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

[ 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. ]

[ Leave it to Waverly to literally give her a play-by-play of everything that’s happened to bring her to this place, sitting right here, in this exact moment; Wynonna’s only half-listening, not because she doesn’t care about her sister’s story but because her head is still racing with the knowledge that Waves is here now, and there’s so much she has to tell her in turn.

But she can’t let Frank exit stage left without acknowledging the role he played in it too; her eyes meet his over the top of her sister’s head and she just mouths a thank you that doesn’t seem to fully encompass the gratitude she’s feeling in this moment — for being here, for helping Waverly, for clearly talking to her long enough to keep her from leaving — before turning her cheek to Waves’ hair with a small sigh. ]

Not sure how much of a rundown you already got from Mister Diner Man over there, but — it’s just me here, as far as I know. Well, just us, now.

[ And then she finally retreats, though she’s definitely not going to give up her seat on this side of the booth with Waverly, one arm slung across the back as she searches those familiar features. ]

Are you okay? I mean, as okay as you can be after being kidnapped by Dream Bambi, or whatever.

( She tries not to let it show that it hits hard, hearing the others aren’t here. To be without Doc and Dolls and Jeremy, to be without Nicole. It’s a fresh, painful sting on top of Rosita’s betrayal, and she’s not entirely successful in hiding it away. Waverly’s always been too much of an open book. )

Oh. Okay, well— we’re together now. I’m sorry you were here alone.

( Quieter, as she strokes her sister’s hair. Wynonna being stranded here by herself was even worse to think about. )

I’m fine. Still getting my head around everything.

[ It's not a situation she would wish on anyone from home, especially not the person sitting beside her right now; where she and Waverly have always differed is in their ability to thrive being so far removed from their loved ones.

Maybe it's because Wynonna spent so many years away from Purgatory, but she knows how to knuckle down and get through it, covering up any deeper emotions with her tendency to joke her way through it. Waverly's forever had a harder time hiding when something's weighing on her.

But she's not about to leave her sister's side now, not if she can help it, even if she does briefly divert to pluck up a fry from the plate in front of them. ]

Yeah, I know. Look, before I even say anything, I'm warning you now that this is going to sound crazy, but — I've been here for six months already. [ She's already bracing herself for the mild freakout. ]

No wait, that's part of the para— ( oh, there it goes, and so her voices becomes a lot more quiet, ) —pet.

( It's fine. Potato fortress was probably doomed, anyway. How could it survive the inevitable gravy moat? And she might even have said that out loud, except that Wynonna's saying things, and it's a significant thing. She has Waverly's total attention, and then Waverly thinks she might just have short-circuited. )

You wha huh?

( Hang on a moment, please. Let's try that sentence again. ) But! You were just— we were just in Purgatory. I mean you went off on your motorbike but you said you were coming back, and— and that definitely wasn't six months ago.

( She leans against the booth, but doesn't sit in it. ) Hohly crabcakes.

[ Sorry, Waves, but Wynonna was never very good at Jenga either; she never knew to grab from the middle rather than the top.

In the same sense, maybe she should've given her sister more of an advance warning before essentially pulling the rug out from underneath her, but she's always been more of a rip-the-Bandaid-off kind of gal and there's no sense in beating around the truth of how long she's personally been dealing with her own twisted, dream version of Mayberry. ]

That's the last thing you remember? [ Because that's definitely not the case for Wynonna herself; the last thing she remembers doing, before here, is playing hide-the-hose with Fireman Charlie, which isn't necessarily a bad way to go out if you're not necessarily planning on waking up on a whole new plane of existence. ]

Okay. That was — that was a while ago, for me. But I'm sure it's fine. I guess I've just got a few things to fill you in on. [ Like how about the fact that your dad was technically an angel, Waverly? Cool story, right? ]

What?

( No, hang on: what? Waverly's quiet for a few moments, just trying to— to process that, what it means, all the implications. ) We're from different points in our personal timelines? But— wow, this is something we need Jeremy for.

( Bless their nerd. Most of the knowledge she has about whatever that could mean for them in the long term is limited to things she's caught on television, and even in that arena Jeremy's knowledge would be way (way way way) beyond her own. Her hands rest on her lap, and she's not quite looking at her sister, gaze faraway as she tries to wrangle her thoughts, and try to ignore the fact that she really wishes Nicole was here. )

What do we do?

Yeah, tell me about it.

[ There have been plenty of instances already in which Wynonna's convinced she could've solved any problem here if she'd had a little nerd at her disposal, and that includes the one sitting next to her, but where Waverly is the one who could make a literary reference to almost anything in her sleep — even something written in a supposedly dead language — Jeremy is equally as likely to make a Star Wars mention as well as reference hit song "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega in the same breath. No wonder the two of them are basically, well, like the Wonder Twins. ]

Hey. [ She reaches down to cover both of Waverly's hands with her own, fingers curving around the familiar pair — and God, she shouldn't be so comforted by the fact that her sister is here, but she's done the whole away-from-family deal once before and she really doesn't want to go through it again. ]

We'll figure it out, okay? I mean, if there's one thing we Earps are good at, it's faking it 'til we make it, right?

( Her gaze moves to Wynonna's hands taking hers, and she manages a little smile, fingers gently catching Wynonna's own. )

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think sniffing out the nearest donut stand is a close second, but I'll accept faking it as our major skill.

( A brief moment of pause, as she realises the unfortunate implications of her phrasing (RIP Champ) and she tilts her head just a little bit. )

And uh, hey. What's with Frank? He seemed kinda familiar. ( If you catch her drift. Shameless shoulder bump, a-yes. )

👀

Well, once we’re done here, remind me to introduce you to a little place called Jane Dough. It’s exactly what it sounds like.

[ And look, hopefully anyone who may or may not be happening to be listening right about now will interpret that faking it comment in any other way than it was intended; she definitely hasn’t had that problem recently, wink wink nudge.

Uh, but speaking of, Wynonna finds herself on the receiving end of a meaningful sister jostling and her first impulse is to knit her eyebrows together, a soft scoffing sound preceding her actual words. ]

He’s — we’re — well, yeah, we know each other. [ Know-what-the-other-looks-like-naked department, more like. ] He showed up here right around the same time I did, so. It was a real bonding experience and all that.

[ Goddamn it, Waverly, you’re going to make her come out and say it, aren’t you? ] We’re together, okay? Like — together-together.

It sounds like an unidentified murder victim. Everything about this place really is creepy.

( A little tilt of the head, and she quietly acknowledges, ) Pretty good pun, though. Especially if the donuts are shaped like little people.

( — Maybe that was too dark. Okay, let's focus on Wynonna, and Wynonna and Frank. Her gaze flickers towards him, and then back to her sister as she talks, before she really starts to think about what her sister's saying, how she's holding herself and the tone of her voice shifts. And then she says it, and Waverly's smile brightens like the morning sun emerging from a cloudy sky. )

Seriously? ( Okay, hugs first, hugs first more questions later. ) Wynonna—

( It's kinda bittersweet, actually. Getting to see Wynonna be together-together with someone after the complexities with Doc and Dolls that made that kind of thing keep slipping through Wynonna's grasp back home - that was so great and so important and something her sister deserves so much, and there's this part of her that's just a little bummed that she didn't get to be there and see it happen. Her arms are still wrapped around her, and she props her chin on her sister's shoulder. ) You know this means I need to threaten him at least once though, right?

( ALSO SHE FRICKIN KNEW IT YEAH GO TEAM WAVERLY IS ALWAYS RIGHT )

Okay, yeah, unfortunate murder associations aside, the muffins are really good. Just saying.

[ She doesn't really know what to expect when she finally just out and admits that she and Frank are a thing; her track record with dating has been disastrous, terrible and flat-out nonexistent — and not necessarily in that order. But Waverly making a high-pitched noise that probably only dogs can hear before launching herself in for a hug is not high on Wynonna's list of predicted responses, and she finds herself blinking a couple times in a light daze while her own arms drop to return the hug on autopilot. What is she gonna do, not hug Waverly back? That's crazy. ]

Well, obviously it wouldn't be right if we didn't mildly imply loss of limbs towards a sister's S.O., so.

[ How many times has she vaguely threatened to break Nicole's fingers if she broke Waverly's heart? Actually, some of those instances were probably a lot more direct.

But she sighs, turning her cheek against the top of Waverly's head, and lets that soft admission slip out on the heels of her exhale. ] I've missed you so much, angelface.

( It does make the thought of buying a jelly-filled donut a little bleak, though.

There's a very quiet breath of laughter. ) Yeah, except you don't threaten Nicole anymore.

( A moment of pause. She doesn't, right? There's not really a chance to get into that, or insist she not (fruitless as that insistence might be given the present circumstances) or even to point to her eyes and point to Frank in an ineffectively dramatic way. What Wynonna says next sort of outdoes any possible significance talking about that, or even quizzing her about whether Frank is a suitable gentleman of adequate means. )

You can't have missed me that much. Sounds like you've been busy. ( Meeting Frank, and all. Wink.

Okay, but aside from that, now she's done. Waverly sighs as well, though her's is a little different from her sister's, and she hugs Wynonna tighter. ) I wish I'd known you were here. I wish— I wish we could've done something.

AUGUST 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

BLOOD IN MY VEINS

I AM THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Character Arrival

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