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Seasons Mods ([personal profile] seasonsmods) wrote in [community profile] seasonsgreetings2024-10-18 10:32 am
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Test Drive Meme #11


Test Drive Meme #11
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION



Arrival


Part 1


You arrive in an unknown space, dressed in white clothes (player choice what kind of clothes, as long as they cover everything). Whatever was happening to you before no longer happens. It's like everything was put on a pause and you were transferred away from the situation without you realizing it happened.

The space that you find yourself in is one of these four options:

An empty landscape filled with snow and ice, almost like a blank canvas.
A field with cherry blossom trees and spring flowers.
A sunny beach near an ocean that seems never ending.
A quiet forest with falling autumn leaves.

All of the spaces seem to continue endlessly. No matter where or how far you walk it almost seems like you're not moving at all. There are no animals here - just those who happened to wake up there at the same time, in the same place. Everyone is wearing the same kind of plain, white clothes.

Despite the possible rollercoaster of emotions you might be feeling, the place somehow feels familiar. Like somehow you belong there.

And it looks like you're not alone.


Part 2


After half an hour has passed the surroundings change as everyone is teleported into a room with all the other new arrivals, no matter what space they woke up in. It's a large place with plenty of seats to sit in and beverages to enjoy. Medical attention is offered to those who need it and the doctors here are very prepared for any challenging situations.

Here, in this room, everyone gets an answer to where they are and why. A hologram of a man appears at the center of the room, waiting to be heard. He brings a message on behalf of the leaders of Ellipsa (someone near the hologram mumbles that Olwen still hadn't sent them a new message, even if he talked about updating it).


The Message [ Click to Expand ]

Hello, my name is Olwen. I'm one of the leaders of Ellipsa as it currently is. I'm also one of the four who summoned you here.

Our world is in trouble and we need your help. I apologize for tearing you away from your world and forcing you to come here but I hope you understand. The magic we used doesn't let us ask in advance, nor does it let us choose who we bring here.

This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons. They were the places we used to get our resources from, but now they're dangerous places no one should go into unless they have the power to fight back. All of them have their own sets of powerful monsters and natural catastrophes.

We used to have plenty of people here who could control the powers of the four Seasons. We called them Seasonal Power Holders. Unfortunately, due to a tragedy you can read about later, we lost almost all of them. Now only four of us remain and the world is in chaos. We have done our best to protect the world, but we need more power holders to do that.

That's where you come in.

All of you have been assigned to one of the seasons. Whatever space you were in just now is what season you represent. You will learn different skills based on the season and those skills are going to help you save this world.

These powers don't interfere with your own natural powers. They use a new energy that has formed inside of you. It's harmless to your health, but it's vital to your seasonal powers. Your own powers should still work, even if the dark energy outside the city might interfere with them.

Unfortunately bringing you here wasn't as simple as it sounds. We couldn't do anything about how to keep you anchored to this world other than making a simple spell that helps with it. That is, you need to touch someone else who is not from this world ideally at least once a day. It will help you stay in control of your powers and boost your magical energy. If you don't, the consequences aren't very good. But as long as you hold someone's hand or give someone a handshake, you should be fine.

That's all I have to say about the situation. The staff of the Research Center will give you more information about housing and other necessary things. I will, however, promise that you will be sent home once the situation becomes better. That's the least we can do.


The hologram can be viewed in private in a separate room later, should someone wish to look at it again. For now, the staff of the Research Center hands everyone their new smartphones with their small flower lucky charms (the flower is anything the player decides). They're also told that the building next door is where everyone can find a room assigned to them with some of their belongings there and possibly even any animal companions. Those concerned about their mount-sizes companions are welcomed to the stables downstairs to see if their friends are there. The mounts are allowed to stay there until you find a place more suitable for them.

In the Arrival's hall there are also several stands with information pamphlets.

First type of stand is for the local Guilds and about the benefits or joining one.

Second type of stands is for the Welcome Center that aim to show otherworlders what the world is like and help guide people in the beginning of the journey and helps in getting settled into the new world. They even have people to help if you're unfamiliar with the new phones.

Once you get your smartphone and necessary information, you're urged to go out and find your apartment. After that whatever you want to do is up to you.

Part 3


The building next door is where everyone can find their new apartments. As you enter, you're told by a friendly native that for the first two months you can live anywhere rent-free and five meals a day are paid for you. After that they get a monthly payment that helps with some of their living expenses, but otherwise they have to have a job to support themselves.

All of the apartments are comfortable, two bedroom apartments with all necessary utilities. They are also completely soundproof. Sometimes the magic system, however, does glitch and you might find yourself rooming with a stranger. This is not the intention and the staff will immediately prepare you your own room if you ask them. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?


Hymn for the Missing


Part 1


October is once again the start of the nameless festival of honoring the dead, where regular people can join in helping ghosts pass into afterlife. This ritual can only be done at this time of the year, as the air is filled with a mysterious essence that helps with passing on. The scientists have yet to properly determine what the essence truly is, but it seems to concentrate on the park and at least it's not dangerous for the living.

Much like last year, the key is to partner up with someone and hold up a special wreath made of flowers. Once the wreath starts glowing they must release it and let it float upward. During the ascent, the ghost will be visible to everyone, even if just for a moment, before vanishing with the wreath, leaving behind glowing, floating lights in the air.

Another part of the festivities is sending off floating lanterns. These lanterns can be used to pour all thoughts and feelings of someone the person misses and send it to the skies. Legend says that it will eventually reach the person they thought of, alive or dead, eventually on its journey. It's also viewed as a way of lessening one's emotional weight.

Ortherworlders are also encouraged to light special candles. Doing so will grant them a protective spell that will be with them until its spent. All damage they receive will be halved for three hits. This spell can't be stacked, but it can always be redone during the course of the festivities (until late November).

Part 2


The restaurants in Blossomcrown are also participating in the festivities. They are offering the ghosts a chance to enjoy one final meal before leaving the world. This is only made possible by volunteers.

The food will be provided by the chefs: All the volunteers need to do is let ghosts possess them. They'll be given a magical brooch to hold that will make this happen. Once the ghost has taken over someone's body, they will tell what their favorite food is. It could be just a strawberry cake or something more exotic like haggis.

After they've enjoyed the meal the ghosts usually leave the brooch and the stop possessing the person. However some of them are greedy and will run from the restaurant. It's likely they want to fill their heart's final desire, whatever it may be. It could be singing on a rooftop or even running naked through the marketplace.

During the two months the festivities are happening, the natives will be much more understanding of any weird stunts and crimes the otherworlders do, assuming they're possessed by a peculiar ghost. Unless they see that someone doesn't have a brooch, of course.

Those caught doing dangerous and/or malicious things without being possessed will be put into a pillory for the afternoon, so natives can toss tomatoes at them.


Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Nightwake


Part 1

Nightwake has adopted Halloween as an official holiday. The city has been decorated with various spooky things and people dress up in different themed outfits. Even the cat-sized dragons residing in the city have cute accessories like witch hats or devil horns.

The natives are especially proud of the haunted houses they've set up on every district. They fit the theme of the place they're in and some of them even have actual ghosts to set up the mood. Nothing actually dangerous happens in the houses, just some good-willed spooky fun and perfectly cut screams.

Stores are also doing a promotion for boo baskets! Anyone who gathers a basket full of halloween and autumn filled things (clothes, food, decorations, chocolate etc) will get 50% off for their total purchase! The boo baskets themselves are designed as various things, such as pumpkins, bats and different monsters from all around Ellipsa. Anyone is also welcome to design their own basket.

Speaking of baskets, during the festivities everyone will receive a harvest basket on their doorstep. There are those filled with vegetables, some filled with fruit and berries and then a mix of both. Usually all baskets have at least apples, corn, potatoes, pumpkins and squash. The card in the basket says "Please enjoy these, but don't leave them sit in the basket for too long!"

Part 2


A few days after everyone has received their harvest baskets, something strange starts happening. Vegetables that haven't been eaten or prepared for later somehow start growing at rapid speeds. Most vegetables just grow into the size of middle sized dogs and stop there. Locals suggest carving the pumpkins especially into small houses for Harvest Fairies... or just for decorations. Some pets really, really love pumpkin and might enjoy a small house built for them.

Corn is the worst one to leave in the basket as those grow a full corn maze all around the district they end up growing in (including in the house it started in). It's entirely possible to encounter a corn maze even in the middle of Frostreign. Magical corn doesn't care about the soil it grows in.

It doesn't take long for corn maze turf wars to start happening. Mysterious moving jack o'lantern (creatures with pumpkins as heads on different bodies - including void cats pretending to be jack o'lantern) and very regular seeming scarecrows start fighting over their territory.

The locals try enlisting anyone to stop the fight because jack o'lanterns carry lanterns and try to set the scarecrows on fire - and no one wants the corn maze to go up in flames when some of them connect indoors. The scarecrows in turn use any weapons they might get their hands on - including people and animals.

Of course getting rid of the mazes is also a priority. Fire is a no go, but the farmers are willing to lend their scythes for the occasion.

Part 3


During October 21st, Nightwake natives are engaging in a weird new tradition. Apparently, while looking at modern holidays, they found a something called a National Throw a Short Person - day. So it's entirely possible to see short people being thrown into different soft mattresses and other surfaces lined up for the occasion.

They're even encouraging people to participate, saying that it seemed like such an important holiday to honor. How they came to that conclusion isn't very clear.

OOC TIPS


Summary of the prompts [ Click to Expand ]Arrival
• Characters appear in one of the four seasonal spaces, depending on what season they are
• After half an hour they are teleported to the Research Center lobby and given information
• Hologram of Olwen (Winter Guild Leader) plays, explaining the situation
• They're given their smartphone-like device and told about the Starter Apartments next door
• Possibility of finding a roommate!

Hymn for the Missing
Part 1
• Nameless festival of honoring the dead starts and continues until late November
• Flower wreaths are used to help ghosts pass onto afterlife
• Floating lanterns are send to skies with thoughts and emotions of someone missing attached
• Lightning candles will give people a protective spell

Part 2
• Volunteers are asked to let ghosts possess them so they can enjoy one last meal
• This is possible by a magical brooch
• Some ghosts will want to do other things as well and run away
• Those caught doing dangerous and/or malicious things will be caught in the pillory

Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Nightwake
Part 1
• Halloween is now an official holiday
• Decorations and costumes pop up everywhere
• Every district has a themed haunted house
• People are encouraged to make boo baskets
• Everyone will also receive a harvest basket with an ominous message

Part 2
• Few days after the harvest baskets are received, magic happens
• Vegetables start growing into the sizes of middle sized dogs
• Corn will make full corn mazes everywhere
• Turf Wars start in the corn maze between jack o'lanterns and scarecrows

Part 3
• October 21st is the National Throw a Short Person day


- Ask your questions related to the TDM here.

- The TDM is available only to friends of the mods and their friends. If you want to play in the TDM, please leave a note here to inform us who invited you over. We will get to you as soon as possible.

- Test Drive is open for current characters to make a top level as well. New characters can add TDM on their subject line to indicate they're new!

- Current characters cannot access the starting area again to meet new arrivals. They can, however, be at the Research Center when the newbies are teleported in.

- The TDM is game canon so anything in the TDM can happen for your character(s) in the game as well.

- Smut is not allowed on the TDM. You can play situations leading to it, but if the thread is turning into smut, please move it to a private space such a post in your character's journal, or a locked post in the game's log community if you decide to app!

- Check Locations: City to find more areas to explore inside the city. Every place in the districts are open.

- Similarly, Locations: Segments is useful for outdoors adventures.

- You can find monsters to encounter on Beastiary.

- FAQ has information on characters' smartphones as well as general things about the world that might be handy.



code bases by tricklet
snekeyes: (Pout...)

One smol snek

[personal profile] snekeyes 2024-10-21 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[There was at least some relief in her posture seeing him retain his calm composure. At least he wasn't too flustered about the situation!]

Yes, that potion, and... that would be appreciated. I may have to rely on you a little.

[She felt safe staying with him for the few hours it would take for the potion to run it's course. Her Master was very reliable, when it came to things like this, so it would be alright to rely on him a little, wouldn't it?

The question was another matter, though.]


...But no, I did not particularly want to be thrown around, but... um...

[Nope, definitely too embarrassing to admit this part out loud! Her cheeks were already starting to heat up as she answered in his mind, averting her eyes again.

"...since this morning, I kept overhearing the locals commenting 'no, she's definitely too tall'... little things like that...it, um... bothered me..."

She trailed off, a light frown coming into her face. It sounded even more silly when she tried to explain it, didn't it??]
mayoninofukucho: (Mission Complete)

[personal profile] mayoninofukucho 2024-10-22 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
[Hijikata may be an insensitive bastard man, but he'd never make fun of his Servant for her height complex. After all, he's laden with a few complexes himself, much as he refuses to acknowledge it!

"That wasn't very nice of them - but try to see it in perspective. They were just saying that you're too tall to be one of those puny people getting flung around for entertainment. You and I, we're throwers, not throwees."

He can really only see every situation as a binary, can't he... S and M, combatant and civilian, and now we have thrower and throwee, apparently!]
snekeyes: (Little smile)

[personal profile] snekeyes 2024-11-04 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[That did make a little smile come into her face at least- that sure was one way to look at it!

"Well, I suppose there is that... I would not have appreciated them tossing me out of nowhere."

Glancing back up at him again- it was strange, being the much smaller one here. It was the opposite to when she'd been Gorgon, wasn't it? She'd towered over him, those times she'd taken that form.]


mayoninofukucho: (Enjoy it while it lasts!)

[personal profile] mayoninofukucho 2024-11-04 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[He's trying to act normal, but rest assured, he's getting a kick out of this! He didn't expect to ever find their roles reversed in such a manner, and he can't help but wonder it he looks as awe-inspiring to her as she did to him, back then. Does his voice reverberate in her tiny ears? Can she appreciate his features from a new perspective? All totally normal thoughts to have in this kind of situation! He reverts back to speaking openly, prompted by that idle thought.]

Would you like to get something to eat? They're selling Halloween specials everywhere, and in your current state, a morsel would probably be enough to fill you up.

[Not that he couldn't afford to take her out properly at her regular size, but wouldn't it be a fun little venture?]
snekeyes: (Blush!)

[personal profile] snekeyes 2024-11-05 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
I wonder what sort of things they have... I am a little curious.

[That slightly flustered redness had come back into her cheeks all the same- she couldn't tell whether he was enjoying this or keeping his cool, but she was embarrassed all the same. For now, she stayed sat on his palms, not wanting to lose her balance by standing up once they started moving.

Instead, she'd reach behind her to grip onto one of his fingers with both her tiny hands, for stability. Her Master had done something similar then, hadn't he? Her memories were a little fuzzy, but he'd held onto Gorgon's huge claws, just like this...

This really was strange.]


...just be careful you do not get jostled in the crowd?
mayoninofukucho: (Cheerful)

[personal profile] mayoninofukucho 2024-11-05 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[How cute is this!! Her hands are as tiny as the paws of a mouse! It's such a struggle to keep a straight face!]

No worries, I'll be careful. What food are you in the mood for?

[Given her tiny size, he'll go for a snack - hot or cold, sweet or savory - rather than a full meal. Whether they eat at a standing table by one of the "seasonal" pop-up food stalls or on one of the park benches, he's be able to set her down there.]
snekeyes: (Oh? What's that?)

[personal profile] snekeyes 2024-11-13 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
What would you recommend... maybe something not too sweet?

[Once he's found somewhere to set her down, she carefully leapt off his hand onto the flat surface- grateful and precise as she always is, just in miniature!

...She's genuinely surprised he hasn't picked on her more for this mess!]
mayoninofukucho: (Hijikata Special)

[personal profile] mayoninofukucho 2024-11-14 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
[He knows what it's like to be bullied!! Were he in her situation with a regularly-sized Okita, he just knows that the sadist would order a western-style meal just so he could torment him with the cutlery. As such, he stubbornly orders a noodle dish featuring generous amounts of flavourless pink food dye and being advertised as 'scrambled brain'.

Once he receives the meal, he takes a singular noodle out and offers it to his Servant.]


I'm not sure if there's enough space for even just this in your stomach, but enjoy - and be careful, it's hot!
snekeyes: (Settling down)

[personal profile] snekeyes 2025-01-19 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[She'll crouch down on the table, blowing on the noodle before nibbling it. Not bad at all, even if the food colouring looked a little garish-]

...mm, not bad.

Have you been getting involved in many of the festivities, Master?
mayoninofukucho: (Tea Time)

[personal profile] mayoninofukucho 2025-01-19 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[There are vegetables, too - similarly brain-like cauliflower chunks, orange pumpkin slices, and mushrooms which apparently always go with any eerie brews and stews -, and he moves some of those within her reach, too.]

Yeah. I've been helping some ghosts move on and get a last meal before leaving this plane, and lighting lanterns and candles... speaking of which, you need to try the special candles they've got this year, if you haven't already. If you light them at home, you'll have realistic illusions of everyone you miss with you as long as the candles burn.

[She could see Sakura and her sisters!]
snekeyes: (Little smile)

[personal profile] snekeyes 2025-01-19 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
They will not make me glow this time, will they? That was embarrassing enough the last time...

[The naturally introverted Servant did not appreciate suddenly having the locals fuss over her! Still, a little smile came into her face- yes, she wanted to see them again...!

Meanwhile, she'll take a slice of mushroom with both hands and start nibbling on that, too.]
mayoninofukucho: (Here we go again.)

[personal profile] mayoninofukucho 2025-01-20 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
It sure was. But no, they seem to have discontinued that effect. Maybe they got too many complaints.

[Seriously, who the hell wants to have their prior death(s) broadcast to all and sundry?!]

I only tried these new ones after Oryou vetted them.