memesofeternity | TEST DRIVE MEME

A. RETRIEVAL

Dreams fade slowly, and awareness returns in increments. The hum of machinery, the smell of recycled air, the murmurs of others waking up around you.

The interior of the ship has been outfitted with cots for those Biggs and Wedge retrieve from the Dream Width. Outside of the makeshift infirmary, windows set into the walls of the worn lounge area offer a view of space.

It’s time to meet your fellow new arrivals who have been brought together on Biggs and Wedge’s airship. None of you know how you came to be here or where you are going, and the door to the cockpit is locked as the pilots focus on navigating the treacherous obstacles of the Dream Width. You might as well take this moment to introduce yourself to your fellow travelers.

B. CURTI CENTER

There’s an almost overwhelming aura of excitement in the tower as researchers rush to document this unprecedented number of interdimensional travelers. Over the commotion, the leaders of the Center struggle to explain, ‘Welcome to Vaikuntha. We don’t know why you’ve been brought here, but this is your new home.’

The staff will do their best to help the off-worlders settle in. They answer the questions they can, provide maps and pamphlets about the world and the destinations within it, and even guide the arrivals to a neighborhood where housing has been provided for you. Yes, due to the strange influx of arrivals, you’ll be expected to share, but the Curti staff are doing the best they can under the circumstances.

Experiences like these bring people together. Perhaps you are the only one here from your world, but at least you are not alone in this experience. Others are right beside you, learning the same information, planning trips to visit the same new cities, checking out these Job things, and settling in to their new (temporary) homes.

C. UP IN THE SKY

There’s a whole new world to explore. It’s almost enough to distract from the fact that there’s one place you can’t go- home.

You are on an Airship, the main mode of transportation between the major cities of Vaikuntha. While the majority are owned by airlines, perhaps you hitched a ride with a friend that has their own. You can go anywhere in a matter of hours — One can only hope you don’t have motion sickness.

D. GUILDS

Proud representatives of the Guild are lined up, ready to demonstrate their skills for the new initiates. Make sure to stay behind the designated line, this might get dangerous.

So you want a new Job? You'll have to first travel to the Guilds, sign the papers, go through the orientation and introductory lectures, and get basic training. Afterwards, you can freely chat and practice with your fellow members, celebrating your new powers, and checking out your new wardrobe.

E. LET'S BE ADVENTURERS

Separated from all of your material possessions, connections, and everything you know, and really, what you’re left with is time. Better try to make the most of it.

Enough expository banter. It's explorin' time. Maybe instead of spending every day in your room, you'd rather spend it living it up in the city of Lavode, or betting on Chocobo Races in Sparks Goldsaucia. Or maybe you'd rather go and explore the caves and ruins near Arito. With Airships and Chocobos at your disposal, you can go nearly anywhere!

F. SIDEQUESTS

Maybe you’re telling yourself, ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ But wait, you did. At least it pays.

It all started when you checked the Quest Board. All you wanted was a few gil to spend, and here you are in the wild, hunting for a Malboro Vine. Or maybe you are in some ancient and decrepit ruins looking for an artifact. Or you could be asked to be janitor for a week. Consider yourself lucky though, at least you don't have to do that alone.

G. GET A JOB (THE OTHER KIND)

You’ve got a Job, but Claire keeps sighing and muttering about layabout space-people not earning their keep, so it might be time to seek out Employment as well.

There are plenty of opportunities to earn some gil in Vaikuntha, no matter where you choose to settle down. Your iMog slate includes listing for employment opportunities. Hopefully you can find something you can live with so that you can start saving up for an airship or the security payment for your permanent housing.

H. MOGNET

*Ding!* You’ve got Mog-Mail!

Thankfully, you can instantaneously chat with your friends around the world thanks to you iMog Slate. And unlike old-fashioned Moogle Letters, you can even send messages to everyone in a blink of an eye! However, despite the change in technology, the old tradition of Mognet Strikes have never gone away. Nobody knows any more whether the Moogles have legitimate reasons to go on strike or if they are just lazy. But today, Mognet is down, and to get information you have no choice but going to the public boards or risk message corruption and mishandling.

I. RANDOM ENCOUNTER

The ground trembles, and out of nowhere, something hostile appears! ~~Is that battle music playing?~~

You were minding your own business walking around, and suddenly monsters attacked you! Time to put to use the skills you've learned with your Jobs! Will you try to fight on your own or seek help? And remember, you die in random battle, you die FOR REAL. There’s no shame from running from enemies that are a higher level than you!

J. WILD CARD

Feeling inspired to create your own prompt? The power is yours!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That makes him pause, or more, it made him stop what he was about to do and instantly blurt out the first thought that came to mind at such a strange statement.]

Then it's obviously for something weird. Are you trying to figure out the perfect murder or something?

You've got that wrong! [Ok, that might've come out a little loud and truth-bullet-y, whoops.]

I'm...sort of a detective. I want to study and see what kind of cases have existed in this world.

[His cheeks go red.]But people sometimes assume I'm some creep, so that's why I said something.

[If it was possible to retreat inside of his hat like a turtle, trust him, he'd be there to escape this social interaction.]

Sort of?

[Komaeda can't help but tilt his head a little quizically.]

You know, this method of defence just makes you more suspicious right?

Though I suppose those who are s7ccesful in such things generally don't seem like the type to do it either....

Instead of assuming people think something is wrong with you, why not simply accept your natural actions as a student?

Yeah. [Shuichi sighs.] I got labeled as an Ultimate Detective, but the circumstances surrounding that were just a coincidence. So people either assume I'm a better detective than I actually am, or they think I'm a faker.

[He looks down at his stack of incriminating criminology books.]

I can try to ignore what people think, but... [He can't help it, he cares if people think he's a pervert or a liar.]

..is it really that easy to just accept something like that?

Oh?

[That caught his attention and brightened his expression.]

So you're an accidental take you're saying? Generally though if a talent is recognized you should accept it as a reality. Even I accept my talent of luck even if it's a trash talent that barely means anything.

Is luck really a talent? [How did somebody get a title like that? What kind of research lab would they end up with?]

For me, I want to be able to believe in myself as a detective and rely on my abilities. I hope to get there because I work hard and learn from each case, not because I have a 'talent'. Especially if they decide on ultimates in such an unreliable way like they did for me.

It's hard to believe, isn't it? But I was told it is. I was even the Ultimate Lucky Student of Hope's Peak Academy's class of 77B. Not that anyone here would know what that means, but, they insisted it was a talent.

[And at this point he couldn't argue that.]

Hmm, but if you didn't have a talent for it, you wouldn't manage to get anywhere. There's nothing wrong with working hard to improve your talent, but working hard with no talent at all won't manifest much.

[Shuichi nods. He hasn't heard of Hope's Peak Academy ~~yet~~, but every school around the country wants to have some sort of Ultimate student, even a weird one like this guy's. No school would turn away an Ultimate and the grant money that the government gives them.]

I guess. That seems like a harsh way to think about it. If you're born without a talent, there's no way you can succeed?

That depends, there's always a role for those without talent to play, but without a talent you'll never be top or noteworthy in a specific field. However, it's important to understand your limitations, admire those above you but know when you've reached the most of your potential. However, with a talent, you can never do less than the absolute best....

It's a bit....

[He looks distant for a moment but comes back and quickly switches gears.]

Which is why if you have a talent for something you should accept it, if you don't have one no one would have acknowledged you and you would be another hopeless average faceless background character.

[Shuichi feels a rush of panic when the words 'faceless background character' come up. He tends to thing of himself as more of a side character than an Ultimate, but he tells himself that it's Imposter Syndrome. A lot of people feel that way.]

I don't need to be the top of my field. If I can help people like my uncle does, if I can earn their smiles and their thanks, that's enough for me. I'd want to do that with or without a talent.

[But Shuichi pauses as he thinks over what the other student has said. ~~He may be driving a mental taxi, nbd.~~]

Do you get pressured to be the best at...being lucky? [Shuichi's not even sure how that would work, but he is guessing that the guy is speaking from experience.]

Me? Ha! I'm trash, even if I'm lucky, there's no means to push that. It's like a natural desaster... you just sit back and watch....

It's a bit stupid, but every year there's a student like that, chosen through lottery. But, I couldn't deny the invitation, and even if it's a garbage talent it is my talent. So, you should also accept your talent if you have one.

[Shuichi is so confused by this guy.] ...but isn't being lucky a good thing? That doesn't seem like trash.

[Weird, yes, but not a disaster. He doesn't get why this guy's so hard on himself. ~~Yes, Shuichi is absolutely a pot calling a kettle black.~~]

Is it? Luck isn't an inherently good thing, there's both good and bad....

But if you're counting good and bad luck, isn't everyone lucky? Unless you have a boring life where nothing good or bad happens, I suppose...

[He's wracking his brain to think of how someone could be ultimate level lucky with those circumstances. He comes to the conclusion that some things aren't meant to be solved.]

Is coming here good or bad luck for you?

People can be lucky, in both ways, but....

Imagine this, I generally win any game of chance I play, and if not, those events lead to something else that is fortunate. However, for every good thong, something equally unlucky happens. Generally bad things happen and then good things.

[deep down he didn't mind a world that was boring, but he couldn't consciously accept it.]

I don't know yet, for the moment it's neither.

~~[Oh, don't get Shuichi started about thongs.]~~

Oh, so it's like the wheel of fortune? [He's talking the concept of Rota Fortunae, not the game show.] I think I understand now.

[He nods his head.]

I think getting here would be good luck, right? Space isn't easy to navigate. It takes a lot of training to travel to space, so that fact that all of us survived and made it here is pretty amazing.

Exactly!

[He had to think about it for a moment, was it really? No. That was considering the ven of vanishing from their world was bad and arriving was good.]

Instead of thinking of it that way, think of everything as one event. Rather is not being home and being here a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps our world is destroyed now and being here is thus lucky, or perhaps we will have to go through misery and hell here, and thus our arrival is bad.

TEST DRIVE MEME

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