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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.



goldenrod: (== 06)

[personal profile] goldenrod 2023-05-03 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ This is all a great deal of noise and bluster from a very small thing, but that's probably to be expected. Kalvaxus tips his great horned head, his tone long-suffering. ]

Almost certainly by magic. But whatever god or wizard has cursed this place didn't leave many clues as to how it can be dispelled.
goldenscarred: (pic#15707438)

[personal profile] goldenscarred 2023-05-03 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
If you were asleep, maybe you were easier to deal with.

[Said bluntly, but also so matter-of-fact he clearly doesn't realize this could come off in a rude way.]

Oh. Um... yeah. I don't think I am. I mean...

[He touches the point of his ear and then points towards hers.]

Everyone here's got round ears, except me.
rustedknight: (Default)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-03 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ The only thing Jaune has noticed about Ariane's eyes is that they're as delicately pretty as the rest of her. She was lovely out under the stars, but in the firelight's flattering glow that softens the stark hollows of her cheeks and puts colour back into her skin, she's so beautiful it makes Jaune almost feel like he shouldn't look at her at all.

For some reason, he thinks of a little white horned animal, shining like the inside of a seashell. He's trying to remember what it's called when she asks her question, and down on his knees Jaune ducks his head with an unexpected warmth in his cheeks. ]


You're welcome. [ He says, almost shy. ] And I'm afraid I don't. I know even know how I'd be able to know that...hundreds? Thousands? How many memories do people usually have?
hollow_man: (eh?)

[personal profile] hollow_man 2023-05-03 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
~I don't even know where your back ends and your arse begins!~

[Jono just hangs on for dear life. Backwards. Once the chupacabras have faded into the distance he risks patting what he's pretty sure is not a butt. Pretty sure.]

~Oi, I think you can stop now. Preferably before I fall off. And I'm not sure trying to 'take them' would have been smart. They seemed to think you would be rather tasty.~
searingwing: (I am right beside you yeah)

[personal profile] searingwing 2023-05-03 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
'You don't want some half-formed version of yourself running around, ruining your reputation.' 'No, honestly, I came here to try and convince you I'm him, the Yuri Lowell you think is real. He's not, you know. Neither are you.'

[He recites from memory, nailing the tones down as well. One so sure in purpose. The other full of disdain. Then he rubs his forehead, thinking back.]

My double said things during our last fight that sounded similar.
sighsheavily: (pic#14667798)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-05-03 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[she exhales with a little huff, nose crinkling.]

I suppose we can't argue the messaging isn't cohesive, now can we. Gads. It really is hard to keep from getting under our skin, and I daresay that's by design.
searingwing: (All my indecision)

[personal profile] searingwing 2023-05-03 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd say that's their aim. But he was different from the others. He seemed...heartbroken that I refused him at every turn.

[He crosses his arms over his chest and recites,] 'I thought if I forged the metal myself then a new version would turn out differently. I see I was flawed from the start. A tragedy born of the stars' design. The others were right. All of you...must be reduced to ashes.'

[He straightens.] Then he came at me. He was far stronger than he had been in any of our fights before. He no longer tried to converse or convince me of anything.
Edited 2023-05-03 17:15 (UTC)
sighsheavily: (pic#14667794)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-05-03 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[he withdraws his hands to cross his arms, and Cecelia's hands linger where they were left for a beat before falling away, folding in front of her. her gaze drops as well, pensive.]

...That tracks, too. The desperation to just...bring things to an end.

I experienced it as well.
toteninsel: (09)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-03 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ How many memories do people usually have? Ariane considers Jaune's question as she stares into her mug of water. There's a faint reflection of someone she barely recognizes. ]

You're right. [ She says, not looking up yet. ] Dumb question. Sorry.

[ Jaune still has splinters all through his hands. They don't have time for this, nor do they have answers. Ariane looks up, finally, and wonders why Jaune is still kneeling. Isn't that uncomfortable? He doesn't have to be polite to Ariane; she's nobody. Ariane moves the robe over to the arm of the couch, picks up the tweezers, and gestures to the space beside her. ]

You don't have to stay down there. Come on, I'll take those splinters out.

[ And then they'll be even, and everything will make sense again. ]
toteninsel: (15)

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-03 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm. Maybe.

[ Ariane doesn't take offense to that. In fact, it's almost close to a lead: maybe she was asleep, and for a really, really long time. It's not the most plausible explanation, but at least it's coherent.

Ariane shrugs, unsure what pointed ears have to do with not being human. ]


I mean, most humans don't have red eyes, either. But we both do. So either you're human, or I'm not, but it probably doesn't matter either way, right?

[ It's not like being a human, and living with other humans, has done Ariane any real favors. ]
masculinitea: (Default)

[personal profile] masculinitea 2023-05-03 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
It's all [huff!] vibes bruh!

[There's more twitching as Jono pats his flank. It tickles! By now Vic has gallumphed to within sight of the graveyard, and finally he slows and comes to a stop.]

It's the [huff] risk I took in becoming [huff] swole, bro. Everyone wants a piece of Vic.
masculinitea: (Default)

[personal profile] masculinitea 2023-05-03 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Urgh.

[Just enough pollen's started to be released by the budding cacti that his eyes itch, too. Being Vic is suffering. It is tempting to nod off again, he can do that standing up for short periods, though it's better if he can lean on something.

...wait the guy's gone off for a moment. Hurriedly, Vic cups his hands together and conjures a little handle-less cup of mint tea that he bolts guiltily, flanks shivering in anticipation of getting caught. As soon as he's gulped the couple swallows of cooling liquid he pitches the cup. It shatters against the side of the Staywell just as Flynn is opening the door again.]


Oh, hey, that's real sweet of you, bro. Thanks.

[Totally no mint smell, totally not more awake and aware than he was a minute ago. Broken and without his attention on it, the discarded ceramic vanishes again. Vic's not a pottery wizard, after all.]
hallucinogem: (too hard to find)

[personal profile] hallucinogem 2023-05-03 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[see, he seems nice enough for a stranger. there's a brief question in em's mind about just how old he is, but it doesn't seem to matter much; they're all just here in this small town together.]

Yeah? How do you mean weird, like an elitism thing, or...? [pie elitism sounds like a wild way to waste one's time.] I mean, I have pie opinions and all, but it's not like it's life or death.

[unless it is for her. this is silly.]
hallucinogem: (failed too many times)

[personal profile] hallucinogem 2023-05-03 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[emerald wouldn't be having it so bad if she hadn't been ignoring them for so damn long, but here she is. at least there's someone else here. she looks over and sees some eyes that appear to match her own, and that's... actually a relief. it means that she can keep ignoring the silver, at least for now. she brings herself out of her terrified cocoon just enough to maintain eye contact.]

I am. They're everywhere. It's not just me? [that's an even bigger relief. a madness shared by two is a lot easier to handle.] Do you know... who? Why—anything about what's happening?
hallucinogem: (the secrets of the circuitry mind)

[personal profile] hallucinogem 2023-05-03 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[alone time, huh?]

Trying to find some alone time just made it all worse for me.

[she says all that without looking up at the woman who's come to her side. when she does, it's the color of her eyes that she notices immediately, and—and she freezes up. her palms press flat on the ground.]

You have silver eyes. [she doesn't know what to say for a moment that feels like forever. and then, with only a little anger,] Why are your eyes everywhere?
hasapoint: mysterious expression lit orange by fire (Like a white stone deep in a draw-well l)

[personal profile] hasapoint 2023-05-03 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[Need purses her lips slightly before she can make her expression resume steady, sharp-eyed neutrality. They've just met; it's not healthy for this boy to immediately crave her approval like he's a dog she raised from a pup. She reminds herself, the situation is strange and unstable and she doesn't have many of the facts. Also for all she knows withdrawing just yet will immediately put him into a spiral of shame, as young people are prone to.

It's exhausting to be a child. She's glad to be old.]


I see. I don't expect you to know everything, but now I must wonder if they appeared as you did and became hostile on sight or whether they hated you from their first moment here.

[Knowing that would tell her something... if she knew more. How annoying.]

One of them hurt you?
rustedknight: (rusted - 009)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-03 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not a dumb question. I want to know the answer too.

[ He tells her this earnestly, still kneeling, the rest of what she said not having quite caught up yet. When it does, he blinks, looking down at himself in his first conscious realization of the posture he adopted.

Why did he do that, anyway? The couch is right there, and she never asked him not to sit on it. She didn't ask for the robe or the water, either. He didn't think about any of it as he did it, the gesture so reflexive they required no thought.

Another thing that's good to know, he supposes. He presses up off the floor and settles into the space she cleared, holding his palms out for her attention. ]


I brought the towel so we can catch what you pull out. [ He explains, in lieu of addressing the kneeling (he doesn't know how; he wouldn't know where to start). ] I don't want to get more of your clothes dirty, or the couch.

You can go ahead.
rustedknight: (rusted - 005)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-03 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Age is one of the many social nuances Jaune remains blithely unaware of, so he and Em are (for now) in the same boat. ]

There's a guy here who thinks the pies are mind controlling people.

[ Is that pie elitism? Jaune doesn't think it quite fits. It's also not exactly life or death, so all in all, it's good that those were her top worries. ]

Dark hair, really tired looking, goes by Eraserhead. Anyway, they're not doing that... [ Jaune glances down at his pie, thoughtfully ] ...unless the pie is telling me to tell you that.
vibing: (look | huh | concerned)

[personal profile] vibing 2023-05-04 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
You know someone else here? Like, know them from home? [ That peaks his interest, and Yuri looks up sharply at him. Be cool, Yuri--only he's not being very cool. He's grasping at scraps. Flynn thinks they might be from the same place, but Yuri isn't sure, doesn't fully know if that could possibly be true.

But if that's happening to Jaune--

He shakes his head
] No, that stuff is great. The diner has great milkshakes. I like the ones with cookies in them.
hallucinogem: (imprisoned by the thought)

[personal profile] hallucinogem 2023-05-04 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
[emerald is tilting back a drink when those words come out, and she has to swallow quickly so she doesn't spit it out all over the table.]

The pie is mind-controlling people? Are you for real? [that's as wild a conspiracy as anything.] I don't think that's something that people do to pie. But who knows! [she takes another bite, swallows, and waves her fingers sarcastically.] Maybe the pie is making us say that. [ah, she's having a good time already.]

So you said you haven't been here for very long? [she offers her hand.] Call me Emerald. I'm pretty sure you're the first person I've met who can say more than ten words.
rustedknight: (rusted - 010)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-04 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
There are milkshakes with cookies in them?

[ The look of awe on his face at the concept of cookie-studded milkshakes is almost childish, although it passes quickly. More important things, and more immediate, are at hand.

Jaune murmurs a "thank you" to the bartender when she slides him his glass of milk, then returns his attention to Yuri. ]


And yes, I know them from where we came from. I think I've known them...it must have been a long time. They were helping me with something. We haven't quite figured out what it was yet, but I'm glad they're here.

[ Then Jaune's brain catches up to his mouth, and a tiny wince creases the corners of his eyes. ]

...not everyone is that lucky, are they?
thinkfirst: (skit | alarmed | oh no)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2023-05-04 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
Ah—!

[ Where Flynn's reflexes were trained the way they are, he has no earthly idea. He doesn't know where it all came from: his strength, his now-lost skill with a sword, his battle-sense.

In this moment, he's absurdly glad for it. He dives for her, and it isn't pretty or graceful, but somehow he manages to at least lunge fast enough to grab for her arm, keep her from tumbling down face-first, at least, even if it yanks at her.
]
rustedknight: (rusted - 001)

[personal profile] rustedknight 2023-05-04 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
It's really not. [ Jaune assures her, with a tiny ripple of underlying amusement. ] It did want me to share it, but it didn't make me, and when I did, it was done.

[ You know. The way pie silently and mysteriously communicates its wishes sometimes, as pie is prone to doing.

That covered, Jaune takes her hand and shakes it, his calloused grip tentative and light. ]


I'm Jaune, and it's only been a few days. You've probably talked to the receptionist and the waiter, right? They're like that. So are a few of the other people in town, so don't be surprised when it happens again - they're not being rude. It's just how they are.

[ There's a little touch of protectiveness there. ]
thinkfirst: (neutral | sad | look down)

[personal profile] thinkfirst 2023-05-04 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ Flynn startles, more at the contact than anything. It's over almost as quickly as it began, which is probably for the best because his attention is very quickly stolen by the tears on her face and the way she's pulling at them, trying to compose herself. The realization crashes in on the heels of his sudden awareness that they are in the lobby, very much in public—

With one hand pressed between her shoulders, Flynn steers her away from the center stone toward the pristine couches and the little fire crackling merrily, uselessly away. They are the same few couches that they had huddled on before, his head in her lap, before things had exploded, but Flynn will think about that later.
]

Here.

[ He murmurs, half in her ear. ]

We can get away from— you don't have to be composed. It's alright.

[ His own voice is tight, choked around the edges, wet in his throat. Relief and worry and fear coil together into a strange beast in his belly. ]
toteninsel: (01)

cw: injury discussion

[personal profile] toteninsel 2023-05-04 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks.

[ For what, Ariane couldn't say. The towel, maybe, or the water? For joining her? It just seems like the right thing to say, as Jaune gets situated, and it's rare that Ariane knows the right thing to say. She turns to face him, towel draped over one knee, and begins to work.

In her focus, Ariane actually seems to relax a little. She doesn't say much at first, but her slim hands are deft, steady, and precise. She's used to doing detail-oriented work, even if the details usually don't involve blood. The scrapes don't bother her, though. There's worse under her own bandages. At least Jaune knows how all this got there. ]


I'm missing years, I think. [ She says at last, by way of explaining her earlier question. ] I guess I was curious if I was the only one.

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