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

[ Yeah, you're damn right you did, Clara. Sarah seems to relax, despite the attempted murder going on all around them, as she grips Clara's hand and follows her around the perimeter. She's... had worse first dates. ]

If this doesn't work, do we have a backup?

Nah, but that's the fun bit.

[If anything, the attempted murder going on all around them just widens Clara's smile, and it's not even from the effects of the spell. This is where she's at her most alive, in the middle of danger and chaos.]

Come on, I think there's one up ahead.

[About fifty meters in front of them, a red pinpoint of hope.]

After this, back to my place?

[ She sounds distracted, now, about their mission to turn on the fire alarm. It's only an incidental thing, something stopping them from getting from point A to point B. ]

[The main mission is still at the front of Clara's mind, but at Sarah's suggestion, the thoughts pushed a bit farther back start to come forward. Yeah, yes, back to this woman's place, that was precisely what she had been counting on. It almost feels like it was her own idea, now.]

God, yeah.

[She tosses Sarah her most enticing smile, urging her the last stretch towards the alarm. A nearby blade flashes moonlight across the device for just a moment.]

Alright. Here goes.

[The teen-delinquent thrill of the moment, the proximity to danger, the promise of later activities - it all seems connected, all bound up in the same flash of madness behind Clara's eyes, in the brilliance of her grin. She squeezes Sarah's hand, gives an excited huff of a laugh, and then throws the switch.

Instantly, the alarm shrieks into action. White lights flash from above, accompanying the chirps. A few people in the crowd seem distracted by the sound, and for a moment that seems like it's all it's going to do. Then - blessedly - the sprinklers start up, like rain after a drought, and Clara laughs, turning to face Sarah in what feels like delighted slow-motion, the spray of water already dampening her hair.]

[ Sarah, caught up in the moment, grins back at her. She's so beautiful, God, this night has been so weird and so crazy and so beautiful. She steps forward without even thinking and pulls Clara into her arms and kisses her, deep and slow. As she does it, it feels like some great weight is being lifted from her, like her bones and her heart have been lifted somehow, made new again. Like all the bullshit from before doesn't matter. The clones, Cosima being sick, Kira, none of it is present anymore. Only she and Clara are here and now. ]

[Oh! This is... very, very nice, even nicer than Clara had anticipated. She doesn't even look around to see if her plan worked, because all at once her hands are seeking out the back of Sarah's head, tangling deep in her wet hair, and her eyes are closing tight and hard against the sudden spark in her stomach. It doesn't feel like it's through a haze anymore, not like when the clock first struck midnight and the room erupted into something dizzy and dreamlike. This doesn't feel dreamlike; it feels like adrenaline, like it's coming from her veins instead of clouding her head.

... Okay, maybe it's still clouding her head a bit. She can't tell, not when she's being distracted by a frankly sensational kiss. There's no need to pull back for breath, but she separates from Sarah just long enough to manage, ] Happy New Year.

[Someone bumps her a bit in their hasty beeline for the back door, but she barely notices. Her fingers tug at Sarah's hair, just barely, and she smiles as though she's thinking of a secret.]