Test Drive Meme #15

[seasonshelpers]

Test Drive Meme #15
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. The staff nearby tells them that the message has finally been properly updated from the original one that can still be found from the records.

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. We wouldn't have resorted to it if we weren't desperate. Our world has lost the majority of power holders who kept the balance in our world and dealt with the dangers of the Segments. Just having one power holder for each Season isn't enough. That's why we have summoned you to become the new Seasonal Power Holders.

This world is composed of four Seasonal Segments. All of them represent one of the seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. 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 have recently managed to regain some footing in the segments and made them safer, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The Darkness still plagues our world, but we are constantly finding ways to fight back.

Otherworlders like you have already made great differences to the world. They have managed to find and free the dragons who in turn helped us expand the area we live in. They also managed to find the Fairy Queen and even the Mermaids and Sirens of the Great Ocean Lake are at peace due to the efforts of a few otherworlders. All of these things we couldn't have accomplished with just four power holders.

My sincere wish is that you would join us in working towards saving this world. We promise to send you home afterwards, or enable a way to travel to your world and back, as a compensation for your efforts here. You're even free to stay here, if that suits you better. This world can also be yours.

I know we're asking you a lot and that it might be hard to trust someone who just talks as a hologram, but you are always free to approach us at our guilds to talk in person.

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-sized 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 of joining one.

Second type of stand 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.

Third type of a stand has various pamphlets about businesses opened by otherworlders.

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.

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 a room of your own. But maybe having a roommate isn't all that bad?

Part 3

The locals have taken upon themselves to advertise the Welcome Center that is run mostly by otherworlders. Newcomers are encouraged to visit it, but sometimes the people might think someone who has been a while is new.

Inside one finds a modern Japanese style lobby with plenty of sofas, soft seats and cushions to sit on. Anyone is welcome to just sit around and eat some home-made snacks. There are also computers for searching information and practicing technology skills. There's usually someone behind the front desk, but if no one seems to be there they might be in the kitchen behind the front desk area.

Upstairs there are many rooms that can be into familiar places for characters (not exactly the same, but similar) with futuristic technology. It's set up to help fight any homesickness and provide a quiet place to relax.

One bonus the Welcome Center provides is a gift basket with some treats, basic ingredients for making meals and some gift cards for the Underground Mall, to possibly shop for new clothes or other necessary items. All of these have been donated by volunteers to help newcomers settle in.

Of course the people working here are always looking for new volunteers to help around! There are plenty of things to do, all in the name of making otherwolders' arrival to a new world more comfortable.

Fix-It Crew

Part 1

The City of Nightwake has seen better days. Windows and fixtures are broken, plants are damaged, roads are charred, rubble and garbage litter the streets with some bloodstains in the alleys and sometimes even in the open. Anyone asked will explain that in late May, a number of crises all happened at once, and while things are calm again, parts of the city are still rebuilding.

Magical and mundane repair help of all kinds is requested by various civilian homes and businesses. Anyone who answers the calls for help can be put to work repairing and restoring any items and buildings, replacing windows, repairing doors, building things, and/or cleaning up messes. Any help is appreciated... especially since people are reporting random garbage falling on them from nowhere, thanks to an ongoing quest!

Anyone who volunteers will also be able to learn a new spell that allows them to repair their clothing or armour on the go. Handy when you're out in the Segments and can't just go to the blacksmith!

Part 2
City council has coordinated the cleanup effort, and snack stations have cropped up near big repair sites so volunteers can get water and food. The snacks vary from place to place, but are always something popular in the district they're in; for example, a stand in Sunwaning might provide curry pan or taiyaki, Dayrise might have fried fish or cream-filled buns, or Coldreach might let you come in for chips or deep-fried pickles.

June and July is also the time of the Solstice, a traditional Ellipsan holiday, and just because everything is in shambles doesn't mean people aren't celebrating. While volunteers take breaks at the snack stations, they're encouraged to weave flower crowns with provided cut flowers that are already enchanted to last longer. Plenty of civilians are already out on the street wearing theirs!

While it's common to make your own flower crown, people are also encouraged to exchange flower crowns with others. Some natives might urge anyone who tries to pay attention to flower language when doing so. After all, while not everyone knows flower language, a crown that says "nice to meet you, can we be friends" is very different from one that says "I hope you lose your fortune" or, for that matter, "elope with me"!

OBLIGATORY BEACH EPISODE

Part 1

With summer just around the corner, word gets around that there's going to be a giant beach party in Solarpeak. The natives see this as another way to thank the otherworlders for their continual efforts to help across Ellipsa. So, just a couple days before it starts, everyone will receive a message inviting them to come to Solarpeak and join in on the festivities and enjoy the decor and events that they'll be hosting.

Upon entering Solarpeak, visitors will see everything looks ike it's part of the party. There's stalls with a variety of savory foods, drinks, desserts, and frozen treats. Otherworlders can totally find their favorite summer treats in the assortment - the natives did their research!

There's also several events scattered in the sandy landscape and in the pool itself. In the pool - there's floaties, pool noodles, and a variety of fun pool games. On land there's an inflated obstacle course, slip-n-slides, a water gun fight arena, and beach volleyball set up. Party goers are also encouraged to start up their own activities Don't worry - there's plenty of shady spots to relax, too!

Oh - and don't miss the giant bonfire everyday at dark! The bonfire will also include sparklers and smores.


Part 2
As part of the summer event, Sage Blaze is hosting a cooking competition. Sage is the most recent winner of one of Ellipsa's televised cooking competition shows – Culinary Quest. This competition isn't just about being the best chef, either, it's about learning how to cook with love. Sage will be showing anyone who wants to participate how to make sure that the chefs are cooking with feeling – literally!

People who are tasting the food of the participants will be able to taste the feelings of that participants in the food. That means a dish made with love have a boost in flavor, and if the same dish is made with hate it'll be noticeably less tasty.

While there's no real winner in the competition, participants will walk away with a handy new trick. Sage may also call out when they feel a dish is especially tasty or creative – as long as they can taste the love!

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!
• Welcome Center welcomes newcomers and those who have been here for a while alike

Fix-It Crew
• The city is recovering from a disaster, so buildings and fixtures all over need repairs and cleanup
• Garbage and debris may randomly fall on characters due to someone else using a defective magic item for cleanup
• Characters who take part in repair efforts are taught a spell to repair clothing and armour
• Snack stands offer food and a place to rest to volunteers
• During rest breaks, they can also make enchanted flower crowns for the Solstice holiday

OBLIGATORY BEACH EPISODE
• Solarpeak is hosting a beach/pool party!
• Stalls with food, drink, desserts, and frozen treats.
• There's several pool games, floaties, etc.
• Options to play beach volleyball, water gun fight, slip-n-slide, etc.
• When it gets dark, there's a big bonfire with smores and sparklers.
• Cooking competition where participants learn to "cook with love".

- 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 toplevel 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 is open.

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

- You can find monsters to encounter in the Bestiary.

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

code bases by tricklet

Comments

[lyingheart]

The pitfalls to being people who knew each other historically, and Annie's knowledge of him recently being entirely fed by Armin and then the handful of them chasing after Eren once the Rumbling had begun (and the short conversation that returned to her at the end of things) is a chasm deeper than the seas the Colossal Titans had swum. At the same time, and by the same measure, she wishes there'd ever been time.

Not because he'd be talked around. He couldn't allow himself. It was the bullheaded charge toward what he decided or nothing, spinning out without meaning behind the atrocities that'd already occurred.

"You died." She says, not shrugging, still staring him down. What hurts in all of it, what bothers Annie the most, is knowing how it happened; because she'd seen Mikasa's face again and again as they rushed toward Eren's front line, because she knew where that ending led. "If it got you what you hoped for, fuck if I know. But it probably did."

She lets go of the beachball, still staring up at him. What's more annoying is seeing how he got taller, just like everyone else, because that was normal compared to the extremity of his decisions on the path he'd dragged the world down. Why does it have to be something so normal, so mundane, as noticing he's grown? She knew that already, she'd seen him on the Path, but it really isn't the same as seeing him in person.

Nothing's the same, is it?

Annie doesn't know which way to lean with what she's feeling. Violence is easy, had always been the easy answer, but not since laying on that stone floor gasping the air she hadn't had in years. If it was musty or sweet, she couldn't remember. Just knowing what had happened, and that she had to move.

Here, though, what's there to say? He's already dead. So many of them are already dead. Yet he's standing there, and is that a ring? Annie flicks her gaze from Eren's hand to his face, once again wondering when he and Reiner had taken that step. That it's a misunderstanding doesn't even occur to her, since Reiner never refuted her statement about his theoretical marriage to Eren Jaeger.

What it does do is give her a focus, when the rest of what she feels, what she knows the people around her felt, won't.

"Do better by Reiner than you ever did by Mikasa," she says in the end. "Founding or Attack Titan or whatever, I can and will kick your ass if you don't."

Violent words... and hell, she means it, too. If this is the lauded chance they never will have back home, then make it better, not just new.

[dreamsofwings]

Of everything he might dream up for Annie to say to him, that sure as hell isn't it.

You died, she says, so much plainer than Levi had. Levi said we stopped you, but Eren has always known what that meant. There was only ever one ending.

He doesn't look away, though he wants to. He owes it to her to just bear it. There is nothing he can do to make up for the world. He's known that for years, and still he moved inexorably forward as if he had all the answers. Sometimes he's still convinced he did. In some distant or too close future, he has more of them than here on this shore. Either way, he has too much information from too many lives lived. He couldn't put himself back together again, couldn't forget, couldn't change it.

This is all he can ever do, fight to stay here where he doesn't have to make that choice.

"I don't know," he says, which is part lie and part truth. What did he hope for? A future for a handful of people who were unfortunate enough for him to love them. Freedom, whatever that meant, whatever the cost. "I haven't yet," he adds. He doesn't really clarify which part, because it doesn't matter. He hasn't died, that's for sure, though he knows it's coming. "It's been…"

He does look away then, eyes drifting off to some horizon only he can see as he tries to think about time in a way that makes sense. He puts enough of it together.

"Probably three years since I was at home at all."

He catches the flicker of her gaze and is confused for a second. Why would she mention Reiner…? Eren knows the ring is there. He knows that other people have mistaken it for a wedding ring, but…

"You talked to Reiner?" he asks. He's not sure if it's good or bad.

Something else snags in his memory, though, a girl eating sweets in the market. He doesn't know when it was, how long ago.

"Annie. You don't remember this place, do you?"

[lyingheart]

Three years, from before he died she guesses. Annie doesn't have the heart to ask if it's from before the Rumbling, too. It's irrelevant in the long run. In the short term, also.

"Then stay here." Stumbling with whatever grounding in a space and time settled away from the miasma that's their own. "It's already over there. You don't need to go back."

Perpendicular timelines or whatever is going on here, Eren's plans have reached some form of fruition, and the survivors are left to deal with picking up the pieces. Reiner's made it apparent that he and Eren have a life here. Given she knows both of them, or more Reiner, back home... That Mikasa is as staunch in her desire to never know that every nightmare of hers is brought home by the very person she'd always wished so desperately to save most? Staying here for all of them might be the best kindness.

Not that she knows how feasible it is, and she's just as aware it's not strictly a choice.

"Yes, I've talked with Reiner. Why else would I say do better by him?"

Annie has no innate sense of people being romantically (or physically) into each other unless she's pointedly paying attention. There'd be no way for her to call Reiner and Eren getting together in another world and time, just as there'd be no reason for her to not.

She narrows her eyes a touch, studying his face, shifting so the water doesn't suction her feet further into the sand.

"Jean mentioned I'd been here, but that's it. I don't remember it myself." No memory of anytime but when she'd been just breathing with the dust falling all around them, guns sighted on the untransformed Eldians, and Armin running through, the thud of his maneuvering gear hitting the dirt louder than it had any right to be.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren scoffs a little at that.

"You act like we have a choice. Did you choose to come here?"

He hates admitting there isn't one, but with so many of them gone back to less than ideal fates, he accepts this reality. Any of them could just blink right back out the way they woke up here. He hates it.

"But I'll do everything I can to stay here. I never want to go home either."

He's never claimed that he'll change the future if he goes home. If they remember this place when they leave, it still won't matter. Eren will always do what he set out to do. There is no future where he changes his mind, or changes course. He can admit that, even if it makes him a worse person than some people think.

Some people, like Annie, like Levi, know exactly what he is. Levi has given him more second chances than anyone deserves. Annie…he can't be sure yet.

Reiner, of course, has always known what he is. Reiner knew that Eren was the worst person imaginable to have the power of the Founder. Somehow, here, Reiner can love him anyway. Eren always wonders what they could have been at home.

The answer is nothing good, but even Eren can dream. Sometimes.

He shrugs a shoulder. "I guess I'm surprised you said it like that, instead of telling me to fuck off or something."

Not that it would do any good. Eren will always do exactly as he pleases. He's been like that for most of his life. Really, he's a terrible soldier, no good at following orders unless he feels like it.

He frowns again. It's strange, this idea that she could come and go and not remember. This is the first time he's encountered that and he doesn't know what to do with it.

"I wonder why you don't remember," he says. He could ask Dawn or someone, but he doesn't really think any of the people running things here will answer. It's possible they don't even know.

"Where did you wake up here? What season?" he asks, curious. He can't really predict it. He's not good enough at aligning people with traits.

[lyingheart]

"So people aren't trying to find ways?" Annie gives him a flat look, arms hanging loose at her sides. She does her level best not to let her fingers curl into fists. No steps toward violence, because even if she had the heart for it in the moment (anger without violence is sort of strange, she realises) she doesn't have the desire to get into conflict in public, let alone a public celebration.

She's always been better at choosing her moments when she's needed them. Eren... haaah.

"After years of this, and enough people who've been here for years, I can't believe they wouldn't. Hope's the hardest thing to kill." The last said softer, eyes drifting away for a beat of her heart. Only that much: she can't trust Eren, really, anymore than she suspects he trusts her.

"Like telling you to fuck off would do anything, even if I felt like it." She says with a scowl. Her eyes close briefly, breathing in deep, and exhaling in a long, low sigh. When her eyes open again, she stares straight up at Eren's face.

"I'm tired of fighting, Eren. Even if you and everyone else dragged me right back into it back home. Don't make any of us watch you die again." She glances over his shoulder. "And make sure Mikasa and Reiner never have to be the ones if for some fucked up reason you want to be taken out again."

She doesn't think he wants to. She can't really believe, deep down, that Eren had wanted to die. Not seeing another way forward, sure, that's his brand of obstinate, and certainly too risk taking to be any good in any military, but he'd had that blindness to his own mortality when he was younger that she doesn't think mutated into acceptance of death. No more than Reiner was able to succeed, at least, and Eren clung to what he'd claimed to be fighting for, knowing the consequences of his plans going right.

She runs a hand through her hair, keeping the motion smooth and slow instead of as swift as she'd prefer. No reason to make him jumpy.

"Who knows? Maybe I came back wrong." She sounds utterly unconcerned. Worse, she actually is. It's unchangeable, so stressing over it is pointless. She's still too caught up in the fallout of everything back home to be worried about details of herself in another world.

"My season?" She moves the hand on her head to gesture at the beach. "Summer. Why?"

[dreamsofwings]

Eren shrugs. He's tried to figure out how people come here and how they leave, but it's an answer that no one really has.

"Trying, but who knows?" he says. "There were more of us here. Armin. Historia. Hange. They disappeared without us ever knowing." If there's bitterness in his tone, for once, who can blame him? They deserved a life here more than he ever will, but he stays and they're gone. "Maybe they went somewhere else. I was in another world before this one. Anywhere would be better than where we came from." Even before the Rumbling, that would have been true. They'd lived in hell from the moment they were born.

Eren has no idea if it turns out better on the other side. What he knows is that they — most of them — get to live.

He isn't entirely surprised to hear Annie say she's tired of fighting. Aren't most of them? Isn't Eren? Maybe, though he can't consciously own that. Anyway, there's no choice but to keep going. Fighting is what he knows, and if fighting will save Ellipsa and let them all stay here, then he will fight anyone he has to.

"I don't want to die," he says. "I never wanted to die."

He thinks of all the times Jean called him a suicidal blockhead. It was accurate and not accurate.

"There was just never another way."

He knows how that kind of thing sounds. He knows he can't defend his choices and why bother? She's already survived them. Eren himself won't and can't. In his stupid black and white thinking, that is all there is.

"Death in this world is…it isn't permanent. People don't die here. They do, I mean, but they come back. Still, I wouldn't bank on it. I don't have any intention of dying, or letting anyone else die again."

Again, because Jean did once. Again, because Hange and Erwin and Sasha are already dead (though Sasha not yet, and he hopes she never knows). Again, because of countless people Eren has killed, is killing in some warped timeloop part of his brain, will kill without question if he returns home.

"Maybe," he says, without judgment. Who knows how the magic here works, changes people? What matters is she's here. Reiner will appreciate her presence, he's sure.

"Just curious. Me too. Sometimes magic is the only thing that works here, against monsters or…whatever."

He doesn't tell her he can make titan size fireballs. She'll find out sometime or she won't. He can't completely discount that they might one day be opponents. He finds himself hoping they won't be.

"This place is too good to be true," he says. "We have to save it."

Not for the people who live here, really. Eren is not selfless by any stretch of the imagination. They have to save Ellipsa for themselves, so they can have a life, so that the future sight portrait Evangeline gave them comes true, him and Reiner grown old. They should all get to grow old. In some ways, that's the future he was always fighting for, even when he got lost in the weeds of his own insane plans.

[lyingheart]

Annie, picking up on undertones and language, narrows her eyes a touch. She's not glaring, but she is puzzling over something he said. "What do you mean, again?"

Not for all the people she knows are only alive because they're here. Bertholdt. Sasha. Eren. Erwin. Frieda apparently, but Annie isn't sure yet how much she does or doesn't care on that count.

She considers what he's said about magic, lifting a hand to look at her empty palm. It's where she would usually see her ring, notably absent. No point wearing what won't have a purpose here. Maybe Eren will realise that too, but maybe he won't. He doesn't seem fully grounded, and probably hasn't been for quite some time.

Is that something Reiner helps with? Reiner sure seems to think so. Annie's inclined to believe it may be true.

Her head whips back to Eren at the we have to save it. "Can you not say shit like that? You want to save it. This is a world screwed over by human greed, like hell it's too good to be true. But it's the one where people have a chance at anything better. You can work toward saving this world without turning it into another fight where you ignore the collateral damage!"

Talking to a wall, since that's exactly what he's always done.

[dreamsofwings]

"I mean what I said," Eren answers, deadpan. "A friend died here. He came back, but we had no way of knowing that would happen. It still sucked for him but if it happens again…"

He doesn't need to finish that threat. He punched Jean for dying once, he'll punch harder if it happens again.

"It's not a risk I'm willing to let anyone take," he says, as if he can do anything about it. He has no delusions here that he can control what other people do. He doesn't want to, never has. The very idea of forcing other people to do or not do something makes him sick. There are a million other terrible things he would do without question, but people should be free to make their own decisions.

Manipulating people, on the other hand…that's different, obviously.

"I do want to save it," he answers, eyebrows drawing together. His motives are just not about the world itself. He does not and cannot give a shit about the world. He will always place his people above everything else, even if it puts those same people in danger. This is a lesson he refuses to learn.

"I'm not ignoring anything," he says. "I've never hurt anyone here on accident."

It's arguable whether he hurt anyone at home on accident, either, but still.

[lyingheart]

She still gives him a look, wondering who it was... wondering how well Eren tells people they're friends or not these days. She doesn't know, and doesn't expect to find out.

"Hah. So you get to make those decisions for other people? That's bullshit, and you know it." Annie also knows it works. She's seen the consequences, and if anything has her hackles up right now, it's knowing how effective he is almost in spite of himself. There's many things to be said about the triad that'd been Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, but not one of them could be called charmless.

Not even Mikasa, though when they were younger, it was a little, just a little, enjoyable to tease her over the overprotective and undereffective streak she had toward this man in particular. Annie holds herself still, not trusting Eren to recognise himself in these ways anymore than he ever had. Mincing words by saying he'd hurt no one here had a certain air of yet lingering about it.

"So you're keeping your titan out of all public areas, keeping your actions as one concise and direct, and not rushing in before pausing to think? You sure you've changed that much out here?"