Empatheias Events (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
empevents) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
memepatheias2019-12-18 05:55 pm
empevents) wrote in memepatheias2019-12-18 05:55 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive: January
Welcome to
empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:- Pre-Intro Log. For the Test Drive, we are using parts of it as a "pre- intro log," which means not only can players go ahead and use the prompts as if the character is arriving into the game for the first time, but this setting will be adapted and continue in the official Intro Log. For TDM purposes the prompts are a little more generic and vague than what will be on the actual Intro Log, but they're relatable enough that can be easily transferred to the official log with a few minor tweaks. For those who do end up applying and entering into Emp, these threads are considered "forward dated" to the Intro Log.
- Date reminders. Reserves open December 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on January 1st. Apps will only be open for four days! Because we're on a bi-monthly schedule, the next app cycle after this is MARCH.
- Emotions are key! Empatheias's premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. While we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
- Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them to collect their emotions and serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic, but it works basically the same as most other network devices.
- First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. If you have a preference, be sure to specify. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format.
- For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!
• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try? Is your character feeling particularly wound up upon finding themselves in a new place? Or perhaps they're finally getting to live out the fantasy dream and are overjoyed! Or they just stubbed their toe and are in a lot of pain. Whatever it may be, this prompt is your catchall "let's try these emotion effects out" for any miscellaneous situation you may think up.
• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.
• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes...
• Prompt D: It's winter in Verens, and the festivities are alive with some new gimmicks. As always, emotions come into play, so be careful where they take you! Try not to destroy the city.
- Beware the Snowmen: Do you wanna build a snowman? All snowmen are affected by the emotions around them, and it doesn't take too much to make them come alive. They have imbibed different emotions around them, so you'll find lovey-dovey snowmen who have no respect for personal space, snowmen jumping up and down with joy, sad melting snowmen, and irate snowmen trying to lob their coal and carrots at you. A few snowmen have managed to get hold of murderous tendencies and will now try to kill you when you pass by. Good luck? It's kill or be killed.
- Bittersweet Chocolate: For those looking for a way to warm up, many cafes have begun to offer hot chocolate which is said to be the best in all of Verens. It tastes delicious, with the right amount of sweetness...except to those who hide their true attitude or personality behind a facade. To people who aren't true to themselves, the hot chocolate will taste terrible depending on how much they conceal, not feel. It'll also burn their tongues pretty quickly no matter how long the chocolate has been sitting around.
• Prompt E: Candles of Remembrance for Selenium, a holiday for mourning and grief, are always going through different changes for each year and the prototypes are distributed to see if it works. Normally, when lit, the candles create an image of a person sorely missed, whether they are dead or still alive. But something went wrong with the candle-making process this time. Various scents and aromas were infused into the candles to help improve moods, but the complete opposite is happening.
- Well, This Stinks: No images are produced from the smoke and flames, but instead, they exude horrible and disgusting smells from memory. They can range from recent events like burned cookies from last week, or the stench of a bloody battlefield from years past. The scent of the candle depends on the character lighting it, so everyone will be able to smell whatever they smell from it. It's very strong, so it's possible someone could actually feel nauseous either immediately or from prolonged exposure. But that's not all. The aroma will elicit varying feelings of regret, disgust, hatred, rage, and overdramatic despair.
- Counter Whiff: On the other end, a different kind of aromatic candle is producing far more pleasing scents, but it's way too strong. It's like getting a bottle of strong, "mature" perfume shoved up one's nose. The scents from these candles have even stranger effects, such as actually knocking someone unconscious; soothing them to sleep right on the spot; or even have strange hallucinations believing that the person in front of them is the one from their memories. The candles also make those affected strangely happy with extreme exuberance, and the emotion effects from their displays of joy are just as extravagant.
- Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Both candles have a troublesome side effect: their scents attract a variety of wildlife from the woods. Deer, skunks, chipmunks, foxes, all sorts of birds, you name it, they've begun to invade the city and zero in on those lighted candles, lingering around them or worse, actually taking the lit candles, which can (and will) potentially start fires. The fires can be put out normally, but strangely enough, after they go out, it is as if the affected structures and items were never burned in the first place. Now they just reek of candle scent. Attempts can be made to remove the scent, but it'll take either a lot of scrubbing or somehow creating emotions that produce a more pleasant scent.
• Prompt F: Boreas, or winter, is in the air and this month the city suffered from a number of wintery effects, partially due to the Arehtei Peromei. Some like the blizzard and mistletoe could be considered typical holiday fare. The werewolf flu sweeping the city, not so much, but that still hasn't stopped the citizens of Verens from celebrating the holiday season. [Note: Scenarios pulled from our current event, and the full details can be read here. Due to the timing, these threads cannot be carried over into the game.]
- Hibernation: A despair filled blizzard has taken the town by storm, bringing a strong urge to hibernate with it. Characters with strong negative emotions will be hit the hardest, but most everyone will feel the urge to take a nap right then and there at some point. There are ways to ward off the emotionally induced drowsiness though as roving bands of carolers seek to keep people's eyes open and spirits light. In addition a number of hope infused lanterns have been strung throughout the city to guide travelers to safety and keep them from dozing off in a nearby snowbank.
- Mistletoe:t's not just the snow either, the town is also plagued by a particularly invasive species of mistletoe brought to the island by Peromei. To citizens' dismay, it isn't ordinary mistletoe or even ordinary magic mistletoe. No, instead this awful plant that lurks in corners and on ceilings is influenced by a combination of Peromei's and Elios's influences to make it aggressive and mobile. It now prefers to slither around and attach itself to moving targets. Once attached to someone, it induces a terrible longing for the sort of love and affection one secretly hopes for the most -- anything from a simple hug to a mom to fuss over you to a new friend you can always have lunch with -- and it won't let go until its victim has found someone who can fulfill that longing.
- Wereflu: In addition to the mistletoe and blizzard, there's also the aforementioned werewolf flu sweeping the city. Thanks to a foolish researcher, the infected are suffering partial or in some cases full transformations into wolflike creatures. The main cure for it is positive attention as like the mistletoe, the afflicted will be driven to seek it out and the more they get, the sooner they'll be back to normal. If left unchecked, it can lead to more feral aggressive behavior, so Otherworlders and natives alike have been warned to be cautious when attempting to help those affected.
• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include paper snowflakes and/or cinnamon.
no subject
[Unfortunately it takes A Lot to get her cheery.]
[But right now, she's going to drag him away from the candles.] Then come with me. My place isn't far and it's too late to be bothering Adrien with a drugged out friend.
no subject
Okay! Lead the way.
[He follows her to her place. It may take some time for it to wear off once they are there. At least Wayzz is safe in Nino's hat in the meantime.]
no subject
[Well, more dragging, but there is definitely forward momentum.]
[To a very small....quaint....little house. Amongst a lot of small places. Really, it's mostly bedroom and kitchen with some living roomesque space where there's a chair, at least.]
[Because someone doesn't have a lot of money anymore.]
This is my place. I should have extra blankets for you to sleep....somewhere.
no subject
Sounds great!
[He goes inside with her. Not really saying much else. Yet.
Wayzz meanwhile is concerned with Nino's behavior and he hopes being away from that horrible candle helps him snap out of it.]
no subject
[But leading him in to the kitchen and just going to sit him down at the table.] Are you cold?
[Taking off her jacket and she's very much dressed like she's ready for a steam punk winter, if with more yellow and black than normal for those designs.]
no subject
Thankfully for her, he goes along with it and sits down at the table. He thinks a moment before shrugging.] Maybe a little?
[He thankfully wasn't out cold, pun not intended, for long. He doesn't seem to notice or comment on her clothes just yet. He needs some time before he's back to normal.]
no subject
Right. [At least she has figured out how to make tea. So going to get water going.]
Okay, so, basic of the basic. You're in another world. No, this wasn't an Akuma, this world it magic. Adrien and Marinette are here and have been here a year longer than me and I've been here months.
You have a piece of jewelry on you. Do not lose it.
no subject
Yeah I had a feeling that was the case. There's no disco or Party Crasher anywhere. [He doesn't realize she's not from his time so he just accidentally spoiled her. Oops.
He is relieved that both his friend and best friend are here. Too bad there's no Alya. Alas.
Nino would have freaked at her statement wondering if she saw his Turtle Miraculous, but thankfully he's calm. He looks down at his amuelt and he does start to feel a slight bit of annoyance. Of course it's a turtle. Geez he might as well have a neon sign saying "I'm Carapace".
The fact that he can feel annoyance means it's starting to wear off. Good.]
no subject
Yeah, that. [She pulls her own from under her shirt. And it's a fancy bee hive, because of course. At least it's hidden when she transforms, it'd make the identity thing a lot harder.] It will mess you up if you don't have it. And it's the closet thing to a cell phone this place has.
Speaking of which.
This is my frequency. Do not forget it.
no subject
[He's not surprised hers is bee related. What with her obsession of becoming Queen Bee again. What does startle him is suddenly hearing her voice in his head and he nearly jumps in his seat. Wayzz moving in his hat.]
Wh-what the--?!
[Okay that seems to be what gets him to fully snap out of it. If she had any flowers around, they had been blooming in response to his happiness. Now that's stopped but the flowers are still fine.]
Do these things like give us telepathic powers or something?
[He's not sure how to completely feel about that.]
no subject
[She does indeed have flowers. For. Reasons. Several reasons.]
Yes. There's also a Network. You can connect to it and it's like a message board. Voice, video, text. Depends on what you want to be, but watch it, emotions will get through.
But it's handy to contact people at a distance. As long as they're responding. [The annoyance in her tone says she's definitely Been ignored.]
no subject
[Most girls like flowers, so there's nothing weird about that.]
That'll be annoying to deal with.
[Whoops he didn't mean to do that. Looks like he's gonna have to learn quick how to put a handle on this before he gets into trouble.
He won't comment on the tone of her last comment.]
no subject
And now I have yours. But don't do that again. Not like we need to have a secret conversation in my house and it's weird having voices in my head.
[And there's the kettle. Gonna go about making tea.]
no subject
[It also might be his fault. At least indirectly. He does feel bad about that. He may not fully trust Wayhem but he didn't mean for the guy to get akumaized.]
Sorry.
[He'll wait here for the tea. He does need it honestly.]
no subject
[Because she usually doesn't. Sometimes even when the Akuma ISN'T her fault.]
[But she does bring over the tea and it'll be....over sugared. A bit. A big a bit.]
[Making things herself is still a Trial and Error thing.]
[And setting down her own cup. And a third cup.]
But there is a reason I gave you my frequency. Pollen, it's not like he doesn't know most of it already.
[And after a moment, Pollen will flit out of Chloe's bag and perches on the rim of her teacup.] It's a pleasure to meet you. [And gives a little bow. And then she's gonna enjoy her honey.]
This is Pollen. My partner for becoming a magical girl.
no subject
[He did willingly stay behind during the Zombizou incident so that Alya wouldn't be alone even though it meant he would get infected too.
Hey it's progress. He does raise an eyebrow at the third cup. Did she make too much or does she normally drink two cups at a time?
Then his eyes widen at seeing Pollen. While he wasn't there to see Pollen when she revealed herself, he knows a Kwami when he sees one. He's so thrown off by this, words come out before he can stop himself.]
I thought Ladybug said you can't be Queen Bee anymore.
[Oh shit he wasn't supposed to say that. Craaaap.]
no subject
[Now why could that be? She certainly doesn't know because what is in depth self reflection.]
[Chloe opens her mouth to explain more about Pollen, to get his silence-]
[Except he says that.]
[And that gives her pause because what? How does he know?]
[Never in a million years would she tell anyone Ladybug said that back home. Besides Adrien, but she knows Adrien. Even if Adrien trusts Nino, there's no way he'd have told Nino something that private.]
[Heck, the only reason she told Marinette is because she came and passed out on her doorstep after not properly sleeping over several days after almost dying.]
[But she doubts that would ever be the case back home with Nino.]
[She leans forward, giving him a critical look.]
How do you know that?
no subject
[Crap crap crap. He quickly tries to think up a lie. Lying is not his forte, but he'll try.]
I, uh, overheard Rena Rouge and Carapace talk about it? I didn't mean to easedrop, but I just happened to walk by them.
[Hopefully she'll buy that?]
no subject
[And now a buzzing in the air.]
What are they saying? I bet they're wishing they could call on me to help, I am a very good superhero.
[Leaning back, crossing her arms, trying to look confident.]
[Despite the buzzing in the air. Sometimes it's better to just Ignore It.]
no subject
Well um it's been a while so I don't remember much of the details. I think they were mostly just talking about some incident with an akuma named Miraculer. Something about you having helped out with that one, but that it was too dangerous for you to be Queen Bee anymore since everyone including Hawk Moth knows.
That and other stuff I shouldn't say 'cause spoilers for the future.
[He does notice the buzzing bout he assumes that it's Pollen doing that.]
no subject
[Just because she wasn't buddy, buddy with them, mostly from lack of exposure, she thought they'd at least appreciate how well they had worked together. They were practically a well oiled machine on Heroes Day!]
[And the buzzing is getting louder.]
no subject
[Well if Nino were honest, he did feel a little bad at Ladybug having to tell her no. Anyone would feel sad if they couldn't be a hero anymore and he wouldn't be much better off if Ladybug told him he can't be Carapace anymore.
Now that there's been some time to have his tea cool, he picks it up and takes a sip. He tries not to make a face at there being so much sugar. Well she's clearly been trying. That's saying something.]
no subject
Well, of course. I'm good at being a superhero, thank you very much. They kept up pretty well when we got to work together.
[It's....a compliment? Kinda????]
Even if they shouldn't be talking about it. It'll just make the whole thing a big deal when Ladybug realizes I'm a good enough superhero to take the danger.
Which I'm proving here. She's been very happy with my work.
no subject
To be fair, they didn't see me so I don't think they know I overheard by accident. And I left them alone.
[He blinks in surprise.]
Ladybug's here too?
no subject
And Chat Noir.
Which is why I'm getting to keep my Miraculous. I showed up here with it and the first time I used it, Chat Noir got turned feral and I ran into him. Kept him from doing things he would have regretted for the rest of his life.
One of which would have been hurting me if I didn't have a magical item with an indestructible suit attached.
Well, that and she might not have a safe place here to store extra Miraculous.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)