♥ August Test Drive Meme

[hugtopiamods]

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...

---

❥ 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

[pinkmin]

"It seemed that way. There were lots of people that were very important where they came from."

Vianca paused them at a street corner. Were there vehicles here? Riding Pokemon? Other transports? She didn't know, so it was vital to look both ways before crossing the (currently empty) street.

... All clear! They continued boldly on.

[begguiling]

All clear! What a responsible girl. Seriously, the kids here have their shit together more than the adults. Magolor floats along with her without protest; a nice leisurely moneymaking walk to less familiar parts of the city is a fine way to spend his day. And by now, he's curious about this interdimensional academy.

"Lots of different species, I bet! Important how? Royalty, that kind of thing?"

[pinkmin]

This was all much more talking than Vianca had done in a very long time, but there was something... nice about it. It almost felt a little freeing, to be somewhere new, where no one knew she was very bad at being anything yet. In that same vein it felt very comfortable to keep the topic on her home and not herself. The Academy was endlessly more interesting.

Vianca gave a very sage nod. "Many princes and princesses. One of my room mates was a god." Just, you know, a random god. Arceus wasn't that big a deal. "... She really liked muffins."

She turned those blue peepers on Magolor for a moment, looking thoughtful. "A few looked a little like you."

[begguiling]

The god thing is definitely worth commentary. He's all prepared to ask about it, even. It may not be as shocking to him as to some people—he's met them, he helped take one down, he got to be one very very briefly and tragically—but the idea of just having one as a roommate and sharing muffins is enough to give him a Moment and catch his attention.

Or it was. But then she has to go and say that, and that he really needs to know about. Magolor looks up at her again with pricked ears, all attentive.

"Really? Like me? Well, tell me all about them! Maybe they were friends of mine!"

Now, "a little like you" could mean a lot of things. It could mean she ran into Doomers, or it could mean she ran into Halcandrans, or it could even mean she ran into someone like Meta Knight or Taranza. You know, the other versions of them, whichever ones from whichever universe happened to attend this Academy, a thing he has no trouble believing could be the case.

my brain keeps saying the blush is his eye and i'm having a crisis

[pinkmin]

Vianca nodded with a thoughtful look, gently veering them around a corner. It was the general shape that first made a connection, but it was really his eyes that struck a familiar chord, and the way his clothes became more of his identifying features than his actual appearance.

"He was one of the resident assistants. His name is Meta Knight?" She glanced at him again, seeing if that name brought about any familiarity. "I think he was from... Popstar? I did not talk to him very often."

omg time to never use that icon again

[begguiling]

Oh boy does it. The recognition is obvious, because Magolor doesn't bother to school it in any way—neither repressed nor exaggerated, he's just purely surprised. And very interested. Meta Knight! Of all the people! Yeah, that sounds accurate. He would travel the stars to attend a prestigious academy as an RA. There's no way this was the "same" Meta Knight as either of the two Magolor's met, but aren't they all kind of the same, really?

Ah . . . he misses him. Just a little. A tiny bit. It'd be so funny if he showed up and had to suffer through being fawned over . . .

"Meta Knight! No kidding! He's an old friend of mine. I'm not from Pop Star, but I visit pretty often to hang out with that crowd. I'd just split with them when I ended up here instead, as a matter of fact."

w h o o p s

[pinkmin]

There was a little lift of her eyebrows. That was a surprise, actually! She hadn't really thought that there would be a connection, since the chances of that were so incredibly slim. And yet! Here they were!

"Really?" There was definitely some curiosity in there. "I wonder if there's the chance that they're the same... Maybe you're both from a different time."

[begguiling]

"Oh, we surely are. Or even a different dimension! I think that's the most likely. Meta Knight is Meta Knight, but there are all kinds of worlds out there where he might be doing his own Meta Knight thing. I've already met a couple of him on my travels. Say, did you ever get to see behind his mask?"

He has no guilt whatsoever about thinking the mask thing is funny, despite he himself being in a not dissimilar position.

[pinkmin]

Vianca nodded along. The concept of different dimensions and times wasn't a new thing for her, considering the way FDC seemed to work. It didn't happen terribly often, but she'd had her own encounters with different versions of people.

Before she could dwell on what that meant to her, Magolor had already enticed her with even Bigger Mysteries. Vianca blinked a few times, giving a very quick shake of her head.

NO. SHE'D NEVER SEEN IT. THE MYSTERY FACE.

[begguiling]

"Hehehe. He's pretty careful about that, so I'm not surprised. I've only gotten to see it once myself, and he sure was embarrassed about that!"

And you bet Magolor was absolutely living when it happened. There is a bounce to his flying along beside her looking back on that. Ah . . . he misses him. All of them. Well, not Taranza, because you know. Right now, it isn't a wistful or homesick kind of missing them, only a pleasant moment of recollection—but the depth of that feeling surprises him for a second. He didn't realize he had it in him until now.

"Maybe he'll follow you here, hmm? Or me, either way. Wow, talk about a coincidence though!"

[pinkmin]

It was a brief thought, but Vianca wondered if Magolor took that much delight from the reveal because he was so bundled up himself. A delight because his mask worked better? Of course, she wasn't even sure if the ensemble was just simply that-- not everything was a mask. Not everyone had something to hide, even if many did. Maybe this was just fashionabluh.

"It is possible. He left a few years ago, but time flows differently everywhere."

She decided she liked the little bounce to his flight. Distracting as it was to the walk itself, it meant this was going pleasantly, right? So that was nice. And the connection, even if it was a slim one at best, was still more than a connection she had to anything here a few minutes ago. "It is.. a good coincidence, I think."

[begguiling]

"I sure didn't expect it when they shoved us together! But sometimes that's just how things work out. The universe is too big for there not to be crazy coincidences. Sounds like it should be the opposite, but it's true! Nothing would ever work out otherwise."

He finds himself rambling just a little in the way he only does when he's in genuine good cheer. Geez. To think he's that happy to hear about some AU version of a friend! This is what's become of him after what could only be called a rocky start with Meta Knight . . . to say the least. But whatever. Far be it from him to turn down a good mood.

"Speaking of coincidences, I don't suppose you've run into any of your Academy friends on this planet? It's been known to happen."

[pinkmin]

The rambling was just fine. Appreciated, really. It was soothing in a way Vianca wasn't expecting, both because she was just very used to being rambled at and because of the way his voice sounded like a little song. It was very nostalgic, in a way.

She shook her head as she paused them for just a moment to look at the map again. "No... not yet. Though it is more likely I will encounter a different version, if I do."

[begguiling]

They're probably getting close to arriving! Which means by now they're in a part of town Magolor is less familiar with, and he looks less at her and more at their surroundings, taking it all in. This is the kind of thing that appeals to him on a certain impersonal level—he could easily have gone the route of exploiting the natives in the entertainment sector, and maybe he will eventually. But there are much bigger stakes here as of right now, so, that can wait. It's still interesting to evaluate!

"It's unlikely, but not impossible. That's why I ask! My roommate is someone I knew personally back home. It's unlikely enough that it's hard to say what's coincidence and what isn't."

Though he's also known two Taranzas, but whatever.

[pinkmin]

Things are definitely starting to look more... entertaining. The amount of natives passing through the streets had been starting to increase as well, catching Vianca's eye here and there to watch them go. There were pros and cons of the library being in such a seemingly bustling part of town. It was probably well kept! But maybe busy? Hopefully the right kind of busy.

"Oh, I see. That's very lucky, I'm glad."

Her face was still. Well. Her face. There was an earnesty in her voice though, because really, she was very glad that someone was able to have a friend from home.

Turning them a little, Vianca navigated them through some huddles of robo-legs and gowns.

((beep beep beep))