dankmemes | test drive meme #12

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.

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: O SHIT WADDUP
[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 hop right on you and chow down. This time, the Door has brought in several Doomed, from the Final Fantasy XI video game.

These strange undead creatures look somewhat froglike in appearance, but rumor has it they're actually made from a bunch of gross dead bodies all stuck together. Their whiplike tongue can hurt pretty bad, and if that wasn't enough, they can emit gasses that make it hard to concentrate, fight, and even stand upright. Have fun!]

SCENARIO TWO: PARANOIA
[Out of nowhere, you received a message on your phone. It's most likely from an unknown number - but not necessarily. It could be from someone you know, a number you recognize. A friend, an enemy, a trusted ally. But it's not who the message is from that matters, it's what it says.

Listen to me. They've been lying to you this whole time, and now they're coming for you. That, and nothing else.

So what will you do? Laugh and ignore this clearly missent text? Text back, try to get more details? Freak out? Or maybe you already know what it's talking about - who it's talking about. Maybe it's talking about that person who just walked by you. Didn't they look at you for a little too long? Doesn't it look like they might have a weapon?

You've got to protect yourself in whatever way you can. Who knows what they're plotting.]

C O M B I N A T I O N

SCENARIO THREE: LOUD VALLEY
[There you were, walking down one of Hadriel's rubble-strewn streets, when out of nowhere a cheery tune played. And then... everything changed.

Now there are rainbows along the cave ceiling, candy in the shops, walls painted in bright colors. Everything is cheery and happy and designed to lighten your heart. And if you walk around, you may just find your very own animal companion waiting to frolic and play with you! Sure, it'll all change back to normal Hadriel before long, but right now you might as well enjoy it.

This is a mini version of our Loud Valley event this month!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( gulp.

great.

matt's always liked to think his impulse control is... well, not great, but alright. but the news sends a shock of anger through his core and it manifests in a fist against the wall.

not against Em, not at all. but against this entire situation. okay, so they fucked up, but this-

this sort of karma is bullshit. )

They- They've done that before, haven't they? ( he knows the answer, deep in his gut, but still. he needs Em to confirm it. that she's speaking from experience, rather than theorising. )

[Emily forgets how strong Matt is, because he's usually so gentle, so kind. She forgets that he's been playing football for years, that he chooses to keep his strength in check.

So when his fist hits the wall, she jumps. Tenses. Forces herself to relax her muscles as she sighs and thinks back to that week or so when Rage decided it'd be fun to make everyone want to go and kill someone.]

Yeah. Um-- [She glances at the ground for a moment, stilling her thoughts before she meets Matt's gaze again.] There was like a week or something where everyone just-- wanted to kill someone. This guy, Rhys? I tried to kill him. I mean, I tried all these things to try and keep my mind off how much I hated him all of a sudden? But it didn't matter. I didn't kill him, but it was still awful. And this guy-- this guy with fireballs, he tried to kill me. He's gone now, I think, but it was insane. That alien I told you about, Glacius, he saved me.

[She'd still be here if he hadn't, but it was nice not to die again.]

( the things Em says do nothing to quell the anger at their situation, and man, if he could do something. if he could.

but he can't. just like he couldn't do something, couldn't do enough that night. they should have found a way out, he should have spoken on the radio when they messaged, made their pleas be taken seriously. made it so they didn't have to wait until dawn.

anything more than he did.

he needs to do something here. but what? how does he, a teenage boy, stand up to gods? ones that won't even come face-to-face with you?

he exhales loudly through his nose, and lets this out in the only way he can think of doing.

hugging Em. tightly.

shit, she was here without him for so long. that she had the others is the only blessing given to them. )

I'm glad you're okay.

[Even at her most affectionate, touching is still a little out of her comfort zone. It's not what an ice queen does, not unless she wants to get something in return.

Matt challenges all of those rules, changes them, changes her. There's a moment when she's breathless from his hug, and then she settles against him and can breathe again (realizes she may not have been breathing before, or the entire time she was here without him), wraps her arms around him as tight as she can.]

Me too. [Her voice is small against his jacket, makes a crack in the walls she always has up. She feels the sting of tears against her eyes, almost like the day he got here.] I'm so glad you're here, Matt. I missed you so much.

( they haven't had an easy run, and for him it's only been a matter of weeks since he started dating her (it's been so much longer for her, technically, and the fact still mackes his brain ache when he thinks about it for too long) - a matter of weeks that all culminated in a trip to the mountains and misery he wants to forget.

this place is shit, in so many ways, but at least it isn't the mountain. at least it has that. that and some of his friends (although he worries about the others, about Ashley and Jess and hell, even Mike, wonders how or if they're surviving up there). that and Emily, Emily who is doing so much to not be the girl he argued with the entire night, who still maintains her take-no-shit attitude and stands proud and beautiful even here, where she lacks all the sort of creature comforts and designer options she would demand.

Em's a survivor, and he-

he should be better, for her. he should do something for her. )

I'm not going anywhere. ( not now. sorry, babe, you're stuck with him. )

[Oh god. Emily is in very real danger of crying. Out on the street. In shithole cavetown. Where any of the assholes who live here can see her.

For once, she doesn't care, just buries her face in Matt's chest and lets the tears fall from her eyes as she holds on tight. How the fuck did she get so lucky. How the fuck does she, rich bitch extraordinaire, frigid, untouchable, end up with someone like him? If this is her one good thing in life, then she'll take it, she'll keep him and never let him go and fight anyone who tries to hurt him and--

And prove that she can be good enough for him.]

( well, no one can tell when she's all wrapped up in Matt, and even if they did decide to be a dick about it? well, that's why he's here. defend your girl's honour and all that - all the things he knows about being a gentleman.

his hand slips from the small of her back into her hair, soft and almost hesitant as his fingers thread through the ends.

yeah. they'll be alright here, as long as they're together. as long as they keep working through the problems together.

score 1 for Matt and Emily, definitely. )

test drive meme #12

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