takamagahara | Test Drive #34

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test drive

Test Drive #34

TEST DRIVE # 34

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.

Jingle Jeans
The fresh new spring fashion trend is accessorized denim. Super-accessorized! Bells, chains, beads, zippers, belts and more drip from every inch of this season's hot styles, and the stores need someone to model their new stock -- and bring in the buyers. It's your job to convince the fashion-savvy residents of Tokyo that these new jeans are exactly what their wardrobe needs, without getting your five chain belts tangled.

Kitty Kibble
A huge, panther-shaped ayakashi is haunting the streets of Asakusa, and the pigeons at the local pigeon shrine have disappeared! Take care of this feline predator so the surviving sacred birds won't end up as dinner on the wing.

Lagging Laundry
The residents of an Ikebukuro high-rise have an unusual problem: no matter how sunny the day or how long it's been hanging, their laundry just won't dry! Do they have a moist microclimate? An ayakashi of mold and despair? Or do they just need someone to get all that wet laundry to the nearest laundromat with a dryer until the weather warms up?

Melon Mania
A gardener in Ueno has planted a brand-new strain of muskmelon in his window boxes, and this plant is going wild! Vines have taken over the exterior of his apartment building, and beach-ball-sized fruit are popping up all over. He needs help bringing in the harvest… but his neighbors are begging for this plant to wind up in the compost heap so their lives can go back to normal. Whose side will you take?

Nice & Neat
A community art project is being hosted at the Tokyo Art Museum! Jigsaw-shaped pieces of wood about the size of a hand have been handed out to artists and crafters throughout Japan, and the pieces have just been shipped back. Now, they have to be assembled into one giant jigsaw puzzle for display. There's just one problem: someone forgot to number the pieces before they were shipped! Now they've got a 20,000 piece puzzle whose pieces don't match, and it has to be finished this weekend for the grand opening. Help!

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!

Threaded | Flat

Kitty Kibble

[Adam dodge rolled out of the way of the ayakashi's claws as it leapt at him. His reflexes were enough to keep him from getting mauled. But he also had no idea how exactly he could defeat this thing. He definitely couldn't do it alone.]

C'mon, can't you be a good kitty?

[He roar and leapt again. Nope. It couldn't. This time, as Adam dodged he managed to land a kick at its back to send it sprawling away. He wished he had his memories to figure out why this all felt like second nature to him. But, now wasn't the time to really think of such things. He panted a bit and caught sight of someone else in the area.]

Could use a little help here, buddy!

Melon Mania

[Arms full of muskmelon, Adam felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place. The owner wanted him to harvest the melons while the neighbors wanted him to throw it all away. He understood both sides, but could anyone really win? He sighed.]

Why not just let him harvest the ones that have already grown and then the leftovers get thrown out? Sir, you can grow a new batch somewhere else after, can't you?

[That sounded like a neat compromise to him! Except they didn't seem to be listening to him now, arguing over him in fact.

Sigh. What to do with these melons?]

Edited 2018-11-01 14:44 (UTC)

[Kitty Kibble]

[An ayakashi the size of a panther? Not exactly a walk in the park, but not the toughest thing Ruler has ever fought. The real problem, honestly, is what happens after the final blow is struck. With the danger gone, the pigeons return, and all of them seem... eager to show their gratitude.]

Um--!

[Yep, this poor shinki is covered in birds. They're perched on her shoulders and arms, and a few on her head; the pigeons coo happily, a few are nibbling at her hair, and generally being the happy content birds they were before the shadow of the ayakashi fell over their temple.

... Ruler, on the other hand, looks equal parts amused and puzzled. This is all very cute and all, but she can't stay here forever! Nor can she try to shake the birds off! Wouldn't that be disrespectful????]

I'm... I'm very glad all of you are grateful! Believe me, I understand! B-But...!

[There's a hint of desperation when she glances over and spots the nearest god or shinki. Friend, please help...!]

[Melon Mania]

[Now this is more like it. There's something about all of this, of lugging the produce away from the vines and into crates, of trimming down the dead leaves and shriveled vines, that feels... soothing to Ruler. It was tedious work, but she liked it - and she was good at it. Or... at the very least, the manual labor part of it.

It's probably pretty amusing to see someone with all the build of a lean teenage girl balance a stack of about ten melons in her arms as if they weighed nothing, all while conversing with one of the man's disgruntled neighbors.]

I understand your concern, this must be... quite a difficult obstruction to work around. But perhaps a compromise can be made? [She offers a smile to the neighbor, who looks a bit skeptical.] Are a few overgrown plants worth starting a war over? Or ruining friendships?

[The neighbor doesn't seem quite convinced, but... not as angry?]

Perhaps working together to care for the melons will keep them from growing out of control? And in return for your assistance, he can offer you a choice of the harvest?

[The neighbor... seems to think about it. Meanwhile, Ruler returns to her work. It doesn't look like she needs much assistance, but... more hands are always welcome, right?]

Edited 2018-11-01 22:05 (UTC)

Kitty Kibble

[Was this what Tyzias would normally like to be doing as a part of her daily routine? Maybe not. Maybe she'd rather spend the day holed up in a library, but the fact of the matter was that she had this job now and she won't just bow out of it. The panther ayakashi was within sight now, anyway, so she might as well.

After that moment of indecision, the grey-skinned alien god let out a sigh.]

Okay. Let's go.

Melon Mania

[Ah, a dilemma. How to go about this one, then? Tyzias could take the side of the gardener and effectively tell the other residents of the apartment to deal with it. Or she could take their side, and rip up the plant to take it to the trash.

But there could also be a third option. Harvesting the fruit and throwing it away as she goes. That way, the other apartment residents would be happy and she would have harvested the fruit as the gardener asked. That, and the guy could easily just grow the fruit elsewhere for next harvest now that he knows how much space it's likely to take up.

Only, now there was the problem of where she would even put the ones she harvests? In the gardener's apartment, perhaps?]

So. Here's the deal, then. I harvest the fruit, upend it as i go, and either you mmmmove wwwwhere you growwww this, or you can mmmmaybe ask for help frommmm your neighbors so this doesn't happen again.

[The gardener doesn't look very happy about this decision.]

[She says this in a drawn-out, tired tone that may sound like she's lazy, but no, she just hasn't slept in a week, thank you for asking.]

Nice and Neat
[Oh joy. A 20,000 piece puzzle? Well, Tyzias hasn't slept a wink for several days, and with the way things are looking, she's glad to have something to focus on and keep her awake. She's sure she'll get it done in time, putting together one of the edges already, but a little help would not go unnoticed.]

Edited 2018-11-02 02:20 (UTC)

Kitty Kibble

[ An enemy has been identified and it must be eliminated. There's no joy in the task, of course, it's simply what must be done. Slaughter all those who oppose him. Red spear in hand, he sets to his task and destroys the ayakashi. It's brutal, merciless, and a little bit disturbing.

Berserker turns to the see the pigeons return, but they're avoiding him and have gone silent, as if they can smell the stench of death on him. He also knows he was being watched. He doesn't turn, just speaks. ]

I didn't need help...Did that show upset you?

Lagging Laundry

[ It's a pointless task, but it's a request that can easily be done. Instead of hunting for an ayakashi that's causing it or anything else, he simply takes down the laundry, house by house. Berserker is just carrying an armful of laundry to the nearest laundromat. A few stray articles are dropped behind him, but either he doesn't notice or doesn't care because he doesn't stop to pick them up.

Maybe give him a hand. ]

Edited 2018-11-02 04:21 (UTC)

Jingle Jeans

[Chris doesn't know how she got roped into this, but she doesn't look happy now that she is. She's covered neck to toe in denim, from a jean jacket, to a jean shirt, to jean pants, to even boots made out of jeans. And it's bedazzled to the core, from rhinestones, to bells, to whistles, and even fringe. Fringe.

And the worst part is, she can't complain.]

Heh, this is... this sure is the height of fashion, ain't it?! Bet you want to dress like this yourself, huh?!

[The way she says it through gritted teeth probably isn't convincing.]

Lagging Laundry

[This is a task Chris seems to actually be suited towards. In the camps she'd been held in as a child, the workers would hang their clothes in this way, and what's more, she'd been taught how to handle laundry by Sonia and her mother before fate had separated them. So, she's actually handling it rather well, barking instructions on what to do to people.]

You! You've got your laundry in the shadow of the building! Of course it's not getting dry! Someone help them bring it in! And you, your laundry is right above a dumpster! Do you want your clothes to stink?! And someone stop the person on the third floor before their crap flies away! Do you people want unmentionables flying all over the city?!

[Chris is, of course, putting in the work herself, but she has an advantage - namely, the fact that she's able to hover everywhere using her Symphogear armor. Mind you, it looks like she has a small UFO attached to her waist...]

Edited 2018-11-02 17:37 (UTC)

Jingle Jeans (Shinki)

[Today, there are a couple people out modeling this store's newest additions. Jeans are the main attraction, but there are some vests and jackets sporting entirely too many extra bits. There are three people, and two of them are trying their best to get people's attention on them and the clothing, but the third is...not really. He's modeling the clothing alright, but he's hanging back, closer to the store, and barely engaging passerby.

In fact, sometimes he seems to be dozing off as he stands, leaning against one of the store's windows.

Are you his god, there to tell him off for not helping? Or maybe just a passing shinki or other god...either way, feel free to scold him for slacking.]

Kitty Kibble (God)

[Hunting an ayakashi isn't much different from hunting anything else, to him. Maybe a little more dangerous, due to the whole blight bit, but that just makes it more like hunting a daemon.

He's staked out the temple but hasn't made a move yet.]

Okay, so we've got to get rid of the cat before the birds can come back. You ready?

[OoC: Open to both shinki and gods; if you're a god, he'll have a soulless shinki.]

A Friendlier Kitty (Shinki)

Hey, hold on hold on, wait your turn. There's enough for everyone.

[It seems this young man has attracted every stray cat in the neighborhood to him. He doesn't seem especially perturbed by it, though, since he's crouched in the middle of a large clutter of cats looking slightly overwhelmed but happy clutching a container of crunchy treats.]

I don't even know where half of you came from.

Wildcard (either)

[Choose your own adventure!]

Here, Kitty Kitty
[Chrome figures the best way she could help was to deal with cat ayakashi before it can eat any more sacred pigeons. Though the idea of hunting down the feline gives her an unsettling feeling. She has a love for cats, and eventually, she knows it will lead to its destruction. Still, she understands she has a job to carry out and does her best to set her own feelings aside.

She decides to try to lure the ayakashi out by manifesting her own squab of pigeons with her illusions. A bypasser might wonder where the birds came from, or the feathered friends might even boldly perch on your shoulder and head. Watch out, the bird poop is pretty realistic too.]

Just Say No Jeans
[ Although, Chrome will never speak badly about Mukuro's personal fashion choices, unfortunately through him, she is aware of what tacky looks like. So she sees the very embellished denim and feels a bit self-conscious. Not really about the many studs, chains, and straps this garment has, although that should be a concern, she was wondering if she could really draw in people's interest.

Still, she wants to be helpful to the shop owner, so she puts on the jeans, pairing it with a crop top. As she nears the door, she pauses, becoming shy. Maybe you can provide her with some encouragement, or push her out into the world. Tough love and all that jazz.]

Lagging Laundry

( Tsurumaru is down for the fun and exciting missions but this? This is just busy work and it doesn't smell very good. Everything has a mildewy smell and he scrunches his nose at the pile of laundry you've presented him with. What's this? Actual work? Ugh. )

It smells bad.

( He sure isn't reaching to take anything from you. )

... What about it?

( Why are you looking at him like that!!! )

Melon Mania

Hahaha! This is a surprise! ( Coming over to the vines, he reaches to hold one of the giant melons in his hands. ) They're really that big!

( He was skeptical when he heard the reports but here he is, looking at some giant beach ball sized melons. He's pretty delighted by the sight and he plucks one, turning around to face you, holding it like a baby in his arms, )

Let's take them home.

( What do you mean they actually have to harvest ALL of them? )

Kitty Kibble

( Tsurumaru crouches down on the ground and tosses some corn snacks at the pigeons. Is it really a surprise that someone named Tsurumaru would have an affinity for birds? Still, there aren't very many pigeons here for a shrine dedicated to them, is there? There only seem to be a couple and he holds out one snack, bringing one closer to him. )

My, it's quiet around here, isn't it?

( Just a casual observation in your direction. Is he talking about the absence of cooing pigeons or just the general air around them right now? He hasn't been particularly helpful with most of the missions you've been on so far. For whatever reason, he doesn't seem too impressed with heaven. If anything, he's usually just here to have fun and get out of busy work. )

There must be a troublesome spirit here, isn't that right? ( Is he still talking to you or is he talking to the pigeon now, ) Well, I don't like the idea of meddling with shrines.

( Standing up, he brushes some crumbs off his pants and surveys the grounds before focusing eyes on you. Eyes that look at you but also beyond you as if not looking at anyone at all, )

Will you use me?

Text Adventure
A crepe shop opened up!!!
Want to go?

[Accompanying the text message is a slightly blurry photo of a crepe stand with a significant crowd in front of it. There's also a finger slightly covering the bottom of the photo. Did the message recieve the intended recipient? Mistext? You decide!]

Jingle Jeans
[Irisviel's eyes are wide as she stares at the mannequin, giggling as she reaches out and runs her hand across the string of bells dangling off the belt. The overall look is a little bit busy, but how exciting all the same! She looks to her companion - her god? A fellow shinki? A friend? Someone dragged in for their opinion? - and smiles beautifully.]

What do you think?

Get in the Car!
[Perhaps getting in the car was a mistake. It's not that Irisviel is a bad driver, but her propensity toward speed and disregard of all traffic laws and signage makes her reckless. Thankfully, the roads she's currently driving on are empty, slightly winding roads in the countryside.]

The trains are very nice, but I see why people like driving! How close are we to our desti--oh! Hold on!

[The tires screech as she hits a hard curve, not quite drifting the car, but thankfully not rolling it either.]

[Kitty Kibble]

[When Milly heard about the panther ayakashi, her first thought was a way to vent her frustrations. It wasn't the most noble of intentions, but the end result would still be the same. She strolls through Ikebukuro, managing to miss the ayakashi stalking her.

Kitty, kitty, where's the kitty~.

[It pounces, and she's barely able to dodge before it slices her skirt. Ooh, it's going to pay, but her demeanor doesn't change at all.]

Oh, here you are. Right on time.

[Nice and Neat]

[Start with the frame, that's the easiest part. Milly had taken one look at the scattered pieces, and took about three steps before doubling back. This is the kind of thing she'd been told to expect in Reverence. She had no idea how long she'd been at it, but there was something about it that was oddly soothing.

Well, until the frame stopped behaving.

I know I had the piece to go with this somewhere.

[Help a girl out?]

Edited 2018-11-05 04:02 (UTC)

Kitty Kibble

Go and hide, leave the stronger animals to deal with this. [The remaining pigeons scram but that might be less that they are obeying the instructions and more that those instructions are coming from the mouth of a fat black cat who is stalking towards them. He was a bird protector now? The things he had to deal with...

Once the pigeons were safely out of the way Da Qing turned towards the direction of the panther.] You're giving cats a bad name.

Melon Mania

[In the middle of a crowd of agitated resident Da Qing, in human form, was stood trying to make sense of the situation.

Why all this fuss about melons. Melons were tasty, people should be thankful they had such fruit growing on their houses. But it wasn't the case and now he had many annoyed residents trying to explain their side of the story.

He scratched his neck and looked around.] One at a time. Start again. Tell me how this all started.

Nice and Neat

I don't get why we have to be the ones to put this together. They're the ones who forgot to number them.

[Da Qing is sprawled on his stomach next to the jigsaw, not actually helping. Instead he was playing with one of the pieces, turning it round in his hands as he complained.

It had been fun for about five minutes but he had gotten pretty bored of trying to fit together a jigsaw that didn't even have a sensible pattern to it.

He nudges the person to his left.] If a couple of us leave it won't look so bad. Do you want to go and find some food?

Edited 2018-11-05 15:09 (UTC)

i. Lagging Laundry

[ Instead of taking the laundry to the laundromat like a decent shinki Mikoto has opted to dry it the old fashion way - Fire! Have dry and roasted laundry! Well, at least he helped. ]

ii. Nice and Neat

[ Finally! A job that doesn't require he burn anything! ... which is probably why he's asleep on the jigsaw puzzle. He'll wake up when someone approaches. Why that is? Who knows, he's probably been sleeping there for hours and finally just roused out of bed. Either way, there's a few puzzle pieces sticking to his face as he yawns and runs a hand down his mane. ]

iii. Wildcard

[ Make up your own scenario. I'll follow suit! ]

Edited 2018-11-06 03:51 (UTC)

Melon (Pyro)Mania
[ it should be thankful that the woman who prefers to walk around in armored dress took the suggestion to wear appropriate attire to answer this house call. she thought she might look silly in overalls and flannel but she received a tip that it was "in" and wouldn't scare away the mundane folk.

after failing to properly negotiate a happy medium between the two residents each with their own side to the story, Avenger decided siding with the noisiest party would eliminate the struggle. maybe the other person won't be so careless the next time they plant such a large crop in an unsuitable space where it would interfere with others. plus, there are other neighbors to consider in the complex in the long term, as well as attracting animals coming to claim their share of fruit left out in the open, unprotected.

the whines of the many outweigh the whimper of the few. or something. Avenger wasn't going to make a big deal out of it any longer. she had come to her conclusion now it was time to enact the solution.

passing by the back side of the building, she took note of the overly organized waste disposal system. there were bins for everything, it seemed, including- ]

"Burnable trash", hm? Why take it somewhere else, when I can dispose of it in that manner right here and now.

[ she's rolling up her sleeves and moving toward the ladder. is she... drawing a sword? why is the carrying that in the first place?? please stop her. or don't. but be prepared to run - or call the fire department - if you don't. ]

Nice or Neat; Pick one* (*niceness is currently out of stock, pick another.)
[ Avenger was much more capable at fulfilling this request. not having a numbering system or written index was no hindrance, either, for she would be disregarded them both in favor of intuition. it's just a bunch of pictures; most people have two working eyes and half a functioning brain. this should be cake!

there is a nice ring around here where she has started and stopped at various stages of assembling images of items she may have recognized or concepts in favorable colors to hers. it's connecting the borders past a few pieces at a time that seems to be causing her a headache.

Avenger is now pacing around the work area she has claimed for herself, staring down at the pieces with her arms crossed as if staring down the pieces would intimidated them into making more sense. she brings up that same intense gaze up to level with whomever managed to get close enough to her in the process. ]

Who do you believe more responsible for this? The artisans or the bookkeepers?

What do you mean this isn't a job for animal control?

Christ, you're a slippery little shit, aren't you?

[Huffing, as Waver traces the claw marks left in the wood of one of the shrine doors. It looks like this particular ayakashi has been a problem for a little while if what he can get off the local shrine keepers is accurate. It's not the first time the birds have disappeared into this creature's gullet; thinking it was a natural predator, the keepers erected barriers to protect the coop.

Judging by the smashed debris, bloodied paw prints, and feathers everywhere, coupled by a few stray bits of fur snagged on splintered frames and gouges in floorboards, natural unfortunately was the wrong call, and that's when it was time to turn to prayers, and his turn to answer.]

But lucky for me, you're also a messy eater and I can work with that.

[A little bit of fur and blood is more than enough for a tracking spell or two to hone in on the beast. All the physical evidence of its passage, now that the shinki figures he knows what to look for, would only help him zero in on his prey.

And then...?

Waver both quails inside while a funny flutter of - anticipation for the fight? - of some strange emotion floods his veins and makes his heart dance. Visibly he just grits his teeth, steeling himself, because, yeah, when he finds it, then...]

This is going to be a fucking pain.

[... especially if he can't rope in some help to corner it.]

Puzzled

[Of all the tasks Waver could have been assigned, this one is proving surprisingly soothing and meditative. Enjoyable, even, though he had griped up a storm when he had seen the sheer mess they had left them to complete.

(Seriously! Was anyone thinking when they put this together? Did no one even check over this order before it was to be shipped?)

The puzzle pieces are snapping together alarmingly fast, as if the man can see how the scattered patterns fit into the whole despite the bigger picture being so raggedly incomplete to almost incomprehensibility. Yes... meditative. It allows Waver to wallow in the subconscious confusion at the way the currents of his thoughts are unfolding. The metaphors they're choosing. Pieces like soldiers marching into formations, puzzle patterns like troop movements unfurling to bring a grand tapestry of victory - what? Memory is dangerous, the shinki knows that, but he doesn't understand how foreign his thoughts feel sometimes.

Like pieces of him aren't him. Like those pieces are still him. A soul both strangely doubled and singular.

(But what is a Pseudo-Servant but a fusion? Even if Zhuge Liang is dormant, he's still there. Even if Waver Velvet originally wasn't meant to be a Servant, he is now.)

He doesn't understand why. There's something about Japan that makes him feel like he's walking over graves and even his own name feels ill fitting at times.]

Can you believe they want this done by this weekend?

[Complaining just to shake himself from the nature of his thoughts, because he needs to stop thinking about this, has to stop analyzing. And, well, even if Waver's speeding through what's passing through his hands, well, it's still a twenty thousand piece puzzle, okay?

... it's... okay, what the fuck were they thinking?! Twenty thousand pieces! By the weekend! This is insane.]

((Voice testing Waver here. Let me know how I do, since this my first time trying him out.))

Edited 2018-11-07 12:02 (UTC)

jingle jeans should sparkle more
[ These trousers looks utterly horrible, but! All of Love has the ability to look good in anything, and as a result can make anything look good. (Which makes him feel a bit like he's tricking people.)

Still, being covered in denim from head to toe feels restrictive, and not that he dislikes excessive fashion but this is not his kind of style. ]

It probably would have been more fun to decorate them... Perhaps they have some with a lot of beadwork. That would be lovely.

[ The right beads would gleam so nicely in the light of the evening/night's neon lights. ]

lagging laundry is not for butterflies
[ All of Love has to wait until the sun is either down or obscured, or he will be out of a human body.

It's fairly sunny right now, and as a result, he's not trying to drag along a bag of laundry is not a human, like he looked to be when he was still indoors, but a black and pink (with some purple detailing) butterfly.

It looks like it's struggling a little. It will take quite a while to reach the laundromat at this rate. ]

melon mania doesn't have to be difficult to solve
[ The butterfly flutters around the melons a while, able to have a look at the ones further in and harder to get to if he were in his form of 191 cm tall human.

He flutters back, finds a large enough space of shadows to fit into, and with a poof takes human shape. ]

They do look fully edible, it would be a waste to simply throw them out. Perhaps they could be donated to orphanages and the likes?

nice & neat & a good time
[ Puzzles are fun, he makes them a fair bit with the children. Though of course they are not usually anywhere near as ambitious as this puzzle.

All of Love hums on a pop song or other as he searches for a good fit for the pieces. Thankfully he has found a shadowy spot to sit at, and he is mindful of not getting into the sunlight. ]

Edited 2018-11-09 16:15 (UTC)

Threaded | Flat

Adam Park | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers | Shink (will match format)

Ruler (Jeanne d'Arc) | Fate/Grand Order | Shinki

Tyzias Entykk | Hiveswap Friendsim | GOD

Cú Chulainn (Alter) | Fate/Grand Order | God