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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.
no subject
[Lysithea stops halfway through her sentence as a bemused expression flickers across her face.]
...You mean our victory, surely? Of course, I don't mean to boast [perhaps a little boast] but it was one of the most decisive victories in the past however many years. The Deer escaped without a single casualty.
[Dimitri and Dedue had been stalwart to the end - even she recalls how long they had stood their ground. But even so...]
no subject
That's... That's impossible. I admit the details may have been lost in the haze of battle, but the Blue Lions were the clear victors of the day.
[ Although, to be fair, the odds had been in their favour. Both as the only house who's professor was able to participate and for having Byleth herself as a strategist in the first place. She always had the most uncanny knack for placing each of them exactly where they needed to be. ]
And I can say with certainty that there were casualties on all sides.
[ He's been the one to land the finishing blow on Claude, after all. ]
no subject
[Hilda's brother aside. They're not even part of the name. Lysithea has stopped walking altogether now.]
We really grew together that day. We are the Alliance, you know - we share no commonality besides that we must band together to be on an even playing field with the Empire and the Kingdom. But for the first time, it seemed as if we had found ourselves.
[The gears are turning - her mind, disoriented at first, is leaping to grasp the insinuations of this turn of events.]
...Dimitri, you say the Professor chose the Blue Lions?
no subject
He stops along with her, frowning in concentration.]
Professor Byleth? Yes, that's correct. She decided to teach the Blue Lions right after arriving at the Monastery and has remained in that position since then. I'm... not certain where any of us would be without her.
[ Which is part of why this conversation is so unnerving. The particular struggles faced by the students of the Golden Deer house may differ from his own class but... Her recollection of the feast and its effects rings true. It had been a grand moment. Truly joyous in a way not a single one of his classmates had been immune from. Himself included.]
Am I to assume that was different for you as well?
[ It's the only reasonable conclusion to draw from her question, but that doesn't mean he's looking forward to the answer. ]
no subject
Yes.
It was exactly the same for the Golden Deer. We are... made better because of his influence. His presence.
[...]
Then it was the Blue Lions who won the Battle. ...You who battled Sylvain's brother and Ashe's father, you who rescued Flayn, you who experienced the atrocities of Remire Village.
Yes?
no subject
[ It reflects something about the gravity of the situation that her mention of Remire passes without any significant reaction. ]
Which means... What exactly? That we've arrived here from two different versions of Fódlan?
[ On a personal level, it's almost harder to imagine than the dream world they've woken into. But... If that is the case, who's to say the future she spoke of still applies? Could it not be a point of separation between their respective homes? ]
no subject
[Lysithea responds decisively, swiftly, more confidently than she has any right to.]
The Professor is special. Moreso than any of us understand. It's hard to remember the exact sequence of events now, but after the ball, something astonishing is going to happen. He -- she -- will awaken to an even greater power.
[She closes her eyes.]
The Professor... changes fates. You must feel the same, don't you? Anyone who meets them -- they cannot help but be captivated. Their actions will pave the way for Fódlan's future. I feel as if it's... their mere existence is so powerful that it's split the stream of possibilities into a vast multitude of branches and tributaries.
[...]
Obviously, I have no backing. But haven't you wondered before - 'What if Professor Hanneman had been our house leader? How lucky we are that the Professor chose us!'
no subject
It's really all he can do to keep up, with the most important aspects if nothing else, and offer a response more substantial than merely nodding along. ]
On occasion, yes. They appeared suddenly and immediately became such an integral part of the Monastery... It was impossible not to consider what may have occurred if she'd failed to return with us or chosen to lead a different class.
[ Even in the earliest weeks of their acquaintance, when he'd viewed her with distrust and fear instead of admiration, Byleth was a force unto herself. She transformed all she came in contact with. Growing alongside the students she nurtured. The idea that her abilities could extend well beyond that is... baffling, to say the least, but less so than he would have expected. No doubt in part thanks to Lysithea's utter surety. ]
It's difficult to believe any single person could wield influence on so grand a scale. And yet... If that's the only explanation, I can think of none other who would be capable.
[ It's a bit frightening. When he'd wished for the Professor's presence before, the thought that a wholly different version could appear had never crossed his mind.]
no subject
[The best kind of theory was one that needed further explanation, because it meant more research was required. Clearly.]
I concede it's also possible that there are simply a vast multitude of Fodlans that share similar features, but that feels much more difficult to accept than blaming it on the Professor.
But -- oh!
[Lysithea had come to a conclusion that had already sprung to Dimitri's mind.]
Why, if we are not from the same exact place, perhaps you needn't worry about those 'future revelations' at all. It could well be that you're on a different path due to whatever influence the Professor had on the Blue Lions.
[Although she doesn't see what the Professor would have done to stop Edelgard. Still, there's no harm in being optimistic.]
no subject
Perhaps. I suppose neither of us can say definitively one way or the other. There's just too much left unknown.
[ And, unlike Lyisthea, the prospect of scrounging for answers and filling in those blanks offers him little satisfaction. At best, it's a necessary but exhausting responsibility. At worst... A pointless task, where no amount of trying will get them any closer to unlocking the mysteries surrounding them.
Even so, what purpose does negativity serve? ]
But it sounds as though we may have plenty of time on our hands to learn whatever we can. For now, it may be best to leave it at that.
[ Because this conversation has left him with a great deal to think about. And also, incidentally, because they stopped a handful of feet away from her building. ]
no subject
[It is odd, but Lysithea almost seems... invigorated by all of this. She glances down the street towards her residence and slowly resumes walking.]
Of course, that does not change anything. You are still Prince Dimitri, and I Lysithea of House Ordelia. In truth, I almost know you better than the Dimitri who did not receive the guidance of the Professor. We have... shared experiences now, in a way.
Call upon me as needed. There is no competition between houses here.
[At her door, she turns with a nod.]
no subject
Of course. And that applies to you as well.
[ He meets her nod with one of his own. ]
Stay safe, Lyisthea.
[ They'll talk again soon. ]
no subject
[an awkward pause]
...Thank you for your assistance earlier.
[Her nod is a touch stiff - she must get over this stubborn pride, it was hardly her fault she was afflicted first - but the smile she gives is genuine enough. She unlocks the door with the latchkey and shuts it behind her.
Now to take a nap.]