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soddersays2019-08-25 12:00 am
sodder) wrote in 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.
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.
You love me :)
Person, she just wants pets!!!
Her scratching stops though as there's a quieter voice that can be heard. Like someone was yelling from afar.]
Helga. Helga, where are you now?
[She barks some more in response. Theseus is most definitely not alone.]
false
...Maybe he's been thinking about this the wrong way. Maybe his kidnapper has only saved him-- but why take his wand away?
But before Theseus can contemplate that further, he hears a voice-- a voice that's so familiar, that even from a distance and with the quiet undertone to it, the Auror recognizes it almost immediately. Maybe it's a trap, but if by any small chance that it's not, he can't just stand here for long.
Squaring his shoulders, he opens the door, not fully, but enough for the husky to probably push through...]
you brokoro my kokoro
The voice is a little louder this time. It's still far away enough that whoever it belongs to hasn't ventured up to the second floor at any capacity.]
Helga? Is someone up there?
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The fact that Theseus is petting a dog at all and not dealing with something truly dangerous releases a lot of the tension that the wizard's been holding. Sure, he's still certainly worried about his dream and where he's at, but he's slowly getting the feeling that he might actually be in safe hands. Well, as safe as anyone can be with his brother around and his beasts.
Because Theseus is 100% sure that they're around here, somewhere.
Although... the way Newt is calling out from a different room is also strange. It sounds like he doesn't know that Theseus is here. How is that possible?? Well, there's only one way to find out and he's not hesitant about this.]
No one is absolutely up here, Newton! [Theseus shouts as he continues to give Helga all the pets she deserves. Which. Is a lot.]
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And then it's really quite silent for a moment. If Theseus wasn't sure that Newt didn't know the other was up there, he certainly can figure that Newt really had no idea the other was up there.
It's quiet before the other can hear the quick steps of someone quickly climbing the stairs up as though they were in a hurry. The Newt that comes into view and standing before him is probably not at all how he had last seen Newt. Newt's arm is in some haphazardly made sling and he looks fairly ragged. He's completely quiet as he looks at the other before him.
Newt looks like he's staring at a ghost.] T-Theseus.
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He enjoys it, even when Helga starts licking his hands and his face-- okay that not so much.]
Oh-- not the face.
[It's too late for that.
Not that Theseus has much time to complain, however, as he hears the footsteps of his approaching brother. The Auror looks up with a small smile-- that instantly weakens when he sees the state Newt is in. Concern is expressed explicitly through his eyes as he slowly stands up, although he doesn't yet walk his way towards him.]
Newt-- what happened to you? [His focus shifts from Newt's arm to his face, not hiding how worried he is.] Who did this? Tell me.
[What's going on? He just saw Newt not long ago and he definitely wasn't hurt.]
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He doesn't answer Theseus but just starts sobbing on the other. Really, he should be more put together than this, but it's been a rather awful last few months and he has been so homesick.
Seeing Theseus won't automatically get rid of his regrets or guilt about things back home, but seeing the other was honestly nice. Well, he isn't too happy at the idea of his brother in this place, but it's been months since he had seen his brother.
So, Theseus now just has a sobbing man clinging to him.
Like the straw that broke the camel's back, Newt has been burying most of his feelings away and now it's coming out like a dam breaking.]
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But this time, Newt needs him.
He carefully wraps both of his arms around Newt, mindful of his injury, but keeps him in a close hug with no intention of letting him go. Theseus isn't sure what's happened or what's really going on still, but all of those thoughts are pushed to the back of his mind as he lets Newt break down against him. Those things can wait, right now he wants to be here for his brother in any way he can.]
I'm here now. I got you.
[Newt's strong, stronger than how he appears most of the time, so Theseus feels his heart clench at the thought of something breaking him down like this. He's just glad that he's now here to help him. Newt won't be alone.]
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Honestly speaking, but I rather you not be here. [Not because he doesn't want Theseus around. Far from it, but-] This place isn't exactly what I would call a smashing fine time.
[Of course there isn't anything that can be done now that the other is here. Which is to say, if the other was here then...] Come. We should head downstairs. Best to get you acclimated while you're here, after all. [Newt idly realizes that getting the other up to speed was going to be somewhat of an ordeal. Maybe he'll avoid talking at length about everything that has happened. Maybe it's better that way.]
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Even if I could return, you know I wouldn't. [Returning home from wherever they're at, Theseus can't imagine doing so without at least having Newt with him. And no matter how many differences they've had in the past, he knows that Newt feels the same as well.
While he's definitely still worried about him, Theseus definitely wants to know what the bloody blazes is going on here. Having more context might help him understand more about that weird 'dream' or the sort of hardships his brother may have been facing.]
If getting me acclimated involves telling me what happened to your arm... [Newt's not escaping this one.]
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The little townhome that Newt has made home looks very familiar. No, really, it basically looks like his little London abode back home. Helga has jumped onto Newt's bed and made herself comfy.
There's a shattered tea pot on the kitchen floor. Ah, right. He had dropped that earlier and completely forgotten about it.]
Reparo. [He points his wand at the broken china and it rebuilds itself into a teapot...before crumpling back into a heap. At least it's cleaner than the scattered pieces just moments before. Newt makes an irate noise in the back of his throat before-] Reparo [The pot seems to rebuild itself proper at least this time.]
It's honestly inconsequential. Someone tried to crush my arm in their jaw- ah ha. That wasn't here before. [Newt picks up the pot and places it on the counter as he goes over to the blessing basket. His was down in the basement, which meant that this must belong to Theseus. He takes the jar of food and holds it out to the other.] Eat something from here while I start tea.
[Did Newt purposely just brush over the part where he mentioned someone tried to basically eat him?]
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[As they make their way downstairs, Theseus looks around at the home that Newt's made for himself. It's apparent right away that he's modeled everything after his place back in London and while Theseus hasn't been there in weeks, he's familiar enough to know.
He watches at Newt attempts to repair the shattered teapot, frowning when he sees how much difficulty he's having with a simple spell. In no certain terms is Newt unskilled, so the only plausible explanation is something affecting their magic. The thought worries Theseus, but he doesn't let that particular concern show-- his brother is obviously dealing with enough right now.
...Like him almost getting eaten.. What. This is not okay, not in the least.
Theseus takes the jar of food, but makes no movement to eat. He's not hungry right now.]
Newt. Look at me.
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Eat. [Which means he might be trying to drag his feet on the conversation as much as possible. Although, it was important for the other to eat some of that jar.] If you don't, you'll disappear. [As he says that, he pulls the letter out from the basket and slides it across the table for Theseus to read.
Theseus should read that and eat the food before they go into the nitty gritty about this place and what goes on around here.]
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If the situation wasn't so dire, he'd almost think it was some elaborate joke.]
Any bit of this untrue? [He asks as he sets the letter down, but he's going for his jar now-- which mostly includes small berries such as blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Theseus opens the jar and plucks a few in his mouth, chewing quietly before making a small gesture at their surroundings.]
This truly is just a dream? [A living nightmare, if Theseus can give a more accurate description.]
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It- Whatever it is, there's an obvious disconnect of some kind between here and our own reality and this place has dragged others alongside. Different worlds and times. I can't imagine this being anything but some sort of dream. [Would they really want this to be an actual reality?] Things here are a bit off. The townspeople that are here are off. Powers are unstable. Even death isn't permanent. There's no way to leave the town.
[He swallows audibly.] We're stuck.
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It's... honestly a lot to take in. First Newt being here for months, but then apparently 'waking up' and returning to this place after the events in Paris. That at least aligns with what Theseus has dealt with back home, but the Auror is still clearly worried. While he knows that Newt is capable of taking care of himself, being stuck in this place for months with unstable magic would be difficult for anyone.
...This clearly calls for Theseus to dig even more into this. Newt almost getting eaten only sounds like the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the things his brother had to endure. There are certain things that he can accept, even though they're confusing, such as different worlds and times being at play now, but he definitely cannot accept the thought of Newt being gravely injured and suffering alone.
Even if this place won't be easy on him, Theseus can now at least be sure that he's here for Newt. The image of his brother immediately breaking down and crying in his arms isn't going to leave him anytime soon. He failed to protect Leta, and he'll be damned if he failed to protect another person he loved.
Death not being permanent isn't an excuse to slack off or think things are fine either.]
You mentioned that you experienced Paris and found yourself back here. [Theseus pushes down his own lump in his throat when he mentions the city, forcing thoughts of his failures into the back of his mind.] That happened without warning? Imagine that you'd be looking into that otherwise.
[Because he hasn't seen Newt this... broken down in years.]
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[Which really distorts one sense of time.]
We're trying to figure if there's any patterns of any sort, but it's difficult. People appear and disappear frequently. Majority of whom I knew early on are gone. We have no definite ways of figuring out what happens when someone is permanently gone here. There's also a severe lack of documented experiences similar to my own. [Really, they're working with a whole lot of nothing.]
It's a frustrating situation. Trying to be on the offensive instead of always being on the defensive and merely reacting to the events around us.
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It's not anything he can figure out right now, however, not until he does some personal investigation. Theseus looks down at the letter in front of him as he speaks, just trying to get his thoughts about all this in order.]
You mentioned that many of the people you knew in the beginning are gone. Could mean that the longer you stay here, the more likely it is that you 'wake up' for good. It's just not a definite possibility.
We'll just have to document everything we can. Pull information together.
[But once Theseus gets that out of the way, he pauses for a second, before looking straight at Newt. He's just as stern as before, but there's more concern in his behavior now, dropping more of his Auror posture and becoming just a worried older brother.]
...Newt, you're not going to avoid talking about your arm forever. My memory is better than that.
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I've been trying to archive information and perhaps have something written up. A condensed guide of some kind so to speak. Something that people can read and familiarize themselves with the events that have passed. It's taking some time though.
[Though, Newt looks probably like he's seen much better days and still continues to work.]
What could I possibly tell you at this point? It's broken. The person at fault is terribly apologetic about it. I can't certainly blame her because this place has a way to alter our behavior. Do things that we normally wouldn't do. I'm not about to slander her because of that.
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Instead, he quietly assess Newt, noting how his brother seems quite involved with this whole situation. Theseus is more than aware that Newt's good at collecting information, but it's the first he's seen him apply it to something other than his beasts.
He doesn't voice any of those thoughts, however.]
... [Theseus isn't quite sure if he can easily accept someone hurting his brother, even if their behavior was altered beyond their control. He can't exactly blame this person, but still.]
What else has happened? [Because it takes more than one incident to break down Newt.] No, let me rephrase that, who else has hurt you?
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Most of his notable injuries were from himself though.
There was also the time he had died, but-] They're things of the passed, Theseus. [Newt is probably being pretty obvious that he's hiding something.]
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And Newt's also being really vague about all this.]
That's bloody weak reasoning, Newton, and you very well know that.
[Just because it's happened in the past doesn't mean the pain isn't still there, especially if it's something far more involved than a beast or dark wizard trying to hurt you.]
What aren't you telling me? Either I find out now or I'll find out later.
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Newt is terribly bad at moving on.]
What exactly do you want me to tell you? I don't exactly enjoy reminiscing all the times I've nearly died and ha- [He immediately shuts his mouth. He had gotten so upset that he said more than he had intended. Maybe the other will miss the implication.] I don't like thinking about it. [Brushing it over immediately. Yep. This is fine.]
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I'm not lingering on everything, only you. And being worried about my brother after he casually mentions almost getting eaten isn't asking much.
[And that concern only increases tenfold when he hears that minor slip. He's trained to catch on certain things-- but Theseus would like to imagine it's because he knows Newt well. He stares at Newt, his face completely still, almost a sort of false calm because Theseus is anything but that.]
...Did you die? [How his voice managed to be steady at all is a surprise to him, but it's also far quieter as well.]
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And he means to reply. To retort with something back. To say something. But all he does is open his mouth a few times before closing it again. How can he really? How could he say to Theseus, his own brother, that he had died before. That he knows how it feels.
That someone else he loves had experienced such a thing.
So he just stands there silently looking down at his feet; nails digging into the palm of his hand uselessly. How he wants to fuss and fidget, but one arm is broken and tucked against his chest. A rather pitiful sight.]
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