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Pluviosa Mods ([personal profile] pluviosamods) wrote in [community profile] pluviooc2024-01-23 10:00 am
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Test Drive 01

TEST DRIVE

Hello, and welcome to the first Pluviosa Test Drive!

Rather than a series of prompts that are set after arrival to the game, this Test Drive is instead more of a soft open for the game. That is to say, not only are Test Drive threads game canon, but the Test Drive should be regarded as the "start" of the game chronologically and contains arrival-related events and information.

Or lack of information, as the case in fact is, because there is no greeting party waiting to reassure characters that everything is fine back in their worlds and that they'll get to go home again. (On the flip side, there's no one telling them that their worlds have been destroyed, either.) There is only the ship, the things inside it, the raging storm outside, and what characters can figure out for themselves.

It is advised that potential players familiarize themselves with the Premise page, the Rules/Session Zero page, and at least the first few paragraphs of the Setting page. As Pluviosa is a horror game, we especially encourage players to be aware of the content warnings that will be major themes of the game.

ARRIVAL

(cw: minor blood, visions, storm weather)

The first thing you become aware of is the sound of dripping. Your mind is fogged, as though woken from the wrong part of your sleep cycle. In your daze, you're convinced that the sound of dripping is blood. Yours? Someone else's? You can't be sure. It's dripping from somewhere. It's your fault, whichever it is.

Good. One way or another, you'll be free of this nightmare -


And then, in response to the sound of a crack of thunder outside, clarity returns.

Characters come around as though disturbed from a deep sleep. Once they have shaken off the (vision? impression?) of blood, they will find that the dripping sound, at least, was real. Fortunately, it's only water - rainwater, more than likely, judging from the occasional booms of thunder and flashes of lightning overhead. One hell of a storm, quite possibly the worst characters have ever experienced, is raging outside.

Outside where? Well, outside the ship, of course.

As a general rule, characters wake up in a random room of the first level of the ship below the main decks. Theoretically, this should be a relatively safe, dry place - but with the age of the ship, its state of disrepair, and the number of plants above that have dug their roots into the deck above, leaks are plentiful. Thus, the sound of dripping water is a constant even in enclosed areas - and, of course, the outside of the ship is being pounded by rain in shimmering sheets, adding to the cacophony of noise accented by the thunder.

Even the protective bubble over the deck itself and the balconies of the rooms is having trouble working to keep the rain out - the rain isn't terrifying hurricane levels, but it is steady and water floods steadily down the stairs and over the edges of the gap down the center of the ship. The worst of the wind, too, has been kept out, but occasional gusts send ripples through the rain.

There is no power inside the ship right now and barely any light besides the flash of lightning - although characters may arrive while it is nominally day, the clouds stretching from horizon to horizon have blocked out the sun almost completely. The motion of the ship is also far worse than usual due to the storm winds - it's easy to believe that you are in fact at sea, unless you manage to get close enough to the exterior windows or balconies to be able to see the ship's legs in motion through the cascade of water that runs down the exterior.


SEEING IS BELIEVING

(cw: hallucinations, thinking things that are real are hallucinations)

In the dark, you have to rely on your other senses - hearing, sound, smell. Smell is giving you the best information to start out with - rain, of course, but also mildew, plants, and old metal. (Is that a whiff of blood at the bottom? No, it's because of that bad dream you had messing with your head.)

No one comes to greet you. No one comes to find you. Instinctively, you know - no one is coming. You'll have to save yourself.


Characters will be fully convinced that they are alone until they actually run into another character. Even things that seem like they should be indicative of another person's presence, such as hearing voices or seeing someone shine a light down a hallway - your character will be convinced that that is just a hallucination until they can definitely lay eyes on another person, hear their voice clearly (ie: not half-drowned-out by the rain) or otherwise be certain of their presence.

That isn't to say that hallucinations aren't occurring. All characters, but especially those who are alone, will periodically hear murmuring voices, smell blood, smoke, and other scents reminiscent of destruction, and see what appear to be the flashes of flashlights, flickering lightbulbs, and the shadows of people walking around. These hallucinations fade in and out in intensity, but they always clear up for at least a little while when a character notices the sound of thunder. Given that the thunder is very frequent during the storm (every few minutes), most hallucinations won't last for long.

For most characters, the voices will be unintelligible murmurs. However, if your character has experienced an event of mass destruction at some point in their life (apocalypse or near-apocalypse, destruction of a city, volcano eruption, being the only survivor of a town that was slaughtered, etc), or has a connection to the dead, they will be able to pick out that the voices of the hallucinations are talking about either attempting to rescue people from something similar (eg: a distant voice shouting "there's someone still alive over here!") or, alternately, talking about how everything is lost, everyone is doomed now, etc. They may hear one type of voice or both at different times, at player discretion.


TO RUN ITS COURSE

(cw: dead loved ones, hallucinations/delusions, violence, potential death. THIS PROMPT CONTAINS PVP OPTIONS.)

You're not supposed to be alone. There was someone with you, only a few hours or years or minutes or lifetimes ago. You weren't always alone, and you have to find them.

You'll find them. You do. But not in any kind of condition to keep you company. This lump of flesh is empty now. The plants are already growing over it, reclaiming it. There's blood in the soil, and there's the sound of someone else coming up behind you.

Someone is coming. You'll have to save yourself.


There are various heaps of organic debris that characters can stumble across when wandering around in the dark - piled up leaves, rotted plants, heaps of ferns, moss, and so on. Even solid wood, sometimes - the trunks of small, twisted trees that took root where they might and have grown out from balconies to the exterior or inwards down the jungled crevasse between the two halves of the ship. In the low light, it's easy to literally stumble across them, or mistake them for something else in the brief light of a flash of lightning.

It's the mistaking them for something else that could be a problem. Characters may find themselves absolutely convinced that these heaps of leaves are the body of a loved one - especially if they were wandering around looking for someone in particular. They may or may not accurately perceive leaf cover on the outside of the "body," but unless they dig their hands in enough to be sure of the heap's contents - but who would want to go digging their hands into the body of someone they love? - or they see the shape in clear lighting (which would have to be provided by another character), it will be near impossible to convince them that the pile is just that, and not a corpse.

But that's not the really dangerous part. The dangerous part of all this is that if someone unexpected approaches while the character is in the same room as the 'body,' they may become convinced that the new arrival is responsible for their loved one's death. It doesn't matter how illogical it is on the surface - fear, or rage, or whatever it is that might fuel them will turn on the stranger. And whatever it is that convinces them of this has also turned their fight-or-flight reflex solidly to fight, whether it's for revenge or the last chance at survival for a cornered rat.

Characters so affected will fight until one of the following occurs: If they are led out of sight of the 'body,' they return to their senses (given that they may be inclined to chase the 'perpetrator,' this may be the best non-violent way to resolve the issue). If they are convinced that the 'body' is fake (through physical contact or clear lighting as above), they also return to their senses. And finally, if they kill the 'perpetrator' or are themselves killed or knocked unconscious, the effect ends. In all of these cases, it ends with the sharpness of a rubber band snapped against the skin, and the character is fully aware of their altered mental state and what occurred as a result.

If your character dies as a result of this prompt (and you want that thread to be game canon), please give the mods a heads-up if/when you are accepted into the game. Although this will not count as an 'official' death and will not consume a character's "freebie" revival, there may still be consequences for your character's death.

CONTENTS WORMING

(cw: worms. many worms. not parasitic. just worms.)

It's easy to take a wrong step in the dark. Of course, tripping and falling isn't the worst thing that can happen.

This isn't the worst thing that could happen, either. That doesn't make it any better in the moment - the split-second when the ground erupts and a writhing mass of something slimy doesn't so much crawl out as jump out - but maybe it will make it better later.


You know how worms come writhing up out of the ground during a rainstorm, when the soil is absolutely saturated?

Well, that's true of the soil on the ship as well, except the worms here aren't just common earthworms anymore. They've learned to climb, the slime that they use to wriggle through the soil modified such that they can cause it to turn sticky and squelch their way up walls, ceilings - and anyone they happen to come across. If you step in the wrong place, an entire cluster of them will respond, by clinging to your clothes and body, squirming upwards in a desperate bid to escape the wet soil and the continuous rivulets of water caused by the storm.

Or perhaps you sat down to rest somewhere and felt them creeping - or didn't, until there was suddenly something wet and cold on your bare skin. Or maybe you encountered the worms not through their climbing, but afterwards, when they drop off the ceiling and fall down on your head as the enzyme that renders their slime sticky wears out. However it happens... worms.

Fortunately, they're harmless - aside from being a bit larger than the earthworms a character is likely to be familiar with, and their strange ability to become sticky, these are largely indistinguishable from normal earthworms. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell that in the dark and the wet - this is their native environment, not yours, and anyone would panic at the sensation of worms trying to crawl up them or into dry places in their clothes.

There is an easy solution to this: Because the worms are fleeing the rain in the soil, they won't climb up anything that's just as wet as the dirt they left behind. All a character has to do to become worm-free is get thoroughly soaked, such as by stepping out into the reduced-but-still-pouring rain on a balcony or deck protected by the ship's bubbles. Unfortunately.... Well, then they're wet. And there doesn't seem to be anywhere to dry off any time soon...

FAQ
For information on the general shape and state of the ship, please see the setting page. Please note that mods will not be running investigations during the test drive period.

Q: Do our characters still have their powers/items?

Generally speaking, yes. Characters have their powers intact (with certain exceptions, largely for potential-gamebreak reasons) and whatever items they were carrying at their canonpoints. Please see the FAQ for more details.

Q: My character is dead and/or dying at their canonpoint!

Well... Now they aren't. Specifically, dead characters come back as their most recent 'healthy' state of being (unless they're a type of character that is playable while dead, such as a vampire or a Bleach shinigami, in which case they continue as normal for them); they also arrive already soaked through by the rain, regardless of the location they wake up. Characters who are mortally injured find that their wounds have healed; in place of whatever blood was soaking through their clothes/dripping from their bodies/in their mouth from a Cough of Death, they instead find pure water.

Q: Can my character(s) explore the ship?

Your characters are welcome to explore as much as they're willing and capable of doing in the wet and the rain! However, getting between floors is a challenge in the current weather - with the power off, the elevators do not work, and the stairs are consistently flooded by a cascade of rainwater. However, mods will not be running any official, guided explorations until after game opening.

Q: Is there anywhere dry to rest?

Nowhere is completely dry, but the aft portion of the ship is significantly drier than the middle and fore. The reason for this is that there is a series of partial decks (the residential decks) over roughly the last third of the ship. The rain is fully blocked by the roof overhead, in theory, but in practice the wind and the flooding leave this space only sort of dry. It's possible to find your way here on your own and find some place to sleep that doesn't blow mold spores into your face when you sit down, but it's also darker here, since the lightning's light is also blocked out by the roof.

Q: BATHROOMS?

Unfortunately, the lack of water in the pipes means that the toilets (which can be found relatively intact in most suites, though many are full of standing water) are also not running. Characters get to deal with this issue as they see fit, whether that's using the dilapidated toilets or using a more fertilizer-like strategy.

Q: Is there anything from the game's main info pages that doesn't apply to this Test Drive?

Given that the power is currently off, the Ship (as in the entity) cannot be interacted with on the Test Drive (and characters have no reason to think it's there). Anything else that would require power, such as the elevators or water from the faucets, also does not work.

Q: How long does the storm last?

ICly, it begins to lighten up on the evening of the second day after the first characters wake up, though it is still raining steadily with occasional thunder throughout that night. (Characters will continue to trickle in throughout the duration of the storm, though most arrive before the end of the first day.) The characters will be able to see the sun starting on the third morning - which is also planned to be the game's formal opening, so we won't say more until then!

Q: Do our characters receive anything upon arrival?

Not a thing! Nor do they encounter any kind of informational NPC or anything that gives them a solid idea what's going on. The only exception to this is that all characters experience the dripping-blood related vision/dream/impression detailed in the first prompt of the Test Drive. Additionally, characters who have a unique tie to their world (such as Aerith's connection to the Lifestream in FFVII) will be aware that they're not in their own world anymore.

Q: What are our characters eating?

Since the power hasn't come on yet... Whatever they're adventurous and/or knowledgeable enough to find that doesn't kill them! This can include edible plants and limited amounts of things brought from home (please don't have your character bring 99 casseroles even if your game's inventory system allows it), but mods are not tracking this specifically. Most characters will be expected to be hungry and unhappy but not literally starving come game open. At least there's plenty of water.

Q: I have some specific question I need to ask about my specific character on the test drive!

Please post your question in response to the header comment QUESTIONS below!


aureatefantasia: stock photo (just a voice)

[personal profile] aureatefantasia 2024-02-08 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"A truth?" Huh. Well, not beyond the realm of possibility, at any rate. "The storm's connection to the activity as unique is..." Hm, how to put it... "tenuous at best, I think. It doesn't appear to only be the storm that pushes it away, after all. I don't think your singing could be compared to the thunder. It's more likely they're separate matters and interact by coincidence."

For as easy as his tone is, this is just going in circles. Fuck. John's fingers dig into the fabric of his sleeves.

"...But we learn nothing by talking." This would be easier with—

He isn't here. John's left hand tenses so hard in its grip that it almost spasms.

"We should at least find a way out of the dark."
luciacorina: (nervous)

[personal profile] luciacorina 2024-02-08 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
“Light would definitely be nice. I think I’ve a lantern in my pack, but it’s far too wet here to light it. And I’ve only so many candles. I would enjoy a campfire, to drive away the chill as well, but everything growing is far too wet to burn. Maybe the Iudex could dry some firewood, if we found somewhere dry enough to be getting on with?” She frowns. It’s strange to be both inside and in a storm, indoors but wanting for shelter. “It may be a little lighter if we could find sight of the sky? If also… wetter.”
aureatefantasia: [temp] (pic#16970822)

[personal profile] aureatefantasia 2024-02-09 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
John... hesitates for a moment, masked face bowing as his shoulders lift and roll back. Definitely considering something, and his arms slowly unfold. He works his left hand a bit, flexing and curling his fingers to shake off the grip he'd had earlier.

"There may be an overhang somewhere, outside, at least." Light is... definitely the most tempting of these things, to him. "Something to block the rain."
luciacorina: (smile)

[personal profile] luciacorina 2024-02-09 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
"I would definitely like to see the sky, rather than these unpleasant halls." Lucia Corina shoves her hair out of her face again, looking up at the flicker of lightning through a crack in the ceiling. "I can't imagine why this place was built."
fauxcalors: (confident)

[personal profile] fauxcalors 2024-02-09 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Teyvat is the world itself," Furina says, "Contained within Teyvat's borders are seven nations--I, as Hydro Archon, stand as leader to one of them. Fontaine, the nation of justice." She proceeds to explain the seven other elements--Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Pyro, and Cryo; as well as their respective nations, that being Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Natlan, and Snezhnaya. "Thus far, I have met aboard several people from Teyvat, one who is from Fontaine, like me, and one each from Sumeru and Snezhnaya."

"Is your world similar?"
fauxcalors: (thinking)

[personal profile] fauxcalors 2024-02-09 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Furina frowns at the Harbinger's manipulation of Hydro--she may not truly be able to sense the element herself, but she's well-studied and long-lived and she knows a Hydro Vision holder skilled enough to become the Tsaritsa's Vanguard should not have such weak control. A thought comes to mind:

"Is your power over Hydro weaker in this place?" If there's some other force at play...if he is correct, and this is not Fontaine lost to the prophecy, but something else...hope sparks, faint but there.

fauxcalors: (thinking)

[personal profile] fauxcalors 2024-02-09 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
[To hear Neuvillette be serious is not unfamiliar; to hear him so severe--as if on that worried edge of being truly panicked--is so rare as to be unheard of. It's discombobulating. Worried, Furina nods.]

Do as you must, Neuvillette. I will hear you out.

[She trusts him, after all.]
highjustice: (in authority)

slides this over while working on app

[personal profile] highjustice 2024-02-09 10:40 am (UTC)(link)
[He's getting a good grade in accomplice! Normal to want, possible to achieve, etc.

At her consent, Neuvillette pushes the door closed - temporarily plunging them into what will be, to Furina's eyes, complete darkness. However, before longer than a moment or two has passed, there is a blue glow in the bathroom instead, as Hydro energy crawls up the door and resolves itself into a glowing blue barrier with Neuvillette's three-cycle sigil in the center.

In the blue light, his expression is drawn, but his shoulders have relaxed minutely.]


Anyone who might try to listen in through the door will only hear the sound of water. It's as secure as I can manage.

[Given that the room itself is hidden in the back of a seemingly random suite, it should be safe enough. Neuvillette, at least, doesn't believe that the Heavenly Principles can see them here.]

Please accept my apologies. The scholar I encountered is certainly no mere scholar, as he is in possession of information that I believe even the gods are not privy to, which I will return to momentarily. However, like you, he is from a time period prior to the fulfillment of the prophecy.

In order to deflect his suspicions regarding certain qualities of your person, I informed him that you were operating under a curse related to Fontaine's prophecy. This should help to cover any discrepancies in your abilities, especially with the Hydro Gnosis residing in the Oratrice.

[The Gnosis specifically for the Hydro Archon, the Hydro Archon's Gnosis, etc that Furina definitely knows the location of. He doesn't entirely drop the act, but more because having it directly addressed seemed to leave Furina at a loss before. Which, he supposes, is not an unfair expectation - it had been some days after the prophecy before she was seen outside her new home, after all.]
helborn: (the dark is scary)

[personal profile] helborn 2024-02-09 07:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"... I'd like to believe it can be better, too." His voice is small, and he feels like curling up. He doesn't quite know what to do - being honest about his experiences is scarier than anything he's ever faced. "I just... don't really know what it's like to be otherwise. I was picked on a lot, and I thought maybe after we moved things would get better."

They didn't. They got worse. "... They're the only friends I've had. Other than ghosts and a bird, I... I've never really had friends. Books were the closest thing I had to friends."
helborn: (yeah okay not sure about this)

[personal profile] helborn 2024-02-09 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"... Basically he was complaining about the boat and he was complaining about the water and complaining about his feathers being mussed from being in my pocket even when he chose to be in my pocket rather than fly in the wind and rain."

Little brothers. What're you gonna do? "And I mostly just speak raven - other birds it's like an extremely thick accent or dialect, so I can only sort of understand them." Anyway.

"I know I'm going to probably always look this way, at least until I reach godhood and can basically pick my appearance."
luciacorina: (sad)

[personal profile] luciacorina 2024-02-10 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Lucia Corina gives in to the temptation to pull Casper into a hug. "You deserve better. You don't deserve to be treated like that. People shouldn't... just because you're different doesn't mean they can hurt you. Friendship isn't... real friends want you to be happy. And safe."

Being friends with her unfortunately still leaves him with 'ghosts and a bird', but she doesn't know that!
airplaneskyward: (snooty)

[personal profile] airplaneskyward 2024-02-10 12:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Fair complaints, Bob. It is pretty wet and horrible here! I am also not a fan. At least An Ding Peak is generally dry, even if I'm buried in piles of work. If a roof leaks there, I can get someone to fix it."

"I can only understand humans, and I guess demons, so you're still one up on me!"

And he was totally right about this being an ascension process, cool. "How do you progress towards godhood? I should technically be cultivating towards ascension, so the Qing generation of peak lords can ascend together, but I sort of don't want to? The Heavenly Courts sound... boring. And I'd probably still have to organize logistics, so what difference would it make?"
vermillionpledge: (chat)

[personal profile] vermillionpledge 2024-02-10 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[The voice of her grandfather echoes in her head. To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom, it is indolence.]
I think I understand. I couldn’t stand by and watch, either. Not when near everyone I care about was throwing themselves into harm’s way.
[A sigh. It’s not like she can talk, really, with all she’s done, but that doesn’t make it easier. She finds herself wondering if this man has had to witness something similar.
It sounds like the storm is picking up outside, rain lashing the walls of…the ship? She wonders how long it’s been going, and where they’ll be when it stops.]

Have you been able to see outside? I’ve tried, but all I can see is the storm.
astraldownpour: (contemplative)

[personal profile] astraldownpour 2024-02-10 02:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[It was a card he wasn't quite yet willing to play, so the fatuus kept it to himself. In any rate, Casper mentioning only having two best friends, a raven and a ghost that more or less raised him caught the harbinger's attention.]

Raised by a ghost, huh? I had er... Something similar. She was a strange, lonely swordswoman. She taught me how to fight. I didn't see her again until just before I ended up here.

[And even then, it was a glimpse, a hand grabbing him by the collar as his body gave out under the strain he put himself under. She'd had no words for him, as usual. He can only faintly remember it.]

I definitely learned my own share of life lessons. I feel you on that.

[He laughs, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. Chaos followed him wherever he went. The world is cruel and unfeeling and ruled through violence.]
astraldownpour: (FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[personal profile] astraldownpour 2024-02-10 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)

[The other's glowing doesn't deter Childe, but it does allow a little more visibility. The shorter man's words don't phase him, he'd shocked himself plenty of times before. Yes it hurt. No, it didn't matter to him. It was just a means to an end.]

Nine.

[The end he wanted was either answers or a fight. It was certainly leaning towards the latter. He knows the stranger is going to flee. Childe just has to keep up long enough to get a good hit in.]

You described how he would react, exactly. You can't weasel out of this.

[Childe affixes his mask to his face, in the hopes of keeping most of the rain out of his eyes. The drifter chastising him about elemental reactions made the fatuus snort. Water and lightning didn't mix well? That fighting here would hurt him just as badly as it would hurt this stranger?

What a concept. Who could have imagined it? Not him, the Harbinger known for doing this.]

Eight. Don't get all soft and worried about me now. I'm a big boy, I can take it.
helborn: (why would you do that?)

[personal profile] helborn 2024-02-10 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
He stiffens up at the hug, a little unsure of what to do. He puts his hands on her sides carefully, ... Huh. Pretty solid for a ghost, but... eh. "... If you say so." Casper doesn't really believe that himself, but he's also spent a lot of time being belittled for... well. Everything.

"Happy... I don't know if I know what that would even be like." Sure, he's had moments of happiness, but that's not the same as being happy. "And I don't think I've been safe in a while, and we're definitely not safe here." This is... this is getting awkward.

"Sorry." He pulls away a bit, biting his lip out of nervousness. "Sorry, I... I was trying to empathize with you and it turned into being about me. I'm... I'm sorry."
helborn: (is that what i think it is?)

[personal profile] helborn 2024-02-10 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
... I'm sorry. It sucks to be separated.

[Creepy Whisper Man - the only name he ever had for the ghost - didn't really follow him across the border.]

[But he recognizes that kind of laugh and frowns at it. Hm...]


Are you okay?

[Don't lie to him, Childe. He can tell.]
helborn: (you better not)

[personal profile] helborn 2024-02-10 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Technically he can understand trolls and other mythical Norse monsters but that's not very relevant right now. "It's based on belief. The more your deeds become legend the more powerful you get. I don't know if it's possible to lose power if your deeds don't get repeated, since most of the pantheons don't have a lot of active worshipers." Something to ask at the conference of Scions when he gets back home.

Heavenly Courts... oh. He's heard of the Celestial Bureaucracy from a few people but it's probably different for this guy. "Logistics doesn't bother me all too much. I was usually the person who ended up arranging decedent pickups. Or sometimes driving them myself if I wasn't at school. Or handling billing for coffins, or scheduling viewings... but being a god is probably more complicated than even that." Not to mention that even if he did hit godhood he wouldn't outrank the older gods anyway.
supersaver: (Sumimasen!!! orz)

[personal profile] supersaver 2024-02-10 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[Weirdly, Ochako kind of appreciates that Alastor isn't crowding her? It's still a weird concept in and of itself to realize she's having a conversation with, possibly, a ghost of some kind (which she is horribly scared of, haha...oops!), but he's nothing like what she expected? He's quite polite, helped her into a delightful ensemble, and has been a bit out there, but...nice? Nice enough, anyway, considering how rocky her world is right now with everyone at each other's throats - Heroes, Villains, and even civilians.

That is to say, she quite likes this bizarre deer man.]


Oh...so you were taken here? From, um...b-beyond the grave? [Her brows furrow. That's really strange, and for what reason? Why is she here then, too? And, indeed, where even is here?] Ahh...I'm sorry, I'm asking too many things. And I didn't even tell you my name.

[Taking a deep breath and rubbing her face, Ochako steels herself and stands up at last, dusting off the nice clothes she was gifted and puts her game face on instead. Time to actually get some damn answers. But first!! A proper introduction! Ochako bows, putting on a smile of her own, even if it's not quite reaching her eyes all the way. She's still sort of Handling It™, but doing her best!]

I'm Uraraka Ochako - you can called me Uraraka, or Ochako-chan, if you want.
luciacorina: (smile)

[personal profile] luciacorina 2024-02-10 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
“It’s okay. I’m sort of better at worrying about other people than myself, anyway. Do you… do you feel better for talking about it? Like lancing a wound, sometimes. I mostly try to avoid thinking about the Lady and the Hall, but it doesn’t always… work.” She pulls back at his obvious discomfort, not wanting to upset him more. “I think you’re perfectly nice. I… well, I’m good at being charming for my supper, but that’s about what I can do, not about me.” She twists one hand in her skirt, losing track of what point she was trying to make.
airplaneskyward: (Default)

[personal profile] airplaneskyward 2024-02-10 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
“Oh, I’ve read books like that. Like, you get power from how many people burn incense at how many temples, but it makes you a god, instead of cultivating to a Heavenly Tribulation first. Most of the work to ascend for cultivators is internal, worship and shit empowers you afterward. I’ve cultivated to immortality and all, I can fly on a sword and perform inedia and all that jazz, but I haven’t focused a ton on making it past Nascent Soul.” Unsaid: he also fucked up the cultivation stages so badly in PIDW by forgetting what he’d already written that Nascent Soul sort of doesn’t work right? Which Cucumber-bro had beaten him over the head with a fan for multiple times.

“I don’t like, mind logistics! I’m good at them! I just don’t see the point in moving to the Heavenly Courts to start over from the bottom doing the same shit. I’m doing fine as I am!” And he’d no longer be able to see the mean sexy ice prince of his dreams.
alkahests: (close yoυr eyes and oғғer yoυr prayer)

vayne aurelius 🜍 mana khemia

[personal profile] alkahests 2024-02-11 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ how fast can i speedrun a voice test/test drive? who knows, but yolo. if you've got any questions, there's a permissions/impressions post in his journal! ]

arrival/general purpose; wailing of the rain
[ in a quiet and dark corner of the ship, any at all and none in particular, someone wakes up. for a moment, in his disorientation, still shaking off the— dream?— he wonders if he'd only lapsed out of consciousness for but a moment, and awoken back to the same situation he'd remembered being in prior. his surroundings are as dark as they were before, the pervading sense of negativity around them punctuated by the occasional howls of the gusting wind outside.

but— no. where he'd been, the winds were strong, but there hadn't been any rain. he'd been outside, more or less, and here he isn't. more or less.

he's here, and no one else is. that's... that's good, right? it means it must have worked, regardless of any lingering impressions of blame and fault.

it has to have worked. but there's a gap in his memory from when and where he was last, and waking up here, the lingering phantom sounds and sensations even now of dripping blood, not his, and that ... surely, nothing could have happened, right? he doesn't know how he got here, and that lost time—

—no, it must have worked.

the cat who'd arrived with him—oh, he hadn't even noticed at first...—meows to him, and he responds like he can understand it, a soft, unsure murmur for anyone who might be nearby to hear: ]
I don't know, Sulpher.

[ another meow, then, and an at first faltering, but then more firm nod as he offers the cat a shoulder to hop up onto. sulpher's right. might as well get their bearings, a lay of the land, find somewhere less wet...

see if anyone else is here as well, he decides, slipping out of the suite and through the darkened hallways like just another one of the shadows on the ship. ]
seeing is believing; the voice of the dark, from the abyss
[ the indistinct whispering filtering in from around every other corner of the ship bothers him surprisingly little, it seems, because he forges through the ship like he doesn't hear them at all. nor do the shadows of people, making their way through the ship as if ignorant to its current condition.

it's the way that his steps veer him away from any such apparitions that would give him away, but, then again, it's hardly as if one person's hallucinations are apparent to another. there's no one there. he'd learned quickly after looking for the first of them.

but should you meet him onboard the ship in a way where he can't simply skirt away from your presence, and your presence is apparent enough to not seem simply another apparition, you'll be met with a guarded, but more defensive than actually hostile stance: ]


... You don't know what's going on either, do you?
to run its course; disruptor
[ he can navigate the darkness adequately enough, brief, small flashes of flame from a raised and outstretched hand lighting his way when the halls grow too obscured, but regardless, he quite literally ends up tripping over it, and then going still in shock, as recognition dawns upon him.

several things he'd attempted to ignore prior come rushing to mind in quick succession. missing time. that blank space he woke up to— what had happened? did he do this? ... did someone else? someone here—

like the one approaching them—?

come across them, and you'll be met with the flash of a set of blades that materializes itself from shadow, and a snarl that would rather be that than a sob as he hovers protectively over the would-be body, because there has to be something he can still do as long as they aren't hurt further: ]
Who's there?

Stay away from us...!

[ (the cat, incidentally, disappears when the blades come out.) ]
wildcard;
[ wanna try something else? hit me up via discord or pm. ]
Edited 2024-02-11 01:06 (UTC)
aureatefantasia: stock photo (Default)

[personal profile] aureatefantasia 2024-02-11 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
"The bigger question might be why it became like this." John bodily turns to look as best he can in the short-lived glow of the lightning, study the area they're in. It isn't much, but it at least gives him a direction they could go, and...

"Ships aren't usually this dilapidated and still left sailing." His tone shifts, falls into something a little more thoughtful. A little more theatrical. "Freshwater could support the plant-life that seems to be everywhere, and there's no shortage of it with the cracks in the decks above and the persistent rainfall. It's difficult to tell the kind of plants, though, in the limited lighting the storm provides through those same cracks. The lightning is brief, flashes half-blinding as it cuts through the dark when the cracks are wide enough, and only barely illuminating when they aren't. What can be seen doesn't seem to be alien so much as unfamiliar.

"It's difficult to tell if the ship is old or merely battered from their growth, a—"

...Ah. Right. He makes a sound that might be clearing his throat, turning back to face Lucia Corina properly.

"We should... start looking for someway up." Don't mind how abruptly subdued that sounds, or the way he clasps his left hand, thumb pressing into the centre of his palm.
highjustice: (let me explain)

[personal profile] highjustice 2024-02-11 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
Humans truly do come in every flavor under the sun.

"I can persist for quite some time on nothing but water and the occasional nap, myself, but the same cannot be said of everyone here." Most people in fact cannot sleep meaningfully if they're soaking wet and chilly! (This is not a problem Neuvillette has.)

He opens his mouth to continue, but is forced to pause as a particularly forceful crack of thunder interrupts them. After it passes, he says, "I've been informed by several people at this point that there are also some form of ghosts or spirits present, but I have yet to encounter any myself. They may be drawn only to specific people."
highjustice: (back)

i don't have an appropriate icon for this. i'm not sure one exists.

[personal profile] highjustice 2024-02-11 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
...What?

[Just. Transparent bafflement because that is Nonsense Declared with Confidence.]

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