TEST DRIVE MEME #9

[expiationmods]

Test Drive Meme #9

Welcome to Expiation, a pan-fandom adventure game with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and some subtle horror.

TDM top-levels are 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! You can also put your top-level in the TDM DIRECTORY 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.

June's's TDM is forward-dated to June 20th.

You can view our CALENDAR to keep important dates in mind. RESERVES open on June 20 and APPLICATIONS will open on June 23 After this, applications will next open in August 2024.

NEW FOR APRIL 2024: there is now a top level for everyone to post their TDM top levels into! This is for new characters only. Thank you!

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Arrival

You remember a room of blinding white light—so bright that you couldn't make out any details. You heard voices, speaking in muffled tones. It sounded an awful lot like they were talking about you. You were just on the verge of figuring out what they’re saying, you were so close...but what happened after that?

Ah–that's right. You fell into blackness.

However you awaken, the next time you’re able to stand still and take in your surroundings, you’re approached by a small mechanical creature, which reveals a handheld tablet with a rolled-up parchment within it. Booting up the tablet for the first time brings you the following message:

WELCOME, CHOSEN.
WE ARE SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE.

So…now what?

Summer Solstice (June 20th)

The summer solstice, also known as the longest day of the year. Aldrip may have received a big upgrade in size recently, but this special day still calls for celebration amongst the locals, who have a long tradition of celebrating various celestial phenomena. For this occasion, the entire city will be throwing a Midsummer celebration! The festival itself takes place from June 20-24, with the solstice happening the evening of June 20. There will be celebrations before, during, and after the festival as well!

On the shortest day of the year in December, the Chosen were told to stay indoors until sunrise. The opposite holds true for the summer solstice: all are encouraged to remain outside from dusk until dawn, and locals throw a festival to keep everyone entertained through the wee hours of the morning!

The streets of the commercial district are lined with sun-painted lanterns, lit as dusk starts to fall and kept glowing until sunrise the next day. Those lanterns illuminate a lively street bazaar featuring exotic food and drink, curious wares, and lawn/party games of all kinds. The Chosen are encouraged to either participate, or occasionally wager bets on other people who may be competing against one another. May the odds be ever in your favor?

As the sun begins to set, locals light large bonfires. There will be music and dancing—Chosen are encouraged to participate in whatever way they’d like, whether they want to perform or lead a line dance. If they’re not inclined to join in, the fires and music still provide a perfect backdrop for a little relaxing conversation and meeting new friends.

After dark, a large fireworks show begins. All in attendance are encouraged to bring (or find!) blankets to lay out so they can watch the show. Clinking glasses with good friends at the height of the show is considered good luck, so it’s not uncommon to see some folks having a drink during this time. As Aldrip is so close to the ocean, some locals even offer discounted boat rides to get a different view of these fireworks.

At dawn, the locals finally tuck in for a few hours of rest. But don’t worry—the Midsummer festival continues even after the solstice is done!

Midsummer Festival (june 20-june 24)

Locals begin prepping for the festival days in advance, and while they won’t drag others in to help the same way they have in the past, they still won’t turn down an extra set of hands. You’ll even get paid for your troubles, either in money or in favors (free meal vouchers, rent at the inn, etc). There’s no shortage of work to be done, from dragging tables around to stringing lanterns or even collecting sticks for bonfires. Just be careful, locals tell of strange whispers coming from Pessiria Forest at odd times of day and night…

The festival itself has different activities and happenings depending on what area you visit. Most of these activities can be done on any day of the festival. Most of the games and contests outlined here are examples—you’re free to make up others if you feel so inclined!

BEACH EPISODE!!
The beach is a prime location in the month of June, and locals really go all out for this particular occasion, setting up a large beach party with food, drink, and brightly-colored umbrellas to provide some shade.

There are various sporting activities such as beach volleyball, windboarding, surfing, and a large, built-up dune for sand surfing. Most of these are just for fun, but if locals see some really good contenders, they might urge a competition between them.

For those less sporting, there are all sorts of activities and challenges. Kite flying, sandcastle building, and scavenger hunts are particularly popular with the locals. Maybe they’ll ask you to bring back a certain number of round seashells, or to make friends with someone sitting under a pink umbrella…the possibilities are endless, really. There will also be official competitions for kite flying and sandcastle building, so put your best foot (or shovel) forward!

Some enterprising locals have also set up boat tours to take locals and Chosen through the nearby waves. In some places, the light makes it seem almost like you can see something in the distance…but it’s not on the map, right? Maybe it’s just your imagination. Hmm.

HAVE A FIELD DAY
The rolling hills outside of the city make a perfect place for various races and games. Bring your competitive spirit, because there will be medals awarded for winning races! Some common games include: bag races, “wife” carrying (gender, spousehood, and pre-existing relationship not required, of course!), three-legged races, relays, baton passes, and foot races.

It’s not all sporty competitions, though! Some older locals will lead more relaxing activities, such as stretching, meditation, and recreational group dances. These are volunteer-led groups, of course, so if those volunteers have to sit down or step away for a bit…well, they’ll have to ask someone to take over for them.

Those with good animal handling stats are not forgotten either, of course! There will be animal races, as well, on horses or even chocobos. There may or may not even be a petting zoo, pony rides, or other fun, relaxing activities with animals. Sometimes you just need to sit in a pen full of bunnies, okay.

Please do be careful, though: increased activity could make some of the monsters roaming outside the city a little bit curious about what’s going on this close to town…

WHEN YOU’RE DOWNTOWN
The green spaces of Aldrip have been decked out in their very finest, and floral season is in full bloom. Some enterprising gardeners will be unveiling new garden designs in honor of the festival: hedge mazes, giant sculpted topiaries, and elaborate fountains.

While it doesn’t hold a candle to the Ketsoran diplomatic masquerade, the event center will also be hosting several nights of dining and dancing during the festival. It may be a little less lavish, but it’ll nonetheless be quite glamorous—and the food will probably be good, too.

The bazaar from the day of the solstice continues throughout the festival. Additionally, various shops and businesses may choose to provide specials, discounts, and other offers to entice new and current Chosen alike.

THE SPIRE
One of the taller buildings in town has installed a large spire near one of the garden squares. They claim that, as the sun rises to its midday point, light passing through the spire will create an incredible light show. They’re right, as a matter of fact: the light reflects and refracts, scattering rainbows across the square. It’s a dazzling display. When the sun passes its midday point, however, the beautiful color show suddenly turns into white light. Anyone looking at this light will find that they are no longer able to keep track of how long they’re watching it. Your mind may begin to go blank, almost as if it refuses to accept something, some deep truth that the world is trying to tell you…

…

No, that must be your imagination. The light vanishes shortly thereafter—or was it ever there to begin with? The unsettling feeling may remain, but it’ll be harder and harder to be certain of what caused it.

This is fine and also normal.

Wildcard

Make your own fun! Just because it’s not in the prompts doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Have at it! Go crazy! Try not to break anything (too much)!

♡

Comments

[vaguelette]

[ he's actually barking..... that sure is a thing this guy is doing. okay, why not? she mentally puts a 'extremely questionable golden retriever' label on him, he's blond and excitable and everything too. surely she has the animal right. ]

You know, I think it'd be a relief to see you actually eat cooked food. [ so. maybe she won't complain, as long as they get out of the water before anything strange or dangerous shows him. she motions to him as she swims out towards her surfboard before it gets too far. ] I'm just renting this--! Well, for free, the people in charge of the festival are pretty generous!

[ ... ] Actually, would you like to use the surfboard to go back? I don't necessarily need it.

[orokapi]

[ Yeah! ]

I don't always raw dog food, y'know. [ Said with pursed lips; pouting, just slightly, like a child that's been scolded.

Obikawa's brows furrow with accompanied by a brief pause, as if he's considering "drowning" again. But he shrugs, keeping his head above the water with ease before he draws his arms across the water and swims towards the surfboard. ] Don't you think it's weird? How they're being so generous and giving out free stuff? Even events like this aren't usually free, where I'm from unless there's a crisis. And even then they'd just shove people like us in a corner and have us live off scraps.

[ Like us. Assuming that, like him, she was brought here -- welcomed here. ]

I can swim just fine. I just got a really bad leg cramp!

[vaguelette]

Excuse me, you have a bit of reparation to do for your image before I stop associating you with raw fish. [ just. saying. that fish blood trauma isn't going to go away anytime soon. oh god even dunking her face in sea water just makes her think 'that fish blood is definitely still in the water, just diffused!'

but she falls quieter listening to him talk about... ah... unfortunately, she can't quite relate. unfortunately, she's someone who had a rather covetous life, who lived in a palace, wore luxurious clothes and fashion, she may as well have ever eaten more cake than bread. not to say life was all cake and no misery but... she frowns. maybe this man was used to eating questionable food to survive, those 'scraps'. even now, more recently while trying to live a more humble common life, she still had quite a lot handed to her for free.

but it'd be insensitive to say 'i'm used to it', right? ] I... suppose they might want people to have fun without worrying about money. We don't even have much anyway, if you're a newcomer like I am. [ more concern has her to draw the surfboard close, push it towards obikawa to prompt him atop it. ]

You can use it as a kickboard, even with one leg.

[orokapi]

So what does that mean? [ Obikawa stretches an arm out across the board, gripping onto it for support. And maybe to just take it later, since everyone here is so generous and she didn't seem to care. Which he doesn't think too much about, really -- it's human. To abandon something despite being given generously is to be expected, in his perspective. ] We'll need to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner together for that to happen.

[ Unhesitating; his voice not dipping into something flirtatious, instead making an honest suggestion. ]

If you don't grab on then you're gonna make me look like a really pathetic guy and, just like you, I just got here! Last thing I need is a bad reputation.

[ Like it matters at all. It doesn't but he'll wait until she grabs on before kicking back towards the shore. ]

[vaguelette]

If you want to share all those meals with someone... [ it also doesn't strike her as anything close to flirtatious, just very inconvenient?! ] You might be more in need of a babysitter than anything else. You'll have to dress in a suit and eat fine dining for a month and maybe I'll heal from this fish incident.

Let's not worry about looking pathetic, now. Actually, let me... [ she'll give him a hand with the kickboarding, as in... she doesn't join him on the surfboard (possibly, subconsciously, she kind of wants to stay away from him as if he's still in danger of splashing blood at her out of nowhere). instead, with a motion of her arm, she summons her three minions--a octopus, a seahorse, and a large crab, all of whom appear to be made out of water energy and are almost the size of a person. the summoning also lifts her straight to the water surface; she walks atop the water, looking a little out-of-place in her wetsuit.

in the meantime, the seahorse and octopus go to push the surfboard towards shore with obikawa in tow.

and the crab throws a bubble of water at him to soak him, because she can sense furina's discontent and maybe wanted to vent some of it out. sorry. ]

[orokapi]

Tokinaga isn't here, but I don't need anyone to babysit me. [ He's taken no offense to what she's said, but he does raise his brow just a hair. ] Oh. You're the rich type, huh... I bet you wouldn't appreciate natto.

[ Is this Anime Jesus.

The abuse of the bubble is met with a glare and deep growl close to a dog. ]

Hey! Why do I feel like I'm being bullied? Don't tell me you're some god of water that I made angry.

whoops late-ish tag i'm probably not apping i just enjoy this thread |':

[vaguelette]

[ she almost trips on... wait, she's on the water. there's nothing to trip on! don't look at her. ] Wha--

Whatever could give you that idea? [ all right, maybe she was trying to show off a little, show some kind of capability than simply be the 'girl who screamed at a fish and also tried to drown this man'. anyway. ] I have a Hydro vision... ah, it gives me some amount of power over water. I just thought it could help this could get us back to shore more easily.

[ though, the water-walking is pretty unique. anyway, time to have the little water critters help ferry obikawa back to land!! ]

And you'll have to specify what natto is. We've likely come from different worlds after all. [ ... ] But it's true, I didn't quite want for much, when it came to material things.

i'm not apping either cause time :') but yipee to this thread!!

[orokapi]

[ Tripping over his rizz, she's falling for him. But fortunately Obikawa's jsut stupid! ]

Hydro vision? Power over water? Oh! Can you make sewage water clean? That'd be really useful! [ His questions all end with a short hum, lips curled into a grin as he seems to be asking with genuine curiosity. Continuing to kick his feet as they creep closer towards the shore. ]

Ehhhhhh, I'm better at showing than telling. If they've got a convenience store around here I bet they have some. But before that grilled fish or I will die.

[vaguelette]

[ of course... fish blood is just so charizzmatic you know.

but, actually, his question makes her give pause in actual thought, head atilt as she considers it. ] Purification... I wonder if I could? I haven't tried and it's not as if I can manipulate water a lot. Actually, most of what I can do is to summon my Salon. [ a wave at her little minions, the crab and seahorse and octopus. the last of whom curls a limb around another bubble of water as if ready to aim it straight at obikawa, but--a look from furina and he decides to behave. ]

I can't believe you're still in the mood for it after having a raw fish in your mouth.

... Were you really going to eat it just like that, in the water?