The Powers That Be ([personal profile] powersthatbe) wrote in [community profile] synodiporia_ooc2014-12-26 04:17 pm
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Test Drive #6

Welcome to the Synodiporia Test Drive Meme! Below the cuts there are three 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!

Our upcoming app round runs January 1st-7th, after which we’ll have a Victorian Cosmic Horror Jaunt - the madness of the Cthulhu Mythos in rural 1800s England. With that in mind, here are some darker prompts, to catch the feel of how your characters react in troubling times...

Prompt #20 is a flashback to the Cursed Kingdom jaunt, where werewolves hunted, deadly magical creatures roamed, and magical curses and traps struck without warning. Feel free to play an investigator, a werewolf, or simply a citizen of the magical kingdom who’s become unfortunately lost...

Prompt #21 is a glimpse of a Jaunt, either far in the past or sometime in the future. In the mining village of Enterrado, a gang has taken control of the flow of silver into and out of town, and the only folks with the hope of running them out are a vengeful band of vigilantes and outlaws. With half the Travelers brainwashed into believing they belong to one gang or another, friends are ready to kill friends, and it doesn’t seem like the few sane folks remaining can stop the bloodshed...

Prompt #22 is set in Liminal Space, during a time of instability, where buildings are collapsing and re-forming, and the worst fears or greatest desires of Travelers are appearing (and vanishing again) like all-too-solid mirages. What would your character imagine, and what kind of threat would it present… ?


Prompt #20: Dark Forest
The trees are too thick to let in any hint of sunlight, if there is any, but more likely the world is just as dark everywhere else by now. Tendrils of mist wind between the trees - most of them harmless, but every now and then one will latch onto a passerby like a leech and begin to turn pink as it drains blood. In the open hollows between the trees, shallow puddles of brackish green water contain hidden sinkholes, or startling arcane visions of the dead. Slowly, snakelike, briars grow and slither like a cage from tree to tree, enclosing anyone too slow and cautious in a pointed hedge-maze. And somewhere nearby, a wolf howls...



Prompt #21: Wild West
They've taken to calling the tavern at the end of the street the Bastille. Its windows have been shot out and barricaded, and some of the tables inside have been upturned for cover. But still, despite the tension, people come in to drink. For all that the miners and the vigilantes have exchanged fire in the streets, and three men have been shot dead in this very saloon in the last day, it's the closest thing left to neutral territory. Desperate bargains and parleys are discussed, struck, and abandoned. Drinks are downed in quantity, and it's almost true that nobody gives a damn any more who's cheating at poker. If you're looking for an old friend, or one of the mad strangers from out of town, or even for someone to draw down on, you won't get better terms anywhere else than you will in the Bastille. Come for the whiskey, stay for the knife-fights.



Prompt #22: Chaos Given Shape
Liminal Space bends and drips like a Dali painting, one landscape sagging into another, buildings settling, leaking water or dirt from whatever alien environment is above them; walls collapsing only to reveal something new on the other side, like a caterpillar molting into a butterfly. Calm meditation and focus by Travelers seems to stabilize the environment briefly, but if one person exerts too much mental influence, the surroundings begin to resemble the territory inside their heads. Old fears and nightmares, lost loves, desperate desires all form out of the fluidic landscape - and that's enough to break almost anyone's calm. But two people, working together, can sometimes strike a safe equilibrium...
wantedittobeagame: (This is who I am...)

[personal profile] wantedittobeagame 2014-12-28 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
"That's a very brave way of looking at it," Adachi replied. "I'm... still trying to make sense of it all myself, and I was there."
shiroganeheir: (serious face)

[personal profile] shiroganeheir 2014-12-28 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
"I am not certain about brave. Disconnected is more likely." Naoto shrugs. "There are days that I am still attempting to make sense of what I experienced at home. Answers never come easily, especially when things are as intense as that case was."
wantedittobeagame: (I didn't just wake up!)

[personal profile] wantedittobeagame 2014-12-28 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, tell me about it," Adachi replied, rubbing at his neck. "How... how bad was it on your world?"
shiroganeheir: (deducing)

[personal profile] shiroganeheir 2014-12-28 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
"There were only three actual deaths, two through the television, and one copycat crime, however, five people were kidnapped and thrown into the TV, the last being Nanako-chan." She pauses. "She died, but came back to life. I think it might have had something to do with Teddie, but I am uncertain."
fridgeninja: (glasses)

Re: Regina | OC | #20

[personal profile] fridgeninja 2014-12-28 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Only that they look dangerous." Souji's answer is glib, curt, and wary - the forest has him on edge, in dungeon-mode, and he has a katana in his hands, glasses glowing pale blue as he surveys the terrain. "Mm. And that there aren't any of them to the northeast yet."
wantedittobeagame: (Hold on a sec!)

[personal profile] wantedittobeagame 2014-12-28 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
Adachi flinched again at the mention of Nanako.

"Sorry to hear that's the same between our worlds," he replied, folding his arms over his chest. "I mentioned before there were seven murders. There was also a copycat murder, though it was more of a manslaughter case than an actual planned action. And kidnapped... six, including Nanako-chan."
fridgeninja: (shout)

[personal profile] fridgeninja 2014-12-28 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Look out!" Souji shouts, and after a moment he's skidding in front of the other man, somewhere between a jump and a disco slide, as the ceiling over his previous position collapses. When he sees who he's warned, he freezes, starting back up to his feet while one hand moves to the katana sheathed over his shoulder.

"Another illusion?" he asks out loud, almost, but not quite, rhetorically.
wantedittobeagame: (You suck)

[personal profile] wantedittobeagame 2014-12-28 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Adachi was confused, and everything happened in a blur as the building started collapsing more and he was dragged out of the way. He fumbled to get his footing back, about to thank his rescuer... when the voice and the grey hair registers in his mind. He's backing off quickly at that, hand posed like he was ready to grab for something.

"I'm not that lucky," he replied, internally shaking. No, why the hell was he here?! The Trumps had one hell of a sick, twisted mind to bring the kid here.
fridgeninja: (Default)

[personal profile] fridgeninja 2014-12-28 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
[A kid with a spear is a slightly alarming sight, but Souji's seen enough stranger things to adjust. His main concern, as he moves closer, is keeping them both safe. As he moves, he carries with him a bubble of dark blue carpeting, low ceiling, and an edge of black metal wall and tinted window - the Velcet Room, as he remembers it, a just-barely-stable projection a few feet around him.]
shiroganeheir: (side eye)

[personal profile] shiroganeheir 2014-12-28 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
Naoto winces. "That was... quite a lot worse than what we had. My sympathies."

A pause. "I do not mean offense, but sometimes hearing how it could have been worse puts things into perspective."
wantedittobeagame: (Snowflakes)

[personal profile] wantedittobeagame 2014-12-28 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Nah, I understand. I'm almost jealous; Inaba probably wasn't as tense on your world as it was on mine."
stophamatime: (005)

[personal profile] stophamatime 2014-12-28 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
[That warning would've gotten a very different response, coming from just about anybody else, but as soon as he hears that voice, and looks over to the source, that moment of embarrassment is the very last thing on Ken's mind, because there's no way -

But Shinjiro Aragaki is standing there before him, completely whole, as healthy as he ever looks (the hobo aesthetic doesn't make a guy look super fit, though), and definitely not in any stage of bleeding out from a gunshot wound.

This is how it should be.

To hell with that crap!

It's enough to make the previous night's events seem like an impossibly vivid dream...although given the current state of everything, Ken's sensible enough to realize that it's far more likely that this is the dream. But even if it is - he wasn't ready for this, because even after last night and the sudden desperate feeling in his gut that this wasn't what he wanted after all, that Shinji couldn't die now because...because...

It's not like Ken still has any idea what on earth he's going to say to him.

Not knowing doesn't mean he's not going to say anything, though, because he doesn't stop think before one thing slips right out of his mouth -]


This isn't how it should be at all!
stophamatime: (004)

[personal profile] stophamatime 2014-12-28 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Despite the fact that Naoto's approach isn't really in any way deliberately threatening, Ken can't help but tense up - because the last time he met a stranger with a gun and a Persona, to say things went badly would be a understatement.

So his grip tightens on his spear a bit, though he doesn't make any aggressive movements himself, and his gaze goes between her and the figure behind her a few times. (Her is not a word that Ken is at all applying to Naoto in his own mind, but that's the least of his concerns right now.)

"...hello."

He may be suspicious, but that doesn't mean he's not polite.
stophamatime: (012)

[personal profile] stophamatime 2014-12-28 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
[Clumsy and defensive humans, clearly, because Ken immediately balks at that. He's not habitually clumsy! He just tripped! Once!]

It could've happened to anyone!

[He is, granted, also wondering what she is, aside from clearly not human, but he pals around with a robot and an intelligent dog, he's got a little more suspension of disbelief for these things than the average kid off the street.]
stophamatime: (015)

[personal profile] stophamatime 2014-12-28 05:14 am (UTC)(link)
[The Velvet Room isn't familiar to Ken - not on a conscious level, at least, but there's an odd feeling about it. Or maybe it's just a feeling about this guy?

It takes him a long moment to place it - longer still because he winds up second-guessing the impression as soon as he can put a name to it. He's reminded of Minato, a little bit, but that seems awfully silly because this guy doesn't really look much like Minato at all.

(If you realized, Ken. If you only realized.)

It's enough not to get him to back up defensively, at least, even if the look he gives Souji as he approaches is certainly a little dubious. Strange places are enough to get one a little wary about strange people...and strange people who are apparently carrying chunks of strange places around with them seem like cause enough to be a little warier.]


How are you doing that?
purseownerisme: (Default)

[personal profile] purseownerisme 2014-12-28 05:46 am (UTC)(link)
Other than the Trumps sounding like being big pains in the ass?

"It seems to always give us a clue about what will come next. Paintings seem to be too easy of a hint so maybe something hidden inside them could be an idea."
wantedittobeagame: (This world is still shitty...)

[personal profile] wantedittobeagame 2014-12-28 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Or they could be just screwing with us. For people they kidnap from different worlds to do their dirty work, they sure do like doing that."
capital_punishment: (Moh Shuvuu- No thank you)

[personal profile] capital_punishment 2014-12-28 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
Too bad it happened to you, then.

[She's going to get stuck babysitting this human - she just knows it.]
assimilation: (curious • you are so magnetic)

[personal profile] assimilation 2014-12-28 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
She watches as the vines shrink away -- not from her, she thinks, but from something that man is doing. Is it science? Magic is not a possibility for her; the idea that something could be considered 'magical' would almost draw a laugh out of her. So it must be a science she has not yet seen before.

"There are not so many green things where I come from." And she nods; the trees here are strange and new, not at all like the metal and noise of her city. "They are rare...and valuable."
assimilation: (taken aback • you turn the power off)

[personal profile] assimilation 2014-12-28 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
Truth be told, she seems more wary of his tone than of the briars that are slowly creeping up on them. It is not often that she hears such a curt phrase; but she reminds herself that if he was going to stab her with that sharp stick, he likely would have done it long before he bothered to talk to her.

"Do you know anything else about the plants?" But even as she asks that she realizes that the directions are probably meant to help and not to confuse. And in polite company, one should probably follow them -- especially when the directions come from people with sharp sticks. "Ah...then, you can lead the way. I will follow you."
stophamatime: (054)

[personal profile] stophamatime 2014-12-28 07:58 am (UTC)(link)
[He's eleven and three whole months he does not need babysitting!!]

I guess it's easier not to if you never have to walk anywhere.

[This is not at all a politely passive-aggressive way of saying that people with wings don't get to judge him.]
capital_punishment: (Moh Shuvuu- No thank you)

[personal profile] capital_punishment 2014-12-28 08:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Keep telling yourself that, small human.]

I guess somebody has to crawl around in the muck.

...Speaking of which, you should probably go stand somewhere else before you sink in completely.
moonsets: (Default)

[personal profile] moonsets 2014-12-28 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't look too surprised by the reaction. Even if Ken is shouting it, even if it'd be an odd reaction to what Shinjiro said for anyone who would look on and not know them, Shinjiro himself doesn't even flinch or really move at the wortds.

He knows it's not how it should be. He, too, remembers the night that ended with two bullets in his body and a drop to the cold ground, and then.. nothing. Nothing until he found himself here, but it's not like this can be the afterlife if Ken is here too, so something just went horribly wrong or weird along the way. (It's not how it should be, because he got what he deserved and managed to stop something even worse happening to the kid along the way, and that was that.)

But both of them freaking out won't do anyone any good, and if there's anything Shinjiro is good at aside from being a mother hen, it's keeping his calm when others freak out. ]


Yeah. It's not. [ The words themselves even are calm, without any particular emotion, even if they're a little bit softer than they'd usually be.

But even so, there's only one thing first and foremost on his mind. Because he's dead anyway (even if he doesn't really feel like it right now), and he got a fitting end, so-- ]


Let's get you back home. [ He's already stepping forward to look around further into whatever kind of weird place they ended up in. Because what is confronting his issues now if he can just focus on doing what's right for Ken instead - something he should have been doing a long, long time ago, anyway - and just wallow in his own issues and guilt for all eternity in whatever afterlife is waiting for him, who doesn't have anywhere to go back to?

So that's that. ]
shiroganeheir: (Detective Prince)

[personal profile] shiroganeheir 2014-12-28 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Naoto waves a hand at Yamato-Takeru who floats a few meters away from the pair to take a defensive posture, vigilantly watching for anyone or anything that would cause a problem.

She holds up her hands. "I mean you no harm, and neither does Yamato-Takeru. He is a Persona, a part of me. I have complete control over him, and he is not going to attack."

Naoto is not necessarily good with children, having never truly been a child herself, but she's trying. "I mean no harm either. I am Naoto Shirogane, a detective."
shiroganeheir: ([Kanji] we got this)

[personal profile] shiroganeheir 2014-12-28 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, likely not. Inaba was, as it always is, a hotbed of gossip, overblowing situations, and jumping to conclusions. Nearing the end of the entire situation, people were certain that the Junes Kingdom was invading. Not to mention the fact that Kanji's incident turned into a hundred bikers and he took over the gang." She rolls her eyes. That one always amused her.

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