takamagahara | (no subject)

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test drive

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TEST DRIVE # 07

Whether you're trying to figure out how your character would fare in this setting, trying to get some samples together, or just dipping your toes in the water, you've come to the right place! The Test Drive is here to make your life easy by letting you see what the game is like without actually joining it first. So here is how it works:

1: Post a starter with your character, including whether they are a god or shinki in the subject line.
2: Act like your character is established enough in the setting to allow your thread to go places.
3: Take on any god/shinki of your choosing, as long as they're not already in the game!
4: Comment around to the other people on the meme.
5: Have lots of fun!

To get you started, here are some ideas for thread-starters! Feel free to come up with your own ideas if these don't strike your fancy, though.

Echoing Endlessly

Many people in the area are complaining about a strange echo following them around. It never seems to go away and, in fact, collects more and more echoes with each passing moment, creating a cacophony of sound. There have been reports of a few people slowly going crazy because of this echoing. It's your job to find what's causing it and put an end to the echoes!

French Frenzy

The new craze has swept over the city! Everything French is so in right now, and everyone wants something newer and Frenchier to make them stand out from the crowd. Just your luck, you happen to have something very French you can peddle - or maybe you can convince someone just how French your very Japanese things are!

Gateway Guardians

A very strange old shinki has left you with a very simple request: guard this door and don't let anyone through. It looks like a totally normal door on a totally normal house! You might be curious to peek through it, but it's locked and you were told not to go through yourself either...

Helping Hands

There's an ayakashi roaming around that is literally just hundreds of hands that randomly grab people and things and move them around before disappearing. The odd thing is that they are... actually doing good things? Maybe it's a scheme to suck people into a plagued afterlife without being caught, or maybe they just really want to help people out.

Irksome Illusions

There's a certain street in the downtown area that has some of the craziest rumors being spread about it. Apparently going down this street will just bring you back to the entrance, but when you turn around to head back you'll only find yourself at the entrance again. Moreover, there are a lot of creepy things that whisper and appear as you walk, more with each turn you make...

If you're uncertain about anything, feel free to check out the Premise, Rules, and FAQ posts. And don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have on the FAQ!
When and if you're ready to join the game, check out the Taken Characters before throwing in a Reserve and starting on your Application
Have fun!

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[At least don't hit him in the face again. Hazel's not aiming to do much damage himself - if anything, he's already figured out that this is the easiest way to get Gojyo to have a goddamned conversation with him, and he's going to need some information sooner or later. If they both keep dancing around each other literally while he gets that, it's fine.

He's shorter and needs to be closer to even get in range, though, so more of Gojyo's blows are going to connect. He hasn't had the wind knocked out of him yet, so - maybe there's some sense in letting this fight go where it will.]

Do me a favor and refrain from talkin' about Gat and I like you know our business. Your problem's with lil old me, not him.

[And, like... he doesn't feel dead. Wouldn't he have noticed? But more importantly, don't talk crap about Hazel's people. Person. He only has the one.]

[ But Hazel's face is just so damn punchable! ...Fine, one more good sock to the gut and he'll step back. If he's not doing any real damage and it's not a friend he's fighting with, then what's the point? ]

Y'all are sure right about that. [ He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, then pulls out a cigarette. Only then does he notice that Hazel's soul-stealing bling seems to be missing. That brings a smile to his face.

But it looks like your wall of meat bodyguard isn't the only thing you're missin'. Where's your necklace, Hazel-han?

[Stop incorrectly making fun of his accent, low bred asshole!! That last punch gets him to wheeze, though he does his best to make it look like he's less doubled over from it and more just retrieving his hat. That really hurt...

Soon enough he's straightening up, though, his usual smirk more strained than usual.]

Why? Need a soul? [HAH..... don't hit him again, but he had to get it out.] Since ya don't have the brains god gave a goose, I'll tell ya— I'm tryin' somethin' new. Turnin' over a new leaf.

[he lies, lying.]

They took it away from you, didn't they?

[ Of course they did. They took away Gojyo's magic weapon, too (although they left Sanzo's sutra, for some reason. Gojyo suspects Kanzeon had a say in that choice).) ]

Not like you could use it here anyway. No youkai for you to grave rob.

[ Although, now that he's thinking about it, that begs a kinda awful question. If the dead here are souls, and Hazel took youkai souls to reanimate humans... does that mean the human souls came up to heaven and the youkai souls are... stuck?

Shit. Like he needed more reasons to hate this guy. ]

So what god are you pretendin' to be now? God of rats?

[It begs an even better question about just what a man can do with an ayakashi and the right persuasion, but never mind that. Hazel's brow furrows, less out of offense - though, rude, rats are gross - and more out of genuine confusion. What in hell is this man ever talking about?]

Are ya feelin' alright? Nobody's come around to pickpocket me. If ya truly must know, it broke.

[He shrugs, and he'll leave it at that; he already doesn't like the way Gojyo talks about Gat, so even mentioning it was by his hand would invite all sorts of assumptions that he doesn't feel he should have to correct. So. It broke.]

Ya do know it's a bit of a toy, don't ya? I can still make use of a couple souls, if I gotta.

[ Rats are gross. And they dig through the trash and eat it. It's very accurate. ]

See, the thing is, I don't think you can. [ Around them the crowd is bubbling and happy with the prospect of fake French shit. It's really distracting, and Gojyo's beginning to wish that he'd just jumped over the table himself and knocked Hazel down in the privacy of the back of the booth. ]

Because if you could still steal people's souls here, then that'd make you a real problem. And I suspect some of the locals might want to come and make sure that problem disappeared.

Threatenin' a man who's done nothin' to no one's in mighty poor taste, sir.

[He's not going to go yank out someone's soul to prove he can or can't for Gojyo's sake, of all people. Pride's one thing, but if this guy doesn't believe he can do what he's pretty damned sure he can still do, then that's an acceptable loss.

But threatening him's a bit rude, all the same. He makes a show of straightening his clothes after their little squabble, overly casual about it. He shouldn't keep twisting the knife, he knows; Gojyo started it, though. And Gojyo won't believe a word out of his mouth besides the ones that make him look mean, so.]

What business do ya think I've got pullin' out innocent human souls, besides? That ain't like me.

[ Look, Gojyo's a simple guy, and they both know it. They also both knowwhat Hazel's capable of, both magically and morally. Gojyo stuffs his hands in his pockets with a huff, and wishes -- not for the first time -- that either Sanzo or Hakkai were here. Hazel's just too slippery a bastard for him to hold down. ]

We both know what's like you, asshole, so just drop it. [ He waves at a passing family, decked out in red white and blue, all wearing ill-fitting berets. ] It's not like there's anyone else listenin'. It's just me an' you. [ The kid is bouncing off the walls from all the cake smeared around her mouth, and her parents smile at her with obvious (if slightly worn out) love). ]

If her ears were pointed you wouldn't think twice about killin' her. Would you?

[Hazel glances at the family, eyes lingering on the child. Even after recent events that have made him rethink a thing or two, he can't help the kneejerk reaction he still has when the subject of youkai deserving to die or not comes up. That's ten years of deep-rooted bias that won't be so easily pulled up, after all.

Buuut still.]

She doesn't look like she's gone and lost her mind. Killin' somebody for bein' unsightly's just cruel.

[ Thanks, Hazel, now that little girl's tugging her mom's hand and asking what unsightly means. That was just rude. And also a feeble attempt as deflection. ]

That kid you spent two days chasin' down hadn't lost his mind either.

[Oh, of course, she notices them when he says that. Of course. He waves a hand.]

The rest of his people had. Besides that, he was a thief. And that poor woman's baby did nothin' wrong but catch an illness that was too much for it's little body.

You and I can argue ethics all damn day, but we ain't gonna see eye to eye.

[ Tiny kids and animals can usually see them, Hazel. Best to remember that. ]

I don't give a shit if you agree with me, Hazel-han. You don't have Gat and you don't have your magic necklace, so as far as I can see, you're pretty much harmless.

[ And if he ever shows any sign of being able to still manipulate souls, then Gojyo will make sure that he becomes permanently harmless. This isn't China -- there are different rules here, and one more mysteriously vanished god isn't going to raise any eyebrows. ]

I'm gonna be watchin' you.

[How menacing... Hazel gives Gojyo an even look; he doesn't believe the man is threatening enough on his own to be much of a problem, really, but he's content to let him think what he wants until some other kind of problem does arise. For now, he has better things to do than be threatened in the street.]

I'm sure ya will. I do declare I'll be lookin' over my shoulder for the rest of my days, with ya out on the prowl like ya so wanna be.

[Not really. Maybe. Nah.]

So I'll be seein' ya.

Yeah. You will.

[ He's got responsibilities now (not that he's going to tell Hazel that Sanzo and the rest are here -- if he finds out about them then he finds out about them, but no way Gojyo's going to send Hazel sniffing after the monk). He's really not very good at being in charge, but dammit, he's doing what he can.

Touch his friends or so much as look sideways at any of the non-human residents of the Far Shore, Hazel, and you'll find out exactly how threatening Sha Gojyo can be. For now, with that awesome last word, he shoulders roughly past Hazel and off into the crowd. ]

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