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synodiporia_ooc2015-12-18 08:28 pm
powersthatbe) wrote in synodiporia_ooc2015-12-18 08:28 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive #13.
Welcome to the Synodiporia Test Drive Meme! Below the cuts there are two new prompts, and here are the prompts from previous test-drives, which you’re still welcome to use in this post. When you comment, be sure you specify what prompt you want to play with, and please put up your own threadstarter - it makes for a much more friendly environment that a forest of bare toplevels! OCs are especially welcome! Please take a quick look at our Directory & familiarize yourself with the concept and setting of the game before you jump in.
Our upcoming app round runs December 18th-31st. Our next Jaunt, Escape from Junkworld, is a space opera romp where humans, aliens, and androids work together on mysterious scavenged, malfunctioning ships to outrun an interstellar disaster. Our next Walkabout (a more casual alternative event, for those not interested in the Jaunt) will revisit Heartbreak Academy, a shoujo anime setting where high-schoolers use Social Technology to bring shoujo special effects to life, from glitter to roses, transformation sequences to sad rainclouds, these cartoony powers are at the height of education for those who want a career in media or diplomacy, or some other means of big-stage self-expression. Both Jaunt & Walkabout will begin January 7th & run for approximately six weeks.
Prompt #37 is set in the Escape from Junkworld jaunt, as an advance taste of the fun available there.
Prompt #38 is set in a created landscape within the Telepathic Network all Travelers can access, and features characters facing their inner demons and traumatic memories together.
Prompt #37
The Coronation's coolant system has sprung a leak somewhere in its kilometers of pressurized tubing - near enough to the diagnostic centers to short out the readouts, meaning half the crew is up to their elbows in the decking, ceramic floor plates scattered along the corridors like loose shingles, making traveling between workstations like a game of holy grail hopscotch between the tiles and the potholes they left.
Besides that, the leak leaves the entirety of the ship smelling like a cross between pond scum and burned espresso, and set the radiation alarms to a distracting buzz - not enough for klaxons, just a constant, low-level warning that set the teeth on edge.
In the ship’s simulator chambers, anyone visored and gloved to work in virtual space can ignore it - but the computer environment may experience glitches in its programs, whether functional or recreational. On the bridge, other systems are experiencing occasional failures - from sensor shadows hinting at unreal pursuit and activating automated combat routines, to the translators in the comm system shorting out and creating a momentary babel.
Meanwhile, between evacuating irradiated areas, crawling through the conduits looking for the problem to fix, or quietly shooing smuggler-snails full of contraband out of the way of the search parties, there’s something for everyone to be doing...
Prompt #38
Sometimes someone’s issues lead to them being swallowed by a dungeon in Liminal Space and forced to confront their darker side, their repressed issues - but you can’t always wait for an arbitrary interdimensional force to kidnap you. Here in the Mind Palace, the world is simply a vast, blank white space, and glittering glass cubes float in the air, each holding within it a freeze-framed memory of a traumatic moment, something you’ve chosen to face here together with your companions. Maybe only one of you is going through this gauntlet, or maybe you’ve opted to face your fears together, but whatever this captive image is, you’ll have to explain it or let it play out, and come to grips with what it means to you - whether a happy memory you’ve lost, something that makes you sad or afraid or angry, or even a piece of your past that had been buried or forgotten until now - there it is, in front of you, waiting.
What happens next?
Our upcoming app round runs December 18th-31st. Our next Jaunt, Escape from Junkworld, is a space opera romp where humans, aliens, and androids work together on mysterious scavenged, malfunctioning ships to outrun an interstellar disaster. Our next Walkabout (a more casual alternative event, for those not interested in the Jaunt) will revisit Heartbreak Academy, a shoujo anime setting where high-schoolers use Social Technology to bring shoujo special effects to life, from glitter to roses, transformation sequences to sad rainclouds, these cartoony powers are at the height of education for those who want a career in media or diplomacy, or some other means of big-stage self-expression. Both Jaunt & Walkabout will begin January 7th & run for approximately six weeks.
Prompt #37 is set in the Escape from Junkworld jaunt, as an advance taste of the fun available there.
Prompt #38 is set in a created landscape within the Telepathic Network all Travelers can access, and features characters facing their inner demons and traumatic memories together.
Prompt #37
The Coronation's coolant system has sprung a leak somewhere in its kilometers of pressurized tubing - near enough to the diagnostic centers to short out the readouts, meaning half the crew is up to their elbows in the decking, ceramic floor plates scattered along the corridors like loose shingles, making traveling between workstations like a game of holy grail hopscotch between the tiles and the potholes they left.
Besides that, the leak leaves the entirety of the ship smelling like a cross between pond scum and burned espresso, and set the radiation alarms to a distracting buzz - not enough for klaxons, just a constant, low-level warning that set the teeth on edge.
In the ship’s simulator chambers, anyone visored and gloved to work in virtual space can ignore it - but the computer environment may experience glitches in its programs, whether functional or recreational. On the bridge, other systems are experiencing occasional failures - from sensor shadows hinting at unreal pursuit and activating automated combat routines, to the translators in the comm system shorting out and creating a momentary babel.
Meanwhile, between evacuating irradiated areas, crawling through the conduits looking for the problem to fix, or quietly shooing smuggler-snails full of contraband out of the way of the search parties, there’s something for everyone to be doing...
Prompt #38
Sometimes someone’s issues lead to them being swallowed by a dungeon in Liminal Space and forced to confront their darker side, their repressed issues - but you can’t always wait for an arbitrary interdimensional force to kidnap you. Here in the Mind Palace, the world is simply a vast, blank white space, and glittering glass cubes float in the air, each holding within it a freeze-framed memory of a traumatic moment, something you’ve chosen to face here together with your companions. Maybe only one of you is going through this gauntlet, or maybe you’ve opted to face your fears together, but whatever this captive image is, you’ll have to explain it or let it play out, and come to grips with what it means to you - whether a happy memory you’ve lost, something that makes you sad or afraid or angry, or even a piece of your past that had been buried or forgotten until now - there it is, in front of you, waiting.
What happens next?
no subject
But then, Kanji grew up across the street and saw countless fights over who ate whose snacks in action.)
"I would've bought those... a good three weeks before that," he finally says. "And usually, when I bought cream puffs, they were gone inside of a week, and not because I got to eat any of them. 'Oh, they were about to go bad, little brother, I was just making sure they didn't get wasted, I have to go to work now, bye!'" In voice, at least, he does a terrible impression of his sister, not that Rise's likely to know that.
"That's when it really sank in that Sis wasn't coming home. Up to that point it just... I don't know, it felt like she'd just moved to Kyoto again, like she was giving things with her boyfriend another try and she'd be back any day."
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She resists the urge for a hug, but she does quietly offer a hand. She's physically affectionate, sorry.
"I can't imagine what that's like. I wasn't even around when it happened in my world. Probably not in yours either. But...it's what I meant when I said my problems are kind of silly. Losing someone like that...it shouldn't happen to anyone, and I'm sorry."
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"It's not your fault. Like you said, you weren't even there. And just because no one died to set off the stuff you were dealing with doesn't mean it wasn't just as hard to deal with. I remember how burnt out you were when you first got to town - really, that had to be half of why everyone else assumed your grandmother was the only one there."
Frankly, it was a miracle Rise managed to get up and walk them through dealing with Ted's poorly-timed existential crisis.
no subject
"You know, I never met your sister. I didn't know she had a boyfriend in Kyoto," she says. She's pretty sure Yosuke didn't either, but if it was an on-and-off thing, there's no reason to mention it to him. Ever.
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Naoki nods. "Moved in with him over winter break of her second year. She was back two weeks later. Not because he was a jerk - she said every job she found that sounded halfway interesting wanted someone who'd at least finished high school, and she didn't want to just be a lump in his apartment. So she came back, and... well, Junes could pay her more than Dad could. She always said it'd be for the good of our store eventually, but she never explained."
Hanamura probably knows about the boyfriend, at least on some level. The one here does, anyway, since Naoki mentioned it in one of their (admittedly few) conversations, and in general it was the talk of the town for a while. As much as Hanamura prides himself for knowing what the housewife network is on about at any given moment, he can't have missed it.
no subject
She nods at the story. "From the sound of it, your sister was really dedicated. I spent middle school and high school working, but I got a really lucky break. She was going from the ground up to help people she cared about."
no subject
And every year, his parents argue about it because his mom punches the wrong number by mistake and his dad has a minor heart attack when the sales totals show a sale from beyond the grave. It's his own fault in the first place.
"...Anyway. I think you're up again."
Sorry for the delay
She looks at the glass sphere that popped up in place of the last one. "Well, that other one's gotta be disappointing without the sequel, right?" she asks, not waiting for a response before resignedly reaching out and touching it.
"You know Kanamin? Kanami Mashita? They're going to be filming nearby, right? I hope they stop in Inaba, too."
Out in front of Souzai, a middle-aged man Naoki might recognize as Inaba's deputy mayor is yammering at Rise off-handedly about a film project - presumably the one mentioned in her last memory - while the memory of Rise looks distraught and Souji looks like he's just trying to keep up.
"Kanamin...I don't have anything to do with them anymore," past-Rise says, sounding resigned and irritated at the same time. Why do people keep asking her about idol stuff? The deputy mayor more or less ignores her, wandering off while pondering the commercial possibilities of a film crew coming through town.
He is, however, almost immediately replaced by Mr. Inoue appearing again. "Huh. Did that really happen all right in a row or did my memory track just skip?" Rise wonders in the present while her past self - with great hostility - asks Inoue what he's doing there.
"I'm down here scouting film locations, so I thought I'd come see you. I wanted to hear your answer one more time, face to face...Are you sure you'd not coming back?"
Rise in the present takes a deep breath while her past self looks at the ground. Then, once again, she speaks in tandem with her memory, having more or less burned this into her mind through thinking back on it so often.
"I...I'm not going back..."
The memory of Inoue responds. "I see...Okay...I understand. Well, now I can focus on my new job. I signed up as Kanami Mashita's manager. Remember how we were talking about doing that movie? They picked Kanami as your replacement."
Inoue goes on about Rise's natural talent, compared to how - while she'll surely be very successful - the need to polish Kanamin so she shines. Memory-Rise barely acknowledges him even though she's listening to every word, and just watching the scene has present-Rise standing there with tears in her eyes.
"You could have reached heights most girls could never dream of...that's what I think, anyway."
He says his goodbyes and walks off.
"What the heck...that's not fair...after he made me answer...he never told me any of that while we were still working together..."
The memory goes off on a rant while Rise herself just stands there, looking sadly at her own past. It looks like memory-Rise is going to start crying.
no subject
Okay, maybe Mr. Manager has some redeeming qualities, but they're sure as hell not showing up in these little moments.
no subject
At this point, now that they're finally alone, Souji is trying to comfort Rise, encouraging her to cry if she needs to. Memory-Rise is trying not to have any of it, holding back her tears even as she says:
"I...I lost everything. I don't know how...but...I lost everything..."
"Even if it was mean, that's...what it took for me to realize what I'd given up. What I'd thrown away just because I didn't trust myself to handle it," Rise narrates, holding back her tears in the present only slightly more successfully than she is in the memory.
"Senpai...please stay here...please stay by my side."
In the present, Rise laughs at herself, even through the tense emotions. She's done being embarrassed after that little proposal from the last memory. "Can you believe this is moment I decided to get all romantic? I just...wanted someone to hold onto. Someone to love me and tell me that they didn't care what I did."
In the memory, Souji...stands there. Dutifully and apparently literal-minded, he doesn't reach out to console her, instead waiting silently until she finishes crying.
"I was kinda mad at him for not taking the hint, but...that was a really crappy time to put him on the spot, too," she says over herself calming down, thanking Souji, and asking to be walked home, the memory fading out again.
no subject
Not unless she's done for good.
"From what I know of Souji-san, that's just his style, though. He was there for you, and he didn't want to make it awkward by letting you assume something was there that maybe wasn't. Kanji could've gotten away with hugging you then, and you wouldn't have thought anything of it." He probably did hug Rise, for all Naoki knows, if they had a similar conversation to this.
no subject
She takes a deep breath, composing herself. "And yeah...I know. He was being responsible with my feelings. He's...that's just how he is. Always thinking about everyone else."
Then she coughs. "Uh, just in case Himiko wants to go all taunt mode on it, I'm gonna admit to being jealous about him still. I think it's pretty obvious, but sometimes you just have to announce how you feel for the audience to get it..."
no subject
He's finally (mostly) stopped shipping it, what with one thing and another.
"Can't say that's really a surprise. Naoto and Souji-san do work well together, though. I know he's not the most popular guy here, but... he cares about people, even if it tends to come out kind of sideways to what someone expects. I mean, hell, he got through to me, and in your world that had to really be something."
no subject
He's one of her best friends and her role model, okay, she's gonna be weirded out when people don't love him.
"Anyway, it's not something I'm gonna act on. Naoto-kun is my best friend, and that's something even I'm not gonna ignore just for a guy," she says, sighing.
Then she brightens up, changing the subject. "Anyway, there's a happy ending to that story that's obviously not gonna show up here. I did in fact go beg for my job back, and I've never been happier than I've been getting ready for my re-debut. I even finagled the team - my world's version of it, anyway - into the concert as backup dancers."
no subject
At least she's not after backup singers?
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"But yeah, no singing. That'd be a bit much."
no subject
He touches the other cube that's manifested one of his memories so far and starts it into action. If Rise ever got a full tour of the dungeons she missed, she'll recognise the ruined shopping district for what it is - and as soon as the memory comes in range of the former liquor shop, the whispers start.
"I wish Junes would go under."
There's a few voices along that line, deploring Junes's existence, Saki's working there, the lot; more likely it was from her mind than Naoki's. "I don't know why it's never occurred to people that when you stop shopping at a store, of course it's going to close. Nothing stays open on hope alone."
It's not too long before the whispers are interrupted - not by the memory of Naoki entering the shop, as Rise might expect if she ever got the story out of Souji or Hanamura, but by a flash of light across the street. Because of course Kanji's going to summon Izanagi for the first time in defense of his own turf.
The memory pauses after Teddie fawns all over 'Sensei' (which must sound really weird to Rise), and the guys deciding they might as well see what waits for them inside the liquor shop.
"Afterward," Naoki says, "the fact that Kanji didn't have to deal with a Shadow before that was a big clue that there was something bigger going on. I mean, it's Kanji. God knows he's never had a shortage of issues."