memepatheias | TEST DRIVE: April

Entry tags:

*test drive

TEST DRIVE: April

— TEST DRIVE: APRIL —

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:

Date reminders. Reserves open March 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on April 1st. Apps will only be open for four days!
OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
Emotions are key! Empatheias' 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. Also, 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. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus, those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. 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. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!
Transfer to in-game. If accepted, you can assume threads made on the Test Drive happen in-game if the scenario can reasonably fit. These threads do not count toward AC.

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!

PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• 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: The Verens Emergency Response Teams are running drills to make sure that the Verens populace, natives and Otherworlders alike, are prepared for any and all emergencies. This means large scale obstruction of public areas, traffic delays, businesses closing their doors temporarily in the name of professional cooperation... and, best of all, Otherworlder participation!

Alpha Lava: If you asked Team Alpha, they would say they drew the short straw. They are in charge of the volcanic eruption preparedness drill! This includes cordoning off sections of the merchant’s square and residential district to conduct the following tasks: evacuation drills, where random houses are the "willing participant" of loudspeaker announcements telling them they have thirty seconds to escape their homes before they die; dunamis training exercises, to determine who would be most able to hold back or freeze incoming pools of lava; and, most helpful, the role of victim mannequin. Posing still as a statue for several minutes at a time to simulate being encrusted by molten lava is a thankless job, but someone has to do it.
Epsilon Epidemic: Team Epsilon's emergency preparedness drill is outbreak of a deadly disease! For this simulation, they will be rounding up helpful Otherworlder volunteers and distributing signs for them to wear around their necks. Following that, instructions are varied. Perhaps some people end up in quarantine, informed that Team Epsilon will shoot to kill anyone who escaped. Perhaps some people are under strict instruction to act out their sign to the best of their ability, and will be penalised if they don't! (What's the penalty? It's quarantine, or no gift bag, or both.) Perhaps they are simply dead and have to lie in the street all day. Yes, that's very boring. No, they don't have a choice. At the end of the simulation, all participants are given a gift bag filled with handmade cookies (courtesy of Team Epsilon's very own multi-talented Agent N) and gift certificate for a spa day for two. Most importantly: have fun!
Gamma Grandstanding: Team Gamma ended up with the newest preparation drill. Its official title is "People With Indeterminate Motives" (PWIM for short) to keep from throwing a wrench in the Briarlan trade deal and offending sensibilities, but make no mistake: it is about knowing exactly what to do if pirates invade Verens and conduct a hostile takeover. Some Otherworlders will be placed specifically in local business - restaurants, independently owned shops, even the zoo - and trained how to protect them from PWIM. Some businesses will be targeted; others will be ignored entirely (hope you brought a deck of cards!). Other Otherworlders will be asked to play the pirates - sorry, PWIM - themselves, complete with lame costumes (eyepatches, fancy hats, fake parrots to sit on a shoulder, itchy peglegs) for the sake of immersion. Arr! Aye, avast!

• Prompt E: Despite the rain and everybody coming down with colds during the month, everyone in Verens is still doing their best to get ready for next month's Flower Festival. And Otherworlders are definitely expected to help with prep work. After all, it's everyone's festival, so everyone should help make it the best it can be! So here's a few ways to help!

Sign Me Up: The Festival needs signs! Lots of signs. And lots of signs need lots of painters! Or one incredibly overworked painter, but in this case, they've decided to go the teamwork route, pairing up Otherworlders and having them make signs advertising various games at the festival! Sounds easy, right? But with emotion based paints in play, be careful. Too much negativity between partners and the wording will change, the paint could run, go too far in the other directions and the signs will be practically glowing, but possibly lead to claims of false advertising!
Special Delivery Flower Festivals need lots of flowers, and people to transport those flowers! And thanks to handy tech exchange with Briarlan, this year there's some fancy containment units for transporting them. They're really just crates with some fancy looking meters attached, meant to open up when they reach the festival grounds. Unfortunately, these new inventions probably could've used some additional testing and are prone to opening randomly sending flowers all over the place! Try and collect as many as possible and bring them back to the grounds, the festival organizers would appreciate it.
Flower Round Up! Or maybe painting signs and boxing flowers aren't your thing, so how about...corralling them? With all the good vibes in the air, it seems some of the flower arrangements have literally pulled up roots and are running around the festival. And you can't have a flower festival without flowers, so do your best to try and get them back where they belong before they run off to start some sort of flower civilization in the woods*.

*They probably will not form a flower civilization in the woods, but you never know.

• Prompt F: With Verens trading with more and more cities out there, some shopkeepers have gotten an idea to try and increase sales by encouraging both citizens and Otherworlders to shop local by promoting a tour of various business in the merchant district! Though the crystal has been a little negative, they're still hoping the tour goes off without a hitch! After all, it's too late to postpone it.

On the Clock: The first stop is Click, Clack, Clock, a clock shop that offers delivery to anywhere on the island! Unfortunately, due to the poor weather, all of the delivery staff are out with colds, so they're looking for volunteers! And yes, you're on this walking tour, but don't be surprised if you're handed a bicycle and a clock and sent on your way to deliver a clock. Hopefully they remembered to tell you where to go before shoving you out the door.
Shine On: Assuming you haven't been conscripted into the clock store's delivery force, the next stop is at Verens' very own Restoration Works, an establishment for restoring old antiques and making them look good as new. They've set up an interactive demo for everybody, so partner up and practice using your emotions to bring some shine back to some dull scraps of metal! Sorry guys, they're not going to let you work on anything really valuable during the tour, but if you show some promise, maybe they’ll hire you on in the future!
Polg-Oh No: Finally, the tour will end with a nice relaxing meal at the Sweethearts Cafe. Or it was intended to be relaxing, anyway (who would've thought the antique store would be the calmest part of the tour?), but it seems no place is safe from the Polgo plague. Better keep an eye on your plates, otherwise the second you’re distracted, the small kitten-sized blue bugs might scurry up the table and try and run off with your food!

Even if you’re paying attention, they might give it a shot anyways. So be on your guard and ready to give chase if it happens!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include blueberries and/or buckets.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Prompt B
[When Pearl offered to help the Nellie Family with their glowsheep, she'd assumed she'd be working alone, and she was perfectly fine with that. However, it would seem she's not the only one who took up that particular task.

She's agitated at the idea of doing this as a team. She's already part of a team she works wonderfully with, thank you very much. Sure, half of her teammates aren't on this floating island, but the point remains.

Still, Pearl realizes that working together with her fellow volunteer should make the task easier... Hopefully. Some people are just extremely difficult to work with. Or don't know what they're doing.

On the other hand, maybe they've been here longer than she, and have some actual experience with these glowsheep. Or any sheep. It's worth looking into, so she turns to her new partner.]

I must admit, I'm not... Exactly familiar with sheep. [She's reluctant to admit this.] Are you?

Prompt C

[Pearl has been in Empatheias for a little over two weeks now, and she hasn't exactly been a social butterfly. That's just not her in almost any situation, but especially when there's a task at hand - like protecting Steven. Oh, and rebuilding the surface. That, too.

Still, she feels that she can almost hear Amethyst's voice teasing her for being stuffy, and Pearl would find some comfort in having more companions she can count on here on the island. So she's decided to start an open conference voice message through her amulet.]

Hello. If we haven't met yet, my name is Pearl. You know, it's funny, back home I've never used most of the common human communication devices. I don't have a phone, and I've never been on a computer... This actually feels a bit more natural than I suspect those would. I suppose that's because there's a slightly similar mental connection to Fusion.

[That is where Pearl's stream of consciousness gets away from her.]

Not that I can fuse with any of you, of course - unless there are other Gems out here I haven't encountered. Wouldn't that be interesting. And I- I suppose I can fuse with Steven, but I've always hoped I'd never have to do that. I don't know what forming Rainbow Quartz with him would be like. If I'd be able to feel Rose. I'm scared that I would... And that I wouldn't.

I can't believe that after all this time, after everything we've been through, I can still look at him and see her. It's wrong, I know. He's his own person, who doesn't deserve that, but-

[There's a sharp inhale as Pearl realizes how far her mind has strayed, and there's a choked-up sound to her "voice" when she speaks up again, though she tries her best to keep her tone strong.]

I'm sorry about that.

Wildcard
Whatever you'd like, or you could contact me via PM or at

dolewhip if you wanted something specific.

...Wow. You... probably should stop using the telepathy until you get a better hang of this.

[And people call her awkward.]

Not... that I want or need to know what you're talking about, but -- you know Steven can hear this, too, right?

I- Probably, yes.

It's not like I intended for all of that to come up.

...Right.

[Lapis, in contrast, finds it fairly simple to restrict her mental babbling to a minimum, but then, in her limited experience, Pearl has always been a bit irritatingly verbose and prone to unnecessary explanation. ...It's a bit telling that her thoughts had immediately leapt to... whatever it was she had going on with Rose within the space of about half a second, too.

She supposes she should be gracious.]

Well. Just... find him and apologize. You know he's going to feel guilty about it and not say anything. ...That's what he does.

[For some reason she doesn't understand.]

[While a part of Pearl wants to be defensive, she knows she doesn't have a foot to stand on there. Lapis is correct, and honestly, it's good that she's also so concerned for Steven.

The "mental impression" of someone nodding with a sigh is an odd thing, but it's what comes across through the network.]

I know. And I will. I-

[It's hard for her, to an extent, to say what she says next, because... She can be jealous of Lapis' bond with Steven. It has nothing to do with Rose Quartz, and it's not that Pearl is unhappy with her own relationship with Steven, but... Pearl is not a "buddy" to the child. Not like Lapis. She's put herself in a more maternal role, and it's what makes the most sense, but sometimes she feels like she's missing out. Like she doesn't get to be any fun in his eyes.]

-I appreciate you looking out for him.

[oh

no
please don't say those kinds of things]

Ah.

...Yep.

[That should be sufficient, right? No? Maybe not.]

I'm... happy to?

...I mean, I'm not 'looking out for him', it's just -- ...I don't know what you all are doing, and I don't always want to know, but Steven seems to have a lot to deal with when he comes to visit. I just think it's... better if he - if we all - have some time off from that.

You can... think those things to yourself if you want. It's not my business.

Edited 2018-03-26 17:47 (UTC)

Pearl | Steven Universe

C

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B!

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C

Re: C

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B

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C - oh wow I want these two to be friends

ohhh boy c:

\o/

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