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riverviewooc2017-04-20 11:42 am
riverview: april test drive meme
riverview test drive memeWelcome 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
mistojen for coding this especially for Riverview!Choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!
no subject
She's been glad to have Jack in her life again. He's family to her too, after all. ]
And here I thought you were a gentleman. [ She smiles at her phone, though he can't see it. ]
If I wanted a senior discount, I would just use yours. In fact, there's a nice little coffee shop in town. Come and buy me a tea.
[ It's not a big place. She knows he'll find her. They can decide what their next move will be in person. ]
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[ The two of them have been through far too much for Jack to ever fool Ana into thinking he was anything but himself, whatever that is. It's a lot more mixed-up these days, especially with her entrance back into his life. It had been easy to label himself as a number when he'd been on his own, but now she's at his side, calling him "Jack" and speaking warmly of those good memories that she somehow managed to sift out of all the bad.
It doesn't mean that Jack is ready to jump back into the light again and pick up the old mantle, nothing like that, but he can relax around Ana to some extent. It's a relief, after years spent tightly coiled.
The invitation is clear enough. He isn't smiling at his phone, exactly, but he also doesn't hesitate to make his way to town as soon as he's got the go-ahead. ]
I wouldn't have expected them to have things like coffee and tea in space.
[ They may as well discuss the basics of their situation as he makes his way over. It's not like it'll take him long. ]
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[ Jack doesn't like being reminded that he's a person at all, most days. It's why Ana goes out of her way to do it. It's too easy for people like them to lose themselves and forget what's really important.
She's been watching Jack consume himself with conspiracy and subterfuge even for the short time they've been reunited. He forgets to eat, to sleep. He forgets, she thinks, why he even started fighting to begin with.
In many ways, he isn't the person she used to know. He's lived a hard life full of hard choices, and he's watched all the good he created in the world fall to ruin. The man he is now is a reflection of that; broken, but still good at his heart.
He still gives her hope, even if it's a small thing now. Maybe someday the rest of her family will forgive her as well. Maybe there is something like home for them to return to. ]
The normality helps people feel more comfortable. When you're this far from home, I suppose all of the little things matter that much more.
no subject
[ It doesn't matter how many times Ana says it. It doesn't matter that Jack would trust her with his life ten times over. He's never going to be able to take a statement like that as the truth, not after everything that happened, not with that constant thought in the back of his head—what if he'd done something different? What if he'd noticed what was going to happen before Amélie got to Ana, or before Swiss HQ was obliterated with him and Gabriel in it?
Ana's looking out for him as best she can, but one thing that hasn't changed about Jack is that he's not particularly good at accepting help. Then again, Ana will offer her support without question, whether he asks for it or not, and that's why they've always worked. Naturally, he'll always have her back too.
He doesn't ever think that they'll get to go home, wherever that is, but having Ana already feels like a gift he doesn't deserve. ]
Makes sense. I'm still not sure I believe any of what they're telling us.
[ Ana's presence is certainly a grounding force, but it goes without saying that they've got a lot of work to do in picking this place apart. ]
no subject
[ They don't argue with the same frequency or intensity that Jack and Gabriel used to, but their disagreement on this particular topic is one that may never be resolved.
Still, she understands why he holds on to his guilt like this. What option is there, if the truth is not that he missed something? If the truth is that he could do nothing, even if he knew? If there is a way to survive feeling so utterly helpless to protect that which one loves, she hasn't found it. She's let it carve a hole into her own heart, and she can no longer find the strength to keep asking why things happened as they did.
She lets the topic drop in favor of a more pertinent one. ]
I think that some of it may be true, which makes things that much more difficult.
There have been disappearances among the newcomers, too. Unexplained.
no subject
The argument is therefore more or less defused before it starts, so that they can focus on their immediate circumstances and the implications involved. ]
It seems like that should be one of the first things we look into. If people are vanishing, they might be imprisoned somewhere.
[ It seems too easy, to assume they've gone back the way they came here.
Jack reaches the cafe by that point, tucking the phone away as he steps inside. (He's an expert at walking and texting, just like anyone born in his era.) He spots Ana at a table in the corner and settles heavy into the seat across from her, mask in place the way it always is when he's out in public. There's an urge to reach out, but after a quick glance around them, he crosses his arms over his chest. ]
Long time no see.
[ It isn't, really, but it almost feels that way. And her familiar face is a boon in a place that's so foreign to them. ]
no subject
[ Ana hasn't worn her Shrike mask today. The people here are quite eccentric; she could probably get away with it if she wanted to. She's chosen this because she makes a different statement as an old woman in a head scarf than a vigilante with a rifle, and her goal is to gather information as peacefully as possible for now. There's always the concern that someone will recognize her, friend or foe, but she has a sleep dart hidden up her sleeve and she's chosen the best vantage point in the cafe. It will have to suffice.
For the most part, people here are very open, very willing to talk. It's a nice change of pace, though it does leave her with the headache of separating truth from lies.
She sees Jack enter the cafe, and looks up at the visor covering his eyes. He only takes it off at the safehouse, and even then - not always. But she knows it's him. ]
It's good to see you too. [ There's a little pastry bag beside her and she nudges it in Jack's direction. He can keep it for later.
She wants to reach out herself, but instead she wraps both of her hands around her teacup, idly stroking the rim of it with her thumb. ]
We have our work cut out for us. My recommendation is that we prioritize setting up a base.
no subject
For all that Ana gives him a hard time for his recklessness, she's always held a sort of courage that he can't replicate, and that's what allows her to sit here now with her face showing.
When she pushes the brown paper bag toward him, Jack takes it and tucks it somewhere inside his telltale jacket. He'll save it for later, as she'd guessed.
She offers a recommendation as if he's still strike commander and she's still his second in command, which Jack hasn't quite gotten used to yet. Familiar as it is, he wants her to understand that she doesn't answer to him anymore. ]
A base. [ He tilts his head at her. ] Similar to what we had back home?
[ What he means is, it would just be for the two of them. It's not as if they can trust anyone else here. That, at least, is no different from being home. ]
no subject
Still, things change, even for them. She can almost feel his discomfort; even with his face covered, Jack can't hide anything. She exhales softly, but in the end it's not worth getting into this either. He'll only get his heckles up if she tries to explain. It veers too close to a compliment for Jack to tolerate it these days.
She nods in confirmation when he speaks, then takes a sip of her tea before she continues. ]
We'll need to scout out something appropriate but it shouldn't take too long. [ They both know what war does to the world, how trauma lingers in places and people. A bombed out building is as good a place as any for the dead to rest a while. ]
Where are you staying tonight?
no subject
At the question, he leans back in his chair and shrugs one shoulder. ] They gave me an apartment. [ He imagines Ana got the same treatment, as a new arrival. There looked to be an intake process. ] Not sure I'm gonna stay there, though.
[ Too many other people around. It was the sort of thing that made a man like him antsy, and he would rather be off the grid as much as possible. ]
We can scout out something temporary for tonight. Did you have something in mind?
[ Because generally Ana doesn't ask a question like that unless she's put some thought to it herself. ]
no subject
And anyway, now that she's found Jack, she'd like to keep her eye on him. ]
I was thinking we could camp. [ 'Camping' usually constitutes a dry patch of dirt under the stars. Not as easy on the body as a soft bed, but some comforts are more important than the physical. ] We can take turns keeping watch; if we're out of the way and the weather doesn't turn, there shouldn't be any trouble.
no subject
Sleeping in shifts goes without saying. Knowing that there wasn't someone there to keep an eye out when he was passed out is what had made being alone hardest—that's just one reason why he's glad to have Ana back.
He's pretty sure the weather is the least of their concerns, though. ]
You've heard about what's out there, right?
[ It's only hearsay, but word on the street that they'll need to be worried about "monsters." ]
no subject
[ She's not skeptical, but if her years with Overwatch after the crisis have taught her anything, it's that monsters come in all forms. The beasts only have one agenda, at least. Their benevolent hosts, she's not so sure about. She wants to be anywhere they don't want her to go, and if they are just trying to protect everyone - well, it would be nice to be wrong. For a change. ]
If these monsters are such a serious threat, it will be good to gather intelligence. If not, I could use a nap. What do you say?
no subject
They've never been strangers to danger, though. If anyone's equipped to deal with what's out there, it's the two of them.
(They'd already been stalking a monster back home, after all.) ]
You don't have to sell me on it. [ He straightens in his seat, already looking eager to get a move on. ] Whenever you're ready.