TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[cursedmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

A Blood Offering

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Comments

Blood Offering

[janescayre]

[Whoever was assigning rooms needs a sound punch in the nose. And then the gonads.

After the introductory kerfuffle (most of her shrieking had been averted as he was so comically out of place), Fukawa opted to stay wedged in a corner, glowering, as the man pittered and pattered around like a wind-up toy gone rogue. He was inescapably foppish, horrifically old, and dressed like he was waiting on a stage cue that would never come. In contrast, she was encroaching on twenty, surly and suspicious, and dressed in a school girl uniform one stitch away from falling apart. The tear in her skirt went nearly all the way up the leg, her sleeves were split and snagged, the tie missing a chunk, and the whole thing smelled of smoke, dirt, and old sweat.

If this Mayor character was fishing for a screwball comedy situation, they had another thing coming.]

Oh, f-forget about the damn towels. What's the matter, do you need to take a shower? [Of all the stupid things to whine about. They've basically been kidnapped and he's complaining about toiletries. Honestly.

Fukawa scowls and peels away from her corner at last, powerless against her own curiosity. The stick didn't work, no surprise there, but there had to be an alternative. It was the most contrived trap she'd ever heard of. Was there some kind of platelet counter wired into the door? Ridiculous.

When he wiggles his sleeve back and begs for a blade she almost freezes cold. Right — okay yes, finding another way is now number one priority. Maybe she could pass it off as something mundane, but anyone would have questions about why a young girl keeps several pairs of scissors in a holster under her skirt. Or why they're sharpened on both sides.

Best to avoid that.]

Uh — [Quick quick quick — her eyes dart around. Anything, anything will do.] Listen! Let's not rush into this. What makes you so sure it h-has to be blood anyway? Maybe...it just has to be a thick liquid. Like soap! Or some kind cleaner? Should we check the bathroom? It's not like they have cameras or anything in here. How would they know what we're p-putting on it?

[It's a crapshoot, but it's the best she's got.]

[funhinged]

[ Of Stede's motley assortment of passions and talents, straightforward priorities and doing a good job of reading the room have never strictly been included on the list. He's prone to a little tunnel vision like that. To his brand of pittering and pattering and touching random furniture and being weird about the towels.

He doesn't find anything during his sort of restless "if I stay in motion the gravity of this possibly-imaginary situation simply cannot find me" tour of the room that looks like a better way out. Even the windows are stuck. What if there's an emergency? There's a whole child in here!

It occurs to him, belatedly, that everyone just generally being expected to have a knife and be on board with having it used is... perhaps... not best applicable to being kidnapped into random buildings. It's maybe more of a piracy thing. Even when he's the one volunteering to do the handprint. Everyone's got their hangups. ]

Oh, I dunno. Who knows how they even got us in here in the first place? Bit of a rabbit hole, honestly. [ If he doesn't admit to not knowing what a camera is, then he can still look cool. ] But I do think it's highly important to encourage creative problem-solving, so maybe you've got a point. Can't hurt to look into all our options.

[ (no worries re: canonblindness stuff ftr! Stede is technically British; i'm super loosey-goosey about the accent thing though. like i personally can't imagine him not sounding inexplicably Full Rhys Darby™️ in-universe, but canon also never acknowledges it one way or the other, so there's basically no wrong answer LOL) ]

[janescayre]

[Fukawa raises one brow to her hairline. What a cavalier attitude to take. Was he really so clueless about the mess they were in? At his age?

Despicable. If he wasn't putting on a so-called brave face for her sake, then he was a pure idiot.]

Th-they probably drugged us. Isn't that obvious? [That's more or less what happened last time. And even if the demands are mild, Fukawa can see too many parallels for comfort. It's only a matter of time before it becomes Kill Your Friends if You Want to Escape.

That weird dream had to be a smokeshow. There's no such thing as curses, and oddball or not she can't believe this guy is anything more than a hapless weirdo, just as lost as she. There's nothing supernatural about it. Just a run of the mill psychopath with time to kill and more resources than you could shake a stick at. End of story.]

Good. [She folds her arms, suddenly feeling quite pleased with herself. Usually people just told her to shut up, close her mouth so her breath wouldn't poison them, move fifty metres back before they call security. (The last two were usually Togami.) Perhaps she's gained an air of authority after all she's been through? Wouldn't that be delicious.] I'll check the bathroom. I doubt th-there's anything worth using here, but you can t-take another look.

[With that, she slinks into the bathroom.

After some small time rummaging, she emerges with a travel-sized bottle of shampoo and conditioner each.]

I'm n-not sure which has the better consistency, I mixed them with a little water to help, but. Here. [She shoves the bottles at Stede.] You do it.

[funhinged]

[ He absolutely gives that first question a little shrug. It doesn't seem very plausible considering where he was before he woke up here, but this is a very new kidnapping for the both of them and it's the most valid theory yet.

Since Stede can't strictly say he's working overtime to come up with theories himself at the moment.

He also gives her a thumbs up and a cheery little "will do!" before she slinks off to the bathroom, and does some additional rummaging around of his own in the meantime. There's nothing spectacularly useful in the obvious places, or under the beds, or in the dresser drawers. He manages to nab a letter opener, which is at least useful in a backup-plan sense.

Mostly it's just... more decor he doesn't particularly enjoy. ]

Oh, that's clever thinking! Good on you. And a good thing I already got that sleeve out of the way. Would've made quite the mess. [ He nabs one of the little bottles at random (if he scrunches his nose because he's still getting used to plastic texturally, that's his business), gets it open, and immediately starts pouring some onto his hand.

It's not not a bloodish consistency. As far as he remembers. ]

I'm Stede, by the way. Sorry. I'd normally introduce myself sooner, but this is a real off day.

[janescayre]

[Once again, she is forced to give him a glance askance.]

R-right. Good thing.

[The boggling continues as he pulls a face taking the conditioner, as if she'd passed him a cockroach instead. She shouldn't complain, it's to her benefit that her prison mate is so damn gung-ho that he'll take all the falls. It's just weird.

To be fair, everyone she got stuck with last time was a total wingnut too. With a few notable exceptions.]

...Fukawa. [Her mouth purses. His name doesn't ring any bells. She watches close as her gets to business, the dip between her brows deepening.] Y-you're awful chipper for someone who woke up in a hostage situation. What, is th-this just another Tuesday for you?

[funhinged]

Oh god, no. I've had a real doozy of a past few weeks, Fukawa, but this is on a completely different level!

[ He probably got locked into a workshed or a cellar or something now and again in boarding school, but that's such a different vibe.

Stede coats the front of his hand enough to get to what he'd consider a solid handprint level and unceremoniously kinda paps it onto the door. Thus begins a tragic yet inevitable failure.

Well. Maybe if he gives it thirty seconds just to be sure. Could be a temperature thing. ]

I'm mostly hoping that I'm hallucinating. Not that I really know what to do if I am hallucinating. Or what to do if I'm not. But I do know that whatever it is that I don't know I'm supposed to do yet, I don't want to be locked in a room while I'm figuring out how to do it. [ Let the record show that the narration has nothing to add that could possibly unweave his thought web. ] So, you know. Best foot forward.

he is so cute, what the hell

[janescayre]

[Her head bobs back like an affronted bird. A "real doozy?" That makes it sound like his grocery bag broke and he had to chase a bunch of oranges down a slope.

Oh, never mind. If they can get the hell out of here there'll be plenty of time to needle him for dull anecdotes later. He gives their plan a go and, of course, nothing comes of it. Fukawa's stomach begins to wind around itself.]

T-try putting it in a different spot! [That could do the trick. And here, she'll help, she's still got the shampoo. Fukawa slicks up her hand and bops it onto the wood.

Nada. She loads up again and tries the handle this time. This door is now getting a deeper clean and condition than her own hair has ever seen.]

Okay, well, y-you're obviously not hallucinating! Because I'm here. And I know I'm not hallucinating because I'd n-never imagine myself in a room with you. [It's not totally an insult, it's just, um. You know. She's sure they'd both rather be locked in a room with someone else. Personally she would be reluctant to leave if it were Byakuya-sama in here...

That line of thought was going to lead her nowhere useful. Later, later, she'll concoct a solid scenario once she's out and far away from this man. Which might be never because their genius plan isn't working.]

Augh! This st-st-stupid thing! [She swats the wood and gives it a kick. Then presses her face near the crack and hollers out to the great beyond.] Hey! This isn't funny! Th-this isn't even original! I've s-seen death traps set up by toddlers scarier than this! Let us out, you — you two-bit, sleazeball hack!

these two are fully out here Trying Their Best and i respect them for it

[funhinged]

[ Positives: a very clean door sounds objectively less awful to have to stick a cut hand on. Stede's no medical professional. He just appreciates that it might be less gross.

He gives 'I'd never imagine myself in a room with you' a little head tilt and face-pull combo in the vein of rude, but fair. Stede Bonnet is many things. The sort of person people imagine themselves alone in a room with is not one of them. Unless that's just what his imagination wants him to think. Then again, of things he's imagined or seen, there's nothing about this room or girl familiar enough for him to have made up? Mind games... so complicated.

What a terrible day. And now the Mayor and their letter have gone and upset his-- random room sharer? Fellow captive? Something like that. It only makes sense that she's upset.

This is a glaring mark against the Mayor's etiquette, obviously. ]

Alright, alright! They're very much a two-bit sleazeball hack, but let's not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing we're worried about it. [ That's rule number one of getting terrorized, right.

Never mind that this is being kidnapped and not being insulted at a social event. He takes his hand off of the door so that he can just hold both hands up in "I come in peace" fashion. ]

Besides, I can't help noticing some unprompted use of the term "death trap." So we might wanna take a step back and unpack that, because the vibe I was picking up was a much tamer "blood trap". Very different! Would it help to talk that over?

they're never getting out of this room, bless their hearts

[janescayre]

[Fits and fury accomplish nothing. Of course they don't. She edges off the door at his extremely reasonable encouragement but her ire has scarcely abated. Instead her soapy hands fly to her scalp (if it could cry with joy it would, she hasn't washed since last week) and begin to rake and tug. A harried cry follows. It's all very dramatic. If Stede has any experience with teenagers he'll recognize that universal call of distress. If not, welcome to your first hissy fit! Please buckle up and enjoy the ride, keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times.]

D-don't you get it?! We're completely at their mercy! Oh, suuure, it's only a bit of blood now. But that's never enough. Just you watch!

[She lays off her poor greasy head and thrusts an accusatory finger at the nightstand, where the incendiary note still lies.]

They might start small, but soon it's g-going to be "kill your friends if you want to escape!" Or "detonate this bomb, it's d-definitely not going to blow up a bunch of kids!" Have you been living under a rock?! That's how these games go! It always ends up t-t-totally twisted! Always!

[Really, only the complete lack of insignias gives her the slightest bit of doubt. And this retro theme room. And this Stede guy's clothes. And his general lack of having a single fricking clue.

Other than that, she's getting deja vu in all the worst ways.

She's distinctly out of breath by the time it's over. Her hands are shaking. She has to dip a finger beneath her glasses to catch a tear before it falls. Great, now she's going to be a snotty mess as well as a crazy one.

Quieter now, still bitter:]

I'm just s-so sick of this same old joke.

[funhinged]

[ moved us over here! ]