takamagahara | (no subject)

Entry tags:

test drive

(no subject)

TEST DRIVE # 12

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.

Daring Drinks

A couple of local bars are going out of their way to make new and interesting drinks for their customers to try, in a long-standing war between the two bars. Of course, they're going a little off the rails, so there are some very interesting - and somewhat scary - combinations popping out of the woodworks. And they want everyone passing by to try them.

Electric Eels

An odd ayakashi is causing some of the eels at the local aquarium to become literally electric, causing the eels to shock the other inhabitants in their tanks. This is causing a pretty big uproar and if it isn't fixed soon, someone could die or the aquarium might even just shut down entirely.

Frog Friend

Large frogs are popping up all over the place and following people around. They don't seem malicious in any way, but they are kind of creepy to look at, brightly colored, and leave trails of slippery goo wherever they stand. Oh, and they like to jump at people and knock them over, just for fun.

Gaseous Grandpas

A local home for older men is having a problem with a number of their inhabitants where they literally cannot stop farting and belching. It turns out this is the work of an ayakashi that just thinks farts and burps are funny and knows it's easier to get those sorts of things out of old people. Help the poor old guys out, would you?

Horrifying Hentai

Many known otaku in the area are dealing with a rather terrifying problem - every hentai they watch lately comes into reality very suddenly. Sometimes this means cute, begging girls, sure, but it also means tentacles and aliens and a whole rash of other things too. You'll have to stop the ayakashi that is bringing these 'fantasies' to life in order to save these guys.

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Why are the cute ones always so dumb?

Myfanwy performs a complicated hand gesture, interpretive dance for WHEN THE GIANT CENTIPEDE THING WITH ALL THE EYES BITES YOUR HEAD OFF, I WILL WHISPER I TOLD YOU SO TO YOUR TWITCHING CORPSE, and scoots out from behind her protective steam table to see if she can get close enough to grab his wrist and drag him out of decapitation range.

Oh fuck this is going to get her chewed on by a giant centipede thing, too. Oh, fuck.]

[The interpretive dance is a little confusing, but does catch on at least enough to glance behind him, and... freeze up in terror.]

[So it's really a good thing she's there to drag him away. Her grasp on him is enough to shake him out of his shock a little bit, and he raises his free hand, trying desperately to remember what one of the other shinki told him he was supposed to say at times likes this....]

A... A line!

[He draws the borderline just in time, too -- the ayakashi makes an angry noise as it bumps up against it in pursuit of them. Yuuri, meanwhile, looks a little stunned. He actually did it! It actually worked!]

You're going to tell me exactly what you just did and how it works as soon as we're out of range, got it? Move!

[Myfanwy's not sure what well of command experience that particular authoritative yell came from, but she likes the way it sounds. Move! -- Yeah, that is the right thing to do just now, and it seems like her grabbing Brown Eyes has shaken him out of his terror enough that she's not going to waste the energy trying to tell his legs to start running while she's sorting out her own panicked dash for the kitchen door.]

[That is a very sensible order, and it's sure as Hell not the time to question it. He's quick on his feet, at least, only slowing down once they're out the kitchen door to turn around and draw a new borderline across the threshold of the door itself. Not a moment too soon, either -- the ayakashi crashes up against the new barrier, and doesn't sound happy about it at all.]

What... What was...

[Excuse him, he hasn't seen many big ayakashi yet, his mind is still trying to wrap around their existence.]

I have no idea.

[Myfanwy leans around him, grabs the door itself (reassuringly metal, and solid-looking) and slams it shut over the sizzling white curtain of light the man had just produced out of his finger.

That is a useful talent. She's jealous: she's starting to get used to the trick of reaching down inside bodies and dragging muscles and senses into responding to her will, but whatever that purple thing had been, she hadn't even felt it. It'd been like an illusion.

A big, gross, horrifyingly physical illusion. Now on the other side of a big, steel door. The day's looking up.]

[Yuuri puts a hand against his chest, breathing out a sigh of relief. They should probably either run further away or figure out a way to deal with the ayakashi for now, but he's feeling unusually good about not having been already been eaten, at this point.]

It's... It might be what's been playing tricks on the residents here, but I'm not sure what to do about it right now...

[Not without his god around. Maybe he could text him or something?]

Me, either. My powers couldn't get a hold on it.

[She runs her thumb over her fingertips in a nervous gesture as something hits the other side of the door hard. That's playing tricks on the residents?]

... and something tells me it's not just looking to have fun with a fart joke. Come on, let's get out of here.

[They're in the hallway that runs by the side of both the kitchen and the residents' dining room; it's got plenty of doors opening out into common areas, and even some nice houseplants by the big bay window at the far end. Myfanwy's still liking the idea of MOVE!, and she thinks she's going to be a fan until the centipede thing is officially no longer on their tail. She starts down the hallway, trying doors as she passes them.]

Myfanwy, by the way. [She pronounces it to rhyme with Tiffany.] You?

[Running, running sounds like a great idea. If they get outside, they can find a shrine and get back to the Far Shore if it's still chasing them then...]

[Yuuri doesn't run like a sprinter, but the pace he's got, he could keep up for a good long time if he needed to.]

Ah... Yuuri! Katsuki Yuuri.

[He'll be happy to introduce himself more properly when he's not running for his life.]

[She's just trying to keep herself from mentally fixing on Brown-eyes as a nickname, because while he might have cute brown eyes she's also definitely going to call him that out loud sometime if she doesn't stop it real quick.

Yuuri. Okay, she can go with Yuuri. Or, at the moment, go after Yuuri, because she runs like an office worker in heels, which is to say that he's easily outpacing her. The increasingly violent banging against the kitchen door is a great motivator, though, and she's not slowing down even though she's panting for breath.]

Door -- at the end -- on the right -- lobby....

[And the lobby leads outside. She'd checked out a fire escape map on her way through to the kitchen: she'd just been bored, but those little dotted exit arrows are suddenly much more relevant to her life.]

[Yuuri doesn't need to be told twice. He's a few paces ahead of her when he hears a strange sound coming from one of the rooms off to the side, and stops to draw a new borderline across that door before the ayakashi can reach it.]

Hurry!

[He takes off again, just as quick as before, though now that he's realized that she runs slower than him, he's careful not to speed up any more and leave her behind. She hasn't learned to do borderlines yet, after all, so she might not even have the one weak defense he's got right now...]

Hurrying! Thanks!

[It's a frantic gasp: the thing is following them, it's getting into the rooms on that side of the hallway, or -- worse -- there's more than one.

The lobby door is only a few doors down, now, though, and Myfanwy focuses on it with panicked intensity.

There's something about being chased by a living thing that she can't sense that's beyond creepy and right out into actual nightmare territory. It's there, she saw it, she hears it, but it could be a ghost for all she feels it.]

[As they get near the exit, Yuuri slows down, enough to fall back just behind Myfanwy. He can run faster, so he should make sure she's safely out before he leaves...]

[He's slowing down. Myfanwy casts her senses ahead: no, there's no one in the lobby, she's not going to even worry about this, she thinks in a sudden burst of defiance, and pelts past him to shoulder the doors open. It's empty after all, with late-afternoon sunlight slanting invitingly through the glass doors on the other side of all the comfortable-chic couches and magazine racks.

She heads right for them, too winded even to say anything. Brown-eyed Yuuri had better be on her heels. He's fast, she tells herself, he'll be fine, he's got that line power, and slams the outside doors open, too, almost collapsing in relief at the smell of fresh air.]

[Not to worry, because Yuuri is definitely right on her heels as they burst out into the afternoon sunshine. He doesn't stop running once they're out, either -- lets his momentum carry him as far as the park half a block away before he even stops to see if they're still being chased. It doesn't look like they are, though, so he stands where he is to wait for Myfanwy again.]

[They don't seem to be, and so when Myfanwy staggers up behind him several seconds later, she bends over and wheezes, hands on her knees, without worry.]

Not going -- back in there -- without my god.

[Not in a million years. She sucks in another gulp of air, and straightens up, wincing as a brand-new blister on her ankle makes itself painfully known.]

Thanks, Yuuri.

I should be thanking you, really. I can't believe I didn't notice that thing was in there with me...

Neither can I.

[... was that too blunt? That was too blunt. True, though, so she's not taking it back.

She suppresses the urge to favor the blistered foot, and glances back over her shoulder, just to be absolutely sure they're not being followed.]

I don't think we'd have gotten away without that shield power of yours, though.

[Yuuri scratches the back of his head, his smile growing more self-conscious for a moment.]

Ah... it's not really a special power or anything. I think all shinki are supposed to be able to do it?

... We are?

[They are? Ugh, she hates being the one who isn't clued in. That's what she gets for heading out to help with a weird prayer right away, though, isn't it?

That's what she gets for thinking something as simple as curing a bunch of old men of their flatulence problem wouldn't need any more than her own abilities.

She eyes Yuuri and his self-conscious smile. He looks like the kind of guy who can be talked into giving an impromptu magic lesson. Plus, she had pointed out the centipede thing before it took his head off, so he owes her one, right?]

How does it work?

That's what the shinki I talked to earlier said. Here, let me show you...

[He takes a breath, grounding himself and focusing his thoughts, calling up all the confidence he can muster. Then he raises his hand, pausing for a moment to let her see the position it's held in clearly, and flicks his arm out to the right of his body with a surprising amount of grace for someone as awkward as he can be in other contexts. As his hand begins to move, he calls out the incantation, letting the borderline flash to life from his fingertips.]

A line.

[Index and middle finger extended, others curled back: he sweeps his arm down with the grace of a dancer. Myfanwy wrinkles her nose, folding her fingers awkwardly into the same position (it actually kind of hurts to tuck her last two fingers that far down.)

She tries not to feel like the ugly duckling of shinki, and sweeps her hand down in a clumsy imitation of Yuuri's gesture.]

A line!

[Yeah, that didn't work. Not one little, tiny spark.]

[Hmm. Yuuri blinks, trying to replay her actions in his head.]

Try it again.

[He'll watch more closely this time -- is it a problem with the physical technique, or with the mental approach...?]

[His expression goes serious and thoughtful, suddenly looking more teacherly than boyish, and Myfanwy straightens her shoulders. Right. She's competent. She's new, but she can do this.

She brings her hand down this time with more care, sweeping across with fingers outstretched. It still doesn't have Yuuri's grace, but it's less halting.]

A line!

[But it just feels like words to her, words and a gesture like she's pointing something out. There's not even a single spark of magic.]

[It doesn't need to be perfectly poised and graceful, he doesn't think. So probably this is more of a mental block? He's new at this, too, honestly -- he only just used it successfully for the first time -- but maybe that will give him some perspective on how a beginner feels...]

Maybe it will help to understand a little more what you're trying to do exactly.

A borderline can be used in a few different ways once you get the technique, but basically, it's a barrier. You're literally drawing a boundary between yourself and something else. You've got the physical part down, so I want you to focus on putting the right feeling into it.

Think about when you feel threatened by something, and you just want to shut it out, to push it back to where it can't hurt you. Imagine the line doing that for you, try to really focus on that feeling, and then give it another try.

[Myfanwy blinks, assimilating the idea. Pushing away things that threaten her. Shoving them back....

It's the opposite of the way her powers work, but her powers don't work on those monsters at all. She thinks about that, about the choking, scrambling terror she'd felt trying to get to the lobby before it broke through any of the side doors. If this power, this barrier, is the only thing between her and that, then: she slashes her hand down.]

Line!

[It's brief, barely a flicker on the air, but this time she felt the power connect deep in her bones. She brightens enthusiastically.]

Did you see that?