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



353: (pic#11861055)

arrival

[personal profile] 353 2018-03-01 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's that time of the month again - another batch of new arrivals. Rather than let them fend for themselves, Mike makes an effort to wander the city, actively looking for new people, making sure they're okay. He knows when he first arrived, he could have done with someone to calm him down, and he's met new arrivals since then who he's comforted or directed to their designated house.

Sarah looks familiar to him - he's not sure why, at first. He swears he's seen her face before...

Then it comes to him. Her, from the photo! Mike makes his way over to her at once, tugging on her sleeve to get her attention. ]


You're the woman from Frank's photo! Sarah?
oorah: (☠︎047)

settling in

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-01 04:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ frank has learned since the first time around that about 99% of the women around here can beat his ass, so he's not about to jump up to help her. she seems to be handling the heavy lifting just fine on her own. but there's something about it he doesn't like, like she thinks she's in this alone; which couldn't be further from the truth.

once she's stopped moving and seems to be in for the night, he'll bring over a little 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift. no serial killer basket for valkyrie, sorry, but he deposits the items onto a table in her room as he looks around. it's almost as... weird as his room was the first day. the items are a bag of deer jerky, a bottle of whiskey, and a small pouch of ground coffee. frank shrugs a little helplessly before turning to go. that's all, she can have her peace if she wants it now. ]
oorah: (☠︎012)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-01 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ his voice has a deep, gravelly quality to it anyway, rumbling almost. but here with disuse, it's become a little crackly too, like a patchy radio station. he smiles softly at max's attitude, holding out his hand for the dog who immediately butts his nose up against franks side and waits for his due pets. ]

Especially here. [ it's as serious as it is not, and if he had really minded he would have pushed her off the first time. her inquiry requires more thought and sobriety though, so it's a little while before he finds the words to answer her. ] Look, this whole thing... [ he gestures to constance and the greeting committee ] It's not the whole story. We still don't have all the pieces, and I don't think the Natives do either. All I know is that if you make a noise loud enough for those monsters to get curious, you die.
full_metal: (almost gentle)

[personal profile] full_metal 2018-03-01 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's been a while since Rita's had to deal with children. Even the photoshoots, which she'd detested, had mostly (conveniently) consisted of her standing there and glaring. Baby-kissing heroine wasn't the vibe they were going for, and at the end of the day, there wasn't much appreciable difference between 'I'm going to slaughter every mimic I see' and 'I'm going to throttle this photographer.'

But here is a child, one small enough that she'd count it as further proof that this whole scenario is bullshit -- good luck keeping small children quiet -- if not for the fact that she doesn't make a sound as she comes running up to her. There's recognition on her face, at first, which isn't surprising. Nor is it a shock when her expression shifts to trepidation. It's also been a while since Rita qualified as 'approachable,' fame notwithstanding.

Her gut twists with something too close to guilt for her liking. She's a soldier, but she's not a monster. Whatever she thinks of all this, she's not taking it out on a little kid.

So she takes the little hand on offer and drops into a slow crouch, her expression softening by a few degrees. After a few seconds of one-handed fumbling with the device she's been given, she displays a message. ]


You ok?
oorah: (057)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-01 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ micro will recognize bucky immediately, but frank's been literally living under rocks for decades. he's lucky he knows captain america, though he probably wouldn't even know if he were talking to him right now. there's also the presumption with most of the new arrivals that they aren't from his world at all. even if he'd been proven very, very wrong before. frank points micro out then, sitting at a table handing out literature to the newbies with a smile. ]

that's micro. i'm hotdog. [ he offers his hand to shake bucky's, nodding as they make eye contact. it's almost like the words are in his gaze thank you for your service. even if he'd hate hearing them himself; even if he'd never utter them aloud. there are some benefits to this place, he reminds himself. ]
garrick: (pic#9692030)

unwares

[personal profile] garrick 2018-03-01 04:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Having his own dreams is one thing, but somehow winding up in someone else's is a whole different level of unexpected. In fact when Hunter hits the ground in a plume of red dust he's almost certain he's fallen into another world; that answer would be simpler considering the multiverse and it's layers. Earth-1, Earth-2, all of them were easy to traverse when you knew the trick to it.

There's just no trick to this, just a whole lot of dirt flying around. Just like Constantine, Hunter is covered in seconds, all six foot four of him coated in the stuff. Joy.]


Hey! [ Hunter can see someone else nearby and it's not someone he's familiar with. Doesn't stop him from calling over, trying to shield his face with one hand in a futile, dirt-repelling hope.] Got an umbrella by any chance?
bossily: (smile)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 04:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[The thing about having an answer to the message that pops up on her device is she simply doesn't. She's just as newly arrived and clueless as he is, though her desire to want to help has her responding beyond simply glancing over his way with a deer caught in headlights expression on her face.]

They told me that they'd give us back our things after they've made sure they were silent.

[That doesn't seem particularly helpful, and having a conversation with a man that's standing off in the near distance while she looks his way seems weird so she makes her way on over toward him. There's a sheepish smile on her face on account of her not being particularly useful, though she does think to add something on once she's in close enough.]

I'm not sure I believe them.
bossily: (think)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
It's creepy, is what it is.

[Clara pulls a face, one that gives plenty of insight into her opinions of everything they've been told today. She's not talking out loud, at least, which means she buys into the threat of danger. It's definitely weird communicating face to face with someone this way, but at least they're getting through the awkward stage together.]

I'm Clara, by the way. I can't believe they actually expect us to keep this up long term.
bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[A triumphant little smile crosses over her features, and it's sent in the direction of the native woman. They're not going to be stuck in this awful room anymore, something Clara's incredibly happy about. She's even more happy about the thought of being productive, and actually managing to find the Doctor somewhere out there. Surely he's here.

It's with that hope that she follows him out of the room, her bare feet touching the sand path lightly. The texture is a little off putting so she ends up moving on her tiptoes at first, having to really work on making her stride as long as possible to keep up with him.

As they move, the device they've been given shifts in her pocket. She digs into her jumpsuit to pull it out, frowning at it a moment before typing.
]

It might help if we described who it is we're looking for.
relicta: (♚ 170)

[personal profile] relicta 2018-03-01 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ nat rolls her eyes. bucky could do more with that arm than most people could with both, but he always had to do the self-deprecating thing. like steve. she stashes her device when he switches to sign, happy to oblige even if she likes the funky little gadgets, no surprise there. ]

I thought I put 'no kidnapping' in my contract explicitly. [ she shakes her head gravely, that's about all she's got so she grabs his hand and starts dragging him away from the crowd. she signs back with her free hand. ] Let's go, old man.

i'm dying already

[personal profile] ex_redact551 2018-03-01 04:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he knows her. her face is familiar to him, niggling at the back of his brain. fireworks. a flying car. howard stark's face— howard dead against the steering wheel— a woman crying—howard? howard...?——candy in a paper bag shared and passed around—

bucky shakes his head, a frustrated huff escaping him soundlessly.
]

never trust a bunch of guys who tell you they'll give you something back if you're good.
that's a basic hostage management tactic.
culver: goodjobself @ dw (way less sad)

HELLO DEAR

[personal profile] culver 2018-03-01 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[The brief flash of someone else's face had seemed like some kind of fluke, at first. Something her mind had made up to perhaps make this entire ordeal easier. But then she sits up and someone is there with her, somehow. And something tells her that he isn't a person created by her subconscious like she'd guessed--he's a real person, who exists somewhere for real.

Dread balls in her stomach, and she feels like throwing up, or running. Maybe both, but preferably not at the same time.

She's almost too busy trying to shove down her panic to see the way he's looking at her. But once she does, some of the anxiety dissipates and she stares at him dumbly, uncertain how to respond. So all she does is nod, trying not to let her gaze drift over to the scene behind them, to Heine teetering on the verge of losing his mind and tearing her to pieces. She hadn't know that's what he'd almost done until much later, long after they'd fallen into their comfortable routine. And he'd been afraid that she would resent him, would hate him or fear him--but his ability to resist the Dog inside and still fight to save her only made her care for him more.]

[personal profile] ex_redact551 2018-03-01 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ hand holding - well this is. new. his look of mild alarm is probably hilarious to everyone looking their way right now. knowing he can't sign back - and is thus rendered speechless, in more ways than one - bucky merely makes a face that tries to say, you're not cute.

still, he mouths back at her: where to?
]
bossily: (smile)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[She's not really expecting to hear him say something like that. Her eyes go wide, and she most definitely thinks of the future timeline where she met a child that was most likely hers and Danny's. That timeline doesn't exist anymore, of course, due to his death. But being faced with a boy that looks remarkably like her saying that she's like his mother is more than a little shocking. The fact he knows about her time traveling means she trusts him, at least enough to tell him the truth about her adventures.

Her eyes scan the boy over a couple more times, noting how he does resemble her. He's American, and with a last name that's different than hers. But like her child with Danny, he could've ended up in the care of others. An odd sense of guilt fills her then, and there's just so many questions she has. She won't ask them, of course. Not when she's more or less a little taken with the fact he had just come right up and hugged her like she's the best thing in the entire world.

How can she not respond positively to that? There's a little smile on her face, there to show him that her words are only light humor because she isn't sure how else to start up a conversation.
]

I'm not sure if I should be apologizing for that or not. I don't think I make a very good mother.
flimsylies: (pic#9779982)

[personal profile] flimsylies 2018-03-01 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ah to be young and to take everything at its most literal. Hisoka's hand falls with limp disappointment. ]

Don't give away my secrets.

[ A lazy, disinterested rebuke. That trick was probably out of the bag anyway, although they have an all new audience here in Reims. ]
isherarmor: (Grace and virtue turn into stupidity)

sansa stark : a song of ice and fire/game of thrones

[personal profile] isherarmor 2018-03-01 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
arrival; ashes and dust metal and rust

[Once the dust has cleared (in all ways literal and not) it's easier terms to accept than she would have once thought. She'd been soundless before and not by choice, though that had only been weeks and this was...

...well, she couldn't say how for long it might be. And that was the worst part of it, truly, now that she'd had time to think, to turn the little device over in her hands, to inspect and unlock what secrets she could, all the while comparing it to the three that came before it - yes, the worst part were the slow waves of memory that returned - both of her own home and of the in between places that peppered those memories: two strange and oft dangerous, unpredictable lands and one hell.

Which is this, then?

Odds were it very well could be a hell.

Inspecting too, her hands, the faint lines of scarring not quite as visible as they once were - the trace of a symbol or word etched into her skin, worrying at the corner of her lip with her littlest finger, still absent its tip.

Worrying at the growing ache in her breast, needling at it - the realization that she is alone again and wolfless. It would be unnatural, and maybe cruel to subject Lady to such silence, wouldn't it? Ghost would not be bothered by it, and Jon would likely have---

---that hits her harder, her brother (half, he's only half) with the memory of Arya on its heels, gained and lost to her all over again.

The wince is instinctual and she's swallowing hard but does not cry out - it's all ache and coppering ashes in her mouth. A mouth which sets into a hard line - fingers on the keys and grasping hard - all the anger and sadness and bitter disappointment that's risen up in the wake of those memories - unknowingly firing off a senseless string of text.]


un: ladystark

u9nv; kfk f;ojSF ;;;L'SJDKLF



caught me unawares; all worlds intertwine

[The faint taste of mulled wine and lemoncakes - the gentle whine of a wolf sleeping at her feet. She wakes in pile of finely stitched pillows (some with intricate patterns, some with unkind words - there's a "shit" in there that elicits a smile) and the scent of slightly burnt bread drifting through the loft. Laughter, hers and theirs - Jon and Arya and the clang of steel on stone (not inside, stop it, you'll break---) - the faint hum of something more - someone more and the pillows are not pillows but whispering leaves - bright red and dusted with snowfall as she wakes once again.

In a godswood under what should be the shadow of a weirwood tree, her eyes open on sunlight and snowfall all at once. The drift tickles her face - it's the ghost of a wolf's kiss - the echo of a lost rabbit - no, it's Winterfell and she is building a snowcastle with your father, standing beside him as he breathes magic and life into an unreal imagining of the glass gardens, a snowball in her hand at the ready for...

...for...

Until it isn't - it's just a path and a door and red dust where the leaves should be. A stranger, and then---

---and then it is again, but:]


Don't spoil it!

falling down the stairs; you've dreamt this before (cw violence, all kinds of nope and abuse)
nightmare option is here because long post is really long

wildcard;

[Hit me with it, ok.]
Edited (longdream!) 2018-03-01 18:10 (UTC)
bossily: (think)

sorry to remind you of the last happy date you had bro

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, and that's why I'm trying to figure out where we can look for something armlike for you.

[She may be brand new here, and she may be slightly terrified. But there's an entire city out around them, and she's keen on exploring. If her exploring can have a purpose, even better. And if that purpose comes attached with a handsome face? Well, she's not one to complain about that.

There's a smile that tugs up at the corner of her mouth as she starts to back her way down the sand path on her tiptoes, still not liking the feel of it on her bare feet. The fact that they took his prosthetic arm along with their clothes and other belongings makes her more than angry, but there's not much they can do about it now. Unless...

She types out something quickly and spins about on one foot to look back toward the reset room they just came out of.
]

How well do you think just taking our things back would go over?

[personal profile] ex_redact551 2018-03-01 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he almost huffs a laugh, because the family resemblance is lacking, but then bucky takes in the clues: the solid build, the thousand-yard stare, the shared ties despite being clearly not relation. the shoulder's-distance stance, the instinct to keep one hand out of sight (at attention, officers!), the alertness that takes in everything in a single glance.

bucky's instincts haven't failed him, even when he had no idea whose side he was fighting for.
]

bucky, [ he texts back, before pocketing his device to take the handshake in a firm grip. after the handshake, he takes the device back out again and texts: ] do you understand ASL?
relicta: (Default)

[personal profile] relicta 2018-03-01 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ any point of contact is a lifeline in a place like this, but once they're away from the reset room and she's sure bucky will follow, she lets him have his hand back. she pulls her device back out and pulls up the map feature expertly, like she'd been using it forever. she blows up the map so he can see where it tapers off, then types a quick message, showing him that too so he doesn't have to get his phone back out. ] wanna see where the sidewalk ends
bossily: (Default)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a little gulp as actually hearing his voice and his tone being added in to the mix makes the reality a little more sobering. Hearing him explain isn't like the natives. He's been here for two months, pulled in the same as her. There's no logic to how any of this is happening, but she understands that not everything in the universe has defined logic that's meant to be followed. ]

But there's children here. I've seen them.

[Her face contorts into worry, and then anger. How is she supposed to help and protect them from something that apparently can't be fought?]

I can't just stand by idly and try living day to day, not when we could be figuring out a way to get them out of here and keep them safe.

[personal profile] ex_redact551 2018-03-01 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ bucky's a quick study, and he's already got half the map memorized by the time she's texting him back with 12% of a plan of action. it's a logical next step: figure out where the edges are, so you know how far to go if you want to get out. map out the locale, as it were. it's what he'd do, too.

he reaches over her and taps out in the next line of her text screen:
]

you cover my six, i cover yours?
Edited 2018-03-01 17:36 (UTC)
bossily: (amused)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 05:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[Natasha could break her and Clara would take it with a smile ok. It doesn't seem to be a thing that's likely to happen though, especially not as Clara laughs and tries to look impressed.]

I'll be sure to keep that in mind for if we manage to find our way back to reality.
353: (pic#12092980)

falling down the stairs

[personal profile] 353 2018-03-01 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Mike knows it's a dream, but like most dreams, your mind does a pretty good job of convincing you it's real. He doesn't argue with the older boy when he's told to get up, especially when he can hear the foreboding sounds of something coming, something bad, and Mike pushes himself off the concrete.

Too bad he's not a great runner. He can run of course, but he's not the fittest kid around, too much time spent playing video games rather than sports. He stumbles a little but with the other boy guiding him by the wrist, he just about manages to keep up with him.

His lungs already felt heavy with the red dust he inhaled earlier; he's even more out of breath after that moment of strenuous exercise. ]


What... [ He gasps for air, mirroring Newt's position with his own hands against his knees once they're in a safe spot. ] ...Was that? [ He's talking about what was chasing them. ]
bossily: (smile)

[personal profile] bossily 2018-03-01 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[There's a lot about the vastness of space that both intrigues and terrifies Clara. She's seen so many things at this point that being here just feels like home. It makes her heart race and fills her with emotion, and she's essentially just very glad that she has someone here to experience it with her. As she looks over his way, she finally understands why the Doctor always has to have a companion to share these things with. Seeing it through someone else's eyes as they look out into infinity is a pretty amazing thing.

So her hand moves, fingers curling to just lightly squeeze at his. Yeah, the look on her face says. Only space. No reason to be alarmed.
]

If you think this is impressive, you ought to see this planet where they've been celebrating new years for nearly two centuries.
oorah: (☠︎072)

[personal profile] oorah 2018-03-01 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ like recognizes like, and he knows he's been spotted. it doesn't bother him, not really. if this guy is from his world he probably even knows who frank is, too. their faces have both been plastered all over the news in recent years. he internalizes the name and thinks over the question. he holds up his hand and rocks it back and forth. he can understand more than he can sign, so at least that's good if it's what bucky is more comfortable with. ]

the natives have their own sign language. i'm better with that. but the devices can translate a little so try anyway.