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polymods ([personal profile] polymods) wrote in [community profile] polymeme2021-10-15 03:00 pm
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TDM #4

POLYMYTHOS: TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME


Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island is a Winter Wonderland. Your boat docks alongside a wharf that leads you to a glimmering, snow covered land - good thing there’s a little wooden building right at the end of the wharf where you can grab some boots and a warm coat!

Beyond the icy beach among the snowy hills is nestled a little village that makes every postcard you’ve ever seen look like garbage. It’s so quaint! Strings of twinkling lights are strung up between scalloped roofs and fresh evergreen boughs and wreaths hang from doors and old fashioned lamposts.

There is a little outdoor market selling food and drinks - you can get some hot cocoa, or mulled wine. If you’re cold, you can stay in one of two cozy inns free of charge. How delightful!

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

4. These residents of the village are normal humans. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

5. Have fun!



Ⅱ. TOY STORY
The villagers are happy to lend you snowshoes and skis if you grow bored of their little village. They tell you that you can head north or east, but that you shouldn’t go west toward the mountains. That way is too dangerous! (South just takes you back to the ocean.) No matter what direction you choose, it’s best to go with a buddy. You wouldn’t want to get stranded all alone in the snow alone, would you?

If you choose to go to the east you’ll find that you are eventually surrounded by huge chunks of ice that glow a faint pinkish colour. Keep moving into this strange valley and you’ll find yourself surrounded by dozens and dozens of oversized gift boxes.

God, don’t you just love presents?

Whether it’s because you assume they’re all for you or because you’re almost positive you heard something moving inside one of those giant boxes, you untie a bow and take the lid off one of them.

The cheerfully decorated box shivers and shakes, and then out leaps a toy. Not just any toy, either: your toy. Your favourite from when you were a child. It’s almost as big as you are, with a gift tag around its neck that has your name on it and the motto “Introduce me!” Your old favourite toy has also gained the ability to move independently. And move it will, following you around like a shadow. It refuses to leave, actually.

The longer you ignore it the more aggressive it starts to become. Turns out a six foot teddy bear can clock you pretty good, and god forbid you’re being followed by a human sized GI Joe. Leave it long enough and your childhood friend will try to kill you.

Maybe if you explain what the hell this toy is to your companion it’ll leave you alone?

Notes:
1. The toy will stop following or trying to fight your character once they explain to someone why it was important to them.

2. The ‘toy’ can be anything - if all your character ever had to play with was a block of wood, they will be tailed by a block of wood.

3. If your character was never a child, you can instead choose some sort of frivolous object they loved at any age. The idea is to share a moment of imagination or play from their past.



Ⅲ. LIGHTS IN THE SKY
Head north with your skis or snowshoes and you’ll find yourself moving easily over sparkling snow past towering evergreen trees. The air is redolent with their smell and the crisp, clear air. Birds sing and there is a general air of deep peacefulness.


The trees open up and you find yourself in an open area empty save for a cute little shack. Inside there’s a woodpile, matches, and a wood stove. Best to use the first two inside the latter, no? Unless arson is your jam. There are also some surprisingly comfortable wooden rockers. The perfect place to sit a while as the sun fades from the sky; night comes early here this time of year.

Stay even longer and you’ll see something even more beautiful: shifting waves of light dancing across the sky.

Aurora borealis. At this time of year at this time of day in this part of the country localized entirely within this part of the island?

Yes.

As you watch the northern lights, you will start to see figures up there, sketched in light. With a start you’ll also come to recognise at least one of them: it’s you. There’s no way your companion hasn’t also noticed the resemblance. This glowing facsimile of you is acting something out, and you’ll come to realise that it’s reenacting a time you took a lie way, WAY too far.

If you explain what the hell happened aloud, it will fade from the sky. Don’t? Well. It will just keep on repeating its little pantomime until dawn.

Notes:
1. The lie can be as serious or as stupid as you like.



Ⅳ. ABOMINMAL
CW: monsters, possible violence.
You never were the type to follow the rules, or maybe your sense of direction is just terrible; you go west. The terrain grows rougher, and soon enough there are huge snow covered stones jutting from the ground. There are boulders, too, which have apparently rolled down from the mountain you are now at the base of. Some of these have landed so that they are tumbled together, creating pockets almost like caves in between and beneath them.

You continue up the mountain a bit, and you become aware of the fact that you cannot hear or see any animals. No birds sing or flit by low over the ground, no curious squirrels or foxes poke their noses out to see what you’re doing.

Everything is still.

You’re just starting to think maybe you ought to turn back when something roars. The sound is a deep, resonating bass sound full of fury and you feel the snow beneath your feet shiver with it.

A huge, hulking shape is rushing down the mountain toward you. Vaguely simian and covered in white fur, it has fangs and claws and seems all too eager to use both of them on you.

Looks like you only have a few seconds to decide on a course of action.

Notes:
1. The Yeti is very fast, but if your character is on skis they may be able to get ahead of it. Oh, they took the snowshoes? Uh oh...

2. The Yeti is a flesh and blood creature. It is superhumanly strong, but it can be fought and killed.

3. Hopefully there’s just one. And hopefully all that noise doesn’t cause an avalanche…



Greetings, prospective Travelers! Welcome to the POLYMYTHOS test drive meme and thank you for your interest in our game! Our next application round will run from October 22 - October 29, 2021. 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.



Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

snowburned: ([royalty by happenstance])

Kuchiki Rukia | Bleach

[personal profile] snowburned 2021-10-15 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
1. arrival;

[This is in fact the strangest thing that has ever happened to Kuchiki Rukia. But only just. She's crossed the boundaries of worlds before, but on purpose. For a while she's tempted to believe this is all just a very strange, very vivid dream, but eventually the cold biting at her nose takes on the sting of reality. All right, then.

The village itself is something of a consolation, the little lights and cheerful decorations bringing a sparkle to her eyes. She strides through the village with a mind to call it reconaissance, only to find herself immediately drawn to the market.]


I forgot the living world could be so festive.

[She mutters to herself, but not so quietly she can't be overheard. She has no money, but it's easy to put on the old sparkle routine and easier still to scam a free cup of cocoa from a vendor with a soft spot for wide-eyed young girls who are tremendously curious about his wares. She takes a sip as she walks away, eyes immediately going wide, then turns to whoever happens to be closest.]

What is this?

2. toy story;

[It's a quiet afternoon. As lively and colorful as the boxes are, there seems to be no one around...until a short, dark-haored girl comes absolutely spriting around the corner of one of them, pursued steadily by...well, this. Rukia dares glance behind her and promptly slams into whoever happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.]

Watch where you're going! [Hypocrisy, thy name is Rukia. She looks the newcomer up and down, trying to assess their capabilities in a glance.] I don't suppose you have a way of lighting that thing on fire, do you?

[The twig doll hasn't gotten violent yet. She just doesn't trust it. At all.]

3. yeti spaghetti;

[This is not what she'd had in mind when she'd headed toward the mountain. Rukia had wanted to meditate, perhaps see if she could somehow make contact with Sode no Shirayuki, or just enjoy the peace and solitude of nature, reasonable things. Now she was being chased by a smelly beast with foul body odor and a worse mood.

She tries to hiss out a binding spell, but there's nothing more than a slight crackle in the air when she hisses out the "sai!" Her powers still haven't come back enough. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

The sight of someone else makes her eyes go wide, then narrow, unsure whether this is someone she'll have to protect—as if she's truly capable of doing so right now. But she can't abandon someone else foolish enough to venture this far. It doesn't occur to her to think of herself as the one in need of rescue. She's just...having some temporarily extreme difficulties.]


Can you fight?

4. choose your own adventure;

[Feel free to set up literally anything your character might be doing and I'll contrive a reason she's around!

[ooc - Dusting off a very old favorite, would love threads to knock the rust off! Her canon point is relatively early, between her appearances at the end of the Soul Society arc and when she next visits the living world.]
danserai: human (26)

ahiru/duck | princess tutu

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
( i. arrival - human )



[ everything was so pretty. ahiru couldn't help going ooh and ahh at all the lights and decorations, sometimes reaching out with her toes so her fingers could brush against the glitter. she giggles, dusting her hands as she peers into one of the cafes. ]

Oh, everything looks so gooood.

[ her tummy growls and she slaps a hand over it in alarm. ]

Ehehe, if only I had some money . . .

[ she pines quietly outside, watching everyone drink hot cocoa longingly. ]


( ii. lights in the sky - human )



[ her breath catches as she watches the lights over the sky. the aurora the people in the town had called it. she tugs the coat (helpfully given to her) around her shoulders. the lights weave in and out, reminding her a lot of the stage in ballet. colours and lights catching the glow of dancer's faces, ephemeral. as if the sky caught the tune of her thoughts, it lit up with various ballets, coppelia, giselle, swan lake, sleeping beauty . . . , ahiru audibly sighs. ]

Beautiful . . .

[ then out of nowhere, comes rue and ahiru's dance and she squeaks, clapping a hand over her mouth before getting up and waving her arms around wildly. ]

No! Don't look! There's nothing to see!! Uh, uh, look a flying elephant! Right over there!! I'm telling you, it's right there and it's riding, uh uh, a snowman!!

[ she'll just keep going if you don't interrupt her. ]


( iii. wildcard )

[ got a prompt in mind? you can meet her as a person / duck / magical girl ]

snowburned: ([lady death])

Ahhhh I love Ahiru, super cool to see her!

[personal profile] snowburned 2021-10-16 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
[The sky was strange here, but in a good way. Rukia had been come to this viewing point out of idle curiosity, only to find herself captivated by the lights. The colors alone were unlike anything she'd ever seen, in either Soul Society or the living world, and when they began to take the form of people she found she could hardly look away. Strange that the flustered young girl didn't seem to agree.]

I have no idea what an elephant is but I'm sure that's not true. It just looks like people. [She glances to the side, then squints.] Actually it looks rather like you.
danserai: human (54)

<33 ty

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ noooo, why must she be outed like this. now this incredibly composed and beautiful person is going to think she's a total clutz (she is) and will wonder why such a very, human person would behave like a duck (because she is a duck). ]

D-D-Does it? I think it's someone else though!! The clothes are different! I don't own anything that pretty, I'm poor!! I don't own anything nice!!

[ this is true, but also ahiru no. ]
snowburned: ([angel underneath])

[personal profile] snowburned 2021-10-16 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
You're also not made of lights in the sky. But still, there's a strong resemblance.

[She was pretty sure, anyway. It was admittedly slightly hard to tell with the dancers colored in waves of light, instead of...of people colors.]

Is this a normal thing to happen in the human world or is this place unique?
danserai: human (75)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ oh a topic change that ahiru can latch onto and pretend this never ever happened. ]

The people who live here said it was normal . . . But the world's big. Maybe it happens in other places too?
snowburned: ([swordy girl])

[personal profile] snowburned 2021-10-16 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe. Who knows what cause such a phenomenon?

[Not so fast Ahiru]

What kind of dancing is that?
danserai: human (98)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ fakir would know. rue would know. but ahiru wouldn't. because she's just a duck. she's not that smart. thankfully, she gets distracted by rukia's next question. ]

Oh! That's ballet.
snowburned: ([soft eyes])

[personal profile] snowburned 2021-10-16 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. I haven't heard of it.

[Clearly the manga she'd read in Karakura hadn't been sufficient research. Well, her time to study had been limited, hadn't it.]

No, I'm certain that's meant to be you. How strange.
danserai: human (68)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ noooooooooooo. ahiru looks stricken because now they know the awful truth (not the duck thing, that's a different ALSO awful truth) but she's a terrible dancer!! ]

Is. Is it.

[ oh wait, maybe she can work in a new angle! ]

Maybe it's an illusion or a copy! Or a twin! Yes, that is my twin!
snowburned: ([...you may have me there dr. watson])

[personal profile] snowburned 2021-10-16 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Do you have a twin sister?

[It sounds like an obvious, badly done lie, but she's only just learned herself that she had a sister. Who is Rukia to judge.]
danserai: human (14)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
No, but I could have one? Maybe? She could be a secret sister or maybe she lived in a different place or maybe this is making no sense anyway and I should stop trying to hide it . . .
vengefulshades: (I was hit by something)

3

[personal profile] vengefulshades 2021-10-16 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
Who, me?

[No, the other guy in sunglasses, a slick suit, and dress shoes climbing the side of a dingdang snow-covered mountain, and now attempting to find footing in the slippery terrain as he books it. Yeah, he looks ridiculous up here like this, but who cares? It's not like a dead man has anything to fear. Cold. Isolation. Starvation.

Abominable snowmen, though... that's a new one. New enough to bring an actual swell of something to that cold, numb, exhausted spirit of his, and to make him run for it when the thing emerges and starts to give chase.

Oh, hey, whaddya know? It's fear.

He's surprised to find somebody else all the way up here. Surprised, and a little annoyed that it means he can't just "play dead" to make it lose interest. He keeps his distance from the young woman, but he's not about to just book it and leave her to get yeti'd for his sake. (What a waste that would be!)
]

How the heck are you supposed to fight a... whatever that is?
vengefulshades: (Of what you can't see)

Yomiel | Ghost Trick

[personal profile] vengefulshades 2021-10-16 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
1. Arrival

[Redemption? Yeah right. There's no such thing as redemption for the dead.

Whisked away to this strange new place, the shadowy criminal known as "the manipulator" finds himself literally a world away from his unfinished business. And in an impossibly quaint little shopping village. He spends roughly an hour slinking around, exploring, trying to stay out of sight of the living or anyone else who may notice the... unusual nature of his existence.

As though that would be the first thing people notice, not that he's walking around in shades, a flashy red suit, and dress shoes, in the snow.

Just when he's starting to relax a bit, slow down and investigate some of the little shops and things, he suddenly collides with someone in the crowd. It's not that hard of a jostle, but Yomiel isn't paying attention. The resulting force sends his body flying back and collapsing to the street, totally limp and alarmingly still, as though a mild collision has just killed him.
]

Whoops. [His ghost mutters, an understatement, as he desperately reaches to possess his body again and move naturally before anybody notice.]


2. Arrival 2 (less corpsey)

Uh... no thanks- I said no thanks-

[It's weird enough getting used to being out in the open and around others. He is badly out of practice as far as people acknowledging him goes. Which is how Yomiel ends up with multiple sample cups of lovely warm beverages shoved into his hands by eager vendors. Too bad he can't drink them. Even the warmth of the cups in his hands and the scent of the steam wafting from them feels disconnected, like he's sensing them through a veil.

He looks around, bewildered, and offers them to the first person to acknowledge him.
]

Hey. Take this, would you?


3. AURORA BOREALIS

Uhhhh...

[Well. It was beautiful, right up until it started... morphing. And shifting into recognizable shapes. Slightly recognizable, anyway, since Yomiel doesn't really know this person standing nearby him. Now being depicted in glorious technicolor up in the sky.]

You see that too, don't you?

[It's not just glare off his sunglasses, right? No, he's not going to take them off to discern... yes, it's the middle of the- listen.]


4. Wildcard


(OOC: Walking spoiler ahoy. (Please play Ghost Trick.) If your character is psychic, can see ghosts, or has any other kind of affinity with death, it will be immediately apparent that something is the hell wrong with this guy-- he's actually just a ghost driving around his own corpse.)
aeroga: (009)

ii ;

[personal profile] aeroga 2021-10-16 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ Despite the fact that he hasn't been able to find any of his friends here, it's been a pretty great day. The Scrywatch at Sora's wrist glows a deep green when he lifts his arms to cross behind his head, staring up into the sky the moment the lights begin to dance.

Whoa.

He has to take a moment to watch them, fascinated by the way the colours move like liquid across the horizon, but now they've ... sort of morphed into dancing figures, and that's pretty awesome — so awesome, in fact, that he'd be content to watch the sky like a show.

(And truth be told, he probably wouldn't have put two and two together if Ahiru hadn't flapped around about it.

Look — Sora isn't always the most perceptive, though he tries.) ]


— uhhhh, are you sure? Hmm. [ Sora makes a point of looking between the girl and then back to the sky, considering. He taps his chin thoughtfully. ] Hmm? [ He nods his head like he's come to a decision. ] I dunno, it's a pretty funny looking elephant.
danserai: human (06)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ huh??

she looks at where she was pointing. and then back at him. and then back to the sky. ]


It . . . is? Am I just not seeing it, did I go too far . . .
danserai: human (84)

( 2 )

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ ahiru nearly drops it, all butterfingers but she manages to latch onto the mug. ahhh! she breathes in the smell with a big smile on her face. ]

Thank you! Are you sure you don't want any?
vengefulshades: (Who could ask for more?)

[personal profile] vengefulshades 2021-10-16 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
[It's hot enough where it'd be bad to spill it all over someone, so he's careful in handing it over. Though it's actually because he doesn't want to touch her by accident. Clammy hands and all.]

Yeah. I'm, uh... allergic.

[Still got one mug left though... maybe she'll want two?]

And maybe your friend can take this one.
danserai: human (55)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I don't have any friends.

[ wait that sounds bad. ahiru immediately backtracks. ]

I — I mean, I have lots of friends! Back at school, but we're not at school and I just got here, so I don't have any friends at the moment, not that I can't make friends, it's just that I can't make them so quickly . . .
vengefulshades: (Maybe just one more)

[personal profile] vengefulshades 2021-10-16 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
[Jeez. She's more nervous than he is.]

Oh. Sure, I... yeah, I get that... [Well. Maybe she isn't.] My friend's not here either so... I know what you mean.

[It does leave him holding a nice mug of... apple cider. Man, he used to love apple cider. It's almost enough to make him try a sip, consequences be damned.]

You just got here too? On that boat?
aeroga: (002)

[personal profile] aeroga 2021-10-16 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
You were talking about those shapes in the sky, weren't you?

[ Sora makes another gesture towards the aurora borealis and the dancers. ]
danserai: human (71)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ that's probably what happens when a duck tries to person. or ahiru is just high-strung in nature. little things tend to get overblown. ]

Mm! I haven't been here for a very long so I'm still exploring.
danserai: human (24)

[personal profile] danserai 2021-10-16 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ oh. right. that. ahiru giggles nervously. ]

No, no! Not those! Those are just . . . squiggles!
aeroga: (008)

[personal profile] aeroga 2021-10-16 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
Huh ... okay, if you say so. [ Why's she being so weird? This totally means he should give the sky a closer study, right?

Yeah. ]


They're pretty people-shaped looking squiggles.

[ Something doesn't really seem to be adding up here ... ]

And that one looks kinda like you. [ He gestures back to the sky. ] Can you do magic?

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