expiationlogs | TEST DRIVE MEME #6

Entry tags:

TEST DRIVE MEME #6

Welcome to Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and some subtle horror. As of December 2023, we’re making a couple of structural changes to the way our bimonthly test drive works.

TDM top-levels are now open to all, whether you are already in-game or not. New characters, please put TDM in your subject header so we’ll know you’re trying things out! There will be a directory of newbie top-levels at the bottom of the post. New folks are welcome and encouraged to use TDM threads as samples in their application. Current players may use TDM threads as part of their AC proofs.

The December TDM is going to be forward-dated to December 18.

Our CALENDAR has also changed a bit. That means RESERVES will now be opening on December 19 and APPLICATIONS will open on December 22. After this, applications will next open in February 2024.

Full Navigation

You awaken in a room of blinding white light–so bright that you can’t make out any details. You hear voices around you, speaking in muffled tones. It sounds an awful lot like they’re talking about you. You’re on the verge of figuring out what they’re saying, you’re so close...but then the floor drops out from under you. You fall into blackness.

ARRIVALS

i. EVERY WHO DOWN IN WHOVILLE

The last thing new Chosen remember is that black void. And really, in retrospect, it was rather peaceful, wasn’t it? Quiet. Calm.

Quite unlike the chaos they find when they open their eyes. Whatever pulls new Chosen into the world of Expiation seems to be having a…moment, right now, and is summoning people into a variety of different places, all seemingly random, some compromising or even dangerous. Some people may find themselves appearing in the middle of the road, in front of a speeding horse and wagon. Still others, one step away from falling into a ditch or a lake. Some may arrive directly into someone’s kitchen, or shower, or the back room of a store. The point is, these locations are practically unlimited, and are entirely up to you, the player.

Better hope the person who owns this house wasn’t walking around naked at the time. Yikes!

THE WINTER SOLSTICE

The mood in Aldrip is a little less hostile, at least, after November’s harrowing turn. The locals have found slivers of sympathy and respect for the Chosen, not only because they lost people as well, but also because those who returned brought them peace and closure about their missing loved ones. So, in spite of some of the absurd places new Chosen show up, the locals do their best to be welcoming. Some remain a little wary, but many will try to show them a little warmth during this cold season.

At the moment, they seem to be gearing up for some sort of feast, putting out tables and chairs, bringing out warming stoves. But there’s no food cooking and no festivities to be had this particular day, and on 12/21, the Chosen find out why.

ii. THE DARKEST NIGHT

As it happens, Aldrip has a curious custom on the darkest night of the year. It's said that all should lock their doors and darken their lights, as gifts given on this night can be particularly wicked and play tricks on the receiver. True enough, most Chosen will find a mysterious box appearing on their doorstep (or, if they don't have a doorstep, mysteriously on or near their person). Some of these boxes may contain harmless treats or trinkets such as charming talismans to hang, clothing accessories like mittens and socks, or tins of cookies. Some others mysteriously contain nothing.

The next morning, when Chosen with empty boxes awake, they find prankster-like tricks have been played on them during the night. We leave the extent of these tricks in your hands: these effects can be anything you like, from the ability to float to their skin turning purple. Just bear in mind that these should be minor effects, additions, or inconveniences, rather than major powers. These effects will last for at least 24 hours, but could take a few days to wear off completely, at your discretion.

Unfortunately for those unlucky Chosen, the other part of the Solstice tradition is a giant feast the day after that long, dark winter night. The locals seem to go all out for this occasion, bringing out ovens and warmers to keep food piping hot, serving elaborate drinks and sides, and plenty of desserts. Festivities go well into the night. They encourage the Chosen to get involved by bringing their own dishes, but not all of the locals will partake in them–some still seem to feel a bit wary of their otherworldly neighbors. But it’s the Solstice, so they will share their meals, even if some do so begrudgingly.

If they want to try any of the food, the Chosen have to show their face around town…with all the spots, cat ears, or whatever other effects they’ve been afflicted with. No to-go plates here!

iii. ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

The morning after doors close for Solstice, strange plants begin to appear around town. Yep, you guessed it, there are different varieties of mistletoe sprouting all over Aldrip, in doorways, hanging from trees, and strung over the town’s streets in a variety of places. Those lucky (or unlucky) enough to chance by the sprigs will find that as soon as they come within range of the mistletoe, they find themselves pelted with small pieces of paper courtesy of tiny Missile Toads living within the sprigs. These papers are different depending on what color berries the mistletoe sports.

White berries: ”Now kiss!” The traditional variety of mistletoe, which demands a kiss. Whether a kiss on the cheek, hand, forehead, etc. will do the trick is up to you.

Red berries: ”Now fight!” One of the two (or more?) Chosen stuck here will have to throw at least one punch for the Missile Toads to be satisfied.

Purple berries: ”Now talk!” Time to open up. The festive amphibians will continue to bother the hapless Chosen stuck here until at least one of them tells a personal secret.

The extent of the Missile Toad interference is up to the players. Some of these little creatures can be easily evaded and will give up on their chase. Some others will simply follow the Chosen until they finally give in. A sub-breed of these pesky creatures will launch a sticky substance beneath the sprigs of mistletoe, trapping people until their conditions are fulfilled.

WALKIN' IN A WINTER WONDERLAND

The wagons that were previously offered to take the Chosen to Rumpitur seem to be stabled. Locals will discourage travel down that way, after everything the Rumpiturians did. While plans are still in the works to figure out what to do about them, as well as how to deal with the source of their recent misfortunes, things between the two towns seem to have fallen into a chilly armistice. For now.

iv. A CRYSTALLINE CALL

The chilly weather brings with it a phenomenon that the locals say happens every year around the Lorentia Caves. Along with an aurora borealis-like phenomenon in the sky above it, there seems to be some sounds like a mournful wailing, or like harsh wind blowing through the caves. Sometimes, though, the sound gets a little strange: mechanical, distorted, even a little tinny. Locals insist that it’s nothing unusual, but no one stops the Chosen from investigating. For now, they don’t find a whole lot: there are no wailing humans or sad robots hidden in the caves at this time, unfortunately!

What the Chosen can do is explore the caves, a strangely peaceful experience despite the rumor of a dragon hidden within their depths. The caves are a little warmer than the cool outside temperatures, and while there are some small nocturnal ratlike creatures that could easily give them some trouble, most of them are more than happy to steer clear of lanterns or light sources, should the Chosen not be in a monster-fighting mood. The caves are almost like a series of tunneled mazes, winding in different directions. When one progresses far enough, they begin to feel a heavy sensation and a sense of foreboding that demands they turn back. This feeling becomes harder to resist the longer they press on, and eventually, they must give in and turn around.

Within the caves, one will occasionally find old weapons in various states of disrepair: swords, shields, bows, things like that. They’re more than welcome to keep these. So, too, are they welcome to take the strange, palm-sized rocks that seem to glow when handled. They don’t seem to do much, for now, although they make a nice reading light. Occasionally they seem to vibrate a bit with energy, but…that’s fine, right? Normal? Maybe??

v. THE WOODS ARE LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP

The wailing sound in the woods has come and gone with the fall, and now the woods seem…quiet. Peaceful. Almost too peaceful, in places. Travel deep enough into the woods and the Chosen will find silent clearings that seem comfortable enough to sleep in. A deep, deep sleep, one they are not easily roused from, and one that they are in danger of not waking from at all, if they’re left alone for too long.

Passers-by will find that touch is what seems to wake the hapless sleepers, in the end: the warmth of body heat, the electric charge of ions that naturally transfers from one body to another. It’s hard to say exactly why this works, only that it does–which is good, because it’s getting cold outside–cold enough that most people won’t want to stay sleeping in the elements, especially if it begins to snow. Those that stumble upon their friends are also susceptible to these effects, of course. The sense of touch is what seems to keep this drowsiness at bay, and the effects wear off entirely once they leave the woods.

WILDCARD

You know the drill–this is the wildcard one. Just because it’s not listed in the prompts above does not mean it’s unavailable as an option. We encourage you to do whatever you’d like to utilize the setting to its full potential. If you have any questions about what is and is not possible, please don’t hesitate to ask!

TOP LEVEL DIRECTORY

Click to view:

CANON	CHARACTER/TOP LEVEL
Code Geass	Lelouch vi Britannia
Code Geass	Rolo Lamperouge
Final Fantasy VII Compilation	Sephiroth
Final Fantasy VII: R	Aerith Gainsborough
Final Fantasy VII: R	Cloud Strife
Jujutsu Kaisen	Satoru Gojo
LoZ: Breath of the Wild	Link (CRAU)
My Hero Academia	Bakugou Katsuki
Original	Marie
Original	Eve
Original	Avalon
Persona 3	Minato Arisato
Persona 5 Royal	Makoto Nijima
Persona 5 Royal	Haru Okumura
Project Sekai	Rui Kamishiro
Tiger and Bunny	Kotetsu T. Kaburagi
Tiger and Bunny	Barnaby Brooks Jr.
Trigun Stampede	Vash
Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting	Tooru Kirishima

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i—arrivals

[The last few weeks have been...

...

Ah. Hm. Yu doesn't want to think about them anymore, honestly. He's still in a bit of a daze, the type of shock that leaves you wondering if everything was even real, and his nerves are still a little frayed, but...it's better to just get on with things. Right? How do you get back to normal after so much abnormality? He...he's working on it.

But speaking of abnormality—he's been running into new people all day, each seeming bewildered and out of place, and all in the strangest locations. Maybe one of those people is you, falling from the sky into the middle of the road or showing up in the refrigerator at one of the restaurants in town. Yu has enough part-time jobs that he runs into people in all sorts of places, and even once very memorably has to open a delivery crate he's pushing, to find that some unlucky person has showed up inside it.

The weirdest might be when he gets home in the evening, opening his door to find...another bewildered newbie. He stops. Looks back at the front door. Then, after a beat,]

I thought this was...my house?

[Like honestly, fam, is he losing his mind, or...]

ii—all i want for christmas is...

[Mistletoe—that's a nice touch. It really feels like Aldrip is going all out for the holidays, and Yu is just the sort of secretly chaotic gremlin to really enjoy watching how this all plays out. The toads are a little weird, to be sure, but the whole thing is...strangely kind of cute. Endearing.

... Okay. Less endearing when he finds his feet stuck to the ground.

On one hand, at least he's not alone—you're here, too. On the other hand, whatever the toads want is something they're both going to have to deal with together. It only takes another moment to find out; Yu winces as the paper hits him in the back of the head, and opens it to see what it says. His face remains impassive as it often does, but a small smile plays on his features as he shows his companion the directive on the paper.]

Looks like they've got an agenda.

[He almost, almost sounds amused.]

[ooc note: slightly biased toward kissing, here, but i'm up for any kind of mistletoe! lmk if you have a preference]

iii—anything can happen in the woods

[Yu is skirting the woods at first, working on some task or sidequest or something, but the feeling of peace that descends upon him draws him into the trees. He hasn't been there in a while, has he? It's kind of nice, in a strange way, and peaceful enough that he finds himself reminded of how little sleep he's been getting lately. How tired he really is. How easy it'd be just to lie down right there...

...

When he reaches the clearing, he finds that someone has gotten there first. Between the sleeping figure and his own drowsiness, he starts to wonder if something is wrong,and quickly kneels beside whomever is lying in the clearing. He puts a hand on their shoulder. It feels soothingly warm; warmer than he might expect, for how chilly it is outside.]

Hey. [His voice is soft, with sleep and with concern. He nudges their shoulder a bit.] Can you hear me?

wildcard
[still up for anything, still at

posolutely if you want to plot something out! bring it on!]

Edited 2023-12-11 18:31 (UTC)

(the true christmas miracle is that mikey is tip-toeing for something, and that something is to take a look at what that paper says. 'kiss'? he already does kiss this dumbass motherfucker. out of his own free will. who is this toad that thinks they can boss him around. manjiro logic applies, with him crossing his arms, frowning, and finally speaking.)

Absolutely not. Fuck no. Not because someone else is telling me to.

[Yu wants to say this is an unexpected response, but just...knowing how Mikey is...somehow it makes sense. He can't help a soft laugh.]

A little contrary, don't you think?

I kiss you because I want to.

(and it will make him squat to look at the toad, attempting to kick forward, but, alas, stuck...)

You're not the boss of me, frog.

yu narukami | persona 4 | ota

ii

no subject

no subject

ii

no subject

no subject

iii.

no subject

Hell yea mistletoe

no subject

iii

no subject

iii

no subject

iii

no subject

ii; bodyslams this a week late

that icon is UNFAIRLY CUTE

you know what i want

it's HAPPENING

II

no subject

all i want for christmas...

this is so dumb i'm sorry hfjhsdf