empatheias_ooc | TEST DRIVE: JUNE

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!mod,
*test drive

TEST DRIVE: JUNE

— TEST DRIVE: JUNE —

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 Monday, May 25th and Applications open Monday, June 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.
IMPORTANT! We have 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? The following emotions will have more effect than usual: hope, despair, fear, and bravery.

• 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: The latest entry in the hot 'Forgefires' series is about to come out, and lines in front of bookstores are blocking the streets! How will you get to your destination when your path is full of frenzied cosplayers who don't dare move lest they lose their spot in line? You might want to be careful, too—some fans are getting into heated arguments about their favorite characters so things might start literally flying if left unchecked!

• Prompt E: Things have been getting a little gloomy lately, so a group of youths have designed the first ever Verens Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament. Somehow you've won through the lower ranks, and are now a finalist. The state of the city is riding on you (or so they claim), so face your opponent and somehow manage to make this farce exciting enough to lift the moods of the spectators (mostly kids). Just be careful. If you do poorly, you might find a tomato or two thrown at you.

• Prompt F: Welcome to FEAR FACTOR! An exciting new brand of entertainment where contestants participate in various challenges that touch home to the most innate fears humans share. Lying in a pit of creepy crawlies; climb up high, precarious structures; go one-on-one with wild animals—can you handle it? Are you brave enough to go for the 1 million sylv prize? Or will fear cripple you and leave you with nothing!? Only one way to find out! Oh, and one more thing—your emotions will definitely effect everything, so if you're climbing up that rusty, half broken steel tower and it starts shaking, that's probably because you're scared out of your wits. Don't let it crumble!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include giant cheese wheels and/or bucket of nails.

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!

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Ah-- Of course, monster hunting would suit you. [Armin approaches the board, and takes a closer look at the jobs she mentioned.] Eren has done some similar work himself. Usually people work in groups to take down the target. We're all used to that.

A Basilisk? One of the local fauna, both a bird and a lizard at once. People say that staring directly into its eyes can turn you to stone. [He shakes his head in amusement.] It's probably exaggeration. However bizarre these creatures are, it's hard to be intimidated when you come from a world like ours.

It's a good way to get to know what kind of monsters live here. [Or she could be cat sitting or wyvern sitting, but -- well, okay, cat sitting doesn't sound like a bad idea. Nor does helping for cleaning up, that's kind of like being back home. Nevermind that and forget the task board, the mention of Eren doing that gets her full attention and Mikasa looks curious, maybe a bit worried too.] He has? I'll ask him about it then. Yeah, they seem to want at least two or three for them...

[ ... She looks away. Of course they're used to it but that's back home, where she has known those people for years. Here? Sounds like a big step out of her comfort zone, she's not the most social girl ever. Then again she'll rather reach out than see the boys in danger, so at least there's that to help her motivation with getting to know people that way too.

Mikasa listens to Armin's explanation about a Basilisk with her attention back on him. And this is why they always ask Armin first, really. She doesn't even look surprised. It's just one of those "oh, okay then" moments, Mikasa is not even going to question it at all as some would. Not her.]

Exaggeration or not, I'd still blind it first just in case if I was going there or if we run into one of those somewhere else later. [She kind of makes it sound easy.] True. Kind of makes me wonder what kind of people here are if many of them can fight against these. Or what kind of creatures they have back home...

Some otherworlders have told me about the monsters in their world, but they never seem like something that could match up to a Titan. And yet, they're the ones with magic powers, enchanted weapons, advanced technologies... Meanwhile, we struggle with the only weapon we have, and can't even power a lightbulb.

[Armin looks slightly cross. It goes without saying; it's all very unfair to him. He understands how their world came to be in the position it's in, a long string of bad decisions have led to these consequences, but he can't help but be envious of others sometimes.]

[... Seriously? Mikasa looks surprised at first. Not by the Titan part, but magic and everything else and looks like she's thinking about it for a moment while she stays quiet. It is very unfair, yes, that's why she's looking annoyed like it makes her jealous too ... unless...]

Maybe some of them know things, that they could teach to us too...

They can. [He'll concede that point.] As far as I've been able to figure, magic isn't something that you can just learn, or even something that can be passed down. But science-- that, is knowledge I can bring back with us.

[It's part of the reason he makes such frequent use of the library. When he's not trying to figure out a way to get them out of here, he's making himself useful by cramming as much potentially world-changing information he can into his brain. He shifts the weight of the huge book under his arm, which looks like a specialized encyclopedia.]

Too bad, magic would be fun to learn. I guess I'll settle to getting used to that telepathy thing for now... Yeah, let's bring back all the knowledge, that we can get here.

[Though she might leave science to Armin, but he has her full support for it. And she moves a bit right after him, almost thinking they'll go somewhere but no, not yet at least. It gets her attention back to the book anyway. Light evening reading?]

What's your new book?

It's about engineering. [He shows it to her. It looks difficult-- more like arcane, actually.] I want to find a way to improve the 3DMG, or make something else that's more effective at killing Titans. I figured I should start learning from the bottom up.

[Mikasa blinks. Engineering? She takes a look at the book -- too difficult for her, yes, and then she looks at him. Armin, what are you getting yourself into?] Improve how? That sounds like a lot of learning to do.

The 3DMG is inefficient, dangerous, and difficult to control. [He takes the book back from her gently.] If we have millions of Titans to kill, we're going to have to find a better way. The Military's model of training soldiers the way they do, for years, only for most to die in in their first real encounter, it's unsustainable... Our numbers will whittle away until there's no-one left that can fight.

[Well okay, she can't even disagree with some of that.] Even if there'd be only hundreds of them, that's still true. [Millions? Maybe. Who knows. It sounds insane, but then again everything is always insane there.] Maybe we'll find something if we're finally going to the basement.

[Said seriously and matter-of-factly, because well maybe, but who knows what even is there. But hey there's a part she can definitely disagree a lot.]

... You say that as if I'm going to let any of you die. [Not happening. Nope, she's done with seeing people die or finding out they have traitors in the squad or hearing someone got kidnapped again. Someone's going to die the next time it happens and it won't be one of them if it's up to this girl. ...Is it just Mikasa or is the air here getting extremely cold for a moment? Ooops.]

If we hadn't ended up here, I would be banking on something being there. But now I've been given a chance to change things... I'm going to take it.

[A shiver runs up his spine. Oh, Mikasa... You're making the flowers wilt.]

I don't doubt that you can protect Eren and I. [And he means it. When he comes to skill, the only person he can think of that can outclass Mikasa is Captain Levi himself. She would turn the Earth upside-down to keep them safe] And save many, many more. But the whole world, when we don't even know what's out there?

If we ever get back, that's going to be our next stop, I think. Good, we should take those chances when we get them here.

[And someone better not rush in from a door or whatever before they get some rest back home. At least they can get some rest here, maybe. Sorry nature. She can make more flowers later with some love maybe. And Armin gets a tiny smile for that.]

No one should ever doubt it. [Even if she tells them that following Levi is their best chance of survival, but hey, she's also following him while she's protecting them and the squad, so-- back to serious face.] It's not like we ever know what's out there -- or here, we just have to deal with it and I won't let anyone or anything get in my way.

[Shit, right? Do these guys even sleep? I've got evidence that proves otherwise.]

Well, it's good to know your usual determination can't be dampened. "You have to fight, if you want to live..." [He says, with a steely confidence, obviously imitating her.] Right?

[Seriously, they only get some sleep sometimes if one of them is in no condition to get up from bed.

She actually smiles a bit more at that. He's kind of imitating Eren there at the same time too, yes.]

Of course it can't, not when you two are here. We just need to find a way around -- magic and everything else others have here, but it shouldn't be too hard.

[Most people probably don't expect the 3DMG stuff, or a boy turning into a rage monster or a girl being prodigy at everything or Armin being like a walking library... And everything else including telepathy here and that they are used to unexpected worst case scenarios. Sounds pretty great to them, not so great to anyone who might go against them.]

[Armin harumphs quietly.]

That's what I thought, when I first came here. But I got to a point where there just wasn't any more information to be had, and no place further I could look. The Arehtei are withholding things from us, only letting us know what they want us to know, and manipulating us for their own ends.

[It goes without saying: he holds no love for the gods of this land. It's just as possible that humans were the cause of the scourge on the world below, but Armin has far less trust for these powerful, mysterious figures that have such a strong hold on their emotions. He hates being controlled against his will, and for good reason, it's no different from what's been done to humanity in their own world.]

[... Yep, that sounds very familiar and Mikasa likes it just as little as normally she likes showing her feelings all the time. So, not at all. Even if -- the whole situation might be better for them here, but who knows if that opinion will change any time soon.]

So considering how this place works -- [huff, speaking of how you feel literally showing around you all the time] -- we might see a lot more if they get to see ... whatever they want to see from us.

[or whatever FEELINGS they want to see, same thing. ]

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TEST DRIVE: JUNE

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