penancememes | TEST DRIVE MEME #34

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TEST DRIVE MEME #34

Arrival

"Judgement has come upon you. God has deemed you worthy of Hell. But don't worry, it can still be undone," comes a soothing voice that echoes all around you. The voice promises comfort, hope even.

It may seem like a nightmare at first, despite all of that. Full of hellfire nipping at your skin and a sensation of being pulled down no matter how much you struggle or cry for help. Wretched, unseen hands pull at you, grip tight at your body, tighten on your throat, skeletal fingers grab at your face, slide in your mouth and jab at your eyes as they struggle for purchase. It feels like for a moment, they may snap your neck as they tug and pull. The more you resist, the more phantom hands are added to your struggling body.

It feels like they could tear you apart if you let them. The only thing to do is to let go and stop fighting.

And so you do.

Darkness and nothingness consumes you for a second, And it seems to linger for a long time. There is nothing at all. It must be lonely. But it won’t be forever.

Initially, everyone opens their eyes to a long, dark corridor made of stone. They find themselves in what appears to be a long queue with other sinners, palm bloody.

Characters find their bodies feel heavy and stiff, bruised with odd hand prints here and there that they received during their journey down below. A massive headache throbs behind their temples. They are urged forward to take a numbered ticket and wait their turn in the long line. As they're ushered forward through the corridor, their first stop will be to see Lilith, standing outside her office.

The woman in a smart suit and a friendly smile steps forward to greet sinners one by one. "I'm sorry for your rough landing. We've never gotten it quite as smooth as it was in the past. Please, let me see your hand--"

Once she has the sinner's hand, there's the warm, almost electric touch of magic that soothes away the aches and pains, heals the wound left behind on each sinner's palm. Lilith looks satisfied with her work and gives a nod. "There, all better. Please take your care package and continue on until you reach the stairs."

On their way out, sinners receive their 'package', a contract detailing all sins committed. If they look at the list closely enough they'll notice it's written with their blood. That explains the palm wound then. It's an old piece of parchment despite the freshly written letters upon it. They will also receive a slightly more modern smart phone. Think early generation Android and a pamphlet made by other sinners during their stay here with useful tips.

After that, sinners will be ushered on to a set of stairs where a guard waits. "Welcome to Penance," the demon says gruffly before motioning them on without an ounce of courtesy. "Don't hold up the line."

They seem to go on and wind forever, but eventually, they come upon what appears to be a lobby of a hotel. Once there, they will notice several shops and other areas around the front desk.

The demon at the front desk looks rather bored, but when sinners approach? He seems to snap to attention to offer whatever help they might need of him. He will at least direct to food or rooms to rest their wary bodies, or recommend sights to see around the hotel.

Stand Your Ground

"Rise and shine, darling!" Lucifer's voice booms within everyone's minds one fine morning, and sinners will almost feel how infectious his good mood is. And what does he not have to feel good about? They've rescued sinners from Mammon's latest antics and now they can hopefully move on with their lives, without any further interference. "Those who have been here for a while will know that the annual Carnival is well on its way. This time, I would like to assure all of you that I have taken every utmost precaution to ensure it's a good event for everyone from beginning to end!"

"Regardless of what my father would like to see, I would like to reward all of you for standing at my side. All of you havedisplayed astounding bravery and care for your fellow sinners and demons alike. This deserves a reward in my book. So no torture, no pain, no zoos to be forced into... just a bit of fun and games. This time, the clowns have been told to mind their manners!"!

Some of the sinners who have been here since the beginning may feel their stomachs clench in fear at the mere thought of a carnival, but the atmosphere is... happy. Demons are being far kinder than they have been in the past, approaching with kinder requests to help. Some may get a little rough around the edges, may shove or criticize or look like they want to hit, but be patient! Hell is all they really know and those old habits die hard at times! They got the spirit at least...

To show their thanks, they're bringing out cans of Speed Energy again (can you guess the secret ingredient?) that will have sinners absolutely buzzing to help. Decorations need to be placed, rides need to be set, tables for vendors and games. It seems like the beginning of some sort of tunnel of love is being put together by Lilith and the sex demons...

Lucifer is even walking around personally supervising and checking in on sinners with enthusiam and warmth. There may be an air of nervousness about him -- he is technically disobeying God and they still haven't found Emmanuel, but he's putting on a brave face at least!

For those who'd rather opt out of manual labor, some of the succubi have set up lemonade stands. They're offering cups for kisses - and don't worry! They're inviting sinners to join in the fun and take over some of the stands!

There's also some late Spring Cleaning going on around the hotel and guests will find boxes of items left outside to rummage through that may include newer clothes, games, and other sources of entertainment. There may even be the odd weapon or two! Staff will not say no if anyone wants to give them a bit of a and with the cleaning and dusting either... it seems the large spiders have come back in to try to spin their webs and stay. Don't worry! Even though they may rival a chihuahua, these guys tend to be docile and friendly. Be careful you don't accidentally adopt a pet!

Reach Up High

WARNINGS: blood, torture

"My dear guests!" Lucifer greets as sinners are led to a room with two seats and a table in between. They then will be made to sit by two burly demon escorts.

"What I am asking of you is rather simple... pick a sin from your contract, any sin, and explain how you got to that point. Simple enough, yes? Perhaps gaining a better understanding of what made you sin in the first place will clear a path into avoiding situations like this in the future, as well as form that all too important human connection that I'm told some of you are desperately needing. Please don't try to get out of it... I really would rather not punish you.".

And true to his word, so long as sinners comply and share what made them perform a sin on their list, they'll be let go. If, after five minutes, nothing has been shared, a headache will begin. The pain will gradually increase until it floods the body. Nosebleeds may begin to happen, so will bleeding out the ears or eyes. Eventually, a sinner may even lose a sense for a 24 hour period.

Is it really worth potentially going blind just to get out of a little bit of talking? Come now...

(Effects should begin 5 comments in and gradually worsen until sinners either give in or start to lose one of their senses. After this, they'll be released from the room regardless whether they complied or not)

Follow Me Down

Prompt I

WARNINGS: Potentials for sex, aphrodisiacs, non/dub-con, etc.

Club Penance has decided to don a new theme for the night! The theme is lingerie. The staff now wear more modest lingerie reminiscent of the '50s. Elegant, pretty, tantalizing. Or maybe it's just the aphrodisiacs in the air and food that make one feel that way.

They are also insisting everyone else put on lingerie as well. Don't worry! It's not old fashioned and anything that suites your fancy will be available. Try to skip out? Guests will find it magically appear on them... and possibly not in the theme they'd choose for themselves. If magic fails, the staff or local demons may take it upon themselves to slip it on the poor sinner themselves.

Swinging is an event happening tonight. Put your key from Hotel Penance or Hellburbia into a hat, another sinner draws it out... whoever gets your key will be your lucky partner for the night for any kind of fun! Sinners may find their keys disappearing and appearing in the hat entirely without their knowledge... but staff will be very persistent about follow-through! There will be rooms available for fun in the Club, for those who'd rather not go back to their personal rooms.

Other than that, oddly enough tables have been set up for romantic dinners, private rooms are available for sexual activities (not all of these are vanilla. There are toys and machines and anything else one could want, including costumes or things to suit any fetish). There's also live entertainment in the form of dancing or sexual performances on stages around the club. Volunteers are more than welcome!

For those not partnered up, there's speed dating where demons will lead a prospective partner to your table for a little bit of a chat and a drink. They may not always get your tastes spot on, but hopefully it's entertaining for all involved! if sinners find their drinks seem to have a little extra aphrodisiac added to them, oh well. It was probably an honest mistake.

Those who are attached, either via Casino Styx or through other means may find themselves growing oddly loving or possessive of one another. Jealousy and the urge to claim their partner (even in public) will grow substantially throughout the night. While it may not always result in violence and instead be enthusiastically embraced by both parties, it may also result in the urge to leave marks or claim in darker ways. Collaring their partners, leaving their names, etc. They're yours and don't you want everyone to know that?

Alcohol does flow freely around the club and usual demonic drugs or party drugs are available on demand.

Prompt II

WARNINGS: Alcohol and drug abuse, potential non-con/dub-con

With all the sinners, new and old, the hotel bar will be lit up with activity. Drinks will be readily available, there's food in the kitchens if anyone wants to bother serving it, music will be blaring whenever there's electricity, and overall, there will be an energy to the atmosphere that's absolutely contagious. Even if you aren't typically inclined to linger at these sorts of events there may be be a certain pull to stay and have a bit of fun.

You might not get much of a chance to have that in Hell, after all. One drink won't hurt, right? Nor will one more after that, and after that. Ah, sweet gluttony. Why not have a pastry next? There's some delectable sweets available just a few steps away. More of a meat person? Like things salty? Fear not, it looks like someone graciously brought all sorts of snacks and foodstuffs from the kitchens to the bar as the night progresses. Indulge! You deserve it.

Similar to Club Penance, the bar also has every sort of drug available that might tickle your fancy and some you've never heard of. There's no harm in experimenting, is there? You're already in Hell. The staff will offer to show anyone how to use the drugs or give advice for what to try if you tell them what you want to experience. Shockingly, they won't lie! Their advice is good word its just you might not have been exactly prepared for it.

There's a stage and a karaoke machine for those feeling brave or just wanting to torture people with some sweet, sweet renditions of The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

There are tables set up for all sorts of gambling and various bar games to entertain yourself with. Since currency as most are familiar with it doesn't quite exist down here, most of the demons seem to be accepting bits of your soul or offers to do chores around the hotel. You may also get pulled into a fun game of strip poker against one of your fellow guests for a few succubi that are having a night out.

Relax and enjoy your night. Coming here and facing your sins is the hard part, so surely you deserve to have a little fun.

Wildcard/Misc.

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Arrival
She's not the fastest of the group making their way down the stairs, being in pain isn't new. That's a given to most of life as she has known it. Or waking up disorientated, cut into, with some new piece attached to her body.

Using her legs, on the hand? That was like getting on a bicycle after years, and she was wobbly as a baby deer as she tried to make her way down the stairs. A little out of breath, both hands on the wall as she goes one after another until she enters the lobby.

All of it, the sights, the smells, the sounds, the simple act of just breathing like a normal person on normal lungs for the first time in years, is exhausting. Lost and tired, she reaches for the closest person, she knows what's coming almost predictably. Reaching to whoever is closest to tap them on the arm - and she is small, not that much over 5', all told, bare feet to the floor. A mix of healthy, not a cut, not a bruise or injury on her body, and yet she seems completely exhausted and overwhelmed.

"Sorry, I don't mean to bother you. I just... think I am going to throw up. Can you help me sit down?"

So far, she hadn't seen Jack. Which was good, and bad. She didn't exactly want to spend eternity with her asshole father, but she wanted more than anything, to know he was dead already.

Stand Your Ground
When had she last seen a carnival? Eden 2 on a field trip when she had been little with both her parents? Was that the sort of memory she dreamed up in her illusions in the emptiness of her life otherwise.

She isn't doing very much, managed to shuffle her way to a lemonade stand with bambi steps. With a glass of lemonade in hand, she swings her feet where she's too short of the seats, sipping it from a straw. Not up to the rides and kissing the demon had resulted in the shiest kiss on the cheek where she nearly panicked and ran away before it got anywhere, but she stuck to her guns, and now she sipped it in victory.

Instead, she offers a different sort of help.

Every so often she lets a demon come up and she closes her eyes and puts her hand on the machine he offers her. Faintly she hums with light that turns her blue full-body tattoos white, one, two, three, and then she opens her eyes again, the light dims. "You've got your calibrations set right, this time. Just make sure to tighten the bolt properly."

It seems to please her a lot, being useful with her powers. Just using them to help people do something fun. The demons as a concept seem.... normal, really, that all of this is a little, if she closes her eyes, like Pandora.

Reach Up High
What sin hasn't she committed? Greed maybe? It really takes a minute for her to speak, not because she doesn't think she's done wrong, but because... she's not sure where to start.

"Are we supposed to admit big things? Or everyday things? Because there is the torture, probably, but that's just something we all saw... or do you want the corporate manipulation and tax evasion...? Or murder? Does accidental murder count as a sin? What if the gun had an AI? Some of the Torgue AI's get really pushy when you don't give them someone to murder... uhm..."

She fiddles looking at her hands because this is just - Pandora. But having others speak, they aren't just used to cannibalism, it seems like.

Follow Me Down: I & II
This was certainly an outfit, white lace and sweet, the sort of thing she can't imagine anyone she knows wearing. Not even Moxxi. But that apparently was the theme for the night, and when in Hell, right? Especially since Jack still was not here.... then maybe... maybe she could just... cut back like everyone else did? Even if she was sure he would absolutely kill anyone for looking at her like this.

So dressed in the little lingerie outfit, she finds somewhere she can sit doing what she does best, just watching people. Though everything is on display, and that is terrifying. She is a siren, bought and sold and killers and goddesses, it becomes clear that the peak of blue tattoos from under her clothes otherwise, doesn't finish there. From toes to the back of her neck and across the entire left side of her body - there are blue lines. Curling over her breasts, up her thighs, on the flat of her hips.

And in her spine are metal rings of exposed cybernetics, like someone would hook another machine into her.

This is her first drink. Her first taste of alcohol. Doing what adults do. Not the enforced, endless emptiness Jack forced her into. She doesn't know where to start, so she does the only sensible thing she can think of: orders one of every drink there is and takes one quick mouthful, and then a longer sip.

It's not Eridium the flash of the system to hot, so sharp to her body. This was like sinking into a warm blanket that was a wash of a hundred new things. Before long, she was eating everything around her, a familiar haze of euphoria that simmered as her happiness made her light up. Literally. The tattoos pulse with her happiness and the way she feeds her powers into her emotions, that ripple the air about her like a static discharge.

Until it's all just wonderful to her, the pain and frustration of her weak body fades from her, and she is tilting her head back, laughing at something she finds hilarious.

"That's the thing, my name is Angel - and I'm in hell." It's not dignified how hard she laughs, a snort as she hiccups into her next glass.

Someone should probably take the alcohol off the girl whose never drunk anything before and weighs five pounds soaking wet.

Or worse, before the drunk girl crying starts.

network: 4N631

Hi,
Quick question,
Where are the gun vending machines?
I can't seem to find any.

Edited 2022-04-26 09:20 (UTC)

And this is the reason he usually avoids Club Penance. They're always doing something weird.

He'd tried to skip out. Not because he cares what anyone else is doing or because he's ashamed of his own body, but because it's just not really his style. It doesn't surprise him, though, that they still put him in an intricate harness (at least the amount of straps kind of matches his aesthetic) and a thong. At least they're red and black. See, he would have just gone to go get drunk somewhere else, except he hears a familiar voice, that voice that had echoed in his head when he first landed on Pandora and guided them to the vault, the voice that lied and manipulated and-- He hears the name Angel, and he has to turn back around to find its source, to confirm that he's not imagining things.

It's not difficult to find her. Sure enough, she's right there, blue markings glowing in that same way Lilith and Maya do when they're excited or happy. Angel.

Seeing her isn't really a surprise. With all that she's done, she would be in hell and, after all, she's dead. Surprise isn't what he feels, but ... definitely shock. He hadn't been in the core with the other Vault Hunters, but he knows what happened, saw it. The memory of Jack's retaliation is ever present in his mind as it replays Roland collapsing in front of Jack, in the hollowness that loss carved in his chest to fill with grief and anger and guilt and why did he not go too, why was he not there to help, to put a bullet in Jack's head before--

And she is both perpetrator and victim. A liar and a murderer, but one of Lilith and Maya's own, a daughter caught in Jack's claws before she could ever hope to tell right from wrong, used and manipulated to suit his needs, tortured until the only way out was death. He wishes he could feel more angry, but mostly it's just ... nothing. Both her and Jack are dead. What does it matter anymore?

With his goggles gone thanks to the club, the yellow hawk eyes that have replaced his human ones might be startling, especially coupled with the intense way he eyes her as he approaches. Like he could read her secrets if he watches close enough. He slides smoothly enough into the seat opposite her, sweeps his gaze across the collection of half-full and empty glasses in front of her, then looks back up.

"This supposed to be your rebellious teen phase?"

Edited 2022-04-26 09:41 (UTC)

There wasn't a lot that could stop her mid ramble like she was currently on. Involved in something - utterly unimportant and yet complicated, to one of the voices she knew better than any other in half the galaxies, and that said a lot, because she always knew more than most.

Eyes wide, she turned to face him.

Actually, face him. Not just an image in his head, a whisper in his mind.

But real, actual, Mordecai. The person. Not the image on the screen. Not the false reality where she pretended they all burst into her control core and took her on adventures and all the stupid lies she told herself hoping someone was coming from her.

The person she had led into death over, and over, and over again. All on Jack's orders.

From between her fingers, the drink slips with a shatter of glass on the floor. "Mordecai? Is that really you?"

It makes sense that she'd be equally as surprised to see him as he is to see her. Even so, the fact that it goes as far as to make her drop the glass startles him, and he actually jumps at the sound of it shattering.

"Whoa!"

They should probably tell someone about that. Since everyone's a little less dressed than usual.

Huh ...

She'd looked different in the video feed from the core already, not at all like she'd appear in his head. To actually have her sitting in front of him, it strikes him how young she is, how small. The realisation hits him like a punch to the chest and ... god.

Fucking Jack.

He takes a breath, looks back down at the glasses and reaches out to take one.

"Yeah. It's me."

The response is immediate, when she realises she's gone and broken a glass at him.

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry. This is all really new to me, I didn't mean to - "

She's still shakey, and it feels doubly as pathetic, in front of a vault hunter. Opened one, even, fought the vault monster, helped take down Atlas, hangs out with much, much cooler sirens than her that were way more terrifying.

" - I just... I thought I am dead! You're alive, and I didn't expect to see anyone I might know - I mean I know I am definitely the last person you want to see so - "

But with shakey hands and not fully in control, she tries to pick up the pieces of glass as best she can.

Well, she sure is on the list of people that, if he had a choice, he'd rather not see. It's all too complicated, too much history, too many people hurt. Seeing her in front of him like this, he has no choice but to think about how complicated it really is. When she apologises so quickly, when she struggles to move like that, when she recognises, herself, just how much he'd rather see someone else, though, it's ... hard not to feel bad.

He downs a mouthful of the drink, then bends down to help.

"Oh, don't worry, you're very dead. I might not be. It's kinda unclear."

Edited 2022-04-26 10:57 (UTC)

She has no business being hurt when he says it so bluntly. You're dead. Just... dead. Nothing else. Just dead. Like he doesn't care, and -

- He's right to not care. What is she to him? Nothing. Worse than nothing. He doesn't refute her in anything she says, and she deserves it. Roland's voice clear as a bell. We told you to never talk to us again. That way when she desperately reached out to the Vault Hunters after betraying them yet again.

We're not friends anymore, are we?

"Yeah. Exactly. I am... I hope you're not. Dead, that is. You're Mordecai, after all, I can't imagine what it would take you down."

( You weren't ever their friend, Angel, get a grip. This is pathetic. Didn't I say it? You'll only ever have me. )

What would it take? He gives a humourless laugh as his grip slips on one of the shards and cuts into his finger, a pathetic nick that he can't even feel through the invisible rope that tightens around his throat. Silly, stupid Angel. For someone who spent so much time in their heads, she sure buys into the stories quick.

"It takes a bullet, same as anyone else, Angel."

They were at the top of the world, they were stories told around the campfire to warn little psychos, they had such high prices on their heads people would risk everything to come after them even knowing that with 99% certainty they weren't going to walk out of it alive. Never mind Handsome Jack. On Pandora, they were practically gods. Lilith had bandits worshipping her.

And all it takes, at the end of the day, is one goddamn bullet. Just one.

He takes a ragged breath, straightens up, and drops his pile of glass shards on the table.

Her own little pieces of glass clatter next to his, and she isn't like him. She doesn't have scars, just metal cut into her brain, she doesn't have experience, just knowledge of the unforgiving actions of the world.

So fragile, locked in her ivory tower, and sickly without the eridium, that there are little knicks spreading red as she holds too tight in the effort to not drop the glass shards and make more of a mess. Absently she looks down at them, and thinks, probably, she is supposed to do something about that. Later.

Perhaps they can both pretend that's why she flinches from his words. It hurts in a way no wound could give. Her breath pulls in, and the reflex to his presence, his judgement and absence of forgiveness or hatred leaves her in that sick floating place. A few minutes ago, she was distracted, and it was nice. Going quiet she fumbles a minute in a way that feels so wrong in talking to him. She was always far away and collected, and if Jack was hurting her, he would never see it. Here it was obvious, the little scrunch of her nose as she climbs back up to the barstool, too big for someone her size. Licking dry lips as she finds one of the many drinks she's tried and busies herself in drinking it.

"So... so is there... work for a vault hunter in hell?"

And he will keep working on the drink he's stolen from her. Not really his taste, not strong enough, but he's taken it, so he will finish it.

What a bizarre turn of events this is. The two of them sitting half naked with a sea of alcoholic drinks, tearing at the raw wounds they carry, skirting around things they should probably talk about. He needs to tell her, wants to tell her, how well he knows that all it takes is one bullet. The price Jack demanded for her death. Some small voice in the back of his head tells him that isn't her fault, some part of him knows very well that Jack would have killed any of them first chance he got regardless of whether or not they killed her. Another much louder voice wants to make her feel even an ounce of their pain, wants to feed her guilt like Jack fed her Eridium.

The blood that stains Jack's hands stains hers too. Without her, he would never have been able to do what he did. Isn't that how it was?

"Sometimes. Pay's shit, though." Another mouthful of drink, another breath. "He got Roland."

In the end, that's all he has the spirit to say. Nothing about how it was right after she went, that it was revenge, that it was to replace Angel with Lilith. He doesn't say that, in a way, all of it was for nothing, that in the end Jack still charged the key, still opened the vault and released the Warrior.

He doesn't say that if they'd done things their own way instead of listening to her, just maybe, Roland would still be alive. That her selfishness killed the best man he's ever known. It just sits in his chest like venom.

angel the siren | borderlands

Follow me down

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Reach up high

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Stand Your Ground

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arrival

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arrival?

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follow me down