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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
no subject
Something about Scott's demeanor makes him smile a bit, to be honest. Kanji had a similar sort of prickliness, for a long time, and that cocky attitude...well, in a way, it makes him feel a bit homesick. Natsukashii, right? Anyway, for now, they've got a match to worry about.]
You stand over here and toss them at this board, [he points Scott at a spot inside the tent. The board is several feet away.] Challenger goes first.
no subject
[Doesn't mean he's amazing at it though, evident by the way that Scott's bag lands on the board, a few inches away from the hole and not in it like he hoped. His lips purse in agitation, but he's just warming up and everything! He'll totally get it in next time.
He tilts his head over to Yu, trying to play it cool still.]
Alright, looks like the host is up next.
no subject
Anyway, it being his turn, he examines the board thoughtfully. It seems to be based in a combination of agility and luck, as far as he can tell. Too much strength will throw a bag all the way off the board, so you have to aim and throw just right. Okay, he can do that. He draws back and throws. The bag skids across the board, stopping an inch or two from the hole. In the process, it seems to knock Scott's bag right in.]
Hm. Bad luck for me. [He doesn't seem too surprised by that, but maybe that's just how he is? Either way, he angles his head at Scott.] All yours.
no subject
He tosses the bag maybe a little too hard and a little inaccurately, because it slides up and past the hole, lying limply on the top left corner.
A small huff leaves Scott, this time letting some of his irritation leak into his voice. He's definitely annoyed with himself more than anything.]
Fuck, man, that went way out this time. [His nose scrunches.] Geez, do you really have to play this all day with others? I couldn't.
no subject
Not the whole day. [What time is it, anyway? He's only supposed to be at this for a few hours, so...] I bet this'll be one of the last games.
[If not the last. He'll check when they finish here. Last bag; he winds up, tosses, and... it hits the middle of the board, leaving him with a decent score, but certainly not a run-away victory. You still have time to turn it around, Scott!]
Last throw. Make it count.
no subject
Besides, this is supposed to be just him and a bag.
He tosses his last bag up and down for a second, before he does his final throw, and Scott watches as it lands on the board, sliding up until it... actually goes in the hole. He... did it? Scott feels his jaw lower slightly and he blinks behind his glasses, before the teen bursts into a large smile while turning towards Yu.]
I got it in! [It's like all of that earlier crabbiness has disappeared with his victory.]
no subject
Well-played. [He offers a hand for Scott to shake. I don't know, that's sort of just how he is.
After the formalities are settled, he points at the three boxes. They're all the same size and shape -- identical in just about every way.]
Care to pick a prize?
no subject
[Scott shakes his hand before looking almost excitedly at the prizes he can pick from. Okay, it's three identical chests, but it's still fun and everything. The mystery has been calling him this entire time and now he can finally see what's inside... at least one of them.
He raises a hand to his chin, almost liking he's giving this a large amount of thought, before nodding. Alright, he's decided!]
Okay, the middle chest. I'm feeling good about that one.
[Too bad he doesn't have x-ray vision...]
no subject
[To be honest, Yu is interested, too -- and he looks it. Could it be that the booth manager didn't let him in on what the prize might be? That seems likely, given the curiosity in his expression. He grabs the middle box and the key, putting it on the table closer to where Scott and the game boards are. There's no major fanfare as he opens the box, but inside is--
... ... ... a curry plate?]
That's... [... a model, it looks like. A full-sized, very realistic fake. Yu picks up the plate and looks it over. There's writing on the bottom, which he reads off.]
"Congratulations on your victory. Keep this curry plate as a token of your skill and a reminder of your good fortune. Good for one Incredibly Spicy Curry Special at Hothouse Curry"...?
[It's...basically a fancy coupon. He hands the plate to Scott.]
no subject
Scott's earlier excitement just evaporates in a second, because why is a plastic model of food just sitting there in the chest? Is this a fakeout? Is he being punked? He can feel some agitation growing, because what the hell, but it's slowly replaced by confusion as Yu begins to read the description.]
...A curry plate. [So, he got a coupon to a restaurant. It's sort of a crappy prize, honestly, but well... it is free food too. He's not going to super complain about that bit, but his disappointment is apparent as he takes the plate from the other teen and sort of just stares down at the fake dish.]
I never even had curry before.
no subject
Really? [Ah-- that probably makes sense. Curry isn't big in every part of the world, after all.] It's good. I'm not sure I'd start with "incredibly spicy," though.
[... ... ... He looks down at the empty box. Looks at the other boxes beside it. Then glances back at Scott.]
Let's try the other boxes.
no subject
Pretty sure you'd get fired for that.
[But Scott's growing smile shows his obvious support for this suggestion. His mood certainly seem to shift a lot, as he almost forgets his disappointment to look over at the two boxes that remained unopened. If the attendant is down to break a few rules, he's game.]
Course, they won't know.
no subject
I'm almost done anyway.
[He seems pretty blasé about the potential consequences, for someone who has been working so diligently, but-- listen, he's a teen and a protagonist and he's curious, okay? Besides, technically he won several rounds. So he starts with the one on the left --a child-sized mug, on the bottom it says "good for one free coffee from The Coffee Shop-- and then moves on to the one on the right. Inside is a tiny potted plant, sporting a single flower.]
... Hm. They're all a little strange.
no subject
Geez, those are the other prizes?
[At least the fake curry is kind of neat, in a dumb sort of way?? It's not a small mug or a plant at least. Still, none of these items are impressive in any sort of way. Kind of feels like the owner was just trying to get rid of his coupons or doesn't even take his own game very seriously...
He drums his knuckles on the fake food he's holding.]
Feels like a scam. Man, mystery prizes kind of suck. [Scott doesn't consider knowing what's inside them to be part of the reward either!!]
no subject
I can't say I disagree. Sorry. I sort of steered you wrong, here.
[He sounds a bit let down, too...if he's being honest, he was hoping it'd be something neater. Mystery prize. It sounds so mysterious and interesting, but...Scott is right, maybe that's an inevitable part of the mystery prize setup. It's always something disappointed.]
It was a good game, anyway. By the way, I'm Yu Narukami. Nice to meet you.
no subject
[He's just the schmuck that got stuck manning the place, no sense getting pissed at him. At least he was cool enough to open the other mystery boxes and revealed how much of a scam this thing was. So yeah, Scott has nothing against him. He shoves the prize he got under his arm, before giving him a nod, feeling that it's probably time for him to move on soon.]
Yeah, maybe we'll play again, and for something much better next time. And I'm Scott, Scott Summers, nice to meet you. [He offers a slight smile.] See you around? Hope you escape this game at some point.
no subject
Thanks for helping me pass the time, anyway.
[As for playing again, he nods, his expression brightening. They'll find some fun challenge to tackle, hopefully.]
See you around, Scott.