wellie: (Default)
Well Mod ([personal profile] wellie) wrote in [community profile] wellcome2023-04-20 02:05 pm
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2.0 Test Drive Meme

2.0 Test Drive Meme

Welcome to Well! Characters arrive the same way every month. Your character arrives with only a handful of memories, clad in old west style clothes of your choosing, with no items from home. This month, there is a strong possibility that those old west style clothes include a pair of jorts or daisy dukes.

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 May onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during May and June. This will be the only TDM for April, May, and June.

Applications are open April 26th until May 1st, and May 27th until June 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.

All-Night Diner
Content warnings: feelings of euphoria and mild intoxication, exhaustion

There’s banner over the diner's doorway reading Welcome!, with colorful flags drooping in the heat. Inside, the waiter greets you with a wide smile and an announcement:

“Welcome to the Stardust Diner! Pie’s on the house today. Have a seat.”

During the day, the diner is just that: a diner. You can get anything on the very extensive menu, including prickly pear lemonade. The pie is free, and everything else is put on the tab for your room that will never come due, probably. It seems like a shame to eat that pie all alone! Accepting a piece of pie makes you feel like you should share this moment with someone. Luckily all the booths are plush and open, and it’s easy to plop down with a stranger to share this special moment.

At night, the mood shifts. The diner’s neon sign is a beacon against the thick darkness, beckoning you in with blinking lights and a line of text reading FORGET YOUR WORRIES. Inside, country-swing music rolls in time with throbbing red lights. The tables have been pushed aside to make room for a makeshift sticky dance floor, and the atmosphere is intoxicating.

It’s as easy as anything to be swept along with the vibes, the dancing, the intensity of it all. When you start dancing, you really do forget your worries. You forget that you don’t know how you got here and that you don’t may not even know the person beside you; you forget that you’re supposed to be anywhere else except here. Everything feels briefly perfect and beautiful, meant to be, no matter what else is happening to you.

When you stumble outside, it will be dawn, no matter how long you think you’ve been there, and you’ll be exhausted enough to simply curl up right there in the sand and fall asleep. Hope you made a friend kind enough to drag you home, or that someone wakes you up!

tl;dr:
  • The diner is open and the pie is free.
  • If you get a slice of pie, you feel compelled to share it with someone.
  • At night, the diner transforms into essentially a nightclub. The vibes are intoxicating and you can forget all your worries and dance the night away.
  • You can only leave at dawn, and your body will be exhausted. Better get help getting back to your room!

Something’s Coming
Content warnings: blood, blood-sucking, monsters

A few hours after dusk, strange creatures begin to scurry from shadow to shadow, chasing after anything that moves: chupacabras. Large ones. They’re big creatures, the size of large dogs with spikes down their spines and tails, dark and hairless with fearsome teeth. They are everywhere, and they are hungry.

They are indiscriminate in who they try to bite: the biggest among you is just as at risk as the smallest, but the bigger you are, the more of them might come for the fight. No matter where you are, there’s a risk: they seem adept at making their way into buildings. You might find one looming over your bed, resting on your chest, getting ready to bite; one might slip into the diner while you’re dancing and latch on when you’ve forgotten to be concerned.

If a chupacabra manages to bite you, it will suck your blood, and it won’t stop until you’re completely drained unless you do something about it. Having your blood sucked by one is not a pleasant experience, it’s excruciatingly painful and the creatures will do their best to keep you prone while eating their fill. The more they drink, the more exhausted you’ll get, until it’s very difficult to fight them off.

They can be killed or scared off, but the further they are into a fight or into their meal, the harder they are to get rid of. If a chupacabra has latched on to you, you’ll need help escaping!

tl;dr:
  • Chupacabras strike the town at dusk.
  • They want to suck your blood, and are indiscriminate in who they attack. They will try and drain you completely.
  • They can be fought or scared off. It's easier to get rid of them if you have a pal.



The Walls Have Eyes
Content warnings: eyes, trypophobia

There are eyes everywhere. They peer out of cracks in walls, the floor, the grout in your shower, an open cut in your skin. There are even eyes in the craters on the moon, staring down at you unblinking.

These eyes seem familiar, even if you don’t remember them. You feel like you do. You feel a heavy weight settle over you when you look at them, guilt curdling in the pit of your gut.

The eyes belong to someone, or someones, who you’ve hurt or let down. They belong to your greatest mistake, to someone who you left behind, to someone who you regret. The same eyes over and over again, or the eyes of many who you’ve hurt, watching you, judging you, pleading for you to save them or apologize or make up for the mistakes you may not even remember making. You just know that you made them. They eyes don't lie.

The more you ignore these eyes, the more they seem to encroach on you: appearing in the walls, following you around corners, in the creases of your knuckles, the fold of your sheets. They replace the eyes of the people around you, the same eyes staring at you from everywhere you look.

Your skin itches with the constant feeling of being watched. Your head feels tight, and your own eyes feel too full, like there’s too much of you inside your skin. You’d do anything to get away from this feeling.

Soon enough, the mounting pressure explodes: you have to confront them and your guilt and your mistakes, and beg for the forgiveness they’re asking of you. Even if you don’t remember what those mistakes were, or why you should feel guilty, you have to tell someone. If you don't, the feeling will only mount, until all you can see are eyes. Eyes, just eyes.

tl;dr:
  • The eyes of someone(s) who embodies your regret appear in the cracks of the world around you.
  • The more you ignore the eyes, the more of them appear, and the more you feel an intense, heavy sense of guilt.
  • The guilt you feel can be based on things you remember, or things you don't. If it's based on things you don't know, your head will also hurt.
  • The eyes will ease if you admit your guilt, to the best of your ability. Tell someone your guilt, and the eyes will recede.
  • If you don't, your whole world will become eyes.



rustedknight: (rusted - 007)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-02 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
You can't?

[ Jaune repeats, incredulously. ]

So- what, you're just going to keep running around blindly, not caring what happens to anyone else?

[ Maybe he's taking this too seriously. Maybe his reaction isn't entirely proportional. But this attitude - it bothers him, somewhere deep and important. ]
curiouslycursed: (03)

[personal profile] curiouslycursed 2023-05-02 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[A swipe of claws through a purple set of eyes makes them vanish, and the Cat is about to glance over their shoulder at the newcomer to gloat when when the eyes come right back with another set right along with them.

They howl with frustration, and whirl around to face whoever dares approach a furious cat.]


Then how do-

[Wait.

Is that. Is that a dragon? That looks like a dragon - a small one to be sure, but still. If the Cat wasn't so outraged about being beset by multiple sets of staring eyes, they would be far more intrigued.

They huff. Their back arches, and their cyan and purple checked fur puffs up as they put in a good effort at making themselves look big enough to take on a horse-sized dragon if need be.]


Then how do you get rid of them?
curiouslycursed: (05)

[personal profile] curiouslycursed 2023-05-02 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose. It's what I've been called, I don't feel any particular obligation to change it.

[What's in a name after all? Except for who, or what, you are?]

Hm. Perhaps you were intended to hunt, then. Names do have meanings behind them, after all.
goldenscarred: (pic#15624507)

[personal profile] goldenscarred 2023-05-02 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
...You think so?

[He doesn't seem opposed to the idea as he takes up walking again. Finding meaning in the little he does remember gives him a little satisfaction.]

I don't remember who gave it to me. I mean, my family did, but I don't remember anything about them, or what I'm supposed to hunt. But... heh. Yeah. Maybe?
masculinitea: (Default)

[personal profile] masculinitea 2023-05-02 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
Bro you're getting pretty close!!

[SWITCH SWITCH SWITCH his tail is going and might sting if it hits. Vic's referred to his whole horse body as his 'butt' before, so. who knows!

Anyway, galloping! Vic is not a smooth ride at a run. He rocks as he goes, the impact of each heavy leg resonating up through his body. There's a definite sense of the size and force of him, all those muscles bunching and releasing, and that fur is kinda slippery. While many types of horse or centaur would be faster, this is still a good clip quicker than a human can manage.

The chupas pursue a little ways but tbh Vic's a difficult target, and they're not the boldest monsters. He could probably stop now?]


I coulda [huff!] taken them. [Cardio's not really his forte.]
sighsheavily: (pic#16416823)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-05-02 11:30 am (UTC)(link)
[at least this time she's not out-and-out weeping, right? just a few silent, unchecked tears roll down her cheeks while the smile tugs on one side.]

As far as we know, Yuri. [she exhales. she understands what he means.] As far as we know.
hallucinogem: (the secrets of the circuitry mind)

Emerald Sustrai | RWBY

[personal profile] hallucinogem 2023-05-02 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
a. let's sneak in from the cheap seats [pie]

[this is hardly the greatest pie in the history of pie, but it's still pretty damn good, in the opinion of this one green-haired girl who at least looks enough like she belongs here to fake it. the circumstances of her arrival have been as weird as anything else, but, like, whatever, right? everyone's nice enough, and she's getting some free food out of it, so that's all probably fine.]

[actually, as she thinks about it, there's no real way to know whether this is or is not the greatest pie in the history of pie. she knows nothing of the history of pie. maybe the person she slides in next to will know.]


Hey. Do you know much about pie? I get the feeling I've had better than this, but, like, who knows. [she rests her plate and a brown bottle of sarsaparilla on the table.] Is it the same here every night?

b. but at least they were mine to make [eyes]

[they're silver.]

[that's the first thing she notices when she starts seeing them all around her. and she doesn't know what that means, but she knows that being stared down by these silver eyes is starting to give her a headache. a headache and a horrible sinking feeling in her gut, as though she needs more of that. she's walking through the streets when one of the silver eyes catches hers through a gap in the wood, then another, then another, and they just multiply and multiply and it gets harder and harder to understand what's happening but it's only making her head hurt worse.]

[she ducks off around a corner and backs against the wall of one of the more intact buildings, and she sees her own red eyes staring back at her from a broken reflection, and in an instant—before she can even realize that her nose is bleeding, the red flashes to more silver. more and more, surrounding her, coming from every angle. she sinks to the ground and slams her own eyes shut, and with both hands on her head she screams out,]


Enough! [like it's a plea. like someone will listen.] That's enough. I see you. I see you. Just... tell me what you want.

[she's not expecting a reply. maybe someone can surprise her.]
vibing: (huh | surprised | scared)

[personal profile] vibing 2023-05-02 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Everything. The whole town was one big crater. Like the ground fell our from under us.

[ He can only say it because he's in the town, and it's solid under his feet, but his stomach drops when he takes another step, like he's dropping off the edge again, down into the crevice and--

His breath hitches, but he manages to keep going, pushing open the door to the saloon
]

Yeah. Maybe. Would be nice to know more about myself.

[ He waves to the bartender, even if she doesn't respond, and she never does ]
rustedknight: (rusted - 010)

a

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-02 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know. I haven't tried all the pies yet. Or been here that long, actually.

[ The blond, bearded man answers her earnestly, scooting a little to the side to make sure she has plenty of room. A half-eaten slice of apple pie and scoop of vanilla ice cream are shuffled with him, as well as a nice tall glass of chocolate milk.

Once she's situated, he drops his voice, glancing around them watchfully. ]


But listen...be careful who you talk to about pies around here, all right? Some people get...weird about them.
rustedknight: (rusted - 008)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-02 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Jaune doesn't know Yuri well enough to tell if he's doing all right. He doesn't actually know him at all, when it comes down to it. But still - that doesn't sound great either.

Jaune's wave to the bartender is slightly more subdued than his usual greetings to the locals, paired with a crooked smile that still gets no answer. He'll wear her down eventually, he's sure. ]


I'd like to know more about you too. [ He says, now that they're safely inside. ] - and myself, of course, but I already know a few things about myself. I don't know any of the things about you except that you're a good fighter, and you helped me out.
vibing: (tired | soft | sad)

[personal profile] vibing 2023-05-02 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He drops onto a barstool, and glances at Jaune when he says he wants to know more about Yuri. That surprises him, that he would say that just outright like that. But, well, a lot of people here are nice. That's just--either nice, or manipulative, and he isn't sure which one, but Jaune fought with him, and that bonds a guy ]

Jeez, what is there to say? Name's Yuri Lowell, I'm good with a sword, I'm from a world that has lots of monsters outside of the cities, and I used to protect a princess. I hope she's okay. [ He looks away with a grimace.

The bartender comes by to get their orders, and Yuri opens his mouth to order something, then wrinkles his nose, shuts it, and then comes out with "juice" a minute later
]

You know any more than that about yourself?
rustedknight: (rusted - 008)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-02 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Jaune's order is the far most sophisticated and worldly request for..."a glass of milk, please". He props his feet up on the bottom rung of the barstool he took up next to Yuri and looks at him, blue eyes wide and guileless. ]

Well, my name, the sword thing...I think I went to a school where they taught us how to fight like that, back there, so we must have a lot of monsters too. I know the Curious Cat, who showed up here at the same time I did - the name sort of tells you most of what you need to know there - and that I protect a village back where we came from.

What else... [ Jaune taps his fingers on the bar, furrowing his brow. ] I like banana pie and vanilla milkshakes, and the way dust smells. I like most people I've met. I don't like it when they get hurt. I want to help, however I can.

...I'm not sure those last ones were what you meant. [ He flashes a quick, embarrassed grin. ] I hope your princess is all right, too. That's a really important job, looking after a princess.
toteninsel: (11)

b

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-02 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ For a second, there are two sets of red eyes in that reflection. Then Ariane blinks, and all she sees are blue lenses. Those blue eyes are unnerving, to be sure, but it looks like this other person has it worse.

Ariane should move on. She doesn't know this person, doesn't owe her anything, and this person probably doesn't want Ariane's help anyway. ]


I don't want anything.

[ Ariane says, her voice soft and a little unsure. ]

Are you seeing them too?
toteninsel: (09)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-02 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't have to do my laundry. [ He's already saved her life! ] This place has given me plenty of clothes.

[ That's the one good thing she can say about this town.

Jaune's hands are not a pretty sight, although he doesn't seem to be in too much pain, which is...good? And perhaps a little concerning in it of itself. Ariane still isn't sure what to make of this strange, too-selfless man. ]


Ariane is fine.

[ Does saving someone's life make the two of you friends? Or friendly? Is that what this is? Ariane has never been especially good at socializing, and she's now roughly two hundred cycles out of practice, but surely formal titles are unnecessary at this point, right? Best not to overthink it. There are more concerning things at play. ]

Let me help you with that. I can't just...leave you like this. If you wash it off, I can pick out the splinters. I might not be good in a fight, but I've got two hands.
toteninsel: (10)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-02 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
The Empress. The Empire's leader.

[ Ariane says, as if she's pointing out the sky, or the ground, or any other obvious fact about the world. But this Palamedes Sextus really seems to not going on, if he doesn't know why being from the Empire means they're supposed to be enemies, automatically.

Emphasis on supposed to. This place seems to play by different rules, after all. ]


Well, we're at war, aren't we? My Nation has been at war with the Empire since its founding. [ Ariane doesn't remember precisely how long it's been, just that you couldn't go through a single school day without talk about the war. ]
toteninsel: (01)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-02 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
It's a bunch of space rocks. [ That, Ariane can describe confidently. She's been flying through the oort cloud for hundreds of cycles now, and honestly, it's started to get a little boring.

Years sounds about right, but it's not especially easy to here. Ariane nods grimly. ]


Yeah. I was on a ship with another person, so I guess she helped? I don't know why she would, though. We're not close. [ Ariane says, in the clipped, brusque way that suggests she isn't close with many people.

But hold up: ]
What do you mean, for humans? Are you... not human? [ Aside from the pointed ears, he looks perfectly human to Ariane. ]
guidemyway: (No direction)

B

[personal profile] guidemyway 2023-05-02 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[Honestly, Ruby had ducked into the building earlier to avoid running into anyone. She's just sprawled out on the remains of a stair case when she hears Emerald scream. Her head tilts up- But she doesn't jump up to her feet, but her head tilts down to look find the other girl before she speaks up.]

I was- just looking for some alone time.

...I guess that was too much to ask for.
Edited 2023-05-02 22:11 (UTC)
rustedknight: (Default)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-02 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He almost insists on the laundry a second time, but something about her hesitance catches him up short before he can. Maybe there's something about laundry he's missing, or she really does have enough clothes to spare, or he's doing too much, or doing it the wrong way -

It's probably the last one, so he should do less, for a minute. See if that evens things out. ]


...okay. [ He smiles, uncertain but warm. ] Thank you, Ariane.

I can go wash up and come back? Or we could go somewhere else, if that's easier - and we don't need to rush, either. You should take a minute to rest. That was a lot.
toteninsel: (07)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-02 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll wait here.

[ Ariane returns the smile, equally uncertain and also a little out of practice. The idea of heading up the stairs to one of their rooms sounds like a bit much, right now - Jaune is right about needing to rest, as much as she'd rather not admit it. She's been getting so tired so easily here, for reasons that she assumes are related to her long hair and bandages and body that looks older than she's used to.

She settles into her seat, showing that she can, actually, follow a compromise. (A promise? The idea nags; she dismisses it.) ]


Take care of yourself. I'll be fine.
rustedknight: (Default)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-02 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Just don't run off on me.

[ There's a note in the underlying tone there even he doesn't expect, a little too serious for the joke he's attempting to make. He can't do anything about it except push past it by rising to his feet with a dutiful nod. ]

I'll be right back.

[ True to his word, it doesn't take long. Jaune is up and down the stairs in less than ten minutes, returning with freshly scrubbed hands, a pair of eyebrow tweezers and a clean towel to catch splinters and further blood with...as well as a cozy looking white and red robe slung over one arm and a mug of cool water in his other hand. ]

Thanks for waiting.

[ He busies himself laying most of his burdens out on a nearby low end table that he then casually lifts up whole to set beside her knee. The robe he puts on the other side of her lap, not really thinking they're in a 'helping her get into a robe' stage of their acquaintanceship, and the mug is positioned within easy reach beside the splinter removal tools he brought. Once it's all settled, he kneels down in front of her again, ready to offer her his hands when she asks for them. ]

The robe is in case you're cold, and the water is - well, in case you're thirsty. [ He laughs lightly at himself. ] Not much else water is for, right?
Edited 2023-05-02 22:55 (UTC)
thinkfirst: (skit | smiling | soft)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2023-05-03 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's for the best, really, that neither of them are doing what's right. Flynn should not hold her for so long, he should ask how she made it through and what happened, how the town is the way it is—

but he can't bring himself to ask any of it. He can't bring himself to do anything but properly hold her, careful and sure, squeezing just enough to ground them both, and to murmur quietly,
]

I'm so glad you're alright.
sighsheavily: (pic#14667794)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-05-03 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
[me?! she thinks, her head shaking a little in lieu of a scoff. i'm not the one who--!!

...well.

perhaps she--

gads, isn't it enough to just be grateful without having to be distraught at the same time?! please, let her just...relish the care and attention given her!

she does her best to for a bit, at least until she withdraw enough to look up and ensure that he is, in fact, Flynn and not some specter. feeling a fresh squeeze of relief, she rolls up on her toes and kisses his cheek before withdrawing entirely to turn partly away to wipe at her face.]


Gads... [sniffle.] Oh, if I must be a mess, it may as well be for this...!
thinkfirst: (concern | be careful | worry)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2023-05-03 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ He more than accepts the touch: he takes it like he was made for it, leans in a little, startled at the closeness and more startled still at how it (and the praise) makes his stomach lurch with some strange combination of satisfaction and anxiety.

Good lad. He has done well. He has to continue to do well. How closely those two facts are twined.

Carefully, with all the discipline in him, he keeps his gaze and his voice steady.
]

This is the beginning of the fourth month since I woke up here along with most of the others. While we've been gathering information as best we can, the existing occupants of the town are few, and they've never had answers. Talking to them, you'd think nothing at all was strange. It can get quite frustrating.

[ Nope, don't get off-track, Scifo, you were asked a question. Focus. Flynn swallows. ]

The doubles, though— they did seem to know much more than any of us. They were accurate reflections in appearance, but they were uniformly much worse people than anyone currently in town. They acted as though they were the true versions of us. It is... hard to say that they weren't, because it's hard to say who we really are. We could be anyone.
thinkfirst: (smile | resigned | shaking head)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2023-05-03 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
It's just the smart thing to do—

[ Do not step back do not step back—

Flynn has to step back. He wasn't in any danger of being knocked into but that's a lot of bulk moving unexpectedly and he doesn't want to—well. He'll justify his lack of bravery to himself later, because this poor man really doesn't look... great...

And Flynn can't just leave him to it now that he's bullied the poor man into standing. He casts a look into the diner, thinks for half a second, and then steps carefully back over the cactus.
]

Wait here just a moment, please! Try not to fall asleep again. I'll be right back.

[ He's just going to dart inside and come back out in about a minute with an absolutely towering glass of water, studded with ice. ]
toteninsel: (11)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-03 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Ariane does a little wave as Jaune departs, then takes a moment to close her eyes. It's a little strange, resting in a place without the ambient noise and motion of a space shuttle, but relaxing, too. The time passes quickly, and when Jaune returns, Ariane is still here, just like she promised.

Jaune's carrying an awful lot, which Ariane notes but doesn't say anything about - he's not breaking any rules, so it's probably fine. She doesn't even track that the robe and mug is meant for her until Jaune says so, and she looks a little surprised, although not upset. ]


I suppose if water is for anything else, I don't remember it. [ She doesn't take the robe. The red in the robe will bring out the red in her eyes, and she remembers clearly what everyone used to say about her eyes. She does take a sip of the water though. It's nice and cool and doesn't have the dull taste of being recycled. ] Thank you.

[ She takes another sip, considering something. ]

Do you know how many memories you're missing?

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