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soddersays2020-08-26 04:27 pm
sodder) wrote in soddersays2020-08-26 04:27 pm
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SEPTEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME
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!
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.
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That's assuming there are other people to see. So far, it's just the two of us. Anyone else could have woken up elsewhere or remained in the town itself.
[ Yet the other boy seems remarkably confident. Even if it's misplaced, there's no time to waste debating their options when the magic of this place refuses to rest. ]
Still... If you're certain, then let's go together.
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[he sounds doubtful but at the same time... he woke up in this strange place, so it's not entirely possible. It just doesn't make sense to him.
But he nods.]
I'm certain.
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[ If it's magic at work, it is unlike any he has heard tell of before. Awe-inspiring? Perhaps. But dangerous and frustratingly enigmatic all the same.
Well, there's nothing to be done about it now. He steps forward, taking his place on the other side of the opening. ]
On three?
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[And not just the dollhouse. As the man said, this entire town is... off. It makes him feel like he has goose bumps all the time despite not being chilly.
Still, best to be out there rather than in here. So Lev nods.]
On three.
[Then he mutters a prayer for them, even if he's sure that's the way they should go. May She guide us..]
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Wrong as this place is, the idea of a town made up a variety of people, all with their own values and beliefs, is a small silver lining. ]
On my count, then. Three. Two. [ He pulls his gaze away, takes a final moment to ready himself— ] One.
[ —and leaps. ]
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He expects a long descent and the need to angle his body to try to prevent his legs from being shattered. However... instead his feet abruptly hit the ground, as if he'd only taken a running leap. The momentum makes him tumble to the ground onto his hands and knees.
Oh well, at least he can catch his breath. He then quickly looks around for the other Sleeper to be sure that he made it okay too.]
Hey, are you okay?
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I'm fine, thank you.
[ Dimitri pulls himself up, running his fingers gently through his hair and prodding at limbs that had begun to harden just a few minutes ago. Everything appears to be back to normal. Yet it's hard to shake the unease brought upon by the sensation.
If the other boy hasn't already followed suit, he quickly offers a hand to assist. In either case, he smiles.]
It looks as though your prediction was correct all along. Good work.
no subject
I had a feeling it was true. It was our only option, after all.
But-
[He gestures behind them. There's no house that they could have been in, neither big nor small. There's nothing but an empty grassy field. Lev gives the other a look, a confirmation to their previous observation of how this place is just plain "wrong".]
no subject
[ It may have been the only solution in the end, but he's still impressed with the boy's quick acceptance. Outside of combat, his own instincts lend themselves more towards caution and prioritizing the safety of those around him. There's something to be said for acting without hesitation.
Dimitri follows the gesture, looking across the bright but empty field and the sky above them. He shakes his head, bewildered. ]
I take it this would be equally impossible, where you're from?
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[It's a bit of an aloof response but one that's definitely a yes.]
no subject
Typically, no.
[ Even if evidence to the contrary rests in front of them. Or rather, doesn't. ]
I thought it may have been an illusion of sorts, originally. But I'm no longer certain that's an adequate explanation.
no subject
It seemed too real for that. We could touch everything. Besides, we didn't eat anything that made us see things.
...Did we?
[He certainly doesn't remember doing any sort of weird ritual anyway.]
no subject
[ Despite his words, it's difficult to muster any real confidence. Who's to say the provisions provided by this place aren't poisoned or tainted in some way? ]
But if there's another reason or method behind all of this, I fear it's completely beyond me.
no subject
[With as much emphasis and disdain as one could possibly insert into that word.]
no subject
I agree. With the sentiment, at least.
[ If not the specific wording, because he's a stick in the mud. ]
Whoever is behind these events needs to be stopped. They've proven themselves cruel, monstrous even, in their willingness to play with the lives of others.
no subject
If there were enough of us, maybe we could take them out.
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Perhaps. If it were an easy task, I'm certain those who have been here before us would done so already. [ He dearly wishes they had. ] But no one can remain of reach forever.
no subject
[So he's in complete agreement, essentially. Though he did notice that the man's voice rose at the idea of the people who caused this. Not that Lev blames him, people were stolen from their lives after all.]
no subject
[ Training, research, exploration... Who knows what will prove necessary for when that day arrives?
For now, it's probably best to take care of something they've both missed along the way. ]
Ah, I should have introduced myself sooner. My name is Dimitri. I'm grateful we ran into each other back there.
no subject
[He repeats the name aloud to himself. It's a new name to him. He'd never heard anyone in Haven called a name like that.]
I'm Lev. [And at Dimitri's statement, he nods.] e should... [what's the phrase Abby uses? Ah.] "have each other back's".
no subject
Agreed. [ The saying is unfamiliar, but the meaning it conveys is not. After a brief pause. ] If you don't mind me asking, did you arrive here alone?
[ He hopes that's not the case. As obviously capable as Lev appears, he's also just as clearly closer to a child than not. Younger than even the most junior student at the academy. He deserves better than being ripped away from his home and left among strangers. ]
no subject
...Didn’t everyone?
[He frowns. He’s not thinking that Dimitri is concerned because of his age: in his mind, he’s nearly an adult. So now he wonders if he should be concerns about being alone here. Is Abby in danger back home?]
no subject
[ If there's any logic behind who awakens here and who doesn't he's yet to grasp it. He's just experienced the phenomenon enough to be curious. ]
So I was wondering if you'd run into anyone like that from your own home.
no subject
[He looks at his shoes for a second before looking back up with a shake of his head.]
There’s just me and Abby left now. And I haven’t seen her.
no subject
[ Given Lev’s reaction, both now and to the original question, he can’t help but feel he’s crossed an accidental line. Perhaps it would have been kinder to bury his concern rather than risk shifting into painful territory. ]
I’m sorry, it was never my intention to overstep or bring up such a delicate subject.
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