Test Drive Meme #1

[staymods]

Crash Course

It happened in an instant. One moment you were in your own world, doing your own thing. The next, you were standing on a small wooden dock. Or on a grassy hill surrounded by sheep. Or on a rocky outcropping near a lake. Or, if you were particularly unlucky, in the lake itself.

Regardless of your exact arrival spot, you were quickly scooped up by some gruff men and women in uniform who said you would get answers so long as you cooperated. The answers they had to provide, however, were sparse. You had ended up in the Saimaa lake system in Finland in Year 99, and nobody knew the 'how' or 'why'. All they had beyond that was a promise of a safe place to stay, so long as you followed the rules and didn't cause trouble. Some fought, some argued, but those who listened were eventually taken to "Otherworlder Settlement #5". A new home for the foreseeable future, until more answers can be discovered.

The Finnish government promised that this settlement was safe to stay in, but that doesn't mean it's easy living. Food and basic supplies are provided, but there is very limited electricity and not much in terms of modern commodities. Do you know how to use a canoe? Do you know how to cook over an open fire? Can you stand taking a bath in a lake? The first few days of life on this island are going to be a crash course in surviving without most modern conveniences, and for some it might be more of an adjustment than others.

But hey, at least there are others around to help you learn, right? Maybe your new neighbor is willing to swap skills with you.

Cats! Cats! Cats!

As you settle in to life on this chain of islands, a few things are going to become quickly evident. Firstly, life here is slow. With strict warnings to not leave the safety of the sea nets and communications from the outside world only coming once a week, there's a lot of time to explore and think.

Secondly, while there is an abundance of birds, fish, and insects, mammal life on these islands is rather sparse. You may see a small land mammal here or there- rabbits, mice, maybe a fox or two- there isn't the level of biodiversity you might expect of a backwater forest. It certainly is strange, and you'll need to investigate the islands further to see just what there is to offer.

The sole exception to this lack of mammals? Cats. Nearly every island- excepting only Snake Island- has at least one colony of semi-feral cats living on it. While these cats are out outright hostile, they do seem a bit aloof. It will take time and effort to win their affections, if you are inclined to gaining a feline companion. Or food, if you don't mind sharing. The cats do seem motivated by food.

If asked, the local NPCs who drop off supplies once a week will tell the Otherworlders that all cats are helpful for detecting threats, but that if you can find young kittens of around 3 months old that they can be more easily acclimated to being around people. The NPCs also warn the Otherworlders that if all the cats suddenly poof up and start hissing while staring in the same direction that you need to leave that area immediately and radio for help. The ominous message isn't explained further.

Ruins of Yesteryear

Not much information is given about "Otherworlder Settlement #5" upon arrival. The Otherworlders are told that the settlement used to be home to a small village that was destroyed 20 years ago, but that it has since been cleansed and is safe for resettlement. The government assures everyone that such practices are normal, and that with limited 'safe spaces' they have to cleanse and rebuild where possible.

That may not be much of a comfort, though, when you have to face the charred remains of houses on a daily basis.

While there are a few buildings still usable, the majority of the buildings on Rabbit Island have been partially or completely burned to the point of being unusable. They will eventually need to be cleared for new houses and facilities to be built, but for now they have been left standing due to a lack of manpower to do the demolition. They stand as a grim reminder that while the island is supposedly safe now, it wasn't so in the recent past.

Remnants of the past can be found in the charred ruins, though. Bits of metal in the form of silverware, tools, and jewelry are the most abundant, having weathered the hot flames all those years ago. In some lucky places with less fire damage, partially-burned blankets and books remain. Dishware, cooking utensils, small pots for indoor herbs. Traces of those who used to live here can be found here and there. But will you go looking, or will you leave those trinkets where they lay?

Deep Dreaming

It might not happen the first night, or the night after. But at some point early into your stay on the islands, you will fall into a deep sleep, one so deep that you cannot easily awaken. You feel as though you are drifting down slowly, like a leaf falling from the sky, until you find yourself laying on the ground.

When you open your eyes, the area around you will seem familiar and safe. It could be your childhood home, or a city you live in now. Regardless, it is far away from the islands you have settled on, and for a moment it might look like you've made it home. That thought will be quickly dashed by two important details: there are no other people in this dream, and the dream only takes up a space of about 50 square meters before it abruptly ends.

If you go to the edge of the dream, however, you will be able to see the space between dreams, an endless expanse of water and starry sky. Be careful stepping outside of the safety of the dream, though! Those who wander too far will feel uneasy, like something dangerous is watching them.

Your dream isn't the only thing there besides the space between, though! You will find yourself about 2 meters away from the boundary of another person's dream. And while you won't be able to step in of your own accord, you might be able to knock on the barrier of the person next to you to say hello. Or maybe they're already there, awake and waiting to say hello. Or maybe they're knocking on the boundary of your dream, waiting for you to let them in. Regardless, it should be okay. While the space between feels dangerous, the dreams themselves are safe.

Do be courteous, though. Those who see the dreams will remember what happens when they wake up.

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Comments

Rin Okumura | Blue Exorcist

[aono]

(A quick note! Rin's icons are of him with white hair because that's all I have at the moment. In the game proper he will actually have black hair. So just pretend he has black hair here.

Also he has a tail but he's hiding it currently, and his demon ears are hidden under his hair.)

Ruins of Yesteryear

[Rin isn't going into any of the fire-damaged remains. They all look far too unstable, and he's not sure anything useful can be found in there in the first place. Instead, he's standing outside the blackened husk of a house, looking up at once was a second floor window.]

I wonder what happened here. They wouldn't even tell us when they brought us here.

["The settlement fell 20 years ago" definitely isn't enough information.

Rin does have a forlorn look on his face as he inspects the exterior of the house, though. Is it sympathy for those who once lived here? Possibly.]


Deep Dreaming

[Yeah so, Rin's dreams are a very stark contrast to the island he's found himself on. It's a residential area of a huge city, blanketed by a couple centimeters of snow, and there's a lazy drift of snowflakes falling from the sky. The perfect winter day, honestly. If only he didn't remember that it's May in the world he's ended up in. And that he shouldn't be in a city like this.

And that there's no people around in this dream city.

A little unnerved, Rin is going to go right up to the border of his dream and step out onto the space between. For a few moments he's entranced by the expanse of water and they starry night sky, but he's going to quickly notice the dream right next to his. And he's going to immediately try to walk right in, which means he's smacking his face against the boundaries of that other person's dream.]

Hey!

[He steps back and rubs at his nose as he looks up at the wall that blocks him from stepping in. He's contemplating making some noise to get someone's attention, but whoever is dreaming there would have felt him bounce off the barrier anyway. Hi, neighbor.]


Wildcard

[If you want to do something else, just jump right in with it or message me at husbando to work something out.]

Ruins of Yesteryear

[abysslord]

By the way they're keeping us at arm's length, I don't think they did bring us here. Well, not the general here. They did kind of drop us off here on this island.

[Oh hey, here's Yuri. He's giving the structure a once-over before casually, as you please, lightly stepping inside. Very careful steps, but he knows what he's doing. You can't be a good thief with heavy footfalls, after all.]

Gonna spend all day staring at the foundation or are you coming in?

[aono]

I mean here here. Why dump us on an abandoned island if there's other places we could be?

[They did give a general explanation of why, but Rin sure didn't pay attention to it.

Careful steps into the structure are good, as the roof has fallen in already and the walls don't look that stable. Rin isn't going in yet, but he's watching what Yuri does.]

Why go in? It burned down. There's nothing in it, yeah?

[abysslord]

Do you know that for sure? Fire doesn't burn everything down.

[Also he'd. Maybe like to know if fire was part of the reason this place was abandoned to begin with. Is it not important to know?]

[aono]

It looks like this fire burned things down pretty well.

[But despite being a fire-flavored half-demon, Rin seems a little apprehensive about stepping into the burned building. He does eventually follow Yuri in, but he doesn't like it much.]

What are you hoping you'll find here?

[abysslord]

Honestly? Maybe some clues as to who used to live here...and what happened that made it necessary for them not to, anymore.

[It couldn't just be a big fire. You don't up and abandon a settlement for twenty years because of a fire.]

Also, it might be nice to, you know. See if there's anything left of the former residents? Give them a better place to rest than a charred husk.

[aono]

There's a graveyard on the island. They're probably buried there, yeah?

[He says that like it's an excuse to not go rifling through people's stuff. But after a few moments he does see that Yuri is going to do it anyway, so.]

...guess we should put the stuff over there, if we find anything.

dreaming

[homeecspacecop]

[It's... a residential area of a huge city. Rin's actually looking in at a little shopping street, the sort of places with cafes and grocery stores on the ground floor and apartments above. There's no one here, except a boy in what might be a school uniform (a white polo shirt trimmed with red, red plaid pants, white sneakers) who's standing on the street frowning at the door of a very cute little bakery that seems to only be selling muffins.

He turns when Rin bumps into his dream.]

[There's a weird guy, Chuuta! A weird guy!]

He's not weird.

Do you want to come in? [Yeah, Rin can come in if he wants.]

[aono]

[Yeah, he's not weird at all! Though Rin thinks Chuuta is just telling himself that, he can't hear Drew at all.]

Yeah, let me see!

[Another person! Probably someone he's seen on the island in the last few days, but seeing Chuuta here like this is new and exciting.

And once Chuuta has let Rin in, he'll step past the now-open barrier and onto the streets of Chuuta's dream-city.]

So what's this place? Your home?

[homeecspacecop]

Yeah, it's my aunt's muffin shop. Our apartment is attached to it.

... It's kind of weird that there isn't anybody else here.

[aono]

Yeah, there wasn't anyone else at my place either. I kinda expected to see Yukio at the very least, but...

[He trails off there, and he glances away and out to the shopping street in front of the store.]

It really is weird to see it without people! I wonder where they are. Or what this all is.

[homeecspacecop]

[He didn't see anyone either!]

Yeah, there's something really weird going on. It's like this isn't even real... Did you see your home too?

[aono]

I did, yeah. But it's winter there, and it's not winter on that island? But it was winter back home when I got brought here, so there's weird time shit going on anyway.

deep dreaming

[suddenlybees]

[ Does Rin really want to be banging on this dream? Despite the teenage boy lying on the ground, the rest of the room looks like a children's play room, books and puzzles and stuffed animals strewn over the floor and the boy in question holding a handheld game console over his face as he— glances over to Rin when he feels that bonk, fails to suppress a snicker, and then turns his attention back to his game.

Hi, neighbor. No, you're not invited in. ]

[aono]

[Yes, yes he does. Especially when he sees that Kano is playing a video game.

In fact, he's going to hit on the barrier a few more times and call out to him.]

C'mon, share already!

[Rin you can't just demand that someone share video games with you.]

[suddenlybees]

[ He laughs, but not without jolting a little on the bed when he hears Rin pounding on the barrier. It's like when he pisses his sister off and she pounds on his door demanding he let her in so they can """talk"""? No way.

But Rin isn't his sister and the relative peace and quiet he's been enjoying can't last if Rin won't go away, so Kano slides off the bed and patters over to the barrier and sits down on the floor at the edge. ]

No can do. It's, like, a single player game, see? You can tell me where to go and what to do, if you want??

[ Backseat gaming... also having to look at the screen upside down and purposely angled towards himself so it catches some glare. ]

[aono]

[Maybe in that glare Kano can catch a bit of a reflection of Rin's antics, because he is definitely gritting his teeth and using the barrier as a wall to lean on as he flips around and stands on his head and hands. He'll just stand upside-down like that, balanced precariously on the barrier, thank you very much.]

This is completely unfair, you know. There's no video games on that damn island!

[suddenlybees]

Yeah, I know~ But whose fault is that?

[ Definitely those guys who'd dropped them off on the island without proper entertainment, but Rin doing a headstand is real dedication and Kano respects that. How long will it take for Rin to pass out with all the blood going to his head? is that a thing that can happen in a dream bubble? this is for science, Kano tells himself as he flops down onto his stomach and boots up the game.

It's a fighting game, and he's just button mashing with no technique. ]

What d'ya think, though? Would you stay here forever just playing games?

[aono]

Not mine, if that's what you're trying to say!

[Rin isn't too great at fighting games either, so 'mash buttons to victory' seems appropriate. Win that fight, Kano.]

We can't stay forever, eventually we have to go back and keep surviving. But a break every now and then isn't bad, you know.

[Rin is also showing no signs of being bothered by standing on his head quite yet. Though standing like this means the longer bits of his hair are hanging downwards, which exposes his rather pointy demon ears for Kano to possibly see.]

Ruins

[overlordad]

[ yeah unlike Rin, this guy isn't hiding his pointy ears or teeth]

If they said outright what got everyone killed there's no way in hell anyone would "cooperate". That's just common sense.

[Said while poking his head out the door, arms filled with stolen loot]

[aono]

[I wish Rin weren't so dense that he hasn't yet realized pointy ears = demon.]

It could've been a bad fire, everything's all burned-

[He stops when he sees all the shit Takashi is carrying. What.]

[overlordad]

[Not much of it is salvageable but he is gonna find SOMETHING worthwhile!]

Eh, a fire doesn't chase a whole settlement out. If it was worth being here they'd just rebuild. More likely something fucking did the burning.

[aono]

[The silverware will be helpful, at least.]

I dunno, if I saw my hometown burn down I don't think I'd want to go back and try to rebuild. I'd rather go live somewhere else.

[overlordad]

[He shrugs- maybe, though he can't picture that kind of sentimentality.]

Doubt it, but sure, if that makes you feel better. Still, other than the leftover crap there's not much point in trying to live in these things.

[aono]

Well no, it's falling apart- wait, what are you even doing with all of that stuff?

[R u looting???]