TDM: Mega Throwback Edition!

[polymods]

✖ TEST DRIVE MEME

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island you find yourself on is a tropical paradise. The hair is heavy and humid, and a thick flowering jungle encroaches on the white sandy beach. As far as mysterious islands go, it could be a lot worse! Maybe there’s a bar with some Mai Tais set up here somewhere…

As you walk towards the jungle you become aware that something is moving in the bushes. Some sort of animal, probably - maybe your mind goes to jaguars, or monkeys. What comes running out onto the beach, though, is not remotely mammalian: it’s a dinosaur.

Just a little one - it’s about the size of a small dog, running along on its hind legs. Aww, he’s kinda cute if you ignore the sharp teeth and claws! Lucky for you it’s busy chasing something else and soon darts back into the bush unless you do something to grab its attention.

Listen closely and you’ll find that sometimes you can hear sounds that are distinctly mechanical. Whatever this place is, it at least sounds like it’s inhabited by something possessing intelligence. You could definitely go and find out. Just be careful!

Or maybe you think, hey, I’ve seen this movie, I’m staying on the beach! You could, but unless you’re good at diving for fish you might have a hard time finding food.

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. The people on the island are normal humans unless otherwise indicated. The dinosaurs are animals and can be killed. I mean, good luck with that, but.

4. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. CRETACEOUS PARK
CW: Dinosaurs! Violence, possibly against dinosaurs!
The jungle is thick and it takes a lot of effort to move through it. You’ll have to crawl under vines, climb over felled trees, and just generally pay a lot of attention to your surroundings. This is the sort of situation where having someone with you certainly makes things easier. Occasionally you will hear animals calling, and you’re bound to see some of them eventually. Maybe you’ll luck out and spot a herbivore like one of the armoured dinosaurs, just chewing on plants and not likely to attack you unless you piss it off. Maybe you spot something about your size with a decidedly less vegetarian diet and you have to decide between hiding or trying to scare it off.

Eventually in your wanderings you come across an unusual sight: a dirt road. It cuts its way through the trees and ferns, and to the south you can hear what is probably a familiar sound: engines. And shouting.

It’s getting closer.

Suddenly there are cars and motorcycles rushing down the road toward you - try not to get hit! One of the cars slows and a guy with a ragged blonde beard hangs out and tells you to get in the back. At close to the same time a truck slows and another guy tells you to climb aboard and grab a gun.

Why would you need a gun? The answer presents itself almost immediately: big daddy T-Rex is stomping its way down the road towards you.

You can escape with the first car, or pitch in and try to shoot the dinosaur with the second. Or you could try and prevent them from hurting the animal entirely, or just run off into the jungle by yourself. Better decide quickly, though. That T-Rex looks hungry.

Notes:
1. You determine your level of dino encounter! And what kind - nobody is going to get on your ass if you pick one from the Jurassic period instead of the Cretaceous. It’s a magic island for crying out loud.

---

Ⅲ. SETTLEMENT
CW: Kidnapping.
Whether you throw in with the humans or maybe stumble upon it by accident, you wind up at their encampment . It’s definitely the safest place to be - there are high walls around a series of small buildings mostly cobbled together from wood and tin. But there’s cots, and food. Outside the perimeter wall are tripwires and very basic motion sensors that will alert the settlement if any sizable animals are prowling around.

You’re informed that mostly the dinosaurs leave the camp alone - too much effort for not enough food.

While you’ll be welcomed the first night, as soon as morning rolls around it will be made abundantly clear that you’re going to be expected to pull your weight. Pitch in with the cooking or cleaning, or if you have some mechanical skill you can help fix up some of the rattling vehicles parked around.

From what you can gather, this is just one of a few different settlements on the island. Some of the others have small farms, and if you can drive you will be asked if you’d mind running over a delivery to one of these.

Agree, and you’ll be handed the keys to what sure looks like a 1970s era Cadillac. The mulleted gentleman who has asked this favour of you hands you a piece of paper upon which a small map is drawn, along with written directions. A note at the bottom reads, “don’t look in the tunk.” You think he means ‘trunk.’

“Package is in the trunk,” this gentleman confirms. “Don’t open it, sunlight’ll mess it all up.”

With that he sends you on your merry way. Best to take along a buddy for safety!

Partway through your journey you will come to realise that whatever is in the trunk is making a banging noise. You can ignore it and keep driving, passing the keys off to the people at the farming settlement, or you can pull over and investigate.

If you choose the second option, you’ll find that your ‘package’ is a person. Not a human one - this person has scales and huge, bulging eyes above small nostrils. They’re bound hand and foot and gagged, staring up at you with terror.

Well, jeez. Now what?

Notes:
1. If you open the trunk and discover the Crazy Frog-esque figure within you can continue on to the settlement and deliver him as promised. If you choose the former, the people at both settlements will be angry and turn on you unless you can spin a very convincing lie about your prisoner escaping.

2. If you choose to free your froggy friend, they will indicate that you should follow them through the jungle to their home.

3. If you skip the delivery mission, you can still stay at the camp. It’s very bare bones, but there’s food and cots and bathrooms at least.

---

Ⅳ. REPTILIANS
Whether it’s because you’re led there, or because you find it by accident, you find yourself in a village - the houses are smooth stone, curving elegantly under sprawling vines and beautiful blooming flowers.

Upon your arrival several humanoid lizard people emerge from their homes and watch you, silent. One of them, stooped and wizened with age, moves to stand directly in front of you. When they speak, you realise that you can’t hear them with your ears; they communicate through telepathy.

You are welcome to stay in our village if you pass our Test of Bravery.

You’re half expecting that they’ll make you fight a velociraptor or something, but no - this village elder leads you and your companion both to the center of the village where there are several large flat stones ringed around one much larger stone. You’re both instructed to sit. More of the reptilian people approach, watching you.

Tell us a story of your bravery, the elder tells you.

You’ll have to dig into your memories to find a moment where you think you acted bravely, and then you’ll have to tell everyone assembled about it. You might be tempted to embellish a little bit, or to outright lie.

But if you do…

The moment you start fudging the truth, a different memory will play out just above the large center stone like a hologram. This memory paints you much more poorly: it's one of your most cowardly moments. Definitely not what you wanted to share with a village full of people.

When either your story or your memory is finished, the village elder will look at you with their strange eyes and pronounce whether or not you’re allowed to stay.

Notes:
1. Whether or not you are allowed to stay is not based entirely on how brave you were - how you react to having to share (willingly or not) these stories also plays a part. For example, if you ran away from a fight but in the present you don’t try to justify it with bullshit reasons, you will still be invited to stay.

2. The Reptilian village is a blend of nature and advanced technology. Frankly, it’s a nicer place to stay than the human settlements. They have a lot more creature comforts, like nice deep baths and soft beds.

---

Greetings, prospective Travelers! Welcome to the POLYMYTHOS test drive meme and thank you for your interest in our game! 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! Apps are always open!)

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

Comments

neither of them even knows the meaning of the word tbh

[antifungi]

[ He lets out a huff of breath as he leans away from her punch (as if there's some kind of force behind it), and digs back into his pack. ]

The dinosaur's tempting. At least if we got you one big enough to ride, I wouldn't have to listen to you complain about your sore feet every half mile.

[ Totally worth domesticating a parasaur.

But even Joel knows you can't get a kid just clothes for a gift. Even one who's never had any but the sorry old hand-me-downs and scrounged up leftovers the military saw fit to hand out. It isn't much, of course (shopping like some goddamn civilized human being was overwhelming enough at times, let alone trying to navigate, say, the young adult section of a fully stocked bookstore on what amounts to another planet). But at least she won't have to lament the loss of her terrible jokes for too long.

There's a fresh book of surely unforgettably awful puns on top of the small bundle he hands her, a tin of fancy-looking colored pencils (at least by Joel's estimation) beneath it. He probably should've gotten her a new journal to go along with them, thinking on it now, but he'd been thinking then the only way he'd see her again was figuring out how to get back home. Not just running into her out of the blue here. ]

Think this'll do in the meantime?

if he keeps Doing His Best that might change at this rate 😌 ; 1/2

[puntificates]

[ she makes a decidedly indignant scoffing sound at his quip - listen here, mister, it isn't every half mile. ...it's at least three quarters.

but he saves himself the trouble by rifling through his pack to produce what's far better than some clothes (though admittedly, new clothes that haven't been passed through God knows how many hands are pretty novel a gift). the pun book comes out, and Joel might not have to look at her to feel the way she's staring at him. ]

...No fucking way. Joel?!

[ she's yanking it right out of his hands as if to secure it in her possession before he can think better of it, hugging it to her chest possessively and shooting him a look of faux scandalization. ] Seriously?? I see how it is. You give me sooo much shit about my jokes, and then you deliver me your own undoing? I knew it, you totally loved the puns the whole time.

2/2

[puntificates]

[ at least she has the grace(??? questionable) to take the tin of colored pencils with less, uh. violent eagerness, though no less appreciation. the pun book is still cradled to her chest with her other arm as she turns the tin over with her free hand, and it's clear he did a Good Job. ]

Geez... ah, man. [ there's an earnest smile as she taps the tin against her leg. ] Wish I had my journal for these bad boys... they're-- awesome.

[ and there's some gratitude in order for the gift of stuff, for sure. naturally, just coming out and saying 'thanks' like normal people do is like, not even on the table, so: ]

Hey. How do plants tell someone 'thanks'?

[ wait for it... ]

Thank shallot.

[antifungi]

[ Yeah, he's not even going to acknowledge those wild accusations, where would she ever get the idea he enjoyed those jokes? Surely not from his increasing indifference bordering on tolerance bordering on eventual acceptance of his fate. No, this is purely an Ellie Thing, and he is only indulging it because he might never have seen her again. A moment of weakness he's clearly going to come to regret. Soon, probably, from the way she's clutching that book and the ways yet they have to walk.

Still, though, despite his immediate reaction - a roll of his eyes and another put-upon groan of a sigh - he wouldn't do different. ]

...Well, if you hate it that much, I might still have the receipt somewhere.

[ He tugs his bag shut again, slipping it back over his shoulders, regarding her with something probably a little softer than mere tolerance, but which he has no intention of acknowledging, either.

Her joking thanks is plenty, as far as genuine efforts go, and Joel simply nods, gesturing to the pair of shoes she's traded out and her full hands. ]

Come on, pack it in and let's get a move on.

[puntificates]

Yeah, over my dead body.

[ it's mumbled more to herself than to him - he can take this pun book from her corpse if he wants it, just try her - as she finishes tying the laces of her new shoes, wiggling her toes in them experimentally. they fit well, will last her quite a while - though she can't help but lament they're destined to get dirty fast. you win some, you lose some.

she sees Joel's already itching to get on the move again, and Ellie's nodding once in acknowledgment before unzipping her pack and carefully settling her haul inside; the tin is tucked into a pouch where it won't rattle or make noise with motion. old habits die hard. ]

You're gonna tell me about what happened, right?

[ she's on her feet, adjusting the sit of the bag over her shoulder and fixing him with the familiar look that says she's Ready when he is. ]

You went somewhere with a bunch of stuff, went on a crazy shopping spree, and...

[ where's the rest of his island-hopping adventures? he said he'd been at it for months before, so she's sure there's more to tell. he didn't think she'd be so distracted by Shiny New Things she'd forget the rest, did he? that would be real tragic. ]

[antifungi]

[ He didn't think it, but he might've hoped. Ah, well. Just have to find something bigger and shinier, the next time.

Joel shrugs, apparently committed to this conversation against his will, as they start to make their way clear of the grazing dinosaurs. Only a few more glazed-over glances get thrown their way. ]

That was the last one, before this place. The whole island was one gigantic parking lot, huge shopping mall in the center. Not like you'd think, either. Up and running, lights, fast food, people shopping - everything.

[ After two months, it still kind of felt like a fever dream. All except the mad, eyeless mob that tried to overrun him - but she doesn't need to know about that. ]

Before that one... It was a great big carnival. Kind of like a state fair, but - well, the size of this place.

[puntificates]

[ they've talked lots of times about what life was like before the infected. she's read books, comics... seen bits and pieces of the world Joel lived in before it all went to shit - but it's still hard to imagine or believe sometimes. carnivals; state fairs. rides and bright lights and crowds filled with smiling faces, happy families. shopping malls. populations of people in clean, freshly laundered clothes they hadn't had to re-wear the third time that week. greasy fast food and shops filled with frivolities and credit cards. ]

Man... that must've been a trip.

[ considering the quality and cleanliness of the things he's brought from his excursions into mall-land, it must have been... something else, close to being in the 'old world' as Joel might get in a while. ]

Was it weird? Seeing everything like it used to be?

[ was it hard? or was it something closer to 'nice,' nostalgic, maybe? she wonders how it felt, stepping back into the past. sometimes he speaks of it fondly, and others - she can tell he's worked to put pieces of it long behind him.

...speaking of.

she's got a built in Joel-bullshit-detector and she knows the story doesn't start and end with cute trips to carnivals and shopping malls, too. but she can be patient when she wants to be, and she'll wait to see if he gets into it himself. ]

[antifungi]

[ Weird is one word for it. Joel lapses into silence again as he considers how to put that feeling into words - not something he's adept at even at the best of times. Let alone with so much to clip around. He doesn't want to leave her unprepared for the kind of shit these places throw at them, but he also doesn't think she needs every detail.

She can call bullshit on him all she wants, but she won't get him to budge, there. ]

...It wasn't really like that. It was more like—

[ He pauses again, gesturing vaguely with a hand as he digs for specific words he can't quite grasp. ] Somethin' made up by somebody who'd never actually been there.

[ A story told secondhand, where all the details are fuzzy, and only the broad strokes feel familiar. Uncanny. Surreal. ]

Like walkin' around in a dream. But not your own. Everything's a little off.

[puntificates]

[ oh. that isn't really what she was expecting, but she gets it. something not quite right, just a little off; she doesn't know if that surreal element made it better or worse for him all things considered. ]

Then... what's the point?

[ Ellie's still riding the high of mingling among literal dinosaurs - so cool - but it isn't like she hasn't been thinking about the bigger picture. the why, the reason. the scrywatch is heavy at her wrist, and she has sent more than a glance toward Joel's because of what it supposedly stands for. ]

A mall, a carnival... dinosaurs. Am I missing something? 'Cause it feels like a bunch of random... bullshit.

[ especially if what he's saying is right and none of those 'recreations' are faithful to the original. what is it all for? bettering yourself, if that was the real objective... some kind of personal redemption... how the hell does any of this help? does he have any better an idea? maybe. she hopes so. ]

[antifungi]

[ Worse. Worse by far. But that's not a question she's asked him yet, so he doesn't have to try and dodge around it.

This one's easier, even if he knows it won't be on her end. The truth is, whether he's been here longer or not, he hasn't learned any secret way to navigate this place, isn't any more knowledgeable on what's really going on than anybody else. They're all just kept in the dark, with vague platitudes, thrown from place to place - likely just for somebody's amusement, rather than any great moral lesson.

Bullshit's a good word for it, too.

Joel shakes his head, glancing her way with that same guarded frown. ]

Maybe it's what they say it is. We're out here because we're supposed to learn somethin' from bein' dragged around, having our heads screwed with. Or maybe that's a load of shit, just what they tell you to keep you from askin' too many questions. But I'll be damned if I know any better than I did when I woke up here.

[puntificates]

[ maybe it speaks to her naivety - some little shred of it still clinging to her despite it all, some hope for people to be good underneath it all, for everything to mean something - that she hasn't jumped both feet first into the belief that this is all just some weird, sicko game for someone's amusement. maybe the scrywatch and 'becoming greater' bs was legit. maybe there was some truth in it - or maybe that's just wishful thinking instead.

but she's far more skeptical than she would've been once upon a time, and she's dragging her sleeve lower over the sit of the watch. spitefully. because fuck you, that's why. ]

So? Have you learned anything?

[ a few months worth of 'bullshit' under his belt ought to have taught him something, right, if that's what the objective was. she looks vaguely amused at the prospect of someone sitting Joel down and trying to teach his obstinate ass anything he didn't want to learn; wow, talk about barking up the wrong tree. they were going at it TOTALLY wrong if they wanted his cooperation in her humble opinion. ]

Aside from how much you love my joke books. Hey, maybe you're learning important lessons after all?

[antifungi]

What do you think?

[ Totally wrong is just about right. His reply is clipped and dry, the kind of short brusqueness that might've once been meant to shut her down (but which they've both come to realize is more or less futile, in that regard, most of the time).

Maybe he has gotten a little introspection done, had some time to reevaluate a few things - but they'll have to claw that admission out of him tooth and nail, too. And a walk through the dinosaur infested woods isn't gonna be enough to do that.

Noting the way she's covered her watch, when he glances back again, Joel catches a glimpse of his own, still as red as ever. ]

How to put up with all this magic and monsters bullshit apparently ain't the lesson we're supposed to be pickin' up.

[puntificates]

[ she takes that brusqueness into stride, adjusting the sit of her backpack over her shoulder with one hand and leaning against a tree to climb over a particularly thick tangle of brush with the other. ]

Then we have to find another way to get back, 'cause I'm pretty sure this [ making air quotes with a roll of her eyes, ] "improve yourself" life lesson shit isn't gonna work out.

[ patronizing bull. as she plants her feet back down on the ground, Ellie turns to look at him over her shoulder to make sure they're on the same page; getting back is still their priority, right? being here hasn't changed anything. they still need to get to St. Mary's. ]

Or maybe we can talk to whoever had the bright idea to drag our asses here. Have you heard anything about any of that?

[antifungi]

[ Well, they couldn't possibly be any more on the same page, there. He may not be making air quotes, himself, but there's definitely the air of an eye roll in the flat look he meets hers with.

It's a little easier for him to navigate the tangled brush, but he takes the same cautions, anyway, stepping up and over. Who knows what kind of stuff might be waiting down there to snag an ankle, plant or otherwise. ]

Nothin' yet.

[ And getting nowhere, fast. The only learning they seem to be supposed to do around here is apparently about themselves (whether they want it or not); the Ancient appears to be exempt from all this uncomfortable exposure. Even a fraction of it. And to say that isn't frustrating would likely only be preaching to the choir, at this point.

Joel shakes his head, eyes catching on a grassy rut dug into the margin of the tracks they're following. Tires, fresh from the looks of it. But before he can comment on it, he hears the rumble of another engine, just beyond the trees. It takes an enormous force of will not to reach out and grab her by the arm again, duck under cover. But the sound's not headed toward them, anyway, merely running along parallel, a glimpse of dusty, dented metal gleaming through the jungle. ]

Looks like we're going the right way.

[puntificates]

[ Ellie isn't going to pretend she has the first idea about what this 'Ancient' is about, or if they even exist - but if Joel hasn't seen hide nor hair of them, that isn't a great sign. she knows he isn't the sort to sit on his hands and wait for things to come his way - so it's not the most encouraging news, but not unexpected. guess she should count her blessings they're together now. it means once they do get back, they can go right on the way they had been before - it's as much a silver lining as they're likely to get.

her train of thought is interrupted by the sound of an engine and tires cutting through the jungle. Ellie's habitually stepping lighter, taking a small and cautious step toward Joel - but the vehicle isn't headed their way. still... it's the first sign of civilized life they've come across, and she isn't sure if she should be relieved or wary. both is probably a good bet.

she slides a look his way. ]

You think we follow them?

[ they could be friendly, or they could be decidedly not. it's a 50/50. ]

[antifungi]

Not a whole lot of other options.

[ He might have a decent store of emergency supplies in his pack, but not enough to get them through a couple months, out here. And while they could try and rough it, they only have half an idea of what they're up against, as far as native dangers go. They can't rely on dumb luck every time something with teeth comes charging out of the jungle.

But - he realizes she hasn't got the buffer of some time spent here to dull the edge of that worn-in paranoia somewhat. He glances at her, tipping a hand in her direction, keep moving. ]

There's decent people here. Most places aren't like the ones back home.

[ Not as desperate, not as full of starved scared people or militaristic assholes hellbent on cowing them all into line. ]

[puntificates]

[ right... keep it going, then. her pace doesn't slow once she gets the message he intends to keep on going, though there's the light of an unspoken question in her eyes in response to his statement. ]

You met some of them or something?

[ that's what she's assuming - that Joel's sized them up already, that maybe he had crossed paths with their group before he had run into Ellie. kind of hard to let go of her skepticism; maybe they're literal worlds away from Colorado right now, but... the shit that happened there isn't quite as quick to leave her memory. ]

Are they like us? Island hopping, or whatever? [ are there natives? do people even really live in these weird ass places? ]

[antifungi]

Some of them.

[ An answer to both her questions. He feels the weight of that watch-thing around his wrist more acutely for a moment, glancing down pointedly at where she's carefully covered hers again. They're easy to spot, for the most part, people like them. Travelers.

Doesn't make them honest, but. They're not all out for blood, either. ]

I'm not sayin' you trust everybody you meet, but we aren't exactly dealing with hunters, here.

[puntificates]

Oh.

[ a beat ]

Well, that's... good. Yeah.

[ when had it become second nature to be so cautious? maybe life outside of Boston's walls had never been easy, but she felt like she hadn't been quite as cagey before. but if Joel says they're alright, she believes him - he isn't exactly Mr. Trusting himself, after all. ]

Should we try to get their attention if they circle back? Maybe they'll give us a ride to wherever they're going.

[antifungi]

[ Joel considers this suggestion, but not for long. He shakes his head, nodding toward the road again as the jungle quiets, engine sounds fading beyond the wall of green. ]

No. I want to get a look at where they're coming from before we start tryin' to make friends.

[ Some things change, some things stay the same. ]

[puntificates]

[ it's familiar in a place full of unfamiliarity and a little comforting somehow, so Ellie's nodding without much fuss as they continue their way onward. there's a rustling in the thick foliage to their left, but she finds herself muttering a "geez, don't scare me like that, asshole..." as some kind of weird, small lizard skitters rapidly back into cover. ]

Hey, Joel... how does this work, anyway? The island hopping stuff, I mean. That weird boat-guy drops you off and you just have to... deal?

[ he's been at it a few times from what he'd said, and even if he hadn't ~grown~ because of it, maybe he'd figured out the gist of what they can expect? ]

[antifungi]

Uh-huh.

[ That's about it, as far as Joel is concerned. Sure, maybe there's a little more in the details - more about those lessons they're supposed to be learning - but they'll cross that bridge when they come to it.

He's just kind of hoping they don't. (But how many moral quandaries could dinosaur island possibly pose?) ]

You get used to it.

[puntificates]

Are you used to it?

[ well, he kind of opened himself up for that one. the question comes paired with her watching him sidelong as they continue along the road - one that hopefully leads to friendlies.

hopefully. she's not getting her hopes up, personally. ]

[antifungi]

Nope.

[ Offered candidly, as he glances back at her, eyes narrowed in that glancingly amused kind of way, because by Joel standards, this is Almost a Joke. ]

I was just lyin' to make you feel better.

[puntificates]

Oh, ha, ha.

[ who knew a simple 'ha ha' could drip so much sarcasm? ]

Yeah, I feel so reassured now. Can't wait, sounds like a great time. You're so dumb.

[ yet one dumb joke actually did make her feel better about it, weirdly enough? funny how that works. ]