Test Drive #26

[godsoffortune]

TEST DRIVE # 26



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.

Volatile Vagrant

Ayakashi generally have a particular method by which to hurt humans. But an ayakashi has appeared that seems to be completely random in its methods, and anyone merely being near it becomes a target of its malevolence in a variety of ways. Dispatch this vagrant ayakashi before it harms far too many people.

Warm Wanderlust

Hitchhiking in Japan is rare. A friendly but lost-looking foreigner on the side of the road will attract fascination, concern and compassion. But a Japanese person doing the same likely won’t attract the same positive attention. Yet here is one Japanese person praying for a way to experience the adventure of the hitchhike. What to do for your follower? Well, going as a group of three sounds good, doesn’t it? Just be sure to attract sufficient attention to yourselves so that the drivers will properly notice you!

X-Games X-out


The X-Games, popular overseas, has suddenly become a hot topic with Japanese competitors taking top spots in skateboarding events. Burning to follow in their wake, young teens have taken to the streets, parks and basically anywhere with a strip of pavement to hone their skateboarding skills (which may or may not exist in the first place). While it’s good to see kids getting away from the computer screen, they’re also becoming a public nuisance: damaging handrails, narrowly missing pedestrians, and making noise right up to sunset. Answer the prayers of the kids yearning for glory? Answer the prayers of those wishing for peace in their neighbourhoods again? (...What’s a ‘skateboard’ anyway?)


Youthful Yente

An enthusiastic grade-schooler has started a new career helping people find love! She's hooked up teachers, classmates' parents, even random strangers… but it seems like all the matches she's trying to make this month have gone horribly wrong! Is she being stalked by an ayakashi or is this just bad luck? Either way, she needs help getting her mojo back.


Zodiac Zenith

In the trendy Ginza area, a mall has set up an elaborate indoor display of lights set to represent the real night sky. The key feature is the evening illumination show, where the various zodiac constellations are lit up to music. Strangely, there are growing rumours that those who view the show become even more focused on their horoscopes (much to the benefit of local fortune tellers). It’s even said that people’s personalities shift to become more stereotypical to their respective signs. Take in the show for yourself and see what happens?




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

Kaden | Shinki

[foxrightsactivist]

i. wanderlust

[Hitchhiking isn't anything Kaden is familiar with doing, but the whole idea of it had sounded like it could be fun. While he had initially wondered just how a favor like a ride from a complete stranger could be repaid if you might not see them again, it's all for the sake of a follower, and as a shinki it's his job to help. Something could be arranged for the nice human that pulls over for them!

... but getting someone to pull over is the problem. You'd think a human would notice a tall, well-groomed man with fluffy ears and a long, silky tail trying to wave them down.]

I just don't get it! It's like no matter how hard we try, we're being completely ignored!


ii. yente

[There's something very charming about a little kid trying to play matchmaker. Kaden is sure that it would probably be even more charming, except that the adults seem to be taking the recommendations seriously, and that's probably why none of them are working.

Probably, anyway.]

What if it is an ayakashi, though? It just seems kind of weird and backwards that so many adults are listening to a little kid for dating advice.


iii. wildcard

[Have a different idea? Hit me up with this option, I'm open for anything!]

yente

[festal]

( Sakura confesses she was a little curious about this young matchmaker. Even if she's a busy princess, she can't help but be a little curious about things like love. Based on their research though, all of these have ended horribly. This isn't the sort of thing she was hoping to find at all. It was all cute and interesting at first but now it's just sad. Listening to Kaden, she frowns and tries to think about the few relationships they'd been able to learn about, )

... I don't think an ayakashi w-would help these people get together in the first place. ( That doesn't seem like the sort of thing an ayakashi would be interested in... ) But... maybe there's something breaking them up? You're right though, it is strange that so many people would listen to a child, let alone a c-complete stranger...

[foxrightsactivist]

Hmm... Yeah, I guess you're right.

[Kaden rubs his chin in thought, ears relaxing a bit. Ayakashi seem to be bent on doing things to hurt, not help. But then again, aren't these people getting hurt by their mismatched partners?]

All of those people are hurting because they've been matched with the wrong person, though. What if they're being matched like that on purpose to hurt them?

[festal]

Something that elaborate?

( Kaden isn't wrong but... could that be it? )

Either way, we should start at the source. ( That sounded so confident for all of 5 seconds before, ) A-at least, based on what we know right now. Let's find this girl first a-and see if we can stop her or at least see anything strange.

[foxrightsactivist]

[Either the girl is being haunted by ayakashi, or she is one. Kaden isn't sure yet, but he has suspicions.]

That's a good idea. I've got the best nose around, so if anything's wrong, I'm sure I'll be able to smell it from a mile away!

[festal]

Your... nose?

( Can you smell ayakashi? She's never considered the possibility before but then again, being a human, her sense of smell is much weaker compared to a kitsune like Kaden. )

Will you really be able to smell any trouble?

[foxrightsactivist]

Yeah! Well, at least I think so.

[He's been able to smell everything else, so why not an ayakashi? Still, he keeps up a look of confidence.]

At the very least, I'll be here to protect you! So don't you worry, you're safe with me!

[festal]

( With confidence like that, how could she not believe him? Of course she believes him because she knows him more than he realizes. Kaden is a dependable man and someone she can always count on if she's ever in need. But his promise to protect her simply won't do and she takes one step forward, holding her hands tightly in front of her, and with all of the flustered determination she can muster, )

Y-you don't have to worry about me! I... I can take care of myself so please, look out for yourself too! And if anything happens you can count on me!

wanderlust

[lightninglobster]

[Ryoma didn't have the benefit of having ears and a tail to draw the eye, but at least he was tall... ish. He gave a hum of frustration, watching the cars go zipping by with nary a thought as he crossed his arms.]

Perhaps we need to do something more eye-catching... though I have no idea what that could be, with what we have to work with.

[Two shinki and a follower have to get a car to stop and agree to carry a complete stranger... what a difficult problem. It wasn't as if they had some sort of flag or sign that they could wave to make their intentions reach higher, and give motorists a chance to think about stopping earlier.

... did they?]

[foxrightsactivist]

[If they did, Kaden certainly isn't seeing it. For now, he's stuck with his arms crossed and his tail lashing in irritation from time to time. This is a tough situation, and if he wouldn't feel incredibly guilty for doing it, he'd just leave it to someone else that might be able to flag down these "cars" better.

Unfortunately, it's just them, and they have to do it. He sighs, leaning forward, ears drooping just a little.]

Unless I'm sitting on your shoulders or something, I don't know what would do it.

[lightninglobster]

[Ryoma thinks--while walking away would certainly be so much easier, it would also be disappointing the follower they're trying to help... and Ryoma himself has never been one to truly back down once he's committed to a cause. Step back, reevaluate, and launch a new plan of attack, certainly, but just to give up? Unthinkable.

... and then Kaden makes a suggestion which is, on one hand, incredibly undignified, but on the other... just crazy enough it might work. Ryoma's eyes open as he looked up to Kaden, studying the kitsune for a long moment as he weighed his pride over completing the task he'd been charged with.

The task, of course, wins out.]

That... may be just enough to work. We'd certainly be hard to miss from a great distance--though are you certain it's best with you on my shoulders?

[Not that it's not going to look ridiculous stacking two grown-ass men on top of each other anyway, but... Ryoma can delay the somewhat inevitable for at least a minute or two, right?]

[foxrightsactivist]

[The question makes Kaden pause, and with his ears lifting again, he turns to look back at Ryoma. He'd just been complaining about it in his own way, but the fact that his suggestion is being taken seriously...]

... do you want to be on my shoulders?

[lightninglobster]

[... well. Unless Kaden had a flag or a sign hiding in his tail, Ryoma certainly didn't pack anything in his hair the morning before they set off. He takes a long moment to study Kaden very, very seriously, arms folding over his chest.]

... then again, would you be able to lift me?

[Kaden is a bit of a pretty boy. Ryoma has a lot of muscles. Perhaps it was best not to upset the natural order.]

[foxrightsactivist]

... probably not.

[Calling that out would have been rude, but the fact of the matter is that Ryoma has a lot more overall bulk than he does. It's not a bad thing to be muscular! Kaden is just... very much not.

Oh, but speaking of flags--]

Do you think if I tied my scarf to a stick, we could maybe wave it around while I'm up there?

II. Yente

[redmare]

Backwards? Wouldn't you say it's the opposite? Adults don't usually take kids seriously.

[Not that she would, especially if it came to romance.]

I don't think an ayakashi would ask for our help, but if it is, then we just get rid of it.

[foxrightsactivist]

That's what I meant, though! An adult listening to a kid for dating advice is completely backwards.

[Which is why he's confused. And why he thinks all of this is weird, because if adults are listening to her, maybe an ayakashi is giving her the wrong suggestions to benefit from the chaos.]

Hopefully it's not... But at least we know what to do if it is.

[redmare]

[Oh. That’s what he meant.]

So you don’t believe in this stuff either, huh?

[She kinda thought he might, but well, Chinatsu had been weong before.]

[foxrightsactivist]

[Kaden rubs his chin, tipping his head and letting his ears flick.]

No, fortunes and stuff are really cool! I just think that it's a weird situation. Something doesn't feel right.

I. Wanderlust

[hellishrabbit]

We gotta think out of the box.

[Because a guy who looked like he just came out from a con probably didn't stand out here as much as they'd like. Then again they were told that it would be difficult for them to being noticed considering they're, you know, dead and all.

That just means they should use things that are noticeable.

Looking to his left, Kamui twirled the umbrella in his hand in thought. This would do.

Swinging a leg around, he kicks at the base of the lampost, breaking it off and letting it fall towards the street. He wraps an arm around it before it completely falls, using it like a gate arm to stop the cars.]

So, which one do you guys want to ride?

[There may be a couple of cops headed their way.]

Yente

[cuddle_battery]

Huh? Oh, um... I guess if it is an ayakashi, we could try to lure it out.

[Yumoto is here to replace Cupid, so something like this definitely falls under his responsibilities. And he's trying. Really.

But can he really be blamed for being distracted by Kaden's long, silky tail and adorably soft fluffy ears?

He just. Wants to cuddle him. So much.

The amount of willpower he's exerting right now is far more than anyone ever even thought he had.]

[foxrightsactivist]

Ooh, lure it out? How do you think we could do that?

[Not that Kaden would be offended if he knew Yumoto was distracted by his beautiful fur! Noooot at all. That long, silky tail is now wagging, in fact.]

Do ayakashi like fish? I wonder if ayakashi even eat actual food...

[cuddle_battery]

[Oh no! The tail is wagging. That is just blatantly unfair! It just looks so soft....

He manages to answer the question, but his eyes just keep wandering to that lovely, silky tail. He really can't last much longer.]

I, uh- I think they eat gods, actually. When they get close enough they always say stuff like..

[He does his best spoooky ayakashi voice.]

Smells niiiice.

[foxrightsactivist]

Oh. Well, I don't think we can lure it out with food, then.

[The last thing Kaden needs is for his god to get eaten. That wouldn't work at all! Then where would he be?

He's noticing now, though, that Yumoto seems really distracted by something behind him... And with a quick glance, he knows exactly what it is. His disdain for the previous conversation drains away, leaving him with a bright grin.]

Oh, you like my tail? I take really good care of my fur! It's the softest and glossiest fur around, I can guarantee it! Do you want to touch it?

[cuddle_battery]

[Well, that does it. All thoughts of responsibility and duty and willpower just vanish in wide sparkly eyes and a happy squeal.]

Yes!

[ALL HIS DREEEAAAMS]

It's sooo pretty and shiny and...

[And he's already petting it.]

so sooooft....

[This girl maaay not be receiving divine help today. Ooops.]

shows up a couple days late with starbucks... anyway, here's wanderlust

[wingedprincess]

Oooh, it's so infuriating! (Tana's not quick to anger usually, but being ignored seems to really set something off inside of her.)

We're going to have to modify our strategy if we're going to convince someone to pick us up.

(Maybe it's because it's THREE of them. Who knows? Tana just sort of invited herself along when she saw him wandering off in this direction and has yet to leave.)