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riverview: april 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!
● Reserves are currently OPEN.
● Applications open on May 1st.
● 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 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
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Recently, a team of skilled explorers went out into the jungle to the Northwest of the city to follow up on several sightings of a giant lizardlike behemoth that's been skulking around outside the walls, a creature whose level of aggression (and therefore how dangerous it might be) was unknown. The team, while not exactly as stealthy as they were supposed to be, did manage to find the creature, which they found to have about the intelligence and temperament of a very, very, very large dog. And whom they named Liam.
Having established that the behemoth (which is around the size of a blue whale, snakelike in shape, but with four legs, brown striated scales, large claws and teeth, bad breath, and an affinity for face-licking) is not an intentional danger to the city, the authorities could not rule out the idea that it might cause accidental damage to the city, walls, or crops around the city. As a result, research has been done and a new mission has been drafted and recruited for - baiting the behemoth. The objective of this large-scale mission is for many small, quick-moving teams to take behemoth bait deep into the jungle for the purpose of luring the massive but mostly-harmless creature away from the city and hopefully to a new, less-inhabited feeding area. There is room for many different teams, and all of them should be heading deep into the jungle heading directly away from the city, going Northwest. The authorities in question have come up with a wide variety of food and pheromone scented lures that range from mild to truly stinky, so which type your team gets is up to you.
Each lure is small enough to fit in a cage-shaped canister that can be carried like a backpack by one person with average strength, and each lure-carrier will need to be accompanied by at least one or two fighters. Why, when the behemoth is peaceful? Well....
The behemoth might not be aggressive, but unfortunately it's picked up some unwelcome companions. After last month's near-disaster where a colony of lizardlike monsters had taken up residence in tunnels under the city, wreaking havoc in the power grid, and were subsequently either killed or flushed out of the underground, some of the local fauna has been bumped down the food chain.
The fauna in question is a very large pack of mammalian six-limbed creatures that usually live in the trees and hunt oversized insects in the underbrush. When the lizards escaped the underground into the surrounding jungle, and drastically reduced the population of the insects the mammals usually feed on, the predators became parasites, attacking the only thing left that is more docile than the insects they usually feed on - the behemoth. These creatures are quick-moving, well-camouflaged in the jungle with mottled brown-and-green fur, and sport massive teeth and long tongues that allow them to stick to whatever surface they land on.
Hungry as they are, they will make no distinction between the behemoth's juicy hide and the lure-carrying teams that are trying to help it. Hopefully, their ranks can be thinned enough that the behemoth survives the trip to its new home.

Not everyone is cut out for missions into the jungle or cleaning up angry predatory parasite monsters, but that doesn't mean that staying home means being safe from the weird things that come out of the portal. In the early morning of April 20th, drawn by the warmth of the rising sun, a massive swarm of rainbow-colored fireflies emerges from the portal into the quarantine. Unlike regular fireflies, though, they are bright enough to glow even during the day, and these bugs have bite! While generally harmless aside from stinging a little, the bite of the rainbow fireflies causes certain kinds of emotional response to become heightened, depending on the color of the firefly in question. While scientists have never run into these bugs before and have no idea how it works, they can cause this effect in any kind of sentient creature that is capable of emotion, including androids and characters that are usually unaffected by substances. The effects on emotions are as follows:
● RED: Lust/Anger ● ORANGE: Honesty/Openness ● YELLOW: Fear/Anxiety |
● GREEN: Jealousy/Envy ● BLUE: Sadness/Grief ● VIOLET: Love/Affection |
When a character is bitten, the effects on their emotions can last anywhere from an hour to a week, depending on the character's psychology and resistance to certain emotions - for example, if a character has a hard time dealing with their grief, the effect of a blue firefly may last longer than other colors. How the characters manifest the heightened emotional response or sensitivity is up to the individual player, as different body chemistry or other circumstances might change how characters are affected. Red firefly bites have a 50/50 chance of affecting a character with lust or anger, though characters who have not reached sexual maturity (underage characters) won't get get the lust effect.
Firefly effects can be easily avoided simply by avoiding the fireflies. It won't take long for some of the geniuses in the Quarantine to start making and distributing firefly repellent, and characters can expect sales of mosquito tents to skyrocket.
These alien fireflies have a lifespan of around a month, and they are unable to procreate outside their native environment, which means the last of them will be dying off around May 20th.
CLARIFICATION: In response to a player question, the effects of the fireflies CAN layer, so they can be affected by more than one at the same time. Red fireflies with the lust effect don't make characters incapable of controlling themselves, just heighten feelings of arousal/desire.
Whether your character is posting up a silly word game to distract people from the dangerous mission going on, 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.
Many thanks to
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Choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!
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Sigh.....] You're really set on this tea in the park thing, huh? Guess I'm not busy right now...
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[Eichi moves to stand, suddenly perking up with a little more energy. He continues to hold the umbrella above the both of them, waiting for Noct to stand before he glances over his shoulder at some of the shops behind them.]
I can purchase a nice tea set here so I don't have to go back to my room. [Because walking is a chore and he collects them, anyway.] Hold this, would you?
[Hopefully he will because Eichi is just shoving that umbrella right back at him. Hold both!! He'll be right back.]
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Well he'll just wait, then, but once Eichi comes back he immediately has to ask,] You had to buy a new set just for this?
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Hm? Oh, it's not that I had to, but there was a nice collectible pattern I've been considering purchasing. On top of that, if I were to walk back to the apartment complex in this heat, even with my umbrella, I probably wouldn't be able to return again for another few hours.
[Anyway, enough about that, they can get going! Eichi nods his head in the direction of the park, urging Noct to stay with him under the umbrella as they move. It's nice and shady!] It's not far from here, so this is more convenient.
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Because you'd dry up like a raisin? [like....] Uh- you don't have to answer that.
[10/10 socializing]
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Actually, because I might overwork myself and go into cardiac arrest. Fufu, even if my health feels fine today, I have to be careful with this weak body of mine. Don't worry, I don't feel as though I'll fall over any time soon.
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Probably shouldn't let you have any more soda if it's that bad. Sorry, but I'll have to cut you off. [If Eichi wants jokes, he'll get more like this, while Noctis hopes this will cover up his growing Concern. He even holds the cup of soda a little further out, like Eichi is totally going to dive headfirst into it.]
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[Tsk tsk!! He loves these jokes, and the way he jokes right back shows that, smiling brightly with a wink.] Tea can also work to cleanse, you know? Maybe you'll need a few kettles full. I've brought a type of tea that I think you'll like.
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So, tea. He cranes his neck a little to look at Eichi's bag, like he'll be able to see into it from here.]
You said something about fruit tea, right? I'll do my best, but let's start with a cup or two.
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[He doesn't even know what's in it, but tasting it told him it was bad for him. That's why he took three whole sips while he could, honestly. Since his bag arm is further from Noctis, he holds it out in turn, like he's hiding the stuff inside from him.]
Now, peeking will ruin the surprise. Fufu, it's a mixture that reminded me of you right away, so at least give it a try. Its appearance is that of a sunrise or sunset before it's brewed, and it will smell wonderful, at least.
[It's also something that he views as a go to for beginners, so, hopefully a little more flavorful without being overwhelming.] The park is just ahead, but let's find some flowers to sit near.
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Sunrise, huh... [He's Decided, it's sunrise and not sunset, officially.] If you say so.
[He'll make a beeline for some flowers, specifically the first flowers he sees, since he's not prissy rank E like Eichi.] How's this?
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[It's not the flowery corner he always picks, but it's good to change things up once in a while, isn't it? Besides, these flowers are particularly bright, as it so happens, and that makes things a little nicer. He steps closer, holding out the umbrella to Noctis again.]
Would you hold this while I prepare the tea? [Thanks bud. Now, he finally removes the contents of the bag. There's a blanket in there, and he unfolds that first, probably flapping it a little too violently before it finally settles down. Then, there's a traveling tea kit sort of thing, with a kettle, a little remote burner for heating the water, and two teacups. They're all decorated in intricate blue and white images. Somehow, Eichi was able to find an expensive portable tea kit.
And then, there's the tea itself. He has some sort of a strainer for dealing with steeping the tea, and he's setting that up now, but he'll explain this tea as he goes!! Because he loves tea.]
It's apricot and honeybush with a bit of rose and orange peel. It's caffeine free, but I thought that that would be fine after your soda.
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Can he sit down yet? He figures it's safe to sit once Eichi gets into the tea details (teatails), so he does, setting down the umbrella but not his cup. It could spill.]
Oh, yeah, that sounds... great. [uhh,] What's that thing?
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[There are a lot of things here, and Eichi is busy glancing at the umbrella that was set down. Is he not that hot anymore? Well, it's a little bit shady here. He'll fold it up in a second.]
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[The strainer... Any tea Noctis has ever been served came out already prepared, okay. He's the shittiest noble to ever live.]
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[Now, he lets the tea steep over this little burner and moves to sit next to Noct, despite this whole big blanket. Reaching, he takes the umbrella to fold it away and wrap it up neatly.]
It's a shame, but there weren't any suitable snacks, so I wasn't able to bring any.
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Let me guess: you don't eat chips and dip.
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[Isn't it? He's imagining various strange flavors of chips, too...]
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It was more like an example... I'll take that as a no, anyway.
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[He wants to learn what other people his age are into!! Tell him about these "chips and dip." Just like now, he's going to pour them some tea because magically I say it's done.]
I have some sugar and cream, too, so help yourself to that.
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He'll... start with just a spoonful. Maybe two. Then he'll take a careful first sip, and lo!
It's fucking hot water that tastes like nothing. Goddamn it. He puts on a face like it actually has a taste, nodding at Eichi.]
It—smells amazing. [perfect] Here, since you're sharing now, why don't you wear this?
[Distraction level: paper crown. He's using his free hand to lift it off and plunk it down on Eichi's head instead. Enjoy.]
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Ah? A crown? [He laughs after a moment, reaching up to straighten it with a smile.] They call me "Emperor," but that's just a fake title, you know? Sharing your crown with someone like me will ruin your status.
[As king of the... plastic cups, he assumes. But he likes to play along.]
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Nothing could go wrong. The crown is crooked, but he leaves it like that.]
My—uh. [hOW DID HE KNOW????] That's, I mean... it's not a real crown, so I guess it suits you?
[launch him into the sun, he's done]
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[An arrow through him that Noct doesn't even realize he's shot. He calls the title fake and says a lot of humble things, but really, he was chased from the throne, wasn't he? Defeated. Completely ruined. Ah, it's true, the only thing suited for him is this fake, crooked paper crown.
He stares off for a long moment while he processes this slaying and then quietly lifts his own teacup to sip at it.]
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Uh... you still in there?
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