SEPTEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

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.

Comments

Korra || Legend of Korra

[bend_it_like]

A: Pesky kids

You got something, girl? [ Korra, perched atop Naga, her giant polar bear dog, walks down Main St, tracking the scent of a "ghost". Korra is pretty sure it's not a real ghost. She's met "ghosts" and they don't have scents. At least not the kind that Naga can track.

To be fair, this is a different world, but she tries not to think too hard about that, at least not now.

Naga lifts her head, sniffing the air, trotting toward a corner into an alley. She sniffs again, then drops her head with a groan ]

Lost him? How could he get away?!

[ She leaps off of Naga's back and stalks down the alleyway, summoning fire into her hand to light it up.

There's no one there. ]

Oh, come on!

B: Off-leash hours
[ Korra and Naga are in the park. Korra lounges on a bench, flicking her hand every once in a while to pull up little balls of dirt and bends to toss them for Naga, who yips loudly and dashes after them, her giant paws causing the ground to shake when she runs.

Naga catches one in midair and Korra cheers. ] Nice job, girl! You got it! Now how about-- [ Korra gets to her feet and twists around, throwing three balls toward the polar bear dog, who suddenly can't decide which one to go after. ]

C: Just a jog in an old forest
[ Korra got bored with the town pretty quickly. She doesn't like being stuck, contained, in an area, especially one that's quiet and quaint (if you ignore all the creepy stuff that happens, anyway).

She saw the national park on the map and decided to head that way, hoping that she can get all of her frustration at her situation out with a run. ]

D: Wildcard
[ Any other idea you have! Feel free to tag with anything ]

off the leash

[glitchinthesystem]

[ You know what you don't expect when you're taking a casual walk through the park and reading a book?

To be pegged in the head with a rock, but that's what's happening because he does even see it coming and is just immediately floored by it. A loud shout of pain as he hits the ground and lies there for a good long moment. ]

Why is this town constant paaaaaain.... [ Nice job, Korra. ]

[bend_it_like]

Oh! I'm so sorry! [ Korra's on her feet immediately, dashing over to him. Naga comes up right after her ] Naga was supposed to catch all of them...

1/2

[glitchinthesystem]

[ He can't help but shoot the taller girl something of a glare because OW. Pain. He pushes himself to his feet, snatching up his book. ]

Yeah well, maybe you should watch where you aim your rocks or better yet your animal could-

2/2

[glitchinthesystem]

[ And he's utterly silenced because wow.

That's a big...dog....thing. He can't help but stare at it a little slack jawed before looking back to the young woman. ]

Holy shit, this thing could bite a person's head off.

[ Don't mind the casual observations here, Korra. ]

[bend_it_like]

[ Naga pants at him, her tongue sticking out of her mouth. ]

Oh, yeah. She totally could. We definitely haven't threatened people with that or anything. But she wouldn't! Unless I asked her too. [ Korra flashes him a grin ] But I won't do that either.

And, really, sorry about the rocks.

[glitchinthesystem]

...You totally have threatened to have her bite heads off, haven't you?

[ Sure she may be kidding but he's not putting it past anyone who had a giant bear dog thing.

Still, he gives something of a shrug. ]

All right, well. Don't I guess? Unless it's like the mayor or mother Superior than I don't care if she bites their heads off.

[ Though he does wave off her apology. ]

Yeah, well. It's fine I guess. You didn't kill me so I'll let it slide.

[bend_it_like]

Right, right. Glad I didn't. Wow, I'm really not coming off right! I'm Korra. [ She offers him her hand. ] So we don't like the mayor?

A. Pesky kids

[laminae]

[Fern is used to seeing a lot of bizarre things. Ooo had its own special flavour of weird to the point of normalcy, and being in Deerington for a year and a half means he's seen a good chunk of the town's weird horror.

What he hasn't seen is what is obviously a combination of the best two animals in existence: bears and dogs. Fern is walking by when he sees some lady blasting fire magic into an alley and, more importantly, a huge bear with doggy ears and a tail.

So there is one kid made entirely out of grass immediately making a beeline over to Naga, because oh my Glob so cool.]

Dude! You're - you're a bear! And a dog! That's sick!

[bend_it_like]

She's a polar bear dog! [ Korra laughs as Naga turns her giant head to look at Fern. She pads up to him and snuffles at his face. She's very gentle, even as she licks him.

Korra pats her on the shoulder. ] Good girl, be nice to the little, um, plant guy.

[laminae]

A polar bear dog? Rad.

[He's never heard of that before, but obviously polar bear dogs are cool. Fern doesn't mind getting sniffed at, or even licked, and he'll try patting her on the snout.]

Grass. I'm made outta grass.

[bend_it_like]

Well, nice to meetcha, grass guy. I'm made outta... blood, I guess. [ She pats Naga on the shoulder, looking out past Fern ] Did you see any guys dressed like ghosts running around here?

[laminae]

If you're human it'd be kinda weird if you weren't made outta blood and guts.

[He is pretty sure, anyways.]

Don't think so. How do you dress like a ghost?

[bend_it_like]

Wearing sheets and running around. [ She shakes her head, looking back out at the street. ] They were bothering Naga. Not sure why they thought that was a good idea.

B

[beastfootforward]

[One of those balls is intercepted! By one much smaller dog that leaps into the air and catches it with his mouth. As he lands, he sets it down on the ground.

One curious thing about this dog is that he happens to be green. And he also sounds like he's laughing!]

[bend_it_like]

Whoa, hey! Nice job! [ Korra laughs and jogs over to thedog, leaning down to pet his head. Naga pads over, looking a little annoyed that Korra is paying attention to another animal. ] Where'd you come from, little guy?

[beastfootforward]

Thanks! [The dog says with a laugh. And he raises one hind leg to a point in a direction.] And I came from pretty much... thataway!

[She can pet if she wants to! Although he feels like now he's made it a little clear that he's not exactly an ordinary dog.]

[bend_it_like]

You're a person. [ Korra states. She shouldn't be very surprised. She doesn't think she really is, at this point.

That doesn't stop her from petting his head. ] A dog person? Well, you're pretty cute anyway.

[beastfootforward]

Aw thank you! [He beams, while wagging his tag happily. As long as she doesn't think it's weird, he'll let her pet away!]

Moooore like a person you can shapeshift into animals. I just saw you playing with your dog and thought I'd take a shot at it!

[It looked fun! And her dog looks completely unlike any dog he's ever met, which is also very cool.]

[bend_it_like]

Oh yeah? [ Naga is down on the ground with the earth ball in front of her, her tail flapping against the ground. ] Wanna go again? I know Naga does.

Off-leash hours

[smudging]

[ Needing a few moments to clear her head, and to try and make sense of everything she's taken in today, Blue finds her way to the park sometime late in the afternoon. She claims a small patch of grass underneath a large tree for herself and lays there for a long while.

It not the tree in her backyard in Henrietta, but if she closes her eyes and only focuses on the sound of the wind rustling the leaves above her, she can almost pretend that it is.

As long as nothing disturbs her.
But, as luck would have it, something does.

Something in the form of a small mound of dirt landing on her forehead. ] What the..?

[ She sits straight up, her head on a swivel as she looks around for the culprit. ]

Someone is over here, you know!

[bend_it_like]

Sorry! [ Korra shouts sheepishly, jogging over to her. Naga follows right after, leaning down to sniff at Blue ] Really, sorry. I didn't see you there.

[ She leans down, peering at Blue's face ] I really got you, huh? [ She raises her hand, then drops it again with a grimace ] Normally I'd just bend it off, but my bending has been weird since I've been here. I don't want to accidentally hurt you.

[smudging]

[ Blue notices Korra first, then the large dog-like animal with her not even a second later — which is kind of hard not to notice, given its size. She considered herself to be a friend to all dogs, though she’d never seen one quite like this before.

But, Blue can’t stay mad at the large beast, or its owner for very long. ]

It’s okay. I probably could have picked a better spot to nap. [ Using the sleeve of her shirt, she makes fairly easy work of cleaning her face up and once she’s mostly presentable, she looks at Korra a bit puzzled. ]

Two-part question: [ She holds up two fingers. ] Who, or what is that? [ Blue points to Naga. ] And what do you mean bend it? [ Blue didn’t usually find dirt to be bendable, but she hadn’t played with it lately either. ]

[bend_it_like]

This is Naga. She's a polar bear dog. [ Korra scruffs Naga's ears, and Naga's tongue lolls out of her mouth. ] Bending is... it's... [ Korra narrows her eyes, trying to think. She's never actually had to explain bending before. Everyone she knows knows what bending is, and for Korra, bending is like breathing.

Well, usually it is. It's not so easy here. She finally settles on: ] It's this.

[ Letting go of Naga, Korra slams a foot into the ground, raising a hunk of earth. She manipulates the earth into a ball, then a star, then she tries to form it into a square when it decides to shoot out in every direction. ] Duck!

[smudging]

It’s very nice to meet you, Naga! [ Were it physically possible, Blue would have the world's largest heart-eyes at Naga. She’s certain she’s never heard of a polar bear dog before, but Blue is also certain that in the less than one minute she’s known Naga, she loves her.

(Animals always know the quickest way to Blue Sargent’s heart.)

When Korra starts her demonstration, Blue’s very obviously captivated by it, her eyes wide with wonder. She’s no stranger to magic — one of her best friends is a ghost, another can pull literally anything out of his dreams, and psychic blood runs in her veins — but she’s never before seen anything like this. ]

That’s amaz— [ Before Blue can finish the sentiment, she’s ducking to ground with a loud yelp, hoping to avoid being hit by anything else today. ]