test drive meme: january 2020

[modblob]

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.

a. nuclear fallout boy.

There is a mid-90s strip mall forming outside of Anchor.

Which is to say that there is now a Hot Topic next to the Blockbuster, and a little canopied sidewalk connecting the two. The difference between them is that the Hot Topic has an airlock entry and is safe from the radiation outside.

It's also not decked out for any Earth holidays, but it is fully stocked. Just not stocked with things that an Earth-based shopper would recognize as their "typical" fare. There are band t-shirts, with extreme fonts and symbols, but said fonts are almost cuneiform and the symbols are references that no one who wasn't living on Mars-15 in 1994 will get. The joke t-shirts are much the same, with cartoon characters, visual puns, memes, and designs that are, well, out of this world. There are bizarre earrings in standing cases, body decorations that might not quite fit a human, temporary tattoos, and random junk that cool fifteen-year-olds would snap up if it existed on Mars. (Use your imaginations, Anchorites.)

One thing you won't find in this store is advanced technology that serves any actual purpose. Sure, there are thumb-sized fart machines and little wall-mounted projectors that can decorate ceilings with preprogrammed holographic scenery (mostly starscapes). But none of it is any more useful than the keychain of that fat hipster cat with butterfly wings and bug eyes hanging from one of the displays. The cash register, which is the most futuristic thing in the place, is smashed to bits. Gotta get those Mars credits somewhere else.

b. looking kinda familiar.

There are little creatures scuttling through Anchor again, though these ones... well, they really are creatures more than they can be called animals. They're little blue-gray blobs of tissue, growing as they roll around until they finally split in two, both pieces then going their own way. Even though they don't have legs, the little blobs are fast, and many of them have no interest in interacting with the people of Anchor, and disappear into the ether never to be seen again.

Some of them, however, will single people out and start following them. The longer that little blob follows, the closer it gets, the more it takes the shape of an animal that represents the follow-ee's innermost soul or personality. The part of themselves that they hide away. As it begins to take shape, the person it follows will start to hear a tiny voice, at first just muffled sounds that could be coming from anywhere, but as the creature's form clarifies, the mumbling turns into actual speech. Clumsy, at first, almost like babytalk, but soon the little creature following its chosen Anchorite will be able to speak with its chosen person in full sentences. No one else can hear the little creature talk - only the one it decided to follow.

Keep the little bugger (or big bugger, if your innermost soul is an elephant or something) around for a week, and it will settle into its chosen shape, bonding to you for as long as you're alive. It can speak, listen, and understand, but you're the only one who can hear its voice. If this whole animal companion stalker situation isn't up your alley, though, and you're not feeling the connection, the little critter will slouch off to its own blobby existence.

c. creatures from the black locked room.

There's been a lot of exploration happening in that flooded area that Joe warned you all about. A lot of rooms opened, a lot of rooms explored and/or destroyed (thanks, Jacob et al. srsly). It's a lot of noise in a somewhat confined space. And something in one of the rooms is stirring...and done with being locked away.

Midday on the 20th of the month, the sounds of metal shrieking as it is twisted out of shape burble up out of the flooded halls. Thumping, rumbling, and eerie hooting noises are all muffled by the water at first.

There's only one at first, sloshing up out of the water and looking perfectly dry. Well... it looks like nothing, actually. A deep blackness that can hypnotize if it's stared at for too long. Long, dark claws that shine with a silvery edge. The vicious teeth in its shapeless head glow a pale blue-green.

Then another comes to the top of the stairs, and another.

They're perplexed at first by the webbing Peter Parker left to block off the hall, but a few experimental pokes with a claw shows that the stuff gives under their talons with only a little bit of effort. The three creatures slice their way free and move as a pack through the lower levels of Anchor, prepared to mob whoever they come across and tear them to shreds.

There's a problem when it comes to straight-up fighting these things, though: when physically attacked, they simply bounce back, when pieces are hacked off with a blade, each piece becomes a new, identical monster. The only way to beat them is with energy and other alternate fighting styles - magic, lasers, energy projectiles, etc.

Some people might be lucky enough not to run into them. Good luck to the rest.

d. the network.

Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to ask a friend to back you up to take out the toothy voids? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?

Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.

Navigation.

Comments

Achilles | Fate/Apocrypha

[kometes]

looking kinda familiar.

[ He hadn't paid any mind to the blob that appeared suddenly at his heels, thinking it was just a bit of magic that had failed to manifest properly. It isn't until later on, when the thing sprouts a head, a muzzle, and four legs, that he finds it worth giving any attention to, reaching down to give it pats around where two ears are just starting to develop, talking to it as if it were a woodland creature rather than a strange, suspicious, misshapen thing that has been following him around for no apparent reason. Even weirder, it seems capable of human-like noises that sound too close to actual words he's able to understand to be coincidental.

When it takes on its complete form as a wolf, Achilles hardly bats an eye, having seen much weirder in his lifetime. When it speaks to him, he's receptive, because this wouldn't be the first animal to communicate with him. They converse briefly for the first time once its speech is understandable enough, and once he confirms that the thing isn't a product that came about from the enemy (like one of Caster's golems), he settles and appraises the creature.

The canine stares up at him with the attentive stare of a begging mutt seated upon its haunches, to which Achilles responds to by waving an empty hand. ]

No need to follow me around like a lost pup. You're a wild beast, so roam freely and hunt to your heart's content.

[ Maybe it's not such a good idea to let a 'wild beast' roam around freely when it could possibly try to hurt someone, Achilles? The thought crosses his mind briefly, but the thing is intelligent and hadn't tried to attack him, so he assumes that if it were to attack anything, at worst it'd be a bird or a stray cat.

The wolf will follow his advice, taking off once it is permitted to explore Anchor and meet the inhabitants. Achilles has left it to its own devices, but he will come running if an ordeal is to occur.

1. If you are attractive, the wolf will make an attempt to pounce on you and lick your face.
2. If you look strong, the wolf will stalk you, probably with the intent of eventually lunging.
3. If you are neither attractive or strong, the wolf will stop in front of you, roll over onto its back and offer its belly for rubs.
4. If you have a blob-animal following you that's on the smaller side, the wolf will attempt to hunt it. Whether it ends up playing with the other blob-animal or actually makes a meal out of it is up to you.

]

nuclear fallout boy.

[ Achilles is a Heroic Spirit who comes from a time and place where 'malls' were outside markets stocked with plentiful goods of varying quality and merchants that make an art out of haggling. Though, he knows what malls are, because that came with the knowledge imparted on him by the Throne when he was initially summoned, but Hot Topic in particular? He's never heard of it, nor does he understand why it would be sitting outside of Anchor.

He decides to explore the vacant building because there is nothing better to do, and with no vendors around, he figures that everything is about ripe for pillaging (this is what they did back in his day, don't judge).

He'll grab the nearest bag (which is designed after a Hello Kitty motif) off of the wall and begin filling it with anything that looks moderately profitable. Which... isn't very much, all things considered. Even the jewelry he finds mounted to a stand seems cheap, too light in weight to bear any value. ]

This junk ain't worth much, is it? Look how poorly polished the jewels on this necklace are. Any woman would slap me across the face if I tried to gift her something like this.

[ Snap. Trying to unclasp the necklace has led to him breaking the chain completely, scattering all the plastic jewels across the floor. ]

wildcard.

[ The intimacy lounge had drawn him simply because of its name and the nature of the business he assumes it's purposed for.

If someone (as long as it is an adult) happens to be there for any reason, he'll approach, Hello Kitty bag (from Hot Topic) in hand. ]

Hey. Are you working here? I need some service.

looking kinda familiar

[fessus]

[ Noctis isn't a fan of questionable magic, goo, or baby talk. What he is a fan of? Animals. So when his own familiar finally takes its shape as a glorious two-toed sloth and gains the full use of speech he spends a little too much time apologizing for his dismissiveness beforehand. Not that he doesn't have plenty of chances to make up for it by spending his every waking moment with the creature over the following day, even taking it for an extremely slow walk. ]

–that's what I would've thought a hibiscus flower was, anyway. I mean I guess I can try to find you one, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. The cocoa leaves might be easier...

[ He barely gets the thought out before he hears a growl, instantly scooping up his sloth like an overprotective mother – and it's good enough to hang onto his back and make the job easier – and even summoning his engine blade in a wash of blue light when he spots the stalking wolf. Great. ]

Hey! If anyone lost their dog, you better come get it now! –here, chill out. Neither of us have food but I can probably find you something...

[kometes]

[ Is it the sloth the wolf means to make a snack out of, or the boy who catches its gleaming eyes as it peers from around a corner, blending in with its shrouded surroundings? What kind of dog matches the size of the beast who slowly inches out from the depths of the shadows, stepping into the light of day to reveal its teeth with a curling lip, anyway. It even salivates. ]

[fessus]

Great... Guess you're not in the mood to talk.

[ It's definitely big for a dog. And he's definitely seen bigger. The classification of "wolf" isn't one he knows well enough to be more specific in spite of the time he's had to research Earth and other worlds while here, but Noctis is nothing if not a bit of a procrastinator when left to his own devices. The frightened sloth clinging so desperately to his back is more than enough physical evidence of that.

He keeps that sword poised for an attack just in case, other hand far more subtle in its slip behind his back so that he might hide what he summons next – a fist-sized sphere, one faintly glowing blue and radiating cold. Freezing this animal in its tracks seems a little less cruel than outright killing it, especially knowing that it might be tied to someone else here and not just an escapee from the bio levels. ]

Last warning!

wildcard!

[upheavals]

[ now there's a sight that claude doesn't see often: big guy, dressed in armour, holding a sparkly little bag full of -- things. though, he supposed that everything about the past twenty-four hours is a lot of things that he hadn't seen often or, you know, at all, full of things that he needed to hunker down and learn. it's all part of a growing list of items that'll likely need a day of their own for claude to figure out and acclimate himself, but this...

this is a different kind of unusual. familiar in how claude understands what the man might mean by 'service', but still unusual. it's kind of refreshing, actually. hilarious, and thus worth humouring. ]

I'm not exactly someone you could call a local, but -- sure thing. You do look like a guy that needs a bit [ read: a lot ] of 'service'.

[ poor guy, runs his tone. deliberately, of course. ]

Is it for directions? I'm sure I could find someone around here that could point you toward the closest [ eyeing that cat bag for another brief moment, ] junior Academy.

[ as to why claude wandered into where he probably shouldn't have poked his nose into so early, he'll save that for another time. ]

Re: wildcard!

[kometes]

[ He'd come here for a single purpose in mind, and that's to extract what a Heroic Spirit like him needs for sustenance. Mana. The very thing his corporeal body is made of and can't exist without if it isn't maintained by a flow of magic. Suddenly appearing here, losing his connection to his Master and thus with it his source of livelihood, Achilles is thinking of survival first, and anything else after. Otherwise, he'd be going through the trouble of approaching someone he found attractive enough and interesting enough whenever encountering them.

This intimacy lounge? He figured it'd provide him convenience. He feels a bit lucky that he'd end up finding a 'gem' in a world that otherwise looked so bleak and dreary. ]

Directions? [ The joke falls flat before it can give any rise to the faintest bit of offence.

What, is this guy playing coy? Achilles can handle it. He figures having to make a bit of effort is worthwhile in this case. So, he cocks his head, gesturing to the machine he'd intuitively inspected first when entering the lounge. ]

Well, that thing over there pointed me in your direction when I asked for a companion for tonight. Wouldn't you say that means you've been handpicked for me? [ His eyes crease lightly as his expression takes on a more amicable bearing, distinctive in how the corners of his lips round as they curve up. ]

Must be a reason. Got any idea what it might be?

[ Perhaps it's simply because he's the only one who's free. ]

[upheavals]

[ oh, is that what that thing does? claude had yet been able to discern its purpose before this guy had appeared with his pink kitty-printed bag and questionable requests for 'service', but that little quip tells him a bit of what he wants to know. though whether that thing specialized in these types of misunderstandings (if so: touche, fellow schemer), or if it simply spat out the most convenient answer, claude's still not sure.

so many questions. would he even have time to get them all answered? ]

Must be my charming personality. And the fact that I know how to spot a joke made in poor taste when I see one.

[ companion, service... yeah, there's really no way to misinterpret this guy's intentions, is there? jeez. there was always going to be these sorts, huh? even when claude was getting ejected out of his world into a place full of jargon and technology that he's never even read about before. well, he supposed he's obligated to be glad that at least some things remained consistent. ]

Want me to step out and see if you'll get a different answer?

familiars!

[fishermansweater]

[ The only bird in the immediate vicinity is the one that's decided to sit on Finnick's head, the apparently telepathic osprey that's been following him around for a week or so now. It's the osprey that notices the wolf approaching first, because while Finnick is excellent at noticing little details around him, the wolf is moving very quietly.

It's a good thing the osprey notices the wolf first. Without warning, Finnick might have overreacted to the sight of the animal. The horrific wolf muttations that were the finale of the 74th Games were the last wolves he'd seen.

As it is, the sight of the wolf is enough to make him shift as he stands, slightly, so the trident he's carrying is ready to throw. ]

Is it trying to attack you?