cursedcontent | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Entry tags:

!tdm

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

A Blood Offering

You wake up cozy in bed at the Saturn Motel. As you observe the room you may realize that it looks a little dated. Or, perhaps from your point of view the lamp and TV are wildly futuristic. Or, like Goldilocks, it may seem just right: close to the world you just left behind. Either way, you just had a very strange dream (see the arrival scenario) and now you're here. And you're not alone: there's a bed next to yours and someone else is waking up just like you are.

You can chat for a while if you like, but if you try to leave you'll find the door is firmly locked and no amount of kicking, punching, or hitting it with an object will do you any good. Instead, there's a letter on the nightstand which reads:

"Good morning and welcome to your new home!

You may be wondering why you're trapped in this room. Fear not, the door will open easily if you offer a bit of blood. More than a few drops but not enough to be a serious wound. A handprint's worth will do, let's say, and it only needs to come from one of you.

I'll let you sort that out yourselves. See you on the other side.

Sincerely,
The Mayor"

And indeed, a handprint's worth of blood pressed against the door will unlock it and let you out into the world. Do you volunteer your own blood? Do you take it from the other person by force? It's up to you! But there's no food in here, so you better figure it out eventually.

Roller Rink

As a celebration of your new lives here (and an apology for the whole blood offering thing - they were just testing something out, really) the Mayor has invited everyone to the Crazy Eight Roller Rink for a private, after-hours party.

Attendance isn't mandatory, but it is heavily encouraged so that you can meet your fellow Cursed and know who's in on the whole secret. It'll help you down the line at some point if your Curse gets out of control and you need someone to wrangle you.

As a reward, everyone who shows up and completes at least one lap around the roller rink (you must be wearing skates, but you can crawl the lap if you can't get the hang of them) will receive a free walkman with a mystery tape inside. The color, style, and mystery tape your character gets are up to you.

Mallrats

Everyone loves the mall! Right? Right! And this group of newcomers is lucky enough to be here for the White Pines Mall Grand Opening celebration! Feel free to walk around the mall and partake in sales galore, check out the attractions, or just get to know the layout of the place.

The Mayor has given everyone a gift card for $100 that can be used anywhere in the mall as long as they attend the Grand Opening.

They also strongly suggest that you familiarize yourself with the mall and its layout, just in case you ever get stuck there for a while and have to compete with others for food and resources. But that probably won't happen.

Extra Info

The test drive meme and the IC intro log will have the same prompts, and threads between two accepted characters can count as game canon.

The first prompt is flexible: technically you're supposed to be with one other person, but if you want to do larger groups that's fine.

Rooms at the Saturn Motel initially contain two beds for the prompt, but upon leaving and returning characters will find that they all have their own rooms with one bed. If you want a roommate, someone better be ready to sleep on the floor or snuggle up! The room doesn't have to look exactly like the reference image as long as it's not too fancy and suitably dated.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

( when the panic really begins to set in, it's almost as if chrissy forgets she isn't the only one in the room, so she only stops pounding on the door when the other person finally speaks up. startled back into reality, she whips around to face them, blue eyes wide with fear.

she isn't generally a distrusting person. if anything, she trusts a little bit too easily. but she's pretty certain, not positive but close to it, that before she woke up here she was dying. or going to die. so the slow approach is appreciated, and she offers a weak smile to show as much. )

Right, sorry. I shouldn't have...I don't know why I reacted like that.

( of course she does, but remembering that she isn't the only one here helps. a little. wrapping her arms protectively around her waist, she takes a step back from the door. )

You've really seen stuff like this before?

( right now, chrissy is freaking out. if she's left to spiral for much longer, she'll end up in full blown panic mode. in the back of her mind she can still hear that booming voice, the man...thing...that's been haunting her for the last week or so. it's so loud in her ear that for a beat she manages to forget that she isn't alone in the room, and when his hands land on her shoulders she can't help but jump, a startled gasp sounding loudly in the room.

it only takes the space of a heartbeat to recognize him, he was practically famous at hawkins high, but it feels like so much longer before her brain can make any kind of sense out of it. )

Steve?

( if he's here then this has to be a weird joke, right? it still doesn't explain how she got here, but for the sake of her current sanity she's willing to go with that. )

You think it's real, then? That the door won't open until you bleed on it?

I'm sorry.

( a little bit louder, more vehement this time. chrissy is possibly the least confrontational person in all of hawkins, but she's also not used to getting snapped at, so her natural assumption is that they didn't hear her. it seems a safe bet.

until she hears her name.

after everything else that's happened today, a random stranger knowing her name doesn't actually seem that odd, but there's something familiar about him. the hair. the sneer. )

Oh my god. ( the corners of her mouth twitch faintly, like she can't decide if she should smile or not. ) Billy, right? Billy Hargrove?

( she's fairly certain they never exchanged more than a passing "hey", but remembers how too well how many of the girls on the squad had massive crushes on him. almost knows him better for that than actually playing. )

( truthfully, chrissy has no idea how she ended up here. not in this town, although there's certainly that too, but the clothes in oblivion aren't exactly her style. she's been wandering sort of aimlessly, occasionally sipping at the smoothie she carries with her, the only thing she's bought today.

the thing is, she doesn't have anywhere else to be and the mall at least seems safe enough, so she stays. wanders.

it's actually a little embarrassing when she sees the girl currently sizing up an ostentatious pair of pants, because chrissy recognizes her immediately but just can't seem to remember a name.

so she offers a smile instead, indicates the pants with the straw of her drink. )

You'd look cute in those.

He left.

[ It's not a question. It's a statement, and he says it to try it on for size, to see how it fits into his idea of his old man, unless Steve is lying to him. Which he'd done before. No Max in the Byers house? Why should he trust anything that comes out of Steve Harrington's mouth? Especially when it sounds like that. Like little Maxine Mayfield is missing Billy at his grave. Or urn. Or wherever they threw his body.

He laughs, upright again, skating smoothly, blows smoke to the side toward Steve's face. Because fuck him. ]

Sounds like bullshit, man. Don't bother lying to the dead.

You can fuck off now; I want a cassette player, and that's all I wanted to know. [ Well, he's lying about that. Not about the cassette player. He's dead and stuck here and having something to listen to seems like a worthy cause. ]

[ Ash is lucky that the person slotted cozily into the other bed is Jonathan, because in the grand scheme of things he's not the most reactive guy on the planet. at the very least, he's not liable to hit first and ask questions second.

Jonathan has bedhead for the entire conversation. someone help him. part of him wants to go back to bed after the man - Ash - explains too quickly that this isn't his fault, that the door appears to be locked from the outside... it's all a little sketchy, but he looks too freaked out, Jonathan thinks, to be lying about it. if he'd been the one to wake up first, he'd probably feel the same way.

of course, then shit starts to get a little wild ... or, Ash starts to get a little wild, and it stirs something in Jonathan, too. if they're stuck in here, they'd might as well live out all their wildest rockstar fantasies. ]

You're sure the door's not just stuck? Did you try calling the front desk?

[ if the question is a little condescending, Jonathan really doesn't mean for it to be. it's just his voice! and: ]

You're bleeding a little.

[ too bad neither of them has bothered to ... read the piece of paper that was on the nightstand. it'd fluttered under the bed when Ash had lofted the nightstand into his arms; a little corner of it is sticking out, not that Jonathan noticed. his attention is half on Ash's blood, half on the TV, which he's quite interested in breaking. ]

[Yeah okay, Wren has to give another shrug like 'fair enough'. Daryl doesn't even look THAT different from some of the people at the trailer park where Wren grew up. Admittedly, the people you generally kept your kids away from if only because their trailers were the kind of safety hazard that even 80's parents took notice of.

But even those types usually had a passing familiarity with a shower if they needed to go out into public if only because not doing so would make you an even bigger target for the cops because you looked homeless. Daryl also doesn't seem like he's actually on anything either. Meth's a hell of a drug, but there's signs to set apart from all natural mental illness.]

Ten years later down the line than this one which is kinda weird. Also there don't seem to be any masks here- uh, masked vigilantes with powers, fight crime - which sounds a little silly when sad aloud.

Wren could generally accept that musical preferences were a subjective experience. People liked different things, variety being the spice of life, et cetera. Honestly they didn't even consider themself that big of a music fan in general. They knew people whose whole lives revolved around their favorite bands, and Wren wasn't that.

But 'corporate'? Corporate?

"What, if it's not live it's soulless? The second anyone else hears about a band it's sold out? Corporate?" Wren repeats, incredulous and definately more offended than the situation really calls for. "What kind of bullshit corporate is where you come from?"

[Wren's not about to pass any judgement here - they're very aware most people in high school haven't exactly taken courses about or trained in crisis management, de escalation tactics, or professional conflict resolution.

… But Wren has, having a cool head and keeping people calm is their job. One person is easier to manage than a crowd. Keep on the bright side and all that. This could be worse, and Wren is not without resources here, and as long as they keep that in mind everything is going to be fine.]

It's a scary situation, especially if you're not familiar with it, so it's understandable. But yeah, I- I've dealt with my share of fruit loops who have seen a few too many horror films. It's not as dire as it seems, promise.

[... unless giving blood won't unlock the door. But that's a bridge to cross when they get there and there's no point in sharing that concern now and possibly spooking the girl further.]

We just - here, my name's Wren. What's yours?

[Wren's never had to learn to dance, so Deuce is one up on them with that. Sounds like a nightmare, really. At least skating you can do solo.]

Ha, thanks. You're a good student.

[Skate rinks being the shape of extended ovals, Wren points to the next bend that leads into one of the longer of the sides.]

Could try there - just turn a little sooner and cut straight down - if you're sure. Might also hit the barrier.

Girl I knew back home was super into roller derby, she did stuff like that all the time. But she also hit like a brick in a crash.

[So the barrier was he one that felt it more than she did.]

What the [ Bang. ] fuck [ Bang. ] do you mean [ Bang. ] a few times over?

[ Bang. Billy's shoulder hits the door again and there's not even a rattle. It's probably easy to register that Billy's anger is rising, because V's right, doors usually lock from the in-fucking-side. It makes him feel caged in, stomach twisting, and the skin around his scars feel tight. For the first time since waking up, he notices them, hand slipping under his shirt to run across the skin.

He never would have survived it. But whatever's put him here put him back together as best it could. V kept talking and Billy had stopped paying attention, but he tries to catch back up, hand dropping from under his shirt. ]

You got shot in the head but cancer got you? Christ.

[ How'd he go? ] Got my stomach ripped out in a fucking mall, by a — big monster made out of meat and people and — Heather. Shit. [ He'd been the first, then came Heather, but she got melted down into oily fetid monster, while Billy's body got to stay whole and throw his step-sister into a wall. Fuck. The more he thinks about it, the more his skin crawls, something a little too hot in his chest, threatening to bubble up. Threat of a 'curse' would come to mind if he wasn't just feeling angry. ]

Yeah, Alec really sticks out like a sore thumb. Wren has a few moments where they debate not doing anything, but they wouldn't be a masked vigilante back home if they were physically capable of minding their own business.

At least Wren's used to talking with tall people, and at 5'7" Alec isn't quite as starkly taller than someone shorter would have to deal with. Still, 'rich goth' is Wren's first impression, though they try to not let it show. Everyone has different ways of handling shock and being in a crisis, and maybe in Alec's world he's totally normal. Wren on the other hand mostly blends in with their worn jeans and t-shirt… even if the Nirvana smiley logo on the shirt is technically three-ish years away from existing here.

"It's mall food, it's not really good so much as available," Wren points out. "What do you usually like?"

They can find something. Besides, $100 goes for a lot more in this era.

Hi, Joyce. One of your children was slumbering like a dead person in the bed next to yours, tangled up and burrowed in the blankets, until you shouted at the top of your lungs. Wrenched from sleep less by the sound of his mother's voice and more by the fear in it, Jonathan groaned and flailed his arms, fighting with the blanket before planting his hands, sitting up quick and blinking the crust out of his eyes as he tried to get his bearings.

"Mom?" Jonathan's voice was soft and bleary but his eyes were sharp, a little wide and darting as they landed on Joyce. it took him a couple of moments to realize ... that this was not their house, but a foreign hotel room, a place that he definitely didn't remember falling asleep in.

How did they get here?

"Mom, are you okay? Where are Will and El?"

Edited 2022-08-24 14:48 (UTC)

Modern? [This is positively foreign! Still, she likes the woman already, seemingly calm and gentle, perhaps only a few years older than her. She thinks of Rose Maylie, a kind, beautiful lady who was going to care for her Oliver. Who was going to keep him safe now that she no longer could.

She swallows the thought. And the thought of what she had last remembered at home.] Fair enough. But certainly, this is not any heaven.

Yeah, if you don't mind. 'm Nancy, by the way.

The way they got worked up certainly told V that he'd committed a faux pas of some sort but embarrassment required investment in his social stature that he just didn't have. He had learned quickly that he already stuck out like a sore thumb here so othering himself further didn't particularly bother him. It'd likely save him a lot of grief in the end anyway.

"Don't matter if it's live or not; if it's popular or not. Lots'f corporate artists perform live, even the, uh, corporate bands," he said carefully.

He knew that it was repetitive but he couldn't really give off that he was from somewhere else. He didn't know what consequence there was for alerting the White Pines natives that there were other worlds but he didn't want to be the one that let it slip and he had no clue if the person he was talking to was displaced like he was or not.

"Just sounds formulaic. Made specifically to be catchy and sell records. Radio fodder."

[ after mostly dozing on the ground for some indeterminate amount of time that feels like a lifetime, the bed's too soft. Meg sleeps, but the dreams are weird, more vivid than they usually are. she hears a voice, different from the usual murmur that both lulls her to sleep and wakes her up, and her eyes open into little slits.

her first thought is that she hasn't dreamed like that in a long time ... and her second thought is more like a realization. there's a bed, a blanket, a pillow, and she's up on her feet in an instant, assuming that she must have gone insane and fallen asleep in Haddonfield ... but they're in a faded hotel room, something ripped out of a dated movie, and there's some stranger staring at her from the next bed. ]

Ummmm ...

[ #panique. when Meg looks around, her braids fly, and before he can say anything else she darts to the door, fumbles with the chain and starts yanking on the doorknob. it's locked, which means she gets one foot up on the door and yanks harder. ]

Help! I'm being kidnapped!!!

[ where is the CAMPFIRE?!?! ]

[The swiftness of her work speaks to her skill, especially considering the lack of amenities. Maybe she could have been a contender for Hope's Peak in her time. There had been another student whose talent was nursing, but what little Fukawa remembers of them was...unpleasant.]

So it's th-the miracle of life for you? [She grimaces. Flexes her fingers, testing the sting of the wound.] I sh-should have guessed. Beautiful people have the luxury of staying optimistic. The world seems a brighter place when everyone is t-tripping over themselves to pamper you.

[Even if she's seen evidence to the contrary in spades, it's a hard belief to dislodge. She's met pretty folks with plenty of hardship and an ocean's worth of bitterness. It's just that things still work out for them in some measure. Forgiveness always comes easier when the person begging for it has a winsome smile.

Or a big rack. You could get away with murder if you're packing a D cup.]

Still. Why did they need our blood to let us out? It c-can't be just to check our blood type. [Not that that was a likely theory in any situation.] You don't buy this curse crap, do you?

[Deuce can't help but notice the exchange and after a moment, stepped in because yeah.]

Listen, he doesn't want one. Besides, what's he going to do with a knife that can shave a penny?

[The salesman was about to start up again when Deuce held up his hand and gave a little glare.]

[ She's here, and she's exactly the way Eddie's been trying to remember her. Ever since Chrissy died, he's replayed her final moments in his head over and over again, unable to forget the image of her twisted limbs and plucked eyes as she floated above him in his trailer. He's wondered over and over again if he could've saved her if he only knew what he knows now - about Vecna, the music, everything. Now they're face to face again and she's alive and well - or as alive and as well as any of them can be, given the circumstances. He wonders if Chrissy had that dream too, but he's also not ready to dive into that discussion. Not when she's so happy. ]

You're happy to see me?

[ Eddie can't help but beam at her, still clutching onto the railing like a lifeline. Maybe he is dead. Maybe they both are. But at least they've got each other, right? ]

I kinda had this theory that this was hell, but there's no way you'd be here if it were. But -- seriously. I'm really glad to see you again.

Yeah, 'cause they're babies and they're filled with beans. Look at this thing. It's so cheap and stupid.

[ She leans a little closer to waggle it near his face with some intensity. ]

[ Deely has absolutely no interest in slashing her wrists just because some anonymous note told her to; she used to be on Twitter, she's dealt with this enough already. So she reads the note, summarily tosses it aside, and relaxes on the bed with her back on the headboard and her hands folded loosely in her lap. Whatever her new roommate has got going on, she's only sort of paying attention to, and certainly hasn't clocked that he's bleeding all over the sheets, though she gives him a slightly more piercing look when he talks. ]

Hi, my name is Deely, and I'm an addict.

[ Classic al-anon humour. She went to one meeting but has been introducing herself like that for years before and since. It's really funny, trust her. ]

Who are you?

Waddahell—

[ Extremely unpleasant wake-up situation incoming. She's definitely not all the way cognizant just yet, and for some stranger to be shaking her awake and yelling (okay, talking, but it sounds like yelling to her) and brandishing some sort of note at her only makes it all considerably worse. She stares blearily for a few seconds, wriggling away with her eyes still half-gummed shut. ]

Anything about what? Be more specific. Use your words.

[ Deely smiles politely at the notion that she's being even remotely helpful. She's not and she knows she isn't, but it still feels quite satisfying to hear otherwise. ]

Me neither. So here's a question, actually, while I've got you.

[ She holds out her hand in a fist towards him, miming holding a microphone, and adopts a professional on-the-scene newscaster voice. ]

Sir, you acknowledge rollerskating is dumb and for nerds. And yet there you stand in your rollerskates. Care to explain this rampant hypocrisy to the viewers watching live on MSNBCNBCNN?

[The plan, as it stands, is to pretend to play nice. Go along to this thing the Mayor organised, and use it to scout allies. Spot enemies. Investigate. Get a lay of the land.

But then Ed turns up, and it's fun. There's food he's never had before, and he doesn't have to pay for it or steal it. There's weird fucking music that makes him feel like he has ants in his brain (but in a good kind of way) and bright colors and so many bizarre looking characters that even in his leather, Ed doesn't stick out like a completely intimidating thumb.

And, most bonkers of all, the actual skating. Wheels on shoes. Ed's not a fucking wet sock, of course he's gonna try it, it looks fun and dangerous and fast. After a few false starts and some drawn out clinging to the rail, (he's not afraid to take a hit, but if he lands on his knee it'll be fucked for days) Ed sort of has the hang of it. He has decent balance- sea legs!- and picks up how to slow and turn from watching others. Even after being given whatever that weird hunk of plastic is, he keeps looping around, picking up speed, eyes narrowed with a scary sort of focus that makes other skaters veer out of his way.

It's through one of these gaps in the crowd that he spots Stede doing his best to stay upright, and with his heart in his throat, Ed tries to call over the noise, gathering attention (less scared now, more amused) as he waves his arms wildly.]

Stede! Oi, Stede!

[He launches himself through the centre of the rink, creating chaos as he cuts several folks off. Ed doesn't notice. He's not thinking, not about curses or magic or how Stede would be safer and happier at home. He's just happy to see his favorite person.]

[ This is hilarious. Deely has to swallow a laugh before she's just standing here in public guffawing at a stranger. She knows some people haven't seen the Matrix, but denying its existence? That takes nerve. ]

A video store? Damn, where did you get here from, 1985?

[ Not outside the realm of possibility, since this whole town reeks of waterbeds and Cabbage Patch Kids mania. ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 18 of 31

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

no subject

no subject

no subject

mallrats

no subject

blood offering a/b/(o)

no subject

that kinda phrase kills a man in seven days it does

no subject

no subject

no subject

mallrats

blood offering

no subject

let him dig his grave, just push him in

blood offering!!!

no subject

C-1

no subject

no subject

1

blood offering.

no subject

hi babe 😎 roller rink

no subject