hugme_mes | ♥ October 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

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♥ October 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

animated gif of a group of cars playing soccer

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.

two fingers together with smiling faces drawn on

❥ 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

a virtual first-person view of hands reeling in a fishing rod

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

A (un)Familiar Experience

Robot Crossing

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!
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.
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 ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Don't think she didn't notice how he brushed the idea of rooming with others from his world, whether or not they're here...

...But for the moment, her excitement has gotten the better of her. With a little more enthusiasm to her step, she continues with him towards the city center. ] Oh-- oh, let's find one with a working kitchen!

[ Even since awakening five hundred years ago, for that one year she had walked upon the earth it had been nothing but inns after inns at which to stay, followed by camping out in the wildness upon the Titan's backs or within their bellies. Addam's manor had never been a home for the brief nights she had stayed there, what with the war. The ship in which she had been sank-- the casket in which she had been sealed-- the tomb... had been far more a home to her than anything else.

And if the place has a kitchen, it will be the first time she's ever cooked, the knowledge of how-to inherently granted to her upon being constructed. ] Maybe with an oven and gas stoves, and... [ He can stop her any time. ]

[ Who is he to stop her?

If she knows how to use those things, all the more power to her. He doesn't—not anything with electricity involved, anyway. His knowledge of modern technology is limited to the basics, most of which were acquired from distant observation. ]

I do not imagine there will be significant disparities between the houses.

[ They're being handed out to newcomers for free. The furnishing is bound to be the same, if not identical, across the lot. ]

I suppose you're right.

[ And, honestly, she isn't really one for doing something creative like decorating....

But maybe he is? ]

Do you have any style, in terms of decoration or furniture, you would prefer?

[ And this is asked with a... not so subtle look over him and what he wears. If he has some sort of style, era, or culture from which he comes, she can't identify it. ]

[ Even in his world, the style with which he's familiar has long gone out of trend. A taste of what once was isn't why he's here, so he shakes his head once. ]

I leave the matter of the house to you. All I ask is a single room.

[ After existing in a separate space for thousands of years, he remembers that this much should be the bare minimum. ]

[ She's not going to be decorating it at all like her own world, so. Looks like their place is going to be as bare as bricks. But for him, she can certainly try to make it more, oh, homey? A little. ]

Then... how about... [ Thinking. ] What is your favorite color? [ Glancing at him. ]

[ Definitely not blue. ]

Any will suffice. I do not expect to be there much.

[ He'll only have what he needs. If the house should be missing what he does need, he'll provide for himself. Either way, the decor shouldn't be an issue. ]

[ Their decor is going to either be non-existent or as awful as how either of them dresses. The world is beautiful, yes, but anywhere outside of their hypothetical future apartment.

But there he goes again, acting as if his opinions-- his input, in this case-- doesn't matter. Just like his feelings on how serving these new gods through touch.

So, she encourages: ] ...It should have a piece of you there. That's important. [ Why is it important? Probably because one of her human companions had said so, five hundred years ago. ] Something to show that you're.... here.

[ Hm. What could work, what could work...? ]

...You find the world beautiful. [ There. A start. And then, the next words come more easily: ] If you plan on going out to the city, [ Her hand, linked with his, sways as she walks. ] why don't you find something you think is beautiful... and bring it back?

[ At least Somnus is wearing enough clothes to cover himself—

She assigns him a fruitless exercise. Now, more than ever, he rejects materialism, and all that this technological city has to offer are materials. Knowing that this is no fault of hers, he neither accepts nor rejects the suggestion while they continue to walk hand in hand. ]

What is your plan?

[ This city needs no piece of him. Once he's served his purpose, he will disappear back to his world as if he'd never existed.

While he's here, however, he will explore Aellyn as much as he's able. Will she do the same? ]

[ yah but he is pantless TAKE THAT TOGA BOI

Also, believing that he's still talking about going out and finding something beautiful: ]

I can't be the one that decides that for you. [ She taps just left and lower of the crystal upon her chest, where a heart would be. ] That's all in here.

Edited 2019-10-27 01:19 (UTC)

[ Like what she's wearing qualifies as proper pants!!

In other words, that decision is for him to make. He never did find out what that crystal is. ]

After the house, what will you do?

[ then give her ur cloak dummy so she can properly cover herself!! you'll be doing the whole world a favor!

She realizes what he meant just before... and that he doesn't seem so keen on fulfilling the little quest. Avoidant little thing, isn't he? She looks at him, and looks at him with such a look that clearly says beeech ur subject-change wasn't subtle... only more eloquently.

Well. She decides to challenge him with this new topic. ]

Edited 2019-10-27 14:27 (UTC)

What do you think is most important to do, in this world?

[ The look she gives him is telling, and Somnus is not blind to it as he gives her a sideways glance. They've done this many a time in the past, after all. ]

To do what must be done.

[ "We have been summoned to fulfill a specific purpose." He knows it, she knows it. This is what they've been told.

But he seems like such an... aloof man, in some way. She wonders aloud, testing: ]

Are you prepared to join hands with everyone in this community?

I am.

[ There's no hesitation in his answer, even if he might hesitate in front of that one person he knows to be here. He has no reason to turn down any willing parties. ]

Why do you ask?

[ Because he doesn't seem like the type to be like "hey bud, let's hold hands." ]

How do I put this...

[ A gentler word for aloof is-- ]

You seem a little reserved. [ It's hard to picture him initiating any hand-holding, really. She slows down her walk by a margin. ] But your determination and want to help is admirable.

[ Finally she stops and turns to face him. ]

If everyone here could have just a little piece of your determination [ To do what must be done, he said. ] ...We'll heal this world in no time at all.

Edited 2019-10-27 22:14 (UTC)

[ He stops when she stops, and he turns when she turns. There are many more out there with the same, if not greater, amount of determination as himself. All of them will need to contribute if they wish to see Aellyn thrive. ]

No world can be restored overnight. It may be years before our efforts bear fruit.

In that case, [ Here, she takes a step closer to him. Just a step, all the while keeping their joined hands between them. ] to see this through the years, your determination to help others ...is beautiful. [ From there, she lifts his grasp up further; their hands, clasped, now rest between them at chest-level. ]

Perhaps that will be the sort of piece you'll leave behind in this world, [ Her voice is soft, her countenance, respectful as she raises her gaze to meet his. She did say "piece", as it calls back to her suggestion earlier. ] ...by inspiring others to do the same.

[ Finally, using both of their hands, she presses that back of his hand into to his chest, over his heart. Coming full circle, she finishes: ]

And as I've said... It's all in here.

[ He feels the press of their hands against his chest, and his eyes never leave her face, on which a gentle smile sits. Pyra, with or without her memories, strives to see the best in people still.

Determination in its purest form will always sound beautiful. It's when applied to reality that the same determination can take a turn for the ugly. She hasn't seen the lengths to which he'd go—how cold his heart beneath their hands can turn, given a reason.

He would call her foolish, if he didn't know that she's aware of just how much destruction humanity can unleash upon the world. She only chooses to keep her hopes high. Though his hand remains in place, his eyes flit to the crystal on her body and back to her face. That doesn't change the fact that her faith is misplaced. He cranes his neck toward the city centers. ]

Time waits for none. Let us be on our way.

[ She keeps their hands pressed to his chest, and although her hand is separated by his hand and multiple layers of his clothes, she knows that his heart still beats. How lovely is that, to have a beating heart, for him to be alive and have come to this entirely different world. She wishes she could tell him how amazed she is at him existing right now, that she's with another being who's there and well and alive--

And not at all dead like how so many for which she is responsible, wasted by her all in order to defeat her sibling. As bitter and guilt-ridden as it is to think it, losing control had served its purpose in that regard: it had granted her the power to claim victory. They were sacrifices. If she hadn't done what she had, how many more lives would have been lost? Three great Titan-continents had been wrecked prior to that battle, but how many more would have perished, if she hadn't stopped her sibling there?

Rationalizing it does not help her guilt. It only consumes her further. For the greatest destruction of all will occur, if she does not find her way back to her Father. Her purpose has not changed.

Yet here this man is-- him, and others-- brought into this world all to help it. The continents of her homeworld she can never rebuild herself, but, perhaps, here... with this touch... ]

Yes. [ She nods, and then creates some modest distance between them. Still holding his hand, albeit with a more tender grip than before, she encourages him to walk with her once more.

She smiles. ] Let's.

[ Within her mindscape, the city is recreated out of a void. With but a thought, his words are proven wrong: the shadows and light of this creation crawl to a beautiful adagio, where time eventually comes to halts. It waits. There is Pyra, there is Somnus.

There is her.

She appears on the opposite side of the reconstruction of the man, golden hair flowing behind her like wisps of rays, the only light allowed to refract in this landscape. She speaks.

Don't you think it's odd. ]

[ Pyra doesn't so much as blink, but she waits as still as the time that has stopped. Her creator seems to have noticed something that has escaped her...

...Escaped her, perhaps, because she had been so caught up in her hope.

She remains patient for the other to continue. ]

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