riverview: october test drive meme

[riverviewmod]

riverview test drive meme

Welcome to Riverview's test drive meme! Feel free to dip your toes in on the test drive meme to try out your character in the setting, play out a mission, and get samples for your application at the same time!

● There are currently 31 Character Slots available.
● Applications are open but the application and reserve cycle will resume with apps closing on November 7th.
● Providing all parties are amenable, threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon, as the plot in the prompts presented is game canon, and may continue while applicants are waiting on the queue (including spanning multiple TDMs).
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points, so long as all characters involved are accepted into the game.
● Threading on the TDM is intended for prospective new characters, so top-levels should only be posted by players of these characters. Since the events in the TDM are considered game canon, characters currently in the game are free to use the TDM prompts for logs and posts on the regular communities.

Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own scenario. The setting is built to be flexible, so feel free to make things up as you go.

information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation

prompt i: high voltage!

Over the course of the past couple months, something has been changing in the Abandoned City, the part of the Quarantine that was abandoned over a decade ago after the great Epidemic that decimated the population of the sprawling city. It hasn't been independent or spontaneous either - Quarantine resident Ava Orlova has been practicing with her energy production powers outside the city in a way that has had some interesting side effects.

With burst after burst of glowing blue energy surging through a spur of one of the abandoned and neglected transit train lines, something has started stirring. The line was connected to a long-dormant hydro-electric power relay station located near on the river just before it connects to the waterfalls (see the crudely-drawn map here), and with all that power being pumped through the train line and ending up in the station, the backup generators have wheezed to life.

What does this mean for Quarantine residents?

Providing the station can be secured and brought back to full power, it means that the overall electrical grid in the city will be much more reliable, the fences will be more secure, and new methods to try to direct the portal to send mistaken arrivals home can be explored. Most importantly, the part of the Abandoned City surrounding the newly-activated power station will be much easier to tame and inhabit. The possibility of expansion is very important for the Quarantine - with new arrivals coming through the portal almost constantly, overpopulation has been a bit of a concern of late.

With all of this at stake, the Perimeter Guard and the Government of Riverview are teaming up to make sure that this new area gets explored, secured, and made useful in as short a time as possible. Anyone with even an inkling of desire to explore will see ads, fliers, or Perimeter Guard Cadets talking up the exploration mission out to the new power relay station. Head over to the Perimeter Guard Headquarters to receive a free package of exploration equipment courtesy of the Government of Riverview (complete with comfortable camouflage jumpsuit, tactical belts, and a lightweight pack with a survival kit including food, water, first aid, flares, and other similar supplies) and be issued a weapon to follow the train line out to the power station and ensure the route is safe.

prompt ii: standing ground

It isn't just the route to the power station that needs to be cleared - with all the activity and the thrum of energy and light at the station, a swarm of interested monsters and creatures has come toward the area. The exploration team and any techs interested in helping to get the station fully operational will need protection, and the station itself will need to be cleared of all threats and secured so the engineers, electricians, and technical geniuses can safely work on establishing a power grid in the area.

Join in the fray, and back up your fellow explorers to get the area safe, secure, and able to be used!

Almost any type of monster is possible, including monsters featured in previous Test Drives, monsters that players make up on the fly, and even monsters from individual character canons that could have conceivably come through the portal. The fight, however, is totally worth it. Once this area is cleared out, there's going to be a lot more space to move around and a few interesting new locations...

prompt iii: ghosts of october

During the 10th month of every year on the moon, due to a complex series of chemical, electromagnetic, and magical forces that no one has ever exactly distinguished or completely understands, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead are weakened almost to the point of nonexistence. During this time, residents of the moon are able to see and interact with the dead - ghosts, manifesting in ways that run the gamut from being a strange sense of being watched or being visible or audible all the way to more corporeal spirits that can affect the world around them. The barriers are weaker in some parts of the city than they are in others, with some areas experiencing little to no ghost activity, while others are so populated with these ghosts that residents can barely go a few feet without running into one. The ghosts are generally the unsettled dead, people who died violently, or who were lost, seeking a place to call home, and their behavior is as varied as it was while they were alive. Some ghosts are angry and vengeful, some are simply lonely and lost.

While some people tend to interact with the ghosts only a little and as necessary, others avoid them as completely as possible, and yet others actively seek out souls who are suffering and try to ease that so they can stop coming back year after year. There are other people who have found that ghosts from their home worlds have come through with them, following them through the portal when they arrived, even if they did not die on the moon...

Whether facing death or making peace with those who have died, this is a time to reflect.

A Few OOC Guidelines:
● Characters may see or interact with ghosts from the Quarantine's past. These people will be as varied as the NPCs, from a multitude of different worlds, and characters are welcome to either engage or avoid, as players wish.
● Most Quarantine-based ghosts will have died in either the Great War with the neighboring reality or in the Pandemic that wiped out the population of the Abandoned City years ago.
● Characters may also see or interact with ghosts from their own or other characters' canons, providing the character in question is dead in canon and is not currently being played in the game.
● Canon-based ghosts should not be simply transplanted into the game as they were in canon - they are ghosts, and therefore 'not quite right,' and should not be used as an excuse to NPC a canonmate for a month. These ghosts are there to be used as plot devices to open up new avenues of CR, to create angst, to help a character make peace with their past, or other similar reasons.
● Ghosts should not be complete corporeal physical presences indistinguishable from living people, but barring this, how strongly the ghosts manifest and how much they can interact with the world around them is up to player discretion. Ghosts shouldn't be present the whole month straight, but can disappear and reappear at random times.

prompt iv: making memories

Since October 9th, the residents of the Quarantine have been having a stranger-than-usual experience that's been drawing them closer together (or pushing them apart). The machinery in control of the process that's used for canon updates has gone haywire and is releasing nanites that usually function to restructure characters' bodies to match the updated information. The nanites are doing something different, though - they're sharing memories between characters.

Memories can be shared in several forms:

● First Person: This is experiencing another person's memory as if it's your own, seeing through that person's eyes in all its detail. This option wouldn't clearly expose the identity of the person whose memory is being viewed unless the memory includes that information specifically.
● Dreamscape: Mostly happening during dreams or with shared flashes during the day, this is watching the memory as if it were a three-dimensional movie, during which you can meet and talk with the person whose memory is being viewed.
● Network: These are memories shared through the network by accident, either as audio/video uploads or text-based descriptions transcribed to the network. These would be posted with the ID of the person whose memory is being shared.

● It is up to individual player preference how much feelings can be used in the memory, but knowing the other character's thoughts is not permitted.
● All memories must be from your character's canonpoint or earlier.

prompt v: friendr/network

Whether your character is accidentally sharing a memory, posting up a silly word game, trying to get hold of a friend, or putting out feelers for people to go out into the fray with, the network is going strong.

Alternately, an offer for a free app is popping up on new arrivals' devices - Friendr is a friend-finder and/or dating app. If characters choose to install it, they will fill out a short bio and parameters for what they're looking for, upload a snap of themselves, and then proceed to browse for matches. This is a typical swipe-left-or-right type app.

Code to post your character's bio is in the textbox below. An example of how it looks can be found here.

<br><center><table style="width:300px;"><tr style="border-bottom:1px dashed #528887;"><td></td> <td style="padding:20px; padding-bottom:0; width:300px; font:38px Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; color:#c4c4c4; text-align:center; letter-spacing:2px; background-color:#2a2a2a; border-top-right-radius:50px; border-top-left-radius:50px;"><b>Friendr</b></td> <td></td></tr> <tr><td style="font-size:70px; vertical-align:middle; text-align:right; padding:0; color:#528887;">«</td> <td style="background-color:#2a2a2a; padding:20px; padding-top:10px; padding-bottom:0; width:308px;"><img src="IMAGE URL - 300px WIDE OR LESS" style="border-radius:20px;"><br> </td> <td style="font-size:70px; vertical-align:middle; padding:0; color:#528887;">»</td></tr> <tr><td></td> <td style="background-color:#2a2a2a; font:12px arial; text-align:left; padding:10px;"><span style="color:#c4c4c4;"><b>» Age:</b> your character's age</span> <span style="color:#c4c4c4;"><b>» Seeking:</b> friendship/romantic/anything</span> <span style="color:#c4c4c4;"><b>» Preferences:</b> sexual preference or n/a</span> <span style="color:#c4c4c4;"><b>» Interests:</b> three interests</span> <span style="color:#c4c4c4;"><b>» Bio:</b> 30 words or less</span> </td></tr> <tr><td></td> <td style="text-align:right; font-size:10px; background-color:#2a2a2a;"><font color="#528887">base code by</font> <a href="http://photosynthesis.dreamwidth.org/" style="color:#528887;">photosynthesis</td></tr> <raw-code><tr style="border-bottom:1px dashed #528887;"><td></td> <td style="background-color:#2a2a2a;font:20px Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; color:#c4c4c4; text-align:center;">Character Name</td> <td><td></tr><tr><td></td> <td style="border-bottom-right-radius:50px; border-bottom-left-radius:50px; background-color:#2a2a2a; text-align:center;"><table style="width:100%; font:30px Verdana;"><tr><td style="text-align:left;"> <span style="text-decoration:none; color:#528887;">« ✘</span></td> <td style="text-align:right;"><span style="text-decoration:none; color:#528887;">✔ »</span></td></tr> </table></td> <td></td></table></raw-code></center>
Friendr base code is by photosynthesis.
The code in the textbox is for the default color scheme, but the Friendr app has a wide variety of themes, so feel free to customize with colors and patterns as you see fit, but do not remove the credit line out of respect for the creator of the code.

prompt vi: wildcard

Use the wildcard prompt to choose your own adventure and do whatever else you like in the setting!

navigation
[jungle relay tower by Robin Bouwmeester]

Comments

Chibita | Osomatsu-san

[odenson]

iii

[It's not that Chibita minds visitors to his cart. Quite the opposite, really. However, this isn't a visitor he ever expected to have again. Yet there she is, sitting on the bench on the other side of his cart and kicking her feet and smiling at him, proud, and Chibita...isn't sure what to do about it, to be honest. She's obviously not corporeal--he can see right through her. Which, admittedly, had been pretty startling at first. But never the less, she'd sat at his oden stand, wanting only to observe him working and keep him company, it seems. She hasn't said a word yet, but that's alright. If nothing else, it's companionable silence; a friend to have while he works, even though something in his chest aches every time he looks back up at her. The ghost of his flower fairy, come to visit. He does speak to her--and had when she first arrived--though his tone has been low and quiet generally, subdued in a way he rarely is. But to any observer, his focus is clearly more on her than on his oden.

Feel free to join them at the cart; there's still more than enough space on the bench.]



v -A.

	Friendr
«		»
	» Age: 21 » Seeking: Friends and Customers! » Preferences: Must like oden. » Interests: Oden, dashi, forget-me-nots » Bio: I'm going to make the best oden in the galaxy, ya idjit! That's my dream! So if you want to get to know me or get to know my oden, I'll be down there every night. Come visit!
	base code by photosynthesis
	Chibita
	« ✘ ✔ »

v-B @chibita.oden.king

So what's a good place to set up an oden stand here? My shop can be moved anywhere, and I wanna find the best street!



vi


[source]

[Looking for a place to sit and have a nice hot meal? Or perhaps you want a place to drink your cares away? What about a (somewhat) sympathetic ear who will (whether he wants to or not) listen to your woes and offer (relatively) sage advice? If looking for any of these things (or perhaps all three,) they can be found at Chibita's Hybrid Oden stand. Feel free to have a seat on the wooden bench in front and let the comforting scent of the bubbling broth, lovingly crafted by Chibita himself, waft over you. Chibita's here every afternoon and evening, rain or shine, and he'll happily serve you hot oden, cold beer, and some pretty good advice.]

vi

[relieable]

[Osomatsu's glad to have Chibita here, in Riverview. it may be the best thing that's happened in a while. he's been feeling kind of lost lately, and busy because of his job (how is he still working?) and his brothers. and things are just lonely. so to have something from home, something comforting, is a blessing.

he's been pretty quiet on this visit, since he's by himself, lost in thought. he's homesick, but he's trying not to let that dampen the mood. eating in peace? that seems to be a bit weird for Osomatsu...]

[odenson]

[It's definitely weird. Osomatsu's been quiet all evening--a trait Chibita's more used to seeing from Karamatsu when he's pulling his "lone wolf" schtick. Or from Ichimatsu, when he's not emanating some dark aura. But the eldest Matsu acting like this? Something's up.

After a good long amount of silence, Chibita sets down his cooking chopsticks and leans forward a bit, resting an elbow on the counter as he surveys Osomatsu through the steam]

Alright, Osomatsu--out with it, ya idjit. What's goin' on?

[relieable]

[ah, here it comes... Osomatsu didn't want to bring it up, but he supposes that he has to. or, at least, he supposes he has to talk.

he puts his own chopsticks down, sets his hands down on the counter and leans back, inhaling deeply before he answers]

I wanna go home! [it's a whine] I hate it here! All I do is work, an' my brothers are jerks! An' no one cares about me! [me me ME]

[odenson]

[....well, honestly, Chibita's not really sure what he expected. He huffs, straightening again, folding his arms over his chest, considering the NEET in front of him. ....okay, he's actually working now, so maybe not a NEET right now, shockingly enough, but details. A NEET at heart?? ]

Yeah, we all wanna go home. [...sort of. He wouldn't mind going home, but insofar he doesn't mind it here, either.] Where do you work, again?

[relieable]

[Osomatsu rubs his face]

At this coffee shop. For some reason, they decided to give me the assistant manager job. And it's... It's not a bad job! The money's great! But I feel like all I've done since I've gotten here is work.

[he picks up his chopsticks again, grabs some food. ah, at least he has good oden now. the other oden he's found in the quarantine has been gross. he shovels food in his mouth, then talks while it's full]

An', like, I can't just quit, 'cause the others are workin'. An' we're supposed to work if we wanna get back home... And, I dunno! I thought workin' would help me find a girlfriend, but Karamatsu's making all these contacts and he doesn't need his big brother anymore, the ass. [huffs] And I've barely seen Ichimatsu at all. It's like they don't give a shit that I'm here, yanno?

[odenson]

[Chibita's not particularly bothered by Osomatsu talking with his mouth full--at least that means the oden is good. Which, of course it is, he made it, but...still. It's nice for it to be appreciated, even in a bit of a grotesque way.]

I mean...I dunno if I can relate. All I've ever done is work; 's my whole life, dammit. [he pats the counter of the oden cart, fondly.] But, as for y'brothers...I think that's what happens in normal families. People work 'n have lives 'n friends 'n stuff. You brothers just didn't need that for along time because ya didn't have anything to do but hang out with each other. [he shrugs at that, reaching for his chopsticks again and moving to turn over a couple ingredients] Now they do. So...what about you, huh? What friends have you made?

III;

[glitterpants]

<sub>[ It had been a long day— not really a long day for anyone else, but a long day as far as Karamatsu was concerned. Something delicious to eat seemed like the best option for him before heading home. He craved oden, coincidentally enough, but every time he thought of the oden here, he shuddered slightly. The oden here just wasn't like the oden back home! And now Karamatsu is feeling guilty that he didn't praise Chibita for his food more often-- and even paid him for it. Just like Osomatsu, he misses home too. Just like Osomatsu, he has a job, and he isn't quite as irritated about it like his big brother is, but working is hard! It takes away precious time he has for other valuable things, like songwriting and admiring his reflection.

As he heads home, though, he sees an oden cart, and without even really looking closely at it, slide himself on the seat, appearing crestfallen. Instantly, his chin props in his hand, eyes closed. He doesn't even realize whose cart he is at. ]</sub>

I need something warm and comforting— something to defrost my chilly soul!
_{[ SUCH DRAMA ALREADY. ]}

[odenson]

[there's honestly been a strange air at the cart that evening--a silence broken only by low murmurs and quiet, one-sided conversation directed at his ghostly visitor. It's felt like a blanket that's settled around his cart, both comforting and not...but it's abruptly broken by Karamatsu's entrance, and Chibita can't help but startle slightly with the interruption. Yet, once he realizes who it is--and really, who else could it be, with that sort of introduction--he can't quite stop the crook at the corner of his mouth in amusement, leaning one hand on the counter in front of him and the other resting on his hip as he arches an eyebrow at his second, significantly-less-than-ghostly visitor]

S'that so? I'd say ya came t'the right place then, ya idjit.

[glitterpants]

<sub>[ You'd think the normal, not-delusional, average person would recognize their friend the second they speak up no matter how long it's been since they've seen each other— even after a long, drawn out pause that may indicate the person's reaction of shock and surprise, but..
Karamatsu isn't normal— and he's pretty average as far as looks go. The delusional part, well, his brain is really too busy being on Karamatsu Planet: population him and nobody else at least 99% of the day to even realize what is going on most of the time.

And so, he raises a fist, looking to the sky above. ]</sub>

Even now I still hear his voice! Ah, echoes of idiot and dammit ring in my ears. I'm sure your oden is quite fine, sir, but it cannot compare to back home.
_{[ open your fucking eyes and look, dammit. ]}

[odenson]

[...seriously?

Okay, Chibita wishes he was more surprised, but he's really not. The compliment to his oden (because of course nothing can compare, but it's nice to hear every once in a while,) keeps a frown from his face, but it doesn't stop him from raising an eyebrow, mouth twisting just a bit]

Oi. Karaboy.

[...why does he have the sinking feeling it's going to take a couple minutes before this idiot gets out of his head?]

[glitterpants]

... Eh?
<sub>[ His dramatic flourish comes to a halt once Chibita speaks again. Was he really not imagining this? The Quarantine brought him too? A lengthy pause is exchanged as he merely stares at Chibita with his mouth slightly open.

And then, tears begin to prick the corners of his eyes as he makes a loud proclamation: ]</sub>

Ah! You do not understand! I have missed........ your oden so much!
_{[ And you too. ]}

[odenson]

[Chibita can't help but blink as Karamatsu freezes, his normal posturing dropped briefly in favor of a rather surprised look, which is followed by a proclamation of how much his oden has been missed--and it startles a laugh out of Chibita, a cackling kekeke!--before he grins widely through the steam]

Of course ya have! My oden's the best there is, ain't it? [he huffs, standing straight again, folding his arms, frowning briefly in contemplation] Up until now, you've probably had to put up with sub-par oden 'r somethin', huh? Keh! [Chibita glances up at Karamatsu again, a confident grin working its way back onto his face] Don'cha worry, Karaboy--[and so saying, he's grabbing a skewer and twirling it with a bit of practiced flourish]--we'll fix ya right up! [with that, he'll start skewering a couple choice pieces of konjak and radish and fishcake and popping them into the broth to heat]

v-B <ny4n>

[ichimyatsu]

probably outside the private housing units
and that's only half because we live here
our own convenience aside people like easy food and something right outside the housing would be real easy

[odenson]

yeah? maybe i can move around the housing units a bit. it might give me a wider range of customers...

[ichimyatsu]

not a bad idea
osomatsu might not, but we all have jobs now so we can actually pay for our shit
what a fucking concept, right

[odenson]

what like one job between the three of you?

[ichimyatsu]

no, like we all have jobs
i work at an animal place
don't care what karamatsu does
and don't know what osomatsu does, but he complains about it.

[odenson]

.....you're kidding me
how long has that been going on???

vi. watch out we got two foul-mouthed boys up in here

[causescancer]

[ Someone slouches past, hands in the pockets of a pair of grey jeans, right up to the cuffs of the long-sleeved black shirt he wears, only to stop. Backtracking a few steps in battered sneakers, there's an audible sniff or two.

Eventually, a grey(???) hand paws aside the cloth flap advertising oden, revealing what might have looked like a young man with hella bed hair, if not for the fact that he's clearly not human at all. Grey-skinned, with nubby horns the color of candy corn, sharp teeth, and yellow eyes save for his red irises, the Alternian grimaces at the sight of those wrinkly sacks and balls of god-knows-what simmering obscenely in a mysterious, glossy fluid. ]

Oh my god. [ He wrinkles his nose. ] That looks like the festering chunks that could get evicted from the quivering gastric sphincter of a constipated--

[ Which is precisely when whatever passes for his stomach -- stomachs? -- gives a hearty growl.

Ok, yeah, except that it smells delicious?????? ]

[odenson]

[Okay, listen, Chibita's had some weird visitors before. I mean, look at Dekapan. Who knows what's going on with that business in the first place. But this is, er...something certainly different. And honestly, Chibita probably would've only given it a moment's pause, if they didn't immediately start going in on his oden. Slight surprise changes immediately into irritation which is fast followed by anger, and Chibita slams both hands down on the counter in front of him, scowling through the steam] What the hell!? Who asked you, huh!? Who do ya think you are, comin' up here and talking about my oden like that? My oden's the best, and if you can't figure that out just from the look of it, you can just get the hell out, dammit!

[nobleflame]

[Lured by the heavenly aroma, this hulking, scarred brute of a man in the military garb approaches the cart with a self-conscious shuffle that belies his immense size. The food stand looks a little like the soup kitchens he'd used to put together with the rest of Section III, but this particular stand is decorated with pretty, sweeping symbols that Oland can in no way discern the meaning of. Nor can he recognize the various morsels submerged in the gently simmering broth, but the scent emanating from them is enough to make him realize how hungry he actually is. He really needs to stop buying food purely for stray cats.

Oland sinks down gingerly on the bench-- and with good reason, as the wood gives a soft creak of protest as he settles his entire weight on it-- and smiles genially at the man on the other side. He's so tall that he has to slouch in order to keep his head from clearing the lowest part of the food cart's roof.]

G-good evening. [That shy, uncertain voice probably sounds strange coming from someone as large as he is.] This... this food is for everyone, right? What I mean is... is it okay for me to order some? I can pay. I don't have much, but...

[He trails off. Forgive his confusion, Chibita-- he comes from a world in which the discrepancy between the rich and the poor is pretty stark.]

[odenson]

[Chibita glances up as his new visitor sits, and for a moment he can't help but stare because wow that guy's big and he definitely has a fleeing moment of worry for his bench but...the man's words are kind, and he seems shy for such a big person. Chibita blinks, once, before he grins widely]

Of course it's for everyone! [he leans forward a bit] Ain't ya ever had oden before?

[nobleflame]

[He thinks he remembers hearing about this "oden" before, but he's pretty sure that was a person and not a food. He gazes once more into the trays, the smell causing his mouth to water despite himself.]

N-no. At least, I don't think so. We never had anything like this where I came from.

[Again, the only thing even remotely like this back home were the field kitchens they were sometimes tasked with deploying.]

Would it be okay if I try some? Ah-- preferably without meat, though! I... I'm not really a big meat-eater.

[It reminds him entirely too much of the taste of blood, and that's a taste he'd prefer to avoid whenever possible.]

[odenson]

'Course ya can! [This guy is awful hesitant, but not in a way that puts Chibita off at all.] Ah, though--[he pauses, frowning in thought] The broth is fish-based. Is that ok? [can vegetarians eat fish broth...?????]