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

You're Simon.

[ She's perched on a nearby pile of rubble, just high enough to seem a little difficult for your average young woman to have climbed, especially soundlessly. It's sturdy enough to hold her weight. She's smiling faintly; it widens when he speaks and looks up at her. ]

I'm a friend of River's.

[A flash of suspicion follows his feeling of surprise, settled into a guarded wariness even as he smiles politely back. A friend of River's? Maybe. He trusts his sister, but he's spent too long protecting her to trust immediately, even if the word 'friend' does weight considerably in his decision.]

I'm Simon. A friend of River's, you said? She hasn't said much about friends yet, but I'm glad she's making them. What's your name?

Wanda. Maximoff.

[ In case he prefers distance first. The distrust is carefully wrapped into the smile, but Wanda has the benefit of seeing him already through River's eyes, There is nothing rose tinted there: love cannot distort anything a telepath sees. She knows he's a good person. It prompts forthrightness: ]

I am like her, enough. I read minds.

Ms. Maximoff. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[Politeness, always. Still he falls back on that, even after the time they've spent on Serenity, in less than polite company. It's politeness that keeps the keen interest in her statement from overtaking him, from demanding answers. From thinking of his own lack of depth in this situation.]

No offense, but...there's no one like River. But I'm glad there's someone here she has something in common with. How did you meet?

And you, Doctor.

[ He chooses Ms. She follows his lead, and smiles. Expected, of a brother. He's right, there's no one like River. They have overlap, but she is a hurricane, uncontained, unquantified. ]

She painted me. I am [ Gesturing inside the house ] on the right hand side, the red figure.

[ A woman, in orange and red, entwined with the stars. It's very flattering. ]

[She smiles again, and this time he smiles back. It's a small expression, still restrained, but no longer that automatic reflex with no feeling behind it.]

I saw that one. She must like you. It isn't just anyone who ends up one of River's subjects.

[Although sometimes her tastes can be...eclectic, there's a feel to that painting. Not manic, like some of her other art. It's calm. That's a good sign.]

River's actually not here right now. I think she's down by the river, working on another project, left me here to finish this. [He gestures at the painting, the unfinished ship caught among stars.]

[ She understands. Someone is gentle with River, and Simon looks at them like they've just saved an orphanage. Wanda is not the same way about Pietro: he is prickly but equally quick to kindness. ]

Serenity? She told — [ ah ] showed me.

[To him, they have. It's not always easy for people to be around River. She's not a girl who makes you comfortable. Sees too much, reacts in ways most people find unpredictable. But she is his sister, and he will spend the rest of his life atoning for the months it took him to realize something was wrong.]

Showed you? With her...abilities.

[His phrasing is careful, but only because he doesn't want to seem too eager. River was always perceptive, even before. Psychic ability isn't the thing that bothers him, it's what it does to her that makes him worry.]

With mine.

[ It's not a correction. It is difficult to explain how she and River talk to and understand each other: they are girls made to be armies, honed and terrifying. An unstoppable force is never met with anything other than discomfort, and that is the best case scenario. ]

[ Somewhere, even Wanda's afraid of what the scarlet is — a force beyond anyone's understanding, most of all her own. ]

We are [ gesturing ] — always listening. She said Serenity, I saw it; I knew it as though I was there.

[With hers, she says, and it isn't the stretch of belief it might have been once. Not after he's seen River's brain, heard her saying things she couldn't know. But still, he isn't like them, and he struggles a little to put it all on terms his mind can understand and process.]

So she...talked. In a way. And you listened. Or--broadcast, and received, maybe, would be better terms. You'll forgive me, there isn't exactly a prepared language for this, where we're from, at least not one I'm familiar with. Was it...visual? Just sensory perceptions, or was it more like, like memory?

There's not one where I am from, either.

[ Which is hardly reassuring, but the scientific approach so far has failed no one. ]

It is hard to explain. Perhaps a demonstration would help.

[Again, that flash of wariness. It's one thing to let River in his head, but to let a stranger...his defensive instincts are what they are. He's spent too long taking care of them, keeping them hidden and safe, to go taking careless risks.

And yet...here's a chance to understand a little of what River's talents might mean. A chance to learn how to better help her. What kind of brother would he be if he refused? He takes a deep breath, abandoning the painting in favor of a chance.]

What would I have to do?

[ There's paint on his hands, not yet dry. Wanda clasps her hands behind her back and skips a little, a movement reminiscent of River. ]

Nothing you don't want.

[ He is one of the last people she wants afraid of her. ]

[It isn't fear. Maybe it should be; maybe he of all people should know the risks. But it's not fear, just a healthy caution, a respect for a procedure he knows nothing about. Like learning a new surgical technique.

The way she moves reminds him of his sister, and fear becomes even more unlikely.]

I want to understand.

[ Maybe it should be. It isn't. ]

Then we will show you. When we talk, you can come along to listen.

...Alright. Listen, that sounds easy enough. I think I can do that.

[He can, right? ....Right?]

test drive meme #11

hope.

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