JANUARY 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to January’s Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: NEW YEAR'S.

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: Mind alteration, alcohol, options for self-harm, knife violence.

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

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

YOU BETTER GET THIS PARTY STARTED

It's party night at the Grady Hotel and the hosts are pulling out all the stops. Champagne, funny hats, pictures, great music, and a wonderful countdown clock that let's everyone know just how much closer they're getting to the end of what has probably been a pretty crazy year for everyone. The glasses never seem to empty themselves and the citizens serving them out to people seem to be making extra sure that everyone has one for themselves. Regardless of whether or not you usually like champagne, anyone with a glass in their hands will eventually be tempted to take a sip, especially the closer it gets to midnight - the bubbles make you giggly, friendly, talkative in a way that you may never have been before. It lifts up just about anyone's spirits, no matter how rough of a time they've had before (or during their time in) Deerington. It doesn't seem to get you drunk, no matter how much you drink, but it definitely makes you more euphoric. Enough so that you might start to think you can do anything; tell someone how you really feel about them, compliment whoever you've had your eye on all night and see if they want to spend more time together, make up with someone you've been fighting with lately, do a magic trick you never were able to master, or even something as drastic as fly when you know you can't. Hopefully you start off trying to jump from a chair, but there is definitely roof access for those who are a little more daring - maybe someone a little more sober will have the wherewithal to stop you before it's too late.

There is also plenty of entertainment happening in various parts of the room. A table with beer pong for the adults who never outgrew their college days, a dart board, card games in the back, and a game called Guess the Candy for those who want to test their sweet tooth. Anyone who wins a round of any game will get rewarded with a small gift from home (no bigger than a toaster). Unfortunately will disappear once you leave the party, so make sure to enjoy it while you can.

The dance floor is also lively, the music upbeat and easy to move to no matter what your personal tastes might be. If you want a random dancing partner, take a dance card! Each one has a random, glowing number on it and it's your goal to find the person who matches. Once you do, no matter who it is, you'll find yourself literally stuck together (hopefully just by your hands, but it can be any body part) and will have to go through an entire dance (or maybe even two) with them before you come unstuck.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Everyone starts to gather around the countdown clock as it nears midnight, and when it's down to ten seconds, obviously you've got to start counting too! Everyone seems to be having such a good time as they shout out each number (10! 9! 8!) and you might not even notice the way some of the people around you have started to get a little... twitchy? (7! 6! 5!) Or the way some are starting to get more handsy, pushing themselves up close to whomever is beside them. (4! 3! 2!) And it isn't until they all shout 1! in unison that the room seems to shift in two very different moods.

If you're lucky, the person next to you will just have the urge to kiss you - and you might even have the urge to kiss them back! After all, sharing a kiss at midnight is supposed to bring you good luck for the rest of the year. And with the way everyone else is starting to act, you might need it. For some, the urge to kiss might be stronger than just a chaste peck. For those who find themselves wanting to get a little more intense, it might be best to try to sneak out the back and head back to your place. The moment you step outside into the cold air, though, the urges seem to disappear - unless, of course, you were in the mood all on your own.

If you're unlucky, there's a murderous rage that runs through you, and there seems to be a table of weapons near by to help encourage a messy time. Various knives, swords, machetes, and other blades are laid out, enough for almost everyone. You might find yourself driven to plunge your weapon into the closest person, or maybe someone you've hated for a long time, and even more - maybe someone you've loved. Whoever it is, the image of their face will be burned into your mind and you'll do everything you can to try and make them bleed. Hopefully they can fight for their life - or at least evade your attacks until they can trick you into going outside. Like the desire for love, the desire for murder will also disappear the moment that someone steps outside, regardless of whether or not they did so on purpose or just to try and hurt whoever they're after.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Steve can't see beyond a two-foot perimeter. There's a man wearing an expression on his face while looking at him that nobody's pointed his direction Steve's entire life. No man or woman. Sly and charming and flirtatious as if Steve's a treat to be gobbled up and he'd be overwhelmed if he didn't want to kiss him so damn much.

Here's a 40's boy experiencing a man calling him darling. That same man had expressed the desire to be kissed and given him permission.

He twists his fingers in the man's collar and tugs him down to kiss him. A few inches feel like a mile but he's stronger than he looks and there's something thrumming in his veins that's more than the one drink he'd had earlier. ]

[ oh, that's much better. for faeries, moments like this--the turning of a new year--are auspicious, and what better way to celebrate and revere them than by letting himself be pulled down into a kiss that tastes of champagne and determination.

marigold is-- well, there's no two ways around it really: he's old. he's old enough to remember when human civilization was young and new, old enough to remember creatures that mortals call myths now. he's danced with gods and lain with demons, and yet.. a first kiss with someone new will never, ever lose its appeal and its beauty. he takes the memory of this one and seals it inside a little box, to be taken out and treasured again and again long after the lips beneath his own are dust.

but that's in the future. for now, mari slides his hands up over steve's shoulders, letting his wrists cross neatly at his nape. his lips part, softening the kiss, deepening it, tongue flicking against the young man's own to coax it in. ]

[ Fumbling. Inexperienced.

There were a few choice words Steve would pick to describe how he kisses the taller man. He's smart enough to know what to do in theory but in practice, he's completely lost. Kissing someone else was crossing personal boundaries and climbing walls people might not realize they have built up. It's a lot. Marigold's lips taste like champagne. Sparkling and effervescent.

The normal version of himself, uninfluenced by the spell cast over them, would be mortified. There are people around. They're both men and they don't know each other's names. This version of Steve.. well...

Steve wants to climb him. He opens his mouth and yanks him closer. ]

[ is this the boy's first kiss? the inexperience shows, his earnest insistence charming for a man that's had most of what humanity has to offer. he can't help the bright laugh as he's dragged down, long fingers raking into short blond hair as he nips at his lip, licks into his mouth.

he only breaks it to let the little stranger breathe, his other hand sliding downward to wind in his tie, using it to keep him close. ]

Oh darling, that was quite a kiss. [ he steps back toward the wall, tugging steve with him as he goes, smile promising and a little wicked. ] Do you always take your New Year's traditions so seriously, or am I simply lucky?

[ The kiss stops. It's broken and not by Steve. He can still feel the sting of teeth nipping his lip, the tongue that had followed. The little stranger is mad that it stopped and what, to be teased? Fortunately, that's something Steve does enjoy. ]

I've never done this before.

[ He means kissing a complete stranger on New Year's Eve. And kissing a man. Or kissing anyone. It was a lot of firsts for Steve Rogers but he was too busy being pulled towards a wall. Given their positions he should be doing the guiding but Mari does. ]

I'd have to say I'm the lucky one.