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memepatheias2019-12-18 05:55 pm
empevents) wrote in memepatheias2019-12-18 05:55 pm
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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.
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For what it's worth, he absolutely loved and preferred being a wolf! But that encounter with Junko in particular ending up being humiliating and marring the experience.Gundam shoots a glare at her as she speaks. He's sure that she's saying that just to rub it in. Of course Junko would remind him of the experience just to renew the despair! When he was afflicted with the werewolf flu, he was compelled to seek out the company of others and seek affectionate pats from them. Even from his enemy, Junko!]
Hrgh... Give it up, you fiend! That day is blotted out from all memory! You will not make me recall it... J-just cease at!
[He feels the burst of cold air. One menu slaps into his face, but he doesn't react to it. He remains angry, his fists now balled at his side, while also feeling the despair from recalling that day. Another chill wind kicks up from an opposing window, summoned by his own emotions! And with the heat his anger has been generating, the different types of air start swirling together at increasing speeds, starting to become a literal wind storm of emotions!]
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Doesn't everyone want Junko headpats though? You know, sharing is caring and all that when it comes to despair right?Yup, whatever it was Junko had done, it definitely caused Gundham a nice dose of despair - that much was painfully obvious from how thoroughly he tried to deny what happened.]
Sounds like you already have remembered, even without my help...
[There wasn't a lot of energy in her reply, though. Even her anger and the heat it generated seemed to have been thoroughly blown away in the cold ice of her despair. Despair upon despair upon despair.
She gripped onto her blonde wig tightly as the storm raged around them - it would be a problem if that blew right off, after all. Of course, she had to take one hand off to make sure she could hold her skirt down, too. Her sister would never let her hear the end of it if she flashed him.]
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It feels more like the opposite of caring when talking about despair!!He really does hate giving Junko the satisfaction of him feeling any kind of despair, even if it was on a very different scale than a type of despair connected to death. He glares once again as she taunts him.]
Th-there is no recollection to be held! [The winds whirl around Gundam as they pick up strength! It's actually a pretty awesome effect in his eyes. His only inconvenience is that his scarf keeps blowing into his face, which he keeps on trying to swat away. It keeps him distracted from Junko's whole situation there, for the moment.]
What is this chaotic maelstrom? Is this your doing too? Hmph... Call it off!
no subject
But that's how her sister shows her affection! Totally normal, right?Neither of the two seemed to have much of an idea of the nature of the despair each other was feeling right now - Mukuro had no way of guessing exactly what Junko had done to upset him this much, she only had theories. And as far as she knew, hardly anyone would understand the despair of her own death that held Mukuro in a tight grip.
Still, she agreed with Gundham on the point that this wind needs to stop. The effect is quite awesome, sure, but it's not exactly kind to her, blowing her wig and skirt and tie all over the place. Frankly, it's a surprise she's not letting the wig slip.
Being unused to the whole emotion-effect thing, that was not the first conclusion she jumped to.]
I- I don't know! The wind didn't look like it was getting any worse outside... who even opened that window?
[At the same time, though, it was hard to bring enough energy to the table to even care right now. Her heart and everything else just felt so heavy.]
no subject
At the same time, her words keeo on baffling. It's almost as if she's unfamiliar with the emotional effects of this world! But that's just silly.
Gundam holds down his scarf, his features bewildered as he shouts at her.]
Isn't obvious?! The windows of man are nothing before the winds of truly potent emotional energy! These winds must carry... the feels of beings within this cafe! Of pure wrath, a-and pure despair! ...That loathsome feeling that is your emblem!!
[His voice keeps growing louder to shout over the winds, because they're getting stronger by the moment! It's even starting to get hard to stay on his feet!]
no subject
What he also might find baffling, if he's not too flustered to pay attention, is that she's uncharacteristically not mentioned 'despair' once during their entire talk - at least not until now.
When she was acting as Junko in the killing game, that was obviously not an aspect of her personality she played up, and it wasn't something she wanted to flaunt around here until she'd got her bearings. Especially not with people who already knew her.]
Even I can't just summon despair out of nowhere, you know! Besides, you started it!
[Nope, she's having to keep both hands on her wig now to stop it flying off. Although, she was wondering if it was a futile effort at this point. In the end, she was only going to disappoint her sister regardless, right?
She was only making herself feel worse.]
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Don't make me laugh, you cur! I am the alpha, the origin point of mankind's devastation, but not of such a troublesome squall as this! [He narrows his eyes while he looks towards her.]
Does this have to do with how unusual you are acting?! You are usually so quick to claim any and all 'despair', Enoshima! And... [He does notice something unusual as he looks at her. Both of her hands are... on her head? He tries to focus on that and not look down.] ...Why do you clutch your own hair so relentlessly?! Every action of yours is utterly baffling, even under the gaze of an All-Seeing Eye!
[He slaps his scarf out of his face again, as the winds continue to intensify!]
no subject
[Clearly the best solution to being questioned is to try and play up the whole airhead Fashionista act. And, well, questioning his 'dark powers' seemed a fairly reliable way of getting him off her case.
The whole situation was stressing her out - the fact her skirt and tie were flapping all over the place brought a flush of embarrassment in her cheeks... and that on it's own brought another flurry of menus in a short, hot blast.
Best not to look down for your own sanity Gundam.She glanced around quickly, cold eyes focusing on the exits. The best way to get out of this mess was to abort the mission entirely and plan a retreat. Only problem was, right now even the chairs and tables were starting to be knocked over by the swirling winds, whilst the regular patrons were most likely trying to get to the doors themselves. No easy way out of this awkward encounter.]
Shit...
no subject
[It's weird to see Junko so... uncomposed, even in the middle of a chaotic situation! If it were anyone else, he'd suspect an imposter by now. But it's harder to tell with Junko, because any time she looks or acts different, it could just be her acting as part of some convoluted plan to inspire despair!
Part of him does want to just cut his losses and flee from the storm, but it's looking more and more impossible to simply run away. The exits are being blocked, and the panicked patrons are practically their own force of nature that is hard to avoid.
And then things get even worse. Some of the menus she stirs up end up flying right at Gundam! He ducks under them quickly! But in the process, he ends up accidentally glimpsing at the area he was trying to avoid at all costs.]
N-no! [Now his face turns completely red, and a new gust of hot air is added to the storm! This one sends a chair flying into his backside, which ends up propelling him across the room while he roars out a shout. Watch out!]
no subject
D-don’t look you pervert!!
[On one hand, the despair of her own death that started this mess was fading as the emotions brought by the situation at hand gradually took over. On the other, she was mortified the second he ducked down and saw that
black, not very spear proof and surprisingly plain. So overall, it made little difference to the storm aside from the temperature steadily rising again.More importantly though, she found herself confronted by a flying Gundam heading right for her! Before she could even consciously think that to avoid a horrible cliche scene of him falling on top of her, her battle instincts kicked in. With surprising speed she dashed behind an upturned table and crouched, pulling it against her to shield herself. It was second nature, with how often she’d done it on the battlefield.
Hopefully he can stop himself colliding with the table in time?]
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Luckily, the emotional power of this world can do good things for him too! By tapping into his feelings of distrust, a temporary invisible barrier forms right in front of him, allowing him to bounce off the table without directly colliding into it.
He lands on the floor and tries to regain his footing, while still beet red and trying to forget that sight which cannot be unseen.]
I- I did not, you fiend! [He frantically attempts to deny it!] I did not peer into any dark and ordinary-looking vortex...!
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With a huff, she shoved the table to one side and glared at him.]
You're, like, basically just admitting you did!
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Now he forces himself to meet her eyes in order to prevent another unspeakable accident, while trying to back away from her.]
In- in any case, forget about such a foolish thing a-as mortal garments! Focus on stopping this storm at once! [Gundam is skilled at dunamis, the art of using emotional effects as magic, but it's been very hard to focus throughout this entire misadventure. And of course, he insists on placing all the blame on "Junko".]
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[She gave him a good glare right back, her eyes like ice. Despite everything in her mind telling her to back off as he was, she instead stomped closer, balling her hands into fists.]
And how exactly are we supposed to stop it? you expecting us to like, be friends and hold hands and everything'll magically just calm down?!
[If effects like this could be controlled... what on earth could Junko's despair really do here?]
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and not wanting to catch any more glimpses.]Do you not recall anything about how emotions work in this world?! If... if you can rein in and control your own wretched feelings, then... that should stop what you have brought about! It is as simple as that, you cur!
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[It was lucky for Mukuro that he wasn't asking exactly why her memories of how emotions worked had seemingly evaporated - that would be difficult to explain.]
Okay, okay, just control my emotions, right...of course I knew that you dumbass!! Maybe I wouldn't be so flustered if you hadn't been looking up my skirt!
[First job, forgetting the embarrassing mess they'd just found themselves in, second job, forget the dispair that was running through her. She'd dealt with situations far more stressful than this on the battlefield, right? So this should be easy. Just apply the same techniques.
She took a slow, deep breath, focusing on the fingers of her clenched fists. Breathe in for 4...hold for 4...breathe out for 4...
Just focus on that.]
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I- I was not...! Hrgh. Enough talk of that insipid moment th-that did not even truly occur! [It adds another burst of hot air into the storm, but then he quickly gets back to focusing. And the winds begin to die down!]
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[That burst of air was enough to distract her as well, as she grasped at her wig once again to stop the wind from dislodging it. Enough dwelling on that distraction, she thought, as her mind went back to the breathing exercises she’d learnt in the military.
Mukuro carefully counted in her head the breaths in, hold, the breaths out, hold... and slowly, she started to come to her senses. It wasn’t quite like slipping into a battle trance, but the tension was leaving her body - and the storm around them was responding in kind.
She could even afford to let go of the wig, using the chance to adjust it now Gundham had his back turned.]
It’s stopping...good.
[It would take her a moment to fully slip back into her ‘Junko’ act - and perhaps her voice would seem uncharacteristically cold for a moment - but at least the storm was slowing down. She had to stop herself instinctively suggesting they search for any casualties in the aftermath.]
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even if he's already seen what cannot be unseen!.Once he's not looking at her or even paying much attention to her, things become easier. At home, he learned how to control his emotions around animals, in order to make it easier to connect with them instead of startling them. And here in this world, he worked on that emotional control further in order to master dunamis. And so, he continues to concentrate and focus, with the winds dying down some more. The coffee shop starts to return to... well, not normal, but now at least it's just a stationary mess rather than a mess in a middle of a storm.]
...There. The winds of turmoil have been stirred away by the Hand of Tanaka... All may rejoice. [He smirks proudly.]
It's like 4am why am I still awake
Perhaps, if Mukuro learned of how the magic in this world worked, she'd be able to find some use for it. It would be another weapon in her arsenal, and that was certainly nothing to sniff at.]
Good riddance to that mess.
[The coffee shop really did look a state. Were the people of this world really used to dealing with chaos like this on a semi-regular basis.]
...We're gonna have to clean up, huh?
I wish I knew...
...Hmph. I may be used to sweeping the souls of sinners down the River Styx, but that does not mean that I can be summoned to act as a mere custodian of mankind's messes...! [Still, the proprietors seem to be glaring towards them and looking at them demandingly.]
The fiends! They do not know the power they are trifling with! Just... bill me if you must! I've had my fill of this cafe for a thousand lifetimes! [With that, he tries to storm off towards the door.]
think we're cool to wind things up?
[Mukuro huffed, but she wasn't really as angry as she should be. She was far too used to Junko making a mess
or outright killing peopleand walking off with the expectation her sister would just clean it up behind her.For now, deciding it was better to quit whilst she was ahead, she just sighed and set about clearing up. After that, she could focus on trying to track down her sister... and hopefully forget this entire embarrassing mess. He was definitely onto something being not quite right with her, so she needed to be a little more careful.]
Sounds good!
[Gundam feels absolutely no pity for Junko being stuck in this situation. In fact, he's sure that it's the least she deserves! He doesn't want to spend any more time in her presence, as unusual as she may be. And he imagines she'll probably pass the work off onto some sad sap anyway.
In any case, he makes his way out of there, hoping to put this whole ridiculous incident out of sight and out of mind!]