november 2020 tdm

[sodder]

NOVEMBER 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to MONTH's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: SURVIVAL 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: Dinosaur violence, possible hunting of/by dinosaurs, feelings of being trapped, being stuck in dark/tight locations. Picture of spider/person hybrid, spider/tick like horror, predatory monster

Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

WELCOME TO JURASSIC PARK DEERINGTON

You don't remember how you got here. It really is like waking up in a dream - you're just in the middle of it. This time you're in the backseat of an electric jeep driving itself on a metal track and you're not alone. Someone else is in the seat next to you, or maybe the car is filled with a few different people (up to 5 total). You're all wearing a variety of Jurassic Park merchandise that you definitely don't remember putting on, some terrible khaki shorts, and exploration boots. There's a small screen on the back of the seats rattling off some information about dinosaurs.

Try to get out of the car and you will find that not only are the doors locked, but they're reinforced. You can't bust out no matter how hard you try or what you do, so you might as well get comfortable and enjoy the tour.

And it is a pretty cool tour. As you drive along, you see a variety of herbivore dinosaurs grazing over trees. At first, you might think they're animatronics, but nope, these are the real deal. They seem complacent and indifferent to the jeep driving by. Then, of course, you get to the carnivorous section. Tall, electric fences keep you safe, but unlike with the herbivores, you don't see anything. Just tall trees swaying back and forth.

That is when the electricity short circuits. You see the sparks at the top of the fence and your jeep comes to an immediate halt. Oh boy.

At first, it all seems fine. Maybe a maintenance crew will come out and help you out...But why would it ever be that simple? You can feel the danger long before you see it. The slow, impending thuds, and soon you're in the company of none other than a tyrannosaurs rex. Or a spinosaurus if you're really unlucky. It doesn't seem like the dinosaurs care about you at first - and if you stay completely still, they might even walk past your car entirely. That might be when you discover that whatever has been keeping you trapped inside no longer works, so you can get out and run for it. But be careful, if you make too much motion where the predator dinosaurs can see you, they will hone in on you and come after you. They're lethal and tragically the only weapon you woke up in the car with is a pack of lousy flares. But maybe you can get away.

The big predators aren't your only worry though. Clever velociraptors will hunt you in packs in the woods. While the dinosaurs can be killed like regular animals, they are still far more resistant than the typical game one might be used to. The raptors are extremely intelligent enemies and will think instead of just blindly hunt you. You might find a few buildings scattered throughout the park to hide in, but raptors can learn how to open doors and get inside. You might find some guns and/or tranquilizers in those buildings, so it's worth a look around.

The main goal? Just get out of the damn park! Head for the gates - follow the few maps that are posted around and follow the game trails to the main gates. With the electricity off, it means you might have to climb the gates and they're huge, but it's better than staying in here for too long! Once you drop to the other side, you'll find yourself...In Deerington. Just outside of the Grady Hotel with no sign of the park you had just left behind you.

Welp. At least you made it out in one piece?

Two's Company...But Three's a Crowd

You're not sure whatever convinced you it was a good idea to go exploring in these caverns, but here you are. Separated from your group by the rumble of earth and collapse of rubble, you find that you are at least not completely alone when you come to. Someone else seems to be trapped in here with you, so there's that at least, right? Misery always did love company after all.

It's nearly pitch-black, but when your eyes adjust to the dark you find that there are at least a few things that go in your favor. There is a candle there on the ground and a book of matches. Great, just great, you think. You won't have to deal with the darkness without help right? As soon as you open the matchbook, however, you can see there's only six matches left, so you'd better make them count. Especially, because as soon as you grab the candle or matches, both of you can feel something is very wrong.

The air grows colder and an ache, a pain begins to leech into your very bones. It becomes hard to do anything more than fumble and shiver, fighting for warmth and life as it almost feels like the life is being drained out of you. When you strike the match and light the candle, a bubble of light forms around you and you can feel the sensation fade, but as each errant breeze threatens to douse the light, you can feel your life, your limited resources threatening to go out. Worse still, a quick pat down of your equipment and personal effects will find no other fire-starting gear, no other working light sources. And if that wasn't bad enough, your weapons seem to be missing and something is impeding all of your precious powers! Your only way out is by the light of this one candle. Better hope you don't get lost before the wick runs out.

The journey isn't quite so bad since you have a companion to huddle together. Maybe you've even managed to get a system going where the two of you take turns holding the candle and shielding it from the winds that every cavern seems to have. Perhaps you've even gotten yourself a good arrangement, following all those old rules of mazes to work your way out and you'd swear in the distance you could hear your friends calling out your names, searching for you. Just a little bit further, right? There's only one issue.

You're not alone in here.

“Shhh.” The sound of that sweet, husky voice isn't human, and it isn't yours. "That's it! Don't move a muscle." And you had better freeze where you stand. Because in the very next seconds, a rush of wind from above descends. The light of your candle snuffs out, and the looming shadow of something that almost looks like a bloated spider strikes the ground only feet from where you were before scuttling off “Where did you go, sweet meats?”

It's a game of cat and mouse from there. Everywhere you walk, you can hear her coming. Scuttling, lurking. She whispers horrible, awful things as she lurches through the caverns, cackling so that her voice echoes through the entirety of the caverns and makes it impossible to hear. The ground around you is littered with spiky, treacherous terrain that makes it hard to walk safely when you're in a hurry. Every once in a while you have to stop, to guard your light, to pray as she leaps down from the shadows. She seems to be blinded every time momentarily by the light, but what if you run out? Your only hope is to get out, back to where you can get your weapons and return, or just flee.

And just then, you see it! It's an opening in the caverns. As you move to it, you hear the scuttling getting closer and closer. There's no time to think. It's jump or risk whatever that thing is catching up. When you land, you hear the roar behind you and you can see a portion of the caverns that you recognize. It is lit by biomorphic fungi, glowing and showing a pathway back to Deerington, to the edges of the state park where the cavern lets out. Your gear is there, nestled in a cleft in the rocks, and you can hear familiar voices. But, before you can think of vengeance, mocking laughter echoes behind, and your escape route before collapses in on itself, leaving you only to nurse your fear and wounds and leave.

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

II

[droptheious]

Princess, that's one singular question and no, absolutely not. The answer to that question is no. Forever no. I won't do it and you can't make me. You're not the boss of me.

[She is literally the boss of him.

... Wait.

P R O C E S S I N G.

In his haste to be a snarky asshole, he's glossed over this is actually happening. He reads it again. Looks at the username. YUP. ]

Wait. Rapunzel?

[hairess]

[ Wow, who spoiled this person's milk? ]

Sure, but it's an important one. I like how the word sounds. Emoji. Eee-MOE-gee. Emotive!

[ Wait. ]

Yes? That was one of the first things I said.

[droptheious]

[SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT.

Varian fumbles for the video function, flicking it on. Hey look, Raps, it's your alchemist, looking like he's on the verge of a panic attack, but that's probably fine. Also, he's ignoring all further comment on emojis, which is the true tragedy here.]

Rapunzel, it's me.

[He hesitates, just for a moment- because she's been here before and it was before she met him. He doesn't want to go through this again for anything. Uncertainty creeps into his tone.]

I um- if you remember me? That... that can be tricky sometimes.

1/2

[hairess]

[ Rapunzel experiences a moment of mild annoyance as she sees blinking ellipses where she expects an explanation for emojis only for it to go blank.

Then- ]

VARIAN!

[ She of course turns the fluid over once or twice in her hand like the idiot savant she is expecting her friend to just fall out of frame before holding it right again ]

[hairess]

Are you okay? The last time I saw you those red rocks in Corona had been destroyed and-

and I was worried they had something to do with this?

[droptheious]

[That's... later than he remembers, but at least she isn't so far in the past she doesn't know who he is yet. This is already an improvement. He offers her a smile- torn being so desperately glad to see her again and being very, very worried because this place is awful and he doesn't want to see her get hurt.

Also, he's not inside the Fluid, Rapunzel, don't do that.]

No. It's uh... nothing to do with the rocks. I guess kinda similar a little though? This is someone else's dream that we got pulled into. There's only you and I from home here though... and two people from Arendelle, I guess. Everyone else is from somewhere else.

Where are you? Are you okay? Has anything tried to attack you?

[hairess]

[ There is something in the way Varian's relief wanes with a tinge of something troubled that gives Rapunzel pause. Even if this were just audio instead of video, Rapunzel could hear smiles. Especially ones that had that threatening peal of breaking glass. ]

'Somewhere else' is too vague for you, Varian. Now I really am worried. [ Is she side-stepping the whole 'dream' thing and the revelation no one else from home is here? Maybe. ]

I'm in some...cottage? Actually, it's pretty big for a cottage but the decor is something else.

No, I talked to some interesting people though.

[droptheious]

[He knows better than to try to get stuff past her. Or at least... he normally does. He's out of practice. He rubs the back of his neck, grimacing a little. ]

It's nothing to be super worried about... not that part anyway. They're from other worlds. All kinds of other worlds. And different time periods. It's pretty fascinating to study.

[A cottage doesn't help a lot. He hums softly.]

What can you see outside the window?

[And oh, now he's a little suspicious- but only because for Rapunzel "interesting" could cover from a regular friendly person to an actual serial killer. ]

...What sort of interesting people?

[hairess]

Just a few people trying to show me what emojis are. A little like instant paintings to zhuzh up the messages which are fantastic if you ask me. And a girl named Ruby who seemed to know you.

Hold on I'm sending you a message.

[ The feed turns off and a text is fired off to Varian ]

Your new friend sure sounded cute, Varian. 😉

[ Annnd, we're back! ] Did you get it? I used a winky face.

[ Head empty, thoughts friendly as Rapunzel fails right away to pick up Varian's disquiet. She knew he was the type to live in his own head and thought it best not to needle him for what was wrong. He'd tell her more when they saw each other in person. ]

Worlds? Worlds PLURAL? The letter might have mentioned it but

Oh

WoW- ! [ The twinkle in her eye is now as bright as a supernova and blinding when looked at directly. ] Here, hold on I'll look.

[ Shakey cam syndrome as Rapunzel darts off to the nearest window. ]

A street sign! 'Raccoon Alley'

[droptheious]

[Of course, she's spoken to Ruby. Varian's face colours just for a second with some classic teenage mortification from when a pseudo-sibling finds out you're dating. He groans softly, putting his face in his hands, oh noooo.]

Y-yeah. That sure sounds like Ruby. Yup. Classic Ruby. The Rubiest.

[The RUBIEST? What was that even? ]

Yup. I got the winky face, Princess. There it is.

[But what she says next is enough to pull him out if his teen mortification spiral. He looks up, smile crossing his face. GOOD, this is good. ]

That's my street! Listen, stand outside your cottage and I'll come out to you.

...Um. Just... small warning, I'm not exactly like I was when you saw me back home. I um... I got hurt here.

[hairess]

Oh...OH mister, you are going to tell from toe to hair about this girl. TIP to TOE! [ She is trying to sound serious, please take her seriously. ]

But- Yeah, I'm stepping out.

[ Rapunzel forces open the door that leads out onto a foggy street. Squinting, at the slightest familiar silhouette, she rushes in headlong. Racing down the driveway, hair streaming behind her, ]

Varian!

[ Racing into the embrace she doesn't right away notice his new injury that he is only barely the same weight and shape she knows. Right now, Pascal is chirping over her shoulder at Rudiger; Varian is in her arms, solid and real. All is right with the world for just a moment. ]

[droptheious]

[It's been a good long while since Varian's had a Rapunzel Hug- and while he hasn't forgotten the sheer power of them, he is out of practice. He crutches clatter to the ground, just about missing Ruddiger who gives a happy chirrup back to Pascal, but he doesn't need them- because Rapunzel's here. She's here and unlike the last time he saw her here, she remembers him.

All the weight of the last nine months comes caving inward. The complicated feelings with Ruby and Fern. Dealing with both of them dying at least once. Dealing with what July did to him, what it made him become once more and his own subsequent death from it. Of watching the friends he's made her get themselves hurt time and time again. Losing his leg and the utter mess that October has been. Varian's been adding to his emotional repression cart bit by horrible bit since he got here.

A soft, quiet little sob bubbles out of him as his arms tighten around her, burying his face against her. He's done the best he can to power through this awful place- put aside any surges of homesickness he's got- because he had important stuff to do here. Because he had bigger things to focus on than how desperately he wanted to see the little found family he had back home again. He can't keep the waver out of his voice when he speaks. ]

I've missed you so much.

[hairess]

[ On a good day a Rapunzel Hug™ could make it as though the rest of the world was falling away into background noise. Especially for its namesake, but there was something off here. A thread being pulled that tethered Rapunzel to the growing realization that her arrival wasn't the only thing to be concerned about.

It starts with a sound, a whimper that Rapunzel would have missed if she hadn't physically felt it move through her friend. The shudder and the unmistakable dampness against the collar of her dress. Varian had a soul that was bright and he was never subdued in his emotions from his excitement to his anger. Rapunzel had seen him rage hard enough to shake mountains and come alive when he was reunited with his father. There were no half measures with Varian, but she had never seen him crumble. Quietly fold in on himself and cry like if he could make himself disappear he would. ]

Varian? [ For the first time since coming here, Rapunzel is afraid because one of the brightest sparks in her life was flickering. She was scared because Varian was.

It's when she looks down and sees the crutches does that anxiety that had been building up explode into a pain that burns like ice in her chest. ]

Varian, what happened?!

[droptheious]

[He doesn't respond to her right away. He clings to her like a limpet- equally relieved she's here and extremely guilty to feel that way. Varian's been through a lot more than most kids his age have- it's given him a sharp edge that was absent in his younger years in Old Corona before he let his own bitterness and anger get the best of him. It makes him stronger against the awful parts of the world- of this place- but it doesn't make him impenetrable. Because when all was said and done, he is still a kid. A kid who's spent a long time in a living nightmare without his family around to guide him. Sure, he's got a good support system here, he has people who've made this place worth living in. But nothing and no one can ever shine quite the way Rapunzel does.

At her question, his shoulders shake- because so much has happened, and he knows he has a lot to fill her in on. Lots of it is absolutely not good at all. A twist of shame knots in his stomach when he realises eventually he'll need to tell her that he became that person again- pushed by Deerington, certainly, but that person all the same. The person he's been trying so very hard not to be. ]

This place is awful. I've been here for months and it's just- it's awful, Princess.

[He knows she means recently though, and reluctantly pulls back. There are tears in his eyes- it's been a while since he let himself cry. He has to keep one hand on her to keep himself steady, but he glances down where his right leg is missing from above his knee. ]

I... I got hurt. Last month.