TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

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Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

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Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

©

Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

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Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

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©

The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

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Comments

[brandingproblem]

[Clint lifts his mug. Solidarity.]

So many more than they know about.

[Partly due to clandestine black ops special ops super duper ultra mega secret ops missions for years and years at SHIELD. Partly due to not many people bothering to keep much track during Avengers-level events. Partly due to not many people knowing about his post-snap activities, and even then, do they know the astronomical number?

He can do 37 on a good day.

They aren't talking about any other elephants taking up space in the IHOW. Did The Big Bad Punisher experience any awful weirdness? Did he have to get a mound of insecurities shoved at him relentlessly? He's killed lots and lots of people, but some of them he actually regrets. Those killed under Loki's control--

Natasha's hardly the only one with a ledger gushing red. And maybe a lot of them deserved it. Maybe they didn't. That wasn't his to decide, except for the times he decided he got to decide. And the times when the Ronin took to the streets, a weapon without a wielder, a dog without a leash.]

Trick is, government sanctioned, or don't get caught.

[Or be on a team of fucking super heroes, but that one comes with fine print and plenty of asterisks.]

[terrorisms]

( Well shit, if that ain't a little unexpected. So many more than they know about — so not the goody-two-shoes, most wholesome avenger after Cap himself some people seem to think he is. Can't blame 'em, Clint has an unassuming air and a pleasant face. He could be anybody's neighbor.

When he shifts again this time, it's stiffly. Unhappily. His fingertips press tight into the ceramic of his mug, his hold on it carefully rigid. )

Nah, see, I did government sanctioned. ( That's the bitch of it, isn't it? ) Turns out the shit they were sanctioning was worse than anything I ever did on my own. Those thirty-seven or however many, I don't regret a single one.

( The clear, unspoken implication: the same is not true for the men he was commanded to kill. Ahmad Zubair will haunt him until the day he finally dies for real. )

As for not getting caught... I'll start wearin' a mask when I start being ashamed of what I'm doing.

( And that ain't today. )

[brandingproblem]

[Please, please describe him that way to his face someday when he could use a good laugh. Yeah. Master assassin, expert spy, so very clean and upstanding and tidy.

Clint shifts in his seat, and it doesn't help his lungs but it doesn't make them worse, something he's learning in every way he sits. He should not be upright at all, frankly. He should be in the back of an ambulance, and it wouldn't surprise him if he started dry drowning right here in front of his newfound ally(???) and die for real this time. But his shoulders ease. That's something.]

Governments usually don't know shit. [Ask him, he's one that fought on Team Cap and got chucked in jail about it. Something something Accords something. Fuck that political shit. He knows enough secrets to topple whole governments, the US included, but it's not his damn business. He can't be wielding that kind of power like it belongs to him.

He offers up a hand across the table.]

Clint.

[terrorisms]

( Governments usually don't know shit — and boy if he doesn't earn just an ounce of Frank's respect with that.

Clint offers his hand over, and thus the final assessment was made: Hawk Guy's alright.

He releases his coffee to meet him half way, and the pair of them shake hands over top of a sticky, ugly-patterned IHOW table. )

Frank Castle.

( You know, just in case the news elected to omit his real name in favor of sticking with that title they love to use so much. Punisher, big bad Punisher. Stupid, if you ask him, but he didn't come up with it, so whatever. It is what it is.

When their hands fall away, it feels a little less like having coffee with a stranger, and a little more like having coffee with a potential ally. He doesn't hold a candle to Curt — no offense, pal — but it's still nice to have a familiar face around that he's pretty sure won't try to kill him in his sleep, if for no other reason than because it'd be a real shit move after the whole mouth-to-mouth resuscitation thing.. )

You stayin' in the Blocks?

[brandingproblem]

[Even if he technically worked for the government, even if SHIELD was technically a US agency, they clearly didn't know all, or else Hydra's infiltration would never have happened. And if anyone thinks Nick Fury ever answered directly to the President instead of his own determinations...

Yeah, look, it was never a perfect system, but it was one Clint believed in wholeheartedly.

Castle. Yeah. Frank Castle, that was his name. Is his name. No need to go with their other names. Maybe on missions, but, y'know, that's real damn presumptuous. Is the world ready for a Hawkeye-Punisher teamup?

Well, this isn't their world, and it would likely be more Ronin and Punisher, and the only real difference there is one wears a mask and went international. Whatever. It's better, now. They're easing into it while they feel each other out. Guy saved his life; a lot of crimes could be pretty forgivable at that point.]

Hard to afford anything else.

[terrorisms]

( Presumptuous, but maybe not off the table. Frank tends to work alone for most jobs, but he's pulled in partners before when things got dicey. Used to depend on Russo, back when he was enlisted. Leaned on David for a while, reluctantly. Leaned on Curt a little less reluctantly. It's not often, but it could happen, maybe. If their goals line up, if they have similar problems to solve.

Imagine that shit. The Punisher working with a goddamn Avenger. Somebody call Murdock and tell him to eat shit.

He raises his chin a little in acknowledgement, in fresh understanding. )

That why you were diggin' around in there? Lookin' to sell off the meds for cash?

( He's not judging. You do what you gotta do to get by; based on the bulletin that went out ain't like they belonged to anybody. Somebody like Red would probably turn 'em over to a hospital for free, but people have to eat. People have to survive. It's not a shining beacon of heroism, but it's realistic. )

[brandingproblem]

[Clint nods. It's not very heroic, no, but everyone does what they have to to get by. Maybe by the time he got back to the city, he would've felt bad about it and donated a lot of it. But he still would've pocketed a bunch to sell off on the street then instead. Altruism's great, but it don't pay the bills. And if he didn't get trapped in that office, it would've been someone else looking to do the same thing or worse.

But the question raises a question of his own. Because Frank was clearly not there for the potential cash prize. And the rifle he had slung was--not good for up close and personal business, for sure, but maybe that's just what he had on him, like Clint lost the sword.

He tips his head as his hands cradle the mug to let the warmth seep in.] You?

[terrorisms]

( He shakes his head vaguely; nah, not exactly. Debates whether or not to elaborate, but hell, if this new alliance is brittle enough to break with the truth, better to do it now than later. )

Been tracking a handful of assholes for a few days. They monitor the forums, watch out for new fluxdrifters organizing supply runs to diffusion zones. Jump 'em after they get the goods, beat 'em down, take it for themselves, steal their cars. Leave the victims behind for whatever's out there to have.

( It's smart. A clever strategy, effective, easy. The newer the fluxdrifter, the less equipped they are to handle a raid like that. Easy pickings.

He was solving the problem. )

[brandingproblem]

[Clint's eyebrows go up, but his expression is otherwise mild. That's good. Good to track those kinds of people. Good to take care of them before they hurt more people just trying to stay alive. Yeah, it's smart, and it's awful and depraved, and can they really let those kinds of people get away with doing what they want?

They were in the building, then. Probably waiting for someone like Clint (or, someone less prepared to fight than Clint) to come do what he did. Might be that Frank Castle saved a couple people tonight.]

Altruistic.

[Maybe the idea of killing assholes shouldn't seem altruistic to an Avenger. But the Ronin most certainly approves. Even if Castle doesn't see it as altruism, what is he getting out of it, exactly? And if he's following a code of his own, he's not out there being a fucked up son of a bitch for no reason. There isn't anything he can read about it that's inherently selfish or self-serving in the act.]

[terrorisms]

( He can't help it, the singular, disbelieving laugh that escapes his throat at altruistic. Clint might be the only person in the goddamn world to call what he does altruism. What he normally gets is murderer, serial killer, monster. Vigilante at best, on a good day.

In absolute deadpan: )

Where were you when I needed a character witness?

( Not that it would've mattered. Not that it would've helped. Frank's trial had been going just fine until he tanked that shit himself. Soaked it in gasoline, struck the match, lit it on fire. He'd have torn down any character witness that spun his actions into any positive light, because he had business waiting for him inside that prison.

Still. Can't say it isn't nice to hear.

And it's not exactly inaccurate, either.

What does Frank get out of this, outside of a bad reputation? Not a whole god damn lot. An outlet, maybe, for all the anger he's got built up in him. A momentary reprieve from the ghosts of his family reminding him of all the bad in the world, and all the people that are still in it willing to do to others what was done to Frank. People taking children away from their parents, people killing wives and husbands, people leaving behind that same hollow, yawning emptiness he feels. If he gets anything out of this at all, it's just the satisfaction in knowing there's one less instance of that to go around.

Maybe what the Punisher suffers from most is bad PR and a self-sabotaging disinterest in improving that. Guess that depends entirely on your perspective. Matt Murdock would disagree. Clint Barton, evidently, might not. )

[brandingproblem]

[Retired, probably. Or on house arrest. Or somewhere between, sitting in the fucking Raft. How would Clint have felt about it at the time? Well, how had he felt about it, when the news cycle was on the Punisher, before it phased out to something else?

Doesn't matter now. He approves of the work being done right now. Is there even law enforcement to speak of here?]

You get them all?

[Even if he did, the power vacuum will mean more will take their place. Might mean the work's never really done. How's he making money? Actually working? Or looting the bodies and pawning what he doesn't need?]

[terrorisms]

( His initial answer is an unhappy grunt, his eyes peeling away to level them out toward the rainy parking lot — looking without seeing. )

Most. Not all of 'em were there tonight.

( He got all the ones that showed up, but the rest are holed up somewhere else. He'll have to go after them in their nest, most likely. The work continues.

Someone will always fill the vacuum, but the silver lining is at least he already has the direction he needs to finish the task. The first part of a mission is always the hardest — the fact finding, the investigative part. He's not bad at it, but it's less his area than doing the actual work of putting them down. )

Gonna have to handle that before they get too concerned about their buddies not coming back. Tomorrow, maybe. They get tipped off too hard that something's wrong, they might spook.

[brandingproblem]

Would offer help, but.

[But, once they're back in the city, what he really needs to do is either see if he can't check himself in at the hospital or just lay back and rest and hope he doesn't drown on land and let all of Frank the Punisher's hard work go to waste. Where's a dehumidifier when you need one? Even if he feels better from, y'know, dying, he's not going to be good to go on some kind of manhunt.]

Read about it in the paper. [Or on the forum, maybe. Clint clears his throat a few more times, but it also kind of sounds like a laugh. Maybe because he is.] Rain check. [Because he's so god damn hilarious.]

[terrorisms]

( The non-offer earns an immediate snort. Yeah, no, hell no. Guy's gonna be lucky if he doesn't wind up laid up in bed with pneumonia after this, going on a hunt the day after a little breath of life resuscitation is not in the cards. Seems weird to call a literal Avenger a potential liability, but that's exactly what he'd be, considering the state he's likely to be in.

It blooms into a full-blown — if somewhat reluctant — laugh at rain check. That's-

Stupid. That's so stupid. It's just stupid enough to be perfectly dad-humor levels of stupid, and he can't help being a sucker for it. Just for a second. Clint gets a glimpse at a rare, sideways, half-formed grin and the shake of Frank's head before it fades away again. )

Shut up and finish your coffee. I'm gonna follow you back, make sure your ass doesn't nod off and hit a jay-walker.

( And that's exactly what he'll do once they've finished. He'll pay, clamber into his minivan, and trail behind Clint at a leisurely pace just to be sure he makes it back okay. And he'll offer one parting wave as he rolls out afterward, heading back to his own motel. )