TEST DRIVE MEME #7

[sailmods]

1. before she hung up, she said she was a skeleton

[there is no note in your cabin. no forces stall your legs if you decide to walk anywhere but the atrium. in fact, for the first time in hundreds of years, newly arrived passengers on the Serena Eterna are waking up with absolutely no guidance. nothing but your fellow passengers in the halls - or maybe in your bed.

perhaps you end up in the atrium eventually anyway. it is where guest services is, and where Gal Friday… actually hasn’t been in a few days. until today. and she is visibly frazzled, her hair uncoiffed, her suit rumpled, something a bit like a bruise blossoming down from her hairline and over her smooth features. more papers than ever cover her desk, and when she turns to face you, her voice is as cheerful as ever, but audibly strained.]

Welcome aboard the Serene Eterna! [a pause] You know how to work a life vest, right? Everyone knows that! You don’t need me to teach you that!

[a light bulb burns out behind her head.]

… I’ll get right on that!

[freedom includes the freedom to not know what the fuck is happening. maybe you should reflect on that.]

2. grandma went and can't stop screaming

[it’s something about the lighting fixtures, this month. has the Bellona always had a massive chandelier? maybe. who knows. don’t ask questions. either way, in the stillness of the night, or day, or late afternoon, there is a noise like a cord being cut, and the chandelier plunges into the audience below.

it hits nothing, of course. no one is ever in the theater. and that, perhaps, is what the trouble is.

so, the chandelier starts to… travel, one could say. it starts to hang in various rooms: the dining halls, the bars, the clubs… sometimes, if you’re out on the pool deck and suddenly realized you’re under a shadow, you can glance up and see it suspended 20 feet above your head, securely fastened to nothing in particular and yet remaining perfectly in place.

until it isn’t. until it falls, crystal shattering on whatever surface it lands on: floor, table, person… and, wherever the chandelier goes, a lilting childish voice follows it, singing without any obvious source.]

Ring-a-ring of roses, a pocket full of posies… ashes, ashes, we all…

3. jeff bezos murdered the infinite tommy bahama

[the lights of the Infinite Tommy Bahama go out three days into October.

barely an hour after its closure, the lights go on again, and a new banner is unfurled.



physically, it is the same store. you can even see the old signs hidden behind the new ones. however, long gone are the tropical prints and khaki dress shorts. now, one can purchase any number of officially licensed or legally distinct Halloween costumes, decorations, and various other haunted accoutrements, leading back as far as the eye can see, and then farther still. is that a Gal Friday mask? spooky! well, at least you’ll be good and ready for the Halloween party at the end of the month, which is absolutely just a normal party and in no way whatsoever anything even remotely resembling a trick. there are only treats at The Infinite Spirit Halloween!

note: bahamanuel is still here! somewhere! it kinda looks like dan bongino.]

Comments

[starryeyedsongstress]

Well, if there's anything that living in the City of Progress has taught me, it's that any progress, no matter how small, is something to be proud of! Even if the others don't see it from you doesn't mean you aren't taking the right steps!!

[ Wasn't she frowning just seconds ago? Where's this pep coming from so suddenly? ]

If this were me, I'd keep taking the steps forward as I'd need to. Remember that you need to do what's best for you, though. If you end up doing something that might, in the end, hurt you, maybe you should consider other options? And, you know, if there's really a lot of emotional build-up and such, maaaybe talking to a doctor might do you some good, too. Mine's been pretty nice to me when I had some stuff going on, too!!

[secondtick]

[Ekko stands up putting away the screwdriver and pliers that he'd just been working with as he wiped off his hands and forehead.]

Me, a few months now. Four or five. There was an Enforcer, but I haven't seen her for a week or two now. There's also another Zaunite here, Jinx, but I'd recommend keeping your distance for a bit.

[Simple stuff, so lights and switches it was.]

You learn your way around yet? Right now the safest place is your cabin and the buffet.

[opheliac]

"City of Progress..."

(UGH. that's something she hoped to never hear again and yet here she is. jinx is rolling her eyes so far behind her head that there might be a chance it'll get stuck back there.)

More like "City of Snob-gress". (nailed it. ha! fucking GOT 'EM) — And I got news for ya, Lullaby, there's not a lotta doctors around here. And I'm pretty sure I'm a lost case.

(there's a slight shift as she makes herself just a little more comfortable -- arms more folded and practically using the seraphine's shoulder as a pillow.)

You got any songs about healin' the mind?

[skaikru]

( the mreoooooow is no more of a solid, concrete, english answer than anything before it, and for a second clarke has to wonder why she's still trying. and in that split second of self reflection is when a wet piece of sandpaper is dragged across her face. or, upon further inspection and her logical brain catching up with her sensory receptors, a tongue.

it's tongue.

the cat's tongue.

...oh, you better not actually be a human disgust wars with wow, that's commitment to the bit respect. she lifts a sleeve to rub at her cheek, makes a quietly strangled ugh! sound. and eventually straightens at an awkward angle, leaned further back than is comfortable to avoid any further lickings. but —

also very decided in this moment. )

Alright. You're coming with me.

( both hands slide out — sorry, kitty, it's still not real petting — to loop in the armpit crevices of the cat's front legs. picking the orange ball of fur up softly but quickly, like one would a toddler, and shifting to cradle its weight across her right forearm before standing. )

[eyediot]

He's busied himself trying to examine the spot the chandelier was. Anything to not look at the Stranger whose face he can't make out. Sure he could, but he knows how that ends for them both. Probably.

So he sounds a little distracted, "Hm? Oh, yes, a few hours now," before he resumes looking around.

"Is there any pattern to it?"

[eyediot]

[Ha. Something to eat. Now that's funny. He doesn't feel the hunger of when he was still human, nor does he feel that emptiness of not having a statement either. Jon isn't sure what he is now or what he needs. Except that he needs to find Martin.

For now, he nods following after Pollux, taking in the surroundings carefully.]

You said this ship is special. What in particular makes it so?

[eyediot]

[Sir, do you need to save your brethren? Or is it an insult to see them all hanging there like that?

Still, Jon doesn't seem fazed at all by the skeleton. Only annoyed at having to look up at him.]

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that name. That's what it normally is, then?

[starryeyedsongstress]

[ Snrrk-

Okay, that one snuck up on Seraphine. She can't help but laugh, but what's wrong with that? If she can't laugh at the things she loves, then there's really no point! Besides, Jinx is right, they can get a little snobbish up in Piltover. ]

Well, then we'll just have to keep hoping and maybe find something creative for you to put your energy into! That's usually pretty therapeutic for me, anyway! [ It's one of the many reasons she loves singing so much.

Speaking of, at the mention of singing, she hops up from her seat to go out into the walkway of the theater. She could probably hop up on the actual stage for a song, but it seems she just has one of her own that she carries around with her. Currently, it's hanging from her back like a bag, but she quickly sets it down so that it starts to hover just a couple inches from the ground, and she steps onto it with a clearing of her throat. She vocalizes a few starting notes, attempting to think of a song on the spot...

And then starts to sing. ]

Self-hatred, I'm fighting,
Feels like a prison cell,
But this story I'm writing,
Helps me remind myself,
The rock bottom only got me higher,
Won't be a victim, I'm a survivor,
I refuse to believe the liar in my head,
The proof is stitched in my scars.
I'm strong enough, I'm strong enough.
I found myself through the dark,
Not giving up, not giving up.
I've come to understand,
That tragedy's a second chance,
My dying breath is where I was born,
Now I'm stronger than my storm,
Stronger, stronger
Stronger than my storm.

[ Besides the fact that it's a bit of a genre clash for such a sparkly pop idol to be singing a rock song, Jinx will notice that she almost feels... invigorated? Energetic, somehow, and if she has any minor scrapes or cuts or bruises on her, those will seem to heal over gradually over the duration of her singing. She might not be able to heal the mind, but she can at least make Jinx feel a little better... just in the moment. ]

ohmygod I am bookmarking this!

[bubblegumheart]

"Can you really just take whatever you want?" It doesn't make any sense, but she takes the offered sweatshirt and fails to find any sort of price tag. Chrissy blinks and drapes it over her arm before offering Steve a bright smile. "Thanks! Guess this is mine now."

It's easy to go along with it while Steve is standing right there, when he'd been the one to make the suggestion, but Chrissy will undoubtedly feel a little guilty about it later even if it is okay to just take things when she wants them.

He looks and sounds like the Steve she remembers from their brief interactions, at least. Then again, she hasn't been here for very long yet and the most eventful thing to happen to her as of yet is running into him in a Halloween store that used to be something else. The question is easy enough, and she shrugs.

"Not yet. I thought about looking for a costume, even though there might not be much point in having one here. Do you think there's going to be a party?" Would she even want to go to a party? It wouldn't be like the ones at home, probably.

"You should find another one of these so we can match." Maybe it's kind of a dumb idea, and maybe he'll laugh at her for it, but she'd felt the need to suggest it either way.

[opheliac]

(she has her own stage? that... is disgusting adorable. jinx sits more upright but pulls her legs up to her seat, propping an elbow to her knee then hand on cheek to watch in amusement. and it's when the songstress begin to sing, she takes this moment to shut her eyes and really listen to the words. and seraphine is right to think it'll make her feel better because it does. thoughts are flowing smoothly along her mind of... people may leave her due to who she is, but that doesn't mean she should give up on trying to find those who will accept her. flaws and all.

it'll hurt sure but it's like what venti said. friendship is a two-way street, so maybe she can continue to be more polite little by little. unfortunately and recently, she relapsed but she is stronger than whirlwinds. she can pull herself back up and pick up where she left off. jinx can start with apologizes (even if some she feels they owe her one too for their words) and if they don't forgive her, that's... fine. but doing it in the first place is a big deal. especially from her of all people. after that? she'll just... go from there?

but anyway, the song is lovely and when she opens her eyes to watch her, jinx smirks at seraphine enjoying herself. it's a pleasant to see after seeing so much gloom lately.)

[originaldragoon]

Jiggery what?

[This woman was getting more and more confusing by the minute. Maybe she hit her head when Rose tackled her?]

I'm not sure how one could "cheat" when learning how to use this thing. All I did was touch the screen.

[pinballer]

"That's what Steve called it. I don't know anything about wizards so you should probably ask him."

The answer to how he got used to being dead was that he really didn't have much of a choice, but that's kind of a depressing answer. He doesn't even really know when he got used to it, it just sort of happened.

"I was a ghost before I got here," he says, "It became normal after a while, even if it still sucked. And I don't really like it here, but it's better than the last place I was stuck in so I can deal with it."

[thefreak]

[ Well that isn't the reaction that he's expecting to get out of Steve. Sure, he recalls the guy more or less throwing himself into Lover's Lake so that nobody else would risk their lives but him. But Steve was there, had helped, this wasn't his fault, couldn't be his fault. ]

Hey, hey, don't do that. [ He takes a step forward, because even now he can't not invade Steve' personal bubble. Especially not now when he seems like he's collapsing in on himself with unhelpful spiraling thoughts of self blame. ] You were there, Harrington. I mean, shit, you were gonna Molotov the fuck out of that asshole, and we were kind of grasping at straws.

[ He reaches a hand out to place on Steve's shoulder, meant to ground him and keep him from continuing this train of thought. ] Besides, you told me I was supposed to get the hell out of there if something happened, and I didn't listen. I'm a stubborn idiot, as it turns out. I had just gotten so fucking tired of being known as the guy who runs away from everything.

[thefreak]

[ Eddie's no stranger to modifying his clothing in order to make it look less lame. After all, he threw together his own battle vest, sacrificing a Dio t-shirt to the metal gods. ] Yeah, that's not so bad, I could work with that.

[ What he definitely doesn't expect is to watch Vance just walk through everything. What the fuck? ] What the fuck? You're... [ Incorporeal, he thinks to himself, and if he hadn't been chewed up by bats to then somehow end up here, he probably wouldn't have believed such a thing to be possible. ]

But wait, I'm pretty sure I died and I'm not a ghost? Which, very fucking metal, by the way.

[shaun_the_sheep]

[Shaun shakes his head 'no,' because all sheep are definitely not as clever as he is. He has a better idea than just 'baa'ing at the man, though. He reaches back to rummage in his fleece, and pulls out a chalkboard and a piece of chalk. He begins to draw. After several moments, he holds up his results:]

Maaaah.

[First, a drawing of several sheep, thinking of pizza. Secondly, the sheep standing on eachother's shoulders with a coat over them. Thirdly, the flock eating pizza. He is looking for proper disguises, thank you.]

[shaun_the_sheep]

[Shaun looks around as they walk, curious, taking it all in, very careful not to lose the cat. Oh boy, it'll take him forever to figure out his way around here. He might have to draw a map. Or draw on the walls. Or he could leave bits of wool like a crumb trail maybe...no....]

[Ah! The cat has found something! Shaun bounces after it eagerly.]

[shaun_the_sheep]

[Shaun startles sideways at the unexpected voice, and drops down to all fours again to give Eddie a wide-eyed look. Nope, totally a normal sheep. Nothing weird going on here.]

Baa.

[Whoops the hat! He reaches up with one hand hoof and whips it away to vanish into the handy depths of his fleece. Like a Bag of Holding.)

[shaun_the_sheep]

[Shaun freezes for a moment, giving her a long side-eye. Caught in the act! But there's not as much hysterical screaming as he's used to, and the debate is quick before he decides to not pretend he's a normal sheep. Her hair is blue. He wonders if it tastes like blue-raspberry-slushie?

Baa maaa-aaah.

[He gestures with the dustpan at all the fallen glass. It's dangerous! So it needs to be cleaned up before someone gets hurt! He's the leader of the flock, you see, and his flock is not very bright. The farmer himself isn't much better, and extremely near-sighted to boot. Shaun is very used to cleaning up messes.]

[light_mischief]

[He's not not contemplating hiding among the hanging skeletons in the off chance someone happens by them...]

Oh, lucky you. I was recently acquainted with it when the infinite shopfront opened. The first new clothing we could get ahold of, and of course, it had to be overpriced linen vacation shirts. [He would rather die.]

There's a fifty-fifty chance that at least one animatronic inside that store will actively try to kill you. Either that, or the creature that lives in the Tommy Bahama is still lurking around the racks...

[konpeito_aji]

You draw better than I do?!

[Oh wait, that's not the important part here.]

Oh, you can just eat from the buffet. No one's going to give you a tough time for it. There's other stranger weirdos here.

But there's plenty of other disguises just for fun too.

Valdis | OC | OTA

[redlightgreenlight]

1) Wanderlust or just lost?

[Waking into a dream, or perhaps a nightmare seemed a more suitable description for this place. A cruise ship....filled with ghosts, death and darkness. A shiver runs down her spine as she walks down the haunted halls, flits of spirits at the edge of her vision and down every hallway.]

Is there even anyone alive here?

[She can sense life...somewhere. Another turn and into the atrium.]

Hello?

2) Spirited Costumes

[This place is perhaps the oddest cruise ship she's ever been on. At least the haunted place saw fit to celebrate the season. Cheap costumes lined walls and hung on racks, with more expensive and refined ones near the back of the store, as if it sought to draw you deeper. Though perhaps Valdis is reading too much into it. Still, this place is creepy.

She picks up a hefty fake sword, it's unbalanced and made of wood, not that a real one would be useful against ghosts anyway. She sighs, closing her eyes and breathing slowly.]

I don't know how I feel about this place, but it can't be worse than hell.

happy to provide

[shaun_the_sheep]

[Shaun startles again, hooves scrabbling on the wooden deck, before giving the girl a wide-eyed look, very clearly of the I didn't so it this time variety. But he's a farm sheep, not a wild one, so he lets her get close, flicking his ears a bit uncertainly.]

Maah?

[pinballer]

I was already a ghost for a few months before I came here. If you get taken from right when you died, you get brought back normal. I'm...half-and-half, I guess.

[ Half ghost, half person. Which is probably for the best, because walking through walls is cool but not being able to touch anything would be a drag. ]

You really think it's metal?

[touchofcashmere]

Oh well anything is sexy if you show enough leg. That's what I think anyway.

Maybe we should explore it and see waht it's about.

[touchofcashmere]

Well at the moment it's because I don't have a better explanation really. People have gone home, I think, and come back, I'm pretty sure- but I've been here since, what, April? I think? Gosh. A long time.

[and feels even longer some days]

Hello, Sylvie! I hope you can avoid as much horrific and lingering trauma as you're able.