graveyardsmash | TDM: JUNE/JULY

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test drive

TDM: JUNE/JULY

TDM: JUNE/JULY

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 awaken in a small room, shelves full of cleaning supplies lining the walls. A bucket stands in the corner with a mop balanced carefully inside. How you came to be in this broom closet of sorts, you have no idea. You sure feel sore and hungry, though. Disoriented, you stagger to your feet and reach for the door handle. It responds perfectly to your touch and a second later, you take your steps into freedom.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think you’d walked into 1980s America: neon clothing and chunky plastic jewelry flash eye-searingly in one display window, an advertisement for “The Invention that Broke the Sound Barrier: The All-New Walkman Portable Cassette Player!” fills another. Shops all around peddle fashion from the 1950s to the 1980s, along with electronics and toys. In the food court, with its cheap plastic seating, one will find fries, sodas and even festival-type goods like homemade pastries. Hotdog weenies roll smoothly on a grill. That food sure looks good right now, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the shopkeepers expect you to pay in a strange currency called “solars”. Will you pull an Aladdin and steal a loaf of bread, or will you attempt to appeal to the proprietors' pity?

Take care not to draw attention to yourself, though! Mannequins wearing a variety of 80s fashion patrol the hallways with twitchy, stiff movements. To those from more tech-savvy worlds, they may appear to be androids. Every so often, a very tinny, flat voice can be heard emitting from them–"SAFETY FIRST!" As you hurry away, their heads swivel around completely to continue tracking you, despite their lack of eyes.

And if you opted to steal? A good dozen of them will turn on you in an instant, hunting you down across the mall with far more speed than anyone would've expected them to employ. Maybe you can hide in that ballpit. Or the fountain. Or up the escalators, go go go!

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> Which is the better pet, a fur-bearing trout or a Kulen parasite? Or a timeloop groundhog? Ooh or maybe one of those fish with the big saw blades? C'mon, we've got so many cool animals here! Discuss!

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

[The streets of Bavan are always very busy when newcomers arrive and- typically- Basil tries not to be on them when it happens. It's a little overwhelming, even moreso than the usual crowds, but this time...Basil has made himself come. Why? Well...because Sunny is here, that's why. And if Sunny came, then anyone else could. Kel, Hero...Aubrey.

He tries not to think about anyone else.

So the little Gargoyle has made the trip over, padding nervously from sidewalk to sidewalk, occasionally dipping into a corner store when the crowds become too much. He's been here long enough to know that despite how welcoming most monsters (and humans) can be, at least here, there is a portion of the population who isn't quite so nice. Normally they won't try to attack an unchanged monster unprompted, but they will treat them differently, ignoring them at best, and outright shunning them at worst. Basil, at least, toes a weird line between these two facts, because most humans find him too small and endearing to be afraid of. A select few are paranoid of everyone and everything, and know Basil for what he is.

A monster, whether he wants to be one or not.

He happens to overhear Vash as he whispers something hushed to a concerned passerby, his ears perking. It's not safe, he says with a sort of conviction that most newcomers don't have. Like yes, obviously it isn't safe in a world full of actual real monsters, but...there's something about his tone that speaks to a different matter entirely.

After a moment of nervous deliberation, thinking about approaching but then talking himself out of it, the issue is forced when someone surges past him and accidentally knocks him forward (not hard to do, he's so small), causing Basil to stumble right into Vash's side. He's quick to pull back, looking appropriately embarrassed and apologetic as he holds his hands in front of him, resisting the urge to just slap them over his face entirely.]

Ah! I'm sorry...are you okay?

[He asks after having bumped into him so lightly he may as well have been tickled by a feather.]

[On edge as Vash is, even the slightest bump has him quickly turning. The tails of his jacket whip at empty air, and he looks up, expecting the pale blue of his brother's gaze to stare back at him. It's only once he finds the brick wall of a building staring back to him that he thinks to look... down.

Oh.]

Oh! [Vash's hand lifts, scratching at the back of his head. He flashes a smile that's so warm and laidback that you'd be forgiven if you thought he'd never been on edge at all. This is, somehow, in spite of the fact that the person speaking to him is very obviously not human.

This isn't the first monster he's seen. Vash might have put on the guise of being aloof and inattentive, but he was keenly aware of his surroundings. He'd seen the less than human creatures lurking around corners, hiding in peripheries as if to avoid the human populace. At first, he'd written them off as failed experiments that had broken free of JuLai.

But no. The scientists there might have been as clever as they were sadistic, but going strictly based off of the plumage of the young... man? in front of him, he was quickly piecing together the fact that wherever he was, it was far from the planet he'd spent the last century calling home.

He doesn't dwell on that for now. Instead, he focuses in on the young man.]

No need to apologize! It's my fault for bumbling around, honestly! I didn't knock you in the head or anything, right?

[Basil shakes his head no a little, and for what it's worth, Vash could have deliberately punched Basil and he still would have been fine probably. Though his scales offer him no damage protection, he is still a monster. Resilient against his best efforts, perhaps.]

I'm okay...I...I wasn't looking where I was going.

[He pauses for a moment, taking the time to get a good look at Vash. He's obviously human, a newcomer in every way...yet Basil can't help the way his gaze lingers on his arm. He realizes he's staring a second too late and quickly looks away, his scales puffing out.]

U-um! I know it's...scary here, but the other monsters aren't going to hurt you.

Happens to the best of us!

[That smile doesn't falter. It's broad to an almost blinding degree, but once Vash flicks his eyes open, that illusion falls apart. There's a distance in his gaze, belying the silent calculations he does as he tries to establish some sort of conclusion from what little information he can draw from his surroundings.

Those efforts are dampened by the additional information that Basil offers. He cocks his head to the side, catlike in his curiosity and completed with a rapid blink.]

Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I didn't think that'd be a problem at all! [He says it in a way that almost makes him sound trusting. And in a way, Vash really did hope that was the case. But the fact remained that he was both sturdy and resourceful. He'd been through and survived far worse than whatever this place had to offer, that much he knew for certain.

The question remained, though...]

Where are we, anyway? This doesn't look like any of the cities I've ever been to.

[...Oh. It's...been quite some time since Basil has met someone this optimistic. Despite what he heard Vash saying just a moment ago, his smile is so bright that it's enough to leave Basil feeling lighter himself. He shifts from one foot to the other, and it's enough that he has to look down sheepishly at his feet for a moment, whiskers twitching.

He's a bit jealous. He never even had a sort of naivety that could be crushed. It was all gone from the start. And now, he's realizing, he has to be the one to be the bearer of bad news for this man.

So much for wanting to be more optimistic.]

...this is Ryslig. It's...probably really far from your home.

[It's far from everyone's. None of the newcomers he's ever met have been locals, after all.]

[If Basil was expecting some sort of despair induced breakdown, he'll be solely disappointed. Having spent the better part of a century and a half criss-crossing the sands of his home, he's grown intimately familiar with the layout of each of the population centers. None of this seems in line with the architecture that any of the Seven Cities is familiar with.

Never mind how pleasantly cool the air seems to be.]

So it would seem! [And for some reason, Vash just laughs. By every calculation, Vash shouldn't be in a place like this. Even with his jarring final moments of consciousness, he was keenly aware of his surroundings. Nothing about what happened on the Sand Streamer would have indicated intergalactic travel.

But here he is.

Damn.]

Guess I musta taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way! Oops!

[Well, to be honest, Basil is glad he's not having a despair induced breakdown! It is...definitely abnormal that he isn't, though, and it shows in the way his eyes widen as Vash just...laughs about it. Like he just got off an elevator onto the wrong floor accidentally.

So, for a moment, Basil is left a little lost for words. His mouth works soundlessly, his tail sort of curling nervously around his ankles.]

Um...

[Um!!!]

A...are you used to...traveling to different universes, mister? Because it's kindof hard to just...come here by yourself.

[Then, he adds after a moment's thought.]

Actually, I...I don't think you can...

[He's? Pretty sure?? Everyone he's EVER talked to says it's the Fog's doing...and also, why ANYONE would ever come here willingly is beyond him.]

Oh, I wouldn't go that far. [He flaps a cybernetic hand, it's movement just as fluid as that of his own flesh and blood limb. Another laugh bubbles out of him, as if this were somehow a normal conversation for him.

Even if it does make him a little uneasy when he thinks too hard about the question. He can practically hear the hiss of impossibly sharp knives cutting through the air, feel the impact followed by the painless severance of nerves.

And then he pushes the thought from his head.]

I figured I'd just up and stumbled onto another planet, really. [That is, somehow, the less likely option of the two. But again, Vash is trying to not think about that.] Ah, but... all of that's kind of a lot, huh?

The way you're talking... does that mean you're not from around here either?

[How do you just stumble onto another planet, though? Like...it's inconceivable. Kaito has gone on and on to Basil about space-travel before, but from his understanding it's...not easy. But he's also from Earth, circa 2003, so. The technology is different. Still though, the contradiction is a little confusing...

Either way, Basil nods, fast enough that his ears flop a little with the movement. Yes, it is QUITE a bit of a lot, Vash.]

Mmhm...I came here a couple months ago. Or...I was brought here, I guess.

[It's not like Vash can do it on command! But being casual about it instead of thinking about how out of his element he actually is feels like the better option. Otherwise, he's likely to worry himself into a spiral. After all, he'd left a lot of unfinished business behind.

Right. Think about that later.]

Brought here because... [He pauses, tapping his index finger on his chin.] "You can't just come here by yourself, right?" What's all that about, anyway?

[He rolls his shoulders in a very loose shrug.]

Sorry, still trying to figure all this out!

[It probably seems like Basil is being cagey in his explanations...and that's because he is. Sure, Vash is taking this shockingly well so far...but he's not sure he'll be as welcoming to the rest of it. At the very least, he might just not believe him.

But...Basil has to tell him anyway. It wouldn't be right not to, especially when people were so honest and forthcoming with him.]

There is...she calls herself a God. I'm not sure if she actually is one, really...

[Basil still isn't sure he believes it, because what diety would treat them like the Fog has treated them?]

The Fog God is what the people here call her, either way. She's really powerful...and has some kind of magic that makes it so she can pull people to Ryslig from all kinds of other worlds, no matter where they are...and...no matter who or what you are.

[Even if you're dead...you're not excempt to her reach.]

[It would be nice if he could clame to be unfamiliar with the idea of a powerful creature claiming themselves as a divine harbinger. Unfortunately, the mere concept strikes eerily close to home. For once, this shows on Vash's face, provided Basil can decipher the way his brows pull low over his eyes, or how his body shifts to be tucked just that much further beneath the embrace of his jacket.]

It sounds like she's making a lot of assumptions. [Vash's tone isn't cold, but it certainly lacks the earlier vibrance it had once held.]

Let me guess... no feasible way back, either?

[It is a little difficult to discern, all told...but the way Vash curls into himself is something Basil is intimately familiar with. He understands the shift, especially since Basil hasn't quite yet picked apart how he feels about the whole thing, other than...despair, every time he thinks about it. Because there are so many people who follow along with what she does, worship her, even...and they're no closer to getting home. They really have nothing to show for it, other than a leg-up on the misery he guesses.

So. To Vash's question...Basil shakes his head no.]

No. I wish there was...but there isn't.

I'm sorry.

[And there's that smile. It's smaller this time, little more than a faint upturn of the lips. His head shakes, blond spikes rustling this way and that over his forehead, and then flopping firmly into his face. He blows them upward before finally focusing back in on Basil.]

Aw, none of that, alright? Pretty sure none of this is on you. [He reaches out to pat the young man but... stops short. A brow lifts, a silent query for permission before he makes outright contact. With how vitriolic some of the locals seem to have been, he can't blame his newfound friend for potentially being a little wary.]

If anything, I should be thanking you. I probably would have stumbled around in the dark for another few days without you.

[It's surprising for Basil to hear that, if the way he gasps a little under his breath is anything to go by. This guy...how is it that after everything he's heard so far, he's able to stay so positive? Even now, when surrounded by monsters, told that there's some sort of all-powerful being keeping them trapped here, knowing he can't easily just go back to his home...he's able to smile.

He's everything Basil wishes he could be, but can't.

The faltering as Vash reaches for him doesn't go unnoticed, and with a weak smile, Basil brings his claws up to nervously fiddle with a crochet sunflower affixed to the front of his overalls.]

It's okay. I don't mind...I'm not going to hurt you.

[He repeats, which probably feels laughable to Vash...yet is a valid response here, when anyone and everyone could be on a hair trigger at a moment's notice. Vash doesn't know it, but Basil has killed people here, and will do so again.

He has no choice.]

You're...you're really nice. Mister...um......

Oh-

[His hand lifts, both palms open and held up to his chest. It's a placating gesture, trying to convey a thousand different apologies all at once. It also doubles as a fantastic way to show off that he is... mostly unarmed. He hasn't done anything with his cybernetic, save from the usual talking with his hands, but everything is probably in working order, right?

... save for the spiderwebs of cracks running through it. Now that he thought about it, maybe this was Brad's punishment for breaking the damn thing.

Right. Topic at hand.]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to say that. I was... more worried I would hurt you. [Or at the very least, make him uncomfortable. But with that reassurance in mind, Vash gingerly pats Basil's shoulder.]

You can call me Vash. No real last name, just a few titles here and there. How about yourself?

[The cybernetic arm is interesting. Basil hasn't wanted to say anything, because as unique as it is it's still...a missing arm, and he doubts that Vash wants that to be the topic of their conversation. The fact that it looks broken, though...

Well, he tries not to think about that right now, since there's not much Basil could do anyway. Instead he tries very hard to mirror Vash's smile, and in turn he shows off his rows of sharp little fangs but in that sort of...cute puppy sort of way.]

My name is Basil.

[Also...no last name...don't worry about it.]

It's nice to meet you, Mr. Vash.

[Considering Basil's overall appearance, the fangs don't make Vash any more or less apprehensive about everything. He's always had a good sense for these kinds of things, he liked to think, even if his overall idealism tended to win out over common sense. And right now, that gut feeling was telling him that Basil didn't mean any arm, sharp teeth or no.

In a way, he almost reminds him of Tonis. Or at least what Tonis should have grown up to be.

Right, stopping that train of thought before it gets too far.]

Pleasure's all mine, Basil. I really appreciate you helping me get my head on straight.

I-it's nothing really...I'm just telling you what anyone else would.

[Basil...has not told Vash about the more grisly parts of Ryslig, which Komaeda and others were quick to inform him of because they knew he'd have to learn sooner or later, and better from them than someone else. But it's...not so easy, for Basil.

He knows he should...but he isn't. At least not unless he's asked about it explicitly.]

If...you do have any questions about anything else, though, I can try to answer them.

Feel like I'm more full of questions than answers at this point, but... wouldn't know where to begin!

[He has, for better or for worse, drawn his own conclusions about his situation. From what limited knowledge Vash has, whatever so-called God was in charge of this place had chosen to populate her world with monsters. It would explain those he had seen in his periphery, as well as Basil's own appearance.

And while he won't say as much out loud, it would also explain his own presence there. Just because he didn't outwardly appear as such, didn't mean that there wasn't something more sinister locked within his genetic code.]

Guess I'm correct in assuming you haven't heard of No Man's Land, right?

[No Man's Land? ...he couldn't mean the Wastelands, could he? Certainly not, if he's only been here for a little while...

So Basil hums, tapping his claws together.]

I don't think so...is that where you're from?

Mmmore or less, yeah.

[There's a little hesitation when he speaks, a faint pinch of the brows, before he gives a rapid nod. Almost as if he's trying to convince himself of this information.]

So, not just pulling people from the same place, but from places all over. That makes sense.

[It doesn't make any sense, actually. But Vash is deliberately trying to avoid thinking about how little sense it makes by applying his own form of sense. Which... gives him a headache, the longer he thinks about it. Oops!]

What about you?

[Basil nods, once more tapping his little red claws together.]

I'm from Earth. [Said carefully, because as far as he knows there could be a million different variations of "Earth" out there.] The town where I live is called Faraway Town. It's just...a normal city, with normal people. No monsters, or magic...

[No, the horrors manifest themselves in much more...real ways.]

It sounds nice. Pleasant.

[It should speak to their drastically different backgrounds, that normal itself sounds like a fantastical idea. Yet even so, it's the exact kind of town Vash thinks he would have wanted to grow up in. Certainly better than the desert towns that dotted No Man's Land.]

Do you miss it?

[Basil...cannot work up an answer to that as quickly as he'd like. Because yes, he DOES miss home, desperately. He misses his grandmother, and Polly, and his garden...but there's a lot about home he doesn't want to go back to. The struggles of living there, the tension in the town...the treatement he suffers, it's all stuff he'd much rather bury and not think about.

But that isn't something he's going to unpack in front of a stranger. Fibbing is easier, at least when the broad strokes of his answer would more or less stay the same.]

I do. It can be...really hard, living here.

TDM: JUNE/JULY

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