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3.0 Test Drive Meme
3.0 Test Drive Meme
Premise & Arrival ֍ FAQ ֍ Apply ֍ Navigation
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.
no subject
So he looks up, and he meets the greenest pair of eyes he thinks he's ever seen in his life, the parts he remembers and the parts he doesn't.
He should say something. He should say anything, instead of gawking at her like he's never seen another human being before. He just knows that if he opens his mouth carelessly now, something worse than a squeak is going to flop out and splatter all over the ground. He swallows hard and straightens his back, forgetting the throbbing in his backside as his heart thuds so hard he's almost worried she can hear it.
She's offering him her hand. He'd be rude, and an idiot, and something worse than either of those two things if he doesn't take it. So, with exaggerated care, he puts his calloused fingers on top of hers. ]
H-hey. [ He manages, and he really, absolutely needs to stop staring. ] Thank you.
no subject
She doesn't dare hope that she's as semi-familiar to him as he is to her, but she can't deny that this meeting seems to have put both of them off-kilter. The first step to correcting that is, probably, to get them off the floor. So when he puts his hand in hers she tightens her grip and pulls him to his feet, a motion more smooth and effortless then she's expecting it to be. Pyrrha isn't a short person by any means, but this guy still has a few inches on her.
Interesting. She releases his hand long enough to give her own a contemplative look, and then finally offers him another smile. ]
It's alright. I think this is the sort of place where we'll all need to look out for one another.
no subject
Whoa. [ He blinks down at her. ] You're really strong, did you know that?
[ She probably does know that. Jaune chuckles awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he draws his other hand back from hers. (He almost hesitates, so much an almost that even he doesn't catch it.) ]
And yeah, that's, uh. That's right! That's what I'm always saying, actually - not that that's why it's right! I say a lot of things that are wrong. Well, not a lot, probably an average amount? Like right now, for example.
[ He mutters that last bit under his breath, but they're so close she probably still heard it. He widens his smile in the hopes that it'll make him look more 'friendly' than 'unhinged'. ]
What I mean is, you're right. We have to look out for each other around here. So thank you. Again. For checking on me. You- you're new? To town?
no subject
[ She had an abstract understanding of the idea that she's in decent shape, given that one of her few memories is of her capabilities in combat, but it's a little different seeing it in action. She files it away as yet another thing to investigate later.
Right now, though, she's been thoroughly distracted by how refreshingly earnest Jaune is. The other people she's met so far - the morose girl in red and the helpful but strange woman with white hair - haven't been unpleasant, but she wouldn't guess either of them to be particularly community-minded. It's a relief to find someone that not only is, but is unhesitatingly earnest about it as well.
The familiarity helps. ]
I am. Just yesterday, in fact. I met some people that helped me find my way to town.
[ She feels a little bad for just thinking less-than-glowing thoughts about them when they had been very helpful.
That out of the way, she offers her hand out - this time for a proper handshake. ]
Pyrrha Nikos. It's a pleasure to meet you.
no subject
Maybe it has to do with his age. He really hopes not. If this has anything to do with hormones he's going to have to walk out into the desert to live with the lizards until he's normal again.
These are the thoughts on his mind when he takes her hand a second time, hoping dearly that his palm isn't sweaty, and these are the thoughts that vanish completely when she says her name.
It cuts through his mind like a spear, splitting his head into throbbing halves. His eyes widen, stunned, as the unmistakable pain of a recollection-headache bursts like fireworks behind them. ]
Pyrrha Nikos.
[ He wants it to feel familiar when he softly echoes it back to her. He wants it to slide into place like his sword does into his sheath, fitting exactly where it's meant to be, as some wildly hopeful part of him insists that everything in the whole world would make sense if it did.
His headache gets worse. Jaune blinks hard and self-consciously loosens his grip. ]
Jaune Arc. It's...a pleasure to meet you, too.
[ If he knew her, he'd know, wouldn't he? Something would happen. It's wishful thinking. It's latching onto a nice girl with red hair who probably regrets coming over to talk to him already, his brain trying to force a connection that isn't really there. ]
Have you been settling in okay? Finding everything you need?
no subject
It feels, rather indignantly, like a sneeze that doesn't come out, or when you don't realize your hiccuping fit has come to an end. A lot of anticipation and buildup that plateaus into nothing but frustration. She wants his name to be at least as familiar as the man himself - surely that's not too much to hope for when even that familiarity is hesitant and uncertain.
But there's nothing. She reaches into what little memories she has for more and only gets a headache for her efforts. And since there's nothing, she needs to let it go. She can't pester this guy she just met, someone as bereft as memories as she is, in the hopes that there might be some connection between them.
Jaune loosens his grip, but she doesn't notice. She's too busy lifting her free hand to her own temple, chasing away the remnants of her headache, and focusing on Jaune's question. ]
I have been. Someone told me how to find my room, and the general store.
[ Everything you need to get by in a weird abandoned town, apparently. ]
It's... a lot more empty than I was expecting, honestly.
no subject
Kind of spooky, huh?
[ He tries for a winsome smile. It mostly just looks like wincing. ]
But it's not, usually. Aside from the monsters, and the ghosts, and the visions, and the gr- but that all sounds worse when you put it together like that. I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle! [ He gives her a weak thumbs up, to his mortification, and drops it immediately. ] And like we were talking about - you don't have to face any of it alone.
[ That's better. He almost sounds like he wants to, confidently reassuring, even with his youthful voice still so strange in his own ears. Unconsciously, he straightens his shoulders and back. His smile evens out into something less cringing.
He's almost tempted to keep going. He could pour out a bucket of words on the topic of teamwork and solidarity, and how valuable he's found it here. But that starts being about what he wants to say, and not what she might want or need to hear - and he wants to give her whatever she wants or needs from him. It's really the least he can do for being so awkward at the start, isn't it? ]