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

[ekouden]

[ There, that's the point that they're going to disagree on, and Rey knows it the moment it comes out of his mouth. She gives him a look that borders both confused and frustrated, her hands stilling on the tower again. ]

If we were able to secure such a space, we should ensure it's big enough for everyone effected by these curses, or at least open for their use. It wouldn't be fair of us to keep it to ourselves.

[ There's logic to it, she knows that. She's been burned before by people she knew would choose the worst option even when she tried to tell herself that she had to give them a chance. A voice deep inside her says she should listen to Kylo Ren on this, knowing his history. He could most likely conjure up the worst scenarios far better then she could herself. ]

[disequilibrium]

Why not? It would be our victory, not theirs.

[ He punctuates the words with a short gesture towards the tower. Perhaps it’s worthy of a wish, perhaps not, but if it is then that belongs to the two of them alone. Any reply she could give to his largely rhetorical question would only serve to increase his frustration, already rising again from this conversation, so he pushes on. ]

How many of the citizens here wish to remain? How many sympathize with the gods of this place? [ The answer is too many and there’s no attempt made to hide his own disgust with them. ] Bringing them would compromise any plans we tried to make. If that's to be the case, you may as well invite Hope and the rest.

[ekouden]

It seems more like it'll be my victory alone, with how you've been sulking.

[ She arches an eyebrow at him, tucking one leg under herself. She want's to disagree with him, want's to argue, but there's that voice again. He's right. There would certainly be those who would try and betray them, she's seen it. But who was she to decide who was protected or not. And then, what if Finn or Poe or anyone else arrived here? Would Kylo Ren be amiable to their protection?

Rey bites down on her bottom lip and stares hard at one of the bars on her tower, and picks at the skin above her thumbnail. ]

So you would have just the two of us be safe. Not anyone else?

[disequilibrium]

[ His only reply to her initial barb is a flat look. Any desire to bite back held at bay by the novelty that is her actually listening to him, even if none of it is what she wants to hear. ]

Temporarily.

[ The two of them against the forces of this city will not be enough. He can admit that to himself. If there’s any hope of leaving this place, it’s going to take resources, abilities, and yes, other people. Trust isn’t required, not fully, but some amount of cooperation will be. Within reason, of course. No Resistance scum allowed. ]

Until we know it’s safe. Then we can see about bringing in others.

[ For strategic reasons, not kindness. He isn’t like her. The only people’s safety in this city that truly matters are the two of them and his grandfather... the rest he’s barely given thought to at all. ]

[ekouden]

[ She nods slowly, a frown touching the edges of her lips. The towers is nearly done, and in her own opinion looks pretty great. She wonders how the other participants did. ]

Fine. But if anyone from the resistance shows up here, Finn, Poe, Chewie...your mother... you cant tell me I cant bring them.

[ She meets his eyes, leaning forward slightly. ]

And the First Order can't be allowed in.

[disequilibrium]

No.

[ His reply is immediate, sharp and harsh. There’s a brief, precarious moment while the table (along with its contents) shake under the force of his hand tightening in anger before it slowly relaxes. The fury unabated but kept in control. At least, on the surface. ]

The war has no place here. We allow both sides or neither.

[ It’s obvious his preference lies with the latter option. A truce is a laughable idea. Regardless of what she believes, the Resistance would never accept working alongside him, any more than he’d be willing to do the same. And while the First Order is a comparative improvement, it's just as well if the Door turns its gaze away from their galaxy. Anyone else would only disrupt the tentative balance they've found. ]

[ekouden]

[ For all of his issues with controlling his anger, at least Kylo Ren makes an attempt. Rey lets her feelings move through her like water, and her face screws up in frustration as her voice hits an angry pitch. ]

I don't want the war here any more than you do, but the First Order are terrible people. You would want to bring...Hux or Snoke into- into help us? Ben, they'd do nothing but want both you and me dead!

[disequilibrium]

[ She knows it’s more than just the three of them, right? Because he’s starting to wonder. It makes her statement equal parts infuriating and amusing. The latter of which wins out. Dryly. ]

The First Order numbers in the thousands. Any of them could be brought here. So, no. I’m not suggesting we invite the Supreme Leader.

[ Truthfully, the thought of Snoke being brought here twists his stomach unpleasantly. The days spent here have been the first Kylo can remember where the only voice within his head is his own. It’s a new feeling, both unsettling and freeing, and it’s done nothing but solidify the realization that Snoke no longer has a place in the future he wants to create. That’s as true in Hadriel as it is in their galaxy. ]

But most of them pose less of a danger to me than your friends.

[ The emphasis on the last word is… pointed. ]

[ekouden]

Brainwashed kidnapped children don't count as the First Order.

[ She shakes her head, looking upwards and to the left as she tries to keep from yelling. Instead her voice comes out in hiss, and she points the bit of tower at him accusingly. ]

My friends aren't dangerous.

[disequilibrium]

Not to you.

[ It comes out as a snarl. The hand lying on the table raises only to slam back down, sending loose materials scattering off the edge and perhaps damaging the tower itself. He pays it no mind. ]

How many of those brainwashed soldiers have they killed? They’d do the same to me given the opportunity.

[ His mother is, possibly, the one exception. And even that's far from certain. ]

[ekouden]

[ The tower does wobble, and one unsecured piece topples from the top, rolling crazy circles on the table before it plummets to the ground. The sound of it skipping to the corner of the room is the only sound for several seconds, before Rey kicks her chair out, standing on the brace bar as she leans on the table in one swift move. The tower sways harder under the assault, as Rey reaches past it and presses her splayed hand over his heart through his heavy uniform. She speaks quietly now, though the force in her words are just as powerful as if she had shouted them, her eyes keeping his. ]

I won’t let anyone harm you. I will place myself in between even a blaster to the heart if I have too, Ben. We are a package deal. I can and will protect you.

[disequilibrium]

[ coolcoolcoolcool

Which is to say Kylo manages not to flinch away from the sudden contact, though he does stiffen briefly in alarm before forcing himself to relax and hold her gaze. This whole conversation has veered into something foreign and uncharted. Gestures of loyalty he’s not certain how to return or even if he completely believes them. It’s easier to have faith here, alone, but talk of the Resistance always brings back his doubts, all the ways it could fall apart if any of them were to arrive.

She’ll be forced to pick a side and it won’t be his. Or it will be but he’ll fail to meet her expectations and those disagreements over practicality and compassion will turn into something else. Disappointment. Failure. Abandonment.

The hesitation and insecurity flicker across his face for a moment before smoothing out. ]

I know.

[ Her strength was never in question, nor her honesty. Only her ability to maintain it in the face of everything else. Carefully, he brings up one of his hands to rest on hers. It’s too tentative to be a grasp, more of an awkward pat at best, but hopefully, the intention comes across. ]

And I won’t allow anyone from the First Order to pose a threat. To either of us.

[ A promise he feels more secure about. Snoke is already almost out the picture, for several deserved reasons but in part because of her, and there’s no one else within the organization who has the power to threaten them. ]

[ekouden]

[ For how little she considers his comfort when breaching the space between them, she's surprised to find him softly place his hand over hers, the wide span of it making her own seem small in comparison. Trapped between his chest and palm, the heat that radiates from him warms her fingers (the air in this room more than a little uncomfortably chilly) and she can just barely pick up the beat of his heart through the fabric. It warms her cheeks more than her hand somehow, and she feels a little lightheaded, her eyes moving from his face to their hands as he speaks.

His promise makes her smile a little, and she presses her lips together, slipping her hand out from under his so that she can sit back in her seat. It's harder to look him in the eyes suddenly, having just pledged herself to him like that, and she furrows her eyebrows, looking at her now slightly crooked tower.]

We'll handle that part if it happens. For now we should just get this done.