notasstrange | TDM: ROUND 3

15 STRANGERS ROUND 3
TEST DRIVE

There are 15 strangers in this place. Someone knows why. And its clear the odds are stacked against you.

1. ARRIVAL
Oh god, you're inside a Base. Why are you here? What happened to your powers? Your memories? Who else has been so unlucky as to be brought in with you? What are you wearing? What are these strange rules? And...why do you feel like the person who wrote them is going to like yelling at you?

2. POWER
You have been, er, "blessed" with a power. Its not a power you want or care for, but its yours now. You might want to try an control it, lest you hurt someone else. That is...unless you want to. Or if you want to try and see if you can break out of your new domicile. Or, hey, go ahead and blow things up - there's no rule against property damage aside from the camerabots, after all...

3. HOME
So now you live in a Base of some kind. Whee. Maybe living here forever won't be so bad, since there are things to do with your free time. Unless you're looking for a way out, but surely, you wouldn't do that, right?

4. MINIGAME
The Commander has decided to do...erm, 'games'. Those who win the games will get prizes, the Commander has promised. This Test Drive Meme's minigame: a laundry folding contest! The most items folded in one hour wins! Work alone, or in teams - either way, you get the feeling there's an ulterior motive to the Commander making you do this while they watch and laugh...
5. MOTIVE
The Commander has (somewhat too gleefully) announced the motive for the week. Clearly someone out there really wants to give you a reason to kill someone else. How will you react? Will you stand against such an insult and help others to fight the temptation? Or perhaps, you yourself are tempted...?

6. DEATH
One of your own has died - no, been killed. The Inquisition has started. The body lies before you, and now you must discern the truth from the clues before you. But can you when you mourn? Or, perhaps you don't mourn the dead. Perhaps you're only playing along because you know more than you let on.

7. TRIAL
Well, it looks like the Commander wasn't kidding when they said there would be a trial if someone was murdered. So now you're here, looking to condemn the responsible killer. If you do, they die. If you don't, well, you'll end up killing an innocent person, as the Commander has announced what would happen if the majority votes incorrectly. Whatever happens, you have to figure out what happened. Can you?

8. SCAPEGOAT
Oh dear...the Commander has just announced that the person everyone just voted for...was actually completely innocent! Not only that, but they've revealed who the real culprit was! Maybe you're that innocent person, trying to say your goodbyes or beg for your life. Maybe you're one of the ones who voted for the innocent person, trying to cope with the horrible act you've just committed. Or maybe you're the true culprit, who now has to not only deal with an innocent dying for your actions, but also the fact that you can now be killed without repercussion!...

9. WILDCARD
Anything not mentioned above. Go wild!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If it's not the puppets struggling futilely against their strings, it's the parasites eating away at their minds before they can find them to cut them down.

[ He seems oddly gentle when he says that, surprisingly. Seems he picked up on the fact Akira has... suffered somehow. He's not sure how, but he has. ]

And it wants to spread itself. A plague of the mind.

[ You don't look like one, he doesn't say. ]

It would seem to me you have your own personal parasites, Mister Kurusu, that are in need of cleansing.

[ ... In other words, you're suffering from emotional pain and you need help to carry that burden, is what he's getting at. ]

[ It takes him a moment to process the words. It sounds almost like something Yusuke would say? Close enough to have Akira's expression dimming a tiny bit as his gaze shifts to the side for just a moment, anyway.

But then, seconds later, the words fully sink in, and... ]

I'll be fine. [ a gentle, reassuring smile ] It's not the first time I've made it through a place like this.

[ Even if... he did fail in the last one. Even if, in the end, he couldn't protect anyone. Even if it hurts just a little to take in the next breath...

None of that will stop him from fighting through this one. ]

... If you run out of Social Battery Points, you can always replenish them by resting.

[ That is the most cryptic fucking statement anyone has ever made in the history of ever, but it's probably clear what he means, right? ]

Besides, I have found the NPC dialogue here to be a touch better than I expected, as someone I know might say.

[ Social Battery Points - SBP, huh? That... sounds a lot like "get some fuckin' rest, Kurusu," but that's just him. He always needs to do more of that, even if he... doesn't... these days. It's kind of difficult to sleep, when all that brings is nightmares.

In any case, he's going to assume that NPC is referring to their host? Just what kind of world does this guy come from? ]

It's a lot more... colorful than I'd have expected.

[ He nods. ]

At the very least, I can appreciate the attempt that was made with this world, but I think whoever wrote it wasn't thinking in terms of practicality of the setting. Long-term survivability for the people inside it. The library is poorly stocked, the wine we aren't supposed to touch--though, I don't drink, but I'm sure others would want to--and only one shower we can only use if we get permission?

If I had written this, I don't think I'd have made the layout of this place so... droll. And I don't need to bring up E.T. again, I hope.

[ So he... thinks they're in a work of fiction? A movie? A game? Akira could argue, but for now? He'll go along with it, for the sake of learning more about the kind of place this guy comes from... ]

Or maybe they were just that sadistic.

Sadism in and of itself doesn't really constitute what's going on here. I've done sadism; pure sadism is more...

[ He waves a hand. ]

... Meat grinder. This is just meant to wear us down and annoy us. It's poorly considered. If they want anyone to even survive, they really should just... think about hygiene, at least. It's disgusting.

[ He shrugs gently. ]

We didn't get showers until the second week in the last place I was in. Not that I remember anything before the second week - I just remember being incredibly happy over having a shower, finally. Either way, it turned out that woman was just... angry, really.

Edited 2018-07-04 12:24 (UTC)

Look, this kind of thing wouldn't get a single kudo. Nobody would even give it a share. This is the worst setting for a story I've ever heard of.

[ He is firm on this! ]

If I was going to write it, I'd make it more, you know... intelligent. This is just... the NPC is bad, the set is bad... I just can't fathom who wrote this nonsense. Whose world this is.

[ oh my god ]

What kind of NPC would you give it, then?

... Someone classy.

[ He smiles, closing his eyes. ]

Maybe someone like the Oracle. They don't need any particular features, male or female. Perhaps ambiguity would be nice. Someone that looks familiar, but a little bit... off and alien at the same time. There'd be little things you'd notice that didn't seem right. The foods they like. The fact they'd never shower. That they struggle with names a little bit sometimes, that their accent is hard to place.

None of that green skin or obvious alien trope stuff, no, make them just a little paler than the usual, is all. Maybe an eye color that seems a bit too bright. But nothing else.

[ ... You know what?

He can get behind just talking like this. Pretending he's helping to build an entirely new place, a better version of the one they're in. It feels almost like an escape, even if it's brief and not really an escape at all. ]

Ambiguity would make it more fun.

[ There's a pause as he rests his fingers against his chin. ]

What if they weren't even recognizable as an NPC in the first place? Having it be so those hints were all anyone had to go off of?

Even better. That would be an excellent task for the reader to discern. It would show initiative if they figured it out early, and spark a lot of theorizing. Ambiguity is a good tool for such things.

[ He's quite happy to be talking about fiction. Very happy. That's his thing, and he loves it. Dearly. He might not have written anything recently, but he loves his creations with all his heart. ]

Plus the intrigue of concern over developing friendships tearing people apart, as some get angry about the obvious traitor in their midst, and others get too attached and defend them... well. It would make for some very good drama.

[ Something about the mention of traitor has his expression flickering a bit. It feels... familiar. He recalls something about there having been... several traitors, and not just the culprit of week one and... Kurama...

But... who were the other two...? ]

The wars between fans would be pretty intense, too. [ it's just fiction, it's not real, this is all hypothetical at best ] Especially if something happened that resulted in the NPC protecting one or more of them at some point...

Imagine the scariest part:

[ He leans in a bit when he says this next part, with the kind of quiet fear one might talk of a monster. ]

Shipping wars.

[ Okay, that?

That actually gets a laugh out of him, and there's just a moment of his eyes brightening up a little, his shoulders gently shaking with the amusement. All the same, though, he's nodding; there's a look that should make it clear he's well-aware how terrifying those things can get. ]

Somehow, the shipping wars manage to get even scarier than the fanart.

[ He's laughing too. ]

I've been on Tumblr. You don't want to know how bad they get. I'd rather browse the Deep Web and find one of those Red Rooms or whatever.

TDM: ROUND 3

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I THOUGHT I REPLIED TO THIS........????

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