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. his fridge now )

[ Out of all the places that Minato - a boy with a stomach that rivals the depth of a black hole - could have ended up in, the kitchen is probably one of the worst spots. Bad for him? Oh, no, this is great for him. In fact, it's a dream come true, but for the people who actually own that kitchen? They're in for a terrible time because what does Minato immediately do? ]

[ If you guessed 'raid the fridge', then you're right! ]

[ Of course, most normal people would probably look around, figure out what's going on, maybe even panic a little, but not Minato. He's dead and he knows it, so why should he bother wasting his energy running around like a headless chicken? When he can grab a snack instead? Or two? Hmm, hopefully, this fridge is well-stocked. Minato certainly doesn't seem to be shy with looking. ]

[ sorry, you now have one (1) teenager eating your food in your kitchen ]

( ii. do you have battletoads )

[ Minato doesn't pay much attention to the mistletoes. After all, he's in a completely new world. Why would he notice something as tiny and trivial as mistletoes? He wouldn't, so when he finds himself underneath one, he's surprised with those pesky missle toads. ]

[ At first, he ignores them, content to walk off and ignore the "requests", but he doesn't get further than a step. Immediately, these amphibians leap into action and cover him with a mysterious sticky substance, holding him to his spot. However, they decide to attack while he's mid-step, gluing down only one of his feet. As a result, he immediately falls on his face and oh, well, hm, guess he's now stuck while lying down. Unfortunately, those toads didn't think very far because with him facedown, he can't really kiss anyone, can he? And this would just be an unfair fight. (Talking? No, he will not be partaking in talking; he'd rather just starve to death here). ]

[ Lifting up his head so he could just barely see, he waves down the nearest person. ]

... hey.

[ help ]

( iii. no one should be surprised )

[ It really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that one of the fools sleeping in the woods is Minato. After all, he could fall asleep standing up if he could. So, if you're walking out in the forest and decide to take this one particular path, do try to avoid either stepping or tripping over him. Sure, he's lying down right in the middle of the "road", but it's still rude to treat him like a pebble and ignore him (or worse, kick him). ]

[ Give him a nudge? ]

( iv. wildcard )

( ooc: open to anything else! feel free to contact me via pm or

protag for plotting! )

Hi!

[An unfamiliar girl in a rather familiar-looking uniform crouches down in front of him, wrapping her arms around her knees for modesty. Like, she could try to help him up? But he seems pretty content to just lay here, so... he can stay on the ground for now if he wants! Her playful smile matches her tone, though the smile doesn't quite reach all the way to her eyes. If anything, her eyes almost seem a little guarded.]

You're a Gekkoukan student, aren't you?

[If this boy was paying attention, he might have been able to catch a quick flash of white under her skirt -- a holster for a specific type of weapon that should be just as familiar to him as the uniform she's wearing.]

[ Minato isn't very attentive, so it wouldn't surprise him if this girl is a schoolmate whom he hasn't seen before. However, when he spots an all-too-familiar holster, he's immediately curious - though, you wouldn't be able to tell as he keeps his lineface strong - and makes a mental effort to be also stay on his guard. He doesn't sense any hostile energy from her, but better safe than sorry, right? ]

Yeah.

[ He nods as he looks her up and down once. His hand has been lowered to lay underneath his chin, cushioning his heavy head. ]

What year are you in?

[ Things to discuss when he's not stuck to the ground, but it's not like he's... going anywhere. ]

[Every single Gekkoukan student who'd come to this place has been a member of SEES. Ken, Shinjiro, Mitsuru, herself... not to mention most of the kids from Japan here are also Persona-users. He doesn't feel dangerous, though -- he feels familiar, even though she knows they've never met. She might not have known everybody's names at school, but she'd made a point of chatting at least once with the people who hung out in the halls, and she'd never seen him.

Could he be...?]

Second year! [she responds cheerfully, not letting any of that show on her face as she gives him a friendly smile.] Sort of. I've been here long enough that I don't think I'll be able to graduate.

[Haha, she already knows there's no way she'd actually graduate, funny death joke. She offers him a hand, though.]

You look pretty comfy on the ground, but doing laundry around here is kind of a pain. Want a hand?

Edited 2023-12-19 00:12 (UTC)

minato arisato / persona 3 / tdm

ii

no subject

no subject

1! and HI

hello!!!!!

no subject

i

no subject

no subject

iii

no subject

no subject

III

no subject

no subject

battletoads...!

no subject

no subject

i;

no subject

no subject

iii. no one should be surprised

iii

iii