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soddersays2020-07-24 05:49 pm
sodder) wrote in soddersays2020-07-24 05:49 pm
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AUGUST 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME
AUGUST 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to August's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: CRYPTID 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: Violent animals, ghosts, hallucinations
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?
Everyone loves s'mores, right? Of course you do. If you've never had them, you're gonna love them, and if for some reason you hate them, well, as it usually goes in Deerington, something inside of you will nag at you about how maybe you ought to give them another chance. There's a variety of different kinds of s'more flavors to try and plenty of perfect campfires to roast your marshmallows over. There's promise of wholesome and innocent fun to be had! Surely that won't be a lie this time.Everyone who gathers around the fire for some tasty treats will find themselves in the mood to share creepy stories from their home worlds. Maybe they make one up on the spot or maybe it's an ancient legend that was passed down through the ages. Regardless, there's gonna be a whole variety of spooky stories, and the flavor s'more you're eating seems to dictate the theme that you'll end up leaning towards.
🔥 Traditional S'Mores will have people wanting to tell classic ghost stories. Maybe it's a haunted house you ended up in or a spirit who possessed the friend of the brother of this guy from your town once. The main theme here will be ghosts of all varieties.
🔥 Peanut Butter & Chocolate S'Mores will have people wanting to tell slasher stories. A famous serial killer from home, maybe, or the story about a group of kids who went up into a cabin in the mountains where there was once said to be a creepy caretaker and they were never heard from again...
🔥 Chocolate Chip Cookie S'Mores will have people wanting to tell monster stories. Local legends, maybe, or the classic stories about werewolves, vampires, and Bigfoot. Any kind of monsters will do.
🔥 Salted Caramel S'Mores will inspire people to tell revenge stories. These could be legendary warnings that exemplify why vengeance always leads to digging two graves. Or maybe it's your own story of revenge from home— or the fantasy revenge you'd like to get someday.
🔥 Nutella S'Mores will have people wanting to tell personal horror stories. These stories are ones that hit extremely close to home. The scariest, most bone-chilling memory you have, no matter how silly or serious it may be in comparison to those around you. Hopefully most people aren't fans of chocolate hazelnut?
Regardless of which story you hear, anyone gathered around the campfire will listen intently to all words spoken, and they will find themselves believing every word. On your walk home, you'll be filled with a sense of paranoia and dread, seeing things move out of the corner of your eye that may or may not be there. Is that a man with a hook for a hand or is your imagination just playing tricks on you? It's certainly hard to tell.
These can stay as harmless hallucinations, but for those who end up stuck in the paranoia for too long without being talked down, they will slowly start to become real. Eventually, they can become solid enough for other people to start seeing them, and the creatures from your mind may even start to attack. They can be defeated with normal weaponry or by the power of positive thinking! Wish your attacker away with enough conviction, and poof! They'll be gone.
Let's hope you can do it before you end up the victim for the next slasher story someone tells.
AHHH! REAL MONSTERS
It seems that the monsters from these stories aren't the only ones popping up in Deerington, though. There's talk from locals of multiple sightings of classic Maine legends all over town. They're easy to ignore as the townsfolk just being easily spooked for a while. But when enough stories start to line up, you might start to think maybe there's some truth to them. Or maybe you'll even end up seeing one of the monsters for yourself.Down in Lake Tomoei, the legendary Cassie can sometimes be spotted peaking up from the water, or trying to attack anyone who even tries to go near the lakes shores. She's a nasty beast with one hell of a temper and she's quite possessive of the lake she's found herself in. 100 feet long with a skinny neck and a fish like tale, she definitely seems like a force to be reckoned with. Cassie is easily injured by ordinary weapons, but her skin is thick, so it will take a while to draw blood. Most likely, she'll disappear into the depths of the lake before she can be killed.
Up in the mountains, there's talk of the ancient evil Pamola. Penobscot legend describes him as half-man, half-eagle, with the head of a moose and a temper to match one. Pamola can't stand people visiting his mountain, even for a casual hike, and will often try to deter people away with random and unpredictable storms; thunder, snow, and powerful winds will beat down on whoever goes looking for Pamola. If you manage to find him, he will show no mercy when he attacks. Most who have tried to find him have been killed and eaten by the evil spirit. Because he's an ancient spirit, he will be particularly hard to defeat if you manage to find him; he can not be killed, but you can offer a sacrifice to quell his anger. If you have magical powers that can hurt deities, these will still be effective in weakening him until he retreats.
The final creature that seems to be wandering about is the Specter Moose (pictured above). This moose is thirteen feet tall, with thirteen foot wide antlers, and is a blinding white color. The moose can be found wandering in the park, usually, but sometimes it comes out to look around town. He may seem harmless, even cute, but don't get to close; moose are dangerous and locals fear them for a reason. They can charge at the drop of a hat and not even large vehicles tend to survive an encounter with a creature that big. The Specter Moose also seems to be incapable of being injured by normal weapons; solid objects mostly go right through it, unless it's purposefully aiming for them. You'll either have to get a shot in while he's slamming into something (or someone) or just run. Anyone who has magic or weapons that can hurt spiritual beings will be able to fight the Specter Moose as they normally would.
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
We should split, it cannot follow both of us. ( ... it can't, right? ) I'll face whatever this is... go ahead. ( this is a good idea in his mind! )
were-like beast, it is
they've already been marked as prey, it's too late... )
Like hell— ( it's quiet at first, but suddenly, reaching down and spinning on his heel, akechi still in tow, ren grabs an errant branch. skidding to a halt, he hurls the small log in their pursuer's direction despite his fear, yelling: ) Like hell I'm going to let that happen again!
( which is met with an unhappy roar, and a large set of teeth as the hulking mass pounces forward. )
rawr
what kind of idiot gives up their own safety for... him? only ren, of course. akechi cannot bring himself to yell at him to tell him how much of an imbecile he is for not taking the offered exit, what's the point if both of them die here? he simply can't, he can already hear the response.
there is something far better that he can do and he doesn't even think about it. )
Loki! ( before the thing can reach them (ren), the trickster god appears before them, shielding them from the attack. )
◕ ᴥ ◕
but the windy blowback from being shielded is what has him peeking over to catch a glimpse of—?
wow akechi. taking a blow for him? this is some max rank confidant stuff for you... there's the briefest of glances in his direction, before ren steps in line beside him.
two fingers land at his temple, with his eyes on their pursuer and loki clashing. the hunched over back, the size of its fangs! it was just like—
wait. it was exactly like... )
Wait, that's—! ( the story from earlier someone around the campfire was telling?? )
... t-teddie!?!?
Who cares?! Are you going to help me or are you just going to watch!? ( you know this is not the standard way to use his persona! he cannot have loki hold it and fight at the same time! )
whoa, slow down there satan, that's too far.........
a hand reaches up to his face, with his mask burning into place with a bright blue flame. but when he removes it... )
Wha—? ( shit. all that fear and panic really took a toll on his Skill Proficiency... not to mention how his Spiritual Prowess was down in the dumps too. at any rate, he was definitely having Some Problems. seemed he was lacking in SP all around. )
I— I'm drained...
( probably not what crow wanted to hear, but its the truth. but he can... still help! probably. he knew the other couldn't hold the creature back indefintiely, so... )
Call it back, I'm going in!
( but his clothing... still hadn't changed. could it be that the creature really didn't see him as a threat? damn.
either way, ren brandishes his knife, sprinting forward to take his chance... )
that was scary tho
loki fades in a flare, leaving the monster both confused and angry, but with a wide opening. ren charges but he's not alone, akechi follows him very close with his sword ready to strike. )
Kill it, kill it, kill it, Ren!!
pop quiz whats more terrifying teddie or feelings
...and spinning with a flourish once it's in close range, taking the opening. he wasn't used to fighting that weren't, well, shadows. the spray of blood seems to take him by surprise at the first cut— and he can't help but hold back just a little, a few subsequent lacerations more shallow than before.
when he turns to see how goro is faring, droplets that followed the flow of his blade line his face. )
you ask as if that was hard! teddie all the way of course!
until he turns back at him and everything goes to hell.
this is no external force influencing his fear, oh no, this is all him. goro cannot stop looking at that face, at the droplets sliding down his face it's pretty much the only thing he can see his mind long gone from the scene before him and he's back at the cramped little room. it's the image that haunts him every single night that it makes him doubt, had he done it again or was he dreaming of it... again? was this all a nightmare? it was, wasn't it, right from the start and he needs to wake up! no... nonononononono, this has to be his doing... this...—the blade in goro's hand fades just as his persona had before, being completely frozen on the spot—it was him, wasn't it? he... he had killed him again.
what had he done? it defies all logic. his eyes go from ren's countenance to his hands, he has no gun, then how... how?! )
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ERa6ugtWAAE9HZn.jpg
Ake— ahhhh!
( he pays the price for turning his attention elsewhere, in the form of several teeth sinking into his shoulder. the pain is sudden and severe, bringing ren to his knees momentarily as he remains caught in its jaws.
blood began to seep into his shirt, darkening the colour of it even more. )
Nngh, ungh! ( he's struggling, wincing and at the same time trying to aim for the beast's eyes with some well-delivered punches. the fear that he'd felt before this was siphoning down, dripping into the adrenaline that flushed through him. )
G-get a hold of yourself!
( could the paranoia's hold on akechi from before really have been that strong...? )
ROOD
What are you doing?! ( why the hell did he turn his attention away from his enemy? what an hypocrite little shit... but at least he seems to be back to his senses—mostly—but now he's pissed. it's hard to tell if his anger is directed at ren or at the creature. ¿por qué no los dos? but he can wait to have a few words with him later, if he survives... and because apparently only akechi is allowed to kill him, that thought alone fuels his resolve up to its limit. )
Persona! ( it comes together with the whole package, summoning loki once again makes his whole attire morph this time. ) Finish that little shit off!! ( goro's persona follows his orders to the letter, performing a rather accurate attack on the thing and avoiding by all means to hurt ren in the process. the creature is sent back flying several feet away from them, and it could be the perfect chance to escape—if only akechi would get with the program, but he is, instead, dashing all the way towards it, sword in hand and ready to strike. )
Die, die, DIE! ( akechi proceeds to stab it repeatedly to the point of losing count, if it wasn't dead, it's pretty sure that it is now. )
no subject
his hand reaches to put pressure on his bleeding shoulder, looking over at akechi through one eye, the other closed in a wince.
he's just close enough still that the repeated stab wounds add a few more swathes of blood to his clothes. his fear of the beast that had attacked them had all but subsided, replaced now with a much more horrific scene.
with a clenched jaw he reached, trying to get akechi's attention with a touch at first— though quickly ren moves to cling at whatever he can grab a hold of. his arm, the tattered edges of his cape, anything. )
Crow!
( his voice is loud and and strong, intending to snap him out of... this. )
no subject
You... ( his voice, raspy and low. all of that rage seems to be focusing back back on a single person, on joker. )
You fucking idiot! Why did you turn your attention from your enemy! It could have killed you! I will not have that! I won't let it happen! ( and that's... the whole issue. crow's breathing, while still hard, begins to even some. ah... it sure feels like a huge weight has suddenly lifted off his shoulders, by simply saying that.
while it's hard to focus on anything else that's not that stupid face in front of him, his eyes diverge to joker's shoulder. he finally approaches him, with every step forward, his clothes go back to normal, he takes off his coat—which either he hasn't realized how badly stained it is or he simply doesn't care—only to bring it to that lacerated shoulder and help him apply pressure with the piece of cloth. )
no subject
and at the sudden chastise he softened releasing the hold he had, looking down, though his eyes widened with the words that came tumbling out in his direction. he wouldn't... let that happen? ... as akechi turns, presumably to leave, ren takes one last glance at the bloody mess on the ground. poor bastard, he thought tiredly to himself. )
Wait, that's—
( there probably wasn't much use protesting seeing as the state of the coat was already questionable at best. which has ren releasing some tension in his shoulders, turning his attention to his wound, and akechi's hand on it. )
... I don't know what happened. ( the effect of this forest? those stories from before? it's all excuses, right? no way he'd want to hear those. ) Sorry.
( did he worry you? )
no subject
It wasn't your fault. ( heck, he can't really even say it was his, even though he should have fought it, that fear. goro gets to look from ren's shoulder to his face, taking note on the smears of blood that were no longer running down his chin. this time he doesn't seem to have a reaction to them either. ) You look awful. ( not once does he attempt to look back at the furry thing that attacked them, it deserved what it got. ) Let's go clean that and get you a rabies shot.
no subject
he reaches up, pressing a hand against akechi's— applying just a little more pressure as he does. looking up at his would-be saviour turned caretaker. )
You'll be gentle, right?
( MAX CHARM? oh my god this is so not the time. )
no subject
You owe me new clothes.