The Directors (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thedirectors) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dressingrooms2022-10-12 10:34 pm
thedirectors) wrote in dressingrooms2022-10-12 10:34 pm
Disorient Express Test Drive Meme
Episode 1: The Disorient Express
Test Drive Meme
Welcome to Grief Street! Won't you come and see what awaits you in our game? We've provided a few prompts below so you can brainstorm AU ideas and voice test your character in the setting. Don't feel beholden to anything--this is the space to experiment and see what works and what doesn't, so be bold! If you have any questions, ask below!
So, you've ended up on the Disorient Express. Maybe you've got a few connections that snagged you a first-class ticket, maybe this was merely a business expense and you're traveling second class, or maybe you even smuggled on board the train and are hiding out in the luggage car. Do you happen to know why you're traveling, madame or monsieur?
Whatever the case may be, you're now stuck on this train with the other passengers for the next four days. It would be good to meet with the other passengers on board, since you'll be seeing each other so often. Are they strangers? Old friends? Enemies? Whatever their relationship to you, perhaps you'll learn a few new interesting tidbits about their lives.
If you want a place to chat, why not enjoy a conversation in the dining car, where you can feast upon all manner of delicacies? Looks like the menu today--and every day--is oysters, soup with Italian pasta, turbot with green sauce, chicken 'à la chasseur', fillet of beef with 'château' potatoes, 'chaud-froid' of game animals, lettuce, chocolate pudding, and a buffet of desserts. Or, if you're not that hungry, you can make your way to the lounge/bar car to enjoy an alcoholic beverage or two. Those more interested in simply brooding or hanging around can walk to the caboose, where you can look out upon the train tracks and think about the journey ahead....
The train's staff provides all manner of luxury to its guests. Those in first class cabins receive complimentary champagne when you first step on board, and the next morning, both first and second class passengers wake to a concierge knocking at their door with a basket of decadent Parisian pastries and a pot of freshly brewed tea. Your every need is tended to, and the staff are more than willing to accommodate you. Maybe being stuck on this train for four days isn't so bad, after all.
It seems like someone had the bright idea of setting up a few games in the lounge. Looks like a gaggle of people have set up a makeshift poker table, gossiping among each other about what they've learned about the other passengers aboard the train. A few others are enjoying a round of drinks and something called "truth or drink"--a twist on the classic "truth or dare". A third table is playing two truths and a lie. Boisterous laughter and shouting fills the car. The bartender smiles towards you, wiping down the table and tending to the passengers. What'll you be having, then?
First, the train gets stuck in a snowdrift, delaying your trip. Next, the conductor tells you that one of your fellow guests was murdered! Worse still, he believes that someone on board this train was responsible for the man's death. If they don't find out who did it, well...they'll need to bring everyone in for questioning at the next station.
Do you know who to trust? Perhaps you ought to do a little bit of investigation, yourself, lest you be suspected as the culprit. It wouldn't hurt to try and question people on what sort of secrets they're hiding, either...after all, who knows? Maybe they have a bigger stake in this murder than you think.
We've provided an optional blurb you can add to your toplevels with information about your character in the AU. Delete/add fields as you see fit, use it however you want!
i. meet & greet
So, you've ended up on the Disorient Express. Maybe you've got a few connections that snagged you a first-class ticket, maybe this was merely a business expense and you're traveling second class, or maybe you even smuggled on board the train and are hiding out in the luggage car. Do you happen to know why you're traveling, madame or monsieur?
Whatever the case may be, you're now stuck on this train with the other passengers for the next four days. It would be good to meet with the other passengers on board, since you'll be seeing each other so often. Are they strangers? Old friends? Enemies? Whatever their relationship to you, perhaps you'll learn a few new interesting tidbits about their lives.
If you want a place to chat, why not enjoy a conversation in the dining car, where you can feast upon all manner of delicacies? Looks like the menu today--and every day--is oysters, soup with Italian pasta, turbot with green sauce, chicken 'à la chasseur', fillet of beef with 'château' potatoes, 'chaud-froid' of game animals, lettuce, chocolate pudding, and a buffet of desserts. Or, if you're not that hungry, you can make your way to the lounge/bar car to enjoy an alcoholic beverage or two. Those more interested in simply brooding or hanging around can walk to the caboose, where you can look out upon the train tracks and think about the journey ahead....
ii. another day of luxury
The train's staff provides all manner of luxury to its guests. Those in first class cabins receive complimentary champagne when you first step on board, and the next morning, both first and second class passengers wake to a concierge knocking at their door with a basket of decadent Parisian pastries and a pot of freshly brewed tea. Your every need is tended to, and the staff are more than willing to accommodate you. Maybe being stuck on this train for four days isn't so bad, after all.
It seems like someone had the bright idea of setting up a few games in the lounge. Looks like a gaggle of people have set up a makeshift poker table, gossiping among each other about what they've learned about the other passengers aboard the train. A few others are enjoying a round of drinks and something called "truth or drink"--a twist on the classic "truth or dare". A third table is playing two truths and a lie. Boisterous laughter and shouting fills the car. The bartender smiles towards you, wiping down the table and tending to the passengers. What'll you be having, then?
iii. murder in the night
First, the train gets stuck in a snowdrift, delaying your trip. Next, the conductor tells you that one of your fellow guests was murdered! Worse still, he believes that someone on board this train was responsible for the man's death. If they don't find out who did it, well...they'll need to bring everyone in for questioning at the next station.
Do you know who to trust? Perhaps you ought to do a little bit of investigation, yourself, lest you be suspected as the culprit. It wouldn't hurt to try and question people on what sort of secrets they're hiding, either...after all, who knows? Maybe they have a bigger stake in this murder than you think.
iv. optional info blurb
We've provided an optional blurb you can add to your toplevels with information about your character in the AU. Delete/add fields as you see fit, use it however you want!
NAVIGATION
Main Community:griefstreetOOC Community:
dressingroomsMod Account:
thedirectorsGame Overview | Rules & Expectations
FAQ | Reserves | Applications | Setting Info | Test Drive
Locations | Cast List | Investigation Notes
Dale Cooper | Twin Peaks - will match format
Occupation: FBI... but wait, it's a little different from canon
About: Agent Cooper is assigned to the division of the FBI which handles illegal gambling... after switching divisions when a case he was working in Violent Crimes went horribly, terribly wrong and his partner turned out to be the culprit all along. He survived a nearly fatal injury, and took some time to recuperate, during which he became very enamored with Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and decided to change career tracks ever so slightly. Currently he's traveling undercover on the Disorient Express to a destination where he's hoping he can track down an infamous bookmaker who has run rings in several casinos in his jurisdiction and was trying to flee to a country that would give him asylum. Anyone who asks will be told that he won tickets for the vacation from a morning radio show and is looking forward to bird-watching at their destination.
Looking For: Friends, enemies/targets, rivals, people to flirt with, I'll take anything! If you'd like to be the Former Murderous Partner, we can roll with that, too!
1. Train Time
Dale has made himself comfortable at one of the larger booths in the dining car, though he's alone: hoping that other folks will be just as adventurous and want to sit down with a stranger - or perhaps a friend, if they're both so lucky. There's a large birding guide on the table beside him, full of bookmarks and little slips of paper sticking out from the edges, but at the moment his attention is on the menu.
When someone draws near, he looks up at them with a sunny smile that's so genuine that it almost loops right back around into false. "Won't you join me? I was just trying to figure out what a 'turbot' is, while I wait for a fresh pot of coffee."
2. Luxury
Dressed in a suit that's a few steps below the first-class room he's been bunked in, Dale helps himself to a seat at the poker table and puts down a miniscule bid.
"Deal me in, please," he says to the dealer, all smiles and eager naivete. Glancing to the people on either side of him, he nods happily in greeting. "That is, if you don't mind, of course. I haven't played since college, but ... I'll try to keep up."
Is it possible this fresh-faced yokel is hustling you all? Absolutely.
3. The Reason We're All Here
Murder is decidedly not his jurisdiction ... not anymore. Just the same, Dale finds himself drawn to the scene like the tide to the moon, back again, his hands in his pockets as he scrutinizes the scene. It's like riding a bicycle, he thinks, as he realizes he's already looking for signs of where the killer could have come in and left the scene from. Small details jump out at him - anything that might be out of place, even the nap of the carpet if it's been scuffed. Is the body where it was at time of death, or was it moved? How are the other passengers standing as they come to rubberneck? He reads their faces, their body language, the tone of their whispers.
Someone inevitably remarks that it's a terrible shame. Dale shakes his head.
"Not to one of us, it isn't." That affected, easy tone he's had for most of the trip is sliding into something a little more serious, thoughtful, as he steps a little closer to the body. "No ... for someone on board this train, this was exactly what they needed. Did any of you know this person?"