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expiationmeme2023-08-06 09:08 am
TEST DRIVE MEME #4
Welcome to the TDM for Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with fantasy, science fiction, and some horror elements. We ask that top-level comments are reserved for new characters and players looking to experience a taste of the world and overarching storyline. Characters already in the game, however, are free to use TDM prompts in their own catch-alls and logs. Feel free to submit any TDM / prompt-related questions to the corresponding comment below.
New players / characters looking to app are free to use TDM threads as samples in their application. Preexisting players / characters may use TDM threads as part of their AC proofs.
You may find the below link helpful in getting to know themes of the world, locations, the people, and so on.
AS OF AUGUST 2023: We have decided to reduce the waiting period for new updates / canons to two months. So if your canon is two months old, your character is appable as of now.
The last thing you recall is waking in a room of blinding white light. You hear voices around you, speaking in muffled tones; you get the distinct impression that they’re talking about you. And you’re on the verge of figuring out what they’re saying, you’re so close...but then the floor drops out from under you. You’re falling into blackness.
You come to after falling through this dark void, and when your vision clears, you find yourself on a…beach? Many wake up covered in sand, but some wake in the shallows of the ocean, too. Surf’s up!
IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN...
SAND AND SALT (ARRIVALS)
After dusting off the sand (or drying off with a towel, if they had a really rude awakening), newcomers to the area find themselves greeted by the locals and directed to the city of Aldrip, where they can find food, shelter, and dry clothing, should they need it. There's mention of an inn, though some mutter that it's getting a little crowded, so maybe characters should find a roommate or make nice with the locals so they can crash on their floor—at least temporarily. Once they're in town, they'll notice that there is plenty of construction going on: building materials everywhere, half-finished structures waiting to be finished. Maybe you won't be sleeping on the floor for too long, after all.
Those who choose to remain on the beach will find the locals setting up for something that looks like a festival. Colorful tents are anchored in the sand, filling with strange-looking goods, delicious-smelling food, games, and other activities. Locals call this the "Festival of the Sun," a celebration of the hottest days of the summer, where crops begin to swell bountifully and the seas become warm and refreshing. The festival has not yet begun, of course, and there is plenty of opportunity to help out. Chosen who wish to lend a hand will find themselves enlisted to help set up or decorate tents—or even to run some of them, if they're so inclined. Grab the balloons and streamers! (Or…colored scarves and flowers, maybe.)
FESTIVAL OF THE SUN
The festival kicks into gear in the afternoon, and there are plenty of activities to draw attention. There are boat racing competitions and a sandcastle contest, as well as a grand seashell hunt taking place on the beach. All of these are free to enter, and the contests offer prizes both for participation and for winning. Participation prizes are small tokens of memorabilia: seashells, shark teeth, dried flowers, things like that. Contest winners will find themselves gifted a refreshing treat or a free meal.
Other tents boast all sorts of different games, food, and trinkets for purchase. Merchants will accept coins or other goods in exchange, but if you find your pockets empty, they may also have to help work the booths if they need a well-earned break. Better get to work, and don't forget to give your most winning smile!
Later in the evening, the locals light a bonfire and host traditional songs and dances as the sun begins to set. All clean-up work will be left until the morning; according to Those Who Were There—the locals' patron deities, apparently, though they offer little information about them—it's bad luck to work this evening after the sun sets.
THIS IS ECOLOGY
MAKE A FRIEND
It seems there have been new additions to Aldrip and the surrounding areas. Even the locals are surprised to see large, flightless warking birds now charging around the meadowlands in packs, not to mention the cute piglets with bunny ears and other strange animals that seem to have appeared. There’s even something that looks like it’s made of rock roaming around–its bark is worse than its bite, though. You may even find that if you befriend them, you can ride on them.
Most are harmless, but Chosen may find a few more monsters than usual roaming the area, too. It seems best to be careful—especially after dark and in the forest, when some of these creatures feel emboldened to roam a little closer to civilization.
[[WILDCARD: Players can use anything from this post to interact with! It doesn’t even have to be the ones we mentioned in the prompts.]]
STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS
It's not just animals that have begun to appear in the area, either. Strange new flowers and plants seem to be cropping up everywhere, as if this is a normal habitat for them. Most of them don't seem harmful, although some of the vines can be a little…aggressive. However, getting too close to some of the flowers and mushrooms could give someone a nasty surprise. This is particularly unfortunate because the locals seem quite interested in the new additions to their town, encouraging the Chosen to investigate and acquire samples.
The pollen from these new flowers isn't normal, so Chosen won't find themselves sneezing too much. Unfortunately, they may find it has some other effect on them, such as sleeping, confusion, temporary loss of sense (sight, touch, taste, etc), powerlessness, forgetfulness, or inability to speak. While these are all examples of effects the pollen might have, this is certainly not a limitation. Just about anything you can come up with—within reason—is fair game.
STRANGE MACHINATIONS
A PILE OF JUNK
Ask the locals, and they'll tell you all about the recent trip to the desert, including how several of them were rescued and owe the Chosen a debt of gratitude. While they're repaying this debt mostly by way of helping with building projects, they've also brought back piles and piles of…broken technology. Mostly tablets: dirty, sandy, scratched up, and missing critical components like batteries and chargers. They've very kindly piled all of these things in the eating hall at the inn, and anyone who wants to check them out is welcome to do so. It's possible that cleaning them up and matching them up with their missing components will activate them, but you may have to sift through a whole pile to do so.
But activation does not necessarily mean they're in perfect working order. They may randomly beep, as if pinging off of certain locations, or make strange static sounds if they're turned on for too long. Some of them seem to ping off of each other, too, beeping more quickly as they're brought nearer to the other tablet they seem to be paired with. When connected to the pair, they seem to stabilize a bit more. Not enough to find anything of value in the system itself, but characters might find that they can now text each other, play one of the games, or send pictures on a local network.. After about ten feet of distance, they fail again and aren’t able to be used on the local network.
GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT
Whatever happened to the locals at the beginning of the month seems to have passed—mostly. Every so often, Chosen might notice the locals acting a little strangely, stopping what they're doing for a second as if they've forgotten something, repeating something they've already said, or even flickering in and out of existence.
These experiences are minor, but Chosen might notice some other oddities popping up occasionally. Some animals seem very…odd, at a glance, like a fox that has two tails or a deer with three eyes. Look again, and you might think your eyes were playing tricks on you, because they appear normal. Fish with transparent scales, plants that change color—these are examples of the occasional oddities Chosen might encounter.
They might also sometimes hear strange noises, particularly at night. Beeping or static like the sounds coming from the tablets could easily wake a person in the night—as can the sound of a voice, perhaps even a familiar one, luring Chosen out of their beds and away from the town. The source of these voices is a mystery, and they always seem to stop before characters get too far, but you'd do well to be careful after dark.
You know the drill–this is the wildcard one. Just because it’s not listed in the prompts above does not mean it’s unavailable as an option. We encourage you to do whatever you’d like to utilize the setting to its full potential. If you have any questions about what is and is not possible, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Click to view:
| CANON | CHARACTER/TOP LEVEL |
| Arcane | Ekko |
| Arcane | Silco |
| Critical Role | Mollymauk Tealeaf |
| Digimon | Mimi Tachikawa |
| Final Fantasy X-2 | Paine |
| Fullmetal Alchemist: Broherhood | Pride |
| Honkai: Star Rail | Dan Heng |
| Land of the Lustrous | Phosphophyllite |
| Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story | Mitama Yakumo |
| Marvel 616 | Quentin Quire |
| Omnicient Reader's Viewpoint | Han Sooyoung |
| Persona 1 | Naoya Toudou |
| Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | Kei Nanjo |
| Persona 4 | Yu Narukami |
| Persona 4 | Yosuke Hanamura |
last updated: 8/16/23, 10:55PM
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( jinx drops her arms back on her sides, cocking her head with teasing wiggle of her eyebrows. )
Oh yeeeaah! Shimmer ended up savin' my skin. And I gotta say, the new look really suits me.
( and to demonstrate the new her, her pink pupils twinkle for a millisecond and then suddenly, she is by his side. if one blink, they would had missed the unexpected movement of her taking a step forward -- but there's always trail of pink glow that traces her every motion. although gloating like this bites her in the ass very quickly because once she is next to him, jinx gets a horrible dizzy spell. the girl stumbles a little to keep her balance with a hand over her forehead in hope to maintain it. there's no way she can make this moment look charming, especially when she ends up collapsing right next to him on her knees. well, it appears the crow is having her own troubles. )
T-Totally got it down packed.
( nice save. )
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Either way, he ends up more surprised by her falling over than her rapid approach, which he leans away from but it's not like he can really do anything more: he's seen eye twinkling trick too many times to not know what it means. Usually it's the neon pink sign that the Firelights need to get the hell out of dodge, hop on a hoverboard and get too high up to be reached, but Ekko's board is busted because he didn't prioritize repairing it while he totally unable to ride it around.
She's not attacking anyway, which he's not sure how to interpret. Instead she's just showing off, taking gleeful delight in her new inhuman abilities, and he has to wonder how long she has before it wears off and she gets to experience that horrible come-down that inevitably follows.
He gives her a look that's a little too unimpressed at her flashy display and subsequent fall for a guy who just completely failed to walk even a quarter mile due to the sand. Honestly, where's the respect?]
When was the last time you ate something?
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( jinx waves her hand up in the air to dismissive the rest of the scientific babble that comes with eating first thing in the morning, every morning. sheesh, what a stupid and offensive question to ask her! sure, jinx would expect any old dummy to skip breakfast and not taking it seriously. but her being an engineer (and an armature scientist), it's basically common knowledge one-oh-one. but trying to act like a smart aleck is growing tiresome really fast. so jinx drops it (for now) as she sits there with her head duck low, another heavy sigh to give her body more relief. )
I eat like I always do. So what?
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He knows exactly how, obviously. Silco doesn't bother with the everyday people in the Lanes who can't afford to keep buying, so why would his muscle? No, the real question is why didn't anyone tell her after shooting her full of the stuff? He can't imagine she did this to herself, not with the state she was in when he left her on the bridge.]
So you're using up way more energy now. You have to eat to match. [Not a good sign for her, if she's already having trouble affording clothes.] Have you been keeling over a lot?
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Y-Yeah, actually. Just how much am I suppose to be eating? I'd rob the town if I could but... it's a lil' hard when you're not, y'know, feeling sparky enough.
( and as much as she loathes going to him for this (what enemy goes to their enemy to express their weakness?), what other choice does she have? )
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At her tentative question, he scoffs.] You've gotten way too comfortable, bombs for brains. [Or maybe he's too comfortable now, mouthing off. But it's hard not to slip back to banter, the universal language of anyone who spent so many of their formative years in Vi's snarky orbit. (And it's impossible to stop thinking about the glimpse beneath the surface he'd gotten before she'd set off that chomper.)] We robbed plenty of people before feeling sparky was even a thing. Did you forget how? [Alright, so it's entirely possible that they weren't that great at it as kids, but Ekko's memories are clouded by the fact that he had to keep doing it in order to survive alone in the Lanes until he got a lot better and a lot less likely to get caught. It's not that Jinx hasn't kept robbing people, but her huge, explosive tactics are for stealing Piltover superweapons right out from under half a dozen armed Enforcer noses and are probably not very practical for just getting a meal at the end of the day.
But he knows perfectly well how dangerously sneaky she can be, so it's obviously not that Jinx doesn't have the skill anymore.] Where do you normally get food from, anyway? [She ate breakfast, after all.]
cw: weird d/s dynamic that's in her head cause it's jinx.....
Oh, y'know — this place, that place. The seafood shack mainly. Their cooking is bland, but it's something.
( jinx thumps her finger very casually over ekko's leg as a tease. will it hurt? probably not since she isn't doing it that hard. )
Maaaaybe I've gotten comfortable. Or maaaaaaybe I'm playin' the long game. 'Cuz I'm willing to bet you know nothing about this place and the people. But I do. I got all the ins and outs, meaning I have an idea what we're in for and the advantage.
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She's right, obviously: she does know so much more about this place than he does, considering he doesn't have the first clue where they are or what's happening. It is admittedly a little bit galling: he's usually the information guy, always sneaking around and gathering intel beneath everyone's noses. Both on account of his deep-seeded paranoia, and just from being a busybody in general. He's not going to be sneaking anywhere on a crutch, though, and certainly not if Jinx aggravates his fracture and sets back the slow, excruciatingly boring healing process in a fit of pique.
Which just means that they've each got something the other needs, nothing more Zaun than that.
He squares his shoulders and doesn't bother looking down at her hand or breaking contact with her Shimmer-bright eyes, because he understands how dangerous she is probably better than anyone except her awful dad who nurtures it, but he's not scared of her nearly as often as he definitely should be. Usually he's just angry at her, or at least trying to be, clinging to anything that makes it easier to forget who they both used to be, because that's gone now.
Except it's not: Vi came back to life full of all that hope and determination about Jinx, and Ekko let it get to him—let himself see what he'd stopped looking for years and years ago. Somehow, they both survived anyway.] Alright. So you know about this place, and I know about dealing with Shimmer addiction. Are we trading?
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Yyyep we are, Ekki!
( why yes, she has so many different nicknames for the boy savior, it makes one think if there's a weird hidden meaning to it. because she certainly doesn't have this many for anyone else.... hm. )
Jinx is at your service and is opening for questioning! Shoot one at me, I can take it! It won't hurt me one bit.
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It could still go worse, obviously. One always has to expect things to get hairy out of nowhere when dealing with Jinx, if they don't want to get totally blindsided.
And hey, he starts with the easiest question because he doesn't understand any part of what is happening and he needs to some sort of solid foundation under his feet if he's going to be able to figure out what the most useful information is to ask for after:] What is this place?
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We are somewhere outside of Aldrip. A different realm entirely. We are no longer in Runeterra.
( a tiny pause to let that part sink in before continuing on: )
The talk of the town is: an entity, bigger than a God, nabbed a buncha folks from different worlds and timelines and plopped all of us here in one spot. People are still tryin' to make heads or tails if time is still going back home or it's on a stand still while we're here.
( the good old time travel/timey wimey talk. )
According to whoever is in charge, we are all criminals. And this place? — ( she lifts up a hand, gesturing to the beach and all. ) — is our lovely prison! Pretty snazzy, huh?
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Then she starts again. His brow furrows, and he struggles to pick out what he wants to follow-up on first.
Turns out, the time thing. Because of course he'd be focused on time.] Why would time be at a stand still back home? [He does still glance around dubiously, though. It's not much of a prison if there's not even walls, surely.] ... Beats Stillwater, I guess. [Understatement of the year.]
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( she sing-songs her question before flopping back onto the sand. she spreads her arms out above her head, letting herself soak in the sun's rays and the fresh air (that she is still getting use to); eyes shut. )
I bet if ya search around your pockets, you'll find a lil' present. A paper that'll say what your crime is. Everyone's got one. Mine says I'm guilty of murder and illegal trading. Kiiiinda boring if you ask me. They should had charged me with somethin' bigger than that.
( like causing a war. that would be the best thing to have under her belt. and if everyone knew she did that, they'd be more fearful of her and know not to rub her the wrong way. )
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But either way, he is back to scowling at her flippant reaction to the murder thing. Illegal trading is whatever, but how many of those murders were his people? Maybe not most of them, but definitely too many. He makes an effort to squash that reaction though, because he knows Jinx just loves getting under the skin.
After a second, his curiosity gets the better of him and he leans to the side enough to be able to reach into the giant pockets of his coat, pulling out the parchment after a few seconds of feeling around. He lets the coat slide off his shoulders into the sand before spreading the paper out to read it, because direct sunlight can get pretty hot, actually, and this place has none of the temperature regulation that you automatically get when you're so deep underground and insulated in Zaun.
As for his crimes? Huh.] ... Sedition? [Does he sound a little smug about that? Listen. It's certainly cooler than illegal trading.] So if this is a prison, where's the wardens?
no subject
her attention lands up to his parchment, unable to read it from where she is but thank goodness he says it out loud. sedition? lame. his crime should be for being an annoying fly that refuses to buzz off and get caught in a web somewhere. jinx shrugs at his next question, still swaying her feet from side to side. )
Dunno. Guess that's what we're waitin' for. We are living here and just... waiting to see what happens next.
( a small beat. )
— Although!! I've heard before I got here, there was this big monster that attacked everyone. Things got ruined and crap. And while I was in another village over, some fairies or whatever came and some more freaky stuff happened. Dunno what, didn't pay that much attention.
So I guess we got THAT ahead of us.
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But even so, Ekko can't find himself doubting it because Jinx has the whole thing about lying.
Which can only mean...] Wait, how long have you been here? [He's shocked she's back on her feet already, certainly doing better than him at the moment (arguably anyway, aside from the fact that she nearly knocked herself out while showing off there a minute ago), but to also have experienced all of the above? Somehow he doubts it's been just two days.
Maybe she was onto something with that timey-wimey stuff after all.]
no subject
( she scrunches up her face as she takes a minute to think this over. ) — A month and some weeks, maybe? Give or take?
( that sounds about right in her prospective. she remembers arriving a little at the end of a month and then she spent all last month exploring and isolating herself from the chosen. )
I can't give ya the exact date 'cuz I was a lil'... preoccupied with getting my bearings down, but I think that hits the target pretty well.
no subject
[He doesn't elaborate, but he figures he doesn't need to, since she already clocked why his leg is broken. He stays sitting up for a few more moments feeling like his brain is about to start oozing out of his ears, before he gives in again and flops back into the sand, one hand over his eyes so the brightness of the sun doesn't burn them up.
He didn't think about making it out of Zaun very often, not the same way he knows that a lot of people do, because Ekko loves his city and it's often terrible people... but when he does, he never imagined it would be like this. Sun and sand and waves, strange smelling clean air. Intellectually he's always known that people can live in places like this, but it never seemed in the cards for him.
Especially with Jinx sprawled out next to him, not actively trying to kill him.] ... Have you been starving yourself this whole time? [He sounds more concerned about that than he probably should. Listen.]
no subject
now that ekko is down too, jinx shifts to lie on her side to face him in a slight fetal position; an arm underneath her head to support as a pillow. the concern in his tone doesn't go unnoticed and quite frankly, she is confused by it. maybe he is worried because without her, his days won't be as fun. but there are other crows who would take her place to pick at his wings or gobble him up if he flies in the right territory. and for him to troubled yet displaying that look he had on his face (not that look, the other one) when he pinned her down -- it didn't match. the teen scoffs off a quiet breath and a bit of a eye roll before shutting her eyes again: )
Why are you worried about that? ( despite her ridicule, her tone is oddly soft and quiet -- like she only wanted him to hear and no one else. ) — Wouldn't me starvin' myself be doing you a favor? Or would you rather you punch me 'till my entire face is broken? Is that more rewarding for you?
( okay so. on the outside, she definitely deserved to be punched in the face for all the crap she has done, especially to his firelights. but even so, there's still some hurt in her words that he even went that far with her. she's seen ekko angry before but not... boiling red hot like that. )
no subject
Damn it, Vi.]
Shimmer fucks up everyone who takes it, sooner or later. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done. [And that's enough reason to extend compassion, he clearly thinks. The fact that she's been here a month and can still run like she took it an hour ago is beyond what he expected, but maybe it's not that surprising that Silco would use something a lot more potent on his inner circle while everyone else in the sump drowns in purple growths and gets hit with the brutal come-down by the next day. He doesn't know if that'll make the withdrawal easier on her, or so much worse.
And it's not an answer to her questions, exactly, but he doesn't have a response for her that doesn't involve a lot of cussing so she's just going to have to live with it. He closes his eyes behind his arm, and finds he can still see the light through his closed lids because the open sky is unreal. Then, perhaps a bit unfairly, he fires back his own question:] Why aren't you trying to kill me right now?
no subject
she doesn't speak right away, in fact, jinx is so quiet that maybe she somehow did a few barrel rolls through the sand to get out of this conversation. but no. she's still beside him -- her soft breathing is evidence of that. )
A game of tag isn't as fun if the chaser can't move. ... I don't like to win easy.
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Well, it's not like he could really have expected anything else. When he's done despairing and dropped his hands away he's got sand on his cheeks again, but he has given up worrying about it.] Fine, whatever. [It's not exactly a change of heart or anything, but it's been many years and many bodies since he's had any delusions about the choices she made or where her loyalties lie, so. He figures the best he can do is:] We're stuck on another planet or something, I don't think it matters anymore. Temporary truce? [He'd rather be on her side for a prison break than off of it: if anyone can blow their way out of an alien jail it's probably Jinx, and he's not looking to die in some weird fresh air world while Zaun still needs help.
He holds out one hand to shake on it in the general direction of her quiet breathing, though he hasn't turned towards her yet, eyes still closed against the blinding overhead sun.]
no subject
having him on her side would definitely be a helpful thing. while she has complete faith in ragna being her muscle and power if she somehow gets into a jam, jinx isn't quite sure how he is in the intelligent department. he is nowhere near an idiot, but she can't really picture her partner in crime inventing anything or to come up with a really elaborate plan if things get a little dire. whatever ekko makes around here, she can use for own gain if needed. although, it begs the question -- the fact she still has the gemstone and all of her weapons lock and loaded, will this change their truce? will that matter?
like she's dumb enough to tell him she has anything. and if he finds out, it'll be his own fault for showing up late. if he was on time, he would had saw her little show on the network when she displayed the stone for everyone to see. done making noises, she finally comes up with a decision. )
Are we doin' just a normal handshake or are we gonna do the thing where we spit on our hands and shake on it? Y'know. To make it more official.
( they COULD just do a really unsanitary blood oath, but something tells her that ekko would rather not have any of her shimmer blood on him. )
no subject
Well, not one to back down from a challenge like this (except the blood oath, he would definitely back down from that right now), he wrestles himself up to a sitting position so he doesn't end up with his own saliva on his face trying to outdo gravity, and spits into the palm of his hand. This time he holds it out to her with both eyebrows raised and waiting like they're playing a game of chicken.
He should definitely find this gross or immature, but as a guy who spends as much free time as he possibly can rifling through toxic junkyards, he's not afraid of a little spit.] Well?
Mobile tag weh
Don't get jealous if I find a new insect to pick apart.
( will she though? because it's not easy to find someone as alluring and entertaining as him. )
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