riverview: test drive meme

[riverviewmod]

riverview test drive meme

Welcome 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 April 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.
● Since this particular TDM is plot-heavy, current players are welcome to do their own top-levels to interact with the plot. However, since it is still a TDM intended to help potential new players get involved, there will be a special additional +25 Activity Point bonus for any thread submitted by a current player that involves a potential new character rather than focusing on existing CR, for this TDM post.

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. Thanks to player-created plots, this month's Test Drive is set to effect the game setting for the next few months, so please enjoy!

information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation

plot overview

After just over a week of increasingly serious blackouts and brownouts around the city, the team in charge of the structural integrity and defense of the wall has found the source of the problem, and posted a network entry explaining that the issue is caused by a large quantity of lizard-like monsters that have compromised the underground infrastructure of the city, and requesting volunteers to help do a full-scale manual extermination of monsters and assess the damage and do urgent repairs.

prompt i: a call to arms

The most urgent request presented is for people to help clear out the monsters in the underground tunnels - and there are a lot of them! With estimated monster numbers in the area of 500-1000, ranging from adult to juvenile, there's a lot of work to be done to clear out the underground infrastructure of the city. The Perimeter Guard will have a steady stream of transport trucks going to escort any fight-capable residents who want to volunteer out to the tunnels. They will also provide weapons of various varieties as well as short training sessions on how to use them safely in a confined space for anyone who doesn't have their own.

Whether you fight with a weapon, your fists, magic, or poison darts, your help is more than welcome down in the tunnels. The only real request is to keep seismic or explosive abilities or attacks on the mild side, and to be careful not to poison the city's water supply! Other than that, go wild.

prompt ii: into the depths

Clearing out monsters is all well and good, but they have definitely done some damage to the city's infrastructure. So it isn't just the brawn that needs to step up to help the city, it's the brains. There's a call for anyone with any kind of special ability that would help with emergency repairs. Whether it's engineers, chemists, anyone with first aid, runners to distribute supplies, or any other special ability that would help out in the underground tunnels and fix some of the damage that's been done, anyone is welcome to help. And if you think it's just scientists who are needed, think again - magic is a well-known if not-well-understood facet of life in Riverview Quarantine, and some of this stuff works on a more arcane level than a mundane one.

And, of course, all of these brainiacs are going to need a little backup, so any bruisers to act as escort and protection are also welcome.

prompt iii: trapped in a...

Not everyone has the skills or desire to head out into the jungle and fight for the city, and that's perfectly fine. Inside the Quarantine walls, life is carrying on as normally as it can. That is, aside from the ongoing blackouts.

Wherever you might be in the city, you run a pretty decent risk of getting trapped somewhere for a short period of time. Whether it's trapped in an elevator, a tram car, a store, the housing you share with someone you barely know, or anywhere else in the city, it could happen to you. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship or a meet-cute to tell your grandkids about...at least, that is, if you get along with the person you're stuck with...

prompt iv: friendr/network

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 new, free app is popping up on people's 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.

Code to post your character's bio is in the textbox below, or you can just do a text version of the information in the app. An example of how it looks can be found here.

<center><blockquote style="width: 220px; margin: 0; padding: 0px; background-image: url('http://i42.tinypic.com/2uf53s4.jpg'); font-size: 12px; font-family: verdana; border-radius: 20px; text-align: center;"><div style="padding: 10px 0 0 0; text-align: center;font-size: 25px; font-weight: 900; font-style: italic; color: #528887; text-shadow: -2px 2px 2px rgba(150, 150, 150, 1);">F<span style="font-size: 16px;">RIENDR</span></div> <center><img src="ICON URL HERE" style="border-radius: 50%; width: 70px; height: 70px; box-shadow:-3px 3px 2px 0px rgba(82, 136, 135, .75);"></center> <center><div style="width: 210px; background-color: #528887; color: #fff; padding: 5px; font-size: 14px;">Name of Character</div></center> <center><div style="width: 210px; background-color: #528887; color: #fff; padding: 5px; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"><b><small>AGE:</small></b> ## <b><small>INTERESTED IN:</small></b> Male/Female/Any <b><small>SEEKING:</small></b> Type(s) of Relationship(s) <b><small>ABOUT ME:</small></b> Blurb goes here, can be as long or short as you wish.</div></center><br> </blockquote></center>
Many thanks to mistojen for coding this especially for Riverview!

prompt v: wildcard

Choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!

navigation

Comments

[flowlikewater]

[ With another snicker he shuts off his device and waits a beat, rolling back on his heels. And he hears those familiar spurs before he sees him, hat and serape and all—

Genji's just grinning from ear to ear under his mask and doesn't move for a beat, sizing him up. He brings a hand to his chest and points two fingers up, nodding his head. ] Yo.

[adiuvio]

[ The man reaches towards The Dog, his dog, and John prepares to kill.

His fingers flex towards the knife in his sock. He sees the violence before it happens. First he'll bring the blade up and under the man's jaw, into the soft spot, then he'll pull it out, and go for the aorta-

Then, the man is kind. Softens around the edges. John releases his breath, his fingers curling back in towards the leash wrapped around his palm.

The Dog likes him, and more often than not, The Dog has better judgement than John does. The Dog bumps his broad snout against the man's hand, shamelessly seeking affection.

John allows it. He's been a good boy. ]

Yeah. Where I go, he goes.

Lucky it caught us on our way back from a walk, or we'd be in trouble.

i hope this is ok!

[leadintheyoung]

[ And Líadan's head will be snapping up with that first 'no,' after which she's quick to make an equally snappy decision to propel herself from her foothold and jump for the cable closest to the center. Small as Mae is, she might miss her otherwise and she's not exactly sure how resilient her companion is. That's not exactly something she wants to test right now, for that matter. The hand grasping the cable definitely feels the couple of feet she slides down even as she snakes a hand out to catch Mae. The waist or the leg is her aiming and -- ]

Got you!

[ -- is she going to feel that in the morning? Well, probably not. It's nothing a healing spell can't fix, but boy, if it isn't going to burn a bit in the meantime. Not her immediate concern, though. Her immediate concern lies with -- ]

Mae, talk to me. Are you well? [ Say you are, say you are. ]

[kuyamu]

[ he's still trying to swallow his anger over the betrayal, the fact that Genji felt nothing for what he'd had — and the turn the conversation takes catches him off-guard. he doesn't know whether it's the words or the softness with which Genji says them, but Hanzo flinches. ]

That was... [ even though it's Genji, and he means no accusation by it, shame wells in Hanzo's chest. he feels the absurd need to defend his actions, as though he is nothing more than a child before his elders in the clan again. the only thing that comes to him is honest: ] I could not stay.

[ the aftermath is perhaps the most unclear memory Hanzo has of that time. he can recall the fight in bits and pieces; his horror at what he had done; even the moments before, the days of tension leading up to it and the awful meeting that was held when the elders gave him the order. but there are weeks missing after it, and looking back on it now, he cannot remember what it was that tipped the scale and pushed him to leave. ]

They wanted to erase what had happened. You ceased to exist, and I was expected to carry on as if everything were normal.

[ the words come to him slow, halting. these aren't things he's often thought of; he's always clung to the guilt of his actions, not the details surrounding it. he's certainly never had cause to say any of this aloud, and he finds that it's difficult to sift through, to verbalise.

he turns his head to look at Genji, his gaze meeting the strip of light on the visor — there's no eye contact there, and even so, Hanzo's eyes flick just a little lower as if he cannot bear to hold it. ] I remember... very little of that time. But I could not stay.

[kuyamu]

[ the light startles Hanzo, and he finds himself smirking, because what are the chances of being trapped with what he imagines is one of the very few people here in this place that has such an advanced prosthetic? his own only contain lights in a thin strip along the backs of his heels, hardly showing until someone actually sees his feet. certainly a useful stranger that he's found.

he tilts his head, searching the panelling over their heads for any shadow cast by the man's prosthetic, any sign of seams. surely there must be a maintenance hatch, something for use in emergencies— ]

I believe so. [ and then, begrudgingly: ] ... However, I would not be able to reach it.

[ because he's fucking short. ]

[leadintheyoung]

[ Don't mind her. She'll be leaning in just a little to really take him in, even turning an ear to him at one point as though she's listening for something. Looking back up at him, she smiles. There's a bit of an accent to be heard there as well. Something like Old Gaelic, if he's familiar, and there's a good bit of wonder, too. ]

Really! I've never heard of metal being used that way and I've heard a fair bit about metals recently.

[ And there's a thoughtful little pause. ] I do hope your lights never fail. You have excellent taste in color, you know.

[signifies]

You too, Genji.

[ Clark nods back to him. ]

I've been all right, thank you for asking. What about you, are you planning to help the council fix this?

[goldcuffed]

[Well, it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who knows what an elevator is that they don't usually do this sort of thing. Damen watches him with raised brows as he tries to scurry up to the top of the box. He nearly makes it. He seems to be very good at that.

Of course, Damen wouldn't really know what to do with an access panel if he could reach it, so instead, he nods in confirmation and just lifts the other man up by the waist so that he can fiddle with the thing.]

You can sit on my shoulders if you need to.

[goldcuffed]

Damen doesn't seem too concerned about protocol for the moment. This is not his kingdom, after all - he can hardly expect those who have never heard of Akielos to accept his royal status.

"Well, I suppose it's as good a place as any," he says with a humorous little smile, before he leans back down to push buttons again. It worked to make the thing move before, so why won't it now? "Very different. We certainly have nothing so... futuristic. It's beyond the scope of imagination. I've been trying to adjust, since they say they cannot send me back yet, but..."

i.

[redoublement]

[ It's already been seven days too long for Laurent. Seven days of an almost unbearable crushing loneliness the likes of which he hadn't known since he had lost his brother. And somehow, it was worse even still than that.

Whatever had pulled him here, it of course made sense that Damen would not have followed him to this place. The orientation 'video' had said that it was those who felt displaced who were called away. Of course Laurent should have been better prepared for it all to be torn away from him. He should have seen it coming, that his uncle would find some way to have one last laugh.

Reasonably he knew that the former Regent had nothing to do with his current state, and yet he could not help the feeling.

With an almost single-minded focus, Laurent had thrown himself into what he could do, instead of focusing on what he could not. If Damen was here, then Laurent would find him. If he was not, well... then Laurent would deal with that too. And work on finding his way home to him, as soon as was possible.

For now, that meant dirty work. The nitty gritty of exterminating monsters. A task Laurent could handle. A task that he could throw himself into, and serve as an appropriate distraction.

He had been at it for days. Scarcely taking breaks long enough to clean his sword, let alone eat, or sleep. It all seemed superfluous in the wake of the gaping space at his side where Damen ought to have been. So he drove forward; let the days begin to blur together while he looked for something, anything, that might take him home faster than the required 'community service' the perimeter guard had offered.

Haggard panting, Laurent was alone in the gloomy remains of the nest, the only light filtering from a storm drain off to his left. His handheld 'eleck-trick' had been lost in the chaos of the fight; lay somewhere amongst swampy detritus that Laurent had no interest fishing through to retrieve it.

With a hissing screech, he decapitated the last of one of the juvenile creatures- and then slumped. Sagging heavily towards one of the walls, not quite leaning against it as he panted for breath. And not for the first time, pushed down the gnawing, painful ache of loss that battered at his ribcage; threatened to crack him in two.

When Damen rounded the corner, Laurent's back was to him. Bathed in those three, slivering slats of light. head bowed, sword point tipped towards the floor. ]

[goldcuffed]

[Damen creeps quietly through the tunnel, for a man his size. Only the slightest noise of footsteps announces his position, the soft sound of his breath. He's expecting monsters when he turns the corner and finds the nest, not- reptilian corpses scattered about the swampy stone, the smell of them almost overpowering, along with the even less savory scents of sewage and decay.

He doesn't expect the breath-taking sight before him, of an elegant back and blond head bowed toward the wall in exhaustion, a sword held in familiar, fine-boned hands. Light plays over his back and the golden shine of his hair, the grip on his sword hilt. Damen's heart tightens in his chest, too big and pounding as he drinks it in, because he knows those long limbs, the set of his shoulders. How could it be anyone else when just the sight of him fills Damen with a joy indescribable? Even surrounded by carnage, he is beautiful.

Damen takes another step forward, heavier, not trying to be silent now. His booted foot sloshes in the muck, and he says, his voice gone a little rough with emotion, smile threatening to split his face,]

Laurent. You haven't left any for me.

[exter]

We've been ripped from our worlds, stuck on a city that's randomly shutting down and under attack from reptilians beings hiding underground.

And yet this is the most ridiculous thing I've heard ever since I came here. Congratulations.

[naz]

Back home or here? The system, I mean.

[greatcleavage]

Well, I admire your confidence in finding so little social discomfort in doing that, then... [Honestly, that's kind of impressive, if true.]

But I can at least say I've encountered no problems with my fashion choices, and considering they involved being armed and armored, I'd think people would definitely say something if they had a problem.

[peacekeeps]

[ jesse's been looking forward to seeing familiar faces since the recall--he knows there are plenty of folks he shouldn't count on seeing again, never mind the ones who wouldn't be especially happy to see him. he'd put genji shimada down on the list of people he'd do better to forget over the years, so unlikely it was they'd cross paths in the big unknowable world after overwatch.

so there's open surprise when jesse stops a ways away from him, plucking the cigar from between his teeth so it doesn't plumb fall out of his mouth. ]

... I'll be damned.

[morganknight]

[Morgan is finding himself not with much to do... and wondering why someone would try to attract a number of monsters and then scare them right away with a blast of flame. But hey, whatever?]

More than you'd expect, but that's still very few indeed.

[peacekeeps]

[ there's a split-second where jesse can practically feel some current in the air change, an abrupt and electric tension. it feels awfully like that moment where a man recognizes his face from the posters, dreams of the digits on his bounty, and goes from cold to hot like the sun climbing inexorably up over the desert.

but then the moment passes, and the dog is just butting its head into jesse's hand. it's his metal hand too, and it's always charming when an animal doesn't see a difference. that goes for regular folks too, in places where synthetic limbs run a little rare. ]

Lucky indeed.

[ he scritches the dog behind the ears, smiles. ]

Got caught in a blackout earlier too. That one was a good hour or so, so unless yer friend's feelin' limber, we might have to give the waiting game a try.

[ his voice by now is very distinctly a heavy texan drawl. ]

i have many talents inc commenting in the right place!!!

[peacekeeps]

[ he keeps his arm lifted, squints up at the ceiling, and sure enough--the lines in the tile grow more and more clear, maybe movable. the elevator isn't exactly a prime space for a jump and a skip. ]

If I give you a lift, can you see if it's bolted down?

[ what has two thumbs (one real, one not) and has maybe climbed out of many elevators. shhhh. SHHHHH ]

[peacekeeps]

Not much?

[ a tone of voice meant to only jokingly appease. he's in a good shape, though, and when she closes in for a hug he spreads his arms wide and squeezes her tight, enough to lift her off the ground without the help of those wings. ]

You know how it is, Doc. Once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker.

[ he says the words more into her hair than anything. even in the muck down here she too has a distinct smell, something clean and sweet and indistinct. hard to believe they've always been the same age. he remembers being young in covert ops, seeing doctor ziegler on base, wondering how it was two people could spend the same amount of time revolving around the sun and still be put together so differently.

he sets her down, looks her over. ]

And from the look of it I reckon it's been the same for you. Always running when the wounded come to call.

[smokedout]

[Largely because that someone is highly unstable, and Morgan's company has distracted him from going into a psychotic bloodthirsty rage so he no longer sees the point of having so many monsters around.]

Now there's an interesting story, when'd you get in contact with the underworld?

[He doesn't meet many people who are disciplined and still happy to admit spending time on the black market, so it catches his interest pretty easily.]

[amelioraate]

[ Uh huh, that's right, look at how awesome he is. Way more awesome than you. Nyeh.

There is a moment where Tony regards Howard, mouth in a thin line as he takes in the youth, and the stature, the arrogance and the flippantness in his body language that makes Tony think of being twenty-one and off the rails. Wonders for a moment if he should lie through his teeth about who he is or--

Nah, that's too much work.]

No, not really. Was a shot in the dark that you were Howard at all honestly, but you have that Stark arrogance that I am far too familiar with.

[ Tony's smile is a flash of teeth and self-depreciation.]

[adiuvio]

Sounds like you've had all the bad luck, until now.

[ The hand catches John's attention, but he's polite enough not to stare.

In his line of work, everyone is missing some integral part of themselves. You couldn't kill people for a living and stay whole.

You either start off broken, end up broken, or die. For some people it happens all at once, in a violent snap. For others it's a process, multiple fractures occurring over time. Either way, whatever tenuous, invisible, cement that holds a person's soul to their body gives way, and they become someone else. More than, or less than, the person they were before.

John looks up at the ceiling. There's a maintenance hatch. Always is. ]

If we're between floors, might be there's a door right above us. We could try climbing up and jacking it open. I could put The Dog on my shoulders. He'd stay.

[amelioraate]

[ Oh boy, you are not going to understand ninety percent of the shit that comes out of his mouth, are you? Tony blinks a little at Damen before laughing just a little on the hysterical side.]

Uh huh, you're not my type anyway darling, I really don't like being the little spoon.

[ Yes he does, but he really doesn't need you thinking that he was actually hitting on you because, despite what some people might say, Tony Stark took fidelity very seriously. Also, seriously, hitting on a guy in an elevator? His life is not quite that bad yet thanks.]

Wait, is that your name or your place or origin? Whatever, doesn't matter, sounds like a type of battery if I am being honest. Names Tony by the way, and a philips is something that would make getting out of here a whole hell of a lot better.

[tenures]

[ Well - forces she cannot understand, must be a Tuesday. Still, at least this one seems to be working in their favour right about now. ]

I'm Peggy.

[ and then she gestures behind them, a shadow is creeping in a corner. ]

I trust we can have this conversation civilly over a cup of tea once we are done here?

[tenures]

A very important 'if', I reckon.

[ but she's smiling and accepts the credit anyway. She gets so little of it in her line of work, it's almost daunting.

She eyes the little flying robot, surely now she'd seen it all. ]

Quite an impressive piece of technology.

[ Howard Stark would go mad for it. ]