Test Drive

[snowblindmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

If you'd like to apply to Snowblind and would like to test the waters first or get a sample set up for your application, this meme is for you! We've even provided some prompts for you to use if you want (but feel free to make up your own). Here's how it works. ✭ Reply to this entry with a character you're considering apping into the game. You can include the name of your character and the fandom in your subject line. ✭ Comment around to others on the meme, whether you're in the game already or not. ✭ Now you have a sample ready for your application! ✭ So go reserve and apply when reservations and applications are open. ✭ Seriously, do it. Network Prompts ONE: IT WON'T BE LONG NOW... Well, you made a mistake. You spent too long searching around, or you ran outside near the end of the day for just one more thing, and now you've been locked out. You can search around all you want, but the best shelter you can hope for is pressing against the side of a sealed up building. You do still have your tablet, though. Maybe someone on the network can give you some advice, or at least some comfort while you wait for hypothermia to set in. TWO: CABIN FEVER Maybe you didn't want that mistake of getting caught outside to happen again, but now you've ended up staying too long in one location, and cabin fever has set in. Maybe you're taking to the network to try and ignore the hallucinations. Maybe you want to tell everyone that you've figured out they're all in on your kidnapping. Maybe you ended up wandering off and now you'd really like to know if anyone can check back in the place you were at for your pants. Action Prompts THREE: AN UNEXPECTED MEETING You're going about your business searching what seems like it might be an especially promising house--it's fully intact and there's even a working fireplace with some wood! It looks like someone else has the same idea, though, and you've run into them in the middle of your search. Do you share the potential wealth or try to kick them out? On the other hand, maybe you know who this is, or maybe you're just glad to actually see another person for the first time in ages. FOUR: GOOD MORGUE-NING You've just woken up in a morgue after dying in one unfortunate way or another. You have no idea where you are beyond that, but your tablet is insisting you can't stay here, so you should probably get out of here pretty quickly. Of course, bringing people back from the dead isn't a perfect science, so you're missing something important to you. Maybe you've lost your voice, maybe you can't remember where you're from, maybe you can't remember where you are right now. It looks like someone else is nearby, though. Maybe they can help you out?

Comments

james sunderland | silent hill 2 | ota

[castigated]

[OPTION 2]

[ Keep moving. Don't stay still for too long.

They'd all been told that. No one knew why. Questioning it wasn't worthwhile, was it? No one would be there to answer. Everyone was in the same situation - captured. No natives.

James ran his hands through his hair. It was growing out. He'd been here for so long now. When was the last time he'd breathed without seeing his breath mist in the air?

"James," came her voice, soft and just beside him. He didn't look at her. Her breath didn't mist; she wasn't real.

Outside, the scarping of a giant knife over stone could be heard.

"I'm here, James."

Fumbling for his tablet, he swiped the screen. JSunderland01 - useranames weren't his forte - flashed up, and then access to the network was granted.

He didn't know what to say, but he had to say something. Her breath was warm against his cheek, and the scraping of the knife was louder in his ears. Something, anything, to take his mind of off it...

His mind trailed to his first thoughts, and he found something to say. ]

How do we know we have to keep moving?

["James... I'm real." Soft. Warm. ]

Not everyone can experience the same thing, right?

[ OPTION 4 ]

[ He has to leave immediately. That's what the message on his tablet says.

The only problem is that he can't remember... well, anything. Where was 'here'? It looked like a chapel of some kind; small, cold, and abandoned. Eerie. That was all he could tell.

... Not entirely abandoned, actually. There was someone there. Pushing himself off of the pew, James approached. ]

Sorry, but... I don't know where I am. [ He faltered for a moment, unsure of how to continue. After a beat, he rallied, but his voice was stilted, mirroring his own embarrassment. ] Do you?

option 2

[firewheel]

Uhm... depends on what you mean by 'the same thing'. [Here, JSunderland01, enjoy one mildly concerned-looking redhead on the other side of the screen. He knows that the "experience" in question is probably the hallucinations and shit you get from staying in one place too long, but that's about it.]

[castigated]

[ In other circumstances, James may have reacted to Axel's appearance - if only slightly. For now, he just tiredly looks into the screen, closing his eyes as he feels her hand touch the back of his neck. ]

Well...

[ His voice is hesitant and soft. He opens his eyes. ]

Some of us... might expect to see some things.

I don't think it'd be reasonable for other people to see them too.

[firewheel]

Oh. Huh.

[Lea considers this for a moment.]

I've never thought of that before. I just kind of assumed that other people couldn't -- because, yanno, hallucinations.

[castigated]

No... that's not what I meant.

[ He opens his mouth to continue, but the scraping of the Great Knife is too loud for that moment. He looks around warily, expecting to see Pyramid Head rattling at the window, or hauling open the barricaded door. ]

[firewheel]

[His frown deepens. Regardless of whether others can hear the scraping or not, it doesn't seem to be picked up by the tablet's mic, or if it is then it's mixed in with the typical spooky static.]

...Hey, man. It's just a hallucination... you're okay.

[castigated]

I know. At least, I think I do.

[ He runs his hands through his hair, breathing out slowly. ]

None of this makes sense.

[firewheel]

No, it really doesn't. [Lea sighs tiredly.] You'd think I would get used to it by now, considering my life has pretty much been a series of Things That Don't Make Sense for, like, ten years.

But noooope. [He rolls his eyes.]

4

[whatshehaddone]

[And here Lizzie had thought she had died. It was ridiculous, foolish, she'd been inside but apparently that had not been enough to stave off the cold that came to claim her body. She remembered slipping into unconsciousness and thinking this certainly would be the end of things not entirely sure if the warmth that followed was due to that finality or the fact she was so numb that she could no longer feel the cold.

Waking up had been rude in the very least. Her reluctance to leave the chapel stemmed from heading back into the unknown, her first place of refuge closed, locked and seemingly impenetrable.

When the man approached her head jerked up - no one does.

Words. Words that should have come from her throat because she was speaking however no a single syllable of sound emerged. Dark eyes widened and Lizzie went to touch her throat, trying once more.]

[castigated]

[ Something had been bothering James ever since he woke. It wasn't until the woman touched her throat that he realized what it was.

There wasn't a single sound in the chapel. Even his own voice hadn't made a peep. He knew he'd spoken - he'd felt it in his throat and formed the words with his lips. He hadn't heard them at all.

Panic settled in him. He leaned closer to the woman, arms raising slightly as if to touch her, but then he thought better of it. His voice was loud when he spoke - almost a shout. ]

Can you hear me? I can't hear you!

[whatshehaddone]

[And to that there was a pained wince. In the otherwise silence of the chapel his voice was painfully loud even if he was not outright shouting at her.

Lizzie nodded her head rather vigorously in yes - tried once more to respond-

I can, don't shout.

But no words again, just horrifying little sounds of someone struck dumb.

Panic clawed suddenly with sharp nails like a rushing tide climbing up her useless throat. Her voice. Her voice? Why?]

[castigated]

[ She could hear him. It was just him, then. He steps back, shoulders slumping slightly. The panic dulls into muted acceptance. With everything he'd been through, what was losing his ability to hear, too? Maybe it was the least he deserved... but even in that, he felt himself worrying. What would he do?

... He wasn't the only one, though. She could hear, but the way she'd touched her throat, the way she'd tried to speak... He looks up at her, concern in his eyes. ]

Can you...? I mean, has something happened to you, too?

[ His voice is still loud, but not the near-shout of before. ]

2

[ornithophile]

While the details of our experiences may be different, we've noticed an overall pattern. The things I see when I've stopped moving might not be the same things you see, but we see them nonetheless. And it's better not to see them at all.

If you were looking for a more philosophical answer, you'll have to ask someone else.

[sorry dude but rosethorn ain't got time for that shit]

[castigated]

[ The response on the other end of the line is no-nonsense and sure of itself. James is instantly relieved. It's not that he wishes he was - not precisely - but it's that that is the sort of tone that's easy to take up all of one's attention. Ignoring the dragging and scraping outside would be easier with that clipped attitude to bark at him. ]

That's not what I meant, really.

[ornithophile]

Oh? What did you mean, then?

[Her raised eyebrow and tone make her seem more irritated than she really is, but there's genuine curiosity.]

[castigated]

It just seems... unreasonable, I suppose.

[ He closes his eyes against Maria's gentle smile. It's not the sort of thing he wants to see just then. ]

We can't all see things when we stay still.

[ornithophile]

Of course it's unreasonable. Nothing about this place makes any sense. And why should it? That would be easy.

[The sarcasm in her voice is not for James. She's tired of being stuck in this town of perpetual winter, cut off from her friends and family, not even able to settle down and have a stable space of her own. She had her own bout of cabin fever once. She wasn't about to risk it again.]

I suppose it's possible there's someone who doesn't see things, but if there's anyone's that lucky, I haven't heard of them yet.

[castigated]

[ He's not too sure about that first part. Silent Hill hadn't appeared to make any sense, either, but then he'd found the reason behind it all. Who was to say this place wasn't just the same?

... Or that it wasn't just a continuation of the same town? Angela had seen it all ablaze. Who was to say James' had changed from seeing it mired in fog and damp to this frozen wasteland?

Still, she has a point. ]

I haven't met them either.

... Haven't met a lot of people here, actually.

2

[itsasteamroller]

[The screen name DIO pops up, followed by a video feed of the man himself, even if the shoddy lighting in the room is obscuring his face a little.]

You're referring to those...instances of mass hysteria, I take it?

[Not that "cabin fever" happens all at the same time, but when everyone else seemingly experiences the same thing under the same conditions, what else would you call it?]

[castigated]

[ DIO, huh? It was better than JSunderland01, anyway. He could barely see the man, but it was hard enough to tear his eyes off of Maria at any rate. She was moving around like a caged animal, and James worried about what she'd do, or worse, what would be done to her.

It wasn't real. He tried to focus on the speaker. His eyes seem to shake as he looks at him - stress induced nystagmus. ]

I... I don't know about 'mass', but... yeah. I guess I am.

[itsasteamroller]

[Just be glad it's not "LORD DIO" or something equally stupid.]

It's one thing to call it if one doesn't know the exact cause. And, this is probably what we were warned about...

[But if that's the case, then who left the warning, exactly?]

[castigated]

But that's what I mean. It can't be something we all face... what they said, that's not how cabin fever works. [ He thinks. He's not actually sure. He'd like to be able to convince himself that he could stay in here for a few more nights and rest up.

The scraping of the Great Knife makes him think he might not be able to. ]

... Is it?

[itsasteamroller]

It isn't, no. [It's almost reassuring how certain he sounds, and he is certain, but it's not like he's going to tell James the "How I Got Stuck Under the Atlantic Ocean for a Century" story to back up his claim or anything.]

Maybe the ones who left the warning didn't stay long enough to find out what it specifically is.

[castigated]

[ He heaves out a tired sigh. He just wants to rest. He hasn't rested since coming to this town. Too many monsters, and then too much snow and cold. Tiredness can't be helping with these visions.

Maria gently touches his shoulder. Her touch is hesitant, worried. He closes his eyes to it. Not real. ]

This doesn't make any sense.

[ A beat. ]

No... that's not even the problem, is it? This whole situation doesn't make sense.

[ So why would this be any different? ]

[itsasteamroller]

[Anyone could have told you that, pal.]

That's putting it mildly, but yes...why we were brought here being one of the bigger questions, isn't it?

[Dio is disturbingly calm about this, but it helps to look at it as an intellectual problem, like a mystery novel. A Whodunit. Not that James would be in the state of mind of think of it that way too, of course.]