cursedcontent | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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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.

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— a blood offering

❰

it takes robin longer to wake up than most. she's asleep, suddenly feeling much more well-rested than usual. waking up, it's evident why: the motel bed is much more comfortable than her usual mattress, that hasn't been switched out in probably close to 10 years, pulled out of the back of an old van and who knows how old it was from then.

groggily, she blinks at her surroundings. this is in line with her own time period but...she's been in a hotel before for traveling band competitions, but it's been a while. her parents weren't in any position to be vacationing folk...so when did she show up here? how? sitting up straight, totally awake now, the atmosphere isn't threatening. nothing feels off except her switch in setting. after a cursory glance around for clues, robin spots the letter, reads it...

oh. hmm. nevermind, something is super off.

testing the theory espoused within the letter, she jumps out of bed and tries to open the door. pushing, pulling, jiggling the handle. nope, nothing. robin turns and leans against it, breath catching in her throat. so it is locked, which means that the rest of the letter has a high probability of being true.

❱

❰

her laugh is nervous, flipping her letter around to showcase it's what she's referencing. robin isn't typically claustrophobic, but suddenly the walls seem to be pushing in ever so slightly...

❱

— roller rink

❰

you might think that clearing a lap around a roller rink seems easy...and for most, it is. despite previously being involved in sports, robin isn't at all the most coordinated person in the world. even standing in roller skates is a chore, so her attempts at wobbling around the rink are...pathetic. most of the time is spent holding the bar around the side, pulling herself forward on shaking legs.

during one attempt to free herself from being stuck on the sidelines, she pushes herself off from the wall with all the confidence she can muster. it's a success!!— for about two seconds. robin is propelled forward a few feet before either:

a) tripping over someone, potentially causing a pile-up
b) tripping onto you and shouting:

❱

fuck

— mallrats

❰

is robin still completely lacking in trust as to what's going on here? yes. is she going to say no to a hundred dollar gift card? absolutely not.

left to her own devices, robin has slid into the alternative clothing store, oblivion. she doesn't know anyone here...but people are still people, and it doesn't mean her guard can be completely down. she's found a wrack of clothes that's far enough in the store that anyone who's actively shopping wouldn't think twice about her being there; no on-lookers from the outside can see her to cast judgment.

one hundred dollars is quite a bit of money, even for alternative clothes, and it's hard to choose something to buy...or maybe she won't buy something, but looking is nice too. one particular selection is a plaid pair of pants in red and black, long enough to just hit the floor on her and tight in the waist with some movement in the trouser legs. robin pulls the option from the wrack, admiring it. she's never worn anything so bold, but god would she like to.

❱

Sick

❰

it's whispered to herself as she flips the hanger around in her hand, admiring how it has both front and back pockets. pretty sick indeed.

❱

[Wanda wouldn't consider herself graceless, but she's clumsier without her powers. Slower, she thinks, even if it's not so. Still, she's out here on skates, attempting to keep herself upright with one hand on the side of the rink until a body collides with her and she tries to not go down. This might mean a comically slow fall, between her trying to hold onto the railing and maybe holding onto the person at fault for this.]

Watch out.

[No harm, no foul, but Wanda's not exactly in a great mood.]

❰ think a combo of both — robin, weak at the knees, initially grasps onto wanda for dear life, survival instincts kicking in. since they're close enough to the wall, however, one struggling hand grabs onto the rail as she almost jams her finger from force. ❱

Sorry, sorry. I— ❰ robin quickly swaps the hand grasping onto wanda for clamping back onto the railing, legs rolling back and forth beneath her until she gains her balance — somewhat. ❱ It's not so much a 'watching' issue as it is...well, Bambi probably has more coordination than I do. Leg wise. ❰ which is evident by how hard it is for her to just stand up now, body full of nerves and inertia. ❱ I didn't think I would be this bad at this.

[Between the two of them they seem to manage to escape anyone eating the floor, and Wanda regains enough of her balance to help make sure Robin can remain upright, wobbily as it is. She keeps a hand out ready to grab her just in case.]

First time? Never would have guessed.

[There's not too much bite to the words, and they're further softened when Wanda looks her over.]

Are you okay?

— hey, no, no, I remember seeing these jeans, all right, and they —

[ Steve suddenly appears from around the corner, pushing his way towards another rack of denim jeans of varying sizes but similar styles. You know that style: slim fitting, straight-legged, deep blue. No tears or frayed hems (yet) — they're cut clean and topped off with a good leather belt and white sneakers.

He'd been speaking with a salesperson — well, borderline arguing his point at this rate, but then. ]

Robin! Wait, what? What the hell are you doing here? I mean — you're here.

[ What the hell.

He lets out a laugh, relieved and nervous all at once. Relieved for the obvious reasons, and nervous because he wouldn't wish this kind of world on anyone he knows, certainly not his best friend. (Because she is is his best friend. Embarrassing, right? Whatever.) ]

❰ suddenly the pants don't matter all that much. sloppily putting them back on the wrack, robin turns and looks steve up and down. not that she needs to; she'd know that ridiculously manicured mop of hair anywhere. ❱

Steve. ❰ she grabs his clothes on his chest, intensity heightened now that she has someone to complain to, someone who gets it. her tone is meant to be a harsh whisper, but comes out as little more than a dull scream. ❱ Can you believe this crazy shit? I had to help cut someone's hand open and now I'm just at the mall! Like it's no big deal!

❰ letting him go, her hands continue to punctuate the air, moving almost as fast as her mouth does. ❱ All this is is a better smelling Upside Down in some other town and I have no idea what kind of fucked up hole we fell through to take us here to this place, but it really wants me to buy pants for some reason.

[It's the ruckus that wakes her.

In spite of the odds, Fukawa had found a cozy refuge in a torn up town where the mattress was on par with or better than this. What's missing here is another divot in the bed: a careless, blanket-hogging chum who snored and pretended not to know about it the next morning. The banging on the door has her expecting an assault, and she whaps an arm to the side to alert her friend.

And finds no one.]

Ah!

[It's a sharp scream, cut short by shock. Her covers weren't peach. And there's a complete stranger dead ahead, some teenage girl with sloppy hair. The room is completely foreign. Old-looking, except more in style than wear and tear. Freshly out-fitted retro?

It's hideous. Also, what the fuck?!]

Candid wh-what? Who — what? [She stares up at the other girl. Yes, she'd been having some strangely prescient dream, something about curses and worlds and Mayors. It presses fierce on the back of her skull, but it still doesn't explain any of this.]

Who the hell are you? G-Get out!

[It's not even her room, but she feels certain she's the wronged party here. She was the one sleeping.]

❰ for as freaked out as she feels, robin is still doing a better job at hiding it than this newly awakened girl — which only serves to startle her more, potentially locked in a room with someone who will only heighten her own anxiety. ❱

Okay, just...hold on. ❰ her hands are out, one palm slanted downward in a sign to "hold up, now, let's be reasonable about this." ❱ I would love to leave and let you have all the privacy in the world, but I can't.

❰ the hand that holds her letter shakes it, hopefully enough proof that she is neither a perpetrator or intruder. ❱ And in an effort to both try and keep us as mellow as possible, I'm Robin. So for captive bonding purposes, you are...?

[Fukawa may be white knuckling the covers, eyes nearly as wide as the broad glasses sitting over them, but she does still.

All right. All right then. There's a letter, there's another girl, there's a second bed, and nothing familiar in sight. She can still feel the holster tight against her thigh, which means she's still armed.

That doesn't mean much. They left her armed the last time too. Probably wanted it that way, how's a hidden set of scissors for a smoking gun? Whoever set this up might be expecting a bloody show too.

Cautiously, she peels off of the bed, hunched at the shoulders and eying the girl with mighty suspicion. Her tattered clothes still hide the blades, but they do nothing to make her look trustworthy. She keeps square on her side of the room, wary as a wild animal.]

F-Fukawa. [Her lips purse.] Wh-what's on that paper? Don't be stingy. If... if you're hiding something I'll f-find out anyway!

Edited 2022-08-28 20:37 (UTC)

( 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.

❰ in one of her standard moments of spacing out, being spoken to makes robin jump, especially as she's already on edge. when she turns to see who's talking to her, her eyes visibly widen and a mixture of fear and confusion is visible on her face. ❱

Chrissy...? ❰ this is bizarre for more reasons than her brain can reasonably process at once. she's standing in an alternative clothing store, one NOT in hawkins, after having to bloodlet to get out of her hotel room. and she's standing there with dead cheer squad captain, chrissy cunningham. what the fuck. ❱ I— Thanks.

❰ as much as she'd like to marinate in the compliment, that seems the last thing she should be thinking about with regards to this interaction right now. robin cocks her head, still obviously confused though incapable of truly voicing why immediately. ❱ This...I wouldn't expect to see you here. In a store like this, I mean. Or, you know, here at all...? This super weird mayor place.

❰ she can start on the micro level and maybe? work up to the macro. ❱

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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

robin buckley ▶ stranger things

roller rink

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bestie!!! ( at the mall )

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blood offering

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mallrats

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