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

[God, adults. Ellie doesn't like most of them at the best of times. But she refuses to believe all of them are like David, either. Just like she can't trust that all of them are like Joel. She refuses to be afraid. She isn't afraid.

(That's a lie. She's fucking terrified. But it's not going to paralyze her. Maybe that's what she should strive for.)

But even as she swings to the ground (lands lightly, with little disturbance to the leaves and twigs scattered there) she's gripping her knife hard in her hoodie pocket. If he tries anything, she won't hesitate. Never has before. Nobody argues with a stab wound to the throat.]

Maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings.

[She says it a little stand-offishly, like someone who's trying to sound playful but has forgotten how. She made the choice to draw attention to herself, to talk to him. She's sticking by it unless he does something suspicious.]

[ It would be funny in a world where she knew about his enhanced senses. Clark shrugs minutely. Privately, he's very glad she didn't use the gun or the knife she now holds. A stab wound or a gunshot would work for anyone but him, and it would have made her more afraid than she is. Probably the last thing she should experience is finding her means of self-defence ineffective.

He leaves his empty hands where she can see them. ]

My name is Clark. I was just exploring. What about you?

[Certain things can't be unlearned. Just because he's the only one she sees doesn't mean he's alone, so she circles him in such a way that she keeps her back to a tree. The gun stays slung, but it's still loaded and she's fast and had a lot of practice. Her hand stays casually against its butt, fingers tapping on the composite stock.]

I was hunting.

[No name. Nothing personal, dude.

But what she does say is done a little sarcastically, in direct answer to his comment about exploring. He's a big guy. Well fed. Probably from one of the nicer worlds she's heard people talk about here, where the Infection hasn't happened yet or won't. It results in exactly the sort of person that would think it's cool to just go on a jaunt near dusk with no visible weapons and no one to watch their back. Either he's doing something shady as shit or he genuinely doesn't know any better. Until she knows which is which, she sure isn't letting go of her knife.]

[ It's second nature to him to be quiet, and unthreatening. Somehow, he doubts that will help a lot, because she didn't give him a name.

She's trying to be very casual with that gun. ]

Rabbits?

[ He can make out some in the forest. There might be deer, but that's much further than anyone should go alone, especially a young girl. ]

I was told they're that way.

[ He points to his right. ]

[He is being Suspiciously Helpful, and the fact that he tries to point her off in a specific direction makes her regret coming down from her perch or alerting him to her presence at all.

She shifts on her feet. Wariness is in every line of her. There are a dozen escape routes from here, she's mapped them all. She has triplines put down in a few places, she bets she could lead this guy right into one of them if she had to.]

Nah. They're too cute and cuddly.

[Let him think she's hunting bigger game. Who the fuck would shoot a rabbit with the heat she's packing, anyway.]

[ Who the fuck indeed. Clark isn't planning to make any sudden movements in the next few minutes, thankfully. ]

May I ask what you're hunting, then?

[She huffs.]

Look. I'm sure you're nice and all, [she isn't. even a little bit.] but what's it matter to you?

[ Clark holds up his hands. ]

I was just curious. I don't mean to bother you, I was just on my way to the city ahead of us.

[Her attention swivels to where he'd come from. She still hasn't taken her hand out of her pocket, or her other one off her gun.]

You aren't bothering me.

[That would give him too much power over her one way or another. She shifts the strap of her rifle higher up on her shoulder with a shrug.]

What, the ruins?

[ He was paying attention to the outer fence and the tread of monsters, not a human girl. Clark would've walked right past her if she hadn't called out. Some humans are so quiet it startles even him.

It's a lot of bravado for someone so young, and she's very close to the kind of violence that makes him worry if not him, she might actually shoot or stab someone. ]

Yes. There's not a lot of food or water there. Shelter depends on whether you like small spaces.

[Sounds right up her alley, honestly. She wants to stay here, live with these people. She does. Ingrained is the idea that there's safety in numbers. But fuck numbers, and fuck anyone who thinks they understand where she's coming from. Sometimes she just wants to be alone and no one seems to get why.

She misses Joel so tangibly it's like he's dead. And that's enough to make her want to push this guy a little. Antagonize him. He's being so fucking careful. Like she's some crazy person with a gun he can't wait to take away. Maybe she is losing her mind. In another life, it was almost poetic.]

Perfect place to hide a body. Right?

[She says that with a light nonchalance. Gallow's humour, and all.]

[ Gallows humour, the best kind around. ]

Uhm, what?

[ On second thought, he might have seen that question coming. She has been gripping that knife very tightly for several minutes, and her words are equally sharp, if not more so. It still hits like a freight train. ]

[She laughs a little. It sounds genuine, or what she thinks genuine laughter sounds like to normal people anyway. Still, she regrets it, and ends up just shaking her head. Get it together, Ellie.]

Fuckin' with you, dude. Though you do seem kinda shady, gotta say.

[A beat. She has to choose trust. You can't run your whole life. And she isn't-- she isn't Joel. She doesn't want to be hard, or cold, or alone. She uncurls her fingers one by one from around her switchblade, and then she sticks her hand out, the move is just quick enough to mask her discomfort with having done it.]

Ellie. My name.

[ It sounds genuine.

He wishes he could point out it's fine if she holds on to the knife if she isn't a handshake person, but she's offering. Clark holds his out and shakes hers firmly. It's a strong grip, and he's mindful of his strength. ]

It's nice to meet you, Ellie.

[ Sorry he's not a serial killer? ]

[Her own grip is the same. Her hands are rough and calloused, more than a normal fifteen year old anyway. There's dirt and blood beneath her fingernails.]

Dunno. You don't really know me yet. Might change your mind later.

[I mean. She is the crazy weird forest hermit who's carrying a gun she was fully prepared to shoot you with. That's at least a little scary.]

[ She can turn a rifle on him and he wouldn't be extremely bothered. It would show. Somehow, he thinks that would impede any trust process more than anything she does.

If he did change his mind, she'd know. ]

You do have a gun, and I'm not armed. Stranger danger.

[ He smiles faintly. ]

Edited 2017-03-05 10:17 (UTC)

[David didn't look like he was armed either. It's hard, trying to learn how to trust her instincts again. But he gets a cockeyed little smile.]

What, your mom teach you that one?

She has a lot of good advice.

[ He will never shy away from admitting he takes it. ]

[Has. It warms her. Sure, he's an adult and all, way older than her (practically ancient but not yet 'was around for the dinosaurs' as Joel is) but she likes that, the present tense. Implies that she's still out there somewhere, and mothers are a matter of wonderment to Ellie. More people deserve to have them.]

Yeah. I bet.

[She tucks her hands back into her pockets, both of them now. Hand off the gun. Still on the knife.]

Well, you probably scared off all the game within a mile with the way you were stomping through the forest, so-- you were heading to the ruins?

I was.

[ He smiles more widely and adjusts his backpack, moving forward a few steps in the direction he wants to go in. ]

I'll be seeing you around?

[ After all, she's 'hunting'. ]

[Joel would let him walk away. Hell, Joel wouldn't be having this conversation. She can almost hear him cautioning her against it. Trusting this guy, a total stranger who's just as tall and dark as David was. It just makes her more defiant. He's not going to ruin every man she ever meets for her.

Maybe he can take care of himself, maybe he can't. Maybe he'll hurt her, maybe he won't. Who knows. But she's tired of all the death around her. She wants to build something better. She wants to be trusting. Maybe that means taking more risks. Her life isn't valuable anymore. There is no cure. She's just like everyone else - expendable. Weird, how that thought actually makes her feel better. Her dying doesn't fuck over humanity.]

You're the guy that's heading to a creepy abandoned city full of monsters completely unarmed. If you think I'm letting you go alone you're nuts. C'mon, lead the way.

[ She thinks of protecting him. Clark can't help it: he smiles a little. ]

I've been outdoors before, I'll manage.

You'll manage better with company.

[She's Firm on this. Now that she's decided it, put her mind to it, she's not going back.]

Besides, I've got tripwires set up all over the place. You really don't want to run into one of them.

[She's aware that just makes her sound more crazy, but. Well. It's true.]

All right.

[ Better that no one sees the outcome of that. It's no skin off his neck having her walk behind him. Clark can react faster than any attacker out here.

He heads straight, holding up errant fronds, clearing the undergrowth for her to walk more easily. ]

[She doesn't need him to clear the underbrush out of the way but it's... sweet, she figures. Like he thinks she needs it, or maybe that's something else his mom taught him. She puts up with it for now, but when they come to the first of her lines she skirts around in front of him and bends down to disarm it. There aren't really as many as she'd said, she's neither that reckless nor that wasteful with her resources, she just wanted to make sure she had a clear way to run if she encountered something she couldn't fight.

She winds the wire into a little spool and tucks the can of shrapnel into her backpack. She uses her body to block what she's doing. People don't like it when you point out you know how to make bombs with a bit of sugar.]

So where're you from?

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