Test Drive Meme #31

[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 April 24th, and apps are open May 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: WHAT BIG TEETH YOU HAVE
[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.

Even if the monster looks cuddly.

Direwolves are not quite what you medieval fantasy folks might think they are- they're untameable and almost the size of a bear. While usually a predator like the direwolf might wait for the opportune moment to strike, these beasts hunt in packs and are very, very hungry. You won't be able to tame them, and any attempts may result in a couple of missing fingers.]

S O R R O W

SCENARIO TWO: REGRETFULLY YOURS
[Have you ever done something you regret? A thought or an action you've performed that you look back on and wished you hadn't? Even if it's something outside of your control, something you couldn't have known, if there's something rattling around in that brain of yours, it's coming out in full force right now, leaving you guilt-ridden and prepared to confess all your sins to the nearest bystander.

But what if confessing isn't enough? You need to show them how sorry you are in any attempt at redemption you can muster. Work as hard as you can and maybe someone will forgive you. Work even harder and maybe someday you can forgive yourself.

This is a mini version of our Tears of Joy event this month.]

R A G E

SCENARIO THREE: TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
[The goal is simple: stay together in this room and use the supplies provided to build the best tower you can. You've got matchsticks, popsicle sticks, Q-tips, four different kinds of glue, and various little wheels and doodads. The team with the best tower at the end of the exercise gets a wish granted! That isn't so bad, is it?

Except your teammate is insufferable. Everything from their ideas, to their building strategy, down to their accent is absolutely intolerable to you. How can you be expected to work with such a difficult partner? If you leave the room your tower is forfeit, but who can expect you to stay in these conditions?

Careful- they're just as fed up with you as you are with them. Can the two of you overcome your mutual disdain to build this arts and crafts masterpiece, or will it be a race to the door?]

Comments

[abyssalarcana]

Oh.

[Well that's... not what she was expecting, but people have been awfully strange lately. And the sentiment this woman expresses, the thing causing her so much distress, is something Caedra was once very familiar with. The memories of that last decade or so of her life are ones that don't come often, and that feeling lurks deep, but it's there. She pauses, then nods a little.]

Men have a way of doing that sometimes. What happened?

[myrealname]

[Jane had been feeling badly about Dan ever since she ended things between them, but she finds herself dwelling on it constantly, trying to figure out what she could have, should have done differently.

she comes up with nothing. her relationship with Dan was steeped in lies from the very first day when she claimed another woman's name as her own and never revealed the truth to him. if she can't be honest about her name, how could she be honest about anything with him?]

It's--we were separated. He'd left me for another woman. While we were separated, I. . . fucked the other woman's husband.

[abyssalarcana]

[Caedra's expression lightens and she grins, holding back laughter. Is that all? The jealousy she understands but the wording suggests this woman is more upset about what she did herself than her partner's betrayal.]

Ha! Good for you. Ooh, was he good at least?

[myrealname]

[is that all? that ended a relationship of four years not counting the time Dan was with the witch and broke Jane's heart. she hadn't wanted to fall out of love with him, but he made it impossible to keep loving him]

Yes, but, but that's not the point!

[abyssalarcana]

Then what's the point? You're mad at him for being a jerk? Sounds like you got some satisfying revenge.

[Okay now she's just being willingly obtuse. Poor little humans and their morals. It's a wonder they get by at all.]

[myrealname]

[she won't admit that she lied about sleeping with him to her boyfriend for a year. that she didn't trust her boyfriend to react well to it. that she lied to him for the entirety of their relationship. she just can't. not now. not when it's such a fresh wound]

The point is that I shouldn't have done it in the first place!

[abyssalarcana]

[She pities them sometimes. Honestly, how could someone be so unwilling to allow herself some joy? What mental gymnastics do they have to do in order to keep themselves functional?

She gives a kind smile and a little sigh.]

Why not? He left you. You loved him, and he threw you away. Why shouldn't you do something that you wanted to do? You don't owe him anything. You're free. Have some fun. Don't hold yourself back.

[myrealname]

[Jane's mental gymnastics included four years of lying about her identity and never being caught. the one time she did give her real name, she was accused of lying. so when given the choice between lying and telling the truth, Jane will usually choose to lie unless the truth is so self-evident or insulting that even she can't ignore it away]

I'm free now. [and a truth. a small one, but a truth] I don't love him anymore. I did when I slept with Larry.

[abyssalarcana]

And... So what? That's all in the past. If you just wanted to tell someone, then congratulations! Off your chest.

[Caedra shrugs, then gestures vaguely in the direction of the nearest housing area because that's where people hang out, right? Sure.]

You're in luck, there are a bunch of people here. Go bag yourself a cute one. Or four!

[myrealname]

I guess so. [she trails off uncertainly. she regrets falling out of love with Dan, but once she had, it was time to say goodbye. she doesn't regret that.

her eyes follow the stranger's gesture off towards the housing]

I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. I left Dan yesterday.

[abyssalarcana]

Riiight... Which one's Dan? New guy who's good in bed or old guy who tossed you like shit off his boot?

[Because she has a feeling it's old guy and that's so typical of these people, to be so lacking in self-confidence. It would be depressing if she could bring herself to care enough. But she can't. Wolves tend not to care much for sheep.]

[myrealname]

[that brings a flare of anger]

He didn't leave me. I left him. I didn't love him anymore, so I left him.

[abyssalarcana]

Oh, I see, after he had already been cheating on you for a while you stayed with him. Which, okay, not a big deal honestly but it sounds like you're not into that.

[Mother Abyssus but humans can make the simplest things so complicated. Especially when it comes to their attempts at being monogamous which almost always fail. She nods, though, thinking it over.]

And you don't want a rebound guy. Or girl, I'm sure you could find either here. Or both! Maybe that's what you need, a fun threesome! Or just - do whatever. Don't work yourself up so much. Nobody here knows who you are so start over if that's what you want.

(cw: sex work)

[myrealname]

No, I left him after I found out he was cheating on me. Then that didn't work out for him, so he found me. And I took him back because I'm an idiot who still loved him.

[the truth. wrenched out of her in a moment of anger. don't most people say that the truth will set you free? it doesn't in Jane's case]

Start over. I don't suppose anyone's in need of a stripper?

(cw: sex work)

[abyssalarcana]

[It's easy to criticize her for what she did. How poorly she handled her situation when she could have been free and happy and not giving a shit about some guy.

She knows all about the emotions involved, she just refuses to acknowledge them. The hypocrisy doesn't bother her.]

A stripper! Well, there's a bar, and a casino. And I've been considering starting a fighting ring in that arena. So, sure. I can find you something, easy. What's your name?

(cw: sex work)

[myrealname]

[don't worry, Jane is criticizing herself enough for the both of them. telling herself that she was stupid to fall in love so completely, that falling out of love would devastate her.

sometimes Jane wishes she could be like that. just refuse to let emotion cloud her thinking. but deep down she knows that's impossible, that someday someone else would come along and she'd fall in love all over again]

A fighting ring? And I guess I'd be the entertainment between matches? My name is Alice Ayres.

(cw: sex work)

[abyssalarcana]

Alice. Well, I'm Caedra. And sure, entertainment, or the prize. I guess it depends on how private a show you're willing to do. We don't really have money here, or anything valuable really.

[She shrugs, like it's some light little thing, nothing to really concern oneself over some near-prostitution. Or actual, if Alice really wants to, Caedra wouldn't care. In fact, she's already fantasizing about the types who might win. Why deprive herself of that sort of fun?]

Ought to take your mind off things though, hm? Change of scenery, change of pace.

(cw: sex work)

[myrealname]

Well, Caedra, I'm willing to strip. I'm even willing to do it in private. But I'm not gonna fuck the winners.

[to Jane, stripping was a means to an end. the end being making money with a side of expressing herself sexually with no commitment, no intimacy, no need to desire or even like the men she was stripping for. that side made her feel powerful. strong. she figures it might help her feel that way again]

That it would. Got a lot of men you think are going to sign up?

(cw: sex work)

[abyssalarcana]

That's fine. Most everyone here is so disgustingly honorable that I don't think you'll be in any trouble at least.

[She'll keep the winners to herself. That hadn't really been the goal when she dreamed this little idea up a month or so ago - she just wanted some entertainment in a place sorely lacking it. But if she gets more personal benefits, she won't complain.]

Men, women, constructs, who knows. Other than the places I mentioned, I think a lot of people are starved for something fun to do here. It's not for everyone, but there's always someone who wants to prove they can punch harder than the rest. Oh, I'll probably have to make some sort of non-lethal rule.

[And that's a real shame but the others will get all anxious and upset about Hope wasting his energy on dead combatants if she doesn't. Might encourage more to join in, too, if they would otherwise worry about lethality.]

(cw: sex work)

[myrealname]

Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself if I have to. A grab and twist to the balls will discourage even the horniest bastard.

[not that she's done it lately, but there was a time or two when she was younger back in New York. before she went to London, fleeing trouble with a guy. now she finds herself here, fleeing more trouble with a guy.

her eyes brighten a bit at Caedra's description of her plans]

Yeah. That's typical of people anywhere, don't you think? Everyone wants to be the biggest and the strongest. But a non-lethal rule is the way to go. People like pain, but only to a point.

[she doesn't know about Hope being able to bring people back from the dead yet. she doesn't know much more than what she found on the newbie guide and half of it read more like a sci-fi novel than real life]

[abyssalarcana]

[Caedra laughs at that, nodding. She likes this one already, even with the weird hangups about romance. Alice sounds otherwise like she has her head on straight, for a human.] Yeah, that'll do it! Except for the guys who are into that, I guess. Don't know too many of those but this place is full of surprises.

I'll have to see about setting a few things up though I think it'll probably be pretty informal. Maybe once a month - we get new people every month I think. And, hm. Probably some alternate prizes and entertainment just to keep things exciting. But go on, get yourself settled. Lots of new places to live recently so that should be easy.

[She waves as if to shoo her off.]

(cw: S&M, ponyplay)

[myrealname]

[she'll probably continue to have those weird hangups about romance, but other than that Jane tends to see the truth about things rather quickly for someone who builds most of her life around lies] Some people are into being whipped and treated like a pony. I've heard weirder.

All of that sounds good. After all, you'll need special prizes for the especially hard fights. Keeps the fighters coming back, keeps the audience, too, to see what they get. I will. And, hey? It's good to meet you, Caedra.

[she is shooed off to the new housing area, to check out what's on offer]