graveyardsmash | TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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test drive

TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, you didn't.

[He just blurts it out like it's a fact of life. Sky is blue, grass is green, Shredder's not dead.]

I have never seen a world where he stays dead if you just 'beat him'. My Leo decapitated him first time we 'beat him' and he just got back up again.

Guaranteed, he's not dead wherever you are.

[Is he going to explain that? Nah doesn't seem to need elaborating. Sometimes your brothers just chop off the heads of your mortal enemies.]

And I think it's sad that you think patrol counts as training. [He says that with a playful swat to the shoulder. Gentle roughhousing his his version of casual hugging.] You're going to need to up your game here. Monsters are eating people, and don't think they won't make you into turtle-turned-human soup.

Okay, I can promise you, he dead. I mean...

[He laughs a little at the playful swat before settling on something serious again. Then he follows it up with a gentle time-out gesture with his hands. Mention of decapitation makes him frown briefly, but he doesn't derail on that.] You can get me about training in a second, I wanna compare notes here.

What exactly is your shredder like exactly? Ours was a demon possessed armor. We released him from it, with the power of our full clan behind us. Gram-Gram Karai, and every other Hamato helped us break the curse and put the guy to rest.

[Don suddenly heaves at that, covering his mouth.] Oh shell, never ever call Karai that again. [Ew ew the thought of her being their Gram-Gram in another world while his brother was mooning over her makes him nauseous.]

A demon possessing armor is a way to put it. He's an Utrom. They're these small, highly intelligent, mostly immortal aliens. He piloted a human suit for I don't even know how long. Obviously damaging the suit didn't hurt him, but even if you thought you got him, he could still regenerate. Eventually we just had to hand him over to other Utroms to take back to their home planet. [The corner of his mouth pulls, a shadow coming over his eyes for a moment. He has a flash of memory--a giant mech suit. Standing over the shredded viscera of Ch'rell... and all the corpses of his brothers.] Or you'd have to vaporize him with an energy drill so there's nothing left to regenerate.

[Donatello shakes his whole body out to dislodge the memory, blinking it away.] But none of that really matters right now, right? They're not here. You and I are. And we need to figure out how we're going to manage until we figure out going home.

What? She's our great, great- too many great grandma, Shredder our great, great even more too many greats grandpa. [The fourteen year old is decidedly unaware of the differences therein. He's actually quiet as Donnie speaks.

Donnie seeming to lose himself to the memory is enough for Leo to step closer, the younger teenager more readily making contact. His touch is light, steady. The usual amount of touch he offers his twin. Easy enough to shake off.]

I kind of figured we'd wing it. Plans aren't my thing. Not too much you can do here about leaving. I already scoped both the schools of thought for gods. Neither really have much of an answer beyond 'you're stuck here!'.

[Donatello does a full body shudder.] Ew. Ew, gross, no. Karai is Shredder's daughter, and my Leo had a big crush on her before things got ugly, so never talk about that again.

[Eugh, of all things, envisioning being related to Karai might break him.

But Leo is touching him, which means he's probably worried. Stay focused, Donny. He needs you. Don't think about anything other than the task right in front of you.

Donatello smiles, patting him on the shoulder before moving away towards the living room. He's gotta do something, and right now he's surveying the space. Alright, he'll need to get another futon, of course, and definitely more food, and he should probably whip up something so they can track each other across distances...]

If I just took people's word for it when they said I couldn't do something, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere. What do you like to eat? And what do you usually like to live with, besides a bed? Do you at least do daily meditations? [He's a child. Donatello doesn't even consciously decide that he has to take a much more active role than usual taking care of this brother. It's just a given.]

Man, your world is absolutely weiiirrrd. [He wrinkles his nose at the thought but doesn't pursue the topic.

He hangs back, watching Donnie. He's not Donatello brilliant, he never will be, but he's observant.

The guy is jumping from idea to idea given the way his expression shifts. This Donnie is already making plans, building up something in his head. He makes Leo think of Splinter in a few ways.]

I mean, this place has people stuck here for years. It's definitely a system already in place. Not impossible to break, but people are settled. It's going to require some actual picking at the system for any actual weaknesses to reveal themselves. [He reveals his hand a little too much before shifting into something more casual. An air of teenager arrogance coming back to the surface.]

Pizza. Nearly everything but brussel sprouts. Mikey always makes 'em chewy. I can cook just fine if you want me to take a shot at it. Like, my comics, my skateboard, my tv, my action figures, but none of those are here. I can handle a bed until I find cool stuff to build up.

[He snorts at that.] Mediating-? Uh, never.

You're not wrong. But it's possible that the people here just haven't figured out trans-dimensional travel yet. And I have some experience with that already.

[He doesn't miss a beat with the flash of insight from Leo. Of course Leo is insightful. He's Leo, even when he's acting like a doofus. Generally, Donatello feels that all his brothers are intelligent, even Mikey; some of them just choose not to let people know how smart they are until they absolutely have to.]

I can do no brussel sprouts. But you're not living off pizza. [Donatello crosses his arms and flashes Leo a fond smile, but his tone brooks no argument.] And you should try meditating. It's good for you. Like proper training.

[Is Donatello going to bully his new little brother into training and meditating? Maybe.

(What do children need? Food, shelter, healthcare, exercise, social interaction. Food and shelter is taken care of. Healthcare, he can stand to build his first aid kit back up but he can handle most stuff. Exercise will have to be in training, social interaction... should he send Leo to school, now that he's human? Something to consider.)]

Should make figuring some stuff out easier. In theory at least. I'm the face man, not the idea guy, so, that's kinda in the air right now. [He rubs at his chin. He wishes he had his mystic weapon right now.] If I had my Odachi, I could just portal hop us out of here. My aim needs work, but, I can get between places.

[He groans a little at that, throwing his head back dramatically.] I can fight like- just fine! We beat the Foot, Shredder, we fight Meat Sweats, Big Mama, and other mutants tons. I got it! Training stopped being fun like, a zillion billion years ago.

Training's not supposed to be fun. It's good for you.

[Donatello cocks his head, watching this fussy little brother of his. He thinks for a moment about what Master Splinter would do whenever any of them complained about training, or claimed to be good enough to not need it anymore.]

I'll tell you what. I'm going to set up a game. And if you beat me at the game, I'll drop the idea of training. But if I beat you, you'll train with me every day. Deal?

[Bonus: the game and how well they play it will show Donatello if he even has anything to teach his little brother. For all he knows, he's already a master ninja that's far outpaced Donatello's skill.]

Oh, nonono- I already know where this is going. I've seen this trick! [He springs back slightly. Donatello is going to learn the younger turtle is springy, quick to bounce around. He's annoyed at best, puffing up his cheeks a little.]

These games are always mega rigged so it proves a narrative point! I'm not proving your narrative point, Donatello! [He dramatically points at Donnie for emphasis.]

Alright, alright. [He smirks, unfazed by the bounciness and waving a hand dismissively.] We don't have to play if you're chicken.

[Oh yeah, he's going there.]

Bok bok, Leo.

[His eye twitches somewhat at the chicken noises. He stands taller, pressing a palm flat against his chest. His shoulders squared, his voice even.] I cannot believe, the absolute immaturity, have you no honor, sense- restraint-

[His hand curls into a fist against his chest, his attempt to play off the chicken implication cracking. He clicks his teeth together, leaning forward slightly.]

But- If I were to play your game, what is it exactly? Curious minds want to know, Donnie.

Just. You know.

Natural curiosity. Nothing more.

[Donatello stifles a smile. No matter what version, his brother is still his brother.]

Come help me set it up and I'll explain, shell head.

[Donatello ruffles Leo's hair affectionately, love radiating from the gesture before he ducks under his work desk. There are a lot of raw materials down there, including thin cut pieces of pipe. They're all roughly the same size and shape, much like bamboo. He tosses a handful in Leo's direction.]

Set these on their end in a grid. Each pipe should be exactly twelve inches apart. [Donatello tosses a ruler next.] This is going to be our arena, not flat ground.

[He lightly harrumphs at the teasing. Though he doesn't complain yet about the fact he's fallen for this.

He catches the pipes easily enough, frowning down at them. He fumbles when the ruler is tossed.]

Okay, so, we're balancing on bamboo and walking around on the tops then?

[With some reluctance he eyes the floor, trying to figure out where to start. He ends up trying to eyeball it at first, out of pure stubbornness before using the ruler.]

Oh, we're not walking. You can only touch one pole at a time, and you can't knock any of them over.

[Donatello hums as he takes a bunch of pipes himself plus a ruler, laying them out with swift and surgical precision. The poles can only be navigated by jumping, and the jumps had to be technically perfect so they neither knocked over the pole jumped from nor the one landed on.]

I'm already going to not like this. Ugh. [He has to complain a little as he tries to get this set up.

He's not bad at this kind of thing, but seeing Donnie's surgical precision in setting things up makes Leo feel a little incompetent.]

So, we're leaping. Okay. I can do that.

[It takes Leo a little longer, but he steps back and feels pretty satisfied with what he's done.] Uh, lead the way?

[Donatello considers, then just rolls his eyes and shucks off his shirt. It's uncomfortable, and he's not used to wearing one anyway. He lets it fall to the side before jumping on top of one of the poles on one end of the arena.

(He is fucking ripped. More ripped than any egghead has a right to be.)

He gestures to a pole on the very opposite side of the arena before taking a penny out of his pocket, flipping the coin in his hand as he balances on one foot. The pipes are uncomfortable pressed against the sole of his foot, but dealing with discomfort is part of the game.]

You take your place, and then you need to take this coin from my hand. You can't touch anything but me, the coin, and one pipe at a time, and you can't knock any of the pipes over. Ready?

[Leo shrugs off his jacket, making it more obvious he's lean. It only makes him look younger in comparison to Donatello's decades of training.

He eyes the bamboo arena with interest. His mind already spinning on what he can do.]

I can already feel my hubris being my undoing, but let's do this! Leon on the scene, baby!

[He moves to the pipe he was motioned towards, looking it over before leaping up to balance on the sole of his foot. Unsurprisingly, he wobbles, arms flailing a bit before he centers himself.

His tongue sticks out of the corner of his mouth as he steadies himself out.

He takes the first leap, and nearly knocks the next pole over in the process before course correcting.]

[God, but he is a baby.

Donatello doesn't move his focus off Leo. If he's learned nothing else, it's to never underestimate an opponent. But he also puts a dash of Mikey into this strategy by flashing the penny between his fingers and winking.]

Come on, Leo. Don't keep me waiting, slowpoke.

[At this rate, he's not sure Leo will even make it through the arena to engage him in proper acrobatics.]

What, you don't believe in slow and steady, big brain haver? [His gaze is unsurprisingly drawn to the penny. If he gets it, he can avoid more of this. These poles feel awful on the bottom of his human feet.

He makes a show of looking clumsier than he actually is. A plan coming together as he leaps forward.

He draws closer, trying to keep himself looking a little less skilled than he actually is. He continues leaping forward until he's close enough to Donny. He makes his first token grab to snatch the penny to test the waters.]

[At the first grab, Don just... leans back. It's like he's falling, but actually he just makes the transition to the next pole seem so natural that there's no apparent effort to it. One moment, his foot is on the pole. The next moment, he's upside down, one hand on the next pole. Then his body folds again, and he's perched on the third pole on his foot, never having touched more than one pole at a time. He makes it look as natural as walking.]

You've gotta do better than that, bro.

[That gives Leo a decent amount of information in one go. Donnie has done this a lot. Enough so that he's naturally shifting from one pole to the next. As natural as breathing.

Splinter hadn't trained them all that classically or dedicatedly, but experience in improvising means Leo can pull something together generally.]

Huh, looks like I will have to.

[He keeps the clumsiness in his movements, though he moves quickly to get to the next pole. He acts like he's going for another grab, before bouncing onto the next pole entirely to try and grab at Donnie himself.]

[Donatello is the weakest of his brothers when it comes to martial skill, he'll grudgingly admit, but the weakest of his brothers is still damn strong. And martial skill doesn't equal grace and technique.

Donny sees the feint coming, leaping off his pole and flipping over Leo to land on the pole behind him. He balances delicately on the ball of his foot, holding the coin in his fist.]

Is that supposed to be better, Leo? [And maybe Don is being a liiiitle cocky, staying on a pole so close to his brother.]

[Leo rests his chin against his knuckles, a very pleased look settling on his features. Given Donnie's leap, he doesn't see the devious edge. Leo just turns casually on the pole he's balanced on.]

Oh, I dunno, Donnie. You tell me!

[Leo drops the facade of clumsiness entirely, leaping up and over Donnie to try and land on his back.

He leans in and presses a big kiss against his brother's cheek, squeezing Donnie in a hold with one arm as he tries to grab the coin from the older teen's hands.]

TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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spoilers for rise of tmnt season 2

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