empatheias_ooc | TEST DRIVE: NOVEMBER

Entry tags:

!mod,
*test drive

TEST DRIVE: NOVEMBER

— TEST DRIVE: NOVEMBER —

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 Tuesday, October 25 and Applications (Canon | OC) open Tuesday, November 1st.
OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
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! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!

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

PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• 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. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.

• 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: The Boreas Harvest Festival is fast approaching, and the farmers are trying hard to work through the bleak weather conditions to get their crops in before they go bad from all the apathy. All hands on deck—but there may be too many unwanted hands roaming around.

Scarecrows. The scarecrows that have been set up as a festive reminder of the time of year have unfortunately come under the influence of some errant strong emotions from the farm hands that work in the fields. Unfortunately that includes trying to ward off anyone who enters the fields with pitchforks and is one of them carrying a torch? Maybe if they can be convinced that you are trustworthy they will calm down.
Invading rabbits. There are ton of rabbits ravaging the carrot patches. They're easily frightened, but some are more tenacious than others. Beware of the white rabbit with red eyes.
Save the crops! Several batches are already starting to spoil! The only thing that can save them is dumping as much positive emotions into them. Joy of good food, hope for a bountiful meal, love of eating—whatever will work. Just be careful. Too much and those things might grow and explode…

• Prompt E: Aiada, the Arehtei of appreciation and jealousy, has sent a personal request for those who are interested. There is a small island just beneath Empatheias that she has been cultivating over the many centuries. She wishes to contribute to the Harvest Festival with some seeds and spores. However, the recent atmosphere has also reached down there, and now it's all a mess! Giant mushrooms replaced the trees and there's slime and mold everywhere. The cure? Aside from getting a lot of heavy duty cleaners and pushing it off, appreciation will go a long way to help.

Goop brigade. Grab that bucket and shovel and clear the goop out! Just be careful not to have too much get on you—jealousy might take over.
Appreciation balls. To help hasten the effort, Aiada has given several tubs filled with light, green orbs. Once channeled with enough appreciation, they can be used as mini-grenades to help explode and wash the area with more positive energy. Those caught in the blast won't be harmed. If anything, they'll just be very thankful.
Watch the ledges. Careful, it's a fairly small island and the goop and slime has made things slick. If you fall… That's not a good way to go, let's just say that.

• Prompt F: Various parties are interested in the emotion shards scattered all over Thera. But this time around, the focus is on the medical laboratory as the equipment and potential research there is also of interest. For three days those who volunteer are sent back to try and gather as much as possible—but of course this won't be easy.

Skeletal Scientists. The remains of the scientists who once worked in these rooms are still lurking, ready to protect their work. Fortunately they're relatively weak nerds, so not too difficult to dispatch. Just be careful.
Flying equipment. The various medical equipment has also taken life, scalpels and needles flying everywhere and stethoscopes ready to strangle.
Questionable liquid. Most of the easy shards have already been taken, leaving the more difficult to retrieve ones left. In particular they're found in strange, dark pink liquid. It's mostly harmless—except that upon contact intense waves of grief and suffering will course through. The longer the exposure, the worse it is. So hopefully a bucket full of it doesn't fall on you…

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include feathers and/or confetti.

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If it were that easy for everyone, we wouldn't have needed...

[Nope, happy thoughts. This is appreciation not bitter thoughts of the past.]

... Comrades huh? Yeah, it's nice to be able to rely on others and be relied on.

[Shuusei lifts another orb up.

He appreciates his allies. There's no way Akane let what happen go without a fight. He appreciates how she did not back down and how she helped bring the team together.

Still, he's getting too close to less helpful thoughts and his orb only glows a little. He laughs it off and scratches the back of his head with his free hand.]

I guess they can't all be winners, right?

[Alice looks a touch surprised. And after a moment of wonder, she says in her ever blunt way:]

You think about freedom more than comrades, I take it.

Yeah... no...

[Okay, so that isn't an answer. He's trying not to dwell on it too much.]

It's complicated. I did, then I sort of didn't, and now... yeah, it's complicated.

[With that, the glow in his orb fades out and he just kind of stares at it.]

Edited 2016-10-29 14:08 (UTC)

[A frown tugs lightly at Alice's lips as the glow in his orb fades. She's started down the path to some complicated talk it seems and it isn't helping their task at hand very much.

She mulls over what to say next before taking the moment to chuck her completely full orb to blot out more of the negative emotions. Then she gives the man a slight smile as she pulls out the next empty orb.]

When you spoke of freedom, I could hear the enthusiasm in your voice. It reminded me of the freedom I found in my troops and in learning to rely on those within my squad more.

[And just thinking of it now is enough to start lighting up the orb in her hands.]

Not that my relationships with them don't have their complicated moments but that's how most relationships are.

[Her smile is firmer and more determined.]

There's nothing wrong in focusing on the things you value, whether it's freedom or comrades. Turn your focus on what you value and don't let your attention stray!

[Ah there we go, now Alice's orb is really lighting up.]

Edited 2016-10-29 15:30 (UTC)

[Shuusei thought he was coming here to teach her a thing or two of how this sort of thing works and here she is teaching him instead. Emotions do come easy to Shuusei but that also means they stray a little too easily as well.]

You're right. There's not much to be gained here by thinking too hard on the complicated parts.

[Appreciation. He appreciates the gesture on her part. What's with stubborn commander types and their ability to rally people anyways? He remembers Akane actually trying to get to know him after stepping up and focuses appreciation for that into the orb.

This time it lights up.]

So you're part of an army? Let me guess. You're kind of new to your roll commanding a team. You have people you think could be reliable working for you. You're pretty good at getting some of them to come out of their shell. You've even surprised a few of them or others in the army. Any of that ring true?

[He's not really that good at reading people. Maybe he just kind of hopes for the familiarity to continue.]

Whatever the complications, you can knock them down with enough effort.

[Because Alice plays by the rule of 'go big or go home', slamming her face into things more often than most of her troops would like.

She's near ready to lob another orb again when Shuusei pretty much hits the nail on the head. She gives him an almost owlish look, eyes wide a moment before she blinks quickly. One hand holds her filled orb as the other rises to her chin in a thinking gesture.]

I wonder... I don't think I've really surprised anyone.

[Because Alice more or less misses what impact she has on those around her. All she does is speak the truth after all - or what she believes to be the truth in most cases.]

I suppose the Corporal has drawn out of his shell some but he didn't have much of one to begin with.

[Other than the fact that she constantly gets the feeling that he's hiding things.]

Huh, maybe it's not all the same. You just reminded me of someone I once knew.

You know, I was jealous of her the first time I met her? It's silly but she was so naive to everything she had and maybe I was just a bit bitter about it.

[He looks at the orb in his hand, thinks about that for a moment, then suddenly throws it down at his feet. It doesn't get as much of the mess in it's radius but it hits him.

He waits for the energy to fade and then smiles and shakes his head. That feels better somehow.]

So, last attempt at guessing. This corporal guy. Is he the stoic, chip on his shoulder, always play by the rules type or the strong, reliable when you need it most type whose bad at self preservation?

[He pulls out another orb, still not explaining why he needed to douse himself a moment before. This time he thinks about comrades, friends, and manages to not dwell on the darker thoughts he has no answers for. The orb begins to glow like the rest.]

[Well that's... she would argue about misappropriation of resources given to them for the job but really she's more mystified than anything. The orbs were to be used against the negative emotions coating this place in slime so she can only assume it must have to do with negative emotions. Towards his superior then? Most likely.

He does a good job of veering her attention elsewhere though. Her expression flattens out and the orb in her hand dims somewhat.]

He doesn't have any sense of self preservation at all.

Oops, sore subject. Maybe you are a bit like the girl I knew.

[He hopes for her sake she isn't developing a crush on a guy like that. He's pretty sure that only leads to more pain.

He tries to think quickly, as his little game is starting to get them off track again.]

So, any of your comrades any good at cheering people up? Even by accident?

[He lied, he's still prying but this time it's just to get to a new topic. One a little less bitter for the two of them.]

[A sore subject. Yes, it probably was by now, though she had come to an equal realization about where they stood in relation to one another. His lack of care for himself was annoying but perhaps she understood it somewhat better now.

She's a little intrigued by the similarity he sees though. He hasn't given her a tickle down the back of her neck or any such just yet and while he seems inquisitive, he doesn't exactly remind her of anyone. She lets her mind wander to the more aggreable topic though.]

Well... one of them is very capable at public relations. Though I can't say I always approve of his methods.

[Why does it necessitate coming back with lipstick marks constantly is her primary question. Oreldo keeps dodging that one.]

[It's always the guys possessed with a purpose, isn't it? He wonders idly if Shinya managed to see it through to the end or if it was all a wasted effort.

As for her "capable at public relations" guy, he sounds interesting enough.]

Public relations sounds like such a pain in the ass job though. Having to play nice and grow public opinion. I guess if you got a knack for it though, you can be a rock star.

[He's not sure how he'd do in that sort of position, but that's not really something he'd ever have to worry about.]

Do you guys have any fun games where you come from?

[Because not everywhere is 2100's Tokyo and not everywhere has video games he's beginning to learn.]

[Fun games? Alice mulls on the question a moment.]

I used to play pretend a lot when I was a child.

I used to too. Later I moved on to video games and sometimes even board games.

[Nope, day dreaming isn't where he wants to go with this.]

How about dancing? Do you dance?

[Alice's expression flattens out again.]

Not really. I'm terrible at it.

[Lionel was an amazingly tolerant man.]

Geeze, I'm really striking out here aren't I?

[What was their goal again? Oh, yeah, appreciation. Moving on quickly.]

Well, I appreciate I got to know some people who put up with the way I do things.

[Focus on relighting his orbs.]

[The blonde looks somewhat curious there.]

I'm not really sure how you've struck out. Asking questions that don't give favorable answers isn't really a bad thing.

[Alice considers a moment and then actually smirks just a little as she turns things around.]

Actually you could say I appreciate curiosity.

[That does light her orb up some at least!]

Usually I'm a lot better at chatting up strange women.

[Lies. So many lies.]

But hey, if you want curiosity I'm your guy. I'm Shuusei Kagari by the way.

[Since he hit her with a bunch of questions, he figures he can introduce himself. He gives his less powered orb a toss to explode and clear up more gook.]

[The idea of being chatted up seems to sail right over her head. Instead she takes a moment to try to concentrate more emotion into her orb, thinking on her appreciation of those who speak openly and honestly. It isn't quite the significant hit her feelings for her comrades or beliefs might be but it's enough to make a slight difference when she throws it.]

Good. I would rather have someone who spoke honestly and curiously to me than someone who is closed off. I'm Second Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin of the Pumpkin Scissors squad.

[Yeah, she more or less considers the rank as part of her name.]

Oh, titles huh? Well I guess I'd be a Division 1 Enforcer for the MWPSB.

[Can he still call himself that?]

What do Pumpkin Scissors squads do?

[Ah, another military unit. Alice takes note of that mentally as she reaches for another orb. She gives her reply easily.]

War relief.

[She ought to question as well since he's doing so. Tit for tat, so the saying goes.]

And what about Division One? If you don't mind me asking, that is.

[Their own Section One was a pretty secretive bunch after all, though not as much as Section Two.]

Sounds pretty important.

[War relief? Well that's a bit different. There haven't been any local wars in a while.]

MWPSB's sort of like the police. Each Division has a couple of inspectors and a bunch of enforcers.

[That's the nice way to put it.]

[Like the police. Alice nods a little there.]

It is very important but it's only one piece of an answer to a larger problem. The police are another part of that.

All part of the bigger picture, huh?

[He plucks another orb, staring at it.]

I guess Enforcers don't really have to worry about all that. But I do appreciate escaping.

[His orb begins to glow giving truth to that last statement.]

Edited 2016-11-01 01:23 (UTC)

[The connection with the light and the emotion certainly isn't hard to figure out. So he enjoys freedom and escape, even more so than comrades. Alice considers those facts a moment and then turns her mind to the word 'escape'.]

I think we all look for escape in our own way. I certainly have through my work. And it's taken me some time to realize that's not a bad thing.

[She is the way she is, the Corporal is the way he is and there's nothing wrong with any of it. The noble she is and the Second Lieutenant are both valid parts of her. So in some ways even if she escapes one role or the other, she appreciates those moments of escape.

Her orb lights up gently, though steadily.]

It might not be the same. Unless they execute deserters where your from.

[That comes out way too casually in his tone and he tosses his orb before he dwells on that thought. It releases its energy.

He switches gears without even missing a beat.]

But if I had to choose a favorite escape, it'd be cooking. Or video games. They're both pretty close.

TEST DRIVE: NOVEMBER

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