soddersays | AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

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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

( As the presence looms closer, Waverly glances up to him, maybe a little sheepish. It's not entirely different from a puppy who sees someone coming when they've known they've done something wrong, and then immediately looks away. Unlike the metaphorical puppy, however, Waverly keeps looking at the server, an apologetic little tug at the corner of her mouth - too rueful to be a smile, but it's in that sort of direction. )

Sorry.

( She picks up one of the fries, though she still hasn't eaten one. ) I could take it home? And keep, you know, deliberating the myths about Persephone condemning herself to the Underworld forever by eating some pomegranate seeds. It's fine.

( It's fine, a little dismissive, no I'm not thinking about this in a serious way, good sir, don't you worry. )

[ don't.

don't give him that look. the moment she glances up at him, there's a strike in his chest, like he did in fact just yell at a puppy just sitting there dining at his booth. but he manages to keep a stern face, knowing best than to let his guard down (because too many people have been trying to step all over him lately, thinking they know his weak spots, and he just won't have it). ]

Those'll taste like shit by the time you get home. Ain't any good when they're soggy. [ unless you're wynonna and save some to chow down for breakfast the next morning cause you're just that weird sometimes. ]

Look, I made those myself. Pomegranate-free. They aren't gonna poison you. [ there's plenty that's locked them down in this town, but he doubts the fries are the ones at work here. ]

( But he did. He made an actual facts puppy actual facts sad. She's even got the expressive eyebrows to boot, and it isn't even deliberate.

There's an unhappy tug at the corner of her mouth at the mention of "home." Sure, she said it first, but it sounds worse from someone else when this place definitely isn't home. )

That's what ovens are for.

( As chipper and optimistic as she can muster, though she does make a little face at the pomegranate-free. ) I mean, it's not pomegranates exactly that are the problem. More like, you know, eating the food of a place and then being bound to that place. And that's why we have seasons, although I'm not a goddess of anything so I doubt there'd be any kinda weather-changing consequences.

( Not quite a jazz hands, but a little finger flourish to illustrate just how ridiculous that would be. Maybe she's being a little bit too upbeat in her ramble. She's used to a lot of blank looks in Purgatory, admittedly. )

You get fries fresh. Even if you reheat them, they lose the crisp. If you’re gonna eat them, you eat them right.

[ is he really giving an eating lesson here? honestly, that’s the least of his problems, considering his soon evident discovery that this girl is a talker, which is — well, his luck, really, since he always seemed to have a trend of getting stuck with those at the diner. even as she’s yammering on about fruits and goddesses and seasons, he just straightens where he stands, crossing his arms. ]

You ain’t getting chained here by eating a fry. Trust me — you can starve yourself and they’ll still keep you here until they’re ready to dump you.

[ which is ... probably harsh to what looks to be a newcomer by the vibes she’s setting off. but frank isn’t exactly a soft cozy welcoming committee bear here. ] Loosen up, Persephone. Panicking on an empty stomach ain’t gonna do you much good. [ oh, look, he knows things. ]

( There's something in the frankness that's weirdly calming. Maybe it's because she's used to dealing with Dolls and his blunt, matter-of-fact approach, or maybe it's growing up with Wynonna, who's never been a paragon of tact. Regardless, her smile brightens just a little. )

I've been called worse, but I usually go by Waverly.

( Persephone would be pretty cool, admittedly. Maybe for something undercover. Next time she needs to sneak into a secret government facility. In the meantime, she plucks one of the fries that had been part of her masterpiece up and raises it with all the ceremony befitting a glass of wine before popping it into her mouth. )

Happy?

[ people from all sorts of places, all sorts of worlds, get tossed in this town, so the chances of coincidences should be little. yet, as soon as he hears the name “waverly”, somehow he’s sure that she’s the very one and only. it isn’t even a common name to start, but somehow the rise of the name does light up a few flares — they don’t look exactly alike, but there’s an air about them that now seem more obvious: the talkative nature, the eccentricness, the teasing sarcasm.

shit.

as she plops the fry in her mouth, he doesn’t immediately respond, eyes focused with a knit of his brow as he simply stares at her with a studious gaze.

he’s quiet for a few beats before he finally mutters, as if having just solved a riddle, ] Waverly Earp. That’s you, isn’t it?

( Now,

Waverly is a gentle soul. But recently she accidentally enabled something super messed up happening that temporarily cancelled her sister’s existence, someone she considered a good friend slammed her face into a pool table and tried to kidnap her sister’s baby, and she got sucked into Creepy Maine, the kind from a Stephen King novel.

There’s a moment of pause. )

I have pepper spray in my purse.

( She does not have pepper spray in her purse. )

[ probably not the best casual introduction to the girl that might just happen to be his girlfriend’s sister. but frank wasn’t ever really one for beating around the bush, keeping things upfront and straight to the point, which is exactly how he intends to play it here — except he might very well leave out certain details, leaving that for wynonna to explain later.

for the moment, he holds up his hands, palms out as if in surrender. ]

Relax, I ain’t hurting you. I’m Frank, I’m — a friend of your sister’s. I know Wynonna.

[ and with the guess that she doesn’t know it yet, since he’s sure he would have been alerted about it by now: ]

She’s here in town.

Wynonna’s here?

( Wait, hold up. Think smart, Waverly. That’s exactly what a creep would say to get you to trust them, right? But if there’s even half a chance that he’s telling the truth, and Wynonna really is here, that changes everything.

She doesn’t quite relax, though she does ease up a little. )

Can you get her here?

[ it’s good for her to keep up her suspicions. even if he isn’t a danger to her at the slightest, it’s better that no one keeps their guard down for too long in this town. good girl, he thinks. smart.

he gives a small nod, a sigh in his breath. ] Yeah. Yeah, I can do that. [ to which he unclasps his fluid from his forearm, working easily through it to send out a message. ]

But I suggest eating those fries before she gets here. Pretty sure even seeing you won’t stop her from slamming them in her mouth. She’s weak to that shit.

( Her brow arches. Firstly, it's cute that this guy thinks she could have made it a week growing up with Wynonna without realising that any and all fries were endangered by her presence. Secondly, the way he's talking about Wynonna has her admirometer whirring.

Waverly leans forward, propping her chin up on her hands, and looks intently at Frank. There'd been a pause before he said friend, hadn't there? )

Sooo, how did you meet my sister?

[ it's almost too easy to tell that this is wynonna's sister now, merely by that attentive look, the kind that makes him feel like he's being closely observed, waiting for any subtle hint of a break.

maybe he'd paused on the friend line before, but he's got a steady look about him now that he's a little more prepared. ]

Some mandatory mingle in town. [ he answers without a beat, leaving out the significant blind speed dating bit. ] The way she yaps her mouth, it has a way of leaving an impression. But we've helped each other out whenever we've been in a tough spot. Woman's saved my life more than a few times.

[ it's all honest, even if spoken casually, though plenty of details get left unsaid. he might leave it up to wynonna to tell her sister that she and the bearded mug standing here happen to be living together. ]

( Maybe she makes a face at "yaps." Maybe it just cost him a few approval points. Her eyes narrow very slightly; overprotective of her sister, yes, but given all the things Wynonna's been through plus the events of the last day, she's pretty sure she could be forgiven for objecting to that particular verb. Waverly's lips purse very slightly. )

We have that in common - the being saved and the helping.

( "Yapping" will be filed it away to add to her information about "Frank," who apparently is lacking in feminist points. And brightly, as she picks up another fry, )

Not the describing my sister like a little dog, though.

[ if waverly intends to scold frank for the description, it fails drastically when he huffs up a low chuckle instead, shaking his head. ]

Yeah, well, if you know your sister, you know she's a talker.

[ that, and the girl's an expert at applying a joke to any part of a conversation. ]

But, uh ... [ he peers away, palm running over his beard. ] She's got heart. More than a lot of people in this town.

Darn right! She's the heartiest and the funniest. And don't tell her I said so, but also the badassiest.

( A moment of pause. ) That sounded better before I said it out loud. ( More quietly, ) Why does this happen to me.

( Not a question, just a general why. ) And don't tell her I told her so, but she's the only Earp that ever looked that good in a leather jacket.

( Not that she's bitter, no sir.

Maybe a little. But only a tiny bit. )

[ frank raises his brows, but in honesty, there isn't actually much surprise in the way he hears her talk about her sister. the times that wynonna has spoken of waverly, it's always with the highest level of affection, clear enough that wynonna would do any damn thing for that girl, no matter what it took — that there was nothing to her quite as precious as waverly and little alice.

he manages a soft smile, subtle but evident all the same as he gives a nod, running a finger across his mouth. ]

Lips are sealed. Won't tell her a thing.

[ look, they're sharing secrets already. ]

( Rocking forward, Waverly is still watching him intently. He's interesting, Frank. Could remind her of other men possibly in Wynonna's life; the stand-offish manner and that surprise softness. That's not something that she misses easily, Mr. Frank. )

Uh huh. I've heard that before.

( And she leans in a little bit. ) Pinky swear?

[ he can practically feels those eyes just piercing through him, and he wonders briefly if she's begun to caught on to what he's not telling her. not that he still has any intent on being the one to fess up to it.

but no. oh no. ]

Oh, boy. [ he's not sure exactly how old she is, but he's pretty sure she's way too old to be confiding in pinky swears.

lucky for her, frank castle is a weak man. ]

Yeah, yeah, alright. [ and reluctantly, with a brief pursing of his lips, he shuffles forward awkwardly, holding up his hand with pinky out, not exactly looking directly at her as he does. ]

Doesn't count unless you keep eye contact.

( So sweetly, so helpfully, with a little shrug of her shoulders. Just a little tip for her good buddy Frank. )

[ fucking christ.

he gives her a slight roll of his eyes as he gazes to her (at least he's looking), sweet hell almost so vivid in his gaze. ]

Are all Earps such pains in the ass?

Just the best ones.

( C: !!! )

Congratulations, you've graduated from Waverly Earp's school of pinky promises. Next we'll move on to thumb wars.

[ an earp sister will definitely be the death of him. time will tell exactly which one it'll end up being.

he shakes his head before tilting it, offering a slight squint. ]

Yeah, I think I'm at my quota for hand gesture lessons today. Anything else you want from the kitchen before your sister gets here?

[ True to her word, Wynonna isn’t texting and driving, but even after she finally curves her Fluid back into a spot around her wrist, she finds herself walking towards the diner a little faster, wondering what would prompt Frank to flag her into diverting over here without warning. His texts had been vague enough to pique her interest but not so non-specific that she’s thinking she’s going to walk into some kind of hostage situation. Knowing this town, they really should establish a code word for that, just in case.

But she finally pushes her way in with an accompanying jingle of the bell over the door and immediately makes a beeline for where he’s standing, his face the only one she expects in her sights as she briefly sets a hand at the crook of his arm. ]

Okay, what’s all the damn fuss —

[ Either he shifts or she does, but something happens to permit her to catch a glimpse past him to the young woman seated in the booth, a plate of fries sitting mostly untouched in front of her — and Wynonna doesn’t even think before she’s pressing past him to wrap her arms around her sister, probably a little too tightly, but Waves has always been good about stopping her from inadvertent throttling as she presses her cheek to the crown of her sister’s head and whispers softly. ]

Ohhhh my God, babygirl, when did you get here?

Edited 2019-08-04 14:06 (UTC)

Wynonna!

( Slightly muffled by the hug that's suddenly happening, leaning into the familiar comfort of her sister. If the hug is a little too tight, she really doesn't mind. In fact, she's holding onto her sister just as hard. )

A few hours ago. I— started wandering to try and get a feel for the area and do some recon, but then I saw this place and I was really hungry, but then the food came and suddenly I was, you know, not so hungry. And then Frank said he knew you after totally failing to appreciate my potato castle.

( It all comes out in a big rush, and she draws back just enough to get a look at Wynonna. ) Where are we? Are any of the others here?

( The questions will probably keep coming, just a flood of words. )

[ he feels the slip of her fingers curling at his arm and he turns, but he doesn't intend to say much of anything, knowing that as soon as wynonna gets a look at her, he's done his part in merely bringing them together.

and when wynonna throws her arms around her sister, he momentarily watches the scene, the affection in it, and he warms him to know that she has somebody, that she's found the most important person in her life, and that's the most he can hope for her.

holding up his palm in a brief gesture, he gives a nod as he begins shuffling back. ] I'll, uh — I'll leave you ladies to it.

[ because this reunion has too long been awaited by his girlfriend to get in the way of it. man's gotta get back to work, anyhow. ]

AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

BLOOD IN MY VEINS

I AM THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Character Arrival

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