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TDM 016 & 4th WALL EVENT: NO WALLS BETWEEN US
TDM 016 & 4th WALL EVENT: NO WALLS BETWEEN US |
00. An Arrival and a Broken Wall?!![]() You should be coming out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface and carrying you to shore. Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals should be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card already loaded up, and if you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they should usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you should be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Should. That’s how things are for newbies - and maybe today, some newbies will arrive the usual way. Others might be surprised to hear that there is another "you"... already here! If and when you finally meet this other "you," there's simply no way to agree on who the so-called real version is. Your histories may be the same or they may be wildly divergent, but those little differences don't change the fact that you are who you say you are. Some islanders might even find themselves running into a much older or younger version of themselves. Duplicates and doppelgangers, you say? People who look and sound familiar but are just a little bit off? What strange anomalies have washed up from the ocean! On the other hand, maybe you’re not new here at all, or so you think. You’ve definitely been on this Island for months already. You can't exactly remember what you were doing here before, but you have the modest home and personal effects to prove that you existed. You’ve always been someone who greets new arrivals at the shore. You know very well how things work on the island, and how many of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair. You know that beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased. You know all of this. You’ve already claimed a place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. You’re a veteran at this by now. Aren’t you? I. A WHOLE NEW YOU![]() The fog has thickened off the shores of the Island and in the areas that have still been obscured. So thick that it looks not unlike the heavy clouds of the recent storm. But late into the night and early into the morning, the fog seems to encroach on the Nameless City even more, blinding and catching Islanders traveling through in areas normally free of its effects. Anyone who gets caught in the especially heavy mist might find themselves suffering from more than just the usual amnesia. The fog no longer only takes memories, but can also alter your memories... and you. You may forget your time on the Island. You may forget your life before. But you’ll remember something else. You’ll remember a life entirely different as if you lived it yourself: you are a merperson who has always lived here, in the waters around the Island. Those grand underwater cities look like ancient ruins to others, but to you? You still see them as beautiful and palatial as the day they were built. You are a Native whose memories are fuzzy, but you certainly remember living your entire life here in great happiness and luxury. And once you step out of the mist, you might even find yourself physically changed to match what you recall, with fins or tentacles and gills to allow you breathe beneath the waves. You might be completely transformed, or just enough to make life underwater as easy as it's ever been. Someone else attempting to free you of these delusions will find that the more they try to force you to remember your true life, the more real and convincing your undersea life begins to feel. You must embrace this new (old?) life, embrace this new you in all ways and live it to its fullest. Completing Auspicious Acts will help bring out glimpses, hints, flashes of memory and recognition that perhaps this is not who you once were, and allow you to return to your former self. But the longer you take to embrace this, the harder it might be to let go. Some of these changes could become permanent. II. LET XXX BE YOUR GUIDE![]() Things have been strange, not just for the people of the Island, but the robots as well. The typically welcoming robots that offer their assistance in guiding new arrivals or encouraging Islanders to visit the various locations seem to be scarce. There are fewer of them running around the entertainment district and other establishments. To ensure that new arrivals continue to have a pleasant Island experience, robots will be recruiting Islanders as mentors and guides: mentor guides, if you will! Volunteers will lead other Islanders around the Island as a means of helping them become better acquainted with the locations available here for your fun and entertainment, and they will be rewarded with credits for their hard work. Guides and sightseers alike could be someone fresh and new to the Island, someone who insists they’ve been here for years, or even someone that a robot randomly dragged off the street. Mentor guides will all receive a very form-fitting and revealing uniform - no two are the same! - and, of course, a glossy paper map of all of the available sights on the Island. The pictures are big and detailed, and cute sex toy icons point out various key sights such as the recreation center, the bath house, and the library. There are even suggestions for which Auspicious Acts are the best for each location! Strangely, none of the maps list the same suggestions, so each map encourages its own unique experience. Mentees will also find that their mentor’s voice is very appealing. So appealing that just listening to them speak is enough to get you feeling some kind of way. The more they talk, the more of a reaction you have. Your body begins to burn or itch and it’s very hard to pay attention to their words when thoughts about all the things you could be doing to them instead keep coming to your mind. The only way to relieve these thoughts might be to make your mentor stop talking altogether, or follow through with some of those helpful map suggestions. Maybe you need them to mentor you in more ways than one? III. SITCHES GET GLITCHES![]() You’re walking down the road, or in your own home, or visiting a friend and suddenly something happens out of the corner of your eye. There’s a soft pfzzzzzzt and the feel of static on the skin. You turn and realize that the wall is suddenly gone. Or, maybe the glass in a store window disappeared. Perhaps someone’s clothes just vanished off of them in the middle of the street, or the chair you were sitting in at the cafe suddenly poofs right from under you. It’s as if the world around them is malfunctioning - little glitches that can last for seconds, hours, or even days before returning to normal on their own. Nothing that could seriously harm someone, but enough to be quite inconvenient. At least completing an Auspicious Act in the affected area or with the affected person seems to put it to rights immediately. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop these glitches from happening again. You may be concerned, and the robots understand, but if asked they will insist it’s just the world adjusting as the Augur welcomes so many new people! Nothing to be worried about, obviously. It will take time for fluctuating energy levels to adjust, that’s all. Some robots might even say it’s the perfect time to enjoy having so few barriers between you. Embrace the open nature of the Island and share yourself and your home with others. Walls are only meant for keeping out what you could be letting in! OOC Notes:Enjoy a mini Fourth Wall event, Islanders! As such, this test drive meme is open for anyone to create top levels, not just prospective players. Current player characters, characters you want to play in the setting but can't app full-time, drive-by castmates, duplicates, canon AUs, characters that normally would not be allowed such as fandom AUs and genderswaps (not including characters under 15), formerly dropped characters, etc. are all encouraged to come in and play! As all other test drive memes, this one will be game canon. Characters who fourth wall but do not app will disappear after a few days to a week, along with their home (if applicable) and all of their possessions. Please label your top levels as to whether you are test driving [TDM] or fourth walling [4W]. (Of course, you are allowed to change your mind! But our rules regarding appable characters will still apply.) Since auspicious acts are an integral part of this event, potential and current players can swap one Auspicious Act on their card for one of their choosing, if needed for any of the prompts. As usual, prospective players can use an Act and swap it onto their card if they choose to app into the game. If you have any questions, please ask them below. N A V I G A T I O N |
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"Perhaps not the exact order I would choose, but yes," he agreed, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "There are places where we can find clothing, so long as it hasn't all disappeared. Here, allow me—"
He reached out for the faucet to shut it off so as not to waste water, but as his hand neared it, there was a faint crackle, and then the faucet simply faded from existence. The water that had been flowing into it began to spray out from the new hole in the kitchenette's sink.
"—Oh, rats."
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"Here, I-" Downing the rest of her water quickly, she tried to use it to cover the hole-but no amount of bailing the water was going to keep it from flowing, and while she could perhaps hold the glass in place to redirect the flow, there was certainly going to be plenty of water wasted in the meantime.
"Is there some other way you can make it stop?" Manuela assumed that this water wasn't exactly unlimited, considering Ferdinand just didn't have it running at all times. And of course, she knew of one way to fix it, but she was hoping she wouldn't be forced to give up on avoiding intimacy with her students so soon (even if, admittedly, there could've been few better-suited for such an eventuality than Ferdinand.)
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Remembering something, he ducked down and opened the cabinet, and sure enough, there was a shut-off valve. Before the sink could make too much more of a mess, he managed to turn it off, and the flow of water slowed to a halt within a few seconds.
"...I suppose I will be going down the hall to make tea for the time being," he lamented, taking a seat on the floor and draping his arms on his knees. His upper half was soaked, but at least they'd kept the room from flooding.
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"And in the meantime, can I get you a towel or something? In the closet?" Considering just how defeated he looked, she was already moving to the closet where he'd gotten the bathrobe out. Manuela herself had gotten a bit of water on her, but nowhere near as much as Ferdinand.
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He became quite red-faced at that, as it essentially meant he was admitting to having sex. To Manuela. She probably had already figured it out, but for some reason, the very idea of her knowing it and starting to put names and faces to it was embarrassing. What did that say about him?
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"There's no reason to be embarrassed about it, Ferdinand. Least of all now that we're here, instead of back home." In a monastery or at war or any number of places all less... 'encouraging' of intimacy than this strange island.
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As he spoke, he dabbed his face dry with the towel, though it did little to take care of his soaked dress shirt and jacket. "The idea was that one person would say 'Never have I ever...' and then say something inappropriate. Anyone in the room who did such a thing would then take a drink. You can imagine my embarrassment when I ended up drinking the most out of anyone in the room."
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As he began unbuttoning his jacket, he started thinking about how much more eventful that evening would have been had Manuela been there. She certainly would have made quite the impact on the festivities, and since everyone was placed under an effect where they were compelled to tell the truth, it might have given him some intriguing insight. But then, he remembered how someone had stated never have I ever fantasized about one of the professors, thus prompting him to take a drink, and he realized that he was probably alright with her missing that particular class reunion.
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"This reminds me of something we might wear in the theater. Not quite as intricate as what I've normally seen you in, but easy to spot, and still nice." Really, standing out was the goal of such a piece of clothing, at least in her mind-while it was plain, there was no way not to be seen while wearing it, and it allowed a performer to stand out on the stage. "Are there any here-theaters? Or any other performance spaces?"
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He set his jacket on the counter for the time being and began to undo the cufflinks on his shirt. If she were of a mind to peek, she'd see that it was thoroughly soaked through, the damp fabric clinging to his form. Despite the relative tranquility of the island compared to Fódlan, he had maintained his strict training regimen, and it showed.
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If their production was truly so bad that Ferdinand had been compelled to leave before intermission, well-as much as Manuela might have enjoyed thinking herself the sole reason for him not missing a single one of her own shows for five years, if Ferdinand was not an enjoyer of the art surely he'd not have been nearly so attentive.
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"...Ah, pardon me," he quickly blurted out before turning and heading for the bathroom door and slipping past it. "I am still listening!" He figured it only polite that he spare her the sight of him disrobing, even if it was just his shirt, though he was leaving the door open just a bit so that they could continue their conversation. He began prying that wet shirt off of his body, though the wetness of it made it cling rather stubbornly to his chest and shoulders.
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"Perhaps you would even like to-perform, that is. Or at the very least write, if acting doesn't appeal. You always have had a way with words." A talent that Manuela herself lacked-for all she could recognize good writing when she saw it, and take another's text from the page to the hearts and minds of her audience, writing wasn't exactly her forte.
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He grabbed the dry shirt and began to put it on, distracted somewhat by her praise. He felt the tickle of a blush on his cheeks, and he couldn't help but smile. "From the very first moment I first saw you at the Mittelfrank Opera Company, I dreamed of being on that stage with you," he confessed, starting to close the buttons on his shirt one by one. "I dare not pretend to be even close to your level, but performing alongside you... it would be a dream come true."
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Having successfully resisted the temptation to peek-despite what a grand temptation it was-Manuela had seated herself on whatever furniture was available by the time Ferdinand re-emerged. "It's decided, then. So long as I'm here, away from a continent about to be torn apart by war, I'll make it my goal to teach the people-and even the strange creations-to perform."
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"What a wonderful idea," he remarked, positively glowing with excitement. "Your performances brought joy to countless people, myself included. Perhaps that is exactly what we need to take our minds off of... well, the way this island toys with us." As much as some part of him had thoroughly enjoyed the glimpses of her he'd gotten, he was still somewhat livid that she'd had to deal with it in the first place.
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"I'll have to figure out how to use this, then." Raising her arm for a moment, Manuela shook it gently as though the bracelet was more of a bangle. "It can be used to communicate, right? Once I get established..." Like a home, and some clothes, and a drink.
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He was careful not to accidentally show her his A5 card, though. The poor woman had already been subjected to so much. He wasn't about to subject her to his sexual history on top of all of that. ...Though come to think of it, most of the sexual activities he'd done hadn't even counted toward his card. Perhaps that said more about him than he cared to admit.
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"And I should go find clothes. But if it's still an offer, I'd appreciate a cup of tea first." At least some little time to relax, presuming that her clothes wouldn't disappear again.
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But then, he frowned at his misfortune, looking at the missing faucet. "...Ah, but I will need to go down the hall to fetch the water." No princess of his would be drinking bathroom sink water, not so long as he had breath in him. He grabbed his kettle from the cabinet and turned back to her, managing another smile. "Can you wait here? I will only be gone for but a few seconds."
Hopefully, during that time, no more articles of clothing would disappear. It might be a more interesting tea party than both of them generally preferred if that happened.
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Thankfully, they were left unabused by glitches for at least a few minutes longer, and by the time Ferdinand returned Manuela was still fully clothed. She'd clearly been fiddling with her bracelet, and was even blushing slightly-either she'd encountered something lewd on the network, or looked at the auspicious acts card. Regardless, she offered a smile to her student upon his return.
"Is this tea from home, or do you have something more native?" Hopefully, any native tea didn't come with side-effects, but she had the utmost faith in Ferdinand when it came to judgement on that particular subject.
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"While these leaves are native to the island, they were grown at a greenhouse where we could ensure that they were free of any aphrodisiacs," he assured her. "There are indeed plants that have that sort of effect when ingested here, but I would not dare use them for tea, never mind serving them to anyone else." He really didn't need much help in that regard anyway.
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"Besides the whole 'auspicious acts,' it sounds as though life here is relatively nice, at least. Peaceful." It had to be a sharp juxtaposition with the world he'd come from, if it was after five years of war. Speaking of- "How did the war end, for you at least? If everyone has different experiences, I assume the war is much the same."
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