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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.
after the show
[ it's just after the performance ends that he's approached by a women that he doesn't recognize. having stood to take his leave in short order, barton instead folds his arms over his chest and frowns. ]
Yeah. [ he answers, easily enough. ] But just because we have magic, don't think I come from some backwater place... I know how a lightbulb works!
no subject
Eyes: Bright bluish-teal
Attitude: Answered directly and to the point.
Insistent about his knowledge on lightbulbs."
This is a large and intimidating man. Amelia looks up at Barton looking unaffected but guarded nonetheless. She nods when he answers her and scratches down some notes.]
I wouldn't equate magic with being technologically lacking. If anything, I would find it questionable if they didn't go hand in hand.
[She nods, mostly to herself.]
The only reason that would happen is if there are repressive policies regarding magic when it's known on a wider level.
[The redhead looks up at Barton again, evaluating him some more.]
Are you some kind of officer here?
[idk, he has that look, she's good at guessing sometimes.]
no subject
[ but then he nods at her question, lifting his chin as he peers at her from beneath his cap. ]
That's right, I'm an inspector with the Department of Enma! What're you?
no subject
[And huh, Enma. She's met a Lost Soul from the Tamamo already and no Soul yet from Shuten or the Alliance. Two out of four, that's good enough for now.]
Based on the information I've gathered, I don't know if I'm particularly drawn to or resonate with any of these leaders. Do they give you a reason why they've chosen you or are you just left to make an educated guess?
no subject
Educated guess.
As you might imagine, it'll still vary per person. [ he looks about and gestures at the crowd for some emphasis. ] I can respect how much Shuten enjoys battle, but I still think of 'em as a completely undisciplined, disorderly mess, that rarely do anything productive with their lack of schedules. And still, I've no clue why I have some of the coworkers that I do.
[ hmph.. ]
You get what I'm saying?
no subject
He's proving to have a very interesting point of view so far. The remark about how power and discipline or lack thereof gives Amelia more insight into why at least this particular individual has been placed with the Enma. You could be powerful, but want to channel it with focused intent. You can have straight intent, but let your power go loose in order to assert yourself.
Another interesting point; not all of his coworkers share his point of view or at least that's what he's implying.]
I understand. It's making a lot more sense now. That leaves the Sutoku and Tamamo...
Ah, wait. I gave you my name, but I haven't gotten yours, young man.
[HmMMm]
What should I be calling you? Officer?
no subject
[ okay, he's 28, but miscellaneous details. typically appearing young is more a compliment, but it's apparent that barton feels like he's being condescended to. hell, she can't be too far off from his age, can she...? ]
[ his head cants. ]
Inspector, Inspector Barton, or just Barton if you really wanna be informal.
no subject
[That makes her look up at him. And then back to her notebook.]
That's not terribly old.
[And hilariously, Amelia looks to be about the same age as him? And yet there is an undeniable and underlying quality to her looks that see to obscure what exactly that age is.]
You're still young and hip at heart at that age Inspector Barton.
[said with a completely straight face]
no subject
[ truthfully, barton is also not so old — nor is his hearing reduced to that extent due to gunfire — that he needs to hear that repeated. but nani. ]
Never heard that one before. [ he rearranges a hand to prop it to his hip. a brow lifts, but he presses on, ] But anyway, if you're new — it's not outside the scope of our duties to assist rookies like you.
no subject
Even if I may end up in a different faction? Are the lines between each group blurred or has there been more cooperation than not?
no subject
You'll find the Department is a lil' more - [ how to put this ] - impartial, in its interests. Can't say as much for the other factions.
The Enma values order above all else. [ he won't verbalize his thoughts, not to a newbie, but he does think if he valued anything above that, it would be done already. ] Me helping out some lost, green newcomer, that eventually finds themselves in Shuten, Sutoku, or whatnot —
[ he lifts his shoulders dismissively. ]
is pretty low on any list of transgressions.
no subject
Hn. When you put it that way... It's very much a " the end justifies the means" sort of deal we've been folded into.
Whatever the end is anyway.
no subject
Yeah, who the hell knows?
[ with a grin, ]
You're catching on quick, though! You're gonna have to accept knowing a whole lot of nothing about anything. Most the faction leaders, the higher-ups - they're all right dodgy bastards.
no subject
[The Witch King was more than dodgy; she was more or less a slave to his whims until those ran out and she was left alone for the most part. She had been stuck in a hell of her own for so long.
What's one more? At least she isn't alone.]
Hm. Well, if I end up in the Department, I may find myself depending on you. If not, since you've been answering my questions, I'll return the favor.
no subject
[ he doesn't need much time to contemplate her assurance. ]
I won't need much as a favor... Just try to be too much of a pain to deal with, if I ever have to deal with you as apart of enforcing the law.
no subject
[Her delivery of this fact is wry indicating that she finds it on the whole, a nuisance.]
That said, I've also been told that I am in fact a pain to deal with, but those words were from my high school students.
[Eye roll as she closes her notebook.]
Teenagers.
no subject
he watches as she snaps the notebook closed. that's actually the first time he's heard psychics mentioned, here - at least, with some substance attached to it. he's perked up at the mention, ]
You have psychics wherever you're from?
no subject
[Her brow raises with interest as well.]
Espers are more common than magickind with normal lifespans. Their power has been thinning for generations, however. Very few individuals come close to being able to match up with a witch due to our capabilities of imposing ourselves on reality as opposed to a psychic who works within the realm.
Ah, apologies. That was a bit of a tangent, but I hope that was easy enough to understand.
no subject
[ a pause. barton's accustomed enough to having to listen to tangents, what with how many detailed status reports he'd have to demand and process back home. so she's a witch, huh...? he has less an idea of what that entails -- besides, well. bad news, is what he assumes. ]
Why've they been thinning out?
no subject
[She opens up her notebook again to write down his words. Caelestites. Intriguing.]
That's just how things are in other places I suppose.
[Barton's question regarding her world's psychics is an interesting topic, one she had probably written a paper on
nerdbut she'll be concise.]There are a variety of reasons for their decline. Chief among them would be intermingling with non-psychic bloodlines, thus making the chances of offspring with substantial power grow even smaller.
[The other is, the loss of their patron, but that's honestly a different lore dump that is neither here nor there.]
It seems like I may compare more notes with you in the future, Mr. Barton.