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

riku | kingdom hearts | new player

[spiritualize]

I : arrival

[ waking up in an unfamiliar place was not exactly a new, or even unusual, sensation for riku. immediately hitting his head on the inner top of a cold metal cage as he jerked awake was, however. right away, he's alert, eyes darting through the bars of his tiny prison and taking in the surroundings; somewhere between la cité des cloches and halloween town, or at least from what he'd heard about the latter through stories.

the cage is only big enough from him to sit, hunched in between the narrowly-spaced bars. the latch of the door catches his notice and despite his best attempts, being able to feel that it wasn't even locked, he can't quite find the right angle with which to force it open given his limited space to move.

growing impatient, he reaches through the bars with some difficulty, summoning a large blade (or is it a key?) into his hand in a flash of light. a short tap of the blade against the cage door has it swinging open without protest, with only a quiet rusty click to show it had been closed in the first place.

with a sigh, riku stretches his legs out of the opening, jumping down the short distance from the hanging cage to the ground. after a moment of regaining composure, he'll approach another hanging cage, calling up to whoever might be in it. ]

Hey! Need some help?

II : fall carnival

a; funhouse
[ the house of mirrors was a mistake from the outset, riku's senses clouding with unease almost the moment he stepped into the maze. he's disorientated, very unlike him, and yeah - when he first spots golden eyes staring back at him from one of the mirrors braveheart jumps into his hand almost unbidden. he blinks and the eyes are gone, but twenty seconds later a figure too short to be his current self drifts through one of the reflections.

does someone like you even deserve to be here? it whispers in its wake. riku is strong, he's processed all this, but even then - it gets worse. there's a great smashing sound as braveheart ends up embedded in one of the walls, mirror that had been mounted there slipping off in shards. ]

Shut up!

[ the unfortunate soul coming across this will see the taunting reflection, a younger echo of the boy now pulling his weapon from the wall. it cackles, eyes flickering from blue-green to yellow. this is all you are! it taunts, moving from mirror to mirror. do you want to tell the class, or should i? what you've done? who you've hurt?

he makes it out eventually, shaken, leaning back against the wall with his head in his hands. ]

b; pumpkin pickup
[ the pumpkins are cute, and riku picks one up (its stitched-style mouth and wide, hollow eyes draw him in) and flips it over without much thought to it. it's a lot more pleasant than the house of mirrors, a collaborative event that he'd seen some others participating in harmlessly, so when he reads the challenge on the underside he smiles in amusement. ]

Excuse me, can you help me with this one? [ he's polite, if a little awkward, approaching strangers. ] I can help with yours, too.

[ find a stranger and show off a secret talent, the pumpkin reads, riku holding it out for clarity with his request. ]

III : witch hunt

[ it's okay to have some fun in a new place, right? the witch hunt is just perfect, with all the chosen cheasing each other down traditionally or using whatever powers they have to catch each other. so it's not cheating when riku casts blizzard along the ground, sliding along the magic trail of ice to knock off the hat of another competitor and pull the brim over his hair in a taunting salute. ]

Sorry!

[ and it's not cheating when later he sonic dodges out of someone's grasp, blinking out in a flash of ultraviolet and back into form a few feet away. especially when his hat actually doesn't go with him, falling dramatically from his head-height and landing softly on the ground between them.

oh. whoops. ]

re : wildcard

[ feel free to pm this journal to set up something, or just make up a prompt! he will be around the festival playing games and looking at stuff. i am open to anything! ]

oh my God a Riku I am RUNNING ii-a

[grappler]

[she encounters Riku when he exits the Funhouse. the poor guy looks pretty shaken up, and she thinks that she definitely doesn't want to find herself in there. everyone who's left seems to be shaken up, and not in the way that's fun.

still. even though she's having her own issues, she knows a kid when she sees one, and approaches.]

You okay? The Funhouse isn't all that fun, from what I've been seeing of the people coming out of there.

holds my hand out as a wave rises ominously behind me

[spiritualize]

Yeah, I'm fine.

[ it's a rote response, one he's told himself and others countless times before when it wasn't actually true. he'd barely registered the voice as coming from a person, but it hits him a second later, head jerking up from his hands.

he scans vi warily, still on edge. a moment later he relaxes, hands dropping to his sides, and makes an attempt at a grateful smile. ]

Thanks. It needs rebranding, definitely.

when you walk awayyyy

[grappler]

[she snorts. because he definitely doesn't look fine, especially when he looks up at her. but she holds up her hands in a gesture of "I'm not gonna hurt you", and when he relaxes, she puts them back down to her sides.]

Yeah. Maybe I should post a sign that says "don't go in here". Like hell I am, after seeing you guys come out.

pumpkin pickup 😌

[aonibi]

[ the person he approaches is about his age, and actually has a similar look, (though sephiroth wouldn't recognize that fact). wearing a uniform, sword sheathed at his side, and expression surprisingly serious to be attending a festival, he turns faintly glowing eyes on the other teenager, then drops them to the pumpkin in his hand.

.. ah. yes. he'd had his own troubles with the pumpkins earlier.

his glance lifts once more, and he offers a short, polite nod, not a smile or a hint of levity to be found on his face. it's nothing personal, at least: sephiroth just doesn't always know how to express himself. ] I suppose it won't be a secret any longer, though. Are you sure that you want to share it?

🫣

[spiritualize]

[ riku blinks once, twice, briefly disoriented by the silver and teal he's only used to seeing on faces that mirror his own. but this young man's features differ significantly enough that there's no real chance of an identity overlap here, which is. somehow weirder.

anyway. he snaps out of it, sephiroth's stoic manner probably helping to alleviate a bit of that brand of weirdness by promptly replacing it with another. riku feels even more awkward, but soldiers on (ha ha). ]

I think so. It's not a secret because it's private, exactly. Just something I haven't needed to show off.

[aonibi]

[ the statement earns a curious blink, and sephiroth tilts his head, giving riku a more thorough glance over. 'show off', he says. it's an interesting way to put it. does he think it's something people would find boastful?

well, sephiroth has no frame of reference for what's normal where talents are concerned, anyway. ]

Alright. [ he hesitates, pushing a lock of silvery hair behind his ear, glancing around once at the rest of the carnival going on around them. ] Here? Or would you prefer somewhere less busy? [ ... the attendant seems to know, regardless, so he's not sure it matters where in the festival grounds the challenge is completed. ]

iii

[izanagis]

[Okay. So. Using ice magic to make a slide is something Yu has definitely thought about before. More than once! But that doesn't mean he was expecting it, nor was he expecting to be absolurely bodied by a sudden ice slide that has the witch hat fully coming off.

Sorry, this guy says. Yu doesn't think he seems sorry at all.

But that just means two can play at this game.]

Not so fast! [In a spectacular display of teenage stupidity, Yu summons Atropos, because apparently we're going to ask one of Greek mythology's three Fates to knock a witch hat off of someone's head with a wind spell. Who decided to give these kids magic, again??

Anyway, he's going to use that Blizzard slide to try to catch up, too.]

[spiritualize]

[ oh what the hell, this guy has summons? that's not fair. riku had never really had those at his disposal - more sora's wheelhouse - so the appearance of atropos distracts him just as much as the spell that hits him dead-on, knocking the hat into the air and tossing riku to one side with it.

he rights himself in midair, a doubleflight jump just short of catching the hat as it flutters out of reach. ]

Woah- hey, kinda rude to steal someone's idea!

[ as he sees yu commandeering his blizzard rail. with a flash, braveheart is in his hand, more for accuracy than anything as he channels a fairly weak fira through it to try and melt the ice. ]

[izanagis]

[Woah. Yu may have summons (weird ones, but it's. it's fine) but this guy has some incredible moves, to be able to right himself like that. In the meantime, Yu himself is going a little too fast to accurately dodge the fireball heading squarely for his cool new ice ramp, so he quickly calls upon a different Persona -- one who resists fire. At least he doesn't summon it yet, though; there's no need, unless this guy suddenly decides to start attacking for real.]

They say imitation is a form of flattery.

[The fireball misses his feet, barely, but hits the ice squarely where it was aimed. His expression turns a bit disappointed as the ice melts...it was nice while it lasted, at least. Anyway here he goes, lunging forward and reaching for that witch hat!]

i. also aaaa riku

[nightwild]

[A girl with fox ears and a tail drops from the cage above, landing nimbly on her feet.]

Nope. I was just checking that all these cages are empty.

💕 so glad people are happy to see him

[spiritualize]

[ woah. riku steps back in mild surprise, fauna's appearance definitely interesting but by far not the strangest he'd seen.

he doesn't dismiss braveheart just yet, just in case someone still needs freeing. ]

Are they? [ a pause. ] How did we end up here?

[ does he mean in the cages? in this world? yes. he took a very wrong turn at the portal, apparently. didn't even know that was possible. ]

i love me some keyblade kids....

[nightwild]

[She eyes his sword. It's... weird, but not like she has any room to talk. She's just going to roll her shoulders a bit, stretching.]

The ones around here, yeah.

As for how we got here... Dunno. I'm still holding onto the idea that this is one of the hells.

[you know, that's just such a cheery thought.]

But you're here because some idiot thinks you've committed a 'crime' you need to 'atone' for.

2A

[theskyaccepts]

[When Riku gets out of the funhouse, he finds Tsuna in a similar state, with a similar, grim expression. Maybe he even saw Tsuna run by in a desperate bid for escape (not to mention run into a mirror on the way, embarrassingly enough).

Tsuna offers a wane smile.]

Not very fun, huh?

[spiritualize]

[ riku had spotted tsuna running past, spiky brown hair in the corner of his vision basically giving him whiplash with how quick he'd turned to try and catch whomever it was. thankfully for tsuna, he'd missed the collision incident. small victories?

both outside the building now, he looks up to echo that weak smile and laughs hollowly. ]

I think we should ask for refunds. [ they didn't pay anything. emotional refunds. ] You alright?

[theskyaccepts]

Yeah, I'm okay. Better. Now that I'm out.

[Though there's a bit of a red mark on his forehead from where he ran into a mirror.]

What about you? Are you okay?

pumpkin! but also this guy is called sora in japanese dub so--

[startraveler]

[The pumpkin that ends up in his hands has a task that makes him pause as he reads it over and over. "Tell someone about the scariest moment you’ve ever had". Aether doesn't particularly like sharing these kind of things, but before he decides to put the pumpkin away and forget about it, he's addressed by someone else.

He turns to the guy and looks at his task, before slowly showing off his own pumpkin.]

If you're okay with this kind of trade off... Then sure.

[Maybe it won't really be all that bad.]

[embarrassing pining voice] sora.......................

[spiritualize]

[ the reluctance to reveal his own pumpkin's task does not go unmissed. riku gives what he hopes is an understanding smile, shaking his head slightly. ]

It doesn't have to be a trade if you're not comfortable with it. Maybe it could be good to get it off your chest?

[ his own task seems a little trivial in comparison. ]

oh riku...

[startraveler]

[Aether shakes his head.]

Don't worry. It's not a big deal.

[He's not going to reveal some grand secrets of the universe. He has an idea for his answer and it's a story he's told many times... except this time it would also contain his true feelings on top of it, feelings he doesn't even like thinking about.

But again, in the end it's not a big deal.

He tries to smile to the other.]

I'm Aether. And you are...?

ii-b

[nobetawedielike]

[ she startles at being addressed, eyes snapping to him briefly before immediately falling to the ground. she's clutching her own little pumpkin to her chest like it's going to try and run away. ]

Um...I - I can try.

omg beta hiii babygirl are u ok

[spiritualize]

[ oh damn, he hadn't meant to surprise her. riku stammers for a moment, a half-apology, then swallows and decides to just tread carefully. ]

Hey, no pressure. It's just for fun, right?

she's doing her best and that's what counts!!

[nobetawedielike]

I guess...? I'm not familiar with this tradition.

[ still, she attempts a smile, shoulders drawn in. she doesn't seem scared of him so much as just extremely nervous in general. even when she looks up, she's not quite meeting his eyes, focused instead just to the side of him. ]

The pumpkins are...cute, though. They're so brightly colored.

II-a

[fieldtrip]

[ The funhouse is not having the same effect on Toph. Firstly because she can't see anything happening in the mirrors, so much like with television she's left to audio only, and it's really not that impactful on someone who's used to getting the full surround sound earthbending sense of what's going on. Secondly, Toph faces every mistake she's ever made head on and is determined to learn from it, so there's not a whole lot it can throw at her.

Boo-hoo, that time she lost Appa because she couldn't see on sand. That time she got affected by the miasma and got a little too violent with a snake and failed to save that lady. She's working on all of that.

As a result, she's more or less idly wandering through it, puzzled about what this is supposed to accomplish when she gets her answer hearing someone shatter a mirror. Toph trots over immediately, rounding a few corners and making her way to Riku with unerring accuracy. This whole place is spooky or whatever, but it's still on the ground. She skids to a stop on her bare dirty feet. ]

Hey, you okay? What's going on over here?

[spiritualize]

[ as soon as toph's voice carries, both the projection in the mirrors and riku himself round on her, with very different intents. an audience! the golden-eyed reflection crows with a sweeping gesture, unaware or uncaring that said audience could not see it. more strangers you can throw away like everyone else, right?

riku, having channeled his frustration into breaking the mirror, is more concerned with the shards of glass littering the ground and this tiny girl's feet dangerously close to them. his manic distorted reflection was flitting about, occasionally being cut off mid-sentence by the appearance of another, quieter one. he ignored them both, stepping forward and dismissing braveheart with a metallic vwingg. ]

It's nothing. Careful, don't walk any further.

[fieldtrip]

--Did that metal thing just disappear?

[ Toph is instantly diverted from her reflexive annoyance at someone being protective of her. The keyblade disappearing felt so incredibly weird to her senses, given it's a huge metal object. She can also sense that the glass is there, but it's fuzzy to her, which is frustrating. Toph has never thought much about whether she could bend glass before, just assumed she couldn't, but she's feeling something from it...

Something to look into later. In the meantime, Toph makes some quick snappy motions with her arms, and the smooth concrete floor sort of bubbles upward and swallows all the glass shards. It ends up making a pretty reflective terrazzo effect in the floor. ]

That better? [ she asks pointedly. She's taking a cue from Riku and absolutely ignoring the mirror-ghosts. ]