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

[ you know, for the record, it would've been nice to know he had friends here prior to the countdown at the end of the night. it's neither here nor there, just something that pops into archie's head unbidden as he's three people away from reggie freaking mantle. wow. he's definitely not questioning ( right now ) how his current situation has gone from being trapped in a bunker to living it up large at what may as well be a festival thrown by the blossoms themselves. there's razzle, there's dazzle, there's literally glitter in his hair. why left a voicemail and stopped nagging him hours ago.

that's the state in which reggie finds him, reeling him in by a hand on his cheek. archie barely takes the moment to meet his eyes before his fist closes at the collar of his friend's shirt and drags him the rest of the way in. yeap, this is happening. he probably misses archie's little grin but there's really no avoiding his tongue pressing against the inside of his upper lip to up the stakes.

the sirens that are supposed to be wailing, dude, you're kissing reggie have opted for a bro fist and a right on, man. ]

[ Why hasn't been too big a question on Reggie's mind tonight, either; maybe at the start, yes, but the more time passes and the champagne he drinks, the easier it is to accept that this is just a slightly off-format dream.

Over the course of the night, since sharing a kiss with Veronica (good), Jughead (deeply upsetting), and a few more attempts (successful or not) with complete strangers, Reggie's mood has shifted somewhat from deliriously pleased to a bit more troubled, but all that comes to a standstill when Archie finds him and pulls him into a deep kiss before Reggie can even process that his friend is here.

He short-circuits just a little, frozen in place until one hand finally manages to find anchorage against Archie's muscular arm, the other cupping his face so that Reggie's fingers can slowly slide up into Archie's hair as the kiss deepens further. He's not questioning it. Should he? Probably. But... does he really want to?

Somewhat reluctantly, he pulls back. ]

Bro. [ Oh, but he's blanking. What do you even say after that? ] No wonder you're so popular.

[ He'd rather keep kissing than talk, anyway, so he leans back in to continue doing just that; they'll have plenty of time for catching up later. Whether or not either of them will regret this later means nothing in the moment. ]

[ his inspiration from the bubbles and the countdown hasn’t fizzled out yet. he’s assuming that’s what it is. buzzed from the champagne and dizzy with a restless kind of adrenaline from shouting in a room full of strangers. ( but he also doesn’t care. so that’s nice. ) and anyway, is this the worst thing that can happen? archie’s banking on no. what’s a little spit swapping between friends? —fyi, that didn’t sound any better in his head. it’s about as trashy out loud as it is hidden away in the confines of his mind but since they’re yeeting their way right into ‘19, where’s the problem?

archie takes reggie’s arm on his bicep and his fingers threading in his hair as incentive to continue. it’s not like he’s trying to climb into his mouth with his tongue or anything ( he’s not that pushy ) but he’s pretty convinced that reggie’s the best thing he’s tasted all night and he wants more. he breaks with a tiny gasp for air, looking somewhat confused. did they stop? are they stopping? he barely pulls away, obliging only because he’s not a jerk but every part of his body language from the trace of his eyes to the way he wets his lips, catching the remnants of him says he’s not ready to put an end to this. plus, he's not eagerly inserting any extra space between them. ]

You think that’s why? [ oh, well, he can explain later. or show him. yeah, you could show him, his brain helpfully chirps in. archie ( sort of ) ignores himself and splays his palm open at the base of his throat and the start of his chest — where his hand had balled into a fist — pulling, pushing, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme. archie’s not even sure which one he’s going for with his mouth reoccupied. in a few hours, he's probably going to have to send an extremely awkward apology text from the safe distance of his room and then never look reggie in the eyes directly again.

you know, for sliding his other arm around his waist and pulling him in by the small of his back. oh, and for tearing at his mouth with a graze of teeth. not hard bot not exactly gentle either. that's. probably not okay? ]

[ It's hard to question how much of what's happening now is just from the champagne, from the underlying yet undefinable compulsion to kiss others, or from their own -- his own? -- underlying thoughts, given that this is supposed to be a dream. But Reggie doesn't really like that last train of thought, because while subconsciously (or not), sure, maybe this has crossed his mind before, but that doesn't account for the rest of the night... for Veronica, arguably, but not for any of the strangers he nearly smashed mouths with, and certainly not for Jughead.

God, he sure as hell hopes not.

He doesn't have time to answer Archie, just smirking and nodding his head before their mouths are colliding again. It's not a bad thing, he'd argue, to be popular for being a good kisser, but someone with lips as obviously built for kissing as Reggie's are is probably obligated to believe that. He pulls on Archie's hair a bit as encouragement; he doesn't mind the added closeness, or the teeth, or the kiss itself, but there's probably some comfort in the fact they can always blame it on the alcohol later if absolutely necessary.

He should tell Archie that Veronica and Jughead are here too, probably, but it can wait. He's already broken the kiss once, twice would just be rude. ]