Test Drive Meme 2.

[awashmods]

These are the mem’ries that last. These are the mem’ries that will never pass. And time waits for no one. It’s gone in a flash. And only the mem’ries will last.

Prompt 1: he forest looms, uninviting and full of menace, an unwelcoming place for sure. Time to go explore! It isn't as though there's anywhere else to go, now that you've looked around the Town. The trees whack at you with branches that have far too much mobility for normal trees, strange and mutated animals watch from the shadows and boughs, and there’s the constant, constant sense of being watched -- But eventually, nonetheless, you’ll come across a small house in the forest. It sticks out like a sore thumb, bright and colorful, which is probably the first warning that something is way off, and it’s...covered in candy. It’s a candy house! It looks delicious. (It’s empty, too, not a single soul in it, without even furniture, but everything is otherwise edible and utterly delicious.) But if you eat the candy? You’re going to have a terrible, overwhelming urge to do one of two things: Fight the first person you see Kiss the first person you see Unfortunate. Prompt 2: he problem with a Town like this is that now that color is starting to return, bit by bit? You never really know when color’s going to come back -- or disappear. Maybe you’ve made a delightful, delicious sandwich from handmade bread and tomatoes and deer meat, all of which have color now… and then suddenly, when taking a bite, you get only the taste of ash and bread and tomato as the deer meat loses color. Also, someone probably died for that color to fade away. Alarming! Or maybe you’re walking along when suddenly your makeshift clothing is a hideous mix-match of colors; it had seemed fine when it was all grey and colorless! Or perhaps, even worse, you’re walking out of a house when suddenly, the flowerbed in front of it has full color, bright and maybe a little blinding after so much monochrome. Damn those color mechanics. Prompt 3: he quest seems simple, on the Quest Post: Quest 33: Feed the Cockatrice. Requirements: 2 of any color Key word, of course, is seems. First, you have to find the cockatrice. Maybe grab someone to drag into the woods with you, since there needs to be at least two of you. Time to stomp through the woods in search of the elusive cockatrice. Of course, once you find it, the quest...looks a bit harder. The monster hisses, ready to turn anyone who approaches to stone, as cockatrice tend to do. What do you even feed that thing? How will you get it to take it without getting stoned up? There are so many questions. At least the stone will wear off...eventually… if you’re unlucky enough to get petrified. Prompt 4: ut hey, you did it! You fed the cockatrice, it seemed satisfied, and now you can go fetch your reward from your home. It must be something amazing, with the work that you put in. The only change in your home, though, is what looks like a...picture book. It's got a colorful cover (in your character's color shade), and has their name on the cover, so it definitely belongs to them. And when they flip it open, it's clearly full of pictures scribbled in, as if drawn in scribbly crayon. Unlike the rest of the Town, this book is fully colorful, every shade of the rainbow in those crayon strokes... which depict, page by page, your character's worst moments in their life. Every single last horrific experience or tragic moment -- it's all there, in colorful, cute children's drawings. Congratulations! Extra: Got something in mind? Want to play with the setting more? The sky's the limit, so feel free and make up your own prompts to play with! Welcome to Awash's second Test Drive Meme! Please check out the FAQ and rules as you test your characters out. The setting is yours to play with, so be creative and have a good time with it! Important dates to remember are May 1st, 9 PM EST, when Reserves will open, and May 7th, 9 PM EST when Applications will open. Keep an eye out for it! As a side note, TDM threads are not canon, so please feel free to assume established CR for the sake of the TDM if it will make threading or showing off your character's voice easier. If you have any questions about the TDM, feel free to ask us here. If there are any other questions, you can catch us via PM, the FAQ or the contact page. Thank you for your interest in Awash!

Comments

[nascere]

Yeah, he is. He said that Ardyn attacked him, then he ended up here.

[ But that's as far as it went. Noctis looks back at him, searching, curious -- with a little more than dread curling in the pit of his stomach. If there's something wrong with him, them, he has to fix it.

He has to. ]

[photoshooter]

And he's. Okay? N-nothing was wrong when he got here?

[For someone who kept a secret for twenty entire years, Prompto sucks at this game.]

[nascere]

He was... all wet?

[ And frantic, and panicked and anxious but that was mostly it. Noctis frowns at him, trying to figure out if Prompto's hiding something -- he is, isn't he? Why else would Prompto ask him that? ]

Buddy, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?

[observitude]

Sorry! It's the crushing self-loathing that makes it nice to be someone else for a while.

[He sounds pretty cheerful despite the blunt words. If it's at all difficult to admit, he does a good job covering it up, at least. The proximity is actually what gets to him, if the small dip in his smile is anything to go by, but he tries to remain looking curious and open.]

Surely I'm not as interesting as a house of candy?

[photoshooter]

[Prompto sucks a breath in, lip bitten and brow knotted. Oh, this is--he does not like this position, he doesn't want to tell him, doesn't want the guilt and pain to start suffocating him again.]

Gladio and I were fine. Ignis, he--he got hurt, but he pulled through, too. You too, you took forever to wake up after facing down Leviathan, man, but you--you were okay.

[The storybook's going to rip if he twists at it any tighter.]

And we all headed up to Gralea to get the Crystal back. That's as far as I remember.

[nascere]

[ There's no reason not to believe Prompto, and the relief in Noctis' eyes is obvious. The three of them will be fine, and all that's left to do is to go back with what he knows, and save Luna. It doesn't matter that he took forever to wake up -- Prompto said he was okay, right?

It'll be okay. ]

So you were on your way there before this place snagged you. [ Yeah, he's got that. It's weird, it's really, really weird, but he gets it -- it takes some getting used to, but once you get used to occasionally talking furniture and strange people coming in from vastly different worlds, you can adapt to just about anything. His gaze flickers to the book, however -- childishly yellow with scribbles on it. ]

You picked that up? What's in it?

[buncho]

A shitty prize.

[ She repeats again, because it really is. It's disappointing and underwhelming, and for all the trouble it took to get the reward in the end, it can't have been wholly satisfying. ]

Next time, I'll do it— the whole fighting and feeding or whatever— and tell you what the prize is so you don't have to.

[buncho]

[ That's also stupid- this entire thing is and Mafuyu stomps her feet out of frustration. ]

What, you're saying you're a god? Or are you only one by name, like these candy houses?

[ """candy""" houses, created by a """god""" ]

[buncho]

You're not! You're carrying half a house!

[ Surely that is manageable. Mafuyu isn't that quick to get to work, though, wandering over towards the back of the house in between their two designated sides and looking around for a garden shed or something similar. ]

How should we carry everything back? If they're large enough pieces, I guess we can just balance them on our heads or something. Or do you think there's a wheelbarrow or hand truck somewhere?

[buncho]

[ At least hand it to her... Mafuyu stares right back at Sasuke, eyes never leaving his face as she bends down and and picks up the glass shard. And rushes forward to shove it in his face, as if that isn't a threatening gesture on her part at all. ]

You're being a big baby! Just eat it! There's nothing wrong with it!!

[buncho]

Why d'you have to change it? Or, when you beat somebody up, you get to write your name on their banner?

[ Kind of like how having your name on things claims them as yours; this makes sense to her. ]

[buncho]

[ Nobody wants to take responsibility for them, that's why.

Mafuyu, for her part, looks entirely too pleased that the plan is being taken so well, and now nothing will shatter her confidence that it'll turn out exactly as she hoped. ]

Then let's do it like that! You go on ahead, and I'll watch your back!

[observitude]

That is a question.

[He's spent way too long thinking about it, let him rest. Only nah, feel free to debate with him, he'll love it cuz he a freak like that.]

Would you like to punch me?

[buncho]

I'll punch you if you do something stupid, but you didn't do anything at all.

[ She aims a kick at the house instead; the door falls off its hinges, not entirely out of the force of her kick, but simply because it, like everything around here, is just so shoddily built. ]

If you can prove to me you're a real god, then I'll punch you.

[observitude]

[the house did nothing wrong...]

Mm. That's a different threat than usual.

[Not that he's complaining, or anything. He'll just rest a hand against the poor house instead.]

We could try to find some real candy, now. If you'd like. Consider it a reward for humoring me.

[flortissimo]

[ exist... ed... look, just don't deal with villains. ]

Ah... I think it must have been just as lonely for the flowers. Most people don't appreciate them without their color.

[flortissimo]

Ah, then you really are a pirate! I didn't think I would ever have the opportunity to meet one!

[ this is FASCINATING. ]

[mermaiding]

Wolf? [She echoes his whisper, eyebrow raised in disbelieve and mild confusion. He certainly didn't look like a wolf, but then, she supposed she didn't really look like a mermaid right now either. And it would explain the weird feeling of being licked when he'd kissed her cheek...]

...Hmm... Okay. Me? Am mermaid. [This she doesn't say in a whisper or anything, puffing herself up proudly an saying it quite boldly]

Ehh. Know what is? [She was quickly discovering not everyone ha the mermaid legends where they were from and it was frankly disappointing, since obviously mermaids were the best.]

[batsuits]

[ That's a pretty creepy sword. He'd love to take it apart sometime, see how it works. That's probably not what he should be thinking right now though, huh.

Instead his hand lifts to hover over his utility belt. His reflexes are quick and he can take care of this guy if he loses control but he'd rather not. He's just a kid, probably around the same age as Dick. Bruce would... rather not hurt him. ]

Candy. Get a gumdrop off the wall. You have two hands, don't you?

[ Don't be a baby!! ]

[photoshooter]

[His heart twists in his chest like the book between his hands, and the words come up, no, that's not it, Noct, I have to tell you the truth--but his mouth won't open. And then Noct moves on and it's like his whole brain hiccups.]

Oh, pfft, nothing. [Nope, nope, nope. Where's the nearest combustible trash receptacle?] Seriously, just garbage, I was on my way to take care of it right now. You know me, always... doing my best for the environment.

[batsuits]

[ There's definitely a moment here where Bruce feels a little exasperated at Josuke. You stopped him but didn't even try to figure out the context first? Thanks, guy. Now that the door is back in place, Bruce has to figure out another place to start breaking off candy. He's going to move over to the "window" and begin breaking the shutter off next. ]

Don't need it. You could do something for me though.

[ Is he really -- yeah, he is. Bruce's expression is entirely flat as he holds out a gumdrop that he took from the house. He's fairly positive that it won't result in death -- that would be illogical and against the point of this entire exercise. Something will happen and he wants to see what. ]

Eat this.

it sure was!!! and he's gonna try

[batsuits]

[ Hey, he's got to have as many kids as he does for a reason and that's one of them. They just kind of want to see what he does half the time.

And what he's doing right now is jerking upright at the warning about the tail and shooting out a hand to grasp it. The edge of the tail curls tight around his wrist, trying to crush it but Bruce seems unfazed, instead wrapping his legs around the throat of the cockatrice and using the hand that was tying the blindfold towards his utility belt.

The belt where he has a piece of fish, fish that he's going to dangle over the maw of the cockatrice and wait for it to snap up to eat. Come on, just eat it, just eat it. ]

They're... not. It depends what myth you're exploring. Cockatrice are European, fourteenth century. Related to the basilisk. Basilisks lean more on the serpent, cockatrice on the bird. Legends of basilisks are much older.

[ The cockatrice takes the fish but it also takes Bruce's... hand. So, now he has one hand with the tail wrapped tight around it, crushing his wrist while the other is trapped in the beak of the cockatrice, and his legs are locked around the cockatrice's throat. He's... had worse! ]

[batsuits]

[ There's just a grunt there because Bruce doesn't know how to have a conversation with anyone ever. Instead, he's crouched down and approaching the cockatrice with a surprising amount of precision considering the fact he can't see.

The cockatrice looks up at the two people approaching but Bruce just reaches back and flares out the cape, grabbing the attention solely on himself. ]

[batsuits]

[ There's a shake of his head here and he eyes Sasuke for a moment, realizing his mistake. He might not have the same point of reference Bruce does so, he explains. ]

Not just to obtain something. A quest, a plot device. Used in fiction. Typically associated with the great epics. Us, the heroes, go on an arduous journey to find or achieve something. The destination does not matter as much as what we experience throughout the course of the journey.

[ He gestures with the stick to the burnt up picture books. ]

That isn't important to the town. What's important is that we fed the cockatrice, together. Two colors united in one goal, achieving it through hardship. That's what's important. So, you're right that it's about us together, regardless of our colors.

[ Bruce is a yellow, after all. He doubts that was important at all. ]

[batsuits]

[ There's absolutely a face made at the mention of witches. He... hates... magic so much. So much. So!! Much!!

But that doesn't stop him from thinking of it, paused in his motions as he stares down at the candy pieces in his hand and then... something occurs to him. ]

I wonder... if the witches don't show up, could it be that we're the witches? If the stories don't act as they should, one would expect an inversion like that. The house is empty, perhaps we're supposed to fill it.