test drive meme # 35

[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 August 25th, and apps are open September 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: GET YOUR RED CAPE READY
[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.

And they sure are big boys. Big and easily angered and ready to run right over you. This time, the Door has brought in Brontos, from the video game Dragon Age.

Brontos are large oxen-like beasts, though more sure-footed due to spending all their time in caves underground. There are domesticated brontos, bred to haul and be ridden and eaten... but these aren't those. These brontos are wild, one and all, and they are skittish and large and perfectly capable of running you over. Maybe just keep your distance.]

SCENARIO TWO: DESERTED
[You're alone. Completely alone, as far as you can tell. Nothing here works - oh, there's food in the stores, sure, but the water's not running, the electricity isn't working. There's not a soul on the streets, where you would normally expect to see at least a few people here and there.

So what will you do? Smash windows and grab food from the stores? (Well, the doors are all unlocked, but hey, who doesn't love smashing windows.) Shout in the streets in hopes someone will hear? Curl into a ball and cry? All valid choices. But then, what will you do when you do find someone, after thinking you were all alone? Someone you like, someone you hate, a complete stranger?

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

S O R R O W

SCENARIO THREE: ONE MORE CHANCE
[You can't stop thinking about the one who got away. They've been on your mind - well, it feels like forever, but maybe it's only been a few days. A few hours. But you can't stop thinking about them and regretting what could have been.

Maybe it's a failed romance. Maybe a broken friendship. Maybe a family member who walked away - or who you walked away from. Even a business partner who things ended poorly with. Whatever it was, you regret how things went down. If only you had another chance, a chance to fix things!

And then, there they are. The person you've been thinking of. What will you do? Beg forgiveness? Make amends? Run away? Make your decision and take action, because as soon as you do it you might realize it was never that person at all. You might have just poured out your heart and begged forgiveness from a complete stranger.]

Comments

[dadyl]

[ Daryl sighs, looking at the ceiling in exasperation. He can see he's getting nowhere, even if Jesse is trying to humour him for some reason, but at least the other guy has calmed down somewhat. That makes Daryl calm down again, even though he's worried what will happen if Jesse won't see reason and they run right into a group of walkers. It's only a matter of time he thinks, especially in a city, until he's proven right. So why push? He just hopes he'll be around to keep this spazzy idiot from getting himself bit when the time comes.

Unless... he's right? Daryl hasn't seen a single one since he's arrived here, and there are other, bigger things to worry about. ]

Fine. [ he eventually says, shaking his head. Daryl sighs again, like he's the one now humouring Jesse. At least the kid is right. They need to get somewhere safer. ] But you ain't walkin' far on those feet. You've got t'deal with 'em. [ Daryl pulls what's left of his long-sleeved shirt out of where he's tucked it into his belt and starts ripping it into shreds. ] You got any idea where safe is? 'Cause I don't. [ So far Daryl has elected to ignore the suggestion of getting him cleaned up. ]

[chemethtry]

[ His feet. Why does this guy keep making a goddamn deal about his feet? Jesse throws a glance down at them, and— Oh. Shit? Adrenalin had blocked his pain receptors out enough that he wasn't aware his feet are actually in pain. And, fuck, just a t-shirt, boxer shorts—

His attention winds up dragging to the phone in his hand. Which he squeezes protectively, a stab of aching longing for Jane welling in among all his panic. No time for that right now, though. He has to just move on, focus, put the past behind him and just deal with what's right in front of him, right now. As Mr. White would tell him, if he was here.

Shit. Mr. White! Jesse's hand dashes back up to rub through his hair in an anxious jerk of realisation. Oh shit, he hopes Mr. White is okay. Fuck, maybe he could call him? Jesse stares down at the phone again. Then looks back up to this guy in front of him. The crossbow. The blood all over him. The state of him. Supposing he loses his shit and starts shooting people. Kids, maybe.

Mr. White is going to have to wait. He's so sorry, Mr. White, but he's gotta deal with this situation first. Hand still pushed into his messy hair, Jesse throws a look around him, his surroundings so unnervingly unfamiliar. A broken down, crumbling city, with sagging walls layered with decades of disrepair and mildew. God, how did he get here?

No time for questions. Safety first.

Heaving a deep, unsteady sigh, Jesse faces back to Daryl. ]

L-Look, I'll be fine, alright? Ain't like I can deal with 'em here, so let's just— [ A small, coaxing beckon of his hand for the guy to start moving with him. ] C'mon, man, let's just get moving.

[ And now that he's aware of his injured feet - well, the first step makes Jesse bite a grimace, teeth clenched, breath hissing quietly. But he makes himself take another step, and another, hobbling slightly. All the while, he takes to sweeping a glance up at buildings, the expanse of dilapidated emptiness that seems to sprawl everywhere. ] It's like some kinda city or something, so... means there's gotta be houses around, right? Or places to hide out or whatever? So let's just— keep to the shadows or whatever. 'Til we find something. Be real quiet in case one of them things from earlier comes chargin' at us. [ A look tossed across to the guy. Needs to keep the illusion going here if he doesn't want this guy to tweak out in paranoia. ] Or... Or Walkers.

[dadyl]

[ It's almost like Daryl can see the thoughts skidding across this guy's mind, he's that emotive. Fear of the obvious, surprise over his feet, despair over something Daryl can't pinpoint (and why does this guy have a phone, anyway? Cell phones haven't worked in almost a month...), panic... Daryl watches them all flick over Jesse's face one by one until the kid lands on resignation, and by then Daryl has a big handful of cloth strips bunched in one hand. ]

You won't. Who knows what you're gonna step on out here? You should wrap 'em up, at least. [ But Jesse doesn't seem inclined to listen and Daryl can't be bothered to convince him. Fine. Step on something big and sharp and make it all worse, like Daryl cares.

But he does, when Jesse starts to flinch and limp. He grinds his teeth, trying not to notice for almost fifty paces, trying to ignore the little sounds of hushed pain the guy makes. He's got a lot to look at anyway, weirdly twisted towers and strange rounded houses... This looks nothing like any city he's ever seen, except, ironically, for Atlanta. It had been similarly deserted, except for the dead. The dust everywhere is as much as mystery as everything else, though. Even Atlanta hadn't been abandoned as long as this place. ]

Guess so. [ Daryl isn't willing to discount anything here, not after what he's seen, but he doesn't have a better suggestion. Jesse's logic seems sound. ]

We'll be a lot quieter if you stop talkin'. [ But here, in this silence, Daryl thinks he could hear a squirrel coming from a mile off. He's not worried about being snuck up on by something huge. Walkers, on the other hand... They have a way of showing up when you least expect them. ]

You can stop that. I know you don't believe me. Just wait. [ Said matter-of-factly, almost passively. Daryl doesn't see the point in arguing about the truth, but he doesn't like being talked to like he's an idiot, either.

He motions for Jesse to stop at the door of the first fluid, round house they come to and cants his head to suggest that Jesse move back, a finger across his lips. Pulling his crossbow off his shoulder and nocking one of the arrows he'd pulled out of the Bronto, Daryl raises it up under his eye before pushing open the unlocked door and letting the weapon lead the way inside. He doesn't call out to any inhabitants the way Jesse might, not wanting to give away their position if the building is full of the dead. ]