THE SKY WENT OFF-WHITE.

[wastemods]

WHO: Anyone and everyone.
WHAT: Our inaugural test drive meme.
WHERE: Anywhere in the world core.
WHEN: Whenever your character arrives.
NOTES: Expect surreal horror and possible violence. Please use common sense when warning for other content.

Art by Basile Godard

THE SUNLIGHT SPLINTERED.

You reach the end of the ash-gray hall at a run, hands fumbling for an antique door handle. And then you stumble, fall, tumble—any number of adjectives, depending on where, exactly, the door opened—into a radio station.

The equipment is old and dusty, but devoid of cobwebs to the observant eye. And it's dark, save for whatever light makes it through the windows. They display disjointed locations; perhaps one shows an upside-down tower, while its neighbors frame the crumbling pavement of a rotting car park and the stripped out interior of a sewer. Whatever the case, peering through one window reveals a landscape that impossibly doesn't connect to the next.

The door is still there, the only exit to this grubby room. It opens somewhere, anywhere else in this distorted world. And once you leave, it no longer leads back whence you came.

Where do you go?

THE LIGHT, DIVIDED.

A sun on one horizon, a full moon on the other. They're luminous but unreal, like they were plucked from a sky and pasted to a flat, starless backdrop. You can see only one, depending on which side you entered; it's essentially random. Both "sides" overlap like alternate dimensions and you can't see anyone who isn't on the same side as you. Light or dark, you walk in the light of a muted sun or an overbright moon. It never feels quite real.

Neither star nor satellite seem to move from their position. The passage of time is at a standstill.

Regardless of which side you're on, you'll find signs that you aren't alone. What someone does on one side affects the other, so moving an item or writing something down will translate to floating items and mysteriously appearing letters. Speech doesn't travel...unless there's a radio. Radios may turn on and off, with voices audible through the white noise. And if you walk past a mirror, the reflection isn't your own. Instead, it acts as a window to the other side.

In-character observations:

• Anyone sensitive to time, space, and related dimensional shenanigans will feel they're distorted. And it isn't something they can fix, at least not with powers.
• It's possible to cross dimensions if a character has related powers, but they'll suffer backlash and significant stress from the transition. Successive jumps aren't gonna fly.
• If a character is affected by the sun or moon, they'll find neither holds sway over them here; e.g., vampires can walk in daylight and werewolves won't shift in the full moon.

TL;DR: Whatever this is, it isn't natural.

THE SHADOW REALM.

Outdoors, there are shadows on the prowl.

Silent and eerily insubstantial, they trail after you like blind spots given form. Staring at them too long is unsettling but, for the most part, they're content to watch you back...if they can watch. They don't seem to have eyes.

When that isn't enough, however, they attack. Stealing the shape of monsters from other worlds, they may lack special powers, but that doesn't keep them from being dangerous. When in doubt, you're safest indoors.

But maybe that isn't good enough for you. Or maybe you just fucked up. Either/or.

RADIO WAVES.

If you aren't wondering how you got here, you're probably at least asking why. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone around who can answer your questions. Everyone else is as clueless as you.

But, some time after you arrive—whether it's days, hours, minutes, or seconds—the dead air stirs. The atmospheric pressure drops and playhouse lightning arcs across the facsimile of a sky. It's a storm that warns of what's to come, as an earthquake shifts the ground beneath your feet. Around you, buildings flood, and water pours out in falls only half aware of gravity. Wind hurls debris at such high speeds, it turns into shrapnel. Rain pelts you from above and below as the temperature plummets. It starts to snow.

Somehow, the sun and moon remain visible through the turmoil. A collection of mirrors scattered through the world don't reflect their light; instead, it passes through them and illuminates the other side. These specific mirrors, all set in ash-gray frames that match the halls, are untouched in the unfolding natural disasters, and standing before them will shield you as well. Consider them havens in the chaos, proverbial eyes in the storm.

In the dark, a radio turns on of its own accord. Is someone—something—talking to you?

INTO ALL OUR DARKEST FEARS.

Welcome to THE WASTEYARD's first test drive! Some quick things to remember:

• Our TDMs tie into the game plot. As such, any applicants can keep their TDM threads as game canon.
• The network is exclusive to in-game characters. TDM characters can only use radios.
• There is a language barrier, so please mention what language your character speaks somewhere.
• We don't have a fixed day ratio; instead, you pace yourself at your discretion.
• Characters may face backlash when using any powers.
• Mark if your character is on the sun or moon side of the divide. The choice is yours as the player.
• If you have any questions, please direct them to our FAQ!

And that's all, folks. So take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!

NAVIGATION.

PREMISE
RULES
FAQ
ACTIVITY
APPLICATIONS

TAKEN
HIATUSES & DROPS
CANON UPDATES
REWARDS
TPC CLAIMS

WORLD
EXPLORATION
DEVICES
QUESTS
INFORMATION

CALENDAR
SUGGESTIONS
MOD CONTACT
SETTING INBOX
CODEBOOK

Comments

[chainsawman]

[ Whatever work she had done to make his life easier slips away the instant he puts himself in between the noise and the shadows. Of course, that was his intention, but he would eventually look back at this day whenever he felt like reflecting. So, never.

It's with a pair of raised arms and a lot of fighting spirit that he manages to push the lot of them back a few meters before they scatter and seemingly disappear. ]

Ha ha! Take that, rat!

[ That rhyme does not work in Japanese, unfortunately. All the same, Denji's ecstatic behavior is short lived, as the enemy reformed just as quickly as they had vanished - the rats were gone, this time replaced with what could only be described as humanoid shapes shuffling towards the two of them.

Their arms were all raised slightly, and several of them were slumping. Though for as long as Denji could remember, it had been silent, he swear he could hear zombie-like groans fill the air. It was, in all likelihood, simply him imagining things.

What he couldn't imagine was how he was supposed to get out of here when they were blocking every avenue available, and he found himself retreating back, further and further, until his back touches the wall with the window near it. And though it was unusual for him, he froze up. ]

[ascocarp]

Oh, for fuck's sake!

[Ellie groans, and begins pelting the monsters with bricks and rocks from her vantage point. She really doesn't wanna watch this lone weirdo die, thanks! Even if he is a fucking idiot.]

1/3

[chainsawman]

[ There's a lot to take in. At a glance, he was a nothing more than a boy surrounded by a sea of shadows all clambering towards him with zero intent on stopping. No one he had seen so far had spoken the same language as him, and most importantly, he had come here without having made good on his promise to French kiss his squad mate.

He had had it. It was time to go all chainsaws. ]

[chainsawman]

[ Denji decided he would rather throw himself into the fray than let himself get consumed by it. Although he disappeared momentarily, something clearly wasn't right.

It started with the sound of a revving motor.

Then, from the mass of zombie-shaped darkness, what must have earlier been Denji shredded his way through everything within arm's reach, and maybe even a little beyond. That was because from his arms extended a pair of chainsaw blades that spun faster than the eye could see. His head had turned into what looked like a helmet with an engine motif, and that too had a chainsaw blade extending from it. ]

Yeah ha ha! How do ya like me now, you walking sacks of shit?!

3/3 oh my god I wrote too much

[chainsawman]

[ He cuts his way through the mob, clearly having a good time with it, but in the end he accomplishes little more than spilling his own blood - his chainsaws bleed him just as well as it does his enemies. Before long, though the mob has seemed to clear, he's falling back to the wall where this all started, and the blades on his arms fade from existence before he slumps headfirst into the window - oddly, the blade still protrudes from his head, though his face has returned to normal. ]

friend, i lost my shit

[ascocarp]

[So, at some point in all of... that, Ellie started screaming. When shit comes out of people's heads, you scream. Her heart hammers in her chest, and she throws as much shit at the monster-who-was-once-a-boy as she does at the angry shadows around him. And when he changes back, it's still horrifying, because it's just a feint. He's some kind of fucking death clicker. How do you get infected by chainsaws?]

[Whatever it is, she's not catching it.]

Get the fuck out of here! [The radio transmits it just as she throws a brick straight at his horrifying head.]

I was actually going to have him do this a few tags ago

[chainsawman]

[ Though she had been screaming for him to leave this entire time, he literally could not understand a word she was saying. Except for maybe, just maybe, "fuck." But even when, somehow, he hears something he can get, all he can do is groan. ]

It's too late for that...

[ Denji takes the brick like a champ, revving up his facial-chainsaw a bit, and it splits the projectile cleanly in half as it comes into contact with the blade. After that though, the engine seems to sputter out a bit, and Denji coughs up blood onto the floor of the building Ellie's in.

It's with a great effort that he forces himself through the window and lands spread eagle on the floor, sending whatever was there flying every which way. In a very fortunate turn of events, Ellie's radio lands smack dab next to his face as it contorts painfully before he seems to settle down. ]

This place...blows... [ He takes in a deep breath. His head turns to the side, and he looks into the wall, dejected. The radio, small as it might be, spits out a single, painfully audible: ] Dick.

mate its fucking hilarious.

[ascocarp]

Ellie wants to run. She doesn't. Her legs seem locked in place. She's never seen a terror like this; the infected have nothing on a fucking... chainsaw face. But then he's close enough for the radio to pick up his words, and she watches, gobsmacked. He seems... like he's talking? Words Ellie can understand, and more importantly, empathize with.

She holds out hope, knowing it will probably get her killed. Her life is worthless, anyway. Curiosity wins out.

"Are- are you... alive?"

my work here is done

[chainsawman]

[ For what mayhem lay outside, the air within the building was very still. Denji's breathing was, besides the girl's words, the only noise. It was everything but steady - it was evident at a glance that he wasn't in good shape. His chest was heavy, and his arms were shaking.

Then, suddenly, the shivering stopped entirely. He gave the girl one final pained look, and slowly shut his eyes. One could very easily assume he had died.

Half a minute passes like this, before an obnoxious snore breaks the silence.

He's just asleep. ]

salutes.

[ascocarp]

[Uh.]

[Okay.]

[Cool.]

Bye, dude.

[Look, he might not be a monster. But he also very well might be one. If he's gonna black out on her, Ellie's gonna take that as a sign of good luck on her part, and get the hell out of there.]