phantasmods: (Default)
Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmemes2018-03-01 07:08 am
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TEST DRIVE 002

Hello, and welcome to the second test drive for Phantasmal Rift!

Test drive threads are assumed to be game canon for accepted characters unless otherwise noted, so don't feel like you'll have to introduce yourself a second time to everyone you meet! As an added bonus, participation in the test drive comes with the chance to earn up to two items of loot for your trouble! Characters who are accepted can earn one item for having a top level, and one for tagging out to someone else's top level! Your SWEET LOOT will be included with your acceptance notice.

Additionally, characters currently in game can earn themselves a piece of bonus loot for the dungeon by tagging people's top-levels on the test drive! Existing characters get their bonus loot along with the rest of their loot at the conclusion of the dungeon.

This test drive is based in the Fissure nearest to the Station, same as last time! But this time you're coming at the shoreline from a bit of a different angle...

If you really want, though, you can reuse prompts from the first test drive! In particular, there's still landsharks around the new area of beach. Otherwise, here's three new prompts!

OPTION ONE: OCEAN BREEZE

The cavern you find yourself in smells of the sea... And looks like it, too. Large crystal formations, usually in blue or a light yellow-green, glow along the walls and ceiling of the cavern, providing more than enough light to see by. The whole place is damp and a little chilly, and occasional pools of water rise and fall with gentle waves - some outside tide flowing in through underground passages.

More chilling, though, is the wind that flows through the caves, never ever quite going still but varying wildly in intensity. In fact, characters will discover that they have some control over the intensity of the wind - or perhaps some lack of control, depending on their exact response to waking up in an unexpected place. Strong emotions of any sort make the wind stronger in turn; while calm leaves the wind gentle, panic will send it whipping around corners and drive already-distressed characters to take whatever shelter they can, lest they get blown into some cavern wall.

Other than the wind and the crystals, the caverns seem mostly normal for a place that's clearly underwater at least part of the time. The lower reaches of the caverns are full of barnacles, mussels, and other shellfish that await the rising of the tide for their survival, as well as the occasional crab (some of them surprisingly large, up to about the same of a man's head), and bits of seaweed catch on rocky corners.

OPTION TWO: SAY NYA

What's that sound? Is it... a cat?

... No, it's not. It's a meowing seagull, for some reason.

Except for their strange vocalizations (all feline in nature), the seagulls found outside around the cliffs and beaches are all reasonably normal. (Specifically, anyone familiar with the Gulf Coast on Earth will find that they look much like Laughing Gulls in their black-headed plumage.) They're normal-sized and not at all afraid of people...

In fact, they're so unafraid of people, that they'll come right up close to you and nick your stuff! And not just food, mind. Anything they can carry that isn't attached is fair game to be taken and winged up the cliffs to their roosts. Magpies have nothing on these guys.

Good luck chasing them down for whatever it is they've taken, or climbing up the cliffs to get it back. It belongs to the seacats now.

OPTION THREE: ALL THAT GLITTERS

This gravel beach is absolutely splendid in the sunlight, looking like someone shattered a thousand stained glass windows and left the wreckage to sparkle. Protected from the worst of the waves by some rocky outcrops in the distance, the water here is gentle and doesn't disturb the beach much.

Luckily, the glitter does not, in fact, come from glass. Close examination will reveal that the gravel of the beach contains an impressive number of fragments of some kind of hard scale - about a third, if one's going by volume. They vary in size from a large thumb-nail down to nothing, and most transparent in every color imaginable. They're quite hard, and more likely to break into fragments than they are to be ground down by the sand.

But what is it that these scales come from? The answer can be found only at night, when the sun's light disappears. Then, large reptilian-looking creatures - somewhere between snakes and fish - make their way out of the crannies hidden in the rocks around and across from the small beach. In many different colors, they glow beneath the waves, some internal light filtered through their skin and scales to make each appear a different color.

The serpents aren't violent, at least for now, but given that the largest of them is at least twenty feet long... Perhaps it's best not to hassle them.
dubiouslychthonic: (go on)

3

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-03-04 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
I haven't seen any sign that any of the creatures endemic to the rift are capable of language. Probably not a bad thing? It'd be a terrible sort of place for a thinking being to have to live.

[Here's someone else improbably wearing tinted lenses in the dark, although Jetshard's green-lensed glasses are just dark enough to render her eye color ambiguous without actually hiding her eyes. She's also quite obviously nonhuman, without being a close match for any of the odder sorts of people Letitia would be familiar with in the Neath; dark grey skin, teeth just a little more pointed than a human's, horns that shade from dark orange to golden yellow at the forked tips.]
dontcallmedeku: (Just you and me)

Villain!Izuku Midoriya || My Hero Academia AU

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
1

Of all of the places to awaken, inside a cavern was not one Izuku Midoriya wished to experience. It screamed of a trap since the last thing he remembered was what looked to be an unstable blue version of one of Kurogiri's warp gates. He fell through and lost consciousness somehow. He reached up to feel his head, finding pain shoot through his skull, and dried blood. He hit his head. Of course. Slowly Izuku sat up and checked the rest of his body. No further injuries and all of his belongings were still on him. If this was a trap, it was a bad one. He moved slowly and stood up. He needed to make sure he didn't have a concussion. He felt the wind glowing through the cave and could smell the salt water. He needed to find a way out of the cavern and then he could find out where he was. He followed the wind, walking into it and hopefully toward the exit.

The villain saw the crystal structures and reached out to touch them. Nothing happened when his leather gloves touched the glowing blue crystal. He didn't have any power saved up right now. He couldn't punch and break it to take some with him. He continued. If he could find another smaller one, he would use his foot to shatter it and pick up the pieces. He turned it over and tested the sharpness of it on his finger. He could use this as a weapon, just in case. He continued down the path, following the gentle breeze of the wind.

"Where is the exit? It has to be around here somewhere," He said aloud to himself.

3

Finally Izuku found his way out of the cavern and onto the beach. He stepped out onto the gravel stones and sand. He made his way out toward the water. He pulled his gloves off and slipped them into his back pocket. He knelt down and used his hands to cup the water. A few slashes to his face and rubbing washed the blood off before. The sting reminded him he was alive. He hissed and stood up and turned around to walk away from the water. He found a rather large rock to sit on and watch the ocean. He kept the gloves off and ran his fingers through his messy green hair. The moment he heard footsteps he spoke.

"It's a beautiful sight. Too bad it's tainted by the fact I have no idea where I am."
dontcallmedeku: (Happy boy smile)

2

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Midoriya's attention had been drawn by movement up above his field of vision. He moved to watch the four armed creature move up and bite the bird. Down it came and the young villain walked over to nudge it with his foot. Nope. It wasn't alive anymore. He stayed still until the man dropped down and whipped around. He raised his hands when he was asked the question. He smiled innocently and gave a nervous chuckle.]

Not long. You have an impressive Quirk. My name is Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you.
have_hat_will_travel: (Quiet)

Re: Villain!Izuku Midoriya || My Hero Academia AU

[personal profile] have_hat_will_travel 2018-03-04 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
"A strange place. Not your world. Not mine. Just... Another world," came a voice. A second after, a pair of light 'clicks', as heeled shoes landed on the rock to Izuku's side.

"I'm Pidonus, and I'm kinda trying to keep an eye out for new people like you. There's an organization trying to get control of what's going on, in hopes we can go home."

And then, the succubus smiled, her wings twitching. "And you?"

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[This was, more or less, every nightmare he and his parents had been having for years. For a moment he tried to come up with some kind of alternative explanation to the truth - could he pull off saying he hadn't been able to do that until he got here? - but ultimately he just swallowed, tried to keep from panicking and reminded himself that very few people knew enough about Balkan folklore to guess at the truth.

He carefully put his earring on again, glancing at the seagulls warily. Something was really off about everything here, including Midoriya's calm, easy acceptance of what just happened. Julian blinked at him, uncertain what to even do with such a nonplussed reaction.]


Uh, thanks. That's not normally the response I've gotten. My name's Julian. Julian Kinsella. Do you live around here?
dontcallmedeku: (It's it a nice day?)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
"A new world? That explains why my cell phone doesn't work," He mused and kept his eyes on the ocean. He turned to look at Pidonus out of the corner of his eye. So she kept an eye out for newcomers and there was an organization trying to control what he'd seen before waking up in the cavern. Interesting. He noticed her wings and finally moved to stand up. He gave a innocent smile and held out his hand.

"My name is Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for looking out for approaching me. It's nice to find someone informed as to what's going on."
newlawtolight: (your acquaintance)

[personal profile] newlawtolight 2018-03-04 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
[well this is new for her and that is saying something]

There are far worse places to live. Like a church.

The creatures in those places talk.

[Still, a twist in your tale! You have Surprised the Deviless.]
Edited 2018-03-04 03:14 (UTC)
dontcallmedeku: (Did you see that?!)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
[Izuku kept the innocent smile on his face. He nodded and looked at the other for a moment before he answered. The pause may have been awkward but he wanted to get a good look at Julian and read his body language. He was nervous about something and the fact he said that wasn't the normal response made him wonder.]

My name is Midoriya Izuku. I don't live around here, no. I recently arrived. What do you mean by not the normal response? I think your Quirk is cool. There are so many practical applications of it. Think of the time you could save washing dishes or folding laundry? Not only that but then for combat as well. Having four arms not connected by anything would give you an advantage against those not fast enough to counter the multiple hits...

[Izuku began to ramble and mutter. His hand raised to his chin as he stared at Julian. He wasn't going to stop until he either finished his observations or was interrupted.]

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Most people didn't think to look at his body language; between his unusual coloration and the way he tended to stare at people, most found their attention unconsciously diverted to his face.

He shrugged, remembering his mother's advice to try incorporating more gestures into his conversations.]
I think it can be startling for some people. [That was an understatement, but he shifted his thoughts away from the bad reactions he'd gotten in the past and onto the absurd idea of using his abilities for chores.] Maybe if I had grown up in a big family I would've used it for that. I did use it to help decorate the Christmas tree once or twice until we all sort of realized I wasn't that coordinated as a little kid.

I don't fight anyone, and I don't want to. My dad likes watching boxing but I never really saw the appeal.

[He put his hands in his pockets, not terribly comfortable with the idea of fighting but at the same time relieved, since the suggestion revealed a total ignorance of the core concept of his species. Apparently Izuku didn't realize what exactly he was talking to, and, bad at reading people in the best of times, Julian decided he was probably safe enough going along with the assessment of being 'Quirky'.]

Izuku, shouldn't we be a little more concerned about how we got here? And more importantly, how to get home? [He may suck at normal but he's still very sure that's a priority right now.]
dubiouslychthonic: (Laugh)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-03-04 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[A grin.]

I doubt we're familiar with the same sorts of churches - the things in ours juggle.

[It's said with a laugh, but also with more than a little antipathy. If she never encounters another circus cultist, it'll be too soon, honestly.

She's keeping a wary eye on the sea serpent, but as it's not acting aggressively, it's not holding nearly as much of her interest as the woman is.]
newlawtolight: (buzz in the air)

[personal profile] newlawtolight 2018-03-04 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
So your clergy are clowns?

[She is joking. Clowns in the metaphorical sense, of course. And one candle-eater, but...]

So are those in Fallen London, and they can be so amusing.
Edited 2018-03-04 04:08 (UTC)
dontcallmedeku: (What should I say?)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Izuku stopped speaking when Julian did and listened to him, only to continue to mumble to himself. A non-combatant with an interesting transformation power. What an interesting Quirk. He wanted to find a way to touch him, to see if he could activate Quirk Battery through physical touch. The awkward posing and stance told Izuku just grabbing at him would be too forward. He needed to keep things normal right now. He stopped mumbling and nodded.]

Oh you're right. Sorry. Yes we should. I don't now where we are myself. Have you found any clues, Julian-san?
Edited 2018-03-04 04:22 (UTC)

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
[He wasn't sure if this was a 'normal' reaction to his abilities or not. On the one hand, this was significantly better than the panic of his adopted parents the first time they'd seen it, but on the other, he wasn't sure how to take the intense interest in something he usually endeavored to keep hidden.]

I haven't, but I just got here myself. I'm not clear on how, either. Last thing I knew I was in my dorm room and then suddenly I was waking up in a cavern.

[Which he sounds incredibly calm about, given the circumstances. There's not a lot of inflection to his voice.]
dubiouslychthonic: (you did not just say that)

1

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-03-04 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
[Jetshard's not unduly stirring up the winds of the cavern, either; which she's not typically subterranean by choice, being down here is more comfortable for her than being out in the sunlight, and she at least has the advantage of having been briefed to some degree before leaving the station. Still, she's a little concerned but not particularly concerned to see an unfamiliar person down here, and she doesn't hesitate to approach.

...well shit, of the many entirely reasonable questions for someone who has just fallen into a rift to ask, that's one of the more complicated to answer. Jetshard frowns thoughtfully.]


Out, yes. But I'm afraid it's more a through kind of out than a back kind of out.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Alright, he will admit to some initial confusion upon seeing someone so obviously not human. Given his own half-and-half status, he's sure he should be excited or something, but he's been raised entirely by and passes for human, incredible moments of awkward staring aside.

He tilts his head, fiddling with his earring. If he had one nervous habit, it was fiddling with things when he was confused.]


I think I need more context.

[He wonders if this is what students in his mother's classes at the university feel like when they arrive mid-lecture, this acute mix of bafflement and intrigue.]
dontcallmedeku: (I am going to kick your ass)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
[How interesting. For someone who was lost somewhere, like he was, was quite calm. Izuku knew he wasn't terrified but that was because he'd seen worse things. He had witnessed a monster murder a man with his fingers. He remembered the event as clear as day even now. He could face something like this if he could get enough data. That was why he needed to make allies and contacts. Enemies wouldn't do anything good for him right now.]

I remember something more. A strange...energy source. Like a hole in reality. I fell through and woke up in the cavern. I hit my head somewhere along the way. [He reaches up and moves his hair to show the scabbed over wound on his forehead.]

Maybe we can look for answers together? Two heads are better than one.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Julian blinked at Izuku. There was no way he was about to admit that he'd been having a horrific off day and had spent the last eighteen hours curled up in a web under his bed in his dorm room, but there was at least some partial explanation he could offer up for not remembering the energy or hole in reality:] I was asleep. I thought this was a dream at first.

If you hit your head, you might have a concussion. We should probably find somewhere for you to rest for a bit.

[Have the flattest possible look. Walking around a beach with a concussion sounds like a great way to make a bad situation worse.]
dubiouslychthonic: (you did not just say that)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-03-04 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, well. I suspect the Cult of the Mirthful Messiahs would be much more entertaining if their chief priest wasn't also the Empress's personal enforcer.

[She, on the other hand, is not joking.]

At any rate, we're well clear of their influence here. Has anyone explained the situation yet?

dontcallmedeku: (Must you scratch it?)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
You don't really have to worry. I've had worse than a concussion. But if you would feel better, why don't we go find somewhere to sit and talk? Maybe someone from this place will spot us and give us answers. That or we can wait for whoever is behind this to appear and we can take them on together.

[Izuku smiles as he looks over his shoulder. He points to a collection of rocks further up the beach.]

Like over there?
dubiouslychthonic: (go on)

[personal profile] dubiouslychthonic 2018-03-04 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
[At this point, she's more or less resigned to confused stares from hornless aliens; humans in general seem easily startled by the visibly nonhuman, and to her knowledge no other trolls and very few nonhumans have arrived here. She suspects she'll be one of the resident curiosities for some time.]

We're in what the locals refer to as a "fissure" - an area of unstable reality that collects things from other worlds. Probably other universes. We have a safe haven in more stable terrain in this world, but we don't know how to go back to the places we came from.

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
That would be best, [he nods at the rocks,] since I don't know enough First Aid to be useful if you got hurt worse. [He's not worried, he's being practical.] Hopefully someone else will come along; I don't know how cold this place gets at night or how to make shelter in a place like this, either.

[He starts walking towards the rocks, footsteps eerily silent until he seems to remember himself and makes them have some semblance of noise, inhumanly blue eyes glancing reflexively back at Izuku. In an effort to both distract from his own weirdness and avoid further lengthy awkward silences, he asks,] So, where are you from, Izuku?

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
[To give him credit where it's due, his expression is less confused than it probably should be, given the circumstances. He's aware of the existence of non-humans, he just hadn't expected to ever encounter one in person in his lifetime.

In any case, while it took a lot to render him speechless, this definitely qualified. Sure, he'd always thought reality seemed broken and overwhelming, but that was supposed to be a personal issue, not an actual fact.]


...I have a lot of questions but I feel like, if there were answers to any of them, we'd know how to get back from here.

So what do I do now?
dontcallmedeku: (Default)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Izuku nods and turns. He walks toward the rocks and smiles. He looks back at Julian when he hears the question. He smiles yet again.]

I'm from Japan. I go to UA High School. Have you ever heard of it?

[He tilts his head a little with the question. Time to see if Julian is from his world or not. Everyone knows about UA back home. If he doesn't, he has his answer. Simple process of elimination.]

[personal profile] part_time_person 2018-03-04 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
No, I haven't. I'm from the United States - well, more or less - though, so that might be why.

[He was vaguely aware of the weeaboo contingent of his high school that had started a penpal program with some school in Japan, but he had neither understood their fascination nor even attempted to. Julian can tell when a question is loaded when someone smiles that much for no reason, despite lacking in social graces, after having seen so much of that when he was a kid. He just doesn't know the significance of what he's being asked and probably wouldn't lie if he did. Lying wasn't something he had a lot of skill in, frankly.]
dontcallmedeku: (Happy boy smile)

[personal profile] dontcallmedeku 2018-03-04 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
Well that's alright. It's the number one hero school in the world. People from all around the world enroll and try to get in. Only 2 in every 100 or so applicants get in. I'm in Class 1-A. We're training to be professional heroes one day. With a Quirk like yours, I bet you would make a great hero.

[Quirk wise, that is. Julian seemed too emotionless to be a good hero. At least by today's standards. It would depend on his sense of justice. That was what separated the real heroes from the fakes. Not that he had plans, just enjoyed the observations. He sat on the rocks when they arrived.]

What about you? What do you want to be when you finish school?

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