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quaranmeme2018-04-20 06:40 pm
riverview: april 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 25 Character Slots available.
● Applications are currently open and will close on May 7th at 10:00 pm EST.
● 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
For the past month, the flooding in Riverview has been out of control, and the attacks of strange mutated creatures from the swollen river haven't been helping much. While the water level has stabilized over the past couple of weeks, the river is still way, way out of bounds and keeping a large number of people in relief shelters or put up with volunteer families, causing significant damage to riverside properties, homes, and businesses. While residents have done everything they can to try to correct the situation, from machines and tech to magic and appealing to the River Spirits during the yearly Flower Festival River Spirit Procession, nothing has made any real meaningful difference.
On the 20th, almost a month to the day after the river started swelling out of control, anyone looking at the rushing surface of the water will start to see a strange glow just underneath it, and as the day progresses, glowing white tentacles start to rise from the surface of the water. As the tentacles rise from the surface, members of the Perimeter Guard will be setting up a protective barrier around the area to keep civilians back until they figure out what's up with whatever's in the river.
In the meantime, the presence of the glowing thing is driving the last of the nasty giant mutated crocodiles, carnivorous toads, and other monsters out of the river in droves. While the Perimeter Guard is still holding the line, volunteers are being called for to take out the monsters as they exit the river, menacing the rest of the city. Whether your character is a member of the Guard in training, helping keep the civilians safe from the possible new threat in the river, or a volunteer helping take out the fleeing monsters, their help will be more than welcome.
After a few days of study, Gramarye Magic Research's strongest mages have banded together and found a way to communicate with the glowing presence in the deep, using a wide variety of nature-based magicks from different realms. And what have they learned?
The presence is not just one creature, it is many, and they are awakening from a long, long sleep. Possibly almost as long as there have been people on the moon - it's hard to tell, when the creatures 'speak' so slowly. What the mages have managed to get from them is that it is their awakening and movement that's causing the flooding in the river, a combination of blocking up the river's exit through the fences with their bulk and an overflow of elemental water magic that is causing the river to swell with more water than it can hold. The creatures, who call themselves the 'Guardians of the Deep,' are eventually ruled to be completely benign, and their only request is to be helped on their migration to the sea - a trip that they usually take once a year when they are not in hibernation. The problem is that, since their last migration, the river has become a much more dangerous place, plagued by monsters and clogged with rubble from the Abandoned City.
Any resident with nature magic of any kind and who can communicate with the creatures, who is a fighter or member of the Perimeter Guard, or who has abilities that can help to clear the river of any debris or blockages, is invited to aid in the attempt to escort the Guardians of the deep down the river. Once they reach the delta and waterfalls, their path will be clear and they will be free to explore the ocean until they return to the city in late fall.
ETA: In response to a player question, the Guardians look like very large glowy amoebas.
The Guardians of the Deep are slow-speaking and they are also slow-moving. For a period of at least two weeks, they will be making their way from the center of the city down the river with the current, and as they travel, they'll be having a rather...interesting effect on anyone who is sensitive to their influence. This sensitivity is something a character may be aware of through a strong connection with or love of nature or animals, it may be a spiritual or magical sensitivity, it may be an emotional one, or it might simply be something a character is not aware of until they are affected. However, no matter what a character is or where they come from, they may be susceptible to the aura of the Guardians.
And what does that aura do?
Starting on April 20th and intermittently continuing throughout the next month, any characters with a sensitivity (feel free to make one up that affects your character, or have them be immune as per your choice) will lose an important sense. While sight is the most commonly lost sense, others may lose hearing, taste, touch, smell, or other senses unique to their physiology (whether biological, mechanical, or otherwise). The only relief from this loss is for the character to make direct contact with another character - any other character, in any way, as long as there is no clothing, material, or other matter blocking contact. As soon as contact is broken, the loss will return.
The effect can last for as long or short a time as each player wishes, and affect whatever sense is desired. Reprieve from the effect comes with skin-to-skin (or equivalent) contact with another character, and is not limited to just one other character - it doesn't matter who else is being touched, as long as it's someone.
During this year, there's been an influx of people from a dying reality consisting mostly of living plant people, and they've really taken the Flower Festival as a great opportunity to introduce one of their most honored traditions to the people of their new adopted world. The tradition involves sharing various types of flowers with strangers, with each type of flower having a different meaning and effect on both the giver and receiver - the bond of the exchange can spark emotion as well as physical responses that function in a unique way that affects almost everyone that participates, whether animal, plant, or even android.
Some of the flowers have been used up, but a few types still remain. Any characters exchanging the flowers with other characters, whether friends or strangers, will experience emotional/psychological effects, physical effects, or both once the exchange is complete. Effects can last for as short or long a time as the players involved want, and are as follows:
● Baby Blue Eyes - Trust/Healing the Inner Child
Emotional Effect: Either an inexplicable trust in the person the flower was exchanged with, or a generalized paranoia.
Physical Effect: De-aging. Characters can become a younger version of themselves, physically, mentally, or both. Whether or not their normal selves are of age, de-aged characters may not participate in adult prompts unless they're de-aged to something above 18.
● Rose - Friendship/Beauty
Emotional Effect: Openness and a desire to make new friends, or excessive competitiveness.
Physical Effect: A temporary glamor that makes both participants in the exchange appear as the most beautiful possible version of themselves, and improves their charisma.
● Valerian: - Relaxation/Heart-Opening
Emotional Effect: A near-complete erasure of anxiety and stress, or a dramatic inexplicable increase in it.
Physical Effect: Forced honesty. Both affected characters become incapable of lying. Whether they're compelled to blurt the truth or if they can keep their mouths shut or talk around the truth is up to player discretion.
[Flower meanings used in this prompt come from this site.]
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!
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Still, putting these thoughts and feelings into words, it was hard. Richard wasn't one to set his heart on his sleeve where everyone could see it, not like Alex. He kept it caged and hidden by layers of sarcasm and concrete. That far from meant that he didn't have one though.
When she mentioned that they'd been holding hands, he glanced down at where their hands joined together, his thumb still ghosting over hers. When had that happened? He processed through the events that had occurred; he'd started it, hadn't he? He was the one who had taken her hand, interlaced their fingers, and he was the one who was even now, seeking comfort in her warmth and touch. This was entirely his doing, and he wasn't sure if he could stop himself from doing it again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to stop.
He hadn't meant for the pause between her question and his answer to be so long, but minutes went by as he processed. Minutes where he weighed the merits of telling her versus not telling her. He was, significantly older than her, but in the end, that didn't really matter. Coralee, while still a woman he would always love, was in a past where he had never been given a choice; a past where he had been abandoned. And he was certain that when all this was over, she wasn't coming back into his or Charlie's lives. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to come back. She'd left both of them to pick up whatever pieces they could, after all.
"I do." The words were as quiet as hers but held conviction in them. He did love her. While the love was different then what he held for Coralee, he knew Alex's was genuine. She hadn't been told to love him in order to keep him close, and she would never abandon him the same way that Coralee had. He was certain that, if anything happened to Alex, he would break, and he wasn't sure if he could pull himself back again; if he could compose himself the same as he had before.
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More than once, she thought that he was going to reject her, and she couldn't look him in the face while he did it. No, instead Alex found herself focusing on their combined hands, and the fact that he still didn't pull away, even after she'd made him aware of it. No, he was still rubbing his thumb across hers, and it was calming in a way that Alex really didn't want to think about, especially when she was lacking in an answer. It would do her no good to feel soothed if she needed to avoid the crap out of him until her embarrassment for admitting things settled down.
But two simple words brought her attention to his face again, and Alex's smile could light up a room. He loved her back. Whatever else was happening back home, whatever reason the two of them were in Geneva... He loved her back. It was funny, a few weeks ago Alex had been completely certain that Richard Strand would never love her back, and now she knew he did. "Okay." She started, because it seemed as good of a place to start as any. "So. Relationship?" She didn't want to assume, but honestly, even if he said that they weren't in one, Alex would consider herself entirely off limits anyway.
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His brows creased as he thought, trying to process this sort of thing was just outside his wheelhouse. "I," He started, still trying to get whatever words would fit together right out to her. It wasn't that he didn't want a relationship with her. In the purest form or the term they already had one. Several, in fact, and it was more then he'd had with anyone in years. "I'm not sure I'd feel, comfortable, calling anyone my girlfriend."
Even saying the term now, felt weird. It just didn't fit. Alex Reagan, his girlfriend. No, that didn't sound right at all. It sounded hollow and simple, and what he and Alex were was far deeper then that.
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She wondered if he was overthinking this, which meant that she was probably under thinking it. After all, he was still married, he had just gotten here, and well, it wasn't like he was out dating people while Coralee was missing and presumed dead. "Okay. We don't need to call it a relationship if you're not ready for it. And when you are, you don't have to call me your girlfriend. There's things like 'partner' that work really well and aren't so heteronormative. But we don't need to rush into any of that."
She gave him a little smile, and tried to lighten the mood with a classic Alex Reagan bad joke. "Of course, if you want to call me your better half, I won't mind. I'll call you 'person who controls my level of chill' or something."
no subject
Still, there had to be something to offer as a counter, and he continued to rub her thumb absently as he thought things over. Had that always been a habit of his? He couldn't honestly remember.
"Alex." He settled on. It wasn't exactly a definitive term, but it seemed more something that was them than anything else.
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"Richard." Alex said just as easily, because they could figure out the rest later. They loved one another, and instead of just thinking that it was something singular and unrequited, now they knew and that happened to be a huge step in the right direction. Honestly, Alex knew that this was new, but it was new in the coming back from turkey and having the trust conversation sort of sense. Never before. And honestly, Alex was a very touchy and feely sort of person, so she liked it.
"Did they tell you where you're staying here?" It was possibly a bad segway, but Alex wanted to know, and more than that, she wanted to know where she stood with him when it came to finding a place that was his to live. A place that was hopefully more his than the wreck of his father's house in Seattle. Ruby could work miracles, and the place would still be a little creepy to Alex.
no subject
Of course, this changed things a bit. It meant that, in all likelihood, Alex would be staying with him, and the wheels continued to turn. Just, not as much as they had before. This, this was easy, it was figuring out logistics and facts. This was part of Richard's wheelhouse.
"I suppose we'll need a yard." It wasn't as if Alex hadn't been practically living with him for quite some time now. Between reviewing the Black Tapes and the research that they'd been doing in his father's house, Alex had been practically staying the night every night. Even without their feelings, it would be far more logical for her to have a room in whatever house he decided on. Only now it would be far more prudent for her to have a say in it all. After all, he assumed they would be sharing space in a more permanent capacity.
no subject
But when she processed the we'll part of the comment, Alex just looked at him in surprise, her brow moving towards her hairline despite the little smile that she had on her face in response. And then because sometimes it was best to actually put these things on the table, rather than showing up in his life and staking out a corner in his sofa for her (not) sleep in when she was working.
And honestly, other than her trip to Turkey when she had called him after she'd gotten there and seen Simon, and when she'd went to visit Warren alone, the two of them were more or less either in constant contact or in the same room doing research. "Are you asking me to move in with you, Richard?" The smile on her face was already an answer, but she wanted him to actually say it.
no subject
Her confusion when he'd mentioned them getting a yard was a bit more, concerning. Hadn't they just talked about this? Didn't it make logical sense to live together? He supposed maybe it didn't make sense to her. Perhaps it constrained her freedom or something of that nature. Still, they'd already almost been living together in reality; was it such a stretch to live together in a delusion?
It was possible, but he didn't have to like it.
If Alex was expecting Richard to say 'Alex Reagan, will you move in with me?' then she would be sorely mistaken. Richard wasn't that type of person. "Is that a no?" His brow raised in curiosity, part of him almost daring her to refuse. After all, he was reasonably confident that, even without the logistics of it, she wouldn't reject the offer. After all, he was perfectly aware of her feelings now. He'd be sure to take full advantage of that fact.
no subject
But then there was Strand in all of his asshole glory, and Alex just laughed and shook her head. Of course he would be like this when all of the cards were out on the table, and she didn't know why she would have expected any less of him being as smug as he could be. "You know, Richard," Alex said in an amused voice by way of warning. "You're quite lucky that I love you sometimes."
Otherwise she might end up being one of the people who hit him in his supremely punchable and smug face. But for now she just grinned and shook her head. "Of course I'm not saying no. Let's be honest here, even if you ended up staying in one of the dorms, I'd be over pretty much constantly." At least she expected so, even if there wasn't a sense of apocalyptic urgency that was driving them to need to solve things here.
no subject
Of course, none of that mattered right now. In this delusion that seemed to have no exit, for now. What mattered was the woman in front of him and figuring out the answers to how this happened and what he could do to fix it. First, however, the basics. With his free hand, he reached for his coffee, not saying a word until it was resting against his lips. "One bed then?" It was more to gauge Alex's reaction than anything else. Not that he'd mind it if she agreed, but the potential tinging in her cheeks was too entertaining to resist.
no subject
So, Alex choked on her coffee, just from the way that he'd said it, and instantly her pale cheeks flooded with pink, and she knew that he knew that it would. Of course he did. There were times after Strand said that he'd listened to her whole show (shitty ads and all) that he'd said something to make her turn as red as she was now. It took her a minute to get her choking under control, and she just raised a brow at him, trying to play it cool even though her face was the color of her jacket at home.
"You're such an ass sometimes, you know." Her voice was amused versus being angry and she picked up her coffee and took another sip of it, trying to be more smooth about this because she was an adult and they were about to start on a relationship rather than Alex having a crush on a professor. (Even though she had admitted to Nic and Amalia that if he was teaching classes when she was in college, she would have had a major crush on his stupid voice.) "I would assume we want one bed unless you're planning on sleeping on the sofa. It might be a stretch with your height though. Apo and I can take the bed if you're not planning on sleeping with me." No, ignore the color that went up to her ears even as she mentally repeated: I am a grown ass woman, this is just flirting.
no subject
Her attempts to save herself from her flushed embarrassment were even more entertaining; comments about his height and his sleeping on the couch; all the while her face hadn't lost that color. The comment was far more successful then he'd expected, and he couldn't help the slight laugh that came out as he finished drinking from his coffee cup. "I'm not certain your circulatory system can handle one bed." He placed the coffee back on the table, smirk still on his face. He had to admit; this was the most he'd smiled in quite some time.
no subject
So, of course she was going to fight back, even if her cheeks were still a bit red. It probably helped that the two of them had already made this decision, and she couldn't imagine that teasing was going to undo it. After all, this wasn't season one anymore when she tried to walk around him and his issues like she was tiptoeing bare foot on eggshells. Nope, she was taking this and running with it. He wasn't the only one who could pitch his voice lower, and Alex knew that she could have a sultry voice when she wanted one. Right now she was using it. "You know, Richard, I wouldn't have thought you so fond of sleeping alone."
no subject
Brows still raised, he again lifted his cup to his lips, taking another drink as he let that tone of hers roll over him and fall into a bin to be used against her another time. It was getting pretty full. Of course, he had a far more powerful weapon in his arsenal (besides an ability to hide his embarrassment or excitement). One he felt warranted this occasion, and one he'd just attained.
Once his coffee was set down, he unclasped their hands and leaned forward, resting against the pair now clasped together in front of him and hiding a self-satisfied smirk. "I'm just, concerned, over, my Alex."
no subject
She was braced for a good many things when he released her hand and sat forward like this, and she mirrored his position, leaning forward as well, but dropping her chin into her palm and listening to him like she had so many times when he was lecturing her or someone else. That part was easy, just settling in for another conversation between the two of them, only this time there was no recorder between the two of them, because their conversations as long as the two of them were here were private.
But what she wasn't at all prepared for was her reaction to him calling her his Alex. It was something completely visceral, and Alex's face just lit up at it. Her eyes sparkled, and she half-lowered them all while the red that had been leaving her cheeks reappeared.
no subject
"You're getting red again," He sat back, taking another drink from his coffee. "Alex." The wheels began to turn again in his head, thinking of things they would need to properly exist here until he would figure out how to leave. They'd require a proper sized kitchen. He was used to that. Used to space that he could spread out and organize. At least, they would if Alex ever wanted good cooking. Not that he couldn't cook in a closed in space, but he preferred not to. Besides, they needed the area for the wine.
no subject
So, she doesn't respond to him before she reaches over and grabs a moleskin pad and a pen out of her bag. Flipping through the pages until somewhere in the middle, Alex starts taking notes, reading them aloud for him as she does, because often she's rather organized, and this is going to be one of those situations where she at least tries to be. They're both reasonable, rational and responsible adults, and they can do house hunting together. Even if it's before the two of them go on their first official date.
Well, it wouldn't be them if they did things in a normal way, now would it?
"Okay, so a one bedroom with a yard, a shower tall enough for you, a bathtub for me," please don't notice how she got a little pinker with that, "library, office space, kitchen to store all of our coffee and tea, space for a studio if I want to record anything..." Her shorthand is thankfully as good as it always was as she looks up at him. "Single family? No nosy neighbors then."
no subject
He couldn't help wondering if that was how she felt when he'd disappeared to see Charlie.
He didn't regret it, Charlie was his daughter, and he loved her; no matter how estranged they were. Alex understood that, which was something appreciated, no, loved about her. He was drawn back as she was talking about noisy neighbors. "No neighbors." He refused to be around anyone that would try and talk to him. It was annoying.
no subject
She never would have denied his going to Charlie; she would have encouraged it if he'd given her the choice for it.
But Alex also wasn't going to apologize for her six months living a life here. She couldn't, after the first month when she'd thought she was losing her mind, Alex had known that she couldn't keep fighting everything around her. So, she lived her life with the plan that eventually they'll fix the portal and she'll go back to the very spot where she was taken from and everything would be fine. She'd also lived her life with the assumption that he'd never want her back, not like she wanted him, and she wasn't going to apologize for that either.
"You know," she chided gently before she picked up her coffee and took a large sip of it. "Riverview Quarantine isn't really that big. You're going to need to deal with neighbors eventually, especially if you're teaching. Might be better to try and get used to it. Especially with things like going out exploring and the flooding that's been happening."
no subject
The idea that he would have to live around people, that he'd have to get used to this place, these delusions didn't sit well with him at all. Besides, he had no reason to get to know any of them. "Classes end, and for exploring I have you." Which was true; Alex was the only one he needed here. The only one he wanted. Everyone else would just be passing through even in the real world. Richard Strand never had many friends to start with, that number had dwindled when people started thinking that he'd killed Coralee, and even now that number was unquestionably small.
no subject
There was no doubt what was so important that Alex needed to get home for, especially when she reached over and wound one of her hands with his own. Her voice was soft, because right now she was trying this out, and her tone matched when she'd asked him to run away with her without her even thinking about it. "My Richard." The words were followed by a grin, and she squeezed her fingers over his after a second.
"Not that I don't love the vote of confidence, but I'd rather not get eaten."
no subject
"You talk, I'll do research. Then I'll only have to deal with you and the potential research team." Even now his words were quiet and docile. Eventually, he was going to have to figure out how to deal with that voice. Then again, if she realized what it did to him and used it too much, maybe he'd get used to it. At least he could hope for it. He didn't need any more weaknesses around her. There was already the rest of this relationship to potentially kill him.
no subject
"You do realize that I am a a social butterfly and an extrovert, right? You're going to need to see people eventually. Think of it as exposure therapy, I guess. Besides, that's how you get the best information and things at the market. People are friendly here, and you can try to keep them away all you want, but I don't know how well it's going to work."