fishesoutofwater | TEST DIVE #3

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test dive

TEST DIVE #3

PREMISE & NAVIGATION ✦ RULES ✦ MOD CONTACT
TAKEN ✦ RESERVES ✦ APPLICATIONS ✦ HIATUS & DROPS
FAQ ✦ BASE ✦ BIOMES ✦ URSULA ✦ URSULA CONTACT

TEST DIVE MEME

Reserves open on the 17th
Applications open on the 24th
Check out our ATP/Enable Me meme!

NOTE REGARDING THIS APPLICATION CYCLE

For information about the animals and locations, be sure to check out the BIOME and BASE pages! Note that TDM threads can be used for game canon and several prompts are based on crew contributions to the base that are being worked on this month!

A: There’s a Storm on the Horizon
A brainstorm. On advice about the ingenuity of multi person parties, and from admitted lack of understanding of many needs of organics, URSULA has selected you and a partner (or partners) to go to one of the observatories with food, beds, and recording devices to have a jam session for ideas about missions.

You are not to leave the room until you have some good ones. So get cracking! Start suggesting to one another what the base needs to do.

Or get horribly, horribly sidetracked and possibly a little crazy at being locked up together with the ocean staring at you. Judging.

B: The Abysmal Sea
You’re stranded.

One of the planet’s troublesome signal-interfering pulses has just made your communication devices 100% nonfunctional. No matter how you try to call URSULA for help, she isn’t able to respond. The database strapped to your wrist is just a useless chunk of metal now, leaving you without a useful library of knowledge to survive off. If you were driving any underwater vehicle prior to this point, it’s broken down. And unless you’re a mechanic, it’ll be pretty hard to get it jumpstarted again.

Don’t fret! The communication systems always come online eventually, so if you stay put, it’ll boot back up and give you directions straight back to base so you can finally get home. But can you really afford to stay put? The sunlight’s slowly streaming out of the sky, leaving the waters darker and darker with each passing second. Soon, you won’t be able to see five feet in front of you, and the only warning you’ll get of any approaching threat is through sound, if they even make any.

You have a few choices: take a daring risk and try swimming back to base, but on the off-chance you don’t remember the directions correctly from before you were cut off, you’re going to get even more lost, in the darkness of the night no less. Or, you could huddle in, with any friends if they were unfortunate enough to be with you, and start focusing on getting warm. Because spending the night out here in the vast oceans with the entire world against you is becoming a very, very real possibility.

C: Test Drive Test Dives
The Robotics section of the laboratory needs your help! Whether you were a poor sap who got dragged into it or love working on robots, this is your time to shine!

A few suits need testing to get the kinks out of them. And you know, figure out how they work in general. So be a dear and get in one so the others can watch you flail around and discover how it works.

If you're not into being a crash test dummy, you can help do repair work, analyze blueprints of various underwater vehicles, bring in scrap metal to work with or maybe just try painting the Seamoth neon pink.

D: Camping Trip
Floater Island is the only real land around so even if it's a longer trip, it's nice to volunteer for an overnight mission there sometimes. Who doesn't want to camp out under the stars when you've been living under the sea this whole time? Attempt to make s'mores out of plants and that chocolate bar you have left! Play with Birdogs! Go for a swim in the lake! Try very hard to get some sort of emotional response from a Light Frog!

Well, sure, you're here on a mission but it's okay to goof off and enjoy yourselves with some campfire stories and freshly cooked Chomper kebobs sometimes. Just grab a few samples from the abandoned farm at least so it looks like you actually worked.

E: THE AURORA
Quiet except for the creaks and rumbles as the ship settles and shifts, the sound of Reapers screaming in the distance every so often, the Aurora is a creepy place to visit for a mission. The remains of those crew members not buried, and the belongings of many others, still litter the ship's halls. It might be nice to remove any skeletons you find.

Of course, their misfortune is your opportunity to catch up on some reading, browse whatever video games they left, get medical supplies and enjoy the comforts they no longer need.

But is it possible the Aurora is haunted? Surely not. Except sometimes you might hear voices from far away. It might just be the people you came on board with, unless they're with you. Or it might be a Cave Crawler knocking over some recording device. You're not too scared to check, right?

F: Farmville
Time to tend to the crops! That's right, the underwater farm needs your help. Some trees and plants rest on the seabed under protective covers that allow them to grow their leaves and fruits while the roots firmly keep them in the sand. Harvest some apples, more apples, oranges, strawberries and other delicious produce that sounds much, much better than a regular diet of fish.

And once you've helped get a basket full of crops for the base, it's time to cook them! But what are you going to make? Apple stuffed fish? Orange stuffed fish? Nah, get creative with what you have! Everyone is counting on you for dinner!

BASED ON CODE BY TESSISAMESS AND SUPERSUITS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

More than one suit.

[Dirk is quiet a moment, deciding if he wants to explain. But if Karkat opened the door on it, then he might as well follow through.

As Dirk names projects, he points at the part he's going to be repurposing for it. The boy has a shitton of experience when it comes to salvaging from the dead, and his monotone is matter-of-fact, familiar.] Thick steel plates to reinforce base walls. Chips for robots. Titanium for solar panels. Polypropylene for new woofer cones because the ones I made Dave aren't cutting it. Fused quartz for glass, we're thinking of extending Snoop's tank. The woven fibreglass will likely go to Dave's speakers too.

[He turns his head back to Karkat. Coolkid hands go back in his pocket, although in fact Dirk keeps his hands in his pockets just because he almost never uses them to talk the way other people do.]

If you want to know more, I can show you how it's done back at the base. I'm already teaching Dave.

[ somehow, karkat understands some of that, but. woofer cones sounds completely fake, and karkat does not believe that can be an actual thing that exists? which is kind of hypocritical since this is the guy who calls a bathtub an ablution trap.

he really isn't that interested, but karkat is also sort of in the same boat as dirk with the whole "i have a very specific reason for wanting to hang out with him more" thing. maybe he might end up enjoying this? or if he doesn't, he'd probably just continue to try it out of spite directed at no one in particular. ]

I won't be interrupting your Strider bonding festivities? I am pretty sure my presence will make this whole ordeal a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved, but I don't want to get in the way of whatever it is the two of you get up to. Polishing your shades as you build waffle canes?

[ it was waffle cones. ]

[Dirk makes a split-second decision on how to handle Karkat's attitude.]

Fair enough. We can just set aside time for separate Dirk-Karkat bonding festivities. Let me know if you need me to draw you any ships.

[Really, the vague sense that Karkat is being a vaguely provocative by default feels like a muted down version of uu's approach to communication. Dirk is familiar enough with how to roll with that.

He also is taking care of the pieces he has selected for salvage, working some of them into smaller pieces so they can fit into his poor, hampered sylladex better.]

[ his eyes dart immediately from all of the stuff he's collecting to dirk as soon as the word ships is mentioned. karkat is fairly certain that dirk doesn't know about the whole shipping chart affair? he's like, 70% sure, unless dave or rose told him? they wouldn't do that, would they? (yeah they would.)

but what if it's just a coincidence that dirk said that, maybe he's really into shipping?? so if karkat calls him out on it then he more or less has to admit to making that damn shipping chart that he regrets ever bringing into existence. so. SO.

this whole inner dilemma is about half a minute long, and karkat outwardly probably looks like he's trying really hard to fight against an upcoming conniption fit. .]

No? Why would I want you to draw any ships? What makes you think I would care about something as stupid as that? Is this the face of someone who'd be at all interested in this sort of thing, Dirk? No. It's not. That whole idea is completely beneath me and we are never speaking about ships or potential pairings or anything like that ever again the end.

[Dave has told him many things, Karkat. Why would you think he wouldn't. Dirk doesn't even watch the fit Karkat is at war with, letting those thirty seconds tic by while sorting out his salvage for transportation. Maybe he can call it 'future waffle cone' to get the rhyme to worK? He really needs to switch up his fetch modus, this is impossible.

Oh, there Karkat goes.] Okay. I'm fine with whatever you prefer.

Consider it an open offer if you change your mind.

[Dirk has never had to wrangle with an angry (car)cat in person. But he figures that keeping to the chill monotone is the best tactic. Not that... he's actually capable of that much vocal expression ANYWAY but the point stands.

Also Karkat's little rant was kinda hilarious, he has to admit.]

[ dirk's lack of reaction just infuriates him further. what is it with the strilondes and being... better at trolling than the actual trolls are... even when they're not doing it purposely.

the smart thing to do would probably be to just drop the subject and go back to pretending like he understands all the tech stuff dirk says. the only thing remotely in that field that karkat did was code shit, and he was terrible at that? but it's still something.

instead of doing the smart thing, though, karkat just keeps talking. ] Ok but I am never changing my mind. I need you to be perfectly aware of this fact. My mind has been planted firmly in the "no" pile and there is nothing that will make it cross this invisible line that divides it from being reasonable and your terrible idea. Also has Strider said anything to you about ships? Not you Strider. The other Strider. I don't actually care if he did or not but what did he say?

[He decides to hang with Karkat and Dave together sometimes. The concept of eternally angry rant vs eternally chill ramble is too amusing.]

Not much. He just mentioned you talk about troll quadrants now and then.

['Now and then' being an understatement of how much Dave suggested Karkat goes on about those, and Dave also mentioned that he actually heard a lot of this and understood it, but Dirk is sworn to brotherly secrecy on the matter of Dave Actually Understanding Quadrants. It is a sacred vow he won't violate for anything.]

[ yeah, it is definitely a sight to see.

karkat does not... buy that. he knows dave well enough to know that he would not downplay how much karkat goes on about quadrants. unless this is one of those weird human irony things, but. aright, karkat decides not to think too much on how ironic dave could have possibly made this situation out to be because he still does not entirely get the concept and this is probably not the time to ponder this sort of thing. ]

I am just going to make this easier for the both of us and say that I believe you. This is me, pretending to acknowledge that every word that just came out of your mouth is the truth so that this would turn into an ugly argument over something that I obviously do not care about at all.

[No one should learn irony off of Striders anyway. Karkat is better off.]

If that's what you want to do. I appreciate your efforts to take the calmest possible course in this.

[He holds a handful of parts out to Karkat with the implicit request to captchalogue them.]

[ oh my god fuck off dirk??? why are you so calm?? at least when dave reacts calmly he's still at least like, joking or doing some sort of reaction? karkat isn't sure how to take this whole neutral stance thing dirk has going.

he does, however, adds the items into his sylladex. ]

You know what? I don't think I appreciate your tone.

[ or his. lack of one. ]

[There is absolutely no change in expression whatsoever as he looks at Karkat.]

Let me know if there's an alternate tone you want me to try out.

[In the exact. same. tone as before.]

Ha ha ha, oh my fuck, that was so funny. I love how you just did that, continuing to do the thing I just said I didn't like. You sure owner me, Dirk! I've been beaten by your monotone aesthetic!

[ for someone who is currently yelling at dirk, karkat sure is. still helping him without much fuss over that? so he can't be that mad. maybe. ]

[Even though Karkat doesn't seem actually mad at him—in the sense that Karkat just comes off as a very shouty person and he's still helping, so honestly Dirk is starting to suspect Karkat just enjoys being mad—it does give Dirk pause. Because the truth is, for all that Dirk made the offer, well.]

I meant it. [With like a hundred layers of irony, but one of the layers was genuine.] If there's an alternate tone you'd like to hear, I'll try it out for you.

[The tone (still incredibly neutral) doesn't properly convey the emphasis there: that he'd be trying it out. He's just not vocally expressive, the same way he isn't expressive with his face or his hands. Baby monkeys in wire cages never learn to socialize right. But if Karkat really wants him to go for another one, sure.

He kinda assumes the result would freak Karkat out because he gets the feeling he's going to fall into the uncanny valley on it, but hey. Maybe trolls are more resistant to that.]

Edited 2016-06-15 21:08 (UTC)

[ karkat definitely was not actually expecting dirk to go for it? whether it's a sincere gesture or he's just fucking around, it takes karkat by enough surprise that he just gapes silently for five seconds.

and then he immediately starts talking again, because there's really not much that can actually keep him quiet. ]

Try sounding... chipper. Upbeat. Like Dave's mom.

[ he goes for one of the more ridiculous options because he doesn't actually expect dirk to do this. ]

[Hm. Trying to sound like Roxy. Yeah, that's going to be rough. He's pretty sure he can't do this without sounding creepy as fuck, but he'll try.]

Okay. But I'm not taking responsibility for the results.

[Dirk puts a hand over his mouth as he thinks about this. Think like Roxy. Think like Roxy. God, he couldn't even do this when high on Trickster juju.

Dirk clears his throat and drops his hand so he can give Karkat a big thumbs up to go with his cheery voice.] Thanks so much for helping me out on this, Karkles! You're the best!

[The cheery voice sucks. He manages to pitch his voice higher (joy expresses itself on a higher frequency and more rapidly than a neutral tone, he remembers reading that once) but he doesn't have the proper rise and fall throughout to make it sound natural.

Also, he didn't smile.]

Edited 2016-06-15 21:38 (UTC)

[ well that was

extremely

uncomfortable.

karkat isn't entirely sure what the worst part was? the peppy, yet somehow still robotic voice? dirk's lack of expression while demonstrating this voice? he really does not know what he expected to accomplish with this exercise. ]

Holy fuck, you sound like you're two seconds away from violently stabbing me to death then baking my remains into sugary snacks.

[Dirk immediately drops any attempt to take this further. Back to neutral tone, thank god.]

Yeah, I can see where you get that. I was aiming for Roxy, but I think it ended up as a faulty mutant hybrid between my attitude and how the others sounded when they went Trickster. [Honestly, Trickster mode still freaks him the fuck out. The others got scary.

The shades angle towards Karkat. Dear, sensible neutrality dictates all aspects of his expression.]

Don't worry too much. Baking is generally Jane's domain.

Alright great, I'll try to avoid her murdering me then and turning me into an apple pie.

[ he is relieved that dirk returns to his normal tone though. karkat decides to never complain about it again (that's a lie) (he definitely will). ]

What was up with the whole Tricker thing anyway? You guys mentioned it before but none of us dealt with that in our sessions.

[Learn your lesson, Karkat. That was the point of that entire insane exercise. (One of the points.)]

From what I understand, some aliens involved in our session, similar to how you were with Dave's, gave a couple of my friends some lollipop jujus that got everyone the most aggressive version of sugar high imaginable. Now that I've talked to Roxy about Calliope, I'm beginning to understand it has something to do with Cherubim culture. [Which he'd like to know more about. He should ask Calliope about it whenever he sees her again? it seems really interesting.] It makes sense it would never get into your sessions, since human and troll cultures don't seem to have any equivalents.

Edited 2016-06-15 22:02 (UTC)

[ karkat grimaces at the description. he still doesn't entirely get what happened there, but trying to imagine what the beta group would be like after taking something like that is. not a fun thing to do. especially the trolls, since wow, they were already pretty fucked up to begin with. ]

Calliope is the green one that all the girls keep holding hands with, right?

[ seriously they're all up in calliope's space. karkat wonders what quadrants they'd fit in and

ok no. no more shipping charts. NO. ]

That was one less thing we had to worry about, thank fuck.

That's the name Roxy told me belongs with that particular person in our haphazard assemblage four different session's players, yes. [God why is their entire adventure so bullshit. Even by this game's standards.]

As a word of warning, if you see a lollipop swirling red and green, you probably shouldn't let anyone lick it.

[The idea of a Trickster troll sounds particularly unpleasant. Dirk doesn't ever want to see it happen.

He shoves over a pile of chips for Karkat to captachalogue. It's generally been easier to sort things by kind, given their space limitations.]

I mean, that already sounds suspicious as fuck even without context. I already don't trust most of what you humans call food.

[ although... what are the chances of something like that appearing here, anyway? they're just surrounded by water. and more water. karkat assumes that if anyone finds a lollipop just laying around here, it probably wouldn't really taste that great even if it didn't have weird powers attached? ]

Ok but back on the topic of your whole tone thing. What about when you get mad? Does your voice changes? Do you get mad? Is this within your emotional range?

[No, not going back to this? Goddammit, Karkat. But, no, okay. Don't close off like a clam, Dirk. One, sea puns are overrated. Two, you really need to work on being open with people. You've had lots of practice with the family. Try extending it.]

It's within my emotional range. I'm pretty confident I have the full spectrum of emotions available to average human beings. [He has distinct memories of getting very, very angry, and he's pretty sure the rest of his emotions.] I don't want to bog you down with the intricacies of human childhood development theory, but the basic idea is that if we don't socialize early, we can never really learn.

I don't know if the trolls operate similarly. The Condesce never handed humanity a guidebook to what aspects of her culture she was trying to impose on ours. [Which is why he's still really iffy on the concept of a subjuggulator. Because no one ever told him how legit that is.]

[ it is pretty legit.

the way humans are raised is still kind of baffling to karkat, although admittedly most of his knowledge comes specifically from john's life since. john is the one karkat primarily stalked when the trolls were researching the kids after discovering them. from what he does understand, though, he really does not see humanity adapting very well to how troll society works. it's way too much of a culture clash. ]

Yeah no, trolls aren't that big on the whole socializing thing. I mean, obviously we do it but. [ admittedly karkat would not call most trolls' relationships with each other healthy? they're all kind of dicks. ] Our lusii aren't really that concerned about setting up play dates with the other wrigglers.

That fits with what I understood of their effect on Earth. The lusii she tried to import didn't do well with human children. All her best efforts at genetic tinkering couldn't set up the symbiosis she was aiming for.

[Hm, he thinks he will put these metals together in the pile with the quartz. Then he can group them together based on their use to maximize sylladex space.]

It'll be interesting to see how you guys choose to reforge your culture with the wigglers Kanaya is presumably going to be coaxing out of the Matriorb. [However that happens? He only knows so much.]

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