October Test Drive Meme

[tabularasa_mods]

Test Drive Meme #5 Welcome to Tabula Rasa's Test Drive Meme! As of this moment, apps for both secondary characters and new players are open. New player apps will be accepted until we’re able to fill our player cap as well as our app queue. For more information on this, please see the Applications page.

Whether you plan to app or not, anyone is welcome to use this meme as a way to try out the setting, test out a character for future app cycles, or just for fun. You may also borrow ideas from this meme’s prompts for use in the main game.

Threads from the TDM may be used as samples on your application. TDM samples must be 2 threads with different characters, each with at least 5 comments from your character. You may include your top-level comment if it is a thread you started.

Current players in the game may also claim an AC bonus by tagging other characters on the TDM. Please see the Activity Check page for details.

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Scenario A: Off to the Races
The herds of round, bipedal avian creatures that have been popping up in greater numbers can certainly be heard before they’re seen, thanks to the heavy stomping sounds they make as they run across their territory. When they get together like this, it’s often for means of competition - despite the roundness of their bodies, speed is among the most respected traits among their ranks. What better way to measure that capability than a tournament-style race bracket?

As long as you keep your distance you can safely observe them in their natural habitat, letting out deep, warbled cries as they cheer on their compatriots and try to disorient their rivals. The event is intense enough that if you’re watching closely, you may be able to parse some of the herd’s social dynamics. Interfering is also an option, but don’t think they’ll take to it too kindly; competitive races are very important. If you want to avoid getting bodied, it may be safest to remain a spectator.

Unfortunately, remaining a spectator isn’t always an option when the race ends up coming to you. The well-trodden paths around the world make for great race tracks, and these creatures don’t seem to care about sharing the road. Outrunning the racers is a hopeless endeavor, so your best option may be to throw yourself onto one of them instead if you can’t get out of the way. And if you’re going along for the ride anyway, why not have a bit of fun with it?

Scenario B: Unidentified Falling Objects
The sky above the world was once blank and featureless, but is now filled with shapes, colors and strange objects of all sizes. Normally these objects float high up above even the peak of Mount Silver, but lately some have been spotted drifting lower and lower... or dropping out of the sky entirely. Perhaps someone asked one too many questions about how they were staying up there when everything else was mostly obeying the laws of gravity.

Some of these objects are small and light, though they can still leave a bump if one lands on your head. Others are a much more serious hazard and can reach up to the size of a truck. Getting crushed by something unexpectedly is a very real possibility, so you'd best watch your head out there!

Once they've fallen, the sky-objects won't stay on the ground forever. After awhile they'll start to slowly float back into the air... so maybe don't climb onto one, either, if you're not prepared to make the journey back down again.

Scenario C: Help Wanted
Somewhere in the confusing underground pathways of Messiah Station is a stand of free-to-take job flyer advertisements. Odd, considering that this world doesn't have a form of currency or any way to stop people from taking anything they want for free… but never mind that! There’s work to be done, and you’re the one holding the flyer.

Many of the postings are incomprehensible gibberish, but there are a few that almost sound doable.

GARDENER - THE UNFORESEEN SIMULATION JOINT
Gardeners needed to water the conflagration zone and tend to flowers. Must be comfortable working while on fire.

GREETER - SHIBUMENOSAKI UA
Greeter needed to speak to everyone who enters the Academy. Payment will be based on conversational and singing skills.

CUSTODIAN - MESSIAH STATION SQUARE
Custodians needed to mop the platform and tunnels in Messiah Station and rearrange floor stickers. You will try your best.

RECRUITER - JOB POSTING BOARD
Recruiter needed to recruit recruiters for the job posting board. Payment will be ready in 5-10 business hours.

Each flyer also lists the payment promised, but most of them don't make any sense and include answers such as "a job well done", "payment?" and "+1 Charm". There are a few that promise free baked goods from the Lemon Cello, though. It could be a waste of time, but maybe something will happen if you give it a go?

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

Yuri Lowell | Tales of Vesperia

[wolfmotif]

A.
[Yuri's only interested in monsters when they're threatening, not when they're flaunting their strengths and challenging each other to races, but he can't deny that these big round avians are entertaining. He's happy to stand to the side, arms crossed, and observe their antics. They remind him of himself and Flynn when they were younger, competing to prove themselves to each other. The thought makes Yuri chuckle.]

Wow, look at 'em go. Never knew a bird could book it like that.


B.
[Bouncing and falling objects aren't the worst things Yuri has seen, just one of the strangest, and that's coming from a member of Brave Vesperia. Yuri is careful not to stand beneath anything coming down or touch anything going up, but he can't resist watching the show. If anyone walking nearby is terribly injured, sure, he'll step in to help, but a small bump on the head is a little funny. Yuri even participates, cupping his hands to shout at somebody:]

Hey! Watch out!

B

[bridge_princess]

Gah! Not this crap again!

[Thud. She was barely dodging one thing or another as they came careening out of the currently multicolored sky to the earth. She swore a lot in whatever language everyone spoke here and started booking it. Rocks, a buddha statue and other assorted sundries crashing down behind he like she was in a Wiley Coyote cartoon.]

*huff huff* Crap crap crap! Don't just stand there, it's gonna keep raining crap!

[wolfmotif]

[Wow, look at all of that junk falling out of the sky. Thank goodness none of it is coming toward Yuri, who continues watching the show as if he isn't in danger. He's unbothered by Parsee's swearing, more impressed by her range, really. He lifts a hand and waves at her from his mysteriously safe position.]

Yeah? I hadn't noticed. Maybe you should come over here.

[bridge_princess]

Well aren't you the lucky one!

[Huff puff, pant... ok, she was coming over. Damnit she was seriously jealous of this one. He was just standing there without a care in the world. With a last desperate push, she barely dodged a big rock and landed right in front of him, wheezing softly and getting up slowly.

Give her a sec. Hopefully there wasn't something coming right now.]

[wolfmotif]

[Yuri’s expression is plainly amused, though he has to admire Parsee’s dexterity. Dodging an opponent is one thing, but dodging a number of objects falling at different speeds is another. While she recovers from her trial, he lifts his hands and applauds her.]

You made it! Nice job. You really got some moves.

[bridge_princess]

Dodging random crap isn't a skill where I come from. It's just breathing.

[If he'd ever seen a single danmaku bullet hell magical spell card battle, he'd understand. Dodging a falling buddha statue wasn't really that big a deal in her mind. As she got to her knees, she finished wheezing and shaking her head.]

Lucky you, not even a piano falling on your head. You get to stand there the whole time. Ugh. did you just show up or something?

[wolfmotif]

[Yuri huffs through his nose good-naturedly. Parsee has an attitude to rival Rita's. It makes him nostalgic for happier, less dangerous times, because although he is safe, his safety isn't assured. There's no telling when something might come crashing to the ground in his exact spot. Yuri's willing to risk it for a bit.]

Sure did. And I gotta say, it's a lovely place you've got here. Love the decor. Is it new?

[bridge_princess]

Random crap rain? Hasn't happened since we first showed up. Couldn't tell you how long ago that was.

[Why couldn't she tell him? Because nobody had a damned clue how long it had been. Time was just wrong here. She could only get it to obey her locally and behave properly.]

The land, river, mountain, most of the buildings have been here since the first rain.

Some of 'em. It keeps adding on.

[wolfmotif]

[Humming in acknowledgement, Yuri takes another look at their surroundings. Objects continue to fall at varying levels of grace. This world is odd for too many reasons he can name. He looks back at Parsee.]

Adding on? What's with that?

[bridge_princess]

Could we maybe cross the bridge and go to the bar or something? I don't trust the rain, but I can explain a little as we go?

[Get out of this place before a piano dropped on their.... GONG! Oh, look. There was a now destroyed grand piano a hundred feet away. Yeah, she was going to stop thinking now and start moving towards the bridge. Somewhere safe!]

[wolfmotif]

[A bar? Sounds like Yuri's kind of dive; don't mind if he does go! The bang and clang of the piano slamming into the ground is enough to make Yuri startle. He glances in the destroyed object's direction and immediately agrees to move, following her without hesitation.]

Alright, start with the basics. Where, why, and how?

[bridge_princess]

[She was hustling past the torii arch and over the bridge now that it seemed like the trash was raining down mostly out there. As she did, she kept an eye on the sky and grunted sourly]

Not a damned clue, and I call this place Proteus. Absolutely no idea, but it seems like we're seeds in the chaos making a world out of nothing? And if I knew how they did it, do you think I'd be running a simple bridge in the middle of nowh...

Ok, I'd probably be doing that even if I knew, but I don't.

[There was more to it obviously, but he asked for the basics, and that was "No clue. Unsure. Over my paygrade buddy."]

[wolfmotif]

[Yuri also glances up at the sky now and then. He's pleased to note that they are, at least for now, traveling in the clear. His abilities are limited without blastia and while he's sure he could dodge a piano, anything bigger than that might prove a problem. It would be unfortunate if he died before grasping the basics of this new world.]

Well... I got the Proteus part, but you lost me on everything else.

[bridge_princess]

[For the moment, as they passed over the bridge and by a little shrine on their way to a beaten path that led further in, it did seem safe. Mostly.]

We showed up a while ago, and when we did it was just white. Nothing else. Then bam. This place. And it's like it too our memories of home and mashed them all together. Mountain from one world. Bridge from mine. Bar and a cafe from two different worlds get mashed together.

Things from our worlds show up, like we're being used to bring them, or they're drawn to us. We don't know how or why really. The world just seems to be figuring out how to be a world?

a

[abeautifulgame]

I'm not sure it is a bird. [a beat] Or entirely one, anyway. [and another, though now, Damien manages to tear his eyes away from the whatever-they-ares and actually look at Yuri] This place has a habit of taking two unrelated things and just mashing them together.

[just look at, well, any of the wildlife around here]

[wolfmotif]

[Sounds par the course for a bizarre world like this one. Then again, Yuri thinks, the monsters of Terca Lumireis are the same. What is the deal with chimeras anyway?

Yuri meets Damien's gaze, his expression friendly.]

Yeah? Sounds like you've seen some things.

[abeautifulgame]

[he shrugs, before gesturing in the direction of Heavenly Blanc] There's a bar, down there, that can't decide if it's a bar or a cafe. [another gesture, this time in the direction of the Merlaut] A hotel that's also an apartment complex. [a beat] And have you bothered looking up, lately?

[have you seen the sky here, man? it's bizarre]

[either way, the point here is that yeah, he's seen some shit, and if that's not clear enough, he finishes with:] I've been here what we all assume was the beginning.