TEST DRIVE MEME #5

[expiationmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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.

navigation page

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 in a... forest?

NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS

ARRIVALS

     

New Chosen will find themselves in Pessiria Forest. There's a chill in the air and a strange rustling in the leaves. There's some sort of wailing noises that seem to echo through the trees, and occasionally, Chosen—new and old alike—can hear the sound of familiar voices. Maybe even impossible voices.
Was that a sound? The wind? Something else, maybe watching and waiting in the shadows?…

… Nah. That's probably all in their head.

Probably.

Making their way out of the forest, newcomers will find that Aldrip's local residents are a little wary of them. Maybe even a little cagey about welcoming them, especially since some locals are still missing. Luckily, there are plenty of others like them, other Chosen, who have been here long enough to know the ropes.

---

ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES

     

Aldrip has had a bountiful harvest this year. As a result of the surplus, lumpy and misshapen vegetables are being tossed out, thrown into compost, or given to animals as food.

They don't seem to like this.

Over the past few days and weeks, these poor things have been left to rot, watching their brethren become animal food as they waste away, their potential being ground into the dirt. But no more! Through sheer determination and the power of a good old-fashioned grudge, they begin to mutate, sprouting arms and legs and—uh oh, are those teeth? This could be bad.

Late into the night on October 9, the mutated vegetables begin to rise from their graves. Scorned squashes, contemptuous carrots, abused apples, and other cantankerous crops decide that enough is enough! The tables have turned, and now they would like to eat you! Be warned that their bite is definitely worse than their bark, and they have a taste for human blood. Take cover, or you might just find yourself becoming dinner. But they're not immortal! They can be burned, bludgeoned, or sliced to stop their assault.

Upon investigation, there may be a link to the water source and the mutated plants. Shut off that water source and find a new one, and maybe there will be less of the cranky creatures.

A few days after this onslaught of veggies, the locals decide to prepare a big vegetable feast. Are those still good to eat, do you think…?

(Note: while the bulk of these creatures won't last long, you will still be able to find occasional stragglers throughout the rest of the month.)

---

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU

CW: ANIMAL MISTREATMENT

Given tablets equipped with a camera feature, Chosen new and old are asked by some scientifically-minded locals to catalog creatures and animals of Aldrip and the surrounding areas. It seems new creatures are appearing almost daily, and as these local requestors say, it's important to know your neighbors! They'll offer a variety of rewards: money, goods, services. Doing favors for them might boost their opinion of the Chosen, as well.

Those who accept this task will find any manner of animals, new and old. They'll also find some…………weird things. Animals that seem to have been spliced together: Chocobos with elephant trunks, wolves with feathers, snakes with crab legs…the possibilities for these chimeras seem to have no limit.

Brave adventurers will find that following some of these animals for a while will lead them to a camouflaged bunker deep in the woods. Surrounded by an electric fence and automatic turrets, it seems that someone doesn't want you getting in there.

This may be as close as you can get, for now, but if you keep a low profile, you might be able to observe for a while.

---

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

     

Some strange new plants seem to be gaining sentience, to the point where they are taking requests. Some of them may be benign or even silly: water lilies asking Chosen to take a swim with them, thirsty ferns asking for water, venus fly traps who need help catching flies. Some ask for items, human food, or just a chance to chat. Still others would like to be entertained with song, dance, or jokes…weird.

Entertaining most of these requests just results in the plants not annoying you about them anymore. But some plants are asking for blood, too, either human or animal. When fed, these particular plants go wild wanting more, more, more! Eventually, they will only be satiated by eating people. More killer creatures?! Uh oh.

Maybe finding the source of where all this started will help…

---

WILDCARD

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!

TOP LEVEL DIRECTORY

Click to view:

CANON	CHARACTER/TOP LEVEL
Bungo Stray Dogs	Jouno Saigiku
Bungo Stray Dogs	Tetchou Suehiro
Dissidia NT	Lightnig Farron
Fear & Hunger 2: Termina	Levi
Final Fantasy XIV	Noise Deathmouse
Horizon Forbidden West	Beta
League of Legends	Xayah
One Piece	Tony Tony Chopper
Persona 3	Tohru Adachi
Persona 4	Shinjiro Aragaki
Persona 5	Yusuke Kitagawa
Reiwa no Dara	Dara
Tokyo Revengers	Mikey
Tokyo Revengers	Takemichi Hanagaki
Urusei Yatsura	Benten

Comments

xayah || league of legends

[xxfeathersxx]

i. arrival ambush

[ okay, xayah. not the first time you’ve woken up miles from where you fell asleep. not the first time you’ve been kidnapped, either! sure, maybe you’ve never been tossed across the world, maybe across realms in the process of said kidnapping, but, hey. you’re strong. you’re flexible! and what’s the first thing you do in a new situation? ]

[ get information by any means necessary. ]

[ a cloaked figure perches amidst creaking branches. the dark colors of her plumage allow her to blend into the shade. moonlight catches her gaze; yellow eyes reflect it, like a cat’s would. ]

[ the spooky forest is no big deal to her. the land is supposed to talk to vastaya, after all; that just means it’s healthy. no, it’s everything else about the situation that bothers her, which is why she’s waiting for some poor soul to walk by so she can threaten grievous harm attempt communication. ]

ii. homesick

Snff… hic…

[ she misses him. ]

[ a week. that’s all it takes for her to admit it, a week without his silly, noisy face, and she’s bawling into a blanket that doesn’t even smell like him. the townspeople were kind enough to rent her the room for free, no “persuasion” needed. it was her shelter–the closest she could get to a safe place in this world, so she decided to cry in here, instead of the tavern where she heard someone performing and the first tears fell. ]

[ seriously. imagine someone seeing you cry. ]

… stupid… jackass. Didn't even follow me…

[ like, how embarrassing would that be? good thing she’d yelled at the bartender, stomped up the stairs, and slammed the door shut with such force it rattled the walls. no way anybody would be dumb enough to follow after that, right? ]

[ or nosy enough to notice the door hadn’t quite shut, and that, through the sliver between door and its frame, they could see a young woman huddled up on the floor, by the bed, wiping her tears on an itchy blanket. she hiccups. ]

iii. wildcard, redux

[[ ooc: got an idea? go for it! ]]

[[ ooc: my very first dreamwidth rp post, hooray! 🎉 this is xayah from the game league of legends. she's a violent rebel who would love to put your beating heart on a necklace. for a quick visual, this is her on the right. if you'd like to plot, hit me up here or on plurk msfoxtrott. ]]

i.

[opheliac]

( the hissing whispers of the forest are of no bother to jinx. in fact, it's not like she can differentiate which ones are in her head or the ones from the woods. it's still an old hat to her and the teen ventures on without a single care to it. what's bothering is this new thing that's written on her scroll. how is she suppose to make everyone feel secure by her?

and why would she protect these losers from anything unless they are of importance to her? rebuilding the city is another joke, especially she is only given a month to build something. combing her fingers through her bangs in frustrations, jinx plops herself down by a nearby tree -- blowing out a sigh then flashes up a gaze to the evergreens. )

Re: i.

[xxfeathersxx]

[ poor soul: identified. ]

[ and what a pathetic one, too. this human (humans can have blue hair, right?) looks like she's made out of twigs and straw with how she ambles along. xayah would have thought her easy pickings if it weren't for the device rattling with her every step. predatory, she waits. ]

[ the girl looked up just in time to see a figure crashing down. xayah aims to land atop her with a blade to her skinny throat. ]

Answer my questions, and I won't turn your face inside-out.

[ the blade in her hand gleams. it's of pure, violet magic, the size of a dagger, bearing a feathered edge and tapered tip. ]

Got it?

[opheliac]

( jinx gets spooked, but only for a millisecond when this stranger pops out of nowhere with an interesting glowing blade to her throat. and while most be fearful or try to scramble away, the girl on the other hand, sits still with a smirk curling on her lips. the teen hums softly as a response at first and then says smoothly: )

That sounds pretty hardcore. Have ya seen inside of a face much? People usually get blown to smithereens with me so I don't get to see the leftovers.

( a brief pause as she puckers her lips in quick thought. )

— BUT! Some of 'em do stay in one piece and THAT, I think, is pretty rare.

[xxfeathersxx]

[ ugh, would it kill the girl to act a little more terrified? ]

[ squinting, like she can't quite believe the reaction but isn't familiar enough with human facial expressions to call it a bluff, xayah keeps the blade still. she banks on it being enough to keep the girl from reaching for whatever else she carries. ]

Yeah. There's a lot more meat than you would expect.

[ her tone is flat, but genuine. that feline gaze flicks over the girl's form, searching for something familiar, anything that could place where or when they are. finding nothing, she speaks, even going so far as to interrupt her rambling if necessary. ]

O-kay, Explodey Girl. Where are we.

[opheliac]

Somewhere you're NOT from.

( she raises her eyebrows in a tease, watching the other very closely for a moment then down her gleaming blade. )

... Neat lil' thing ya got there. Interested in a bargaining?

( a brief pause before she elaborate further ever so casually still. )

For more info about this place for your nifty feather knife. A deal you can't refuse.

[xxfeathersxx]

Ha, ha.

[ no shit she wasn't from here. that strikes a nerve; xayah's frown deepens and her ears flick back against her head. she should leave this one for the scavengers. this place had to have wolves or something, right? maybe they would find her more useful. ]

[ information for a feather, though?. . . her grip on the blade tightens. ]

... fine.

[ the human obviously knows more than she's letting on. ]

Info first, then feather-knife.

[ the oh-so-gracious vastaya eases back, allowing her not-hostage some breathing room without the impending threat of vivisection. her gaze remains hardened, her lips in a frown. ]

Where are we.

[opheliac]

I've already told ya, Red. Somewhere you're not from. That was my part of the info.

( there's a shit-eating grin she wears so brightly over her face, teeth showing and all. )

Sheesh, don't ya know how trading works? It's your turn now, silly. Start coughin' up about your pretty lil' weapon.

[xxfeathersxx]

[ urge to abandon woman to get eaten by wolves: rising. ]

It's a feather.

... a magic feather.

[ that's enough, right? xayah's expression doesn't change from its i-don't-have-time-for-these-shenanigans-style frown. she tries a different strategy. ]

Tell me where you're from.

[opheliac]

( WOW, what the...?!)

Yeah, no shit.

( but she can't really be too sour with the turnabout given she literally did the same thing to her. it looks like the scoreboard between the two ladies are tied. jinx exhales out an unimpressive sigh as her expression falls flat; now getting bored... despite the feather knife is still at her neck. )

Runeterra. Not like that means anything to anyone here 'sides the people I got dumped here with.

[xxfeathersxx]

[ given the reaction, she can't help but feel a little smug, the corner of her lips twitching upward. see? two could play at the "unhelpful dickhead" game. she considers this. for her troubles--and to maybe, possibly eek out helpful and nice information--xayah lowers the knife. ]

... was... one of those people a loud, red and gold vastaya?

[ a girl can hope, right? ]

[opheliac]

Huh? ( she looks deeply puzzled by her sudden change of feedback here. it seems like maybe runeterra does mean something to her after all? jinx blinks to bring her back to reality and to her question: )

Uh, no. I've... never met a Vastaya? Is that what you are or somethin'?

I

[solitarysoul]

[The boy with the rifle walks past the Xayah's in at first, but he pauses shortly past it. The creepy feeling of the forest never really faded, so he looks around again for anything or anyone around. Did he see eyes in that tree? Or was it just this place playing tricks again?]

Re: I

[xxfeathersxx]

[ is that a child? ]

[ perched as she is, like a hawk ready to swoop, hesitation can be fatal to her mission--and yet, she can't get herself off that branch, because this is a whispering forest and that is a child clutching a weapon practically just as big as they are like it'll do anything in their arms. ]

[ what she should do is put it out of its misery before something else gets to it. but the kid's sad little display of confusion gets to her. it's like watching a blind puppy run right into a wall. ]

Up here.

[ the evergreen speaks to him; specifically, the owner of the feline eyes glaring his way. she's several yards up, talons curled into a branch, claws gripping a magical violet blade. ]

Boo.

[solitarysoul]

[He freezes at her voice and raises his rifle towards it. But he lowers it after a second and just peers up at her. Suspicious but not violent.]

Who are you? What are you doing up there?

[He eyes the blade. If she leaps out of the tree and attacks, would he have time to respond? Maybe. But she hadn't so far so he'll give her the benefit of the doubt for now.]

[xxfeathersxx]

[ the rifles xayah was used to were unwieldy works of hextech craftsmanship--a combination of traditional weaponsmithing and some kind of self-contained magic. they looked nothing like the metal-and-wood hunk the boy carried. if anything, his reminded her of a toy. and how fucked up would it be if the people around here gave their kids toy guns? yeesh. ]

[ offering no reaction to the weapon, she tuts. ]

Uh, no. I have the high ground, I ask the questions.

[ her own weapon is a feather-dagger. made of pure magic, it's the general size and shape of a dagger, but bearing a feathered edge. the violet energies composing it swirl within. ]

What are you doing down there alone?

[solitarysoul]

[He scoffs, but he can't deny that she's got a better position. And that knife...definitely some sort of magic.]

...I'm lost. I don't even know how I got here.

[xxfeathersxx]

What do you mean, you don't know?

[ great. they're BOTH lost. she continues, disgruntled. ]

Of course you know. You weren't just born a minute ago, were you? What were you doing before you ended up in the spooky talky forest.

[solitarysoul]

[He hesitates, how does he answer that? Becoming a god? Fighting one? He really has no idea what happened back in the bunker. Maybe he was just dead?
Whatever it was, he wasn't in a forest though.]

I was inside, under a city. Not in a forest.

[xxfeathersxx]

[ she grunts. inside. and they were not currently, in fact, inside. there was a real possibility this kid was in the same boat she was. xayah lowers herself into a sitting position; still on the branch, but no longer ready to pounce. ]

And then what. You just... poof, teleported here? No memory why? No information, no messages...?

[solitarysoul]

[He relaxes slightly when she sits down. Not completely, but a bit.]

Uh...y-yeah, pretty much.

[There were intermediate planes of nothingness but with voices but he hesitates to mention that. It'd make him look crazy...not that the 'suddenly in a forest' he'd already admitted to didn't do that already.]

Are you, uh, from around here?

[xxfeathersxx]

[ "pretty much", he says. helpful. she can't tell if he's withholding information out of nervousness or just plain unwillingness, and she's not sure which possibility is more irritating. ]

I don't even know where "around here" is.

[ to better pry the information out of him, rather than turn to violence, she draws a scroll from betwixt her cloak's feathers. the parchment crinkles in her hand. ]

Do you have one of these?

ii

[entreats]

[ Ange wasn't planning on following the other upstairs. It's more that it just happens that her own move to go to her room was at the exact same time as that entire ruscus - which means the girl noticed it, but was also kind of determined to just ignore it entirely.

Not her monkeys, not her circus, right? She's learned it's usually better to stay out of these things.

But when she's walking past the rooms, it's a whole lot harder to ignore the clear sound of crying. And while the idea of confronting the crying is awkward, the idea of just plainly ignoring it is just as awkward, if not more so.

Still, Ange isn't just going to barge right into the room, even if the door is open a faint crack. So instead the girl raises her hand to knock on the door from the outside first, waiting to see what kind of reaction it gets. ]

Re: ii

[xxfeathersxx]

[ she looks like a mess. the hood of her cowl lowered, puffy reddened eyes are clearly visible, as are tracks of tears smeared across her cheeks from futile attempts to wipe them away. there's no watery trails of eyeliner or mascara, though; all of that is merely colored skin, completely natural. the most pathetic part is how her ears hang low against the sides of her head. if she wanted to, she could probably use one of those to wipe. ]

[ she's starting to come down from her moment of weakness when somebody knocks. her skin prickles. ]

G-go--go away.

[ it's hard to sound intimidating when your voice cuts out halfway through and you need to start again. yeah, they're probably still there. she takes a deep breath, and tries in a more stable tone. ]

What do you want.

[entreats]

[ See, a tiny part of Ange's mind tells herself, they want you to go away, you can just go.

She chooses to not give in to that part of her that's so eager to give into her usual anti-social tendencies. Not this time. ]

Just making sure you're not dying in there.

[ The girl's tone is relatively emotionless as she says it, perhaps just with a faint hint of something more awkward around its edges, even as Ange is trying really hard to push it down.

Because it sure is social awkwardness that's making her say that, rather than anything more direct or productive. ]

You don't often hear someone crying around here.