graveyardsmash | JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

TDM: JANUARY/FEBRUARY

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[For a split second that smile of hers turns up - looking almost proud - and she looks ahead of her as she walks again.
They're getting close to Nai'a, so she oughtta keep an eye on where they're going.]

Earphone Jack - my Quirk - was even more powerful than that, too.
After all, it's not like I just blasted sound at stuff until it broke... I mean, I could, but with the way I usually used it, it was a lot more targeted.
So imagine something like...

Destroying a boulder with a sound you can't even hear, 'cause it's all being pumped into the rock itself.

But alongside special gear I had made, I could even do stuff like break up huge paths of dirt and stone under peoples' feet.
Not only that, but since sound's an energy... I could take out robots - automatons, I mean - with just one, good blast.

Disrupts their insides, you know? Really messes stuff up in there.

Sooo what you're telling me is that you were ridiculously strong before you got here.

[He raises a brow at Jiro's detailed explanation of how conveniently her Quirk used to be able to destroy things with sound, leading him to wonder just what she did with that sort of power...especially if it's capable of upheaving earth or destroying the delicate inner workings of machines.]

And now they've turned you into a robot, which means you could theoretically conquered the world if you wanted to.

Theoretically? Probably, I guess.
My Quirk was strong enough that I could kill pretty easily with it if I wanted to.

[Here? She actually turns around to face him as they talk and walk, walking backward as she continues.]

... But back home, everyone had some kinda power or ability they could use that dangerously. You know? Lots of people out there doing crimes and hurting people just 'cause their Quirks were strong enough for that.
So there were people who became protectors to snuff that out where they can. We call them "Heroes".

And I'm a Hero in training.

[Surely he can see where she's going with that.]

[He can! Which means sheeee's NOT a Villain.

Not that he thought that, of course. He super...didn't think that at all.]

That's pretty noble of you, I gotta say. I mean I get where you're coming from though- if you've got a talent or a skill that you could be using to help people, then...why wouldn't you, right? By like, you know...saving them with your "Quirk"s or...I dunno.....building them something....

[Like a hot water system that nearly blew up his entire village nbd]

[Aaaand now her smile is right back on her face.]

So that's why you're so into science, huh? Some kinda inventor?
You'll fit right into this place, no problem.

[Turning back around! They've hit Nai'a anyway, so it's time to get him some food - starting with dragging him over to a booth she likes.]

Yeah! I'm an Alchemist primarily, but also an inventor! Where I'm from, a lot of the world runs on magic, which you know...that's fine and all, but science is where the real magic happens.

Easily explained, quickly replicatable, and- woah-!

[He trails off when Jiro suddenly grabs him and drags him inside, prompting him to shut up for a second as he gets a feel for the place. It seems so...how does he put it.]

This place, it's uh...I mean not this place in particular necessarily, but I guess all of this...area is kindof............dark?

Dark?

[Her head tilts a bit, jacks quirking a little to match, before she looks around them...
And then back at Varian, himself.]

What do you mean?

Dark like....aesthetically, I guess? You'd understand if you could see it to compare, but Corona is...bright. Extremely colorful. Almost too much sometimes, heh.

[It's not a bad thing, but when you've lived there all your life...it's noticable.]

Even Old Corona is more muted than the kingdom is, but this place puts both to shame.

Oh - so you're talking about a culture thing, right? Culture clash.
That's something you'll get used to. ... And honestly, I kinda get it, too.

My home was way more technologically advanced than this place was... like, centuries ahead.

[Things like power gauntlets that could fold into the most impossibly small size, cars that can transform to jets before transforming into subs, holograms that are cheap enough to be sent en masse as letters to students...
This place is like living with the Amish, compared to her world. It's been hard.]

There's gonna be a lot of stuff like that you'll run into, here. It's kinda neat in some ways?
But most of the time, it's just a drag and something you'll tune out after a while.

What I wouldn't give for a CD player, though...

[Varian's world is arguably much less advanced in the technology aspect, but more in terms of things that can't really be explained. Like magic, for one.

He doesn't know what a CD player is though.]

I guess that's to be expected. I mean, I've lived on a farm in a village all of my life, so I've not been really exposed to all of the crazy magic out there in the world until more recently...the most I've had to work with has been my own Alchemical science.

You're from another world with magic, huh?

[There's just the slightest hint of disdain to her voice, there.]

You'll probably get used to this world pretty fast, in that case... it's got some tech, but it's also got a solid mix of magic, too... I can't make heads or tails of it and I don't plan on trying.
Honestly, it's part of why I'm glad I turned into something like a robot.

My world didn't have any magic... I'd hate to get stuck as something like a goblin, with all the magic they can use.

Probably? But I uh...I don't. Really care about magic.

[Varian says that flatly, blowing his lock of hair from his eyes with his own disdainful look.]

In all of my experience, it's mostly only ever caused more problems than it's solved them.

[It is possibly THE most hypocritical statement he could make, seeing how his own formula was what trapped his father in the amber...but it only happened because it reacted badly with the magic rocks he was studying, so.

Yeah.]

[She seems to almost study him for a moment, staring at him hard...
But seems to find that acceptable, chilling out a bit as she brings a hand up to rest her chin on.]

You'll find that's the case here, too, as much as I hate to say it. Weird incidences happen here all the time... most of them can be traced back to magic.

Here's hoping you'll end up a Simulacrum like me; being a robot is way easier to understand than half the crap you'll see running around.

Ahah! A Simulacrum, yeah...ahh...

[As cool as that sounds, it's clear he's still now...100% sold on the whole idea of transforming into something at all, much less a mechanical version of himself.]

I guess I'll uh...I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, right?

[If he turns into a Goblin though, from what she's saying, he might actually sream.]

These changes, they...do they happen soon?

[Her look shifts sympathetic, but at least she shakes her head "no".]

Luckily, nah. Here - lemme order us some food first, then we can get into the nitty-gritty...
It's always easier to stomach if you've got something warm in you, if you ask me.

[Give her just a moment - she's gonna hail one of the not-mermaids over to order them some food.
Sure hope he likes seafood!

But it's still probably not a good sign that they'll be here long enough to eat a meal while she explains.]

[Varian doesn't tend to be too picky about what he eats- you learn to like what you get, living out on a farm and all- so having seafood is actually kindof fancier than the things he's used to eating. Corona is surrounded by water so they often have a lot of fish dishes there, so when he does visit the castle he gets to have it, but only really then.

He's mostly quiet initially as Jiro starts to explain the whole deal about monsters, interjecting here and there to ask a question but mostly letting her do the talking since she knows more than he would about everything...]

So this is...pretty serious, isn't it.

[Jiro spins one of her glowing fingertips around the rim of her drink - just a cup of black tea that she's had to sip as slowly as possible - staring down at it with a somewhat grim demeanor.
She really hates having to explain that.]

Yeah. It really is.
No one's sure if there's any way to stop it, either... we just have to have faith in the researchers we've got, and they've been at it for years.

[...

Varian is silent for a long moment then, looking down at the bar between them as he mulls that over. The fact that researchers have been trying to reverse this for years, it's just...]

...I bet I could figure something out. Not to discredit the current researchers, but...if I could spend some time running some tests and gathering information, there has to be something I can do to stop this.

I mean... you might have knowledge they don't, it's true. I think all the researchers we've got are from worlds like mine -
Ones without any magic.

So they've been going hard on the science side of it.

Not that I'm saying you should start dealing with the magic side - but you'd probably know how science reacts to it more than they would, right?

[She can't imagine he wouldn't, really. Alchemy is just... science-magic after all, isn't it?]

I've spent months testing different compounds on magical substances. Usually with...varying results.

[He's a bit more. Careful about doing that, these days. But there are no black rocks here, so it should be okay...]

I can't promise anything, but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and not at least try.

[- She points at him suddenly, her expression stern, yet... turned up in a little bit of a smile.]

That. I like that.
Do you know how many people here just gave up after being here for a couple of months?
Like, not to knock'em or anything, but there are a ton of people willing to go the whole way and settle down, get married - if it weren't for the fact that the Fog god messed with that, too, they'd probably be having kids like they're gonna be here the rest of their lives.

Plenty of people are looking for ways out, or ways to reverse the monster transformations, or any of that, but they're not getting any support.
I wanna try and change that... and I'm glad to hear you're willing to throw your hat in the ring, too.

[Varian's brows shoot up with marked surprise at Jiro's encouragement, as if he 100% expected her to say something else. It actually takes him a moment to reply, his mouth working slowly for a second.]

W...wait, you...you all would be...okay with that? You're not gonna be like "Varian it's too dangerous" or "Varian this is more complicated than any of us understand so you shouldn't meddle"?

[And that just gets a little shake of her head.]

The way I see it, any good person who thinks they can help a situation is gonna wanna meddle in things.
'Cause for some people, it's just second nature to wanna help, right?
Even if people tell you no.

I'm pretty sure that kinda instinct is what makes a good Hero, too... I'm not about to turn away someone who's got that kinda instinct.

[She's saying this so, so calmly... despite the fact that she has the instincts of a Hero.]

...boy. Sure would be nice to be called that for a change.

[He says that in a mumbled undertone to himself before he looks back up, the grim expression he'd had before turning to something much more determined.]

Then that's what I'm going to do. As long as I'm still here, I won't stop looking for a cure. No matter how much time it takes, or how many times I fail at it.

That's what I like to hear.

[His grim expression is being bounced right back with a smile - something tough but encouraging, like she knows he can do it.]

And in a month from now... what would you say to me testing your abilities, once you've got'em?
'Cause you may as well use the powers you get when you have them, right?
And my agency's always looking for members.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE

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