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

[ arrival ]

[ Miguel is pretty sure he's never been so cold. Even in the middle of November he could usually walk outside in a tank top, and he's woefully under prepared. His hoodie is zipped up tight as it will go, hood tied tightly around his chin and his hands are shoved into his pockets to try and keep them warm. He's confused, for sure, but after having just been through the land of the dead barely a year ago, some things are getting a little easier to put up with.

He'd tried to read the letter, but really he got bored halfway through and was much more interested in finding someone - anyone - who could tell him the way out. An adult he could go to, cry about being lost, wanting to get back to his Mamá and Papá and maybe throw in that he didn't mean to end up... wherever he was.

So he's been walking around the streets and the moment he sees someone else in front of him, he walks a little faster to try to catch up. ] Ah - excuse me?

[ party ]

[ He's pretty sure he's not supposed to be at a party like this, but the invites hadn't been age restricted, and he couldn't say he wasn't curious to see if there were any music or good food around. He took a small sip from the drink he'd been given, pulled a face and went to dump the rest in a plant pot when he thinks no one was looking. ]

Gross.

[ He's really thinking he should've just stayed in town. ]

[ new years ]

[ Not particularly happy to be stuck in this countdown, he was trying to sneak out just as soon as he saw the first set of people kissing. He'd rolled his eyes and gone to duck towards the door, only to find himself ducking the swing of a knife instead. Not towards him, maybe, but definitely there, and it made his eyes widen in some definite fear.

He made for a bit more of a panicked move and instead bumped right into another person on his way out. ] Ahh! [ He held up his hands quickly as he looked at them, hoping they weren't effected by all this crazy nonsense. ] Uh - hola. I was just - you know - leaving, so ...

If you drink enough of it, it tastes less gross.

(Eddie is a lot more cheerful today than he's been in literal months. He's got a golden party hat on top of his head that's completely lopsided and there's confetti sprinkled across his cheeks and shoulders. He's had two glasses of the champagne and, having figured what it is, is a little surprised that the world hasn't gone soft and twisty.

Instead, he just feels really amped to be here. To be alive. To be at this party- even if he doesn't know anyone here, even if his friends have vanished or died lately, even if he's been miserable mostly. Right now? He doesn't care: right now he's just grinning broadly at this new kid he's never seen before.)

So. Virgin here?

Edited (because eddie can be crude and stupid.) 2019-01-09 05:40 (UTC)

[ There's some relief in seeing someone his age here, really, but he can't help the look of genuine doubt at his words as he looks back at his now empty glass. He's pretty sure if he drank more of it, he'd just end up throwing up. ]

I dunno... It reminds me of the stuff they shove down your throat at communion. [ Maybe a little better, but... Not much. Still, he notices that someone's already refilling his glass and he tries not to groan. Looks like he'll have the chance to try.

Still - virgin. He gives him a look, mostly because being locked up in the Rivera house, there is absolutely no way he's heard that word in the context that didn't involve Mary following it immediately after. He thinks he remembers his sister saying it at one point too, but he wasn't supposed to hear it, and he'd gotten chased out of the room when she found out he was eavesdropping anyway.

But he can't look uncool, so he decides to just nod, hoping it's not a bad thing. ]

Oh. Blood of Christ or whatever? Yeah, wine sucks. (It's for lonely old (see: middle aged) white women and, apparently, certain types of Christians. Eddie's had a sip or two himself both in and out of church and has never been a fan himself.

Granted, he also always thought that it was the literal blood of Christ before so that had lead to some pretty vivid nightmares in his youth. But hey, why tell a total stranger that? He doesn't have to completely humiliate himself here.

The kid doesn't know what a virgin is and Eddie only can pick up on this because that would of been his reaction like...a year ago. It's a little tempting to call him out on it, but if this kid really is new here, Eddie knows how much that can suck. So he just smiles instead and slaps his hand against the kid's shoulder.)

That's okay, little guy. (You're the same height, Eddie. Shit, you're still a little on the small side.)

We've all been there before. You're in Maine now- get ready to hate life.

[ Or whatever. He says it so flippantly and Miguel almost looks in awe for a second that he can. You go around throwing or whatever onto the end of a sentence that contains "Christ" in it anywhere at home and you'd probably end up in the biggest lecture of your life. Or, well, maybe second biggest - he guesses he already went through the biggest when his family found the guitar.

But still.

Little guy makes him puff up a bit more though, like he has to make himself seem taller and bigger somehow - older, maybe. He's pretty sure that this kid isn't even that much older than himself, but he clearly carries himself like he is. Something Miguel has definitely not learned to do.

Although he deflates a little at the reminder of where he is. ]

That's in America, right? It's so cold here. I thought I was going to lose an arm when I first walked outside.