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glencolaaa2023-05-01 03:59 pm
glencolans) wrote in glencolaaa2023-05-01 03:59 pm
Entry tags:
TDM #1
TEST DRIVE MEME #1
Welcome to Glencola Reef's first Test Drive Meme! This is a place where anyone interested in applying a character - or just curious to see how their characters might interact with the setting and others in the game - can mingle with one another. General prompts are provided below for inspiration.
TDM GUIDELINES
- Please read the rules before posting to the TDM. These still apply here and will be enforced, up to and including deleting tags/toplevels and prebanning.
- Posts from a TDM are required to apply. At least three tags across any number of threads within a TDM, posted within the last 6 months, must be provided in every application.
- TDM threads can be used for AC. Note that new characters only need to check in for their first AC cycle, but established characters can use TDM tags for their AC.
- TDMs are not considered game canon by default. This is mostly for logistics reasons - due to how characters travel on the map, it's unlikely that non-network threads that take place here will actually happen in-game. However, I won't stop anyone from working out how to make parts of threads game canon if they really want to.
- New TDMs will be posted every three months. Keep checking back into the current TDM for new toplevels!
I. ARRIVAL
You awaken on a tropical island beach, soaking wet, powerless, and without any idea how you got here. Were you carrying something important, or wearing powerful armor? How unfortunate - it looks like only the most basic clothes, items in your pockets, and simple weapons managed to make the trip with you. Are you even physically the same as you remember? If you had superhuman abilities tied to your physiology, you might be stuck in a completely different body that lacks your usual senses. You might've been whisked away from a tense battle or a near-death experience and wake up delirious, or even injured.Thankfully, against overwhelming odds, you're not the only one to wake up on this particular stretch of beach. You and your companion have a lot of puzzling out to do.
II. NETWORK
Even if you weren't lucky enough to wake up near someone else, at least you've arrived with a military-grade radio transceiver gripped tightly in your hand (or mouth, or other vaguely opposable appendage of choice). The clunky walkie-talkie will start buzzing and crackling for every public message that starts coming your way. Answering them back is as easy as pressing the "talk" button on the side of the device and either speaking into the receiver, or using the keypad to type into the message box that appears on the screen, then pressing the button again to send. A list of ongoing conversations with responses that are less than 24 hours old can be found by scrolling through the menu, identified by the callsigns that are participating in them. It seems that you've been assigned a callsign, too - it shows up in the top right side of the screen, format AB123C. The letters and numbers picked are...probably random.
This is your easiest avenue to communicating, or coordinating with, or complaining at the other people stuck on this island; how you decide to use this tool is up to you.
III. EXPLORING
For a place that appears, by all signs, to be an equatorial island in the middle of a tropical ocean, the local environments are surprisingly diverse. Beaches range from idyllic white sand to storm-swept pebble crags to cliffs with waterfalls cascading off the edges; the interior forests can be thinned from sandy soil or dense jungles full of prickly underbrush and with towering canopies; and the central mountain peaks, perilous enough to climb on their own, terminate in ravines and sinkholes that are hidden by thick foliage until you already have one foot over the edge.The animals that make their homes here are equally as varied, and sometimes just as dangerous. The standard Earth fare of tropical fish swim right up to most shores, especially where reefs have grown, and a multitude of seafaring and jungle birds make their homes in ocean-facing cliffs and trees. Any one of these creatures would make for an easy snack. But you're not the only opportunistic hunters here; sharks prowl the waters, big cats stalk the jungles, and feral boars raid any camps that smell enticing. And that's just the stuff that looks like it came from modern Earth. Your improvised fishing rod might have captured a trilobite, or maybe that deer you were stalking has rounded on you with a set of alien mandibles full of sharp teeth. Or maybe, among the plants and animals completely foreign to you, you've stumbled across one that's strangely familiar to your home and no one else's.
There's a lot to figure out about this place. At least, in this instance, you aren't doing it alone.
Exploration
He shakes his head. ]
Non. [ He even drops the brush, then raises a finger with each item he counts off for emphasis. ] Shelter first, then fire, then water.
[ He resumes tossing the brush aside before he glances at his own handiwork, pleased. It looks like a good spot for a lean-to. Out of the way, protected for elements, not too deep in the brush... ]
To answer your question, ese, no fresh water. But! [ pause for emphasis! ARE YOU STILL LISTENING LEVI, ARE YOU??? ] I did see some cacti coming from that direction. [ He gestures. He looks at Levi, trying to hold the other man's gaze, eyes questioning as he searches for recognition. ]
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Fine. Shelter first. [ He pushes off his perch. Rejoice! He's going to help! ] Don't know about fire. It's like putting a giant beacon on our position.
[ They don't even know where they are, and whether there are other people here... more importantly, whether said people won't rob and/or try to kill them. Not to mention they have nothing to cook or heat up at the moment, and the weather is already hot like the devil's asshole. (No, he's unaware of rapid temperature changes in the tropics; he's never been there before.) ]
...Cacti?
[ No recognition of that, either. ]
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Or really much of anything, most likely. ]
Thanks, man! [ He's genuinely grinning. It's a long shot, but... ] You don't have a tarp with you, do ya? Anything we can use like one?
[ When Levi mentions that a fire would be a beacon on their position, Lalo looks surprised by the objection. Because, for him, that would be part of the idea. Attract more people, see who's got what and what they're dealing with and what tools are at their disposal.
It had occurred to him that it might attract someone looking to kill or steal from them. It had not occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to handle anyone who tried anything like that. He looks at Levi, brows knitted. ] Yeah, man. That's the point. ...But you don't think it's a good idea. Why?
[ He is willing to listen to Levi's reasoning, though. Levi was listening to his, after all.
His interest turns to confusion at Levi's confusion at "cacti". Surely everyone has at least heard of a cactus, right? Even if they've never been in a position to see a real one up close? ]
Yeah. You know? Cactus? Cactuses? More than one? They have water inside [ if you can get it out ].
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[ Lalo seems to have the clearing out part about done, so after pitching in with that, he'll look for suitable materials and/or tree parts to actually build the thing. ]
No. [ He doesn't exactly have enough stuff on him to even carry a tarp in. But some of those giant palm leaves look like they'd be good enough at not letting water through if they line them up, and he lifts one up with a raised eyebrow. ]
[Worst case, there's also his coat, but it is kind of small. ]
[ He stares back at Lalo for a moment, frowning. ]
Because we have no idea who might show up, or how many. [ Okay. Maybe the man needs a little more context. ] Before I woke up here, there was a war about to break out.
[ This could as well be enemy coastline. If they get ambushed by an armed squadron, even he probably wouldn't make it. ]
[ Alas, Levi has not, in fact, ever seen or heard about cacti. His world was very small for a very long time, and it was nowhere near the latitude that supported desert life. The confusion continues in silence for a few moments, until Levi decides that knowing of a potential water source is more important than looking stupid. ]
...What do they look like?
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Lalo's delight doesn't fade when Levi holds up the palm leaf. If anything, it increases, his relief genuine. Maybe there's a sense of whatever passes for gratitude for Lalo Salamanca, to the extent he's capable of that emotion. ]
Hey, good thinkin', man!!! [ He means it! When Levi stares at him, and then explains, Lalo looks like he's considering it. He brows knits a little more, curiosity spreading over his features. His light up. ] A war? What kind of war?
[ When Levi still doesn't understand what a "cactus" is, though, Lalo realizes it's his turn to try to explain something. But how do you explain a cactus? It's a cactus?
He does his best. Confused by cacti or not, this guy is clearly a useful person to know. He's strong, but more importantly, he's sharp and calm, and he somehow knew that a strange fruit Lalo had been too uncertain to taste was apparently edible. ]
Right. So. It's a tree. It's not like a normal tree, though. It's got spines instead of leaves. You gotta watch out! They're sharp, they can hurt you. It's green on the outside, covered in the spines.
But inside? There's water.
no subject
[ Since his suggestion is apparently approved, he's going to look for more of those leaves and drag them back into a neat little pile next to the area they're clearing. ]
The usual. [ Not that he really has other wars to compare, but what he does know about human nature seems to track. ] One group of people want to kill another and claim their resources.
[ Very detailed, excellent explanation of the current geopolitical situation, A++. ]
[ It doesn't look like the cacti explanation is landing very well, though, because his confusion is now offset by a frown which indicates Levi is considering whether he's being mocked. ]
Like a spruce?
[ It's always green and it has sharp spines instead of leaves... ]
[ (also the strange fruit might have been a peeled lemon honestly because this guy would eat it with a straight face) ]
no subject
Levi's explanation of the war gets an amused upturn of Lalo's mouth, a bit more downplayed than his bright grin from before. ] Thanks, amigo. That really clears things up! Very helpful.
[ It's sarcasm, but he's just teasing. Mostly. He does stop what he's doing to shoot Levi a joking thumbs up, before going right back to work.
He can't find fault with Levi's logic; if you've never seen a cactus, his explanation does sound like a spruce tree. Lalo doesn't immediately answer it, though, instead volleying back another question as he drags a few fallen branches that might look like the right kind over to the clearing. ]
Hey, can I ask you something? [ He doesn't wait for permission before he continues. ] Where are you from, man? [ He's beginning to wonder if this guy grew up on some weird wilderness survival paramilitary cult compound or something. He doesn't take Levi as the type to volunteer info without getting some in return, though, so he does add: ] Me? I'm from Mexico. Chihuahua. Lovely place, if you ever get the chance to go.
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[ Honestly, Lalo's guess is pretty much spot on, or at least that would be the closest equivalent in a normal, present-day Earth. Which he's not from. ]
[ Levi turns the word "Mexico" over in his head a few times, but it doesn't ring a bell. Maybe it would have been mentioned in one of those ancient geography books, but it's not like he ever read one. But if the man was trying to trick him, he probably would have chosen something less outrageous as a lie, so... ]
Paradis island. It's hell, don't go there.
[ Look, they're exchanging travel tips! They're basically friends now! ]
no subject
Paradis... island...? That makes as much sense to Lalo as "Mexico" does to Levi. He's familiar with Paradise Island, in the Bahamas, but this guy doesn't sound like he's talking about a resort.
He tries to make sure one of the branches he's chosen can stand up straight, wiggling it in the ground to test its limits. The place he's chosen is away from the shifting, ephemeral sands, on sturdier ground that Lalo hopes will support the weight of their small structure.
He looks at Levi, intent and curious. He wonders what could make someone dislike their own home so much... ]
What makes it hell, eh? [ He thinks back to what Levi said earlier. ]
Is because of the war? [ BFFs, clearly. ]
no subject
[ ...Great. More questions he doesn't want to answer, but judging from the fact that the other man doesn't seem to recognize the name, he's probably not an immediate threat. ]
Sure. It's also infested with giant, people-eating scumbags.
[ Or, well, it was. They'd sort of taken care of it by now, but the issue had lasted for over a hundred years before that. ]
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He sweeps a hand over his forehead to wipe away beads of sweat while Levi works on the branch.
A place being infested with scumbags isn't an uncommon thing for Lalo, but it's the "people-eating" that catches his attention. There's a very slight but obvious widening of his eyes. ]
"People-eating?" What, like cannibals?
[ Congratulations, Levi. You've actually found something that spooks even Lalo! ]
no subject
[ If they do the same with a few more and ties the rest together, it should be reasonably sturdy even if the wind and rain picks up. ]
Worse. [ He really should have paid the attention to the "giant" part. Speaking of which, Levi peers at him again, eyebrows slightly raised. ] Have you never encountered a Titan?
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Nice!
[ He sounds impressed, almost enamored. His face breaks into a grin.
It's not to last, though. The "Titan" comment confuses and flummoxes him. It sounds like a mascot from a sports team, but he can tell from context that's not what the other man is talking about.
He shakes his head. He sees no reason, right now, to pretend he knows something he doesn't. He can't see any benefit to that right now. ]
What's a "Titan?"
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[ Either he's lying or he's the luckiest man alive. Shit's been weird enough that he's still willing to entertain the latter. ]
A piece of shit beast. [ He's not sure how to explain it using as few words as he feels like sparing, but he tries anyway. ] Four to fifteen meters tall, hellbent on devouring every human they encounter.
[ They also used to be humans. He's not sure if he wants to discuss that part right now, though. It's been... hours since he was forced to slaughter his own former squad. ]
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What the fuck. Is this just some weird cult mythology that gets pushed onto all the little kiddos at whatever cult this guy grew up in? He's not saying he's actually... encountered... anything like that, is he? ]
This, this is something you've-- [ disbelieving pause ]-- something you've seen?
[ He has momentarily given up on being productive to just stare, stunned. ]
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[ He says, offhandedly, like it's a Tuesday and like he's not the most effective anti-titan weapon in existence to date, and wedges another piece of wood into the dirt. ]
no subject
Okay. So. Let me get this straight.
Where you are from, they have "Titans."
These are huge animals that devour every person they see.
And you've seen them.
You've fought them.
Do I have all of that?
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[ That seems to be his only correction, so yeah? He's got the rest? ]
Sounds like "Mexico" got lucky.
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He blinks a few times. Then he starts to laugh. He gives Levi a point. ]
Ayyyy, that's a good one! You almost got me there. Ever considered getting an agent? I'm serious. You're a good actor. You could probably do movies, if you wanted!
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camera.lean-to he's building. Shoves a few more branches into place and starts weaving some vines through it for stability without deigning whatever the hell that was with a reply. ][ Or, at least, it seems that way for a while, until there's an inevitable, quiet, grumpy; ]
"Movies"?..
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[ His laughter is forced, his expression increasingly and uncharacteristically nervous. ]
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Not that I know of. [ Maybe they call it something else. He sure as hell doesn't know what fancy shit goes on in the capital city, let alone in the outside world. ]
[ He's definitely noticing that forced laughter and that creepy-ass expression, though. ]
What's with that face? You look like you need to shit.