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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
You're... good? Laying out here in the desert?
no subject
That's what I said.
Figure staying out here can't be much worse than what was going on in town the last time I was there.
no subject
So, the solution is obvious. Pyrrha reaches out and grabs Ruby's wrist. Then she gives her a firm, steady tug as she rises to her feet, aiming to pull Ruby across her shoulders in a fireman carry. ]
no subject
She just was not expecting someone to be so forceful in stopping her. She feels the shifting in the sand as Pyrrha gets closer and then takes a hold of her wrist. And she's not quite prepared for it. She's light and it's easy to get her up into the carry without much effort. But she's wiggling and squirming trying to get out.]
Hey! This is noncon-whateverual! Put me down!
no subject
[ She doesn't ask it unkindly, but she doesn't wait for an answer. ]
I can't stop you from walking right back out here, but I can't just leave you out here to die.
no subject
That was kind of plan.
[She's pretty upfront about how she feels about this. She closes her eyes before she can really get a good look at Pyrrha. ...She just doesn't want to deal with this right now.]
You don't have to feel obligated to save me or anything. You're just wasting your time.
no subject
[ She'd just said 'had', sure, but that was more of an emotional, personal had. She doesn't need any sort of external pressure telling her to help someone before she'll do it. ]
And I don't think that helping someone else is ever a waste.
[ The fact that Ruby seems to disagree on that front is a little worrying but... well, that's why Pyrrha is carrying her back to town. ]
no subject
So you must be doing it because you feel you have to.
Or should.
[Something about Pyrrha's voice nags at her. She's heard it somewhere before and it makes her stomach do a little flip in discomfort.]
I'm just saying that you don't.
I'll just weigh you down in the end.
no subject
Not that it sounds like she's going to accept it. Pyrrha is silent for another long moment, though she doesn't stop her steady trudge across the desert sands. ]
Would you feel better if I said I wanted to help?
no subject
Not really- I'd just think that you were wasting your time. But... I guess I'd get and know there isn't much point in trying to fight it from here on.
no subject
In that case, can I ask why you think it would be a waste?
no subject
She sits on the question briefly and shifts a little in Pyrrha's grip.]
When I'm around, people get hurt. That's just the way it is. So like- I get what you're doing here. Trying to help out. But it's only going to end up causing you trouble in the long run.
no subject
But you're not the one hurting them.
[ It isn't a question, because it doesn't need to be. Pyrrha can tell from the way Ruby speaks what she means. ]
no subject
But I couldn't stop them from getting-
[It's only when she lifts her head up to give Pyrrha a defiant little glare that she realizes who she's talking to.
And she stops cold mid sentence as a pit forms in her gut. A realization hits her that person who had been trying to help her this whole time was someone who she had seen before.
Something wet hits her cheeks and her voice cracks when she speaks up. She doesn't quite realize how hard it's hitting right away.]
-I couldn't stop you from getting hurt.
[She couldn't stop her from dying before her eyes.]
no subject
Pyrrha freezes when she sees the tears rolling down Ruby's cheeks, her own concerned expression freezing into one of shock and dismay. It would probably be less distressing if she had any idea of who Ruby is.
But... she does, doesn't she? Isn't there something kind of familiar about her? Something about the ombre of her hair and the silver of her eyes that tugs at the few memories Pyrrha can call her own? It's so vague Pyrrha doesn't want to pin any of her hopes on it but...
But... ]
Who are you...?
no subject
The question hits her like a sack of bricks. It wasn't complicated but it was one that bothered Ruby since she had got here. Who was she? Who had she been? Who was she going to be? For the most part she had just wanted to crawl away and be nothing to no one, but that kept proving to be impossible.]
...I'm Ruby- And- I think I watched you die.
no subject
There's not really a reaction she can have besides that, is there? Just - oh. No much there is she can do about that, is there.
... No, not quite. Pyrrha doesn't know who she is, either, but she thinks that person is pretty good at rolling with the punches. This, though? Her mind rebels at the thought. She's dead? ]
That's... that can't be possible. I'm right here.
no subject
Because Pyrrha's next words hit her hard with what she's really been dealing with this whole time.]
Yeah. I am too.