nashira_ooc | Test Drive Meme

Info: Setting ⭐︎ Key Locations ⭐︎ Full Navigation ⭐︎ Monster Info
Prompts: Awakening ⭐︎ By Daylight ⭐︎ By Starlight

WELCOME TO CHALRA CITY!
You live in a bustling modern metropolis situated on the coast of the Everwave Sea. Lively and ever-changing, it’s been riding the wave of the recent techno-economic boom, and business has never been better! The city has thawed into spring, bringing with it the balmy breezes and blooms of April, although the mornings are still chilly and damp. Students and their teachers around the city are settling into the new school year a little under a month before its start, and with the weather turning warmer, the city seems even livelier in anticipation of one of the hottest music tours of the year.

awakening
You lead a more or less ordinary life in the bustling Chalra City — this is the world you live in, and it’s the only world you know. And then one day you feel something stir in you — perhaps it comes to you in a dream, or you receive a vivid waking vision upon walking into someone else — and in the back of your mind, you hear a voice that sounds very much like your own, uttering a wish with its dying breath.

You awaken to your destiny as a Nova Knight, a reincarnation of an alien from a dead planet who once fought against the Abyss. With your new transformation charm in hand, it's time to go supernova and, with the help of your comrades, save the world.

by daylight
Now you lead two lives: your everyday life as one of the many citizens of Chalra City, and your life as a reincarnated magical crime fighter. Will you manage to balance the demands of your double lives, or will you buckle under the pressure? Will you trust your fellow Nova Knights, or will you keep your identity a secret? And when your back is against the wall, who will you call for help?

PLAYING PLOT-MANDATED HOOKY
Real life means real obligations, and you're at one right now — whether it's work, school, or a family gathering, you're expected to be there, and you can't just leave without raising a few eyebrows (or questions).

Unfortunately, the ship's computer Nautis has been blowing up your phone with texts, urging you to ditch your responsibilities so you can take care of an urgent threat: innocent cityfolk are mysteriously disappearing under a famously haunted overpass, and it’s most certainly the work of the enemy. The person next to you is also a fellow Nova Knight, and they're getting the same messages. The question is, do you know each other as Nova Knights, or only as colleagues or classmates? And either way, how are you both going to manage to sneak out and take care of business — without being seen transforming in broad daylight?

SUSPICIOUS SCALPER
The entertainment industry in Chalra City is booming, as evidenced by the fact that most of their performance venues are booked year round. And one of the hottest new artists on the Atlace scene has arrived at the Chalra City stop of their nationwide tour! Indie sensation the beautiful unit., comprised of Jana The (vocals and acoustic guitar), Eliza Beautiful (upright bass), and Blair Unit (shakers), has made its mark on Chalra City's pop culture scene before they've even arrived. The tour has attracted enough attention from smaller nearby cities that every light rail car is packed, making an already busy commute even more hectic for the locals, and many a local shop is cashing in on the craze by selling unlicensed the beautiful unit. merch. There's even a new ticket reseller downtown selling tickets to the sold-out show at astonishingly low prices. It seems too good to be true, but some fans' loyalty outweighs their common sense, and on the day of the show, the line goes out the door and halfway around the block. It probably wouldn't hurt to investigate… Wait, with all the tickets they're reselling, does the math even add up?

by starlight
A CAPTIVATING AUDIENCE
When night falls, the curtain rises on the beautiful unit.'s highly anticipated show in the Four Clover Stadium. After a seventeen minute silent intro, the crowd breaks into a roar when Jana The plucks the first note on her acoustic guitar. But as the show goes on, some fans seem to be a little too amped up. Any the beautiful unit. fan who bought tickets from the suspicious new reseller will begin to turn into a blacklit monster, the light sticks clutched in their hands now transformed into fearsome weapons. Before long, dozens of fans have transformed into monsters, and more are following with every beat. The band keeps on playing as the monsters advance towards the stage — it looks like they're trying to kidnap the beautiful unit.!

You can fight off the monsters' advance with your powers, but they outnumber you and they're closing in fast. These monsters are still people, though, and those people are the beautiful unit. fans through and through, so maybe if you can get the band to play a track off their unreleased new album, they'll turn back to normal.

THE DEATH JITTERBUG
The the beautiful unit. craze is inescapable. From banners to badges, you can't turn a corner in Chalra City without seeing their logo (the beautiful unit. in an Arial variant designed as part of an artistic collaboration with the band). You don't even need to go to a show to hear their music — the shopping center at the train station is blasting all their best singles, such as "It's Time To Talk (About You (And Me))" and "Let's! (Family Restaurant)", a jingle originally written for a diner in their hometown that stayed on the Top 40 charts for a record-breaking nine weeks. Their music is popular for a reason, though, and plenty of shoppers are dancing along to the beat. The only problem is…they don't seem to be able to stop!

If you investigate, you'll discover that the small crystals attached to the shopping center's speakers are draining the energy of anyone under the hipster dance curse. If you destroy the crystals, the shoppers should go back to normal, but you never know which one of them is an appropriately themed monster in disguise. If you're not careful, you might find yourself in for a serious dance off.

⭐︎ ⭐︎ ⭐︎
MONSTER INFO
Here's some convenient info about various monsters for use in TDM threads. For the purposes of the TDM, there aren't hard and fast rules about how they work, so have fun and go wild!

tbu. GROUPIES: Those desperate fans who bought suspiciously scalped tickets will turn into monstrous versions of themselves upon reaching a certain hype level: some of them grow in size; others grow claws, fangs, or hand-crocheted beanies; any fan merch on their person becomes a grotesque weapon. Somehow, they always look like they're under a blacklight, and if you listen closely, their seemingly meaningless grunts comprise an infinite chorus of I was into them before they got big. They're still fans at heart and will probably turn back to normal if you can get their favorite band to play an unreleased single!

THE SOFT SHOE STINGER: Anywhere people seem to be compelled to dance, there's a human-disguised monster in the crowd, poised to attack if any Nova Knights show up. Once unveiled, it's clear from those brightly-colored antennae and compound eyes that this guy is allied with the enemy, and his dance moves truly out of this world. You can defeat this monster by winning in a dance-off, but if enough of you just pummel him with your powers he'll leave. Either way, it's a win.

GROOVE GHOSTS: Any time people are possessed by the spirit of dance, whether at a concert or under the influence of a monster's spell, these guys might show up to jeer at your pitiful moves and heckle you about being off-beat. They can be dispelled by Silver-level powers, but if enough of them gather, it might take a bit more coordination to beat them all.

Note: While the TDM has some specific prompts, you are not limited to these options for threading! Please feel free to use any elements of the setting you see in the info pages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Whoah!" he says, clearly impressed. "Great timing! Buuut... I can't tell you that! It's different for everyone." He tosses his staff from one hand to the other by way of demonstration, and grins at her. "You just gotta feel it!"

Very helpful, Kalim! With that he darts back in to give the monster another clobbering with his staff; the prism glows as he slams it into the creature, sending it sprawling against the tarmac, and he glances back at his new companion to see if she's figured anything out yet.

'Just feel it', huh? Neos's estimation of Sunbeam dropped from 'potential mentor' to 'natural talent who doesn't know how to teach'.

Well, then.

If one fall was enough to determine a fight, no one would ever get up, and she would have never been who she is. If one scratch was enough to ruin a temple, no one would build or maintain them.

So when the monster realizes there is a Nova Knight amongst its prey, and rushes forward...

Neos is ready to meet it with a cross-counter all assembled can hear. "You tread on sacred ground!"

Nova Sunbeam hurries to use the haze of his mirage to slow the monster down, throwing its perception off and giving his new teammate more time to react, to find her new abilities.

When she does, he's thrilled.

"Yessss!" he cheers, punching the air. "That was SO COOL!"

This to the follow-up that sent the monster sprawling to the mat, breaking the hold on its prey.

Still, the difference in power was... Incredible. She had to wonder what it was about the outfit that did it, exactly.

Though... Speaking of... "... what am I dressed in!?"

She definitely would not, normally, be caught dead in such a getup, but here she is. ... Though. Maybe it's not that bad... "-- Do not think I did not see you aiding me. Thank you."

Edited 2025-04-21 04:34 (UTC)

He gives her a big thumbs up. "Yeah, of course – we're teammates now, I gotta look out for you! You look awesome, by the way!"

"I don't recall agreeing to any such thing?" she asks, finally getting a closer look at Nova Sunbeam. "Is there some sort of contract going on? Are you in financial trouble?"

"Huh?" He blinks – then bursts out laughing. "No! But, I mean–" He spreads his arms out, "you've got powers now! You're gonna use them to help people, right?"

"That is my tendency, yes," Neos hums, with a casual air. "And yet, there's no guarantee that I will be by your side when it happens. Or even on your side. We are... Strangers. For now."

This seems to confuse him just as much as the last thing she said did.

"No way, we're not strangers – this is the second time we've met!" He laughs, and holds out his hand. "I'm Nova Sunbeam!"

"Ah, so we have met before?" She pauses. "Come to think, there's someone matching your description at Everwave in my classes, isn't there?"

still, she takes the hand-- in both of hers, like she's meeting a head of state. "Nova Neos."

"Huh?" Kalim has probably said hi to Natalia in class. He's probably been told her name. He does NOT remember her. "No, I meant in the alley just before! Haha! Anyway, great to meet you, Nova Neos!"

"Yes, that one fellow always with Jamil." She clicks her tongue once or twice as if trying to remember. "Eh, it's a big city. I'm sure you're of no relation."

He blinks. She knows Jamil...? He belatedly catches up with the rest of what she just said to him.

"Oh, wait, you just said you go to Everwave--? Ah, I mean, no," he waves his free hand, "I gotta keep all that identity stuff secret!"

She smiles a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Yes. Of course. Let's remove ourselves to a point that does not, in fact, have people recovering from... whatever it is that's happened to them."

What has happened to them!?

"Oh... Good point! Yeah, they're probably gonna wake up soon. I guess that guy was, like, keeping them prisoner to, uh... Actually I don't really know. Maybe they want their energy or something?" Nova Sunbeam scratches his head. "Nautis can probably explain that stuff better than me!"

"... Nautis? Who's Nautis?"

"Oh right...!" He hums thoughtfully. "It's probably easier if I just show you. Come with me!"

He holds his hand out.

hesitantly, she takes it, and with that, they're off to the races.

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