as ATP is this weekend!

[these_balls]

TEST DRIVE MEME


➞ Post with a character you wish to test drive in this game's setting.
➞ Tag other people's starters and thread out shenanigans!
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➞ Have fun!


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As usual, we've created a Google Doc so you can submit your wanted characters for a big Route game ad on this month's ATP!
FIND IT HERE
CUTOFF FOR ADDING CHARACTER WANT ADS TO THE GDOC IS:
6:30 PM, EST, ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 30!

Comments

[a_sin_for_him]

Mmmm. I have no real liking for violence or aggression.

[Anyone that easy going is likely to have an agenda, but Lust supposes it's not much different than Greed. He'd likely be anyone's friend as well.

Ugh, what's Greed going to think? She's not bringing back a stray Pokemon, she's bringing back a high ranking military intelligence officer who knows far too much about them.

She hopes her assessment of his likelhood of befriending everyone is right. And also that he's off hunting Pokemon right now.]

Yes, it's fine. It wouldn't be decent to just leave you here.

[father_of_the_year]

Wow, really?

For what it's worth, though, you do fight really well. I'm pretty sure I would've been toast if Envy didn't intervene.

[But that's definitely a topic change thing. And so, changing the topic is the most appropriate course of action here!]

...I really am thankful, though. It's really nice of you to offer.

..Is your camp far from here? Should I grab some wood or something on the way?

[Sure, he wouldn't be able to do much without an axe, but even branches and boughs can still be used as kindling..]

[a_sin_for_him]

Due to my nature. Homunculi have exceptional strength, speed, and reflex. I can hardly do all of that now. I fought because I thought I had to, nothing more.

[She doesn't say anything Envy. There's only so much that can be forgiven in a short period of time.]

It's nothing. It's not far, we don't need wood. We're used to camping, we've been doing it for a month. There's plenty of Pokemon, your pikachu won't be wanting for company.

[father_of_the_year]

[He gives a nod, even though he does think that she's selling herself short.

The electric mouse makes a happy "Pika pika!" at the thought of having more pokemon to interact with.]

A month, huh? Sounds like you've managed to get pretty settled in, then.

[He gives one of his sweeping gestures at the forest surrounding them as he speaks.]

I wouldn't even know what's safe to eat around here.

[And that's followed with a shrug. Hey, it might be the incompetent moron act turned down a few notches, but at least he's not in mission-mode!]

[a_sin_for_him]

Not the berries!

[Lust emphasizes this with a cut of her arm in front of her in a negative gesture. She turns and begins leading the way to camp.]

I've been here a few months. Apparently it isn't entirely uncommon for people from our world to die and end up here. But there seem to be hundreds of people from all different worlds who've just ended up here somehow. It may sound like madness, but it's all truth.

[father_of_the_year]

[Not the berries! Check!

Even though that emphatic statement totally sounds like Lust's personal experience talking, he's not going to ask.

..Even though he wants to.

He nods and quietly follows Lust's lead, listening to her explanation.]

Eh? So I'm not the only one who wound up finding this place instead of some kind of afterlife?

[a_sin_for_him]

No. We actually have something in common, it turns out.

[Guttle rolls along at Lust's feet, circling her often.]

I can't speak for anyone else, of course, that's their business. But people end up in this place, and it's a very nice place. Things are...just generally nice overall. It's difficult to explain, you'll understand when you've been here awhile.

[father_of_the_year]

[Another nod, and continuing to listen and follow...and being mindful of the adorable rolling seal orbiting Lust.]

Well, without all of the politics back home, I can already see how it is nice. But, like anything else, I'd imagine getting to know this place better would mean being able to appreciate it more, too.

And really, might as well make the best of this, right?

[And there's actual sincerity in that statement. If this was a vacation spot, well, it only makes sense to enjoy it for all that it's worth, right?]

[a_sin_for_him]

Calling it politics is too generous. Dabbling in the political climate was only one small portion of a very grand design orchestrated by one mad alchemist no one alive today has likely ever even heard of. But she decided that due to her cheating at life and gaining something near to immortality, she had the capacity to decide what was right and wrong for all people. But I think she was just justifying her own selfish desires.

[The campsite is empty save for Pokemon when they arrive - good. Lust has been hoping. The same Jigglypuff from the photo she'd shown is dancing for a bored looking Glameow by the remains of a banked fire. Lust really doesn't care what Maes knows at this point, he's dead and doesn't seem to hold much of a personal grudge over it. She feels he ought to know it was much more than some bit of political shadiness he'd ended up embroiled in.]

Making the best of it is what we all do. People are kind, no one cares about what you were in your old world...the weather gets funny sometimes, but so what? It only flung sharks everywhere the once.

[father_of_the_year]

Man, that's so far out of my depth that it's not even funny. But, it's like I told Roy - I might not understand alchemy or how it works, but I can tell when it's edging into "maybe you should reconsider that" territory.

..It kind of sounds like that alchemist crossed that threshold and kept on going. But, isn't there supposed to be some kind of backlash for some of that? Kind of like how attempts on human alchemy can actually kill or maim the alchemist who tried?

[There is so much 'wow this is so far above my paygrade'/'completely out of my depth' here, but it did seem worth asking with what little he did manage to pick up about alchemy over the years.

The Pikachu hopped down and excitedly scurried over to join the other pokemon, watching the Jigglypuff dance.

Maes visibly recoils at the mention of the weather thing, though.]

Flinging sharks? Isn't that..kind of dangerous?

[Dangerous or ridiculous, really, he's not entirely sure which. But, if they were able to function outside of the water just fine, and if they were large and hungry, dangerous would probably be more accurate.]

[a_sin_for_him]

That's what the Philosopher's Stone is for. Avoiding the laws of alchemy.

[The Pikachu is welcomed into the small group of Lust's pokemon, though the Glameow gave it a disdainful glance. Lust set about building the fire back up to reheat the porridge from earlier.]

She didn't make it herself, but she controlled the world to the extent she could ensure one was made when she had need of it. At least until this time, it seems everything fell apart somewhere along the line. Elrics and all.

[As though just invoking the name of the brothers explains everything. But considering who she's talking to, she assumes it does.]

Only if you were outside. And foolish. Greed caught us a pair, we're buying a house for them. And us, but it has to have a pool for our sharks. The poor things have to stay cooped up on dry land.

[father_of_the_year]

[Well, the part about the Elrics throwing a wrench into her plans certainly did make sense - those two were incredibly gifted, and likely something that wasn't planned for.

Hughes nods again.]

Man, it's a little ridiculous how much was actually going on without our knowing. I mean, I was head of Investigations and a lot of this is news to me.

[He rubs the back of his neck. Sure, he became aware at the last of it that there was some kind of corruption or infiltration in the government, but to that extent? That was completely beyond his wildest imaginings.]

...They can survive out of the water?

[a_sin_for_him]

Maes, you have no idea.

[She's not about to drop the bomb that the Fuhrer himself had been a homunculus. There was only so much the mind could handle at once, and she doesn't need a dazed Amestrian soldier on her hands.]

Yes and no. They can. And they can battle on land, but they live in water. Pokemon physiology is strange and refuses to adhere to the biological laws we know. It's easiest not to think too deeply on it. Do you take sweetener in your porridge?

[father_of_the_year]

[Not to mention that that would also open the door to all kinds of awkward questions like if the Fuhrer was actually Envy because he didn't seem to have any razor sharp teeth or anything, and Envy was a shapeshifter..]

Sounds like this place operates on completely different physics, huh?

[And for once, he's actually thankful that he's NOT an alchemist. Can you imagine having to re-learn all of the different principles of physics and biology to adjust to a new world where something like that might not even work?

The question about his porridge snapped him out of that train of thought entirely, however, as he perked up.]

Ah! Sweetener would be wonderful if you had it.

[a_sin_for_him]

Ridiculous physics. Take the ledges: they only work one way. How is that even possible?

[But it's how things work. You can go down, but not up. And then of course there's the Pokemon.]

And the music that always seems to be coming faintly from somewhere. But you get used to it all.

[She hands him a bowl of porridge with raisins and sugar and takes a seat across the fire.]

I'm still learning how to cook.

[father_of_the_year]

Only one way, huh? I guess that means that there's just that much more planning involved when you travel.

I'm guessing you can't just go around them, either?

[He politely accepts the bowl of porridge with raisins and sugar, before taking a spoonful of it, blowing on it first to make sure it's not so hot that he'll burn his mouth.]

This is actually really good! Thank you, Lust.

[A genuine smile of gratitude before he continues to eat. He hadn't even realized just how hungry he'd let himself get. But then, of course, finding yourself in a new place does tend to be a distracting enough thing all on its own..]

[a_sin_for_him]

Only down. There's something wrong with gravity.

[She's always awkward when honest compliments are given.]

Oh. Thank you. I have a friend, he's teaching me. He's human. He's always been human.

[As though that's important for some reason. Kind as Maes has been, Lust still feels a need to impress her normalcy on someone who understands entirely what a homunculus is. She's accepted here, by humans, as one of them.]

And it's nothing, really. Food is necessary. I know what happens without it. I would forget to eat, when I first came here.

[father_of_the_year]

[He looks thoughtful for a moment at the idea of something being wrong with gravity.]

..Maybe the gravity is stronger here? But only enough that there isn't significant impact besides the ledges thing..

[He continues to eat, enjoying the porridge, as he contemplates some of the other things about this world.]

..Of course, that wouldn't at all explain the music, or how everyone is human here.

[He shrugs the thought off. At best, a theory is all he could really manage anyway.

He is a little surprised at the mention of Lust originally forgetting to eat, though.]

So, you really didn't have to eat or drink anything until now?

[Genuine curiosity rears its head once more.

It's probably one of those silly human things that people take for granted as a simple fact of life, but it wasn't really something he'd thought about in terms of what homunculi actually do or don't need.]