TDM: JULY 2023

[citycenter]

TEST DRIVE MEME

A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION. You wake up on a train. Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words— WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION? ▶ YES ▶ NO Please take a moment to complete your orientation. Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale. As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, and 9. If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need. Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming. TO THE NORTH The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information. Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk. The main feature of the tourist center is the interactive kiosk installed dead in the center, right in the middle of a few rows of uncomfortable chairs that fill the small room. It's noticeably in the way of any would-be foot traffic through the tourist center, and something about the technology seems a little more modern than the computer behind the desk or the landline phone on the wall. The kiosk is a tall silver rectangle, about average adult height, and the upper half is a screen welcoming visitors to touch it to activate the kiosk. If you were to touch it, the screen would come to life with simple dialogue inviting visitors to ask it their questions. However, residents should note that the kiosk is only programmed to assist with exploration within the available areas of the city. It may not be able to answer every question, and tampering with the kiosk may result in unreliable or inaccurate answers! TO THE SOUTHWEST The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat. As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long. Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky. TO THE EAST The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that. A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business. You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like. The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils. As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen. Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building. JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS SO A TURKEY WALKS INTO A BOWLING ALLEY... There's a bowling alley open in the newly-accessible district, and you're invited to come test your mettle! Walking into the lobby, you're struck by a peculiar combination of scents—shoe polish, floor wax, pretzels and nachos, and something pungent and a little oily. On the wall behind the desk is a shelf full of pair after pair of shoes, in every size you could possibly imagine, and there's a low rack filled with brightly-colored, heavy bowling balls that are ready for the taking. You can also hear the low hum of machinery and the rattle of pins being reset every time someone knocks them down, the bowling alley a well-oiled machine despite the fact that no one seems to be manning it. You can bowl alone, start a match play (1-v-1), or bowl as a team, but you'll quickly find that bowling is much more fun (and somehow easier) when you're playing with others. Maybe it's because being around other people raises your spirits, but you feel more confident when you step up to bowl, and you find that when you're playing as part of a team, the bowling ball travels faster and in a straighter line, and you seem to be making strikes and spares with much greater frequency. Teamwork really does make the dream work! If you occasionally see what you think might be the shadow of someone passing behind the machinery at the far end of the lane, don't worry about it—that's probably just your imagination. If you stop by the bowling alley at night, you will find the place totally transformed. There's a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and brightly-colored lights flashing and dancing around the floor and walls. Any white parts of your clothing glow a delightful blueish color, and you find that you're illuminated in all kinds of interesting shades by the blacklight bulbs glowing in the ceiling. This is cosmic bowling, truly not for the faint of heart! When you've finished bowling, you may want to stop by the snack area for a pretzel or hot dog, a soda, or—if you're there for cosmic bowling—maybe even a more adult beverage from the food counter on the far end of the building. There isn't anything especially spooky about the bowling alley—except, of course, being forced to wear shoes that have been worn by a hundred strangers before. Characters are welcome to find their shoe size, grab a bowling ball, and go to town! Characters who come during the day will encounter a normal bowling alley, but they can always come back at night to get the full cosmic bowling experience. There will always be shoes in their sizes, the pins will reset themselves, and the balls will always be returned. Just be careful, those ball chutes can crush your fingers if you're not careful! JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS WILDCARD. The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back. If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations. JUMP TO TOP ↑

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welt yang / honkai star rail

[indwelt]

CITY PARK

[ there's a man, dressed in a gray overcoat and scarf, standing in front of the various statues adorning the city park. in his hands is a small notebook (properly paid for at one of the storefronts!) and a pencil that flies across the page in steady strokes. he's sketching, apparently, a look of thoughtful concentration on his face.

a peek reveals that he's sketching the sight in front of him, though what's strange is the presence of a giant mecha slotted between the statues that definitely isn't there in real life... artistic liberties, maybe?? ]

DINER

[ he's seated at one of the tables, a bowl of still warm soup in front of him. there's a small pile of coins by the unmanned register - payment for goods and services even though there's no one to collect it.

the door jingles and he looks up from his meal. ]

There's food in the kitchen, and a restroom in the back. Help yourself. The drink station's a little finicky; try slamming the side a few times if nothing comes out.

[ he's deemed himself unofficial employee of this place, it seems. ]

BOWLING

[ despite the headache-inducing lights that flash through the bowling alley, he can't help but smile as he browses through the collection of bowling bowls by the lanes. they remind him of pom-pom's various experiments to liven up the express, and he thinks wistfully of how nice it would be if the rest of the crew were here, or even his family from home.

but just because his dear friends aren't here doesn't mean he's alone. what kind of protector of humanity would he be if he opened his heart to only a select few people and shunned others? the smile on his face is small but genuine as he gestures for the person in the next lane to pick out a ball first. ]

It's been a long time since I've been bowling. No need to go easy on me though; I'll be sure to do my best.

[ it's actually quite exciting, to be able to do something as mundane as this. a middle-aged man probably shouldn't look as eager to bowl as he does right now. ]

NETWORK
@ weltyang

Does anyone else find it suspicious that no other creatures seem to be present in the place? Even in the most extreme of conditions, there are always some lifeforms that have learned to adapt.

WILDCARD

[ hit me. i'm still familiarizing myself with honkai impact 3rd so forgive me if i miss something. ]

network;

[cooperatively]

kits

maybe there's nothing left TO adapt

or the vibes are so rancid the animals have decided to stay away. they're more sensitive to things like that, i hear, and this place is pretty fuckin bizarre that i'd believe it.

either way probs not a good thing it's just us rn

[indwelt]

No, I can't imagine it's a good thing.

[ his welt(tm) senses are tingling ]

Have you been here long? You sound quite knowledgeable about this place.

[cooperatively]

nah, i just got here. i'm just making a wild guess based on experience with the animals where i'm from.





plus the fact it feels like the setting for some cheap post-apoc horror movie with how empty this place is and how some shit is super overgrown and worn.

[indwelt]

[ that gets a smile out of him ]

It does, doesn't it? Though I prefer old-school animation myself.

But there must be something in charge of upkeep around here. All the machines I saw were in working condition, and the power and plumbing are all functional. Some sort of energy source we can't see? Or do you suppose what we can see is but a small part of a larger simulation?

network, un: 131

[breakpoint]

Suggesting that nothing was ever here to begin with, then?

[indwelt]

That, or whatever caused the absence of life was both recent and immediate enough to wipe everything out without allowing anything to regrow. But the plantlife here appears to be thriving, so it's strange that nothing else is growing alongside it.

[ he's no biologist though, so ]

[breakpoint]

It's almost easier thinking about what does make sense rather than what doesn't. Our arrival, the city itself, the generation of necessities.

Then there's the boundary.

[indwelt]

The boundary?

@gepard

[def]

[ hello, it's me ]

Mr Yang?
Of the Astral Express?

[indwelt]

[ hello, i'm so sorry i died on bakerstreet 😔 ]

Yes, this is Welt Yang with the Astral Express. [ gepard...gepard.... ] Are you Gepard, Captain of the Silvermane Guards in Belobog?

[ how many other gepards are out there who know his name....surely he can't be that infamous yet ]

[def]

[ well he's seen him plenty in the times he's boarded the express, so. ]

Yes, it seems we've both found ourselves in similar circumstances.
Are Dan Heng and the others here as well?

[indwelt]

If they are, I haven't been able to contact them yet. Did you just arrive as well?

diner

[concierto]

[While Venti doesn't eat all that much on the regular he is a bit ... parched. So he finds himself wandering into the diner himself at the sight of brightly lit "drink" signs. When he peeks in Venti spies the man with a bit of a raised eyebrow. Who's that tall dark and handsome!]

Oh hello! Excuse me! This "drink station" doesn't happen to have anything... like wine and spirits? Does it?

[Ehe.]

[indwelt]

[ hello young man, aren't you a little too young to be drinking?? his dad instincts are kicking in. ]

No wine or anything of the sort [ said with a vague disapproving air ] but there's some juice in one of the refrigerators in the kitchen.

[ honestly there's probably some booze tucked away too - gotta have all the right ingredients for boozy milkshakes! - but. this kid doesn't need to know that. ]

[concierto]

[Wow! Venti has his old man club card just as much as Welt does!!

Not that Venti portrays that fact very well. Especially not with how he tilts his head to the side and pouts innocently...]

Only juice? Now that's a bit disappointing. There's nothing like a crisp glass of fresh sweet wine to calm the nerves, after all.

[And good great Celestia would he like to be drunk right now.]

Are you sure? Not even a drop? It looks like you could use a bit of it too!

[indwelt]

[ arguably venti deserves to be in the old man club way more than welt does, but that's neither here nor there.

what is here is the way welt's frown deepens more at that innocent look. ]

Do you usually make it a habit of midday drinking?

[ is this what the youths do these days in different universes?? he is so out of touch. ]

Bowling

[spectreless]

[ The person who rises to accept the invitation looks anachronistic in dress; authentically from a much earlier era. Still, missing friends and other assorted loved ones is an intrinsically relatable feeling as it were.

The returning smile is warm even when she raises a high arched eyebrow with aplomb. ]

I hadn't been planning on it. I do believe that we should both try our best.

[ She lines up with the lane, takes aim, and releases the bowling ball all convincingly enough; but it's like she's accustomed to a different version of the game. That earlier confidence makes this gutter ball all the more excruciating. ]

...Darn it.

[indwelt]

[ she's got spirit, that's for sure, and it rouses his own usually dormant enthusiasm into life. while she steadies herself at the mouth of the lane, he picks out his ball of choice: black, with red swirls. an homage to arahato, not that anyone here would recognize the name. he hefts it once and then twice before nodding it in satisfaction, and looks up just in time to watch the young woman toss her ball down the lane and right into the gutter.

he can't help it; he smiles wide. ]

Everyone needs a good warm-up before they can bowl their best.

[ words of encouragement even if she doesn't need them, said kindly as he takes his own place before the line. he gives his ball a few experimental swings before launching it forward for real, watching as it spins down the lane in a shockingly straight line and knocks over a good seven pins. ]

A lucky throw.

[ is that modesty, or is he just trying to throw her off the scent? ]

[spectreless]

[ Without being acquainted she wouldn't know for sure whether her opponent is being overly modest or not. What actually does matter is how he seems good-natured and a touch of friendly competition with that sort is a welcome reprieve from the overwhelming circumstances. This time it's a bowling ball with accents of a lovely cornflower blue that she selects. Not really her color, personally, but it might suit another who has been on her mind. ]

Still that's quite the excellent start for you! At least there's time for me to catch up.

[This time when Lenore takes a turn there's a aggressive spin placed on the ball. It arcs unpredictably only to hit all but a single pin topple down. Such is her luck; it's very thematically a devastating failure before smashing success or vice versa. The second throw at the machine at the bowling alley's behest misses the remaining pin entirely.

Lopsided grin in place she gestures for Welt to take her spot at the line with a small half bow and small hand gesture. ]

I believe I might've stolen at least some of your luck.

Diner

[codenametesla]

[Despite her best attempt to stifle it, a very startled yelp erupts out of her when someone actually talks as she enters the small diner.
thank goodness she didn't still spark when startled

While she put one hand over her heart, as if that would somehow slow the hammering, she did her best to otherwise look... 'normal' as she walked further in and spotted the face behind the voice that had startled her, glad that she had finally found...

Except he had no uniform, was seated and was eating, so... not a worker?]

Oh really...?

[Yeah, she's still trying to process what he actually said while she so rudely screeched, give her a moment.]

[indwelt]

[ he winces at the sudden shout, a pang of contrition echoing through his heart. maybe he should have waited until she noticed him first....? but what's done is done, and all he can do now is apologize for his overstep.

his spoon's set down and he stands partway up from his seat, a frown on his face. ]

I apologize. I didn't mean to startle you. Are you looking for anything in particular?

[ maybe he can help her find it...it's the least he can do!! ]

[codenametesla]

No it's... fine. [She almost automatically said it was her fault, but she hadn't really done anything now, had she? No damage at least, and it was hardly his fault either that she had been so tense she hadn't even noticed him.

So she tried to force a smile that she at least felt a little more than she had a minute ago, and waved at him to sit back down.]

This city is just so... empty. I didn't expect to actually run into anyone.

[Honestly, she had SO MANY QUESTIONS for this man who seemed to be accustomed to how things worked here, but now that the adrenaline was running out, the idea of food had her stomach growling.]

Is... the food good?

hell yes finally the cr I always wanted. I can quit rp now. [•CITY PARK•]

[fortify]

[ Normal people would probably try to be a little sneakier about looking over a stranger's shoulder... but nope, not Zhongli. Considering the individual is alone and looks greatly engrossed in what they are doing, Zhongli can't help but want to see, too. Besides, it's better not to interrupt if he is that deep in thought, right?

Cue one old man eventually (possibly, unless Welt's that focused) entering another old man's peripheral vision as Zhongli approaches from the side and... really just leans in a bit to get a look.

Oh. A very large robot. Amazing how many individuals here seem to be accustomed to such incredibly complex technology. Truly fascinating, it makes modern Teyvat look ancient, even if the technology of long ago was lost in that cataclysmic event was considered.

(Although the Traveler did mention encountering something visually similar in Sumeru, did they not? Well, still, this looks more streaming and not a one-off.)

So, giant robots just hang out normally in this man's world even though they don't really seem to fit sizewise for everyday m walls in the park they're in? Yeah, okay, Zhongli thinks that's totally reasonable somehow. ]

You are quite the talented sketch artist. Is the subject in the image one of your own? [ like... a pet? ...A large child?????? Maybe? ]

I NEVER GOT THIS NOTIF, I'M SO SORRY

[indwelt]

[ two old mihoyo men walk into a city park—

he doesn't expect to be alone for too long even with how quiet the landscape is, and so the interruption when it comes is acknowledged with a raise of his head from his sketchbook and a smile, his incoming company seen as welcome rather than an annoyance. ]

I was an animator for eight years. I would hope I'd have learned enough skill to be good at my job.

[ but in case zhongli is curious, welt tilts the sketchbook towards the other man, holding it out in case he wants a better look. ]

The figure is called Arahato. It was a television series that aired for quite a few years in my world. Mecha anime remains pretty popular no matter the era, it seems.