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tabularasa_memes2020-06-24 08:34 pm
tabularasa_mods) wrote in tabularasa_memes2020-06-24 08:34 pm
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June Test Drive Meme
Test Drive Meme #2
New Locations ▲ Scenarios ▼ CommentsPlease note that none of the locations and changes described below will be included in the game when it opens. To help create an accurate impression of the game, we have included several imprints suggested by prospective players from the TDM Imprints Submissions. These prompts and locations are only for the TDM. A new arrangement of imprints will be picked when the game opens, which will likely look completely different from the TDM. Please keep this in mind when applying to the game in the future.
As this is our second TDM, you can find more detailed descriptions of the TDM-only locations on TDM #1. Feel free to use prompts from the previous TDM as well if you missed out on it!
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. Responding to other players on the TDM will also be part of an AC bonus, so we encourage anyone who plans to app to tag out to other players as well.
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New Location: The Fendt Hope Library
Across from the USJ dome stands an enormous six-floor castle. The entrance boasts a large open room decorated with hanging bird cages, colorful teddy bears of varying sizes, and books. Many, many books, filling shelves that line every wall of the room. Traveling further within, there are hundreds of rooms and hallways arranged almost like a hotel, except every room is its own miniature library. Each room has the same layout, including a desk with a lamp, a round table with chairs in the center, a ladder, and rows of shelves on every wall. Teddy bears have been placed around each room, some of them sitting in chairs or on top of shelves and stacks of books. Many of the rooms feature large square windows with gold curtains drawn.
On the first floor near the entrance is a small tavern-like area with a bar, also surrounded by bookshelves on all sides. There are several wooden tables with chairs for guests to sit, though teddy bears have been placed in some of the seats. A large person-sized bear is seated behind the bar. The only shelf that isn't full of books is instead filled with old wine bottles.
There is a staircase that goes down to the basement, where more hallways and library rooms can be found. The basement rooms are much dingier with gray stone walls and no windows, though otherwise look the same as the other library rooms. Notably, the doors in the basement rooms can only be locked from the outside.
Scenario A: Think Positive!
The world has been filled with many things - animals, plants, people, objects... and among those objects, something has stood out. Objects that demand a greater purpose, to be filled with energy that they cannot themselves create. They have not gone unnoticed, and so, too, does the world notice. Machines are more complex than blocks of metal and plastic. Lights are more than wire and glass. What is it that breathes the life into them that people have come to expect?
Finally, the answer has become clear. Anger, disappointment, frustration: these are all feelings that have been poured into these lifeless objects. Energy, such as electricity, must surely come from those emotions.
That isn't to say making electricity is a simple task, or one that can be so easily controlled. A strong emotion can be quite shocking, but that strength must be maintained to power something for more than a few seconds. But you don't want to be electrocuting everyone you come into contact with, either, so with a bit of coordination, a group of people will have much better luck than one person by themselves.
A crowd in the Heavenly Blanc is enough to make the lights flicker, and you might even be able to get the jukebox going. The music sounds a bit strange, with titles and lyrics that almost seem jumbled together from several different songs, but a tune is still a tune. The lighthouse arcade is especially lively, machines buzzing and blaring with noise the moment anyone steps in, though you'll need a friend or two to play along if you want it to get the game to start. The games, too, seem like a bit of a jumbled mess - or maybe Initial DANCE Taikoaster Versus is just ahead of its time.
Most electronics will now function, provided they have the energy source to do so. More advanced functions may not work correctly, such as long-distance connections. The more complex the device, the more emotional power you'll need to use it.
Scenario B: Take A Look, It's In A Book
With the addition of a another library, books have become an important feature to the world's landscape. Words that were once a jumbled mess have been reformed, arranged into something that can now be understood. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of content to fill every book in the world - most of them are identical copies of the same few books, though there may be slight variations between copies.
Geography contains an accurate map of the known world, including detailed descriptions and sketches of important landmarks and buildings. Any observations that people have made thus far have been noted here, including a few direct quotes. It also describes some of the flora and fauna, though it doesn't go into much detail beyond where they can be found. Each copy has a chapter at the end titled "The Rest Of The World" containing hundreds of blank pages.
Regional Pokédex is a bestiary of all the creatures currently residing in the world. There are only 5 entries, with the rest of the book filled with the same image of a large question mark in a circle at the center of each page. Some of the copies of the book use different names for the same creatures, but the first four entries in each copy describes fireys, jellyrabbits, ghowls, and the Eiffel Tower in the style of short observational notes. The average height, weight, and footprint shape of each creature is also listed. The fifth entry has no title, but lists the average height, weight, and approximate footprint shape of every single person in the world as if they were a single species. The descriptions on this page are much more disjointed and contain wildly different information across copies, but all of the entries list observations and physical details of individuals that have arrived in the world.
Questions Vol.1 is a book of questions. Every question about the world that someone has voiced thus far has been listed somewhere in this book. Some questions are detailed and specific, while others are single word questions like "sleep?" There are no answers provided, but some of the pages have handwritten theories underneath that vary between copies. All of the theories match what people have discussed among themselves so far.
Drinks is a recipe book. It lists several recipes for simple drinks one can make with water, alcohol, coffee beans, and tea leaves. Nearly all of the recipes have an alcoholic variant, even when it doesn't make sense. Each recipe includes step by step instructions on how to prepare the ingredients without electricity. This book also details everything people have observed about the world's water supply and its relaxing properties.
Scenario C: Lucky Buns
Luck might seem a simple idea on the surface: if you have good luck, good things happen to you, and if you have bad luck then bad things happen. Where, however, does luck come from? Everyone has different ideas and different superstitions surrounding the concept. One such superstition is tied to rabbits, which is like a fluffy, tentacled creature that swims quietly through the air. A rabbit's luck is tied to its feet. However, touching this particular creature's feet tends to sting and hurt people. On that basis, then, touching the jellyrabbit's feet is clearly bad luck, and so anyone who has felt that sting will experience other forms of bad luck. Whether this comes in the form of trips, falls, getting lost or similar kinds of misfortune relies entirely upon what one's individual idea of bad luck is.
Conversely, touching other parts of the creature must be tied to good luck. Many people do quite like to pet soft and fluffy creatures, after all, so it's only natural that doing so would gift them with good luck. Perhaps they might find things more easily, meet people with similar interests, win games of chance more often, or find a $100 note in their back pocket - money might have no meaning here, but if this is what people consider 'good luck', then that is what will happen.
Once a streak of luck, good or bad, is triggered, it does not wear off on its own. It can only be replaced by luck of an opposing nature, or removed entirely by touching one of the other local creatures.
The creatures' tie to luck is not immediately apparent. Once people learn and understand, however, the information will soon find its way into a copy of the library's Regional Pokédex.
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no subject
[Not that pleased, but she does have manners, and telling someone you don't care about them in the slightest is generally considered 'extremely rude, Hornet.' Not that that stops her, but she doesn't feel any need to turn this conversations to blows just yet.]
[With that out of the way, she glances over the hall and makes for the next door down.]
"Accompany me if you wish. An extra pair of eyes couldn't hurt."
no subject
[Honestly, he's probably about as pleased as she is, but old habits die hard when encountering new people. No point being rude to a strange being he isn't certain he can categorize as "hostile" just yet. It rankles, to be given permission to accompany her, but he doesn't let it show on his face as he falls into step beside her.]
Have you had the chance to explore the upper floors at all, Hornet-san?
no subject
"A little bit, near the entrance. But for a sweep of the area, I felt it prudent to go from the bottom up."
[Recalling Goro's comment on the books, Hornet plucks one off the nearest shelf and starts flipping through one-handed— she hasn't set down her blade. The pages have an odd texture to them, unlike the weaver-silk she's used to, and the title is strange. Questions Vol. 1. Maybe this could shed some light on things.]
no subject
[In the interests of being thorough, it certainly makes sense to start from the bottom. Not the words of a mindless Shadow, then, but those of someone with at least some sense of reason.
As she flips through the book, Goro takes note of how she doesn't set her weapon aside to make it easier. Not that he can blame her; if he had an actual weapon with him, he'd be reluctant to let it far from his grasp, either. Instead, as she's occupied, he crosses the room to pick up one of the stuffed bears he'd mentioned earlier, gloved fingers poking and prodding to test if there could be anything hidden inside.]
I've noticed that particular title has direct quotes from some people I've spoken to, [he observes mildly as he sets the bear aside and looks back to his investigating companion.] Have you seen the same?
no subject
"I haven't noticed anything of the sort—"
[Right on cue, her finger catches on a page and she pauses as she sees something absent from the rest of the book thus far— handwriting. It stands out against the printed word, enough for her to glance over the question it's written under, and then look again to confirm what she sees. She holds the book up.]
['Who are you, and where have you taken me?' followed by a small, messy 'What? I don't even know who you are!']
"I asked this question."
no subject
Well then. I suppose that's yet another piece of evidence to confirm that we are being recorded.
[He settles back on his heels and brings his hand to his lips with a thoughtful frown.]
What I can't discern is the purpose. Forgive me for saying so, but I've yet to notice a point of similarity among anyone here. You and I, for example, seem to be quite different.
no subject
"I have to agree. While I'd argue the vast majority of people here seem to be the same as... whatever you are, my own presence proves that is not a requirement."
no subject
Have you met anyone else like you, here?
no subject
"No. Those accursed mimics gave me hope, but—" [Her needle lashes out, skewering a nearby bear through the chest.] "—all they are is proof that I must be on my guard at all times. I have not seen another bug like me."
[She tries to keep a level tone, but she can't stop the frustration leaking through near the end. She shouldn't be here. She should be home, where she knows where all the danger is, and where her duty lies.]
no subject
Yes, I've heard about those ghouls. They're mentioned in some of the books as well.
[He lowers his hands and hums quietly.]
This is a strange and unknown place. It's not a bad idea that we all stay on guard, until we know more.
no subject
"Ghouls. I'll remember that. Better to put a name to your enemy."
[She slides the toy off the end of her blade, examining it closely. The stuffing seems odd, another unfamiliar texture between her fingers, but she doesn't spare it more than a thoughtful head-tilt before tossing it aside.]
"Perhaps I am most unnerved by how safe everything else is. It feels wrong not to trip over danger at every turn."
no subject
[Strange as it might seem, Hornet isn't actually that difficult for him to understand. Cautious, wary, alone in a strange place -- he feels the same, though he's arguably better at hiding it. If he chooses to accept she's a... person (bug?) in spite of appearance, then the interaction becomes downright simple.
At this point, he'd might as well accept that there are people who aren't human, and aren't hostile at the moment. So the mention of the lack of danger quirks his lips into a brief smile more wry than pleasant.]
And yes, I quite agree with that sentiment, as well. This very much feels like what we call the calm before the storm.
[A beat, and then he ventures,] I've never seen a weapon like yours... you seem quite skilled with it.
no subject
"Truly? Perhaps a needle isn't the most widely-used blade, but it's not too different from a common nail."
[She holds it where Goro can see the entire thing. It's a single piece of metal, nearly as tall as Hornet— taller, if you don't count her horns. The simplest way to describe it would be an elongated sword, with a loop at the pommel making it resemble a bastardized sewing needle. After a moment, Hornet shifts it back into its regular place, half-hidden by her cloak.]
"I have had a lifetime to practice it. If I were the type to claim friends, it would be my closest."