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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.
no subject
He's clearly not operating on a level to do that, so that's something. A small something, next to the giant liability that he is. God only knows what could be in this maze with them. That it could be Kings-sanctioned scare tactics is the best option and still not reassuring.
When her slack-jawed tweaker friend only gawks like she just sang the alphabet backwards, she grimaces, praying people's inherent fear of black lipstick inspires some sort of compliance if urgency doesn't, and plants a hand on his chest, pushing him backward into the corner where the two hedge walls meet. Oh yes, she can do that, and she will do that. Right now their asses are literally on the same line.
She'll do more than listen, she's going to peak around the corner and see there is to see, but he needs to stay put. She puts a finger to his lips. Be quiet, she mouths wordlessly, each word exaggerated for his sake, before lifting her eyebrows. Got it?]
no subject
But heavy eyes and black lips? He's not afraid of what people look like. She has to be around his age, and there's goth kids in Utah, too. Ironically, she sort of feels like the most familiar, normal piece of any of this, simply because she is around his age and she very easily could be one of the teens walking around his own school. It's not something he's consciously aware of, but his body acts on it regardless, not flinching or looking frightened of her even when those cat eyes seem to glare at him. Not even when she pushes him backwards.
He does look startled, but it's because he's caught off-guard, and despite his larger stature, is very easily manipulated back into the corner before he could even form a plan to stubbornly lock himself in place. Peter stands there quietly as instructed, mouth hanging open -- seemingly obedient...?
Though when she peaks around that corner, he shuffles forwards a bit, leaning to look, too. He's standing sort of behind her at that point, so he can see over her head.
There's the sound of a footstep, not too far away. From behind a hedge or two, maybe. Then another. Something is clearly walking, though it's difficult to tell if it's towards or away from their location. Peter's free arm moves up quickly, and he grabs the girl's shoulder from behind. ]
I think it's someone after me.
[ He whispers it as quietly as possible, one of the first coherent sentences he's really managed. It's his immediate assumption, one that has him suddenly shuddering uncontrollably as though it's freezing here, despite the fact it's actually uncomfortably hot in this maze from hell.
It has to be one of them. Those... people, the ones who were coming for him. There's a sound in his throat like a choke -- frightened. ]
no subject
[Hissed over her shoulder, she rolls her eyes out of reflexive frustration when she feels him follow her to the mouth of the entryway where she's pressed herself flat, undoing her work positioning him at a safe distance. It's a good thing silencing the chain had been one of her first priorities; she holds it loosely in her hand to stop it from clinking.
Putting out her forearm like a block, she's trying to nudge him back with it even as he does the opposite and nudges forward, and she's about to upgrade to a more encouraging elbow jab to shake him off when he speaks, his voice that of a stranger for how little she's heard it this entire time. She feels his shaking like an electrical charge passing through his body into hers by the hand on her shoulder.
Clearly he's scared of one thing.]
Who?
[That earns her attention; she turns partly back toward him, barely speaking above a breath. Far be it for her to question why someone would be after a kid. The cartel after Maria, dog-humping hillbillies after Marcus... If they're trapped with any of her problems, they're screwed.
Shit, he needs to keep it together. Reaching around, she takes the arm belonging to the hand on her shoulder. She squeezes it, hoping to ground him in the facts, not the fear. For both their sakes.]
Lucky for you, I'm not about to be jumped in some shitty hedge maze, so neither are you.
no subject
It's not a question he entirely knows how to answer. He'd been thinking he was seeing strange things, strange people, for awhile now, but he could never be sure it was real, not even when one of them had confronted him, shouting, almost desperate in her passion --
Expel Peter
Another shudder ripples down his spine, this one without warning and violent, practically a convulsion that has his shoulders scrunching up and his back arching inwards as it works down through him, chest bumping slightly against the girl in the process. His breath is also an involuntary shudder, the sensation unpleasant and uncontrollable, a slow hiss that preludes his next words. ]
I don't know.
[ Helpful. But he really doesn't. There's no way to... explain it, what he'd seen, what he'd felt in that attic.
He lets go of her shoulder then when she squeezes his arm, but keeps it there in her grasp, not pulling away. It feels real, the squeeze. It is real.
This is real. ]
I mean, I'm--I'm not sure who. [ He at least tries to further explain. ] People I don't know. They're just after me for some reason. They want me. [ It's probably the most he's said since he woke up here, and it's borderline rambly with how choppy the sentences are, but the more he speaks, the more remembers how, even if his throat burns and makes his nose burn in turn.
At her words, he pauses, and what's whispered next is meant as a warning. The footsteps nearby sounded like one person, but even so... ]
There were a lot of them. They could all be here now.
no subject
And plenty of that same volatile student body would love to get this close just to shiv her, if they could. That damn school's bred paranoia in her. A dozen less than kind thoughts spiral through her as she resists the urge to get distance from him: is he being upfront? What's his angle? Is he a threat? A victim? Another part of the game?
But surely no one's this good of an actor. His visceral trembling is too raw and jerky to be faked.]
Hey. Hey. Listen.
[She switches her hold to his upper arm, her other hand taking his shoulder, still with their demented umbilical cord wrapped in her fist. As if the frame of her arms can bracket him in place and loan him some steadiness. She makes sure she has his gaze, holding it so she can look into his face and he into hers.]
You need to keep your shit together, you hear me? [The smallest shake of his torso to match the emphasis in her tone.] You cannot lose it right now. What matter is unless they have a fucking periscope, they can't see us any more than we can see them. We can use that, but only if we stay smart. Okay?
no subject
He's just staring at the girl, his expression no doubt making it difficult to tell whether he's really registering what she's saying or not. He's stopped trembling, stopped doing anything, abnormally still and quiet. Just watching her, eyes dark. But not murky.
They're clear, perhaps unnervingly so, considering how out of it he's been up until now. They see her. ]
Y-yeah. Okay.
[ There's a slight movement of his head forwards, the hint of a nod. ]
Stay smart. Okay. [ He repeats the words under his breath, seemingly calm for a few moments. At least it doesn't seem like he's about to start screaming and bolt off... hopefully.
...And then, an odd question out of nowhere, because Peter's really only just now grasping that she's there: ]
Who are you?
no subject
It feels like it takes ages standing there in the oppressive heat and quiet for his train of thought to go clickety-clack along the mental tracks. She holds her breath, not daring to her apprehension show for risk of giving him another excuse to go catatonic on her. But to her relief he seems to focus somewhat, awareness cutting through the glassy haze.
She nods along, underscoring his understanding. She's not much for religion these days--but please, god, let him understand. And for this to not be some elaborate set-up that's going to screw her.]
Petra. Which you'd know if you'd pull your head out of the stratosphere. Just do what I tell you, okay?
[I'll figure this out, she wants to add, but she fears it coming out without confidence.]
no subject
The name is unfamiliar as well. He's truly never met this girl before, and yet they're tethered together now. The absurdity of it really starts sinking in, and paradoxically, it's the fact it's so unbelievable that has the young man finally standing back on Earth, grounded. (For however long that lasts, anyway). ]
I'm Peter.
[ Maybe he's already told her that. Apparently she's shared pieces of information with him before now that he can't recall, so it's plausible that he'd forget telling her his name, too. As he says it, he watches her face more carefully to see if there's any recognition there. Whomever the people are that are after him know his name. They've been following him, approaching him, calling it back to him like they know who he is underneath the name.
So he has to ask, because there's a small part of him still clinging to the notion that she's an enemy by default, and yet already Peter's relinquishing his trust to this unfamiliar girl chained to him. Agreeing to do what she says. He just has to check, like a child almost, voice small and worried. ]
...Have you heard of me?
no subject
The brooding queen of the damned look certainly helps deflect, too. She delivers a blank stare from beneath lids painted a purple so dark it's almost black in the shadows of the hedge wall.]
Don't take this the wrong way, but until this chain comes off or you provide a conclusive reason for the bondage play, I don't care. Now shhh.
[The footsteps have passed by, or so it would seem. She leans close to the corner again, ear cocked, listening. The rhythmic, heavy steps of someone of considerable heft are already fading down another branch of the maze.
This is the first step up she's had in ages. They have the advantage if they can fall in behind any undesirables.]
no subject
He doesn't verbally reply but he's nodding, giving a soft breath that was pent up just moments before. She doesn't know him. She's not one of them.
And he does stay shhhed, obediently, though there's the softest clank of the chain as he leans in close once again behind her, tilting his own ear close to the hedge... over her head. The footsteps have faded away. That's good, but he still wants to put as much distance between them and the direction those things are going in.
His method to try to convey this to her is to tap her very slowly on the shoulder and then point at the row going in the opposite direction from where the heavy footsteps passed them by. Maybe... that could be the way they came from? Maybe if they head back that way, they'll be able to get out.
Though then again, maybe they're only allowed out if they keep going "forwards", find the exit. ...But Peter's not thinking about that. ]
no subject
She's pitched her tent in the second camp. Unless his identity will keep her life out of danger, he can keep his business to himself, and she'll do the same. If that brings him any kind of relief, she can only hope it pays off in the form of him listening better.
So far? He's not great at it. Tapping her shoulder will require an awkward stretch on his part, as the first thing she does when she feels him hovering again is jam her palm under his chin and push him away.
She follows up with a foreboding look. Stop it. And then a shake of her head. No, if they go back the way they'd come that only puts them further from either entrance or exit. The only way to beat a labyrinth is to solve it.]