TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

[ryslighelpers]

TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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

(CW: Human remains)

When you awaken, you are hit with an immediate feeling of motion. A bobbing, if you will, or perhaps more of a rocking. You take a deep breath through your nose and take note of salt, along with the pungent scent of rotting wood. Creaking sounds echo all around you. Sitting up, you find yourself locking eyes with a skull.

An entire human skeleton is positioned across from you, resting limply against a pillar. Surveying the rest of your surroundings, you soon realize that you're below deck on an old, dilapidated ship. A ship that's on the move. The crew must have suffered a terrible fate, strewn as they all are across the floor. With their ripped poofy shirts, sheathed cutlasses and jaunty feathered hats, they seem to scream one word at you. "Pirates". ...Ooh, is that an abandoned bottle of rum? And a treasure chest? Surely they won't mind if you help yourself. They're dead, after all!

Once you've ascended the creaky steps, you find yourself on the deck of this vast, once proud vessel. A tattered Jolly Roger flaps overhead. Thick fog obscures most of the ocean surrounding you, but what's that straight ahead? Land ho! The ship's about to make port, and a crowd of curious onlookers has already gathered on the docks to stare up at this spooky new arrival. They appear apprehensive, perhaps even fearful, as if they haven't seen a ship come in for a long time. Will they hold you accountable for what happened to the skeleton crew? Will they praise you for 'ridding' them of pirates and allow you to keep the booty? There's no way to know just yet. Perhaps you'd best hide and find a way to disembark without being seen. Or perhaps there's someone else to be found here on this ship who suffered the same fate; someone who has a better idea of what to do.

SCENARIO TWO

You've stumbled your way into a city, and you're promptly besieged by the overwhelming sights and sounds. 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 lost expression and your clothes- so different from their own- 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. A hefty laptop may be handed to you, with words of a ‘network’ used for communication. Wonder what that’s about? Then there’s the very confusing pamphlet stuffed within: "What To Expect When You're Expecting (To Turn Into A Monster)”. They may direct you to an organisation known as the Lighthouse, their members most prominently found at the 38-8 apartments and the Lighthouse Church. Or perhaps, if you're injured, they'll refer you to the Crowe Clinic instead. Unfortunately, the directions you're given are so very complicated that you lose your way in the streets after two left turns, a right and a left at the soup kitchen.

Take care when asking for more help. 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

Now that you've found a moment of peace, you open up the mysterious device that's been handed to you. Perhaps you'll recognize it as some sort of laptop, albeit an old and clunky one. Or perhaps you'll be astounded by this curious feat of technology, which is unlike anything you've ever seen before. Regardless, the moment the lid is propped open to reveal the screen and the keyboard within, you gain your first glimpse of the network.

Perhaps you'll want to choose a username and write your very first message, posing the pressing question that's on your mind at this very moment. The lettered buttons click and clack awkwardly beneath your fingertips as you type.

However, you may instead want to respond to today's most popular message.

WELCOME TO RSDOS. PRESS F1 TO COMPOSE POST. *** TODAY’S TOP POST *** 018.07.154.55 <JUSTSOMEGUY> Let's play Two Truths, One Lie! It's real easy! You just post three statements about yourself, and the rest of us have to guess the lie. It'll be fun! And you get to be a liar liar without your pants catching fire for a bit.

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.

Comments

akira getting beaten up by a child a little over half his size, where have we seen this before—

[murdererofmiracles]

Of course you are!! How dare you make me yelp like that!

[ She says, now kicking him in the leg. Her face is flushed with indignation. To think she had her guard down enough to get snuck up on! That's not a mistake Carol plans on repeating anytime soon, that's for sure.

Still, the kick at least seems to be the last of the abuse she plans to sling his way as she takes a step back, breathing heavily. ]

Now, who the hell are you?

[alchefist]

You totally do!

[Whoof. Cagliostro hates having to run. She lifts off the ground, and catches up to Carol in no time, overtaking and fluttering down in front of her.]

Come on, Carol, make it easier on yourself! You're going to actually need allies here, because you can't exactly make them yourself this time.

[itsshowcrime]

I'm not pathetic!

[The reply comes out more as a whine than a legitimate protest. And in any case, he's scrambling towards her on his knees, looking desperate.]

P-Please! Help me! You're human too, right?!

[murdererofmiracles]

Geh...

[ Crap, of course she can fly. This day just gets worse and worse, apparently. Why does Cagliostro of all people have to be here? Well, granted, she can't really think of anybody else she would want here. Elfnein comes to mind, but no, absolutely not. That would make this entire situation personal. ]

Hah!? I can make allies perfectly fine on my own! I certainly don't need a pervert like you to do that!

[ Carol's attitude towards others remains as... colorful as ever. That being said, she is right. Allies would definitely be helpful, especially without her autoscorers here...

But also Cagli annoys her... so goddamn much. She decides that if she's going anywhere with Cagliostro, it'll be with her kicking and screaming the whole way.

Never mind the fact that she's got no place to stay yet.

And the directions to the 38-8 apartments she was given is evidently useless.

And she genuinely would rather sleep outside than take up any "generous" offers from the locals who are clearly trying to curry favor... or maybe kill her in her sleep. One less potential monster that way, after all.

And also she's had nothing to eat since she got here and that's bound to be a problem that gets progressively harder to ignore.

Okay, yeah, her situation is god-awful and incredibly pitiable, but she's got her pride, damn it. ]

[locumstudentesquire]

Kaito you are right on the verge of giving him a fresh new kind of mental breakdown and you don't even know it.

Cell phones? Internet??? Neither of these words ring any bells for Ryunosuke, and they earn nothing but a blank, confused stare in return. Though at the suggestion that he might be some kind of country bumpkin...

"What? No no, I... I'm from Tokyo, actually..." he corrects him awkwardly. "Granted, I know it's not the largest or grandest city there is, but..."

[ayahuasca]

[It matters not that Dee is currently some kind of plantlike creature; her general facial features and lanky proportions are the same, and besides, Artemis would know that distinctive oh, goddammit anywhere. Dee is both her close friend and her sometimes enemy. Her frenemy, if you will. A fellow aspiring actress. Her sister of the stage. In the face of such kinship, elaborate prosthetic makeup is but a minor obstacle when it comes to recognition.]

Deandra? Oh, my dear, Sweet Dee. [Artemis hobbles over to the woman on mismatched shoes, looking blearily up at her friend before reaching out her free hand to take Dee by the face. She clutches the nymph's jaw firmly enough to squish her cheeks.] What are the chances we'd both end up here? Serendipity, that's what this is!

[Dee is in the right to feel frustrated; while Artemis is typically a better friend to her than the members of the gang, she's also the closest thing the gang has to a sixth member and is even willing to tee off on Deandra herself from time to time.]

<JOJO>

[seacub]

Huh!

[...He's honestly kicking himself a little for that now. How do you keep something at arm's length if you fall into the trap of giving yourself away? The answer is most of his arms length-ing has just been not engaging but he's dug this hole now he gets to lie inn it.

Well. At least he has something here? ...He can probably afford a little bit of truth.]

Only child actually.

I know three women who are like sisters- so it's the relation that's a 'lie'.

<Artemussy>

[ayahuasca]

There's no magic where I'm from, no, but that doesn't mean people don't buy into the idea. I've made SO much money selling star charts and healing crystals to gullible women who're desperate for the comfort of fake spirituality. In fact, I might just do that here. Beats working at Bootleg Sweden's equivalent of a Wawa.

[alchefist]

...No. You can't. You're a misanthrope who planned to murder everyone on the planet to satisfy your daddy issues.

[She reached out and grabbed Carol by the collar of her dress and lifted.]

Frankly, you should be thanking me for being so ready to help you.

[murdererofmiracles]

[ Carol's eyebrows crease in frustration, but she keeps her gaze cold, even as Cagliostro lifts her up off the ground. ]

Is that so? Then I have to wonder why you would want to help a murderous misanthrope like me. Please don't tell me that you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart. That wouldn't be very honest of you, now would it?

[ It's strange, having all this knowledge of her. These kind of memories would usually be the kind she would aim to burn first, after all. Still, she can't say she's not grateful for it right now.

Though, let's face it, she does have a point. Carol's attitude at this rate is not going to do her any favors with anybody. ]

[murdererofmiracles]

[ She looks down at him with an annoyed look on her face. ]

You say, crawling on your hands and knees, begging for help from a child.

[ Seriously, it's embarassing. There's even less in the way of reasons to show any respect, and Carol's bad attitude gets aimed at everybody. ]

You're a grown-ass man, and I don't see why my being human gives me any reason to help you.

[truthliesinspace]

Now it's Kaito's turn to be confused. This guy's from Tokyo?? But he acts like he's never seen this many cars?? He pokes at his chest.

"Yo, what! Tokyo's the real big city life, let alone one of the the biggest cities ever! The hell are you talking about--and why are you eyes so shifty?"

Is this guy lying?? Or does he just have trouble looking at people? He's seen both, in his time.

"Wait, I get it--you're a cyclist! So you prefer that to cars, eh? I mean, that's a pretty healthy lifestyle."

signs

[201graves]

[She notices.]

[For now, at least. This place sits in her throat like a bolus, choking her, people brushing up against her skin and pushing past her even when they're feet or yards away. Crushing. Sometimes she drifts to get away from it. Sometimes she doesn't notice anything.]

[Right now she notices. Even the dim light of a Fog day is painfully bright to her, so much so that she can see every line in the old woman's face, the way her skin wraps around bone, stuck like it's been attached with glue but only haphazardly. Like someone lost interest halfway through.]

[Harrow reaches to pull cheekbones through paper-thin epidermis. Nothing reaches back.]

[This is how it comes to be that the silently standing skull-painted sentinel comes to be staring at this very old, stupid woman. Her eyes are black like a lightless planet. Her gaze is uncomfortable. She is thinking: what's baseball?]

[Eventually, grating:] He came through with the rest of us. You see what you want to see.

[hairday]

[ He can't blame her for feeling what she's feeling, even as it sets a frown into his own face.

Vecna killing that girl, then coming after Max, and then finally burning in the attic of the Kreel House, all of that came to him in a dream. Idly, he wonders if that's the point in time Nancy came from, or if she's from further beyond that, after the sky turned black over Hawkins. He wonders if she can tell him how much of that horrible vision came true. Monsters. So many monsters. That's what she said. And.

God, that's basically what her fate will be if she stays here. It's the worst irony. ]

[ Thickly: ] Yeah.

[ Steve tries settling into the chair opposite Nancy. His snake half bends into an approximation of sitting to do so, and he leans his scaly forearms against the edge of the table personably to complete the illusion. He also wraps what he can of his tail around the base of the chair, just so he isn't taking up quite so much space.

Wordlessly, the waitress gets to work putting the place back into order. Although he shoots her an apologetic look, it seems as though she's missed it. He'll have to leave a tip on his way out for all the trouble. ]

I can help you with your research, whatever you wanna know. Just, first— [ He'd reach out and hold her hand if he didn't feel like that would be crossing some boundary. ] You're so strong, Nance, but I just... I need to know you're gonna stay strong before I say anything else... okay?

[seacub]

H-Hh-!

[Like a wave of water splashed over him- Emporio startles, aware of a voice from behind. Like a switch, flipped-

Any warmth that was there in the old woman's voice is gone, melted, evaporated and scattered with the foggy haze surrounding them. Maybe for someone else this could have been someone to trust- maybe not. It's not as if he doesn't know people who change their opinions on a dime like that, but it's still jarring to be the subject of it.]

Oh dear... [There is something cold there.] I see...well...

[Appraising, studying, testing even. An old woman can't hope to take on too much at the best of days even if the monsters yet have the strength of mere humans, but one can almost see the question in her eyes. Do something? Don't do something?]

May the Day shine on you both then... [Is all she murmurs before leaving, and Emporio can only feel a pit in his throat that wants to say You don't mean that..

But of course now, he realizes, he's not alone either. Now he's...well.

...

She's the reason that old woman left. ...So...] Th....thanks, [he manages cautiously, looking back to his unexpected savior with wariness. She has a familiar aura in the way that most people would have in his home- something with weight, something that marks a person in a way a 'normal' life does not.

(It can never precisely be identified in the source. Everyone is different.)

(But it's familiar.)] I....

[...He doesn't really know what to say from here. He has nothing to offer, and nothing to bargain with either.] ...How did you know? [Is what he manages to ask, because part of him has to wonder.]

[locumstudentesquire]

The 'confused human energy' is STRONG with this one, yeah, and it's only getting worse.

Ryunosuke is trying SO hard to keep a straight face, to not crush this kid by looking overwhelmingly incredulous of his claims, but like... The boy thinks he's supposed to be a turtle. A talking turtle. That... knows ninjutsu, supposedly.

...

Is...

Is he OKAY????

Ryunosuke is no expert on child rearing but he's PRETTY SURE kids are supposed to be over this kind of insistence upon imaginary things being real by this age??? Maybe this one has had too much sugar to eat? Maybe he got bumped in the head somehow? Does he need a DOCTOR? Or, or maybe HE, Ryunosuke, is the one that needs his head examined...?

"R... Right. The basics! Yes. I see," he manages to kind of wheeze after a long moment, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Yes, I'm... Human, usually. Always... Always have been."

[locumstudentesquire]

"A 'Sea of Stars...?'" Ryunosuke repeats thoughtfully, his brow furrowing. What on Earth...? Or, maybe NOT on Earth, as the case may be, because it's belatedly hitting him that she just mentioned 'Gods', and. Surely she can't mean that literally, right...?

He's so wrapped up in this it takes him a beat longer to register her offer, standing there frowning distractedly for a moment until he notices her looking at him kind of expectantly, and then the words play back in his head again.

She... Wants to get lunch...?

...Ryunosuke tries to shush the skeptical part of his brain that is automatically dubious and fearful that HE might be the lunch, actually. She really hasn't been anything but kind and perfectly sweet to him so far, and accusations of cannibalism are a horrible thing to think about... Anyone, really, without good cause. But he's so jumpy about the supernatural, and looking at her wolfish features, he can't help that the thought DOES cross his mind... At least he manages not to actually say the rude thing Out Loud, in this case.

Regardless. He's not totally sure why, but he does get the sense that this is someone who he can trust. There's no evidence for it, just a gut feeling he has when he looks at her... But he's gotten through a lot of tough calls by trusting those instincts, and he's not about to start ignoring them here.

"...I. I'd appreciate that greatly. Thank you," he says with a warm smile and a little nod.

<heysherry>

[detectivision]

[Damn. So close.]

But still a lie that's close to the truth. My reasoning is sound.

[Mostly right!]

< SPEAKING.IN.TONGUES. >

[seacub]

I definitely wouldn't say it wasn't- actually I think you gave it more thought than most of the others reading this...

[Paid off, that. Also his circumstances are flat out weird, not that he'll point that one out.]

Are you going to try a round?

come sail away

[foo_toplankton]

[ The ship's big enough that FF doesn't immediately find the source of the screaming, but she soon reasons it's gone up on deck. She's not surprised to find the source, but she sure wasn't expecting it to be him. Not after - ]

Emporio? What are you doing here?

[ Then her face lights up with understanding. ]

Oh, so this place is like your ghost-room, right? Wow, it's huge!

[ It's quite something to have a whole pirate ship and patch of ocean in a pocket dimension. It even looks like there's a town behind the pier they're headed for. She's not sure how much of that is real - well, as "real" as any of Emporio's ghost-items are - or if it's more of a backdrop, but still. She's impressed! ]

[familyproblem]

I need to-

[Mmmmmg no, he is definitely freaking out. He doesn't see what else he can do but keep looking, his Pokémon are missing, but he also can't let panic steer him around. Even if backing down and letting a chatterbox stranger handle things for a moment, here and now and under these conditions, is right up there in the ranks of the most difficult things he's ever done.

Fistclench.]

-okay.

[He backs up to a beam and leans against it to work on those prescribed deep breaths. Metaphorically.]

[makesascene]

I know this is important to you. [Leo actually seems to shift gears to something a little quieter, serious.] I can't promise I'll find 'em, but I'll keep searching.

You take some deep breaths. Get yourself centered. We got this. [He stills for a moment taking in their surroundings, trying to pinpoint just where they haven't searched. The bird nests jutting out of the masts prove an option they haven't taken in.

He quickly takes off in a run, clambering up the mast once he hits the bottom. He's naturally agile and quick. He isn't a mutant anymore, but he's still good at climbing. He hauls himself up onto a rope, grinning as he waves down at Gladion.] We got this!

[familyproblem]

[And yet here he is, sticking around to warn someone off of that course.

Not that needing to talk yourself up is mutually exclusive with actually being dangerous. But in the shadow of how darkly surreal the whole situation is, it does bring things back down to a more familiar place. Whatever compulsions they may acquire, monsters can remain strikingly human in the ways that matter.

Or so this encounter suggests.

(And on the other hand it does bring home the reminder that the guy he is antagonizing has eaten people.)]

Lucky me, huh. [Murmur. Sandwich bite. Holding on tighter to his immediate reaction so he can think through this properly, because it's definitely a topic that warrants it.]

[familyproblem]

[



what the fuck!! get back here!!!]

Hey-!

[Mainly because any sign of life that's not one of the three to six other people known to be in Ultra Space is concerning under normal circumstances and extremely weird and deserving of immediate investigation under these circumstances.

But certainly aggravated by the, uh, unprovoked aggravation.

Gladion is in hot pursuit.]

CW: STONE OCEAN SPOILERS (MOST RECENT EPISODES)

[seacub]

[He knows that voice, and the familiarity of it is such that he turns instinctively.]

F.F.-!

[And then pauses.

And pales.

He remembers when the others came back- haggard, covered in dirt and blood, exhausted. It was a familiar sight and yet something else was wrong and it didn't take long to guess why.

Foo Fighters wasn't there.

('She's gone,' he was told. 'Trying to bring her back...wouldn't be the same...')

But then why? How?

(Was it a trap?)] Y...you...

[He can't help but step back.] ...This isn't...this isn't a ghost room, F.F., [he says honestly, watching the other carefully.] But...what are you doing here? [Emporio finally counters.] ...You were... You were...

[Dead.]