soddersays | SEPTEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

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SEPTEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to September's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT 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: Evil dollhouses, potential body horror (turning into a doll), heights, pranks with the potential to cause harm, some stalking vibes
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

THE EVIL DOLLHOUSE

When you wake up, you find you're not in your own bed, your own room, or even your own house. The room is well decorated, almost Victorian in fashion. The bed is pretty uncomfortable and you're not even sure the mattress is a real mattress. The chairs look like they might be made of plastic and the doors are flimsy. But it might not be what catches your eye, especially if you look out the window.

Through the clear panes (which also seem to be plastic), you will notice you do not see the town of Deerington, or even the outdoors at all. You see a living room that feels larger than life. There aren't any people in it, but as you look around at the fake looking furnishings and the strange view, you might be hit with a realization: you're inside a dollhouse.

The dollhouse has three floors for those who explore; the second floor you woke up on has two bedrooms and a fake little bathroom, all decorated in the same Victorian dollhouse style as the room you originally found yourself in. The bottom floor has a cute little kitchen with small porcelain dolls sitting around the table, a living room with all the basic furniture one would expect to find (in fact, it looks a great deal like the living room outside the windows), and an office filled with books that can't actually be pulled out of the shelves. On the very top floor is an attic. It's dusty and filled with broken toy beds and chairs, a few shattered doll pieces, and on the far wall you'll see another bookshelf. All seems... fairly standard, really, if you're used to seeing dollhouses.

But what there doesn't appear to be is an exit.

While searching, you may run into another Sleeper. A friend or a stranger, it's clear you're both stuck here together. And the longer the time ticks by, the more concerning things get. You might not notice at first, but anyone inside the dollhouse starts slowly... changing. It seems to go at a different pace for everyone, but the results are always the same. Your skin will start to become porcelain, your cheeks more rosy, your clothes made of cheaper cloth material, your joints become stiffer, and your eyes will start to become more and more glass like. If you don't get out of the dollhouse soon, it's clear that you may become the next doll at the kitchen table.

Searching the house again may feel fruitless, but keen observers may find light scratches on the floor in front of the bookshelf in the attic. Maybe they were like that because of someone moving things around or maybe there's a reason. If you decide to eventually pull the bookshelf aside, there will be a large door in the wall. It may seem strange, given that the wall only leads to the outside, but it's the only door to the outside that actually opens. You expect it to open up into the living room, but instead you'll see the grass of the park below. Far below. It's likely you could get hurt jumping, especially if you've started to turn to porcelain, but what other choice do you have?

Once characters take the plunge, they will find that they land rather softly in the grass, despite how high the jump may have seemed. As soon as you are out of the dollhouse, your body will have returned to complete normal.

And the house with the dollhouse in the living room will be nowhere in sight.

THOSE PESKY KIDS

You start off thinking maybe you're just forgetful and moved minor pieces around in your house without paying attention. You might think you're just seeing strange things out of the corner of your eye, because why wouldn't you? It's Deerington. Things are always strange. But each day, there's something weirder going on. Small objects might turn into entire rooms being rearranged, strange sightings out of the corner of your eye might turn into you swearing you saw a lake monster running through the street, and you swear you can hear the rattling of chains or the sounds of someone telling you to leave echoing in your house at night or following you down the street.

A haunting seems plausible. It wouldn't be the first time in Deerington. But no amount of herbs burned, or exorcisms performed, or chants and spell cast will make these things go away. In fact, they seem to just becoming more and more frequent, and more and more intense. Eventually, the strange creatures you see running around may start to try and attack you. They may start to try and kill you. But they always run off before you can attack back or show yourself to be stronger than them. It's probably the first time the monsters have ever been so easily scared.

Anyone who looks into it further may start to find weird clues lying around after a monster has been chased off. Footprints that don't look quite monster-like, tapes or records that when played will make strange rattling sounds like the chains you've been hearing, a piece of rubber that looks a lot like the monsters skin... Huh. The more you follow the clues, the more they'll lead you towards the answer to your dilemmas; these aren't hauntings.

They're pranks.

People can work together to catch a monster or ghost (or killing it, if you decide to); catching them will lead to them getting quite flustered and angry, struggling to get away. Pull off the mask or the sheet and underneath you'll find... a very disgruntled townsperson. Maybe your business was taking too much money away from theirs and they were hoping you'd close down with enough scares, maybe you talked back to them one time and they were looking for revenge, maybe you ruined their house or garden when you were fighting the things in Deerington that actually try to kill you, or maybe they were just having some "harmless" fun; they all have a different excuse, but they're clearly angry about getting caught.

They woulda gotten away with it if it weren't for you pesky Sleepers, after all.

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

[ Cable comes stomping out of the room and down the stairs towards Neal's voice like he's ready to shoot someone in the face.

And he is. ]

You have any idea what this place is, Mister Artsy?

[ As he talks, he moves around Neal, checking all the angles that an attack could come from and herding him away from the bottom of the stairs when he decides that that's the worst place they could be attacked from. ]

[ Allowing himself to be ushered — honestly used to it by now — Neal keeps an eye on their surroundings, but feels much more secure knowing Cable is in close proximity. ]

I know where we're not.

[ And he figures he doesn't need to spell it out for Cable to understand what he means. This isn't the Up or the Down, and while it doesn't yet read safe, it does feel safer. ]

Did you just wake up? I had strange dreams. They felt so... real.

[ Neal says something about his dreams and Cable's eyes practically glaze over. Unless they're sexy dreams, he really doesn't give a fuck, especially after that time people were in his. ]

Yeah no shit. Notice a way outside yet?

[ Wow, Cable. Wow. Neal can feel your disinterest and that, quite frankly, is never going to fly for a stone cold diva like him. He raises an eyebrow at his grumpy companion, then gestures elegantly towards the front of the condo. ]

Usually people use to door, but if you want to blow a hole in the wall to prove you're a threat to everyone within a five mile radius, be my guest, sunshine.

Do you want me to blow a hole in the wall?

[ Because it's not the worst idea Neal's had... If anything out there might threaten them, at least that would be a handy warning shot. ]

Do not blow a hole in the wall. In fact, please do not blow a hole in anything unless it's an obvious threat.

[ Sighing, Neal pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. Honestly, how have they not killed each other yet?

Stepping forward, he reaches out and opens the door and gestures for Cable to note the outside world before closing the door again. ]

Let's look around. If there aren't answers, maybe there's wine.

Or beer.

[ But he'll drink the wine. Christ.

He's still on high alert, though, sticking close to Neal and watching for threats, because he's not letting some bullshit trap hurt him. That's the deal between them, right? Cable protects him in the ways he can and Neal pays him back in the ways that Cable can't. ]

[ Neal practically rolls his eyes, although he manages to just mentally grumble instead. ]

Or beer.

[ Not that he minds beer, but he certainly prefers wine. It doesn't really matter, though, because as soon as he opens the refrigerator, he's greeted with an empty, but clean appliance. No white wine here. And no beer. And looking around, he's fairly certain there's no red wine lurking on the counters, either. ]

Hold on. What's this?

[ On the table is a pair of baskets and they're about the only thing in the house that looks filled and prepared. Neal can't pass on his curiosity, of course, and reaches for the map, looking it over. ]

Maine. Huh.

[ He leans to show Cable the worn map and then plucks up the folded letter next. ]

[ Cable comes up next to Neal, free hand going to the small of his back on instinct. He can't help that he's grown protective. It's their whole deal, but there's a part of him that honestly doesn't mind keeping Neal safe.

He peers around Neal's shoulder to the map. ]

It's gone to be some kind of trick. We weren't even on the same planet last night.

[ Whether he says it or not (and usually he doesn't), Neal appreciates the way Cable stay close and remains protective. It's like a warm blanket. Secure (and maybe a little bit sexy considering all they've been through). ]

That's what I was thinking, too...

[ This is said distractedly while Neal skims the note and then offers it next before picking up the jar in the nearest basket. ]

It says we're supposed to eat this or we'll disappear. Is it even safe?

[ Neal opens the jar and takes a sniff, making a face. He holds it up for Cable to smell and there is a clear fermented scent to whatever's in the jar. ]

[ Cable sniffs at it. ]

Considering how many dosed and weird things Duplicity's fed us, it can't be worse than anything else.

[ At least they're together, Cable figures. If there's anyone he'd prefer to be stuck with while drugged, at least it's Neal. Hard-won trust has started to form between them. Cable won't let anything bad happen to him and he knows Neal would do his best, too. It's all they've got to go on for now. ]

Let's just fucking eat it.

[ Neal eyes Cable for a long moment, amusement playing on his lips. ]

Well, you're certainly never boring.

[ And into the jar he goes, grabbing up what appears to be a fermented plum in plum wine which he holds over the jar so it doesn't drip on the floor. ]

Same time?

[ He holds the jar closer to Cable, hand and plum moving with it. ]

I make all my decisions just to keep you fucking entertained.

[ But as usual, Cable's words have a lot less bite when they're thrown Neal's way. Almost as if he likes the guy or something. Fucking weird. ]

Same time.

[ He uses his right hand to go for his own plum. At least it smells like what it should. ]

[ Neal toasts them together because of course he does, and then proceeds to pop the plum into him mouth, sucking the wine off the end of his fingers. He makes a sinfully pleased sound, the face accompanying it one of pure bliss. Maybe it's that good, or maybe he hasn't had something bearing artisan quality in too long. Either way, he's happy. ]

That's good.

[ He says it around what's left in his mouth, savoring the taste. Neal eyes the jar, nodding. ]

I can get behind that.

[ Cable eats his own, not making the same kind of show of it, fuck you very much, but he can admit it tastes good and he hums a little in agreement. ]

It's fucking fancy, just like you.

[ But if Cable had to pick one of them to eat... ]

[ Okay, well, Neal can't be sad about that assessment. ]

At least there are a few with taste in this town.

[ Recapping the jar and setting it down, he snoops in the basket and finds a keychain attached to an antler and some keys. ]

I'll try this on the door in a bit. But why do you suppose there are two baskets and... [ He digs and compares the other set of keys he finds. ] —two sets of keys?

Pretty sure they're trying to trick us into playing house.

[ A thing they definitely weren't already sort of doing.

Cable rifles through the other basket and grabs the keys, biting back a comment about the lack of sex toys in this gift basket.

He grabs a knife out of the knife block on the counter, twirling it around to offer the grip to Neal. ]

Be careful until we figure out what the fuck we're dealing with here.

[ Neal merely stares at the knife in Cable's hand dubiously, no intention to take it in the manner it's being offered. ]

I don't think that's going to do me any good unless I'm preparing duck a l'orange...

[ He glances up at Cable feeling suddenly uncertain. Neal can't imagine he's going to sever their connection so soon, but he's to worried about being on his own to let it be. ]

Are you going somewhere?

I'm not planning on it.

[ His free hand reaches out to loop a finger in Neal's waistband to tug him closer with gentle insistentce. ]

But I'm not taking any chances until we figure out what the hell this is.

[ Cable's a persistent fucker and he'll fight until he literally can't, but he can't just stubborn his way through everything. At some point, something may happen to him, though, and he doesn't want Neal left with no defenses. ]

If anything jumps out and I can't shoot it, you stab it.

[ Suddenly breathless, he stares up at Cable with keen blue eyes, the warmth of their proximity leaching into him. Without looking, he wraps his fingers around the handle of the knife and swallows thickly. ]

I guess I could imagine it's a particularly succulent mallard...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

SEPTEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

SEPTEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

THE EVIL DOLLHOUSE

THOSE PESKY KIDS

Character Arrival

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