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3.0 Test Drive Meme
3.0 Test Drive Meme
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Welcome to Well! Characters arrive a little differently this month (see the first prompt). Your character arrives this month in the middle of the formless desert with only a handful of memories, clad in old west style clothes of your choosing, with no items from home.
Anyone is free to play on the TDM, but you need an invite to apply. Feel free to use these prompts, and interact with the arrival or locations. NPCs are around, but only say a certain set of phrases. TDMs can be considered game canon.
This TDM takes place from the first week of August onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during August and September. This will be the only TDM for August, September, and October.
Applications are open July 26th until August 1st, and August 27th until September 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.
A Little Lost
Content warnings: heat exhaustion, feelings of unreality
You wake up in a sea of sand. It’s hot, and dry, and it seems to go on forever. You don’t remember much about yourself except your name and a handful of memories that most likely aren’t useful right now.
The sand slip-slides under your feet with every step. Sun beats down heavy and hot on your neck and your head. You’re so thirsty. How did you get here? How long have you been walking? Where are you headed? You can’t know. You feel like you’ve been walking forever, but the sun stays high above you, like it’s always noon. It may have been hours, it may have been mere minutes. What are those things circling in the sky above you? Vultures? That can't mean anything good.
Eventually, you find someone else, another new arrival, maybe, or a resident of the town who may have wandered a little too far into the desert. Maybe they have some water on them? Either way, company is exactly what you need right now, because there sure isn’t anything else in this desolate place. Not a cactus, not an animal, not even hints of a town.
Once you’re together, it seems a little easier to move forward. Time starts to move, too. The sun dips in the sky, your feet tread through the sand, and together, eventually you find the town.
If you take too long after you find one another, and the sun sets, be careful. Cacti sprout up closer to town, and after the sun sets, the cacti start to move, and they seem hungry for blood.
tl;dr:
You wake up in a sea of sand. It’s hot, and dry, and it seems to go on forever. You don’t remember much about yourself except your name and a handful of memories that most likely aren’t useful right now.
The sand slip-slides under your feet with every step. Sun beats down heavy and hot on your neck and your head. You’re so thirsty. How did you get here? How long have you been walking? Where are you headed? You can’t know. You feel like you’ve been walking forever, but the sun stays high above you, like it’s always noon. It may have been hours, it may have been mere minutes. What are those things circling in the sky above you? Vultures? That can't mean anything good.
Eventually, you find someone else, another new arrival, maybe, or a resident of the town who may have wandered a little too far into the desert. Maybe they have some water on them? Either way, company is exactly what you need right now, because there sure isn’t anything else in this desolate place. Not a cactus, not an animal, not even hints of a town.
Once you’re together, it seems a little easier to move forward. Time starts to move, too. The sun dips in the sky, your feet tread through the sand, and together, eventually you find the town.
If you take too long after you find one another, and the sun sets, be careful. Cacti sprout up closer to town, and after the sun sets, the cacti start to move, and they seem hungry for blood.
tl;dr:
- This time, new arrivals wake up lost in the middle of a vast desert.
- There's too much sun, too much sand, vultures circling and too little water.
- Finding each other makes time start again, and lets you find the town.
- If you don't make it back to town before nightfall, vicious living cacti appear to attack you.
Face Your Fears
Content warnings: hallucinations, reality shifts
In this town, fear soaks the hot, dry air. It lurks in shadows and the corners of rooms, waiting for their moment. What is it that you fear? Monsters? Disappointing your parents? Maybe you’re afraid that everyone you love will leave you, or that you’ll end up alone. Whatever it is, right now, there’s a chance of becoming very real.
It happens suddenly. Your mind drifts. You lose focus on what you were doing, and when you look up again, the world around you has shifted. What was a nice lunch with a new friend or a fun visit to the saloon becomes a nightmare. What fear manifests is totally up to you, and it can be different every time. The person beside you could become a monster you think is trying to attack you, or you could be suddenly alone in a cold dark space, desolate and empty.
Whatever horror your mind conjures up for you, it will feel real in all ways and with all senses including, of course, your perception of pain. As far as you know, you’re trapped in a nightmare with no way out.
Except, of course, there is a way out: you just need to figure out that it isn’t real. Maybe you’re strong enough to do that on your own; maybe you’ll need help from a friend or a new pal, reaching through the illusion to pull you back. After all, these hallucinations are entirely in the mind of the beholder: to everyone around you, it sure just looks like you’re yelling at your pancakes!
tl;dr:
In this town, fear soaks the hot, dry air. It lurks in shadows and the corners of rooms, waiting for their moment. What is it that you fear? Monsters? Disappointing your parents? Maybe you’re afraid that everyone you love will leave you, or that you’ll end up alone. Whatever it is, right now, there’s a chance of becoming very real.
It happens suddenly. Your mind drifts. You lose focus on what you were doing, and when you look up again, the world around you has shifted. What was a nice lunch with a new friend or a fun visit to the saloon becomes a nightmare. What fear manifests is totally up to you, and it can be different every time. The person beside you could become a monster you think is trying to attack you, or you could be suddenly alone in a cold dark space, desolate and empty.
Whatever horror your mind conjures up for you, it will feel real in all ways and with all senses including, of course, your perception of pain. As far as you know, you’re trapped in a nightmare with no way out.
Except, of course, there is a way out: you just need to figure out that it isn’t real. Maybe you’re strong enough to do that on your own; maybe you’ll need help from a friend or a new pal, reaching through the illusion to pull you back. After all, these hallucinations are entirely in the mind of the beholder: to everyone around you, it sure just looks like you’re yelling at your pancakes!
tl;dr:
- You start hallucinating that the things you fear most are actually happening to you.
- These fears feel like real, concrete sensory experiences, even though they're only happening in your head.
- You can escape by recognizing that what's happening isn't real, either on your own or with help.
Bullrider
Content warnings: mild bovine coercion, alcohol
Come on, hot stuff. You know you want to.
Bet you can’t stay on for more than half a minute.
You don’t look too tough.
You think you can tame me?
In the saloon, you hear a voice in your head. It calls to you, the words seductive and enticing: you want to prove it wrong, you want to find out what it’s promising, you hate to lose. Whatever the motivation, you find yourself abandoning your drink and making your way to the new attraction at the back of the saloon: the bull.
It’s a big boy: a massive mechanical bull. Covered in spotted cowhide, with a bull head and big horns, this thing sits on a massive pedestal like a challenge. Around it is spread... relatively thin padding and a flimsy rope to keep the audience back an appropriate distance.
The compulsion keeps a hold on you until you’re on the bull. Maybe you’re on it with a friend, or a stranger, and it starts up with a mechanical buzzing. It starts to sway under you, and now you have just one job: stay on.
It starts easy, but gets harder as it goes along. It’s incredibly difficult to stay on for more than a minute. But during that minute, you feel amazing. You feel hot as hell, in whatever way that works for you: sexy, powerful, bold, in control.
Until he throws you off onto the padding or into the crowd! When you get thrown, there's a good chance you'll go flying into the crowd. Hopefully they're ready to catch you!
If by some miracle you manage to stay on for more than a minute and a half, the bartender slides you a bullrider special: a spicy whiskey cocktail with a hint of lime. Feel free to leave it up to pure chance, and have the mods roll a die for you to see whether you manage to stay on or not.
tl;dr:
Come on, hot stuff. You know you want to.
Bet you can’t stay on for more than half a minute.
You don’t look too tough.
You think you can tame me?
In the saloon, you hear a voice in your head. It calls to you, the words seductive and enticing: you want to prove it wrong, you want to find out what it’s promising, you hate to lose. Whatever the motivation, you find yourself abandoning your drink and making your way to the new attraction at the back of the saloon: the bull.
It’s a big boy: a massive mechanical bull. Covered in spotted cowhide, with a bull head and big horns, this thing sits on a massive pedestal like a challenge. Around it is spread... relatively thin padding and a flimsy rope to keep the audience back an appropriate distance.
The compulsion keeps a hold on you until you’re on the bull. Maybe you’re on it with a friend, or a stranger, and it starts up with a mechanical buzzing. It starts to sway under you, and now you have just one job: stay on.
It starts easy, but gets harder as it goes along. It’s incredibly difficult to stay on for more than a minute. But during that minute, you feel amazing. You feel hot as hell, in whatever way that works for you: sexy, powerful, bold, in control.
Until he throws you off onto the padding or into the crowd! When you get thrown, there's a good chance you'll go flying into the crowd. Hopefully they're ready to catch you!
If by some miracle you manage to stay on for more than a minute and a half, the bartender slides you a bullrider special: a spicy whiskey cocktail with a hint of lime. Feel free to leave it up to pure chance, and have the mods roll a die for you to see whether you manage to stay on or not.
tl;dr:
- There's a mechanical bull in the back of the saloon!
- There's a strange deep voice in your head, coercing you into giving it a shot.
- It's hard to stay on, but when you're on it, you feel powerful, bold and in control.
- The padding's pretty thin and you'll get thrown hard when you do. You might hit someone!
- If you stay on for more than a minute and a half, you'll get a fun little drink as a reward.
2
"Sure. Hey, man, what d'you use on that mustache?"
no subject
Alec leans forward, watching him with unblinking quiet fascination.
"Huh," he says, planting his hands behind him on the counter and sinking his weight back on his palms. "How about that. Does it ever change, or is it always like this?"
no subject
"What is there to do in town? I'd check out the saloon, and the diner has great food if you want something different. Stay in town, though, it gets dangerous outside at night." The receptionist says neutrally to the pair of them.
"Feels like talking to a wall half the time."
no subject
He could just throw something at the receptionist, but that doesn't seem like the move in front of a stranger. He might take it the wrong way.
no subject
The receptionist doesn't react. The post its fall to the ground.
"Yeah, that's about right. Spent some time fucking with him a few months ago, but, yeah, it's pretty much all the same. You got any other ideas?"
no subject
Nothing. Not a twitch, not the start of a twitch. If the receptionist isn't being directly addressed, it's almost like he doesn't register they're talking. The latent sense nestled at the base of Alec's brain flexes like a tongue stretching out to lick, and at an angle concealed from Yuri's line of sight, the receptionist's outermost left finger curls, relaxes.
Still nothing.
no subject
But then he pulls it back with a little frown. "I dunno if you should hurt him."
no subject
"Why?" He tilts his head to the left like a cat, settling his wrists over his knees.
no subject
He glances at the receptionist, who looks as placid as ever.
"Seems wrong to hurt a guy when he's just doing his job."
no subject
"Why does him being at work make a difference?" Alec asks, tapping the fingers of his left hand against his shin. "And is this actually a job?"
no subject
He doesn't put the knife away yet, though. He is curious, but he also feels deep in his gut that it's wrong.
"He gave us our keys. Safe to say it's a job."
cw: hand injury reference
"Right," he says, in a way that suggests he's completely lost, at this point, "Yeah. Gave us keys. I just sort of doubt he's getting paid for this? And I'm not going to stab him. I'm not a psycho. I was just going to stick it under his fingernail. He'd basically be fine."
He keeps drumming his fingertips, rolling like a wave over his shin bone. It feels kind of nice.
"If you think he doesn't deserve to get fucked with, why don't you stab him?"
no subject
"Huh? Because that would be fucking with him. That seems--" Alright, now he looks down at the knife, at the receptionist. He is sort of curious. "Under the fingernail sucks. The tip would hurt less."
no subject
"I meant, you know - kill him?" Alec offers up. "To stop the fucking with? Not my first choice, personally, but it is a problem solver."
no subject
Which--he is sort of tempted, by curiosity, but he's not sure if he can, in good conscious, kill the receptionist because of curiosity.
cw: discussion of intentional finger harm
He'd thought about death when he was walking out of the desert in an abstract sense. It hadn't been his favorite thought, but it hadn't overly bothered him. The concept of death as impermanent is something he turns over like a block with no hole it fits in the puzzle game in front of him - and so he's going to put that in the pile with the other similar blocks for the time being.
"I don't know if that's good or bad news for you." He swivels to face the receptionist, hunkering down over his crossed ankles until he resembles a gargoyle perched on the front desk. "Any input? Thoughts on the finger stick proposal?"
"Wellstone's not what it used to be, but we're really working to ramp up tourism. You're here, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Thought so." Alec sticks his hand out to Yuri and wiggles his fingers. "Tip of the finger, not under the nail. Promise."
no subject
If Alec looks to him again, he'll just nod his ascent.
cw: fingertip harm, intentional injury to helpless individual
The first finger Alec tests the knife on is his own. He doesn't break the skin on the pad of his index finger, but he seems to find the sharpness of the point satisfactory. He takes the receptionist's hand with the dispassionate care of a technician, holding his upturned fingers to Alec's palm with the splay of his thumb.
The tip of the knife touches the receptionist's pinkie, divoting the skin. Alec examines the receptionist's expression, his own expectant but unexcited.
For all that preparation, it's not dramatic at all when Alec lifts the knife and brings it down for a swift, simple prick of the skin. Alec watches the receptionist's pupils with ones just as impassively fixed.
cw: blood
Yuri for his part, watches dispassionately until he notices the bleeding, then he curses and tugs the bandana from his pocket, taking the receptionist's hand from Alec.
"Jeez, I thought you said just a prick!"
cw: blood
"I did," he says, softly, tilting his hand sideways to watch the formation of tiny droplets along its lower edge, "Looks like he's a bleeder."
Alec drops the knife onto the desk and slides off it to land on both feet, absently rubbing his fingers together again.
"Guess it's a good thing we didn't go under the nail."
cw: blood
"This is messed up. The hell--we need to stop the bleeding."
cw: blood
"Lift his hand over his heart," he suggests, after a moment's shuffling through the information his memory supplies, "You got a styptic pencil handy?"
He doesn't see what Yuri is so worked up about. It's a lot of blood, sure, but it's not like the guy is dying yet. Probably.
cw: blood
Just like, normal pens though.
But lifting his hand up seems to help, the bleeding slowing down.
"Don't worry about the storm. It'll blow right through," the receptionist says cheerfully while Yuri stares at him.
"Jeez, this is weird."
cw: blood
He doesn't actually know what a styptic pencil is, but a vague image of a soft tipped, chunky pencil-like utensil is rattling around his head. He probes around it to see if he can dredge up some alternatives.
He wrinkles his nose at what he comes up with.
"Guessing you're not hiding a hospital anywhere," he sighs, "And it looks like buddy over here doesn't have self-preservation built in. Do you think the rest of them bleed like that?"
no subject
At least with the hand elevated, the bleeding seems to be slowing.
"No, no hospital. Some people have healing magic, we could see if that works on him. I dunno, man, they're not human but I got no clue what they are."
(no subject)