riverviewooc | riverview: test drive meme

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meme: test drive

riverview: test drive meme

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He's not surprised at the refusal. Even when Steve was this skinny little twig that would have been carried off by the first breeze of this storm, he still would have been out here until everyone else got inside. It makes his expression soften just slightly, not quite a smile but not so blank either.]

Don't know.

[He has a few places scoped out, but he needs to figure out which one is the least populated before he actually commits himself to it.]

I'll figure it out later. I'll help 'til everyone else is in.

Wanna take a walk around and see if we can spot any loose ends?

[they are the super soldiers, after all, probably the best ones qualified to do a lot of things. and time is becoming more and more of the essence. steve tries to make it sound casual, logical. good strategy, nothing more.]

Unless you're afraid that the first strong gust of wind might blow you over. I'll understand if you are.

[with a hint of a smirk on his lips.]

[The tease takes him by surprise and for a moment all he does is stare, a long and blank sort of look. Steve always manages to surprise him, always had and always will, why should this be any different?

He breaks the look, gaze shifting down to his feet instead, before he nods just slightly.]

I suppose that wouldn't be such a bad idea. For a little while.

[for a little while. something in steve's chest starts to loosen. it's been years since his last asthma attack, but steve still remembers a similar feeling, when it started easing up and he could actually breathe again. it's a little bit like that. he exhales before taking that first step.]

So, what're your thoughts on this place? [this time, it's steve who keeps his voice neutral.] Anything seem off to you?

There's a lot they aren't telling us.

[That's an understatement and a half, but the answer is a wary one. He's not sure where Steve is going with it and so he keeps his reply vague on purpose.]

I've been doing some digging. Observing. Haven't found much yet.

You know we weren't brought here by chance.

[over seven billion people on their planet alone, and the both of them managed to end up here? the odds are definitely against it. so yeah, he definitely has some questions and doubts of his own.]

I'd really like to get a look at what's beyond those fences.

[because of course he would.]

Not much.

[He's already been and ventured out, it nearly ended with him getting eaten by a monster. He doesn't mention that part.]

The perimeter guard don't mind people going out exploring as long as they accept the risks, I went out a few days back.

Yeah?

[steve arches a brow, curious about what bucky found even if he says there wasn't much out there.]

Whatever it is that's going on here, they've got a lot of innocent people tangled up in it.

[the way his brow knits tight is more about that than the way the wind's picking up, but the latter's worth noting. steve steps a little bit quicker, his eyes scanning the area for any other people.]

I used to hate getting caught in the rain. But then, it always ended with me sneezing my head off for a solid week.

[There's a beat or two of silence, Bucky's eyes fixed on the road ahead rather than on Steve.]

I don't remember.

[That's not entirely true. He remembers pieces, he has some memories of Steve coughing so hard that he damn near shook himself off the bed, or sneezing loud enough that the woman next door complained that he woke her baby. But nothing very concrete, and it just makes things harder if Steve thinks he remembers.]

[steve keeps his eyes straight ahead too. it's the best way to keep bucky from seeing the disappointment, even if he's not really surprised by his answer.]

What's the last thing that you do remember? Not about me. The last thing before the portal brought you here.

[because it hasn't escaped steve's notice that bucky still has his arm. it just didn't seem like a good idea to ask him about it right out of the gate.]

[His eyes narrow slightly as if trying to figure out if that's a trick. Is Steve just trying to get a bead on his location, so if they get out of here then he can track him down? No. He squashes that thought almost at once, this is Steve, and no matter what else he might not remember he knows that Steve doesn't pull that sort of underhanded trick.]

I was on a boat.

[Moving between the continents again. He rarely stayed in one place longer than a month or two, doing so only carried too much risk of being found by the remnants of HYDRA or SHIELD. He was heading for France, but he thinks he might move up and into Eastern Europe in another few months, maybe end up in Romania.]

In the cargo hold, behind the crates. What about you?

[steve huffs softly. no wonder they couldn't ever find him. he can picture it easily, too easily, bucky hiding in the shadows of a dark, cramped place. days without food and water, existing instead of living.

there's an ache in his shoulders that isn't from the sandbags. it's guilt, because he should've tried harder, looked harder. he shouldn't have let him fall in the first damn place.]

Wakanda. [steve murmurs his answer. he's has to be careful with what he says, but he knows bucky will sense a lie.] It's in Africa. I got to know the king.

[He knows of Wakanda, he's never been there himself. It's a tiny nation, and it hadn't done anything of interest enough to HYDRA to send their Asset, nor is it one of the places he considered running to.

Slight surprise shows as he tilts his face to look at Steve.]

You got to know the king,, just like that?

[what can he say, he's a popular guy. but maybe it does sound like a bit much.]

I guess it's a little more complicated than that.

I suppose Captain America is a celebrity, meeting royalty isn't all that far-fetched.

[Weird to think of some poor little kid from Brooklyn making it this far. He swallows hard, qualifies the statement to squash any hope of it being a memory.]

You're all over the news, all of you.

I don't see that changing anytime soon.

[he doesn't sound thrilled about that. but it's not the first time he's been in the news, had his face on the front page. it's not the first time he's turned on the tv to see guys in suits arguing over words like fugitive and vigilante with his name attached. stick and stones, he guesses.]

Buck-

[he says his name and then abruptly nothing else, even stopping in his tracks. there's a tug-of-war inside of him, how much he should tell him, or if he should tell him anything at all. it's one of the rare times when steve rogers doesn't know what to do.]

[Steve stops and Bucky's posture immediately changes, tensing completely as if expecting a fight. His eyes dart around looking for the threat, before he finally settles back on Steve's face again in hard confusion.]

What?

[He doesn't realise that he's answered to 'Buck' until he's responded. A mistake. He shouldn't do that, shouldn't give Steve hope that he's suddenly going to turn into someone from the past.]

[the word trust keeps popping into his head, something that steve would like to build on. he's not sure it can be real if he's keeping secrets from a friend - look at what happened with tony.

steve takes a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling with it.]

I'm not Captain America. Not anymore.

[People might still call him that, especially the ones who never really saw Steve Rogers.]

Some things have changed.

[The wind is picking up and there's electricity in the air, he can taste it, and he knows it'll only be a short while before the storm hits properly. Now isn't the time for this conversation.

But it's now or never.

He can already feel the need to run from Steve building higher and higher, a desperation that threatens to claw his throat out. None of this shows on his face or in his voice, still the same calm level it was before.]

What are you talking about? I saw you on the front page of a newspaper two days before I got here, Captain America saves hostages.

That wasn't two days ago. At least not for me.

[god, but he needs for that storm to give him more time, knowing that it might not. for a moment he just stands there, like he's afraid that any word he says, any movement he makes might send bucky running.]

That portal must've pulled me from a different point in time. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth.

[He's heard crazier things. Hell, he's one of the crazier things, they both are. Steve slept through seventy years encased in ice, isn't that just another form of time travel?]

How different?

[His fingers twitch at his side, but he doesn't move other than that even if the wind is whipping his hair into his face.]

A few months. Maybe longer. It's been two years since you pulled me from the Potomac.

[so bucky can get an idea for himself. steve takes a step forward.]

Buck, a lot's happened. I don't know if I should tell you all of it, maybe I shouldn't even have told you this much. But if you ask, I will. [he stops there.] It's your choice.

[That means Steve is just over a year ahead of him. A lot can happen in a year, a lot evidently has if he's no longer Captain America. What could stop that? He wants to know very badly, a part of him that never quite got erased fully, the part that pulled him from the Potomac, wants to help protect Steve if he's in trouble.

But the rest of him doesn't want to know, and that step towards him is the itchy finger that sets off the trigger of motion. He takes a single step back to counter that one forwards, expression shuttering into blankness, and then all of a sudden he's running away.]

Bucky, wait!

[his first instinct is to go after him, it has been since 1943. steve watches his back, but then the rain starts to kick in a little, the wind whips at his clothing. what if bucky doesn't find shelter? what if he runs beyond the fences altogether?

steve runs after him, though that little hesitation might be all the headstart that bucky needed. either way, steve won't stop looking for him until the storm absolutely forces him to.]

[It's the notebook that's Bucky's downfall.

The stupid little notebook that he started to keep only a couple of months back, full of scraps of paper cut out from news articles about the Avengers, and his own notes in stilted writing about what little he remembers. It falls out of his pocket and he stops. He can't leave it, it feels like a lifeline, and scooping it out of the puddle gives Steve time to catch him up.

The rain is hammering down now, the wind strong enough to even knock Bucky's bulk sideways every few seconds, and he has to plant himself like a tree to keep from being knocked down. He doesn't run again, but his entire stance gives off hostility in waves.

He doesn't speak.]

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gdi phone tags with terrible punctuation mistakes, sorry

omg but the ability to do phone tags at all. i can only dream.

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