TEST DRIVE MEME #11

[expiationmods]

Test Drive Meme #11

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

THE STORY SO FAR (click to expand!)

Characters have arrived in Expiation, a seemingly idyllic fantasy world where they have been told they will be judged and sentenced for crimes they were charged with upon arrival.

Every two months, several characters are chosen for sentencing, where they’re brought to City Hall and told to perform a task related to their assigned crime.

Their only contact at City Hall is a mysterious and long-suffering man called Jerry.

Over time, characters have begun to realize that not all is as it seems in Expiation: as it turns out, the entire world is a simulation that seems to be run by an artificial intelligence.
This AI claims that its purpose, and thus the purpose of Expiation, is rehabilitating the Chosen after their crimes.

In March 2024, after the destruction of City Hall, the city of Aldrip was forced into an upgrade status. While this upgrade was being implemented, characters were pulled into a false reality where they believed they were natives to the city of Aldrip.

Aldrip has been a bit of a glitchy place for many, many months. However, in Summer 2024, these glitches became difficult to ignore, and pointed at evidence of a catastrophic systems failure. For several months, characters experienced chaotic effects as elements from their worlds and many others were thrown into the setting without warning, even going so far as to import a Gnosia infection.

The AI in charge of Expiation believed that performing a system reset might be the only way to stop the glitches before they could impact the world as a whole.

In September 2024, characters complied with the AI’s request and performed a reset. Although this set the AI back to a default state where it felt more neutral–rather than affectionate–toward the Chosen, several people created a system backup that they hope will return some of the data that has made the AI more sympathetic toward the Chosen.

When Aldrip was reset, City Hall became a Courthouse, and this is the new building where Chosen are now sent for sentencing.

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.

October's TDM takes place on October 21st.

You can view our CALENDAR to keep important dates in mind. RESERVES open on October 21 and APPLICATIONS will open on October 24. After this, applications will next open in December 2024.

Full Navigation

Arrival

Spooky season has come to Aldrip in full force! City and outskirts gardens are full of pumpkins to harvest, trees begin turning red and orange, and there’s a chill in the air that’d have anyone reaching for a cozy sweater. The wind picks up occasionally, howling through the trees, especially near the forest… While the seasonal weather is welcoming, the locals are anything but: they send disapproving glances and keep a wide distance. Unfortunately, this may only be heightened by the new arrivals to the city…

Newcomers to Aldrip face a rude awakening this month. Strange iron cages have appeared on surfaces all over town, short and tall alike, and this is where new Chosen find themselves upon arrival. The cages themselves aren’t terribly hard to open, honestly; the latch is on the outside, and it’s a bit finicky, but it’s not locked or anything. That said, some of these cages are quite high up. They’re sometimes near ledges and windows, but not always, and some new Chosen might need a helping hand to get down.

Yeah. The optics aren’t great. No wonder the locals are a little nervous!

The fall carnival

On the morning of October 21st, a Fall carnival pops up, seemingly out of nowhere. It hasn’t been well-advertised–maybe a flyer or two around town–but luckily for the Chosen, those who work there don’t seem to have the same opinion of them as the locals do. Costumes are not required for the carnival, but they’re definitely encouraged! There is a large tent near the entrance with lots of costumes to choose from, and changing rooms as well, should the Chosen decide they’d like to give it a try. The tent workers will be so excited to help with this process–but they might find some very unexpected choices for the Chosen!

There are plenty of rides, games, and food stalls, so come on down! Some special attractions the Chosen may take note of include:

The Funhouse
Billed as a standard house of mirrors, the Chosen are encouraged to try to get through the maze as quickly as they can. Push your limits! Test yourself!

Inside the mirror maze, the Chosen will find more of a test than they might have expected, at first. As they go deeper into the maze, the mirror reflections seem to change. At first, it’s just little things: your reflection might look in a different direction, or move when you stand still. But deeper within the maze, these mirrors begin to show things about the Chosen that they might not be ready to admit just yet. Some reflections may try to confess to the character’s crime to anyone who may be in the funhouse, even going into detail about it. Some may even show the crime as it happened, or a warped version of that crime. Anyone present can see and hear these reflections.

The reflections will follow Chosen until they find their way out of the funhouse. Unfortunately, that could take quite a bit longer, since those reflections are so very vocal and distracting.

Pumpkin Pick-up
You know those duck games at a fair where you pick up a rubber duck and the bottom of the toy has a prize written on it? Well, we know better than to pick up a duck in a dungeon carnival here in Expiation, so for extra spooky flair, these are small pumpkins instead, with painted jack-o-lantern faces! Picking up a pumpkin should reveal a prize…but what’s this? It’s a challenge instead? Interesting.

Written on the underside of each pumpkin is a truth-or-dare style directive. Players are free to make up any challenge they want, here! If you’re looking for some ideas, we’ve provided some examples in the details cut below.

Click here for a list of example challenges!

Tell someone your biggest regret
Tell someone about the scariest moment you’ve ever had
Confess your deepest shame to a stranger
Take someone’s shoes
Attempt to pickpocket someone without them noticing
Find a stranger and show off a secret talent
Tell someone about the thing you hate most, deep down
Kiss or hug a stranger
Eat something that doesn’t look like food
Tell someone about the cruelest thing you have ever done
Start dancing in the middle of a crowd, but only if there’s no music playing
Tell a stranger about the worst lie you ever told
Ask a stranger out on a date
Set off a small firework without warning
Give away your shirt and do not replace it
Confess your greatest weakness
Put on an extra silly costume
Exchange clothes with a stranger

You get the idea! Feel free to use these as a jumping off point and make up your own–there are no limits to what the pumpkins might say. Once the task has been completed, Chosen may turn the pumpkins in at one of the prize booths for whatever prize they would like. There’s no visible indication on the pumpkin as to whether the task is done or not, so you’re welcome to try bluffing, if you don’t want to complete it…but somehow, the booth worker always seems to know.

Dueling Potions
One of the stalls is a game of chance: two identical potions sit before you on a table. The carnie claims that one is a luck potion, and that choosing that potion will give you excellent luck for the whole day…but how do you tell which is which? By drinking the potion, of course!

There’s a 50% chance of victory, here. One vial does indeed contain a good luck potion, and if you choose that vial, your luck will be incredible for the next 24 hours. Unfortunately, the other bottle contains a bad luck potion, and that will have the opposite effect: for 24 hours, you’ll be plagued by disaster, bad happenstance, and maybe even some extra clumsiness. Does it seem a bit like you need to have good luck to get good luck, here? What, is this a commentary on something? Hmm.

Fortune Teller
Want some woo in your spooky season? A midnight-blue tent covered in stars seems to invite you in. You’ll find a bonafide fortune teller within, complete with crystal ball and heady incense. How fun! They’ll give you a cursory reading, either by palm or with strange-looking cards. You get the feeling that this reading is fairly accurate, but strangely…it’s hard to recite details later, if you try to tell someone else about what they told you. How odd. Maybe it was the incense.

It’s not just a hazy fortune and a nose full of frankincense that Chosen leave this booth with: they also feel a compulsion to speak their minds more than they might otherwise. Whether this is telling secrets usually kept close to the vest, expressing their opinions more readily, readily admitting to crimes they’ve been charged with or other wrongdoings, or some other manifestation of this effect is up to players!

There are plenty of other games, rides, and booths to explore, many of which have perfectly standard fare for events like these. Characters can use these booths to win tickets and get prizes: many booths offer cute stuffies and kitschy toys, of course, but Chosen can also find useful items like weapons, food, clothing, accessories, and things like that.

Witch hunt

Last year’s Witch Hunt was metaphorical in nature–this year, it’s much more literal. A limited number of witch hats are placed on a table in front of the carnival. As soon as the clock strikes noon, the Chosen may grab one and try to keep it out of the hands of fellow competitors. These hats are first-come, first-served, but it really doesn’t matter who starts out with one–it’s who ends the hunt with one that counts!

It seems to be like a city-wide game of tag. The Chosen’s job is simple: obtain and keep a witch hat on their head until the clock strikes midnight. If a “witch” is caught by another Chosen (by way of being tagged), they must hand over their hat, or they’ll be disqualified.

There’s no official sign-up for the hunt, so characters can join in whenever they’d like, or may decide not to join at all. So, what’s this all for? Anyone who manages to have a witch hat on by the time the clock strikes midnight is guaranteed a prize! OOCly, this prize is any small non-magical item from home, either personal or not; ICly, Chosen will not know what this prize is before entering. How do you obtain this prize? There’s an RNG for those who would like a chance to sign up to win an item. Sign-up is optional, and TDMers are welcome to join in! New items will be delivered at the start of November, so any new applicants who win the hunt will be able to obtain their items as well.

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

Tsunayoshi Sawada | Kateyou Hitman Reborn | Current

[theskyaccepts]

[A - Rickity Rides]

[Carnivals are something that are still kind of new for Tsuna. He's used to amusement parks and summer festivals and the two of them being different things. So it is kind of cool to see the combination of rides and games and food stalls. Just to see, mind. Every time there's a clatter or a thunk from one of the rides, he winces, and tries to move away.

Yeah, definitely not his scene. Those rides look way to rickety for him. Who even thought that roller coasters were a good idea. He'll go stick with the midway games. Or maybe there's a stand with choco-bananas.

Of course, he might have also spent a bit too long staring at that roller coaster. Or the Tilt-a-whirl. Or the Scrambler.

Long enough that it might suggest interest.]

[B - Not-So-Funhouse]

[Tsuna is lost.

Really, it's to be expected in a maze of mirrors, and for someone like Tsuna, who has never had the best sense of direction. But it's all the more frustrating since there isn't really a way to tell where you've been and where you are going. And all the reflections are starting to make Tsuna uneasy. It's only thing to see a silly reflection of yourself, a big head on a tiny body, or the reverse of that.

It's another thing to be confronted with a version of yourself, older, and wearing a sharp, black suit and familiar rings. The person that, if things go the way they are, that Tsuna might end up being. It's not so bad really, as Tsuna turns, finding another mirror showing this older Tsuna with his Family, the Sky of the Vongola supported by his Guardians and others who helped him along his way. His Pride.

But then there's another turn, and he's confronted with a colder version of himself, a version that is not changing the direction of the Vongola but instead staying the course, and across from that the disappointed visage of Vongola Primo (i thought you would inherit my will. i trusted you). He hurries away from that to find the bright, chilling smile of Byakuran, the leader of the Millefiore family in front of him (haven't forgotten me have you), with the image soon being consumed by familiar orange flame. It's a quick turn to find another image of himself, this one looking blank save for the indigo flame over his left eye, a suggestion that Mukuro Rokudo has finally made good on his thread to destroy the Mafia and use Tsuna to do it (kufufufuf).

Mukuro's haunting laughter fills the corner that Tsuna has found until he turns again, and smacks right into another mirror, and falls back on the ground. Stunned.]

[C - Midway]

[The Hall of Mirrors may have been a little too much for Tsuna. He's found a bench a ways away and is currently leaning on his knees to catch his breath. This place, man. Can't he catch a break, even at a carnival.

There's a loud groan before he finally forces himself up and considers the midway games. Maybe he's safe with one of them. Or finding a good food stand. Do they even have takoyaki here?]

I don't even know if I have enough...

[D - General]

[Throughout the month, Tsuna has most likely been reaching out to people to make sure they're okay after the reset. He can also been found at his usual haunts of the arcade and the clubhouse. And maybe even making a point to do some training.

It's a bit haphazard that, since usually training for him is not so much the upkeep of abilities and fitness, but instead an intensive course of learning the new special power in a week for the final battle to come. The dangers of being a shonen protagonist.]

[E - Wildcard]

[Open to other situations and shenanigans! urbaninja or PM to plot!]

c

[garbagecanned]

[Yosuke is still wandering, of course, but he does see a familiar sight while he does it. he frowns, his eyebrows knitting together a bit as he regards him.]

You good? Something spook you, Tsuna?

[theskyaccepts]

[Tsuna lets out a shaky laugh.]

The Hall of Mirrors isn't exactly, a fun time.

But I'm alright. Thanks Yosuke.

[garbagecanned]

Yeah, I've been hearing that. That's why I haven't been in there myself.

[he's had enough drama, thank you.]

No problem. That's what friends are for, yeah?

[theskyaccepts]

I'd keep avoiding it. I kinda wish I'd stayed out.

[But it was one of the tamer looking rides. Or so he thought.]

Yeah, that's right.

[garbagecanned]

Well, you know better for next time, then.

[yeah... everything isn't as it seems here!!]

How about we get your mind off it? There's plenty of fun stuff to do without all that weirdness with the mirrors, after all.

[theskyaccepts]

Y-yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

[he laughs.]

I thought the funhouse was supposed to be one of the safe rides. Everything else looked kinda...rickety.

[garbagecanned]

I mean, is it really a carnival if the rides aren't rickety?

[he has a point, there.]

But no one's died yet, so I've ridden a few. And with my luck, it would've broken down if it was going to.

[theskyaccepts]

I guess we can count our blessing there, huh? But I don't know if my luck is worse than yours.

[With any luck, he'd be stuck upside down.]

But I guess you're right.

[garbagecanned]

Just trust me, bro. It's... pretty bad.

[he tilts his head.]

Wanna go do something fun? To get your mind off everything.

[theskyaccepts]

Yeah, please!

[He thought you'd never ask.]

Think I want to stay away from rides for the moment though, or at least, anything with a mirror.

[garbagecanned]

[of course he's gonna ask, tbh.

he nods, and shrugs.]

Suit yourself. There's plenty of games and stuff over there, though they're probably mostly rigged. Still fun, though.

[and there to attempt people to get their mind off the mirror shit...]

[theskyaccepts]

I'll take a rigged game over a rigged ride any day.

[Okay, he's trying to joke. Maybe he'll be okay.]

I...want to say I was at least good at one game, but I think that would be a lie.

funhouse

[valiantarms]

[Maybe coming into this thing alone was a mistake. Because now Sora was lost and she was alone.... she'd not brought any snacks either.

Then a guy ran around a corner and slammed straight into a mirror. She Flinched at the noise, her hands coming up protectively.

For a few seconds, she just stared at him. Blinking at him sprawled out on the ground. Then she approached, crouching nearby.]

Are you alright?

[theskyaccepts]

[The most Tsuna can answer with at the moment is a distressed groan. Today has very much not been his day, and to add insult to injury, it seems his panic is being witnessed. He's a little reluctant to open his eyes.]

'm okay...

[He says from the floor]

But, if you could tell me how to get out of here, that would be great.

[valiantarms]

[Sora remained crouched. Frowning at him. He'd said he was okay, but his reaction didn't inspire much confidence.]

No. I'm lost as well. Sorry.... [She actually sounded mournful at that. It felt bad not being able to help. Then she gave another verbal prod.]

Are you sure you're alright? You hit the wall pretty hard and then the floor...

[theskyaccepts]

Makes sense, this being a maze.

[He does manage to sit up, rubbing his head.]

I'm sure. It'll take more than that to take me out.

And it's not like I have much dignity left anyway.

[valiantarms]

[That got a small laugh.]

Yeah, it's pretty good at it's job. [well, he certainly seemed a lot better now. Maybe she'd just got him while he was still stunned? And she couldn't see any blood.]

Why were you running anyway?

[theskyaccepts]

Oh...uh...I saw something. Well, a lot of things, in the mirrors.

[Things he really doesn't like thinking about. Things he can still sort of see.]

I just want to get out of here.

[valiantarms]

[For a good few seconds, Sora just stared.]

But mirrors only show your reflection...unless someone else was there?

[theskyaccepts]

...these mirrors seem to show a little more than that.

I mean, they show a reflection, but it's wrong.

[valiantarms]

...You mean like when they stretch people out? Isn't that normal for these things?

[theskyaccepts]

No, those were fine. It's just that after a few, it got worse.

Like. It was showing old memories. And stuff.

[And vaguely, he can start to hear Mukuro's laughter again.]

Stuff I'd rather not see.

[valiantarms]

[Well, now she's got to look at the nearby mirror. Which.... only made her look fish eyes. She frowned as she watched herself blink.]

Um...I don't see anything?

[theskyaccepts]

Y-you're sure? You really don't see anything?

[He's a little confused, but also, maybe that's a good thing.]

Maybe you're lucky. But you probably shouldn't look for too long.