TDM #19

[godsoffortune]

TEST DRIVE # 19



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.



Marriage Mystery

A brand-new wedding chapel in an upscale Tokyo neighborhood has a problem: both brides and grooms keep getting stood up at the altar! Help find one of the fleeing spouses, and figure out if it's just wedding jitters or whether there's an ayakashi scaring off would-be newlyweds.

Nervous Neighbors

This quiet suburb has been rocked by the arrival of a new family... or is it a rock band? They've painted their house purple with blue LEDs under the eaves, they loudly practice electric guitar and trumpet late into the night, and they put their garbage and recycling out on the wrong days. And now, they've invited the whole neighborhood to a barbecue. One way or another, this is going to be a party to remember.

Outrageous Owls

Something's gotten into the owls at Kamakura beach. Not only are they showing up during the day, but they're fighting off the seagulls and dive-bombing surprised beachgoers to steal their bentos... and are they a little bigger than usual, too? Could some of these angry owls be angry spirits instead? Oh no! Duck!

Putrid Piles

Performance art or gross prank? That's the question in Ginza this week, where giant heaps of household garbage are appearing on the sidewalks and even in the street overnight. For some reason, no one's been able to catch a glimpse of the prankster. Maybe what they need is a little divine assistance, or at least some help power-washing the sidewalk before the upscale shoppers arrive.

Quilt Quandary

A fiber art exhibit at the Tokyo Art Museum is having some very strange problems. At first the labels just seemed to be out of order, but now it seems like the dozens of gorgeously sewed antique quilts in the exhibit have a mind of their own. They fall off the walls, they drape over display cases and swaddle priceless statues, and sometimes they even tangle up visitors or security guards. The museum needs someone to deal with whatever's gotten into their quilts in a hurry, but be careful and don't break anything!



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!

Comments

Lucina | Fire Emblem: Awakening | God

[challengesfate]

Outrageous Owls

[To be honest, the sight of a sunny beach full of people distracts Lucina for a good few minutes. The sound of surf crashing on the shore, the children laughing as they upend buckets of wet sand that hold their shape, families sharing lunches and smiling with such carefree expressions...it's enviable and beautiful at the same time. Part of her wants to sit down and watch this peaceful day pass, but-

A dark, large owl swoops in from above, slamming a seagull from the air and into a beach umbrella. The group sheltered beneath it shouts and runs away as the birds battle it out, and like a spring, Lucina is on her feet and unclasping her blue cape.]

Ah - no! Stop it this instant!

[Is. Is she trying to catch the owl in her cape. Oh, honey, no. That's probably not going to end well. You might want to pull her back before she gets hurt.]

Putrid Piles

[The smell of garbage in the summer heat, even in the early morning, is nasty. Lucina pulls the collar of her tunic up over her nose and fumbles with the large plastic bag in her hands. The material is foreign, slippery. How is it supposed to hold so much refuse?]

Incredible...where does it all come from? [Brow drawn in a grimace, she plucks out an empty fast food carton and drops it into the bag.] Surely one family couldn't create this much waste alone...

[While it might be more prudent to find the source of the garbage-leaver, she can't just leave this giant mess here to rot in the street. Care to give her a hand?]

Owls

[photoshooter]

L-Lady Lucina, wait!

[Even if she's royalty, even if she's a goddess, Prompto doesn't think twice before grabbing her arm putting himself between her and the bird.]

Don't touch it! It's dangerous! Use-- [Aaaaa this is so weird, but:] --use me instead!

[He can feel his name as if it's alive, there inside his wrist, ready for her call.]

[challengesfate]

[Prompto always gives her pause. Ever since they met, been assigned as this world's strange form of partnership in battle, she'd fallen into her old habits of listening to the person who's supporting her - or who she's supporting. That's why she doesn't resist when Prompto pulls her back, but starts a little when he puts himself between her and the birds.]

Y...You know it's just Lucina, Prompto...

[It's all that comes to her mind at first, but after that her face sets into a serious expression. She holds a hand out and quietly speaks his other name - the one on his wrist.

She's ready.]

[photoshooter]

[There he goes, a flash of light resolving into a large handgun with a streak of blue--'Ginki.' 銀器. The Lion Heart pistol. He laughs awkwardly.]

Right. Lucina. Sorry. Don't know why it sounds so right the other way...

[But still, at least this way she doesn't have to touch what he's absolutely sure is a daemon. Or whatever they call them here. Aya... aya-something. He breathes out, steadying himself in her hand.]

Just aim and shoot, remember?

[challengesfate]

[Her hold, as always, is gentle, but there's a sureness in it that hadn't been present when they first began. They had practiced this before, many times, because when Prompto had first transformed she'd not known what to make of him. They had practiced this way, and together in the temple with the "blanks", and though she was no expert, Lucina remembered the basics.]

Aim and...yes. I remember.

[Whatever attention had strayed towards her is gone now, so no one reacts when she lifts the firearm up into both hands, trying to breathe slow to steady her grip and pin the hostile creature in her sights.

She had to hit the owl - they weren't acting right, they weren't right. It had to be one of the ayakashi. But at the same time, if she dropped Prompto, if he was hurt, she could never forgive herself. Damn. She should have tried the bow, just once, back home. If only once, then...]

Here goes-

[Sight lined up with owl. Finger on the trigger. Pull-

BLAM]

[photoshooter]

[It feels like he's the one doing the shooting and not at the same time, like it's both of them, and he knows this gun like he knows his own self and their aim is flawless. He whoops as the owl's head explodes.]

Nice one! Didn't even see it coming!

[But the noise attracts attention, and two other ayakashi take to the skies, dripping malice and ravenous intent.

Smells good...

Prompto shivers. He'd have goosebumps if he had skin right now.]

...Mmmmaaaybe we should get to cover?

[challengesfate]

[Prompto may always be true to his mark, but Lucina is always surprised when she manages to hit her targets. There's a brief rush of relief as the creature is felled, and then, the shadows from above...she holds the rifle close, finger off the trigger, and glances towards a lifeguard's hut. If they can slip inside without moving anything...]

Right - hold on.

[He can't really hold onto anything, Lucina, he's a gun - but the sentiment is there.]

[photoshooter]

Holding!

[He watches them circle while she runs. He doesn't think he was a weapon before he died, but teamwork? That's second nature. And a good thing, too, as one of them takes the opportunity to dive.]

Left! Duck and roll!

PP

[tacomeme]

[Takumi is looking at the mess like he'd rather be anywhere else]

It's not just one family, everyone living here throws SO MUCH away it's disgusting.

[challengesfate]

[Let's be real, only a specific kind of person actually finds joy in picking through trash.]

Is it like this everywhere? Could the families truly not think of a use for any of this? It feels so...wasteful.

[Is that a bunch of rotted-through bananas going into the bag? Uh-huh. Honestly, get a pot and use it for compost for herbs or something, what the heck.]

[tacomeme]

It's not usually in the street like this, it's hidden away like a dirty secret. But yes. I rarely see crops or livestock here either. It's... a lot to get used to.

[challengesfate]

But then, from where do the people get food? So many live in such cramped quarters, it cannot come from nowhere.

[Also where does anybody fit all this garbage in hiding? Yeesh. Looks like we've got a washed-out, wrinkled magazine from two years ago being chucked into the bag.]

Is it...is it like...the cold closets? Where the food comes from.

[The fridge, Lucina.]

putrid piles!

[gentilitea]

I should like to know myself. [ He’s already way ahead of her with several bags full of garbage heaped in a corner to his name, and he’s currently hauling yet another filled bag and tossing it to the side where it’ll get picked up later on.

This is really the worst, and he’s cleaned up a lot of messes in his afterlifetime as it is. When he reaches over to grab the nearest indiscernible lump of refuse, it immediately springs out with a squeak and dashes into a nearby trash heap, upsetting the pile and causing it to roll over to the clean side of the street. ]

[challengesfate]

[There is a very curious part of her that's still not used to all the things she keeps coming across when she comes to the world of the living, so forgive her if finding a broken set of headphones has kept her from properly filling bags like she should be - but they are immediately dropped at the sound of that squeak, Lucina's gaze snapping up as the trash lump scurries off.]

- !

[Should she be approaching the mystery lump's new hiding place? Probably not, but she's going to anyway.]

What in the world? Refuse can't come to life...

[gentilitea]

[ It’s okay Lucina, not everyone can be as obsessively tidy as he is. ]

It might just be a rat. I’ve seen plenty of them hereabouts. [ He’s completely disregarding the possibility of ayakashi lurking hereabouts. He doesn’t seem all too concerned about it at this point—not when there’s even more to clean up now. ]

And don’t try to catch it, please. I’ll not be cleaning up after you if you make a mess as well.

[challengesfate]

If there are many of them...they must have been lured here by all of this.

[Probably sniffing out food and the like. She gives the toppled trash another curious look before she goes back to retrieve her bag, picking up what's been scattered on the street.

Lucina prickles, just slightly - just enough to be a touch irritated.] Thank you, but, I can clean up after myself just fine.

[gentilitea]

I’m sure you can. [ /sarcasm. He’d act toward a god with far more courtesy had he not been utterly irritated by this latest chore of his. ]

But can you clean up after others as well? The task before us is quite formidable.

[challengesfate]

I believe so, yes.

[Gosh, wow, that is some thickly spread sarcasm alright. But that's fine. Lucina keeps at her cleaning attempt, making sure to pick up whatever tiny bits of trash she sees along with the big ones. It's almost like Frederick and his habit of picking up stones - though not done with the same intent, it's a metholodical process.]

It will take more than a pile of garbage to deter me.

owls

[festal]

( It's the blue cape that catches her attention. How could she miss it and not see this sight? Sakura had been one part cowering and another part trying to shepherd some children away from the owls but when she sees Lucina trying desperately on her own, she swallows back her fear and runs to help. )

W-wait...!

( She ducks one owl. )

Please, don't be s-so careless. There has to be a better-- ah!-- a better way.

[challengesfate]

[There is always a little recklessness in charging into things - confronting Grima as its maw came down on her with sword drawn wasn't exactly a well thought out plan either. But she's not drawing a sword that can't defeat these things in the middle of a busy beach.

Lucina hears Sakura and stops short, still clutching her cape.]

But - I don't - he's not...

[Her shinki isn't here right now, what else is she supposed to do?]

Can we divert them? Force them to go somewhere else?

[festal]

Uhm...

( She's looking around the beach at all of the fleeing beach goers and the abandoned bentos. The bentos the owls seem to be going for... )

M-maybe if we take the bento somewhere else...

[challengesfate]

[The bento - oh! The lunches! Lucina nods once, firmly.]

They'll follow us once they see we've taken them, and we could go...

[She looks around. There's got to be some place where the owls can feast out of sight, right?]

...Away from here?

[festal]

At the v-very least, we can find our shinki.

( If it doesnt take too long. She sounds sorry, though. She doesnt have Tsuzuki with her right now and even if they did, they aren't exactly an offensive pair, )

I'm sorry i-it isn't the best idea but its all I-I can think of for now.

[challengesfate]

No, it's a good idea - I hadn't thought out what I would do once I caught one of them.

[Let'a jog over to those abandoned bentos, shall we?]

[festal]

(She nods and follows along side Lucina, stopping to pick up what looks like a child's untouched bento. It's sad... these people had come here to relax and have fun and they'd been sent off running in fear. She wonders if they'll even be able to get back their boxes.)

I hope they can get these back...