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

[youngerbrother]

[Perhaps in another time, another place, Mokuba would have remembered something as important as the presence of giant birds with a propensity to stampede. While he is still aware of them in some vague capacity there is no room in his mind right now for threat assessment. The return cry of his name sparks a fresh wave of desperation. This has to be real, it has to! Where Seto stops Mokuba continues forward, all but flinging himself at his brother with little concern for dignity. The body he collides with is certainly solid enough, and he instantly wraps his arms around him, fingers clenching the fabric of his jacket tightly.]

Seto! It's really you!

[The first question almost falls on deaf ears, such is the strength of the relief rushing through him. He sniffles again, not outright crying so much as near overcome with emotion, and hides his face against his brother for a second in an attempt to compose himself. When he is able to speak again he prefaces it with a slightly watery laugh.]

Maybe a little crying, yeah. [No point in denying it when evidence shows otherwise. He shakes his head and pulls back just enough to look Seto in the face, reluctant to release his hold on him.] I'm not hurt. I just don't know what happened, or how I got here. Or where 'here' even is. I hadn't even seen anyone else until now. I thought I was alone...

[blue_eyed_obsession]

[Fortunately, the birds don't seem nearly as concerned with the pair of brothers or their activities as Seto is in the reverse. Eyes darting briefly to the side, he can see them in his periphery still milling about, some squawking and others digging at the grass with their talons. This was acceptable behavior, so he could turn his attention fully to the enthusiastic form racing towards him from the opposite direction. A smile, a rare and genuine one, crossed in a thin arc over his features. Let this be reality. There was a muffled whumping sound from their impact but no damage incurred, as a reflex he places a hand to the top of Mokuba's head feeling the hair thread through his fingers, his free hand cupping the small boy's shoulder]

Mm- it's really me.

[More emotion encapsulated in that phrase than was characteristic of the more stoic sibling. This time when he is close enough to hear the sniffling he says nothing and allows his brother time to get it all out. The laughter, especially was something he'd sorely missed, there was just an endearing quality that couldn't be replicated by anyone else.]

It doesn't matter, so long as you're here. [Genuinely meaning that. When Mokuba drew back, Seto reached for his own locket in a gesture to show that he had never taken it off.] Good, because if you were I was going to have to track down whoever or whatever did this to you, and make them pay. Dearly.

[Seto paused a moment to decide how best to describe this] They just call this place 'the void'. Originally there was nothing here, and all of this sprung up later in an instant. It keeps contorting and adapting over time.

[youngerbrother]

[Mokuba takes a few moments to sort himself out. The anxiety that had lodged itself in his chest at the start of this confusing mess is ebbing now that some sense of normality has been restored. Finding Seto means that he has found his grounding and reference points again. Whatever happens going forward he trusts that his brother will guide him through it. Squaring his shoulders he nods and regards his older sibling with a look of determination. Now that the Kaiba brothers are back together there is nothing they can't handle.]

Right? Nobody messes with us and gets away with it! [His expressions softens at the sight of Seto's locket. Though he does not believe for a second that his brother would ever (willingly) remove it seeing the matching pendant never fails to stir up a tangle of emotions. The need to hug his brother strikes him again with a near thought erasing intensity but he reins in the impulse with difficulty. There will be time for more hugs later, when they aren't in the middle of some random wilderness. Assuming that there is something besides the random wilderness to be found.]

The void, huh? Not a very inventive name... [That's about all he can say in response to the explanation of the space around them. It is not that he can't say more, but he is having a little trouble parsing the idea of an ever changing environment.] Who is 'they'? There are other people here?

[blue_eyed_obsession]

[It would have been impossible to put emotions into words for Seto- and not just for his usual aversion to displaying overt sentimentality. From his perspective they had been separated for what felt like months or years due to the indeterminate nature of how time was perceived in the void, and not only that but when he had left his own dimension it had been during a critical moment. For all his insistence that none of the fanciful nonsense his enemies foisted upon him was real, the danger was legitimate regardless. Having been knocked into an unconscious state, it was not as if he could have done much to protect the younger Kaiba after his critical tag duel with Dartz. He'd replayed those last few moments through his mind several times mentally torturing himself as he wondered what fate had befallen his brother afterwards. Even if Dartz had claimed he didn't desire the souls of the any of the onlookers, that they were insufficient in some manner for his aims, that didn't mean that he would be on his best behavior should Yugi have lost. The fact that Mokuba is here and now- he's not really sure what it means. What precisely happened after Seto left? Furthermore, this was opening up Mokuba to a variety of dangers and inconsistencies that were ever present in the void. This was not a safe location to reside in..

Either way- his selfish desires were currently winning out. He needed them to remain together. They had faced many trials already, so the void should be no different.]

Mm. [Humming his agreement to the statement] They sure don't. [Once the gesture has the desired effect, Seto released his hold on the locket, allowing gravity to pull it towards his chest. Perhaps they didn't really need a physical reminder of the connection that existed between them but it gave them both something more tangible to hold onto when the need arose]

Heh- you're telling me. [Pleased at the critical nature of Mokuba's assessment.] In time, you're going to wish you hadn't asked that... [Allowing his own biases against their fellow refugees to color his words] .. 'They' is referring to the other inhabitants that were drawn into this mess just like us.

I'll fill you in once we get away from this place. [Not having forgotten their feathered friends.] This way. [With that Seto started moving with purpose fully expecting to be followed as he aimed for the nearest shelter he could think of that might be vacant at this time. They had a lot to discuss and they didn't need anyone butting in or offering unwarranted commentary]