graveyardsmash | TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Entry tags:

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

One

[Waking up somewhere new and mysterious? Not that new honestly. Leo just groans his irritation, pressing the butt of his palm against his eyes. His head hurts and he's cold. He's wondering just what he and his brothers were doing to wake up on a ship of all places. The fourteen year old doesn't remember any mysterious ships.]

C'mon, a kidnapping? Isn't this like passé? [He looks at the nearest corpse.] ...Okay, pirates though? Very cool. I'll give you a solid 8 out of 10 for that, only this once. Leon is not a harsh rating mistress! Its freaky, but an excellent scene setting level of freaky.

[He pats at his back expecting to find his Ōdachi's handles. His hand encounters nothing. He tries again, and realizes he can't find the top of his shell either. He blinks blearily before realizing he's a lot more human-y than he normally is.]

Oh.

[He stares at his very human hands. Shock, confusion and a little uncertainty rise to the surface. His expression flickers through a lot in a short period of time as he pushes himself to his feet, glad he has pants, even if he's lacking a shirt. His usual markings are still present at least.]

Woah.

Wait. [He holds his palms up as if to silence anyone nearby. Everyone nearby is dead, Leo.]

Am I hot-?

Three
< TheCoolestTurtle >

Now this, this is my kind of game. Alright, alright, lemme see.

1. I'm the tallest of my siblings, at 6'6.

2. I once was a basketball team's mascot, and encouraged the owner to buy a cursed demonic arch. Like, oops, my bad, but also that arch made people into skilled basketball players. We like defeated the magic and stuff, but still, kinda cool story, right?

3. I have, well had a rad magic Ōdachi. Sadly, she is not with me here and now. Otherwise I'd show you my portal skills. I could zip around this place if I had it!

Edited 2022-09-09 15:03 (UTC)

[Squee~! Goes a former bandicoot beyond the screen.]

number one is the lie

very sure of it

I'll have you know, I am indeed the tallest and coolest- okay, okay, that was the lie, you got me.

Okay, I gotta know.

How did you find me out? I mean. I assumed people would call out the other two.

OOC NOTE: Emporio is going to be played as being Post-Series; as a default, I will be avoiding spoilers for Stone Ocean in any tags, with spoilers here referring to everything beyond the 'Savage Garden' Arc. If you prefer no direct references to canon at all, please make note in your tag!

{COME SAIL AWAY - STYX}

[When he wakes, he doesn't expect to. Something about the last time he closed his eyes said that it wouldn't be so instant- that he wouldn't be waking for anything less than a blink, anything less than what it took for the sun to rise again.

Yet a blink is all it takes.

The young boy of 4'7'' groans, his eyes yet closed and shadowed by the cap on his head. The cleats of his shoes scrape the wood with the kind of force unfamiliar to him, as if their metal were more real than anything he ever interacted with.

He opens his eyes and screams.]

H- HHAHHH-!

[Stumbles back, a clattering echoing through the wood, as he screams again-] HHAHHHH-! AAAAHH-!!

[Stumbling feet carry him cacaphonously through the rocking ship, and his hands scrabble at wood planks until he's breathing in the scent of tangy salty air with more clarity than he is old wood and damp.

Emporio labors for breath, both from fear and from exhertion as well. His curled hair is brushed by wind and yet around him it couldn't feel more dead- now that he can see the rest of this ship in fact, that's all he can see, not a single other soul with him. It's something out of a cheap horror movie, something from a half-hearted film set made real. Too real, even.

(Since when were pirates actually like the pirates on the screen?)

And he's alone.

(Just like before.)

The ship is coming to port. As the boy slowly catches his breath and looks to the side, that's the first thing he realizes.

The ship is coming to port.

...

Backing away from the rail, all he can think is how much he wants to disappear.]

{SIGNS - 5MEB}

[He couldn't stay on the ship, and if he were honest with himself he didn't want to either. Even if it were somewhere to possibly hide and be safe, the sheer amount of dressed bones staring vacantly upward with empty 'eyes' was just too much.

But there are so many people here that it's absurd.

(It's not as if he hasn't been in a crowd before. Sort of, at least. He just...kept to himself. Avoided real notice, as best he could.)

(He was always good at that.)

Clutching his arms for warmth in the crisp autumn air of a country far cooler than his home, Emporio can't help but look as lost as he feels though. No cars have honked at him- he knows what a city is enough to keep to the side walk and avoid bumping into others. In fact, dressed in his baseball clothes as he is, it seems that no one has looked to him as if he's 'new'- not since he's made his way far enough from the docks at least.

But it's just all so much. There's not a single familiar face or sight, there's not a single thing here he truly knows. The boy stifles a sniff as wide eyes look around a hair away from what could well be tears, and-]

Oh dear- have you lost your way boy?

[He's been noticed now.

(Sort of.)]

I....I...

I know it's scary knowing what those....people are, [the woman before him continues, concern etched into every wrinkle on her aged face.] But we'll just find your parents and get you home before then alright? ...Now, that uniform...I haven't been keeping up with the local teams...but I can see someone is a baseball player~

[How does he get out of this?]

{THIS IS A LIE - THE CURE}

UN: SPEAKING.IN.TONGUES

I slept in a piano.

I've never seen snow.

I have three sisters.

{WOLVES WITHOUT TEETH - OFAM - CW: BODY HORROR-ELONGATION}

[Somehow, he kind of thought it wouldn't happen.

Which is stupid of course. Everyone else had it happen. Everyone he's managed to brave speaking to, and knowing, and being known by, has had this happen.

(He hasn't let anyone close enough- hasn't let himself close enough, to stay though. There's no one here now. There's no one from home, from the only home he had if it could be called that, and it makes everything feel that much more hollow.)

(He can't get that close again.)

The fog is thicker now, and that's the only warning he gets.] MnhNNMM-

[It's not even that painful, when he thinks about it. It hurts, but it doesn't hurt the same way other things have. He stumbles but all he can think is 'I've felt worse', even as tears start spilling down his face, and even as his head starts to throb with agony. It's not his head changing though- something else is afoot, perhaps literally so. He struggles for footing, the cleats catching the ground as his feet push away at the shoe- as they snap, the sound echoing coldly in his ears, and become too long to remain inside it.]

MNH-AUGH- Th...They're growing..!?

[Despite his exclaimation that's not quite it. Growing, certainly, but not proportionally. It's the same for his arms after all- fingers, as well- the pain hits his back hard enough that he bites through his lip and falls with a crack, stars in his eyes whilst he stumbles. To say it's like being on fire isn't right- this is something different. Something colder, something more numb than that. Something-]

Hhhahhh-hh....haahhhhh-hh...

[....

....It's over...]

Mgk...gh...

[He tries to stand- stumbling just a little, half falling against the wall. His feet barely hold him upright, shoes hanging on only because of the tight lacing that went down to the toe, and meanwhile the rest of his uniform is tight and stretched in ways he never expected to ever worry about. Emporio looks to his hand-]

HA-H..!

[And immediately falls backward, crashing against the dumpster and scrambling against it on instinct.

It's not yellow exactly, but...it...

....

Oh no.] ....I can't fit in that tunnel anymore...

[There's a reason this is important- the question is if the budding kelpie would be willing to share why with whoever likely heard that while coming to check on that sound just now.]

I'll play too, to answer!

1. I was a mutant bandicoot made in a mad scientist's lab.

2. Every day, I'll have a bowl of beetles for breakfast.

3. Rode an alien dino slug on an alien planet.

[It probably doesn't wholly answer the question, but it's a good start.]

Two

[Stolas doesn't understand why he's here, or why he's trapped in a human form. Perhaps this is some sort of punishment he's been subjected to, and he simply can't remember reaching point B from point A.

That being said, he remains intrigued by his surroundings, and so while getting used to it all, he can be found walking from place to place with a look of rapt fascination written on his pale face.

It's probably little wonder that the locals are giving him a wide berth, what with his unnaturally red eyes. No, not the irises. The sclera. Very red. Very demon-y. But he's missing two eyes, and it's giving him a headache, actually, so while he takes some clothes from a very kind human, he presses for a little more.]

Thank you for this offering! It's quite in time, my clothing really is in a state. But more importantly, do you have any pain medication? Any's fine.

[There's something about the inflection...that sounds as if he expects his wishes to be entertained. It comes from being a prince, but Stolas isn't nearly half as rude as he could be.

When the human assures him that they can't be of any help with that, Stolas's brows draw together, then he simply assures them it's fine. Humans are humans, it's not as if he expected much.

--Oh!

Oh, look at that, it's a non-human! Great, just in time! Stolas thanks the human, then rapidly beelines to the monster he's spotted.]

Excuse me! You! Yes, you! Are you able to answer a few questions for me?

Three

[Some time after trying to extract some proper information from the locals, both human and monster, Stolas finally decides he's tired of walking around, and stops at a monster-friendly cafe to check the laptop he's been given. The technology is...rather ancient. But it's fine, he can make this work, surely.

There, see? Instructions! Instructions which he follows to assign himself a completely original username and answer the top post.

It's not as if he has anything better to do right now, and unfortunately...worrying about the state of things back home, with Blitzo or Stella...it's not at the top of his list. Not when he's stuck in a human form, without his grimoire, without anything, really.

It's out of his control.

Surprisingly...Stolas doesn't mind too, too much. Things out of his control is just a natural state of his existence. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad, but...

...Well, anyway. He types.]

< Stolas > : Oh hohohohoho! What a fun little game! :) :) I'll play along! Here, let's start easy, shall we?

1. I'm a demon of hell.

2. I've never been to the human world.

3. I have a 17 year old daughter.

HMM. HMMMMM.

I wanna say two is the big stinking lie, cause, I too was created in a lab! Also, I'm mad jelly you've been to space. My bro Donnie would absolutely be boiling with jealousy.

But beetles are delicious, so my heart, she's torn asunder by your truths and lies!

okay tho, what the real estate in hell like? Maybe I'm looking into investing. Daddy needs to broaden his portfolio.

I mean, hell should be like the sewers, right, but less moist?

[Distantly, there is yet another squee, this time of double confirmation.]

correct! sorry! lost the taste for bugs

I don't miss it

or the crunch

Edited 2022-09-09 16:40 (UTC)

More bugs for me then, scoooorreee.

Okay, if you're also a weird mutant, tell me this;

Daddy issues? I gotta know if its a mutant thing. I have two dads, kinda sorta. I mean, I dunno what else to call it when one dad like kidnaps the other and uses his genetic material to mutate four turtles into the coolest ninjas the world has ever seen.

If Michael is to believed, we have two dads.

[Well, buddy- that's a bit personal even for Crash. But he'll humor it, knowing this guy.]

used to be the favorite before I escaped so

sounds right

but I found a better dad after! and then a sister!

Oohoho man. Same trauma! NICE. (wait do daddy issues count as trauma, I don't have Donnie here to ask.)

You hit the jackpot, congrats! Always a good time when you add people on. I mean, my bros and I added April to our family. I think she's Splinter's favorite, next to me, of course.

[Should he be worried? Shaking his head at the overly casual tone? Both? Teenagers.]

depends on how much it hurt your feelings

did it?

[~~Totally not asking because the player's canonblind; it's just been a while, he's been stuck on this peninsula for two years.~~]

My dearest, sweetest baby brother Michael is more emotional about it T B H. I mean, Draxy threw me off the roof once.

I will never let him forget about it.

[Is he not answering the question? yes.]

[Still sounds like enough of an answer to him!]

you sound like Coco when Cortex tried the hero life

[A tragedy in how brief it was, but the man made his choices.]

Edited 2022-09-09 18:07 (UTC)

1. Rattled

[-Gah!

Seeing that'll wake a guy up real fast.

Minutes later, Gladion is up on his feet and moving. Rather than finding a way up and out, though, his first move is to check the floor. All over the floor, in fact, a scrawny kid in fashionably ripped clothes ducking to peer into corners and gingerly shifting skeletons (with a grimace) to lift their shirts away from the timbers. Thorough, and not clumsy, but unmistakably frantic about it.

An interruption makes him jump. He reflexively slaps at his hip, but of course there's nothing there. Conscious of being alone in the face of possible danger, Gladion rises to his feet, ready to spring into action.]

Who's th-

[He rises to his feet too fast and clocks his head on a beam.]

-ow shit.

2A. Emergency Exit

[This is weird as hell, tbh.

Not the generosity part, that's normal. Maybe. The scale of the city is more like the Megalopolis, but the inexplicably helpful strangers wouldn't be out of place in any Alolan city Gladion's set foot in.

But there's just...something strange about most of them. Gladion thinks, at first, that it's just his own nerves, and he should try to be trusting. But there's something about the interactions that makes him feel cornered. But maybe he's just letting his pride get in the way - but, no, the third unprompted offer of charity has the same cloying feel to it that the first two did. Maybe he doesn't have evidence to prove it, but he's sure these people want something from him.]

Thanks. I'm in a rush.

[Gladion is brusque, flustered and torn between (probably) needing whatever he's being handed and wanting to get away immediately. He snatches the pamphlet and ducks around the woman, walking quickly for about ten feet and then breaking into a run.

He's not quite sure why he did that - the gate of the public park he runs to isn't even around a proper corner, that wasn't a getaway, and he probably just attracted attention - but it's fine, he has more pressing things to think about.

He shoves a hand back through his bangs, getting his shit back together, and looks around for a bench so he can set down the laptop he's hauling around under one arm and read all the handouts he's been given.]

2B. Gluttony

[The moment Gladion finds a place to sit down (the edge of a fountain in a moderately-busy square) and unwrap his lunch (a gifted sandwich, contents unknown), he is accosted by a trio of pigeons.

They mill back and forth near his feet, like pigeons do. And the boy stares openly, staying stock-still, a little wary but mostly bemused and fascinated. For almost a minute his attention is rapt and his hands are unmoving.]

...Hey.

[Being pigeons, the pigeons do not reply.

Gladion picks up his sandwich. Their pacing and circling becomes frenzied for a moment. He pauses again.

He looks around himself. Left. Right. No eyes on him that he can tell. No eyes on the birds either.]

Hungry?

[No reply. His brows furrow, and for a moment Gladion's expression is clouded, pointed at the ground. And the pigeons.]

Me too. Sorry.

[He takes a bite. (The lack of response from the pigeons perturbs him.) And another, watching them do nothing but pace back and forth, picking at nothing on the ground.

Gladion looks up again suddenly, all around himself, and settles down again, and peels a crust off of his sandwich. And then a strip of cheese, and a bit of leafy green, and sets down the sandwich to shred them each into bits. When he leans down to set the whole handful on the ground, the pigeons coo and fuss and swarm the offering. Gladion sits back up slowly, frowning at the commotion.]

I don't have any more.

[The pigeons are unbothered by this.]

4. Early Bird

[Down goes the sun, and up it comes again. And Gladion comes staggering home, fur falling out in clumps behind him, hoodie ripped truly beyond repair now with the sleeves hanging off him and the front tied together mostly by the drawstring. There's little flecks of blood all over his pants, and some on his face from biting through his lip; even as the fur on his arms and shoulders gives way to human skin again, the long canine teeth and black claws on his hands remain.

Werebear fatigue hits like a truck, on top of the basic physical and mental exhaustion of a first transformation. Get home, go through the door, lock it, then sleep all you want, is the plan. But the more of the sun's light creeps over the horizon, the less and less likely it looks that he can make it to his front door under his power, or even his home street. Feet dragging, vision fuzzing, Gladion is seriously considering trying to find a porch to cram himself under, or an abandoned yard, or anything as long as it gets him out of sight before people start waking up and leaving their homes.

The boy staggers and almost faceplants against a streetlight, catching himself with his shoulder and just...leaning against it for a moment. If he closes his eyes, he's going to fall over right here. So he won't. He just...needs a moment.]

Oof, now that's what I call a head injury! [Leo had woken up earlier on the ship and had come back to see there was someone else alive present. He had been poking around one deck, admiring the scenery and mostly talking to himself.

Now, sadly Gladion is Leo's unwilling audience.] You better not knock anything too lose, blondie. Dunno if we can fix it out here.

Hey, if you guys are lucky, maybe your evil dad will make a turn around. I sure won't ever super duper like Draxum, but Mikey wants this to work, so, I'm #dealing.

I mean, ole Draxy is a lunch lady now. He's like a little evil, but, school lunches according to April are inherently evil.

[Helpfully, there's somebody who's nonchalantly making his way through the city at this time of the morning. Somebody covered in bright orange fur, looking like a scrawny Emboar without its signature fire or ornate fur pattern.

The pig minotaur sniffed briefly at the kid if he was too out of it to flinch but more firmly checks if it was possible to get Gladion's attention by giving him a gentle poke. While the former mutant might've asked if the kid was okay, he doesn't look okay.]

[Sigh.]

could try with Aku Aku's brother so he's not like an evil uncle

[Gently touching the impact point to make sure he's not bleeding, Gladion shuffles forward enough to clear the beam and stands up again.

Slowly.]

What the hell, [he mumbles to himself on the way up. Who is this, he asks himself, and fails to come up with any answer that makes sense.

So, assuming that Leo at best understands more about the situation than he does and at worst is responsible for it somehow, his first response is just a glare of wary suspicion. It might have been an intimidating look if he appeared to pose any threat whatsoever.]

[When Lusamine spots the figure on her return to her apartment, his back is turned to her, and a combination of the dim light of dawn, his hunched-over posture, and his new, monstrous features renders him unrecognizable. It is about time for the latest arrivals to be experiencing their first changes, after all; she assumes—so very wrongly—that he is just another new face for her to meet and offer her help to.

Though she isn't a Werebear herself any longer, she understands well the fatigue brought on by the transformation, and the memory of it fills her with pity—more than enough to prompt her to approach and speak up in a gentle voice.]

Oh dear... Hello there. Are you all right?

[A shape that size and color raises an instinctive mix of alarm bells and possible relief. Maybe, like, one alarm bell. It's a Pokemon. No it's not a Pokemon. It's a monster. That gives it about the same odds of being dangerous or helpful, so yeah okay it's functionally a Pokemon, despite actually being a human.

Oh god he is so tired.

Gladion gets a paw around the post and pushes his face away from it enough to look up, his ears twitching sluggishly.]

Hhhnh.

[Your guess is as good as anyone's as to what that means.

Once a few seconds have passed and Gladion hasn't yet been smashed into a paste, indicating that Crash's intentions are probably at least benign and that Gladion should...probably take this as a sign or opportunity to keep moving, he tries to stand up properly, stepping back from the post and not tipping over in the other direction, his energy levels in absolute freefall the whole time.

Hang on. He's got this. He's definitely got this. (He's not got this)]

So, I'm sure you're asking yourself, who is this handsome, debonair, extremely talented man before you? [Leo does not even wait for a proper greeting, just plowing onwards. He must fill the silence immediately.

The dark haired teenager is shirtless and covered in a variety of odd marking son his body. The two red ones on his cheeks under his masks are especially hard to miss. He presses a hand against his chest for dramatic effect.] Weeeell! I'm Leonardo!

We're trapped on what appears to be a ghost ship! It's manned by a... [Pause for dramatic effect] skeleton crew.

If you asked my baby brother, a family dinner should do the trick? I mean, who can say no to a good family bonding event?

Or maybe stop some kind of peril, that is also fantastic for bonding!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 68

TDM: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Leonardo Hamato | Rise Of The TMNT

3 | <DEATH_TORNADO>

<TheCoolestTurtle>

Emporio Alniño | JJBA: Stone Ocean

<DEATH_TORNADO>

Stolas | Helluva Boss (Spoilers for S2E1, but I'll try to keep it vague)

<TheCoolestTurtle>

3

<DEATH_TORNADO>

<TheCoolestTurtle>

<DEATH_TORNADO>

<TheCoolestTurtle>

<DEATH_TORNADO>

<TheCoolestTurtle>

<DEATH_TORNADO>

Gladion | Pokemon Adventures

1

<TheCoolestTurtle>

4 (hello new baby)

<DEATH_TORNADO>

so excited to rp again i let my brain fall straight out of my ears and forgot about humanization.

4

no subject

lol, you're good! I forgot to mention it in my narration anyway

<TheCoolestTurtle>