empatheias_ooc | TEST DRIVE: FEBRUARY

— TEST DRIVE: FEBRUARY—

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 Wednesday, January 25 and Applications (Canon | OC) open Wednesday, January 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: Over two years ago, the ill fated Red String of Fate toy made its debut. At the time it seemed like a solid idea, but as it turned out… it didn’t exactly work as advertised. People found themselves tied together with entirely incompatible people instead of the proclaimed “emotionally compatible” and to top it off, personal, influential and private telepathic communication came out drenched in sap and overly lovey-dovey overtones. It was, without a doubt, one of the company’s least successful product launches ever. And you would think that they would have learned. However, they decided to try again, and… well. It wasn’t exactly all that well thought out the second time around. But third time’s the charm, right? Wrong. Even if this time, it’s in the form of rings that will draw two people together in a “matched pair” rather than a string.

There’s not really anything wrong with believing in true love, but trying to formulate a product that can detect someone’s ideal mate is innately flawed. Which only means that no matter how many times the product is adjusted, it’s just not going to work. Those who wind up with the product shoved onto their fingers (by a sales rep or through actually purchasing the product) will find themselves, once again, pulled by an unseen force to the nearest person they are “compatible with”. Same height, same hair color, whatever. It’s not exactly discriminatory. …Unfortunately as poor a match as they may be, the two cannot be separated until they share a meaningful embrace. So settle in, you might be together for a while.

In certain pairs, normal conversation is often unintentionally made amorous, simply from inflection in voice, or perhaps a heightened affectionate emotion. Or, on the flip side, anger and aggression is increased ten fold, but it’s kind of 50-50 as to what effect will take place, all dependant on which hand they wear the ring. Left, romance, Right? Anger.

• Prompt E: The inexplicably cavernous sewers of Verens are no place for a sane individual, but here you are anyway—dropped there by some horrible emotional shift that made an entire section of street vanish and then reappear above your heads as if nothing had happened. You and the poor fool you’ve been dumped down here with need to find your way to the access tunnels and climb out, or perhaps go the other way and swim out through the Lake Niras outflow. Or just smash your way out, if you’re feeling destructive. But your own emotions will work against you, as you struggle against the terrible scent, the darkness, and the entirely-justified questioning of why your life has taken this horrible turn.

There’s something odd about the way the water and sewage is sloshing around your ankles, almost as if it’s rising. But wait, that can’t possibly be a pair of eyes you see under the oil slick surface… could it? You’ve heard rumors about all sorts of beasties down here but surely your mind is just playing tricks on you.

Remember that part about emotions turning against you? Maybe you’ve been trapped down here way too long with someone who’s just not living up to your expectations, or you’ve got something else on your minds—but the smell around you certainly seems to be growing thicker, the scent growing harder and harder to ignore. The water and grossness at your feet also seems to be growing thicker almost as though it’s curing like cement. The cause? Negative emotions. But are they yours or the person you’re stuck here with? Perhaps you should work through those post haste…

Escape! You’ve made it out, but not without a great amount of effort on both you and your partner’s parts. Did you manage to find a way out through the access tunnels? Or perhaps you really did travel through all that much to the Lake Niras outflow… whatever it is, You’re certainly stinky, and possibly tired and cranky too.

• Prompt F: Some bandits went and stole another airship, only this time the Enforcers are prepared with a few of their own. Join in for some intense air battles. Just don't make the ship explode—they'd like it back in one piece please. Unless you're actually on the bandit team, in which case you probably want to blow up the Enforcer ship.

What's an airship fight without some on deck action? Either the bandits are swinging over to the ship you're on, or maybe you're swinging over there. Whatever the case, it's a full on brawl. Just watch out—those bandits are well-armed with some interesting firearms and weapons. If hit, one of the following emotions will start to take over your senses: unquestionable rage, debilitating fear and panic, and sleepiness. Needless to say, these effects will hinder one's ability to fight.

Can you fly or are you okay with climbing up the full height of your airship? Then grab a few sleep and apathy grenades and throw them at the bandits. Just be careful not to accidentally hit your allies. Otherwise they will be the ones feeling sleepy and want to give up. Also watch out for flying nets and bullets. Those bandits will definitely try to bring you down.

While the enforcers are trying to maintain the integrity of the stolen ship, the bandits feel no such need to hold back and are freely unloading their weapons onto the Enforcer's ships, forcing them to defend themselves. Other than decapacitating the bandit behind the weapon, it's also possible to overload it with intense emotions. Explode it with rage or clog it with happy, loving flowers.

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include bubblegum and/or toadstools.

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

C
[He has to admit, the telepathy angle does add another layer of complication to things. It's one thing to look someone in the eye and plaster a smile onto your face before you speak--he's had so much practice with it recently that it has almost become automatic--but it's quite another thing to keep all your thoughts in line. The vigilance required to prevent whatever might lay under the surface from leaking out for all to see seems...daunting.

Still, he'll have to try, won't he? It would be silly not to take advantage of this strange magic--is it magic? It's not like any he is aware of--if it means finding his friends.

His group. Not his friends, his group. He really must be more careful with that.

He takes a breath, thinks happy thoughts--Sakura's smile, the way Kuro's face goes red when he shouts, the little things that keep him sane--and tries.]

Say there, none of you fine people have seen a couple of children and a tall, dark, brooding man walking around here recently, have you? The tall one answers to Kuro-pii, among other things...

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[Oh no.

No.

He really should have seen this coming. He hasn't been here long at all but it was only a matter of time before he caused something really terrible to happen. Wandering these streets, introducing himself to people, being kind and generous and always, always smiling--it's the same as he's always done. But it doesn't work here. Because this place, this awful little world, it knows.

And now here he is. Here they are, he supposes, remembering that there had been someone standing beside him when the ground had opened up and deposited them in this...sewer. That has to be what it is, a sewer. It's wet and unpleasant in all the ways one would expect, and they seem to be stuck down here with no means of escape, and it is all his fault. It has to be.

He's been trying so, so hard. But it doesn't matter. Of course it doesn't.

He has observed enough of this place to have some ideas how this works. He knows the increasingly foul smell and the weight gathering at his feet, pining him down, is likely his own doing. He has to calm down. He has to stop thinking...anything. Just not think. Slowly, the weight on his feet hindering his movements some, he turns to the person who he has trapped here, yet another victim of his failures, and smiles as brightly as he can manage.]

Well, it appears that have an apology to make for all of this.

[ This is disgusting, and Noctis finds himself gagging a little as he struggles to his feet amid the putrid muck, cursing a little as the street closes itself back up overhead, preventing any chance of getting out the way they came. It smells as bad as a morbol, and he can only hope that this wold doesn't have those here too, especially given that someone else got caught in the collapse, too.

He grimaces, trying to wipe his hands off on whatever bit of his shirt is still dry as he looks over at his fellow victim -- who surprises him by not only smiling in a way far too bright for their surroundings but also apologizing. Noct pauses, blinking at him. He's been here long enough to know that weird things like this are usually the result of someone's emotions gone haywire, but the smile throws him a bit - a distraction from his own irritation.]

Must've been something bad, if you made a whole street collapse.

[He's a bit thrown by that. It's certainly forthright. But then, he has trapped this poor man in a horrid place with no warning, who wouldn't be a little miffed? His response is automatic, practiced. He laughs, lifting an arm to the back of his head and looking appropriately embarrassed.]

I suppose I wouldn't have any idea what I did, to be honest. I only just got here recently, and I haven't quite figured out what's going on here.

[It's not true, in the strictest sense of the word, but he's really not prepared to have a conversation about his emotions while standing in a pool of...well.]

But whatever I did, we are here now, aren't we? I don't suppose you happen to know a way out of this place.

[Get used to it, Fai. Conversations about emotions happen in even weirder places here.

The laughter is still a bit weird if the street falling was this guy's fault, but some people express things different ways so it's not really worth thinking about too hard. Noct just shrugs and squints into the gloom of the tunnels. Luckily there is at least some light filtered down from street grates here and there, but it isn't much, and it's hard to tell if there are any ladders or anything to get back up.]

I think even people who've been here a while are still figuring it out, but feelings do weird things to things around you here. [A super helpful not vague at all description!] Like freeze things or collapse streets, I guess. And no, I don't...

[He's quiet for a moment, still looking down the tunnel one way and then the other. He's definitely grumpy about being here (which probably isn't helping the cloying stench of the place), but he's trying to be practical.]

You wouldn't happen to have a light, would you?

[So his companion isn't the prying type. Good. It's for the best. He has to focus on not thinking or their journey won't be any easier. He fights the urge to clench his hands into fists, and instead pats down his clothing as if feeling up pockets that don't actually exist, knowing full well he doesn't have anything on him. Mokona always carried what he needed. Still, he makes a show of it, shrugging with another easy smile on his face.]

Seems I don't, sorry. I guess we'll have to do our best in the dark.

[In what little light they do have, he can see that the tunnel stretches out both behind and in front of them, each side disappearing into darkness with no real sign of what lies at either end. ]

Nothing to be done but choose a path then, huh? Why don't we try heading this way?

[He points into the shadows behind him and doesn't wait for an answer, turning away to start what he assumes will be a rather arduous and unpleasant journey for both of them. It would have been fine, really, if only he had ended up here alone. But, of course, someone else had to be involved. Of course his problems never only hurt him. It seems the universe is willing to offer up as many reminders of that as he could ever possibly need.

He lifts one weighted foot, then the other, the air around him thick and putrid. He doesn't look back at his unfortunate companion, but instead speaks to the darkness ahead of them.]

I'm Fai, by the way. I really can't express how sorry I am for all this. I hope you'll forgive me.

Guess so...

[Noct sighs, lamenting the lack of any batteries here for his clip-on flashlight. The poor thing had burnt out a few weeks ago, and he's yet to see about finding a new lamp of some kind here. Briefly he considers using magic to make things a bit brighter for them, but the light is enough to move by and who even knows what's down here? Better to save energy just in case rather than waste it now to make things brighter.

There's no real chance to think about any further options, however, because the taller man takes off down the tunnel, and Noctis hurries to catch up - well, as much as one can hurry through this muck. He's quite glad his boots are tied on tightly as losing one here would be a nightmare.]

I'm Noctis. [he kinda shrugs at the apology, though of course Fai doesn't see.] It's fine. Somehow I doubt you want to be here either. Like I said, emotions do crazy things here, and it's not like most people can help getting upset or whatever sometimes.

TEST DRIVE: FEBRUARY

Fai D. Flourite | Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

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i'm so sorry for the delay; sometimes weekdays get away from me; hugs fai gently