riverview: test drive meme

[riverviewmod]

riverview test drive meme

Welcome to Riverview's first 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 March 1st.
● All threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon once the game is up and running.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points.

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
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● navigation

prompt i: batten down the hatches

If the sky has seemed a little more yellow-green than usual for the past couple of days, there's a reason for that. Meteorologists have been warning of a particularly nasty storm blowing in from the direction of the Delta in the Southwestern part of the Abandoned City.

The Quarantine is about to be hit by a nasty typhoon, and there's a lot to be done. Whether you're helping sandbag the banks of the river, which is bound to be swollen by the storm and flooding, weatherproofing your building, or just huddling indoors for warmth and helping reassure your friends, family, or partner that everything will be okay, it's time to take action!

prompt ii: monster madness

There's been a lot of talk around the Quarantine about the various predators and monsters outside the fence, and how they've been getting steadily more active, crowding the fences, trying to leap over them, seemingly driven by some kind of mania. There have even been increasing instances of predators that normally mind their own business attacking the fences wholesale, slamming into it over and over as if they're trying to find a weakness.

The good news? The fences have been holding. So far.

The bad news? They won't be holding for much longer.

The Perimeter Guard is in a bad way, and it's all hands on deck. They've also sent out a few of the Perimeter Guard Cadets to post up flyers around the city asking for temporary help in fighting off the beasts. So pick up whatever weapon you're best with, hop onto a truck transport, and head on over to the fences to help drive off the monsters and keep the Quarantine safe.

prompt iii: hold your lover close

With a storm rolling in that's going to keep everyone indoors, that might cause power outages, and is just frankly pretty scary, a lot of the clubs, restaurants, and hotels are doing special events to keep everyone's brains occupied and flooded with endorphins.

There are flyers around the city advertising various couples activities: speed dating, dance classes, overnight pool parties, and all-expenses-paid lovers' nights in.

The catch? The great deals only count if you're a twosome. So if you don't have someone to love, hit up speed dating in the indoor courtyard of Riverview's largest mall, or grab the first person you see and take the opportunity.

prompt iv: solution

After a day or two of storm activity, things are definitely not getting better: the rain is torrential, the monsters are attacking with increased energy and decreased rest times, and the distractions are starting to wear thin. Power outages happen off and on, a very rare situation in Riverview Quarantine.

The government has put out an all-points-bulletin imploring anyone with an exploratory spirit to help.

From what government science techs can tell, the storm isn't natural - after all, even the meteorologists were saying that the pressure systems seemed extremely strange. They've managed to narrow the cause to an area in the delta where the storm seems to be originating from, and are broadcasting the general location so anyone with the guts can head out into the storm and try to find the source of it.

Any characters who decide to penetrate the jungle in search of the source will find a device in the shape of a pyramid, with glowing blue edges about a day's walk into the Abandoned City. The pyramid is a malfunctioning weather control device that is causing wild pressure fluctuations and causing the storm as well as making the animals in the jungle aggressive and erratic. Characters can destroy or deactivate the device to end the storm.

This mission can be threaded out however you would like, in groups however large you would like, and more than one team can accomplish the goal.

prompt v: wildcard/network

Whether you're looking for help with a mission or just want to get to know your fellow new arrivals, your character can make a post to the network.

Or you can choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!

navigation

Comments

[naz]

Her eyes flicker toward the rest of the group as Adam directs them around and away from the situation, but she doesn't stop swinging or shouting at the mountain lion. The animal neither retreats nor attacks, but the fact that it hasn't pounced feels reassuring. Maybe this is working and the animal is taking its time trying to decide whether to run or back away slowly.

She's so engrossed with focusing on the cat that the sound of the lightning striking the tree is lost under the roar of thunder and before she can even feel triumphant because the mountain lion takes off in the other direction, a solid body is thrown into her and she hits the ground so hard that it knocks the wind out of her. Caitlin doesn't have time to feel disgusted with the face full of mud that splashes up from the ground because she's too busy flapping her jaw in a failing attempt to gasp for air. It's a frightening sensation she'd, up until now, had the fortune of avoiding over the span of her life, but now she knows exactly why they call it having the wind knocked out of you. Her head feels a little fuzzy for a second and it feels like it takes minutes — in actuality, only a couple of seconds — before the attempt to gasp for air is rewarded with a lungful of oxygen again and her wide, panicked eyes narrow into something less terrified as she's panting to catch her breath again.

Her fingers grasp tightly, twisting fabric of his shirt beneath them as if she needs to keep herself steady even though she's on the ground and there's nowhere to fall; it's reflex. To his question, at first she just nods as she looks around and finally registers why he's knocked her to the ground. Her eyes snap back to his face and she lets out a heavy huff as she finally manages to get control of her breathing again. "I'm okay," she says, nodding again. "I'm okay. Thank you..."

[duelo]

The chipper voice feels almost out of place to Derek, but it does grab his attention and he looks over to the source. She's got herself a bow and Derek lifts his eyebrows. He's really only ever seen Argents use bows and arrows, because it takes a lot more skill to make a kill shot, he assumes, with an arrow than a bullet. Bullets, by nature, can do more damage after all, can't they? At least, in his experience, it certainly feels like more damage when it's a bullet instead of an arrow and yes, Derek's been shot with both at some point or another in his life.

He looks a little confused when she appears to want to go in the opposite direction and, at first, he doesn't make to follow her. "...why that way?" he asks. It's a matter-of-fact sort of question. He isn't questioning her decision so much as he's curious to know why she's made it. He's not judging her interest in going a different way, but he wonders if she knows something he doesn't which he should prepare for, is all, and his casual (albeit a little confused) tone means to suggest that.

[lushton]

Because they're delicious, obviously. [ When the kitten almost gets splatted by Ronan's tumble, Sylvie officially has enough and raises her hands. ] Stop!

[ A bubble-shield flares up around them (and the cat!) for the monsters to start trying to smash open to no avail, leaving Sylvie with her glowing eyes to glance at her would-be peer and frown in concern. ]

You think you're fighting for your life against animals? They're not even waging a vendetta against you because you might support the fur trade, they're mindless monsters. Haven't you ever fought properly, like, against a person? Who wants you dead?

[ He may be a liability if he's already battling at his hardest and getting tossed around, if that's the case. Definitely not allowed out of her shield, not yet. ]

[duelo]

A month ago, Derek probably would've been thrown entirely off kilter by the sound of the youngest Argent's voice and approach. In the Complex, he'd had that reaction when he'd seen her in a morning briefing the first time and it had thrown him off something severe. If not for the actual comment that she's made, he'd have simply assumed that she'd been that very same Allison. It is a little disconcerting to think that she might not be, given that the two of them had come to an agreement not necessarily to work closely together but to work toward a common goal and watch each other's backs. That's the sort of thing that happens, he supposes, when werewolf and werewolf hunter are lumped into the same undesirable minority group.

While they might not have the best rapport, Allison doesn't feel like a threat anymore. Maybe that has more to do with his evolved relationship with Chris than it does with anything Allison has done, but even Derek has to appreciate that she died for her cause and not with frivolity. She fought alongside the others. Derek might not have been there because he'd been facing the nogitsune with the twins, but they'd all been doing their part to contribute to the same end: saving Stiles and Lydia.

It takes him a second to remember that the stupid laser gun is even there; he only ever had use for it once but by the time he'd managed to get his hands on it and get back down to join the fray, the protest had dispersed anyway. So rather than taking part in the fight for freedom of oppression based on the Special status forced upon them, Derek had to be saved by a tiny blonde vlogger with a freeze ray. It'd be embarrassing if he hadn't been surrounded his entire life by powerful and influential women raising him with feminist beliefs.

Derek holds up a hand, claws extended. "I wouldn't go that far," he replies. He wouldn't expect anything less from an Argent and if the tables were turned she probably wouldn't expect any less from a Hale. They're not terribly worried about making good impressions on one another, after all; they never have been. "I was trying to get a read on what we might be going up against but I'm not catching anything familiar. Unless you know something I don't, I think we're going in pretty blind." He doesn't elaborate because he doesn't think he has to. Allison has dated two werewolves now; she's probably already noticed the subtle movement of his head and the way he takes in a breath. She's probably well aware of the fact that he'd been scenting for a familiar smelling foe. Usually, he'd hope to come up empty, but this time, he's a little disappointed. It'd be a lot easier knowing what they were going against.

[detia]

Gently, his hand reaches for hers, fisted in his shirt, and just rests on top of her, like another layer of reassurance. He pushes off of her, kneeling instead, his free hand helping her sit up as well. He looks down at his free hand, covered in mud and grass, and sighs softly. At least it isn't blood.

"Don't mention it. Hope the fall didn't hurt. I'm sorry, got you filthy."

She's got mud all over her, her face, her hair, but at last one benefit from the rain is that it's slowly, but surely, clearing it away. He probably looks no better, but he doesn't really care - it might even be an advantage if they need to camouflage their scent.

"You're okay to stand? We should rejoin the others."

He's not leaving her behind, obviously - there's absolutely no way, but they still need to keep going. This storm has to be dealt with, and she might be one of their best ways to sort it. He really hopes he didn't injure her.

[naz]

Her breathing is slowing down, but her heart is still racing so fast that it almost makes her feel a little nauseated. That's only happened a few times in her life. It's an adrenaline rush, pure and true, that's for sure. Caitlin lets him help her back into a sitting position and she shakes her head a little, a small smile tugging up the corners of her mouth.

Adam just saved her from being crushed by a falling tree branch and he's apologizing for getting her dirty. That's really endearing. "No, it's okay. Better dirty than..." her voice trails off and she gestures weakly toward the fallen branch with the hand that had been clutching at his shirt. Taking a slow, deep breath and letting it out just as slowly, Caitlin wills herself to come down off the dregs of the rush.

"I'm okay," she assures him again, nodding. "You're right. We should catch up. I'm fine, I promise." To illustrate her point, Caitlin carefully gets to her feet, not because she's injured — there's a little twinge in her left ankle from the fall, but it doesn't feel like a sprain — but because the mud is especially slick and she doesn't want to fall a second time unprompted. With her luck, if she did, she would end up hurt. "Seriously, thank you. I promise, I'm okay. Let's keep going." Hey, it could've been a lot worse, she tells herself as she wipes her hands over her face absently, trying to clear some of the muck away.

[acrosstheplains]

"There are many that way," Amir said, indicating the way of the crowd. "But it is strange. For an animal, its health is its life. The hawk does not dash herself against the cliff."

She turned her eyes down the length of fence. "Instead, perhaps they circle us... like wolves."

In other words, she didn't think the attacking creatures were blindly smashing themselves against the fence. They were after something, and when wild animals were after something, they were sly and clever, and a distraction or attack from multiple sides was not out of the question. She wanted to scout for other creatures and felt that the current main body of attackers was well-covered. Of course, whether Derek took that meaning from her words was in question.

[somnioergosum]

[Ronan realizes two things in short order. One, he's trapped. Two, he's trapped by the sort of girl his older brother would either date or cheat with his girlfriend on. He's not sure which part of this he minds the most but both piss him off.]

You know shit about me, bi--

[While Ronan yells and slams his hand against the bubble prison, another problem rises. Protect. The idea his Night Horror was created for. Coming out of the flight, the beast dives straight for Sylvie.]

WRONG TARGET!

[The Night Horror changes course before it gets close to Sylvie. It tears into the magic bubble with beaks and claws. The strange magic of its own form is a better match than Ronan expects.

Shit, he's glad it doesn't want to kill him. He's also glad, to a lesser extent, it's following instructions.

Ronan looks at Sylvie and raps on the side of the bubble closest to her.]

So you going to wait for it to burst your shitty bubble or pop it yourself?

[detia]

He keeps a careful hand on her back as she stands up, following her, ending up towering above her once more. He swallows hard, nodding. They're both still covered in mud, but once he's sure she's fine, he takes a step back, hand going back to his gun to make sure it's still in working order.

"If you're sure," he replies with a slightly crooked smile, only now realizing that, despite the mud and her hair soaked through the way it is, she's pretty, with a lovely smile, and his usual awkwardness rushes through him. He rolls his shoulders, pushes it off - now is absolutely not the time.

"All right. Let's go," he says, trying his leader voice again. He keeps an eye on her, starting to walk back towards the rest of their group.

i

[uglyminded]

Don't be so random.

[ Shay's tone is less a growl and more an annoyed grumble. She doesn't have the Special lesions anymore, but the terminology has stuck with her in grumpier times. Her own face has been meticulously designed, mostly by Shay herself, but she doesn't begrudge anyone a face of their own. It's all she ever wanted for herself. ]

You okay?

[toolatetochangethename]

Yeah, well, about that. I mean.

[Someone's suddenly feeling guilty/weird/awkward about a dating thing. He's not exactly, you know, a prime catch.]

I was, you know, just, uh, in the area?

[Why did he just say that as a question?]

[snarkbark]

[It's supposed to be a joke. He sees Allison's face and knows it so, so well. In his mind, he pictures her frowning, maybe even huffing. None of this happens and for a moment, still grinning, he's a little dumbfonded.

Diana is not capable of this kind of joke, face to face. By text, maybe. But not like this. She lacks the patience for it, lacks the ability to be anyone but herself physically. Whoever Allison is, she is definitely not Diana Holt. That leaves him in sort of a weird predicament, wherein he's at a speed dating event and he has just accidentally hit on someone identical to his big sister.

Swallowing, he shrugs. ] I had a joke I was gonna make, but then you said your name was Allison and now it's gonna sound like I'm totally weird if I explain the context.

[And, a beat. ] But I mean, they are all of the above, like you said. Your eyes, I mean. [And, laughing, a little awkwardly, he leans in, looking a little sheepish. ] I thought you were my big sister.

[snarkbark]

I know this might be hard to hear, brother mine -- [leaning in close, as though to whisper in his ear, ] But nobody wants to share your porn collection.

[It's not quiet or subtle, but it does draw a few more snickers. Good. ]

i

[livingsymbol]

[Steve is helping with the weatherproofing as well, although he's focused on he buildings, putting plywood over the windows and checking the foundations. He looks up when sandbags suddenly start blocking up buildings along his street. He stops what he's doing and leaves his board next to a house, walking toward Sylvie as locals start yelling and she rushes to a nearby door, trying to get the sandbags away from it. As she lifts one, he reaches out and stops her, putting a hand on her arm.]

We could use these along the bank. Can you move these bags to the river?

[Also hi, but his first priority is the yelling of the locals.]

[livingsymbol]

You cut it pretty close.

[He's glad that Bucky made it inside, but he was out for a long time and Steve feels like at least part of that was unnecessary. Even if he was collecting supplies, that isn't worth the risk of being stuck out in the storm. He doesn't try to give Bucky a stern talking to, but he does mention it. Look, he noticed. Just so the man knows he can't sneak that by him.]

Hopefully it'll pass without too much need for that. Good job.

[And he can still acknowledge his help. He appreciates it. He just doesn't want Bucky running off on his own too much in such a dangerous place.]

ii

[livingsymbol]

Jason might be packing relatively lightly for the mission, but compared to Steve, he almost looks like Mad Max. Steve doesn't appear to be armed at all, dressed in a simple navy blue tactical outfit. The only real item of note is the gray metal cuff around one wrist, which doesn't really provide any protection against monsters. Steve is just confident.

"If we meet Godzilla out here, I don't think any one thing we're bringing is going to be the deciding factor. We'll just have to get creative." The answer is calm despite the very real possibility that they'll be in over their heads. They don't know what kind of predators are hunting in the storm.

"We'll manage."

Knock Out | Transformers Prime

[automobile_enthusiast]

iii.
[If you're in the mall, you may notice that there's a car watching the speed dating. At first glance it might seem like a prize to be won, one of those mall raffles so ubiquitous that they apparently transcend universes. Closer examination reveals this car to be somewhat... off scale for the humanoid residents of the Quarantine, just a little too small to feel right, and incongruent with the local style of vehicle design to boot.

Also, its engine is running quietly and it appears to be... chuckling to itself? Well, that could always be the driver, who's apparently chosen to idle their vehicle inside the mall for some reason-- and is hiding behind heavily smoked glass on all the windows. Hm.

A promoter walks by, handing out fliers advertising a freebie mystery dinner theater performance to anyone who will take one. They knock on the driver's side window of the car, but there's no response, so they shrug and tuck a flier under one of the vehicle's windshield wipers.

As soon as the promoter has wandered away, said wipers flick furiously until the paper is dislodged, and the car grumbles audibly:] Skinjobs need to keep their hands to themselves.


iv.

[Knock Out wouldn't exactly call himself a cyb with an "exploratory spirit", but he was a cyb who resents both being cooped up and the threat to his finish and his undercarriage presented by the relentless storm. When the government begins broadcasting their theory about the source of the storms and their request for citizens to shut it down, well, Knock Out is more than willing to help.

"Help" in this case meaning "strike out for the Abandoned City on his own, because he's a strong and capable Cybertronian who doesn't need to be saddled with useless skinjobs". (Knock Out's capable of being a team player, but only when he believes in the team. Sorry, squishies.) He thought it would be a breeze-- power through the jungle, avoid the organic monsters, determine and deal with the source of the storm, return a hero. Easy.

Only not so easy, really. The slick mud produced by the rain sucks at his tires and alt mode and his feet in root; the jungle is thick and oppressive in the torrential rain and it feels like the foliage itself is trying to bar his passage; the monsters are more plentiful and more aggressive and more powerful than he'd anticipated. He'd planned to drive there but the roads of the Abandoned City, where they can be discerned at all, are impassible, and his gleaming red paintjob is drawing the attention of the jungle's beasts like a beacon.

His forward progress towards the coordinates has halted completely, the Cybertronian finding himself beset by monsters. He'd managed to hold off the initial attack-- his plating spattered with gore and his hands replaced by two wicked buzzsaw blades, the messy remains of a few of the creatures standing in testament to his efforts-- but he and the monsters are at an impasse now. Occasionally, one or another of the beasts will feint at him, but his sensors are operating at maximum capacity and his reflexes are good. He's holding them off.

But for how long?

Much as he'd hate to admit it, he could use some help right now-- the real kind, involving other people. Even squishy people.]

[divulsion]

[Her eyes flick in his direction, clearly surprised to hear that. Sokovia may not be as well known as some other countries, simply a small part of the Soviet Bloc and considered more of a place that people travel through to get to bigger, better places, but it's still known. She's certain that it existed well past his time. Brows drawing together, she wets her lips with the tip of her tongue.]

That surprises me. [Perhaps it's the way he speaks in a way that in her time might seem more formal, but he seems like an intelligent man. At least in his eyes, and she suspects he might be well-educated.] It's between Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

[Wanda hates to reduce her country to a simple location, especially in light of how many regard it, but to wax poetic about it to a stranger as they dance seems like too much, uninvited. It's difficult not to think of Novi Grad as it once was, however, a city of history rotting and wearing away in time. A city of people working to survive day to day, to build their lives in a city whose richest aspects were its communities of people. Those brought together through shared experiences and surviving war after war.]

[divulsion]

[She offers him a wry smile.]

It would be alright if you came here on purpose.

[After all, Wanda is here as well, though she wasn't looking for a date in particular so much as just, well, an opportunity to meet people. To make friends. Perhaps meet someone to go with her to that overnight pool party that had been advertised for pairs.]

Perhaps I can help you find someone to talk to.

[See, not judging, helping!]

[zethir]

[Bryn's not put off by his directness. If anything, she prefers it. Open conversation and less meandering around the points they may want addressed.]

I do. Military since I was sixteen. Special forces the last six years. And working with my own weapons, bless the deities.

[She could manage with unfamiliar weapons, she knows how to adapt, to account for how the weight may handle differently, how the blade length could adjust her movements.]

And you?

[zethir]

[Bryn has no idea what she's said to earn that reaction. Everyone here is from another reality, so what could the names she's given him mean?]

That's an outline of a story at best, but it'll suffice for now. [She shrugs.] I joined the military when I came of age. I was part of the sky guard for two years before I was tapped for special forces. I've been with them ever since.

Coming here actually got me out of a bit of a sticky situation but getting yanked through that portal wasn't the sort of extraction I'd been hoping for.

What exactly constitutes training to become a Champion of Earth?

[keepitup]

Funny enough, it's not the first time Ray's been called a Disney Prince. But it is the first time that it's happened to him directly, and he looks shocked for a moment before he breaks into a laugh.

"Do I? I do kinda have the right hairstyle ... but," he says, "not all Disney princes are that great, so I hope you think I sound like one of the better ones." But his smile softens. There's just something so genuine about the way Caitlin compliments him that he can't only deflect. He wants to show gratitude. "Thank you, Caitlin."

As for his answer to the bouncer — haha, well, Ray does and doesn't know the extent of how awkward he sounded right then, but luckily Caitlin is doing a wonderful job of showing physical affection. The way their fingers are curled around each other. The way she leans her head against his shoulder. She's selling it so well that just for a second, Ray forgets that they aren't actually dating.

Which, of course they aren't. He knows that.

But if they do one day, they're going to have to come back and thank this bouncer. Because give her a kiss is followed shortly by that's easy enough, and soon Ray is looking over at Caitlin, trying to gauge how far they both are willing to go for a free dance lesson, before he feels her hand near the back of his neck and Ray ...

Ray isn't the best at these situations. Or maybe he is the best, and everyone else who's a little less impulsive just don't know what they're missing out on. It's probably the former. Because if he were to really think this through, they should probably just go somewhere else. They'd agreed to do this as friends for a reason, even if Ray only knows his own. And yet ... he's been having so much fun with Caitlin tonight that all of the stories they've been weaving might as well be true.

She really is kind and smart and funny. And at some point, when his big brown eyes are searching her face for just a hint of what she'd like to do, he sees that smile, remembers her touch, and Ray's eyes flicker down to her lips. Slipping his free hand around her waist, he looks at her one more time, as if to check that she hasn't changed her mind, before he fully leans down to kiss her.

It's not a quick peck. It's slow and steady and soft, and when they finally break apart from each other, Ray can't help but linger as he opens his eyes. Caitlin really is a beautiful woman.

But finally, after a few seconds of just looking at her, he pulls back, straightens up, and only glances at the doorman before escorting Caitlin inside. The bouncer doesn't say another word.

[diagenesis]

[The dance concludes, and he steps away from her in a fluid motion, gives her a short bow. The face of the known world has changed, but he regards it with curiosity rather than dislike or anything approaching fear. Information is power, and anything he now gleans of what the future of his world holds is an edge he has on anyone who might seek to stand against him.

He gestures her towards a long, low table in the back of the hall where refreshments are being served. Dancing results in thirsty people in every century, it seems.]

You know Nassau, so we're clearly from similar - if divergent - worlds. If I were to hazard a guess, these places are in eastern Europe?

[divulsion]

[Wanda manages a small, shallow curtsy in response to his bow, deciding that even if she does it poorly she'll at least have tried the same as she did the dance. She half expects him to part ways now, having shared in small talk and little else, but instead he draws her attention to the refreshment table. She nods in acceptance of the wordless invitation, and joins him off to the side of the table.

She grabs a glass and the pitcher of water, before holding it up, offering it to him if he'd like the first glass.]

Yes, eastern Europe. South-west of Poland, if that helps at all. [They could look at a map later, if he'd like.] I'm used to some people from outside of Europe not being as familiar with it, but to think that it might not even exist in some realities is unsettling.

[Whether it's more or less unsettling than seeing it destroyed before her eyes is up for debate.]

Perhaps as much as hearing your Nassau called a former pirate haven. I'm sorry.

[diagenesis]

[The manners of his day would dictate the woman goes first in all polite settings, but she's offering and so he accepts and pours himself a glass. It's so startlingly crystal clear and cold, it's not something he's yet come around to. Water is not a favourite drink of pirates. A ship's stores of it were soon depleted, and were often foul besides. Beer and rum kept better on long journeys, and was less likely to kill you if some creature fell in and was pickled.

He rubs the rim of his glass, and takes a measured drink.]

Why would that merit an apology? Pirates are a rather unsavory, lawless lot. Most would be glad to be rid of them.

[He raises the glass in a slight gesture of cheers.]

And I do happen to know where Poland is, so I'm spared the further indignity of my ignorance.