JULY TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

JULY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to July's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: JUDGEMENT 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: Violence, possible gore, intense nightmares, possible death, religion, slow suffocation, melting skin, throat trauma, fire
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Prompt Three
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

STICKS AND STONES

Anyone who has been to school in Deerington likely knows about the possessed bathroom walls by now. The writing blasting your deepest and darkest fears, your best kept secrets, always manifesting the worst parts of yourself. It starts off slow, and grows, and grows... Anyone who looks at the wall only sees rumors about themselves, usually, but lately, people have started to be able to see rumors being written about other people. The writing slowly starts to leak out of the bathroom, starting to spread on the school walls and lockers. Eventually, it starts to spread out into the town itself.

Writing and drawings start to show up around town. It seems like they're exposing peoples worst memories, their darkest actions, but anyone who reads the writing about themselves will see that Deerington has taken a few liberties to make it seem even worse. Did you kill someone in self-defense? The wall will describe how you did it in cold blood. Or maybe you accidentally broke someone's heart? Everyone will read how you manipulated, lied, and destroyed the emotions of an innocent person. Eventually, it will start to make things up that may have never actually happened, but when it's mixed in with all the stories that hold a grain of truth, how can anyone tell the difference?

People will find themselves compelled to believe the rumors, no matter how well they know the person they're written about. Some people might even find themselves tempted to add to the rumors with writings of their own.

You can not scrub the writing off the wall, but it can be covered up or scratched out by markers and paint. The rumors will just write themselves back in within 24 hours, but at least you might be able to stop people from seeing the worst bits about your personality if you're quick enough.

MAY BREAK MY BONES

People will start to find themselves getting exceptionally tired as of late. Even those who don't normally sleep, or normally can't physically sleep, will still find themselves drifting off into whatever equivalent their body can manage. Maybe you curl up on the sofa for a little nap or you're crawling into bed at the end of a long day or you could even just stretch out in the park to get a little shut eye.

No matter where or when you fall asleep, it will be extremely restless. Nightmarish, even.

You "wake up" in a room with a large climbing wall in front of you and nothing but darkness underneath. You aren't alone; the person beside you seems to have just woken up here as well. Maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a stranger, but you're both going to want to take in your surroundings before you get to any kind of chit chat. You can tell you're dreaming, but it all feels, looks, and smells so real. The scent of rust, metal, and blood fill your senses to an overwhelming degree. If you usually rely on powers, you'll find that they aren't working here. You'll also find out quickly just how mortal you may have become.

The large wall is littered with traps. Spikes that shoot out of the wall, ready to skewer the unfortunate person in front of them. Large bear traps will snap shut, just the right height to cut off a persons head at the neck. Random large bouts of fire and sudden puffs of acidic gas that can melt skin. It's hard to tell what triggers each space or if it's entirely random, but you'll need to move quickly in order to avoid all the death traps that are awaiting you.

Especially once the wall starts to deteriorate in front of you. You have to start climbing. Now. You have to move quickly to avoid the wall falling apart while you're climbing it. If it catches up to you, you'll fall into the darkness below, eventually hitting the sharp rocks at the bottom. If you get injured by one of the traps, you'll find that you can really feel it. You'll bleed the same way you would have if you had been injured in real life— even if you don't normally bleed or feel pain at all.

If you climb fast enough and make it to the top of the wall, there will be a door waiting for you. Walk through and you'll wake up wherever you fell asleep. If you sustained any injuries, you'll find that they've been reflected on your body. Hopefully they weren't fatal. Those who don't have human bodies will still find gashes in their bodies where the injuries may have been sustained in their dreams.

Should you die in the dream? You'll die in real life. The body of someone who dies within the dream will suddenly convulse before turning to the same purple dust that all the other bodies in Deerington do before they're reincarnated a week later.

BUT WORDS STILL HURT LIKE HELL

Sometimes when you wake up from your nightmare realms, you won't be in your bed or on your couch. You'll find instead that you're stuck in a confessional booth, even if it means you've been resized to fit in the small space. There's someone on the other side of the screen, but it's not a priest; it's another Sleeper. You're both trapped, the doors refusing to open, and no amount of physical strength or destructive power will make a dent on the walls. The only way out... is to confess.

And you can't just confess any old thing; it has to be something that has been weighing on your mind for some time. Maybe a memory that fills you with guilt, or admittance to an unrequited love, or a deep desire to hurt someone... Anything that's been keeping you up at night, causing tension inside of you. It's your chance to really get things off your chest.

The longer you take to confess, the more dangerous things will become. The air seems to be slowly being sucked out from the confessional booth, slowly suffocating whoever is sitting inside. Even if you don't normally rely on air, you'll start to find yourself choking. It's like your very life force is being sucked out of you. The more you talk, the easier it becomes to breathe, and once you've both finished? The doors will simply unlock.

When you exit the booth, you'll find yourself inside the Deerington church. Turn around and you'll find there is no booth in sight. Guess it's time to just head home.

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.

Comments

[onfire]

Ha, I guess you're right. [ He indulges in the attention, moving his glass back along the counter in order to rest his head on his hand. ]

I'm all ears.

[bardish]

Lumberjack. Carpenter. [ He glances at Peter's hands, like he's trying to assess the state of them. ] Definitely something with your hands! How'm I doing, hot or cold?

[onfire]

Hmm, cold. I do chop wood, but not for my job. I've got a uniform if that helps.

[ He can't imagine the man will hit it on the head, but he's curious if he can get a little closer. ]

[bardish]

[ Okay, Jeff's a little sad he's off the mark, but after a moment, he lights up. ] Fireman! [ Look, even if he's wrong, he's enjoying the distraction from the nasty gossip spreading like wildfire around town. Teasingly, he adds: ] Or maybe a very rugged flight attendant.

[onfire]

[ The second option makes him laugh lightly. He'd never be able to go up and down those aisles smoothly. He'd knock everyone's chair with his shoulders. ]

You're warmer with the first one, actually...

[ He'll give him one more try and then put him out of his misery. ]

[bardish]

[ Time to put on his thinking cap. The obvious answer would be cop, then, right? Uniform, closer to firefighter... But, no, Peter doesn't vibe like a cop-- or maybe that's just Jeff's inner REBELLIOUS PAST LIFE making assumptions.

He stares at Peter. Thinking. Thiiiinking... ]

EMT. Search and Rescue. Sexy fireman strippergram.

[ SIGH. ] I was never any good at guessing games.

[onfire]

[ The sexy fireman comment pulls another laugh out of him. This guy is funny. ]

I'm a little old to be a strippergram, but thank you for your vote of confidence. [ He knocks his glass against Jeff's again. ] I work as a fish and wildlife officer in Washington.

[bardish]

[ Jeff grins, all bright and sunny in spite of the taunting graffiti scrawled on the bar top and back mirror, because hey, it feels like an achievement, getting Peter to laugh. ]

Hey, you never know when those of us over forty might want an age appropriate strippergram.

[ He clinks his glass against Peter's, then-- fuck it-- takes a drink from it. Two drinks, he amends, because at least he's having a friendly conversation, which means he can revise this whole encounter into a happy occasion instead of a brooding, gloomy affair. Two drinks while making a new friend is fine.

And he lights up when Peter reveals his mystery career. ]

Oh my god. That's so cool! Do you fight poachers? Rescue wild animals? Protect salmon during spawning season?!

[onfire]

You make it sound more dramatic than it is, but... yes. All of the above. [ He sets down the glass in preparation to clarify a little. He doesn't want Jeff's imagination to run wild. ] I mainly work off the coast. Not a lot of citizens out there to thwart.

[bardish]

[ No, no, let his imagination run wild, Peter. And he seems positively delighted when the man confirms that, yes, he does all of these things in the line of duty. ]

Oh. Still cool. If you were knee deep in poachers every day, that would get pretty depressing, anyway.