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soddersays2021-02-25 12:33 am
sodder) wrote in soddersays2021-02-25 12:33 am
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MARCH 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME
MARCH 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to MARCH's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: PSYCHOLOGICAL 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: psychological horror that deals with gaslighting, losing one's grip on reality, being trapped and restrained, threat of drowning, threat of being eaten, sensory deprivation, bleach, blood, violence, haunting apparition of a child, injury by rusty implements
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!
IMPORTANT INFO FOR PROSPECTIVE PLAYERS: This past month we were excited to announce that Deerington will be entering a new chapter in a few short months. This new chapter will involve a permanent setting shift that you can read about in more detail on this post. All prospective players are welcome to ask any questions they have on the linked post.
THE WALLS HAVE EARS. AND EYES.
With all of the shifting in Deerington, it's not shocking when you start to feel like something in your home or workplace has begun to shift. You can't put your finger on what it is. Your furniture is exactly where it should be. Nothing seems moved. Maybe it's just Deerington paranoia acting up. God knows Sleepers have plenty to be paranoid about. Then you start to notice little oddities. Scratch marks on the baseboards of your bedroom. If you have a bedframe with posts you might notice what looks like human bite marks have taken out chunks of the material. Only surely no one's gone around biting your bed? When you walk by windows, you start to think you see a trick of the eye and you could swear you see bars on the other side of your window. What? No. You don't have bars on your bedroom windows...
You're just seeing things. You're just seeing things. But maybe you're hearing things too. You can hear scuttling in the walls - maybe the rats from February? No, no...This is different. It sounded too big. More of a sliding shuffle than a scuttle. Maybe you look into your vents just to make sure but there's nothing to find. Nothing at all.
Then you start to look at your walls. Was that stain always there? Was it just part of the wallpaper or paint? Hmm...You don't remember there being a stain there.
You keep looking at the stain. Maybe it only takes a few days or a few hours but eventually, you start to see a face in the stain. If the stain's big enough you could swear it looks like...a person crawling. No. No! That's ...Just your imagination. Get a grip. But that stain may start to look like it has eyes, eyes looking right at you. Or the design in your wallpaper might start to look like a face is tucked among the floral patterns, eyes staring right at you.
You start to notice creeping figures out and around Deerington. While you're shopping for groceries you swear you can see a woman crawling from one aisle to the next, quick and scurrying. Were you the only one who saw that? Surely not? Maybe others have too. Then you see more women crawling across yards and you feel paralyzed with fear because they all look like that stain on your wall.
When you come back the stain has moved.
This drives many mad. You start to obsess over the stain. Maybe you even break apart your walls to see if there's really a person behind them. Maybe you start to peel the wallpaper off your walls or try to repaint everything to hide it. But the more you do, the more you sink down into paranoia. Eventually you start crawling around, trying to see if you can conjure up these creeping figures. You find yourself scratching at the baseboards and gnawing on furniture, becoming the very creeping fiend you feared.
Maybe you even eventually start to creep into people's homes, into their walls, to start the cycle of madness all over again. The only way to break free of this cycle is to catch one of the people in the walls, take their hand and pull. If you win this tug of war, you and the figure you chased in your madness into the walls will fall back into the three dimensional space of regular Deerington and you'll find the person you were chasing was just another sleeper trapped in the cycle like you. If you lose... you find yourself falling into an endless void and when you slow to a stop--
WASH AWAY THE MADNESS. PURGE THE SIN.
--You find yourself floating in midair in the middle of a sterile white room. You lost the tug of war with the other sleeper in the walls, or perhaps you were just walking down the street and got distracted by your reflection moving strangely in the storefront window and touching it pulled you through the glass and landed you here. Regardless of how you got here, now you are in what looks like a room that belongs in a hospital. Somehow you are also dressed in white pants and a t-shirt and there's a hospital bracelet on your wrist that has your name and blood type printed on it as well as a patient number. Beside you is another sleeper, either the one who you lost the tug of war to or a completely new one. You are able to speak to each other in this space and there is a slight echo as you do, enjoy it while it lasts.After a moment of weightlessness, your bare feet touch the ground, which feels cold like concrete but is as white as the white subway tiled walls. There also appears to not be any light source, it just comes from everywhere and you may notice you're not casting a shadow. And neither is the albino german shepard that's appeared in the room with you. It looks friendly enough and you get the sense that it wants to guide you somewhere as it turns to walk through an open door that has suddenly appeared in the room.
Follow the dog and you'll find yourselves in an all white hallway, only there's a mirrored ceiling and the yellow stains of age on the peeling white wallpaper move in ways that make you uneasy. Almost immediately, you'll notice that there is no sound, not even from the dog or your own steps, not even your own heartbeat can be heard. But oddly, you can hear your own breathing, so loud in the otherwise utterly silent space that you speak to your companion just to have a different sound, but your voice is muted as well. Charades might be the only choice of communication between you two for some time. And as you continue on in this odd liminal space, out of your peripheral vision you'll notice your reflections on the ceiling above acting oddly, walking backwards or twirling in a childlike fashion while you are walking a straight line.
Spend long enough in this never ending silent white and bright hall with nothing but your breath to remind you that you're physically occupying this space and you start to feel on the edge of your sanity. After pulling your gaze from the disorienting reflections and stains on the wall, you look for the dog, but the dog is gone and in its place far down the hall is a small child dressed in white from head to toe with very little skin showing. It feels like it's been so long since you heard a voice that when the child speaks your ears hurt, blood trickles out. Wait, that can't be right... is it because of the silence from before or is the voice just supernaturally immense?
"GET OUT."
Is all the child says before water starts slowly rising up from the floor, but take a whiff and you catch the strong chemical scent of bleach. You and your companion must rush to find an exit or another creative solution to the problem at hand before you are drowned, and there will be no holding one's breath and swimming with your eyes open if you are submerged in bleach so you must act quickly. At the end of the long hall where the child stood there is a red light, but if you run towards it, it seems to only get further away.
If you can't go forward or back, then through the walls is the only solution. It is difficult though, at all the spots on the walls that are white, they are indestructible. It's the aged, yellow stains that are perpetually moving and shifting that are the weak points. Together, you must try to corner the shifting stains to stay still long enough for you to kick and punch your way through very thick walls. The stains seem to move away from anyone experiencing strong emotions and towards those who are calm and collected, and the key is to get them to stop moving entirely.
Once you burst through the thick wall and escape drowning by bleach, you'll either find yourself back in Deerington, or...
BREAK MY CHAINS AND I'LL BREAK YOURS.
You stumble into a mostly empty and dimly lit surgical room with blood on the floor and old dinge and rust on tiles and sinks. If you came here from the white hallway slowly filling with bleach, the pungent liquid will spill into the space as you enter, but turn around to look at the hole you and your companion made and you'll see it magically stitch itself up, like a wound in flesh speed healing rather than tile and drywall reorienting itself. However, it's possible to arrive here from Deerington without going through the white hall and that's by passing an empty lot in town. You could have sworn that lot had a house or a store the other day, but instead there's a dingy storage shed that draws you in with an intoxicating scent that wafts from a jagged hole in the side. No matter where you came here from, when you walk through, one or more other sleepers can walk through holes in the other walls at the same time and each hole will stitch up behind you.It's too late to turn back once you're in and you barely have time to realize the danger you're clearly in when you are struck from behind and knocked unconscious. No matter what your body is made of or what abilities you have, you are knocked out cold... and when you awaken you are chained in the center of the room to a rusy old cair. The other sleeper or sleepers you found yourself with in this place are in the same situation facing you and on the floor in between you is a pile of old rusted keys of varying shapes and made of all different kinds of metals. The only thing these keys seem to have in common is the look of sharpness on every edge, like if you picked them up too hastily you could slice open your hand and get a tetanus infection from the rust.
The next thing you might notice is the heavy breathing of another person nearby, and when you look you see a large man in a soiled button down, jacket and khakis. He looks like a pro wrestler that went to a court hearing that then got blown up and he was the only survivor. But more striking than his size and attire is the fact that in place of a human head is just a black smoky blur with what looks like hundreds of eyes poking through the darkness, and when he turns, his face is nothing but a gaping circular maw with rows and rows of jagged teeth that spin like a food processor. The man doesn't speak, the only sound that seems to come from that horrifying void that is his head is haunting and hard to describe. It gazes at its prisoners with its infinite eyes for a moment, washes blood from its hands in one of the sinks along the wall and then lumbers over to the only exit while sharpening a butcher's knife.
It is rather clear what his intentions are. But why leave a pile of keys and not kill and eat you now? Who cares what game he's playing, what test you're undergoing? Time to figure out how to get free and obviously the keys are important. The chairs can be moved, tilted over and pushed, but they are heavy and you'll have to work together to get the right leverage to start picking up keys and testing them on each other's locks which are placed by your hands bound behind your backs. Your hands are so tightly bound that you have to use the keys blindly on the other person's lock, and don't forget that those keys are sharp and hard to hold too. One of you will get free first, but then the haunting sound and the thump of his feet can be heard in the next room. Do you leave your companion to the monster or risk it and try the other keys?
Whatever your choice, the door to get out is locked and unbreakable, but there's a vent high above it that you can get through alone with great difficulty, but will be much easier and faster with the help of your fellow sleeper. The moment you are inside and moving through the vents, the hulking man with the void head will let out an ear shattering screech and chase you from below, the butcher knife and other stabbing objects will slice through the bottom of the vent and you'll have to dodge and weave until you see the light at the end. Kick the exit vent open and you'll crawl out onto grass outside any building in town.
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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Worry crosses his face but he takes a moment to really look at the Harbringer. He looks awful. Had he had the chance to put up more of a fight or? Diluc shoves those thoughts aside to say in a low tone.]
I changed my mind. You're getting free first. Shift your chair to the left by two shifts. I need to have easy access to that lock.
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Alright. I hope this angle is correct- if you can't reach me, we might be goners.
[A fact he hadn't considered until this moment. Even Childe isn't sure if he'd be able to get up off the ground once they're down.]
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[Diluc takes a breath and jerks backwards a little bit, enough to tip his chair just enough. He clamps his mouth shut as a key grazes his hand and cuts through his glove, into skin underneath.
It doesn't hurt enough away. Damn. It has to have a fine edge to it. He ignores the warm blood trickling down his fingers and sets his chair right. One glance tells him what he needs to know. The lock is reachable.] And lucky for you, I know my math.
[He shifts and the key slides into the lock. But when he tries to turn it he's met with failure.] Keep watch, I've got this.
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I'm counting on you, now.
[Adding another name to the list of people who've saved his life while he's been here. Not the greatest position for a Harbinger to be in.]
*doesn't hurt right away. thanks phone
The coppery scent of blood already lingers in the air, covering up the fresh blood spilled. Good. It buys them time.]
I've noticed the powers of my Vision are lesser here. How about you? [Info gathering and conversation in one, as he palms another key. He bites down on his bottom lip to keep his noise of pain muffled and slides the new key in. Another failure.]
you're a brave soul to tag on a phone lol
Funny you should mention that. Mine also seems to have issues from time to time here. I hope that isn't the case once we're free, however.
[He makes the mistake of looking right at the infinite eyes of the thing imprisoning them, the howling from the abyss that formed its head. Anytime now, he thinks.]
I admit like 74% of my tags are by phone lol
I wouldn't bet it on it improving. [They might not even make it out alive. He slides the key in and twists it. The lock gives and the chains fall away from Childe. Diluc draws back, twisting the key in his fingers so its bladed side is facing away from his companion.]
Watch the keys, they're razor sharp. [If Childe looks, Diluc's palm has been sliced open. It's a cut deep enough the blood is running sluggishly between his fingers. Yet, Diluc only stares straight ahead and slightly down, eyes on the feet on the thing.]
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That, and he owes Diluc for at least setting him free. He could free his companion and take care of the monster if need be. The next few moments would be crucial.]
Noted.
[He swings himself up from the floor, fighting through the dizziness to grab for the key in Diluc's hand. The moment he does, the thuds of footsteps from the other room and the image of a approaching horror begins to fill the doorway. Childe grabs for the key in Diluc's hand, gritting his teeth as he still manages to cut himself despite the warning, and shoves it into the lock.
It doesn't move.
It's not the right key.]
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Keep going. I'll grab the keys, you put them in. [His face has gone pale but he only raises his chin. His eyes narrowed and mouth set into a thin line.
If this is going to be his end he'll meet it with dignity. But until it is he'll fight until the last ember of life goes out.]
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Nothing. Next key, nothing.
Thud, thud. It looms over the two men, and Childe shoves a key into the lock.
At the same time, his other hand comes up, water flashing into a blade to block the butcher knife rushing towards his head.
Click. The lock unlocks.]
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He sinks all of his strength into it. If he can lessen the momentum it has to bring against Childe, they might make it out of this. He snags a chain as he slips off the chair. It's a makeshift weapon. But he knows exactly how to use chains to his advantage.
Now hopefully, they'll hold up against his Pyro Vision.]
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In one swift fluid motion, he parries the butcher knife to the side to take advantage of the chair that Diluc has kicked at their attacker, putting distance between himself and the target as he slides across the floor. With no better timing either, as he stands his water blade disappears, and not because Childe wished it.]
Thanks for the assistance. Your timing there was impeccable. It appears that my Vision just shorted out on me.
[Which was worrisome. To him, it's not impossible to beat this creature, but this certainly makes it far more difficult.]
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As Childe puts distance between his attacker and himself, Diluc steps forward and lashes out with the chain. It whips through the air and catches fire halfway through its arc. The chain goes over the creature's shoulder and slaps against its back.]
...Even if mine does, I can still cover you. [He swings the other end of the chain as he moves to the right, away from Childe. It has to keep watch on both of them. Split attention has to be a way to slow it down. He pulls it back and swings it, making himself into an eye catching target.]
See if it works in a moment. I'll keep it busy.
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But Diluc's actions certainly have made it far more angry at him than at Childe, the empty howl from the head becoming more intense as the fire-laden chain slaps against its back. It turns towards Diluc, gripping the handle of the knife tighter in frustration. Come on, he thinks, glancing down at his hands. Water tries, but fails to form the dual blades he's so fond of using as it splashes uselessly to the ground. Not to mention the small tussle of just putting distance between himself and the monster has made him feel nauseous, his head still a little dizzy from the hit and blood loss.]
I...might have to try something else.
[And it comes to him.]
Get your chains ready! I have an idea.
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[This is not how he ever expected life to go. Fighting with a Harbinger against something otherworldly. No matter. They need to survive.
The rest can come after. He swings his chain, letting the free end spin and create a circle of flame. Out of the corner of his eye to the left he spots the glint of metal.
Ah. His sword. There it is. Deep in the shadows and revealed by the flames of his vision. Good.]
If your idea keeps it busy, I have one too.
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He plans on it being able to see what he's doing. Regardless, he goes back in to grab the one thing that was at the start of it all- one of the chairs. Diving in, he barely misses the deadly swing of the butcher knife, scooping it up and swiftly positioning himself behind his target.]
Gotcha.
[As hard as he can possibly muster in his condition, he slams the legs of the chair into the backs of the monster's knees, forcing it into the chair itself. Caught by surprise, it howls with an unearthly rumble that shakes the entire room.
It won't let Childe get away with it.
A human's arm isn't suppose to move the way its arm does. The hand with the knife winds backward- like it was going to throw a baseball- except it stabs Childe right in his shoulder. His eyes widen before pain sears through him, but despite that, his hand thrusts outward. He wants the chain, and he doesn't care that it's on fire or not.]
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They're screwed. If it came to that he'd take the damn thing down even if he had to bring the building down on top of them. It wouldn't harm anyone else.
The howl shakes the air and things shift in a direction he honestly should have expected. The creature's arm bends back too far and he sees the moment the blade sinks into Childe's shoulder.
The hand reaches out and Diluc tosses the flaming chain to him as he darts to the left. There's no more time.
Whatever Childe is doing he has to get to the sword. Vision or not, the sword could be a vicious weapon or a shield if necessary.]
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His gloves weren't made to stand against heat, and he can feel himself being branded through them. It doesn't matter. All he needs now is Diluc to finish it off, or help him bind it better to the chair. He doesn't know what his plan was but he hopes he puts it into action soon because he's not sure how long he can hold it.]
Whatever you were going to do, do it now!!!!
[It thrashes against the chain, trying to slip underneath it, and it may be successful in a few moments. The heat of the chain seems to of disoriented it somewhat- perhaps the only reason it hasn't broken out already.]
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He has had his Vision since he was ten. It’s as easy as breathing to channel his fire into a sword. The cuts on his palms hurt and the blood makes the grip a little slick but he has fought with bloody hands before.
Diluc turns back to the fight. His charge and grabbing the sword took only a minute. He draws the sword back and slashes, letting his power pour forth. The flames tear out of the sword and take the shape of a massive bird of fire.
He had pivoted to put himself at an angle, so the flames won’t hurt Childe. But he’ll feel sting. The bird aims to slam into the creature dead on like a wrecking ball.
And this place’s warps will work in their favor as it doesn’t pass on through, instead the searing flames aiming to engulf their target.]
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The flames rip and tear at their opponent, shrill death throes echoing throughout the room. And almost in an instant, it's gone, save for the burnt smell of flesh hanging around the corpse.
He lets the chains fall to the ground, clattering against the linoleum- and suddenly, he felt so tired, despite the pain still ripping through his shoulder from the butcher knife still embedded into it.]
Not bad...hahahahaha...it never stood a chance...
[He stumbles taking a step forward, doing his best not to keep himself upright.]
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Because you kept it busy. ...thank you. [He owes him for this. He steps closer and slides his blade into the straps on his back. The adrenaline high is starting to ebb. He can feel exhaustion just beyond it. Between the blood loss, the rush before, and this. He will crash when it hits. He steps in and moves to pull Childe's arm over his shoulders.] Come on.
We should get out of here. I'll patch you up when we're resting. [The place he'd originally entered this place is wide open, the ragged edges of the hole like someone slammed a hammer through a wall. It shows the street beyond and the fading daylight. A cut in his leg from earlier tinges but he only adjusts his footing. Not yet.]
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Childe would be lying if he said he didn't love every second of their dance with fate. It was always exhilarating, every time.]
Thank you. [He says it with sincerity.] We make quite a good team, wouldn't you say?
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He shifts a little bit, dragging his wounded leg a little to let it have a bit of a break. The sting is annoying.] Where the hell is this city?
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It's not surprising that even the well-informed wouldn't know of this place. To keep it short, we're in a dream.
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Alright, and what created this dream? The Abyss Order? [But even as he says it he knows that's not correct. He frowns.] No, sorry. Forget I said that.
Just tell me what you know about it. That thing is like nothing I'd ever seen before.
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