takamagahara | (no subject)

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test drive

(no subject)

TEST DRIVE # 03

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.

Keening Karaoke
For some reason, karaoke clubs have suddenly popped up all over the Heavens. Not only that, but they are the big new hotspot for residents of the Far Shore to hang out at and everyone around you has been pressuring you to join them. Do you continue to fight back or give in to the peer pressure weighing you down?

Little Lies
Everyone believes that white lies do no harm, so the people of the Near Shore are happy to use small lies whenever they need to. Tiny ayakashi have been springing from these little lies and are now teaming up to form into a huge ayakashi, and it keeps getting bigger with every passing moment!

Marriage Madness
With spring in the air, the season of weddings is upon the Near Shore, and boy do the people of Japan seem eager to get married this year. In fact, it's so crazy trying to book anything that there are literally hundreds of prayers being sent up asking for monetary deals as well as luck with finding the right place to marry. Help some poor people out.

Necklace Nuisance
A cursed necklace has sprung up in the city and there are a lot of people dying because of it. The weird thing is that no one who has actually worn the necklace has died, just everyone around them. This cursed necklace has fallen into the hands of a depraved young man who is more than happy to use its bad luck in order to start 'taking out the trash' of the world...

Overt Ogling
As the temperature rises, so do the skirts of teenage girls. Unfortunately, there are a lot of pubescent boys who are more than happy to take a gander whenever they can. Catching some peeping toms, how is a resident of the Far Shore supposed to react? Or even warn the poor girl who's being spied on?

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

You're welcome.

[Household budget revisions or no, it's oddly rewarding feeding Goku. He's always so appreciative.]

Do you suppose you're a hungry ghost?

[It's a perfectly reasonable question! After all, they're ghosts, and Goku is certainly very hungry.

Hakkai grins, and sets off for the subway station on the next block.]

Hmm...

[That's a good question. He never thought of that. He never really thought about how he died, either. There's not really been much to think about, since he really can't remember anything before coming here.

While he ponders this, he finishes off another rice ball, following Hakkai all the way.]

Well, maybe! I mean, maybe I could've died from starvin' or somethin', but I don't look like I'm starvin', I just feel like I'm starvin'...

None of us seem to have any death wounds! But it's all guesswork no matter what.

[He laughs cheerfully, holding out his hands.]

There must be some reason we've stayed on earth, after all.

[For the moment, "to give some girl the perfect wedding venue" will have to do. Hakkai smiles to himself and takes the subway steps down two at a time, skipping the long row of commuters on the escalator.]

Yeah, I guess so!

[If you ask him, staying behind to help people is a pretty good reason. If that's why he was left here, he can totally do that. And making someone else happy makes you happy, too, right?

Hakkai proceeds down the escalator, but Goku pauses at the top, obviously hesitating. He... doesn't know why. It's not really the moving stairs - which seem weird, but he can deal with that - but the tunnel itself... Something about it makes him feel anxious in a way he can't really explain.]

Why d'we gotta go down here?

This is where the subway is.

[Come to think of it, Hakkai hasn't taken Goku with him on a subway before. He looks almost frightened there at the entrance, as if he doesn't want to leave the bright April sunlight.

Is it just the unfamiliarity? Hakkai sorts through a few options: nyctophobia, claustrophobia... but the tunnel is really larger around than most rooms. Perhaps it's something to do with his lost memories.

Hakkai finds himself afraid without knowing why, sometimes, too.]

We could walk if you'd rather!

[Goku really doesn't want to leave the sunlight. There's still a little bit of a chill in the air, but the sunlight helps that. Down here, just inside the shadows of the entrance to the tunnel, he can already feel the lack of warmth, and it's somehow unsettling. He really, really wishes he knew why.

But Hakkai is waiting, and Hakkai said this is the quickest way, right? After a second, he shakes his head. This is stupid. He doesn't even have a reason for feeling nervous. It's just a tunnel. Right?]

Nah, it's fine!

[And with that, he takes a step forward and fully puts himself into the shade, following suit and skipping a couple steps at a time to catch up.]

[Hakkai pauses, thoughtfully, for a moment while Goku catches up to him.

Then he smiles and strides ahead.]

Ah, I've just thought of something! When we finish getting that booking, maybe we should schedule a wedding cake tasting for Ichida-san. I'm sure she could use some help choosing the best flavor.

[... and that's really all it takes to make that anxiety go away. Goku still clutches the plastic container of riceballs to his chest, but he visibly perks up, falling into stride next to Hakkai once they're completely off the stairs.]

Yeah! It'd suck to get a cake not knowing what it tastes like and then find out it tastes gross. Good thing I'm here, huh?

You're the perfect taste-tester! What do you think -- chocolate, or a white cake?

[He casually leads the way towards the turnstiles, edges to the side of the line, and hops over the gate. It's really very convenient being dead and largely invisible. No one glances at them twice.]

[It gives him something to think about, at least! Goku vaults himself up and over the gate like it's nothing, plastic bin of riceballs not tipping in the slightest. Though, one is lodged firmly in his mouth, so that probably helps.]

Why not both?

Don't you think that might muddy the flavor?

[It's a very important question, and besides, it seems to be keeping Goku distracted from whatever it was about the subway that had bothered him.

Hakkai double-checks the schedule, and heads for platform three.] Ah, our train's almost here!

Huh? Why'd it make it taste muddy? It's chocolate an'... whatever white tastes like! There were cakes in the magazines that had little cakes on top of big cakes, so you could just put a little chocolate one on top of a big white one!

[Distraction successful! Goku isn't even really thinking about where he is anymore, thoughts instead taken over by the concept of multiple flavors of cake piled on top of each other, and how in the world anything like cake could taste like mud.

Until a train is mentioned, anyway, and his eyes go a little more wide.]

Train? We're takin' a train?

I think so! Or they might load us onto trained bats the size of a bus to fly to the next stop.

[He stops behind one of the yellow lines on the platform. In the darkness of the tunnel to their left, a clacking grows louder.]

Careful, if you stand in front of the yellow lines, the bats will eat you.

Wh-- Bats?

[Don't worry about him. Doooon't worry. He's keeping a good couple of feet away from the yellow line.]

No way, there's no way there're bats that big!

If there were, they'd live in a place like this, wouldn't they?

[Clack clack clack CLACK CLACK CLACK... oh, it's just a train coming into view and sighing to a stop in front of them. What a surprise!]

Well, yeah, but--

[Shit, why did they come down here? Hakkai never said anything about bats! Is that what a subway is? A giant bat? Why would you travel on a--

Oh. That's a car thing. That's not a bat.]

Th' hell, you said it was a bat!

No, I said it was a train.

[Perfect innocence. The whole bat thing was a hypothetical, after all! He can't be blamed if Goku took it a little too seriously.]

And see, it is!

But you said--!

[The bats were going to eat him, Hakkai! That's totally what was said.]

Ugh, fine, nevermind. So this thing's a train?

That's right! [The doors whoosh open with a recorded line repeating the name of their stop, and Hakkai steps forward, beckoning for Goku to follow.]

It runs on the tracks down there.

Oh.

[Huh. Goku very, very carefully steps forward and on to the train car, testing his weight on it for a moment... And once it tests out okay, everything is fine! Riceball, meet mouth. At least he's swallowing before talking again.]

Does it go fast?

[Hakkai laughs cheerfully, hooking one elbow around the nearest railing. Goku's nearly gone through all of the riceballs already, hasn't he? They'll have to hit a convenience store on the way back to distract him for one more underground trip.]

Very! It's much faster than we can run.

[A recorded voice warns everyone to stay clear of the doors as they sweep shut and the train begins to pick up speed.]

You can't see how fast we're moving here, but there are places where the trains run above ground, too.

[Nearly all of them! There's one left, outside of the one he's currently shoveling down. But he definitely won't argue about a trip to the store! More food is always good.]

Wow, really?

[The train is obviously moving now, though. And even though the windows are only showing the platform they were on, it's quickly moving away, and Goku is crawling up to kneel in a seat and watch as it gradually disappears out of sight.]

Are these faster than cars, too?

That's a good question! I'll have to look it up for you later.

[He leans over, watching the platform disappear over Goku's shoulder.] It is much bigger than a car, so perhaps it doesn't go quite as fast.

We'll get off after the next stop.

But we'll still get there faster than walking!

[The platform now out of sight, Goku turns back around and sits in the seat, finishing off the final rice ball. It seems like, for the moment, all of his worries are gone.]

D'you think gods ever get married like humans do? I bet there'd be all kinds of awesome food.

That's a good question! Even if they do, it wouldn't happen very often, so I think you'd have a better chance of getting good food at the holiday parties.

[He taps a finger thoughtfully against his chin.]

Hmm.... I wonder what holidays the gods celebrate?