TEST DRIVE MEME

[rysligmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to Ryslig's test drive meme! If you're considering apping here, this is where you can try your characters out in the game's setting. A few things to note: The State of the Game Discussion produced a lot of great suggestions and we now have a post for Plot Suggestions and Monster Questions. The NETWORK VOTE results are in and PRIVATE MESSAGING will be added some time in November. Lots of people have asked good questions on the FAQ, so do take a look. You can only app ONE character per round so choose wisely. Reserve and application dates have been announced. Test drive meme threads can be used for your roleplay sample! Sample scenarios: SCENARIO ONE: You've just been released from the hospital in Vandare and no one really seems to know what to do with you. The locals offer polite advice but don't seem to want to spend a lot of time with you. You and the other new arrivals stick out like sore thumbs, so perhaps one will spot you wandering about town. SCENARIO TWO: You've become hopelessly lost in Lager Woods. Paths don't seem to lead where you remember them leading, and you feel as if you're going around in circles. Childlike giggling can be heard from no direction in particular. Suddenly, you stumble upon another character, who seems to be just as lost as you! Perhaps you can find a way out together. SCENARIO THREE: The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? NOTE: Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Comments

[drowns]

[Mitsuki is a smart girl. An observant girl, and it's only the fact that she's frightened, that she doesn't know where she is and her key won't work, that's what keeps her from realizing who (what?) exactly she's bumped into.

The realization comes a millisecond too slow. She thinks, at first, someone tall? but then the person (it) is handing her glasses back to her, and she puts them back on and sees — ]

What...?

[Something.

She is not immediately frightened. The feeling is somewhat removed from her. There is a moment where she is trying to reconcile what she sees with something normal. She's heard of this sort of phenomenon: in the absence of an explanation, the human mind creates one of its own.

There is no explanation for this. The color drains from her face.

She should be able to move. She has fought battles; she realizes the danger in becoming frozen in fear, but she can't move. Is she the only one that can see it? Everyone else behaving so normally...they give it a wide berth but there is no screaming, no one running for cover.

It can't be a Devouring, can it? They don't speak.

Do they?]

I...w-what?

[selfbegot]

[ this reaction... it's better than what she was expecting, to be honest, but it's still really awkward. she fidgets a bit, clawed fingers digging lightly into her hands as she breaks eye contact in favor of looking at the ground. ]

You, um- are you new here?

[ one hoof draws back and taps nervously against the ground in a motion that might be cute on a human or a deer. but madoka's not really either at this point, and she's all too aware of it right now. ]

I mean, you just got here, right? [ this isn't going anywhere. she tries to explain, stumbling on her words as she does. ] Otherwise, you'd- you would have seen something like me earlier. I'm not the only one, so...

[ what's left of her circulatory system finally kicks into gear, giving her pale cheeks some semblance of a blush. ]

I- I promise I'm not going to hurt you!

[drowns]

[Something like me.

Mitsuki searches the crowds. All she sees, other than this talking...creature, are human beings. A little boy stares at the both of them, fascinated, but then his mother steers him away very quickly. Hushed voices all around, but nothing abnormal. Nothing out of the ordinary.

This city is bizarre. Mitsuki looks back to the creature, alert now. Her expression is wary, but already the fear is being pushed away to deal with later. She needs to focus.

Is it blushing?

She swallows hard, and speaks up, haltingly.]

I...ah. Yes. I'm...new. I apologize if this is rude, but what [that is rude. she corrects herself.] ...who are you, exactly?

[selfbegot]

[ it's not much - the other girl doesn't look like she really believes her yet, and even if madoka's expecting it that what still hurts - but at least they're talking. ]

Madoka Kaname. You can just call me Madoka, though, if you'd like. [ not that she really expects her to. if she were the one talking to a monster, she's not sure she'd want to sound anything less than formal. ] And I, ah, I've been here for about two months. I lived in Mitakihara City before this, if you know where that is...

[ she doesn't expect it by this point. nobody's recognized it yet; she's realized, somewhere along the line, that her japan isn't like most others'.

all of this is well and good, but it's not really what's being asked. she takes a deep breath, steadies herself - it's not exactly a fun topic - and quietly speaks. ]

I don't really know what I am anymore, but I- I can try to explain, if you'd like. [ whoever the other girl is, she deserves to know just what this place does. but at the same time, she doesn't want to just overload her on her first day in. not when she's done that badly enough just by showing up. ] Would that be good...?

[drowns]

[It's subtle, but...the way this (girl?) moves, reacts...it invokes a strange sort of pity, even though Mitsuki can't trust her yet. Whatever she was, it brought her no pleasure to be this way.]

My name is Mitsuki Ishikawa. [...] I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with Mitakihara, but I'm from a city called Sugikishi.

[She has to look up to meet Madoka's eyes, and the crawling fear from before returns, like ice water down her back. Despite this, she keeps her back straight and her gaze steady. She doesn't smile, but the slack-jawed panic has left her expression.] That would be, ah...good, yes. You're the first...um, person, who has bothered telling me anything at all.

[selfbegot]

Sugikishi... [ she can't say she's heard of it. so she slowly shakes her head, careful to not let her antlers move too quickly. ] Mm, I'm sorry. I don't think I know where that is.

[ she thinks for a moment of explaining that - of telling the other girl that people from different worlds altogether show up here, that their japans probably aren't even the same place. but that had been a lot for her, when she showed up, and the changes are probably more important anyway. she can come back to that later.

it's mitsuki's stutter that alerts madoka to what's happening. she breaks eye contact again, looking directly down and away from the the other girl before explaining. ] Um- you probably shouldn't look directly at me. At least, not at my eyes.

[ that's almost taken more getting used to than the physical changes. still, at least it's been less of an issue with the other monsters. ]

Um...

[ she doesn't really know where to begin with all of this. it's a lot to take in. but she's got to start somewhere, right? ]

I- I didn't look like this when I showed up. None of us did. [ oh, no - that's an awful starting point. but it does let her bounce back- ] Most of us arrived about two months ago. The newcomers, I mean. This town already had people living in it by the time we washed up, so...

[drowns]

Ah, my apologies... [Mitsuki doesn't need to be told twice. She's not keen on the idea of taking her eyes off Madoka, but she doesn't like making eye contact already. There's something about it that unsettles her. Her gaze breaks away, and she focuses instead on the points of antlers sticking out of her head. Amazing...they had to be attached to her skull.

Oh, but that's interesting (and disturbing.) She didn't look like this before? Mitsuki thinks of how evasive the natives have been so far, and feels a chill run down her back for an entirely different reason this time.

She keeps her voice controlled, miraculously. And calm. She's freaked out, but this poor (creature?) girl seemed so distressed. It's the part of Mitsuki that's a magical hunter that takes over now: the crisp, focused seriousness that kept her and the others from getting hurt in so many battles. This time, she doesn't stammer. It's more important now to get information.]

Two months...I see. [She frowns, chews at her bottom lip. They'd arrived two months ago, and she's sure if she asks, Madoka would tell her that they woke up with scratches too.] Kaname-san, are the natives victims of this, ah, transformation, as well? Or have you visitors been the only ones?

[selfbegot]

[ that distanced formality... it reminds her of mami. madoka tries not to think about the other girl as mitsuki speaks, shaking her head once again before responding. ]

So far, we're the only ones. [ -oh, but she doesn't want to frighten her! she looks back up, speaking in hasty tones. ] But- that's not to say everyone else looks like this! Some people have only changed a little bit, and- and even for the people who did change, it's not always this bad...

[ she doesn't mean to come across as self-flagellating; even if her self-image has kind of shot down the drain lately, it's honestly not her intent. but when there are mermaids with beautiful rainbow scales, and harpies flying through the sky... it makes being an undead deer monstrosity a little difficult. ]

[drowns]

...You were human then, before. A girl. [Oh, but that makes her feel bad. She's intuitive enough to realize when someone is sad, even when it's someone who looks as outwardly frightening as Madoka did. Her expression stays carefully neutral, but some of the ice melts out of her eyes.

The news is unsettling, but more to the point...] None of the natives have attempted to help any of you? ...Does anyone know why it's happening?

[The scratches. If she thinks about them too long, her throat will close up in fear, and she doesn't need to worry about what might happen later right now. She tries to push it out of her mind.]

[selfbegot]

[ a girl? well, that part's accurate at least. she's not sure whether it would have been appropriate to call her human, even back home - but there's no sense in bringing that up. it sounds pretty crazy, and even if crazier things are happening now it doesn't really do her any good to say anything.

so she just nods and smiles sadly. ]

Mm. I think... I think the villagers are afraid, too. [ not all of them, of course. but- enough. ] They said before that there are gods here. And- I've heard that some of them think we've been cursed.

[drowns]

...I'm very sorry this has happened to you, Kaname-san.

[Her head dips a little. In this much, she is genuine. But what to do? Surely, if Keiko were here, she'd rally for them to change it.

But without her powers...how was she to do anything without the key? She knew more than anyone, how weak she was without it. But it was the right thing to do, to try to help...and she had her mind, at least, still.] I want to try to figure out why this is happening...and perhaps find a solution.

I'm not very strong, but I'd like to help you and the others. If I can.