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



bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-09 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[She can appreciate a nicely furnished home. As someone that likes everything to be perfect and in place, she feels right at home here. After looking around a little, she goes to sit on the couch and lets him know how she prefers her tea. At this point, she's willing to take anything. But he's presenting her with the chance to be picky so she'll do just that. Once he's prepared it and they're sitting slowly drinking, she relaxes back against the couch without losing her prim posture. ]

Right so, figure we ought to get the awkward question out of the way. Why did that man follow us here?

[She knows that it's nice to have casual conversation, but it's more important to use this time to learn about this place. She wants to get to know him better too, but can do that while getting information. ]
beyourzoomer: (almost hopeful)

[personal profile] beyourzoomer 2018-03-09 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's a big deal for Max, too, but for very different reasons. She's never been locked up in a lab and experimented on, but affection wasn't really a thing in her house. Even less so once her parents divorced and her mom remarried. With Neil and Billy, it's about as opposite of affection as you can get. Mostly she just tries to avoid them as much as she can. She's just not always successful.

She knows all about keeping secrets because it's what she does back home. It's what she has to do. One more isn't a burden by any means.

Max smiles when Eleven squeezes her arm back.]


their place is a bit farther but we're getting closer. do you have any questions about this place? i've been here a few weeks now so i can try to help if you do.
bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-09 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[If she hadn't already met Frank, she'd be really creeped out right now. As it is, she's just marginally disturbed because of how earnestly Eddie talks about a man named Hotdog who got children beds. Her eyes widen as her eyebrows arch, and she slowly nods her head in response.]

Yeah, think showing me is a good idea. But you know not to completely trust any of the adults here, right? A man that goes by Hotdog isn't necessarily...stable.

[She already worries for Eddie's safety and plans on thanking Frank and the others for helping him. But she's still wary, and wants to make sure that Eddie knows to be too. ]

I just want all of you to be safe. How many children are here, anyway?
kiljoy: (aka nothing on the telly)

[personal profile] kiljoy 2018-03-09 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[They're having tea. Isn't this civilised? And she's lucky that he's actually learned to make tea in the past few days because before this Kilgrave had no clue. He sits next to her on the couch and looks puzzled for a moment before he realises who she's referring to.]

Oh! [He waves a hand.] That was Louis. My escort. Bodyguard, I mean, not a date. We try not to travel alone around here. Anyway, don't worry about him. I want to know more about you, Miss Time Traveller. How does a school teacher from London start travelling through time?

[personal profile] ex_tagartist520 2018-03-09 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't know a lot of people. [ It was said sort of matter-of-factly instead of harshly. She remembered how she'd frozen up when Damon brought out the knife, watching Rachel get stabbed, watching her bleed against the seat, and she couldn't feel brave in the slightest.

She tried not to think about it for long. Maybe I could? Someday... That was a better thing to focus on.

Dream Max was always talking about coming home. Always writing saying her dad got sent back. That she was going to be moving to Oregon again and everything was going to be back just as it was. How much she missed her, wanted to see her, how sorry she was - blah, blah, blah. ]


Yeah. Maybe someday. [ She pulled the marshmallow back from the flames, hunting for a graham cracker. ]
bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-09 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[If there's one thing Clara likes talking about, it's herself. So she takes his explanation of Louis at face value and moves on to something more interesting.]

It was back when I was nannying, before I started teaching. A man dressed as a monk showed up on the family's doorstep one day. He was looking for me and knew my name. It was a bit stalkerish, really.

[Her nose wrinkles up as she laughs, fondly remembering her first meeting with the Doctor.]

Next thing I know, I'm caught up in some crazy adventure with an alien. I must've passed some sort of test, because he invited me to travel with him in his grumpy old cow of a time machine.
redecide: (artsy backshot)

[personal profile] redecide 2018-03-09 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Chloe doesn't sound like she believes her, which is fine, because Max doesn't believe herself, either. She hates that she can't offer anything real, concrete. Hates that she can't promise Chloe anything, not even a stupid text back.

She's kind of the worst, isn't she.

At a lack for anything worthwhile to say, she sits and watches Chloe eat in silence. She hasn't even fried any marshmallows herself, just held pointlessly onto the stick. It'd feel weird, camping out here, making s'mores, like everything's normal. But it would've felt weirder declining William's invitation.

Still-- even with the guilt and the regret and the discomfort, even with the mourning that chews away at her heart, this moment right here feels more like home than anything in Max's life since she left.
]

... Hey, Chloe?

[personal profile] ex_tagartist520 2018-03-09 10:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Even if she's tormenting herself, the silence between them awkward and tense, but still not unwelcome because it gives her a minute to gather her thoughts. There's something about all this that feels wrong somehow, like it's not quite a dream, but also not a memory or... real, and it's left her with that same feeling she had when she dreamed about her dad in the car over and over.

She really wanted a bottle of something stronger than the soda that was sitting on the ground.

The break from it makes her look up, over to her, pausing mid-chew of s'more because the sticky treat always takes forever to swallow. She doesn't bother trying before answering, either, a mouth full of marshmallow as she speaks. ]
Yeah?
deadlight: (i'm colder than this home)

[personal profile] deadlight 2018-03-09 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ strangely, that's actually the first time anyone has suggested treating the problem instead of the symptom. it could be the first time anyone's implied that screaming in the night doesn't have to be a fact of life. which sounds like fake news, but ok.

there's just the tiniest part that wants to believe there's a way to get through this, though. and she'd really rather not put others in danger. ]


ok
i hope u r not a serial killer


[ then again, if this is some sort of trap, she'll just scream and get them both killed, so: street smarts. ]
redecide: (kicked puppy face)

[personal profile] redecide 2018-03-09 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Chloe's voice comes out all muffled around the marshmallow, and it makes Max laugh, her shoulders twitching. She's so cute. Some things haven't changed, after all.

The humor drains from her features with the realization she might not get to see Chloe like this again. And never William.

It'll never be like this again.

Quietly, Max reaches for Chloe's free hand on the ground, and takes it in her own.
]

I don't... want to wake up.
deadlight: (and they're running running)

[personal profile] deadlight 2018-03-09 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ this guy is really hung up on his sandwich. thankfully, he tells her she's not losing her mind, and the demonstration he gives alongside his actions is something she's able to watch without participating in. when the sandwich lands with its splat, she's startled, but not unpleasantly so. important distinction.

she's having a hard time remembering whether this is a dream or a memory of her own. that it's hers seems a straightforward conclusion, but everything else - it's a bit fuzzy.

bev watches him stomp the resurrected sandwich into the ground again and again, finally defeating his foe. ]


...You think you killed it?

[ another look around the scenery, and though it's definitely there, she's not sure if they have to jump off the clif now, or something else. this guy said there's no rules. ]

So how do we get out of here?

[ wait. sudden squint. childhood fairy tales coming back in full force as she registers that this guy seems to know a lot about dreams. ]

You're not gonna tell me you're the Sandman, are you?
deadlight: (for a while now)

[personal profile] deadlight 2018-03-09 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Seriously?

[ she's already giddily nodding her consent, shifting into a lazy sort of swim to the rocky shore. bev can't help but wonder if that's what she looked like with her hair long. there's something about the relaxed confidence that rolls off max that makes bev feel like she's found another person she can relax around. it's so rare that combined with the weightlessness of her body in the water, she feels like she could float back up to the top of the cliff.

there's still that lingering feeling at the back of her mind, reminding her something's different. hard to tell if it's a dream or a memory they're in. ]


I feel like it's summer all over again!

[ it was, at one point. then it ended. right? ]
kiljoy: (aka that's news)

[personal profile] kiljoy 2018-03-09 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Huh. He's intrigued; it's an interesting story. Especially in what it says about her. He's an attentive listener, only taking his eyes off her to occasionally sip his tea.]

And you chose to go with him? You must have been confident.

[Or reckless, even. Getting into a time machine with a stranger.]
eachother: (Default)

[personal profile] eachother 2018-03-09 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ thomas' brow furrows, his expression slightly confused, slightly curious. fireflies — that's a new one, and not anything he's ever heard of being associated with WCKD. maybe it's a different division. unlikely, but he's not ruling out the possibility. thomas files the information away to be drawn back up at a later time. ]

No, [ he says, shaking his head subtly. ] No, I'm not with anyone.

[ not in the sense of being affiliated with any major groups or corporations. that's the old thomas, the one he left behind when he realized that his morals didn't align with WCKD's anymore (and, maybe, that they never really did).

thomas shifts his weight forward, his movements slow as he tilts his weight down onto one knee, careful to maintain the distance he's set between himself and the young girl trying to disappear into the corner of the walls. ]


I'm not gonna tell you that you should trust me. I'll leave that up to you to decide, but I promise that you can. My name is Thomas. I'm immune too.
Edited (don't mind me, just fixing typos) 2018-03-11 17:09 (UTC)
deadlight: (you know we're gonna be legends)

[personal profile] deadlight 2018-03-09 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
well u shouldn't tell them shit they already know like they're going to get all their friends killed
they're already worried about that


[ do you want people to think you're some kind of rude lunatic? well, the jury may still be out on that one, but we're still living in a society! ]

that sounds like a nightmare
good plan a+
specialization: (Default)

nightmare.

[personal profile] specialization 2018-03-09 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[if Hisoka can't touch him, then he can't do the same, and it burns in him. he wants that head, wants to tear it off, to break him so thoroughly there would be no revival from the dead, this time.

a nightmare is being face to face with this monster and not being allowed to hurt him. the coldness of those chains that he escaped imprisoning him again - around his limbs, weighing him down. stabbed into his heart, which bleeds, crimson lost to the black he wears. they clink together, heavy and whispering that like this, he's useless. like this, he can't protect them. can't find vengeance.

it doesn't mean he won't try to break free, and in his eyes is something dark, coiling, alive in a way that Hisoka's never seen.]


Of course.

[still, though, his voice is that same soft volume. he's never been one to scream unnecessarily.]
bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-09 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[That makes her laugh, and she arches both eyebrows as she fixes him with an amused look.]

Can't say I disagree with that assertion. [She pauses just long enough to take a sip of her tea, choosing not to look too much into the why she agreed to go. It's too complex to get into with a stranger.]

But I didn't just hop into his snogbox and run off with him. I made him wait a week before coming back to ask me again.

[Clara's too much of a control freak to say yes on the Doctor's terms. It's always had to be her own.]
flimsylies: (pic#9888722)

[personal profile] flimsylies 2018-03-09 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There's nothing quite like the rage in Chrollo's eyes to soothe Hisoka's own. He's not just a brute. Just like he's never just a clown.

His stance relaxes, a gesture of greeting. ]


Chrollo.

[ Whose nightmare is this? If Hisoka is the one getting this glorious chance to gloat. ]

[personal profile] ex_tagartist520 2018-03-09 10:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The s'more gets swallowed quickly at that, gulping hard to force it down as she stares ahead. She wondered if her dad was blocking this all out or if the dream was just selective in who it let talk. He's just a shadow of who he was, after all. Not actually William Price.

Her eyes are stinging and she clenches her fists for a moment, no longer having the stick to grip on to for stability. She can feel her nails digging in to the skin of her palm. It relaxes only when she feels Max reach out, feels her hand in hers, letting her fingers lace with the other girl's. ]


Me neither. [ Her voice is quiet and shaky. ] What... What did I do? To make you just disappear. What did I fuck up?
kiljoy: (aka we're inevitable)

[personal profile] kiljoy 2018-03-09 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[He smiles at the term 'snogbox', that's cute.]

You like playing hard to get, eh? I like that. So, how does this story end? Did you fall madly in love?
bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-09 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
In a manner of speaking.

[How does she hope to explain her relationship with the Doctor? It's a little hard to do, when he's switched faces on her and regenerated into a new man that's nothing like what she knows. But she can't focus on that now. She needs to keep the conversation going.]

He's my best friend, and I'd do anything for him. But it's not like that.

[Her tea is set aside, and she gives a little shake of her head.]

Not with him, or anyone else. Suppose that's on account of my playing hard to get.
redecide: (the softest saddest max)

ಥ_ಥ

[personal profile] redecide 2018-03-09 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That cuts like a knife to the gut, and Max curls into herself on reflex, squeezing Chloe's hand too tight for comfort. Her voice squeaks, panicky-shrill: ] You didn't! You didn't do anything wrong, Chloe, I just...

[ She just what? At the absolute least, Chloe deserves an explanation, even if it'll only make her hate Max more. It's better she realize what a shitty weak coward Max is, rather than blame this on herself.

Chloe doesn't need anything more to feel bad about.

Max takes a deep, shuddering breath, bracing herself. Failing to compose a proper answer in her head, she resigns to just letting her mouth run; it's not like there's a way to make it sound worse than it is, anyway.
]

I just... never know what to say. I feel so guilty talking to you about stupid stuff like we used to, or how I'm doing in Seattle, it doesn't feel right to. I don't know how to be there for you when I can't be there, and when you were falling apart and needed me and all I could say was the same useless crap over and over again, I knew that wasn't helping at all, but I didn't know what else to do. And I got so angry at myself and I started thinking that if I can't say the right thing, then I just shouldn't say anything at all, because it probably just makes you feel worse when you're counting on me to make things better and I can't. And then the longer I went without saying anything, the harder it got to reply when you messaged me, and...

[ This is where Max's voice, grown strained and trembling with each word, finally cracks. Wetness smears the corners of her vision again, but this time no amount of blinking can keep it at bay, and the tears spill down her cheeks into the lap of her hoodie. ] ... I failed you. A-and I don't know how to face you anymore.
list_maker: (my name is arya)

[personal profile] list_maker 2018-03-09 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
You're a princess? [Arya's eyes go wide at this.] So am I... I think. But I don't care to be. [She's technically a princess now that Jon is King in the North. But she's never thought of herself in those terms. It sounded too confining, too many expectations to be placed on her, and how she's meant to act.]
beguiledcard: (whatever the threat)

[personal profile] beguiledcard 2018-03-09 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That...

... It isn't the first time he's been called out - one of the kids here managed to call him out, once. But it's the first time he's been called out like this to his face, and all he can do it stare for a moment. His eyes are widened; he looks entirely caught off guard.

Akira notices the stirring, however; he glances over. But he also notices that tensing, and gives the redhead a curious look after a couple of seconds. ]


... Game? [ and, more importantly: ] You died, too?

[ And is now a Reaper? What kind of danger do their worlds have to be in, to require people staying dead to fight it? And what kind of benefits come of being Reapers? And it's "close enough" to being alive...?? How?

He searches the other teen's expression for a moment, and then looks to the side... then back to the pair on the bed.

Holy shit... there are so many questions to ask, here. He focuses on what information he has been given. They were in a game, the worlds are in danger, they died and were able to become Reapers afterwards... by choice? ]


So this "Game" was to provide a chance to die for the sake of new powers... all to fight a universal threat...

[ If he doesn't seem immensely upset over the concept of death, that's because he is a little numb to the general topic. Seeing and hearing it happen is one thing, while talking about it has become the norm. ]

What happened to the survivors?

[ Did they just get shipped back home with a "I survived a game of death, and all I got was this lousy shirt" in tow? Were their memories taken, like how it works here? Did they have to live with the memories? ]

ThisIsFine.JPG

[personal profile] ex_tagartist520 2018-03-10 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ She's not sure what she feels as she listens to her words. The guilt, the confusion, the shame that she felt; the part of her that still loves her so deeply wants to tell her it's okay, that she hasn't done anything wrong, that it makes sense that she couldn't handle all of Chloe's grief and anger from a distance - not when she could barely handle it herself.

But the anger is still there. The abandonment. The fact that she hadn't pushed through when she needed her most and just dealt with the discomfort that came from talking to her when she was at her worst.

She feels her hand squeezing into hers, sure she'd leave a mark if this was real. Is it real? She's never been so honest before. It doesn't feel like a dream anymore. It feels like an actual explanation. Her head is pounding and her throat hurts from trying so hard to hold back tears. ]


Trying was all I wanted. Just hearing your voice. It was enough. [ At least enough to get her through the day. Maybe not enough to make it all feel better, but nothing ever would be. ] It would still be enough. As pissed as I am, if you called tomorrow, I'd pick up and pretend like nothing ever happened. [ Her voice cracked, eyes shutting, her own hand clenching down roughly on her friend's. ] I just miss you, Max. Everything's gotten so fucked up and all I want is my best friend.