diademooc | TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

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TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

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

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.

Main Navigation ::: ⇅ Top

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( cassian will be taken from S2 of andor specifically ep. 2, Sagrona Teema! it's relatively early on, but these prompts should be relatively spoiler-free and i'll write around them. please note that cassian's story heavily involves themes of war, assassination, imperialism and racism. if you'd like no spoilers, or would like to opt-out due to the cw's, please shoot me a pm or reach out on discord and let me know! )

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— fluxdrift 💫 arrival

[ At this point in his life, Cassian really shouldn't be all that surprised that he's somehow ended up in another bizarre situation. Sure he's disgruntled, feels like he's got a big lump the size of a geejaw egg growing atop his head, and has no fucking idea where he is. But somehow, this ('this' being waking up in a hospital bed being informed by some Yom Crook that he's been saddled with debt - because the specifics aren't important) isn't the weirded situation he's ever been in.

...And if he's being honest it's a better situation than he had been in before arriving here. Of course he'd like to get back to his galaxy. He has to. Needs to. And he needs to return far sooner than the six months they've allegedly said it will take to pay off the debt. But until he can find more civilization and answers, he may as well take a car and set out. Maybe you encounter him while trying to pick out a car or as he pours over the manual.

Or maybe you encounter him on the road. It doesn't take him long to figure out how to drive his car. The stick shift isn't so outrageously different from any ship he's flown and far easier than the one he'd been tasked with acquiring. And sure it looks horrifically stupid with something Yom Crook had cheerfully called a, "spoiler, yes yes"! But it's fast and it's reliable and that's really all he needs. And it's kind of fun to drive if he's being honest. Or fun until his tire blows out.

Hopefully he doesn't Tokyo Drift style slam into your car. Or run you over. But if you do happen to be in a car and you've both come to a screeching halt he'll call out rather wearily - ]

...Any chance you have a spare?

[ And if he's accidentally sent you flying? Please have a very stressed and swearing man running to your side. ]

— panorama 💫 the pavilion

[ A man has to eat. Even a man in debt. But there are other things in the supermarket aside from just groceries. There's a whole aisle dedicated to household droids but Cassian would probably affectionately (read: reluctantly) refer to as relics. He knows from experience not to judge a book by its cover. Just because it looks beat up and ready to fall apart doesn't mean it's broken. But even has to admit that he doesn't believe any of these are going to last very long. Take the one he's standing in front of for example. The paint is chipped and faded, the LEDS for one its eyes is busted and at least three of its four wheels look like it's about to fall off. And apparently it's meant to purify air. Wanting to take a closer look he touches a button prompting it to whir to life. Its little eye blinks up at him as the ears cheerfully wiggle and -

It puffs a giant cloud of dust in his face. The droid doesn't so much as chirp as it does sing. And when it's done it calls out, "Air has been purified!" Except it's not in any language he knows. Though to anyone passing by it does sound vaguely Korean. That is the least of his concerns though since he's currently standing dumbfounded and coughing as the dust settles on his face. ]

— panorama 💫 the blocks
[ Ever resourceful he's managed to find a motel room that is mostly clean for he and his meagre belongings in this world which now includes a droid that seems insistent on following him due to some bizarre line of code that has been programmed into it.

He figures if he has to be saddled with a droid however he can't just let this thing continue to look like it's going to fall apart. ...And frankly he's just tired of it puffing out dust at random intervals throughout the day doing the exact opposite of what it's intended to do. Life continues to throw curveballs his way however. When he's finally acquired a toolkit that looks like it will do the job the power cuts. Letting out a world weary sigh he heads out into the hallway, the droid whirring as it follows him out the door into the hallway babbling something in what sounds like yet another language to him that he can't understand. Maybe you're trying to see what the commotion is all about. Or you're trying to find a solution to the problem too. Regardless you'll be addressed by a man (and his droid) - ]

Any idea where the circuit board is?

[ Or maybe you don't make it very far down the hall. Because in this scenario, Cassian doesn't even make it out the door. Because standing in front of his door is a complete stranger who's decided to take it upon themselves (for whatever reason) to punch the owner of this room square in the jaw. And that person just happens to be Cassian. He only manages to get out what is more baffled than outraged - ]

What was that for!?

[ Before a fight breaks out as the stranger launches themselves at him thus continuing the theme of Situations finding Cassian and certainly not the other way around. ]

— wildcard 💫 what it says on the tin
[ Make your own adventure! ]

[it's not that jyn exceptionally knows what she's doing out here; on the contrary, she knows about as much about driving the truck she'd been handed the keys to as much as she does some fucking bathhouse for rich people on coruscant — which is to say, nothing really at all. but, but, she's confident that most people on the road are fucking idiots.

case in point: whoever had let one of their tires blow out, whoever had started to allow themselves to spin out in the middle of traffic. that is an idiot.

and one she has neither the dwindling time, nor the steadily fraying patience, to deal with.

hands gripping the controls (the wheel) until her knuckles turn white, she swerves the truck, until it collides with the spinning vehicle and forces it out of the road.

there. how does this idiot like that?]

[ When someone's tire blows and is then subsequently sent careening into someone else's vehicle, the last thing they expect to happen is for the person they hit to retaliate by hitting them right back. It's a little ridiculous. Actually, it's more than a little. It just is.

(Though if he's being honest, he probably would have reacted in a similar fashion had their positions been reversed. But that's neither here nor there.)

Already in the throes of trying to keep his car upright he now has to overcompensate his turning to stay upright the other way. Whether this person knows it though, they had inadvertently prevented him from toppling over completely into the ditch. When they come to a screeching halt he all but throws himself out of the car, annoyance written across his face as he storms over to the driver's side of the truck. ]

What were you thinking? My tire blew out - you could have made things worse!

[the idiot is probably going to have something to say, some kind of stupid defense for being an idiot that she's probably going to tune out in five seconds. still, she'll give the opportunity for it to be presented. brows knitted, jaw set in a hard line, she rolls down the window just as steps begin to approach, just as a voice begins to speak to her.

a familiar voice. the last one that had ever spoken to her, moments before the brine and burn of scarif had overtaken everything to know.

the anger, frustration, everything else on her face and in the way she holds herself, it all vanishes in an instant, as her eyes go wide and her jaw goes slack. she stills, locked, frozen, hand falling limply by her side; a breath is held on the inhale for maybe an entire minute before she remembers she's supposed to exhale it.

is it relief that she feels? guilt? dread? there are a thousand things circling in her mind at once, coalescing into a mass that she can't even begin to parse.

she should —

get out of this stupid truck. do something, anything, but just sit here. as it stands, though, she can't even move. all she manages is barely forming one word.]

Cassian?

[it's her that's the idiot now for even asking that question, when the unmistakable confirmation is in front of her.]

[ Cassian hadn't needed to join the rebellion to get a good read on people. It's what had made all those years before Luthen, before having to deal with Maya Pei's headache inducing band of idiots, easier. When you knew how to work people, how to quietly understand what made them tick, it made everything else that involved them a hell of a lot easier.

But there's no need to read too deeply into what the young woman who had just tried to play galatic bumper cars with him because she's so visibly surprised at his arrival that it's clear she isn't guarding any of emotions in this moment. The anger, the very obvious expression of someone about to rip his head off with her own hands may as well have been a figment of his imagination.

And it successfully manages to diffuse the situation. Though it does also manage to leave him staring her a little less dumbfounded as he wracks his memory trying to recall if they've met before. Coming up short there's really only one thing to ask - ]

...Do I know you?

cassian andor | star wars

fluxdrift, the i chose violence option

he deserves it tbh

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the blocks (no baby yoda tho)

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the blocks! lfg

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fluxdrift (i'm sorry)

i am wiggling my little raccoon hands

i'm giggling behind mine!

the pavilion

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the pavilion —

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arrival

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the blocks with a twist

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