( TDM | #1 )

[spellbindmods]

TDMs can be used for anyone interested in the game and/or testing out a new muse.

Test Drive samples are encouraged to be used for your application sample, though they are NOT a requirement.

Feel free to use one prompt, multiple prompts or make up your own!

These threads can be considered game canon upon game opening if you so choose.

Telepathy and magic can be used at any point in time on the TDM, from Prompt A to your wildcard prompt. A specific prompt exists, however, that makes sure all characters have an equal chance to use this mechanic within the TDM. You're encouraged to have characters use telepathy and their magic accidentally or even purposefully on any TDM prompt.

If you aren't set on your character's power yet or want to try out a few, you're still able to use the test drive. Maybe your character is a late bloomer and hasn't fully unlocked their intuitive drive yet. In the case of multiple powers, only prompts that contain the power you choose for your application will count as potential game canon threads.

While only one character can be apped or reserved during a cycle, feel free to post with more than one character if you like! This is for those who are uncertain of their first choice or who would like to try out different characters within the setting.

You blink and that's all it takes. At first the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over. Depending on your situation and ability to acclimate, you may not fully understand what's happening. A dream, a hallucination. But when you feel the trunk of the trees surrounding you, it's oddly...real. The smell is real. The moisture on the ground is real. The small grass snake you find slithering close to your feet seems very real as well. There are a few other sensations that also begin to feel a little more like reality with every passing second. Like the fact that your intuition is trying to tell you something that doesn't seem plausible. One is more obvious -- you now have a new piece of jewelry inserted snuggly between your collarbones. Maybe that's when you realize it is real. When you realize that there's no delusion here -- you aren't where you once were. But if that's the case...where are you? A ▢ Your character's first experience here will be waking up in a forest. Specifically, located here. It's up to them to traverse and try to figure out where they are, whether they make it to the beach or the main house area. There's also a mysterious trail of soft, felt bags, tied off with thin rope, leading your character to what appears to be a specific destination. These items can be as useful as a granola bar to as seemingly useless as a stapler. Let's just say that some of these mysterious objects are pretty out there. They're free to travel off the beaten path, but that comes with its own perils. Maybe your character has a power that could fend these creatures off...? They aren't exactly happy about sharing their territory.

After an hour or so of trekking through the forest, you finally come upon a break in the tree line that reveals to you an area that appears to be inhabitable. Your first stop is the large mansion that sits in the valley of the opening...if anyone is here or there's a way to get out of here, the house makes the most sense, right? There are a variety of rooms in this mansion, and you're free to explore them. You also spy a lot of crates sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the main rooms...are you curious enough to open them? B ▢ Feel free to have your character explore the mansion (the won't find much but you can take some liberties with the TDM), and they're free to open these mysterious crates. In them they'll find edible fruit and bread, modern clothing in a variety of sizes and portable medical kits. Characters who apply using the TDM are free to carry these objects into the game opening. If you want some specifics, there are a few rooms of note: the game room (containing a working pool table, non-electric pinball machines and a card table with supplied chips and multiple decks), the cellar (filled with a variety of liquor and wines, all aged quite well) and a large room upstairs that contains a glass ceiling and a variety of books in a foreign language. One more thing -- if you happen to go rummaging around, you may find tiny pin cameras. They're minuscule...you may not even notice them unless you look hard enough. At this point you notice that you aren't alone -- there are other people in the same boat as you! When they're around you, that signet you feel in your chest tingles slightly. The sensation isn't unpleasant, but instead like a warm tingle is spreading from their neck outward. You instinctively attempt to talk to your fellow kidnapping victims, and that works just fine...but what are all these voices you hear in your head now? Are you crazier than you thought you were? C ▢ Here's where you can play around with the telepathy mechanic. It's likely your character won't be used to it which can lead to accidental broadcasting. If they happen to tap the signet purposefully or try to pull it out, everyone within a radius of 100 feet will feel a throbbing pain in their head. But your character won't know that, will they? For those more inclined to adventure, there's also another building to investigate. From the outside, it looks very circular and unidentifiable, but upon entering you'll discover that it's a fully-functioning bath house. D ▢ Despite containing steamy water and luxury bathing accommodations, the bathhouse is currently being overrun with crabs. The not-so-smart members of this species have fallen into the extremely hot water, flash boiling themselves after being unable to get back out. Others are a little more intelligent but equally aggressive. Characters: watch your toes and be cautious if you really want to take a much-needed bath! They may also want to check twice before using the restroom, otherwise the experience might be more painful than they're used to.

Exploring the mansion and the bathhouse was fun and all, but aside from the crates they didn't prove to be very useful. When you came into the clearing, you also saw a row of very colorful buildings down near the beach. It makes sense that this area may be more beneficial to any escape plans you have, and taking a dip in the ocean might be nice! It's not until you reach the beach huts that you realize that murky blue color you spied wasn't the ocean. It's outter space. There goes any hopes you had of swimming to safety. E ▢ Time to explore the beach huts! Most of them are abandoned, but your characters will notice they seem to be more livable than the mansion somehow. This is in part due to a little note tacked to the door of each beach hut that reports in scrawling script "Claim your hut, please!" Will your character listen or reject the sinking feeling that they may not be leaving anytime soon? Some huts are also bigger than others, and a few even contain small sinks and softer beds. Grab these while they're available! Even though it turns out the ocean was a lie and you're precariously close to falling off the edge of the world, the area around the huts is decidedly beachy. Sitting on the beach is a lobster trap, though about 10 times the size of any you might have seen before. Inside are more felt sacks, though larger. The weirdest part is that peering through the bars, you notice each has a nametag attached. The reason you know this to be true is because you just spied your own name written on one of the labels. There's also something else underneath it. The descriptor may not mean much to you yet, but it will soon: it's the title of their newfound magic. In each felt sack is a sort of starter kit: a set of dated and drapey plainclothes, a bag of dried boar jerky, a leather flask filled with water and a small tube of sunblock (the writing is in a bizarre pictograph language, but the giant picture of the sun on the tube should explain the purpose). There's also a rolled up paper tied with a string that reads as follows: "Welcome. Things will be explained in due time. For now, understand that you have been blessed with a gift of magic. Look into your brain and feel the instinct for both. Practice makes perfect." F ▢ Here's the official prompt for playing with newfound magic (and telepathy if you want more practice). It's likely characters have already accidentally broadcast their thoughts, utilized the C prompt or used their magic inadvertently, but maybe this new information and small explanation has motivated them to try and see what they're truly capable of. Don't worry. If they're lucky enough to stick around, all will be explained. ...What if you're a wildcard, though? Someone who doesn't play by the rules and follows a different path, no matter what direction the world may be guiding you in? This island is large and contains many areas of interest, from crystal streams to hidden locations. Maybe you want to do something different...so break the mold and explore! G ▢ Wildcard prompt. Go nuts and utilize your own creativity within the setting. This can mean striking out on your own or utilizing a certain location in a different way. The world is your oyster!

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

[actus]

....Better than me. I only like the explosions in chemistry.

[ ha ha ha, truly a joker, akira. ]

Any video games or movies? [ he's used to getting to know people this way: gently asking questions until their interest is sparked by one of them. after that, he's usually just a quiet observer, listening in and offering a shoulder to lean on. it had worked well so far, after all. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"No time for them." [And that was also true. He had only one game he played, and it was a game he created and ran. So he wasn't actually playing it, merely watching other people play it and laughing at their suffering like a real bastard. Ah, the life of a pseudo-deity.]

[actus]

[ calm down, mini-jesus. akira blinks ahead at him. it's not the first time he's heard something like that, but still. it isn't any less sad. ]

You that busy with studying? [ it isn't accusatory - merely conversational. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[Studying isn't a part of mini-jesus' schedule, he's too much of a workaholic for that. And whenever he isn't working he's busy watching stupid youtube videos or reading Nietzsche or something.]

"Most of my time is preoccupied with business matters." [That didn't really clarify anything. In fact it arguably raised more questions but well, Joshua can't help but give cryptic sounding answers.]

[actus]

[ come on, there has to be an equivalent to Tin Pin around here somewhere. ]

Business matters. [ akira quietly laughs but quickly catches himself so as not to offend his new acquaintance. ] ... Back home, I know someone like that. He's always busy with something.

[ he wouldn't ... necessarily call him his friend, because who can be friends with someone you know fully well has it out for you? it's complicated™ ]

You should take a break, sometime.

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[He can't play tin pin with himself. He has more pride than that.]

"When I'm gone, everything falls apart. I could only leave for, at most, a few days." [This he says after he just spent most of an entire week in another universe playing Tin Pin until Hanekoma picked him up like his dad picking up his son from school. Except with more world ending stakes.]

[actus]

[ but dibs on rainbow, am i right. ]

I think everyone tells themselves that, sometimes. [ it's softly spoken, as if he's not completely used to talking for this long. ] They don't want to be the reason that things go wrong. [ that it's human nature to feel guilty if something goes poorly. akira shakes his head, though. ]

...I wasn't talking about a vacation. Just something small. [ ah! a thought! ] Do you like coffee?

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[When in Joshua's case that is actually true. I mean you saw how the Reaper's game went for Neku.]

"Yes. Why? [Well according to his food growth rates he does. But he does stop by Hanekoma's shop, if only out of the need to communicate with his producer about business and it being a convenient meeting place. Really his relationship with Hanekoma was just a series of back and forth power plays to see which of them came out on top. It was fun, he would give it that, but probably not what Kurusu was referring to.

[actus]

[ listen. details. ]

The person I'm staying with was teaching me how to brew before I got here. [ a tiny shrug and he feels self-conscious all of a sudden, despite the fact he's used to talking to strangers on the daily. ] Not quite a barista yet, but I could give it a shot.

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"Well, I might have to take you up on that offer." [that is, if there even was any coffee here. They would have to find some. or he could just make Kurusu do it, that was also an option.]

[actus]

[ he is not!! your new!! errand boy!! ]

Mm. [ akira nods, noncommittal, and then glances on ahead at the thick cluster of trees. ] None of this makes any sense.

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[He can just make someone else be his errand boy then.]

"Indeed it doesn't." [But he wouldn't give Kurusu a lecture on that. He was tired of giving people lectures at this point. But he'd probably get some sort of explanation for all of this insanity later on, maybe. Hopefully. And if that wasn't satisfactory well then... he'd get to that when it came.]

[actus]

[ that's a fair point. ]

You're calm, though. [ which also is telling on his end, too, that he hasn't freaked out yet. then again, with the past six months he hardly could color himself surprised at anything anymore. ] ... Usually my cat has the answer.

[ is that ... a joke? ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[I mean it isn't but Josh's reaction is less "are you fucking serious" and more "you know what I just won't question this anymore. Other universes are weird man."]

"Huh. Your cat?"

[actus]

[ akira can't help the way flashes of joker shine through, grin tugging on his face, hand going to readjust his glasses. ]

Yeah. He's pretty helpful when he isn't telling me to go to bed.

[ akira just stop. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[Josh's face is the perfect image of the phrase "are you serious" when he hears that. Only to conclude that yes, Akira is 100% serious. he has A Talking Cat!?!™ apparently. Yeah this was just reminding him of how odd seemingly similar other universes could be. At least the somewhat sentient cat in his universe wasn't actually alive.

"Is your cat your dad or something?" [That's what he thinks of with the whole bed comment.]

[actus]

[ akira actually laughs, breathy and downright amused. he isn't sure if the other guy believes him, but that's hardly the point. ]

No. He's one of my best friends, though. I bought his love with extra fatty tuna.

[ and he was broke for quite awhile. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[Joshua's believing level is around 60%. But he chuckles at Akira's remark.]

"Well, if we ever end up running into your cat, I'll be sure to give him some myself." [He'll totally make one of his errand boys buy it for him.]

[actus]

[ where are you finding these errand boys??? can akira have one or two?? ]

Yeah. [ that's a good idea. morgana seems to trust people that give him food. then again, pretty boys with pretty hair and lilting voices may not be near the top of his 'people to trust list.' ]

Maybe he's here already. [ oh!!! which begs the question... ] Your friends here, too?

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[Akira just needs to learn how to take advantage of people's kindness. Being able to do so will get you far in life.]

"Not that I'm aware of." [Ha, friends. Akira is assuming Joshua has them.]

[actus]

[ no the power of friendship gets you farther, okay???? ]

What're they like?

[ so he can keep an eye out for them. that, and akira is kind of interested in what kind of friends someone like josh would have. call it morbid curiosity that kills the cat. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

[Joshua doesn't know how to friend. Being Composer and being a Misanthrope haven't exactly given him the best skills at being a genuine friend. The power of being a manipulative bastard is all he has.]

"Hmm, well..." [He was thinking of who counted as a friend that he had. Neku, technically? And would Hanekoma count?] "A coffee fetishiest hipster and an angsty teenager, though he has somewhat grown out of that angst."

[actus]

[ ... those are odd descriptions, but okay. they still manage to wrangle another half-chuckle out of akira. ]

...The guy I'm living with is kinda like that. The coffee hipster vibe. He'd kill me if he heard me call him that, though. [ sojiro would never, ever wanted to be labeled a hipster. yikes!!! ]

But I dunno. Do you ever really grow out of the angst? [ he says it almost ruefully, lips twitching into the stirrings of another smirk. please leave it alone, akira. ]

[ofthedemiurgescomposition]

"Apparently you do. I didn't even know it was possible." [He had made an entire bet that Neku would remain the angsty, nihilistic person he was. A person who reminded Joshua much of himself, if he was more openly hostile and less manipulative and intelligent. And yet he didn't. Neku changed and took Joshua by surprise, and even though his proxy still one him the game, he also proved something to him in the process. Of course, that was another story, and he couldn't let himself get caught up in that. He still was dealing with Akira.

[actus]

[ and dealing with akira is probably frustrating for entirely different reasons than dealing with neku. ]

People grow up, I guess. [ he isn't entirely sure about that. growing up, that is. adults are shitty, and he doesn't think age is worth much to begin with. it's just a stupid social construct. adults are -- difficult. frustrating. his shoulders tense up a bit. ]

Have you? [ it's a joke ? maybe? ]