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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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[Had he really? What luck. But how embarrassing that she had succumbed to a malady like this when he had not! Not that she cared what he thought, of course. It wasn't as if they had barely had reason to cross paths and now his first memory of her would be marred by her weakness, diminished by her need to be protected like a child.
...]
W-Well -- perhaps that might be so. I had not realized you were unaffected.
[She pointedly avoids looking at the arm again.]
I would... use Warp, but I have seen that magical abilities are oft unreliable in these scenarios.
...Thank you, then.
[Her tone is a bit stiff, her cheeks tinged pink.]
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Where would they be if that advantage was lost? ]
Think nothing of it. I know you would do the same, after all.
[ ... Even if the motivations behind the act may differ.
With the order determined, he takes a steadying breath and lets himself fall. A free drop that feels more terrifying than the exhilarating imaginings he had once wished for. Of course, the landing is considerably gentler than expected, so as trades go it could be worse.
A short-lived victory, gone in the time it takes to pull himself up and look towards empty sky. ]
misunderstood!
[Well. She would have tried to climb down, but there he goes. The Blue Lions could never be accused of not having courage, if not perhaps unnecessary bravado. Lysithea rushes to the opening and watches as he plummets to the ground and --
Hm.
Vanishes?]
Well, this doesn't bode well.
On the one hand, he might be anywhere. On the other hand, 'anywhere' seems like a better bet than 'here'.
[She watches as the porcelain creeps slowly down her wrist. Without further hesitation, Lysithea jumps as well and watches as the ground rushes up to meet her. The ground, and... the rapidly enlarging form of a young prince.]
Watch your head!
no worries!
The bad... Well, that's entirely up to her.
Whatever her reaction, his first words are likely to remain the same. ]
Lysithea! Are you unharmed?
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[Of course Dimitri would try to catch her. And of course she had expected it, if not actually desired it, which is why she doesn't exactly try to aim for him. Still, Lysithea is small enough that he shouldn't have much trouble managing if his reflexes are sound, and she lands in his arms with all the heft of a feather pillow.
...On her end, she has a feeling the ground would have been a more comfortable landing. She takes a moment to breathe.]
Y-Yes, thanks, I'm fine. You didn't need to do that.
[It is difficult to express begrudging appreciation for a favor while still maintaining the pretense of not wanting that favor. An endless struggle in her life. As soon as humanly possible, she squirms out of his grasp to her feet, pushing herself up with her left h -- ]
Oh! Why, it's fixed.
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—Sorry.
[ Looking back, there really was no need to jump in with a rescue attempt. It was just habit, muscle memory based on a lifetime spent in a world where logic and distance meant something. Not... whatever this is. ]
Is it? That's excellent. [ Now that she mentions it, the subtler changes he had felt before are gone as well. ] Could the effects have been tied to the location directly?
[ Because that's as far as his hypothesis goes. Let's be real, they both know who the scholar is here. ]
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[A sigh of relief momentarily betrays her previous calm, collected facade. Lysithea turns her arm and hand around several times, examining its soft flesh.]
It would be very difficult to practice my spells with a porcelain arm.
[And if anybody ever calls her a doll in the future, she'll know who to practice her spells on.]
I suppose the question now is... have we escaped or is this field slowly going to turn us into humanoid plants?
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Perhaps we should make our way back into town, rather than find out.
[ Even if the field is harmless, he imagines they both have better things to be doing in the long run. Back at the academy, one of his few impressions of Lysithea—alongside young and surprisingly powerful—was diligent. She had always seemed busy, rushed almost, and he'd seen her in the library countless times. ]
Unless there was something else you needed to do, instead.
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[Lysithea eyes the pleasant grass of the park cautiously before beginning to set out at a brisk pace. ...Which would keep her at a normal pace with people with adult-sized legs.]
Dimitri, how long have you been here? If we might be more familiar, I cannot say what a relief it was to find you in that dollhouse. I have read all the information I can find about this... 'dream world,' and frankly, it is all totally bizarre -- more than that, incomprehensible.
I have never even heard of a country called 'Maine.' Let alone any of the strange customs this country practices. I thought the deer symbolism was a hopeful sign, but I'm beginning to think it's a coincidence.
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[ Not for lack of trying. The little time he’s managed to find, in between assisting others and waking up in that dollhouse, has been spent reading through the documentation provided and striving to learn more about this bizarre place. A difficult task when surrounded by the unfamiliar. For every answer, he gains countless more questions. ]
But I believe you’re right about the deer being a coincidence. No one I’ve spoken with here has even heard of Fódlan. You’re the first person I’ve seen from the monastery, as well.
[ Which was as much a relief to him as it was for her. They may have had few reasons to interact in the past, but there’s still comfort to be found in knowing he’s not entirely alone amongst strangers. ]
If I may ask, what was the last thing you remember before arriving here?
[ Could they have been brought over at the same time? A flimsy connection, in all likelihood, but he cannot help but ask. ]
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[Lysithea turns towards him sharply, the implications of his question becoming clear to her. Of course, it had been the eve of the Imperial army's descent upon Garreg Mach. She had reason to understand that this development had been... particularly distressing to the Crown Prince. Actually, he had been quite unstable, as she had heard.
...But surely it wouldn't make any sense for him not to know. Someone would have noticed Dimitri in a comatose state, his mind and psyche trapped in this distant land of... Maine.
Wouldn't they?]
I --
...I hate to deflect, but I suspect this would go better if you answered first. I'll explain afterwards.
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... If you insist.
[ He's not blind enough to miss her conspicuous look or the avoidance, but the explanation for either escapes him. He'd thought the question innocuous, unhelpful at worst, but it obviously means something different to her.
Why? Is it something to do with the Golden Deer, an event he's unaware or would be difficult to explain? Or... Well. Whatever the case, he pushes aside his curiosity. Better to answer and wait for her offered explanation. ]
It was the night before the ball. The one in Ethereal Moon, I mean. [ In case she's forgotten? ] I woke here after retiring for the evening, the same as any other day. Was it not the same for you?
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...I see.
[Lysithea draws breath once or twice as if she were about to speak, but she fails to find the appropriate words. She eventually begins to approach it in a roundabout manner.]
It's incredible that we can have different 'last memories.' The ball was a few months back from my point of view. [Indeed, it feels to her like an eternity has passed since that night... One of the last times they had all been cheerful and joyous and... together.] I wonder... how that can be possible. You've been behaving just the same as always, you know.
[She sighs heavily.]
Dimitri, I must ask you to steel yourself. We are not friends or even well acquainted, but trust me when I say I do not wish to cause you undue distress.
After the ball... the situation rapidly spiraled out of our control. Everything with Tomas and the cultists, the Flame Emperor, the Professor's strange power... It all unraveled so quickly. In mere weeks.
[She can't give him too much at once. It would be utterly overwhelming. Just... the main point for now.]
Fodlan stands on the brink of war once more. The Adrestian Empire marches on Garreg Mach in what they claim to be a rebuke of the corruption and false teachings of the church.
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A few months back causes his eyebrows to raise in surprise, before the emotion is quickly overtaken by a nod of acceptance at her request to steady himself. For what?
A reality worse than any he could have predicted. ]
The empire…?
[ There are several questions, all jostling for attention and equally necessary to gain any sense of understanding. What supposed corruption could possibly justify such an act? How does this relate to the events of the last several months and the machinations of those monsters? What was that she mentioned about the professor's power?
... Where is he supposed to start?
There’s a pause, mute and uncertain, before he shakes his head and searches for a tangible place to begin. ]
On whose authority do they march?
[ The Emperor? Surely not. Rumours and intelligence alike have painted the man a leader in name only, fragile and powerless under the weight of Adrestia’s political schism. But if not him, then who? ]
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It is almost too much. She looks very small -- small, vulnerable, defeated as she turns away.]
...It's Edelgard, Dimitri.
[Her voice breaks.]
Edelgard, Crown Emperor of Adrestia. ...Our classmate.
['Classmate' is not a term that denotes fondness. But they had been... happy together, hadn't they? They had shared dreams and goals and a vision of the future.
Perhaps that had been a lie. Certainly... it was a lie.]
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[ Impossible? Ridiculous? Wrong?
Those instinctive denials mean little in the face of Lysithea’s despondency, the open and painful honestly that underlines her voice and frame, younger in demeanour than he has ever seen her previously. Nor do they hold up against his knowledge of Edelgard — the future leader and distant woman she is now, not the child who lives only in his memories. Is it truly such a stretch to believe she could prove as cruel and flawed as so many rulers before them? Willing to condemn countless souls to senseless war for her own goals?
Yes. Yes, it is. But perhaps that’s only because he does not wish to accept otherwise.
His fists clench, nails digging into the skin of his palms. A mild, grounding pain. It makes it easier to focus on here and now, the girl in front of him instead of the awful future she speaks of. ]
... Thank you, Lysithea. I realize this cannot be easy for you to explain.
[ The intonation is precise, polite, and distant. Leagues away from the previous camaraderie. ]
There’s more I would like to ask, but... To be honest, I’m not certain where to start. It’s difficult to believe we could be brought here from different times, let alone...
[ Which isn’t to say he doubts her. On the contrary, this would be far easier to handle if he could brush off he words, reject them entirely, instead of struggling to reconcile them. ]
no subject
[Lysithea is a noble. Despite her... unusual childhood, she had been born and bred to recognize such nuances as carried by Dimitri's tone and manner. And in the back of her mind, it gnaws at her -- what she had heard about his growing instability from the Blue Lions as Edelgard had declared her intentions.
She eyes him carefully for a moment. Perhaps this had been unwise.
When she speaks again, the raw emotion has vanished from her voice, and her previous composure -- or facade of composure -- has returned.]
We don't have to discuss this further now. It must be... a lot. If you'd like to pick up at a later point... Well, it doesn't seem as if we're going anywhere until we satisfy the people of Deerington in some way.
[Really, she doesn't even know what they want. She pauses once more before she ventures -- ]
Will you be alright?
no subject
Of course. I’ll be fine.
[ Spoiler alert: blatant (yet unintentional!) lies.
If it was one of his housemates or, Goddess forbid, Edelgard herself who had been the source of this information, he would have no choice but to pursue the truth regardless of the cost it held for either of them. Instead, it’s a girl closer to a stranger than not. One he’s exchanged more words with today than at any point in the past and whose admirably covered vulnerability still manages to shake his conviction. ]
Or... as fine as could be expected. I doubt there’s anyone capable of remaining completely unaffected when faced with the events of the last several days.
[ To say nothing of the last few hours. This town is unlike any nightmare he’s ever experienced, but it’s equally as disorienting. His attempt to find a routine, balancing smaller goals to prevent being overcome by his own sheer lack of understanding, is a work in progress. In the end, her prediction of a future he’s yet to meet is just another part of the mystery. A complication to be set aside until he’s best able to consider what it means... or confront those who bear responsibility. ]
What about you? Have you had any trouble settling in?
no subject
[The events of the last few days had not been her main concern. But she suspects Dimitri knows this - and she will follow his lead in progressing to a different topic of conversation. As she had said, there was a vast expanse of time ahead of them in which they could return to the uncomfortable subject.
Dimitri... probably needed time and space. That being the case, best to return to a less intimate sort of conversation.]
But of course I have had trouble settling in. Being transported into a strange world bent on tormenting its inhabitants is hardly liable to be met with grace and aplomb.
The worst part of this is that there's no real foe to even focus on. It's all just... vague and mysterious.
no subject
I never expected we could face enemies more unnatural or monstrous than Solon and those aligned with him. Yet even they were... tangible. A threat we could search out and seek to eliminate.
[ A goal which, in the weeks following Remire, had nearly consumed him. Eating, sleeping, training... All mere motions he had gone through in the hopes that the future would mean finding those fiends and enacting justice upon them. A desire yet to be realized. In his time, at least.
His pace increases, unintentionally. As though an extra step or two would be enough to outrun the horrors of their past and present. ]
The same cannot be said of the forces aligned against us here.
[ He wishes, not for the first time, that the professor was present alongside them. ]
no subject
As far as small silver linings go, I can say that Solon won't be bothering us in the future. Frankly, he deserved much worse than he got.
[Though to be honest, whatever those people had been up to had just about been driven from her mind by more recent events.]
What do you make of what is happening here, then? I've gathered as much information as I can, and I'm afraid to say that it all seems very inconclusive. It is not exactly a battle or even a plot that must be undone.
Indeed, it feels almost as if the goal were ... mere survival.
Which is exceedingly concerning.
no subject
Good.
[ Even if the end he received was better than deserved, it's enough, for now, to know that they'll come a time (sooner, rather than later) when he'll no longer be able to continue sowing chaos and bloodshed. ]
My knowledge of this place is much the same as your own. I've tried to search through all the documentation provided, including the events that occurred before we arrived but... It's a great deal to take in at once. And none of it points to one single goal or method of escape.
[ Or even a clear enemy. Mother Superior's obvious malevolence aside. ]
It does appear as though we've arrived during a time of great change. I just wish we could tell whether or not it's a positive one.
no subject
[Lysithea's orderly and scholarly mind is offended.]
You're referring to this... 'layer' business, aren't you?
As best as I can tell, it means the town is less... protected. Is that the right word? Maybe... cloaked? I'm not wholly sure what that means, but it seems as if people are concerned.
no subject
[ After all, those with greater experience and knowledge seem to recognize the current state as a danger first and foremost. He's not in any position to question their wisdom. ]
We should take care to remain in contact and keep each other appraised of... Well, everything. We'll be better equipped to handle this place if we do so together.
[ She's not the first ally he'd have thought of, but no doubt there are far worse options than a girl as tirelessly dedicated and magically oriented as she. ]
no subject
[At this point, they have wandered to the edge of the park with the rest of the city well in view. The horrors of the 'dollhouse' lie behind them, and ahead...
Well, who knew what was to come?]
As I said, I would be lying if I didn't admit what a relief it was to see you here. We must survive this. We still have much to accomplish, for the sake of Fódlan.
Do you have a residence yet? I am currently at [insert house here because I have not yet chosen] if you need me.
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