riverviewmod: (Default)
Riverview Moderator ([personal profile] riverviewmod) wrote in [community profile] quaranmeme2018-06-20 06:40 pm

riverview: june test drive meme

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 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

premisearrivalsettingexploration progress reportask a questioncalendarnavigation


prompt i: crab carnival

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?


prompt ii: scavenger hunters

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.'


prompt iii: riverview's got talent!

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.


prompt iv: random romances

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.


prompt v: friendr/network

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.

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


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

[Monster of the Woodland by Imad Awan]
interconnectedness: (Default)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Simon smiles, the sort of smile one gives a child when they're missing a very obvious point. ]

But they didn't need to. You'll follow Strand, you'll follow the story.
11calls: (12)

[personal profile] 11calls 2018-07-03 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
[For a moment, Alex has a very strange thought and she realizes that it's true. For the first time in three years, there's something that Simon doesn't know, and that she does. Granted, in his warning he said that she had a choice, and that Strand had a choice and Alex had taken it to heart when she'd driven back to her apartment, packed her things, purchased those tickets to Brazil, taken leave from the show (quitting if they wouldn't give it to her), cleaning out her bank account and telling her parents that she was going off the grid for a while.

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?
interconnectedness: (Default)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Simon smiles and he then shrugs. ]

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.
11calls: (sure okay)

[personal profile] 11calls 2018-07-03 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
[There's a small part of Alex that she wouldn't admit to, but she was relatively certain that even if the two of them got on the plane to Brazil, they'd end up in Geneva anyway. The answers and the people taken there and the story and everything else wouldn't go away, and both her and Richard were people who were dogged by the answers that they'd both been seeking and that had consumed their worlds for the last three years.

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.
interconnectedness: (47uPmoFTH5BAlGWFHmVj29)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Simon's expression flickers with an expression of uncertainty -- not something he deals with often. He has a firm mission, a designated plan with fail-safes in place to do everything he can to ensure success. It might not be enough, he doesn't know that as much as he tends to know more than anyone else. He doesn't actually know the ending. He knows the possibilities. ]

What do you mean, Alex? [ He returns a question because he doesn't know how to answer. ]
11calls: but i can't decide if it's good or a shitty one. (empathy is my superpower)

[personal profile] 11calls 2018-07-03 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
I mean even though Strand's father's house is here, other things from home aren't. Richard may believe that we're in some sort of mass delusion of Warren's but I don't. This isn't home, there's no Order of the Ceonophus, there aren't monks and there aren't any cryptic theories. There aren't people here who are going to collect me while you talk to me over a speaker.

[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.
interconnectedness: (Default)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ Simon would almost think Strand might have a point -- for once -- but it doesn't quite align with the experience. Simon has had delusions before, this isn't what they're like when you're in one. Everything is too crisp, too clear. ]

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. ]
11calls: but i can't decide if it's good or a shitty one. (empathy is my superpower)

[personal profile] 11calls 2018-07-03 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Sighing softly, Alex just brushed her hand over her forehead, rubbing it a bit. This was definitely not how she planned on spending her first day without being chaperoned because Richard was worried that she was going to something to her ribs. The idea of Simon ever showing up here wasn't something that she'd planned for, and she wasn't at all sure how to deal with it even before the kidnapping. Knowing that the kidnapping changed things and made it less able for her to say that this was a safe place for her, at least while the bruises were still on her skin and she needed to be reminded about her ribs before she did something that strained them.

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.
interconnectedness: (Default)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ Simon seems to withdraw the more that Alex talks. The subject matter isn't comfortable, it's unfamiliar. For a moment he looks more like a lost child before he schools his features to a more neutral expression. ]

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. ]
11calls: (19)

[personal profile] 11calls 2018-07-03 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Simon...

[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!
interconnectedness: (2G1QyoykRCacGo0BGOp29R)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
There is nothing to think about. [ Simon says, although he'd already said goodbye and he has every intention of leaving. ]

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. ]
11calls: (23)

[personal profile] 11calls 2018-07-03 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
Well, I don't believe that there's not a coming back for someone like you, Simon. You're not Warren or Howard or your parents. I know you've done terrible things, I'm not an idiot. But I also think that what happened to you was terrible, and that if anyone deserves a second chance, it's someone who's parents did what yours did and forced you into everything back home.

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.]
interconnectedness: (Default)

[personal profile] interconnectedness 2018-07-03 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
You're too good sometimes, Alex.

[ And that's what he says before he's gone instead of goodbye again. She might believe it but Alex is a special sort of person and her ability to believe, to want to believe is a strength but it's a bridge too far. ]