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expiationmeme2023-10-08 10:33 am
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.
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…
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 |
| 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 |
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What I'm doing is finding someone to tell me where I am, [ she counters assertively without missing a beat. It doesn't occur to her that Ethlyn could be asking about the earthbending. ] Where is this?
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It's the power of a god and yet she's talking like an impatient child.]
...Aldrip. [May as well. Answer the question.] What are you?
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I'm an earthbender. A good one. [ Toph lets that understatement sit because she is more focused on getting answers than bragging for the moment. ] Where's Aldrip? Never heard of it.
[ And she's done a lot of traveling at this point, so that's a little surprising. ]
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[Because now Ethlyn can see that there is no trace of the disturbance that this 'earthbender' should have left in her wake.]
What is an earthbender?
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[ Toph sounds incredulous. ]
I didn't mean where's the town -- I meant, where in the world is this? I didn't think there was anywhere that didn't have bending.
[ Does such a place exist? Sorry, she is way too preoccupied with how confused she is to answer Ethlyn's own question. But she'll probably get there before too long. ]
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I certainly do not live under a rock. [No, calm. Whatever an earthbender is, this one looks like a little girl, and if she's being a little bratty, she is in an unfamiliar situation... one that is not going to get any less unfamiliar.] I don't think this is anywhere you've ever been before. We're taken here from our homelands--at distances of worlds away.
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Toph's face scrunches up in disbelief. ] What? Like -- this is some kind of kooky spirit realm? [ She spins in place as if looking around, but really she's listening. ] It-- it feels different, but... I didn't think...
[ Slowly, ] How do we get back?
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...I'm afraid I don't know how we get back. It seems to be at the discretion of those who brought us here in the first place. And before you go rushing off to find them, we don't know who or where they are.
[She's just got a hunch that's what this girl-looking being will try next.]
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[ Maybe that sounds like an under-reaction, but Toph at least sounds nonplussed. She knows what other planets and stars are - she has a piece of meteorite on her arm, after all - but given Ethlyn is very considerately explaining things to her, she decides not to (rudely) point that out. It helps that with her lie detection, she can tell that Ethlyn absolutely believes what she's saying.
Toph folds her arms, frowning pensively. ] If we don't know who or where they are, do we know why they brought us here? And does anyone ever go home?
[ She's not against going on a new adventure, but she doesn't like the idea that her friends are bumbling around without her to clean up their messes. ]
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I've... been through it recently. It is very strange, but not something to be afraid of.
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... Really? What was it like?
[ She can't help being curious, since Ethlyn says it isn't something to be afraid of. Also -- ] What could you be accused of?
[ She knows a goody-goody when she sees one. ]
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As for what was on my own--I was accused of the crimes of my homeland. Crimes which I opposed, but which I was unable to prevent nonetheless.
[Paper doesn't do it... well, her eyes do have the blank appearance that some blind humans have when they're born without sight. But if this girl is a being with control over the elements, that probably isn't the explanation. Probably, it's simply that her folk use something other than reading and writing to communicate--at least the type that Ethlyn is familiar with.][Terms that still aren't quite second nature to Ethlyn even after so long a time here.]
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Toph sticks a finger in her ear to pick out some wax, as if bored. ] They can judge me all they want. Do they do anything to back it up? They really just wanted to bring us here to wag their fingers at us?
[ That seems implausible, to say the least, but not even remotely scary. ]
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No, I'm assuming that they must have some sort of ulterior motive... this isn't the afterlife, so it can't be that it's our day of judgment. But so far I'm at a loss for what they could be gaining from us.
Do your people use electrical or--digital ways to record their thoughts?
[Terms that Ethlyn still isn't quite familiar with, even after her time here.]
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You are way intense, but thanks for the info, [ Toph says, a little sassy but perfectly genuine. It's like if Zuko weren't born to a completely awful father and a country waging a one hundred year war of aggression. The righteousness, sheesh. ]
I don't even know what that is, so let's go with no. Why are you asking?
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I MEAN. SHE SORT OF WAS BORN TO THE FIRST PART. lucked out with the good dad thing tho.[Ethlyn feels an urge to do something she was guilty of overdoing not too many years ago, which is very pointedly rolling her eyes.]
I had reason to. [She's sure someone at this apparent age doesn't need to be shielded from death--Ethlyn wasn't--but she doesn't want to drop that particular weight into the conversation right now. If she picks up the implication, fine, if she doesn't, she'll find something else to make smart remarks about.] You said that paper 'doesn't do it for you' . There are worlds where paper is something from the past--primitive, like longhouses and scale mail. They use different ways to write things down.
[Unless she really is blind?]
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Instead she moves along to a much more familiar conversation. She gives her the real and non-trolling explanation since Ethlyn has been nice enough to explain things patiently so far. ]
Oh, yeah, no. I'm blind. Like actually completely blind. [ Toph waves a hand in front of her own face as a joke. ] I can sense things through the ground using earthbending, that's how I know where things are.
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I'm just a really, really good earthbender.
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You should know what you've been accused of--if only to know whether or not it's just. Could you get back to where you arrived, and I can find it with you?
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[ Normally it would be a little more like a needle in a haystack, but Toph has been actively scanning this whole area since she arrived, so she's built up a precise mental map of where she is now and where she'd woken up. Shouldn't be too hard to retrace her steps and find the piece of paper she came with.
Without further ado, she sets off walking. ] Who've you met that looked human but wasn't? [ she asks curiously. ]
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So when you came skimming across the fields like you had ice skates on, I thought the same might be true of you. I've never seen anyone with an ability like that. But if you're as young as you look, I can't imagine that you could be charged with anything too serious.
[Toph is close to adulthood, but she still looks younger than Ethlyn's cousin Oifey, and she remembers the argument that ended with him agreeing to be the tactician instead of a soldier.]
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[ Toph hadn't gotten to go on that little fieldtrip, but she'd heard all about it when Aang and Zuko got back, and she knows how big a deal dragons are.
Then Ethlyn implies Toph is too young to do anything important, and that sets her right off into grumpy. Her steps while walking become more like stomps. ] Hey, my age has nothing to do with it, [ she insists stridently. ] I'm the best earthbender of all time. I taught the Avatar. I helped end the war. And for the record, I've committed plenty of crimes.
[ She does not sound at all apologetic. ]
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[She hopes that tactical mind has kept Oifey alive in the collapse of righteousness and justice that befell Jugdral in the wake of her family's failure. Sigurd was always very careful about Oifey's place in the army, namely that it was on the outside of it, so she can hope.]
...I'd advise you not to try adding to your criminal record here, on that topic. The locals are quite cool towards us right now.
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[ Toph is firmly in the chaotic side of the alignment spectrum. She doesn't set out to commit crimes, but, well, sometimes it just happens, and she doesn't sweat it. Of course, she'd also grown up in a country constantly at war, subject to nonstop propaganda and even brainwashing. Toph's concept of following the law is accordingly skewed: the law is often wrong. ]
What happened with the locals? [ That seems like pertinent information to know if she's going to be stuck here. ]
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