acatalepsy_ooc | test drive meme # 3

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test drive meme #3

It happens in the blink of an eye.

One moment, you are home. Perhaps you are with your family, perhaps you are at work. It's a completely normal day . . . and then, suddenly, your stomach drops. You are overcome with a sudden sense of vertigo. You cannot see up, or down, or where you are.

All you hear is a voice -- light, bubbly, warm, soothing, in your ear:

Don't worry, darling. This won't hurt a bit~ ♥

For those who recognize the voice, it will sound a bit strained. Possibly tired. But the moment happens so quickly it's hard to pin down, and once that moment is over, you fall flat on your face. It's bright, warm, and humid. It takes a few seconds for you to gain composure and catch your breath. You think, for half a moment, that a hand is on your back, rubbing between your shoulder blades in comfort, but when you open your eyes, no one is there. You are surrounded by ancient stone buildings, with carvings you do not recognize etched into the stone. There's a sense of nausea, overwhelming and sudden, when you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore.

Even worse, it looks like the tinier inhabitants of the Forest of the Fey are acting a little cheeky.

THE TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS.

Welcome to the "Home Base" of Astoria's Circle. What the actual name of the base is called is lost to the ages, and there's no sense of where you could find it, unless you started asking around.

At any rate, this is a central hub of the Circle, a place of powerful magic and mysterious energy. It is a scattering of ancient stone buildings and for the most part, it looks abandoned . . . except for what seems to be a few items, some rooms taken, items moved or organized, even a small garden planted. These are just the smallest hints that there are people here that have been here before you arrived.

Overall, it's fairly beautiful. However, it is definitely not modern.

Upon exploration, you find that the buildings are kept up by some kind of magic. Some of the rooms have items, things from other Circle members already settled, and others appear to be unclaimed. Pick your rooms, explore the grounds, see the beauty and wonder all around you in such a magical place. However, be careful -- the sprites that reside within the Forest of the Fey seem to be exceptionally active, today, and tricks abound wherever you look.

KINGS AND QUEENS.

Typically, the sprites of the Forest of the Fey remain within the protective canopy of the surroundings. However, there seems to be something different in the air, and these little bastards are flitting about and giving out flower crowns to everyone. They are beautifully made, intricate and gloriously decorative, and most people would be happy to adorn one!

There's just one problem, though -- they don't come off. No matter how hard you try, those damn flower crowns are stuck on your head, and you cannot remove them no matter how hard you try. Hope you enjoy being a fairy princess for a day.

And, if you are alighted with a flower crown, your skin turns the same color as whatever flowers now sit upon your head. A wreath of blue roses? Congratulations, Violet Beauregard -- you're now as blue as a blueberry. The effect wears off in about an hour, and you can remove the flower crown then -- but have fun being every shade of the rainbow as the sprites take their time to torment the new arrivals.

BALLOONS FOR EVERYONE.

Normally, there are some animals that wander within the ancient stone buildings of the Temple. Tiny little white bats, sheep that grow on the vine . . . that sort of thing. However, the sprites have elected to add a little bit more flair the Temple, and balloon animals have invaded the living space. Where the sprites got the idea for balloon animals, no one can really be sure -- Astoria seems to think the sprites are waltzing through the spirit realm and seem to have garnered an idea there, whatever that's supposed to mean.

So, no matter where you go, there are balloon animals. Little dogs, brightly colored fish, dinosaurs, giraffes . . . except they seem to move, and make noise, and act like their real counterparts. Tiny balloon dogs nip at your heels, balloon fish flicker about in the waters that sprinkle themselves throughout the Forest, and balloon birds float through the skies.

Bonus? If you pop them, they explode into (biodegradable) glitter.

DECAYED DECADENCE.

Despite the shenanigans from the sprites, however, there seems to be something happening within the Temple that may be cause of concern. Flower crowns and balloon animals aside, there seem to be odd spots of the Temple that suddenly wilt . . . flowers that bend over and wither at a moment's notice, saplings that seem to creak as if suddenly dried from the inside out . . . and it seems, oddly enough, that it happens whenever you, an Arrival, get closer to the wild life.

Astoria seems to think that something is wrong . . . perhaps something the Circle members brought back from their last trip. An illness, or something more? Care to poke about and see how far you're willing to take it? Or does your magical gift enable the protection of plant growth? Try out your green thumb and see if you can help.

COMMUNICATIONS.

Upon arriving, you will notice on whichever is your non-dominant hand, you will have a fairly simply screen. A smart watch, if you will. Upon exploration, you will find that it has a directory of all those here with you at the Temple of Beginnings- names, and access to a direct message to them. The watch also has video, audio, and text capabilities, as well as what looks like a collection of messages sent to everyone who wishes to open them. This is your 'network', and also how Astoria can reach out and communicate with you.

There is nothing keeping you from removing and/or losing your watch! But remember that you will not have access to this network without it.

OOC: Also feel free to join us and other possible players on our discord server!

enjoy! ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(ooc: These two aren't even geeking out over food or mechanics yet and they are already the freaking cutest)

[He starts brushing the glitter from the front of his shirt. The balloon cat leaps from his head and onto the ground. Apparently it is pleased that the dog balloon is no more.]

I'm fine. Mostly weirded out. But I've learned to accept that it is more or less a constant state of being in my life at this point. [Hunk has seen a lot of crap.] It could have been worse I guess. I might have misspoken earlier about them being living beings. I don't think a glitter circulatory system is a thing...but in this case I'm kind of glad it might be?

[This would be a very different scene otherwise.]

We're both probably going to be shedding glitter for weeks. What about you? Are you okay?

[ Winry smiles sheepishly at him, idly brushing the glitter from her arms with a light laugh. Haha, has she said that nothing here makes sense? Because nothing here makes ANY SENSE. ]

Yeah, it's probably best not to think too hard about it.

[ Like how she just murdered a balloon animal. Hands for healing, nails for popping. But he does manage to catch her curiosity, as she pulls a piece of rubber from her shoulder and holds it up to him for emphasis. (Winry no.) You're speaking her language, friend. ]

I don't think they have much of a circulatory system. No organs either. I think you're right, they're just balloons. But I wonder what makes them move like that. Something in the glitter maybe? Doesn't seem like alchemy, not that I'm an expert or anything.

[ She laughs a little more confidently, waving a hand at him. ]

Don't worry, I'm fine! A little rattled, but it takes a lot more than that to get to me.

[She took the words right out of his mouth. Hunk often found himself thinking too much about the situations he and the others got themselves in and usually it hurt his brain.]

I've seen Altean alchemy before, doesn't make any sense to me, but I don't think it can do stuff like this...maybe.

[That would be a question to ask Allura. Though he wonders...]

Hey, how do you know about alchemy? I thought it was just an Altean thing.

[Also a code word for magic, except Allura never seemed to be thrilled when he or Pidge waved off the more absurd Altean abilities as such. But, come on, there was no scientific explanation for some of the stuff they pulled off.]

[ Oh, he knows what alchemy is? That's a pleasant surprise, and Winry lights up slightly. Maybe their worlds are similar? ]

I'm not sure what an "Altean" is, but alchemy is reasonably common where I'm from. I don't know how to use it myself, but I know some people who do. Actually, a few of them are here at the temple.

[ A beat, as she offers her hand out to him. ]

I'm Winry, by the way. I didn't think I'd find anybody else here whose world was even remotely similar to ours. It's kind of exciting. [ Let's swap notes, new friend! ]

[They'll probably figure out pretty quickly that they really aren't, but for the time being it makes for an interesting moment.]

They're a species of aliens with pointy ears and markings under their eyes. I guess sometimes they can glow, but I guess that's only under special circumstances. But, yeah, I don't really know how their alchemy works or how similar it might be to what the people you know can do.

[This is said very matter of factly. He puts his fingers under his eyes to indicate where specifically he's talking about, as if this will help with his explanation in the least.]

It's good to meet you Winry. I'm Hunk. And you're right, meeting new people is pretty exciting. I'm guessing you're new too, right?

Aliens? What's an alien?

[ Winry blinks owlishly, listening to his explanation and staring in surprised awe. Okay that's not... even remotely close to what she thought an Altean would be. She just assumed someone from another country, but the way that he describes them, they sound like something out of a fairy tale more than anything. What?

She doesn't get a chance to press further, nodding vaguely. ]

Yeah, I just got here. I'm still a little confused on where here is, but everyone seems nice enough, at least.

Well, you have the Earth, right? [He draws a helpful circle in the air.] And then from there you have the other planets: Mars, Venus, and so on. Those can't support life, but if you keep going further out into the universe you can encounter other lifeforms. [Here he moves his hands away from the Earth, like he's hopping planets with his fingers.] And we refer to the beings that inhabit those planets as aliens. My friends and I kinda stumbled onto them when we were abducted into space by a giant robot lion. We've met a lot of different aliens since then though, some nicer than others. The Alteans are definitely the good guys though...and I pilot one of those lions now so that's also pretty cool.

[This might be a lot to tell a girl he just met, but she HAD asked and Hunk was always an honest kind of guy.]

Ah...sorry. That's probably a lot to accept on top of this whole 'Witch brings you to a mysterious Temple to save the universe' thing.

[ That's... A lot to process. Is this what it feels like to be on the receiving end of one of her automail rants? She blinks slowly a few times, trying to soak in at least a little bit of what he's said. Different life forms(???), planets, space lions—nope, she is completely lost. ]

O-oh, I see.

[ She doesn't, but it's fine. She'll figure it out. She just isn't that kind of nerd. ]

So you're... A giant lion tamer?

[ ...Seriously Winry, is that what you got from this? ]

Edited 2018-08-28 18:36 (UTC)

[Hmm. Yep. Definitely over did it there. Sorry, Winry. He smiles sheepishly.]

Not exactly...but I guess that's pretty close. [He's really not sure how to convey the lions of Voltron. He wouldn't have believed what all they could do, if he hadn't lived through it himself.]

Just...the lion isn't exactly something to be tamed. It is still a robot.

[ His explanation doesn't do much to help her understand his world any better, but at least he has her attention now. Her face positively lights up, as she takes a small step closer. ]

Wait, you didn't tell me it was a robot!

[ That's a very important detail to leave out, Hunk! Tell her more!! ]

[Hunk glances upwards, trying to think back to his long explanation.]

I thought I did...but maybe I rushed past that part. Sorry. Yeah, the lion is a robot. I think the technical term might be 'mecha'...but we usually just call them the lions and differentiate them by color. And then when they combine we call it Voltron, which is an even bigger robot.

test drive meme # 3

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and now for some hardcore mood whiplash

seems legit

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