TEST DRIVE: MAY

[simpathis]

— TEST DRIVE: MAY —

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 Friday, Aoruk April 24th and Applications open Friday, May 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! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format.

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? Positive emotions are going to be particularly effective this time around, especially any type related to love.

• 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: CURRENT EVENT: The Flower Festival is in full swing! Pick one of the many activities available. Relax and watch the flowers, maybe share some cake or other delectable sweets with a partner. Maybe even set up your own kissing booth. Or perhaps you were nominated for the Flower King or Queen? Or won!?

• Prompt E: Every Zephyras season, a flock of small sparrows pass through the island for their migratory flight. Where they come from or where they go is anyone's guess. But this time, the scientists of Verens want to try some new technology to get some answers.

• Grab it! Grab that bird and help bring it to the scientists so they can study it and see if they can find clues as to where it's been.
  
• Protest! Protestors are already working hard to go against the scientists' endeavors. They've heard rumors that the birds would be subjected to extreme animal cruelty, possibly killed for experiments!
  
• Run away! Forget trying to catch them, the birds are attacking! Help!

You also might want to carry an umbrella. There are a lot of birds.

• Prompt F: The toy company that had made the singing whales are back with some new plushies. This time around they are in the shape of long, lizard-like creatures with a bow-tie around their neck, and pig-like creatures in a ballerina dress. The lizard plushies will project the most inner hateful thoughts of the person holding it. The pigs, however, will project the secretive romantic or even lustful thoughts of that person. Needless to say, it's a work in progress.

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include (literally) flaming pink birds and/or black garbed assassins.

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

[sobored]

[She has absolutely no idea what that's about and just...despairs when he tries to change the subject.]

Oh, no, I totally want to hear about it some time! Well, not the failure part, but I totally want to hear about what's going on back home.

[Because she doesn't like being kept in the dark. But it does provide despair, so...it sort of works?]

And I don't know how they choose who ends up here. But I don't think our talents really matter. I mean I was here first for months before she showed up, and my talent's doesn't mean anything here at all.

[There's a sigh from here because really, being the Ultimate Fashionista is so useless sometimes. Which guess what? Yup, that's right! It provides despair!]

[eyeswideopen]

An Ultimate Soldier would be much of use here either...considering how peaceful they seem to be.

[The only one that might be useful is too presumptuous of him to list. They are his betters just by the nature of their talents alone. He shakes his head, puzzling over the problem.]

...I guess it will come out eventually. Ahhaha, sorry I got worried there might be some sort of pattern or purpose to the choosing! The fact they selected a lesser person like me is proof it might be chance, but I wanted to be sure. Mm, as for what's going on at home.

[He abruptly turns to face her, his brows coming down as he speaks in a serious tone.]

What do you know about the Future Foundation?

[If she knows him. It's possible she knows the organization. He might still have the chance to get what he wants but from a living source.] Or would you know them better as World Ender?

[sobored]

...you must've missed out on the time the spirit of hate and love tried to kill us all with fire.

[...which is a shame, she wishes he'd been here for it. To see what good hope and luck were when...oh wait, that turned out perfectly fine, didn't it? Damn it, why can't things just burn?

But the fact that she could even get that observation voiced is an accomplishment because wait, what. In fact, even she can't really hide the brief look of surprise on her face because...world ender? Really? Those losers?

But is a look of surprise really out of the ordinary? After all, that's to be expected given the subject at hand.]

I don't...I mean...what? World Enders?

[There's a nervous laugh from her to keep up the show that this can't be true. It can't be true at all.]

Don't be ridiculous, the world's just fine...right? Right? I mean there was...that one thing, but other than that, everything's got to be okay, right?

[She hasn't even decided what “that one thing” is yet. There's too many choices.]

[eyeswideopen]

[A spirit of love and hate trying to kill them? He leans back a bit disbelieving something so far fetched. How could he be expected to swallow that? It sounds like a fairy tale.

He expects her surprise as he recovers enough to put a hand to his forehead. Any of his classmates would have dealt with this far better than he's taking it. The amulets supposed to collect their emotions and let them talk telepathically..

All of it is some jumbled mess he's having difficulty discerning the purpose of. Why gather emotions if you aren't going to do something with it?]

What one thing? What are you talking about? [He folds his arms over his chest with a heavy sigh and looks off to the side.] I don't know the state of the world right now. It's being kept from us for some reason. Except for some silly story that sounds like a movie plot.

Spoilers for Dangan Ronpa Zero because apparently we have all the spoilers today

[sobored]

[Okay, she's decided! After all, what better way to get at him than a story about Ultimate Hope?]

I guess I can't say I'm surprised you haven't heard about it, but the student council disappeared a while back. And this other Ultimate that's supposed to be a big fucking deal or something. Though I'm not really sure how something like Ultimate Hope would work anyway.

[She'll just say that like it's no big deal.]

There's a rumor going around that they died or something instead of being on their class trip. I don't know if that's what really happened, but it's pretty fucking weird that all of a sudden this unannounced class trip is indefinite or something.

[...and who would be the source of that “rumor” and ultimately responsible for its spread throughout parts of the school?

A. Junko
B. Junko
C. Junko]

But wait, hold on, are you trying to say this Future Foundation thing is keeping you from seeing the world? That's...

[How the fuck? No seriously, how the fuck? How does anyone keep the state of the world she left behind from being seen? That doesn't even make sense! There's just so much despair because she can't fathom it at this point.]

You're right, it does sound like a movie plot.

Spoiler spoiler everywhere

[eyeswideopen]

[He listens with a smile on his face that does nothing to hide his skepticism. Until she mentions Ultimate Hope. Like she probably predicted, he's fixated on it the moment it's brought up.

His eyes light up like she just told him the greatest thing in the world. Could they be the student council? Is that what they're missing memories of? ...but if that's the case who is Ultimate Hope? It had to be among the remaining students if...that's accurate.] How else would an Ultimate Hope work?! To have hope like that they would triumph no matter what was put in their path. No matter how deep the despair pitted against them they would obliterate it with just their very presence! ...Aaah, the idea of it...if they actually exist!! Such a wonderful...and beautiful sight they must be...

[He wraps his arms around himself and shivers, laughing like he doesn't have a care in the world. If one of them is hope...he will find them. He will shield them from the traitor and all despair with his life.] Did you hear anything else about the incident?! What about this hope? What was their name??

[He blinks, realizing she asked himself else.] Ah, they put us on an island for a 'class field trip'. Monokuma claims they took our school memories...even some evidence to prove it. If I got my hands on more of their files I could see proof once and for all but, we're here. So there's really no point in thinking too hard on that.

...none of that is all that useful and I've only been a pointless, waste of your precious time.

[sobored]

[...all right. She can make a case for some of this. The Future Foundation took his memories (but why) and Monokuma did something (but who? The program?)...but it doesn't really add up. There's too many pieces missing and she can't even believe those losers would rely on...well, to be honest, his whole hope routine? That says it all. And she's not going to comment on it because she probably can't keep a straight face while doing so right now. So there's just despair because she wants to.

And all that despair is probably freaking the birds out too which might cause problems with catching them or not, who knows?]

No, it's useful. It doesn't make any sort of sense, but it's got to be useful.

[At least she can be honest about that.]

And as to his name, it was...

[...and here's a show of her trying to remember and looking upset when she can't.]

I can't remember. You don't think they did something to my memories too, do you?

[Despair over her lies.

Also despair over wondering who it is and then facing the awful awful truth.]

[eyeswideopen]

[He catches sight of the birds flying away as if something scared them and can't quite figure it out. He's been useful though and that makes him feel a bit happy. At his feet a patch of flowers springs up, spreading out in a tiny ring around him. He happens to glance down to see it and pauses.

What the hell?]

...Um, is this a common thing here? [He's afraid to touch the little blossoms. Are they real? Oh, he hasn't forgotten her question but in the wake of this weird happening he's not bothering to answer her.

She wasn't on the islands and the files had noted another killing game. She wasn't listed in there, either. For now, her connection to the situation is a mystery.]

First the birds fly away, now this?

[sobored]

[There's just...despair over the sudden subject change and disgust at those flowers, so some of them are wilting now. Apparently, the battle between hope and despair is taking place over a ring of flowers now or something. Which isn't really any more ridiculous a setting than a courtroom in the basement or a tropical island, is it?]

Yeah, you get used to it eventually. Things here react to feelings, it's weird. Flowers blooming, colors changing, that sort of thing.

[..and why not list some of the other ones?]

Depending on what you're feeling, stuff can get way out of hand though. I'm pretty sure someone started a fire once.

[That was her.]

And I've seen someone's emotions form a barrier. It's weird, but like I said, you get used to it.

[eyeswideopen]

That sounds really annoying. [He isn't jazzed about the idea his emotions could be exposed for all to figure out. His frustration morphs a few of the flowers into snap dragons before they perish. The flowers that had been wilting turn to ash.

Hope is no longer having a good day or possibly winning this little patch. Nagito rubs his forehead and decides they need a new topic.]

You mentioned the spirit. What happened with that?

[The surviving flowers stay exactly as they are. It makes for an odd sight, half the flowers in ash and the others bright and cheery little things.] ...I assume it was defeated somehow or we wouldn't be standing here.

[sobored]

It wasn't really defeated, it just sort of...well, people made it stop with the power of love or something.

[To her, it's about as lame it sounds. Sure, the constant fire and death would've gotten stale after a while, but it beats some boring predictable outcome like that.]

That's how things work in this world. Which must sound pretty ridiculous, right? I mean I know if somebody told me this before I got here, I wouldn't believe any of it.

[Despair over how fucking strange the world of Empatheias is.]

[eyeswideopen]

So...you're saying they used a positive force to over come the spirit?

[If you're waiting for the hope speech, don't worry. It's coming.

He grips his arms and smiles at that. Love? No, it had to be hope!]

Hahaha, sounds more like hope to me.

Then all the people here had to be chosen for this! How else could they possibly achieve such a thing without it??

Even if it sounds like some silly story, you saw it right?

[She wouldn't lie to him. Well...she could be but, about something like this? The ashes sprout tiny little green leaves.]

[sobored]

[Well, for what it's worth, she looks pretty annoyed by that speech. Not the outright disgust or amusement it'd get depending on her mood, but it's sort of a glimpse behind the mask?]

No, I'm pretty sure it wasn't hope. I think there's a different being for that one

[It wasn't hope damn it. Don't fucking say that.

Hope was probably involved.]

But I don't know if how exactly that all factors into who's chosen anyway, I mean it wasn't like everyone joined together or anything like that, so it's still pretty random.

[She for one, was probably not brought here to spread hope and love if that's how it works.]

And are you okay? You keep acting weird.

[She knows he's not, but if she has to hear about hope and all that garbage, she can at least point out how ridiculous he looks.]

[eyeswideopen]

Ah, I'm fine. [He's over doing it again. He gathers himself a bit. His ideals are just too out there for some people.] It's just something like that is beautiful. All these talented individuals with shining futures they won't let pass them by.

It's something I can appreci- no, admire. I'm still not sold on the idea this isn't a trick by Monokuma. He seemed too excited when I got my hands on that file. It is within his realm of abilities to completely distort everything like this.

But I still don't know how you fit into all of this.

[Monokuma's words still stick with Nagito. What had he meant about 'he'd be the one to make everything more interesting'?]

Mmm, anyway. So there's spirits for each set of emotions. If the spirit of hate and love is anything to go by. ...hope's would be hope and apathy? Have any of the other spirits shown themselves?

[sobored]

[But it's not within his ability. Sure she lies and distorts the truth all the time because that's what she does, but this is a little much for her. Even if the Future Foundation did something to certain people's memories, she doesn't really see why somebody wouldn't just go “oh, by the way you guys are Despairs and here's some proof.” So there's clearly something here that she's not getting. And she can't really ask either, so there's just despair.]

Hey, I don't know how I fit into it either. And I'm pretty sure it's not apathy. I don't think there's one for that. As far as I know, Peromei represents hope...and also despair.

[Was the pause really necessary? Probably not.]

They're all like that though. Love and hate, grief and joy, hope and despair, and so on. But that one hasn't shown up yet. It's just the one I mentioned, the one for grief and joy, and the one for anger and...calmness if I remember right.

[eyeswideopen]

That doesn't make sense! [He almost spits the words out. They come out of him in a rush.] Hope and despair aren't even in the same categories. To link them together like that is...

[He's not often one at a loss for words. The idea of the spirit having the capacity to be despair makes him feel sick inside. It's completely unacceptable! He curls his fingers into a fist with a hiss.] unforgivable.

Even if fostering despair so hope can be achieved is how it has to be that's just-

[He doesn't dial back his reaction but, he does regain his composure with a snort.]

What forms have they taken? If they have any at all. ...and what triggers their appearance?

[sobored]

[Hey Nagito are you...despairing over them being linked like that?]

Hey, don't blame me. I...wait.

[Haha, did he really? Here she's spent months building a silly facade that almost no one really sees through and he just...]

Hold the fuck up, you spread despair? Are you serious? Do you know what sort of fucked up shit that could cause here?

[Yes, he didn't say he did it, but ugh, hopefully that won't be too noticeable.]

[eyeswideopen]

[Yes, yes he is. What's not to despair over how those two vastly different things are being linked? Makes no sense? Yeah, it probably shouldn't.

He isn't smiling anymore. His stare is almost a glare, no wait. It is. His anger chases away the remaining birds anywhere close to them. As fast as he's angry, it leaves him as he presses his hand to his forehead.]

...why does everyone misunderstand me.... [He sighs, his eyes sliding to the side to watch the darkness at his feet and the last flowers wilt. He kneels down, trying to coax a little life into the patch.] My aim isn't to lead others astray or make them lose sight of themselves. I only ever work for making hope shine brighter.

It wouldn't be hope if it loses to something as trivial and meaningless as despair, would it? If it isn't tested, how can we know which it is?

[sobored]

[...wow, sorry, she stopped paying attention somewhere during all the blah blah blah hope blah blah blah.]

I guess it's because you know, no matter what, everybody's different. And somebody like you, well, that's just more different than most people are willing to deal with.

[...oh look she's trying to be comforting but also...as backhanded as possible. Because that's a thing that needs to be done.]

But I think you're right. If hope loses out so easily, then it's not really worth having in the first place, is it?

[She wouldn't know since she only has despair, but hey, she'll just echo his point back, or what she got from his point. Because despair.]