Test Drive Meme #22

[hadrielmods]

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 July 25th, and apps are open August 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: THE WRONG KIND OF SCARY
[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.

There's an odd shuffling to your right and to your left. Do you know what that is? Maybe not, but at least nobody else does either. You might peek at an eye stalk or a stinger, you might catch a glimpse of something that can maybe pass for fingers... or maybe it just has a mouth on its butt because its creator was feeling particularly sadistic that day. That's right, you're looking at the creatures from Spore, EA's infamous alien creation game with the most awkward alien creator imaginable.

These particular Spore creatures are the carnivorous kind, the kind who seek out and eat other creatures so that they can instantly procreate to pass on their victim's genetic code and make their species even more wild. You might not want to stick around and watch the mating process. I promise it's just as weird as you think.]

T R A N Q U I L I T Y / C O N F U S I O N

SCENARIO TWO: STEPFORD SUNDAY
[You wake up one lovely weekend morning to the sounds of birds chirping outside and sun streaming through your window. What a wonderful day to be perfectly normal and happy in the suburbs! Your family is all around you, like a Norman Rockwell painting, happy to go about their average day in their average life in their average city.

So what if your sister is an archdemon? Or your father is somehow a dragon? It's just the way that things have always been... isn't it?

The perceptive of you may begin to see cracks in the veneer, may begin to wonder why everything seems to be so perfect... and as the truth begins to unfold, it paints a much darker picture than the one you're seeing. Are you sure you don't want to stay, just a little while longer?

This is a mini version of our Stepford Summer event this month!]

R A G E / D E L I G H T

SCENARIO THREE: CAKE WARS
[There are plenty of ways in this world to rouse your competitive spirit. Many of them involve athletics- few involve such beautiful edible artistry as this.

That's right, you're in a cake baking competition, and no matter how competitive you normally are, thanks to Rage's influence, you want to win. Competitors can be in teams of two or alone, and they have until morning to bake their cakes to the fullest and bring it to Delight's temple for judging.

So what kind of cake baker are you? Do you revel in your artistry? Do you measure everything and carefully prepare each icing tip? Or do you know that you suck at cooking and decide to use the opportunity to sabotage your opponent's cake instead? Nothing is off limits, and all's fair in cake and war, after all!]

Comments

sob I am so sorry ;3;

[yearrounder]

Pretty much.

["Could be worse" is about as good as it gets these days.]

Not that they're telling anyone about. Or that we can get to. They said something about a "Door" but so far it pretty much seems one-way.

happens to the best of us

[fehus]

I am obviously a master at doors, so we got this covered.

[see: the swimsuit situation]

How long have you been in here?

;3; <3

[yearrounder]

Yeah. I noticed.

[Clearly this is the best way to be dressed.]

Not long. A month or two maybe. Will has been here a month longer than me, but there are people who've been here a lot longer, too.

Re: ;3; <3

[fehus]

You've been in a cave for a month? Maybe two, no big deal?

[this seems like something that Annabeth should be freaking out about? the thought of it is a little -- claustrophobic, to someone who prefers the outside. he probably shouldn't be surprised that Annabeth seems to just be Handling It, though]

Seriously?

[yearrounder]

It's a really big deal, but freaking out isn't going to change anything.

[Just trust her on this. Magnus. If freaking out would have helped she'd have done it by now.]

Yes?

[fehus]

Yeah. Yes, right.

[all the things Magnus has to say are along the lines of Freaking Out, so he's quiet for a few moments, collecting himself so he can consider their options. things have been worse, right? (at least there's no wolves. there's always that)]

So, what's the deal with getting out?

[because yeah, he hasn't been in contact with Annabeth at all until very recently, but he has a feeling -- call it intuition -- that she has a Plan, at least]

[yearrounder]

Good.

[There could be. She hasn't been in the caves that far. Probably best not to mention that part, though.]

Good question. We're supposed to be feeding these "gods" our emotions or something so I doubt they'll let us leave that easily. The ceiling is too high to get to, I can't tell what would happen if we started tunneling through the walls, and the caves just twist around forever and I really don't want to get lost in there. [Sigh. Why can't it ever be a nice, happy field of flowers or something?] I'm still working on it.

[fehus]

Okay.

[it's not okay, but that's something you say so you don't start yelling "Help! Help! Holy crap, help!", right?]

[Magnus thinks for a few more moments, shifting his shield so it hangs off his back. they seem to be okay for now. just gonna keep holding the sword though. he didn't expect to need a scabbard in marco polo, okay?]

So, one time I broke open a tomb I was trapped inside with sunlight? [very casually, this is clearly a thing that happens] Has anybody tried something like that?

[yearrounder]

[She shouldn't roll her eyes but gods it's like dealing with Percy in some of his dumber moments. Why are you all the same?]

No, Magnus, no one has tried to break a wall down with sunlight but if you think you can find some, let me know.

[fehus]

[he knows she's being sarcastic (a beautiful family trait), but shrugs. it's worth a shot]

Okay.

[he closes his eyes for a minute, draws on that weird warm place in him, imagines the sun overhead, piercing down through the dark, warming roots, splitting earth -- and... nothing. he just doesn't... feel anything, up there, and he certainly can't get anything down here. it's like he's trapped in Loki's cavern, again (coincidentally, kind of a lame time for him)]

-- Nope. Couldn't. Uh, I'll keep thinking, I guess.

[911 hello where is his highly competent Valkyrie]

[yearrounder]

Yeah. That's about how it goes for everyone. I'm not even sure if my mom can hear me from down here. [She's tried.]

If you come up with anything, let me know. I might have to take a poll or something.

[fehus]

[cool. cool cool cool. Magnus walks in some more silence, because his social skills are basically the best anyone has ever seen??? and this is also not the first time he and Annabeth ran into eachother while some shit was going down. maybe there's something to that -- fate, or whatever. he tries not to think too hard about it]

On the bright side, no more ass-face monsters, so.

[so there is that]

[yearrounder]

[UGH don't talk to her about fate okay she is so beyond done with prophecies and all of that.]

They'll probably disappear in a few days and it'll be quiet for like a week.

[fehus]

A whole week? That's almost too much.

[the joke is that their lives are absurd]

Where do you stay? Sleep, and stuff.

[yearrounder]

What are we ever going to do with ourselves?

[Ha ha.]

Will, Nico, and I are sharing an apartment. There's a room free if you want. Or else you could always find your own place if you'd prefer.

[fehus]

Who's Will and Nico?

[he hesitates on answering the second implied question; is it weird that Annabeth suggests staying on his own in a strange underground world? or is it actually kind of nice, because despite a 10 year separation, she knows he can be pretty squirrely about accepting offers like that? he needs another minute to think about it. they've got more than enough time, seems like]

[yearrounder]

They're friends. From camp. [You know. That camp.] We figured it was better if we stuck together but they can be a little...overwhelming.

Honestly I don't blame you if you go somewhere else.

[fehus]

[Magnus shrugs, keeps his own counsel (go figure), and eventually responds]

It wouldn't hurt to crash for a few days, at least.

[he'll feel it out, he'll figure it out as it comes; it's typical enough of him that Annabeth (probably) won't call him out on the ambiguous answer]

They -- what are we? -- demigods too?

[yearrounder]

Sure. There are still places left if you change your mind later.

[He does what he does or whatever.]

Yes. Nico is a son of Hades and Will is a son of Apollo. They're nice, I promise, but they're dating and things can get a little...[Be nice, Annabeth.]...annoying.

[She tried.]

[fehus]

[have a surprised snort from her cousin; of all the things to complain about in this situation, he's sort of amused this complaint is so normal. it's kind of nice]

Goo goo eyes over the cornflakes? Yikes.

[yearrounder]

Worse. [So much worse.] Nico's a little shy but Will is not. Like at all. [Well she wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't all the time. Or if Percy was here.]

Like I said, I don't blame you if you want to be as far away from it as possible.

[fehus]

I don't really know what my threshold for PDA is. The only couple I know in Valhalla spend more time killing eachother than holding hands and skipping across the mead hall.

[Valhalla is a trip]

I guess flirting is different for everybody.

[yearrounder]

That...sounds about like how it goes at camp, too. [Romantic swordfights in the moonlight, date night on the climbing wall hoping your partner didn't fall in the lava, fun times.]

Anyway. I guess if we have to be stuck here at least we're not sleeping on the ground.

[fehus]

I wouldn't recommend it.

[lol cool homeless stories]

What's been keeping you sane here?

[yearrounder]

I've done it a few times.

[Quests suck, but they are infinitely better with beds. So does running away from hoe while she's at it.]

Honestly? Friends. Not much else.