jigokufever | AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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 riot

This 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[oh shit GAYER than Kaoru herself???? That's

yeah fair

also that's absolutely a more appropriate outfit for performing in than what...Rui's stuck in...But country boys make do or whatever, anyway. The point is: willing performer, has a reason to do a good job, so clearly Rui has to put his all into it as well, for this poor girl's sake.]

It's alright. I can't promise anything mindblowing, given how unprepared we both are; normally I'd have far more resources available to evoke scenery or other actors, but...We can at least do a quick play, I think. I've worked with less, fufufu~

[He pulls out a small, pink orb, and presses a button on the underside; its face (distinctly feline, insofar as =3 is feline) blinks to life, and a propeller on top whirs fast enough to lift it from his palm.] Tell me, what's your favourite kind of story? Quickly.

[honestly? honestly? the loud outfit makes them feel almost at ease. it's always important to see people living their truths. and to that end, that's the kind of answer that levi gives—after a quick second or two to admire the orb with a face that he just has. fantastic. delightful.]

[they look up (a considerable distance) towards his eyes and fix him with a grin.]

I like stories where those who society treats unfairly are given the chance for justice. Where the people who have been mistreated by everyone above them finally take back control so they can be who they are and live their lives without fear.

[you know, they don't say, fantasy.]

[HEY OW WHAT THE FUCK WHO SAID YOU COULD SAY THOSE WORDS AT HIM, BUDDY...

Rui looks like he's been slapped. Sure, he's always been himself, doesn't know any other way to be, but it's barely ever accepted. Who would he even eke out revenge against, for the hell that middle school put him and Mizuki through?]

...I see.

...Societal revolution, then. But on a smaller scale, since it's just us two...I'll be the antagonist. I'm well practiced at such a role. [His stomach churns.] Perhaps a small town, lead by a small-minded mayor, who forbade anyone from wearing colours. [And he shrugs off his hoodie, for emphasis, before offering it to Levi instead.] And the brave outsider who paints the town in a rainbow, and shows them the beauty of loving things as they are, without sucking them into monochrome existence.

[they're uncertain. not about the play being written before their very eyes, no; that's a little bit like a magic trick. but they hear the way he says that he's used to playing the villain. they saw the way he'd reacted just to the very idea of someone else thinking "people being themselves is a good thing". and they think that, given the story that's being told, they had actually been prepared for this role from childhood, no matter how much they refused that call. so they politely refuse his hoodie and shake their head.]

I think you should be the hero of this story. I can be the villain. After all—[and, with just a little faux malice on their face, they raise their hand and shoot a tiny shower of blue electrical sparks from their fingertips.] I already have the evil powers.

...If you insist.

[Time to tie that hoodie around his neck instead; every good hero has a cape, after all.] Once we're done, I'd love to ask more about how you're able to manage that.

[You know, the sparks! It's already twigging, given where they are and all, that it might be something innate to them and not something that Rui can easily recreate...But it's still worth a shot. Now that they've gotten that out of the way, he gives Levi a once-over...Man, it sucks having limited styling. It's one thing when it's just himself, but the thought of letting his fellow actor down is a bitter one.]

...May I? [Asked as he gently reaches a hand out towards their hair.] We should try to style ourselves with what we've got, after all~

[he's got a solid half foot and change on them, so it's definitely easy enough to reach down and tousle their hair if he so desires, but they appreciate that he's asking for consent.]

By all means. Make me a villain. [they let him work, then, and summon up a rumbling from deep in their throat. it's not a good evil villain laugh, but they're doing the best with what they have.]

I'll show you what the world is meant to be like. Nothing but glorious greyscale to keep the trains running on time and our lives in perfect order.

Marvellous! Let's get to work, then~

[Both hands start raking their hair back, before Rui pulls out some bobby pins from his hoodie pocket and sets it all in place. Can't be a good Boy Best Friend without hairties and bobby pins on your person at all times, right? Then, once he's stepped back and admired his hard work, he nods.

Thumps a hand on his chest to clear out the pipes.

Then puts on his big boy voice.]

More like this, perhaps. Something to represent someone desperately trying to hold onto a time that no longer has any place in the present?

[oh, that's quite the voice to emulate. they haven't tried going that deep in a while (ha ha! tamamo prompt.) but they give it a shot once they're finished getting their hair dolled up. he really is quite good at this, and they appreciate that he's willing to make this performance happen.]

[they straighten their back and breathe in deep, trying to channel something heavier, weightier. now that they have more time to prepare for it, they can tap into it. they sound fairly masc all their own when they say it, which is rather the point.]

I'll never let someone like you take what I've built from me. [they swipe their hand behind them and step forward aggressively, narrowing their eyes.] You could never understand what I've lived through—how I've suffered to make this world the way it should be.

Yes! That's it exactly...You're fantastic, you know! Perhaps afterward, we could discuss street performances...With more preparation, you'd really thrive!

[Time to tousle his own hair, now that he's satisfied and then some by Levi's own state; then he steps forward in his own right, so that they're close enough to feel each other's breath, which is. Probably weird, but Rui's personal space is everyone else's anyway.

And then he slings an arm around their shoulders, using his free hand to gesture out in front of them.]

Mayor, you'll never appreciate the full beauty of grey if you never see it with other hues! Let's work together, to make sure that no one has to suffer as you did...And make this world something that everyone can fit into! Fufu~

[oh, they like the cut of his jib. this doesn't really feel like acting, and for a moment they feel like they can see before them the full scope of the world that he's painting in all its rainbow hues, and even the beautiful greys in the shadowed alleyways where people take refuge from the heat, in the wings of the birds flying up and away into the clear blue sky. it's as much a fantasy for them as it is for their character, but in a far different sense. they try to force a shimmer into their eyes, as the slow realization dawns on them of what the beauty of this imagined world could be.]

You... you haven't erased it at all, have you? No, you've... you've created something more beautiful than I could have imagined. Thank you, young man, for changing this old dog's ways. [their amazement is clear, and they hold it for a moment before finally letting the character drop with a laugh of relief.]

I'm all right at it. I haven't had to perform this way in some time, and I'm usually meant to fit the role of demure eye candy. Being the bombastic villain is a little new to me.

AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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