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soddersays2019-12-24 01:53 pm
sodder) wrote in soddersays2019-12-24 01:53 pm
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JANUARY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME
JANUARY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to January's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: OCEAN 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.
PLEASE NOTE FOR CHARACTER ARRIVALS: This month, all players can choose to have their characters wake up in the town of Deerington or on the Titanic.
CW: Ghost of a child, rotting corpses, drowning, hallucinations, paranoia
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!
WHERE FEET MAY FAIL
For those who were left behind in Deerington while everyone else was whisked away in the flood during the New Years Eve party, they will find that the town is a little more wet than usual. The streets are still flooded, houses are damp, and the chill of winter isn't making it easy to deal with. Your hands can feel like ice any day of the week and it's hard to focus with how badly you may find yourself trembling from the cold.But it's almost preferable to the visions. They start off while you're sleeping; large sea monsters roaming the ocean, waiting to pull you down into the darkened depths; or maybe it's a strange, ghost looking girl with glowing eyes and tattered clothing, her skin blue and rotting the way a body does when it's been submerged in water for too long. She's calling out to you, beckoning you down, and all around her are the strung up, floating corpses of the people who were foolish enough to listen.
It's just a dream though, right? Slowly you start to see the girl around town. She's still calling to you, watching you, waiting for you. If you get too close, she'll even be able to grab onto you, pulling you down into the waterlogged streets, and into what you thought was only a puddle of water. It's as deep as an ocean, and just as dark and cold too. Someone near by can grab onto you before she can drag you under and the vision will disappear. If no one does, maybe if you're a strong swimmer, you'll be able to struggle free, but when you resurface, there will be a bruise forming on your arm in the shape of a hand – something to remind you that maybe these visions are a little more real than you gave them credit for.
The only way to stay safe is to travel in pairs. The girl seems to keep her distance when there's more than one person around, but it doesn't mean she won't try to find the means to separate you. Whether it's increasing the flooding in certain areas of the street or trying to distract one of you long enough to put some distance between you and your comrade, she'll do whatever it takes to try and grab onto whoever she can.
GHOST SHIP
Those who are on the boat might find that life is a little easier, depending on what class you've found yourself in. The struggles between first, second, and third are certainly rough on everyone, but many seem to find themselves thinking this is just the way of things. Maybe your mind has been altered to just accept the class differences or your memories completely rewritten and you think you've led a completely different life so far; either way, only a handful of passengers seem to fully understand that this isn't the way things are supposed to be.There's nothing anyone can do to change things, though, and so many find themselves getting lost in day to day activities. Whether it's working on the ship, enjoying the finer foods in the first class dining halls, or enjoying the rowdy parties in third class storage after hours, everyone seems to be finding something to keep themselves occupied. As the days pass, even those who know full well what's coming seem to forget the looming doom, and you might even find yourself feeling lost in the monotony of day to day life.
But those who stare into the water too long, who look at the strange, large shapes swimming just under the surface might find a sense of dread filling them. The paranoia will shake you to your very core, leaving you with a sense that all is not right with this journey. You can try to tell people, but most will look at you as though you're insane. Eventually, your fear will become so heavy that you start to see destruction all around you. Whole sections of the ship will look flooded, rotting wood and rusted steel taking over every inch of the once proud ship, and every section is covered in algae. You might start to realize it looks uncannily like an old shipwreck.
The ship is still floating, though, and the coarse steady. So it's all in your head, right? Staying away from the water will make the visions and paranoia eventually ebb, but any glance at the floating shapes will cause it to come back tenfold. Maybe just stay inside and away from the ship's edge. It seems a lot safer that way.
Character Arrival
You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.NOTE: Character's this month can wake up in Deerington or on the Titanic.
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.
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[ like fun bonding activities such as being watched by a ghost? maybe? it's hard to say. ] She's been tailing me the whole time, no matter how long I've kept moving. It's like being stalked by a Grimm.
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[It doesn't but some teasing lightens the mood of this place. She thinks that's important right about now. She'll shift to Yang's side and reach to take her hand, the best way to show that they wont be splitting up anytime soon.]
We got this. Let's start by doing a look around town to see if we can find Weiss or the others.
[Okay. So Yang's been seeing her too. That doesn't make Ruby feel any better but she hoped they at least had strength in numbers. Did that count against creepy spooks?]
Yeah, she's been giving me a total case of the creeps.
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yang tightens her grip on ruby's hand and nods once in affirmation. she's ready to get the band back together. she continues making her way down the street, taking care to avoid any deeper looking puddles. the vague memories of unfathomably large creatures swimming in the darkness in another dream she's had since arriving casts the most innocent-looking puddles in a dangerous light. ]
Yeah, it's kinda been the worst. Not to mention, it's freezing out here. Hard to believe Argus gave us a better welcome, right?
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She shakes her head to get herself back on task.]
I don't want to say I'm rethinking the skirt, but I could at least go for a earmuffs and some gloves right about now.
...It kind of makes you wonder just what they expect us to do here. The dreams weren't exactly specific. I mean at least back home we had an idea what we're up against.
[Ruby's eyes wander off and for a second she thinks she sees that girl again. Except she's a bit further away this time but she doesn't look particularly impressed that Ruby and Yang have found one another.]
Yang, over there.
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she glances at the girl out of the corner of her eye, but doesn't slow her pace. whatever she is, she just screams bad news. ]
If we keep moving, there's less chance she can do whatever it is she wants to do to us. There's no way we move fast enough on foot.... [ wait, idea! she tugs on ruby's hand. ] Hey, can you use your Semblance?
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Ruby notices how Yang declines to actually move her head in the girls direction. That was probably a good call that Ruby will mimic from here on out.]
But how are we going to do th-
[She feels the tug on her hand and the gears start grinding. However her sister is quicker to the draw and beats the light bulb going off in her own head.]
Oh yeah! That would do that trick!
[Ruby gets herself ready to dash and activates her semblance, aiming to propel both her and Yang to a nearby rooftop in a burst of speed and rose petals.
...Unfortunately while normally she'd be able to make this sort of move with no problem the power cuts out sooner than it normally would. Ruby let's out a gasp as they find themselves just short of the roof's edge before they start to fall.]
Y-Yang, Grab on!
[Ruby's grip tightens around Yang's hand as she herself tries to grab onto the ledge before it's out of reach.]
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yang has no time to ready herself before ruby takes off, feeling a pull in her stomach as they shoot up toward the roof. the world turns into a blur of red and petals until suddenly, it isn't. there's a horrifying moment where everything is still. she can feel themselves beginning to fall and see ruby stretching for the roof's edge. yang glances down on instinct and finds herself locking eyes with the little girl from before, standing next to a large puddle of water that ripples like the ocean.
the moment of stillness ends and they begin falling in earnest. ]
Ruby! [ she holds on tight even as she feels ] If you can't reach it, let me go! I'll be okay!
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[Ruby's eyes flick between the ledge and her sister in a panic. The last thing she wants to do is let go and leave her to fall. She can't see someone else get hurt because she was too slow to get there in time, thoughts of Penny and Pyrrha flashed through her mind as she tried to think of a way for this to work.
She gives Yang's hand one last squeeze before her fingers slowly let go of her.
Except she's not going to just let her sister fall like that. Instead of trying to grab onto the ledge, she's kicks off it and draws Crescent Rose. Firing off a shot into the air to send her barreling back down to catch up with her sister.
They were getting through this together.]
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then she hears the crack of a shot from crescent rose, sees ruby zooming toward her, and grins wide. that was her sister, always thinking four steps ahead.
she looks down again to see how much time she has left to try breaking her fall. the puddle, once placid, now has one singular hand reaching out from impossible depths to drag her under as soon as she's in range. aw, grapes. yang shoots at the ground once with ember celica to slow her descent, hoping that'll buy enough time for ruby's to enact her plan. ]
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Now step two is where things got messy. She aimed crescent rose at the building they had trying to get to and fires off another shot. It's not as effective as when she's doing it by herself or as graceful as using her semblance but it does propel them away from the ground and across the road toward the wall of another building instead.
It's not quite flying but at least they're falling with style and not going feet first into any puddles.]
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she sizes up the situation in a matter of seconds: it's too cramped of an area to try changing their trajectory in another direction, something is limiting ruby from using her semblance, the wall is way too close to avoid anything other than a direct hit. yang yells something that could almost be "hold on!" over the rushing air and wraps her arms around ruby, turning in mid-air so that she's the one that takes the full brunt of colliding into the building.
when they finally do crash, her aura takes most of the hit, but yang feels the impact more than usual, breath catching in her lungs. holy crap, that was going to suck/i> tomorrow. ]
Ruby? [ she shakes her head to gather her thoughts. ] Ruby, are you alright?
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After they collide with the wall they make one more small impact with the ground and land in a heap. Ruby's arms wrap around Yang tightly, really hoping she's wrong about them both not being at 100% here.]
I'm fine, I'm fine. What about you?
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or not do that at all. ]
Ruby, you're crushing me.... I'm--I'm not gonna make it.... [ she pretends to pass out, complete lolling her head to the side and sticking out her tongue. yes, she's very mature. ]
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A true leader like Ruby Rose knows that you can't mess with a dynamic this pure and good.]
Yang? Yang!?
[Now Yang's not exactly light and Ruby's not exactly the most muscled but she'll attempt to pick up her sister in her arms and turn around dramatically before crying out.]
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
[Because as much as the signs point to her being right about their semblances, if her sister can crack a joke it then she's going to join right the heck in.]
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she's missed this. ]
Look, your tears brought me back to life! I'm cured!
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Once she's done wincing at that she'll be joining in on the laughs, all the while shaking her sisters shoulders furiously.]
It worked! You're back, you're really back!
Our sisterly bond conquers all!
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[ unsteadily, she gets to her feet with a grimace as the earth spins faster than she'd like. yang extends her right hand to ruby says around a grin, ] You want to get out of here?
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We'll get it next time.
[She pulls herself up to her feet but doesn't take her eyes off Yang, noting that her sister was far wobblier than normal after taking a hit. That was enough to confirm her concerns.
She takes the hand but instead of holding she pulls it over her shoulders as she slides in closer to support her sister until she gets her bearings.]
Yeah, let's go.
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[ indeed, the street is totally deserted of any creature save for them and their ghostly assailant. even the houses seem dark. what kind of town goes dark as soon as the sun sets? ]
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Maybe we can see if we can track down a corner store? Or a restaurant? Anywhere to give us a chance to regroup and figure some things out.
[Stocking up on some food and medicals supplies is her first thought. If their aura's were shot they'd have to be more careful.]
I... Haven't really seen anyone either. At least not yet.
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yikes. ]
Hey, does this place remind you of Mountain Glen? Not how it looks, but the feeling?
[ the lonely, oppressive gloom and the prickling on the back of her neck as if they're being watched, she means. if yang closed her eyes, she could swear they were back on remnant. ]
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[Like she's going to vote against what Yang when they don't even have someone around for a tie breaker.
Ruby puts on a good poker face to avoid looking like she's fretting when Yang goes quiet.]
Mountain Glenn, Some of the villages I traveled to on my to Haven, The village with the Apathy...
Yeah, It's a lot like there. What about it?
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[ she straightens with some difficulty and stretches her arms until they pop as they make their way down the street. yang has a slight limp, but her aura is recovering as long as they take it slow. ]
Like there's something bigger out there just waiting to hit us when we don't expect it. [ she grins wide at ruby, voice confident despite the dire warning. ] Not that it would since we're always prepared!
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Their abilities being lackluster compared to normal. The that had been chasing them. Just the whole vibe this place gave off. It was certainly set up like they were wild game for someone to chase down.]
They might have picked the absolute worst two people to try and pick on. They know we're professional butt-kickers, right? They have to.
[She let's Yang stretch out without fretting over her but at the same time she's not straying too far from her sisters side either.
...Wait. Does she see an actual light on over there? Does it say Diner?]
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[ hold on. what light through yonder window breaks? ]
Is that--? [ yang breaks away from ruby, squinting into the night. oh, my god. could it be? creepy maine town denny's? she pumps a fist in the air and hobbles as fast as she can toward the sign. ] It is! Come on, let's see how long they're open!
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