dankmemes | test drive meme #15

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!test drive

test drive meme #15

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 December 25th, and apps are open January 1st. Please remember that there is an app cap of 20 apps.

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, either through handwaving or through a shared mental experience while coming through the Door!

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: YOU SMELL SOMETHING?
[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 lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to knock you out, drag you back to its cave, and hang you upside down for some reason. This time, the Door has brought in a number of Wampas, from the Star Wars movies.

Wampas are large and furry, in order to stay warm and alive on their native ice planet of Hoth. While their white fur helps them blend in at home, it's less helpful in Hadriel - but that's fine! They're giant and terrifying with big claws and teeth, they don't really need camouflage too. They'll be more than happy to hunt you down - and if they don't eat you right there, they could knock you out and take you home for a later meal. If you wake up in a wampa cave, let's hope you remembered your lightsaber.]

R A G E

SCENARIO TWO: WE'RE ALL PISSED OFF HERE
[For some reason, something's just pissing you off today. It's something weird, too, something that wouldn't normally bother you at all. Maybe it's jackets or buildings with too many windows. Maybe it's animals or the simple act of sleeping. Whatever it is, it's total bullshit and you hate it.

What are you gonna do about it? Smash some windows? Kick a puppy? Or hey, maybe you'll run across someone who hates that thing just as much as you do, and you'll make a new friend! Or a new enemy, if they're wearing that most horrible of wardrobe items, a jacket.

This is a mini version of our Why Do You Have To Be Mad? event this month!]

D E L I G H T

SCENARIO THREE: THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON
[Generosity and charity have infected the city! And hey, that's a good thing, right? Hadriel could use a little more kindness. Who knows what's causing it - Delight is probably bored - but whatever it is, maybe it's affected you, too.

If it has, you'll be inspired by the desire to give gifts to your friends, your family, that stranger across the street. Of course, Hadriel doesn't have a lot of gift shops, so... well, maybe you should just give them the shirt off your back? Or hey, smash a shop window and grab that can of beans, they'll love that! You could even steal your friend's favorite jacket and give it to your other friend. How generous of you!

Or maybe you're totally unaffected, and a complete stranger just ran up to you on the street and tried to give you a shirt they ripped off their friend. It's, uh. Not weird. Aren't you gonna say thank you?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Interesting. She don't speak much like Frisk does - short words, quiet sentences, as if every time they pipe up it's an imposition on someone else's time and patience. Raises the question of what gets a kid to grow up thinkin' that's how things should be - there's this...human saying, he remembers another version of himself saying, trace bitterness clogging up the words, "kids should be seen and not heard."

But she speaks like she ain't really sure what the words mean, deliberately aping his speech, right down to the mannerisms.

And then she refocuses on the thing behind him, and that's right - here he is, slackin' off on the job again. It grumbles its discontent, but can't seem to push forward, thanks to the blue magic and, uh, whatever the hell the kid is doing.

He glances back at it, and then to her. That's definitely redness sliding down her upper lip, and that ain't generally a good sign - 'specially if there's no real obvious etiology to it. At least cuts and sores, those're obvious. This is significantly less so.

Therefore concerning.

Still, he keeps his tone light and conversational.]

What say we get outta here, huh?

[ Eleven's concentration was focused on keeping the Wampa down, she almost missed Sans talking to her.

The moment she stopped using her ability, the huge beast was free from her powers, Sans abilities, however, she had no idea how long his magic would last. ]

Get out of here.

[ Nodding in agreement. She was cautious and sacred but the skeleton man did show up and help her, he could have left her for dead or turned against here, yet he didn't. Maybe he was kind and friendly like Mike and Dustin.

Waiting for him to lead the way, she dried the blood from her nose on the back of her sleeve, small blue veins were close to the surface of her pale skin, all around the eyes and ears, she'd need to rest before she could do anything else. ]

[He grins back, hopefully reassuringly, and turns as if to lead her away. And he sure don't disappear - there's no fanfare or shimmer or tangible shift when it happens. It's simply that one second they're watchin' that beast kick up a fuss at how its lunch proved hard to get, and the next they're just outside one of the temples. Rage's, he's pretty sure by the state of it, but he don't have the time to be picky.]

See?

[He shrugs his shoulders with exaggerated carelessness, hands out of his pockets to complete the effect.]

What can I say? I knew a little shortcut.

[ Did he just teleport them somewhere? Eleven was impressed, a little scared but then again, she was a little scared of almost everything anyway. So he could use some kind of invisible magic too? Hoe curious. ]

Shortcut?

[ She'd nodded to his first question, she could see just fine, though Eleven took most of what everyone said to her literally. A shortcut, on the other hand, was a completely new word, she didn't know what it meant and so she gave Sans a puzzled look as she shook her head. ]

Yeah, y'know, like...walkin' somewhere but without the work of walkin'.

[Please never ask Sans to explain anything, ever. He's a lazy bastard. He cannot help you.

He gestures vaguely in the direction of his nasal cavity to indicate how she'd been bleedin' out a second ago. In his experience, that's never good on a human. Though, granted, most humans tend to bleed quite a lot before it gets to be real bad.]

You doin' all right there?

Like... A gate?

[ The boys had explained to her about how to pass between another dimension, using something like a gateway that lets you cut through space and time with ease. She didn't fully understand their words, but she could grasp the gist of it enough to know that Sans had pretty much done the same type of thing.

Eleven touched her face again, looking at the blood on her fingers, then tapped at her temple softly. ]

Needs to recharge.

[ That was a good point! What was she going to eat? Where was she going to rest? She needed to know if Sans could help her with that too or if she'd have to fend for herself like she did when she pushed her friends away for their own safety? ]

Eggos?...Blanket fort?

[A gate? Nah, not much like a gate. Granted, he ain't sure what to call it aside from shortcut, but evidently that don't stick well in her head. That's all right. Don't gotta explain it just now.

Needs...to recharge, huh? Funny way of sayin' it.]

Got a little human magic of your own there?

[Mostly a rhetorical question, 'cause he ain't sure what an eggo is (eggs? He doesn't have any eggs) but he knows the definition of blanket fort well enough.]

Could probably slap somethin' together over at my place. Blanket forts heal all ills, it's true.

[ If she stayed alongside Sans for long enough, she would start to pick up on the things he was saying, the meaning of words and phrases and eventually, she would start to talk in small, very matter of fact sentences of her own. For now, though, she kept it short but sweet.

At the question about her having some kind of human magic, Eleven looked confused. Sans had said the words as if he was referring to them both having magic, yet he looked nothing like a human, how was it their magic was the same. So she pointed to him then to herself and asked a very personal question. ]

Human? ... Human?

[ In all honestly, even Eleven didn't know what an Eggo really was, it was just some sweet waffle-like food Mike would feed her, when he was hiding her in his basement- Though the fact he at least knew what a blanket fort was, actually made her give a little smile. ]

True? Like, a promise?

[ Bare with her, her understanding of language was still a little mixed up. ]

Me? Nah, I'm not human.

[He figures he don't look near enough like it for there to be an error, but hey, you never know. And the kid's pretty near nonverbal, just like a certain other human child he knows. Then again, he still ain't sure if she counts as human. It's hard to tell these days, with all the human-lookin' sorts walkin' around while they ain't really human at all.

Sans laughs, draping a casual stutter of humor over the sense of unease that word generates.]

Nah, I don't do promises. But, y'know, true. Like - right. Not wrong.

Not a human?

[ Eleven looked down at her own hands, slowly wiggling her fingers, feeling the bones move under muscle and skin. She was confused. Sans seemed to have all the hard parts humans had, she knew this because she'd broken plenty of them on other people.

His laughter stops her train of thought. She didn't understand what was so funny? And so, Eleven looked at him curiously. Another trickle of blood made it's way out from her nose and down her top lip. ]

No promises? Why not?

[ She stopped walking then, unsure if it was safe for her to go with him. If he couldn't make promises, did that mean he couldn't be a friend? ]

Friends keep promises... Are you not friend?

I mean, I can be. That's all up to you.

[He's amenable to bein' friends with her. No reason why he wouldn't be, yeah? He ambles along the length of the street. Another shortcut could take them to just outside his place, but it'd be nice to sort some details out first before he goes and drags yet another slightly off-kilter kid into his place. Papyrus and Alphys are their own long stories, after all.]

Just ain't a real big fan of 'em. Too many times they get all broken, y'know?

[It's possible she don't know. She's just a kid. A kid who's likely to have seen some shit, the way she's reacting to everything, rollin' with it, takin' it in commendable stride. It'd be a real damn shame to infect her with his particular brand of nihilistic cynicism outta the blue like this.

Still, he's pretty adamant about that. Ix-nay on the omises-pray.]

But, uh, yeah. I'm a monster. I'm a pretty funny guy, though, so don't mind me.

Up to me?

[ Her eyes narrowed a little, brows raising as she tried to comprehend what he was saying. She'd never been given a choice before, but that sounded like a choice. It was the second thing he said that had Eleven all the more confused, though, she'd become a little muddled up as to which he was talking about now. ]

Friends or promises?

[ The painful memories came flooding back, of how Mike had fallen out with her over Will, and then Lucas because of the stupid compasses. Yeah, she was sure of it, both friendships and promises could be broken.

Everything was an adventure for Eleven, she was on the run and constantly getting innocent people tangled up in her story, it wouldn't hurt to keep Sans out of it for as long as she could. He seemed nice, it was the least she could do. ]

Eleven. I'm the monster.

[ She touched her shaved head and gave a small smile. The wig her friends had given her was tucked into the inner pocket of her jacket. She recalled Mike saying it looked pretty, though she felt too unsure about putting it on just now. ]

Was pretty.

Friends.

[She ain't used to being granted a choice? That, uh, seems like a common thread with the kids here. Seemed common enough with Frisk, in any case. She can pick and choose whether she likes to make promises too, sure, but she can't expect him to make 'em in turn.

He don't do promises anymore.

The look that statement earns is an odd one, accompanied by the arch of a supraorbital ridge.]

Well, "pretty" is pretty relative. Back home, we got this talking rectangle robot that everybody thinks is pretty. And, hey. [He shrugs.] You look pretty human to me.

[How many times can you fit the word "pretty" into a phrase? Let's find out!]

[ She nods, she assumed it would be the people and not the promises themselves.

Eleven was used to the labs in the hospital and their orderlies. Whenever Papa was done with her for the day, or she'd failed an experiment, she recalls them dragging her to a very small room and locking here in against her will. She didn't like small spaces now because of that, she didn't really like many adults now too because of it.

Sans was pretty funny, and Eleven found herself smiling as he rambled on, noticing how he repeated the word 'pretty' throughout. He was trying to break the ice, wasn't he? It was kind of him to do so. Eleven hurried a little to walk side by side with him, her eyes fixed on the lack of his as they strolled along. ]

I look human? ... Thank you.

Sure you do.

[He says it easy, dismissive, like it's perfectly obvious. And yeah, from where he's standin', it does. And then he's gotta wonder - what the hell kinda life does a kid live to assume they ain't human? Chara, now, Chara had been easy enough to whittle down some. He'd planted that seed in their head, or at least given it plenty of water and sunshine to allow it to flourish, and they come out sayin' things like demon and less than human and owning that title, like that'll make 'em feel less about the state of their existence.

Funny, how a guy so wrapped up in the consequences of other people's actions don't stop to consider the consequences of his own, huh?

He winks at her with an eyesocket.]

Humans, they come in all shapes and sizes. Don't make 'em any less human, see?

[ Eleven gave a small smile and nodded to his words. Sans seemed smart, he wasn't like anyone she'd ever seen before and if was a breath of fresh air to meet a friendly monster for a change.

She started to look up at him as they walked. Studying his face, the odd mannerisms he was able to make despite all logic and physical law. Concentrating, she could feel her own bones move as they were pulled and pushed by muscle, yet there was no way she could move her skull in ways that Sans could. He was amazing. ]

Mhm... I see.

[ Eleven paused, reflecting in thougts for a moment. ]

That thing... Back there... Human too?

[Kid seems to be relaxing some. That's good. Means he could probably swing 'em both around to his place soon enough without raising too many other alarm bells.

The next question's a bit more puzzling, he ain't gonna lie. What kinda human has trouble tellin' what's human and what's not? Maybe a kid could - but then again, not all monsters know what constitutes bein' human either.]

Don't think so. Seemed like one of the creatures this place brings in now and then.

[He cocks his skull in a manner he hopes is reassuring.]

I'd be careful around 'em. They ain't friendly monsters like me.

[ Don't be so quick to assume she's okay. She might be calmer and talking now, though in broken sentences, but that didn't mean she wouldn't spook at any sudden changes. It would probably be for the best if Sans thought of Eleven as some jittery, rescue shelter animal he was bringing home for the first time. Sure, she liked him already but she was still new here and feeling very off-kilter right about now.

Her smile remained until he mentioned this place bringing in creatures now and again. ]

.. Like me

[ It wasn't a question, it was a fact. Eleven was different from other human children, she thought of herself as a monster, she'd done terrible things, was made to do worse and still caused pain and suffering of her own free will afterward. She was the reason the monster of her world was able to step into the human world to feed and torment the innocent.

Wait a minute, that's a good point. If she was just brought here by 'magic'... does that mean this place had a gate of its own? ]

I came in the same way... As the monsters?

[Aaaaaand she keeps on ticking off all the boxes on the Chara-Frisk Checklist Of Concerning Things Said By Children. Thinks she's a danger, huh? Thinks she's different. Hell, maybe she even thinks she's a demon, just to bring her ideology a little closer into alignment with Chara's.

She sounds so sure of herself too. Figures.]

Brought in by the Door? Yeah, lots of people are. Some human, some not.

[He thinks that maybe he's learned to gauge this sorta thing a little better. God but please don't let him ruin another kid. This one looks to have been through enough.]

You've been pretty friendly to me.

[ Eleven didn't think she was a demon but that was partly because she didn't know what a demon was. She'd never been called one and the boys back home never said that word. She could only compare herself in relation to words she'd already heard and had explained.

But heck, if Sans were to tell her, she was something else?... If the shoe fits and all that. ]

Will? ... He was on the other side...

[ Sans got her thinking. Her friends had been looking for their missing friend, Will. Maybe if people and monsters alike, were able to come here through a door. There was hope that Will had been brought here too.

When Sans told her how she'd acted friendly towards him, she smiled. ]

You helped... A friend shares shortcuts.

[He knows a Will, but he ain't sure if it's the same one she knows. Hard to tell, really. The Papyrus he's got here, after all, the Alphys he's got here - they don't come from the same point in time that he does. Complicates things some, and he ain't real sure how to explain that to a kid who don't seem to have the best grasp of language to begin with.]

A friend shares shortcuts.

[He repeats the words with the air of someone who likes what he's hearing. Makes a good segue, don't it?]

Yeah. Guess a friend would. Speakin' of which, I happen to know another. You game?

[ The Will Eleven was referring to was a young boy with brown hair in a bowl cut. Will the Wise .. Well, that's what was written on the drawing she'd found in Mike's basement.

She was confused when he asked his she was game? Did he mean to ask if she liked to play games or? ... She shook her head, confused. ]

I don't... Understand.

You up for it? Down for it?

[Sans, stop. Thankfully, he's figured by now that the joking irony he likes to dispense on damn near everybody else ain't really gonna fly here. Which is fair. She's just a kid, and he's inflicted his sense of judgment upon enough kids.]

Means, uh...you want I should take another shortcut, get us 'round to my place?

[ For now it went straight over her head, but if she spent long enough with him, she would start to recognize his irony as something to be amused by.

For now, though, Eleven just gave him a blank look, kind of how she looked at Dustin when he tried to get her to levitate his toy spaceship.

She nodded. ]

Friends take shortcuts... I'm up, eh... Down for it.

[His grin widens in response. Another step, and they're outside house number three with the same jump-skip of their surroundings as before. No real traceable moment where it all shifts; simply the observation that it at some point has.]

Ta-da. Home sweet home.

[He opens a hand to gesture at the door. Blanket forts await within. Or, uh...they will, once he sets it up.]

test drive meme #15

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