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

...yes. I can tell.

[Dryly. Perhaps too dryly. They don't know how to have a friendly conversation, though. Only one person in the world could - ]

[Wrong thing to think about. Look back to the wall. Start cutting into it with renewed vigor. It's good work. Mindless. Don't have to think too hard about what they're doing or why they're doing it. It's a nice change of pace. Not very efficient. Not very practical.]

[Should be getting out of here. This should do it.]

Practically a fugitive.

[Chara- goes quiet. Maybe it's a subtle shift, but it's shift enough to allow the conversation to lapse, the only sound for several minutes the grating scratches as they both leave their marks on the room they've been locked in.

It's sort of easy work. They leave a cluster of hearts on the door (seven, haha), before taking a short break, switching their knife to their other hand. Honestly... they've never done this, before. It's not as easy on the wrist as they thought it would be.

Their next image is wonkier, but larger. A big, golden flower, with a wide smile. They don't even think about the smile until they've drawn it, but once Frisk realizes--
Flowey would probably like this room. It was his element.
That's enough graffiti for now, surely. Definitely. Curious, they look over at what Chara's done.]

Edited 2019-07-30 19:03 (UTC)

[They're not watching what the other child draws - but they're not not watching either. Hearts. SOULs? A flower with a smile. Shapes that feel like they should be significant, but sit there a little oddly. Like picking up a stone and discovering that it's a little heavier than it should be. They're not important, necessarily - but they feel like they should be.]

[Chara, by contrast, hasn't done anything quite so inventive. It's just...tally marks. Rows upon rows of them.]

[Counting up to something. Or, perhaps, counting down.]

I don't hear anyone on the other side of this door.

...I don’t either. [No shifting, or footsteps. It’s discouraging, but also-] I guess if we started fighting, they wouldn’t have known anyway.

They don’t care.

[That’s typical, too. They just didn’t want them in the way, most likely. Lock them up and let them exhaust themselves thinking they’d been pitted against each other, when really, they’d just wanted them out of the way.

Well, fine. They’re out of the way. But Frisk doesn’t want to stay here forever. Taking another look about the room, maybe... maybe there is something they can do.]

Um. We could- maybe...

[The words dry up. Chara won’t like it.]

What? Fight anyway?

[Their tone is dry. It's not as if they haven't fought children their age and stature before. It's just that when they're enacting violence it's generally because it's deserved in some fashion, and it's not as though either one of them have proven liable to bring that to pass.]

[It could be a trick, on the other child's part. Privately, Chara doubts it.]

No. Um, I was thinking-

[They gesture upwards, to the top of the walls. They're underground, but that doesn't mean the room isn't ventilated. Close to the ceiling is a vent; maybe just big enough for a kid to squirm through.

It's still pretty high up, though.]

You could reach it, if you stand on my shoulders.

[If the vent opens, they'd probably make it through. They're not any bigger than Frisk is, and they're pretty sure they could do it.

One of them would be free, at least.]

Maybe you can get out.

[Maybe you can get out. That's a very definitive choice of words, they think. Chara appears to consider this for a moment, tapping at their chin with the tip of one finger in exaggerated thought.]

But not you.

[It's not a judgment, necessarily. It's more of a point that they're making, verbally, drawing attention to the other child's priorities, or perhaps their innate sense of strategy. Chara's the one who's armed. The one who's useful, perhaps.]

I suppose I'm the logical choice.

It's okay.

[If there's no one for them to fight, the Betties would eventually let them go. Or- get angry that they'd lost one of their fighters. But Chara doesn't need to think about that. Once they're out, they probably won't think about Frisk at all.

That's nothing new either.

I suppose is close enough to yes- enough for Frisk to nod, walking underneath the vent. Tucking their knife back into the back of their pants, they crouch, empty hands resting against the wall. See? No tricks- Chara would cut them down before they had the chance to reach their knife again.]

Um.

I don't know how long I can hold you up. Sorry.

[You'll have to be quick.]

Edited 2019-08-01 11:07 (UTC)

I'm not sure either of us weighs any more or less than the other.

[...undernourished, the both of them. It's obvious, of course. It's one of the first things they look for, when sizing someone else up - the potential that they'll be able to take them in a fight. Someone else's build, their approximate height, how much Chara should exploit the ability to dodge around them as opposed to taking a more favored, direct approach.]

[The similarities here are...grim. Glaring, even.]

You're certain.

[Not as reassuring as it could be. Malnourished is one way to look at it- poor body strength is another. They've never tried to carry their own weight in anything, nevermind another person.

Hopefully, Chara wriggles into the vent fast.

Or they could keep hesitating. A pause, and Frisk looks back to them.

They're smiling.]
[It's okay.]
It was nice to meet you.

[They're not climbing anywhere yet. It's a complicated process, and it's one that Chara doesn't want to admit to having to emotionally prepare for, but nonetheless that's precisely what's happening. Looking up at a vent, and wondering if it will actually take them anywhere.]

[They look back to the other child, sharply.]

Save that for when we're both out.

[When they're both out. They say that like they're going to come back.
Maybe they even believe they will. It's...nice of them. To think it.
Frisk shrugs in response, breaking eye contact.]

You should hurry. In case they're listening.

[Disacknowledgment. No recognition whatsoever. It wouldn't be so glaring, except that Chara tends to adhere to that same mechanism, when faced with something they don't wish to recognize. A similarity too glaring to be outright ignored.]

[But not addressed. Not yet.]

[First, they have to see if they can get out of here.]

Fine. Boost me.

[They don't sound happy for someone who's about to break out. Still, they get no verbal response, this time- Frisk is busy holding out one of their hands behind their back, so Chara can use it as a step up. If- when Chara's on their shoulders, Frisk will stand-- slowly, and with no small amount of effort.

They aren't strong.]

[It's not really an effort destined to succeed. Chara is too quick, too desperate to get away from being in a position where someone else is holding them up, and too pointy and uncontrolled. The bones in their elbows and wrists jut out and probably end up poking once or twice when they scramble up, lunge for the vent.]

[They don't have the requisite upper body strength to actually follow through. Malnourished, thin, underfed, and lacking the strength to haul themself the rest of the way up, Chara dangles for a moment. Then their arms begin to feel like they're tearing.]

[They let go only when the muscles in their fingers and arms cramp to the point where they can't hold on any longer.]

[That's easy, at least. Falling is always easy.]

[They try, at least. Try to steady themself, reach up and curl their hands round Chara's ankles to try and steady them, until Chara kicks them in the head as they leap away. Frisk barely gets to see the attempt itself, turning round to see white-knuckled fingers losing their hold, and

They let Chara's body hit theirs on the way down. They get an elbow in the eye for the effort, air pushed out of their lungs in one heavy whoosh of breath as they hit the floor. Eye hurts- quite a lot, actually, but that doesn't matter. Gotta push back up, gotta move away. Gotta press one hand over their face, good eye opening a little wider to make up for the one that's throbbing.]

Are you okay?

[The fall is harder when there's someone beneath to break it. It's harder because now there are bones and sharp angles and scrambling and they think they may or may not have jabbed the other child somewhere in the face in the process.]

[Handling them roughly. Sharply. The way they do everything.]

[Bruises are nothing new. Chara hisses out between clenched teeth. They've bitten their tongue on the way down; they can taste copper. Aches in their knees, on their ankles, like they jarred bones on the way down - breathing hard. Winded.]

I've had worse.

[Muttered darkly, between the throbbing in their knees.]

I should have known it'd never be that easy.

...Sorry.

[They stay on the ground, cupping their eye. Quiet and apologetic- maybe if they were taller, Chara wouldn't have to jump. They could've held them up properly, so they could climb right in. Or maybe if they'd been a little stronger, Chara would've steadied themself before making the leap.

They don't even have the pie on them. Nothing that could help with the scrapes and bruises Chara's obtained, all because their idea was...really silly.]

I'm sorry. That was stupid.

Don't be!

[Their smile has a sharpened edge to it, but it's directed outward - a cold glower at the door, at the vent, at escape routes that don't work. Circumventing the rules sounded like such a welcome change from the Deerington standard, and they'd nothing to lose by trying. Naturally, it would never be that simple.]

[It seldom is.]

Deerington does so love to keep us on rails.

[On rails, huh?

Sounds like somewhere else they know. Frisk sighs slowly, dropping their hand down. The edge of their eye is a bit red- they'll have a nice bruise there later, once the swelling's kicked in. It stings but- that's okay. Chara's words sting more.]

I won't fight you.

[Not, I can't. Not, I don't want to.

They won't. Even if there's no way out.

Or if Chara's changed their mind.]

[Hurt them. Not surprising. They're all jagged fragments and hard edges. They're as bladed as any knife, and tend to cut those who remain in close contact. Someone somewhere said something, once, about children being knives.]

[An apology is worth nothing. They could say sorry, they could say they didn't mean to, they could say anything they liked. It won't bandage a bruise and it won't make it so it never happened. So they don't. Remember it, instead. Commit it to memory: this is what you've done.]

[They'll remember that.]

[I won't fight you isn't an admission to a lack of skill. It might be - well, who knows, really? It's a refusal.]

So don't. There are more ways to fight than with fists or blades.

[It's fine, really. Chara got hurt too, so they're even. And... no one meant to get hurt, either. Or to hurt. They tilt their head at Chara's declaration, thinking it over. More ways to fight than with fists or blades...

...It's been a long time since they've heard a fight like that. It feels like a world ago. But if Chara thinks they should (or at least, they're suggesting it), maybe... there is something they can do.

Maybe.

Hopefully Chara gets it.]

....

What the eff did you just effing say about me, you little b?

[Yep. It's

fighting. See, they even raise their voice a little, to actual normal levels of conversation.]

...

[Give the kid some credit.]

[That's not what Chara meant, and certainly not what they expected. For the first time in a long, long while - maybe the first time since they ended up in this wretched place - someone manages to take Chara by surprise.]

That is the least inflammatory thing I have ever heard someone say.

[This is, technically, arguing back. It's not mere criticism. They didn't even swear aloud.]

[Well, they'd not mad.

They also don't seem to get it, but they're not mad. Which is all the encouragement Frisk needs to continue, puffing up a bit. Their words can so be inflammatory!

Whatever that is.]

I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, [A pause for breath. They're pretty obviously reciting, but they're putting...some energy into it. They even wave their hands for emphasis.]

and I have over 300 confirmed kills.

AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

BLOOD IN MY VEINS

I AM THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Character Arrival

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I cannot believe I fucked my white text and you just allowed that

in my defense it was late

smh

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