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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
y are we talking about lizardy brains?
what kind of secret code is that?
no subject
I don't know anything of the sort.
[okay. maybe this is harder in practice than it is on tv.]
You haven't seen [he looks around the room he's in, a little frantically. ah!] today's crossword?
I'm stuck.
I was lead to believe this network would have answers.
[humans always need help with crossword puzzles. nailed it. buzz, you're a genius.]
no subject
OHHHHHHH OK.
so 113 Across is LZTYBRN?
i think you might be missing some spaces. what's the clue?
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Vowels. My eternel nemesis.
[there's another long pause while he tries to make one up, seeing as the actual paper he'd got the idea from is in a danger zone and he can't go grab it. the real thing involved the word barn, soooo...]
"Old MacDonald surely had one."
I'm not familiar with the whole song.
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i suppose it would be too much to hope for for the answer to be EIEIO
but if it's Old MacDonald then it's probably an animal.
tho idk why he would have a lizard.
maybe BRN isn't brain, it's barn??
no subject
I believe he said that. Or... something. Not sure how the chorus works in the fiction of the song.
It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a lizard to be on a farm if it was in the right location, would it?
[like the wild west? snake in boots, and such.]
Looks like 'barn' is the right one. Doesn't explain the rest of it yet. Maybe it's something unique to this town.
[seeing as he's not managing to get them to disengage with boring crossword talk, next best thing is asking for more information. it's genuine. he is very confused, though carefully avoiding the word "lost."]
Surely you might know, as a resident?
no subject
but i guess if you were gonna find a lizard in a barn anywhere, it'd be Creepsville.
no subject
[wow, okay, mr-watched-one-single-nature-documentary-when-bonnie-fell-asleep-on-the-couch. calm down.
unwillingly, though? maybe she's a kid that came with her parents. typical moving story. what's the alternative, anyway? they're both in the same situation of having fallen out an RV, somehow, despite not actually being in it at the time of shifting? hah. funny! what a funny thing that would be.]
Being taken anywhere you don't want to go is unpleasant.
I find myself in the same situation.
Don't have enough money for a cab, either, as luck would have it.
[that sounds like a normal human thing to say, other than "i'm a living toy and am literally breaking a rule of reality if people see me move."]
no subject
even if you did, none of the Deerington cabbies would take you out of town.
they'd probably just try to kill you and eat your soul or whatever.
has anyone told you the prevailing theories yet?
no subject
I suspected that might be an issue.
[you know, what with being like eight inches tall.]
The lack of service, I mean. Not the soul-eating.
I've looked around and seen some of the more popular ones.
It's a little hard to believe, admittedly.
What are your thoughts on them?
[
even if he did get possessed by supernatural bad feelings in the toy story KH3 level i haven't played that so i don't get it forgive me]no subject
half the people here are fictional characters of some kind or another.
maybe more than half.
but they're not all from the same universe or even the same medium, so wherever we are, it's outside of all that.
no subject
They can't be fictional and real at the same time.
If this is a dream, [which he's far more willing to accept than reality. who doesn't have super realistic dreams that feel real, anyway? this certainly wouldn't be buzz's first time.] then maybe they're the people they are because that's who they're dreaming they are.
[in which case he wishes he could dream himself a step stool, because climbing around this room completely solo is starting to get friggin' annoying.]
no subject
have you ever heard of the multiverse?
no subject
No kidding... [he grumbles to himself. the reply comes a few minutes later:]
I've heard the phrase before, but only in fiction.
Comic books, mostly.
What is this, some huge TV show set up?
no subject
but you're on track with the comic book part.
so... every universe that exists in comic books, or tv or movies or whatever...
is real. somewhere.
would you believe me if i told you i came here from a comic book?
no subject
Which comic book?
no subject
does the name Marvel mean anything to you?
no subject
[woody or slinky would likely know, but neither of them are here, so. cool.]
How do you not know the specific comic book?
no subject
i think i was starring in my own book for a while, but then i joined up with a team so we probably had a separate title.
no subject
And knowing this... doesn't make you question yourself?
Reality?
[is she a toy??]
no subject
i was there on purpose!
no subject
[maybe a little acidic, but... look, he's only-- human? a toy of a human.]
no subject
this is like the butt end of the multiverse.
no subject
Well, on the bright side, I'd far rather be stuck with people who feel the same about our situation than with a load of others telling me my feelings on it are incorrect and baseless.
no subject
if you find a Sleeper who starts talking about how Creepsville's the shit, the best place to be in the whole world, then you know right away something's wrong with them. they've been drinking the cool-aid, or they're cursed or something.
[ Even though Gwen knows there are people here who don't want to go home, she doesn't accept that. Even being dead has got to be better than being in Deerington. ]
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