is beholden to sin in their life, some perhaps more than others. Laziness, apathy, avarice...although, greed is perhaps the most common and most easily triggered. Everybody wants more- to know more, to have more, to keep more.
[ his smile, perhaps, widens just a bit. ]
If a greed for knowledge is enough to land me in the underworld, then what am I to argue?
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iii
I mean, isn't it more he wants to discourage people from following him?
[A pause.]
Also I think we shouldn't kill him unless we're able to find out where he's holding miss Ringo first, probably.
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It's good to think, I think! But is such a hostile environment really a good place to keep a hostage long term? Assuming, of course, that he wants to keep her alive for long~
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