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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.
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she observes him in silence for a minute or two.
then, quietly:] ...You look tired.
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When she speaks, he brings his head up to look at her ]
I am pretty tired. Dying will do that to a guy. I guess.
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And...the exposure? Were you out there, too? So many wandered into town, instead of waking up within the Staywell.
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[ Luckily not too far out, but y'know. Far enough. He pushes his hair back from his face. ]
You? Did you... make it? [ Alive, after the storm? ]
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[she hesitates, uncertain of how much or how little else she ought to be divulging. he looks so tired.
she sighs.]
In any case, you needn't worry. I'm...still myself, for better or worse.
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[ Come back to life. He died, he definitely died. He asked Flynn to kill him, and he did. And yet, here they are. ]
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It's too easy to say it's magic, but that still is my feeling. In so much that...seasons seem like magic when one doesn't know enough about them to explain it.
There's an explanation for all of this. We just...don't have the full picture yet.
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It's kinda unnatural. Death not being the end.
[ He looks down at the table, feeling exhausted all over again. He needs to rest, to settle down in his room, but he can't find peace, not right now ]
What... do you think we're missing?
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[her mouth twitches into a grim, crooked smile.]
At least...from where I sit. I still don't remember enough. Something that might give us a better clue as to how to proceed.
[her expression falls, her gaze distant as she looks out the window.]
If I really am...that woman. Then I must know something. I just need to find out how to wake that memory up.
[and hope she doesn't lose the 'her' she's become.]
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You sure you want to know? I... I'd give something to not remember, now that I know. I did those things, I am that person. I don't...
[ He feels awful, wanting to wish it away, but he does. He was so much happier without those memories, without knowing what he'd done, and now he still doesn't know why, doesn't know why he did those things, why he killed that man ]
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[she finishes the thought, meaning to overwrite whatever his conclusion was, all while her gaze remains fixed elsewhere.]
And neither do I.
So if knowing gives me some sense of control for what I can do for the present...I can endure the pain. But if I had a choice in all of this, I would want to...avoid what I could, safely.
I don't believe that will be the case, however.
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[ It sounds idealistic even to his own ears. He rubs his hands over his face with a groan. His thoughts are a muddled mess ]
I can't even do that. I keep--fucking up.
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What do you mean? What, exactly, have you messed up so egregiously lately?
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What... we did, during the storm. What I did to Flynn. What I made him do. What I remember. I--it all started going down when I remembered that guy.
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Well, I don't know much about it, do I? All I know is...my dear friend is hurting, and I've little means to do much about it. Whether it's because of the ghosts of his past, or...fear manning his movements now...
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[ He takes a shaky breath and forces himself back, slumping back in the chair ]
Sorry. I don't need to put that on you.
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This...metaphor is escaping me, but you know what I mean.
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You sure? You have enough shut to deal with.
But, guess I sort of did that. In the last few months. Thought I'd be okay, and then...
[ He leans in, dropping his voice ]
I dunno if I can handle it. I couldn't stand thinking I'd die in the sand. I did a lot to not die like that.
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I don't think most could stand it, dear. I can only imagine.
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But then she sits down next to him and he feels a terribly complicated knot of feelings in his gut. His breath is tight in his throat ]
...yeah.
[ He could say more, but the words won't come. He's wound up, hurting, and Cecelia is his friend, his best friend, maybe, and she's offering him something he can't ask for. He closes his eyes, letting his hair fall in front of his face so she doesn't see his face crumple ]
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For my part...I despise praises of courage and cleverness when I feel at my most bankrupt of them. Is it so for you, as well?
Perhaps I should refrain, even though I know in my heart of what is good and true to you, from what I've seen of you. It won't erase what is true.
[she hugs his arm a little tighter.]
That there is quite a deal of good in you, dear man.
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Her words are true: he doesn't want to hear it. But he also know what Cecelia isn't one to bullshit, she says it like it is, and if she says she thinks there's good in him, then she thinks there is good in him. Whether she's right is another question, but she's also smart and sharp and he trusts her, even if he can't quite trust this. He does at least believe that she believes it, which makes him laugh humorlessly ]
Look, now I have you--you trying to cheer me up when you have your own shit.
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[ He takes a steadying breath ]
I'm okay. I just, yeah. A lot happened.
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she remains as still as she can be to accommodate some of the weight settled against her, feeling a bit more secure for it.]
Suppose the relentless agonies relent but a little come the morning; I think you've earned a bit of rest.
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/thread?