Test Drive Meme #5

[seasonsmods]

Test Drive Meme #5
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Arrival

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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 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.

Third type of the stands is for The In Touch Support Group that is led by the Otherwordly Ambassador, Kamisato Ayato. The pamphlets have contact information for businesses looking to help Otherworlders. They also focus more on the lore of the World and what they have discovered so far, as well as a guide on what to think about when preparing to venture out to the Segments.

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?

---

Light a Candle For You

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Part 1

All throughout the city, a festival is taking place. It's the festival to honor the dead. The areas are decorated with aesthetically appropriate lights and different flowers. Upon a closer look it becomes clear that all the flowers are bundles of flowers, based on the otherworlders' flower charms. Where a characters' flower is depends on their Season, but all of the appear in the Nightwake Center district.

The main part of the festivities is to light candles in various places. There are even floating lanterns, that can be either launched to the skies or put on surfaces of water. Those who have lost (= to death) someone at any point in their life will receive a message from them in their dreams and otherwise pleasant dreams about them if they light up a candle during the festivities.

Those who have died before (back in their world or on Ellipsa) will receive a protective light around them if they light up a candle. This light will also let the natives know to treat them with kindness and respect during the festivities. They will even receive special bonuses at some of the shops and restaurants, like discounts or extra items. The light itself will decrease any damage done to them for the rest of the month. The light will dim "when needed", but even as it's not easily noticeable, it will continue to protect.

Characters may receive both of these effects.

Part 2

The second part of the festivities involves making small ghosts made out of paper or cloth. These crafts are for the local ghosts to possess so they can be seen by everyone. Once the ghosts have possessed the crafts they will hover around the place, experiencing the festivities better than in their ethereal form. Only ghosts that wish to move on to the afterlife will possess the crafts.

Some of the ghosts gather at the Blossomcrown Park where magical crests have been set on various tables there. These ghosts are those who have been waiting for this moment to pass onto afterlife. Everyone visiting the bonfire will be given a special flower wreath. The goal is to wait for one of the ghosts to move and take hold of the wreath (literally holding onto it with their craft ghost forms) before placing it on the crests together with another person. This will help the ghosts to cross the border into afterlife. The wreath disappears after the ghost has passed on. 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.

The park also has some places to just sit down and enjoy the atmosphere at the park. There are also some food and drink stalls.

---

We All Become What We Pretend To Be

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Part 1

The final part of the festivities is the multi-day Costume Party Masquerade happening in the largest airship of the city. The ship circles around the whole city of Nightwake, occasionally stopping at the dock and taking new passengers (or letting old ones out) before continuing on again. The airship is special, as it has a giant ballroom in the middle. There are also cabins, some more private and some more communal for those who just want a quick place to crash rather than a proper room.

Everyone who boards the airship must wear some sort of a mask, but they also have to be in a costume of some sort. Those who don't have either or both will be guided to a dressing room where the magic will pick them whatever they are missing at random (= of player's choosing) and dress them (their current clothes will be waiting for them at the airship station later). No one escapes the rule of a costume and a mask around here!

A magic is also applied to everyone's mask, making it harder for anyone to recognize the person wearing it (possibly even those who know them very well). This is said to add some level of mystery to the evening. Of course the spell will pause whenever someone takes off their mask and that may reveal a secret to someone. No one will just automatically forget if they saw someone take off their mask.

The music encourages people to dance and be brave in asking a stranger to dance with them. Thanks to the atmosphere of the masquerade, touch energy will feel even better than usual, even if you'd be "fully loaded".

Part 2

Another sort of magic sneaks into the party, as people's costumes start to take over their personalities. Someone dressed up as a king might start acting all regal, while a vampire look-a-like might try to bite someone in their neck. Some might even lose the sight of who they really are and completely take on their new roles for the time they're in the airship and in the costume.

Fairies will start trying to bomb people gone weird with water balloons, as a splash of water on their faces will wake them up from the trance (even if the said person is wearing a mask). They're even teleporting water balloons for others to toss - especially if it looks like someone is acting a bit too dangerously.

Another way is to strip them out of their clothes, but that might be something reserved for the privacy of a cabin, rather than the ballroom.

Even once someone has been freed from the spell they can unfortunately be spellbound again later on - but it's just less likely.

---

OOC TIPS

- 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

Comments

eren jaeger | attack on titan | summer | already in game

[dreamsofwings]

LIGHT A CANDLE FOR YOU
Possible TWs for murder, genocide, titans eating people, parental death.

PART ONE:

Eren is slow to take up the candle custom. He's slow to want to join in any sort of festivity to begin with; this isn't his thing, really. But this one about remembering the dead seems topical, so he shows up.

Find him crouched by the edge of the water, a stream of candles in front of him moving away into the waves. He whispers names for each of them, but most of them are unintelligible. If you listen closely, you might hear a couple: Sasha. Ramzi. Grisha. Hannes. There are so many others that it might seem troubling. That's a lot of death. Is he okay? (Spoilers: no.)

There's one that he holds onto, though, as if he's reluctant to give it up to either water or air.

"Carla," he says, this name clear as day.

PART TWO:

Ghosts, you say? Eren can be found here with his own pet ghost — er, ghost Pokemon. Yamask seems fairly at home here, though it sticks close to Eren, clutching its mask in its tail appendage tightly.

You might notice Yamask interacting with one of the floating paper ghosts. Are they talking? Are they just vibing? Who the hell knows. Eren lets Yamask do its own thing, though he's never far away from it.

He does eventually pick up a wreath, looking around for another person to join him.

WE ALL BECOME WHAT WE PRETEND TO BE

PART ONE:

Thanks to Eren's penchant for losing his shirt or just not bothering with one for some reason, the costume that gets picked for him is also shirtless. It comes with a gold mask, dark pants, and black feathered wings attached to him with some straps around his arms. His nails are painted black and his hair is left down. From behind the mask his eyes seem almost too green.

He sticks largely with the food and drinks, though if someone is very insistent, he may be convinced to go to the dance floor. Maybe get him a drink first.

Eventually that gets to be too much and you can find him on the deck without his mask for a bit. He's not at all chilly despite being shirtless.

PART TWO:

Later in the night, the costume warps Eren into a demon. He can move quickly and silently, though the flutter of wings may sound. He may appear behind someone at any location, bringing extra darkness with him.

"Dance with me," he says, less a question than a demand. Thanks to the touch energy thing, he's much more likely to casually touch, trailing sharp fingers along an arm or something like that. He has the barest touch of a smile on his face, but his eyes are dark and cold.

Or, "You have something I want." (Dealers choice what that is. A drink? A snack? A kiss? PG-13 and under options only though.) He'll likely offer a trade in return, but you should be careful making deals with devils.

[ If you'd like to break him out of this spell, temporarily or otherwise, lmk and we'll figure out how. ]

WILDCARD

Whatever else you might like, throw something at me! I'm boywonder if you want to plot something out there. New and old CR welcome. I'm in favour of handwaving that our characters have met previously to skip past introductions. I prefer prose but I'll match brackets.

masquerade 1

[abnormalizes]

Evangeline heard 'dress as something scary, wear a mask' and got entirely the wrong impression. She is at least aware enough to read the room when she arrives, leaving her self-conscious about her Sweeper costume sticking out and hovering around the edges of the party... which just makes the costume creepier, unfortunately.

Once Eren has his mask off and she can recognize him, though, she's happy enough to see someone she considers a friend and will go right up to him.

"Eren! Hi! You look great."

She's still wearing her mask, but remind her and she'll take it right off.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren turns towards the voice, made unrecognisable by the spell that keeps them anonymous as long as they're masked. He raises an eyebrow, questioning obvious even under dark makeup.

"Uh…thanks. It's some kind of costume spell. Sorry, I don't know who you are under that."

[abnormalizes]

"Oh, sorry!" Evangeline takes off her gas mask, revealing her identity to him (and also making the overall effect of her costume a little less creepy). "It's just Evangeline."

[dreamsofwings]

Eren isn't all that easy to creep out (considering what he turns into!) but that mask was pretty strange. He's not sure who he expected, but it wasn't Evangeline.

"Oh. Hey. What...exactly is your costume?"

masquerade part two

[carvemyname]

[ Tony took off his mask awhile back, so he isn't transformed by it or anything. When Eren starts buddying up to him, he gives him an odd look. Partially because nobody's ever been this close to him, but partially because he can sense something weird about all this. ]

What's wrong with you...?

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren's eyes are mostly hidden behind his mask, except when they flash too green for a moment. One side of his mouth curls up in something that isn't quite a smile. ]

Nothing. What, you don't like dancing?

[ He's still close, though not touching. ]

Lights 1

[badsunrising]

[ Nikkolaus doesn't mention any names as he sets his lanterns afloat. There are only two of them but he watches them with the deepest reverence, pressing curled fingers against the sun amulet on his throat.

That doesn't mean, the litany of names being whispered close by doesn't catch his attention. Because, yes, that is a lot of death. Though it does also beg question why only one is lingered on. ]

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren feels Wolf's eyes on him. He's still holding that last lantern. Eren doesn't really do anything with reverence, but there's a level of care to it, sure. ]

You lost people too.

[ It's not a question; the answer is too obvious for that. He looks down at the lantern in his hands, glances to the ones he already set in the water, floating away to join countless others. ]

Sorry you know what that's like.

[badsunrising]

Only one that I actually remember. But loss is part of life.

[ The last bit sounds more like he's trying to convince himself.

His gaze finds the remaining lanterns. ]

I imagine it's different when... it's a lot.

[ In what seems to be a short amount of time, given Eren's presumed young age. ]

[dreamsofwings]

Unfortunately, yeah.

[ Eren says that fairly neutrally, but it's clear from all the lanterns that he's experienced a lot of it. Wolf already heard a little about Eren's world, months ago when they first spoke. But what Eren doesn't go around telling people is that so many people have died for or because of him — and more will, if he has to live the future.

Some of these lanterns were for them; he gets time mixed up in his head.

He looks down at the little lights floating away on the water. ]

Loss is loss. Everyone born into the world mattered to someone.

( part two )

[nilhilistic]

[ rafal is dressed as a vampire . . . with a penchant for candy. he seemingly blinks. ]

You want me to dance?

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren just blinks back. He hasn't really had much candy, though he has a definite sweet tooth. (Not that he can compete with Rafal.) ]

You don't want to?

[nilhilistic]

[ he shrugs. ]

I've never considered it. I also find it strange that you have. You seem unsure of fun activities.

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren tilts his head and stares back with unblinking eyes. ]

Do I? I have fun sometimes.

[ He does not, this is completely untrue. But he has danced a couple of times (thanks Folkmore!). ]

Masquerade 1

[rustyhonesty]

Jean is dressed up as prince (mask). It's something he chose himself since he had been dressed up as one before.

He comes out to the deck for some fresh air. Airships still made him a little uncomfortable, but the cool air helped more than the party atmosphere inside. He takes off his mask, too, to feel the air on his face.

It's not hard to spot Eren and he makes his way to him.

"Quite a party", he says, once close enough.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren turns when he hears Jean's voice. At least this one is familiar, since neither of them are hiding behind masks for the moment. He hopes they won't lose each other when they put them back on. The anonymity is all right, but he'd rather know who he's talking to.

"Yeah. I don't usually go to parties," he says, which is only half true. He kept ending up at them whether he wanted to or not back in Folkmore, and somehow he keeps getting dragged to them here.

"You pick your costume?"

[rustyhonesty]

At least they know each other's costume's now, so they have a better chance at recognizing each other.

"I've been to quite a few, during Empatheias and Avalon. I like them, but I can't handle them without breaks." Which why he's here. He assumes Eren's also here for similar reasons.

"Yeah. I didn't want to risk a random costume." With his luck he'd be Maid Jean or something as embarrassing now. "Did you?"

[dreamsofwings]

"I've been to a couple before here," Eren concedes. "Usually just wound up there without meaning to." Folkmore was that kind of place. So far, Ellipsa has been better about randomly forcing him into some location he didn't mean to go to. But the magic in Folkmore was a little more low key sinister thanks to Thirteen being so chaotic.

He shakes his head.

"No. I don't know anything about costumes." He spreads his arms out. They're painted black from his hands to halfway up his arms, but the paint doesn't seem to get on anything.

"Whoever designed this stuff probably thought this was funny. But it could be worse."

masquerade part uno;

[nickotine]

He's still trying to get his bearings — that much is going to be as clear as crystal for the next little while — but he thinks Vash would like to see him settling in as best he can, and if that means participating in the local festivities, there's no real getting around that, now is there?

Dressing the part is going to take minimal effort, if he has anything to say about it at all; the mask covers the lower half of his face and a part of him hopes it might frighten away anyone that wants to make idle ( read: stupid ) small-talk, because he's not about to be too invested in a conversation if the topic lingers around something like 'nice weather we're having, huh?' for too long. The ears and tail that come with the whole shebang leave a little to be desired, if you ask him, but no one is and if it weren't for that, his regular attire wouldn't make for a very good costume.

He wanders. He meanders. He eventually makes his way out to the deck with a drink in hand and a sigh sitting in the back of his throat as he reaches to pull the mask from his face. Just for a moment of breathing in fresh air not through a snarling mouth.

It's only when he's gotten a cigarette lit and is taking a deep pull from the filter that he notices Eren, and more to the point that the other is shirtless. Considering Vash had been barefoot when he'd first bumped into him ( nearly literally ) it doesn't seem that out of place, but. Still.

"S'a little chilly to be wanderin' around without a shirt," he muses out loud, and though it's posed as a question, it doesn't sound like one. More like a statement than anything else.

[dreamsofwings]

Eren is leaning on his elbows against the railing when Nicholas finds him there. There's some wind here but it's not too bad. It blows his hair around a little and for a second (probably thanks to magic, not wind), he looks a little otherworldly. He has no idea of that himself, though. He's self-aware internally but what he looks like? Enh, he doesn't pay much attention to that at the best of times.

It does sound like a statement, but he answers anyway.

"I run warm," he says, which is true. "Anyway, I didn't pick this costume. It just sort of…happened, you know?"

[nickotine]

Nicholas doesn't look at him properly for the first couple of drags on his cigarette, but when he does finally give him more than a sideways glance he does look a little … something that isn't entirely human, but he doesn't think anything about it. Not right then, anyway, because he's seen enough weird shit in the last little while that nothing really surprises him anymore.

He chuckles lightly at the response he gets, though. "Didn't pick mine out, either. Never in a million years would I put on ears and a tail willingly." He pauses, flicks the ash from the end of his cigarette absently. "Mask's kinda cool though, I guess. Could be worse." Another pause, and even though he only has the one pack with him, he holds it out to the other in offering. Seems only polite, and he thinks Vash might be proud to know he offered in the first place.

"Want one?"

Light a Candle For You, Part 2

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata saw Eren by the water earlier. He was there lighting candles when the samurai passed by, and he was still at it when he came back a while later... just how many candles did he light?! It lingered in Hijikata's mind, and he felt bad for not going over to him, but he had to escort a pyrophobic little otherworlder girl away from the festivities.

Luckily, he gets the opportunity to make up for it when he sees Eren looking for help with the wreath. (He actually spotted the Yamask first and, knowing that there's only one around, it didn't take him long to locate its owner.) He walks up to him with serene expression. The sombre atmosphere has actually been getting to him, but he smiles for both the ghost that has grasped the wreath and for Eren. The former shouldn't leave this word surrounded by gloomy faces, and whatever Eren may be feeling, Hijikata thinks he has the capacities to absorb some of his burden if Eren allows it.]

Let me help you two with this.

[He holds on to the other side of the wreath and, with the little paper ghost in the middle, steers their small group towards one of the tables holding the crests. Before they send the ghost off, though, he wants to ensure that the soul won't leave any regrets behind. His voice is friendly as he asks:]

Are you sure you're ready to go?

[The ghost's voice is barely a whisper, yet it sounds lively.]

I've been ready for months! I have many loves ones waiting for me. I just didn't want to pass before the festival.

I can't blame you for that. This is a special time for sure.

[He glances at Eren, silently asking if there's anything he wants to add - and if not, he'll wish the ghost a safe journey to the other side before setting the wreath down on the crest with Eren and watching ghost and wreath disappear.]

finally slides in here

[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren isn't all that surprised to see Hijikata. They run into each other a lot, after all. He's actually…a little relieved to have a familiar face that isn't someone who died several years ago! Sure, this is a festival about death, but damn.

Yamask floats a little closer to Hijikata as well, appendage still holding the wreath. It probably recognises him at this point; whether it cares that Hijikata is scared of ghosts or not, who knows. ]

Okay. Let's go.

[ He's quiet through the exchange with the spirit. What does Eren know about being gentle or encouraging? He's forgotten so much of that, and he wasn't good at those things to begin with.

What would it be like to actually be ready to move on? Eren will probably die and just be an angry ghost forever, he thinks. He can't imagine closure. He can imagine the end of the world, but…peace? Not really. Not for him.

But this isn't about him, it's about this spirit. ]

Goodbye.

[ It seems right to say something. Yamask holds on to the wreath a little second longer, staring off with its strange tearful face as the ghost disappears. Apparently Yamask isn't ready to move on either.

Eren looks at Hijikata. ]

Thanks. Thought you were scared of ghosts, though.

♡

[mayoninofukucho]

Me? No, no. I'm not scared of ghosts - not of these, in any case. And not of the dangerous ones, either! It's just that, well, some caution never hurt anyone, especially without death magic.

[There he goes rambling in denial again... back during the graveyard quest he was blatantly scared shitless, but he still hopes that Eren's mind somehow glossed over that! It's true, though, that he isn't frightened right now. These ghosts trying to pass on to the afterlife remind him too much of the ones he took in as his subordinates on Avalon.

As they step away from the crest to make way for the next wreath bearers, he searches his jacket pocket for something and ends up procuring a small bag of pokémon treats (he picked up a bunch of them at Riki's shop for his Pignite). He offers one to Eren's Yamask.]

This little fellow must feel in good company here.