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graveyardsmash2022-09-09 09:15 am
ryslighelpers) wrote in graveyardsmash2022-09-09 09:15 am
Entry tags:
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.
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It's just like any skill. It can be learned!
But, Nagito...
...how do you feel about hippopotamuses?
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Hippopotamuses...?
[His words trail with the question, and his gaze goes elsewhere with the thought. Then, energetically:]
Well, they're vicious predators with a bite that could easily crush your skull like a fragile egg... not to mention they're extremely territorial and known to attack humans more frequently than any other African predator!
So really, they're an animal I should probably avoid. Knowing my luck, one would set its sights on me and surely kill me!
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Then, we'll take the bus.
[Hippo was an option. But, maybe this is for the best...if he let Komaeda ride on his back, he'd never hear the end of it! Better not to hand him that ammunition.
Atem heads for the nearest bus stop! Holding hands on the bus is okay too...]
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Alright, Atem-kun!
[Regardless, he seems oblivious to what the other might have been plotting, and he continues to gently swing their hands all the way to the bus stop.]
I suppose you don't take the bus often, huh? You probably always have travel forms at your disposal. I don't have my driver's license, and I don't have a travel form, so I always have to take the bus... even though it doesn't feel like I've been gone as long as I have, it's sort of a nostalgic feeling!
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[The hand swinging...it's a little thing, but it's cute. It's playful, carefree...it makes Atem feel strangely fond.]
I don't always have a travel form! I've been a merperson, too. Nymphs don't have one, either.
[Time to sit and wait for the bus . . . at least there's someone to talk to. Waiting for a bus alone would be really boring.]
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Hm... you've had a lot of experiences while I was away, [he muses aloud, sounding somewhat saddened by the thought,] I would've liked to swim with you, when you were a merperson.
[It's far too cold now to want to swim—even if, technically, he could do it. It's also a bit lonely to think that Atem is willing to give up on Ryslig before a litany of new memories, no matter how mundane, can be made between them. They only have this last stretch of time in Atem's eyes, and before Komaeda decides whether he'll need to stop him or not.
Komaeda gives Atem's hand another squeeze.]
Could you tell me about your other forms, while we wait?
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[As though they were just shooting the breeze, as though there's no desire for the end of everything looming over them.]
Which do you want to hear about most...?
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Hm... would it be weird to ask about your time as a merperson? I suppose it's because I'm a merperson, that I'm curious how you felt about it.
[Komaeda smiles as his tail comes to wrap around Atem's hip, the heavy, frondy end of it laying across both of their laps.]
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[He' s about to go on, until Komaeda wraps them in a seahorse tail. Oh...this tail, over his lap...
Atem runs his free hand over the part that's across his knees.]
This brings back memories, you know! It reminds me of your birthday party, at the lake...
[The fronds get petted, sliding between his fingers.]
...you put your tail in my lap, and I had no idea what to do! You didn't mean anything by it, so I wasn't sure what to say. I don't think you even liked me, then...
[That party is one of Atem's first good memories in Ryslig. Before everything went wrong...before the hairline cracks in his heart that Daniel left turned into fractures, into fragments and chasms and missing pieces, a heart that he's holding together in any shape he can, even if it's not the right one.
He remembers simply spending time with friends...]
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I was really happy you came to it... even if I didn't really want a birthday party. [It just sort of happened that way—Steve wanted to go to the beach, he and Lila were open to indulging that wish, and it just so happened to fall on that fateful day.] But...
What you said isn't true. I did like you. Maybe ever since our lives as "Nathan" and "Adam".
[Komaeda leans slightly, his shoulder pressed against Atem's as it feels like the world around them grows distinctly quieter as it begins to snow again, his slightly worried expression close by.]
I wasn't good at flirting, or recognizing my own feelings. I'm still not. But I do know that... I've liked you for a really long time, even if I couldn't tell you why I do. [A small pause, and then quieter:] it just makes me really happy that this place, for as messed up and despairing as it can be, it gave us the chance to entwine our lives like this.
cw reference to underage drinking
[Man, for a bus stop, this setting is surprisingly romantic. He's quiet for a moment; he doesn't have anything helpful to say about the entwining of their lives, and how he suspects that bonds in Ryslig are encouraged in order to open avenues for further suffering. Now's not the time for that. Instead, he chooses to share something else.]
I knew.
[His fingertips play idly with the kelplike fronds.]
Ever since that party, when you rescued me from reporters. I needed help, and you showed me kindness...you led me out by the hand, and took me somewhere fun...even if I got drunk, and lost...
[He's looking down at the tail, but his eyes are soft.]
...of course, Adam didn't want Nathan to find out at all. He knew he'd never hear the end of it! Heh heh...
[NATHAN WAS VERY MEAN AND ADAM WANTED TO KISS HIS STUPID MEAN FACE.]
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He won't let himself be swallowed up in despair, not here, not like this.]
You're right, he would've really teased Adam about it. But I think Nathan probably would've kissed Adam then, if those feelings were admitted.
[He states as those frondy tail-fins gently flick around from the constant attention, sort of like the tip of a cat's tail when you start petting it too much.]
But nothing has really changed since then, either. When you're in trouble, I want to help you. Love is... wanting to protect the people who matter to you.
[Komaeda pauses, his own gaze shifting from Atem's melancholy profile and instead watching at the guy keeps playing with his tail. He doesn't have the heart to tell the other that it's a bit ticklish.]
You're a really stubborn guy, you know? I'm sure you want to do all of the protecting, and won't let anyone else protect you instead.
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This is clearly absolutely news to him. Really....is that so? Heh...that's pretty funny, to hear that they might have ended up however that would end up. Probably full of fighting.
...but his face falls, when Komaeda goes on.]
...no...
...the truth is, I can't protect anybody...
...people only get hurt because of it, and it's useless anyway. Unfortunately, that means you can't protect me, either...not because I'm stubborn, but because that's the way things are!
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[Komaeda is looking at Atem now, his head tilted ever so slightly.]
But isn't hurting just a part of living? If we didn't have bad times, we wouldn't be able to appreciate the good. Just as hope can't exist without despair.
[With that attention no longer on his tail, Komaeda reaches out to try and do his best at taking both of Atem's hands in his own.]
I may not be strong, and I may not be fast, but I can protect you in other ways. [His tail tightens around Atem's hip, too,] I've had the chance to learn that... sometimes protection isn't about preventing harm, but helping to heal from it.
We've hurt each other in a lot of ways, but we also have the capacity to help heal each other too, you know?
cws for medical horror, parasites, torture, fatalism
Some things don't heal. Not here.
[He says it hollowly.]
This place...reopens wounds. The people here do, too.
Memories of pain are like cracks in stone, Nagito. They don't heal. They just get worse with every impact, until what used to be you finally crumbles. That's what's in store for everyone here...at least, the ones that don't disappear back to the Sea.
[He shakes his head, then looks down.
He's never going to heal from what Daniel did. What others have done to him has compounded it, driven chisels into the crack Daniel made and pried Atem open, into something less than what he was. The faerie in the other Ryslig, the parasites in May, the nightmares in July, the dollhouse in August, the other parasites in December, the vivisection by Morgenstern in January...it's been hit after hit after hit. And, now that AM's tortured Ryou...Ryslig will take care to do the same to him. It's hopeless. The only hope was in preventing it, and he gave up so much in trying...
...now, it's too late.]
cw torture, murder, terrorism, and body mutilation mentions
[Komaeda knows that well. The scars on own his heart are never ending, with some extending to his physical form, even.]
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try... I know first hand just how well things go when you give up, when you find yourself deciding that the best way to escape the pain is by running from it.
See... this left arm of mine is a constant reminder of the most painful time of my life. When I was forced to watch someone dear to me be tortured to death right before my eyes... When I decided that I would make things worse, and work for despair, while clinging onto the idea that hope would surely come from that tragedy... That if I removed my own arm and replaced it with hers, I could somehow create the future that would justify everything painful.
But there's nothing I can do to change the massive amount of harm I've caused in the past. All I can do now, all any of us can do now, is influence our future. I... try to do good and help others in small ways, instead of big ones. Souda-kun was even kind enough to make a new arm for me, too!
[His eyes flutter closed with the thought. All of his friends, and himself, even if they hurt here, they still have each other. There is still hope, in this place.]
It's not about winning or losing, it's about... determination. Never giving up, no matter how dark the world may seem.
cw torture mention, self...deprecation?
But it doesn't change his mind.]
Then...
...maybe you're stronger than me.
It wouldn't surprise me.
[Atem holds back a few things, here.
One of them is, Maybe you can be at peace with your loved ones being tortured and tortured again, Nagito, but I can't.
Another is, Do you know what it was that happened to me, that allowed Daniel to send us to the other Ryslig?
And, finally: I'm not going to make it worse. I'm going to end it.
But the first is cruel, the third Komaeda already knows, and the second...a bus stop isn't the place. He thinks he sees one, actually, in the distance down the road...is that the bus they're waiting for?]
no subject
[There's a firmness to Komaeda's tone that might not have been present before, because... he isn't strong.
He's still scared, all the time. He's still afraid of losing what's most important. But most of all, he knows how futile of an idea it is to end everything. He's already traveled the same road that Atem is on, he knows what the end of it and beyond looks like.
Even if Atem wants to look past Komaeda's seniority in navigating soul-crushing despair, it doesn't change the fact that strength has nothing to do with it. If anything, he's simply pooled what little power he has with others, so that they aren't strong individually... but instead, they're strong together.]
By myself, I'm actually really weak. That's why I rely on fighting in different ways, but...
[Ah, the bus rolls up to their stop, and it seems like it's their line.]
Ah— it's here!
no subject
Yes -- let's go!
[No more thinking about painful things. It's date time only!]
I was going to tell you what it was like to be a merperson, wasn't I...? But, I might not need to...
[The people on the bus shrink away from Atem's Fog cloak. Atem does not pay any attention. It means seats open for them! Atem drops into one, casual and easy.]
no subject
When you say something so mysterious like that, Atem-kun, it really gets my heart racing!
[Still, he's curious what the other could mean about it. Should he just wait and see? That's the game they're playing now, right...?]
Well, why don't you tell me about which monster you had the most fun being, then?
no subject
[Atem thinks about that. This is a nice thing to talk about! Honestly, minotaur was great, until...well. Best not to bring that up.
But there are others.]
I liked being a demon!
I had hooves and horns, like this...but I could fly, and teleport. Fire couldn't hurt me, and...
...something about it...was relaxing!
no subject
[Maybe it's because there's some parts of Atem that are similar to Celeste, that the visual is so easy to imagine.]
I wonder what it was that could make it so relaxing, though? All of the demons I've met before, perhaps excluding Ludenberg-san, have always seemed to dislike their demon nature...
Could you describe it to me a little bit more?
no subject
Ah, it was like...
[He settles back into the bus seat, his shoulder nestled comfortably against Komaeda's.]
...it was as if nothing I had to do was so important it couldn't wait. It was okay not to do the best I could, all of the time...as a demon, I didn't need a reason to do something fun, instead of something important.
It was easier...to tell what I liked. I needed that, a year ago!
no subject
Hm... sounds pretty carefree, the opposite of you.
[Komaeda laughs as he leans his head onto Atem's, being mindful of those horns as he does. He won't bother mentioning that it might be something Atem needs now.]
You know... I'm pretty happy as a merperson, but I might try being a demon. I think I'd like to fly... It would be nice to fly together sometime, too.
[It's a nice thought, even if he knows it'll only remain a thought and not a reality that's in the cards for them.]
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...I don't think anyone's ever gone flying together with me.
[Chasing down Riley and Ryou going over the edge of the roof as a manticore and needing to get grabbed doesn't count.]
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cw description of burns, eye scream in meta
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cw nsfw discussion
cw VERY NSFW CONVERSATION!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK, ANY WORK, AT ALL
Actually we're just gonna move this. Just in case--