R2 TDM - boys in the band order boat memes

[bathymetric]

Hello and welcome to the...



UNKNOWN SEAS R2
TEST DRIVE MEME

Glad to have you aboard! Gone are the musty old dark tones and anxieties of that creepy underwater facility from the first round - welcome to the lap of luxury on your very own Atlantic Cruise. And we mean your very own, too - there's nobody else aboard! Well, except for the Captain, who broke the news to you when you got up about what you have to do here.

The facilities are all top of the line, even if for some reason you just can't seem to get to the other floors of the ship just yet - there's a gym, a pool, a buffet- wait, scratch that, looks like you're on one of our liners lucky enough to have a tie-in deal with Jimmy Buffett himself, which means you get access to all you can eat at the on-board Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville's Jimmy Buffet!

So make the most of your time! Maybe even get a spooky souvenir from somewhere in the B̴͖̈́e̷̟̊̀ṛ̴̩̑̉m̴̺̪̈̈́u̵̧͛̇d̶̗̱̀̔a̸̧̙͗͝ ̶͖̖͑̚T̴̤͝r̷̩͘i̶̟͎͗̈́a̴͍͗̐n̵̥̆͝g̵̮̳͘l̷͔͑ḛ̸̹͒͗ while you're here.

1. Arise from the depths (of sleep)

Hey, you! You're finally awake! Welcome to your modest accommodations aboard... some kind of cruise ship? Look, there aren't exactly a lot of great accommodations offered aboard cruise ships, you get what you get. There's a bed, there's a little desk, there's a vase of flowers... and a beautiful view of the ocean outside your window!

Hope this isn't, like, wildly different and strange compared to where you just were! Oh, also the whole boat is all decked out for New Year's.

2. Room for all kinds of activities!

If you head out to the decks, or just walk around the ship, there's all kinds of things to see here while you wait for the bodies to start dropping! Feel free to make up whatever facilities you like, gyms or shuffleboard courts or even libraries - the Margaritaville buffet is canon, though. That's your canon food option. Hope you like shrimp!

3. Son of a son of a motive

Another Tuesday, another sealed envelope full of fun! Is this finally something worth killing for to get off this boat? Or is it just something stupid and/or embarrassing? Better ask around!

4. A good friend returns

On one of the decks, next to some regular beverage and food vending machines, is... an unmarked one? It only takes these weird coins that sometimes show up in your rooms at night. Sometimes it gives you things from back home! Sometimes it gives you? Little creepy wooden puppets??

5. Wasting away again in... well, a murder

Oh no! Someone is dead! Did you kill them? Are you trying to get the word out? Did you find the body and really need to calm down? Live your dreams, kill who you wanna kill offscreen!

6. Anything else!

There's all kinds of things you might be doing on a boat like this! Don't feel constrained by the options here - live your murderboat dreams!

Comments

[dokkalfheimr]

Why would I have moved them?

[She doesn't sound offended by the question; if anything, she seems a bit softer than she usually does. Quieter. Less sharp around the edges.]

I often see death in the mind's eye of mortals. It's frequent, but never so vivid. Some details are exaggerated. Others left altogether. Often all they produce is someone lying as though asleep. A clean way of re-imagining it.

[dokkalfheimr]

[There is a comment to be made here about raising Hel, but if we could do that then we might have to actually deal with consequences and clearly we can't have that.]

Only if you've retained your full abilities to do so.

[She says it knowing full well that Plumeria likely hasn't, simply because no one has; it isn't outright chastising, though.]

I can't see you being pleased with yourself, if you cannot offer him all you have in return for his...generosity in bringing us here.

["Generosity."]

[darkbishop]

I wanted to double-check; the others will ask about it, after all.

[He does glance over at that, listening to Freyja speak before sitting back a bit as he considers her words.]

"A clean way of re-imagining it," yes, that does make sense. Most people fear death, even without having seen it firsthand. I would imagine quite a few mortals have given you an interesting perception of death.

[This one is particularly gross, though, so like, it's fair to be kinda wigged out, Freyja.]

[paucipan]

[It's. It's so much stuff. Honestly she's not sure why so much stuff decided to come her way, but here it is, and Plumeria is only barely holding herself back from just. Shoving it at Hubert tbh.]

Why would I have need for any of this? There isn't a single thing here that looks like it could be useful.

[...That's a lie, there's gotta at least be like. Food or something in there. But look, between the live worms, the wizard hat, and the fucking marionette among other things, what is she supposed to do with any of this???]

Really, I can't even begin to imagine what mortals would do with this junk.

[darkbishop]

[Well, if you don't mind, he's going to go sifting through the things... oh my god those really are live worms. gross.]

For what it's worth, as a mortal, I have no idea what other mortals do with this junk.

[Look at this horrifying marionette... Terrible. It would absolutely give someone nightmares. Maybe he'll hold onto it.]

What sort of useful thing were you looking for?

[dokkalfheimr]

[Oh, good. We're just going to sit next to this dead person and have a discussion about death. That sounds lovely.

She glances down at the corpse, her hand still resting on them somewhere along their upper back.]

The álfar can and do suffer death, but there's a vast difference between what we know as death and the way mortals experience such things. The deaths mortals fear are often morbid, drawn-out affairs - instances where they have the chance to dwell, the opportunity to reflect on what is about to happen to them. A quick death is seen as a mercy, is it not? Something swift and merciful. Forgiving.

[paucipan]

[Ah, but of course, why would we ever wanna take consequences? That shit's just for squares, after all.

...Plumeria tries not to look like she's deflated at least slightly with that, though there's definite "aw man :<" in her expression before it's swiftly corrected. She's not being chastised, at least, but Lady Freyja is right.]

...No, my lady, I have not.

[Plumeria can't deny the truth in those words, try as she might. Her expression hardens a bit, though, when Freyja says that much and her look goes toward the pool.]

You're absolutely correct. I want nothing more than to crush him under the weight of a dream so horrible, he'll never awaken again for this so-called "generosity".

[But she can't, and she hates it, she hates it so much because she feels powerless, and that's--]

I wouldn't want to give our esteemed captain anything less.

[darkbishop]

[Sometimes you gotta...??]

Precisely. Deaths from illness are a common fear, as are deaths that involve bleeding out. A quick and painless death is what most would call a mercy, inasmuch as death can be considered a mercy.

[i mean sometimes it's totally a mercy for everyone else, but that's not the point—]

If you don't mind my asking, what is death like for the álfar?

[onlyyoucan]

Sometimes there are useful things in there. Still... [She watches Plumeria plug coins in.] Are you looking for something specific?

[dokkalfheimr]

[...u ok there buddy]

Death is... [She's quiet for a moment.] ...We can be killed by others, but most would not dare try to kill us, and we do not try to kill one another - our numbers are too few.

Death, for us, is a cessation. A state of no longer existing in the realm we inhabit. A...fading, I suppose, of one's life force. Once that is gone, even in dreams, it requires a great power to revive. Not quite an impossibility, but almost.

[dokkalfheimr]

Then so it shall be.

[She says it calmly, evenly, before winging another one of those pucks off into the pool.]

Remember, always, that I gave such gifts to you - I will not stand to see them taken away by one so undeserving.

When they have been returned, when I have found a way to grant them to you again... Then your orders will come. I will not allow such an unworthy creature to deprive you.

[paucipan]

[Have at; Plumeria's going to go through her coins that she has left over, mulling them over. She hasn't seen a damn useful thing from these yet, but is there really any use to holding onto these coins otherwise...

...Probably not, but that's a problem for future Plumeria.]

It's not worth much. [...thanks plum] But I guess it paints the Captain's decision to put things like this in here in a different light. If even mortals can't find a use for it.

[Still, that question...hmm. Well, she can't look suspicious; mortals would likely take any commentary on a weapon or the like to mean she's a threat. And for as much as Plumeria is obviously keeping her distance, she doesn't want to completely play her hand. So...something safe, something--]

...Something that might make Lady Freyja happy to receive, for starters. Or something that could make dealing with this ordeal a little more bearable.

I like to think neither of these things are too much to ask.

[...It's only slightly a lie, but there's definitely some truth in it as well, so it's not as false as it could be.]

4

[onlyyoucan]

You found what?

[Sara hurries in, stumbling to a stop and grabbing the doorframe when she arrives. She stares, shaking a little, then shuts her eyes and sharply turns her head away.]

No way... Somebody fell for that motive after all, and...

[paucipan]

[Hmm...]

I don't know, just--something that's not any of this? I would like to find something that would make dealing with all of this a little more bearable, or just...something that might please Lady Freyja, but this machine has seen it fit to give me nothing but junk.

Really, it's all too tempting to upend it entirely until it does.

[plum you're not NEARLY powerful enough for that]

[darkbishop]

[hubert von vestra has never been okay a day in his life.]

I see. We don't have any being quite like the álfar where I come from. I was wondering if it was something like that.

[Ceasing to exist, in a sense. Probably more merciful than even a swift death, but it likely wouldn't be fair to compare them in the first place.]

It is interesting that there is a possibility - however slim - to revive someone.

[darkbishop]

[thanks, plum.........

Anyway wow, this really is a lot of junk. You sure did get a terrible roll here. Hubert is currently being mildly confused at a coconut, but he glances up at her answer.]

Certainly not, but I doubt you're likely to find anything too interesting here. The Captain likely finds it amusing to watch our reactions to what this machine gives out.

[In other words, he's gotten absolutely nothing useful either and yet he keeps coming back. Maybe someday it'll give him a knife...... he can dream........]

[dokkalfheimr]

Such a thing would require the willing offering of one's life force. Most aren't strong enough to accomplish such a thing.

[So, it would require Literally A God, probably.]

There are other, more personal ways to bring back the deceased. At my full strength, I could bring back this fallen one, and any others that we may lose to the Captain's whims. Anyone that is desired, anyone that is missed, anyone that is gone, they can be with you always. But that involves forsaking this reality for another.

[darkbishop]

I wonder how many would take that option, were it something offered to them.

[Living in a dream world where everything is exactly as you want it to be... definitely not for him, tbh.]

Is that something you have offered before?

[paucipan]

[Plumeria turns as Lady Freyja keeps talking, and in a moment, it's as if her anger has at least subsided to a bear simmer rather than a frustration ready to boil over. Because she's right. Because Lady Freyja has always been right, and Plumeria would be a fool to forget such a thing.

Lady Freyja wants her at no less than her best, and that she would say such fearsome things for her sake only serves to remind Plumeria that this is her place. No matter what is done to her, she'll always stay by Lady Freyja's side.]

I will never forget, Lady Freyja. When that day comes, I will carry them out to completion--you have my word. I will destroy him for this insult.

[Plumeria bows, once she says that--though, when she comes up...perhaps she should leave Lady Freyja to this, but that means fraternizing with the mortals again, and...

Well, Plumeria has never liked not being by Lady Freyja's side. Triandra's is at least passable, but she's not here, so--]

...If I may for now, Lady Freyja, might I join you in your current activity? It looks rather...cathartic, I must admit.

[dokkalfheimr]

Yes.

[...what you didn't wasn't precisely offering, Freyja.]

It isn't a decision that many mortals take lightly.

[darkbishop]

That's understandable. It would have to be a very desperate person to take that offer without considering it carefully.

[...or an idiot...]

What is your realm like?

[dokkalfheimr]

[That gets her to glance over, and her expression is fairly neutral but her tone is warm.]

You may. I thought this slightly more fair than simply throwing the lot of them overboard.

[As it is, someone's still going to have to retrieve them, but that can be a problem for Future Shipdwellers.]

[paucipan]

[Ugh, she hates that this mortal has a point. Plumeria rolls her eyes a bit, condescending as ever, but she doesn't say anything quite yet. The mortals had a phrase for something like this, right? "Misery loves company", and all that?]

So you've had little luck with it as well, I take it.

[Plumeria wanders back toward the machine for now, though, inserting some coins in.]

I wouldn't be surprised, though, that he does. I bet he wouldn't be nearly as amused if people started regifting these awful things back to him.

[onlyyoucan]

Right... You work for her, right? You're from the same place. Though I'm not sure about shaking out the machine.

[darkbishop]

[Hubert stands, brushing himself off and steps back so Plumeria has more room to dump her useless stuff she'll inevitably get.]

It depends on the item. Even if we were to try to leave items for him, I doubt he would have any interest in collecting them.

He may be the sort to find the efforts amusing, however.

[shame we don't have an airhorn to blast at him..........]