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 ;;
[This... is not his beautiful Mononokean. This is not his irritating kitsune. These dogs wandering around are not demons. Not even close. Nothing about them is familiar. He didn't wake up in the Mononokean either.]

[He blinks a few times. And steps over to the nearest random door, without preamble. Resting his palm against it. The other hand held under his chin, finger pointing upward.]

Mononokean. Come.

[Nothing seems to happen. He frowns. And then opens the door. There's nothing inside but a completely normal building. He shuts the door.]

Mononokean... come. [There's... still nothing inside the door. One of Abeno's golden eyes starts to twitch. Liberally.] Where ... are you.

PARTY ;;
[The man in the kimono looks somewhere between baffled and irritated by the whole new years production happening here. He's found a corner and he's sticking to it. No one on heaven or Earth or the Underworld is going to move Abeno Haruitsuki from his spot.]

[Someone hands him a drink.]

[He looks them dead in the eye.]

[And dumps it out.]

[Without a single word.]

Not much of a drinker?

[ the speaker is a slim, pale figure perched in a small alcove nearby. he's dressed in leather, and his long white hair nearly obscures his face as he glances the other man's way. in the darkness of the room and his little spot, his eyes glint scarlet.

he shifts, unfolding a leg to partially emerge from his spot, glance drifting from the stranger out toward the crowd. ] A lot of us aren't much in the partying mood, I guess.

No.

[It's a flat, quick response. He sets the glass on the nearest table, sliding his hands into the sleeves of the kimono. The stranger gets an up and down look... but he doesn't recognize them as any demon.]

[A lot of those in the Underworld had alternate forms. But this isn't one he knows.]

What is this place?

Hell, I suppose, [ he says, soft and tired. it has to be hell, doesn't it? otherwise, why would mikhail still be this? this-- monster. but perhaps that's just bitterness and thirst talking.

he slides his other leg out, until he's seated with his feet dangling, bandaged hands curled on the edge. ] I didn't ask around much. I just know that we can't leave-- I've already tried. [ and he was dying before, wasn't he? or already dead, maybe. he remembers his brother's arms around him in vivid detail, the tears on his face, the way he'd held him. he'd felt.. safe, warm, comforted for the first time in over a decade.

he pushes hair behind his ear, and turns to properly face the other man, lips quirking up faintly at the corner. ] You're Japanese? [ the blond hair is throwing him off, but the clothing is unmistakable. ]

No. It isn't the Underworld.

[That much, he can say with certainty. Abeno would know if it were. The energy is all wrong. The colors are all wrong. There are no demons here. No Koura and her shop, no Legislator, nothing even remotely familiar.]

[It isn't the Underworld. Therefore, it can't be "hell". Because isn't that what humans call the Underworld?]

Neither can I. [He's tried. He's tried several times. The only door that opens takes him back to the building he woke in.] There isn't sense to it.

[An eyebrow arches.] Yes. [Not a familiar question, either. But then again, humans don't... usually ask. And demons all know who he is.]

[ the assurance earns a mild glance, faintly questioning. he seems very certain, doesn't he? but what does mikhail know? perhaps hell had spat him out into this place. perhaps there's no place for him even there.

he doesn't smile at the answer to his question, rarely given reason to, but his expression does soften faintly into interest.

though the more important thing right now may be this town and their presence there. ] I suppose some of the others here may have better answers, having been here longer.

[Humans don't belong in the Underworld. Unless they're Abeno, or, occasionally, Ashiya. On official Mononokean business. This is neither. Not the Underworld, not business. He has never woken somewhere without his consent, without his knowledge. It's unsettling.]

[So... Abeno does what Abeno does best in such situations.]

[Shuts down.]

There's bound to be better solutions than begging answers.

[He'd taken to exploring, to getting a mental map of where any important landmark or hub is for the people who live here. Scratch that- for the native people, for the citizens. The damned welcome basket had said he was now a citizen of this town too; and Neji was set to protest that he was a proud citizen of Konohagakure, and a prisoner here. But anyway. He's not

in the best of moods. The still-healing injuries don't help. The fact that... that kid would just invite himself into a home... that certainly didn't help.] Do you make a habit of entering houses that are not yours? [Called from the street, where Neji rests with his jonin-black uniform, hands in his pockets. It wasn't called with anger or exasperation, just

y'know

that smug nonchalance of "no don't".]

[He feels as if he's going to throttle something. He isn't someone prone to such acts of aggression, but... sometimes... At least when someone asked a stupid question, it was only Ashiya, more often than not. Only his employee.]

[Some random human noticing not only Abeno, but Abeno's failure to summon the Mononokean? Unacceptable. It shouldn't have worked that way. No one should have noticed anything at all. The same way humans never noticed demons...]

[His eyes flick toward the voice, before he closes the door. Hands sliding into his sleeves.]

Do you own it?