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redmarsshit2019-11-21 09:50 pm
modblob) wrote in redmarsshit2019-11-21 09:50 pm
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test drive meme: november 2019
Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.
▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.
▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.
▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.
a. the truth hurts.
As though everything happening in the past month wasn't enough, there's been a minor explosion in one of the labs. No one hurt, if you don't count the hapless maintenance bot that caused the explosion in the first place.
But there are gases drifting through the laboratories, some of them making their way into the air vents, invisible to the purifiers in the system thanks to the explosion. And those gases are leaking into the air around Anchor, little pockets of danger waiting to be breathed in.
Those who breathe the gasses in might be the unluckiest Anchorites of all.
They're stuck telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth for the next five hours, give or take. Good luck with that!
But there are gases drifting through the laboratories, some of them making their way into the air vents, invisible to the purifiers in the system thanks to the explosion. And those gases are leaking into the air around Anchor, little pockets of danger waiting to be breathed in.
Those who breathe the gasses in might be the unluckiest Anchorites of all.
They're stuck telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth for the next five hours, give or take. Good luck with that!
b. retromedia.
Oblivious to what's going on inside Anchor, the shift rages outside, bringing shadows of things and places from other worlds, those things flickering into existence and out of it again.
The bad news is that the Whole Foods is gone.
The good news is the shift left something behind in its place.
A long, squat building, with cement walls painted over with stucco and punctuated by big windows. A flat roof with slanted sides, painted a deep blue. In bold yellow letters bolted to the roof, a sign:
BLOCKBUSTER
The sliding doors are broken, bouncing open and shut steadily, but the inside is clean and well-stocked with rack upon rack upon row upon row of VHS tapes, all of them neatly packaged in plastic boxes. Some of them have the movie covers on them, but most bear the Blockbuster logo and tiny labels running down the back, declaring the box's contents. There's a giant, somewhat busted up standee of Tim Allen as The Santa Clause, flickering holiday lights strung unevenly from the ceiling, and symbols of various seasonal holidays stuck up along the walls and windows.
Any movie you could possibly want lies within, or at least any movie you could possibly want that was released on Earth during or before 1994. And don’t worry if you can't find a VHS player in Anchor! There are whole shelves of VCRs tucked into one of the closets, apparently part of an aborted plan to rent out VCRs along with movies.
Poor Blockbuster. They were innovators. And now they're lost to the sands of the red shift.
The bad news is that the Whole Foods is gone.
The good news is the shift left something behind in its place.
A long, squat building, with cement walls painted over with stucco and punctuated by big windows. A flat roof with slanted sides, painted a deep blue. In bold yellow letters bolted to the roof, a sign:
The sliding doors are broken, bouncing open and shut steadily, but the inside is clean and well-stocked with rack upon rack upon row upon row of VHS tapes, all of them neatly packaged in plastic boxes. Some of them have the movie covers on them, but most bear the Blockbuster logo and tiny labels running down the back, declaring the box's contents. There's a giant, somewhat busted up standee of Tim Allen as The Santa Clause, flickering holiday lights strung unevenly from the ceiling, and symbols of various seasonal holidays stuck up along the walls and windows.
Any movie you could possibly want lies within, or at least any movie you could possibly want that was released on Earth during or before 1994. And don’t worry if you can't find a VHS player in Anchor! There are whole shelves of VCRs tucked into one of the closets, apparently part of an aborted plan to rent out VCRs along with movies.
Poor Blockbuster. They were innovators. And now they're lost to the sands of the red shift.
c. sweet sweet self-care.
While sickness persists inside Anchor's walls, those in recovery seem to be getting better every day. And while the health bots have been working overtime, some of their processes have gotten a little borked up from all the work they've been doing.
Along with medical care, they're now administering lectures to their captive audiences about the value of diet and exercise, the importance of personal hygiene, and the healing properties of massage. Some of them are forcing massages on people just to prove their point, which, y'know, could be a lot worse. At least they're good at massages?
The spa bots are getting in on the action, nagging the healthy to come for relaxation and decontamination in one gloriously bubbly swoop. They've converted several of their spa pools into sweet-smelling antibacterial baths, so you can make extra-sure you got those visiting-a-sick-friend cooties off!
No, seriously, go with them. Before they drag you there and make you take a bath like an unruly two-year-old.
Believe them, it's worth it. If you complete a circuit of the spa, including the antibacterial baths and the fresh and zesty decontamination shower, you get a shiny sparkly holographic sticker that says "YOU ARE FREE OF DISEASE" in little cheerful bubble-letters. They designed them all by themselves, totally from scratch. Are you proud?
Along with medical care, they're now administering lectures to their captive audiences about the value of diet and exercise, the importance of personal hygiene, and the healing properties of massage. Some of them are forcing massages on people just to prove their point, which, y'know, could be a lot worse. At least they're good at massages?
The spa bots are getting in on the action, nagging the healthy to come for relaxation and decontamination in one gloriously bubbly swoop. They've converted several of their spa pools into sweet-smelling antibacterial baths, so you can make extra-sure you got those visiting-a-sick-friend cooties off!
No, seriously, go with them. Before they drag you there and make you take a bath like an unruly two-year-old.
Believe them, it's worth it. If you complete a circuit of the spa, including the antibacterial baths and the fresh and zesty decontamination shower, you get a shiny sparkly holographic sticker that says "YOU ARE FREE OF DISEASE" in little cheerful bubble-letters. They designed them all by themselves, totally from scratch. Are you proud?
d. the network.
Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to ask a friend which 1980s teen movie classic to watch at movie night? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?
Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.
Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.
B
Her eyes have changed color.
So have her mouth and her blood, but those are easier to hide. Her eyes, though? She's not a sunglasses-at-night kind of person like Dave. And right now, she's pretty sure Reynir and Onni are the only ones who know about the physical side of being a Retrospectre. Maybe she was just in denial, but she really didn't think it would come up this soon.
Buuuuut she's also been exposed to truth gas in the past couple hours, SO! ]
oh man i want to
i really really want to!!
but i have a bad case of the alien eyes and im trying to hide from everybody
no subject
What do you mean, bad case of the alien eyes?
Is this a meme I haven't heard of, or has something literally happened to your eyes?
[ Either one seems equally likely, honestly. ]
no subject
i mean that my eyeballs have literally turned into alien eyeballs
im sorry ben i forgot to tell you this would happen
or maybe i just didnt want to deal with it again
i dont know
no subject
1. Apology not accepted since you did nothing wrong in the first place.
2. So this is part of the reincarnation thing, where you're becoming more like Aradia again?
3. You don't have to hide from me just because you've got alien eyeballs, now. I'm not gonna judge. Or did you forget the part where weird extradimensional tentacles burst out of my stomach sometimes?
4. DO YOU have x-ray vision now, be honest?
[ That last bit was to hopefully just make her smile. ]
no subject
no i do not have xray vision
but i can see really well in the dark so theres that
and yes it is part of the reincarnation thing
im eventually going to end up with horns and wings as well
honestly im not surprised that youre cool with it
for the reason you mentioned but also because youre such a sweet and understanding guy
peter will understand too im sure
but everybody else i dont know
no subject
Do you have any idea when this will happen, with the horns and wings? Or what prompted the change with your eyes? Or is it just sort of gradual?
If anybody gives you grief about them, just remember you've got one scary friend. (No, but in all seriousness: guilt tripping people is my secret superpower. If anybody bullies you I will make them regret it.)
I'd still love to do a movie night with you. Alien eyes and all.
no subject
no laser vision for me!
thats more the department of the guy who murdered me
wait i didnt mean to say that
why cant i backspace it
[ SORRY ABOUT THE REST OF THE STUFF YOU SAID, WE'LL GET BACK TO THAT IN A SECOND... ]
no subject
You were murdered?
When you were Aradia?
[ He'd been on the outside of that exchange, only getting bits and pieces, picking up hints from what Ami and Cole said to one another aloud. But he'd gotten that Ami was remembering dying. That was sort of required for being reincarnated, right?
Still. Ben hadn't known it was violent. That someone had killed her.
It throws her reaction when he told her about killing people during his Academy days into a whole new light. Ben doesn't like the look of himself in that light. Even if Ami had been accepting. ]
1/4
i was
i mean she was
somebody she loved came over to her hive
and optic blasted her to smithereens
2/4
somethings wrong
i literally did not mean to tell you that
because i know how you worry
im so sorry
you were just trying to have a fun movie night
and im ruining it with my uncontrollable mouth diarrhea
3/4
4/4
movie night sounds great lets do it #yolo
no subject
But obviously he's not going to tell Ami that. What kind of friend would that make him? If she's not telling him things or talking to him about important stuff because he 'worries' - because he reacts too strongly, well. Maybe he should work on reacting a little less, just enough to make her feel safe. ]
First of all, you're not ruining anything, Ami.
But are you okay?
You said something's wrong and you're saying stuff you don't mean to?
Like some kind of truth serum or spell or something?
We don't have to talk about it right now or ever but it's not like I can just delete what you just told me from my memory
Can't unfire that gun.
no subject
or perhaps
a truth smell?
i did smell something weird in here a little bit ago
do you think thats what happened
[ ... She does appreciate him not freaking out, of course. But he is worrying, which she really would rather he not! ]
i know i cant unsay it
im not a time traveler yet
and its not that i never would have told you
in fact i find it very helpful to talk through my memories
to pluck through the tattered fabric of the past and salvage the elusive threads of meaning within
but a conversation necessarily involves more than one person
it would be selfish of me to overshare without stopping to consider your feelings
you already have one past haunting you
the last thing you need is another
no subject
[ This is just the latest Thing in a long line of nanites and hallucinations and whatnot.
But Ben can't really worry about what is compelling that truthfulness right now because he's too focused on what he's just learned and how it changes the way he sees Ami and how she is dealing with talking about it. If she seemed uncomfortable for her own sake and wanted to avoid thinking about it or revealing anything to him, Ben would do whatever he could to change the subject or stop the conversation. That doesn't seem to be the case. ]
Ami, it isn't oversharing, I promise.
If anything the fact that I've got a messed-up past just means that I can totally handle it.
You don't have to worry about traumatizing me or grossing me out, no matter what. My threshold is crazy high.
So if you ever want to talk about stuff but you think it would freak people out to hear it
Under that wussy exterior I'm actually pretty un-freak-out-able by this point.
But that should be your decision so if you wanna stop talking about this now but you can't stop typing, just say the word and I'll put my phone down and you can delete the texts yourself later once this has passed.
no subject
thanks ben
i really appreciate it
i dont want to talk about murder necessarily
but i dont want to stop talking altogether
i mean i was stuck in quarantine for what 3 weeks?
ive missed you
and ive missed seeing everybody on a regular basis
so its especially hard avoiding everyone now that im feeling better
if the offer is still open
i would very much like to watch a movie with you
as long as you dont mind some unfiltered running commentary
no subject
I missed you, too. I'm really really glad you're feeling better.
I don't mind the unfiltered running commentary, I promise.
In fact it sounds hilarious and awesome.
I've got a whole stack of VHSes from the Blockbuster and the TV all set up, just bring yourself right on over whenever.
[ Then, after a moment, he adds: ]
And what's all this about avoiding people?
no subject
whats this about a blockbuster though
have we had a blockbuster this whole time
maybe thats what really happened to them all
instead of merely going out of business
they were transported to a deserted wasteland on an alien planet
(thats a joke for the record
im pretty sure you know that but i feel mildly compelled to say so anyway)
anyway do you have indiana jones
i am seriously jonesing for some jones right now
no subject
Yes, I have an Indiana Jones movie.
Is it bad if I admit I've never actually seen any of them?
I have seen some movies, okay, I'm not completely idiotic when it comes to pop culture.
I just haven't seen any of those.
no subject
then we will have the whole set
[ You know, the set! The set of businesses that went under because they couldn't adapt to the internet, which is a thing that exists. That set. ]
omg youve never seen them???
haha its ok dont worry
admitting you have a problem is the first step toward finding a solution!
and in this case the solution is an indy marathon
so which one is it
is it crystal skull
please say its crystal skull thats my favorite
no subject
[ Ben goes and checks the haul from Blockbuster before adding: ]
Wow, are they really that good?
Okay I got one called 'Temple of Doom' and one called 'Last Crusade'. That was all that was there.
A crystal skull sounds blingy but very impractical.