interstellar404 | TEST DRIVE MEME: THE SELF TITLED ALBUM

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TEST DRIVE MEME: THE SELF TITLED ALBUM

☆WELCOME TO INTERSTELLAR
And welcome to our first TDM! We've got two types of prompts to use this time around: the first takes place while your character is in the process of being captured, and the second is during their first brainwashed rockstar tour. The former is designed to be considered 100% game canon if you make it in officially, while the later is more speculative and will only work if you get lucky during label and band selection.

☆THE TALENT SEARCH
These prompts are design to be kept as game canon after acceptance, and can be used as the official story of how your character was captured. Importantly, the kidnappers entering your timeline causes massive time distortions, which means that the outcome of this scenario will stagger and replay itself multiple times before settling on an outcome. This means that after the fact, you character may remember being captured multiple ways, or going in more than one direction, before the timeline settled on a final path. Or at least, they'll remember this until their memories are wiped shortly afterwards, but that's okay! That's what memory regains are for. Read this page for more specifics on this situation. Any powers the characters have will be weakened and prone to malfunction to the point of uselessness.

►A1) THE SEARCH: It always starts out this way, doesn't it? At some point in your life, you were just doing your thing, wherever you call home. Then, all at once, it's like you've been torn from your dimension by the roots. Time and space displace, and it's like you've been shifted one layer of reality to the left - like some kind of subspace where you can see your reality through it, like a rainbow surrealist image of your home. Even if you can see this ghost image of where you were, you can't interact with it meaningfully. Any friends or family are somewhere else. As you begin to wander, without any other options, you'll find that the scenery gradually shifts to ghost images of other places, other worlds. If you wander long enough, you'll even find other people, lost just like you are. But you probably won't have much time - you've been brought here for a reason, after all.

►A2) THE HUNT: It could happen almost immediately, or it could happen hours later - but, at some point, your dimensional kidnappers start to do their sweep. Space Men in black body suits and gas masks pursue you on foot and in small spaceships, trying to sweep you and the other displaced up like fish in a net. Their guns contain a weird pink gas that will knock out most with only a single breath - and for those more enduring, they have the heavy artillery, like electrical nets and guns. The fallen will be sealed up into stasis pods for transport and loaded onto the ships, which seem like the only way to get out of this place by choice. This is where it ends, but are you going to put up a fight?

☆THE MAGIC TOUR BUS
By default, these prompt aren't considered canon, but if after you are accepted and sorted they can be tweaked into working for you, it'll be totally okay to keep them as a part of your rockstar's personal history. They take place after being kidnapped and brainwashed, on your character's first tour under their new label. As it turns out, it seems like brainwashing aliens isn't the only thing the abductees have to worry about.

►B1) PLAY IT STRAIGHT: It's just another day on the tour bus, in between long stretches of highway. How do you fill your time? Do you practice your instrument, or do you take full advantage of the open bar? Do you sulk and try go to bed early? Do you yell at your bandmates for ruining the toilet? Do you troll people on Twitter? Tours being what they are, everyone is probably at least a little bit tired or cranky. Just don't do anything that will get the Manager on your ass, because that's always more trouble than it's worth.

►B2) THAT'S NORMAL: The Managers aren't here, as far as you can tell, leaving you in a moment of relative relaxation. Something about those guys just make you uneasy, and they're always shoving you around and making you do things you don't really want to. However, these moments of peace don't last long, because it stars to become increasingly apparent that your tour bus might be...haunted? Whether its the bus turning on without a driver and without a key, wine glasses falling off tables, or guitar static sounding like frantic whispering, things are starting to get weird. Yet, at the same time, something in your subconscious is strongly suggesting that you should ignore it, and that everything is normal and fine...

►B3) THEN WHO WAS GUITAR?: These weird experiences eventually culminate in a kind of phantom music bleeding in from the air around you. The source is impossible to discern but it's somehow...familiar? Like something that played at an important moment in your life, even if the event itself just won't come to mind. What's weirder, is that everyone seems to hear something different. It gets to you in a way that your programming doesn't like - but how do you react? Reluctantly take it in, or throw a fit until it stops?

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Alec's green eyes narrow sharply. Yes, he knew it was a weapon. He isn't a complete moron, but he's never seen anything like it before. He wants, almost needs to know about it, and how do you know about anything if you don't experience it?

And that's another thing. "I don't remember asking you to keep me safe." In fact, Alec asked Richard to do the exact opposite and had to settle for a promise of someday. He isn't terribly disappointed, however, because being kept safe usually involved excitement.

This is a very boring safety, despite the danger of dropping out of a non-first floor window. "That's dramatic for you, isn't it? Sometimes, I don't think you can resist. What a pity you're climbing out of windows here instead of on the Hill. You could double your fees once the salacious rumors hit the ears of the nobles."

"You didn't." Oh, Richard probably can manhandle Alec, but that'll make everything slower and more complicated. So he speaks blithely, his ear careful towards the stairs. They're not trying to break down the door yet, but he can hear them. "I'm doing it for myself.

"And I did climb out of Lord Horn's window. Well, first in, and then out. I think I'm all set for now, as far as the Hill is concerned. But I can fit in your suggestions next month."

Of course, if they're both here for Alec to make them.

"Come. Be dramatic with me."

--Oh wow okay that's new. B jolts a little when the bus moves, fortunately managing to keep from getting dumped off his bed and sharing his bandmate's fate.

He tugs his headphones off, dull bass thumps still audible through the speakers, and leans over to peer at Kaworu. "Hey, man, you okay?"

He's... just going to try not to laugh at the magazine on his face. Sort of.

Hopefully. Something more is definitely better than just rotting in the ground.

[But that vague answer doesn't seem like Meril at all, so if Nariko didn't already believe that her bandmate was only looking for answers, she certainly did now.] Well, the more you learn the more likely you are to find something that fits, right? Maybe we just need to ask more people!

It's a tight place, they might not all be able to fit even if they want to. [How many had there been? Nariko had counted at least three but they might also had reinforcements. Were those gas guns bulky? She pushes out a shaky breath and tries to force her nerves out with it. Now isn't the time to be letting the brain run wild, it'll only make this worse!]

I think you're right that one by one is our best bet. We can try hiding under the desk, get a feel for how many are here, and knock them out.

[But that wouldn't leave much room for error, and hopefully Yosuke's at least decent in a scuffle. And ... For as terrible as it makes her, she has to wonder if he'll leave her behind if it doesn't go smoothly.] Can you throw a hit with some force behind it? [Please don't let these assholes be super powered and inhuman like she is - was.]

No, please. Go ahead. Laugh.

Kaworu pulls the magazine off his face and drops it unceremoniously off to the side, still contemplating whether there's any chance of salvaging his dignity. Unfortunately, he's ... well, if there is, it's too late now.

"....was that me or the bus?"

Going out on a limb, Rei nodded. She hadn't said this aloud to anyone, but she leaned in so other bandmates wouldn't hear.

"Do you remember how we talked about animism, during that project? The spirits and souls in everything? And how everything has a governing spirit?"

As for him, Izumi didn't care too much about the noise usually, although this time, it's rousing him from daydreaming, after nights of so much practice with the lyrics. Not to mention, those lovely concert dates. So, he was kinda tired, and more or less, he figured that the there were only a few ways to deal with it. Would have been easier if he weren't a light sleeper of some kind. So he's opening the door to the room on this large bus, and crossing his arms.

He asks, "So you aren't going to take a break or something? Those bastards had been driving us pretty hard lately."

He may be taller, but Alec would lose every time in a physical contest, including if Richard promised to not use any blades and to tie one hand behind his back. He's too thin, and that skinniness is unaccompanied by any sort of wiry strength or knowledge of how to fight.

In short, yes, Richard could easily manhandle Alec through the window. The hardest part would be getting all of his gangling limbs past the frame without catching. The longer interpretation is that, if his shorter friend was capable of forcing him along, he certainly wasn't going to be any help with or challenge to the four men on the other side of the door.

Alec doesn't have to think about the longer interpretation. He simply knows, subconsciously. In his sharper hours, he would have recognized that the offer to be dramatic is another way of manhandling him. But, the wine. His only plan tonight had been to pour himself into bed and let the night do what it wanted.

If he goes with Richard, there's a chance the strangers will catch up to them in ones and twos, and he'll get to see a fight. The evening had been dull, and no one would dice with him. "Fine," he concedes, although he doesn't tend to be happy about it. "Maybe we'll both land headfirst. Maybe you'll fall into Marie's well, she won't like that."

[ Ryoko's response gets a simple shrug from the blond. ]

It isn't just my opinion. Ask any critic worth their salt and they'll say the same thing. What you do isn't novel. Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, they were revolutionaries in their own time. You can change the world without sounding like you just killed a cat.

"Must've been the bus; I felt it, too."

He swings his legs off the bed and stands up, peering toward the front of the bus. "What's the driver doing up there? ...Are we even supposed to be going anywhere today?"

[ Kouha was a kid, and acting like one shouldn't set her off nearly as much as it did. She would have left well enough alone, had he not started staring at her, daring her to say something.

Giving the youth a dry look in return, Celeste did her best to try to bury herself in her book once again. But judging from her body language and the occasional sharp breath she took in from her nose, she was certainly irked to say the least. ]

@celestewinters @jumpserve black tea with milk honey vanilla and lavender
@celestewinters @jumpserve it's perfect for a cold day

"No, she won't like that. So I'll try to avoid that."

Richard does, in fact, dislike manipulating Alec even that much. But Alec is drunk, and Richard is at the very least disturbed. (Fear is an enemy, so he does not let himself be afraid, but he is disturbed.)

"Come here and sit on the window ledge. Legs hanging out. And give me your hands."

When Alec does that, Richard will grip him tightly, but not painfully, by the wrists. With how tall Alec is, Richard leaning over the window with Alec hanging from his hands will leave only a small drop for Alec. That should be safe enough.

He hopes.

"Just keep moving." Right now it's all they can do.

Jamie's answer is interesting in that he mentions nothing about being dead. If he'd simply been hanging around at home then the chances of him having died suddenly were small. Meanwhile, Itachi had basically died twice before being brought here, his spirit just on the verge of release.

So much about this is wrong.

There are more closing in, and their avenues of escape (if they ever had any to begin with) are getting smaller. Maybe he's supposed to be taken. Maybe this is the afterlife he deserves. Despite these thoughts, he stubbornly keeps running.

Alec's body feels leagues long as it stretches out the window. His ankles and knees are loosened in his inebriated state, and he thinks it takes forever for his body to fold up against the smooth stones of the courtyard.

He must look like a ringlet that's been pulled too far and then let go. He shouldn't laugh, right now. He feels queasy from the drop, and any extra air might make him sick. "Richard?"

Looking up at the window to see what's taking him so long, it occurs to him that he might be in the way, still crouched directly under the window. Unfolding and standing up requires a few perilous, staggering steps to the side.

It occurs to him that Richard might have done this on purpose - dropped Alec out the window first - because now Alec is in the clear, with the men on the stairs, thinking they are upstairs.

Richard is a bastard.

"Get down here and fight them outside," he hissed, scowling up at the window. If he's going to fight the men who obviously followed Alec home, then he should have the good grace to do it in public. They might win some money, if Alec shouts up a crowd.

Richard really hasn't taken that long. Only enough to sheathe the sword and grab his brown cloak, shrugging it on.

But, since Alec was still under the window at that point, Richard didn't jump. Instead, he started climbing down the wall, which, yes, does take him a few moments longer than jumping. Then Alec is stumbling, and Richard is on the ground, and he reaches out an arm to wrap around Alec's waist, smiling up at him.

"Hey, I'm here. You want to see a fight, right? Let's go choose our ground, then. Ready?"

He would not have dared even this partial embrace if it wasn't this dark, and this empty, around them.

And if he wasn't as worried as he is.

The wall was giving like wet clay, under his fingers. And everything is glowing, a little

Running always included the possibility of hiding. Escape means to get away from our pursuers by whatever means necessary. It also means being adaptable.

[So no, he hadn't changed his decision to "fly", but he has to be ready to alter the way he goes about it. Flexibility is important to a ninja in more than just the physical sense.]

Do you disagree?

No-- I just wanted to be sure.

[Because hiding had always been a part of the agenda one way or the other. Koumei had thought of surrender in part because of his own relative defenselessness, but the situation has changed now that he was working with someone else.]/small>

Where there is one rock, there is other things. We may be in luck once we see what's there.

Alec is only a selectively patient man. He enjoys drawing out debates, arguments, sitting back and watching another moron hang himself with his words. Something that interferes with how he prefers the world? No, that he wants corrected immediately.

So, yes, Richard was to hurry up.

He only forgets to tell him that when the warm arm steadies him, makes the haze of the wine so much thicker.. That was another thing the drink had promised him that their unexpected guests have delayed. "Your eyes are bright."

Brighter than normal in the moonlight, because the moon is burning like the sun. It should alarm him. It doesn't - the sudden crash from the window above them does.

"She's going to raise the rent to cover that door," Alec sighs, but he starts in the direction of the arch out of the courtyard. Richard said to choose their ground, and they both know not to begin cornered.

Alec hits the street at the same moment as the front door to their building creaks open.

Richard is a little wistful, with the way Alec's body moves against his, for that brief moment. But, out of the corner of his eye, he catches sight of Marie's window. The figures he sees there are insubstantial. Added to Alec's comment about his own bright eyes...

He'd think he is on some sort of a drug, even if he knows of nothing like that, but he knows what crosses his lips. And nostrils. And nothing is even remotely suspicious.

Instead of thinking too hard about that, he lets himself smirk, at the way Alec thinks and moves. When he has reasons to ignore the fact that he wants to die, he's very brilliant, even for fighting situations.

Then he hurries, to catch up with him. Grabs his hand, making sure it's still real. It'll stay real. And flashes a small smile up.

"Run."

And they do.

There are actually more than four people with those strange helmets. They are the only ones that still seem real, besides the two of them. Richard tries to keep away from them as long as he can, never letting go of Alec's hand.

Dude, seriously??? Don't say that kinda stuff to my face!

[Why can't he ever land a girl his own age?]

So you seriously want to fight back?

[He reconsiders. This guy hadn't found any way of escaping? And he makes a point. Yosuke turns and looks in the direction of where he knew their assailants were coming from.]

Alright...I guess this is it. Ready when you are.

[He doesn't like it, but he'll try. It might be the only way, he thinks, as they close on them, the gas guns pointed and ready.]

Edited 2015-09-19 21:53 (UTC)

[He moves a table closer to the door, as fast as he can. That should give a decent hiding spot to get a jump on anyone who comes in. Yosuke positions himself right next to the door, crouching down so that when they enter, they'd walk right past him.]

I-I've only been in one fist fight my whole life. I mean, I beat my partner up pretty good! ...That sounds weird, I mean we fought it out and...

[He hears a crash from downstairs, silencing him. They're walking upstairs now, he can hear the heavy thud of their boots on the wooden staircase.]

Get ready!

Someone grabs his hand, and Alec tries to pull it away, even after he knows that it's Richard. He's had enough touch.

But then run and Alec can see people coming out of their building. He runs and quicker than that, he's grateful for the hand on his. It's not harder to run faster than Alec - the most exercise he gets is a brisk walk on a cold day, but the hand forces him to keep up or risk being towed behind.

Richard, Alec thinks, would drag him along the street if he had to.

The first street Alec tries to turn them onto has helmets in the distance, almost too far away to see as the narrow street narrows in the distance and dark.

The second street, they're closer.

The third, closer still, but their backs are turned. Alec skids to a halt, tugging at Richard's hand and jerking his thumb to the tiny alley that lies only ten feet down this road. It smells like piss on a good day and is where the "merchants" selling Delight and other concoctions like to set up shop.

They're still being pursued. If Richard hesitates, they lose any chance at hiding in the alley.

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TEST DRIVE MEME: THE SELF TITLED ALBUM

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B2

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Re: B2

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B1. (sorry school and con prep kicked my butt this week)

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B1 (sorry this week has been an adventure)

keep almost typoing his username as jumpscares lol

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