jigokumods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jigokumods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
jigokufever2022-02-22 06:06 pm
jigokumods) wrote in jigokufever2022-02-22 06:06 pm
Entry tags:
February 2022 Test Drive
MAIN NAVIGATION
1. ENTRY
It feels like a dream as you wake up in what appears to be a government office. It is remarkably mundane: white walls, small screens with the number that is being served and at what desk, chairs along the perimeter of the room, and pleasant music playing from unseen speakers. There's nothing out of the ordinary, right?
Then you take a look at the inhabitants in the office: Lost Souls and youkai alike make up the ranks of a never-ending line in front of a desk manned by an akaname in a suit. However, another youkai, a hyakume, is your first contact in this world. You're instructed to take a number and stand in the queue. Take a seat if you want– but you're reminded to be quick when your number is called or you'll be passed by.
Congratulations: you're in Hell.
If you're lucky, you're in line behind a fellow Lost Soul. If you're less lucky, you're stuck behind any number of youkai that may be disturbing to look at or ones that may actively try to harm you. The ones with long arms may even try to steal your ticket from further back in the line.
Make small talk, try not to freak out, and keep your ticket safe (or maybe try to steal a better one) as you make your way up in the line.
2. THE CITY
Once you've been processed through the line, you're given your assignment to one of the four possible clans with directions to their respective clan offices. The city itself looks remarkably similar to a modern Japanese city, complete with narrow alleyways connecting wider streets. Glaring neon signs advertising various businesses compete for your attention, even the most mundane businesses.
Once you tear your attention away from the myriad distractions, your task is to find your way to the office. The akaname didn't exactly give you clear directions, just a piece of paper with an address printed on it. You’re on your own to find your way there.Ask your fellow Lost Souls for directions or stubbornly find your way to the office all on your own. No matter how you get there, once you've made your way to the office you're given your lodgings (for rookies, it’s always the cheapest inn or apartment block in the area) and told to go out and get a feel for the city.
- Those assigned to the Shuten Clan are directed to the gambling district.
- The Tamamo Clan members are directed to the red light district.
- New members of the Sutoku Alliance are pointed to the entertainment district.
- Those assigned to The Department of the Enma are sent to the administrative district.
3. STREET FIGHT - SHUTEN TERRITORY
Scuffles break out all the time in Jigokucho, especially in the district dominated by the Shuten Clan. Whether it's a rival clan posturing over someone being on the wrong turf, shakedowns of all sorts, or just someone with a chip on their shoulder picking a fight: it always draws a crowd of onlookers.
No matter what street you're going down or what you're on your way to do, there always seems to be a fight to block the way. Take a look, take bets, or maybe you're the one caught in the brawl. Maybe someone decided they didn't like the way you looked at them or maybe they're trying to catch you in a petty scam. You may also feel the need to step in when fights are looking particularly one-sided.
Get used to this happening.
4. STICKY PAWS - SUTOKU TERRITORY
One of the more adorable features in the city is a cat cafe. Located within Sutoku territory, it always draws a steady crowd. If you're lured in by the adorable cats in the window, you're welcomed into a pleasant, cat-friendly environment with cats of every shape, color, and size lounging on various surfaces while being doted on by patrons. Of course not everything is as it seems: these are no ordinary cats. They're bakeneko in disguise and this cafe is a clever way to spirit away a few more coins for the Sutoku Alliance's coffers.
You may notice your wallet is a few (thousand) bills lighter at some point during your visit or your wallet may be missing entirely. Maybe it was one of your fellow patrons helping themselves while you were playing with a cat or maybe it was one of the cats. Who's to say? You quickly realize this place is not on the up and up; you have to do something about it.
Chase down one of the cats, confront your fellow patrons, or maybe try to shake down the owner for information. The latter won't get you very far, but maybe it'll make you feel better about losing your cash to a cute scam.
5. HELP WANTED - TAMAMO TERRITORY
CW: potentially NSFW, optional aphro
If you find yourself in the red light district, you might find yourself pulled into something else entirely. A scout in front of one of the numerous clubs drags you in off the street, assuming you're from the Tamamo Clan. It doesn't matter if you are or not, the scout is not listening to your protests. They say something about staffing shortages as you're shoved into the employee area of the club. The club manager then pushes some clothes at you and tells you to get out onto the floor once you're dressed. It might be a host club, it might be a bikini or banana bar, or maybe something even more salacious – whatever it is, you're working there for the night.
There are also barkers aggressively recruiting clients for these clubs, promising a good time for anyone who wants it. Whether it be the company of a pretty host or hostess, the lurid appeal of a strip show, or perhaps even other pleasures of the flesh: there's plenty to tempt even the most resistant.
Work at a club for the night or partake in the pleasures. Drinks flow like water, some with a little something extra to help things along. Everything is transactional here. As you have the money, you're bound to find something that tickles your fancy.
Welcome to the test drive meme!
- Threads here can be considered game canon.
- If you have any questions about the TDM content, please ask them here!
- If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
- Reserves are open until March 5th.
2/2
But on the outside, with the distance between them — there's no visible crack in his calm facade. He's just going to play this off as always, feigning his own innocence and twisting things around to make it sound like his accusers are the misguided ones. ]
What's this about? Don't tell me one night behind bars rubbed off on you that much.
[ A dismissive shake of his head. ]
You're correct about my destination, in any event. I've little interest in reforming anyone else's territory, but I do intend to carry out my role as thoroughly and effectively as possible so long as I'm compelled to remain within it.
I hope your newfound anti-authoritarian streak doesn't get in the way of our fulfilling our obligations here.
no subject
There is more confirmation in those words than Stronghart may have intended to give. "One night behind bars" is it? Hell is being kinder to van Zieks than expected, giving him this much of an edge on the puppet master of the London justice system. Or maybe it's just that Stronghart's mind could handle his defeat as little as Asogi's could handle his faux-death? Has it reset him to the last time he'd felt truly in control of anything? That seems difficult to imagine. Even after a crushing defeat in flames such as the one Stronghart had suffered only few days ago from van Zieks' perspective, he can't see the man's spirit being broken quite that easily.
But if this place draws in individuals from all over with no regard to physical distance, plausibility or even reality of the place it pulls from... then what is to say that temporal distance couldn't be bridged as well? It's brainbreaking but not any more so than anything else about being here. ]
It seems that I have the great privilege of speaking to you like a harbinger of a future yet to pass. The 'Reaper' title you bestowed on me rearing its head once more... Keh... keh... keh...
[ He can't help but laugh a little, though it's thoroughly devoid of any real amusement. ]
But you needn't worry about our duties here. It is my obligations to you that have met a violent end, not my obligations to truth and justice.
no subject
But no; he's not going to start letting the blood get on his own hands after all this time. Anyway, who knows if it's even possible to permanently silence anyone in this grotesque mockery of reality? He's just going to maintain his denial as long as he can. There's no one to disprove him. ]
That I bestowed upon you?
[ There's a chuckle from him as well, equally humourless. ]
Well, whether you think you were given that moniker by me or the public or the Devil himself, it matters little. It's plain to see you've finally cracked under its pressure.
A shame, truly. A part of me had still been holding out hope for you.
no subject
... and an investigation behind the scenes, running on and on without ever suspecting Stronghart, without ever putting so much as a scratch into the loyalty he was made to feel for him. Never questioning him for more than a second, just like he had never questioned Klint... Barok's luck with men he looks up to seems to have been abysmal all his life. ]
That does not flatter me in the slightest. A symbol like I was takes time and effort to build, it would have been such an inconvenience to have to toss it.
Then again, throwing people away is what you do best lately.
no subject
[ He taps the end of his cane against his palm in a steady rhythm. ]
That reputation you so loathe did indeed serve the people of London very well. Naturally, I wouldn't relish losing that. I had also long considered you the finest prosecutor I had, and a man of unfailingly good character, despite your numerous flaws.
[ Though even approaching from this angle, he can't resist putting a little more emphasis on numerous than he really needs to. ]
My declining to speak out against your charges was no personal slight, but it seems you've regrettably taken it as such, and allowed your resentment toward me to manifest in this elaborate and troublesome self-delusion.
Again, a shame. But I won't stand for being slandered. I would advise you to be careful about what you say.
no subject
So he looks Stronghart in the eyes like he might look at a witness in the stand. Certain. ]
Unlike certain defense attorneys, I am not in the habit of throwing out accusations without evidence.
[ Ryunosuke Naruhodo may have saved his soul and have unwavering and complete integrity but he can also say some dumbass shit in court. ]
You know well as I that nothing of the sort has come along with you. Your misdeeds are out of reach now - those from London, that is. For this chapter of your life meanwhile... well. It has been said that there are a great many Reapers around. Know that at least one will always have his eyes on you.
[ If anybody had ever deserved the wrath he's been accused of, if anybody should ever fall to the Reaper's curse by Barok van Zieks' own hands... it would be Chief Justice Mael Stronghart. But van Zieks remembers Klint, remembers Kazuma Asogi and even Ashley Graydon... and he knows that he cannot allow himself to become the very monster he loathes most. ]
no subject
That's why you won all your cases against him, I suppose.
[ But good. Good to know that same unshakable commitment to principle that's helped to turn van Zieks against him is also what's going to ensure his silence. Though he does wonder if it's really that unshakable — if he really wouldn't consider forging evidence against him if a fitting opportunity arose. ]
I do.
[ He knows it very well indeed; it's precisely why he's not even going to validate the charges against him by acknowledging them as reality. He has no reason to defend his motives when he could just avoid admitting to anything. ]
As I've said, I will carry out my role thoroughly and effectively. As I always do. I don't foresee any complaints.
[ Having punctuated that last sentence very clearly, he snaps open his pocket watch to check the time. He may not have a schedule yet, but he still wants to know where each of his minutes is going. ]
...Anyway, that's enough for now; I want to gather a few more details before I report in. I'll catch up with you shortly.
[ With a bow that comes off as anything but deferential — ]
I shall look forward to working with you once more.
no subject
[ It's a strange feeling to abandon his deferential politeness towards Stronghart and exchange it for the discourteous bluntness with which he treats most everyone he encounters in his workday.
Though they are headed in roughly the same direction, van Zieks remains frozen in place as he watches Stronghart's head off into this garish town with his unfailingly even, heavy steps.
He'd never been naive enough to expect anything like shame or repentance, but Stronghart's unshakable calm still leaves van Zieks with a sense of uncomfortable foreboding. What is torment to van Zieks is merely an opportunity to Stronghart, and he's never been known for wasting those.
Once Stronghart is out of sight, van Zieks kicks a wall so hard that he'll feel the ache of it for the rest of the day. It does not make him feel any better.]