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

Chen Stormstout | World of Warcraft

[drinkbrewfight]

D.

[When one is traveling a new land, one must try out new things. Beer, of course, is top of the list, but new food is always worth the experience as well!]

[Which leads to a Pandaran rubbing his hands together eagerly as he eyes the cake, avarice shining bright in his eyes. But the only way to get that cake is with a partner -- which is why you might find a long staff suddenly blocking your way.]

Ho there, friend! Help a hungry Pandaran try some cake?

G.

[It says a great deal about Chen that he managed to get in a fight with ninja-styled assassins in the middle of a love festival. It says much, much more about him that the fight only occurred because they had been one table over from him at a bar and had knocked over his beer.]

[So of course, the obvious solution had been to punch one in the face.]

[The fight has exploded out onto the street, with the massive bear-man moving with surprising speed and agility to fend off the long, straight swords of his opponents using his staff. Two on one isn't a fair fight, but he seems to be holding his own. Popcorn, or help him out?]

Carlos Ramirez | The Dresden Files

[ithurtstobethisgood]

-C-

Test test. Is this thing on? Hello?

Any cute girls out there?

[You can practically hear the eyebrow waggle.]

-E-
[Ramirez was drawing a chalk circle on the ground.]

The thing about magic is that while I'm BEST at evocation, there's so many other things I can do with it. For example, if I attach veiling spells to a sparrow feather...

One minute...

[He trails off as he finishes the circle, sealing it with a minor effort of will, and muttered half-nonsense spell incantations over the feather as he tied it to a short leather cord.

Eventually he straightened up, tied the feather bracelet around his right wrist, and smudged the circle with his toes.]

And just like that, I'm invisible to birds! This should make catching a few sparrows pretty easy, yeah?

Lacie Baskerville - Pandora Hearts

[gather_ye_rosebuds]

D.

Waking up in a place like this, Lacie had been almost certain that she'd been dreaming, at first. Perhaps she had only dreamed that the ritual had happened, maybe she hadn't really died, and would wake up the next morning with weeks or months still ahead of her. (If so, at least it was a pleasant dream, instead of the usual nightmare.)

However, once several pinches had assured her that she was awake--awake and alive--her joy had set off a fireworks display in the air above her, and it's been following her at intervals ever since.

Others wandering the festivities in Verens may notice it just as they may notice the red-eyed woman in the frilly dress rolling in a flower bed, meandering the garden maze alone and puzzling over the dead ends she seems to keep encountering, or meandering through the cake-feeding event with a full plate and a hungry look. Who wants cake? (She does, but apparently she has to feed to get fed!)

Ohohohohohohohohohohohoho

[unghosting]

Kevin was less than thrilled with Lacie's arrival. Kevin being less than thrilled with something basically means that it is whatever Verens' version of Tuesday is, however, so for the most part business is continuing as usual, and today's business has him stalking Lacie around and about in an attempt to decide what he thinks about her. "No" is obvious, as is "terrifying" and "avoid at all costs". But she keeps doing perfectly innocent human things, like eating half her weight in sausages wrapped in croissants and not blowing people up for the fun of it, and the more Kevin sees of her, the more confused he gets.

Some of the Will's whimsies are most certainly inherited. That much is clear. So where's the senseless violence in her mother? The random dancing is there, the excited and eager faces, the way she carries herself. How is she so steady? Is it the influence of the Abyss? But Lacie's been there. She said as much. What is there here that Kevin can properly hate?

So it is that when she's done rolling in the flowers, Lacie will find her fellow Child of Misfortune standing off to the side, scowling down at her as though she's making life difficult by not being completely out of her mind. The pet squirrel is on his shoulder, chewing away at a nut. The squirrel does not care about Kevin's problems.

[gather_ye_rosebuds]

Given the way the people of Sablier had often reacted to a Child of Misfortune's presence, sitting up and noticing someone looking at her as if she's something unpleasant that's crawled out of an alleyway and piddled on their shoe is... well... also Tuesday. However, no one else has treated her that way, since she woke up here. Everyone has smiled at her, as if she were a perfectly normal person. (She's liked it actually, much more than she'd ever directly admit.) So, what's this asshole's proble---

She sits up, staring back with mild surprise. Her defensive annoyance at his oh-so-friendly expression even fades.

"You've got red eyes, too!" she says, oddly pleased. Obvious statement is obvious, but she's never actually met a fellow Child of Misfortune, before. There's only one in a generation, when people aren't randomly time traveling through the Abyss, after all.

Her eyes sweep over the rest of him with interest.

"Cute squirrel."

[tenyearslost]

Oz still isn't quite sure what to make of Lacie's presence. He's glad to have her, of course. How could he be anything but delighted that the woman who gave him life has a second chance at her own? His decisions were not her fault, and that's just one reason of many he hasn't told her what happened.

She still makes him a little nervous, truth be told. Every time they meet, he worries that he's going to disappoint her, or somehow earn her disdain. But she looks like she's having the time of her life in that flower bed, and it's a little hard to be intimidated by that. So there's only the slightest hesitation in his step when he approaches, crouching down and smiling.

"You look like you're having fun!"

beat | the world ends with you

[skaterbrain]

C
[Closing the stream of consciousness floodgates is not something Beat does well in the best of times. When everyone can hear his thoughts? It's even worse. He's both confused and determined, but his focus slips in and out as he thinks.]

So this is how it goes right? I just kinda focus on it an' it just...goes? ...is it goin' now?

Aw, crap, I bet it is. Oh man! I know it is! I bet it's goin' right now and everyone can hear me!! AUGH. Get a grip, yo! I gotta focus!! FOCUS!

...

Damn. I was gonna ask a question, but now I forgot what. Uh...maybe someone else can remember? If we bein' psychotelefats or whateva you guys call it, then maybe one a' you can tell me. I know I was lookin' for somethin', but...

Maybe it was my board? Or a job. ...Ugh. Jobs. Look if any of you know what I was thinkin' wit' yo' magic powers or whateva', help a guy out, aight? Thanks.

E
[He's used to seeing birds like these around Shibuya. They were vanishing bit by bit in recent years because all the good nature was being sucked up by construction companies, but Beat still knew what they were. Rhyme used to like them. She liked a lot of things. Beat never really cared about the birds because they were small and chirped kind of cutely and they rarely bothered him.

Unfortunately, that didn't hold to today.

Having caught a bird like he'd been asked to do, he now found himself fleeing through the streets as a flock of its brethren chased after him like a homing missile bent on his destruction. It really isn't his fault that he runs straight into your character. He couldn't see with his head down between his arms.]

Holy--!! WATCH OUT!!

[gather_ye_rosebuds]

In her present good mood, Lacie doesn't hesitate at all in reaching up and pulling him the rest of the way down into the flowers next to her. It's a beautiful day, they can watch the clouds... or the fireworks, she's still not used to those...

"Why not? It looks like the rest of the city is!"

Should Oz ever break it to her what happened after her death, he's one of the people she'll be least disappointed in, when all's said and done. Even so, things like that rarely last very long for Lacie. Even here, with a second life stretching out before her, life's too short to hold onto things like guilt--and part of what she feels about the Tragedy will be guilt--and disappointment.

[tenyearslost]

"Wah!"

And down into the flowers he goes... it's a good thing these are still his old paint-stained clothes, because now they're all dirty. But he doesn't seem bothered, laughing as he rolls onto his back. He won't ever admit to it, but he likes seeing her happy. Just like with Alice. His fingertips have been sparkling throughout the whole festival, but they're particularly bright now, and it bleeds into the ground beneath him.

"It's been fun," He agrees, smiling up at the sky. "A lot of fun, I'm glad they had this. It turned out much better than the chocolate celebration day."

(Valentine's Day. He means Valentine's Day.)

... so Oz would do the best jazz hands in the world...

[gather_ye_rosebuds]

"They have a day for celebrating chocolate, here?"

Lacie turns toward him, her expression almost childishly delighted. While she doesn't have the sweet tooth other people like Kevin do, she does have a particular appreciation for food in general, having been homeless and hungry for some time, in her childhood.

"I can't imagine something like that being bad..."

Well, no, she could if she tried. But she'd rather find out what really happened than lay there and imagine all the ways things could go wrong. Especially on a day like today.

who needs sequined gloves when you actually sparkle

[tenyearslost]

"Yes! It wasn't bad, exactly," Oz explains, and the twinkle of amusement in his eye matches the way his hands gleam. "It's just that, the people who made chocolates to give out to everyone, they infused their emotions into them. So a lot of people did embarrassing things!"

He probably shouldn't laugh about it, out of respect for the sheer amount of mortification most people had to deal with... but come on, it was hilarious. Oz got hugged, kissed, complimented, and oh yes, he heard about Kevin's majestic lamp quest. (How? It's a mystery.)

Okita Souji ☆ Peace Maker Kurogane

[ahappylie]

D
[The unfortunate thing about being new in the midst of a festival dedicated to friendship and love was rather obvious to most, but for Okita his disappointment centered on one single booth. The sign above said booth should have been surrounded by heralds and angels trumpeting a celebration while streams of light burst forth around it, if only Okita knew what that particular metaphor. Instead, he stood alternatively staring up at "Cake Feeding" and looking into the all-you-could-have-eaten buffet line with a sorrowful expression on his face.

Normally he would have asked Hijikata to take him in, but with the vice commander missing from this world, Okita had to step outside his comfort zone. It was time to ask a passerby because cake was on the line and he wasn't about to miss out completely.]

Excuse me? Are you busy?


F
[Saizo was unamused by the new addition to Okita's entourage. Admittedly, as a grumpy piglet, it was rare that Saizo was ever amused by anything. Still, if Saizo could talk, he would say there was just something off-putting about how his master, a grown man in his twenties, was cooing over the inanimate stuffed pigs and freakish lizards.

Okita, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with fawning over cute things, but was having trouble figuring out which he wanted (and could afford). He picked up the pig first and held it down for his pet to see, wiggling it back and forth in front of his face.]

Aren't they cute, Saizo?

[The pig rolled his eyes, grunted, and looked away, which was Okita's cue that he should ask the person standing next to them.]

They're cute, aren't they? He's just being sore about how they look.

D

[teafail]

[SORT OF.

MAKES A FACE.

No he's not busy, because when is Tetsu actually ever doing what he's supposed to do? But even if he was he'd make time for Souji, probably. Still, Tetsu isn't entirely sure how he feels about this cake-eating thing, or at least the "feeding people" part of it.]

Okita-san by the cake stand? Who would have guessed... [Such surprise, much shock.] What's wrong?

[ahappylie]

[Don't be like that, b.

He could have just ordered you to do it as your senior officer.

Instead, he points up at the sign that announces that only pairs could enter and partake of the free food.]

You wouldn't want to let all that good food go to waste, now would you?

[teafail]

Don't you have to feed whoever you enter with, though? [HIS DUBIOUS EXPRESSION GROWS... Look, Okita, he trusts you a lot, but considering he also trusts and likes people like Suzu that's not saying much. Still, there's a bond here. A strong bond. A friendship, or brotherhood, if you will.

That doesn't usually lend itself to feeding each other pieces of cake like a cutesy couple or anything.

He looks around, now searching for an excuse out of this] Where's Saizo? Enter with him! [pigs count, don't they]

G

[unghosting]

[Kevin should be interfering. He should be. He's part of the local defense force, and part of his job today is to prevent precisely this sort of thing from escalating out of control. But without knowing who started this fight or why, he doesn't even know if this is a friendly but ill-placed spar, or an intent to murder somebody to death. Given the proximity to a pub that has remained open for the day, he may well be dealing with happy drunkards. Enthusiastic drunkards who happily beat the shit out of things. Kevin likes to beat things up, too; he can understand the appeal.

Plus, he has no idea what sort of loser dresses like a fiendish hunter of the night for a love festival, and the locals really need to learn to stop picking fights with otherworlders whose powers they don't know or understand. If you don't have sense enough to run the hell away from a bear who has shown inclination to cause you bodily harm, you sort of deserve it if the bear decides to eat your face.

So he's popcorning for the moment, literally, having little desire to court said risk of having his face bitten off. First priority was to shoo the civilians far enough away that none of the lollygaggers would get caught up in it, and this has been accomplished, so his most important duty here is done. If the fight doesn't resolve itself, though, he's going to have to get involved, and it'll be better if he does it before the real Enforcers show up. Being trained by Sergei and all, the real Enforcers are not any fun, and on a day like today it would really ruin the mood.

Kevin, on the other hand. If Kevin handles himself well here, he may well be able to turn it into a show...]

[unghosting]

Kevin is not cutting a particularly impressive figure today, between the squirrel and his hair all done up with flowers. He's got his sword as usual, though, and it's a cool sword. His left hand is draped casually over the hilt in a gesture meant to indicate that he doesn't intend to fly for his weapon at the moment, doesn't think there will be a need. But it's a contrast to his straight back and stiff posture. He's on the defensive, now that her attention is on him.

"Miss Lacie, isn't it?" he asks, though he knows. "Young Mister Oz mentioned you."

He politely refrains from responding to her comment with, 'yes, I used to have two, thank you'.

Cirno | Touhou Project

[frogsicles]

B.

[Someone has filed a request. All it says is "Come to the big rock on the outskirts of town if you want an ass kicking."

...She's not very hard to beat, though, so...it's unlikely anyone's ass will be kicked but Cirno's.]

E.

[Cirno is holding a block of ice in her hands. Look closely and you can see she's somehow managed to snatch a bird out of the sky and freeze it solid. Sometimes even fairies can be hardcore.]

Look! I got one! Look, look, look! You didn't need it alive, did you? They don't always come out alive...

D

[frogsicles]

Okay, but only 'cuz they're making me share.

[Cirno has Thoughts About Cake. These thoughts are mostly that she deserves all the cake.]

B, everything is a placeholder

[glowbrighter]

[uM

She has a guess. But even if she didn't, she's curious. Call it a character flaw. And so carefully, tentatively, she approaches the big rock.]

i saw that

[frogsicles]

[Cirno hears someone approaching and peeks over the rock to see who it is and--!

WRIGGLE NO...WHY DO YOU WANT AN ASS KICKING]

What the heck, Wriggle!? I'm not gonna fight you!

no!!

[glowbrighter]

[HER GUESS WAS RIGHT, SHE WINS THE GRAND PRIZE

the grand prize of gentle exasperation]

I'm not gonna fight you either! I just came to see who would put up a request like that.

[frogsicles]

It's great, right?

[She's just realized a fatal flaw in her plan, though.]

Wait, what if it wasn't me and you got into a fight for real?! Were you gonna use your bugs?

[glowbrighter]

Mm.....

[trails off noncommittally, to let Cirno draw her own conclusion (what could it hurt???) then shrugs and makes a show of looking casual]

I'd just explain that I only came to watch! Uh, the queen of insects can be picky about who she wants to fight, yeah?

E

[madeoutofnumbers]

Wha--Jesus Christ! Of course they need it alive! You realize the animal rights people are already shitting bricks, right? What was even the point of this?!?

[Why did he take a job alongside a magical five-year-old? Maybe she reminds him of Caboose.]