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 poses an interesting question, one that Wanda considers seriously. She can't imagine a pirate not being a pirate simply because they aren't aboard a ship currently. A carpenter is still one without tools and wood...but these labels are applied due to action. Tasks a person performs. At what point does intent come into the mix? She and Steve and the others had acted against the law, but to stop the machinations of a mad, grieving man. Their intent, however noble, was tainted by the fact that they worked against the rightful law.

But then, Wanda has a history of protesting the rightful order of things, for the good of others. For her people whose country had been reduced to rubble all to often by war.

She hasn't stolen from others for her own gain, but she's certainly acted according to her own beliefs, her own moral compass however skewed it might be on occasion. It's possible she's more of a pirate by the circumstances he outlined earlier than she might have thought, she certainly doesn't exude heroism the way Steve Rogers does, but she wouldn't say it's the term that defines her best.

After a moment she nods, acknowledging his point, followed quickly by a shrug meant to say without words that she knows no better one way or the other where she falls.]

Perhaps I'll come into my own brand of piracy here, then. Maybe even assemble a crew of my own.

[Because naturally she's not about to become a pirate just to follow someone else as captain.]

Once I find something worth going after, of course.

[He doesn't laugh, though he huffs out a breath more amused than not and acknowledges her words with a tip of his glass.]

Gold seems to be the primary motivation. So on that account, Miss, I wish you all the luck in this Godforsaken place.

[He would like to see a world where no man need choose piracy for himself. It's dark, dirty, dangerous work. Not many among them live to an age that rivals Teach or Hornigold, and they've met their due in equal measure at the point of opposing swords. But piracy serves a purpose of its own, larger than the lives lost to her beckoning knell: to keep those in power in check. When does a king become a tyrant? When none are left to oppose him.

Piracy opposes. Cruelly, surely, yet without pretense. It is perhaps the world's most honest profession. Certainly a step above politics and the intrigues of the fucking courts.]

[Gold. Wanda huffs out a breath and takes a sip of her drink again, then shakes her head. Dismissing the thought.]

I've spent most of my life without riches, and here it seems even less important. But I'll take all the luck I can get.

[She sets her glass of rakia down unfinished. It's slipped through her, setting her nerves to fuzz, making her limbs relax. But it is sweeter than she cares for and she doesn't feel the pressing need to finish it. She could use that newfound ease and take it to the dance floor but Wanda still isn't in a hurry to return. Not yet.]

What about you? Have you thought much about what you'll do here until you return home?

[He barely feels the thrum of the liquor in his veins, and can't abide the waste besides so he simply keeps on with his, though the pace of his consumption remains unhurried. It's with a hint of amusement - a nod to the conversant topics of moments before - that he answers,]

Perhaps I'll take up carpentry.

[He isn't one for pleasant sojourns in foreign worlds. In no incarnation of his life has he ever been a man who could abide by idle days. There are monsters, evidently, to slay. Buildings to shore up against the storms. He wants to learn as much as possible about what follows his own future, and use that knowledge like a knifeblade once he's returned to Nassau. Anything else would be a betrayal.]

[Her head tilts to the side, enjoying the lighter side of this conversation. Less personal, less emotionally fraught. She doesn't mind that he's a man that doesn't shy away from difficult topics, but there's only so much that she can handle at a time when she's reminded all too much of everything she's been through.

Giving a small huff of laughter, she picks her glass of water up once more.]

Do you enjoy working with your hands in that way? Building and creating? Perhaps you could build me a ship for my new career.

[Not that there seems to be an ocean around here. Is there such a thing as a river pirate?]

[It's a simple enough thing to say, my father was a carpenter. But as common a profession as it is, as unassuming as it would be and as little as it would give away, he can't bring himself to do it. He can justify a belief that Thomas would support his endeavours in Nassau, but his family? They wanted a Navy man. Had him, too, for a time. A carpenter's aspirations are not a captain's, nor a king's.

Flint lifts one shoulder in an absent shrug.]

I've dabbled. A ship would be something of a tall order, though. A shipwright is often an expert in carpentry, but not so the other way around. [Idly,] I could start with a raft.

[What is it about this man that makes her think there is so much more happening beneath the surface when he speaks? Oh, she knows well enough that there is more to a person than how they move and what they say, there's always intelligence in the eyes that speaks of something deeper. But then, some people are deep water wells, and others are the Mariana Trench. James is proving to be more the latter, though how much of that she is gleaning from instinct and how much she's picked up through her abilities is difficult to pin down.

Whichever it is, she finds herself too curious to part ways soon. He's one of the more interesting people she's met in this city.]

A ship might be overkill, but a raft would be quite fine as a starting point. I shouldn't bite off more than I can chew.

[His mouth twists up at one corner.]

Wise course of action for a budding pirate queen.

[And then, as if he's letting her in on a little secret--]

If I were you, my first order would be to find a reliable first mate rather than worry about a ship, however.

[It was what he did, after all. He met Gates, and the rest was history. There is a circle of Hell replete with betrayers, and Flint expects he'll burn there if such a thing exists. But until the end, Gates was a good man.]

[Budding pirate queen indeed. She can't quite keep the mirth from her face, eventually smiling wide. Carefully she sidesteps closer, surveying the room in front of them as if already looking.]

A reliable first mate sounds as if they'd be hard to find. It would have to be someone trustworthy but knowledgeable enough to make up for my lack of experience.

[Wanda casts him a sidelong look.]

Does such a person exist?

[He laughs. It's a gruff sound, dark and earthy. Genuine, despite himself. God help him.]

First rule of thumb, never try to recruit someone whose origins are a mystery to you. You've no way of knowing what their motivations may be.

[Wanda never thought she'd get a laugh out of him but she's pleased that she has. She likes the sound of it, and the way it makes him smile even if just for a moment.

Wisely, she doesn't immediately counter that she actually does have a way of knowing anyone's motivations. Most people are understandably uncomfortable with the idea that their private thoughts are not reliably safe.]

Then my options are recruiting from the small group of people I know here, or relying on a rigorous interview process which would no doubt be worthless against anyone skilled enough to be a threat.

[He drains the dregs of his rakia, as she'd called it, and sets the glass down on the table with barely a whisper of sound.]

Not necessarily. Everyone knows how to follow. Precious few how to lead. Being a leader visibly, in ways that catch the eye will draw people into your orbit. You can adjudge them in your own time thereafter.

That much, I understand well.

[She's seen it all in Steve, of course. Hasn't he all drawn the Avengers in, each in their own way? Perhaps they started initially as a team of six, brought together by Fury, but by the time they made it to Sokovia Captain America was their leader. It wasn't hard for Wanda to see why, having worked against him and then with him for the past year.]

It seems to me that rather than look for a reliable first mate, I ought to begin leading in the direction I intend to go. If what you say is true, the people who want to follow that path will join me, or at least consider it.

[That merits an agreeable nod, and here is his first error of the evening that's on him, rather than her uncanny appearance:

It's-- strange, to be carrying no visible weapons. No plethora of ready-loaded pistols strapped across him, no cutlass. He has a dagger, of course, and he's a better hand than most if a fight goes to fists. But he never has needed armaments of any kind to advertise that he's a dangerous man no matter how queer it feels to be without them. His hand falls automatically to where the hilt of his sword would rest, and then he folds his arms as if that was what he'd intended all along.]

Would you permit me a question?

[It must be something notable for him to ask permission in advance, and while Wanda doesn't tense, she does go still as if in anticipation. She notes the movements of his arms, but perhaps doesn't recognize what it signifies. Reaching for a weapon that is usually there.]

You can ask what you like, but I won't promise you answers.

Nor would I expect you to.

[Silence holds as much answer as anything. The way someone moves. If they favour an old injury. Who their eyes flick to in a crisis. Words are not the only way to give something up.]

What is it exactly you do in your time that gives you a favourable impression of a career in piracy?

[She could easily counter at this point that he's hardly been forthcoming about what he does in his point in time, though he's said enough to make her feel comfortable making a guess. Still, the answer is one that she feels comfortable giving. It's only the phrasing that she takes care with, knowing it would be a lot for him to take in if she were to answer bluntly and in depth.]

Before I arrived here I was part of a team of people tasked with protecting the people of Earth against extraordinary threats, regardless of political borders.

[He can take it to mean that she's no longer part of the team since arriving here, taken away from Earth as she is, but the team has splintered, and Wanda knows that when she returns she'll be held against her will.

She flashes him a quick smile.]

I doubt any of them would support a career change.

[Clint might joke with her about it at least, knowing she'd never seriously make such a drastic shift.]

[Such a thing is unfathomable in his time. He takes his time to mull her words over, trying to discern some sense in the saying of them. Piracy operates beyond political borders, to be sure, but they are not 'tasked' with the antagonistic relationship they have with the nations of Britain, Spain and the Orient.

He rubs his fingers idly against his beard. A reflexive gesture, thoughtful without being gauche about it.]

I think the hardest thing to swallow of all you've said of the future is that a woman would be permitted to do this uncontested. What you describe sounds like a military company.

[Understanding a little of the time that he's from and the view of women many men had, Wanda can't take offense at his response. Especially considering that he doesn't seem to find the notion distasteful so much as...remarkable, perhaps? If he had scoffed at the notion of her talking about becoming a pirate based on her gender, she might not have told him at all, but their conversation gave her cause to trust she could be more or less honest with him without major repercussions.]

There are some among us who started as soldiers, and others who did not. All of us have a particular set of skills that makes us valuable to our operations. [She shrugs lightly.] And circumstances caused our paths to cross. I would not have been recruited if the situation had been different. One of the founding members is female, however, and many of our allies, intelligent and educated people from a variety of backgrounds and professions, are as as well. None of whom would have accepted discrimination based on their gender.

[There is a sharp, visceral moment of wondering at what Miranda could have become in a world like that. She did not have a pirate's heart, but would that she have accrued any power for herself in other avenues, she would have been fucking formidable. The speech she gave their Judas proved it, and he'd never seen that side of her before. The one that mirrored his own dark heart. She'd hidden it, as society dictated. He mistook her quiet for complacency too many times. If only he'd known.

He drops his hands, and rubs at the knuckles of his right hand like a man massaging an old wound.]

Sound progress. I'm glad to have heard it made.

[And there it is again. That sense that she's somehow touched upon something that means far more to him than he's letting on. Is it his body language that gives her that sense or is she picking up something more? The temptation to delve into his mind and riffle through his memories is strong, but she finds that she enjoys his company enough to not want to betray what fragile trust there may be between initial acquaintances. Oh, and of course she can't forget the ethics involved as well, but it says something about her character as well that the primary reason she doesn't invade his privacy is first because of her regard for him.]

I think you'll find you can experience it first hand in this reality. There seems to be similar equality enjoyed here as well. For instance, I've heard the head of the perimeter guard is a woman.

There was a woman in charge of commerce in Nassau for a great many years. From the time she was a girl. It's not unheard of, but it is-- unorthodox.

[And Eleanor was a special case in many respects. If she'd been a man, Flint may have had to kill her outright. She was damn dangerous enough as she was.]

[It doesn't surprise her to hear this, it falls in line with what she knows of his time.]

I've heard there were several notable female pirates as well. Someone once told me there was a woman in China in the 1700's who was quite formidable...and there was another, I'm not sure if she was after your time or not. Does the name Anne Bonny sound familiar to you?

[Not that Wanda knows much about Anne Bonny but for female pirates she's quite famous. A name that's more familiar to Wanda than the woman's history.]

[Odd to think of the names of he and all his ilk as something consigned to history. Time is inexorable, and he's never been one of those proud men who thinks himself invincible. Flint has always known he'd die at the point of a sword, or a hangman's noose. And yet.

Anne. He makes a soft, faint little heh.]

You're still trying to discern whether or not I'm a pirate, then?

[Her tenacity is charming. He finds himself not especially minding her careful line of inquiry. She's not an especially skilled manipulator, but she's subtle about it, which is an intricacy of the craft most lack at the outset of their attempt.]

[In all honesty she'd been sincerely attempting to try and remember whether Anne Bonny was from before, during, or after his time. Like so many others she tends to think of time in periods of ten, twenty-five, or even fifty years. The early 1700's. The late 1700's. So on and so forth.

But perhaps, subconsciously, she's also been trying to make her questions have double purpose. To acquire the answers as they are and use his knowledge or ignorance as puzzle pieces to give her a better picture of the man standing next to her. Wanda cracks a smile.]

Actually I feel certain that I already know. I think what I'm trying to see is if I can get you to admit it one way or the other.

[Since he's proving to be especially wily.]

riverview: test drive meme

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