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

"Always putting others before yourself." He can see the other's body betraying him anyway.

The new form fits Akira. Akechi won't tell him aloud of course, far be it for him to offer compliments.

He moves a little closer, finally testing his legs. It's not as bad as he had expected and he steps out of the small cabin into the fog with a grin.

"You're the werewolf. Smell anything interesting?"

He knows Akechi is forcing him to participate- making him complicit. It's that or leave. No keeping his hands clean, it seems. Still, he's sure if they DO find a hu- another person he can keep Akechi at bay.

He has to.

Having already tracked Akechi he knows he can probably find someone if he tried, instead he lifts his muzzle up and breathes deep. He's never smelled a deer before, so he doesn't know what he's searching for. So instead he just lets the cool night air roll over his tongue and tries to find anything that doesn't smell of plants and dirt.

"Nothing specific but..." he looks out towards the woods, his tail wagging slightly.

Edited 2022-09-24 23:45 (UTC)

Having an accomplice in his schemes is certainly something Akechi has wanted for a long time. Even if it wasn't tonight, it would happen one way or another...he had a month to catch up and read all he could find. Many heroes had tried and failed. Best to accept it, revel in the new power.

He places a hand on one of the trees, listening to the air around him as well. So many little things he had never noticed before.

"Well then, lead the way."

The trees in front of them parted slightly, inviting them in. The point of no return.

The trees seeming to bend to Akechi's will makes him shiver slightly, his ears perking forward and his yellow eyes gleaming. He's reminded of their duel- or, well his and that Akechi's duel. He wonders how similar that fight went with 'Ren'. Was he stronger or weaker than Akira? Maybe he will take that chance to fight this Akechi- if just to compare. His tail wags a bit more.

"Don't think I don't realize what you're doing." Even said, he still walks forward regardless. He is no coward, regardless of what Akechi claimed his choice had been.

"I'd be incredibly disappointed if you hadn't, Joker."

While not the trickster like the other, Akechi did take a little after Loki, after all.

"Don't worry, our new deal here still stands. For all intents and purposes, we are working together until we figure a way out of this world."

That being said, would he really want to leave?

"I think there's a woodland creature nearby. Do you want to be a good boy and fetch? Haha, I'm kidding of course."

Wow.

His lip curls in a snarl and he flips Akechi off.

"Ha ha. Don't forget what dogs do to trees."

"Would you really lower yourself to such petty instincts, Kurusu?"

He can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it.

"I'd kill you for that anyway. Did you know you can't truely die in this world?"

"I can't tell if that makes you happy that you can kill me over and over or pissed it won't stick."

"A little of both, I suppose...but mostly it means when we fight again, we won't need to hold back and worry about that."

Not that it changed anything back then either, but it seems to satify Akechi's current bloodlust.

"Are you hesitating?" Now he'll just taint him into going.

No need to hold back, huh? The idea of killing Akechi makes his belly roll unpleasantly. Even after everything- after all, he had sacrificed everything to keep the bastard alive. A selfish wish that his new instincts only heighten. They have a deal. They are, for good or ill (mostly ill) now a pair. A set.

And even before his change he hated being alone.

Though he wouldn't mind being alone right NOW, considering Akechi is being an insufferable prick. His new body, lacking his years of practice hiding his emotions, again betrays him as his ruff rises in bristling annoyance.

"Shut up, Crow."

He hits all fours again, snuffling the earth for scent. He'll find some big game and shove Akechi's nose in it. And HOPEFULLY that will be enough to discourage his own personal serial killer from taking back up the habit for at least one night.

A few more sniffs and he catches scent of something: sweat. He tenses, body statue-still as he stares out into the woods.

It is ridiculously easy to read him now. Of course Akechi will somehow weaponize it, if just to be an asshole.

But it was a dangerous game they played, and even Akechi knew it. He wouldn't go as far as to completely alienate Akira to the point where he'd call it off, as even someone like Akechi craved companionship.

"Seems like you found something." He hadn't sensed anything yet himself, his senses far more dull that a werewolf's...well, werecoyote. But he could probably keep up with him if he took off.

"Let's begin the mission."

And like how they both started using the code names, that phrase is enough to settle fully into infiltration mode. Into Joker's skin, where anything is permitted. The animal now clawing at his soul really is just Arsene in a new disguise, using Akira's own voice to state his deepest desires.

'Run wild to your heart's content!'

And he does, bolting into the trees. If Akechi thinks he can keep up he's certainly free to try.

He won't. He might be faster than a human, but he's far slower than a werewolf.

That's alright, now that the forest is much easier to follow. It's like being suddenly able to notice the subtle differences between each tree and grass. He'll follow the footsteps at his own pace, letting Joker take the lead, idly wondering if he should change his call name.

But most of all, reveling in this new power, watching how nature itself moved to his whim, getting more hungry by each passing minute.

He listened in silence, running behind him, waiting for a signal.

Akechi isn't the only one reveling tonight, as Akira finds himself getting more and more swept up in the hunt. Normally he'd be stealthier, more controlled. This is unknown territory and he's s newborn in this world. But instead he finds himself doing what he does once he's overpowered all the Shadows in the area- running bold and recklessly. Maybe that's why his human brain doesn't get the chance to warn him the closer he gets to the scent source. Remind him that while many animals sweat only a few do to the point of it being a reek. And only one that he would so easily recognize the smell of with only his old senses to guide him.

And why he does what he always did when attacking something so much weaker than him in the Metaverse- dashing by so fast it's only a flash of steel-now-claws and a splash of ichor.

Akechi can likely feel the disturbance in the forest around them, but even if he can't he can hear Akira soft distressed sounds as he catches up.

"Fuck, fuck no I wasn't going to-"

Well, that sure is a body at his feet. Not dead, but bleeding heavily from the werewolf's attack. Not a hunter like mentioned before, but from their clothes and the budding goat horns from their head likely a fellow fledgling monster who was much further behind in their transformation and also wandered out into the wilderness to fulfil some impuse.

It takes a few minutes for the nymph to catch up, and smell the blood on the ground. At first, wondering if Akira had done something so stupid as to harm himself, but then quickly realizing it wasn't that at all, just a fellow 'buddying' monster who had not been as fortunate under Joker's fang and claw.

He looked over at Akira panicking, swearing like Akechi had never heard him. He remembered, briefly, what it was like the first time he had realized he had murdered someone, even if not directly. Funny, then, that that particular murder was also the only one he regretted doing; Wakaba Isshiki. It got much easier after that - each one a new excuse why it had to be done, a way to pave for his twisted justice, culminating to attempting to killing the man, well, werecoyote who stood before him.

They could easily to wait until the creature bled out. But Akechi, ever insightful, had already mentioned about how death in this world wasn't exactly permanent for monsters. Moreover, if the stranger got a good look at either of them, he might retaliate later. Best to think of it as a lesson in being more prepared when they came back to life.

Predator and Prey. Nature didn't really know cruelty. Simply the law of the strongest. And right now, two were better than one.

The attack was instant as the vines on his back shoot upwards and aimed at head, piercing in one lethal strike until the movement of their body stopped.

"I would have said something before attacking, but I'd rather they not know my voice."

The vines move behind him again, dripping with blood. He could smell it, tantalizing him. Him, who had run a food blog and visited nearly every nook and cranny in Tokyo in search of the most amazing foods - this was making him salivate like he was about to be served a ten course gourmet meal. It disgusted him as much as he wanted to just dig in. So he attempted to make this a little easier for them both, in his own twisted way.

"This might actually be a boon in disguise...I know for a fact from my notes that monsters can eat each other and gain substance much like eating a human. Moreover, the victim will simply come back as if nothing happened. In a way, it's a rather guiltless crime, don't you think?"

Edited 2022-09-25 23:43 (UTC)

He watches Akechi finish the job with a glazed kind of detachment- the poor guy was doomed anyway, of course. There was no undoing what he did. And Akechi was right, he would revive, if what they have been told is true.

He still feels sick, but he visibly starts putting himself back together.

"Doubt it. But if you're going to do it... just do it and get it done."

A twisted part of him is a little curious how a tree eats a dude.

Akira was not the only one stuck between the horrified realization of what he was about to do, and the twisted interest in seeing what would happen. Well, it didn't help that he has to wipe his mouth briefly at the thought of it, the blood smelling sweeter by the second.

In the end, it isn't a conscious decision of his own, but rather the roots that now made up his feet separating into hundreds, violently beginning to squirm as Akechi is unable to move his feet or step away. With a mind of their own, they slam into the ground with brutal force, and growing in length until the other creature is covered in roots and vines. If anything, at least, it serves to shield the both of them from what is about to happen.

It was like drinking from a straw, but as if hundreds of straws came from everywhere at once, as the nutrients are passed from the roots into Akechi's body. He wasn't eating, but he could taste everything. Somehow it was like the sweetest nectar even imaginable - every meal before that seemed to pale in comparison to this one, and the energy in return a power far greater than even his Personae. The greenish tint on his body, which had been barely visible now a far darker green that it was hard to miss in the moonlight.

"This is..."

Thorns erupted from the vines behind him as claws sprung from his hands and the plant over his heart grew in size, the center becoming a vivid red splashed against the black. Finally, a pair of horns barely above his eyes erupt in a splash of blood - which also seems to be green now, and rise into the night sky in pattern of black and white bark that seems to match his old Persona.

"Oh, I can definitely get used to this! This is...true power!" The voice is unhinged, exactly like when he caused himself to go psychotic. ~~Truth be told he was having a power orgasm and the horns are like his peni- probably okay no I'm sorry~~.

It's over in a matter of seconds but it felt like hours. When the roots retreat back into his feet, which now seem to favor a pattern more like hooves, there isn't all that much left to look at, just piles dirt. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust. Exactly how nature would do on a much slower scale.

Well, nearly everything.

The legs of the individual are still there, missing the feet, but protruding the thigh bones, looking more like two oversized turkey legs, still perfectly intact. True, he could have eaten it all, but even during the unseen carnage and feeding, part of him is fueled by a twisted desire not to be the only one to take the plunge tonight. Or maybe he's in a good mood enough to share - with Akechi it was always hard to know.

"I left these for you. A thank you for the successful hunt."

He is, of course, stating the obvious, but also purposefully pushing Akira into that void. Maybe with Ren he'd have been a little more careful, but Akira is different, isn't he? He's not completely perfect. Maybe he'd accept it faster than later.

There's something sickly fasinating, watching Akechi eat and finish his transformation. It's so alien that his mind can't really parse the horror of it. Only take it in with dull wonder. It's only fitting that he echos Loki, and the insane euphoria matches his own right after his transformation. Before his humanity managed to fight it's way back and muzzle him with doubt.

He's drooling by the time Akechi is done, but his words snap him back to reality. He glares at Akechi, his eyes, while the wrong color and in the wrong face, are the same as the cognition's he had killed: sharp and defiant.

"I'm not playing your game, Crow." He says, already multiple moves in.

The's the sound of laughter echoes into the forest as a reply to his words. Akechi instead moves closer to Akira, defiant right back at him, green eyes staring straight back at the werecreature. Somehow he doesn't believe him, and a single, thorny vine on his back take both of the legs with no effort and holds them much closer to his rival.

"It's not my game," he is all to eager to remind him. "It's the fog god's isn't it?" Now he's just twisting the meaning of the other's words to fit his own. "But look at it from a more....logical...point of view. If you're not hungry now, you will be eventually. Like our changes, it's a matter of time. And right now, you have something that's on hand and already dead in front of you that can satisfy those cravings. Would you take the risk and wait later when you are alone or worse yet - stuck in human form and have to murder someone with just a dagger? I've read a few unpleasent situations. Believe me, you'd much rather do this."

What made this so terrifying on its own was that he is being truthful. Perhaps it wouldn't happen of course, and Akira could find something better when the time truely came, but Akechi laid out the worst case scenario on purpose.

"I could build a small fire for you, if you want to eat them cooked. Maybe it wont be so bad after that."

How considerate.

His muzzle wrinkles at the suggestion of cooking the meat, exposing any lie he might try to tell that the hunger hadn't manifested in him yet. That would just ruin it.

He doesn't back down or balk as Akechi slides into his space or dangles the meat practucally in his face, stoic as usual. But his eyes do flit back and forth as he ponders his rival's words. He wasn't wrong. This Game was unjust, but that didn't mean he could just stubbornly sit out on principle. The game would play without him, and Akechi would flourish in it, already practiced in using the rules to his advantage. If he falters he will be left behind with no mercy.

And almost more than the disgust of what he will have to do to survive, that scares him. Is unacceptable.

A familiar steadiness settles in Joker's eyes. A plan, a course. He can't change the rules by sitting by- not like he did with Maruki. He has to adapt and reach the source if he wants to win. To not try is anathema.

Never again.

And this loophole he has stumbled on, this monster he's helped kill, is what allows his human mind to relax. Accept the compromise. It's no different than the joyful violence he commited on shadows. His target didn't deserve it, but he's sure there's plenty out there that do.

He nods silently, then with a snake-fast strike snaps at the dangling meat with his jaws.

The signs as a werecoyote were sometimes much easier to see like the ears and the tails, but the nose was just something Akechi misses completely. He does watch the eyes go back and forth, however, as he assumes Akira weighs in on his options.

Truly, only a fool would refuse. He has a feeling even 'his' Ren would have taken it too, despite it all. They don't have much of a choice, so better it be on their terms than on whatever is being forced on them and under their control.

True, this time they got very lucky, but maybe they can plan this better next time, especially now that his mind was much clearer having feed.

And, it looks, as he quickly drops the other leg to the ground before the fangs can get at his vines, that his rival agrees with him. He briefly turns away to give him some privacy.

"Glad you feel the same way."

Probably wise, because the urge to snap at the nymph is strong. As Akechi turns away he can likely hear the crushing if bone and the wet tear of meat. Unlike SOME people he has to do this the old fashioned way.

Goddamn though... it's good . He hates it.

Eventually:

"... thanks."

The crunching sounds are honestly more disgusting that he'd like to admit, and Goro feels lucky that he now has thousands of straws and spoons for feet.

It's what Joker says next that actually stuns him into silence, where even the subtle movement of his 'cape' stops briefly.

When was the last time someone had thanked him and actually meant it? Or more than that, when had it been the last time that Akechi had actually accepted something was an actual genuine thank you and not something said out of politeness or due to Japanese mannerisms? Maybe Sae, but he had mostly seen it as them working together. Even Shido, whose Shadow had spoken so mockingly at all he needed was a little bit of praise had never said it so simply. More like "Good work," which was still a compliment in some way, but, again, only to trick him.

You didn't thank someone for human meat unless you meant it, especially after being insulted. Akira, being like Ren, didn't have a reason to trick him either. Hell, he'd even told 'his' Akechi that he was going to take Maruki's offer instead of hiding it from him. Those idiots...

It's so stupid, because it's nothing but a single word. Not even a "you" added to the end. A few flowers bloom on his back as he rolls his eyes even if Joker can't see him.

"Whatever."

His back still turned as he shrugs.

"With others running rampant tonight, it might be best to find a safer place now that we've fed. We're clearly strong, but I'm not stupid enough to think we can take on the strongest of them."

The flowers blooming grab his attention, he he tilts his head, his nose twitching. Curious... well, he doubts asking about it will go well, especially with the tension in Akechi's stance. He knows Akechi's 'gift' wasn't even close to selfless... but still, it was support while he's at his near lowest point.

"We changed faster then some of them... but anyone who's been here awhile could probably ruin us. So yeah, good idea. Anywhere in mind?"

"I suppose that depends if you'd rather have others staring at us at a monster friendly establishment or if we should just retreat far enough into the forest that only other nymphs can find us."

Wow what a choice.

TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

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