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

[thunderingcourage]

That would be a good idea since we need to hurry. But if you have any trouble or there's something scary just call me.

[She didn't want anything to happen to Sakura just because they had split up. But time was working against them. More of Makoto's skin had started to take on a slight gloss already.]

And if I find anything I'll come get you.

[keystaff]

Right!

[Sakura gives a nod in agreement that she or Makoto would let the other know if they found something. Or needed a hand. She's not necessarily as aware of her own skin taking on that glossy shine starting, as she focuses on searching for doors or anything that might shift in being able to move it to the side in finding a way out.

She's out of luck though, and it's not too long before she returns in making her way back towards Makoto's side.]

No luck on your end either?

[thunderingcourage]

[Makoto had pretty much torn the room apart as she was looking, even moving the entire bed and the night stand. As she went to lift the latter she heard the cracks in her leg expand, and realized that it was getting harder to move.

It felt almost like her leg was completely asleep. Hearing Sakura, Makoto shook her head.]

No nothing in here. How are you feeling though?

[It seemed like this floor was a bust as well. She wouldn't admit it, but Makoto was starting to worry a bit.]

[keystaff]

Let's keep going then. Upstairs.

[Sakura gestures, starting for the stairs. Not that she had been...probably quite as strong to be as thorough as Makoto but she hadn't figured finding anything that might be a way out yet either. So hopefully the next floor would be useful. She's just mindful it would be higher up. Maybe stairs back down or something?]

If there's a way in there has to be a way out. Somewhere.

[She doesn't outwardly fret over noting about Makoto's leg. But it does increase the urgency she has in her steps as she heads up to the attic.]

[thunderingcourage]

[Well it would be the last place that people would probably look, so if they were trying to trap people in here long enough they'd change it would make sense. But Makoto wondered how they were supposed to get down, well and how they were supposed to get back to their normal size.]

Of course, there's always a way out.

[Even of a magical creepy dollhouse in a nightmare town.]

[keystaff]

There will be. We just have to find it. If we haven't down there yet it has to be up here somewhere.

[They have to be right. Have to get out of here soon. In time before they fully change. Sakura's determined and stubborn, optimistic enough to keep at it at least. As they make their way up stairs and she starts looking. Mostly near any windows, around the walls at the edges of the room rather than the center.]

[thunderingcourage]

Right.

[Makoto started at the front window, a round one that looked out into the living room. Everything was really strange, and see pushed against the plastic and of course it didn't budge. Looking around there were a few boxes, something that looked like an old crib, and then the bookshelf. Of course all the books were just plastic, fused and refused to come out, but the shelf itself was still pretty heavy and seemed like it was made of wood unlike everything else.

She pulled at one of the rows of books, it'd defiantly been glued in, but eventually it gave and Makoto fell back, making a clink sound as she hit the ground.]

Ow. Well it's not a book I guess.

[She looked where the plastic cover of books was lying on the ground at the base of the bookshelf.]

[keystaff]

A-ah?

[Sakura winces as Makoto falls, shifting in trying to get closer and offer a hand to help her back to her feet. If possible, given that clink sounded like something shattering or breaking. Which she hopes isn't Makoto's leg or something.]

The marks. Scratches. It seems like it should be able to move? If we push it? Together? Are you okay?

[thunderingcourage]

[The leg still seemed to be intact, through it had become rigid and she couldn't move it, and even Sakura's help it was a little hard to get on her feet. Though as she did several small pieces of porcelain fell to the ground. Her hair had also started to take on more of a sheer and looked much stiffer. This wasn't good, but she still didn't want to worry Sakura, so she'd keep going and try not to draw any attention to it.]

Alright, if we push together we should be able to move it.

[Though she didn't see any stairs of anything outside.]

[keystaff]

[She figures there has to be a way down somehow. Even if not stairs, there has to be at least some way in and out for them to end up here in the first place. So Sakura gives a nod, unsure on mentioning the growing worry and fear as they transformed more. Panic wouldn't figure anything, wouldn't help get them out of this. So she helps Makoto to her feet and braces in helping push the bookcase.]

Together.

[thunderingcourage]

Together.

[Putting her shoulder agains the bookcase she pushed, several more pieces of porcelain falling to the floor as she felt her leg start to shift a bit, but the shelf moved revealing the door that had been behind it. Looks like they found the way out.

Makoto leaned against the shelf to keep any weight off of the leg that seemed to be deteriorating. As she looked at the door.]

Think that's it?

[keystaff]

[Sakura helps to push, shoving with her hands and shoulders and straining her legs to move the furniture. It's not light. But she manages to help and tries not to fret all the more over Makoto's leg, instead trying to focus on the potential escape.]

I don't think there would be a room there? Let's try and see at least.

[She reaches, opening the door but not yet stepping through on instinct.]

[thunderingcourage]

[Makoto blinked, well it didn't lead out into the living room that they saw through the windows. Instead it looked like a park, but the problem was, it was still a long way down.]

We found it.

[The question was, what would happen once they went through it. Makoto was pretty sure she'd normally be able to handle a fall like that, but with her leg already hurt, if she didn't change back it could be pretty bad.]

[keystaff]

Ah! This has to be it!

[Sakura bites her lip though since. It does look a long way down. And she can't actually activate Flight like this with the cards just being tiny plastic rectangles like this. She isn't sure how safe it might be. Especially for Makoto. She glances to the other worriedly.]

It's a long drop though. Will you be okay?

[thunderingcourage]

[There weren't any ropes around, and the curtains had even been made of plastic. So unfortunately there wasn't anything to climb down with, Makoto looked over to where the porcelain pieces had already broken and laid on the floor, and then back to Sakura. They didn't have much time left.]

I'll be fine. Hold on though alright, it might be a little rough.

[Grabbing Sakura's hand Makoto jumped and pulled the other closer. She should be able to at least cushion the fall for her. And hopefully, once they were out Makoto's crystal would be able to activate again.]

[keystaff]

[Sakura barely manages to give a nod before she's pulled closer and they jump. She's used to heights some in having used the Fly over the years but she didn't have access to that this time around. She had to leap with Makoto and hope they made it down to the ground safely. She clings to Makoto around the waist, her breath catching in her throat as they fall.]

[thunderingcourage]

[It wouldn't have been anything if she had transformed, jumping and flying were no problem for Jupiter, but Makoto just had to trust that she'd be able to roll with fall and stay in one piece. When they suddenly slowed and started drifting to the ground rather than falling through she was surprised. As her feet touched the ground softly Makoto sat Sakura down. Her body was stiff anymore, and looking back up it seemed that everything had vanished.]

It's gone.

[keystaff]

[Sakura blinks, having closed her eyes with the fall, when they just kind of drift down. As Makoto sets her down and she touches the ground again. She glances around the room, unsure what to make of it all. Glancing in looking for the house they had just been in? Was this the same room outside they had seen from the windows? Sakura's not necessarily sure.]

.....eh? Where....?