dankmemes | Test Drive Meme #3

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!test drive

Test Drive Meme #3

Welcome to Hadriel's test drive, and thank you again for your interest in the game! As always, our reserves page is here, and our applications page is here! Reserves open November 24th, and apps are open December 1st.

Two quick points here as well:
1. Any thread made in Hadriel's test drive will be accepted as the sole Action Log sample in the application.
2. All threads made in the test drive can be considered game canon!

Test drives will be broken up into specific god mini-events, during which your characters can see how well they fare under the watchful eye of one of the gods. Choose wisely or just simply pick 'em all, and have fun!

F E A R

SCENARIO ONE: GIMME A HUG
[The Door brings in all that is chaotic and evil in the world. This may include you, may include the person next to you... and may include the monster behind you.

Watch out as you explore the streets of Hadriel, because you're not alone, and there's always something on the rooftops watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to separate you from your group and tear you into pieces. This time, the Door has brought in a large slithering beast for you meet.

This Titanoboa is not the friendliest of snakes. Over fifty feet long, it requires quite a lot of meals in order to keep going, and it seems to be most interested in making you one of them. A giant anaconda, this is a constrictor rather than a venomous snake - but don't worry. It's got teeth, too, in case it needs to do a touch of nibbling. We're sure you'll get along just fine.]

SCENARIO TWO: THE DOCTOR IS IN
[You awaken on an operating table. How did you get here? What's going on? You don't remember checking into a hospital or seeing a doctor, and when you try to get up you quickly discover that your hands and legs are secured tightly to the table, the straps digging into your skin.

Next to the table is a tray of gleaming steel surgical instruments, their sharp blades glittering as the overhead light flickers. They seem to be the only clean thing in the room, as you begin to realize that the walls of this operating room are moldy and stained, and there's something dripping from the ceiling. This may not be a legitimate hospital at all.

There are footsteps outside the door. It could be a friend - or not. Will you call for help? Try to free yourself? Lay back and wait for the doctor to arrive?]

H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: HOPESGIVING
[You find yourself in a kitschy, brightly lit, utterly pleasant gift shop. Lining the shelves are all manner of stuffed animals, inspirational figurines, greeting cards, and delightful ornaments. Some even look familiar, like something you might have seen before.

The door isn't locked. You can just leave, if you want. But on a pedestal where the registers should be is a globe of glittering light, and within it, a picture of the person you care for most in the world. Carved on the pedestal are the words Bring someone hope, and you will bring them happiness.

Of course, you aren't alone in there. Will you find something on the shelves to show to your companion, something that might bring them hope? Or maybe you brought something from home. Or maybe you don't care at all, and just want to smash everything in there. It's all up to you.

This is a simplified version of this month's Hope event.]

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one: slither

[The city itself is weird enough, so strange and unreal that Josh can't be entirely sure it's not a product of his imagination. The buildings are strangely curved, and the sky above isn't a sky at all, only rock and some kind of glowing light. So, yeah, that's all pretty fucking weird. But this? Turning a corner and practically stepping on a giant snake?

That's something else entirely.

Josh backpedals, holding up his hands as if to calm the snake, or fight, or - something. It doesn't look real either, it looks like a movie monster, some crazy special effect, but then it moves, it slides toward him and he scrambles back and suddenly everything seems very, very real. Thanks, adrenaline and terror.]

Oh, shit.

two: bedlam

[It isn't as if Josh hasn't woken up in hospitals before, but - not like this. Not usually. But how can he know for sure? Maybe those walls are actually clean and sparkling, maybe he's supposed to be here and he's forgotten. It's more than a little disturbing, to think that, but he knows it's possible. Still. If he doesn't remember, he can't give consent, right? Is that how it works? Whatever procedure he's here for, he knows he doesn't want it anymore.

He can feel panic in the back of his mind, caused less by the situation itself and more by not knowing if he's forgotten why he's here or if he was never supposed to be here in the first place. Hearing a footstep outside, he struggles, pulling at the straps.

Maybe he shouldn't call out. But what else is there to do?]

Hey! Someone there?

[ the voice echoes down the halls, and it feels as if her heart stalls. ]

Josh?! [ the last she'd heard his voice, it'd been his screams as the metal saw tore into his abdomen. she's heard the truth: that the whole thing had been an elaborate prank in revenge for Beth and Hannah, but that sounds as much like the truth as the reality of their current situation.

she considers her options, wanting to turn around very suddenly and pretend she heard nothing, but she knows that wouldn't be right. she couldn't do that, not here. she steels herself before she jogs down the hall. ] Josh, I'm coming, all right?

[Her voice is familiar, and Josh isn't sure whether to be relieved or even more tense.]

Ashley?

[Maybe not the top name on Josh's list if he's looking to be saved from some kind of horror movie hospital set - or whatever this is, if it's real - but she's familiar, and she's here. Josh struggles against the straps, but he's only succeeding in hurting himself. He can't get any give at all.]

I'm over here!

[ Ash moves quickly, crossing the hall to the double doors that led to the operating room. She tries to open them as quietly as possible, but the rusted hinges squeak and whine; she freezes, half in the operating room, straining her ears for any sound that signaled danger. When nothing happens, she fully slips in.

She's by his side in a matter of moments then, thin, shaking fingers working at the leather strap that keeps his right arm down. ] God, why is it so... [ It's too tight, or maybe she's shaking too much, but she can't get it undone. She can't. But maybe...

She grabs a surgical blade. ] Stay still, ok?

[ She'll just cut the damn leather strap open! ]

[It really is her. She's real. This place is real? Or - something. Whatever, what matters is getting out of here, any questions about the nature of reality and why Ashley, of all people, is here can wait for later.]

Yeah, sure. Just don't cut my wrist open, okay?

[It's a joke, sort of, but it's a really awful joke, all things considered. But hey, it's the best he can do right now, and he does stay very, very still.]

What are you doing here? What is this place?

[ Reality is all subjective these days, Josh! ]

It's not like it's scissors. [ she mutters darkly beneath her breath as she slips a finger through the leather, pulling it away from his wrist to offer another few centimeters of blade safety before she begins to saw away. the leather doesn't give easily, but the moment she's through the tanned outer layer, the rest goes quickly.

with one hand free, she places the blade in his hand so he can start on his other arm. ]

I'll get your feet. [ she wants to get out of here asap. ]

[He doesn't seem to understand what she means by that, but there are more important things to focus on right now. Like getting out of the creepy hospital. He takes its from her and starts sawing at the leather binding his other wrist. For all that he told her to be careful, Josh is actually far more careless as his discomfort and anxiety mounts. He does slip a little, but only scores a few light lines on the skin of his wrist, no deep cuts.

The leather breaks, finally, and he rubs his wrists, flexes his fingers.]

Hey, thanks, Ash.

[He feels like he can breathe a little better now, even if he's not totally free.]

I don't... really know how I got here.

[That's said almost reluctantly, because she might know, and it's entirely possible that he's supposed to know and yet - doesn't. That would be embarrassing. Among other things.]

[He wasn't thinking, he was just doing. Seeing some guy suddenly back away from some giant monster and looking fairly unarmed kicked him into action. His brain hadn't quite caught up yet that, hey, that person might seem pretty familiar, he was a little distracted by how he could get the snake to go away without it ending in him needing to go visit Bruce again from another patch job.

"Hey, scaly, need a snack?" He scooped a big rock and lobbed it as hard as he could at the monster's head. "Hey, dude, get out of there!"

No, really, bells were going off around all the adrenaline and it was piecing together slowly.

[He doesn't realize who it is at first either, just thankful that someone's distracting the giant snake - not that Josh is totally convinced it's real, not yet, but it seems like it is, and at least someone else can see it. That counts for something.

It's distracted for long enough for him to scramble away, heading in the opposite direction, calling out to whoever had thrown the rock.]

Thanks, man, you better run before -

[And it's only then that Josh recognizes his sort-of savior.]

Mike?

[The guy was scrambling away and that was his only concern for a moment, up until he heard his name and it jolted his attention to the guy himself.

But not just any guy.]

Josh!

[He felt a range of emotions in quick succession (anger, guilt, confusion) and it all jumbled together until his instinct to act took over and swept them all under the rug for the time being.]

Come on, man, we gotta go.

[He held his hand out and gestured for Josh to follow him as he backed away from the thing and took off, glancing back only to make sure Josh could and was keeping up.]

[Josh is only too happy to get away from the giant fucking snake, even if he has no idea what Mike's doing here or why there's a giant snake or what the hell is going on. He books it, keeping up well enough. The snake slithers after them, but not for too long - apparently running prey isn't as interesting to it, and soon they make it around a corner and the monster is gone.]

What the hell was that?

[He stops, taking the opportunity to catch his breath. They should probably keep running in case it comes back, but - Josh is still half in disbelief that the thing even exists.]

[Why is everywhere in this place so creepy.

Still, somewhere like this might be full of salvageable and useful items, and that's why Chris is here even if he's questioning whether it's not such a smart decision after all. But the makeshift way of wrapping his knee that he's been going with is only doing so much good, and if he can find an actual brace or something that'd definitely make the whole thing worth it.

He hasn't run into anyone so far and he's hoping the entire place is abandoned--by both people and monsters with any luck--so the sudden sound of a voice startles him enough that he doesn't immediately recognize whose voice it is.

But then it clicks, and there's no way...]

Josh?

[He calls back, though he hasn't moved yet from where he's frozen against the wall just outside the door. He wants to move, to follow the voice immediately especially if it really is Josh, but he's all too aware there's a good chance it isn't.

Josh never got off the mountain, after all.]

[He knows that voice. Of course he does. But how or why Chris ended up here, he doesn't know. Is he even real? Josh isn't entirely sure of anything right now, except that he wants to get out and that the straps aren't loosening. They're just digging into his arms, and it hurts, and the pain gives him a brief burst of greater clarity. It sounds like Chris, and even if it's not, what's the alternative? A hallucination? Someone else? Something even crazier?

Whatever. He can't worry about that shit right now, not if he wants to get out of here.]

Chris? Hey! You out there?

[Because Josh doesn't see him, but he can't see much from where he is. It doesn't mean anything, he tells himself. It's totally possible to hear someone and not see them and still have them be real.]

Hey, uh, give me a hand, bro, I can't get out of this thing!

[That's too complicated a response to be a monster mimicking a voice.

...Isn't it?

It has to be, because the chance that it really is somehow Josh is too significant for him not to investigate. If it really is Josh then he can't just abandon him a second time, no matter the risk.

He shoves the door open, tense and ready to be met some sort of horrible creature, but... Oh god, it really is Josh.]

H-Hey, man, just give me a sec-

[Focus, don't think about how crazy this is or the utterly complicated mix of emotions that arise at seeing his best friend again after everything that went down. There's time for all of that later, when they're not in a creepy abandoned hospital that might not be so abandoned after all.

It takes a second to figure out the buckle on the strap around Josh's left wrist, but he soon gets it open and starts on the other arm. The glint of the surgical instruments catches his attention--weapons, even if they're tiny ones--but he'll snag one later after he's done getting Josh loose.]

[There's a rush of relief, seeing that Chris is real, but past the relief are hundreds of other questions - like, where the hell is this place, what are they doing here? At least the apparent reality of Chris assures Josh that this weird, crappy hospital, or whatever it is, is probably real too. That's simultaneously reassuring and very, very not.

Josh flexes his free arm, working out the stiffness, and does the same with the other when he's totally free. He wastes no time getting the hell off the table, looking between it, the walls, and Chris.]

What is this place? How'd I get here? How'd you get here?

[He pauses, breathes for a moment, trying to ignore the panic and - everything else.]

Hey, thanks.

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Test Drive Meme #3

josh washington | until dawn

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Oh my god my formatting, I'm so sorry, too used to prose tags

no you're totally fine!

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