jigokufever | (OVERFLOW) AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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(OVERFLOW) 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!~~ 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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Mmmmaybe you're right!? Emotional attachments make people do all kinds of ridiculous stuff, after all. Yikes!

Come to think of it! ...What was the motive behind the kidnapping anyway?

[ Well... they tried.

Kurogane glances at the store owner before looking back ag Hyacinth. ]

Let's try somewhere else. There's plenty of other places with better weapons anyway.

[ He says it loud enough for the store owner to hear as he motions for them to leave with him. ]

[He thinks a moment.]

I have no idea! I tried to help with the questioning but then I guess I was doing a bad job because Captain Shiki made me stop.
[The Enma department is Fine.]

Wow!

[ The Enma department is inspirational. Not that Gogol knows this yet. What he is thinking, though, is how his previous lil terrorist organization could go to town on hell and be just fine apparently. ]

Quick! Tell me what you asked. Pretend I'm a terrible, no good guy, even. We'll workshop it.

I suppose you could put it that way.

[Technically, they were at peace now- not that it ever seemed to matter much. Watching Bradley stride towards him with purpose, the man simply stands, smiling, still unmoved by his swagger.] Ahaha, what, are you curious?

[Matoba smoothly transfers the bundle to his other arm, and slips his fingertips into the fold of one side. What an impatient one. Aggressive, and not very subtle- well, it'd be fun to see how he'd react, if nothing else.] Shall I show you?

Alright. Come here.

[The man turns his head. As Bradley draws closer, the paper that covered the right side of his face was more visible. Painted with strange runes, the warding magic was tangible enough, but the vibes of what was behind it was-- off. Subtle, but with a pull like something malice-filled was being drawn towards it from afar. Cursed.]

[Matoba's fingers draw outward from the package, something long and thin between them- like sticks...?]

Edited (wow tired tagging bad actually) 2022-09-09 03:36 (UTC)

[ ... okay, usually he has some dry ass smartass comment to most things, but that actually gets him to open his mouth and then close it again. for two reasons, really. prose-what? being the first thing, and the second thing being that... that kind of question really puts his complete lack of plan in the spotlight... ]

The plan I definitely have doesn't involve that, I can tell you that much.

[ please believe him. he's very convincing. and to give mikey less time to mull over how unconvincing that really is, immediately following is: ]

Is it your thing to ask random questions as follow up to your normal questions, or what? If this keeps escalating, I don't want to hear your next one.

[ given he's already lost. ]

[ Maybe he doesn't want to eat it right now! ]

Oh gods, someone else does know.

[ He should not sound so relieved but he does, despite himself. ]

[ yeah, a knife...that'd do it. fistfights are all for ripping things here and there, grabbing your opponent and slugging them, but bring a blade and you're asking for a trip to the tailors (and, quite possibly, the hospital depending). at the very least, it's a far cleaner cut than the ripping of seams from fumbling fingers, that much he can tell.

mitsuya eyeballs them for a second looking back up at the question, quirking his brow before letting a mildly amused smile drift over his face. guess he should expect that now, just like he did at the award ceremony. a sidecut and temple tattoo doesn't do a good job of making you seem like a law abiding citizen. ]

What, surprised? [ he pushes himself up, letting his hands sink into his pocket with a noncommittal shrug. ] I'm pretty good with a needle and thread, although I'd prefer a sewing machine...gotta work with what you can get, I guess.

[ at the very least, takemichi has him to rely on, wholly and fully. mikey and draken are reliable, friends to be trusted, but mitsuya is the only one who knows the full extent of what they've gone through. what's happening now, before they came here. it doesn't feel quite right, keeping secrets from people they hold so close, but the pros outweigh the cons despite the aggravated itch beneath his skin.

well...it's a bridge they'll just have to cross when they get to it, and hopefully they'll have plenty of time to prepare to do so.

mitsuya can't stop the distaste in his features at the metal in draken's coat- he's never had a taste for weapons, be they steel pipes or steel blades. it's always felt better to feel the crunch of your opponent's bones beneath your knuckles, feel the burn of splitting knuckles and aching muscles. far, far better.

he has seen too much death to even consider killing at this point. he doesn't want to be like a certain pink-haired psychopath who lugs a katana to a street gang brawl. ]

Pass. I'll suit up against them, but putting a knife in my hand'd feel too weird.

[ he's had two friends get stabbed now (three, if you count takemichi's hand), and they're not exactly pleasant memories.

unfortunately, this is not a street gang brawl, and he know he's probably putting himself in more danger...all the more reason to gear up properly. a prepared man is an alive man, and it looks like only two of them are following that principal right now. ]

I'm not going to fork over all my stuff if you forget, you know, so you'd better get prepared. We dunno how long we're going to be out there with everyone else.

[Honestly, that reaction has her taken aback more than anything else he could say. She has to just...blink at him a couple seconds. Uh...]

You've...been here quite some time, haven't you?

[ He eyes him again from top to bottom, as if trying to truly assess that this guy indeed knows how to sew, despite his rough exterior. Sure, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but you can when you're Bradley and your ego is big enough to think you're always right. This guy doesn't look like a wizard, but he looks like someone that can handle himself, and Bradley likes that a lot. If he still had his gang, he'd definitely like to recruit a tough looking guy like Mitsuya into it.

He scoffs, grinning. ]

The only tailor I know is this really girly kid; I thought you'd all look the same. Ah, I don't know where shit is either, though, so I can't help ya there. [ Wait a second... ] You're a human, right? I can be your bodyguard for a couple of blocks in exchange.

[ Rejoice! ]

[ yes................. ]

Dunno. Thought you'd "move on", or some stupid shit like that.

It's got nothin' to do with you.

[Here's the fried chicken, now shut up for a while.]

[ Oh, great. This guy he decided to show off for is a certified weirdo. He's not good with those at all, and it shows on his face as he grimaces. ]

Why would I? They started a fight with the Great Bradley, they had it coming.

[ And despite it all, he approaches him, anyway. ]

You friends with them?

[ OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay fried chicken Definitely perks him right up, sitting upright again like a child on christmas morning, immediately reaching for the plate in front of him to scarf it down like it's the last thing he'll ever eat in his entire life. ]

Shit! This is as good as always! [ He looks absolutely elated as he stuffs a big chicken leg in his mouth to rip it apart. ] Hell? What hell? This is heaven, ain't it!?

[At least the food's gotten him off of that particular line of questioning. Some things really never change. The sun comes up in the morning and Bradley loves fried chicken.]

Nope, sorry to inform ya, we're still in hell. [Nero's not immune to praise, considering the obvious pride he's trying to keep hidden.]

Well...it hasn't even been a cycle, but it gets really obvious when you're the only one who isn't at all familiar with almost everything here.

[ Even the people who weren't expecting to end up here seem to be familiar with some of the concepts that have come up, albeit not necessarily in exactly how they knew them to be. ]

...I'm not sure I can relate.

[Because that part's been the most exciting part for her? Everything is strange and new and different, but just enough the same that it hasn't rattled her confidence. Tsubaki's excited by all this, honestly.]

[ As powerful as he once was, Bradley's still just a wizard - easily enticed by the unknown whenever something piques his curiosity - just like a cat, no matter how trivial the actual mystery is. The promise of being shown whatever was under the cloth was too good to pass, so he crosses his arms and leans in to observe from a closer distance.

He only stops in his tracks when he notices the paper covering Matoba's face, and can feel that something's not normal about it. He'll wait for him to pull whatever sticks he has with him, but his attention is fully on Matoba's face now, anyway. ]

...What happened there? You cursed? Who did ya piss off?

[ Because obviously he must have pissed someone off. Look at him. ]

[ Bradley loves it when Nero's prideful, so who's he to stop him? It bothers him that Nero's just standing there, though. He glances at him while chewing for a few seconds, then swallows, tilting his chin at a chair nearby. ]

You should join me.

[ You're talking someone who's never really left his island and showed up here alone, Tsubaki. Even if Jigoku is, in some ways, not very different from Wu-Jian, alongside the curiosity it was hard to not feel incredibly lonely. ]

Mm, I can't say I was really expecting you to.

[ It was just that he was starting to think maybe he'd be the only person from Creation to show up here, given how many people seemed to know what "Japan" is but not, say, the empire. Or literally anything else from back home. ]

[ he can see that look; he's seen that one quite a few times, thus far. you can learn a lot from sizing someone up, but like they said, you can never be sure. even the girls back in the home-ec club would always tell him how he was the only delinquent they wanted to tolerate- unfortunately for peh-yan, whenever he came knocking.

well, the guy ain't so bad so far. he's dealt with far gruffer, and it's not like they're throwing blows in the streets like he was a while ago. ]

Yeah? Maybe I'll meet the guy someday. [ he'd welcome it, honestly. he doesn't meet a lot of other guys with the same interests as him. as for the offer...there's a few seconds of thought before mitsuya offers a scoff of his own, but he doesn't look as offended as he could be. if he weren't still thinking of all the horned and winged people around, 'human' might bother him more than it does. ] And I sure as hell don't need a bodyguard.

[ HOWever. ]

Can't hurt to have someone watch your back, though, so you got a deal. Takin' it you're pretty new too, then.

Got them on a recommendation from a warrior; I won't use anything but my fists unless necessary.

[Draken knows it's hard to win with just his fists and feet, they're in Hell, after all. He's not trained on using daggers, but in a situation of life or death he'll prefer to live, it's all.

The father of the kidnapped girl fears this.... beast enough to put a bounty on him, and if they want to get to a fight and get out alive, they need to get as much help as they can. Hopefully the enemy doesn't have guns or other weird thing that can beat them though.

He sighs, thinking of all the stuff they need in order to make a trip of unknown time, battle, then make their way back with (hopefully) a girl.]

We need so many things. Can a big tent fit four?

[ he supposes he should be grateful the issue isn't pressed, because that's not something he wants to confront right now, thank you.

that laugh is sickeningly nostalgic, and mitsuya has to turn his gaze back to the tentatively retreating rat-pack in front of him to avoid the unpleasant sensation coiling in his chest. at least they're starting to sense they're out of their depth here. ]

Yours is way scarier than mine, ya know. [ that's just fact!! ] Wasn't expecting to clock anyone on the first day, but I guess hell is a lot more rowdy than you'd think. Almost like we never left.

Hell is specially made for us.

[Draken pulls on Mitsuya, as if to drag him away from where they are. It's not like they hadn't seen each other in months, but being here, in Hell, with him, after all they've been through together. He doesn't look too different from when he saw him last, but just to make sure--]

Say, how old are you?

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(OVERFLOW) AUGUST 2022 TEST DRIVE

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