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

[fieldtrip]

How about you stop worrying about how confused I'll be and just tell me the parts that matter to you? [ she suggests pointedly.

Toph doesn't need the whole whole story. She isn't looking for a ten-part Ken Burns documentary. She cares about Vincent, which means she wants to hear what's relevant to him, what she needs to know to support him and look out for him.

She's already been plenty sappy out loud so she doesn't say that part, but she sure is thinking it.

Since Toph is the one directing them, they move unerringly to the nearest place with actual privacy, though it means Toph has to pause to open and then close a stone wall behind them with sharp, impatient movements, creating a short staircase downward directly into the earth until they come into a pitch black and desolate basement. She claps her hands together and creates a simple packed dirt bench for them, plonking herself on it expectantly. ]

Okay. Spill. You've been boiling up with something since the second I sensed you, might as well get it out. [ What's repression? Couldn't be her. ]

Wait, do you need a window? Can you see down here, or is that not part of your spooky pumpkin thing?

[depressionnap]

[A fair point, he supposes. And he does know that if Toph was dismissive, she wouldn't ask to hear about it, so... it does put him at ease to know that she does care in her own way. He gets it.

Vincent hesitantly goes to sit down on the dirt bench, then wryly responds to her:] Actually, I'm more used to a windowless basement, so this is pretty familiar.

[But yes. The important things to cover. Idly, he begins to trace a shape into the dirt with the point of his gauntlet. Less as a necessary visual and more just... yearning.]

A long time ago, I was a bodyguard to a young scientist. A brilliant and beautiful woman named Lucrecia Crescent. [And he is indeed drawing her in the dirt, a strangely decent portrait even though it's dirt and they're in the dark, but whatever.] She was playful, inquisitive, and intelligent. I admired her like no other.

Then, when I thought... we were close, she chose another man. Professor Hojo. I didn't fight for her. I wanted to respect her wishes. If it made her happiest to be with someone else, then so be it.

[Vincent's hand stills, then slowly clenches it into a fist.] She announced she was pregnant. It was then that both she and Hojo decided to work on the next stage of their research, by using Lucrecia's unborn child as the test subject. I tried to persuade her to change her mind, but she was steadfast. Too dedicated.

As she suffered through the experiments, I tried to confront Hojo, and paid dearly for that. Somewhere... along the way, she gave birth to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's father is one of two people. Hojo, or myself. I can't tell which would harm him more in knowing.

[fieldtrip]

[ Sitting in a dark basement with a friend is basically one of Toph's favorite things, so she's perfectly happy to leave them windowless when Vincent says he's used to it.

But unsurprisingly the story he has to tell is a somber one, and before long she's scrunching her toes into the packed dirt of the bench she'd made. Her legs are too short for her feet to reach the floor (she'd made it with Vincent's height in mind) which means she ends up fussing away little curls of earth with her feet that flutter down in the darkness, Toph's version of a nervous fidget. Otherwise she's quiet and serious as she listens.

She immediately wants to say something disparaging about Lucrecia, tries to keep it in, and fails utterly. ]

She agreed to experiment on her own baby?! And you're really this torn up about her? [ Toph asks in disbelief. ] Or did you... I mean, did she change from when you were close? You said you weren't able to protect her.

[ Toph can easily imagine there's more to this story, and before she can get to the Sephiroth and Vincent part, she's first thoroughly stuck on Vincent having all these feelings for a woman who would do that to her own child. ]

when u wish ur character would stop simping

[depressionnap]

I realize how it sounds. [And yet, Vincent will go to her defense.] Lucrecia was determined, but a gentle soul. That in turn meant she would do whatever it was that Hojo ordered her to do.

I was... her bodyguard, and I couldn't keep her from this mistake. Nor could I save Sephiroth from Hojo's influence, either. At least, not until he had arrived in Aldrip.

Ultimately, I couldn't save Lucrecia from herself. I was told she died while giving birth. I could never... make it up to her.

"I can fix her" --vincent, probably

[fieldtrip]

[ Does he realize how it sounds?? Toph is not really the right audience to try to excuse something by saying she's a gentle soul. And she comes from a society with such a long history of war, she's at least abstractly familiar with the problems inherent in excusing actions because they were orders. Was Katara supposed to forgive the man who killed her mother because he was ordered? Toph doesn't see that conversation going over well.

She wants to be respectful of how important this woman clearly was to Vincent, but, well. Toph herself had a good dose of incense. ]

Okay, first of all, stop apologizing for her, [ Toph declares. ] It's sad she's dead and she can't make up for what she did, but it's not your job to do that. You weren't in charge of her decisions and Hojo wasn't, either.

And it sounds like you tried to get Sephiroth out of there and couldn't, right? [ From what he's saying, that's what it seems. Toph's not sure what else he was supposed to do in this situation. ]

"but like trust me she was good" "how" "idk trust me"

[depressionnap]

[Perhaps there will be a day in which Vincent can make the realization that very little of what happened those years ago was his fault. That he didn't dictate any of Lucrecia's choices, that she committed to something heinous out of her own free will. At the moment, all he can think is that he's painted her in such an ill light before Toph and Sephiroth both. That he's done her such a disservice. If they knew her, they'd understand surely.

Vincent's lips press into a flat line, and he looks away, chest tight.]

I wanted to. When I confronted Hojo he... ensured that I was incapable of doing anything at all. [Frankly, he speaks:] He killed me. Then revived me to experiment on me for the next few years following. By the time he was done with me, Sephiroth must have been... three or four, I think.

[fieldtrip]

[ Toph is all ready to have more back and forth about Lucrecia, but Vincent keeps going, and this is personal information, horrible tragic deeply personal information relevant to the person right in front of her that she cares about very much. She's been here long enough that she doesn't get hung up on asking how that's possible, on trying to understand; she just believes it, and is immediately upset for him and what he's been through.

Without a second thought, she lurches over to the side and wraps Vincent in a hug, bypassing his cloak and leaning her whole weight on him.

She mumbles into the fabric of his clothes: ] So you're trying to make up for it, huh? Seems like a good dad thing to do to me.

[ If her father ever tried to make up for any of the ways he's hurt her, all unwittingly, Toph would accept it in a heartbeat. She'd be beside herself. She thinks maybe Vincent isn't giving enough credit to how much a child just wants to hear their parent sees them as they are, and cares.

It's really not more complicated than that. ]

[depressionnap]

[Vincent doesn't know specifics about Toph's background. If she wanted to share, he'd listen of course, but it's not really a topic unearthed (no pun intended). Still, there is enough for him to interpret; she has enough to know, most likely, how a parent should or should not be, to some degree. He does not ask, not today.

Instead, he's... overwhelmed, briefly, by the embrace. It surprises him that it's happened twice now.

Slowly, he wraps his arms around her. Not gentle because she's fragile, but gentle because his own heart is so tender.]

I suppose so.

[He thinks briefly to his own relationship with his father, a nearly non-existent one at that. It'd been a bit strange and conflicting when he received news of his passing; he should have been more upset, probably. But he wasn't relieved either. It was just an unfortunate occurrence that barely changed him.

Could Vincent be a good father? Difficult to say, but hell knows he can't do worse than that. Worse than anything else Sephiroth has been through.]

...I want to ensure he has a future he can be proud of.

[Most of all, that is true. If he could save Sephiroth somehow, even if it's just one version of him...]

[fieldtrip]

[ Toph is part of a group of very hug-prone friends, and maybe they've gotten to her, okay? She doesn't just hug people willy-nilly, but people she cares about who are having a hard time, sure. And since she can't put this Hojo guy in the ground where he belongs, she has to do something with the pent up sadness and frustration from hearing Vincent's story.

That doesn't mean she's going to go easy on him. Toph draws back but not totally away, frowning at him. ] You might need to talk to him to do that, [ Toph says pointedly. ] I don't even mean about how you might be his dad, though uh, that too.

I mean you have to know what he wants for the future before you can help him get there.

[ This is at the heart of Toph's problems with her own parents, so she's extremely clear on the importance of it. It lends a heavier weight and emotion to her words than she usually has. ]

[depressionnap]

...I'm not sure how to broach the subject to him. If he's... mine. But I will try.

[There's a bit of a helpless look on Vincent's face for a moment, not that Toph can tell. But there are ways in which she undoubtedly can read into his body language and tone that establishes the same reaction, really.]

Unfortunately, he doesn't know what he wants yet. But he is young, and he has time. ...I suppose, really, it's just a matter of waiting until he figures out what he wants for himself. Knowing that he can choose, now that he is out of Hojo's clutches.

Undoing that man's work is a progress. But I make no plans to choose anything for him, that I can assure.

[fieldtrip]

I bet you can get a test done to make sure first, [ she suggests, reaching out and looping her arm around his, a kind of sideways half-hug. Toph leans into him freely, without reservation. If it's not true, it'd be awful to get his hopes up, right? Or deal with the fallout, whatever, but Toph doesn't see why it wouldn't be a good thing.

Insistently: ] I wasn't saying you'd try to force him into something, but he might want something different if he knows he has you around to be there for him.

[ Toph hesitates momentarily, then continues in a softer tone, almost tentative. ]

Believe me, I didn't want to run away. Trying to make my parents happy kept me frozen and scared of disappointing them. [ Some frustration seeps into her voice. ] If they would've supported me, I wouldn't have wasted so much time faking it. Even just knowing you're there and want whatever he wants, it's --

It means a lot, Vincent. [ And it's something she's never had. ]