TEST DRIVE MEME: JULY

[simpathis]

— TEST DRIVE: JULY —

Welcome to empatheias' first ever 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, July 18th and Applications open Friday, July 25th. Game will begin Friday, August 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!

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


PROMPTS

• Prompt A: Create any scenario that could cause your character to display some kind of emotion, be it big or small, and write out how it changes the immediate area. Are there literal sparkles everywhere because they're so happy? Or is the ground starting to twist and warp due to their anger or frustration? Things exploding? Rain clouds? Since this is a test drive, don't worry about any limitations on effects—just write whatever comes to mind!

• Prompt B: The following are generic task board prompts that characters could have taken up as a job.

1. You have to collect X number of materials. Find a partner to make it easier!
   
2. There's a hostile creature attacking some of the neighboring farms. If you got a weapon, they could definitely use your help!
   
3. How about helping around the town? Delivering something, helping patch up a sign, cleaning out some of those rusted gears—the locals would definitely warm up to everyone.
   
4. Make up your own task/quest!

• 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: With the influx of people suddenly appearing, the locals are a bit on edge. So rather than having your character’s emotions affecting the environment, someone else's is affecting them! Maybe they were just passing by and someone had an emotional outbreak of sorts. Now they have to figure out how to deal with the aftermath—or will their own emotions make it worse? Needless to say, NPC godmodding granted 100%.

• Prompt E: Make your own! It can even involve booze and/or cats.

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

[leteverythingstainher]

[ She's dragged out of her own world by him, and what's going on around him, and she'll put a bit of her actual magic into the flowers to bring them back, sighing a bit, before looking at him. ]

Goodness, those poor plants...

[ ...Ah, but payment. Why? Does he insist on this idea...? She gives a long, thoughtful, dramatic pause, before finally announcing her decision: ]

Fine, I want the most awful thing you could ever do, my good sir, and you will suffer forever for it...! I want...

[ BIG. PAUSE. ]

A nice big smile!

[ Muahhahahaha? ]

[unghosting]

[....nnnnnnyeh --
















Nope. Those shadows had been burbling with anxiety, but now they flatten out completely, as though deflated. One of them goes slithering around Kevin's feet, undulating like a disgruntled inchworm.]

Sorry, can't do it. My face is broken.

[Technically it is. He has the bandages and everything. Look, there's a smartass hiding in there somewhere.]

[greatseabitch]

[ She'll laugh cheerfully, though, making bubbles again. As if underwater. ]

It's a bit of a shame I couldn't have met you sooner, I could've healed that.... healing magic is one of my specialties, actually. Well aside from anchors and moon spells, anchors are pretty difficult to make though. But... hm. Now, as it is, I can't do too much... but I'm guessing even if your face was fine you'd never smile, so I actually honestly don't want much.

[ This guy's kind of adorably grumpy, she's pleased to see that he does indeed have a mode beyond brooding. ]

[unghosting]

[There is indeed still a sense of humor lurking down in the depths of his broken little brain, it's true, and if you're going to have to interact with the world you might as well be a deadpan snarker. He almost wants to protest, out of spite, that he absolutely used to smile once upon a time. But if he does this she might continue to try to make it happen and Kevin does not want that.

Not when the truth of the matter is that this is actually what passes for a good day for him, anymore. If it wasn't he'd be hiding away somewhere and refusing to come out in public at all, and quite possibly snapping viciously at anyone who did come near. Let her think he's just generically awful. That's fine.]

Hn. ...nothing comes free.

[This is probably as close as he'll get to explaining himself.]

[leteverythingstainher]

[ .............. ]

So... you're poor?

[ That... was probably not at all what he meant, but she does have a tendency even now to be slow, sometimes. ]

[unghosting]

[Kevin is so poor he refuses to part with a cloak full of holes and pays his morally dubious magical entities in body parts.

But no, that isn't what he meant.]

It doesn't really matter.

[greatseabitch]

[ ... Ah, that wind that just went by... ]

That's a little silly to say, though. Everything matters...! Sometimes you just have to keep trying. And, anyway, sometimes the only price of things is a new friend. I'm someone who... likes seeing others happy. But, if that's not possible, I guess I'm just gonna have to try really hard with you! .... Haha, besides... if you're at the bottom... then we can only go up from here!

[ This is probably the most honest thing she'll say about herself. Even INSINUATING she may not be one hundred percent all happy all the time is... odd for her. ]

[unghosting]

[Unfortunately, Kevin doesn't understand her nearly as well as he'd need to in order to appreciate that. Mostly he's just growing more and more uncomfortable with every word she says. He doesn't want her to "try hard" to make him happy. He wants to be left alone, with his grief and his regrets and the anger that comes over him in waves, entirely outside of his control. She clearly doesn't know what she's messing with, and if it weren't for the sword in his hand -- tethering him to her now, in a way -- he'd try again to just up and leave.

As it is, he shifts uncomfortably, like a stray animal thinking of bolting.]

You don't know me at all. You shouldn't -- ah.

...you'll be disappointed.

[The swordsman can't even sound regretful about that. If she tries to make him happy, she'll be disappointed. That's just how it is.]

[leteverythingstainher]

[ ... She's just going to hold a hand out, a gloved hand. Because she doesn't care what he thinks he is; whatever it could be, she is probably far worse herself. I mean dude look at her clothing she's got eyeballs all over her, okay. (Which, by the way, her hat's eyes inside it? All of them just rolled themselves. Yeah.) ]

Well, let's start with something simple. The PROPER way.

[ And now she'll emphasize the following words slowly, expecting Kevin to shake her hand: ]

I'm Wadanohara, the sea witch. Nice to meet you!

[unghosting]

[At this perfectly normal and common statement that eventually rises up in pretty much every new acquaintanceship to ever happen in the history of ever, Kevin stares at her like she has multiple heads to go with those eyeballs.

This is because women shaking hands is weird. Women don't shake hands. You're supposed to bow over them and kiss the air above their knuckles and what have you.

But sure, okay, everyone here is weird and there's cultural differences. Sheathing the sword, Kevin starts to reach out, hesitantly -- and then decides abruptly that now is a very bad time to break the personal space boundary, because the thought of touching anybody makes him feel like spikes are raising up out of his spine. It's that sort of day. His hand jerks back, and his shadows flail around a little as they react.]

It's Kevin.

[He leaves off his surname. She didn't give her own, and anyway, he has no way of knowing when somebody's going to turn up who will actually put two and two together and recognize a Red-Eyed Ghost, such as himself.]

[leteverythingstainher]

[ ... Okay, that's... a thing that sure happened, but she'll chuckle a little. ]

Well, we're not strangers anymore, Kevin!

[ Fun fact: no one she knows in her kingdom has a last name, so this doesn't register as odd to her at all. ]

So here's how this is gonna go down: I'm going to annoy you, and you're going to put up with it, and maybe if we're both lucky, we'll become really good friends!

[unghosting]

[...did she really just...?]

No.

[And just like that, Kevin's talkative mood is over, over, over. He's starting to shut down. Time to find a nice quiet hidey-hole with no people in it before he gets to the point where he wants to chew somebody's leg off and beat them with it.]

[greatseabitch]

[ ... Oh well. She's used to this kind of thing from Samekichi. So Wadanohara will just press right on ahead, without a care at all-- ]

... It's okay. You've got a beautiful eye. I think it'd be hard for me to miss you. But while we're HERE...

[ She so loves the color red... so very much. So much so it spreads from her feet, making red grass bloom--but that is not important, nonono. ]

The question is how much of that I can work with. Let's see!

[ And she will cast a Healing Tone on him, with a beautiful crescendo of moonlight appearing from above her head. It won't bring his eye back, but... it should help recover his strength, lessen the pain. Help make him better. ]

... Hm, no... without the eye I guess I can't just bring it back... oh, but if you ever want a BETTER eye, I could totally make you a new one from magic!

[unghosting]

[Kevin's hand claps to his eye, just as defensively as it did right after Alyss removed the damn thing in the first place; this tiny witch is doing something to him. Positive or no, he almost doesn't register that the pain is ebbing, he's so busy panicking over the fact that this one doesn't even have to touch him to go digging around in his skull.]

-- nothat'sokayyoudon'thaveto!

[And now it is definitely time to run the hell away and hide somewhere quiet and dark. And he's taking the sword with him. Even if it's a creepy witch sword, it's a blade, and having it in his hand is the closest thing Kevin has to a sense of security right now.]

bless this thread's existence.

[greatseabitch]

[ ... Oh... was it something she said?

--No, she can tell. Even without the obvious panicked bit of physical emotions left behind, Wadanohara isn't as dumb as she seems. She pays attention. Quite a bit nowadays, really. The event behind his missing eye is quite clearly still traumatic.

(Which isn't at all like something that occurred to her, no no no, of course not, she did not become someone else, she is still JUST LIKE S▒E A▒W▒▒YS W▒S ▒▒L M▒D▒ ▒▒R SO ▒E▒▒Y ^HAp_py... )

Something triggered his reaction. She won't go after him this time, simply frown, mumble something. ]

Eheehee... keep an eye on him, I suppose. He seems like he'll need it, huh...?

[ It's okay. She's done enough. She healed him, and she gave him a sword, and she IS a bit tired now from it. Her magic's touched him enough that she thinks she'll be able to find him and freely bother the man again when she thinks he's ready, but spying on people is quite rude. He knows who she is now, and that's enough, so she'll just keep in mind to...

try her hardest...

... to make him happier, like ｓｈｅ ｉｓ ｎｏｗ, of course. Not with force, or corruption, like most others. No, though it screams she has a prime opportunity, she wants to help, he's already damaged, like her, something she... knows... too well...

Ah, yes. Even if she cried, she'd ｎｅｖｅｒ ｓｔｏｐ ｓｍｉｌｉｎｇ, because she is ｓｏ ｖｅｒｙ ｈａｐｐｙ. ]

... Unfortunate... hmm, perhaps...

[ ... They're not so different. Ah, those poor flowers he'd killed... perhaps she'll tend to them. ]

/uploads this icon just for you

[unghosting]