♥ October 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

[hugtopiamods]

October (Lasohm) Test Drive Meme
Premise ♥ Setting ♥ Rules ♥ FAQ ♥ Mod Contact

Havenwell is normally a beautiful city - all tall spires and pure white stone glistening with gold against a blue sky. Now, it's still quite lovely, but it's marred. The wall that surrounds the city has a large glimmering hole broken through the stone and the buildings are missing bits and pieces here and there. The city is still reeling from the aftermath of its siege when a new set of souls are drawn to its shore. Good luck, new arrivals; and please excuse all the dust.

---

❥ PROMPT I: Buddy System

With all the changes and the fear of a secondary attack lingering, the natives are a lot more protective of their newest arrivals. When new characters begin to appear at the temples, they receive the welcome speech, get their communicators and the simple map of the city, and a warning to stay away from the walls. Then they get taken to the front of the temple by a helpful robotic priest. Rather than turn the newcomers loose right away, they pull someone seemingly at random off the street and push the two people together with a cheerful, "It's dangerous to go alone, so please show our newest resident around. Please be buddies!" They wait until they're certain the pair is going to be moving off together before going back inside.

They try to place a new arrival with one of those who previously arrived, but who can keep track of all that, right? Characters may find themselves thrown together with an actual veteran or with another new arrival who only came here a day or even just an hour before them! Good luck helping each other out, offworlders, and don't lose your buddy!

❥ PROMPT II: The Havenwell Archives

Lasohm is another month that belongs to Ohma and after such a vicious attack, a small group of citizens decide that it might be great for the offworlders to help with something important to the feline god. These citizens are marked with a sash with the sign of a quill on it, a decidedly antique symbol considering how technologically advanced the people are. They hand out fliers to any who will take them, offering a small amount of Dora in compensation to any who will help the Havenwell Archives repair, catalogue, and restore any books damaged by the attack.

The Archives is a large building in the south and its doors, which have been sealed shut until now, are slightly ajar, allowing people entry. Head to the Archives and you'll be greeted by one of a handful of robotic citizens, all wearing that quill-emblazoned sash, and directed to a small room where you and other offworlders are put to the task of reassembling history texts that have fallen into disrepair or reviewing work that earlier offworlders completed, fixing any glitches that might occur in the text. Most of the writing is illegible, but it seems that these books are important to the Archives for more than just the information contained within. As you work, you might notice that talking and sharing information about yourself or engaging in physical contact near these books with the other people in your room makes the text on your pages a little more legible, a little easier to read and understand, and easier to fix.

❥ PROMPT III: Virtual Research

After the attack, every part of the city is on repair duty and the means the Entertainment District as well. As new arrivals wander the city, they might be called into one of the numerous Virtual Reality cafes. These cafes vary in layout, but most have areas for the natives to plug directly into the machines and other areas which have older looking virtual reality helmets that allow flesh bodied people experience the games. For those who need assistance with their sensory inputs, basic options like audio descriptions of visual scenes, enhanced audio and descriptive speech, closed captions, and crude mobility chairs are available. A handful of cafes have other options like direct visual or audio cortex stimulation to simulate vision or hearing, or suspension tanks to allow simulated movement, but these are currently unavailable due to damage.

All of these facilities are, unfortunately, under repair. The direct plug-in systems are easier for the robot natives to fix because they can do the most important part of it - testing - by themselves. But for the helmets and other interface systems, they need your help. Naturally, they'll pay you for the work, but they need the offworlders to play the available games and record any areas where they find glitches. Playing with a partner increases your chances of finding and fixing any issues, so feel free to log in for free for once and test any of the following games:

• Big Bass Fishing
The beautiful lake has blue-green waters surrounded by forest and rocky, reedy shores. You and your companion are on a small single-motor fishing boat and you have fishing gear - two poles in the water. As the game starts up a read-out announces the objective: Catch the largest fish before the time limit ends. What's the time limit? ...Well, that's your first glitch because it reads as static. Might as well start fishing though, right? It doesn't take long to catch a few regular sized fish, nothing too exciting, and then? You get the big one - it bows your fishing rod nearly in half as you reel it up. The fish leaps into the air and you realize this is your next glitch because the fish hangs there - the size of a minivan - and yells, "BIG. BASS. FISHING. ATTACK." The fish slaps its fins and tails at the boat and now you and your fishing companion better fight this fish or you'll end up in the lake or worse.


• A (un)Familiar Experience
Jump into the life of the temple familiars and see life from their perspective! Choose the temple, any temple is fine, and be transformed into a fledgling rainbow dragon, a purple mouse, a white raven, or a blue feline. You're free to move about the virtual confines of the temples and, in fact, you can even interact with other familiars in their temples - who may be other players in this game. Play, climb, try to get your fledgling wings to fly, tumble about with the other mice, enjoy your simple life as an animal! --or you would if you weren't an insane size. Rather than being a small mouse, you're the size of a horse. That fledgling rainbow dragon? About the size of a fly. The building sizes are off, too - one might have door that's 30 feet tall, but a ceiling that's only 12. Everything else seems fine, but those sizes? Well, you better figure out how to get around that.


• Robot Crossing
Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:
1. Pick and harvest as many Aellyn vegetables and fruits as you can before the timer runs out! The more you pick, the better your score. Work together with your partner to clear the field in any way you can. Strangely, once you finish clearing a tree or a field row of their bounty, they seem to magically refill when you turn your back. Strangely, when the timer runs out? It flashes 00:00 and the game...doesn't? Stop? In fact, the fruits and vegetables just keep multiplying and multiplying and if you don't hurry up you might just get buried in them all!
   
2. With a partner, use the giant slingshot to launch comically large fruits into a garden patch of other colored fruits. Match a line of 3 or more similarly shaped fruits to clear it from the field. The more fruits you can clear, the higher your score - aka welcome to Fruit Crush. Stack lines of 6 or more to get shining clear diamond fruits that clear the entire row and snag yourself some bonus points. Or they should, but whenever you clear away a matching set, the fruits explode, sending fruit bits and juice everywhere - most notably on you and your partner. Still, the game is going on and it looks like it won't stop until you finish, so good thing it's all a computer game, right? Sure feels real though - reeeeeeally sticky.
   
3. You and your partner(s) are given a magical golden pumpkin and it's your job to grow it into the largest pumpkin possible. Why? There's a county fair of course and the largest pumpkin wins! But how do you grow this pumpkin? Well, for whatever reason? This pumpkin is already the size of a grizzly bear and it just won't stop growing! You and your partner better find a way to stop it from growing out of control or you might get (virtually) crushed! You could do a song and dance routine together to touch the pumpkin's soul to teach it moderation or calm its insane vegetable puberty. You could hold hands and share stories and entertain the pumpkin until it feels satisfied that it's grown enough. You could just hack and slash at it in an attempt to reduce its unwieldy bulk. The possibilities are endless and so is the pumpkin's growth, so you better hurry!

---

Have fun however you like with the setting! Make a network post, make up other prompts based on the general setting, go wild. Havenwell is your oyster.

This TDM is for the November application round. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below. The reservation round begins on October 30, 2019 at 10:00PM EST and our applications will run from November 2, 2019 to November 9, 2019 from 10:00PM EST to 10:00PM EST.

♥ Taken Characters ♥ Reservations ♥ Applications ♥

Comments

Pyra/Mythra/Pneuma | Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[pyrafect]

A: let’s hold dem hands
[ Plucked from her slumbering, sealed state in her world and thrust upon a stranger to explore a recently-ravaged city, Pyra appears, perhaps, calmer than most would expect: she greets you with a nod, as well as a quiet pardon for being abruptly ushered in your direction by the priests. She stops just short of actually colliding with you. Hello there. Hi. She blinks at you. ] Ah....

[ This could be more awkward, but her surprised expression easily melts into a warm smile once she seems to regain some of her bearings; yet to those who are perceptive enough, they may read how... sad she appears regardless. ]

Well? [ She offers a hand, or should you be willing, she takes yours into both of hers already. Her touch is notably warm, her demeanor affectionate. Looks like she’s getting right into offering touch and contact as instructed. Her voice is light, welcoming; she tilts her head, looking at you almost expectantly. ] Shall we explore together?

B: Wow are they gonna patch that up or what
[ This city has seen better days, and she marvels at how quickly it seems to be recovering from the damage. With a hand moving up to cover her lips, she gazes warily at the significant breach in the surrounding walls. ]

How awful... [ Her murmur is soft with concern, and her eyes are far more somber than one would expect for a total stranger to feel for a completely foreign city, much less one that she had been unwittingly taken to. ]

What happened here...

[ A battle, obviously, or a deliberate attack. But the city still thrives, the people still live, and life goes on.

If only the same could be said of the home she had left behind. ] ...And is there any chance of it happening again?

C: It’s like we’re in a book club
[ Within the library, she selects one book to remove from the shelf only to realize that it won’t budge. Why? Because you are tugging on the opposite side of the bookshelf. Stopping to let you take the book for yourself, she waves through the gap created by the removal of the tome. ] Oh—

[ In the dim light of the building, her crystals adorning her glow a soft, teal-emerald, their energy silent and still. She waves, flashing the light of one of them that’s situated upon the back of her hand. ] I believe that book goes to a set with this one...

I have the rest on a reading desk, if you care to see.

D: poppin bottles in da temple... just kidding
[ Which temple? Any of them. Should you be within one of them, you will also find Pyra there.

It’s rather nice, she thinks, to not be known here. To not have others fear her. To not have the acolytes revere her as the daughter— the sacred tool, the weapon— of the god of her world. Her hand curls over the crystal upon her chest as she looks upon the statue of the deity. In her world, the Praetorium had never dared to depict her father’s likeness...

Noticing that you are also an otherwolder, she decides to ask: ]

Being in this world... means that we have all become worshipers of these gods. [ Her eyes remain upon the statue, voice respectful but also noticeably puzzled. The words come out slowly and thoughtfully, as if she has never once paid respects to a faith in her life. Nevertheless, she seems earnest in her question as if she wishes to learn more. ]

Am I understanding that correctly?

Wildcard
[ Have something in mind for Pyra? HMU here or PM! ]

B

[meridio]

[ Hers is the first familiar face to cross his path. Having had an eyeful of the breach already, Somnus keeps his gaze fixed on Pyra as he approaches from the side. ]

As long as the need for a wall remains, so will that chance.

1/2

[pyrafect]

[ As he speaks, she turns to him with but a look of concern in return, not recognition. ]

[pyrafect]

[ ...And her eyes then stray from him back to the wall. A breeze rustles the end of her hair; she corrects a strand to be behind her ear. ]

I've heard that the wall is for... the safety of this city. [ She shakes her head; rumors, really. If she's that curious, she'll just have to look for herself... but she won't do that, either. Best to not draw attention to herself. ]

But there must be something else.

[meridio]

[ That gaze, her affect, and the motion of clear eyes—all of it strikes him as out of place as it's happening. The last time they'd journeyed together, she'd been withdrawn. Hearing her now, Somnus realizes what that means.

She doesn't remember. Yet he does, and he wonders if there's a reason.

But the reason matters not. This is another world, and they've been brought here to fulfill another purpose. To that end, he glances at a city structure out of his periphery. ]

If there is a thought, I would listen to it.

1/2

[pyrafect]

[ Newly awakened, she feels out of place in this world. She's upon the ground, not a Titan. She's moving, breathing, living with others, not confined to her mindscape.

She is a barrier, a wall for Mythra-- to keep her in. Because she's dangerous, because she wrecked no less than three Titan-continents, rending them wastelands, if not outright dead. ] Is there something... dangerous that slumbers beneath this city, I wonder? Something that made the outside inhabitable in the first place?

[ Her hand finds the railing as she gazes upon the wall. ]

[pyrafect]

[ Then she shakes her head once, looking back to the stranger.

...The stranger with the overly serious expression. Perhaps she shouldn't have shared her thoughts. Pyra offers him an apologetic smile. ] Sorry. I--... shouldn't be saying such things. I've only just gotten here, after all.

[ Basically her theory is conjecture. (Or projection, more like.) ]

[meridio]

[ He faces her, seeing the projection for what it is. Perhaps she is correct; perhaps she isn't. He only just got here, himself. Neither of them can say for certain. But it would be in her best interest to reel herself in before the past consumes her.

It's that theatrical smile again. ]

The past will reveal itself where necessary. For the sake of this world, we must look toward the future.

[ At the same time, pushing forward with no basis for the movement is just as reckless. There's merit to looking back in a situation such as this—but not in the way she is. ]

[pyrafect]

[ Towards the future...

It’s a surprisingly refreshing encouragement, grounding her. Yes, she’s here because... somehow, she’s actually needed to help this world, to help the gods of this world and the balance of it. Whereas she so sorely failed her own, perhaps here... ]

Yes... [ She turns to face him fully, gaze warm as she looks him over. She doesn’t recognize his garb at all; he must be from another world. ] You’re absolutely right.

[ Humbly, ] We were brought here to help ensure that this world has a future. [ Can she dare presume herself to be among them? ] And through such a simple thing, too. [ Via... touch, and not just any touch, sustained positive contact. On that note, she extends her hand to him as if in an invitation for him to take it. ]

Well...?

[meridio]

[ Just like all those times when he accepted her invitations to go on quests, so too does he accept her invitation for contact. Stepping toward Pyra, whose gaze has regained its previous warmth since the last time he saw her, he slips his hand into hers.

Perhaps she is from the past. Perhaps it's for the best—that the things he said within a different set of walls remain forgotten, for a divine being should not have to carry something as inconsequential as his guilt.

Ensuring that the world has a future is much more important than that. ]

[pyrafect]

[ He may notice-- or he may not-- how her eyes briefly widen the moment his hand comes in contact with hers, the way her fingers twitch as if they are unused to feeling another's.

Her eyes flit up towards him, then down, then up again to meet his gaze, and then her fingers curl around his, bringing her other hand up to cup over both of theirs together tenderly. For a moment, she forgets that this is a stranger, so new this is all to her.

What she knows from contact only comes from her other self, and five centuries have passed since then. ] I'll tell you a secret.

[ She closes her eyes and breathes in, the smile that replaces her surprise quiet and serene. ]

This may sound silly, but.... this is my first time holding hands with another.

[meridio]

[ When her eyes close, he looks down and brings his other hand to support theirs from the bottom.

The divine have no need for physical contact the way mortals do; this much, he understands. Then he recalls a time when she'd implored him for an embrace—to be comforted, when that comfort hadn't been his to give—and he remembers that Pyra has this side to her as well. ]

It will not be the last.

1/2

[pyrafect]

[ Her eyes open when he speaks; how wonderful his words sound, as if he himself could dare read her future. She hopes this will not be the last, but guilt passes through her expression, briefly, at knowing that she shouldn't have any of this at all.

....She shouldn't, yet this world has given her an opportunity like no other. Dare she try more?

Pyra looks down at their hands. His are bare, while hers... ]

Ah. One moment.

[ She takes her hands from his, and within the span of a few seconds she removes her gloves. Her touch slips back into both of his before the warmth could have faded from their absence. And then, she... ]

[pyrafect]

[ ...Smiles brightly at him. ]

Better. [ She judges, giving his hands a light squeeze.

Indeed it is better this way. His hands-- they are human. They are callused (a fighter, she recognizes) but real. She's holding hands with a human, she can hardly believe it. After five hundred long years, this is actually happening.

A melodic giggle escapes her as she threads her fingers through his. Architect, she could cry. ]

[meridio]

[ Her hands are soft as she threads her fingers through his, belying the power to rend the world within them. He, on his end, passively accepts her touch.

He lifts his head, and that smile is perhaps the most sincere expression of joy he's ever seen on her. It leaves him speculating on what transpired in that other world, if for a second. ]

Is this what the gods of Havenwell favor?

[ Touch that involves skin-to-skin contact, as opposed to otherwise. He's musing at best, knowing that it ultimately shouldn't matter. ]

we poppin bottles tonight

[begguiling]

[Magolor is an adherent of Diacht—or something. He may have chosen it, but worshiping them? That was a whole other level he wouldn't put himself on.

He is here visiting the temple, though, for this reason and that, and he tries not to overthink those reasons; it may be that he's a little soft on the god at this point, for all that he also doesn't trust any of them. And yet here he is, on a brief stop in. Seeing a new face investigating it would have gotten his attention anyway, so when he's actually addressed first, he heads over without hesitation to answer.

It's quite a question, too.]

Oh, I don't know about that. Worship is a strong word and all. Should I be saying that in Diacht's temple? Sorry, Diacht!

[Just because it's genuinely interesting to him too doesn't mean he's going to be serious about it, though, and he laughs and waves a hand.]

Anyway, I wouldn't call myself a worshiper. But we're putting in work for them, sure.

Re: we poppin bottles tonight

[pyrafect]

[ She glances at the.... being? curiously. She isn't sure wha he is. ]

"Putting in work for them"... [ She parrots his words thoughtfully, a hand delicately going to her chin. A moment passes, and then her pursed lips break into a smile. ] Surely sharing a touch with someone isn't bothersome.

[ Because that's how you pay tribute to these gods right right?? with touch? ]

[begguiling]

[He's a something! And he stops in front of her with a smile, holding out his hand in offer, as if to answer that question by way of action. And also greeting. Sharing a touch is no bother at all.]

I didn't say that! But just because it isn't bothersome doesn't mean it isn't still some effort. You'll see just how many excuses they come up with for us to get cozy. You are new, right?

[Considering the original question, he's fairly confident in that.]

[pyrafect]

[ The offered hand does not go unnoticed, and she easily slips hers into his... that are detached from his body. Astounding.

She goes a step further: bringing her other hand up to cup his one in both of hers. The gods wish for touch to sustain themselves, the gods protect this world; therefore, this shared touch helps this world.

It is the.... the very least she can do. ] I am. [ She replies simply, looking down at their clasped hands. ] And I need no excuse to hold another's hand, little one. You need only ask.

[begguiling]

[Oh man, that's a move Magolor has been the first one to pull 100% of the time on this planet so far, and having it done to him instead is a surprise. She's serious about this! He lets her do it, his hand squeezing hers; on this end of things it feels strange to him. But that's how he feels about most of the physical contact, really.

His moment of surprise is visible in his expression—he blinks down at their hands and then up at her—but only briefly. Then he just smiles again, less aggressively bright than before.]

I see . . . I'll keep that in mind, big one!

[Wink.]

You seem like exactly the kind of person they'd want helping them out.

[pyrafect]

[ The light in her eyes shifts briefly at his words; perhaps it's amusement, perhaps it's doubt. Whatever it is, it vanishes. ] 

And you? Coming so readily to my hands- [ For indeed, she's pulled him closer now, lifting him upwards. ] --you seem like an expert at initiating the help they need.... and, just maybe, the same need this world requires to thrive... [ She chuckles, teasing, and, should he not be opposed to it, she will begin to carry him not unlike a mother would to a child. Up on her hip you go, little one. ]

For how long have you been paying fealty to these gods through touch? 

[begguiling]

[Whoa. Very few people ever manage to strike Magolor speechless, even briefly, but welcome to the elite ranks. His utter shock at being handled so shamelessly cuts through the layers of himselfness that he usually keeps folded around him. For just a moment, he just sounds . . . surprised and faintly embarrassed.]

Errr, um—how long—about three months.

[It's going to take him a bit to even think to pull away, if he decides to. That's how infrequently he's on this side of things.]

What a way to put it, though . . .

[pyrafect]

Three months... [ She murmurs, muses.

He isn't opposed to being carried. Good. Pyra will continue as she is, deicing to keep him balanced upon her hip, an arm about him to support the rest of his weight, as she moves. From there, she begins to walk through the temple slowly as they talk, pausing every so often whenever they come across a different mural, artifact, or other sort of structure. ]

Ah, that would be three months away from your world, wouldn't it. [ Her tone turns sympathetic. ] I'm sorry.... that you've been taken away from your home. I hope that there are others from your world here.

[begguiling]

[It's at least not very much weight. And he lets it be hefted on her hip, just poking out around her arm to take the tour with her. By now, he knows his own temple pretty well . . . but the truth is, he still likes it. As much as he's not doing any worshiping, and his placement in this temple was kind of a whole big sham to begin with, he's developed a semi-secret fondness for it. There are worse ways to spend his time than taking a little walk around it with a cuddly newbie.

It takes that long for his brain to recover itself, though, to his private embarrassment. He's a genius! He shouldn't be floundering like this! But after spinning its wheels for that little while, it regroups at least some, and Magolor comes to this conclusion: he just can't bear to face this in any way other than playing along with it. Just can't handle honesty right now all snuggled up against a stranger! So he lets his expression fall into something wounded and open, his tone going quiet with grief:]

I do have one friend with me here, but . . . well, I think we're both trying not to think about it too hard, you know? Our best friend isn't here with us. I miss him so much . . . I know he wouldn't want me to be sad, but I can't help myself.

[pyrafect]

[ From this, she determines that this being is feeling quite homesick. She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, but still maintains her supportive hold on him. ] 

Sometimes... [ A pause, and then she begins again. ] Sometimes it's hard, to be happy for another's sake. [ She replies, brow knit with sympathy. ] But perhaps your friend might understand...

That even if you do miss him, he might want you be honest with your feelings overall. [ There, a loophole to this whole he-wouldn't-want-me-to-be-sad business! A good friend would want their friend to be honest overall, to accept their feelings for what they are. And those feelings, she thinks, are beautiful. They are human, even if this being certainly is not human. Thus: ] 

If you miss him, miss him. [ She turns her gaze to him, kind. Then, softer: ] If you love him, love him. So long as you are true to what is in here [ With her free hand, she lifts a finger to poke him upon his chest. ], all will be well.