takamagahara | Test Drive #22

TEST DRIVE # 22

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.

Buttered Buns

Things are tough for small bakeries in huge cities. It seems like there’s always a bigger chain offering less expensive breads around the corner. To compete, “Four Clover” bakery has gone all-in with a campaign to attract customers, and you’re here to help. They’ve put together a mascot costume for you (degree of cuteness up to player’s imagination), printed a zillion flyers, blown up bunches of balloons… and in praying for the success and prosperity of their store, they’ll certainly go along with whatever heaven-sent ideas come along.

Copious Copies

Outdoor art exhibitions take advantage of the best days of the start of fall. In one large park, a multitude of unique bronze and ceramic statues are on display. However, there’s way more of them than there actually should be. The artist and organizers are stumped by a plethora of near-perfect copies standing alongside the originals. Should a god or shinki get close enough they’ll be able to tell which are ayakashi pretending to be statues, but don’t get your nose bitten off. And don’t break an actual statue while hunting the ayakashi. Please.

Debt Diversion

Formula car races are huge draws for those who love speed, and those who love betting. Snake skeleton ayakashi are twining themselves around the necks of betters, whispering in their ears to seduce the humans into crippling debt.
While gods and shinki are in a human’s blind spot and generally go unnoticed, trying to remove an ayakashi from someone might draw attention, depending on how you go about it. And in a crowd this large, there just might be a human who will notice a strange pair trying to do something to someone else’s neck...

ESP and Extraterrestrials

A group approaches you. Some of them look relatively normal, if a bit on edge. Some of them look the very image of a nerd. And all of them are looking at you intently. This group of searchers of the paranormal have somehow (accurately) honed in on you, and are intent to find out everything about you. What planet are you from? What’s up with those clothes? That hair? Do you have any special powers?!
While they welcome you in peace, they are also very unwilling to let this interview end with your escape… Might need a friend to help you out (or throw you to the wolves).

Fashionable Frills

Fashion runway. Frills. Shirts, pants, dresses, underwear; the changing room is full of variety.
Go strut your stuff.
It’s for a good cause, honest.

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

[Mai had been there. Far more times than she ever wanted to remember. It was how she knew that Bulma needed to let it out. To shout and cry and unleash all the frustrations steadily building with each new piece of information. Only when she started to apologize did Mai kneel beside her, placing a hand on the other woman's shoulder.]

You have nothing to apologize for. None of this is your fault.

[Her smile was weak and tainted with sadness, but true.]

[ She finally raises her head, but instead of looking up at Mai, she stares off in the distance. She still hasn't stopped her tears, but she tries to wipe them away with the back of her arm anyway. ]

Not just for this. There were so many times I couldn't stop thinking about Trunks, and how he was doing in the future. But it took so long for me to put my notes together, I-- I don't know. I wish I could have done more.

[ Or maybe she wishes she just had done more. Maybe that future where she was the only survivor out of the group should have forced her to better prepare for a future where she couldn't just ask her friends to get rid of all her problems. But now here she is. Unprepared and at a loss. ]

I wish there was something I could do now.

[The parallels were...not quite identical, but similar enough for Mai to note.]

[How many times had she listened to Trunks express similar thoughts? Albeit in a more brooding manner. But that desire to do more. The dwelling on past actions, or lack thereof, and the stubborn insistence that, no matter how many impossible things had been accomplished, it still wasn't enough.]

You and I both know he would never have thought any less of you for that.

[Beyond the bias of being her only son, it was because of all the work she'd done in the future that they'd survived as long as they had. The Time Machine...because of that, Trunks had been able to travel to the past and learn how to defeat the Androids. Sparing their world for that much longer, before the arrival of Black. And then again...because of Bulma's ultimate sacrifice...he was able to go to the past and bring back the help they'd needed.]

Maybe there is still something you can do. Just because the answer's not in front of you now doesn't mean it isn't out there.

[ She nods. Bulma always knew Trunks didn't blame her, but that thought didn't always make things better. Still, she knows Mai is right, and she internally chides herself for needing a pep talk. Bulma's just... Not as good at dealing with the tough stuff when she can't shove it down or mask it with anger during the initial flood of emotion. That thought brings another pang of sadness, thinking about arguing with Vegeta about something stupid in an effort to ignore their real problems.

But she clenches her fists around her ridiculous skirt, trying to clear those thoughts away. ]

You're right, Mai. We'll just have to take it one step at a time.

[ She climbs to her feet again with that, and gives Mai a hopeful smile, despite her puffy face. She knows she won't ever stop trying to get them all back home safely,
she just hopes that time comes sooner than later. ]

[Mai, herself, had been like that. Once upon a time, and multiple lifetimes ago. Her younger days, before Black and the Androids, had been filled with selfish whims and lavish outbursts. She'd been immature and childish because she'd had the luxury to be and inexperience to know better. Occasionally, she would almost start to miss those times. And the innocence that had come with them.]

If it helps at all, there are no shortage of things to do here.

[The godly afterlife would not be spent idly, that was for certain.]

A lot of us train pretty regularly. I've taken up sword fighting in order to better handle Trunks' vessel form. [Oh yeah because he was her shinki on top of everything how about that?] I've also spent a lot of time around the schools, helping the younger children and making sure they stay safe from any trouble-making ayakashi.

[ Wow, that information about Trunks being her Shinki. It must be so hard, and yet here Mai is, smiling and trying to cheer Bulma up.

Kind of puts things in perspective a little. ]

Mai... [ She places a gentle hand on her shoulder. ] I'm really glad that Trunks has you.

~~And you two better not forget to invite me to the wedding!!~~

[Hearing those words coming from not just Trunks' mother, but from Bulma--a woman Mai had come to cherish and respect in multiple timelines--meant a lot. So much so that she just barely flushed an embarrassed smile as her eyes lowered.]

I would say it's more--

[Although she cut herself off when pieces of that ~~strikeout~~ last part finally processed. This time, her face turned RED.]

...it's not like that!

[ Have a smirk, Mai. But, it's a good-natured one, at least!

The two of them can't fool her, but she'll give them a break at least. ]

Okay, okay. But, there is still one thing... I don't think we can go back to the fashion show like this.

[ The dresses are now definitely dirty around the bottom from the little excursion. And Bulma's skirt is all misshapen and mangled looking down the front. She might have used it to wipe her face a minute or two ago.

[Oh, Bulma...if you only knew....]

I suppose not.

Unless we want to claim it's part of a new up-and-coming trend? [The excuse sounded weak even to her, and it had been literally decades since she'd last thought about anything fashionable.]

Hm... Nah. I'm kind of tired.

[ Emotional breakdowns take a lot out of you. Who knew? Except everyone, probably. ]

Besides, I'm pretty sure I saw some other Gods there, so they'll be fine. And then I can get a jump start on figuring this place out.

[While she hated to leave a prayer unanswered...perhaps, in this case, it was for the best. A lot had come of their reunion, and she knew it would take Bulma some time to process everything.]

You should go get some rest, then.

Have you found your temple yet? I can walk you back after we clean up and change, if you like.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I can't wait to get out of this hideous thing.

[ And maybe a little rest at her temple ~~which we can't actually go to because I don't know what it will be like yet haha~~ can get her brain back in planning mode.

Some sleep might help her prepare for seeing Trunks too, because seeing him is next on her list. ]

I can truly say I know the feeling.

Come one, the washroom should be this way.

Test Drive #22

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