graveyardsmash | TDM: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

TDM: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

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 in a dark ditch, the sky cloudy overhead. Dirt cakes into your cuts and scrapes. The air is clammy and damp, and it smells like rain.

You’re in a grave. And when you sit up to inspect the tombstone marking your spot, it has your name on it. Maybe the graves next to you have the names of familiar friends, family, acquaintances. Not all of them are open like yours are. RIP.

There’s a light dancing in the distance, and you hear the jingle-jangle of heavy keys, or worse still, the gravekeeper’s massive pitchfork or shovel. If you're lucky, you can sneak out beyond his notice, and get out alone. If not - you might find yourself on the wrong end of a shovel’s swing, or worse yet, tripping headfirst in front of a pair of monstrous eyes.

SCENARIO TWO

You've stumbled your way out of the graveyard, and you're promptly besieged by the overwhelming sights and sounds of the city. Cars honk at you to get out of the street, and strangers try not to look in your direction for too long. They see your dirty clothes and scraped faces, and pretend to busy themselves with something else. Rarely, a look of pity is cast your way.

But some people try to reach out. Enterprising citizens and those that hope to curry favor with the newcomers pass out new clothes and bundles of food, asking if you have a place to stay the night, wondering about the details of the world you came from. Some are even handing out pamphlets which vary in how helpful they are--"What To Expect When You're Expecting (To Turn Into A Monster)", "Wolpertinger: Fact or Fiction?", "100% ACCURATE MONSTER QUIZ ASSESSMENT: GUARANTEED TO PREDICT YOUR MONSTER!", and "Ryslig Law In A Nutshell".

As you wander from street to street, you come to realize that some of these people seem...off. If you draw close enough to look at them--really look--you'll be able to observe certain uncanny features. A misshapen eye socket that looks more like an insect's compound eye, skin like a loose bag that seems to fit poorly over their own musculature, a backwards hand that seems to function as normal, and, of all things, an opaque mucus that seems to drip from unseen orifices.

Not only do these people look strange, they act strangely, too. One can be seen drinking a cup of whole coffee beans. Another chews on a piece of rubber tire as if it were a stick of gum. A man dressed in a full-body trench coat seems to writhe as he sits and reads a newspaper.

If any of them notice your approach, they immediately stroll over to enthusiastically greet you. When they speak, a droning buzz seems to emanate from deep within their chests. They smile and stare unblinkingly, talking in obscenity-riddled, disjointed sentences.

"Welcome! It is almost a season! Are you ready to fucking party?"

"What the shit! You're monster?"

With time, more and more of these people begin to shuffle towards you in an almost swarm-like fashion. Lose one of them, and more show up around the corner. They're eager to ask questions--most of which make absolutely no sense--and they won't be easily dissuaded from their goals.

Maybe you should run. Or maybe punch one of them. Surely, that won't cause any problems.

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? Does it fit you, or does it feel incongruous with your nature? 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

When the Parasites start to advance in his direction, Alfred whimpers a little - and so it's with only a short yelp and no resistance that he is off and running when the stranger grabs his wrist, keeping pace with her to put as much space between the two of them and the bugs as possible.

His tail trails behind him like a streamer, knocking into things as he goes - any sharp corners are awkwardly taken, the scaly appendage striking walls and garbage cans and making him wince. He really needs to practice more with the thing - but later. Now they just need to move.

"W-wait," he gasps, looking to the stranger, "D-down this alley and out, they never seem to follow for long-"

Zeki does not look back. She can feel her heart thudding in her chest and a stitch rising in her side. She can hear her own gasping and the footfalls of the boy behind her. But she can also hear the crashing of that monstrous tail and she does not look back to see that it's just part of their exceptionally noisy escape rather than the perusing tidal wave of bug people that she thinks it is.

Until he calls out to her to take an upcoming turn and she allows a split second to glance back at him. Well fuck, why not, it's not as though she knows where she's going - but the glance she sent back suggested that if he was leading her to a dead end, she would find a way to kill him before the bug people did.

Thankfully, the alley opens up to another street, and once they turn the corner and are hopefully, possibly, maybe in the clear, Zeki finally stops. She leans against the wall, panting and wheezing, one arm hugging herself where that cramp is stabbing her in the ribs, and still squeezing Alfred's wrist with a grip like a tourniquet.

It may be a few moments before she can properly introduce herself.

Good - good, he thinks, as she pulls him down the alley and out into the street. The threat in that glance makes him stumble a little, expression withering, but still he keeps pace, not ceasing in his run until he skids to a stop beside her.

He's a good runner, but doing so while being held onto is a bit awkward - so he gasps a little to catch his breath, wincing at how tightly she is grasping at his wrist.

"I - ah - could you - could you let go, p-please, that - that hurts...."

He blinks at her with huge blue eyes, tilting his head a little bit. On his neck, plain as day, there is a gnarled scar, like something had taken a chunk out with gnashing teeth...but besides that, besides those sharp little horns, he has a softness to his demeanor, to his voice. "Are - are you all right?"

Stiff and shaking with adrenaline, she snatches her hand away from Alfred's wrist as if burned, possibly wrenching his arm a few inches because of the tightness in her fingers. "Sorry." It comes out as a high, thin whisper, and Zeki doesn't otherwise answer him for a few seconds, instead digging her fingers into her side and trying to breathe more and shudder less.

"What," she manages, "the fuck..." was all that, is going on, are you, is this place, were those things, did they want, there are a lot of ways she wants to end that question.

Then she sees his neck. There's a beat wherein she freezes... And then repeats herself, but with more gusto.

"What the FUCK."

He doesn't begrudge the stranger her panic, not one little bit. He remembers first encountering those parasites and...honestly? It hasn't gotten much easier to encounter them since. He watches her with wide eyes as she tries to get her bearings, opening his mouth and working his jaw a bit in an effort to find words.

He sees her looking at his scar, and he winces, a little self-consciously. His tail snakes up to wrap around his waist, as if he's trying to take up as little space as posible.

"I - I know. It's scary, at first, all of this. I - I will answer any questions you have the best I can." Sheepishly, he offers his hand, trying to smile without flashing too much fang.

"My name is Alfred. I - I promise, I only wanted to help."

Once again, Zeki doesn't immediately answer him. This time, she just frantically points at her neck with wide eyes and a rictus as if to say, 'EXCUSE ME SIR BUT YOU HAVE A SMIDGEN OF SOMETHING ON YOUR NECK PERHAPS YOU SHOULD HAVE THAT LOOKED AT.'

[Sorry for the short reply, but I had this image in my head and had to. XD ]

It takes him a moment of staring to figure out just what she's trying to communicate - his hand flutters up to his scar, and the unspoken question clicks, another little wince crossing his young face.

"Oh, this is - it's healed, I've had it for months. I...I got it before I even came here. Don't worry. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Physically. Emotionally, it still hurts a little bit.

"I know I - I must be a lot to look at, I'm sorry. I'm still getting used to it, myself, but I'm...I'm harmless, I swear to you. I wouldn't hurt a fly."

'I'm harmless,' stops her right in her tracks and she looks at Alfred incredulously, like 'the shit you are,' but his continued anxiety and placatory attempts at establishing peaceable relations is finally bearing fruit. Zeki's hand moves from her neck to splay across her chest - everything under her ribs aches from the exertion and fear, but her body is thankfully starting to slow down.

"Alfred. You...." She has to pause for a breath and a swallow, "Thank you. For the help. ... You stutter a lot."

No matter how it may seem with the fangs, horns, and tail, Alfred is being sincere - he doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and is almost certainly more afraid of Zeki than she should be of him. Still, he understands how bewildering all of this is, and so he keeps his body language drawn in, tight, small, a little shrunken in on himself.

He ventures a little smile at the thanks, only a little furrowed by the comment about his stutter.

"You're very welcome. I - sorry, I'm sorry about that. I have a little bit of trouble...talking to people, sometimes."

"It's.... Yeah, it-it's fine." (is this for real what on earth) There's a long pause during which Zeki's eyes dart around his various inhuman features. She's certainty unnerved...but with the adrenaline wearing off and an opportunity to process the disparity between Alfred's fearsome appearance and his decidedly shy demeanor, she's more observant now than staring in open horror.

She leans in, uncomfortably close, and tilts her head as if seeing from a different angle will show her something new.

Finally, "......what...are you?"

As she leans in, he leans backward a little, flinching - but he doesn't try to hide anything, letting her question, letting her look. It makes sense that she's curious, even if he's just...a bit self-conscious about it all, still.

The question is met with a different kind of wince...and after turning it over in his head a couple of times, he decides to answer honestly.

"I'll be honest with you...I am not sure yet. E-either on my way to...to Gargoyle, or to Demon. But...a month ago, when I got here, I was...well, I was human. Like you."

TDM: NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Sorry for the long silence! IRL emergencies!

Don't worry about it! RL always takes precedence, and I hope everything is okay on your end.

OH MY GOSH that art I'm wheezing

<3

no subject

no subject

no subject