soddersays | AUGUST 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

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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!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don’t think I have seen any yet. No vampires so far. Nobody else is wearing the uniforms either.

[It’s probably something that nobody yet has stopped him in his being stained with Mika’s blood a bit still. The red clashing harshly against the white. He isn’t considering how that would probably freak Mika out in the blond coming to find him.]

Maybe this is... the past. Or a world that doesn't have the virus at all.Do you think it's possible?

[As Mika speaks in his excitedly hushed tone, the faint pitter patter of his naked feet on the floor is heard even through the video feed. Soon he's out of the house, looking for the grocery store Yuu describes.]

Or maybe it's just another dream.

I dunno if it's the past or something. Harder to say. Everything seems to be in English though. That letter too. Said something about Maine. Dreams.

[Probably doesn't help he's seeing the locals amid the other Sleepers with various sorts of clothing and such to be sure on it exactly. Yuu gives a shrug at that but he does then pause when he hears Mika leaving.]

Maybe. I'll see you soon anyway. Should have been a map with the stuff in that basket you got.

How weird.

[For now, he's treating this as a very strange dream, accepting everything. Mika turns away from Yuu in the feed, grabbing the map and unfolding it.]

Right. So. I think this is the grocery store over here, and I'm over here... I'll be right over.

I guess I'll see you soon. I um. Haven't had a chance to change yet though.

[He had been a little distracted with exploring this strange new place that was decidedly not Sanguinem, given he woke up in an actual bed and all. So. Yeah. He might not exactly look the best. In not having taken time to clean up more yet exactly.]

[Mika has no idea what Yuu means by 'not being able to change'. That is just normal. It's not like they get enough outfits to change regularly. So he just chalks it up to a misunderstanding. That is, until he gets to the store and sees Yuu wait for him.]

[At first he's filled with joy and relief, since it's scary to be on his own in this place. That joy quickly turns to horror when he sees the dark red that covers most of the front of Yuu's uniform. He runs over to him, eyes wide and fearful. If this blood is Yuu's then he must be in so much pain! Mika isn't even sure if he can touch him without injuring him.]

Yuu-chan!! What happened?

Ah? It's -- I'm not hurt. If that's what you mean.

[Mika had been. All the others killed. Yuu fleeing in leaving Mika for dead. He glances to Mika then, as if checking on his arm. That it was still there. That there's no blood splattering his white livestock uniform. He himself is more concerned about the blond than his own situation. In checking that Mika was alright. Once it seems to register that Mika was okay, Yuu can't help but to reach, clinging to him in a rarer for him sign of affection, in relief as he tries and probably fails to entirely stifle the threat of tears pricking at his eyes.]

Mika.....

[Given the amount of blood on his clothes, Mika can't help but wonder what happened. If someone came for him here, in this strange place. No matter what happened, it seemed to have had a profound impact on his friend. It's not normal for Yuichiro to want hugs like this. It's normally Mika who begs for hugs, so when he reaches for him Mika's heart is incapable of denying him this. Wrapping his arms tightly around him, Mika doesn't care about the blood. There are no vampires here that they will have to worry about. Voice quiet, he strokes the back of Yuichiro's head, hoping to soothe him.]

It'll be okay. I won't leave you.

Mika....

[This was not only rare for Yuu to be this affectionate, this desperate and clingy but the fact this was also in public probably tips Mika off that he's particularly upset. He doesn't seem to care about getting Mika's uniform ruined with the blood as well. With Mika's own blood. Which is a rather morbid train of thought if Yuu were coherent enough for that. He just clings tightly, wrapping his arms around Mika and his fingers clutching at the back of Mika's shirt. It takes a moment before he seems to calm down, his sobs and shaking shoulders subsiding as he tries to ignore his resulting headache in focusing on the food. On Mika.

Poor Mika must be so confused.....]

[Given how restrained Yuu normally acts, it is definitely worrying how hurt he is and how openly he sobs. He wouldn't normally cry this openly or brokenly, and it makes Mika wonder just what he's seen. He makes a shushing sound, rubbing Yuichiro's back in an attempt to comfort.]

[If his crying hadn't been so heartbroken, perhaps Mika would have teased him for being a crybaby. This is too desperate, though. He doesn't want to tease him. Instead he just lets Yuichiro hold him as close as he needs, a part of him feeling good about being needed this desperately.]

Yuu-chan.... Did someone get hurt?

You....all of you, when we tried to escape. Ferid knew.

[All of them. It was so fast. Ferid being aware and waiting for them at the exit like that. He sniffs in trying to calm himself more. Unsure how much Mika himself might recall but he definitely seems to be from before then at least. In having both arms and such. Yuu can tell that much at least. He doesn't seem to notice, or if he does he doesn't care if some might be staring at his seeming so distraught and bloody.]

...What?

[That hasn't happened. Mika would have known. He's certain that they haven't been hurt, but... He had hoped to see if Ferid had some maps or other helpful things the next time he went to offer his blood. He turns his face towards Yuichiro's, running his fingers through his hair.]

[If anyone's looking at them for making a scene, Mika doesn't care. What matters is Yuichiro and his distress.]

We tried to escape?

You took his map and gun. He was waiting and....attacked. Akane and all the others. We were the last two, before he attacked you. I shot him and tried to drag you out but you told me to run.

[Yuu was thus understandably emotional in seeing Mika again after thinking he left Mika to die back there. Seeing him whole again as if it had never happened. Which somehow it hasn't yet. At least, for Mika. His hair is a mess as usual, the blood at least mostly just on his uniform since he'd washed his hands in somewhat attempting to get clean before.]

I... I don't remember that happening. I wouldn't have forgotten something like that.

[He says so quietly, obviously disturbed by what Yuichiro is telling him. It sounds like a terrible nightmare.]

[Mika can't help it. He has to ask. The scent of the blood is becoming so apparent and he's slowly becoming aware that they're both getting stained from it.]

Did... Did they others make it?

[He shakes his head at that. He had meant the others died when he said he and Mika were the last of them still standing. Ferid was just so fast. Too quick for them, with his vampire enhanced speed in comparison to the kids as they tried to run and escape. Yuu can't actually yet bring himself to say it. To tell Mika that. As if saying it means it really happened. He himself was still in the more immediate aftermath of it, still processing what happened and still traumatized from it with his escape.]

[The silence is scarier than any answer Yuichiro could have given him. Mika shudders as he tries to clamp down on his own horrified feelings, holding the other boy as close as possible, his own heart hammering wildly.]

[Yuu isn't so used to being so vulnerable. Seeming so weak. He's used to, like Mika, trying to put up a front in front of the younger Hyakuya kids in keeping their spirits up. But they aren't here. At least as far as he knows. For the first time in four years. For the first time ever, it's just the two of them. With Mika, he can't help but to break as what he went through starts to sink in. What Ferid had done. It takes a bit before he properly calms down entirely more, sniffing and clumsily wiping at his face as best he can given his already ruined uniform.]

I....you don't remember any of that though?

No. I remember Ferid. I've wanted to escape Sanguinem, it's true. But...We actually tried?

[Mika shakes his head. Once Yuichiro pulls back and tries to pull himself together, the blond reaches forward and brushes his tears away. He's not used to seeing his friend so vulnerable, and it is very precious to him to know that Yuichiro cares that much. He's suspected as much, but it's heartwarming to know the other boy also cares about their little family despite what he says.]

...Your uniform is a mess. We should find something else for you to wear.

We did. You yelled at me to leave. That I had to run and escape at least.

[So as far as Yuu knows, he is the only one that made it. That actually escaped out of all of them. Not yet realizing that Mika survives thanks to Krul. Which is why he was so upset, so much more clingy than usual as he blinks in closing one eye when Mika reaches to wipe at his face.]

I guess....I didn't really think to check about clothes in that bedroom I woke up in. Or about money.

Did you?

[Mika hates that he has to ask, but a part of him wants to know. He wants to hear if he can be relieved that Yuichiro escaped or comforted that he stayed with him.]

[No matter what the answer is, it's clear that it cut deep. Mika is scared to imagine it too closely. Just hearing about it second hand feels like being introduced to a yawning despair that he's not sure how to deal with. Instead he simply touches Yuichiro's cheek, glad that he's survived.]

It'll be okay. We'll find something for you.

I last remember just running. I got up the steps. Past Ferid, since I shot him and that seemed to stop him long enough for me to start to make a run for it at least.

[The other kids, Ferid slaughtering them had to be for something. At least one of them had to make it. Mika had begged him, yelled at him to flee. After all the years together already, he is at least used to Mika and his easier affection in comparison to how freely such contact comes from Yuu himself, so he doesn't seem so surprised or tense when Mika's hand shifts to his cheek like that.]

I was more thinking of food when I smelled some. But you're right. This uniform is probably ruined now. And not the best to be wearing out like this.

How horrible...

[Mika can't help but wonder. To imagine that they both escaped like this and ended up here, it seems too good to be true. He still can't deal with the idea of the rest of the children dying.]

[Looking into Yuichiro's eyes, he brushes his cheek once more, before moving his hand to his shoulder.]

Yeah. Even if I haven't seen any vampires, there are wild animals that likes the scent of blood. It's better if we can find some clean clothes just to be safe.

We're in a town. I don't think there'd just be wild animals randomly roaming around, Mika. Aside from maybe dogs or cats I guess.

[Birds and insects or such don't really count. Still, Mika has a point on the smell. Neither of them are the cleanest in living underground, let alone the blood from Yuu's uniform on them both now. They kind of do need fresh clothes. He's just less sure on the money aspect, being kids and not having a job and in not having paid for anything with money in a while now since the kids more traded for things they needed than paid in money.]

You're right though. We need clean clothes.

If we find a store that has something we need, maybe I can try to trade with them. Or maybe we can steal.

[He'd rather avoid theft but if it stands between that and getting Yuichiro what he needs, it is clear to Mika what means more to him.]

Let's stay together, okay? We're stronger together.

What would we even have to trade that they would want?

[They're orphans. The things they have are necessities mostly. And the occasional more 'luxury' items like art resources or teddy bears. He isn't so sure stealing is the best idea though. That letter had mentioned school, but they haven't been in years. And as far as he knew they didn't get paid to go back home so he isn't sure what to make of that.]

But....yeah. Course we're sticking together.

AUGUST 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

AHHH! REAL MONSTERS

Character Arrival

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