expiationlogs | TEST DRIVE MEME #12

TEST DRIVE MEME #12

Test Drive Meme #12

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 the Courthouse (formerly City Hall) and told to perform a task related to their assigned crime. Their only contact at the Courthouse 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 September 2024, that AI needed to be reset as a consequence of some catastrophic systems failures. So far, there has been no downside to this reset–but the AI has also been strangely absent since then.

-In November 2024, a strange event overtook Aldrip and turned it into a week-long eternal night where technology ceased to work. During this time, the simulation that generates Expiation seemed to malfunction, causing a strange crack to appear in the surroundings. Through this crack, characters were able to see some sort of metal enclosure. They could reach a hand in, but little more than that. This crack has disappeared, for now, but what it means for Aldrip's future remains to be seen.

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.

The missile toads can be found throughout the rest of the month of December, and there will be one prompt that is during the Solstice.

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

**REMINDER ON NEW CANONS AND CANON UPDATING**

A note about spoilers. There are a lot of canons coming out right now that players are inevitably interested. This is good! However, we’d like to remind you that we have an app wait time of two months for new canons and one month for new material, ie canon updates.

In addition to the wait times, we request that any players (and potential players!) be sensitive about spoilers. Warning for spoilers is encouraged; you can even put spoiler content behind a details tag or block it out in text. Additionally, please do not use spoiler icons in top-levels or top comments, and ask before including spoiler content (including icons) when tagging out. Thank you!

For those who may not know how to do a details tag, we'll give you a handy-dandy code!

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Arrival

You wake.

Or…you think you do.

The first thing you notice is…well, darkness, even when your eyes are open. Reaching out, you realize that you’re in a very narrowly enclosed space. You feel as if you’re probably standing up. Beyond that…well, it’s impossible to tell…

It’s a strange awakening that greets new Chosen this month: they arrived encased in coffins. Most of these, they’ll be able to open themselves. It’s possible that some of them may get a little stuck, though, meaning they’ll need some help from the outside. These coffins begin to appear in the sidewalks and open spaces of Aldrip overnight, appearing at random, and they’re all standing upright. Huh, it’s almost like they’re a specific reference or something. For an added festive touch, they’re adorned with seasonal bows and may even have wrapping paper prints on them.

Welcome to Aldrip?

JUST HEAR THOSE DRY BONES JINGLING [missile toads]

The holiday season has come to Aldrip, bringing with it all manner of festive cheer! Buildings are adorned with decorations and festive depictions. Skeletal Santa and his eight zombie reindeer, Frosty the Lavaman, Rudolph with menacing red eyes, glowing with a strangely haunting light… What, isn’t that just the normal holiday fare? Don’t your yuletide decorations spontaneously burst into flames, or grow terrifyingly sharp teeth?

Doesn’t your mistletoe come with amphibians?

That’s right: they’re back. Mistletoe has appeared throughout the city, and with it comes a seasonal infestation of missile toads. These nefarious creatures will do anything they can to get Chosen stuck under their namesake foliage, even shooting sticky substances at their feet to trap them! This substance only seems to disappear when the missile toads’ demands are met. They’ll pelt you with a little scrap of paper to tell you what those demands are, one of the following three:

”Now kiss!” Need we say more? The type of kiss required is up to you. Pucker up!
”Now fight!” Feisty little fellas, aren’t they? These toads want a show, and they won’t be satisfied until someone walks away sporting bruises.
”Now talk!” Maybe the physical stuff is too easy. This toady audience wants to hear secrets–the juicier the better! Whether one participant or both needs to confess something is up to you, as is the severity of the secret.

These creatures plague Aldrip through the end of December, but given the questions we’ve gotten about how to use them (you know who you are), this might not be the last we’ve seen of them…

[img courtesy of titsay @ twitter]

The Winter Solstice

Aldrip’s traditional Solstice feast is set to happen just after the longest night of the year, and what a feast it’s shaping up to be! Even before the Solstice itself, the town is decked out with twinkling lights and snowy decorations. In the daytime, there will be snowy fun and games: snowball fights, ice sculpting, snow fortress building, and wintery sports like ice skating. Even the locals seem to be put in a better mood!

However, Aldrip’s tradition comes with an attached superstition. The locals say that all must be indoors the night of the Solstice itself, beginning at sundown on December 21st. Tricks and misfortune await anyone outside when the dark and the cold sets in, so they say!

But then again, nothing really happened last year, so it should be fine. Right?

Well…

Any Chosen who wish to test their luck will find misfortune awaiting them in the form of snowmen patrolling the streets. These snowmen are on the lookout for any creatures out of bed, and beware–if they see you, you’ll be pelted with snowballs until you’re out of sight. Can they be snuck past? Sure, probably. They’re just snowmen, after all. You’d be right to try sneaking, too: anyone hit by one of their snowballs will find their body slowly turning to ice. Brr! Oh, and, because we’re sure someone is going to ask: the snowmen can be melted, destroyed, fought, or otherwise messed with. They melt down just to ordinary water.

Anyway, the icy affliction can only be melted by a show of affection (platonic, friendly, romantic, etc), either by the affected Chosen or toward them. It can be as simple as a funny joke or sweet story, or as complicated as you wish, but it must be genuine. The longer the afflicted Chosen goes without, the more their body turns to ice–eventually, they may become one of the ice sculptures on display around town! They can still be turned back if it comes to this point, but obviously they’ll be at the mercy of someone else’s gesture of affection, as they will be unable to move. Oh, and they’ll probably need some time to warm up.

The snowmen disappear at first light after the Solstice, and the feast begins as soon as people are able to leave their homes once more. All will be able to enjoy the festivities in peace at this point…well, except for the missile toads. They’ll still be around for the rest of the month.

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)!

♡

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It does have its perks!

[He grins.]

It sounds like you're familiar with how it works, too. That saves us some time!

[With that, he places a hand on her shoulder, and - BAMF! Before they know it, they're in some parlor that has a lit fireplace.]

There! ...Is that helping?

[ She is familiar with how BAMFing works, yes. In theory. In practice, she's never done it before. So being suddenly BAMFed into a warm, cozy parlor room leave Gwen a little giddy, partially from the instantaneous change of scenery, and partially out of pure fangirl joy.

That said, moment of truth. She pulls the blanket open to show her legs again and... No, still frozen. If anything, the ice has crept even further up her thighs.

Gwen slumps forward, feeling defeated. ]

Great. I finally get out of a comic book, only to turn into an ice sculpture...

[He looks down as she moves the blanket, and frets as he sees her ice continuing to spread.]

Oh man... This is no good at all...

[He's starting to run out of ideas! But he blinks as he thinks of what she just said.]

Wait, you were in a comic book? I don't know how that works, but that sounds like it would be really cool!

Uh, yeah... Long story, you probably won't believe half of it.

[ No one ever does. They all just assume she's crazy, spouting nonsense. It doesn't even occur to Gwen that people who are themselves stuck in a universe that is not their own might be more able to accept her whole shtick. ]

But it's not like it matters now. I won't be selling any more issues if I'm just going to go all Anna-from-Frozen here.

Hey now, my friends tell me I'm very gullible!

[He says that as if it's a good thing...]

But you're right. We got more serious things to worry about right now! I don't know who that Anna is, but I won't let you get like her! Let's see, um, what else is there? I could try to get some chicken soup! That always helps with colds. Or, uh, maybe we can hug? It might sound weird, but this is a world of weird things. Maybe it just needs a little body warmth!

That's not a selling point!

[ But it does get Gwen to sit up. She's not about to let this character assassination go uncountered. ]

And besides, that's a really reductive take. You're not gullible, or naive, or whatever. You're awesome! You show genuine interest and excitement about everything and everyone you meet. All you want is to be chill with people and feel like you fit in. Do you know how relatable that feeling is, to an awkward pre-teen looking for escapist media to forget about her sad, lonely reality?

[ Maybe she's getting a little too passionate about it, but X-Men: Evo was a really formative experience for her, and Kurt was a big part of that.

But... Maybe there's merit to her rant, after all, because she's starting to get some feeling back in her legs. She looks down at her lap and watches the icy chill melt a few inches down towards her feet. ]

Oh, hey! Something's happening!

[Kurt just... crouches there, stunned as he listens to her so suddenly defend him so fervently. And so personally, too! It's like she knows him so well.]

W-wow... thanks!

[He blinks and gives a confused smile. But then as she exclaims, he looks down and notices the melting in her legs.]

Yeah! Whatever you're doing, I think it's working! Um, keep talking about how great I am!

Um— Um...!!

[ Wow, now she feels a little put on the spot, but she can dig deep and be the fangirl of her dreams if it means that it'll melt her frozen legs! ]

Your hair is really cool! And the holographic watch thing you use to look human was such a neat storytelling device. Also, the dancing animation always looked so fun— Although, that was more to do with Rogue and Kitty than you... But, uh— UH!! I love your costume! The pointed shoulders are a real classic look that I think a lot of people forget about, and it's really a good silhouette.

[ She looks up at him appreciatively. ]

It looks even better in person, to be honest.

[It's helping her and helping his ego! The best of both worlds! Though he does feel slightly nervous about how much she knows about him.]

I am a master of the dance floor! So you know about the watch too! And Rogue and Kitty... Y-you sure know me well!

[He chuckles uncertainly. Though she's not sure what she means by more to do with them. Still, it really sounds like she's specifically describing him and not some other Nightcrawler. Which is kind of a big thing considering he hasn't met anyone here who knows this specific version of him. It's definitely wild!]

But, um, thank you! Thank you! I'll be here all week! Heh, talk about an icebreaker!

[ Gwen's decently insightful, and has a lot of experience in making people uncomfortable with the things she says or how much she knows about them. So, she clocks that uncertainty in Kurt's laugh and reels in her enthusiasm. ]

I'm sorry. I'm not making things awkward, am I? I promise, I can try to explain how I know all this stuff... [ Hopefully in a way that won't either break Kurt's brain or make him think she's delusional. ] But it actually does seem to be working!

[ She can wiggle her toes again now! Look! ]

No, no, it's fine!

[He chuckles as he makes a placating gesture with his hands.]

It was just, um, unexpected. That's all! [He grins.] And hey, it did work. Awesome! That's the most important part.

[ Testing out her newfound freedom, Gwen stretches her legs out in front of her, moving her feet in circles to warm up her ankles again. ]

It's just weird, though... What sort of after school special lesson are we supposed to learn from that? "You gotta give someone a genuine compliment or else it's ice statue time!" What's the moral here?

[He rubs at his head uncertainly.]

Yeah, I'm not really sure what the point was. Maybe it was the warmth of being really nice to someone? I mean, you even talked about how I helped you feel less lonely! That sounds pretty heartwarming to me.

Heh. Literally heartwarming. Yeah, I could see that being the moral of the story.

[ In any case, it feels good to have working legs again. Gwen stands up, bouncing her knees slightly just to get feeling back in her extremities. As she does, she looks around at the parlor room they're in. ]

Where did you BAMF me to, anyway?

Double meaning score! Totally awesome!

[Kurt grins.]

Would you believe we're in a mansion? You might be familiar with it if you know me. It's a place that's been home for us X-Men. [Specifically the 90s Animated version!]

[ Gwen's eyes widen and she jumps to her feet. ]

Ohmygosh ohmygosh... We're in the X-Mansion right now? For real!??!

[ How does a girl get so lucky to have so many dreams come true?? ]

Can I get a tour? I wanna see everything.

[He laughs at her excitement. All of this is making him feel like some kind of important celebrity and probably not good for his ego!]

For realsies. Someone managed to bring it into this world!

[Just without its actual owner that it's named after... it's fine.]

I'll totally be the number one tour guide! As long as you're good to walk. [A beat.] Also, it'd be nice to know who you are!

I didn't know you could do that!

[ Being able to bring stuff from other realities into the isekai with you isn't normal isekai mechanics, Gwen thinks, but she does think the idea is pretty cool. ]

Oh, I'm Gwen! Gwen Poole. I'm a mutant too, but I'm not with the X-Men.

[ She does some quick jumping jacks and jogging in place to show that she's completely unmelted, fit as a fiddle, and ready to go on a tour. ]

C'mon, let's go! I've never been to the X-Mansion before! [ And she wants to make sure she can see as much of it as she can before someone realizes she's not supposed to be there and kicks her out. ]

I know! It's wild, right? I knew there was a way we could get things from home, but I didn't realize it could include actual homes! [He laughs.]

It's good to meet you, Gwen! So you're a fellow mutant. That's cool!

[He laughs some more at her little demonstration and flashes some three-fingered thumbs up.]

Then it's time you got a good luck at it! Alright, here we go...!

[With that, he leads her on a tour! And only occasionally gets things wrong or takes wrong turns due to it not being his version of the mansion. Oh well!]

[ Gwen doesn't even seem to notice or care about the wrong turns. She's just excited to get a peek into (a version of) a place she's dreamed about visiting her whole fangirl life. She tries to be a good house guest and not touch anything she's not supposed to, or stray from the path, no matter how much she wants to ask if they can take a detour to the Danger Room. But she figures it's probably best not to push her luck, in the hopes of actually getting an invitation to come back sometime when she's not in immediate danger of turning into an ice statue. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME #12

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