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Mods ([personal profile] modblob) wrote in [community profile] redmarsshit2020-04-27 08:43 pm
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test drive meme: april 2020

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.

▶ SPECIAL NOTE: We're only a month off from the 1 year anniversary of the first TDM, and we received this request for a fancy dress ball, so we thought it would be funny fun to run with it! This TDM will only have one prompt/event, as the monthly log with a bit more plot-related stuff will be going up on Friday May 1st.

a. an invitation.

There are ears everywhere in Anchor. A maintenance bot here, a surveillance AI there. SINI, restlessly pacing the dark digital hallways as she watches over the things that still matter to her. It doesn't take long for word to get out about Starscream's expedition plans. It takes an even shorter time for that news to circulate amongst Anchor's robo-population.

They know when you're unhappy. They always know.

It's why residents will start waking up one fine day to find gorgeous clothes laid out for them to wear and an invitation to a formal dinner taking place down at the plaza at Anchor’s base. The clothes aren't particularly specific to a character's gender, species, or culture - it's all about what the bots think your character would like best. Even if they're wildly off the mark, the clothes are still made to fit and fashioned beautifully. The invitations are marked "TOMORROW, STARTING AT 6PM LOCAL TIME." A smaller note underneath instructs attendees to see the tailor bot adjacent to the spa if they are unsatisfied with their assigned clothing, and also that the spa bots are on high alert, prepared to beautify anyone who wants some extra pampering and a dash of makeup.

Just be careful. Some of the makeover bots are really fond of glitter.


b. quite the spread.

True to the word of the invitation, the plaza is closed off under large white tents and guarded by bots who encouragingly steer you elsewhere should you try to get inside. They're nice, polite, all the things they've been programmed to be whether they like it or not, but there will be no sneaking by them into the party area.

At 6pm on the dot the day after the clothes arrive, characters will find music playing on all levels of Anchor, broadcast from the musical robots who have been practicing ever since that first tiny party almost a year ago.

Invitations will be taken by a bot in an impeccably tailored suit, and characters will be welcomed onto the red carpet that curves around the edge of the park and into the area cordoned off for festivities. The flashbulbs and cheering of bots that line the carpet echo through Anchor, broadcast along with the music until it sounds like the entire place is full of faintly electronic cheering. Each arrival is greeted with a fresh wave of enthusiasm, their image projected larger than life against the interior of Anchor's dome.

The sides of the tents have been rolled up, revealing the absolutely decadent set-up within.

Rows upon rows of buffet tables laid out with the most extravagant and strange dishes for residents to try. All of it delicious, though not all of it will appeal to every palate. There are sweet dishes, savory, spicy, whatever you can imagine. Appetizers of a hundred different kinds. Fruit plates formed into works of art, showing places and events from around Anchor. There are spun sugar reindire. Tiny plates of hors d'oeuvres that depict the faces of residents, both current and former. One particularly large dish is sculpted in the shape of what looks like an explosion emanating from Anchor's base, near where the locked and flooded rooms were found.

There's a cake near the middle of it all, frosting painting an image of a young, smiling man. Anyone who's seen him will, after a moment, recognize the whole and handsome features of a much younger Creepy Joe - the words on the cake say LET'S CELEBRATE OUR OLDEST LIVING RESIDENT!

While most of the food is at least recognizably from the general stores and from the agricultural level, there are other plants and garnishes that look entirely foreign. If asked where they came from, the bots will simply insist they're part of Anchor’s available resources.

There is also a full-service bar, but...not manned by the usual bartender (for anyone who might ask, the other bots will kindly inform them that the usual bartender is on sabbatical for stress). Instead there's a freshly-built bot serving drinks of all kinds, taking requests for old favorites and mixing up new cocktails based on guests' stated tastes.

The only thing not on the menu is a tequila sunrise.

There's a table full of hookahs and little treats that have various light, pleasant effects. These range from simple mood lifts to treats that will leave characters blissed out and relaxed.


c. dance, our residents, dance!

After people have finished arriving, the band picks up and guests' attention is directed upward toward Anchor's dome, where there's a truly magnificent light show being projected with musical accompaniment. It's spectacular, haunting and beautiful...and it shows more than just lights. It also shows celestial bodies in motion across the planet's dusk-red sky, meteor showers, strange northern lights. The show itself is almost an hour long, and ends with words unfurling across the apex of the dome.


HAPPY +1 ANNIVERSARY ANCHOR #3, THE LONGEST RUNNING COLONY.

STAY HERE, STAY HAPPY!



The show fades away and the music picks up again, encouraging guests to dance.

Go on, dance.

It’s a party after all.


d. the network.

Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to ask a friend to back you up to take out the toothy voids? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?

Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.



birdical: (💋 (when the water runs deep))

[personal profile] birdical 2020-06-23 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
What are you going for, then? It may help me understand, and choose better.

[It was very lovely suit with gorgeous fabric that was so soft. Qubit is clearly missing out.]
numerouno: (XXII)

[personal profile] numerouno 2020-06-23 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
Scaramouche turns his head, holding the mercenary's look with a curious stare of his own before bringing his attention back to the fire. The seconds tick by in silence. He can already see the flames dancing, the likeliest path they'll take, how they'll get taller and taller until they reach the roof of the tent.

Without a word, he calmly strolls down the length of the table, scoops up a pitcher, then calmly strolls back. Carefully pouring the water over the worst of the fire, each steaming hiss makes his eyes narrow a little until his frown has deepened into one of annoyance.
Edited 2020-06-23 05:55 (UTC)
birdical: (💋 (so close to touching freedom))

[personal profile] birdical 2020-06-24 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
"I thought you may have found something more beautiful to put there," she answers, leaning into his touch. Scaramouche sure knows how to handle a lady.

She slides her hand down to the lapel of his jacket, her gaze following. "There are so many here who do not know how to dress for a party, but you? I knew you would know how. This color suits you."
writtendestiny: (057)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2020-06-25 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
It looks sufficient to me.

[She shoots him a sly, amused smile and pats his arm. Not so much a compliment as a statement of fact, as far as she's concerned. Poison thinks that Carlisle looks just fine, and given the struggles he's been dealing with since he got here she's glad to see that he came at all.]

I don't think that anyone back home would recognise me, looking like this.
writtendestiny: (029)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2020-06-25 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh-- thank you."

She still isn't sure what she thinks of the dress - if she likes it, or if she'd ever wear anything like it again (Peter likes it, and that's a plus as far as she's concerned), but it's... kind of nice to get a compliment.

Poison has never had many compliments.

"I'm not a very good dancer."
writtendestiny: (010)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2020-06-25 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
She glances down at his hand, then back up at him with a speculative expression... just for a moment before she slips her small hand into his and gives it a firm shake.

"I'm Poison. I've been here for... a while."
vosseeker: (twenty-eight.)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-06-26 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Starscream still hasn't ruled out his previous plan, but for the moment he'll stick with talking. "New arrivals are... sporadic," he allowed. "Which given how few of us there actually are here, should make it more obvious when an unfamiliar face shows up. There should be better protocols in place for it."

True, the arrival video covered the basics, but it was also misleading as to the colony's current state.

"I am Starscream. Your name?"
vosseeker: (twenty-nine.)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-06-26 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Starscream glances up at the walkway at the voice and question, pausing his ridiculous contorting. The haughty refusal is halfway out of his vocalizer before it stalls, because he would rather go without any adornment at all than sloppy paintwork, and the latter was looking more and more likely if he continued on as he was.

So he harrumphs, sulky, but bobs his head after a moment. ]


Well... perhaps that would be... prudent. Yes.
vosseeker: (thirty-three.)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-06-26 05:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think constructing a likeness intended to be eaten could be construed as something other than a compliment," he clarifies. In classic Starscream, he's definitely looking for offense where there's really none to be found.
vosseeker: (Default)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-06-26 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
For us, I'd assume. If we're content, even minimally, we are less likely to act out destructively.

I'd gather more information about the strengths and weaknesses of those assembled here. Decide how best to utilize them. Letting everyone do their own agenda isn't productive.
vosseeker: (fifty-seven.)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-06-26 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"So I am old and set in my ways," he deadpans, though he means it clearly in humour, because if anything, he is the opposite. Adaptability has always been a strength of his, even a necessity. For all Megatron enjoyed disparaging him, he did know his own value as far as a military commander went.

"But it's good to enjoy yourself. The automatons have certainly put forward the illusion of earnestness for all this."
vosseeker: (Default)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-06-26 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Very little in the way of research, unfortunately. The assembled non-natives are more often focused on their own personal projects to mount much of a combined effort.

[ Starscream himself had been drawn into the same, sidelining general research into a specific project which benefited none but himself, but it was also a matter of having fuel for himself, so he considered that perfectly reasonable. ]

Unfortunately, marshaling the collective inhabitants here to any singular goal is like herding photovoltaic cats.
kaballin: (Default)

[personal profile] kaballin 2020-06-27 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
"Never knew you had it in you." He's moved onto eating some tiny appetizers on toothpicks off a plate so delicate he could crush it in his fingers with barely any effort.

"Since when are you one to do 'the right thing'?" Granted he doesn't really know Scaramouche that well, but doesn't seem like him. And whats a little property damage between friends?
numerouno: do not take (CXXXIV)

[personal profile] numerouno 2020-06-27 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
Scaramouche shows some teeth at that, his grin growing wider.

"Like what, babydoll?" It isn't really a question; they're not talking about the flower, are they. He strokes her cheek a little while longer; he likes doing what she likes him to do.

He drops his hand just as her eyes fall to his jacket. "Everybody's got style, babe. Some just need more help finding it than others." The tailor bot picked this out for him, but he won't admit that now. His voice turns smooth and honeyed as he leans in again, gently curling a forefinger beneath her chin, another whisper of cool metal against warm skin, hoping it coaxes her eyes back to his. "You're stealing the show tonight, if you ask me."
redwinekindofgirl: (115)

[personal profile] redwinekindofgirl 2020-06-27 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Uh... yeah? No one else here, is there."

She gestures around them. Admittedly, there are people around... but no one else within earshot. Her attention follows the bar bot while it makes her drink.

"I've looked around, but I don't know where they go when they're not... doing whatever it is they do."
writtendestiny: (100)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2020-06-27 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Really?

[She is not going to stand on his feet, but the idea sticks in her head. Peter is very strong, she knows this, but...

Weird.

Poison isn't used to being in this kind of position. Definitely not in this kind of position with someone who makes her chest flutter like this (and he still makes her chest flutter all the time, damn it). His hand touches her waist and she almost flinches, making a soft sound in the back of her throat that comes out as a sort of speculative 'hmm'.
]

I-- I guess so. [And she puts her hand on his shoulder, looking up at him as she does.] Like that.
towhatmatters: (→12)

[personal profile] towhatmatters 2020-06-28 12:22 pm (UTC)(link)
So maybe that name isn't the strangest thing he's ever heard, but it's still a very strange name, and he raises an eyebrow.

"Poison? Who gave you that name?"
itsnotaonesie: (53)

[personal profile] itsnotaonesie 2020-06-29 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, just like that.

[Perfect. So, now Peter's going to look down and make sure his feet are like in the right place HMM]

Oookay, so. This part I don't remember quite as well, uh... [just give him a second to like, remember how feet work. he takes a couple of experimental steps and then seems to at least kind of remember what he's supposed to be doing.]

Okay, just follow my lead. Like, if I take a step forward, you take a step back.
writtendestiny: (028)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2020-06-29 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Mm... [She nods thoughtfully, both at what he says first and his answer to her question.

It's about what she suspected... and expected, for the latter.
]

So, you'd want to be in command.
numerouno: (CIV)

[personal profile] numerouno 2020-07-02 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
An ember or two are all that remain after the pitcher has dripped its last drop; he flattens one with his thumb and snuffs out the other with the base of the jug.

"I do what's good for me, babe." He faces him now, glowering. "Send this shindig up in smoke and we'll be stuck with tree sap for dessert."
vosseeker: (Default)

[personal profile] vosseeker 2020-07-02 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ The look Starscream gives her is sly and shameless both. ]

Obviously.
writtendestiny: (040)

[personal profile] writtendestiny 2020-07-02 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"I did."

She's grown used to people not asking about her name. They always did back home, but when she's around so many people with far stranger names than her... People from other countries, other planets, people who hadn't even thought to question the name when she gave it.

But she still has the explanation ready.

"I chose it. At my naming ceremony, when I was fourteen."
towhatmatters: (→22)

[personal profile] towhatmatters 2020-07-03 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh."

His eyebrows shoot up, not so much out of surprise as just ... acceptance. He stops himself from asking about it, though he definitely wants to. If she chose it herself, why? It didn't exactly have positive connotations. It seems like a rather personal question to ask a complete stranger, because the reason may very well be ... well. Personal.

"Okay."

Not much else to say about it, so. That's what he's got.
superposition: (So what difference does it make?)

[personal profile] superposition 2020-07-03 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yeah, gosh, if only they had a men's green velvet suit, that wasn't currently being worn by someone else,,, ]

You know. Something... [ vague gesticulation ] ... dignified. Elegant. Sleek, but erring on the side of understated. Does that make sense? Ideally I'd like to come off as handsome, but not to the point of flamboyance.

[ For fuck's sake, Qubit, just say "masculine," we all know that's what you mean. ]
numerouno: (CXX)

[personal profile] numerouno 2020-07-05 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"You're asking me because I'm a bot?"

His carefree smile should be enough of a hint that he isn't offended.

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