bequiet: (Default)
The Quiet Place Mods ([personal profile] bequiet) wrote in [community profile] quietplacememes2018-02-28 08:56 pm
Entry tags:

TDM #003



TEST DRIVE MEME

You wake, standing. A thick, muddy red dust coats your skin and clothes - it sticks to your tongue and blocks your vision. Inhale and it chokes you, exhale and your breath puffs out in front of your face in a transparent maroon cloud. It tastes of copper, tangy and harsh. Movement is difficult, every limb tingles and aches. Look to your left, your right. Evenly spaced in each direction stands another person indistinguishable in every way from the next. You're disoriented and lethargic, unable to grasp onto a single thought. A pinprick of light blooms ahead and grows steadily larger; a door has opened.

Hands grip your wrists, push at the small of your back and guide you out of the darkness into a room with four walls and a thin, sagging ceiling. The plaster is peeling, the air is musty, and the floor is slick. White plastic piping juts up from the center and curves into multiple spouts, clean water flowing in uneven streams. Those hands pull your clothes off and clear the dust from your body, redress you in handsewn jumpsuits.

A finger is pressed to your lips. Kind eyes meet your own and a single word is whispered - hush.

Led out of the room in a line, you’re taken down a short hallway and into another, much larger room. There’s a woman waiting for you there, a child hugging her leg, and a cloth bag in her hands. She reaches in and pulls out a device, passes one to each of you. Once finished, she begins to move both hands in graceful gestures, a language. One of the people who helped you lifts their device and the screen lights up, tracks the woman’s hands. Letters appear on the screen and you understand the device’s purpose. She tells you what she knows and it’s not much.

This world is haunted. Noise attracts them, so it is not allowed. Communication is through body language, soundless writing, and the device. She tells you that your feet must be light and your mouth never used. There is a community outside these doors, where you can survive together, but only if you agree to one thing: complete and total silence. You'll have time to talk it over. Acceptance allows you to journey outside. The ground is marked in pathways of sand, lining the paths to each building and everywhere in between. You notice that the locals hold their devices always, aloft and glance to it often. It will not vibrate or make a sound to signal a message.

Notices appear. Rules. Guidelines. Feet on the sand and never anywhere else. To open a door you brush your fingers along the hinges - oiled and you may enter. If not, take the brush from the can sitting nearby and coat the metal with the dark liquid. You're to settle into your new home.

Caught me unawares
Content Warnings: Confusion, disorientation
Themes: Survival, horror, it's like groundhog day

The ending of the floor has caught me unawares. This must be the reason why I’m falling down the stairs.

That night, when you fall asleep, you dream of your life before The Quiet Place. At first it's the happiest moments of your life played on repeat, over and over. Everything good and sweet and fun. The second night, it's much the same. You go to bed anticipating another restful and pleasant sleep. But on the third night it changes.

For everyone, it starts the same. There's a long hallway with a door at the end. You walk towards it with nowhere else to go. You twist the knob and when you step forward, the floor ends and you fall. Falling lasts for seconds, minutes, or hours and when you land, it's with a jolt and a cloud of red dust all around you. There's someone else next to you, stumbling, coughing and choking on that familiar dirt that coats your tongue and mouth. When your eyes meet, everything blurs and you're falling again - this time, when you land, it's inside that dream from the first night. Only you're not alone. They're with you. The only way out is to experience the dream together. And when you do wake up, for real, that same red dirt is on your hands.

Falling down the stairs
Content Warnings: Confusion, disorientation
Themes: Survival, horror, it's like groundhog day

The ending of the floor has caught me unawares. This must be the reason why I’m falling down the stairs.

That night, when you fall asleep, you dream of your life before The Quiet Place. At first it's the worst moments of your life played on repeat, over and over. Everything bad and sour and awful. The second night, it's much the same. You go to bed anticipating another restless and dreadful sleep. But on the third night it changes.

For everyone, it starts the same. There's a long hallway with a door at the end. You walk towards it with nowhere else to go. You twist the knob and when you step forward, the floor ends and you fall. Falling lasts for seconds, minutes, or hours and when you land, it's with a jolt and a cloud of red dust all around you. There's someone else next to you, stumbling, coughing and choking on that familiar dirt that coats your tongue and mouth. When your eyes meet, everything blurs and you're falling again - this time, when you land, it's inside that nightmare from the first night. Only you're not alone. They're with you. The only way out is to experience the nightmare together. And when you do wake up, for real, that same red dirt is on your hands.

OOC
From your mods:

Please remember to mark your content in your starters or subject lines as material comes up. The threads on this meme can be used as game canon. Feel free to thread out arrival style meetings as well! If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment below. Have fun!

NAVIGATION



voidmage: (find you with my inner eye)

[personal profile] voidmage 2018-03-07 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
[There is nothing Eleven can do trapped in this repeating nightmare. Can only go along with the events of the past and not even her powers can change that.

Except something's different this time. This time something touches her elbows -- nothing can touch her in the Void. Only El can touch other things. Like the demogorgon.

She jerks back at the touch, away from the stranger and in an instant El is not the shaved haired girl in the strange outfit anymore. Her hair is longer, curlier around her face and she's wearing the same jumpsuit everyone else gets during the arrival process. Eyes wide as she looks up at the older girl. Not a face she's seen.

When the question comes, El looks over her shoulder back at the strange creature's still there. Then when her head turns back she instantly nods. Yes, she wants to get out of here. Yes, she wants to go somewhere nice.

Anywhere is better than with the demogorgon. She raises a hand for the other girl to take, not questioning how or where they're going to go.]
lowkeycrazy: (dark)

"it gets better", he said

[personal profile] lowkeycrazy 2018-03-07 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Haha... what word would he use, Akechi wonders..

Urgh, he already hates all of this. The more he talks to this man the more he's reminded of himself and it ellicits a crawling sensation under his skin, itchy and uncomfortable. That calm sort of coldness, the hint of something self-deprecating...

He almost feels something like desperation bubbling up inside him. Out. He wants out of this, already, to just— get away from all of this, because he isn't remotely in the sort of mindset to deal with this man when it feels so easy to project all his own flaws into him.

So he says nothing in response, watching the scenes as they play out to distract him from the man, to distract him from his thoughts, when he's told to look away.

He doesn't flinch at the explosions, but he does tense. Oh, delightful... more screams. It's fine, really, he was hoping for them. He gives a sigh of aggravation and looks off to the side; he just... wants this to be over already.

The laughter catches his attention, and despite his better judgement, he looks up.

He knows where this is going the moment he sees it, and for a moment, his pupil dialates, and his stomach does a flip, and he thinks he might be sick again.

He hears the woman's screams to stop, and of their own volition, his hands suddenly fly up and press against his ears as his body quakes a bit, remembering...

The scream stops. He doesn't remove his hands. He barely pays attention to the last part, though he cringes a little when there are more screams.

And then, finally, it's quiet.

Akechi says nothing. Doesn't move. Doesn't remove his hands.

He just wants this to be over.]
voidmage: (mama's electrical lobotomy)

[personal profile] voidmage 2018-03-07 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
[If Eleven is aware of Will's presence during the events, she doesn't make it known.

Not until he says her name and then her head jerks in his direction. He's here with her again. They've somehow connected without her even trying. Both of them where the demogorgon is only steps away. A dangerous place to be in any world.

But as frightening as the demogorgon is it's only a small thing to fear in comparison to what else lives in the Upside-down. She could stop the demogorgon again if she needed to. And El would to protect the kid next to her.]


Will. [Somehow, Will is the one to find her this time.] Let's go.
shiro2hero: (why am I the disney princess ??)

1 - hi

[personal profile] shiro2hero 2018-03-07 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
[They always said it was like the loss of a limb. The sudden absence of others. Of all the interconnected minds and thoughts. It's just gone, and what's left is emptiness. It feels like staring down the barrel of a black hole when you're used to seeing nothing but stars.]

[But there's one of them still there.]

[At least there's one.]

[He doesn't think anything of reaching out to grasp one of Sam's shoulders. Like the physical contact is going to solidify something. Make the ground under his feet stand still again.]


... I guess. We're not undercover this time.
antigene: (pic#12135581)

[personal profile] antigene 2018-03-07 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
[She nods like she understands him. Like she has to be the fucking adult here. She's only fourteen but she has to be the one to always call men like this guy and Joel on their shit. Her fist hits her palm and she narrows her eyes.]

Don't you dare fucking lie to me. They sent for you and you came running. You're here on behalf of them. You're a part of all this [She widely gestures with her arms to encompass the entire room] whether you want to admit it out loud or not.
oorah: (☠︎077)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-07 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ her volume and noise and big gestures don't phase him. like her paranoia, she's right to be wary of this too. and maybe in a way he is a part of this now, but he started off very much like her. he still wants to get everyone out, but he's also invested in the locals. how could he not be, when he brought two of them into the world? ]

They elected me to speak for them and all of the Arrivals. That doesn't mean I've stopped trying to get everyone the fuck out of here.

[ it's almost a growl, he takes half a step forward, his first true advance towards her. ]

Don't you dare tell me my motives. I've got no reason to lie to you.
Edited 2018-03-07 07:50 (UTC)
antigene: (pic#12135574)

[personal profile] antigene 2018-03-07 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
[She stands her ground and doesn't flinch. Let him advance on her. Her finger is pointed at him accusingly and her temper gets the better of her. This guy is way too much like Joel. Good at getting under her skin.]

Hey, you know what? Fuck you! I don't even know your name and you're trying to get me to trust that you won't lie to me? [Her hands brace against the side of her head and she makes a frustrated sound.]

Look, I just had to kill a guy that locked me in a cage and tried to get me to trust him. He was a cannibal, okay? He called me his fucking pet. And I don't know if he wanted to try and eat or rape me. So don't you dare think this isn't a big deal to go from that to waking up someplace where people want to take my clothes!

[She brings a hand up to her face to cover her tears. Fucking emotions. They happen at the worst possible times.]
oorah: (☠︎004)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-07 08:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ frank wasn't trying to get her to trust him. not even close. he listens calmly and slowly lowers himself, crouching down so they're eye-level. his heart aches for her, and more than that he wants to grind that guy's bones into paste and feed it to him through a straw after he rips out his teeth one by one. at least that image keeps him pacified for a moment, but there's still the matter of a crying girl. one who very much does not need any more pain right now. ]

Okay, it's okay. No one's taking your clothes. They're quiet, right? That's all that matters. [ and that she's safe. try as he might, some of that empathy leeches into his wide, wet gaze. ] I'm glad that sick fuck is dead.
blessmefather: (so that they will)

[personal profile] blessmefather 2018-03-07 08:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ How he knows she has the pad is a long story unfortunately. Typically he would play the ordinary blind man but he forgets to in the moment. His head is still spinning a little and he's desperate for communication with anyone from outside of this place.

He considers asking for a list of fellow outsiders then decides against it. He needs to find out more about where everyone stands, who can be trusted, before he reveals that he's looking for any specific people. There's a certain question that has been gnawing at the back of his mind since he woke up and realized he was breathing and feeling. It isn't a pleasant thought, and he hates to ask someone who seems young this but judging by the sword at her belt she must have trained in some form and become acquainted with the uglier parts of life at a young age like he had.

He uncaps the pen and writes.
]

My name is Matthew.

Are we dead or alive?

Write- I can feel the words on the paper.
byanyother_name: (Anguish)

'Beauty is pain and there's beauty in everything'

[personal profile] byanyother_name 2018-03-07 08:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Kurama's chuckle is... not any sort of healthy laughter. It's soft but dark and bitter and pained. After all, Akira is right is his assumption that there is more to this than a 'bad dream'.]

Heh... Why should my mind settle for the shallow pain and fear of lies when it can torture me with my failures and sins?

[He and the dream Akira are glowing now, and unlike the original events, Kurama's expression is pained as he looks at the light coming from him. When it first happened, it was a moment of hope and possibility.

Here and now, knowing what happens next, it's merely a harbinger of the end. A cue for the large, humanoid cat form of the executioner his poor, sweet friend Nyaf-ya to drug them from behind.]

Kurusu-san... You're the last person I would choose to suffer this with me. You deserve better than to stand helplessly by again while Goro Akechi dies...

[As the dream Akira crumples, the rest of the scene goes black around them. Kurama never found out what happened. He hadn't been able to bring himself to ask. But the darkness is pierced by Akechi's voice screaming in anger and pain.]
antigene: (pic#12135590)

[personal profile] antigene 2018-03-07 08:51 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, me too. [She drops her hand so she can look him in the eyes. He's close enough she could punch and give him a black eye if she wanted to. The fight is all out of her for now. She's just exhausted. The busted lip and bruised up face she has is from her last fight and all she wants to do is sleep it off.]

I'm Ellie.

[She doesn't trust him but he's earned her name.]
oorah: (☠︎058)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-07 08:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ he nods with gravity like his head is heavy, and it looks like it is. he internalizes her name, knowing he should let her find her own way out there even if he wants to stick around. she's tough, she can do this. (he'll check in first thing tomorrow.) ]

The people here call me Hotdog. [ and that's the moniker he uses on the devices too, so she'll easily find him should she need his help between now and then. ]
oorah: (☠︎031)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-07 09:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ that's definitely not about to happen, but nill is a quick study anyway just like he knew she'd be. he spends a long time, running through the alphabet and simple phrases. Hello, How are you?, What's your name?, My name is Nill. stuff like that. he doesn't stop until his hands get tired and he can tell she's worn out too.

frank gets up and max does too, easily slotting his bulky canine body against his owner's equally bulky leg. ]
Same time next week? [ he signs as he slips his device back in his pocket. between the sunday lessons and frank to practice with, she'll get the language in no time flat. and maybe, just maybe, he'll earn some trust along the way. ]
998: (this is too many feelings)

[personal profile] 998 2018-03-07 09:11 am (UTC)(link)
[it occurs to him it could have been her mother or his using the name 'ladystark' and he feels briefly guilty he didn't think of that, but mostly he's just glad--and relieved--to hear from her.]

Sansa. :) I'm coming to get you. It's hard to make my way without Ghost.

[he snaps (not literally, the camera mechanism is silent) a picture of his surroundings and adds it to the message.]

I'm well enough. I'd be better if I had my sword. Longclaw's missing and they won't give me anything to use in the meantime. Are you all right?

[he assumes she is, or she would have asked for help, but it's hard to know sometimes, since she got back from the eyrie.]
Edited 2018-03-07 09:12 (UTC)
antigene: (pic#12135535)

[personal profile] antigene 2018-03-07 09:15 am (UTC)(link)
Hotdog.

[Riiiiiiiight. This guy is something else. She smiles like she can't believe he'd willingly open himself up to her jokes. Riley comes through again with her joke books. She's got every single one of them memorized.]

I guess that means I can declare you the weiner of weirdest name ever. [Badum-tish] And frankly, [See what she did there?] you better relish the title. [How can anyone tell jokes like these with a straight face? She can't.]
oorah: (307)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-07 09:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ he's laughing because IT STARTED OUT AS A JOKE. really it did. but then no one knew what hotdogs were and things spiralled. fast. she might find it funnier if she knew it's an actual pun on his name, but he won't give her the satisfaction. ]

Oh, I do. It was nice to meat you, Ellie. We'll ketchup soon. [ he winks in a cheesy way and stands back up to full height, intending to go either distract or otherwise beat sense into some natives so she can keep her shit. ]
beguiledcard: (3104853 (19))

[personal profile] beguiledcard 2018-03-07 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ His eyes widen a tiny bit as the pair glow - his mind is racing, but he can't help paying attention to their words...

... What they're agreeing to, what all of this implies...

But none of his earlier thoughts matter the second he hears the next words out of the redhead. He's the "last" person he would choose to suffer it. He deserves better than to--

... Akira's entire body jolts for just a moment. His eyes snap from the redhead to the Akechi in here with them. He's about to--

The rest happens all-too-quickly, and yet seemingly in slow motion. The him from this dream is dropping... everything is going black...

A scream. A sound he's never heard, and yet is recognizable enough that something sick twists in the pit of his stomach. His body, for as rigid as it feels, has an unsteadiness to it. Like it can't decide between curling forward or remaining upright.

Even when they lost him the first time - even when he failed to keep the events back home from happening the way they did - he hadn't heard anything like that.

So much death has surrounded him since he arrived here, too; he lost Makoto, friends, and even he... ]


...

[ He's staring, gaze turned downward. Even if there was something to see around his feet, he would just be looking right through it for now.

Akira Kurusu is rebooting. ]
byanyother_name: (Mostly harmless)

III

[personal profile] byanyother_name 2018-03-07 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
[He hadn't expected to end up falling a second time after landing in the red dirt, but it's nothing he can't handle. Even as Sam's mechanical wings appear on his back, the slender redhead levels off in the air. This is a dream, so his own wings are visible even to the living man, black and sharp.

Kurama offers a reassuring smile as he shakes his head.]

I'm not afraid of much.
nishizono: (( clr ) 023)

[personal profile] nishizono 2018-03-07 10:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ tetora arches a brow at the mention of quirks, because if he's understanding the word correctly, then it's one hell of a quirk. still, glass windows and all that; he goes past it and shrugs at the young man, then nodding at the ladder. ]

i do, actually. can you manage to raise it up a bit, do you think?
blessmefather: Matt with a neutral expression. (about time I give my icons)

[personal profile] blessmefather 2018-03-07 10:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nerves of steel hopefully includes staying calm at the scene of a murder. As they find themselves outside or what feels like outside during a chilly night police sirens draw near, and drown out all other sound. Matt lowers his head, wondering if he should bother explaining to her what this scene is or if this will be less stressful for both of them to act like she isn't there. The police cars pull up nearby and the officers silence their sirens. Immediately a child's sobs can be heard coming from near the ground. The boy calls to his father as he shakes his corpse, hoping he'll wake but the man is long gone. ]
nishizono: (1 - FxObP1g)

[personal profile] nishizono 2018-03-07 10:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ the carpet leeches off the red of his blood and paints itself a nice burgundy color, even as tetora feels himself getting a little pale from the internal hemorrhaging going on under his skin. the injuries are starting to heal, as he can feel them stitching back together slowly, but the pain remains. even dreams operate by their own logic, and this one has decided to stick to approximations of reality when it comes to handling pain.

breathe in. breathe out. one, two, three.

something - someone - falls next to him and he turns his head to see the girl, her shadow covering his eyes from the overhead lights. he only has the one thing to offer her in lieu of words: a weak hand, raised, fist loosely curled into the shape of a gun.

and a wink.
]

Don't feel too bad about him. He deserved it.
darksmokerising: (239)

[Caught Me Unawares] Once Upon A Time An Angel Was Stupid

[personal profile] darksmokerising 2018-03-07 12:18 pm (UTC)(link)
The red dust is a memory a second later as they fall. This dream has a sharpness to it, a hyper-real cast to it. Colours are sharper, physical sensations are heightened, and there is so much pain.

Her wings have ice on them, her body is so cold. He's forgotten again, that she needs healing. Micah is so busy listening to the universe, to find what he's looking for through her that he fails to notice the one thing he should before they stall. The falling dream (it's a dream, dammit) is back and she can feel the way the magic blast envelops her body, sizzling along her skin, crackling through her bones and nerves.

He notices, then, as they plummet toward the snow. Her angel, Micah, snaps back from his stupid reverie or his search, whatever it had been, just in time. There's still an explosion of snow and he retreats to fix his mess.

Merlan lays there, her wings spread as if she were a stunned bird, and watches the snow swirl as she pulls in breaths. Things are broken. Many things and all she can do is watch the snow.

Her lips move soundlessly as the wings begin to disappear.

This is a dream.

God help her, she's never been so tired but she will control it this time. With a little help, perhaps.
inconstantly: (pic#11991023)

[personal profile] inconstantly 2018-03-07 12:54 pm (UTC)(link)
well since you're offering

a last name would be nice


[Even though he hasn't given her his, details details. John is beginning to suspect their interaction is less clever ploy and more natural chemistry. Someone else turning on the charm upon first meeting was bound to happen eventually.]
coagmentatio: of our fucking beer. what an appropriate costume. (71 - cqWDcdw)

[personal profile] coagmentatio 2018-03-07 01:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He manages a gentle and warm smile before he leans his head back a bit to make it easier to do a proper ponytail. The front part still hangs to frame his face, as always; he's so used to that by now, he doesn't even think to brush some of it out of his line of sight.

Once that's done, he gives Riley that same warm smile, sliding an arm around him before he starts walking. Time to find someone willing help. Hopefully his own body heat will help a little...

Sadly, the first native he asks is busy - a bit... dismissive, honestly, but then that's not too different from how people on Daeseon can be. So, Aiden's not thinking too much on it beyond being annoyed in general.

That feeling doesn't go away until they get to their third native encounter; she gives a smile and nod before hurriedly heading inside to get a set of towels and a blanket. He doesn't know why she gave him two towels, since he only asked for one...? But okay.

Anyway, the blanket is thin, worn... but it's a blanket. It's just big enough that it might even wrap around the both of them. ]


Thank you. I promise to repay you for this, somehow.

[ His arms immediately wrap around Riley again. There's a considerable amount of gratitude on his face, until it turns to confusion as she insists that it's fine. Well....... okay? He'll just play along for now, and then later find some way to repay her.

Either way, it's after sending her that message, and after she heads back inside, he looks down to Riley and points to a bench. He's trying to ask without having to take both arms away from being around his lover.

Maybe they can sit there for now? ]
Edited 2018-03-07 13:11 (UTC)
coagmentatio: of our fucking beer. what an appropriate costume. (92 - 6q21HTs)

cw: suicide

[personal profile] coagmentatio 2018-03-07 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The words help... as they always do. A reassurance that his past - even his lack of memories - no longer have to rule him. They have each other, and they can face the future together. They'll get through this.

Aiden, too, will never give up on them.

Once this scene plays out, he lets his head be turned. He looks into Riley's eyes as he speaks, and those words have his expression faltering openly.

He closes his eyes, letting his head lower until their foreheads rest together. ]


... I'm happy that I failed. [ but he isn't just talking about killing Riley, because ] Want to know... a secret?

[ He gives a distant smile now... ]

The... truth is, I began to feel jealous of the packs we killed. I wanted-!

[ A brief tremble. He doesn't actually want to talk about this, but... ]

... Before you, I constantly wished that they'd failed to save me. Because, if I'd tried to stop being a hunter after joining, they would have killed me. Once someone becomes a hunter, the only way to stop being one is to die. Just before I met you, I started to consider--...

[ He holds a blink. ]

The reason I was alone, when we first saw each other... was because that was going to be my last mission.

[ He lowers his gaze, his own head still resting against Riley's. ]

Meeting you saved my life.