Test Drive Meme #36

[godsoffortune]

TEST DRIVE # 36



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.



Testy Testers
Welcome to being part of the test market! Here, in this small room filled with other volunteers, you will be asked your honest and unfiltered opinion on any number of products. Potato chips made only from the peel (clearly the best part), candy themed after the latest fashion trend (zippers), gloves made from 100% recycled paper (just because we can)... the list of odd and fabulous items goes on.
Conversation brings out more opinions, so you’re free to discuss your thoughts with other testers, but just don’t get in a fight over it, okay?

(Real-world inspiration for items can be found here!)


Umpire Usurp
Recently, one baseball umpire has been making headlines for an unfortunate reason. His calls at the plate have been getting progressively worse, calling obvious balls strikes and vice versa, to the point where the fans are livid and ready to riot.
Protect this umpire and get to the root of his problem? Join the side of the raging fans? Or maybe dig a little deeper and find out that someone stands to benefit from this umpire’s fall from grace.


Violence vs. Violin
After the disastrous earthquake and tsunami in East Japan, a violin maker made a violin from the driftwood. The sound of that violin is incredibly beautiful and soothing, touching the hearts of all who hear it.
Turns out, the power of the “tsunami violin” extends to the Far Shore as well.
At this concert, a grouping of small chick-like spirits that resonate with positive wishes have gathered. Unfortunately, that group attracts a pack of snake-like ayakashi that would love to devour those positive spirits.
It’s an unseen battle that will hopefully go unnoticed by the concert-goers and performers, if you do your job of dispatching the ayakashi well!


Wandering Whippoorwills
Traditionally, the Whippoorwill bird isn’t found outside of the Southeastern United States, but now astute birdwatchers are reporting seeing them in the vicinity of temples and shrines to Amenohiwashi-no-kami. Nature professors, veterinarians, auguries, and many others curious about the event have flocked (!) to the area to see for themselves if this is true.
The congestion around such a minor god’s temples and shrines is a little much for the caretakers to handle, though - from birds and people both - if you’d care to help out. For starters, there’s garbage collection, crowd control, rinsing off the sidewalks, or restocking some of the temple and shrine supplies that visitors want to take with them.


Xièxie
There are plenty of Chinese restaurants all over the globe, and they draw in crowds for many reasons. A less common one growing in popularity is young students trying to practice their language skills by reading the menu and ordering in their clipped Mandarin.
At the threshold of some Chinese restaurants, small pig-faced ayakashi are loitering, waiting to catch a ride in on a student’s shoulder. Then, no matter the student’s natural personality, they become progressively more brash and insulting as the ayakashi affects them.
The ayakashi are nimble despite their pig-like look, and if threatened will run around between people’s feet, making them difficult to catch.




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

[dredefulchilde]

[A certain fondness for small, adorable creatures seems to be a constant in almost all of the goddesses Joscelin comes across. He’s used to it by now and just rolls his eyes at this new one. The borderline isn’t going to last much longer.]

Name me. It’s a more permanent solution. We’ll take out the ayakashi and then you can unname me.

[medicinemaster]

[Yaone's mind becomes calm and clear, her thought processes cooling as all traces of emotional reasoning slowly wash away. The boy is right. Destroying the ayakashi completely is a more permanent solution than simply rescuing the spirits. After all, the snakes would linger on to prey on the concert attendants and that would also be an unacceptable outcome.

Finally, Yaone gives a slight nod of acquiescence and uprights herself.]

Very well. I shall name you - but only for this battle. Do you understand?

[Her proper place is by Lord Kougaiji's side but if she must find new allies during this interlude of being away, she will.]

[dredefulchilde]

[Joscelin gives her a curt nod.]

Understood. My name is Joscelin Fitzthomas. Your servant, madam.

[medicinemaster]

[Yaone remembers the incantation well enough though this is the first time she's used it. She speaks quietly, the formal words rolling easily off her tongue. She tries to get through it as quickly as possible.]

My name is He Xiangu. Grasping thy true name, I bind thee here. With borrowed name, I dub thee my servant. The name answers, the vessel to sound. I call thee as my divine instrument. The name, Taka. The vessel, You. Come, Youki!

[dredefulchilde]

[The kanji flashes red on the back of Joscelin's neck, and his long, brutal life flashes before Yaone's eyes as his body dissolves and reforms.

A short spear, huh? This will do nicely. It will keep this new god at a safer distance away from the ayakashi, since she seems to be too stupid not to touch them.]

Let's get this done quickly.

[medicinemaster]

[The visions playing out in Yaone's mind's eye are shocking, brutal, and in many ways offensive in a way the boy's vitriolic responses haven't managed to get to her. She might not be completely innocent but she's a gentle, peaceful woman who had once lived a relatively calm life mostly devoid of violence. Her position as her lord's apothecary has protected her from many horrors within her world, not enough for her to remain completely ignorant of them due to her own insistence on staying well-informed about current events and rumors among her people.

Yaone cries at the torment she's seeing in Joscelin's past, more over the weak and innocent that were preyed upon and slaughtered so heartlessly but she is not completely without sympathy. Her desire to empathize with and understand the reasons behind these tragedies is a powerful force within her mind, strong enough to stay her hand when she otherwise might seek to slay him on the spot. That he appears as quick and strong as a youkai and seems to have more fighting experience than she doesn't really factor in.

And of course, It's a matter of fairness and honor, too. Yaone cannot bring herself to murder a man frozen in time and bereft of memories of crimes committed in his past. In her heart, her lord would put Joscelin's past aside and judge him solely on his present actions, Yaone knows this, and if she is to be anyone's mistress in this place, there are worse role models to follow.

Once the vision recedes and Yaone's firmly within herself in the present once more, she simply wipes her tears and assumes a combat ready stance as if she'd seen nothing to suggest this shinki might be ill-suited to her ideals.]

Yes, Mister Joscelin.