soddersays | AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Entry tags:

AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to August's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: DYSTOPIAN HORROR.

All Test Drive Memes contain at least one clue to the Deerington's upcoming in-game events for the month! Keep your eyes peeled! But...not literally.

Characters may die during TDMs, but you do not need to count it towards a game-canonical death unless you want to. Consider it a freebie. All TDMs can be considered game canon as TDMs introduce minor aspects about the world of Deerington that can be revisited by characters later on in the game. You may also use TDMs for your application writing sample as well as AC.

CW: Physical violence, monster violence, creepy ogre-like monster in link, being hunted by a monster.
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

BLOOD IN MY VEINS

With supplies low and food getting even more scarce, things in Deerington, Maine seem to be getting that much more tense. For those who pay attention to the habits of the townspeople, there’s something that might add to that feeling of stress; all of them seem to be involved in some kind of physical training, whether it’s archery, hand-to-hand combat, or fighting with firearms, they all seem like they’re getting ready for something and it definitely feels like it might be something big.

But no one wants to train against a townsperson - it’s highly likely they’re not going to fight fair with the way they’re all glaring at the Sleepers, as though they’re to blame for everything that’s been going on. Unless you’re sparring with people in your own backyard though, it seems like there isn’t any space to get your own training in.

The Betties are starting to pop up around town pretty regularly, waiting until they find Sleepers on their own, and quietly waving for them to come closer. “You need to prepare,” they’ll whisper to you in hushed urgency, before grabbing your hand to try and get you to follow them. If you fight, they’ll insist only once more, before leaving you alone. But there’s something inside of you urging you to comply and follow.

They’ll lead you down an alley, pushing aside a large dumpster, and revealing a trap door in the middle of the concrete. You’ve never noticed it before, even if you’ve been down this alley a hundred times. The Betty leading you leans down, pulling it open, and the ladder that goes into the tunnel is long and dimly lit. You could leave now, but the Betty will insist this is for the best.

“Knock twice. No more or less. Show them what you’re made of.”

Once you get to the bottom of the ladder, there’s an equally long hallway that leads towards a closed metal door. You knock twice and the door shakes before sliding open. The light that comes through is almost blinding with how bright it is compared to the dim tunnel, but as your eyes adjust, you can finally step in to a fully stocked training room.

There are instructors in basics for beginners, areas for intermediate, and most abundantly there are one-on-one sparring areas. The moment you come close enough, you’ll be immediately paired with another Sleeper, and the two of you will be locked in the room together to be observed. You could choose to not fight, of course, but you’ll be stuck there for a good long while if you do. It might be best to just get it over and done with.

So feel free to help others who seem to be struggling or show off your strength for everyone to see. It looks like everyone is going to need to be ready for some kind of fight.

I AM THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Maybe you got knocked out during a fight or maybe you fell asleep in your own bed - or maybe you don’t even remember closing your eyes at all, especially if you don’t usually have the ability to go unconscious for one reason or another. No matter the cause, everyone will wake up in the same place, surrounded by tall, thick hedges in the middle of a... maze?

It doesn’t take you long to realize you aren’t the only one waking up, too. Someone is next to you and it seems like you’re stuck finding your way out of here together. Literally. On each of your wrists is a metal cuff with a long chain connecting them. It can’t be broken, no matter how strong a person is or how powerful a weapon or spell they try to use against it. You’re in this together whether you want to be or not.

Once you can pick a direction to head in, it seems like this might almost be boring - that is until you start to hear the sounds of rustling leaves and breaking twigs. At first it seems like it might just be a trick to spook you, but the more you ignore it, the louder it gets, until finally you see it, charging down the row at you, scythe raised and ready to strike.

You can try to fight, of course, but it’s hard when you’re chained to one another. Learn to work together quickly and maybe you can make it work. It seems to go down with normal attacks, though it takes a long time to get the creature to fall unless you cut off the head. Ultimately your best interest might be set in running as fast as you can to get away. You can lose it in the maze if you’re quick about it. But then you might also be lost yourself.

If you do manage to lose the monster rather than killing it, stay quiet and you might not attract its attention again. It may take a while to find the end of the maze. The hedges feel like they stretch on forever and the sun is blaring down. You’d think there would be shade with all the height of the bushes, but there’s no relief from the heat. Hopefully you don’t burn easy.

When you get to the end of the maze, the two of you will come up on three doors. One door will lead out of the maze and back into the center of Deerington, cuff free. Another door will lead you right back to the beginning, forcing you to start again. And what’s behind door number three...?

The monster, of course.

Choose wisely.

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

There is not a collective "all these characters showed up at the exact same moment" occurrence in Deerington. Since characters fall asleep, die, or pass out at various times throughout all their worlds, it wouldn't make too much sense if they arrived in game all at the exact same time. There should be some discrepancy between character arrival, whether by a couple minutes, hours, or even days up to a week.

The players are entirely in control of how/when they want to play their characters arriving in Deerington. For TDMs, you can play it like your character has just arrived and that can be maintained as your game canon, or you can wait until game events for that moment. Or you don't need to acknowledge it at all. The flexibility for character allows a bit more of an organic feel to the character arrival situation, so please play it to whatever feels right for you.

If you are interested in having an "arrival" introduction for one of your TDM prompts, you are more than welcome to explore that option.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Surprise, Will. It's him, your friendly neighborhood dorito. A dorito who is carrying himself gingerly, and leaning slightly on the support of a giant robot Lion. Okay, so she's more the size of a horse right now, but still.]

[He doesn't see Will just yet. Having your head and ribcage dented by the local crazy nun population makes walking from place to place your first priority.]

[The Lion stops, though, lifting her head to stare in the boy's direction.]

[will's recognition is a lot slower, since he's still adjusting to going from real world to...whatever deerington is. still, he skids to a half making eye contact (headlight contact? are those eyes? who can say) with the robot lion.

then the name comes to him:] Shiro?

[Those are totally eyes. Because the robot stops, and swings her head around to block her Paladin's path. You know this kid. You should interact with him.]

[But it's the voice that gets his attention more than anything. His feet grind to a halt.]

... Will?

[will manages a very awkward little wave with one hand. he's back in his hospital gown, which is a very bold fashion statement in a place like this. he's also shivering a little.]

Y-Yeah. Yeah, it's. It's me.

[Yeah, that shiver isn't going to go unnoticed. Or unassisted. Shiro's pulling off his light jacket -- one he'd put on mostly for protection -- and swinging it around Will's shoulders. Immediately.]

You're -- you're here? You're back?

[like last time, there's a little bit of a tense twitch when shiro moves closer, that wariness around big adult-y people ingrained a bit too deep in will. but he slips his arms into the sleeves of the jacket, sighing in relief.]

...I think so. [he looks down at himself, hospital gown and jacket-paws and all.] I feel here.

[There's a long pause. You can just see the gears working in Shiro's head. Making a decision...]

[A decision to kneel down. To wrap Will in a hug. Careful, as though he thinks this is going to slip through his grasp like so much has. Careful, because this second chance isn't something he wants to waste. Not now.]

... I'm sorry. [Maybe it's too soon to say. Maybe he should have elaborated or prefaced the words with something else. But he has to say it. He has to say it before he loses it.]

I'm sorry I lost you.

[there's a good heartbeat of a moment where will clearly Does Not Compute what's happening. his arms hover for a moment, the too-long sleeves flopping to cover his hands again.

then he slowly relaxes into the hug, closing his eyes, wrapping his skinny little arms as far around shiro as he can reach.]

It's okay. I'm not mad at you.

[It's very much not okay in Shiro's mind. That conversation with Eddie has stuck in his mind so firmly it's been hard to dislodge. He couldn't protect one child... and then...]

[He wants to say Will should be. That he should be angry. Instead, Shiro exhales and just holds on.]

... Okay. [It's a terrible answer. But it's the one he has.]

[will is quiet for a moment, smushing his cheek against shiro's shoulder, meditatively trying to count up how many times someone who isn't his mom or jonathan has hugged him for this long. he can count on one hand.

after a moment, quieter than before:] I'm sorry for scaring you.

[He shakes his head, and pulls back from the hug enough to look Will in the face. Looking for something, or maybe trying to understand where that apology is coming from more clearly.]

You didn't do anything wrong, Will. You don't have to apologize to me.

Sorry. I mean. I know. [he's very very good at apologizing. plus there's always the lingering worry that he's done something, said something, been a certain way and caused someone to be unhappy or upset. isn't it better to apologize a lot just to make sure you've covered all the bases?

leaning back a little more, will frowns in concern. shiro's always looked Too Tired, but it seems like it's a new level now.]

How long have I been gone?

[And he tries his best to smile. He really does. Tries to make Will feel a little less guilty, a little less off-put by the situation. Hard to imagine how it feels, suddenly waking back up here all over again.]

About a year now. Or close to it.

[He shakes his head, as if to wave off any incoming apologies.]

Eddie's still here, by the way.

...you've been here for a whole year? [cue will going into frantic fretting mode which is...really quite hilarious to see a tweenage boy do.] Are you okay??

[also he absolutely does not turn pink in the face at the mention of eddie. shut your face.]

Yeah, I have...

[It's said with a tired exhale, a smile that doesn't really reach his eyes. But despite the fact there is something in him yelling NOPE NOT REALLY, he's going to fudge it.]

[For the sake of the flustered, worried teenager.]

I'm okay. Got people here from my world now. It's all right.

[will has a mom who very often smiles like that -- with genuine affection, with a clear desire to keep will from worrying, but with no honesty behind it. so he sees right through it, gnawing at his lower lip in obvious concern. he wants to fix it.

but people don't like to be fixed. so instead:] Who's here from your world?

Most of my teammates -- people who are practically family, my best friend, my boyfriend... and an alien who's technically my mother my adoption.

[He's mostly kidding about that last part. Krolia's only Keith's mother. But if he'd taken in Keith through fraternal adoption, that makes Krolia...?]

[It's meant to make Will laugh. Or jaw drop. Anything to get that worry off his face.]

[what.

they're still standing in the middle of the street and will's feet are starting to go numb, but that gets a startled, bewildered laugh, and one of those sudden little grins that he almost never gets.]

What? Really?

[then, suddenly, like it had just registered:] Your boy...friend? [and god if there isn't a whole universe of confusion and longing in those two words.]

[NAILED IT.]

Hey, I don't know what to call it. [A grin and a shake of his head.] Her son ended up as basically my little brother. So... I guess that means she's my mom too.

[Someone tell Krolia.]

[He pauses, though, as that tone registers.] Yeah. He... got here this winter.

Oh. Is he here too? [will is privately very glad that shiro has people who've shown up for him. he seemed so lonely before.

he's quiet for a long moment, mulling this over in his head.] ...what's his name? Are people...nice to him?

Mmhmm. [A nod. And that... certain sort of smile people get. When they think about people important to them.] His name is Adam, and he lives in the apartments.

[Are people nice to him?]

[Okay, Shiro has to laugh.]

Oh, I'm sure they are. He might not always be though.

With you? [he's still trying to wrap his brain around this entire thing, trying to feel out why it doesn't make him want to puke the way seeing jonathan and nancy or mike and el be all cozy and snuggly does.

this makes will look a little startled, blinking rapidly.] He's...not always nice? [how does that work because shiro's always nice.]

Ah... no. Not with me. He wanted his own space, and I’m respecting that.

[Also because they weren’t together when Adam arrived but. Will doesn’t really need to know that whole thing.]

[Another laugh, find as hell.] He can be. He’s a little more temperamental than me. But that’s okay. I don’t mind.

Oh. [will looks -- a little relieved, actually.] Yeah, I get that. I like my own space too.

[swaying a little from one foot to the other, will finally manages to work up the courage to ask:] Does he...like kids? [some men don't. or, at least, they don't like will.]

Yeah. We've... been apart for a few years. I thought it'd be for the best.

[The swaying is a bit concerning. And Shiro's about to ask if there's anything Will needs... But the question has him kneeling. His hand on Will's shoulder.]

We were both teachers. If he didn't like kids, he picked the wrong line of work.

AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

BLOOD IN MY VEINS

I AM THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Character Arrival

ARRIVAL

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject