graveyardsmash | TDM: JANUARY/FEBRUARY

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 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".

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? 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

1. Sleeping Beauty (Graveyard)

[Little Mermaid knows in her hearts of hearts that she didn't expect to open her eyes. She was meant for the sea foam. That was the ending of that old story, wasn't it? She doesn't want to open them. So she lays in the grave for a few moments.

It's the moisture in the air that stirs the teenager. The air feels heavy, like it was at the waterside. Yet this was different. It familiars in a way she can't describe. Little Mermaid forces herself to sit up, to open her eyes.

The dark heavy clouds far above seemed to be promising rain. A storm brewing, maybe? Poor weather for sailing. Princes should stick to the shoreline. Such thoughts are strange to her but she shakes the cobwebs from her head. That couldn't be it, could it?

Little Mermaid scrambles to her feet quickly, dirt staining her white uniform and scarf trailing behind her.]

That's the real sky! [She nearly yells it to no one in particular. She climbs out of the ditch with all the grace of a scraggly teenage girl.]

2. Little Red Riding Hood (Graveyard)

[She finally gets a hold of herself. She can't be freaking out when others are in the same situation. Little Mermaid wanders the graveyard, looking for those who were waking up like she was. The problem was that she wasn't alone.]

Ah... sir?

[The gravekeeper finds her with a sudden swing of his heavy shovel. She manages to get out of the way in the nick of time. It barely scrapes her as it lands with a thunk on the ground.]

Ah! There's no need for that! Please calm down, sir!

[She's definitely backing away, looking for something to help defend herself.]

3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (Bugs)

Excuse me? A monster?

[The bug people have surrounded Little Mermaid. Her eyes shift from one to another. These aren't human and not Marchen, either. Not that it bothers her but their profanity and words do. She frowns and puffs her cheeks.]

I'm a Blood Maiden not a monster!

[The strange locals seem even more excited at that.]

Oh shit! Never heard of that kind of monster!

[Little Mermaid's frown turns into a full blown scowl. Someone should probably help?]

4. The Little Mermaid (Harpy)

[It's a couple days since the first fog after arrivals. Little Mermaid managed to get out of it fairly unchanged. A few white feathers here and there are the only visible signs. She's more excited at the invisible change.

Since she's been here Little Mermaid has felt an itch she couldn't quite scratch. At first she thought it was because she didn't have her beloved microphone with her. Even after finding a new one it didn't work. Her singing voice sounded wrong somehow to her. With all the wrongness of the peninsula as a whole she's kept it quiet, a small anxiety pushed aside.

Now, though? She's back to her favorite spot: a rock near the shore of Lake Dala. She sits on it, closing her eyes. This has to be the place. It might not be the sea but it felt right somehow. She clears her throat a few times before humming a soft tune.

It has no words but that doesn't bother her. She sings loudly, trying to send it out across the waves.]

La~ Lala~ La~

[After all, she's alone. Right? No one can see her embarrassing self indulgence out here... Hopefully.]

[When the shovel swings back Aaron grabs for it, pulling the shovel to a stand still. The man is bigger than the teenager, but he's not about to let him attack a younger girl. The man yells for him to let go, snarling, but Aaron grips it tighter, pulling it back with a grimace, his split apart lip moving painfully.]

Asshole, pick on someone your own size!

[With a twist, he's able to twist it from his hands, and raise it threateningly himself. He jerks his head at the girl.]

You okay?

[Her scraped leg hurts--which is a bit of surprise in of itself. Little Mermaid might not have been the quickest or the strongest but she had thought she was stronger than the average human, even one so much bigger than her. The gravedigger glares at them before backing up slightly.]

I'm fine--[Her leg hurts but she's worried about him.]--thank you but are you alright? Let's just go. We didn't do anything wrong.

[The fact that the gravedigger attacked instantly worries her.]

[The gravedigger's still stood there, sides heaving as he breathes, furious. Aaron keeps the shovel trained on him, ready to swing if he tries to lunge for either him or the girl. He hasn't had to hit a literal person with a shovel before, but he's not exactly going to hesitate now.]

...No, [look, honesty!] but it ain't anything can be dealt with now.

[He jerks his head at the path.]

Might want to put distance between this asshole and ourselves.

[She takes a deep breath then nods. It's strange that she can't fight right now but, well, maybe that was for the best. Still she frowns at the gravedigger.]

Right, let's just go.

[She backs up, taking Aaron by the arm to pull him with her.]

He's not going to listen to anyone right now.

[She'd rather not leave a bad first impression but trying to hit her with a shovel wasn't the best manners, either. After they get away a bit and the gravedigger has moved on:]

Thanks... I'm normally faster than that.

[He lets himself be pulled away, but he doesn't take eyes off the man until he's out of sight. Someone willing to swing a shovel at someone for no reason was worthy of watching, and was even more worthy of getting smacked with a shovel themselves if they tried shit again.]

Don't mention it. Can't exactly expect to be feelin' perfectly up to everything when you've woken up in a graveyard, can you?

[For her part, she keeps glancing backwards. She wants to believe the best but people can act in rough ways when they're upset. Little Mermaid just wants to know why--but that can wait.]

Hehe... guess not. [Her small laugh is uneasy at best.] This place at least makes more sense than the last graveyard I've seen. [It's a bit forced but she's trying to not think about worse places.]

I'd take him over any Marchen...

[He can't say he's spent a lot of time in graveyards himself. Perhaps he would have if he wasn't brought here, but that's not something to trouble a stranger about when he has no idea where (or when) he is.]

Marchen?

Hey--

[Hinata steps in from behind the crowd of... bugs? Ugh, whatever, anything made sense by this point-- waving his hand as though to bat them away, when the girl clearly seems upset.]

Can't you guys take a hint? She said she's not a monster, so leave her alone.

[She's trying to explain the difference when she hears Hinata. There's some tension that leaves her shoulders slightly.]

They keep saying we're monsters but that's just...!

[That's really rude? Like, really rude. The group of creatures seem interested in him now, too. They turn to push some pamphlets at Hinata--]

Holy shit, another one!

[Little Mermaid grimaces. She's trying to be nice but they're making it hard.]

[Well... that was... yeah, rude, and he just kind of awkwardly ends up holding the pamphlets in his arms when they insist he takes them. Not the most threatening front he could put up, but he's trying.]

Well... obviously, we're not monsters yet. [He glances at her, before looking back at the bugs.]

Look, I'll tell you guys all about it when I do become a monster, okay? But you have to leave her alone. It'll be more interesting then anyway, right?

TDM: JANUARY/FEBRUARY

Little Mermaid | Mary Skelter 2

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