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 what?

[The gods had better be expecting this, because if they're not prepared for this overload of pure undiluted hope, they might actually explode. Ichigo feels like too many words are fighting to get out of his mouth at once, catching in his throat and choking him. For a moment, he can't speak, can barely breathe.]

That's -- that isn't possible.

[Oh, but he wants it to be. He wants it to be with a desperation so strong it's physical: the bones in his wrists and palms ache, and his hands curl into tight fists at his sides. He lost his powers. He sacrificed them. He knew what he was doing when he gave them up. The idea that he can get them back is -- it has to be a lie. Ichigo doesn't know which one tears at him most, the knowledge that it's untrue or the hope that it isn't.]

You know that's not possible, Rukia...!

[She wasn't going to tell him, not until she had the concrete way of giving him his powers back in her possession...false hope would be the most cruel. But she also didn't plan on any of this, meeting him without his powers, far from home, in a cave with gods...so she tells him, straight out.] Urahara thinks it is. He doesn't just feel bad about things... though that's why he's working so hard. He didn't even want to say anything to me until he thought he could do it.

Besides. [A breath of laughter.] When has 'impossible' stopped you before? From the first time I met you even...

[His heart is racing so damn hard. Ichigo says the words like he hardly dares to believe them; they lie halfway between a question and a wondering breath.]

But he thinks he can do it.

[Had Urahara been working on that all this time? Is there really a chance? If he told Rukia, then he had to think so...

For a moment, all Ichigo can think is one thing: Am I going to get my shinigami powers back?

The answer hits him a long second later. No. I'm not -- not as long as I'm trapped in this cave, anyway. Even if Urahara does find a way to do it, he can't get to me in Hadriel.

His jaw tightens. I've got to get out of here.]

Hey. Rukia.

Thanks for telling me.

[He means it. There's a firmness in his manner that wasn't there a minute ago.]

He does. [There's a level of confidence in that answer that wouldn't seem odd....if you were to forget everything Urahara has done, and specifically to her and hers, over the years. This is a Thing she Believes.]

[She shakes her head.]

Like I would neglect to tell you such a thing, fool.

[Not that she wouldn't tell him, obviously she wanted it to be a surprise, a triumph, a reunion....but no, not here, it's not to be. So. To bring that light back into his eyes she tells him what she knows to be true, right now.]

[With, of course, the customary amount of ribbing as well. You think she would change that much, after a few months? ]

[The ribbing is familiar. It feels strangely like an invitation -- a chance to fall back into something like the way things used to be. Not exactly like it, of course, but...well, it's better than dwelling on what's different.]

At least there's one thing hasn't changed--

Your drawings still suck.

[Invitation accepted. He ain't mad about being left out of the loop for a year-plus. They're good.]

[The old joke, about her art skills, is a relief and it feels like some tightly-wound spring in her chest releases all at once, like she can breathe properly again. She didn't even have to smack him around this time to get him back in his old form.]

[So have a paint-brush (with orange paint on it, of course) flying at your face, Ichigo.]

You just don't know how to appreciate good art!

What's good about it?! I can't tell if that--

[--he jerks his thumb at one particular offender--]

--is supposed to be a cat or a bear!!

It's neither! That's why you got it wrong. It's supposed to be a dog, see the nose?

[If you were to squint and tilt your head, maybe, just maybe, it might resemble a dog. But not really.]

Besides, it doesn't matter if you like it. That Hope lady is asking for art like this. So there.

Uh....Hope's a dude.

Whatever. Paint was provided and spreading happiness with beautiful art was requested. I'm only fulfilling that request. Obviously.

[Who'd be happy while they were looking at that? Maybe if they were laughing at it...]

Do you even know why Hope wants us to paint the city?

[To be fair, painting it is making at least one person very happy indeed.]

To make it looks nice? [It's half a guess, she's not really sure.] There was a message, on the device that I woke up with, about gods or something like that. [Said in the tone of voice of someone who doesn't believe in these god things.] I just thought Id do something to pass the time until I can get back home.

[He sighs.]

Looks like you really don't know anything yet...

[He pulls a frown and pulls himself together, turning businesslike.]

All right, listen up, 'cause I'm only gonna explain this once. Those gods you're talking about? They're real, and they live off of other people's emotions. I know, it sounds crazy, but I figure everybody here can't be lying to me, right?

Anyway, a while back, everybody who used to live here died except for two gods, Hope and Fear. Fear opened this thing called the Door, which is some kind of artifact he doesn't really understand, and that's what dragged us all here. Hope's trying to use us to bring the dead gods back, and Fear's trying to use us to...actually, I don't really know what he's after. I kind of assumed he was just trying to make himself stronger. The point is, Hope thinks some of the dead gods know enough about the Door to send us back where we came from. I don't really trust any of them, and I can't see them letting us go easily, since we're their power source, but I also don't see any real alternative. We've got to cooperate for now, at least until we learn how this Door works.

With me so far?

[She's about to protest that, excuse you, she knows lots of things , but serious-business-Ichigo is a rare enough sight for her that she actually shuts up and listens instead.]

So all that stuff about the gods is real? But they want our emotions, instead of something sensible like tributes. [Definitely following the explanation, though there's not much belief there yet. She also has a bunch of other questions, but maybe he'll get around to answering those as he goes.]

test drive meme #11

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