wellcome | 3.0 Test Drive Meme

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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:

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:

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:

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Keiichi makes to squawk indignantly while walking beside Alec, but it comes out as more of a choked noise, hands gripping at the empty air.]

My brain isn't fried! I'm super fine now. My mind? Totally unfucked.

[An obvious falsehood, given the way he's still clearly on edge, but one he's eager to believe.]

And I really was just walking around. Trying to familiarize myself with the layout, you know? I kinda spaced out for a moment, and then I was... [A grimace pulls at his lips.] Well, freaking out.

[ On one level, Alec is filing away a new bit of evidential trivia about the massive mindscrew effect blanketing this shitty town. Random, or seemingly random, infliction of fear-inducing hallucinations. Interesting.

On another, more immediate level, he's rolling his eyes as obviously as possible at Keiichi's indignation, because it's kind of entertaining. ]

Oh, wow, you got all your memories back? Lucky you. Careful telling everyone, or they'll get jealous.

Don't take it personally, dumbass. We're all in the same boat.

[There's something familiar about the structure of this interaction, and, perhaps strangely, Keiichi's response to being called a dumbass is to laugh.]

Hey, take this seriously, I'm trusting you with my secret here! My dark past as a... [He struggles, searching the empty corners of his brain for something, anything. Unfortunately, the illusory bugs must've taken everything the desert winds didn't blow clean out of his skull.] As a yakuza? Yeah. My sordid history as a member of a criminal organization.

[He nods, decisively, and then immediately regrets it. There was too much decision in the nod, agitating the lacerations.]

[ Alec snickers, pivoting on the heel of a rhinestoned boot to walk backwards for a few steps as he looks Keiichi over a second time in more detail. ]

Oh, really? Huh.

[ He'd been half-expecting to get told to fuck off anyway, so this is an unexpected little upside. It pings off the hazy warmth of - but he's not thinking about that. Just in case.

So. Keiichi, and his sordid history. ]

You know, I see it now. You've got the cold eyes of a killer. Bet you probably wish you could forget all the terrible acts of violence you've committed.

I can still feel the blood on my hands, as if fresh. Red, liquid blame, staining me in ways that can't be cleansed! [He brandishes his literally bloodstained hands. The effect might be somewhat ruined by the fact that Alec knows the blood belongs to Keiichi himself, but it's the thought that counts.] I'll never sleep again! Forgive me, God!

[He maintains his pose, reaching skywards, and severe expression for a second, two, three, and then he breaks, bending over himself laughing.]

Ow, fuck- [More laughter, interrupting him, yet also paining him further. What a strange mix of sensations.]

[ So this is how Alec finds out what his own actual, full-throated laughter sounds like. He thinks it's not half-bad, if he says so himself. ]

Oh, come on, it's not that bad. Those orphans probably had it coming.

[ He's not going to go over there and slap Keiichi on the back, or anything, but he does stop walking to wait for Keiichi to pull himself together. If Keiichi happens to look up, he'll catch the mildly approving twist of Alec's smirk. ]

[With some difficulty, the laughter stops and his expression settles on an odd combination of jubilant smile and pained grimace.]

Maybe. I think it stopped being excusable at the third orphanage.

[He catches the approval, and he also heard the laughter echoing with his own. It is a pretty good laugh, and Keiichi has already idly decided that he'll see if he can't hear it again at some point. Maybe he was actually an amateur comedian before all this? Eh.]

Eh, who's going to miss them? Their parents?

[ Alec shrugs loosely, his tiny smile lingering in place. He'd offered to clean Keiichi's neck up because it had seemed vaguely like the kind of thing he should do, but if he keeps being interesting it might actually be worth the effort.

New lesson learned: leave a guy to freak out in an alley by himself, and you just might miss out on a good bit. Alec spins back around and starts walking again, satisfied Keiichi remains mobile. ]

So, killer. What's your deal besides the life of crime?

[That's a good question. And not one that he has a satisfactory answer to.]

Sorry to say, but the rest of my deal has been swept away by the desert winds. Maybe it's out there, in the sands, fine particle memories lost to the dunes.

[A shrug. Free shrugs! For free.]

I lived somewhere called Hinamizawa in Japan, if that means anything to you. It doesn't mean too much to me. [He begins tilting his head, and the doesn't do that. It's just a bad idea.] What about you?

[ 'Fine particulate memories lost to the dunes' is a phrase Alec tucks away for cribbing off of in the future. ]

Doesn't mean anything to me either.

[ Free shrug for free shrug. Nonchalently, Alec moves on to answering the question. ]

And I have no idea who I am, aside from the name, and it's not like I know that's real.

I should try making something up. Think I could sell being long lost royalty?

Definitely! But, you might as well go for broke at that point. You're actually a young king who had to take the throne after the tragic death of your parents!

[He gestures, grandly, arms waving wide. Not as exuberantly as he very palpably wants to, however. He's capable of learning from repeated exposure to pain, it seems.]

And you've got, I dunno, an evil uncle or sister who's trying to kill you to take the throne for themselves. Nobody'd be able to call you on it!

[ That's also actually pretty good. Alec laughs again, low and quiet. ]

I like sister. She's jealous because I'm prettier than she is, and the people love my fluttering eyelashes and supple pout.

[ He demonstrates a simper, tilting his head coquettishly and biting his lip just a little. He holds it for a second before he snickers, dropping the performance. ]

I bet she killed our parents because they liked me better. Sad, really.

[ He graciously pulls the door of the hotel open for Keiichi, mostly because he got there first. ]

[Keiichi nods along, but does actually have to turn away from the pout.]

Weapons grade... that's seriously dangerous!

[It's amazingly unclear how much of this reaction is a joke and how much is genuine. Either way, he heads on in and begins the walk towards room 113. He's pretty sure that they were heading to his room rather than Alec's, at least.]

Way too dangerous. Political exile definitely wouldn't work. You'd have to die for anyone else to ever take the throne.

[ Alec smirks at Keiichi's reaction, simultaneously amused and a little preening. Keiichi is just messing around, obviously, but there's a vein of comedy to tap there. ]

The problem is I just keep seducing all my assassins. My reign of gorgeous tyranny will last a hundred years.

[ Room 113. Alec files that away even as he smirks a bit wider, exaggerating the wideness of his eyes as he glances from the room number to Keiichi as he waits for him to let them in. ]

But that doesn't mean I'm a slut. Royal hand stuff only.

[Yep, just messing around. Nothing to see here. He begins rooting around his pockets, pulling out the key. He was about to say something, add onto the ridiculousness of Alec's reign, maybe mention how his ministers never get anything done because they're too distracted, when he makes that comment.

Keiichi chokes, and fumbles his key. He makes to catch it, sending it further in the air, and he goes to catch it again, but he just smacks it away again, and the end result of that is that he juggles his key while coughing for a solid five seconds.

He turns to Alec with a glare, but it's clearly false from the levity twinkling in his eyes.]

Alright, low blow, but I can't top that. You win, your majesty!

[He then opens the door, revealing... a perfectly normal room! He hasn't had much time to start amassing trinkets and objects.]

Maybe you could show me what those royal hands can do?

[He means helping with his neck, but this is also the beginning of his doubtlessly doomed counter-offensive.]

Edited 2023-07-31 05:00 (UTC)

[ Alec watches the whole affair of juggling and coughing with rapturous attentiveness, successfully silenced by the fact that nothing he could say or do in those seconds could possibly be more entertaining than watching it happen. He gives Keiichi a low, appreciative whistle at the final catch, dove coo quiet. ]

Definitely can't do that.

[ Such momental feats of butterfingers are surely the province of peasants alone. Half-smiling, Alec saunters into Keiichi's room and takes an unabashed survey. He's a little disappointed it looks so much like his own.

At least that means he knows what the bathroom looks like. He lets himself in and rummages for supplies, not that he needs much. ]

Okay, serf, get in here for the Alec's Royal Magic Fingers Experience Extravaganza. [ He mashes 'carnival barker' and 'adult film actor setting up the premise' into one ridiculous cadence. ] Be astounded as I give new meaning to the words 'low blow'.

[ Which, sure, doesn't sound like hand stuff only, but Keiichi can't just say the word 'blow' and expect to get away with it. ]

[Keiichi trails after him as if leashed. He laughs, maybe suspiciously easily, at Alec's showmanship.]

You're making it sound like you're gonna lick me clean, your highness. [His smirk is bulletproof. Don't poke it too much, thank you.] What happened to hand-stuff only? I guess politicians really are just all talk, even in a monarchy.

[ Alec's chuckle bounces off the bathroom walls as he gesures Keiichi to stand in front of the sink. There's a tube of petroleum jelly (not from Keiichi's room, if he might notice something like that) and a wash cloth set beside it, and a larger towel in Alec's hands he drapes over Keiichi's shoulders. ]

What's the point of being king if I can't be fickle? And I'm not going to lick you, knave - I haven't the slightest idea where you've been.

[ Keiichi has inspired him to start doing voices too, apparently. This one is arch, vaguely accented, and prissy. ]

Bend your head over the sink. I'm going to wash you off with water, you filthy boy.

Hey, neither do I. Maybe this is all actually perfectly normal where I'm from!

[He doubts it. Like, really doubts it.

Still, Keiichi obeys the increasingly theatrical demands of his liege, and bends down to place his head closer to the sink.]

Hey, don't be too rough though. I'm sensitive, your majesty! Could you please spare me some mercy, from the vastness of your heart, and forget my earlier remark about your integrity?

[ Alec rolls his eyes unseen with a soft snort. ]

You doubt the healing touch of your rightful liege? I should have you executed, fool.

[ The water pressure sucks when Alec turns the taps, testing the temperature with his fingertips until it's warm-ish enough for his purposes.

Despite the injury to his regal pride, Alec's touch is careful when he gets to work. He slides one hand up the nape of Keiichi's neck to hold the ends of his hair out of the way as he pours palmfuls of water over his neck, applying his fingers in light circles to loosen any bits of gritty sand stuck in the abrasions.

There's something sort of pleasantly hypnotic about the process. It probably helps that Keiichi has been so easily compliant - trusting - throughout. ]

See? I know what I'm doing.

[ No silly voice this time. Alec's just quiet, a little relaxed. He can feel Keiichi's throat humming with all the fragile living processes inside of it, nice and safe under Alec's care. ]

[A slight hissing exhale exits his mouth as he adjusts to the feel of lukewarm water and gentle fingers, grains of sand falling from his neck just like his memories fell from his mind. It's not an entirely terrible feeling, though. A (quite literally) cleansing sort of pain.

Frankly, trusting might be a severe understatement of Keiichi's stance. From his position, above the sink with hands about his throat and entirely at ease with it, he's already penciled Alec in as "cool guy I'll lay my life down for."]

Guess you do, yeah. [Like this, he figures that the buzz of his voice can be felt like a captured bee. Though, if he were a bug, Keiichi thinks he'd be a beetle.] Do you think you've ever done this before?

[ Alec has the fleeting impulse to press the pads of his fingers flat and still above the notch of Keiichi's collarbone when he speaks. He doesn't really know why. It might feel interesting, maybe. The impulse passes without being acted on. ]

Looks like it.

[ He can't feel or see more sand, and the water dripping off Keiichi's neck is only faintly pinkish. Alec turns off the tap and starts patting Keiichi dry with the washcloth. ]

Maybe I'm a king and a doctor. Doctor King Alec has a ring to it. Technically I should disinfect this, but we don't have anything for that, so just don't rub random garbage on your neck for a while, all right?

Now hold still while I rub some random jelly I found on you.

Seriously? That's my favorite thing to do, though.

[Keiichi shoots a truly pathetic expression Alec's way. He's... weirdly good at it???]

And, hey, how come you get to do it? Ugh, truly, this is what I get for supporting the monarchy... my end to the fleshy, lubricated guillotines of your fingers were my inevitable fate...

[Despite his lamentation, he doesn't actually do anything to stop Alec. He does, in fact, tilt his head a bit to make his neck yet easier to access.]

3.0 Test Drive Meme

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cw: inappropriate language, innuendo

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2/2, CW: continued innuendo

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CW: continued innuendo (does it ever truly end?)

perhaps at last...

they're normal now

so normal

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2/2 CW: mention of bugs and the whole bugs in your body dealio

cw: parasitism horrors, bug mentions, alec is gross

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