jigokufever | AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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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

I guess? It was some high-tech armor or something people wanted me to use to go bounty hunting.

[ Kou shrugs. ]

It wasn't that big of a deal.

It was absolutely a big deal! You could be flying around in a robot suit right now, man! Do you have any idea how cool that would have been?!

[ chicks dig giant robots. she doesn't know what to say, kou. ]

Not to mention- [ -and this is the more important part, really- ] -we're both shit out of luck when it comes to a fight around here! Have you tried... you know, vamping out yet?

...maybe it would've been cool, but where am I going to keep it?

[ Look, he's very practical. Wait a minute- ]

Uh. Not yet. No one's hit me, honestly. Why? Does it not work anymore?

None of that matters! There's only one question, "does a mech suit make everything ten times cooler," and the answer is always always yes!

[ listen. nazuna knows what's cool, alright? and mech suits are cool. ]

Why do you think I went for the body slam!? I've been all messed up since I showed up! I can barely make it up to the rooftops like this!

There's more to it then just being cool, you know! How am I the one in middle school here?

[ Man. But at least this is a familiar conversation. ]

What, really? Your vampire powers aren't working? [ She pauses. ]

...probably means it's a good thing I didn't get in a fight.

Well, they're not not working... [ actually, that's pretty much exactly what's happening. ] But they're definitely not what they should be. Check it out.

[ she pushes herself onto her feet, only wheezing slightly as she does. wow - turns out the pain from a bellyflop onto middle-schooler and concrete kind of sucks. who knew!? she crouches down, those slender legs tensing-

-and leaps about a story and a half into the air. it's higher than any human should be able to reach, unquestionably. it's also absolutely nothing compared to her normal leaps and bounds across the city. she plummets back down like a rock, only barely managing to catch herself and spread the impact across both hands and feet. ]

See? Basically useless.

[ ...okay, it's a long way off from that, nazuna. ]

[ He watches intently, face screwed up in concentration. That... is definitely not the upper bounds of what she can do. He's seen her get way crazier before and that bothers him much like it bothers her. Probably not to the same extent, though. He offers her a hand up, still thinking. ]

...I wonder what that means for me. Can I even vamp-out anymore?

[ There's a long pause. ]

It might be better not to test it too much. Just in case.

Maybe? Heh. Probably won't do much, but you might still be able to let the beast out.

[ she looks kou over, her eyes lingering on the fresh bite on his neck. she covers it with her finger, picking up a bit of the bloodstain left behind. ]

Wanna check? Doesn't hurt anyone to check before you get shot again.

Edited 2022-08-29 00:00 (UTC)

We probably should. I'd hate to find out that it didn't work because someone shot me again.

[ He doesn't want to repeat the "almost dying" experience. ]

Alrighty. Think fast, big guy.

[ she takes a step or two back first, leaning back as she takes an almost defensive stance. she's not afraid of kou - she hasn't been once, not even when he first went apeshit on her. but she's not dumb either.

and then, when she's sure she's ready, she waves her hand at him - the one with the blood all over the palm. ]

[ OK.

Time to do this.

He stares at her for a long moment, eyes narrowed. He can do this. They can do this. And then-

He moves.

It's not as fast as he should be like this, probably. Not quite the "blink and you miss it" kind of fast he could be. But fast enough all the same. And then he's there and he cocks his fist back and he swings it in a haymaker-

That ends up being surprisingly wimpy at the end of it. It's still a punch. But it's exactly the kind of punch you'd expect a kinda weedy fourteen year old to throw. Which is to say, not that strong.

Woops. ]

[ every time he does this, it feels like a part of kou changes. not just between human and vampire, either - it's something in the air, something both physical and not around him. by the time his legs tense, she's already buckling down for the hit that's about to come; when he leaps at that speed, undeniably inhuman,, she braces herself and pushes into the inevitable impact.

and then the punch lands, and she just. stands there for a moment. ]

Eh? [ and then, her eyes widening: ] Eh? Kou-kun, you...

[ she tries not to laugh. really, she does! but like. not that hard. and so, in the middle of a bakeneko hunt, in an alleyway next to her bruised-up best friend, nazuna nanakusa collapses to the ground in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

sorry, kou. that punch sucked. ]

...well, now we know!

[ Wow, so rude. He shakes his hand out with a scowl. He's kinda glad he didn't annihilate Nazuna, but also... he's kinda disappointed that he's not as powerful as he used to be. Could be. It's a mix of feelings, honestly. ]

What's so funny about it?

[ she is choking with laughter. she has balled her fist and is pounding it lightly against the ground as she tries to stay upright. ]

Dude. [ wheeeeeeeze. ] You punch like a freaking middle-schooler!

[ and with that said, the laughter just. doubles. again. ]

I am a middle-schooler-!

[ He objects, but there's not much else to say. He just pouts at her, feeling a little put-upon. ]

What else am I supposed to do?

I thought at least you'd get one hit in! You broke my freaking apartment last time, remember!?

[ she's still wheezing as she picks herself up off the ground, grabbing his shoulder as she tries to get the last bit of the sillies out. ]

Alright, alright. No vamping out. Guess you'll need to stick around me for a while longer, huh?

[ not that she particularly minds. ]

Guess so. At least if I need to protect myself against anything... although I can still run away, right? And it seems like there's not a lot of other vampires here. Or at least that I haven't seen yet...

[ He rubs his chin. ]

Have you seen any?

Nope. I even found a demon who wouldn't believe I was one. He thought vampires were fake, can you believe that?

[ a small spark of memory flashes through her head. ah. right. she totally fed on akira, didn't she? that's... well, she didn't know kou was here with them, so that's something. right?

...yeah, this isn't something she can really sit on forever. she breaks eye contact, trying to keep the smile going as she presses her fingers coquettishly together. ]

Hey, Kou-kuuuun... [ that's the sound of someone trying to butter someone up. ] If I tell you something, can you pwomise not to be angwy?

[ oh, she's even trying to sound cutesy about it. whatever it is, it's bad. ]

[ Wait.

What's this all about? Why is she being so... cutesy? Does she want something? She must want something. This isn't normal. ]

...what is it?

[ A little flat. ]

[ oh, man. he already sounds ticked. ]

Huuuuh? I don't know what you mean, Kou-kun! [ see how big she's smiling? there's no ulterior motives here! ] I just wanted to make sure you knew that you're my faaaavorite human around. You know that, riiiiiight?

Well, yeah, I know that. Of course I know that. Why are you bringing it up?

[ He folds his arms. She's not getting out of that easily. ]

Usually you don't like to talk about favorites.

Am I not allowed to play favorites? [ she's acting coy. she's absolutely dodging the question. ] You're just so tasty... You know I wouldn't bite someone else as long as you were around, right?

[ "as long as you were around" is doing some heavy lifting, here. ]

[ Oh. Now he's getting it. He reaches up and rubs his forehead with a sigh. ]

...you drank from someone else, didn't you?

[ He has to admit, there's a pang of... something. Jealousy? He doesn't quite know. The idea of her drinking from someone else irritates him. ]

[ tch. her grin dissipates; she looks away from him, finally frowning in full. it's not like she owes him that single-minded focus, you know? she can feed on whoever she wants. she's allowed. it's fine, right?

but it doesn't feel fine. not to her, now that he's here, and especially not when he's making that disappointed face. ]

Yeah. Wasn't like I knew you were around. [ it's not much. but it's better than the alternative. she sighs after a moment, reaching out and running a finger over the fresh bite on his neck. it's... not quite reassuring, and not quite not that. it's definitely intimate - no way around that. ]

...you taste way better.

[ if that makes any difference. ]

Edited 2022-09-06 00:33 (UTC)

I mean-

[ He has to pause. To get his thoughts in order. She doesn't need his permission, right? And he shouldn't expect her to starve. Especially when he's not around. Why should he be worked up about it? He is, though. It feels off. Like someone's socked him in the gut or something. Just a feeling of... what? Disappointment? He rubs the back of his head with a frown. ]

...It's not like I'm the only source, I guess. [ He mutters, still trying to get his thoughts in order. ]

But I'm here now.

AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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i don't have an icon of her Absolutely Losing Her Mind yet so here we go instead

perfect

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