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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.



forgeabettertomorrow: (Back to my carefree days)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
[He spends a moment making sure he's on the beat and that she's ready. He starts off slow so she can keep up with his seemingly boundless energy; a quick step in to close the gap, then a step to her right to get her moving.]

[He holds out his other hand to her so that they can step to each other's side; a sort do-see-do move that ends with him holding her hand aloft so she can do another twirl in place.]


See? You're a natural, Cece!

[It's far from perfect; he's never been a dancer, but it's got form and substance nonetheless.]

I'm sure glad to have you as a partner~!
sighsheavily: (pic#14281459)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
[being led seems to be far easier than just stepping out on her own, especially when the leader isn't some eerily affable stranger. the lack of innate worry about things certainly goes a long way to making her movements more confident and assured in Darin's guidance, and that proves true in how quickly she catches on to the intention to turn again. she does, far more in tune with the music and far looser than the sheepish start.

true to her nature, she scoffs at the praise, but smiles despite it. why hasn't she done this before? has she done this before? she sure hopes so.

with a bit of a laugh in her voice:]
Only because I'm light enough to throw around, yes?
forgeabettertomorrow: (Don't know how to quit)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 06:45 am (UTC)(link)
Well, personally I think we make a pretty good team. We balance each other!

[Now that Cecelia's getting the hang of it, he tries to add in a few more complex pivots and twirls. The music appears to be growing in tempo as the high point of the song approaches.]

Besides...

[He continues leading until he can feel the song about to close out. With a quick slide of his foot towards her, he leans in to dip her back. For a moment, it really does seem like she might fall.]

[Only for his arm to shoot out and catch her around the waist, keeping her practically parallel with the floor.]


Light as you may be...I'll still be there to catch you~
sighsheavily: (pic#14315119)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 11:03 am (UTC)(link)
-!!

[an unexpected move like that ought to result in getting chastised, but once she's caught her breath, Cecelia just laughs and grabs onto his shoulder for the ride back onto her feet.]

Lines like that are why you'd have to be picking me off the floor! Gads-- [she shakes her head, amused by her fluster rather than uneased. still, it's hard to look back at him without her heart jumping; thank goodness she still has to move, then.]

Just keep how many people you talk sweet to like that to yourself, thank you!
forgeabettertomorrow: (No more doubt no more regret)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
What, you think I dance like this with just anybody?
sighsheavily: (pic#14281459)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Anybody willing, yes! [and why not? his energy's more than a little addictive. or was that the atmosphere? both??? she's not actually worried about it for reasons.]
forgeabettertomorrow: (We can fly if you believe)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[He laughs.]

Okay, maybe I would! But it doesn't change the fact that I'm happy you're here and alright.
sighsheavily: (pic#14667799)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[she breathes a hmph, smirking a bit before letting herself be guided to twirl away and returns facing away, her back against him. back and all that hair, which is getting more and more unraveled out of the braid she'd knotted it all in prior to stepping into the diner.

airily:]
I suppose I don't mind, either.
forgeabettertomorrow: (Master blacksmith at work)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
You 'suppose' huh?

[He looks down and gives her a knowing smile as he admires that wild mane of tangled red curls. Something about that smile; it's kind of a good thing she doesn't do that too often. Darin's not sure if his heart could take it if she looked at him like that all the time.]

[With her hands in his, she won't be moving away too quickly...and even if she does, he uses the rhythm of the song to make sure she doesn't stay away for too long.]


You know, that might be one of the nicest things you've ever said to me. And here I didn't think I was one for flattery.
sighsheavily: (pic#14315119)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Praise means more when used sparingly, I think. But if you want to find out, let's see...

[she thinks about it for a turn or two, rolling back up on her toes when she's pulled back in and facing him.]

You're a kind man, Darin Altway. [there's no anxiety etching severity into her expression, but neither is there a taunt in its place.]
forgeabettertomorrow: (I think I know where I belong)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[The smile pierces him and the kind words fill him with a warmth he didn't think was possible in this world. Reflexively, an arm snaps around her waist, keeping her right where she is so he can bask in this warmth for even a moment longer.]

[It's clear that her words have hit home by the stunned look on his face and the slight flush to his cheeks. Bashfully, his green eyes dart all around, looking at everything but her. But he finally returns the look and smiles.]


...You know, I think it may have been worth losing all of my memories if just so I could make room for this moment.
sighsheavily: (pic#14315119)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[she laughs gently, a blush blooming on her face. being appreciated is nice, being held is amazing, and feeling safe is wildly novel and intoxicating. nice things should be sparing, she'd said, but it doesn't stop her from wanting a bit more.]

It's just a placeholder for the better ones that will be woken up, I'm sure. A preamble, if you will. [head tilt.] It wouldn't do to knock you straight off your feet right away.
forgeabettertomorrow: (Don't know how to quit)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[The smile spreads into that uniquely charming, lopsided grin. They're barely dancing at this point; practically just clinging to one another. It's a good thing that any other diner patrons are similarly swept up in the sensation of not caring or worrying, otherwise they both might have some explaining to do later.]

Something to look forward to, eh? Like the opening chapters to a particularly engaging book? Well, you've definitely captured my interest, Cecelia Ardenbury~
sighsheavily: (pic#14281459)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[she freely rolls her eyes in prelude to moving back into the rhythm of the song.]

I'm not the one holding the pen to those pages! That's you.
forgeabettertomorrow: (this Lance guy sounds alright)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[He releases her so they can get back to their dance. But that moment is going to be in his mind for days, if not weeks, more.]

Just because I'm the one doing the writing doesn't mean the plot couldn't be a collaborative effort. After all, I think we work pretty well together!
sighsheavily: (pic#14667798)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[airily:] Think what you want! What you put on those pages is on you, sir.

[though whatever was on the pages that preceded the dance...she can't really say, can she? something to worry about later, she decides. a lot later. like...six, seven hours' worth of dancing later? time slips away pretty easily in this place, and even moreso when one isn't burdened by trying to solve all of its mysteries.

someone had to have suggested the idea of leaving by the time the sun started to break the horizon line, but she couldn't rightly say who or when...just that when the door opens, she's dog tired - more tired than she's been since that month-long abstinence from sleep.

she all but falls out of the place and into the sand without so much as a thanks for the party.]
forgeabettertomorrow: (But what does 'being anime' even mean?)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-25 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[It really says something when Darin, with all of his seemingly endless stamina, is also completely worn out. He clings to the door frame, wincing and squinting as the early morning light stings his eyes.]

[With heavy, trudging steps, he makes his way over to Cecelia and kneels next to her.]


How...How long were we in there...?
sighsheavily: (pic#14281458)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-25 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Unh... [she manages to get her arms under herself and prop up on her elbows, hair in her face.] Why on...earth did I just-? [exhausted, yes, but not too tired to be mad about something, it seems.]

Oooh, we've been had! Again! Gads...!
forgeabettertomorrow: (I don't really get it but...)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-26 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
[He slumps, lowering his head so his chin rests on his chest.]

What...you're gonna have to explain that one to me...
sighsheavily: (pic#14281458)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-26 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
[she clenches her fists through lack of anything more she can do to express frustration.]

This place...keeps manipulating us. Our, our memories...our states of mind, our bodies and feelings...! The hallucinations, the ghosts, the sleepless terrors... Ugh!
forgeabettertomorrow: (Just Say Run Goes WIth Everything?)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-26 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
Wait so...you're telling me you didn't want to dance with me?
sighsheavily: (pic#14281461)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-26 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Focus, Darin! [she snaps a bit louder, face going red.] Who would want to dance until they collapsed? Willingly?!
forgeabettertomorrow: (I don't really get it but...)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-26 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
I mean...I think it could have been a lot [yawn] worse?

We weren't hurting ourselves and I thought we had a really good time. I know I did.
sighsheavily: (pic#14281458)

[personal profile] sighsheavily 2023-04-26 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, and...[she grunts, trying to sit up, going slack again.] All that time...what else may have befallen...the others? Are they safe?
forgeabettertomorrow: (Ehehehe well...)

[personal profile] forgeabettertomorrow 2023-04-26 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
You're suggesting that...what? We were trapped dancing together all night so this weird force could...spirit other people away? A distraction?

...I'unno. Seems kinda...random?

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