doingtheuglycry | CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

CAN CRY: INITIAL TDM
Welcome one and all to the very first test drive meme for Can Cry! If you're unfamiliar with the game, then you can check out the interest check, FAQ, world & setting info page and the powers and abilities page to get up to speed! Since the game is still very much under construction, this is just an initial test drive for people to dip their toes into the water and see which characters they'd like to consider for the game. In order to not spoil the opening of the game for players, the TDM is not canon to Can Cry and will take place in a slightly wonky little AU just over to the left. Characters have awoken in Purgatory after their deaths and been conscripted as Executors by Rei, the sole other Executor in Purgatory. The population of dangerous spirits has gotten out of control and she needs some allies to help her keep things under control. Characters on the TDM will have access to all of their starter powers as outlined on the powers page as well as two unique abiliites to play around with as you please. Some prompts and location details have been provided below for you to play around with but please feel free to go hog wild and have fun!
LIMBO
Limbo is the Executor's main base of operations as it is the top level of Purgatory and the one most populated by non-violent spirits. Distorted by the cognition of all the human souls here, Limbo has taken on the form of a hazy, dream-like recollection of a town. It's full of winding paths that go up, down and all around and the geometries of the town and its surroundings don't always make much sense. Stairs might lead loop back around on themselves or a door to the outside might end up leading right back indoors. It's a bit of a headache, so it's usually best not to think about it too hard. The town is mostly functional, mostly thanks to all the human souls here. Players are free to invent any additions to the town that they would like for their threads, but here are some to get you started: ⚝ Conbini: A seemingly normal Japanese convenience store, full of the sort of fare you'd expect from a cheap 24-7 convenience store. There's only four aisles and everything's a bit clustered together, but it's not overly claustrophobic. Things start getting a bit weird when you try and go to the back of the store, though – no matter how long you look, there is always just one more aisle for you to browse and the further back you go, the stranger and more abstract the items on the shelf will look. If you walk too far or turn around you will suddenly find yourself back at the first aisle in the blink of an eye as if you were rubberbanded back there. ⚝ Hotel: A so-called luxury hotel that towers over the rest of the buildings in the area. Even if you don't have a reservation, all you have to do is approach the desk and the Spectre there will apparently recognize you and hand over a key to one of the rooms. Except... you can't quite read the number? It seems to fluctuate whenever you try. Not that it matters, because the key will open any of the hundreds of doors in the building, though no one door will ever open onto the same room twice. The layout of each room is subtly off in a number of ways, with the dimensions of the room not seeming quite right no matter how you try to work it out. The decor is luxurious through and the extravagant room service is free, so it's a nice place to relax. Be warned, though – if you misplace your key, you'll find yourself lost in the mazelike halls until you eventually stumble out into the reception with no way of knowing how you got there. ⚝ Bathhouse: An enormous Grecio-Roman styled bathhouse for you to relax in after a hard day's work of dealing with Revenants. There don't seem to be any workers here that you can see, so feel free to let yourself in and make yourself at home. Interestingly, even without anyone around, you'll find the water is always adjusted to a temperature and a fragrance that's most appealing to you and drinks, towels and anything else you need will appear within reach by the side of the baths whenever it occurs to you that you might need it. When in doubt: Just get weird with it!
QUESTS
Since it's up to Executors to maintain order in Purgatory, this also means they need to resolve any issues that crop up for the Spectres occupying it. You can come up with any sort of quest you like, but here are some ideas to get you started: ⚝ A lost child will request your help in reuniting with their mother. It's a bit of a struggle for them to communicate with you as they are a freshly-awakened Spectre and it's also not entirely clear if their mother is, in fact, in Purgatory with them. Eventually, careful questioning of the child Spectre and some of the other Spectres around Limbo will lead you to a bookshop where mother and child will be reunited. Happy end! ⚝ Two Spectres are causing a ruckus in town with a screaming-in-each-other's-face tier argument. Calming them both down is going to be a task all on its own, but if you manage to, it turns out the first Spectre is missing a precious object and has accused the other of stealing it. The second Spectre insists the precious object never existed in the first place. Uh... good luck with this. ⚝ A uncommunicative and kind of creepy Spectre is accused by others in the town of being a Revenant in disguise after some of their neighbors disappear in the night. Investigate and uncover the truth! Feel free to NPC Spectres as you need for this TDM!
THE UNDERSIDE OF LIMBO
Though it's the most peaceful level of Purgatory, Limbo is not without its dangers. Directly below Limbo is what's known as the Underside, a darkness cast by the city above where Revenants and malicious spirits linger. It appears as a dark, mirror-reversed version of Limbo, though the geography is much more twisted and confusing. If left unchecked, Revenents from the Underside would attack the town and consume any number of Spectres. It's up to the Executors to head down there and see to them! This is a general prompt for combat-oriented testing, to allow characters to experiment with their new powers as Executors! Because of that, and because combat will function slightly differently in-game, this section is pretty loosey goosey. Like previous posts, you are free to invent locations and NPC Revenants to make things more fun and exciting! Because Revenants will function in a unique way in-game, players are encouraged to invent their own Revenants to fight for this TDM. If you would like some ideas for what sort of Revenants to battle, you can check out this video to see what sort of enemies exist in the original game, but beware that it does contain spoilers for Crystar.

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[It hurts for some reason, even though the jab is unfair. Somehow he can't help but think Chara is right, but what's he supposed to do now? He doesn't want to hurt this kid, really just wants to walk away and leave them alone and try not to think about why he feels like garbage, but the scythe is there in his face and he can't go forward. Would the kid let him go if he turned around? He's not sure. He feels like they shouldn't.]

So what do you want? To hurt me first?

[. . .]

....Fine.

Edited 2020-02-21 07:39 (UTC)

[Not even a token protest?]

[There's an all-too-brief pause as those words seemingly take them off guard before Chara laughs, a short and sharp burst of noise that doesn't sound as though it commits to much in the way of genuine mirth.]

My, feeling masochistic today, are we? I can't say that was on today's agenda, but if you're so eager for me to indulge you, I suppose I will do what I can, if that is what you truly desire.

I just wanna leave, kid.

[He's been trying to get them to let him pass from the beginning. But that's not fully true, is it? He's realizing now, there's part of him that wants someone to punish him. (...What? Where did that come from?) ...At the same time, he knows its pointless without knowing why. Man, he's tired]

But you want to hurt me, before I can hurt you, right? So go ahead. I don't think it'll make you feel any safer, though.

Edited 2020-02-21 19:12 (UTC)

[A flicker of something flits across their features. They knot it up and thrust it to the back of their mind where they cannot possibly indulge in it any further, because it felt a lot, an awful lot, like shock or dismay or some other equally useless, pointless, inapplicable thing that they will not acknowledge.]

You do enjoy making assumptions, don't you? [The words emerge more waspish than they would have liked. So they're not as bulletproof as they'd prefer to be. So sue them.]

If you want out, I wouldn't suggest going this way - unless by leave, you mean that you crave the sweet embrace of death, and, really, don't we all?

I mean, we are dead.

[Unfortunately, however, they continue to exist. He's still refusing to process why he feels disappointed by that.]

Anyway, it ain't an assumption if you ruled out the other options, is it? You've had that thing pointed at me since the start. You don't want to fight, and you don't believe me that I ain't interested in hurtin' you. So maybe you oughta tell me what you think I should assume, huh?

That you're a human, and that you would act the same as any human.

[Now that is an assumption on their part - that he's human. But he...would be, right? What else would he be? He looks it. People who aren't human don't look human, right?]

[But what else is there for someone to be?]

[They're getting distracted.]

Perhaps we're merely not dead enough.

Far as I can tell, we ain't gettin' any deader 'til those Gears or whatever are fixed.

[There's a raised eyebrow. He has a rough idea that things other than humans exist, but he's pretty sure this kid isn't one of them. Are they? Whatever. He shrugs.]

But yeah, people are shit. What's your point?

[Can't murder every person you meet, right. ~~laughs in undertale~~]

[What counts as "murder" is all a question of perspective.]

That when someone pats me on the back, I check for the knife.

[Trust no one, and so on and so forth. With this very X-Fileian philosophy established, Chara steps to one side with exaggerated care so that they're no longer so obtrusively blocking his way.]

As I said, my "point" is right here. [Again: scythe. That joke's never getting old, is it?] But if you don't mind turning your back on a complete stranger, I invite you to proceed at your leisure.

Uh-huh. Well, like I said, you can hurt me if you want. I don't really care how you do it.

[He rolls his eyes at the repetition of the joke. But as Chara moves to finally let him pass, he steps forward, hands still in his pockets, eyes forward. He doesn't so much as turn over his shoulder to see if the kid is making good on any part of their threat. After a few steps, though, he calls out behind him.]

You only got two eyes, though. You keep checkin' behind you and you'll miss the shit comin' at you front and center. Better to stand back to back with someone, if you ask me. Just another assumption.

I don't recall asking for your unsolicited advice, sir.

[And they make no move to do anything but watch him pass. Unless there's adequate provocation, they limit their hostility to a sharp tongue and sharper wit.]

Nor is it advice that I would categorize as particularly helpful. I could point out all the reasons in which you're wrong, but you seem as though you have better things to do.

Pretty sure both of us've got better things to do than stand around arguing in circles.

[Also, he feels oddly relieved that they do not, in fact, choose to attack while his back is turned, but not for his own sake? Hm. ...Nah, not going to unpack that one, either. Running from your feelings is a perfectly valid ~~life~~ death decision, okay.]

Take it or don't. I just felt like I needed to say it.

[Cyclical arguments seem all pretty natural to Chara, funnily enough. Infuriating. Like a familiar itch or an ache in their bones. What right do they have in feeling that way, anyway? They're like, twelve or something. They don't actually know.]

You felt like you needed to comment that I could hurt you if I wanted. My, it sounds as though you've quite a few issues to work out, then!

[Shinjiro raises an eyebrow. He has this sense like Chara's not even wrong, but. But.]

Don't play dumb. You know that ain't the part I meant.

Oh, do I? I had no idea I could read minds. This is news to me, sir!

[Now they're just being contrarian for the sake of it. Sure, they're aware of it, but heck if they know how to stop. They don't like that they're like this either!]

[There's a long beat of silence. It's starting to click that .... this kid wants -- something, from him. Maybe for him to keep arguing, or to physically fight, give them a reason to use that weapon. Or just to get angry, maybe. Maybe they don't even know what they want.

Normally, he wouldn't have the energy or patience to entertain it at all, but he feels this ache of responsibility in his chest and it stops him from continuing to walk away, even though he wants to.]

...I was talking about the advice, but if you want to pretend that wasn't obvious, that's fine too.

[He sighs.]

And stop callin' me sir, wouldja? I ain't that much older than you.

[.....Probably? How old is he, anyway? Fuck.]

Edited 2020-02-28 20:49 (UTC)

It pays to be polite.

[They have not been the least bit polite this entire time, and their smug expression all but guarantees that they know it. Go ahead and call them out, sir. Go ahead.]

[Now that they know that the moniker bugs him, they'll be sure to whip it out often, probably.]

You've a name, then? Let's hear it.

Polite, huh.

[It's not a callout but it's the flattest possible tone on the planet, the kind where even sarcasm is squeezed out into nothingness. The audio equivalent of every tea-sipping emote in existence.

...

...]

......I don't remember it.

[Hm!]

[Don't like that, combined with the fact that they themself do not actually recall their name. They haven't been dwelling on it any, but now that he's called attention to it (now that they've called his attention to it), it sits unpleasantly, but not unfamiliarly, in their guts.]

[How can a thing like that be familiar?]

[Play it off. Laugh and smile.]

Well! "Sir" it is, then.

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CAN CRY: FIRST TEST DRIVE

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sorry for the delay!

all good!

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