♥ August Test Drive Meme

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August Test Drive Meme
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As Achtom and Ohnir flow into each other, the skies are still gorgeously blue and dotted with high fluffy clouds that never seem to threaten rain - so long as the weather stays controlled. Businesses are picking back up, the natives starting to cater once again to flesh-bodied people with varied amounts of success. The VR cafes are featuring more helmets so even more people can play along with the ever expanding selection of games. Overall, it seems like Havenwell is quite the peaceful city.

But there are still some issues to be had...

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❥ PROMPT I: Where's the Pied Piper?

All Achtom, the residents have been dealing with things in characters' houses seemingly moving of their own volition to other parts of the house and going temporarily missing, returning chewed upon by the mice that have overtaken Havenwell. By the time the new wave of arrivals come, the worst of it is over, but there are still some pesky little temple familiars running about the city!

The noises at night aren't as terrible as they once had been, but the squeaking and chattering in the walls and ceiling is still noticeable. It's still difficult to sleep at night for all the noise throughout the long night hours. Trying to find the source is a surefire way to drive yourself mad, but it seems that sleeping in the same bed with another person makes it a little easier to bear, especially if you hold hands or touch throughout the night.

Pink and purple rodents of various sizes from panda mouse tiny to chihuahua-sized rats are still popping up all over the city. It seems the only place they aren't is where they're supposed to be - Ainea's temple - and that's a big problem. While many have been returned thanks to the offworlders' efforts, Ainea's temple priests are still out in the city, begging residents both robotic and flesh to peacefully and carefully capture the creatures and return them home to the temple. They pass out soft woven reed baskets to any who agree and thank all participants heartily for their help.

❥ PROMPT II: We Didn't Start This Fire

Throughout the month, pockets of the city experience magnificent dry lightning storms. Before each onset of the storm, an immense clap of thunder booms across the entire city like a siren and the natives hold their figurative breaths until the first strike rains down. A peal of lightning, searing hot, strikes the ground or hits the spires of nearby buildings, cracking stone and leaving nasty burn marks behind. Each storm is only 4 to 5 minutes in length before they suddenly disappear again, but in those few minutes chaos reigns. For anyone unlucky enough to get caught amid one of these storms, take cover! Residents throw open doors and push people inside, even shielding the offworlders with their own bodies if necessary to keep them from getting harmed.

When the lightning and its sonorous booms pass, residents scurry out to repair the damage. They'll be asking nearby offworlders to help as well with patching the stonework or removing broken debris. Most importantly, they put out a call for help in putting out fires that spring up after each storm. Their metal bodies can't withstand the heat for long without melting and the water is dangerous to their circuitry. After the fires are put out and the damage repaired, on occasion, residents will ask for the somber help of pulling a native robot unlucky enough to take a direct hit from the lightning to a local repair shop. Strangely, the natives don't seem sad when their friends and family can't be repaired, and instead start gathering up objects from home to take with them to the temples along with the bodies. When asked, they say it's to pray for a rebirth and go on their way.

❥ PROMPT III: Let's Play the Friend Connection

With all the craziness going on, some people might just want a distraction. A lot of Havenwell's natives certainly seem to think so. Despite everything, the Entertainment District is as bustling as ever and this month the offering is to participate with a friend or group of friends to play a game called: Friend Connection. Rather than the usual plug in and sit configuration, this time the VR cafes have been reorganized into 3 meter by 3 meter square pads with no chairs or furniture available. Players plug in or put their helmets on and they're instantly transported to a garish neon-lighted stage with multicolored spotlights that show a floating, legless robot with a rainbow bowtie and a magnificent mustache. The robot's LED face lights up into the approximation of the :D emote and then a disembodied voice comes from speakers overhead:

"Hail, well met, and welcome to the hottest game show around: Friend Connection! As the studio audience already knows, this game is simple! You and your new friends compete to complete more challenges than the other hidden team. The more fabulously you and your team completes each task, the more points you'll be awarded. At the end of the game, the team with the most tasks cleared and the highest point value will be declared the winners and take home some fabulous prizes. On today's team is..."

And the robotic host waves an arm to a scoreboard behind it, showing your names. The heading "Other Team" has ???? underneath it and a list of challenges is revealed along with a burst of applause. The list reads:

1. Play Twister until someone falls! The longer you go, the more points you win!
   
2. Help each other do a handstand! The Wheelbarrow is acceptable too.
   
3. Recreate your favorite scene from a romantic movie. Take, for example, That Scene from the hit movie, Skytanic! Or hum along to this song as you and your friend make some pottery together.
   
4. Create a complicated Best Friend Handshake consisting of more than 5 moves and do it together 3 times without messing up!
   
5. Answer trivia questions about each other and your worlds while holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. The more questions you can answer, the higher your points!
   
6. Do a trust fall into your friend's arms. The higher or further you fall, the more points you'll earn.
   
7. Play two truths and a lie with your friend. If you can guess correctly, you'll earn points for your team!

Are you ready, contestants? You have 20 minutes. Good luck!

At the end of the game, the characters are declared the winners by a slim and, naturally, exciting margin of just one point! And their fabulous prize......? The friendship they earned along the way! Congratulations, players! And don't worry, when the game ends, you'll be in the exact weird position you were last in as the helmets turn off. Hopefully you aren't still in those weird Twister positions because everyone can and has been able to see you. Yup, the entire time.

❥ PROMPT IV: Comic Logic

Although Achtom is waning and Ohnir beginning, Diacht's influence is still going strong. Throughout their day as they go about their daily routines, helping people out or trying to find their missing items, the natives stop looking at them and start looking above their heads. In fact, as characters meet one another, their attention may also be drawn vertically above their companion because floating above every offworlder's head is a faint white cloud. Whenever they move, the cloud moves too. Attempts to dispel it by magic or physical means does nothing and it seems like you can't touch it at all.

It's annoying isn't it? Or maybe you're feeling quite curious about this phenomenon? Or maybe it scares you? Whatever you're feeling or thinking, it shows up in that cloud clear as day. It's not every thought or feeling that shows and attempts to control what appears fails, but you're now broadcasting your innermost self to the world.

For a time at least. Smart characters might notice that after prolonged physical contact with another character, the cloud fades away and stays away for an undetermined amount of time. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's a day, sometimes it's only 5 minutes, and then it begins to reform again. Whatever it is, it's here to stay, so good luck keeping your secret inner workings, well, secret.

❥ PROMPT V: Buddy System

With all the changes going on, it might be hard to be a new arrival to Havenwell. The natives understand! Sort of. When new arrivals begin to appear at the temples, receive the welcome speech, get their communicators and the simple map of the city, 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, "Here's your guide to Havenwell! It's dangerous to go alone, so be buddies!" 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!

---

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 September 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 August 30, 2019 at 10:00PM EST and our applications will run from September 2, 2019 to September 9, 2019 from 10:00PM EST to 10:00PM EST.

♥ Taken Characters ♥ Reservations ♥ Applications ♥

Comments

[astralera]

Her brows knit together, confused. "I did not realize they could speak to others."

[unsunderworld]

He shrugs. "A lack of inclination, perhaps. I shall take the honor of being the first as seriously as it deserves."

[astralera]

"I couldn't say if it is an honour, as they have not encountered more than two others in all the time I've had them." Era is quick to comment, and Ardbert is even quicker to add:

{ You kept me summoned because you were lonely, and your Carbuncle would not listen anymore, } they say. { I've stayed by your side because you kept hiding yourself away from everyone else. }

Her lips thin and she turns her head to the side, away from Emet-Selch and away from her dream guide's face at her chin. She cannot deny what they've said, though would have preferred they say it in private. Her arms cross, and it's clear enough that she's displeased.

"What was I supposed to do? I did not fit in."

[unsunderworld]

"The hero of Source and shard both, unable to fit in? Do say it isn't so." At least that faint sarcastic lilt hasn't changed much. "I can't imagine making friends ever having been a problem for you."

[astralera]

"It is hard to fit in when most everyone is a Hyur, never knowing anything but other Hyur, and with no aether or magic to speak of," she huffs indignantly. "I grew to feel like a novelty. There was no place for me there."

[unsunderworld]

If she seeks understanding of her troubles, well, at least that much she has found in the man who feels much the same about everyone.

"I remember the days before the first Rejoining, when humanity had not yet rediscovered aether. They were, in a word, awful. But to have no aether at all..."

It's a rather disturbing notion, to him.

[astralera]

"I never had much aethersense to speak of, but the distinct lack of it from the land and a majority of its people..." A small shiver, and she wraps her arms around herself. "I do not think less of them for it, yet that doesn't mean there is not an inherent wrongness to my senses."

Era can only imagine how he might be able to relate to that... But it's nice to be able to vent to someone who might understand to some extent.

[unsunderworld]

"One grows used to it, after long enough," is all he says, and there is some trace of the bitterness there still. After long enough, one gets used to the loneliness.

"As for the rest, we were not so very different from Hyur in appearance, before the Sundering. There were those who changed their appearances with magic, but it was a form in which most were content."

[astralera]

"'Long enough' is far too long."

The rest of his commentary catches her interest. Era curls her tail around her hip, pressing it flat against the side of her leg where she sits. "I cannot imagine living without a tail."

[unsunderworld]

Somehow, it is that of all things that catches the wisps of smug amusement that have carried him through so many things. He lifts his hands from the table to about the height of his face in an even more expressive form of his usual shrug, shaking his head. "Really? Of all things, the tail?"

[astralera]

"Yes," she says shortly. "It is good for balance, and for slapping people with."

Though after brief consideration Era also adds: "I suppose I also cannot imagine having fleshy little human ears, either." She brings up a hand and runs her fingertips absently along one of her horns. "My horns are much nicer."

[unsunderworld]

"That one is always a bit of an adjustment, I admit," he says, after what seems to be a moment of thought. "Auri hearing is superior at telling the direction of a sound, but the sensation is quite different."

[astralera]

"The shape of mine make them particularly well suited to detecting a sound's origin." There is no small amount of pride in this fact, because for all that she was not raised as an Au Ra, she is still an Au Ra at heart.

He has piqued her curiosity though.

"How is the sensation different?"

[unsunderworld]

"It's... Hmm." When words don't exist for the thing you're trying to express. "It is a more complete sensation of sound, throughout most of the skull as well as the horns, rather than through the small bones within the ear alone. Most races hear only their own voices with the depth of tone that au ra do."

[astralera]

"You do not feel all sound?" She sounds rather scandalized.

[unsunderworld]

"Nor do most people. If it isn't strong and low enough of pitch to vibrate a glass of water upon a table, the sound is only heard, not felt."

A pause.

"And I cannot believe that this of all things is what we're discussing, now."

[astralera]

"And what is wrong with discussing inane trivialities?" Era is rather happy for the distraction from other, heavier topics.

[unsunderworld]

"I don't have the taste for the banal at the moment," he says. And it is truth - because even as much as he appreciates her company, being able to speak to someone on something like an even footing, he doesn't have the taste for smalltalk, either. It sits wrong, with what they are to each other. The point at which they might be lost in trivialities is long past, but what has taken its place, he doesn't know.

Neither of them does.

"What think you of this place and circumstance?" he asks instead, a subject of some merit and meaning that is still afar from the edges of what goes unspoken.

[astralera]

While she has little experience in banal conversation, Era would still prefer it to the alternative. As Hades shifts the focus to current circumstances she finds herself immediately tensing, to such a degree that Ardbert nuzzles against the underside of her jaw in an attempt to soothe her. It works well enough, and the tumultuous twist of her soul and distressed flare of her aether are both eased.

"I think I would rather be back in that town of horrors."

[unsunderworld]

And that is such a telling reaction that he has to raise his eyebrows, steepling his arms and resting his chin on woven-together fingers. "That terrible, is it?"

[astralera]

She leans back in her chair, putting more distance between herself and the Ascian as he moves.

"It at least does not pretend to be more than the cage that it is."

[unsunderworld]

"And you usually so eager to help those in need," he says. "How the tables have turned."

Of course, helpful or not, he has nowhere to go back to but here, the escape of the rift seemingly beyond his reach. But it provides a contrast to him nonetheless, and one still telling him that there is something beneath her surface.

[astralera]

Her gaze shifts, casting downward and off to the side, refusing to look him in the face. She crosses her arms, her posture making it clear where her voice does not that she is far from open to this discussion.

"There are countless others better suited to the help this world needs than myself. I am skilled at combat and little else," she says, tone clipped and short. For all that she seems confident in the answer she gives, her aether continues to hint of deep-rooted anxiety, if not fear. "I would be better served in Deerington, protecting the children from monstrosities that put Sin Eaters to shame."

[unsunderworld]

"When it comes to the task of restoring life to a world, I am likely the only one here with the remotest of qualifications in the matter, and we both know what think you of our solution," he says. "Is that what bothers you so? That like little gods seeking worship, they've need of warm bodies and little else?"

[astralera]

"We've already begun the task of restoring life to the Empty. And your solution is only applicable to our situation, not this one."

Era chooses not to respond to his final question, and holds onto the vain hope that her comment regarding the Empty will be enough to shift his focus.