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quaranmeme2018-06-20 06:40 pm
riverview: june 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 47 Character Slots available.
● Reserves are currently OPEN. Applications are currently CLOSED and will open on August 1st 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 ● exploration progress report ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation
After the unveiling of the newly cleaned-up amusement park, it's been going strong, open to the public and seeing heavy traffic flow from residents of the City. After all, it's been a while since a new attraction opened in Riverview. Slowly but surely, the people in charge of the park have been keeping it open later and later into the evening, testing the strength of the wall and trying to see how many monsters the bright lights and cheerful music and chattering crowds draw.
And it's all seemed to be just perfect - until the middle of June. It started with a few little critters, mostly the size of toy poodles and vaguely crablike, they skittered around the bottom of the laser fences, testing the strength of it. And then more of them started coming. By the 20th, there are probably hundreds of little toy poodle sized crab critters prodding at the fence, making a racket and making the guests nervous. Not a huge deal, not at first.
But apparently toy poodle sized crabs are really delicious, because predators have started coming over to the fence to feed on them. Between the horde of crab-critters and the marauding predators, there's starting to be a dangerous buildup of pressure against the fences.
The Perimeter Guard is putting out a call for anyone willing to help disperse the horde, and the owners of the amusement park are throwing in vouchers for free passes to the park (and all the fun rides!) for anyone who takes up the call. Care to join?
The amusement park isn't only the place where pint-sized monster pests are showing up - they're everywhere. Inside the city, they're a little smaller but far more insidious, and almost impossible to get rid of on a large scale. After a bit of consideration, the Government, in cooperation with the Perimeter Guard, has decided to set up a little competition to help with a bit of pest control. A scavenger hunt!
From the 20th of June until the 20th of July, the Government will be offering a reward to anyone who can prove they have 'taken care of' 5 or more each of the four pests causing mayhem in the city - a mildly-poisonous leathery-winged reptile that feeds on eyeballs, a mutated rat-like creature that likes to nest in the hair of sleeping people and animals and has a high-pitched scream that can cause disorientation, a beautifully sparkly delicate moth-like creature that causes intense mood swings through pheromones and hormones, and a creature that looks exactly like the standard domesticated foxes many residents keep as pets but who spit fire when angry.
The reward for bringing in proof of taking out 5 of each of these pests will be around 250 Units, or a gift or gift certificate of equivalent value.
Perimeter Guard Captain Anali Apple has released a statement regarding this challenge: 'And to all the animal lovers out there, if you've got a problem with killing these guys, then by all means go gather them up before they get killed. We'll reward people who catch and release, long as they're not in the city.'
Welcome to Riverview Quarantine! What's your talent?
Everyone who arrives in the Quarantine gets a short interview to try to place them in an appropriate job, but this month it's a little different. With Carnivale and its focus on creative performances right around the corner, the Orientation teams are asking an extra question - do you want to join a talent show? Characters new and old are invited to attend and perform in the Riverview's Got Talent show on a large stage in the city center, performing any kind of talent they might have, from singing to dancing to art to martial arts to magic or anything else you can imagine! After the performances, there will be free refreshments and a meet and greet so performers can get some feedback on their performance (please be kind!).
Since new characters or players may feel a bit shy jumping in on this one, there will be a mod-posted subthread for existing players to post up a quick description of a performance their character might put on for new arrivals to respond to. Any existing players should keep their top-levels to this prompt and this sub-thread, and only new characters should be responding to them - if you want to play out talent show performances and interactions with two characters already in the game, please post it on the logs community.
Residents new and old might notice advertisements going up around the city for a brand new restaurant - the Blind Date Café. A pioneering concept by a born romantic in the city, the Café is a concept business where it's Dragosta (the celebration of romantic love) all year around! Singles, or people who are into polyamory, can come to the Café and tell the host/ess what their romantic preferences are (gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, etc.) and be seated at complete random with someone else at the Café who has compatible preferences. Once the random pairing is seated, they can order from a pretty standard restaurant menu at one of the lovely flower-and-candle adorned tables with a complimentary glass of wine each (for the first 100 customers!) and share a nice romantic meal.
Paired up with someone you don't get along with? That's just fine. You can totally take your meal to go. Paired up with someone you really like, and you both decide to go on a second date? Both meals are on the house!
And what about people who just aren't into romance? Well, thankfully one of the preferences you can pick is 'platonic,' in which case you'll be sat with someone who might just be your new best friend...or your future worst enemy! Who knows?
New arrivals to the city (as played on the TDM) will receive a voucher to the Blind Date Café with their welcome to the city, entitling them to a free meal.
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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Well, never let it be said that nothing surprised Alex anymore, because this certainly did. For a moment Alex just stared at him, her face still slightly yellow and green from where she had been beaten up, and her voice was soft as she responded in kind like she always did.]
Simon.
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So the bruises on her face surprised him. It derailed whatever weird thing had been about to come out of his mouth, certainly. ]
What happened to you, Alex?
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It was entirely a tactic to decide what she was going to say, and her first instinct was to be like 'don't you know' but she fought that. After all, and after all those calls, Simon Reese was here in the flesh and it wasn't just to knock on her pipes. Keeping her voice low she explained honestly:]
There was a cult here. Yeah, I know, I mean, of course there was. But they kidnapped about half of the population in order to use them as hosts for these ghosts things. We were held for days, and you know me... [There was a tiny twist of a grin.] I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut at times. [Like when other people were being abused and Alex had taken those hits, and she'd do it again.]
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They did this to you? What happened to them, Alex?
[ His brain is already started to tick through options. ]
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And it scared her a little bit, she couldn't deny it. Not that Alex didn't want her kidnappers to get away with what they had done, but because she didn't want something to happen to Simon. She'd believed that he'd acted in self defense and in defense of others before. But here there was no Thomas Warren (even if Strand thought that all of this was some sort of mass delusion caused by something that Davea Corp did) and there was no Order of the Ceonophus or Brothers of the Mount to fight. Even if there had been kids left in that tunnel with her.
She took a step towards him, something that she'd not really been able to do the last time that they'd actually met, given all the security around Simon at the hospital.Keeping her voice soft, she shook her head.]
Don't even think about it, Simon. They're all taken care of. The rest of the people in town banded together in order to take them down and bring us home. We're safe from them. They're dead or have been punished enough. Trust me, alright? There's nothing you need to do like that here. Most of the people are good people, I promise. I haven't met anyone who I wouldn't consider safe.
[Other than the person who had claimed they were Satan. Alex wasn't going to bring that up. It would be a terrible idea to do so., given this was Simon after all.]
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But there's a certain way that he cultivates his actions, his information and he hasn't decided what if anything he would do but he wouldn't take Alex's word for it that justice has been served. He'll have to look into it himself -- it shouldn't prove that difficult to do so. ]
Our perceptions could be different, regardless of whether I trust you or you trust me, Alex. I won't do anything... [ There's a pause and an almost curl of his lips ] rash.
[ Is he poking at Alex's tendencies to do just that? Maybe. ]
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But she frowned when he said that she might not trust him. Alex was standing directly in front of him now, and one of her brows rose towards her hairline, and her expression lightened a bit, because she knew what he was doing. Simon's voice was just as expressive as her own was, and she knew it.]
You know, Simon, I do trust you. At least I trust you not to hurt me. I mean, I went to Turkey alone you know. Even though it was probably a terrible idea.
[At least in the eyes of 99% of the people around her, and her audience at large. It may not be as bad as recording Strand or breaking into Maddie Franks' house to find her body, but it was still pretty bad and she knew that Strand hadn't forgiven her for it.]
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Alex, we both know that trust had nothing to with you going to Turkey. You are incorrigible when you have a scent of a breakthrough. You would have come either way.
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No.
[Which meant that he was probably at least a little bit correct on his assumption, but there was more than that and Alex was going to defend herself quickly on it:]
I went because everything in my gut said that you were right and I needed to go to Turkey, and that it was going to be important in the end, whatever you had to show me. Important for me to see it and touch it and...
[A beat, because if he was in their kitchen, then Alex was taking the opportunity to ask a question of him:]
Why didn't you include Strand in coming to Turkey? I mean normally, you do. But with Turkey you just asked for me.
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He would have confirmed that she was right. It was important for her to come, to see and touch. He'd wanted to meet her there but he'd already had the suspicion that he wouldn't be following through with that -- and it seems that she might have already seen that. He'd heard about the possibility of divergent timelines here so he supposes that makes sense. ]
Because, it was for you, Alex. [ The answer has a tone of finality, the sort that she can ask all the question she wants but she won't get anymore out of him on the topic just now. ]
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For me? What are you talking about? I'm not important in this. I did my bit with the whole primer thing. And playing the Mysterium.
[After all, it wasn't her people that had been kidnapped by Thomas Warren, despite Richard's desperate sort of comments after she'd returned from Turkey about her being at the center of this with him.]
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But when she steps closer he does take an unconscious step back. He's not afraid of her that proximity isn't a thing he is used to, at least when it's not doctors or nurses and those were never the best experiences. There's a hum of discomfort in his mind that skitters through his nervous system. ]
Alex, you can't believe that you're not important. That you haven't been important from the very beginning. None of this happened by happenstance.
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Still she swallowed and shook her head.]
Maybe to get Richard there, but Warren didn't take Nic or anyone I care about to get me to Geneva. He took Coralee and Howard. But this isn't about me. It can't be.
[Who are you trying to convince, Alex?]
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But they didn't need to. You'll follow Strand, you'll follow the story.
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But she doesn't think that he knows that she begged Strand not to go to follow the story, and that she didn't want to follow it either, not if it meant she was going to lose him. Maybe that was where the point shifted, maybe that was what changed things.
Or maybe she was wrong. But it didn't stop her from saying:]
You don't know what we're going to chose either, do you?
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Maybe not, Alex. But, things have a way of finding what they're meant to. [ And perhaps, he doesn't quite believe that she or Strand could leave the story forever, could stop pulling all the tangled threads.
Complacency would never suit her, he thinks. But he's not always right regardless of what anyone might think. ]
However, Alex, that's not what you asked or were talking about. You asked about why they took Howard and Coralee if you're important, why not something you care about. They know you care about Strand and they know you'll follow him where he goes and they believe your intrepid reporting won't let you stop. You are important, Alex, to everyone.
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And she couldn't deny that she'd follow Richard where he went. She'd told him that she would, that she always would. To hell and back, even if hell was just other people.
Wrapping her arms around herself for a moment, Alex just didn't know what to say to that. She wanted to argue that being important to people was different than being at the center of a demonic conspiracy to bring about the end of the world, but she knew from experience that trying to argue with Simon about something like that would only end in a series of unending frustrations for her. So, instead, Alex focused on something else entirely:]
What are you going to do now that you're here, Simon. This place, it's different. It's not like at home.
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What do you mean, Alex? [ He returns a question because he doesn't know how to answer. ]
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[Yeah, she still wanted to know what the hell was up with that, but she doesn't ask because Simon's met his quota of giving her answers probably for the month at this point.]
This place is real and a community and you're not just going to be able to be you, bilocating around all the time. You're going to need to figure out how to navigate this, Simon. You're going to need to figure out how to live outside of the shadows.
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Why? There are plenty of shadows, even here, Alex. [ It's defiance that is more self-preservation than anything, he doesn't want to admit that he doesn't know how to be anyone but who he is, how to deviate from his mission. His life experiences are so narrow. Life before the asylum, life in the asylum and life after had been about Alex, about the reason he even still exists.
If there had been no point he wouldn't have kept going and here he's not sure what that point could be if not to keep going as he did -- looking after Alex in his own way. ]
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So Alex just took another step back, and she gestured towards the coffee pot for a moment.]
Simon, the point is that here you don't have to do that. I've been here eight months now, and there's still no sign of when the portal might find the proper place to send me. You can decide to come out of the shadows like you told us to do. You can try to have a life that's not about the darkness and demons and everything that goes along with it. This can be a second chance for you.
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Even you can't believe that that's true. It's far too late. [ There's far too much blood on his hands, even if it was blood of the guilty, even if it had been a crusade of protection and justice somehow. His life had twisted him in a way he couldn't possibly fathom coming undone. ]
Goodbye Alex.
[ Simon's never been good when the questions turn too personal. At least he isn't slamming his face into the nearest surface. ]
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[Alex just frowned at him, because in all of his mysteries and shadows and knocking and creepy phone calls, it had been easy for Alex to forget that he was still a kid. A kid who had spent his formative years in two different sort of hells. Even if demons weren't real (and Alex believed they were) just growing up the the creepy cult environment that his parents created was terrible enough that Simon had snapped badly enough to murder them because of the abuse.
And then all of the years he'd spent in the hospital before he'd ended up on the run surrounded by a possible cult or whatever of his own.]
This place is a second chance. Please just think about it!
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What do you possibly think could come of that? This place doesn't change anything for someone like me, Alex. I've gone too far.
[ He's seen far too much of hell. ]
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But here you have a choice, Simon. You have a choice to do it differently. I believe that you have a choice. But you're the one who has to take it.
[There's a firm sadness in her eyes as she watches him, knowing that he's about three seconds from doing the in person version of whatever hanging up on her was.]
(no subject)