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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.
no subject
[ He sees her retreat inside herself, and he slows a bit so that she can stay beside him, rather than behind him. He knows better than most how easy it is for Tifa to pull inward, and this is all new territory. If Tifa's observant, they might even catch some of the people in the street catching sight of Cloud and whispering among themselves. He is, after all, a known commodity here, these days. Whether he wants to be or not. ]
The groups that control the city all work together... for the most part. They all have their own goals, but they've come together when it matters. Thankfully.
[ Cloud's words are still guarded. He might trust the various factions more than he trusted Shinra, but that doesn't necessarily mean he trusts them completely. It'd be hard for anyone who found a life in Midgar to do that. ]
Sutoku mostly controls the day-to-day stuff. Convenience stores, arcades, cheap bars, that sort of thing. They do a lot of the live entertainment, too - singing, dancing, theater. They kind of share that space with the Tamamo Clan, mostly. Their group also does a lot of the maintenance work on the city.
It's... not much. But they did alright by me, when I first showed up. [ He'll let that hang in the air. He's sure Tifa has questions — both about his stay here, and about this place. He wants to make sure to answer what he can. ]
no subject
Tifa can't help it, and it's been that way since that strange night they reunited at the train station, but she's making herself even more obvious now.]
What happened? ... When you first showed up, I mean.
[Might as well start from the beginning. It's the easiest way for her to sort through whatever else she might want to know... which is everything.]
no subject
When I first arrived, the city was in a turf war. Sutoku's leader was presumed dead — only to be confirmed not to be, later. Shuten and Tamamo took the opportunity to claim Sutoku territory and fight over it in the meanwhile.
Soon after that, these... cursed clay dolls started showing up. Causing a lot of problems. Everything seemed to get worse with them around. It wasn't a coincidence.
no subject
And a perfectly arched brow shoots upward at the mention of clay dolls. First a turf war, which doesn't seem all that out of place in a world like this—there were plenty that took place in Midgar's slums—but it's such a sudden shift that it's a bit jarring for her processing mind.]
Wait...
[She shakes her head, and a confused, awkward smile blossoms over her lips.]
Were the clay dolls part of this fight?
[What in the world kinds of things has Cloud gotten up to down here?]
no subject
[ He takes a moment, trying to compose his thoughts. He looks back at her as she steps back, before looking away and down. ]
More like... the turf war was a distraction, in some ways. The clay dolls ended up being connected to something worse. A huge... 'curse' that befell the city. It was...
[ There's a beat. The kind of beat Cloud only takes when he's trying to reckon with something after the fact. Like the first Reactor bombing. ]
It was pretty scary stuff. And the one behind it all was trying to kill another leader of the city, while everyone else was trying to deal with how far these dolls had spread the curse.
no subject
And here she thought the slums were bad.
There's a flicker of guilt that crosses her eyes, and she drops her own gaze to her feet as they walk. He had gone through all of this, likely not on his own and likely not without people he could trust to have his back—they were all stuck in this same predicament after all, weren't they?—but even still...]
Sorry I'm so late.
[The apology is offered with a small, shameful laugh.
She could have been there to help, and to be another person he could have watching his back. She didn't think there were a lot of things that Cloud would call scary...]
no subject
...Don't be. You're here now. And that's what matters.
[ He'll stare up at the sky for a moment, trying to sort out his thoughts as his gait comes to a stop. ]
It's a lot like Midgar. But... in every way it's the same, there's a way it's different. Having another familiar face— it does a lot.
[ It grounds him, in its own way. Tifa's been there to keep him from teetering over the balance beam. And here she was, now doing the same. ]
no subject
Tifa's finger nudges upward before she's turning on the balls of her feet to look at him.]
At least the view from the ground's better here. Haven't seen a proper sky since Nibelheim.
[Even if this may not be an ideal one to reunite under, it's still one all the same.]
Doesn't really make me miss the plate.