dankmemes | test drive meme #11

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.

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: WORKING TITLE
[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 swarm around you and chow down. This time, the Door has brought in a few Working Joes, from the Alien: Isolation video game series.

Once simply androids meant for mundane jobs, working Joes have had their programming altered to isolate and eliminate threats onboard their ship- which they now believe to be Hadriel. Super strong, yet slow and plodding, an android may ask you for identification before throttling you when you don't have the right answer. They are quite sturdy and difficult to destroy without the right tools. Have fun!]

H O P E

SCENARIO TWO: BEAUTIFICATION DUTY
[The city has always looked a little drab, but now with some tools from Hope, it's up to you guys to spruce it up a bit! Your character will find themselves in a shop filled with various paints, home improvement tools, window stickers, streamers, and various other items and tools used to improve the appearance of the neighborhood.

You're encouraged to add your own little flair to the project in order to improve living standards and make Hope the happiest god in the pantheon. So, what will you do? Paint a mural? Sweep up some rubble? Install a skylight! The cave is your oyster.

This is a mini version of our Extinction v2 event this month!]

S O R R O W

SCENARIO THREE: CRY ME A RIVER
[When you wake up in the morning, something feels... off. It feels like you just watched 20 ASPCA commercials in a row and then topped it all off with the first ten minutes of Up. You're beaten down, depressed, upset by all the horrific acts and trauma in the world, and it's enough to make you want to cry.

Turn on the waterworks, because Hadriel is about to have a shortage of tissues and everyone's getting dehydrated. You might run into your neighbor crying while you're scavenging for food, or you might just find that one whole asshole in the entire movie who isn't affected.

Either way, it's time to get some hugs, some kleenex, and maybe a little bit of chocolate. Happy... crying?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Arya follows the footprints to the paint-filled room. She wants to make sure that's, in fact, paint and not monster blood. It smells like paint, but stronger -- paint in Westeros is made of more natural stuff. Dyes are expensive.

Arya doesn't expect to find the mural. It's a strange, striking sight, and not just because of the purple stars -- it's never occurred to Arya to paint a wall like this before. But she likes it. ]

Oranges and reds. [ Arya answers, trying to seem sure of herself. ] Greens and browns are land colors, but you're painting the sky.

[ River gives a sharp nod, gathering up buckets and jars of various shades in fire colors, balancing them on top of each other and in her arms as she turns around and grins at Arya like she's an old friend. ]

Do you want to join? Or you could tell her of the monsters and the men here, it's all new and news alike.

[ Arya chews her lip, uncertain. She'd like to join, but she'd likely ruin the painting. Arya knows she destroys, not creates. That's why she's spent most of the event killing monsters instead of beautifying the city.

But she could manage to paint a few stars, right? A few little dots. ]

Yes. Thank you. [ Arya tries for a smile. ] I can do both at once. [ Arya dips a finger in the red and starts finger-painting some stars. ] I've been with the monsters, mostly. I hunt them for food, because you can't trust the meat here. But there are always monsters. They come in through the Door.

[ In River's all important opinion, there is no ruining the mural. Once art is made, it's art, to be taken or left behind to be found again, but there is no right or wrong.

Not that she's thinking about that. She's thinking about the red on the tip of Arya's finger, and dips her own in the same pot after. ]

Girls for bleeding, girls for blood.

Didn't we come through the Door? Being a monster is not a new thing. Hunting them is. What's wrong with the meat? Did they drug it?

[ She's just full of questions, and sweeping gestures with both her fingerpaints and hair. Now, there are meteors and bleeding stars in the sky, shining against the blue black. ]

[ Arya has never thought of the people who come here as monsters...but River isn't exactly wrong. Especially given the things Arya has done. ]

They did. Those who ate of the poisoned meat turned into creatures hungry for only human flesh. [ Arya's expression darkens, her strokes becoming wider and more forceful. ] My housemate was afflicted. I had to burn the kitchen. Never again. I'm not letting it happen twice.

Reavers. [ River's nod turns sage. ] They make others like them. In the punishment, they break the brain until it shatters in. Two sides, one coin; hers isn't shattering to grasp at others and pull them other but it is collapsing and birthing itself again, like a dark star.

[ She sighs and considers Arya from the corner of her eye. ]

Did the Gods set him back to rights again?

[ Arya's brow furrows. She's pretty sure the creatures were called wendigos. Either way, River has the right of it.

Arya shrugs. ]

Eventually. I had to kill her first. The gods revived her. There is no death here.

[ Not that Arya knows of, at least. But she still doesn't trust the revival process. ]

[ Maybe there are different names for different types of horrors, she reasons, and River gives a small shake of her head. ]

Better you than a stranger, to hold the blade or pull the trigger.

[ There is no death here. That doesn't bode well. River wrinkles her nose. ]

Is any God trustworthy? [ She snorts at her own question - of course they aren't. ] Is any one?

[ Or ignite the flames. Orange next. Arya dips her finger in the paint and starts painting a large bird, an orange, crow-type thing with a beak far too sharp for safety. ]

These gods aren't. Gods are silent, or they're liars, or gift-givers. A girl serves them, but does not trust them.

[ Arya regards River carefully, with a sharp eye. ]

I don't think your second question was a real one. I think you know the answer.

[ River has to laugh at that, an open, pealing sound full of joy. ]

A girl serves a girl's best interests, be they Gods or men. These Gods speak. They speak, they echo, they drag, they draw out of us their worship and remembrance. We are manipulated like a paper flag for prayers in the wind.

[ She looks at Arya as if she has won a prize and in a way she has; Arya is officially important to River now. ]

No men can be trusted. [ Except Simon. Except sometimes, so really, not even Simon. River will ignore that thread for now. ] Does a girl have a name?

Her's is River.

[ River speaks in songs, and Arya does not understand how she does it. Arya has never been anything but blunt and coarse. Arya isn't sure she wholly understands what River is saying, but she does get the general meaning. These gods are different. These gods play with their worshippers.

Arya nods, agreeing with River. No man can be trusted, it's true. ]

A girl has no name. [ She answers, perhaps a little too forcefully. It's nothing personal. Just a reflex. Then she adds, softer: ] But there are those here who call her Arya.

[ River recognizes the tone and the following token, smiling and closing her hands over one another at her chest. ]

Arya. It's a good.

[ River moves closer, adding shadow to Arya's bird, making the feathers stand out and the bird appear as if it may fly off the wall towards the viewer. ]

[ Arya doesn't blush, but she does chew her lip a little, which is close. She backs up a little and watches River. When River is done, Arya presses her fingertips on the bird. It looks so real, even though it isn't. A little bit of the paint sticks to her fingers when she pulls her hand away. ]

You made it alive. [ Arya breathes, then shakes her head. That was probably a stupid thing to say. ] I mean. It's not alive, truly. But it's good.

[ River grins again. ]

It needs to be real. It is real, somewhere, sometime.

test drive meme #11

hope

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