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soddersays2019-07-27 01:49 pm
sodder) wrote in soddersays2019-07-27 01:49 pm
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AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME
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!
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.
fight club (will he punch a child???)
So Will had padded along, barefoot and a little hazy, in flannel pajama pants and a plain white T-shirt. He'd assumed this was an emergency of some kind— the Betties haven't ever talked to him much. He'd long since stopped trying to interact with any of the Townsfolk, but as he's urged towards a ladder and a tunnel, Will reconsiders this.
He steps in and...is immediately aware that he's dressed wrong for this adventure. He's ushered into a room with racked bo staffs and wooden swords, and then is greeted by a...
That's a child. Another child, trapped here in Deerington. Will almost thinks it's a Waste, for a brief moment, but her face is unobscured by a mask. His expression falls so quickly they're both lucky he doesn't have to bend down and scoop it off the ground. ] I'm not going to punch you. [ It sounds less reassuring and more...vexed. Will's dealt with a lot today, please don't ask him to knock out a teenager so they can both leave a secret underground training bunker. ]
And I don't think whoever brought us here is worried about legality.
pulls out my jack crawford voice, "he had a good reason"
but this pajamaed adult who looks somehow more done with this situation than she is refuses. again. seriously, she's been down here for an hour. her shoulders deflate tiredly, and the man isn't the only one seeming incensed here. )
What, won't punch a girl? ( she doesn't sound too-accusatory, given that her tone is so deadened. she saunters tiredly over to a shelf of narrow boxing gloves; they don't look lile the giant, spherical ones she's seen in movies and cartoons, but their purpose remains obvious. she looks almost silly, pulling on these cherry-red gloves, making her skin appear paler and her clothes even more of a dark void that swallows her.
she draws up to the man's side and pulls an arm back, bending her elbow deep, but when she connects her padded fist to his upper arm, it's devoid of all effort. she isn't trying. of course she isn't.
Lydia turns to the metal door, holding her hands up in a half-shrug, level with her waist. ) Okay, there, are you people happy? Is your thirst for nonsensical violence finally quenched? ( her tone of voice couldn't be lower or flatter than the unamused drone that spills out of her lungs.
she's repaid with silence, the door unmoving. the padded gloves pap against her sides as she drops her arms limply with a sigh. ) You know, for being a dream, I was sort of hoping I would have superhuman strength all of a sudden.
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Instead he just crosses his arms against his chest and sighs, which serves as a reminder that he's only wearing an undershirt. He keeps an eye on what the girl's doing, but Will doesn't move an inch to get out of her way, only frowning more deeply as she winds back and then— he moves at the same time she does, finally believing she's actually going to hit him and abruptly worried she's got some kind of increased strength, like half the population here seems to.
The hit lands, sure, but it feels even gentler than an accidental nudge from a stranger on crowded public transit. No supernatural strength. Will actually sighs, and it sounds like relief. ]
...Are you new to this dream? [ The wording's caught his attention. So, too, has the fact that her reaction means this...might be the first person Will's met from a world more similar to his own. (Just wait til he hears about the ghosts, then...) ]
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he asks a compelling question, though she doesn't entirely appreciate the way it makes her feel pretty damn spot-lit to be asked. she'll just assume that's his fault.
Lydia's eyes lower, thoughtful as well as solemn, and thin shoulders shift under the loose fabric of her shawl-like lace. ) I woke up here a couple of days ago. ( as if it were embarrassing to admit, and it's not, but it's been...slightly terrifying, being thrust out of reality and emulating a 'life' in a dream she can't escape. no matter how much she has tried to conjure the presences of Adam, Barbara, and even her father and step-mother from memory — it's a dream after all, and she's completely aware, so doesn't that make this lucid dreaming? — the end result has been only her, here, alone.
she blinks back up at the man with a renewed awakening, attaching to a follow-up thought instead. ) Is it normal to get trapped into exercise bunkers with strangers in this place? This is pretty messed up, and I had to do P.E. ( which is just a legal way of torturing adolescents in a school setting, as far as Lydia is concerned, so this is saying a lot. )
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Hopefully that doesn't spook anyone, but Will's moving on quick when the teen answers his question with... Oh. Will's guarded expression melts without conscious effort, eyebrows pinching in and eyes no longer narrowed. ] ...Did you wake up alone? [ All the other non-adults he's met did. Will's met very few people who had someone from home with them, either upon waking or after several months.
Will slowly brings his hands down, from crossing his arms tight against his chest to placing his hands in his pockets. (Because even pajamas have pockets, for some people.) He starts a slow circuit of the room, avoiding a large rack of dumbbells. ] About as normal as anything else the town decides to show us. Or put us in.
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the man asks a pretty efficient question, simple but depthful, enough to give Lydia some pause. she's quiet for a moment while he wanders around the training room, his body language changing. she isn't sophisticated enough just yet to understand the difference intellectually, from his arms wrapped defensively around his front, to relaxed down with hands in his pockets, but something instinctual is understood. shoulders that had been pitched up tensely lower down a few degrees, and her hands tinker idly under obscure sleeves. ) ...Yeah. ( not much fanfare for a staggeringly simple admission. ) Is there like, some secret war I didn't get clued in on? Do people here have to fight often? ( this bodes really well for a petite fourteen year old with no combat skills. she's understood from the letter the discord between 'visitors' and 'citizens,' but the note never said more than that. )
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He stares for a beat too long, and compensates by looking away entirely. He touches a row of long wooden dowels - staffs, he realizes. He's never used one to fight before, never even touched one until today. It feels like a fantasy weapon, especially amongst all the more typical gym fare in here. ]
Fight, or run. And we're not generally trained on it beforehand. [ Spoken to the rack of bo staffs. He looks back up belatedly. He realizes, for the first time, that he isn't wearing his glasses; hadn't put them on yet that morning while standing in his own driveway. ]
Did you-- you woke up in a house, here? [ 'You have somewhere to pretend is home, still?' ]
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into secret training bunkers, maybe.
okay, this place is weird, and apparently has its share of unpleasant hijinks, but it can't be that bad. it's quiet, Lydia has seen not-pastel-people wandering around, working in shops, and this guy isn't shrieking at her with desperation. it has to be livable, right?
she almost asks, but he beats her to the punch — get it? )
Yeah. ( answered almost suspiciously, as if there could be some other odd way that Lydia hasn't discovered yet... ) It's nearby. It's not my house, though. I don't know if anyone else lives in it, either. ( it will be kind of awkward if someone shows up suddenly, but...then again, she showed up suddenly, didn't she?
her expression changes, her attention turning inward, as something tense etches into her features; does she look disappointed, or worried? it might be a little bit of both. ) It's fine, I guess; I sort of lived alone half the time, anyway. Now I just have to...do it here. ( 'do it completely alone, without Barbara or Adam, in a foreign place that probably doesn't actually exist. it's a little nerve wracking.
her mouth scrunches down into the left corner, and her form shifts as she goes to cross her arms. it's a thoughtless motion, hardly calculated, but gives away a sense of needing something secure, a shield or a shell to slip behind. ) My dad's a real estate investor, so I know how paying rent works, at least. ( it means getting a job, which means going outside, which means...getting out of the Thunderdome, eventually. )
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This one's new, though, and hasn't settled in enough to seem properly blase about it. And she shares details - absent parents. Rich parents. Or parent - she only mentions 'dad'. Will takes in all of this with a muted kind of pity; it might be hard to read with how it makes his lips thin and his jaw set. He swallows and feels an old ache start up with a warning throb. ] The logistics of back home are more like...after thoughts. Hardly worth even calling guidelines. [ He means it to be reassuring, or he did when he started the thought; but there's not much reassuring about a world that runs on a child's imagination of how the adult world functions. ]
You said-- everyone refused to fight you, but you want to leave. [ Will looks back over his shoulder at the locked door. It doesn't take a detective to figure this one out. Flatly: ] We're stuck here until we fight for them.