graveyardsmash | TEST DRIVE MEME

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test drive

TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched with your mouth full of sand. The salt water causes various cuts and scrapes on your skin to sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean. There are lights in the distance but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not, you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already some of the natives are trying to get on your good side with offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all great pamphlets. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous people who had them saying they are lies, or pointing out good "jokes." Then there's the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky, torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien. Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines. Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

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? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

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o1.) [This is very solidly outside the realm of expertise of someone whose only real realm of expertise is sass and Cabaret performances. Lucille was no fool and she was no helpless waif, either, but waking up drenched and with a mouthful of sand on an extremely unfamiliar beach with the air reeking of gunpowder and several sets of inhuman footprints lining the sand all around her left something to be desired. Many somethings, in fact.]

[Still, she sat up with a remarkable amount of grace and took in her surroundings, drawing her knees slowly toward her chest and becoming quite small, but only for a moment. The next, she's standing and scoffing at the state of her dress.]

Achhh, well at least I wasn't especially fond of this color.

o2.) [Thankfully, it seemed that at least some of the locals were some degree of friendly, if oddly so. Lucille, upon finding her way into a more populated area of Ryslig, found herself bombarded with what was clearly put-upon kindness by people who seemed to fear her, saying all manner of oddities like "Until it happens, you are welcome here,". Until what happened? She had tried asking a few times, only to be tutted at and given vague half-answers and shown to an array of tri-fold pamphlets of information.]

[Very nearly all of this information made little or no sense at all to the singer, but she found herself taking a seat and paging through each leaflet anyway, trying to garner some form of understanding.]

...Really now, I'm quite certain "Bunnyipyip" isn't even a word. And everyone is looking at me like I'm the odd one.

_{[ Katsura had been standing around the pamphlets for awhile now, stuffing in between the display whenever people were not looking.. pamphlets of his own. There was the classic: Timer bombs and You, an Introduction to Jouishishi Rebellion, among straight forward and somewhat gloomy pamphlets: The End if Nigh... If You're a Samurai, to some that might be comical but also confusing: What Cats Have the Softest Paws? For Animal Lovers.

Once Lucille has made it clear that she isn't moving anytime soon, therefore she will bare witness to him stuffing his own propaganda into the pamphets (where did they come from anyway--? Don't you know he's more prepared than L*pin when it comes to everything?)

He makes a coughing sound to get her attention-- if she doesn't look his way, he'll cough again, but then very pointedly look away from her, as if he was trying to act nonchalant.

Finally: ]}

If you're trying to educate yourself, I suggest you read another.
_{[ like his, for example. What did the change in Edo have to do with this girl? Absolutely nothing. ]}

[Luckily or unluckily for Katsura, Lucille is a pretty observant young woman. She notices him placing his own pamphlets among the others almost immediately, even going as far as to curiously peer at one of them, and claims one from the pile in a way that, much like Katsura's attempt, fails at being nonchalant. She turns it over a time or two in her hands.]

An Introduction to Jo...uishi, shi, Rebellion? That is quite hard to pronounce. Would you do me the honors? [She holds it out to him.]

_{[ wh... he's supposed to read this to somebody? That's fine. He keeps a calm demeanor and coughs again (for no real reason this time.. was he really trying hard to look innocent?) and opens up the first pamphlet. ]}

Ah.. certainly. The first rule of thumb is to not approach your enemies with anger or malice. Be collected and find peace, but when they least expect it, you should give them a well thought out surprise.

Then there is a list of examples for a surprise in bright colors.
_{[ Though, he doesn't seem to continue reading but he glances at her, as if asking her to ask him to keep reading just by giving her a hard stare.

Please, ask him to continue. He loves to hear his work is wanted. ]}

[Well, she was mostly asking him to correct her pronunciation, but she'll accept being read to. She sits up straighter and purses her lips, trying to not make it obvious that she's vaguely uncomfortable with basically all of everything right now.]

...ah, do the colors denote severity of the surprise? [That's... maybe not a request to continue, but it certainly isn't a cease and desist, either.]

Haa. Of course.

_{[ He's a leader of his own faction, he's used to lecturing all the time. For somebody so stony faced, Katsura actually perks his lips upward in a slight smile. He loves talking about criminal acts! Because to him, it's justified-- what he is doing isn't wrong.
His eyes sparkle too, but somehow his expression still seems intense, eyebrows pinning closer together.

He turns the pamphlet around and points. Green to yellow to red-- these indicate different "levels" of terror— er, political activism. Lucille might take notice that "turning the toilet paper roll backwards" is listed on the red part.

His faction is a lot more moderate now, but he seems proud of his ingenious plans. ]}

It's easy to rebel against the Bakufu. Fu hu hu.. anyone can do it with three easy steps.
_{[ why does he start conversations like this... this is how he gets caught so easily by the police. ]}

[She turns her eyes to the pamphlet as it's shown to her and glances down the warnings, blinking a few times when she reads the red point of activism. Backwards...? Could something that is a roll truly be backwards in the first place?]

...ah, I'm afraid I don't understand. Bakufu?

_{[ She looks like a foreigner-- well. Not like an Amanto. Not that kind of foreigner. That was a strong accent she had too.. where exactly was she from? Katsura frowns. He thinks he could let her understand his view on the whole subject, but would it really matter? He still wasn't entire sure where he was, and as dumb as he sometimes, he knew this wasn't beautiful Japan. ]}

Hmph. If they even want to call themselves that anymore.
_{[ He honestly has no idea what direction his government is going in right now and it's scary. ]}

Surely your home is not Japan.

[She very sincerely has No Idea what to do with this strangely beautiful man. Licking her lips, she shakes her head slowly, passing over his grumbled first comment entirely.]

Ah, no. France.

I would not go as far as to say that you're as bad as them, but--
_{[ Be nice, Katsura. Let go of your traditionalist ways.. just this once in front of a stranger. ]}

I am sure France has its struggles.. and France has done you wrong before. Perhaps it was not French, enough. The escargot was not escargot enough; there was not enough wine and cheese, or perhaps not enough strikes scheduled in one month.
_{[ rude.. ]}

It is like that.
Then Japan I know is not as it should be and it is accommodating a new culture that excludes us samurai.
_{[ yeah he's a samurai dude. ]}

[At least Lucille is sharp enough that she can tell when people are being kind to her out of necessity more than genuine kindness. But the man she's about to meet is the exact opposite of that, yet he still finds himself in the thick of the arrivals when they start showing up.

Why? Well...he's keeping an eye out for Todomatsu, that's why. And he plans to from now on, or at least as often as he can manage it.

He just so happens to overhear her speaking as she peruses one of the pamphlets. There's no part of this conversation that should be beckoning Karamatsu to join it, but he sidles his way over regardless. Because while he might think himself to be a gentleman in every regard, he's also shallow and wants to talk to her because she's pretty, so here he is.]

Perhaps not, but how often do you hear of trout that bear fur? Or Axehounds? How are we to differentiate between truth and reality when the reality is that none of us can tell the difference between the two any longer?

[You have been here for a whole year now and not ONCE have you seen any of these things. These pamphlets are utter garbage and you know it.]

[She registers the company but doesn't look up, assuming him to be simply dressed garishly from the way he clearly sparkles in the light of the room. She takes another moment to look over the pamphlet in her hands before she folds it closed again and looks up to reply, and does a rather comical double-take.]

I-- Oh. Well, I suppose I haven't, as trout are generally not mammalian to my knowledge and I've no idea what an Axehound even is, but I do also have to claim that I've never quite seen someone of your... [She looks him up and down, squinting.] Er, physique, before. Similar, perhaps, but not nearly the same.

[Similar? Well, that doesn't...immediately strike Karamatsu as odd, mostly because his mind is currently elsewhere.]

Ah, yes...I am rather dazzling, non? I have been told....that I am in the most annoying way possible!

[You gotta love that faerie no-lying tick in that is actually sucks hardcore.]

But being who I am certainly comes with its perks.

[Someone get this boy some milk. She squints and nods, slowly, smiling in a way that is mostly uncomfortable.]

Ah, I see. Well, it's a bit rude to call someone dazzling in annoyance, and I certainly won't be one to do the same when I've only just met you. Though is your unusual appearance what these pamphlets seem to reference?

Ah...that is correct. I understand it is a lot to try and take in all at once, but I will try to answer any questions that you may have.

[She tilts her head to the side and looks back down to the pamphlet, turning it over and then setting it aside.]

Well certainly I think the first question I have is simple; what is your name?

[Karamatsu eyes her for a moment, considering. She doesn't seem to be Japanese, so he decides to introduce himself the way he's just fallen into since arriving to Ryslig.]

Karamatsu Matsuno. But you may call me Karamatsu, since my brothers and I are all "Matsuno".

[God rest the Seine, that is a fucking mouthful of letters and syllables she cannot possibly hope to pronounce right the first time. He did say "Matsuno" twice, but she swears she heard at least part of that three times. So many "ah" sounds.]

...goodness. We are clearly from different regions, that is a very peculiar collection of sounds. Could you repeat it again, a bit slower...?

[Half a beat, and she splays one hand across her collarbone.]

Ah, my name is Lucille, to exchange.

Ka-ra-mat-su.

[He repeats, making sure to enunciate each syllable clearly for her to hear. It's a wonder, actually, that he can speak at all with those large mandibles jutting from his lower jaw. He appears to have a faint sort of lisp thanks to them, but it's something he's managed to work around over time.]

And might I say that is a beautiful name you have, Lucille.

As for regions, I am from Japan, myself!

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TEST DRIVE MEME

Lucille | Un monstre à Paris (A Monster in Paris)

02;

katsura pls

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slams into with all the grace of a boulder | 2

lord here we go

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