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

[ shit no, karkat wanted that. fuck you dave.

karkat glares at him. it would be like, twenty times easier if he just admitted that he liked the damn s'more and asked for another bite but it's too late to backpedal now. he has to live with this decision while simultaneously tricking dave to give him the rest of it. somehow. ]

Should you even be eating so much of it? That can't be good for you, Dave, you should be more mindful of your health.

[ yes, that is definitely not suspicious. he's just being a concerned fellow. ]

It's just a risk I'm gonna have to take, man. I couldn't let you suffer through a snack you hated, after all. That'd be like, uncool of me? Completely uncool. Worst bro to ever bro.

[ yeah, he. definitely is not handing it over unless he hears karkat say he Wants it, dave is a little shit who 100% realizes when karkat is lying his ass off. ]

[ you know what? fine! karkat will just makes his own then!!!

...

he has no idea how to make them, he wasn't paying attention when dave did it because he did not care at the time. past karkat fucking everything up, like usual. ]

But what kind of person would I be if I let you take such a needless sacrifice like that? No, I insist that you put it down at once before you die of that poisoning I mentioned earlier that probably just has a very slow reaction time. I could never look at your siblings ever again if anything happened to you.

[ because that death would totally be just because dave is an asshole. ]

Ok, you and I both know that's not gonna work, dude.

[ because they both know that dave knows that karkat likes the s'more. or dave assumes they both know that. does karkat not know that? ]

C'mon, no one else is gonna hear you say it.

[ but dave will??? that's still one more person than karkat would prefer to hear him admit to this.

after he internally struggles over this issue for a decade (it's like, two minutes) karkat finally just holds his hand out. maybe if they get this over with quickly it'll be less painful. ]

Just give me the goddamn s'more, Strider.

Honest opinion first, Kitkat. I slaved away over this mad snackage for you. And what do I get in return? Lies. Lies and slander and sacrilege. If you want me to make you s'mores, you gotta at least lemme know your honest thoughts on my mad cookage once, dude.

[ say it karkat

say you love s'mores ]

Oh no, you slaved over nothing, you overdramatic asshole. It took you like what, three minutes to make it? I turned around and when I looked back, bam! Fucking s'mores city. I refuse to let you try to guilt trip me into this.

[ he stares at the s'mores intently. why couldn't he... be psychic... and be able to move it to him?? that is such a good use of cool powers. ]

Give it to me.

No, I wanna hear you say it, babe.

[ he's holding the s'more out of reach and doesn't actually notice his slip up, focused on the whole "do not allow karkat to pass go and collect 200" game. ]

It's not a guilt trip. I mean okay I guess it could be considered one, but are you really so cruel you're not gonna tell me what you think of my mad skills? Rude, Kitkat. I tell you what I think of your skills all the time when you like, display them on things, although admittedly I guess I compliment your ability to rant without taking a breath more than anything else but that shit has never stopped being truly impressive. Like, your lungs, man. I think they're cast in steel? Or maybe diamond. Diamond is harder than steel, right? Jesus but that would be some bling.

[ uggghhhhh. shut up. shut? up???? karkat isn't sure how it is possible for someone to talk as much as dave does (karkat you talk as much as dave does). but the more dave talks, the less karkat wants to admit that he actually liked the stupid s'more. and the longer dave goes without giving it to him, the more karkat wants it.

also shut up. ]

That is fucking rich coming from you. I don't think it's physically possible for you to go a minute without yammering away about some nonsense? I'll be on the other side of the room and then, suddenly, I hear you mumbling to yourself. I'm practically a mute in comparison to your ass, honestly. Also give me the s'more already you're going to drop it.

Nah, you have to trade me for it. And your options are an honest opinion on my s'mores orrrrr. I dunno. You'd have to figure something out, but there's nothin' I'm more interested in than hearing you say you like them.

[ dave's. laughing. he's definitely enjoying himself here. ]

I hate you so fucking much, Strider. [ no he doesn't. ] I could fuel the entire base with my contempt of your person. [ that's a lie. ] I cannot believe you are making me suffer like this.

[ another good minute passes as karkat weighs the pros and cons of giving up this particular battle. finally, finally, he just groans. ]

I like your stupid s'mores.

[ the s'more is promptly handed back, and dave continues to kind of semi-smile. ]

See, was that so hard? You didn't melt or anything. And now I'll make them for you whenever you want assumin' we have the supplies on hand when you want.

[ karkat immediately munches on it, pouting slightly because once again, fuck you dave. and your delicious snacks. ]

Ok but you could have also just given it to me when I told you to? We could have skipped over the last five minutes [ he knows it wasn't actually five minutes and dave better not give the correct time ] and have gone straight to here. And stop looking so smug, I see that smile, it's right there taunting me.

Eight minutes and thirty-four seconds.

[ obviously he's giving the correct time ]

And I'm smiling with you, not at you.

[ that doesn't make any sense, dave ]

I'm not smiling?

[ he smacks dave on the arm for actually giving the time though. stop being such a smart ass, god. ]

You know how sometimes you get so overwhelmed with a feeling or realization that you can only stare in awe for a good solid three minutes? I cannot believe how much of a loser you are.

Not outside, but on the inside you're totally smiling.

[ i mean that's probably false but dave's just being dumb, putting one hand over his heart. ]

I can tell. Your prickly exterior hides soft mushy goodness. And/or more of a prickly exterior. The excavation teams have yet to report back.

[ karkat tosses a piece of the cracker at dave's head. shush, you loser. ]

That's because they all realized this was a lost cause and left for home. Looks like you will never find out the answer, Strider. Although I can definitely give you a hint. It's definitely not soft or mushy.

[ he throws another piece, aiming for dave's nose. ]

[ dave opens his mouth and catches the cracker piece. ]

Eh, I'm pretty persistent. Guess I'll just have to have my own excavation mission to the innermost reaches of Karkat Vantas?

[ wait

wait shit that sounded wrong quick say something that sounds better ]

Where you know your guts are not anything weird. But soft mushy guts.

[ what

what the fuck was that? ]

I don't know what I'm saying right now.

[ he's resigned... ]

[ oh

my god, dave.

karkat covers his face with one hand and just thinks of all the different ways something could pop up and kill the both of them right now? or at least knock them out and give them amnesia? ]

Holy fuck please don't come inside me.

[ wait shit that's even worse. ]

Dave we need to change the topic right now immediately and never mention this ever again.

Yeah, I'm. Let's continue to give thanks to paradox space that most of our conversations do not happen within earshot of other people.

[ ... ]

At least not the worst ones?

[ rose never needs to hear of this conversation they definitely did not have. ]

So. What do you wanna talk about?

[ karkat is pretty sure those mining into him comments would hit the psychoanalyze jackpot so yeah it's best if they just keep this mishap to themselves.

as well as every other mishap.

they have a lot. ]

I don't know. Why is it up to me to think of a new topic? You're putting me on the metaphorical spot here.

Uh. Okay, what do you think of Dirk?

[ this topic is probably safe

like

they'll probably find any pitfall that exists in this topic with extreme prejudice but that's true of all topics ]

[ technically this topic is also putting karkat on the spot because he is fully aware of how much dirk means to dave?? so

wow what does he think of dirk ]

I can't tell when he's fucking with me or not and I do not appreciate that. Like it's kind of like when you troll me except he's better at it since I have a way of making you stop.

Whoa, hold the fuck up. I would be better if you didn't have a way to make me stop, though, right?

[ dave

is that what you should be focused on here ]

[ karkat snorts. ]

Nah I think you lost all of your points there. After three whole years I've basically grown an immunity to you and your stupid antics? I wouldn't even blink at any of your trolling attempts.

[ karkat you literally threw a fuss over the s'mores earlier?? ]

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