Test drive meme: November

[ryslighelpers]

TEST DRIVE MEME: NOVEMBER

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 is making all the cuts and scrapes on your skin 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 on the more informative end of the scale. 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 readers saying they're lies, or pointing out good "jokes."

Then there are 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.

Comments

Edward Atlus | OC

[blackplantasia]

[A: ON THE BEACH]

When he wakes, he knows he's away from home, far away from home. Though the chill of the night air pierces through his soaked patchwork coat, he knows the climate here is fairly temperate - it has to be, for if he was anywhere near his home he would've already froze to death. And the ocean behind him when he sits up from the sand - and even the sand itself - is another clue, for Cevedal is nowhere conveniently near the ocean, let alone a beach.

More than anything, there's a lack of the familiar magical hum he'd grown accustomed to around Cevedal, the remnants of the fae populating the space between seconds. There's certainly something weighing down on him here, some energy he can't define, but it's different, vastly so.

Warily, Ed pushes himself to his feet and stares at himself. Beyond the obvious stickiness of the air and his body, he feels... oddly refreshed. He can't recall his most recent memories, but he feels as though he's better off than however he left his home.

For now, he'll wander the coast and explore. He's never seen a beach before.


[B: IN TOWN]

Part of Edward really, really wants to go into some of these shops. Being exposed to a single town in the middle of nowhere for all of one's life really hinders one's scope of the world. He's never seen a place with this many people before - though he certainly knows they exist! - and he's absolutely astounded by the variety of everything here. Currently, a flower shop has his eye.

He's seen a lot of plants, and he's definitely seen some that are more visually interesting than what's on display here (even if they were in the fae-spaces of his world), but he's still stuck staring through the window into the shop, absolutely enamoured with the flora within. He's hesitant about attempting to enter, though, for many of the locals here have been giving him strange looks...


[C: THE ARCADE]

Electronics are nonexistent in his reality.

That's just the fact of the matter: most of what technology does exist resides far outside of Cevedal's tiny domain, so stepping into the dimly-lit arcade of the Fourth God keeps his eyes wide open in wonder. Colourful lights on their own aren't a mysterious occurrence to him thanks to the presence of magic, but he's certain that magic isn't what's running this place here. The air is thick and difficult to breathe, but he doesn't believe it's what's powering this place.

Occasionally Ed will stop to observe some of the robots running around, squatting on the floor and tilting his head curiously. Other times he just wanders between the old arcade machines. Whatever's caught his eye for the time being, it's more than enough to keep him unaware of any other presences in the room with him.



WILDCARD: Honestly do whatever you want! Throw what you like at this boy of mine.

If anyone's curious, I've got a couple journal entries for some of his world and canon history (general warning for mentions of violence and child abuse) and his permissions, so feel free to take a look at those as you like! I'm definitely open to criticism as far as presentation and how some things sound. The canon history's going to be reformatted into not-bullets at some point, so that's already on my to-do list!

B

[lunakiss]

Nanao's not sure what to make of this strange, new world. On one hand, it's nice to not have Karls burst in every few moments and make them transform into knights to defeat monsters, but on the other hand, some of the monsters here are legitimately terrifying. Not that Nanao cares to let anyone know. As usual, a smile is plastered on his face as he walks around, exploring the sights and sounds of such an old-fashioned city. He wishes Taishi was around to give him facts about this place. Taishi was a wealth of knowledge when it came to old woman trivia.

The blonde's stopped to examine some moonflowers when he notices someone else practically glued to the glass. After a while, he notices he's still staring and, despite himself, he chuckles.

"You're not going to get any closer to those if you try enter through the window," he teases lightly.

[blackplantasia]

Ed jumps and all but backpedals away from the glass, shoving his hands in his (now mostly dry) pockets out of embarrassment. His arms are tense as if he's holding himself, and for a moment he stares down at his feet.

It takes him a moment to realise both of them are still there, standing awkwardly near each other, so he shoots the blond a side glance with an upturned brow. "...you think it's okay?" he asks softly, slouched a little now. He rubs his arm for real now. "The people around here have been giving me weird looks..."

[lunakiss]

"My my. You'd think that glass was as hot as a stove, with the way you jumped back from it," Nanao gives a giddy laugh, eyes twinkling in amusement.

He leans against the window frame, eyes glancing between Ed and the others. He puts a pondering finger on his chin, tapping it lightly.

"They've been giving me weird looks too. But I thought it was just because of my beauty. Maybe they're just not used to good-looking guys. I'm sure looking's harmless. And if you have coin, they won't care who you are too."

no offence but god i'm getting enormous maaj vibes i'm loving it

[blackplantasia]

"Hm. Well I have neither looks nor money, so I guess I'm out of luck, too, eheh..." He shrugs a bit stiffly. "Sucks to suck."

Still, though, he glances back toward the flower shop, debating heading inside at some point to look around. Who knows, if he's going to be stuck on this peninsula then he might be able to get a job here or something. Florist has absolutely been on the top of his list of dream occupations, and he's confident that'll significantly reduce the shittiness of his current situation.

At least for a little while.

"...you're not freaked out about any of this?" he asks, as if he himself is significantly perturbed by it (which, he is to a degree, but it could honestly be a lot worse!).

he's just as bad as maaj but less of a hot mess XD

[lunakiss]

"Whatever you say. Not that I'm much better. I suppose we'll have to find some way to make a living, neh?"

Nanao tilts his head curiously and taps a finger against his face as he thinks about it.

"Perhaps. Who can say? Weird things happen all the time. It's not normal but it's not that abnormal. No talking animals have appeared yet." Famous last words.

man ryslig would really change that huh

[blackplantasia]

"I'm sure something'll come about...!" Ed would have to agree about the previously-claimed attractiveness, though; Nanao's kind of cute.

He forces a nervous grin for the first time in an attempt to elevate the atmosphere. "I guess not, but I also personally haven't seen any monsters yet... Maybe all the weird stuff is further in on the island?"

He pauses.

"...I wonder if we're still as appetising to the monsters as the other humans are."

nanao is talented at not giving a damn

[lunakiss]

Nanao gives a small laugh. "Or maybe they're just scared of us and are too scared to cross us. If I've never seen any monsters yet, there's nothing proving that's not true."

Although...

"If we are, maybe that's proof we're humans. As much as anyone else is, right?"

[blackplantasia]

Ed turns up a frown once again. "The environment here isn't exactly the most forgiving, either..." He means the people. The people here aren't the most forgiving. "If I was a monster, I sure as hell wouldn't want to stay here... I guess I'll find out when I get there."

Gradually losing his humanity at the whim of some force outside of his own control isn't the most jarring and horrible thing to possibly happen to him anymore, truthfully. Although that has him thinking now...

He turns to the cute guy next to him, a troubled look on his face. "...hey, do you remember where you were before you came here? What you were doing last?"

[lunakiss]

"I mean... these monsters eat people. I'm not shocked in the slightest," he looks over to the window and flashes a charming smile at the shopkeepers cautiously watching them from the window. He then turns back to Ed, the usual light and cheery smile on his face contrasting starkly with Ed's worry.

"Me? I was hanging with my friends after school in our favourite hot springs. We were talking about our favourite seasons. Nothing out of the ordinary. You? What were you doing?

[blackplantasia]

"I mean, neither am I, but..." Ed shrugs vaguely.

"Hot springs? You have those?" His ears perk up slightly. He's never been to a hot spring himself, but supposedly there were some a degree south from his home. He's always wanted to visit, even if it's far away. "Are they nice?"

But here his expression darkens further. "Well, see, that's the thing... I remember making dinner for my brother and me, and then I went upstairs to my room... but..." He shakes his head and folds his arms across his chest. "I know that's not the last thing I did. Whatever was the actual last thing that happened, I don't remember what it is, and I don't know how much I'm missing. It feels like a lot of time, though..."

[lunakiss]

"Yes. At the bottom of the hill from my school there's a nice bathhouse that my friends and I frequent. They're heavenly. We go almost every day." Nanao does enjoy his soaking time.

...

Nanao's smile falters just a tad and he frowns. "I just remember surfacing at the beach. That's it... I don't even remember getting out of the tub. But I was dressed so... perhaps I lost some time too. I never really thought about it. It could be a universal thing or... just you."