cursedcontent | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Eddie heaves a small sigh of relief as Steve makes himself known. Never would he ever have conceived of the day he felt safer knowing Steve Harrington of all people was there. That sucks for Steve, though, because - ]

I seriously think we all might be dead.

[ He visibly winces as Billy slams against the door, all too aware of the fact that he's his next target. How much blood is enough for a handprint? Because Eddie knows for a fact Billy isn't going to go for the minimum amount of violence here. The only thing that saved him from most of the jocks in school was selling most of them their party favors, and he's fresh out of those. ]

Steve -- I swear to god if you side with him over me I'm never helping your ass ever again.

[ The letter falls to the floor and Steve stoops over to pick it up, reading it while Billy starts throwing himself at the door. He reads it a second time, for good measure, his lips moving along as he does.

He's about to ask if Billy and Eddie really buy into this when Billy offers up his solution. ]

What? No. We're not doing anything to Eddie, you psycho.

[ Seriously. He looks at Billy with a look that clearly asks what's wrong with you, then motions to himself, letter still in hand. ]

I'm not dead! You're dead - [ directed at Eddie ] - and you're dead, thanks by the way - [ that one directed to Billy ] - but last I checked I was still alive. Hawkins? Absolutely screwed. Me? Still there. And if we're all dead then how can we even bleed? Right?

[ Can one of you back him up here?? ]

[ You're dead. Those words make him tense up, inhaling sharply. Of course he's dead, but he doesn't feel dead right now and the last damn thing he wants to think about is how fucking dead he is. ]

Christ. You two'd starve to death trying to pussy out of this if you were here alone.

[ Billy shrugs, hands in his pockets, almost relaxed. Until a split second later when he's winding up a swift punch aimed square at Eddie's face. Billy's a berserker, unpredictable, one second he's calm and the next he's laying into you. The punch is nothing that'd knock him out, just enough to hopefully make him bite his tongue or get a nosebleed.

Pain's not so bad, he thinks, if it's in the heat of the moment and you just get it over with. It's the anticipation that's killer. He's doing Munson a favor by getting it out of the way, if anything, because if a fight breaks out between the three of them he's the clear loser. ]

[ The relief that hits him when he realizes Steve is on his side is short-lived. Though they very well may be friends now, that doesn't rid them of the raging bull in the room. Eddie's about to protest again, because not wanting to get his face smashed to a pulp doesn't make him a pussy, okay - but Billy's fist beats him to it, hitting him in the nose and knocking him back onto the bed. ]

Ow -- what the fuck, dude?

[ Eddie cups his face with both hands as he sits up again, his head spinning from the impact. Sure enough, he can feel blood dripping from his nose, down his lips and chin. Surely it'll be enough to make a hell of a mess, or in this case, a hand print. ]

Does it say where to put it? Do I just touch the door? Fuck, you didn't have to hit me that hard!

[ His words come out a little congested, but he's not in a position to care. He whips his head around to try and spot a tissue box, something, anything to keep him from just bleeding all over the room in the process. There's nothing, so he keeps his hand cupped under his chin as he gets up to approach the door, catching the blood as it continues to fall. Then, he switches hands, pressing the bloodier one against the center of the door. ]

Here goes nothin'. Steve - can you get me - toilet paper or - something? Jesus.

[ Steve catches on to what’s about to happen a second too late to stop Billy’s fist from connecting with Eddie’s face. He can’t help the wince. He knows what that feels like, and, really, Eddie’s lucky Billy seems to just end it at one hit. ]

What the hell is wrong with you?

[ Steve shoves Billy out of the way, even though he wants to deck him in his stupid face. He could probably hold his own a little better now than he did back then, but it doesn’t mean he’s angling for a rematch.

Behind him, Eddie’s fumbling around and bleeding everywhere. It’s the only reason he steps away from Billy, already going to get toilet paper when Eddie asks for it. He comes back with the whole roll, some of it already wadded up for Eddie to use, and if Steve puts himself between Eddie and Billy then he’s not actively aware of it.

He’s too focused on Eddie’s handprint on the door. His stomach turns a bit, thinking about how Eddie must have looked after the bats got him, and he distracts himself by reaching for the doorknob. ]

Do you think we just … Turn it?

[ There's a nagging voice at the back of his head: you're a coward, Billy Hargrove. He can talk all day long about the laws of the jungle and what needs to be done but at the end of the day he's a guy who hates being trapped but whose first instinct is to punch the weakest guy in the room rather than offer up his own blood.

And he's alright with that, because he doesn't give a shit about Eddie Munson. He has to wonder what would have happened if it were Max stuck in this room with him, though.

He ignores the yelling and the pained protests. Emotionally he's so far away that it's just background noise, like his own cries must have been to his dad. ]

Do I look like the fucking expert? Just try it, and thank me when it opens.

[ There's a pain in his chest and he ignores it, figuring it's his scar flaring up. Although he doesn't see it beneath his shirt, a black vein-like marking appears near the scar, the first visible sign of his curse. ]

[ Eddie shoves the wad of toilet paper against his face with one hand and grabs the doorknob with the other, squeezing his eyes shut tight. They're a bit watery from the pain, but he's not crying, thank you very much. He takes a deep breath, then turns the knob. ]

What the fuck. Seriously?

[ It opens. Just like that. Eddie steps away from the door in disbelief, now tilting his head down and pinching the bridge of his nose. At least it's not broken, but it might be if he has to keep rooming with Billy fucking Hargrove. ]

So now what?

[ Steve stares at the open door like it's some sort of trick. He glances at Eddie, and even at Billy. It doesn't look like a trick, though, and since the other two don't seem to be making any advances to the door, Steve decides to take it for the team. He steps outside, and he's not actually sure what he's expecting, but nothing happens. He's just ... Outside.

Scrunching up his face, Steve puts his hands on his hips, looking both ways and down at the other motel doors. Absolutely nothing out of place. ]

Should we find someone who can tell us where we are?

[ continued here! ]

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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