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

[ as it turns out, parties are no more sean's style in deerington than they had been on thisby.

granted, parties on thisby had mostly been in the weeks leading up to the races, and had been equal parts revelry and pagan rituals for the racers—sean is glad no one is walking around dressed as epona with a severed horse head on—and parties in deerington seem more like people getting drunk and having fun in a room with friends. but the principle is more or less the same.

it's a lucky thing henry's around. somewhere, anyway—they'd arrived at the same time, but had spent most of the evening splitting up and coming back together. henry to do whatever it was she does, sean to linger on the fringes of the party, talk to people he knows, drink.

the next time he runs into henry it's near a table set up in some back room, with red cups and what sean thinks is beer, and people with small white balls tossing them in each other's direction. ]

Hey. [ he salutes her with his glass. the alcohol content must be low—sean doesn't feel any drunker, although he does feel in a better mood than before. ]

_{[It wouldn't surprise her to see someone with a severed horse head on--it's been that kind of month.

After several holiday debacles, common sense might dictate that when this place sees fit to celebrate an occasion, you run the other way. Had she been present for the masquerade at the hotel, maybe she would have.

But after Laura's appearance and Chloe's death, the snow and the homesickness, she's feeling brazenly death-defying. Unfortunately for Sean, that means convincing him to tag along to the hotel party, with the disclaimer that if (or when) things get sketchy, they bail in a hurry. For one thing, she's not sure Sean would think to deviate from his routine of home-school-work without a push.

And she hadn't wanted to go by herself. That's the other reason she prods him to investigate with her, and she holds that one furtively close to her chest. She'd rather dress it up as a mutual snooping endeavor than that she'd feel more comfortable with at least one familiar face in the crowd.

Having taken stock of the room and the guests in attendance, she doesn't expect Sean to stay glued to her side, nor she to his; at intervals she looks for him across the room and finds his eye, wordlessly acknowledging the entire... Deerington-ness of the whole affair. They feel like comrades in a cold war against the lightweight drunks who keep stumbling around trying to drag people into dancing or New Year's photos. Hard pass.]}

Hi.

_{[The beer pong table was the last place she was expecting to catch sight of him again, and the discovery--on top of the jolly greeting--elicits a smile. Poor guy. He's short, so every now and again he gets swallowed up in the crowd and she loses track of him. Had the beer pong players abducted him when she hadn't been looking?]}

Don't tell me you play.

_{[It really doesn't seem like his scene.]}