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

[mightymorphin]

[It's not that Morph is out to scare anyone, but they're also not at all used to getting absolutely zero reaction from using their powers. They would've gladly settled for a 'wow!' or a 'cool!' or something at least semi-positive. It's strange enough on its own that they just keep running into awfully jaded teenagers.]

Uh, plenty? How about there being no cars here, and people using gold instead of cash or credit? Or that walking a few blocks in either direction looks ridiculously modern or rustic all in the same city? Even tourist traps manage to be more coherent than this place does.

[They might be complaining, just a little. Morph didn't ask to get suck here, and the festival atmosphere isn't doing a whole lot to improve their mood in that department.]

[entreats]

Oh, that's just because this place turned into this from a medieval town the other month.

[ .. she says it like it's just a normal thing.

But look - if they can transform like this, not to mention the whole superheroes are normal in their world thing, then Ange is pretty sure they can keep up with this explanation. She can keep up with it too, after all! ]

I don't think this entire place got the memo, so it's a weird mix in some places. [ Ange shrugs a little, in that 'what can you do about it' sort of way. ] At least now we have phone games.

[ Sorry, Morph, but that is clearly Ange's favorite 21st century invention. ]

[mightymorphin]

A month ago? And it... what, got rebuilt that fast?

[Though 'turned into' didn't seem to indicate that anything particularly normal happened. The more Morph hears about how this city operates, the more their uncomfortable feelings about it are being justified. Yeah, they thought there was something strange between the whole 'you committed a crime' thing and then getting to go hang out at a festival.]

I think I just have Pong on my phone. [They're not from an era where phone games were anything to get excited about.] Well, had. Not many pockets in a spandex suit. Is there anything else I should know about this place?

[entreats]

[ Well, the girl would gladly give them some recommendations for better games, but she does realize they're asking slightly more important questions here. As much as Ange enjoys the phone games, she knows that their priority should definitely be with getting out of here.

And if giving new people the important information about this place helps that, then-- she'll do as much. ]

No, it didn't involve any building at all. We were here one moment, then the next our memories were suddenly getting messed with and this place changed appearances entirely. It made us believe we had been living here all our lives. [ It had been a concerning event, even to Ange, given that it showed how much power this place exactly has over them--

Yet she still says it with that same flat emotionless tone as she looks over at Morph. ]

Then when we regained our memories, the city suddenly looked like this instead. It's as if has been shifting, or something like that. [ They of all people should get that, right? Given the display of their power just now. ] There's all sorts of supernatural stuff going on here.

[mightymorphin]

[That story leaves Morph looking... pretty disturbed, actually. And perhaps just a touch nervous. It was honestly ridiculous to think that controlling an entire city's worth of people was possible - it was the kind of thing only a super powerful telepath could do, and the ones they knew were entirely too ethical to do it willingly. And that was to say nothing about the city physically rearranging itself.]

It's that bad here?... You wouldn't know it from looking at the party atmosphere they have going on.

[And here Morph had been... well, not happy to be away from home, but trying to relax enough to enjoy the festival. The joke was sure on them.]

Is there any way of, I don't know, countering it? Predicting when it'll happen?

[entreats]

Not really. That time our memories got messed with-- I don't think anyone saw that coming.

[ Even Ange hadn't, after all, and she's pretty prepared to deal with anything here. She's actually been looking into so much stuff. But even she hadn't found a clue that all of that had been possible in the first place before it had happened.

It's not fun news. And - really, Morph is looking more upset by this than she imagined they'd be. But it's not like Ange is going to soften the blow of the news when she thinks this is important for all new people to know before it catches them off guard. ]

I've been trying to find ways for a year now, but.. [ She shakes her head. ] I'm not powerful enough.

[ She isn't sure if anyone here is, given that people way stronger than her also deal with the same problems.. ]

Though I've gotten some more information about this place since then, I haven't come across anything that might be useful for stopping what's going on here. Especially when they have done this entire thing with other groups before us, disposing of them after a while before starting all over again with new people. [ SORRY, MORPH.. Truly none of this news is a great time!

And it probably doesn't help that Ange talks about it so stoically, despite looking like your average teenager otherwise. ]

[mightymorphin]

Entire groups? Like some sort of crazy experiment?

[Yep, that was all bad. The phrase 'disposed of' is pretty loaded there, isn't it? It didn't sound like anyone eventually got to go home. More like they got to be thrown out like trash. The fact that Morph had just ended up here after dealing with a dire, world-ending situation is... a lot, really, but they're trying to stay focused.]

Well, I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to, either. If everyone else that's stuck here feels the same way, then I'm sure we'll find a way out sooner or later. No prison is entirely foolproof, right?

[Morph liked to look on the bright side... but it's also true that it's because they need to go home so badly that they don't want to think about the alternative.]

[entreats]

[ There's an affirmative hum at the mention of 'crazy experiment', because.. yeah, that's sure what Ange thinks this place is. Every time she finds out more information, it only seems to confirm that assumption, so she doesn't feel bad about passing it onto a new person when it seems relatively accurate. ]

Well, it's good if you're interested in getting out of here too. [ 'Too', because-- well, Ange herself sure is invested in that. The fact that she's been stuck here for a year already does not have to do with a lack of desire to get out, that's for sure. ] Some people are more interested in partying.

[ She rolls her eyes in that typical teenager way. ]

Lately a few more people seem interested in finding out more about how this place works though. It'd probably be good if you could help out too. [ Do they seem a little strange?

.. yeah. The whole shape shifting thing, the fact Morph apparently comes from some world where superheroes are normal - that's all kind of weird. But it's not like they seem totally dumb so far, so it probably can't hurt if they'd help. ]

[mightymorphin]

What, they can have fun in the middle of all of this? [Morph asks it with astonishment, gesturing around them.] Guess that means I'm just not in the party mood.

[That was for a whole range of reasons, not just being in the city itself, but hey. Morph can be serious when they need to be, and this was turning into a pretty serious situation. Not as immediately deadly as the one they'd just left back in their world, but honestly... being in the X-Men means never catching a break, anyway.]

I'll pitch in where I can. I'm not usually the one on the team they ask to solve mysteries, but if you need stuff punched, I'm pretty good at that.

[Well no, they're not dumb, there's just literal geniuses on their team and Morph ain't one of them. And there's quite a lot of punching involved in the superhero business.]

[entreats]

Once I find something to punch, I'll make sure you're first in line.

[ Though it's said a little dryly, it's not like Ange isn't being serious at all here.. It is a useful skill, especially when Ange herself isn't really strong enough to do that sort of thing herself. If this place really would devolve into a physical fight between them and the beings in charge here, then she isn't really sure how much she'd be able to contribute.

Still-- ]

Just keep an eye open. You can find out more than you think that way. Besides, if you end up having any questions or want any information, you can always ask me. I've been trying to pay attention to what's going on here and find out more for a year now. [ At least you can't say she isn't dedicated.. ]

And I don't mind sharing that with people I think are taking this place seriously. You at least seem to understand that we have better things to do with our lives than just wasting them away in this weird place we got kidnapped to.

[mightymorphin]

Geez, you make it sound like everyone here is just sitting back and treating it like a vacation.

[They'd be pretty surprised if that was really the case. This has gotta be a little touch of teenage dramatics, right? Morph just couldn't imagine anyone being happy to live in a place that wanted to screw around with both your mind and the world around you. It was a bit much.]

Thanks, I'll do that. And I'll keep you in mind if something comes up. If you've been picking up info for that long, it's going to be hugely valuable while people are coming in and the city keeps changing.

[entreats]

You'd be surprised.

[ .. yeah, probably pretty hard to tell if this is just teenage dramatics on Ange's part or something actually serious, huh. Especially with her giving that response, of all things..

Though she's pretty pleased all the same that Morph at least sounds like someone willing to take things seriously. ]

Well, I'm sure I'll talk to you again soon in that case. [ Can't hurt to check in on someone like that.

She raises her hand in greeting before starting to walk away. ] See you.