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!
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Reserves are open until September 5th.

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[Resting her elbow on the table, she rests her head in one palm just looking at him. And the answer to his question?]

Magic.

[yeah]

[Yeah, okay.

Magic.]

Magic.

[-he echoes, but maybe he's not as dubious as he sounds. Maybe he's seen a lot of shit, and now he's in neon-future-Japanese-based hell, and maybe magic is not such a wild thought these days, anyway.]

It's more likely than you think.

[The manner in which she delivers her answer is a mix of dry joking and a "take it or leave it" seriousness. The chocolate British shorthair sitting near her lays its head down just watching the two humans converse and enjoying the pets that the woman gives it.]

In any case, I'll take being corporeal over the alternatives you mentioned. At least it means we have something to work with.

Edited 2022-08-27 19:02 (UTC)

Better than my ghost hands going through this coffee mug and spilling it all over the couch, right.

[He sighs. At least the scary vibes from this woman are receding somewhat now that a bakeneko isn't trying to steal her change.]

So then you think this "fulfill our contract" stuff is legit, too?

[Eddie presents a good question. She mulls it over as her glasses are readjusted and she nods.]

I do, in fact. To a certain extent.

[She fiddles with the pendant around her neck that hangs off a thin gold chain. It's small and hard to see but there's a tiny red rose encased in resin and set in a circular gold frame.]

This is essentially a different world, but it's clearly been structured in such a way for these groups to have developed it for who knows how long. I don't think any of them would get this far without being able to uphold a vow or two.

[His gaze moves down to her fiddling. It is small, but he thinks he can make out the shape of a rose there. Suits her, he thinks, and the color of her hair.]

Maybe. I wouldn't know anything about how this place runs itself. [He's just from small town Hawkins and its many eldritch horrors, or something.] But do you know if anyone's gotten to go home?

I'm working on finding out about that. I'm as new here as you are, but I'm fairly persistent.

["It comes with being my age," she almost says, but she stops herself. It'll come up when it comes up.]

It comes with being a high school teacher.

[there that's normal]

[That is normal. And something that Eddie can relate to, in a and-I'm-a-highschool-student-that-failed-to-graduate-twice-and-died-before-the-third-try.]

A teacher. Okay.

[Gesturing at her with his coffee mug, almost empty. One of the cafe employees has impeccable timing, though, and they come over to offer him a refill. He mutters a thanks before fixing his gaze on the woman across from him again.]

I can see that. You give off that impression. Real stern, "better turn in your homework in time or else" kind of vibes. I probably would've failed your class.

[If Eddie hadn't seen her grab a cat youkai out into the street several minutes ago, Amelia would give off the impression of a stern but calm (cough) teacher. She does look normal compared to other the other denizens and Lost Souls even though being a redhead makes her stick out to some degree.

She looks at him with some curiosity and struggles to choose an appropriate line of questioning.]

I teach high school literature. So depending on your interest in that, it may be either or.

[Makes kind of a face. He performed better in his English classes than, say, the math and science ones, but Eddie's always struggled in a school setting.]

Ehh.

[Ehh. He actually doesn't have a dislike of books; he's more well-read than people give him credit for, but he likes to stick his nose in genres that don't usually make the high school curriculum cut.]

Depends on the literature?

Edited 2022-08-28 16:39 (UTC)

[Hm. She thinks for a second and throws out a few titles.]

Catcher in Rye? Animal Farm? Brave New World?

[And the kicker...]

Lord of the Rings?

[No... no. Eh, maybe?

But then she says those magic words, and Eddie can't hide the way his eyes widen, lighting up, and he leans forward so much that the cat on his shoulders meows and has to shift around not to roll off.]

You study The Lord of the Rings in your class?

[WHAT. Hawkins High didn't? Of course his school would be super lame like that.]

Are you fu- [-uuuhhh whoops, teacher] -fuh-reaking serious?

[Amelia tries to hide the upward quirk of her lips behind her coffee cup as Eddie lights up (also kudos to him for watching his language). It's hard not to feel proud whenever she's able to capture a young person's interest in literature using an enticing gateway.]

Mr. Tolkein and his works are very worthy of study. Unfortunately, I could only dedicate a small amount of time of my curriculum to The Fellowship of the Ring for my junior and senior classes.

I'd have to give a whole semester and then some for the trilogy, not to mention the related works.

[goddamn nerd]

[She is quickly unspooling his nerdy self, too, okay.]

I'd die for an English class that focused on Fellowship. Like, even if the first book spends way too long in the Shire, at least it’s— I don’t know, the epitome of a great hero’s journey? The original, perfect adventuring party?

[He leans back again in a slump. The cat flicks its tail.]

Man. A whole semester sounds even better. That would’ve been fun. That class, I would've passed.

[He can quote straight from the book even right now. It's burned into his brain, those stories; inspired his D&D campaigns plenty of times.]

Edited 2022-08-28 17:32 (UTC)

With that enthusiasm I would have welcomed you as my student with open arms.

[The shorthair cat is now snoozing away through their conversation so Amelia leaves it be.]

... There isn't a school system here though or at least none that I'm aware of. The priorities of this world are elsewhere.

Still. The learning doesn't stop. The bookstores should prove interesting.

[He scoffs a little. Maybe he would have done well in her class, but it's the rest of his high school career that's given him trouble in the past; it makes him frown, knowing just how close to graduation he had been, but-

Well. '86 was his year, wasn't it?

A wan smile.]

"Learning doesn't stop". You still plan on teaching, anyway?

Mn. [She leans back in her seat, arms crossed with a noncommittal grunt.]

As much as I love dispensing knowledge, I'm also realistic. I don't think many young people who find themselves here would be as enthusiastic about having to go to class in hell. I know it wouldn't have to be formal, but I'd prefer some commitment at the outset.

[A shake of her head.] So no, not here. On the other hand, I suppose there might be some money in tutoring.

I sure wouldn't be happy about it. Imagine being summoned into this place, without your permission, and then being forced to still go to school?

[Eddie, a not-so-great-student, can't say he'd be particularly excited about that. LotR reading material or otherwise.]

Tutoring? You mean for like, people trying to specialize in getting a certain job?

[From what he's seen so far, the factions don't seem to be particularly picky about doling out their dirty work to any Lost Soul who'll be willing to participate.]

Maybe. I'm fine with administrative work and the like so I could teach that. Or if anyone wants to maintain their other academic skills, I can fill in for the role there as well.

But it's either that or I open up a book club and I have a feeling I'd be the only member.

[She grimly takes another sip of coffee.]

Ah, well. On the bright side, I won't have to mark papers for a long while. That's a load off my back.

[there she said it]

[Takes a long sip of his coffee, bemused.]

'Least you're honest about it.

[And then a shrug of his shoulder.]

I dunno. I bet you could get a book club started around here. All of these "Lost Souls" look like they come from all walks of life. And books aren't that... weird to enjoy.

We'll see. It's usually not my style to get ahead of myself.

[Reaching into her pocket, Amelia produces a notebook and pen. It's already half-marked with page tabs and her writing.]

I think the type of work I decide to do will largely depend on where I'm placed. I've been asking around regarding the faction leaders and I've had some interesting conversations with the people who have been here before us.

[Eyes flick down to that notebook and pen. It seems a very teacher-like thing to do, to keep extensive notes about the situation, whereas Eddie's just been flying by the seat of his pants by comparison.]

What kind of interesting conversations? Is one a clear winner over the other?

Hardly. At the end of the day, it all comes down to each side having something to gain by having a grip over hell.

[Amelia looks at Eddie and waves her pen back and forth.]

My most interesting conversation was with a Lost Soul from the Department of Enma, which is the group that has the most apparent appearance and even philosophy of law and order. Therefore, within their ranks, the members somehow align with that ideology and the same goes for the other groups. It doesn't seem to be completely set in stone, but it does give us an idea of where we may be assigned.

[Pulls a face at the mention of the Enma. It sounds the least appealing to Eddie.]

So which do you think you fit into? Which one lines up with your "ideology"?

[You'd think with her occupation and prim appearance, one could mark her up to be an Enma. But her answer isn't immediate. She's really thinking about it as she taps her pen against her cheek.]

... The more I think about it, the less I'd like to put box myself in. But if I looked at it through the angle of what I can get done and what serves my needs?

[She goes, "Hmmm." Shrugs.]

The Alliance or Shuten Clan.

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