MARCH TEST DRIVE

[rubycitymods]

Welcome to the Ruby City Test Drive!

The rules are simple:

• Pick your prompts and post your character, making sure to include the character's name and canon in the subject line.


• Tag around, making sure to follow the game rules. If you're not sure about something, don't be shy - check with the other player!


• We recommend staying away from "I just arrived" prompts. Instead, write your test drive threads as though your character has been in the city a while and is responding to our periodic events, especially if you're going to use your test drive threads as application samples. This will give mods a better understanding of your character, as well as make more dynamic prompts for other players to respond to.


• This one's obvious, but just in case you forgot: have fun!

KEEP RUBY CITY WEIRD

ONE ► You've been here a few weeks now, and things haven't gotten any more logical. You're on your weekly run to the grocery store and, for the umpteenth time, you notice something . . . not quite right. Maybe there's some unusual food on the shelves, something you don't know how to identify or would never have considered eating back home; edible chalk or an entire refrigerator full of ostrich eggs are more likely than you think! Or maybe it's something even stranger than that. Was that janitor's closet always there--and if it wasn't, do you really want to investigate? Have there always been seven aisles, because you really think you remember six last week . . . Whatever the weirdness this week, you're going to have to find a way to deal with it, whether that's by confronting it directly, asking another shopper for help, or turning to the network in dismay.

TWO ► While there are some reasonably fun places to hang out in Ruby City, the catacombs don't fall into that category. They're dark and miserable and terrifying, seemingly designed to trap you and draw you in, maybe even alive. The walls shift in an ever-changing maze, leading you further and further in, coaxing you towards any number of pitfalls. How long have you even been in here? Hope you brought a light, although it won't help much against the ghosts. Maybe you have a friend (or an enemy) with you; if not, you can try calling for help on the network, but let's be realistic: this isn't the kind of place that gets great reception.

THREE ► You've found an abandoned house. Again. This is a fairly frequent occurrence, given the city's eerie emptiness and tiny population. On a whim, or maybe even by accident, you enter the house and find the detritus of the previous owners. Pictures in frames of smiling friends, notes written from one person to another covered with inscrutable inside jokes, even a place on the wall where the former occupant used to hang their watch when they went to bed. Do you feel like an invader, or do you consider this place yours for the exploring? Either way, there's a lot to think about, or a lot to steal. If you're alone, you can philosophize on the network; if you brought a friend, you can philosophize in person or just get to looting.

MONSTERS ALL AROUND

FOUR ► In your time in Ruby City so far, you've seen plenty of monsters already. Honesty, you can't get away from the ghosts. This is a new one, though: there are a bunch of thestrals around this month, and while they're largely shy of people, anyone who heads into the forest is likely to come across them. If you've ever experienced someone's death before, you'll be able to see them in all their skeletal winged horse-y glory, witness them peering at you with their shining white eyes and considering you with a bit of mistrust. If you haven't experienced a death, congratulations, you just ran into an invisible dead horse. On the plus side, they're not violent; they just want to hang out being death omens, but they're scary enough to look at that you might ask for advice, either from a companion or the network at large.

FIVE ► Here you are, minding your own business, taking a walk in the park. Just like any other day, right? Wrong. So wrong. All of a sudden you hear growling from behind you, low and hungry; you turn around to see--something very ugly, half-man half-wolf, all excited to eat you. And the best part? There's a group of them. Maybe you call out for help. Maybe you holler and run away, or try to climb a tree. Or maybe you make a Blair Witch-style network video, the better to strike fear into the hearts of your neighbors. Either way, you better find a way to get away, or you're lunch.

SIX ► You totally have a clean conscience. Absolutely. 100%. You've never done anything wrong in your life; we know this, and we love you. So then why are you seeing the Adh Seid? Every night at midnight, a beautiful woman enters your home to remind you of all the awful things you've done in your life. You could set a clock by her, she's so persistent, and you can't figure out any way to get rid of her. How do you cope with this? You can ask someone, but that would mean admitting your guilty conscience. Or you could just vaguepost. Everybody loves a vaguepost.

SOMETHING'S HAPPENING

SEVEN ► So . . . you died. How did that feel? Terrible, right? Dying sucks. But coming back is sometimes even worse. Before the vision of Death you've seen (whichever one makes most sense to you, whether that's a big skeletal dude in a black cloak or something else entirely) lets you reenter the land of the living, it tells you that you have to give something up in exchange. That something can be physical, like an item or even a body part, or something less tangible, like a memory or skill. You'll get it back eventually, but for now it's out of your reach. Hard to cope, right? Maybe don't die next time. In the meantime, you're probably going to have to ask for help as you adjust, so make sure to reach out on the network. Unless you're the stoic sort, in which case, never fear: there are enough nosy people in this city that somebody's sure to notice sooner than later.

EIGHT* ► Perhaps you've been recruited by Dil herself, or maybe a friend or stranger has insisted you assist them in the locating and collecting of certain unique items. The exact nature of these items has been kept from you, but you know enough to know that there's something deeply wrong about them--or, at least that's the sense you get from this whole affair. Really, the entire town seems off-kilter, and even a simple mission to retrieve a simple object or two takes a lot of consternation. There's been whispers about a mirror, but you're not entirely sure, yourself.

The seaside sounds like a good place to start, in the closed, off-season stalls and high dunes. Maybe you've been pointed towards the Obelisk, where, even if you don't find whatever it is you're looking for, you're bound to find someone who can help. The library is another place that may be worth looking into--though it's possible the mutable bookshelves and dark rooms are more trouble than they're worth.

NINE** ► Ruby City is not what it was. While as long as you've been here you've known it as a very strange place with long stretches of boredom interrupted by horrifying upheaval, the city it has become now is totally, completely . . . pleasant. Nothing bad ever happens. No one questions anything, because nothing bad ever happens! And if someone asks about a bad thing that may or may not have happened, they are silenced. Quickly. Which didn't bother you until you woke up this morning and suddenly remembered the old city. What do you do? Is the right choice to conform and try to stay safe or fight against this Stepford city? Be careful what you say on the network this time--but who knows, maybe someone around you has woken up just like you have.

________
* This event is based off our February-March 2017 Mirror event.
** This event is based off of our June 2016 Pleasantville event.

Comments

applejack | my little pony

[countryisms]

one ► action;

Why...what a mighty weird place to put a janitor's closet.

[applejack is currently staring down a door. a door that definitely wasn't here, yesterday. a door that seems to lead into the end of the cereal aisle's display, but that can't be right. there's nothing in there but product...right?]

I guess it wouldn't be too bad to just have a little peek...

[she walks up to it and takes the doorknob between her teeth. it's fine she can definitely just go at this alone there's definitely nothing scary or bad about this in the slightest!]

nine ► network;

[the video opens on applejack's face, very serious indeed. applejack has always been so positive for this new town, so pleasant. after all, she's got that good country sensibility and traditionalism that fits right in in a city that's so nice. a model citizen, if you well.

but now...something is definitely off.]

Everypony just hold your horses for one second. Now, I know it might be weird to think about but I just want all y'all to take a moment to contemplate - and I mean reeeally contemplate - your lives from before now. Can ya always remember feeling so peaceful?

I think you can remember something else. Something different. It's hard to put your hoof on, I know, but there's something there. Something not right. I remember big, scary creatures that went bump in the night and ghosts on the streets! It's not just a story for scaring children at bed time, it was real.

We can't let the town get to us like this! Whatever evil magic has been messing with our brains, it ain't right. You can't just tell folks they're happy when they're not. We gotta learn to be happy on our own.

Y'all with me, or you just gonna live in ignorance?

Alexander Hamilton | some musical about a lot of founding fathers being drama queens

[aimedhigh]

four | network/action

[The video opens on one Alexander Hamilton, currently studying a thestral with some skepticism. Okay, forest, sure, he's seen his share of them; but never creepy undead skeletal horses. With wings. What is this, some completely deranged Greek myth? He's not entirely sure, and --normally, he'd go to the library. But it's a ways to walk, and his side still pains him from time to time, so he's decided to put the question to the network.]

The fuck are these things? I didn't sign up for any creepy voodoo Pegasus shit.

Zenyatta | Overwatch

[emptyisms]

Four|Network/Action

[Regardless of the fact that he is both mostly mechanical and that he's from a rather technologically forward era, he hasn't quite got the hang of his camera function. The video starts with ten second or so of the Omnic trying to discern whether his camera is actually recording before starting any sort of communication. In the background of his shot is the interior of the Library, the Omnic nursing a rather healthy stack of material.]

Greetings my friends, today I come to you all with a question; are there any within the city well-versed in the realms of the supernatural?

[His gaze seems to divert for a moment, his had lifting away from the camera view before bowing back to the lens, his hands moving to come together and steeple with a soft tell-tale whirr.]

I wish not to pry but I seem to have found myself in need of someone with experience in these things, especially if there is anyone with knowledge on beasts of a winged, equestrian nature.

Kikyo | Inuyasha

[gravedanger]

network;

There are many lost souls wandering this place, and yet I have seen no graves. Have the deceased here been given their final rites?

[The watches are... strange. She isn't certain she likes them. But even she can't deny their usefulness when she has a vested interest in a question for the city at large...]

action;

[Her body being what it is, she doesn't need to sleep. Or eat. Or even breathe, honestly, though she makes a show of it around others for the sake of their comfort and pretending to be an ordinary, living human.

(Perhaps things haven't changed between her life and her walking death, ultimately.)

So night falls, and the people of Ruby City retreat to their homes and their beds, and Kikyo... wanders, as lost souls do. Her soul collectors follow loyally at her heels, and perhaps you might catch the light of one as it passes your window, attempting to wrestle one of the unsettled ghosts haunting the streets into submission. But the spirits here are old, and well entrenched in their miserable state of limbo.

It's pitiable, really. And potentially a problem if she finds herself without the spirit energy to move her imitation body. But far be it for something like that to stop her from turning her attention to the park and the forest beyond it.

If the soul collectors didn't catch your attention, then the light show coming from the city's east might, as she hunts the more dangerous creatures that lurk in the underbrush. Though she is but one woman, and even expert marksmen can risk being overwhelmed...]

Sunset Shimmer | Equestria Girls

[another_way]

Three: Action

[She hadn't meant to pry. She'd just heard a noise coming from inside, something that sounded like a baby animal crying, and so she'd knocked, and the door had opened just the smallest bit, and, well, one thing always led to another. She'd looked for a solid ten minutes, upstairs and down, calling for whoever or whatever might have been inside, but the only thing that answers her are the echoes of her own voice. Nobody home. Not that that's unusual.

Before she leaves, she lingers for a moment more, and her eyes fall upon a framed picture on a table near the door. There's a moment of hesitation as she reaches out, but inevitably she picks it up, fingers brushing at the slightly dusty glass. Six girls smile up at her, mid-laugh, frozen forever. She traces one cheek, an arm around a shoulder, as the corner of her mouth twists just a little. There's a noise behind her, the creak of the door opening, but she doesn't move. The people who lived in these places don't come home, in her experience.]

I know some people think these houses are creepy, but I don't know. I just think it's...kind of sad. What about you?

Seven: Network

[They say that Death rides a pale horse. Sunset Shimmer knows now that isn't true. Death is a pale horse, towering and small all at the same time. She's looking at him right now, at the familiar shape of hooves and muzzle and flank, feeling the echoes of those limbs in her now-familiar fingers, the faint weight of a horn on her brow. In death, maybe, she's what she used to be. Old Sunset and new. He tells her she can go back, finish what she started, but she has to make a sacrifice. Has to give up something in exchange. She opens her mouth, but what he takes isn't exactly what she'd planned to give. Maybe that's why he took it.

Which is why this network post is text, unlike all of her previous. You can't make a voice post without a voice, after all.]

This might be a little weird, but is there anyone out there who knows sign language? And can teach it?

Rey | Star Wars: The Force Awakens

[garbagepilot]

[one : action / network]

[Saying that Rey's visits to the grocery store only happen one a week would be far, far too generous. She's there every few days to see if anything has changed, to restock on what she's learned she likes, sometimes to just stand in the aisles and eat with her hands straight out of a can or a box of whatever has caught her interest this time.

And this time it's a box of something with a satisfying crunch that she grazes on as she walks the aisles, eyes on the shelves to see if anything else will stand out to her. She's been working on the snack for long enough to not think twice as she reaches in, but this time it's- different. There's no shuffling of crunchy snacks rustling against each other and her fingers sink into something thick, liquid, and she drops the whole box with a disgusted grunt.

When it falls, something dark oozes out in place of what she had been eating the whole time, and it's with a sense of dread that she very, very slowly looks down at her hand.]

What-

[Her fingers are clean, not a trace of that ooze on her skin, and when she looks down at the box it's just as pristine. All the same she kicks it away, wipes her hand off on her shirt and shudders. After a moment, she takes her watch from the satchel at her waist and points it at the box, farther down the aisle but still visible enough to read the label.]

Don't eat those. Whatever's inside- changes, in the middle of you eating it.

[Save yourselves.]


[five : action]

[The park: check.

Minding her own business: check.

Sudden growling: also check, which sucks.

Calling for help or running, though? No, neither of those things are likely. She's got a perfectly good staff strapped across her back, after all, and she's never been one to run from a fight. The monsters are terrifying, sure, and their teeth and their claws are something to take seriously, but what good is she with the powers at her disposal if she runs from a threat that could very easily kill someone else if she just leaves?

So she doesn't. She strikes out savagely with her staff, shouts as she slams it into furry faces and bellies, but each time she thinks she's knocked one away it just gets right back up. No matter how many times she thinks she's struck a blow that should crack a skull, break an arm, the monsters just keep coming.

Which really only leaves her one course of action. She drops the staff, reaches for the metal hilt clipped to her belt, and holds it, albeit a little gracelessly, out in front of herself.

With a hum the lightsaber comes to life, illuminating the space around her in blue, and finally the beasts start to have second thoughts.

Help with the fight would still be welcome, of course, but she might have a difficult time showing her gratitude afterwards. Otherwise, feel free to sit back and enjoy the light show and applaud at your leisure.]