Test Drive #29

[godsoffortune]

TEST DRIVE # 29



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.


Keepsake Knots
There has been a trend of knotted friendship bracelets sweeping through junior high schools. Making the bracelets is a quaint pastime, but it is also becoming something more. The superstition of making wishes while knotting the bracelet has an unusual effect. Amazingly, those who wish particularly strongly have made a tiny, piglet-like protective spirit appear when the bracelet is finished. Of course, the humans can’t see it, but ayakashi do. Knock out the ayakashi trying to get at the good spirits and encourage the positive atmosphere of friendship at school.


Listless Lions and Leopards
The big cats at the famous Ueno Zoo are listless. And while it’s normal for cats to rest for a large part of the day, this behaviour has been going on so long it’s downright worrying.
Answer the prayers of both the zookeepers, who are at a complete loss of what’s wrong with their cats, and the visitors, who want to see the lions and leopards being their big, powerful selves. Just be careful- you might need to get up close and personal with them to find out what the matter is.


Monkey Matsuri Makeup
Wild monkeys are revered and catered to in many areas. One small city has a festival honouring the monkeys that come and grace the local hot springs with their presence. The main feature of the shrine-carrying procession is that everyone is done up with elaborate face paint to make them look monkey-like. Indeed, many residents and tourists also get their faces done up.
Many hands makes light work, so do your best to lend a brush and emulate the style. (Or not. That’s how things go.) If you do a good job, perhaps you will receive some hot spring passes as a thanks!


Necktie Noose
It is a low time in Japan’s hiring season. The desperation of young graduates who have been looking for a job since April has finally reached critical levels, causing an outbreak of ayakashi. These ones have a penchant for curling around neckties, slowly becoming tighter and tighter as they whisper words of despair.
Save these people from giving in to their dark desires and slay the ayakashi.
If your shinki hasn’t been practicing how to cut only what they want to cut, some other creative methods might have to be used to ensure the safety of the human. (Or go with the Spartan method. That works too.)


Onion Overdrive
People at a festival are subjecting themselves to a world record onion chopping race. Organizers are going for “most onions being cut in one place at one time”, and “most onions peeled and sliced in one minute”. (The record is 615 grams, by the way.) Whether you are a spectator taking in the cloud of onion vapor, a participant due to the prayers of your follower, or someone who has to clean up all these chopped onions in the end, there will be tears.




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

Joscelin Fitzthomas | OC | still trying to decide if he's going to be a god or shinki so...

[dredefulchilde]

Keepsake Knots (Let's assume shinki for this one)

[There is a small, pale shinki watching a group of junior high first-year girls tie knots in string. It seems kind of stupid that he's got to be the one on stakeout, but given that he looks about their age, if someone happens to notice him it'll be less weird than a more grown-up shinki spying on a bunch of kids. Joss sighs and goes back to playing a game on his phone.]

This is boring. Why are we here, again?

Necktie Noose (God)

[Joscelin laughs when he gets the assignment. Keep humans from killing themselves, huh? He's still getting used to this whole "do gooder" god gig, which is so very different from his previous employment as a bloodthirsty murder child bloodthirsty vampire murder child. But a job's a job and he has to admit that the perks of trading vampirism for godhood rather outweigh the negatives.

It's too bad that he just isn't very good at it yet.

He stares at the wrecked apartment. The human's unhurt, but his property...]

This is what insurance is for, right?

Choose your own adventure! [ooc: Let me know via PM if you would like a different scenario with either shinki!Joss or god!Joss. The main difference between the two is that without his memories shinki!Joss is slightly less of a murderous preteen asshole than his god counterpart.]

Keepsake Knots

[hurricaneandpie]

Because if ayakashi sure like snacking on happiness, so if something pops up, we need to smack it down.

[Erika steps back to his side in time to catch his comment, grinning as she holds up a bag of doughnuts. She didn't ask to be a god, she didn't ask for a shinki, but hell, here they are. If she's going to be assigned a tiny murderchild - and huh, there sure have been plenty of those in her life - she might as well do her best to take care of him.]

Fresh, got them right off the rack. You want one?

[dredefulchilde]

[The boy rolls his eyes a little.]

Well spotted. Also, water is wet.

[Joss is a sarcastic little brat, but he’s still a child and his heart tends to mostly be in the right place. At least when he isn’t transformed.

When Erika mentions doughnuts he perks up and seems to drop the asshole preteen act.]

I would!

Necktie Noose

[hesallright]

[Evan hums contemplatively, taking in the absolute wreckage.

This... could have gone better.

The hum turns amused, before gaining a jaunty, folk song tune, that may or may not be familiar.]

I mean, generally yeah. Depends on his insurance though. And, well, the damage does look like it could be self inflicted... after a very bad day.

[Evan rubs his chin with his only hand, before shrugging.]

We could make it easier for him to file a claim. Common reasons are Human vandalism, theft, acts of [Evan chuckles slightly] god, and fire. We could probably swing human vandalism, with some extra touches. Theft would be easy to, just have to nick some of his stuff. I also know how to set a fire so that looks like an electrical short, if you want. Sadly enough, while it was an act of god, we can't easily make it look like one.

[After that rather disconcerting laundry list of potential crimes (in aid of insurance fraud), Evan continues to hum the song from before, eyes moving from the human, to the damage, to his god and back. Just, waiting. Patiently.]

((ooc: Heyo! So, I don't have Evan's stuff up yet, but brief run down. Has a bent moral compass, so that should be fun, and won't make any issue of Joscelin's physical age. Died on a bounty hunt gone very wrong, was shot and then decapitated.))

[dredefulchilde]

[The laundry list is one of the reasons Joscelin chose Evan to be his shinki in the first place. The man's moral compass is as variable as his own and much of the time, which is a refreshing change from all the do-gooders he's forced to interact with these days. All that positivity does gets terribly obnoxious after about the first five minutes, so it's nice to know that at least the weapon he uses has as healthy an appreciation for chaos as he does.

The boy god rubs his temples, considering his options.]

Seems like a bloody waste of time to me.

[He turns to the human.]

Congratulations, you're alive. Mummy and daddy must be so proud their prayers've paid off. Goodbye.

[He motions for his shinki to follow him out the door.]

I'm usually as up for a bit of arson as the next person, but he was too boring to truly appreciate your artistry. Where shall we go next?

Shinichi Okazaki || Nana || Deciding (God would be Dionysus)

[bass_instincts]

Keepsake Knot (Shinki)
How many ayakashi are they going to be fighting today? Shin's starting to get worn out and bored. "Hey, when can we go home? I'm getting tired and hungry." He's still doing what he's supposed to be doing, but that won't stop him from complaining. "Can we at least take a cigarette break?"

Keepsake Knot (God)
Shin's dominion was not strictly having to do with friendships, but friendships did often include a lot of fun, drinking, and partying. There were plenty of his followers that asked for their drinking buddies and the people they went out and got high with for protection. While he was out, there was no way he would just stand aside seeing an ayakashi attacking some random kids' guardians. They deserved better than he had, probably. After stopping another Ayakashi on their way back Shin addresses his Shinki, "Hey, you doing okay?" Never let it be said that he's too busy drinking and partying to be compassionate.

Necktie Noose (Specify if you want Shin to be a God or Shinki in your response)
Shin has been going around, making sure people actually notice him by bringing them drinks of booze and starting up a light conversation. He's having people around him talk about their problems and loosen up, even if it means using some kind of drug. Sure, the morality is questionable, but he makes sure they don't get caught with it so they have a chance to relax for once.

When he gets the ayakashi loose he's in a little more trouble, needing to excuse himself to draw the ayakashi away from the mortal now that he's the far more interesting target.

[[OOC: You can be his partner, either his Shinki or his God, or he could be missing one or the other and in need of some help.]]

Stinging Pain (Shinki)
Shin wasn't sure exactly why he was drawn to cigarettes and other things, but it wasn't long before he'd asked if he could get one of someone's after smelling the smoke. He instantly felt a sense of relief. He uses some money to get himself a pack, but vaguely tries to hide it from his God at the moment, scared of what they would make of it.

It doesn't take many more weeks for him to also smell pot somewhere, and ask to join those people as well. He quickly picks up that it's illegal, and even if he didn't feel outright guilty about smoking, he did feel guilty about this, or would shortly after the high wears off. Still, despite that, he gets the people's contact info and smokes again. And again, and then buys some, feeling guilty each time he sneaks around smoking.

Wildcard

Stinging Pain - Let's just assume for a few minutes that the things happened already

[purr_ince]

It's not the first time he's felt it and honestly. Adrien is able to deal with a little sting now and again but when it's became a nagging ache rather than just the occasional spark? Nope. It's not too terribly long before there's a loud mew that grabs Adrien's attention. It was stupid that he'd had to resort to this - spy cats but yet here he is.

Giving a little nod he's following after the cat which dutifully leads him to where Shin is. He's kneeling down to give the cat a little pat before silently sending it on her way. Now he's coming into the room a scowl tugging at his lips, arms crossed over his chest.

"So this is what you're hiding?"

The smell bothered his nose making him scrunch it. Adrien hadn't wanted to be a nagging, prying god and so when Shin said that he just felt bad about how he was still slowly learning skills that seemed to come so easily to other Shinki he believed him. Adrien wanted to believe that he could trust his Shinki but the now ever present pain in his shoulder that had Plagg concerned and hovering around him and nagging.

"You've been stinging me for weeks because of your vices? Are you kidding me, right now?"

*Inhuman screeching*

[bass_instincts]

Shin was caught green-handed, and there was a sudden huge wave of guilt as he sees his God standing before him, judging him and unhappy. He drops the joint, crushing it beneath his shoe, resisting the urge to just run and keep running.

He swallows hard as his stomach twists into a knot around his lungs. It wasn't so much what he was doing that he found wrong as it was how he kept sneaking around to do it. He honestly liked Adrien for the most part, but he'd gone out of his way to hide out of fear of this exact moment, or Adrien telling him that it was forbidden.

"I... I meant to tell you." Because he did, but fear just kept making the problem worse and worse. "I couldn't help myself. You don't understand, I didn't mean to hurt you." By the immense amount of guilt he's feeling now, it probably does more than just hurt a little. Shin himself feels sick from it, as the reality of things starts to hit him and his mind starts to speculate on what would happen if Adrien revoked his name.

Necktie Noose (let’s say Shin’s Joss’s god?)

[dredefulchilde]

Joscelin is an entirely different beast when he’s transformed.

As a human, he’s sarcastic, maybe a bit obnoxious, but generally harmless. But now, in his transformed state, he is a weapon in every sense of the word. He doesn’t care at all about collateral damage or the safety of human—he just wants to destroy. He can’t wait until his sharp blade cuts through and destroys the ayakashi. He laughs delightedly as the evil spirit approaches.

“Shall we have some fun?”

(Sure!)

[bass_instincts]

Shin generally tried to not hurt humans where he could, but he also wasn't going to turn away a shinki like Joss. His recklessness was too much like himself, and he didn't mind the work he knew it would take to hone that.

"Try to only hurt the Ayakashi this time, okay?" It wasn't their first attempt today, "but yeah, let's have some fun!" He runs forward, smiling himself and looking forward to the fight. He swings, hoping for the sword to cut through only the ayakashi, but he still uses mainly the tip of the blade so that if the human is hit it would only be a surface wound. Once the ayakashi's dislodged, that's when the real fun would begin.

Iskandar (Rider) | Fate Zero | God

[towards_okeanos]

Necktie Noose

[Iskandar flipped through stack of folders picking two thickest.]

This one looks promising.

[He opened the first one. Inside there's a piece of paper with short summary of this prayer's subject with a photo attached. It shows a young man maybe twenty years of age. Short black hair, eyes of the same color, small, confident smile of a person sure of his place in the world. There is another photo of him couple pounds thinner. With no trace of former smile, a blank expression and a barely visible, thin, red line crossing his throat.]

Hard working. Speaks English and fluent French. Two years consecutive vice-president then president of the student council at college.
Three months on foreign student exchange programme at Sorbonne University, Paris, France.
Graduated with honors.

[He closed the file shaking his head.]

Current known residence: Tōkyō Ika Daigaku Hospital Intensive Care Ward.
Cause of admission: Larynx injury. Possible suicide attempt.
This is outrageous! How on earth this kind of person even thinks about committing suicide lest actually trying ?!
No wonder his parents are praying!

Keepsake Knots

[Iskandar barely is able to prevent himself from going full thunder and lightning fury mowing through ayakashi after ayakashi. Those devious shadowy devils that hunt little floating piglets - ridiculous as they are - protective spirits]

You do not [slash] attack [slash] spirits [slash] of friendship [slash] in [slash] my [slash] presence [slash] you filthy [slash] little [slash] bastards!!

[He stops for a moment to collect himself. Traces of dark clouds that started forming over the school vanish and the sun is again shining on a group of girls chatting while they eat their lunches. Completely oblivious to the supernatural slaughter around them. As they properly should be. Colourful knotted bracelets on their wrists - the reason of all this mayhem - luckily intact.]

For it is more valuable than gold, and pearls, and all the wealth of this world.

[Three dark shadows materialize barely yards from the group of girls and their piglets]

No, you won't.

Keeps- I mean, friendship is magic

[defensivematrix]

[ There are moments when, as a shinki, you can only resign yourself to your fate, with maybe-, maaaaybe, an elegant arch of an eyebrow as a commentary. Protecting children from those nasty creatures is part of their duty to the Heavens, she will stand for that, no word of disapproval from her.

But the passion her god displays that's just something else. Being the weapon he's wielding she can only comment ]

I see you hold very strong opinions about this.

[ Honestly, she can't decide whether to be amused or exasperated, her voice carried over their mental link remains politely neutral. ]

Watch out, one of the ayakashi decided to try a bigger prey. [ Ie: them ]

Re: Keeps- I mean, friendship is magic - because it is ...

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar stops when there is nothing to slaughter in immediate vicinity. He's smiling. It's nice to finally get some action. He was getting tired of all this aimless wandering around.]

That's an odd question to ask. Indeed I do. It's a matter of principles. You disagree, hm?

[He notices the bigger ayakashi she pointed to him separating from the horde. He grins.]

Well, well, well, isn't the fun just starting? That's something to chew on at last! Not like all those small fries from before.

Necktie Noose

[futhark]

[ At any other situation, Caster would shamelessly use his height to peek over somebody's shoulder to see what kind of prayer they were talking about- not this time, height advantage is not on his side for once. So he won't even try, and instead asks a question, like an adult he supposedly is. ]

Hmmm? Sounds like he worked himself too hard. [ Barging into people's business is one of the few entertaining things provided by Heavens ] What are they praying for? That he works even harder?

[ Give the dude a break ]

Re: Necktie Noose

[towards_okeanos]

Did he really?

[Iskandar closes the file. He would give a fellow exile from the Throne of Heroes some benefit of doubt if he weren't this particular one. There was no real reason for distrust. Just a hunch. Maybe he's wrong and Caster is in fact all virtue. He certainly wouldn't doubt the man's courage. Yet still. There is something off with this one. Or he's just a Caster and they're all like that. Yet still... Why the sudden interest?]

Say, Caster, what's your take on this case?

Necktie Noose

[boneofsword]

Those who work too hard on proving themselves are usually the most brittle. [Archer comments from where he's leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.] Especially if he's hard pressed to not disappoint his parents that have high expectations. It happens often enough with no ayakashi involved.

Re: Necktie Noose

[towards_okeanos]

Speaking from personal experience, are you? Archer.

[Really, this guy! How did he manage to hide wearing that red cloak of his! Lurking in the shadows like no Archer but more of an Assassin.]

What's wrong with people in this age? Am I to assume they all are this fragile? Well, that's a bit disappointing. I expected better.

[He hides the file]

On the contrary to your conjecture, the poor guy's family is devastated. They were quite content with him the way he was. They would prefer he stayed that way.

Tetsunosuke Ichimura | Peacemaker Kurogane | Shinki

[lousypage]

Monkey Matsuri Mashup

[Tetsu's face is done up in his own garish attempt at monkey makeup as he attempts to call people over to his facepainting booth. Which is really just a couple of chairs and a mirror, but what he lacks in setup (and talent) he makes up for in enthusiasm.]

Face painting! Face--oi!

Hey!

[A monkey is trying to make off with his paint set.]

Come back here!

[In his haste to chase the monkey, Tetsu upsets the rest of his layout, sending chairs and brushes flying.]

WHY YOU LITTLE--

Necktie Noose

[Tetsu is determined. No one, no one is going to die today. If that means fighting ayakashi for hours on end or all night long, so be it. He refuses to let anyone suffer more than they already have.

There's an enormous storm hovering over the next apartment building they run to. Something is big is going on inside of it, and it can't be good.]

Look, over there!

[No one person can produce this much negative energy, can they? The ayakashi hanging around there have to be huge!]

Choose your own adventure!

time to get artsy

[spes_phthisica]

[Souji had mostly drifted closer because he'd been curious of the face painting, and then amused by the enthusiasm and the... um, unique art style. Now as the monkey darts past him, he laughingly swings around mid-step and grabs the fleeing animal by the tail, lifting it up so it dangles safely above ground.

It chitters in irritation, wrapping its scrawny arms around the paint set.]

He doesn't seem to want to let go. Maybe he wants to learn face painting too?

[He grins at the younger man, holding up the monkey to him as if to demonstrate his point.]

[lousypage]

[Tetsu does his best to look put-upon but even he realizes how funny the situation is. After a moment he gives up the pretense entirely grins at the other shinki.]

He'd get hair in the paint. Do you want your face painted too?

[He makes another grab for the paints but the monkey's grip is surprisingly firm.]

Necktie Noose, and I'm sorry this got so long

[koukai_kirai]

[If there's one flaw that Hijikata's never going to lose -- though, let's be honest, there are a lot more than one -- it's probably his workaholic tendencies.]

[He's a little bit in the zone today, with all the trouble the ayakashi have been stirring up... and a little bit exhausted. Because while he'd usually use Souji to strike the ayakashi down at their source, the sight of their victims' despair has him pursuing a different tactic.]

[His voice rings with command as he holds a frustrated job-seeker up by their shoulders, compelling them to meet his gaze.]

Remember why you're here. You're not going to let a thing like that make you give up now, are you?

[And the young man's back straightens. His eyes brighten, even as they quiver with barely restrained tears. Hijikata breathes out a bit, withdrawing a bit of his divine power -- he has to conserve it as much as possible, with so much work to do.]

The doubt that's choking you... Cast it aside, and move on. Don't let this moment stand in your way.

[The young man swallows, then reaches up and loosens the knot of his necktie. The ayakashi, suddenly bereft of the source it had just been feeding on, takes its opportunity to run, and the job-hunter breathes a sigh of relief and does as he's told, walking away without even looking at Hijikata again. Maybe -- hopefully -- he's forgotten about him already.]

[But there are some things you never forget, and the voice that rises up at that moment is one of them. Hijikata's eyes go wide, and he does look, but not at the building or the ayakashi swarming around it, not really.]

You...

[He gathers himself quickly. There's no knowing if he's a god or a shinki, and he won't risk his safety before he does know. Instead, he strides over to Tetsunosuke's side, drawing himself up to his full height in spite of the exhaustion of using his power all afternoon.]

Report. What do you know so far?

Monkey business!

[kagenonadeshiko]

[Thanks to her recent stint living at a temple full of monkeys, Ayumu has grown pretty experienced with dealing with monkey troubles. There's a blur of long black hair and pale skin as a modernly dressed woman springs into action to rescue the stolen paintset, leaping out of her chair, handspringing over her own table and into the naughty monkey's path.

Ayumu thrusts out her hands, adopting a stern, scolding tone.]

Bad monkey! Hand them over. Now.

[This approach worked with Sanzang's monkeys. Hopefully, it'll work just as well here.]

Evan Brown | OC | Shinki

[hesallright]

Listless Lions and Leopards

[Evan crouched on the walls surround the lion enclosure at Ueno Zoo, balancing lightly as he surveyed the listless big cats. Humming a snatch of a tune which sounded like "The Circle of Life" he jumped over to the other nearby enclosure. Similarly listless leopards met his eyes.

Frowning slightly, he studied them carefully. While ayakashi wouldn't affect the big cats themselves, it didn't mean that an ayakashi wasn't involved. After all, the big cats had human caretakers.

Still, probably best to eliminate some more mundane reasons.

Jumping down from the walls to land on the walkway between the enclosures, Evan wandered over to his partner.]

Any ideas?

((ooc: Partner could be a God, or a fellow Shinki or whatever. IDK man. It's all good.))

Keepsake Knots

Persistent litle bastards aren't you?

[Evan slashes at a particularly sneaky ayakashi, which had been hunting a vivid purple piglet-thing, well matched to the braclet that tethered the protective spirit.]

Rude.

[Another ayakashi almost grabs a blue and green patterned spirit which had been circling a cheerful girl as she walked, chattering to her friend. Evan cuts at that one too.]

Friendship is too important for you guys to be messing with.

[Evan almost misses a third ayakashi, until the neon yellow and pink piglet spirit it was chasing swoops past his perifial vision. Turned Evan gestures and twists him wrist before a line pops up and stops the speedy ayakashi in it's track. It isn't strong, but it last long enough for him to cut that one down to.]

Also, you are interrupting my lunch!

Mysterious adventure!

Listless Lions and Leopards

[blancslate]

[It's a strange thing being a god, thrust into a role of responsibility no one asked for. Blanc's watching the crowds nearby, keeping tabs on the people around and looking for any signs of ayakashi, while also keeping an eye on Evan.

He's a good person, worrying at times. After everything with the operatives, Blanc never thought he'd meet someone just as equally concerning. Nanotech, technology paved in blood and the lives of children. But those aren't thoughts for here. He grins at Evan as he comes over, lowering his sunglasses.]

Not seeing any ayakashi around, moods are pretty calm around here so nothing's really festering. Which means the next step is the enclosure itself.

[Sending the bunny into the leopard den. Great.]

Listless Lions and Leopards

[letteropener]

I think we should talk to them.

[Celestia drops down from her own inquisitive hover in midair to land next to him, still regarding the enclosure thoughtfully. She isn't exaggerating or being metaphorical either; though animals in the Near Shore often seem quite less intelligent than their Equestrian equivalents, she believes they can get through if they try.]

At the moment, I see nothing suspicious that would make their problem obvious, so best we go to the source.