TDM: APRIL/MAY

[ryslighelpers]

TDM: APRIL/MAY

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

You wake up from a deep and dreamless sleep to find yourself lying among the ruins of a burnt-out, empty town. Your head aches and your limbs are stiff. The ground here is scrubby with half-grown plants and barren stone, and while there are a few buildings - most notably the large, empty hunting lodge at the center of the town - there is no sign of life.

Almost no sign. Wander around, and you may start to spot others like you, lost among the bones of empty buildings and abandoned firepits. Perhaps you’ll enter the lodge, which is still more or less whole, and find the bloodstains on the wooden walls, the meat hooks waiting empty in the kitchen. Perhaps you’ll discover, among the empty huts, graffiti scrawled in rusty red: TAGE LIVES.

Perhaps, out of the corner of your eye, you might see a flicker of movement; a figure that looks almost, but not quite, human. These figures will not attack you–in fact, if you approach or call out to them, they will quickly flee, vanishing into the ruins–but they watch you from afar, and you can’t quite shake the sense that they’re waiting for something.

Maybe you shouldn’t hang around to find out what.

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> I'm booored. Who wants to play Twenty Questions? It's like… You choose a thing, right? And say you're ready to play, I suppose. And then someone else will ask you twenty yes/no questions to try and guess what the thing is! It HAS to be questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no". Entertain me, network friends!

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? Does it fit you, or does it feel incongruous with your nature? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Comments

Sunny 🔪 OMORI

[oversleep]

_{CW: Sunny's canon and his character as a whole deals with difficult issues. Please read his warning before tagging.}

ONE.

<sub>[ Another day of waking up (unfortunately) and another day of being unsure of what was real and what wasn't. Bleary, tired eyes open-- not the familiar feeling of of the sun casting it's warm light through his windows. The visual before him is something he hasn't seen before, but after dealing with these hallucinations for four years now, he's become a bit numb to it. The ceiling can turn into spiders and he wouldn't care at this point because he's seen it plenty of times. Stiff limbs and headaches.. also something he deals with on a regular basis. To Sunny, all of this is just.. normal. He had ONE DAY LEFT to finish all of his chores before moving. He should probably rest as much as he can.

Dark, hollow eyes that have no spark in them warily glance around, taking in the spectacle. It felt like he was outside, but he hasn't gone outside in years.. so what was this? He hadn't dreamed.. maybe this was a dream? Ideally, someone would get up and explore.. or try to find someone to help. Sunny takes in a deep and steady belly breath.. and..

... curls back up in a side ways fetal position to go back to sleep. Someone help. ]</sub>

TWO.

<sub>[ His heart is pounding in his chest as he wanders this strange city, chanting to himself that he's still dreaming, none of this real, EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY. He's too nervous to speak or interact with anyone, but someone does hand him a pamphlet with sympathy before hurrying away. Sunny takes it, eyes bouncing down to it as he continues to walk.. slowly and unsteadily. There were far too many people here and he hasn't interacted with them (or the outside world) in so long.

He reads the text on the information sheet and his skin grows paler than it already is.

You're already a monster, a voice nags.

Anyhow, this small and feeble looking 16 year old is walking straight into the street. Maybe.. rescue him? ]</sub>

THREE.

_{[ Sunny doesn't really know how to play this game and neither does he want to play because.. getting to know people does Something to his social anxiety. He's never been one to tiptoe around how he felt about something once he got the courage to say it, unable to read social cues which results into bluntness. ]}

< un: omori >

you're inferior.

_{[ He's talking.. to the computer. Sunny, pls. You're from circa 2003. It's not like computers were that great in your era either. ]}

↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A
_{[ SON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING........ ]}

TwoooOAAAAHH

[polarvoid]

[Basil doesn't want to go back into the city.

After his experience in the Pale- after what he was forced to go through with countless people, only managing to finally escape with Max and Gladion's help- he would much rather avoid Bavan for as long as he can get away with. He knows, logically, that the strange Fog is gone now. Things are "back to normal" as they tend to be towards the end of the month, but he's still feeling unsure. Restless. But there are things in the city he has to (no, wants) to do. He wants to help Horatio with the Community Garden. He wants to walk with Max to the bus stop to see her off to school. And the Gargoyle in him wants to fly, even though he can't yet figure out how to get his wings to work. He wants to keep doing these things.

Which is why he's here. Today he's actually on a trip to the hardware store, not for gardening supplies because you don't need those when your own two hands have become shovels, but to see if there are any new sprouts he can add to his collection he's refurnishing in his bedroom after accidentally torching the previous ones.

He might have missed somebody walking right out into traffic, if they hadn't done it just a foot or two in front of him.]

Wh- hey!

[It's a reflex as Basil moves without thinking, reaching out and grabbing Sunny by the wrist to pull him back just as a car speeds past, honking angrily at him on its way. A monster, maybe, would have survived being struck. This boy...would not have. And with as close of a call as it is, Basil is left with his scales rattling fearfully as he takes a small step back on the sidewalk.]

H-hey, are you o-

[......

He takes another step back. Then another.

No. No, it...it can't be. The Pale, the things he was seeing before...they're all gone now, right?

He's not real. There's no way.

Basil wishes he had Max's music. Kate Bush to drown it all out. To bring him back to reality. Except that this is reality, he just doesn't want to believe it.

Sunny can't be here. Not in this horrible place.]

S......Sunny?

RUBS MY FILTHY LIL HANDS TOGETHER LIKE A FLY

[oversleep]

<sub>[ Sunny hadn't been paying too much attention to what some of the residents around here looked like. He had seen some colorful figures in the distance that weren't human, but with his overactive imagination, he often saw monsters in his dreams. They were friendly. They were kind.. but some of them were not.

Suddenly, a strong grip has him by the arm and he's pulled back. Never in his life has anyone cared about him to try and save him from.. anything. Nobody besides.. well.. that guy. That guy he was trying to forget. In fact, he didn't even remember what Basil sounded like at this point. He hadn't heard him speak in real life in so long; the small voice he had in his dreams was from a twelve your old Basil, not one who has a deeper voice now.

Sunny jerks his hand back because that felt.. so very weird. So very real. This was real? Was it real? Who and what was this creature?

His hands tremble violently, his whole body beginning to shake from there as he takes an uneasy step back. If this was real, this was a real monster. Logically, someone would run right away, but Sunny has always been fascinated with the odd and strange. Plus, this thing knew his name, but the way he's looking at Basil clearly shows he has no idea who or what he is. ]</sub>

[polarvoid]

[It’s when Sunny jerks back like that, flinching away like he’s been struck, that Basil remembers himself. He’s…not a human anymore. He changed all at once at the Palazzo, gruesome and painful, and now he’s a Gargoyle for real. A Pangolin, more specifically, but he doubts Sunny cares about semantics just now. He tenses, his tail and ears perking, before all at once he just…seems to fold into himself. He brings his limbs close- tail and wings included- as if to try to get as small as he possibly can. And like this he is actually quite small, only a little taller than Sunny but not much bigger.]

I’m sorry! I- no…

[He can feel it. The panic, trying to well up in his chest. It makes him want to turn and flee, to leave the city and go back to the Palazzo and pretend this didn’t happen. It’s probably just another hallucination, but…

Why does it feel so real, this time? Why is this happening?]

I’m…I’m not going to hurt you.

[Basil is unrecognizable right now, yet…maybe some parts ring oddly familiar. His wide, green eyes. The overalls he wears, a crochet sunflower pinned to his chest. Instead of his pink flower, the horns growing from his head grow flowers themselves. Incidentally today they’re cherry blossoms, bright pink blooms with petals that shake from his head as he trembles.]

[oversleep]

<sub>[ It made logical sense to Sunny that this was just some dream of his, especially of this unrecognizable creature knew his name. Though.. something was different.. it knew his real name and not the name of his alter. Something about it seems familiar. Something about it seemed nostalgic. His expression shifts from something terrified to something puzzled, his eyes squinting as the gears are turning in his little traumatized brain.

Sunny was a smart kid even if his imagination got him in trouble. He was perceptive, but since he's been living in a dream world for such a long time, it's hard to distinguish the days. It's hard to distinguish the years. It's hard to remember people and things.

Sunny decides ultimately, this creature did save him and sounds just about as shaky as he does (when he does speak) but he's still unsure if what he is living in is reality.

Only one way to find out which we will get to that in a moment. ]</sub>

Protect me.

_{[ Oh. Demanding little thing, isn't he? It might be a good thing he doesn't recognize this is Basil, actually. ]}

< white t. poison >

[oneandonlyone]

[Well, that's an interesting response.

Mob tries his best to figure out what it means, but other than looking like the button sequence to a fighting game, it doesn't seem to mean anything obvious. This person must be really smart...]

is that a code?

[oversleep]

if you don’t recognize it, do you truly think you deserve to understand the meaning of life?

_{[ He is deadpan messing with you, buddy. Despite his overall gloomy demeanor, Sunny does have an offbeat sense of humor. ]}

[oneandonlyone]

[Eh?

Mob is caught like a bug in a pair of tongs. He's...supposed to recognize it?

Staring deeply at the sequence reveals nothing.

Mob sweats.]

i guess not.

that's ok. life means different things to different people anyway.

[Mob...]

[oversleep]

<sub>[ He honestly hates this has somehow engaged a person, but Sunny will continue talking until he feels it’s okay to leave him on Read. It’s not because he dislikes people; he just gets nervous speaking to them.

But since we are particularly existential right now, he will ask: ]</sub>

what does it mean to you?

two!! please avoid other route spoilers 💜 | cw: car crash imagery

[zoomingupthathill]

[ It's the designated new arrivals day, and Max doesn't really know why she's here. It's not like she wants to see anyone from home show up here. The ideal is, she escapes this fucked up world and gets back to them. Not anything else.

But... On the chance...someone does show up...

Max trudges into the city in her old-new car, a cool blue 1979 Camaro. A lot of memories attached to it, most of them bad, but driving it is...empowering, somehow. She has to get used to city driving, more practice as Basil said, and if she finds someone she knows, it means she can easily give them a lift back without the risk of them seeing her legs give out. It's been a bad week.

The issue with all of this is, well, her eyesight still isn't any better either. She squints and strains in the fog, which she is also not used to driving in. Her window's down and blaring Kate Bush, as so to signal her approach, and she grumbles, ]

How the hell's anyone supposed to see anything like this, stupid obfuscating piece of—

[ And that is when she gets close enough to see the boy walking into the street, right in front of her. ]

SHIT!!!

[ Max slams on the break and tries to swerve. She's not even going that fast, especially for her, but the sudden appearance of someone, jaywalking right in front of her? Yeah, no. That's going to surprise anyone.

She jerks the wheel so hard that the car almost spins out, drifting into the other lane. It's a bit of a miracle there's so few people driving; if there were, even her drastic maneuvers wouldn't be enough to keep this pale boy from becoming someone's new hood ornament.

But there aren't, and it's mostly just her, outside of a car that swerves onto the opposite sidewalk, as hers gets in its way. The oncoming car brushes against the Camaro's sideview window, and yet the thing doesn't snap off. Strange!

Not as strange as or as attention-drawing as the boy, however. Max breathes heavily, even though in her undead state she doesn't need to, and tries to get a look at what's become of him—as she thinks she missed, but it all happened so very quickly. ]

noted!

[oversleep]

<sub>[ Sunny’s life had always been a little strange even if it was especially quaint up until four years ago, but even before then, he found his head in the clouds far too often. This wasn’t the first time he had almost gotten hit by a car when not looking before crossing the street. Back then, he felt the familiar hand of his older sister pull him back into her loving arms as a speeding car went whirling past. This happenstance kind of reminds him of that.

However, there is no Mari to protect him here. Not anymore.

The whirling wind from the vehicle does knock him off kilter and he goes tumbling to the ground— not hit by the vehicle itself, thank goodness, but in a very child-like fashion he has scuffed both the palms of his hands and his knee. The pain that hits him feels real— but all this time Sunny has thought he was still dreaming. After all, it was hard to distinguish a difference between dreams and reality at this point in his life.

Of course, the bolt of adrenaline and anxiety that pours through his veins like a waterfall, reaching each individual fingertip like a firecracker also felt real. Unlike in the past, he doesn’t completely panic, seeing as he has overcome a few obstacles of his own back home. Instead, he calms down. Instead, he focuses on his senses.

What startles him the most is the fact that he’s bleeding, even if it’s lightly, and that clearly indicates one thing: This isn’t a dream.

Slowly, his trembling hands lift to his face, dark eyes watching in interest as blood seeps from the small wounds. He hasn’t even noticed the other who was driving the car yet. ]</sub>

[zoomingupthathill]

[ Of course, Max seeing him out there on the ground, staring at his hands— she thinks she's hit him, and she immediately throws the car into park and climbs out. ]

Shit. Shit, I am so sorry, I didn't see—

[ The girl that bends down to get a look at Sunny is paler than he is. It must look like staring at a corpse—because he is. She is one, no heartbeat or breathing to speak of. Fur peppers across her cheeks. One antler looks broken and bleeding. She's a monster, a weird undead deer. ]

1/2

[oversleep]

_{[ ma there’s a weird fucking stray cat outside ]}

[oversleep]

<sub>[ Well.
All of this was very real. Anytime he injured himself in Headspace there was never blood; only turning into Toast. Literal Toast.

But since he’s bleeding and feeling pain, this must be something else. Something he’s unsure about. Another hallucination? Maybe?

His shiny knife is missing from his person otherwise he would try to strike at this thing if it came any closer, much like how he’s fought his hallucinations in the past.. maybe that’s all this was, but he’s never seen something like this before. Never.

Sunny scrambles back on his hands and feet, awkwardly crab walking on the ground away from Max, his breathing beginning to speed up and his lungs starting to grow tight. ]</sub>

Pl.. please. Go away.

<mindblown> 3

[redtapes]

[It comes through a little later, as an audio response. Until he's figured out the speech to text component, this is how it's going to have to be.]

I think these may be a little early for your Konami code.

[oversleep]

_{[ Oh No. People are responding to him. This is the last thing he wants happening to him… people make him nervous. ]}

CTRL ALT DELETE

_{[ PLEASE DELETE THIS PERSON… ]}

<mindblown> cw joke about dying sorry

[redtapes]

Buddy, if that worked? I'd be way ahead of you.

I don't think the network administrators here care too much about inferiority/superiority, though. Sorry.

One - OK with any spoilers, have played!

[bunnydoesntlikeyou]

[Natalie wakes up not far away, curled up in a corner on the remnants of a loveseat. She sits up and stretches, then blinks a few times. This ... is not St. Dymphna's Memorial Psychologic Institute. She looks around curiously, also thinking this might be a dream. When she sees the boy half her age with the black hair, she tilts her head and squints, curiously.]

... Bunny?

[because he had been her only cell mate. who else would it be?]

I hope u cried like a baby like I did

[oversleep]

<sub>[ now WHO is talking to him when he’s trying to go back to sleep? Who is this? Clearly it’s a hallucination like all of this other stuff around him and the best thing to do is to just ignore it.

Instinctively, he shifts, curling into a tighter ball and even cupping his hands over his ears.

If it was all in his head, though, why would covering his ears matter? It was just a natural response anytime he heard sounds that weren’t there. ]</sub>

One! Spoilers fine.

[freezerburnt]

[It's jarring, but not completely. One second, he's entrenched in battle, flinging fire and ice and taking injuries that stall but don't stop; and the next, he's in a near-vacuum of space. The sounds around him are white noise—the ambience of a deserted town nestled between trees with a howl of wind just outside that lends to the stillness around him. A stillness that makes it immediately clear that he's been transported somewhere else.

Is it someone's quirk? No, he tells himself, Kurogiri wasn't nearby. At least, not that he knows of. He has to compartmentalize it, put it away somewhere to process later when the immediate threat is figuring out where he is, how he can get back, but most importantly, how dangerous it might be to be here.

The second threat, or rather, concern, is that there's someone occupying this desolate cabin with him. Someone curled up on the floor (breathing, thankfully), and in a position that makes it hard to tell if he's injured or not. So getting back to the fight can wait. His first job as a hero is to protect common citizens.]

Hey, can you hear me? [Shouto calls out to the boy, reaching out a hand to gently touch his shoulder.] Are you hurt anywhere?

[oversleep]

<sub>[ Sunny had always had difficulty with expressing his entire thought process and emotions— facing existentialism starting at a young age and being plagued with it until his now teenage years. One thing he never struggled with, however, was anger. A sweet kid, but his temper was explosive once it reached its limit.

The thing he values the most right now is sleep.. because that is the closest thing to happiness and safety he can feel.

When he’s disrupted, he opens his eyes and gives Todoroki a look.. and it’s not a pleasant looking one. ]</sub>

…

_{[ yeah no he wants to turn back over, fuck this shit ]}

[freezerburnt]

[Shouto is immune to Looks™. He's classmates and even, arguably, friends with Bakugo.

Still, it isn't enough information and he's worried that leaving this guy to sleep in such a place will end up doing more harm than good. He won't shake him awake or anything, just in case he is in pain—but the lack of response is no more helpful than it is concerning. So, much to Sunny's chagrin, Shouto won't take his hand off of that shoulder.]

Hey, if you're tired, let me carry you to a better spot to sleep, alright?

[His voice buoys slightly from its normal flatness, giving his words a gently imploring edge to hopefully convince the boy. They don't know if this place could come down at any moment, so on top of the pure weirdness of the situation, his first priority will continue to be getting to a safe spot...]

< Eb7#9 >

[unholey]

Just as a heads up: you've posted to the public RSDOS network. If you're trying to use another application, you'll want to close this one first.

Otherwise, your inputs will get posted for everyone else to read and reply to.

[oversleep]

everyone can see this?

_{[ one of the biggest Oh No’s he’s ever felt. ]}

< Eb7#9 >

[unholey]

Yes, that's correct.

Don't worry about it too much. If you're embarrassed, just switch your display name next time you want to access the network. But if you don't want to bother, I doubt anyone will remember this outside of the moment.