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

[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?

[Yuuri had grown rather serious while he was focusing on how to make the borderline work, but he perks up immediately when he sees that flicker, smiling with a little more warmth than she's seen before.]

I saw it! It's like that, and it gets easier if you practice it.

...It's a little easier when there's, um, motivation, too. That was the first time I used it for real, just now.

[And there is no motivation like not wanting to get killed and eaten!]

That thing was motivating, all right. You said you didn't know what it was either?

[Her smile's a little bit lopsided, caught between triumph (she did it! First day!) and concern at the thought of the big, toothy, purple bug thing back in that building waiting for them.

Or going back to tormenting all the old guys in there.

... Or coming after them, some more subtle way so they can't see it sneaking up. Ugh, she's not even going to think about that.]

I mean, it must have been an ayakashi, right? I'd only seen small ones before, but I can't imagine what else it would be...

... they look like that?

[Ick. She'd assumed it was some kind of supernatural monster, sure, but supernatural monsters felt like something she could handle. Grab them, subdue them, hand them over to, to... to whatever authority you've got. Or just kill them.

She hadn't seen giant bug ghosts coming. Serves her right for thinking she's got her feet on the ground when she can't remember anything.

She smooths down her jacket, trying not to look as panicked as she feels.]

I'd just heard about them before.

They all look different, I think... Or at least, there are a lot of different types?

I'm new, too, so I'm probably not the best person to get all the details from.

Right. Sorry. You're still doing better than me.

[Lots of different types, okay, check. She's going to have to be suspicious of everything she sees without sensing.

She runs her hand through her hair, and makes a face as she realizes it's three-quarters fallen out of its bun. That's not helping the whole doesn't-know-what-she's-doing vibe, she thinks, and starts tucking it back up properly.]

How new are you, anyway?

Very new. I really only "arrived" a couple of days ago, this is my first time coming to the Near Shore unaccompanied.

[He's still figuring out more or less everything!]

What about you?

It's my first day.

[And was it probably a terrible idea to come poke around this building just because she'd heard something about unusual events involving body functions?

Yeah, okay, it was. She sighs.]

[Man, it's a good thing for both of them that they ended up poking around the same stupid place!]

I guess we both have a lot of settling in to do, then.

[It's probably the only reason they haven't both had their heads bitten off by centipede things separately! She snorts, self-consciously, and tucks the last wisp of hair back into a bun that's pinned a little askew.]

You're not kidding. Nice to meet you, Yuuri.

[They'd been kind of busy running for their lives when they exchanged names, but right now they're okay, so she holds out a hand to shake.]

[Yuuri smiles politely and shakes her hand.]

It's nice to meet you, too, Myfanwy.

[Too bad he's way too young for her, she thinks a bit wistfully: he is cute.]

Anyway, I should track down my god. I've got to explain this whole thing.

[And she's not looking forward to that, but, well, the sooner the better. Or something like that. She'll need backup.]

You should too. At least, if you're thinking of going back in there anytime soon, bring backup.

(no subject)

latebloomingeros - 2017-01-04 23:51 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

wontheexchange - 2017-01-04 23:54 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only