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Sodder ([personal profile] sodder) wrote in [community profile] soddersays2019-08-25 12:00 am
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SEPTEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME




SEPTEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME









Welcome to September's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: CHAOS.

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: Torture (emotional and possibly physical), claustrophobia, potential weapon violence (guns, knives, spears, flamethrowers, etc.), possible body horror, emotional manipulation, emojis
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!











DICE BLOCK


In case everyone hasn't had enough fun and games to last a life time in the good old town of Deerington, apparently this month brings you one more. Maybe you were just walking through the door to get into your own house, or maybe you were leaving from work — the moment you walk through any door, you'll find that it doesn't open up to the place you were looking for. Instead, you find yourself standing on a giant game board and you seem to be right on the start space. The doors already disappeared behind you, don't bother trying to run back. The only exit is at the end and you'll have to hope you make it there.

But you aren't alone! With you are other unfortunate souls who hopefully weren't just looking for a quick bathroom break. Some of them might look a little worse for wear. What happened? Well, looks like you may have to ask later, because you'll only really have time to exchange names if you don't already know one another before a large screen you didn't notice was hanging from the ceiling will light up. There's a giant image of a typical six-sided game die that's completely stationary. For the moment. Shortly after, a voice will come on over the speakers, echoing in the otherwise fairly empty room. It's overly cheerful, grating, and giggles at the end of every sentence.

Welcome, players! Is this your first time? Yes? Great!
Would you like to hear the rules?
Okay!
Each player will take a turn rolling their die.
You can then move the number of spaces shown — but only those spaces!
You can move forward, backward, right, and left, but not diagonally!
Each space will have a symbol.
The spaces with a clover are lucky spaces! Congratulations! You'll gain some fortune, whether it's an extra turn, moving ahead more spaces, or gaining an important item you can take with you on your journey!
The spaces with the skull are unlucky spaces! Boooooo, that's too bad! You'll befall some grave misfortune here. Hopefully it won't set you back too badly! Make sure to avoid these at all costs!
The spaces with a chest are item spaces! Here you'll be able to win prizes, like medical supplies or weapons! Maybe even a small something from home! Wouldn't that be nice?
Your goal is to make it to the end alive! Good luck! And remember to have lots of fun!


The first player's name will pop up on the screen, before the die will begin to randomly blink between numbers. Eventually it will land on a number. Once the player moves forward and lands on their space, it will repeat for the second player. This will go on until one (or both players) reach the end!

When they said to make sure to not land on an unlucky space, they certainly weren't kidding. Each one seems to come with some sort of random punishment or horror; it can be as light as having to move back a few spaces or go back to the start, or as heavy as breaking a random bone or feeling a blade slice open your skin. Maybe you'll start to slowly turn into a monster or become filled with the desire to kill your opponent. Anything can happen, but it's always going to be bad.

Players who reach the end will be able to go through the door and end up back wherever it was they were intending to go in the first place. Players who lose? Well... It's back to the beginning for you. Time to wait for the next player. Better luck next time.


DANCE DANCE


But what's behind door number two! People are going to start to get tired of walking around in their own houses at this rate. Even if you managed to escape the board game horrors, this new room you've found yourself in doesn't seem much better. In the center is a large TV screen and on the floor in front of it are two pads with arrows pointing in four directions; up, down, left, and right. Anyone who is familiar with Dance Dance Revolution might feel right at home! But fear not, there are instructions on the screen for you to follow if you need them.

Two players only, and you'll have to work together! It's a team dance and you'll want to encourage each other to stay perfectly in sync. The doors won't open until you finish, and should you mess up? Well, look up, friend!

The ceiling is covered in sharp, painful looking spikes and every time someone misses a beat or steps on the wrong arrow, the ceiling will drop down a foot. It's pretty high up there, but miss more than three arrows and you're gonna start to really feel the pressure. The spikes are looking a lot bigger and more ominous than they did when they were all the way at the top. Hopefully you've got some good rhythm.

But this is a good lesson in teamwork! Even the worst dancers might be able to get out of here okay if they've got someone who they can work together with. Maybe their perfect scores will make up for your two left feet. You can only hope you're both so lucky.


THAT'S NOT A "MEH" FACE!



Everyone loves to get a text, don't they? Of course they do! Which is why someone has been kind enough to send out a little special something to everyone's Fluid's this month! There's no name you recognize — in fact, it doesn't even look like a name is attached at all. The sender's identification only looks like this: 🥳

The message you've gotten is pretty simple though! Each person has received a text message with one emoji inside. No rhyme or reason applied! That's... random, isn't it? You can try to text back, but no one will answer, and so you might as well just close your device and forget about it.

Every person who received a text will find that their personality starts to shift. They begin to take on some aspect that's tied to the emoji they received. Did you get a simple smiley face? You're happy and relaxed for the time being! Or maybe a silly face will lead you to become more of a prankster. An eggplant could have someone feeling like sexting a Special Someone. An angry face might get you really riled up, even towards people you love. Did you get a knife? Time to start stabbing. A gun? Those people around you look like really good target practice...

The options are endless. Each emojis effects will last for twenty-four hours or until another emoji is sent from the same user.



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.
wiseass: (pic#12644563)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-08-29 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
Yikes. I thought you looked nerdier than usual.

[Claire pockets what's left of her tools and shuffles both of her fists into her leather jacket with some awkwardness. She's not from 2008. She's from almost a decade past that, but he's responding like this isn't news- and it sure as hell, is new to her.]

Not so much. Try 2017 ... I met you in 2008, but I was 12, so - you didn't miss much. Just interim vessel nonsense and my dad almost dying. I guess you haven't made it to that scenario yet.

[There's no sense in punishing him for it, but she owes Sam her life, he's the one who came and inspired the hunt to save her ass after the werewolf incident, and he's always had her back when it came to her choice versus the whole attitude that she was somehow still some invalid little girl. Of the two Winchester brothers she was closer to him by far, just in terms of real vulnerability, she extends an outspread palm.]

I'm Claire. Novak. Castiel is... well, he's in my dad's body or what used to be his body - for the sake of summarizing.
fathertoson: (pic#13232579)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-08-29 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ Years of practice have given Sam a lot of skill at reading people, and he's definitely getting the impression that this means a lot more to her than she might be willing to let on. Not just some casual acquaintance then, but someone who's known him for a while - and the math checks out. Is it weird that he met her as a kid, but now she's not that much younger than him? Probably, but without having that memory all he does have to go on is the young woman in front of him. Definitely young, but definitely not a kid either. She's glossing over the events, so he can only guess at how deeply they must have impacted her.

Someone else whose life was turned completely upside down via supernatural intervention. It's a story he has plenty of sympathy for, even though his own was through influence of a more demonic kind. He's starting to realize that one side can be just as bad as the other, and neither one seems to care much about the humans caught in the middle.

He does nod with understanding once Castiel enters the equation. He always knew that Cas was using some guy's body - a devout man, apparently - but he hadn't put much thought into exactly what kind of life he'd been living up to the point where he became the vessel for an angel. If Claire was twelve, and that's when Cas came swooping in...

Damn. Yeah, he would have effectively torn that family apart. Of course he wouldn't have thought to even give them a decent explanation, he wouldn't even have been able to understand what kind of impact that would have.

No wonder she's guarded. ]


So I guess that would put you right around when Jack comes into the picture.

[ Yeah, he's been through this before a couple of times. ]

If you want, we can go back to the house and talk there. There isn't much out here in town lately, not since the incoming supplies were cut off.
wiseass: (pic#11615492)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-08-29 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[Guarded went with the territory, and so did glossing over the long and painful story of how her life had gone since her dad left the picture. First her dad, then her mom, and from there it only got worse. Wrapping Sam into all that now when he hasn't experienced it or even received the story second-hand from Dean wasn't fair to either of them.

A warm bed, some warm food, and a nightcap stolen from their liquor cabinet sound a lot better than hoofing it on the street like she had been. After the games of life or death, sleeping somewhere without having to stay armed is an added benefit.]


I hate to break it to you, but I don't know a Jack - so maybe that's where I'm missing time.
fathertoson: (pic#13232615)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-08-31 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe you two just missed each other. Dean definitely would have met you though. He's about five years ahead of me.

[ He'll start walking, expecting that she'll keep up with him. He wouldn't have left her out here on the street even if she wasn't actually one of their own, obviously, though he's not sure if she would have taken a chance on a stranger. He's kind of learning how to deal with it, but he doesn't think he'll ever get used to someone he's never met treating him like this - it's strange, in a good way, that they trust him. As if it never crossed their mind that he could be anything except... well, himself. Just younger.

No one's questioned his state of mind. No one's accused him of being a freak. It's good, he just never exactly feels like he deserves it. Or at least that he's got to earn these things even when they're offered freely. ]


We've kind of got a ragtag group assembled here, but I guess you're used to that, right?

[ It seems like the kind of thing that's never going to change. ]
wiseass: (pic#12644563)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-05 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
If he's five years ahead of you, then he definitely knows of me. How much we've been through together might be a little different.

[It's weird to be so far behind everyone else, and she feels small by comparison with their history not matching up. They've been through hell and back. She's almost died, more than once, and Sam had been the reason she made it through last time. His dedication really helped her stay dedicated to them, to hunting, to being true to who she became after breaking herself to get there.]

Some assembly required's all I know anymore. So, yeah. Lead the way. Unless you've got a ride, I'm tired of hoofing it.
Edited 2019-09-09 09:40 (UTC)
fathertoson: (pic#13232665)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-09-09 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
With the shortage of supplies lately it's been hard to get gas too, so we've been doing a lot of walking, sorry. I could probably carry you piggy-back, if you don't think you can make it.

[ He's teasing, not that he wouldn't actually do it either. It's a little weird to offer to someone who is essentially a stranger to him, but on the other hand thanks to Jack and Dean he's getting used to adopting in estranged family, even if he doesn't remember them. There's always the chance that they're not who they say they are, true, but that kind of subterfuge wouldn't last long here - and if anyone wanted to get him alone to take a shot at him, well, it's not like they wouldn't have plenty of opportunities. Plus he figures they wouldn't introduce themselves first.

Claire already reminds him a lot of... well, them. Dean got into trouble more than once for stealing, always things they needed, or thought they needed, when they were kids. He recognizes that same tough exterior, the attitude, but he's also seen something else in the moments of surprise when she looked at him. She's still young, not a kid anymore, but definitely younger. ]


At least we have a 'base of operations' here, sorta. It's not as good as the bunker everyone else is used to, but it's better than a motel room.
wiseass: (pic#12644551)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-09 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's not his fault that he doesn't remember but every single person that could have, doesn't and Dean's not going to really know the truth of it either. Claire stays focused on her boots, kicking rocks into bigger piles of rocks, biting her lips taut to prevent herself from saying something she might regret. They're all still strangers, essentially.

The brief mention of a piggy-back ride only slightly turns the corners of her lips when everything else is still incredulous, it's getting harder to hold it together and she's liable to bust wide open.]


Maybe I shouldn't go back ... with you. I really don't want to explain myself again and again and, I get it but you didn't live it. So whatever loyalty you're doing this out of right now is misplaced and misguided and I just I've been through way too much here specifically, to layer on more discomfort.

[Hunters definitely don't cry but she has to take a minute, to really rationalize it all. Jody wasn't around, there was nothing keeping her here and with all three of them not being on the same page it's got her head swimming.

Claire pulls out the one weapon she'd been keeping close to the chest, but she knows even gangly and younger Sam's got more skill in his pinky finger. The concealed weapon gets pulled out from the deep canvas precipice of her layered clothing system which was pretty damn functional when it came to shit constantly grabbing at you.

The blade isn't significant to anyone that doesn't understand it, but there's no mistaking what it is. Triangular, shining like a damn prism between them. Capable of killing almost anything- as far as they knew.]


Uh, here. I still have a handgun, and the kit knife you saw earlier. Let's call it even. I appreciate ... everything. But I can't do this.
fathertoson: (pic#13232639)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-09-09 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yeah, he's been through this before. With Jack, he didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't used to making it on his own, and he missed his family enough, Sam thinks, to give this younger, unfamiliar one a chance even though he probably had very low expectations of how he would be received by some. It's obvious that Claire's used to doing things on her own, for how long he's not sure, but she's got some experience to shore up the vulnerabilities, to shut the world out rather than be let down again. It doesn't take any particular knowledge about the future to know that she was essentially abandoned by her father, and Sam would take a wild guess and say that her mother probably wasn't able to pick up that slack. Her family was torn apart, by forces she couldn't have possibly understood, when she was just a kid.

He can sympathize. He really can.

He knows exactly what the angel blade is, and just how powerful those are. It would be something he could use, he's actually been trying to procure one himself since the demon knife isn't as effective on things that aren't demons, but he gently pushes it back toward her. Gentle but insistent. ]


You're gonna need that here.

[ They need everything they can get their hands on. ]

Look, if you don't wanna answer questions, that's fine. I know it's a lot, we're all just kinda taking this one day at a time, but doing this together is a hell of a lot better than trying to make it alone.

[ The last thing he wants is for her to wander around out here alone, no matter how well armed and capable she might be, especially when she's one of theirs. It doesn't matter that she's from the future, most people are for him. Just like he told Jack, family is family, whatever year or universe they come from. ]

At least come over for dinner? No one will make you stay if you don't want to.
wiseass: (pic#12637794)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-09 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[Her mother was also killed by an angel, but before that, she had come to the conclusion that at least abandonment put the cards in your hand, on your damn table. She had all the moves. She couldn't afford to lose it.

It was the same bravado Dean sported, perfect by probably every hunter that had ever had to pick up the slack.]


Sam.

[It only takes Claire a minute to realize she's white-knuckling the damn blade that she's holding out. She's hungry, any color from her skin left a long time ago. After the dance machine, and raiding the rooms.]

I'm not a stray cat. What do you think's gonna happen? There might be strength in numbers but not even Castiel remembers. Yeah - I'll come, because I know exactly how weak I am right now but this won't work. It's not going to work.
fathertoson: (pic#13232643)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-09-10 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
Of course you're not a stray cat. But usually you treat a stray hunter more or less the same.

[ He's trying to lighten the mood a little, he almost got a smile out of her with the piggy back comment.

She might be insistent, but Sam's at least equally determined. He won't take anything from her. It's bad enough that he can run himself ragged and still not be able to protect everyone he cares about here, the more equipped they are to take care of themselves, the better off they'll be. And whether or not Claire wants to accept it, the fact that she's one of theirs means that he cares, even if he's just met her. ]


We'll see. Like I said, we're making things up as we go.

[ One step at a time. Hopefully she'll feel better once she's had a chance to clean up and eat. ]
wiseass: (pic#12637794)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-11 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[If he isn't going to take the angel-blade she's not about to force him. It slides right back into the loop in her belt but she's still guarded, casually taking in little notes about the shit they're walking past on the way to wherever he's taking her. She can do a whole lot with landmarks, even in a foreign environment. Surveillance was probably her best asset at this point, but she passed muster in fights too.]

That only works like 40% of the time for you guys. The rest of the time the calvary has to show. Sorry to... burst that bubble.

[The literal cavalry, the holy calvary, every kind of back up possible. She's been stuck with them in some sense long enough to know.]

Do you know Jody, yet? Mills?
fathertoson: (pic#13232659)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-09-12 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I know how it goes.

[ It's been his whole life, after all. He knows that no matter how much backup they do or don't have, things tend to go sideways. There's always too many losses. No one really knows how they keep stumbling on, not even them most days, but somehow they keep going. He couldn't blame anyone else who happens to be watching it all play out for thinking that they're just a permanent mess.

It's no different here.

He jams his hands awkwardly into his pockets, glad that she's decided at least to give this a chance, but wishing he had something more to give her here. Wishing not for the first time that he was the Sam that anyone here really knows. That they wish he was. ]


Sorry, not ringing any bells. Who is she?
wiseass: (pic#13446493)

this bomb i am so sorry

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-12 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
The way Iheard it, she met you guys through Bobby, they had some uh- mutual history.

[If he doesn't know Jody, he definitely doesn't know that Bobby is dead. Has no idea that he had to help her put to down her own kid when Death showed up. It's a little much, and despite it all she's sure he'd rather know than not.]

You don't know a lot, and I feel responsible to fill in the blanks but they're ugly and none of it's really positive so I'm not sure which lane to stay in.
fathertoson: (pic#13159676)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-09-13 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That kind of makes it sound like she's an old girlfriend, but then again, Bobby knows a lot of people. A lot of hunters, particularly, and if that's how they met, it seems pretty safe to assume that she's either in the same business, or is closely related to it. It's not like he needed another reason to believe her, but name-dropping Bobby would have convinced him.

Worrying about people actually being demons isn't much of a concern these days. A demon wouldn't have tried to give him an angel blade. And honestly, he would know. His current situation with demon blood plus the wolf inclinations have left him with sometimes uncomfortably keen senses.

He brushes those thoughts aside and shrugs. ]


I've heard enough.

[ He's just... not entirely convinced that it's his future too. That he can't change anything about it, especially knowing what he knows now. Maybe he just doesn't want to. ]

If there's something you wanna talk about, we can talk, but you don't have to give me a play by play.
wiseass: (pic#13446490)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-14 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
That's a relief. From what I've seen you and Dean do the whole back and forth lying to each other until one or both of you snap so ... I was just kind of wondering how to prevent that with us.

[They walk for a while, sometimes silent and reflect, sometimes making that unnecessary uncomfortable commentary but either way Claire is happy to see Sam, happy to be near him. Something real and there, and clearly on her side. He'd saved her life more than once and she trusted him with everything.]
fathertoson: (pic#13159638)

[personal profile] fathertoson 2019-09-14 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ... Yeah, she's not wrong. The fact that it's obviously a continuing trend going forward isn't unexpected, and yet Sam's obviously not happy to hear it. It's different back home, with a brother who gives him these looks, who doesn't trust him, who's... just waiting for a reason to call him a monster, it felt like. Considering what he knows now, it's hard to argue. Things might be a lot different here, but he's still got to go back to all that.

He can't just forget all this, can he? And go back to making one mistake after another down that slippery slope. ]


Lying about something is just asking for this place to shove it in your face sooner or later, apparently.

[ But there's always something, isn't there?

He shakes his head a little as he turns to walk up the steps toward one of several townhouses on the street. From the outside it doesn't look any different from the others. ]


Dean's been through this before. Being dragged off to another place like this, I mean. It's new for me and Jack.
wiseass: (pic#13446428)

[personal profile] wiseass 2019-09-14 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
How tough for you. Considering we all lie professionally.

[Yeah, she was a hunter. Against better judgment and pleas from both Dean and Jody. It's the only time she ever felt she belonged, which should give her more insight to her mental stability but honestly, there's no helping it.]

You mean, me, you and Jack. Whoever he is.