TEST DRIVE MEME: JANUARY

[simpathis]

— TEST DRIVE: JANUARY —

Welcome to empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

• Date reminders. Reserves open Thursday, December 25th and Applications open Friday, January 1st.
  
  
• Emotions are key! Empatheias' premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. Also, while we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
  
  
• Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
  
  
• Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
  
  
• First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples!

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!


PROMPTS

• Prompt A: Things are a bit out of control right now, and that includes your emotions and the elemental cores. Just the slightest feeling will be exaggerated. You were only smiling a little? You're now a walking light bulb. Just a little pout? Strong torrential rain is now over the entire block.

• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request.

• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes…

• Prompt D: Empatheias is currently experiencing an island-wide blizzard. Several thick inches of snow covers the landscape, and with the city's unusual architecture, falling snow from the eaves of roofs is an actual hazard to be wary about. So what can you do with it? Do you play in it? Throw snowballs? Try to help clear the roads? Or does your mood actually worsen it by creating your own mini blizzard or make a large patch of melt or even turn to rain and pools of water?

• Prompt E: The city is worse for wear and needs help getting fixed up. This can be done one of two ways: physical labor or using positive emotions to help speed the process a long. Which do you try?

• Prompt F: Empatheias doesn't celebrate Christmas, but quite a few of the PCs have decided to celebrate it amongst themselves. Will you help spread the season of joy and free will? Or try to ruin it? Don't forget your emotions will reflect your mood.

• Prompt G: Make your own! It can even involve pigs or a bucket of paint.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!

Comments

Akame | Akame Ga Kill!

[killtheempire]

-A-
[Trudging through the snow with you and not really thinking much about anything, Akame came across a restaurant she had never noticed before. The smell of cooking meat wafted out the front doors, her stomach rumbled, and abruptly the snow around her feet started melting in a widening circle of warmth.]

I'm hungry. Are you hungry?

[What can she say? She likes meat.]

-D-
[Whatever reason you have to be out in the wilderness while it's snowing, it had better be a good one because damn this sucks.

Which is why it was so bizarre to come across a campsite out here in the middle of nowhere. Just as you wander in, so does Akame from the other side, carrying the carcass of a deer over her shoulder. Yup, Akame is continuing her monthly survival training trips even in the middle of winter.]

What are you doing out here?

-G-
[For whatever reason, Akame decided someone had to kill you and it might as well be her. There was no posing, or dramatically announcing your crimes or her intentions. At best you got the warning from the sound of fabric rippling in the air as she leaped at your back, sword at the ready.

If rumor is to be believed, even the slightest wound from that sword is fatal in seconds. Best move quickly.]

D

[necrosister]

[I'm assuming an uneasy truce has been called already because if you app we probably don't want to have the same damn fight thread in the testrun and in actual game continuity

Kurome was wondering who set up this tent. She's looking for a place to make her own.]

You're not the only one who trains, big sis. I have to stay strong to protect the empire.

[From you. Because you're a traitor and you left her all alone. Just an FYI. Just in case you forgot. Wouldn't want to lose track of certain important details like that.]

Re: D

[killtheempire]

[That sounds reasonable.

Akame's shoulder's drooped a bit. She dropped the carcass and started butchering it expertly.]

Kurome...What you are doing is not protecting the empire.

[necrosister]

...Run said if you want the empire to change, you should change it from the inside. That's what I'm doing. I can protect the people without joining the revolutionaries who killed so many of my friends.

[Of course, she couldn't lay claim to that reasoning until fairly recently, but ever since she heard it she's liked it a lot. She's not a slave to the people who hurt her and Akame and the rest. She's doing the right thing without abandoning anyone. Or dying of withdrawal. She's exactly where she wants to be. It doesn't matter that she has no choice. She's happy. She's so happy she could scream and cry.

She sits down on a log, suddenly exhausted. Speaking of her drugs, she's still not up to 100% yet. She makes a production of not letting Akame see she's in pain, but it might be hard to fool her big sis.]

[killtheempire]

If it was still possible to save the empire from the inside, I wouldn't have left. It's past that point. It's broken.

[Kurome's facade holds up, for the moment at least. Probably because she's still looking mostly at the deer.]

[necrosister]

Trying is better than just running away to join criminals. Do you really think people are safer now than before you left us? All you and your new friends can do is make things worse.

[Good, good. She's just gonna sit here and try not to break into a cold sweat. Maybe watch Akame prepare the deer.

...]

Can I have some of that, sis?

G

[mightycrash]

[Akame probably doesn't need much of a reason to go after Wave, and he would've been toast if he hadn't happened to take a glance over his shoulder for some odd reason or another. As it stands he's able to roll out of the way, just barely dodging her initial attack before rising to face her.]

Night Raid…! What are you doing here?!

[Brilliant question dude.]

[killtheempire]

I could ask you the same thing!

[If he gets Grand Chariot out, she's in trouble. Best not to give him the chance. Akame continues her rush, slashing at Wave from every angle she can.]

[mightycrash]

[He only needs a second, but she's not allowing him even that. Wave keeps dodging and his forced to block her a few times with his teigu.]

Killing me here isn't going to accomplish anything! We're… we're not even in the empire anymore!

-G- Time to have some fun :D

[zetahatsudo]

[Oh, Kamille was well aware of what was happening, and he was sure quite a few people weren't happy with his stance on avoiding killing each other in this place. It wasn't until he actually interfered by getting a previous target of Akame's to safety that he'd essentially marked himself for death.]

[Being a Newtype had its advantages when it came to direct combat, and even without a word from the Night Raid assassin, he could feel her killing intent as she made her way towards him. He had rolled away at what seemed like the exact last second, and threw a chair at her once he was standing.]

The Crystal is finally clear, and you'd ruin everything we've worked towards to satisfy yourself?!

[He had no chance in a straight fight with the girl. He was a soldier, but she was a hunter. If he wanted a shot at survival, he'd need to get as much distance from her as he could, and find his friends. To that end, he threw down an improvised flashbang he made from a fire crystal right at her feet, and started making his way down the streets of Verens.]

[killtheempire]

[She briefly lost him in the flash, but it wasn't long before she was back on his trail.]

This was never just about me.

[zetahatsudo]

Then what is it about? [Kamille really wished he had his normal suit on him, maybe then he could have tricked her like Ensign Reccoa... As it was, he'd have to make due with taking to the streets, trying to lose her in the crowd, throwing her off the trail by using the amulet to speak to her mind.]

Is it ideology? Justice? Hatred? Killing in this world has farther reaching consequences than destruction and chaos; the hatred you would engender in others will be like poison to the land we stand on! It would create a chain of hatred that would drag everyone caught in its wake to the red sea below us!

[He couldn't afford to stop running yet. So long as he could stay away from that blade of hers...!]

[killtheempire]

Sometimes not acting is worse than doing something terrible! I'll swim through an ocean of blood if it means taking out the poison that no one else will! Your short sighted heroics are dragging us all through the mud!

[Damn he's quick. Akame chucked the sheath to her sword like a boomerang at Kamille's legs, aiming to trip him up.]

A

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[So, I guess these two are hanging out. How'd that happen? I dunno, but this Akame girl seems pretty cool and wrecking an evil empire's shit is definitely something Ryuko can get behind. So, they're hanging out, I dunno.]

[At any rate, she lifts her head when Akame speaks up and turns toward the direction that smell is coming from. Actually, come to think of it....]

Yeah, guess I could eat.

[killtheempire]

[Their color schemes match up, so obviously they had to be friends. That or bitter rivals.]

[Akame drifted over towards the restaurant, like her whole body was following her nose, and opened the front door.]

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[Ryuko's done the bitter rival thing plenty already, kind of loses its novelty after awhile, so she's good with the former. Just as long as Akame keeps her assassin stuff pointed away from certain people, of course.]

[And there she goes without a word... sheesh, but whatever, the whole silence thing is fine too. Ryuko'll follow through the place, hands in her pockets as she glances around to judge the atmosphere of the place.]

I swear she'll start talking eventually

[killtheempire]

[Close, with the center of the restaurant being dominated by rectangular counter around a cooking area. The lead chef was chopping ingredients and tossing them into frying pans with a very deliberate rhythm that matched the music playing from an old gramaphone while keeping a running commentary.

Honestly, it was a hell of a show. Akame was engrossed, at least.]

A

[out_of_the_kitchen]

[ Kurome can do the awkward uneasy truce thing all she wants, Bols is perfectly content to leave matters of the Empire behind for now and get all Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog up in this shit. Not like he has much in the way of horses left in this race, anyway. ]

It does smell good, doesn't it?

[killtheempire]

Very good.

[Frankly, the smell of food was a nice ice breaker for Akame. She had been feeling very awkward, walking alongside the hulking, masked man who had once been a mortal enemy.

But Chelsea had already killed him, so...that was okay, right? And more immediately relevant, Akame was incredibly curious about how Bols was going to eat with that mask.]

[out_of_the_kitchen]

If you want to eat, go ahead. I don't mind.

[ Sounds like the answer to how he's going to eat with that mask is that he's not going to. ]

[killtheempire]

You need to eat too! You can't survive if you don't eat.

[Is she trying to get him to take the mask off? Is she actually worried about his health?

It's not clear.]

A

[purestambition]

[Satsuki would appear... relatively nonplussed by the cold. Sure, she's bundled up but besides that, it seems to bother her very, very little. It'd take an awful lot more to do so, given the discomfort she can endure and her exceedingly high pain tolerance.

She shrugs mildly, even if there's the slightest hint of amusement in her eyes as the snow melts around Akame.]

Had I known it was that easy to deal with this snow, I'd have made the suggestion to you and put you out front to clear a path.

[killtheempire]

[While Satsuki was musing, Akame was walking into the restaurant. She glanced over her shoulder.]

That would be absurd. Are you coming or not?

[purestambition]

You say absurd.

[She follows along, pulling off a long scarf as she enters the warmth of the building.]

I say it's pragmatic.

[killtheempire]

[Following the logical sequence of events from there had them both sitting at a counter in short order.]

I think I'd get too hungry, just thinking about food all day.