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quaranmeme2018-01-20 07:58 pm
riverview: january test drive meme
riverview test drive memeWelcome 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 2 Character Slots available.
● Reserves will open on February 15th. Applications will next be open between March 1st to March 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.
● 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
Starting around the 20th, residents of the city will start hearing some pretty disturbing rumors circulating - the rumors originate with some members of the Perimeter Guard who are returning from patrols, pale and a little panicked. They're reporting that a herd of terrifying beetle-like behemoth monsters lumbering toward the city - one female leader clocking in at 60 feet long and about 20 smaller male companions, each around 30 feet long. Unlike the Behemoth who showed up earlier in the year, these ones are nasty, sporting horns and big enough to knock over trees and displace even the bigger monsters in the usual crowd, and they've already breached through the wall of the Abandoned City and are heading toward the city itself. A herd like this could cause some serious damage, maybe even enough to compromise the wall of the Inhabited City. Thankfully, the Perimeter Guard has a nice big ace up their sleeves in the form of a small fleet of mechs, but the problem is that the mech are still in beta-testing, prone to breaking down, and there aren't enough to go around. This means that there's going to have to be some serious support on the ground.
The attack on the behemoth beetles is two-fold. The first order of business is to send out anyone with big powers or big guns to wear them down, beating on them the old-fashioned way, with brute force. The second is to circle around behind and, while the monsters are distracted, try to herd them away from the city using bright flares, fireworks left over from the Festival of Light, and even more big guns. Volunteers to do the shooting and supplying the brave souls going out into the jungle are welcome!
What do you use to fight a giant monster? A giant mech. And thankfully the Perimeter Guard has been working on something just like that - a new fleet of 20 three-story-tall mech suits meant to be manned by two people. With the behemoth herd approaching, the Guard is calling for anyone with piloting experience, or even people willing to take a quick course in it, to help man the fleet and head out into the fray, stomping through the brush and fighting the behemoths either in the Abandoned City or the jungle outside it. The goal is to take them out, take them down, or at least help the ground teams herd them away from the city and discourage them from returning.
Mechs are piloted by two people working together - while it's not exactly drift compatibility, the two characters need to act together, with one directing where the mech goes and keeping an eye on the terrain, and the other one manning the guns and keeping an eye on the mech's defenses and energy and ammunition levels. This takes a lot of concentration and cooperation, and this day is bound to forge a lot of new friendships....and probably a few mortal enemies. On top of the difficulty of working with someone who may be a total stranger, don't forget the mechs are in beta-testing and are only being used as a last resort, which means they have a bad tendency to break down in unexpected ways.
Each mech is fitted with two large canon-style guns that can be semi-automatic or automatic with a limited amount of ammunition, one plasma sword, and a force shield that can take four serious hits before it is depleted. They have a finite amount of energy storage and are able to be in continuous use for 3 hours maximum before shutting down. Out of the fleet of 20 mechs, the mod only expects about 5 to still be functional at the end of the battle, so feel free to have characters destroy them in threads. If any player (once accepted to the game) is interested in having their character take over the mechs as a project going forward, feel free to PM the mod account and we can talk it out!
Once the city is safe enough that it isn't in poor taste to advertise fun outings, residents will start seeing ads for a new attraction in the city - the Crystal Caves. Presented as an excellent date spot, the caves are beautiful natural formations only recently discovered just a short walk outside the city. With the path cleared and patrolled by hired security to ensure that the trip there is safe, happy couples (or singles, but why go alone when you can bring a special friend or two?) can walk through the caves.
Inside, characters will enjoy a short walk along a twisty cave path where the walls appear to be made of semi-opaque crystal that shimmers with different colors, looking almost a little like the Northern Lights. After this path, the caves open into a series of beautiful caverns that seem to be made of pure crystal, with jagged crystalline formations in wide varieties of colors, some of which look almost like they've been slowly melting for decades, molten and shimmering. Visitors can find booths offering rock candy crystals on sticks and other treats, souvenirs, and for those without as much exploratory spirit or patience, guided tours that point out some of the more beautiful formations. There are also a few smaller caverns that have been converted into overnight camps where groups can stay the night and enjoy a catered group breakfast in the morning!
If there's one trait that entrepreneurs in Riverview Quarantine all seem to have in common, it's jumping the gun and opening attractions or releasing new products before taking the time to conduct enough tests. The Crystal Caves are no different, unfortunately, though in this case the effects are a little less distressing. Residents who traveled to the caves will find themselves tossing and turning at night anywhere from a few days later to a week later, depending on their mental fortitude, and slipping into incredibly strange dreams. Varying from wild flights of exhilarating fancy to personalized nightmares depending on the personality of the dreamer, the dreams are incredibly vivid and realistic, with everything feeling, smelling, sounding, tasting, and looking completely real.
The strangest part of the dreams, though, is that anyone who'd looked at the same particular crystal as another person and seen their reflections in it will experience the dream with that person as an equal participant, able to share the same dream-granted abilities and experiences, able to work together as a team or hinder progress. Whether that person was a partner, a friend, an enemy, or even just a stranger observing the same formation at the same time, if their reflections appeared on a crystal together, they will find themselves sharing each other's dreams off and on for about a week. Some dreamers might even find that just thinking about a particular person they know as they fall asleep can pull that person into their dream, even if they weren't in the caves together.
This effect can be shared between just two people or larger groups, and the dreams themselves can belong to any character affected or be a combination of all of their dreams. The dreams themselves tend toward the positive more than the negative and the fanciful more than the realistic, but where they fall on that spectrum depends largely on character temperament and personality. Characters affected simply have to have looked at the same crystal in the caves, even if it was on a different day or at a different time, or for characters who would not have gone to the caves, be thought of by a person who has while they fall asleep.
Whether your character is 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.
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.
Use the wildcard prompt to choose your own adventure and do whatever else you like in the setting!
no subject
She keeps asking him what she can do to make him happy, but no answer immediately comes to him even though his arms circle around her to hold her to him. She is not Setsuna. He can't take her to arcades and out for under-age drinking and general hoodlum hijinks the way he did with Setsuna; instinctively, it feels wrong to try to use her to replace that hole, and wouldn't she hate it anyway? His crassness... And even so, he'd often let Setsuna pick things, restaurants to eat at or parks or attractions to go to. Because it was always about Setsuna and Setsuna's happiness, which he simply sucked up like a sponge, buoying him above his own misery.
He can't even ask to do something that she would enjoy. She has been asleep while he has been chasing the shadow of her, and when she was awake at his side, she hated to hold him, the way the grip on his pommel made her hands tough, the sight and smell of blood. What would even make her smile? He doesn't know; he has given her nothing but blood and sorrow. And it's not what she's asking--she wants to know what he wants.
The more he examines it, the more impossible it becomes to deny that all of his pastimes are maladaptive coping mechanisms and she, or Setsuna, have been the North star he's been following. Being asked to think for himself and his own desires--it's possibly the most difficult thing anyone has ever asked him to do. The only thing that he's ever wanted, he has right now, her presence, her touch. If he asks for too much....
He's not conscious of it, but his grip has tightened around her, pressing her soft body against his chest. ]
Just being with you isn't enough?
no subject
Special? Her heart beats faster when she feels the embrace returned. Their bodies fit, don't they? She remembers being with him and he had been, shockingly, a gentle, attentive lover. For that reason - and because she knew she had finally found him - of course she had cried. To him, she isn't a blood-soaked war goddess or a monster that deserves to be chained and ripped from her body.
She's only Alexiel. Her body relaxes against him and she closes her eyes, smiling tentatively.]
It has always been enough for me.
[The shell doesn't matter. He can be Kira or anyone else and her heart will feel the same.]
I felt I was always waiting for you. But you're here. I am satisfied.
[Satisfied? Is that the right descriptor? Alexiel thinks it lacks something -]
I will protect you this time.
no subject
He breathes a small laugh and rests his temple on her shoulder. ]
Is that so? And just what will you be protecting me from?
[ His voice isn't mocking or unkind--if Alexiel says she can or will do something, then she will. In that one respect, she and Setsuna are incredibly alike. But he's genuinely curious what it is that she feels he can't protect himself from. ]
no subject
All of it. Anything. [The words come out like a breath, bare and honest.] It isn't about you being unable to fight; it is about me not wanting you to any longer.
[She shifts and peers into his eyes, head canting to the side.]
The moon can be a place of rebirth for you.
no subject
A rebirth, is it? [ and on the moon, no less... ] ... Sounds like a fairytale.
[ He's not sure what to make of that, though there is a soft, sort of wistful quality to his voice. Rebirth in theory should mean new chances, wiping the slate clean. In practice, it's only been a new way to fail. The idea of having to start over again... is exhausting.
But he doesn't want to be discouraging. One of them should be hopeful. And if she says it--then maybe it can even be true. ]
I suppose after all this time I might be overdue. What should I become?
no subject
What do you have against fairytales? [Living is exhausting. That is why they should not attempt it alone.] You could be a prince or a king. How does the role of the anti-hero suit you?
[Her voice, so certain and so strong slips into a teasing tone and she pulls him into a single turn.]
Or my preference would be for you to be...you. [She runs her fingers down his cheek.] Even if it takes you a few lifetimes to discover yourself, I don't mind.
no subject
[ Prince of Darkness; King of Hell. Those were both of his titled weren't they? --Or rather his. His, theirs--where is the line, really? Was there ever one?
He shakes his head. ]
Or not. I don't know what I am, but I didn't choose it.
[ It chose him. ]
But I'm no hero, anti or otherwise, just for not running away from my doom.
[ It probably just makes him a fool, like she says. He closes his eyes to the feeling of her warm finger tip running down his cheek, tracing old tear tracks that are cool and dry, and just focuses his world down to that and the sound of her voice. ]
If that makes you happy, then I'll do that.
no subject
It's not about how we start or how we are manipulated. Our choices are all that matter.
[He could revolt against the revolt?]
Your doom? [She speaks quietly, expression unreadable. Her hand shifts to touch under the eye she had injured so long ago.]
You're not allowed to die on me.
no subject
Is that an order, Princess? Maybe you could give me some sign of your favor, then, before sending me to the battlefield.
no subject
[For good show, she draws out a long knife.] If that changes, they won't be near you long.