Summer TDM

[polymods]

✖ Test Drive Meme

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
You land on an island, no surprise there. It’s not particularly large, this island, but what’s really more of note is that the entire thing is a beach. White sand stretches out in every direction, the only greenery being palm trees and impossibly fragrant bushes of flowers that resemble hibiscuses.

Allergic to the sun? Don’t worry, there’s plenty of canopies set up so that you can get some shade. There’s also changerooms with toilets and showers, and also free swimsuits that fit you perfectly! There’s plenty of food stalls - try a corndog, or the fish and chips at “America’s Scrod Basket!” Groovy! Once night falls, you can relax in one of the many hammocks strung up between the palm trees, or catch some Zs on the surprisingly comfortable beach chairs all over the place. All of your basic needs are met, Traveler!

Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

3. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. BEACH BLANKET BINGO!
All of the residents of this island look like they’ve stepped off the set of a 1960s beach party movie. Catalina Caper, maybe. They’re all extremely friendly, and BOY do they love to dance! Which they do. Frequently.

In fact, did you notice the live band? Because there’s a live band! A few, actually - they rotate through the day and into the evening, although you never actually see them switch. That’s pretty weird.

The island residents will drag you into one of their many, many dance parties whenever they can. Sometimes they’ll just form around you like a horrible flash mob, twisting and shaking like they’ve downed a gallon of redbull.

Maybe you want to get as far away from the water and the parties as possible. Venture further inland and you’ll find yourself still surrounded by sand and a few tropical plants. There’s bound to be a few other Travelers about, but at least it’s quiet.

Wait. What the hell is that, a lawnmower?

Surprise! As you stand there, a dune buggy comes plowing over the hill, spraying sand everywhere. Inside of the buggy is a group of young people, all smiling broadly at you and any other Travelers nearby.

“Hello, friends!” they cry. “Want to take a ride? Charlie’s got a ton of these, you can borrow one!” So if you really feel like careening all over the island, this is a great way to do it!

Notes:
1. These residents of the island are normal humans. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

2. The food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities.

3. The short creepy guy who has the keys to the dune buggies might be a little pissed if you trash them, but he can be mollified if you listen to his shitty music and tell him it's good.

---

Ⅲ. SURF'S UP!
CW: drowning, possible death.
As with all of the islands you will visit, you will either see the island as floating either in a horizonless sky, or in the middle of a wine-dark sea. Regardless of which you see, you soon discover that you can go surfing in it.

That’s right - there’s a bunch of boards set up down at one end of the beach. Wander down and you’ll find yourself suddenly embroiled in a surfing contest! That’s right, it’s you versus another Traveler - first one off of their board is the loser! Win and you’ll be the most popular person on the island for the duration of your stay! People will lavish attention and gifts upon you. Lose and you’ll be ridiculed! They’ll probably even make fun of your mom!

Whether or not you care about winning, once you’re in the middle of the contest you and your fellow Traveler will see someone swimming not far away from you. Or they were swimming - now they seem to be going down and popping up, looking terrified. The realisation comes to you suddenly: they’re drowning.

You have a choice here - you can forfeit the win to save this stranger, or you can leave them to their own devices. Your opponent will have the same choice. Be a hero, or be a winner?

Notes:
1. Obviously, the decision to save the swimmer or not will affect the colour of your Scrywatch. Both parties may decide to save the swimmer, or both may decide to continue on with the contest. Your reason for saving them can also make an impact - are you saving them only to be considered a hero by the island residents?

---

Ⅳ. TERROR AT ROCK-OUT BEACH!
CW: unwanted romantic attention from a monster, optional sexual themes.
You’re just sitting there minding your own business when you suddenly realise that you’re very nearly alone. In fact, it’s just you and another Traveler, maybe a few. Where did everyone go?

Suddenly a shadow falls over you. You turn and are greeted by what looks like a man in a vaguely fish-like costume; it has flat webbed feet, a body covered in what appears to be rubber seaweed, and a triangular head with huge rubber gills sticking out to either side. Its immobile mouth has pointy teeth, and its bug-eyes appear to have pupils merely painted on.

This monster waves its arms threateningly. “Gaaaaah!” it says. Its voice is muffled. “Gaahhhhhhhhh!”

Somehow it is a lot faster than it looks, and the next thing you know it has enfolded you in its embrace.

“You will be Flupper’s bride!” the monster shouts, regardless of your gender identification. It looks at whoever happens to be in your general vicinity. “Who this?”

Struggling, you realise that Flupper is stronger than any creature you’ve ever encountered before. You can’t seem to get it to let go of you, and it's rocking against you in such a way that it makes a sound like the soles of sneakers on a gym floor. On the plus side, it doesn’t have any genitals so at least it’s not as bad as it could be. Still, desperate times call for desperate measures! “That’s my partner!” you claim before you can think about how stupid an idea that is.

“You bride? LIES! Flupper can tell!”

“We can prove it!”

“Oh yeah? Tell something only bride would know!”

Oh shit. Now you’re stuck - you and your fellow Traveler have to admit to something true about love or intimacy, under the guise of it being about the other. Flupper’s lie detecting abilities are good enough to call you out on untruths, but not good enough to know who you’re talking about.

He’s not letting you out of his squeaky embrace until you’ve convinced him that you’re a couple.

Notes:
1. It’s up to you how much of this back and forth it takes to convince Flupper that you are ‘brides.’

2. You can choose to abandon someone in Flupper’s grip - this would be reflected in your Scrywatch colour. Probably negatively, unless you feel strongly about the morality of fishman marriage via kidnapping. The ‘bride’ would then be forced to attend an extremely dull ceremony lasting three days and three nights. For the duration of your stay on the island, you would now be married and expected to bring Flupper its slippers and pipe every evening.

3. You can try to kill Flupper. Unlike the other residents of the island, it is extremely resilient and strong. It is possible, however.

4. You can keep this completely G rated - maybe all you know of love is that time in first grade when you got a Valentine card from the cutest kid in class - but if you DO get saucy, please mark your thread with a Content Warning.

---

Greetings, prospective Travelers! Welcome to the Summer 2021 POLYMYTHOS test drive meme and thank you for your interest in our game! Our next application round will run from June 25 - July 2, 2021. For the months of June, July, and August, we invite you to use this TDM to explore but one of many, many islands within the Endless Isles; use it as an opportunity to introduce and familiarize yourself with the game, form connections with other characters, and just have some fun. (Perhaps while also getting some solid samples together for your application!)

Use the prompts provided below as-is or feel free to write your own set within the environment detailed in each. You're even welcome to access the network via your character's ScryWatch. While there will be some inevitable changes, TDMs may count as game canon and some islands may be revisited in the future. Be mindful of your surroundings -- you never know how you and your fellow Travelers might affect this place in the long run.

Hang ten, Moon doggy! Seeking those killer jams?

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

[kyley_b]

Kyle is quiet a moment as they walk, and then he asks, "...what's an imPort?" He has the tone of a man who is growing used to sounding like a complete moron.

[helpdesk_hero]

It's not a stupid question at all, and frankly, he respects that it was asked.

"That's a question with tons of context and years of information behind it. The simplest version is that there was this version of the world I'm from, Earth," because David knows better than to assume human looking people are from Earth, "where this big conflict between two major nuclear powers, the US and Russia, called the Cold War never ended. And to try and protect themselves, the Americans sort of fucked with one of the Fates and thereby there was this portal torn open that pulled people from their worlds and lives into that place. And gave them powers."

When everyone's a super hero kidnapped from their world, only the natives aren't special. The fame hadn't been something David had much liked, though the reality TV show he'd run had been interesting.

"Those of us kidnapped to that world were called imPorts, as opposed to natives."

[kyley_b]

"Oh." Alright. Portals. He's seen portals.

"So you were a superhero? With the spandex and everything?" Because that's the important part, clearly.

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh no. David groans at the idea.

"Okay, we moved away from spandex a WHILE ago. And my latest outfit with X-Factor was, well, natural fibers."

[kyley_b]

"Your superhero team is named after a reality tv show?" Maybe not the most polite of questions, but it's out before he can think better.

[helpdesk_hero]

Okay, no. David stops and points in the man's face.

"Our team dates back before that damn show started. We're private detectives. Not our fault they stole our brand."

[kyley_b]

Kyle puts his hands up. "Whoa, okay, settle down, hardcore! I never heard of you, okay?"

Still, apparently their universes share some of the same things.

"Private detectives, huh? That sounds super cool, though." He hesitates, then offers his hand. "I'm Kyle."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Not quite private detectives so much as... investigators into a specific line of inquery. But I haven't been home in months," David answered, rubbing the back of his hand before taking the hand and shaking it, his mental shields fully up. He's not looking to pry.

"I'm just in a weird and jumpy place in my life now. It's nice to not be recognized actually."

[kyley_b]

Kyle shakes his hands and smiles. "You, uh. Got a name, famous superhero guy?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"David Alleyne," he offered. "I'm known as Prodigy back home. I wasn't famous there, just known to people who have a knack for knowing too many heroes."

Then he offered a smile to Kyle. "Fame was back in the imPort world."

[kyley_b]

Kyle grins. "Oooh, you're my first celebrity here." He pauses. "Actually, no, you're not. I met what I thought was Ryan Reynolds, but turns out is some dude with superpowers. I've met a couple people with superpowers, now that I think about it. A few were, uhm, mutants? And then I totally met a real werewolf, swear to god."

He looks almost apologetic when he adds, "I'm just human, before you ask. And not even a genius like this other chick I met. Just average."

[helpdesk_hero]

Someone who might have been Ryan Reynolds? How interesting. As for David, he tries not to be pleased with the excitement. The guy doesn't know who he is. Or about the embarrassing requests to do psychometric readings, shirtless at that.

But his ears perk up at the word. Mutants.

"What mutants? Did they go by other names? Did you get their actual names?"

Come on, is someone he knows here? Josh? Laurie?

[kyley_b]

It was a hell of a weird month.

Kyle blinks. "Oh, uh, yeah. My friend Carter is one. He had these lije, brain powers? But he totally sucks at them. Don't tell him I said that, but he did nearly get us killed, so..."

His face wrinkles up into an expression of irritated disdain. "The other guy also has brain powers, but... Fuck, dude, he's SUCH a douche canoe. Like genuinely I haven't met anyone so arrogant in YEARS. Ugh. With his stupid fucking pink hair and smug fucking face..."

[helpdesk_hero]

Carter but has mental powers? David crosses his arms over his chest as he considers the name. It doesn't really mean anything to him though. So it's probably nothing. But brain powers. Pink hair. Smug face...

"Quire," David couldn't help but say, his lips curlig in a minor sneer. "Quentin fucking Quire. First Julian back in the last place, and now Quire. Why the fuck does it always have to be the asshole telekinetics I run into? I mean yeah, there was Josh and Laurie there too, and a few others, but shit. Has Quire, I don't know, gone off on you before? For being human?"

Because he doesn't know if this is young Quentin who could be a danger, or, well, X-Force Quentin who was merely annoying.

[kyley_b]

"That's him! I'm gonna punch his fucking teeth in, swear to god." Tel us how you really feel, Kyle.

"Well, I mean he's been a fucking dick? But he didn't take a swing at me or anything, no." He considers, then adds, "I mean. He's not ALL bad. I guess. Sorta. We had some drinks."

Kyle's really good at frenemies.

[helpdesk_hero]

"It's really better that you don't try," David answered, shaking his head. "Unless this place has lowered his skills here, he can make this look pathetic."

David's hand flicked to the side and a blade appeared in it. But no, not a proper blade. Just a glowing golden light shaped like a blade. A psionic energy weapon. Apparently it did work here. That's a relief. He could defend himself.

"If he had drinks with you, then he's not from his high school years. Thank fuck."

[kyley_b]

Kyle watches, then rolls his eyes. "Whatever. If I decide to punch him, I'm gonna punch him." It's not that he isn't impressed by super powers - he is - it's just that the guy really, really pisses him off.

It's weirdly nostalgic.

"Okay, so you're from the same place, then. Where you have Netflix but also mutant powers and spandex. But you went somewhere else, too. Where are you from originally? America, I'm guessing."

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh Quire absolutely pisses people off. That's just the way he works. David nods at the sentiment. David might do it if he was annoyed.

"Yes, maybe. I think? It's complicated. And we don't use spandex anymore. Not X-Factor. We have style, unlike him."

What, he doesn't find himself amused by the Magneto was Left t-shirts. That he thankfully didn't seem likely to have to see here.

"Chicago. Hyde Park specifically."

[kyley_b]

"Right, you're the cool moms."

Kyle looks interested at that, anyway. "Oh, sweet. Big city." He looks around them. "Nothing like that here. Near as I've seen this whole island is a beach. I tell you, dude, we might have all been kidnapped as part of some weird psychological experiment, but the METHOD sure is weird. I don't suppose you've escaped this kind of crap before?"

[helpdesk_hero]

Cool moms? David rolls his eyes. It's not like that. Not like that at all.

"The whole island is a each? Even inland? That's horrible."

Escaped from this? No. Not without a reality warper, and he knew that didn't help in places like this.

"The other world I didn't feel a rush to get away from."

[kyley_b]

"Looks that way. Some dude who looks awfully familiar is renting out dune buggies if you feel the need to check."

Kyle's expression softens a little. "Was it like... You must have had good friends there and stuff."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Looks familiar?" David asked, frowning. He really wanted more information on that. But for now he wanted to continue putting space between himself and Flupper.

"I was lucky. My best friend was there. And a friend we hadn't seen in a long time. I made new friends there too."

The light of the fake blade in his hand failed. That was enough.

[kyley_b]

"Yeah. Dunno why."

Kyle smiles a little sadly. "And now you're here. Aw, dude. I'm sorry. Even if there's cool people here it's not the same."

[helpdesk_hero]

And now he's here. David nods. New people. Different people. Not the ones he'd loved, not the ones he'd cared for. So he just had to move on. Move forward. Get home.

Please let him get home.

"Most people I know would have said 'cool people like me'."

[kyley_b]

Kyle laughs - a shrill sound that runs up and down like a xylophone.

"Oh, I'm not cool," he says. "You know what I was doing before I was suddenly on that friggin ferry? Literally reading the Monster Manual for D&D."