JANUARY 2019 TEST DRIVE

[sodder]

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.

Comments

sam wilson | mcu ( non-iw compliant )

[wingmans]

( i. have a drink )

[ so this? this was new. granted not new in the way aliens, magic and shrinking men, but new in that okay this feels like narnia meets stephen king in a backalley. so new to sam who takes it as it comes, rolling his shoulders and letting the tension. not all of it though.

still, he's dressed, relaxed and raising his drink to whoever is nearby. ]

Cheers. To . . . You know what? You can pick it and I'll follow your lead.

( ii. dart board )

[ sam's no hawkeye. but he does have well-trained reflexes, which he takes out on the dart board. and maybe he's showing off a little. it's a party, he's allowed. besides, he probably has five seconds of fame before someone better at this beats him at it. until then, the board is his. he twirls a dart between his fingers before flicking it, narrowing missing the bullseye. he smiles, the gap between his teeth bright and clear. he gestures to whoever is close by, pleased. ]

Hey, man. It's all skill up here. Just saying.

( iii. an unlucky new year's to you too )

[ and then everything was a blur of knives and fighting and sam dodging what he can, holding his hands up while he backs into a table. ]

If it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep all my insides right where they are.

( iv. wildcard! )

[ sam is completely down for lucky new year's kisses and he'll be around the party, cheating badly at card games and drinking. if you have another prompt in mind, please PM this journal. ]

ii :)

[tentacap]

[Steve is not dressed nearly as well as Sam. Just a jacket tossed over a button down, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He's familiar with the game, of course. Even back in the forties it was still in most bars and pool halls. So he knows the game. That said, he's never been particularly good at it, so he stops, watching Sam as he plays.]

You're good.

[He offers it as an easy compliment that comes with the knowledge that if Steve were to play there's a better than nothing chance he might miss the board entirely.]

[wingmans]

[ sam does the obvious double-take, squinting a little before shrugging it off. drinks have made him a little more casual than usual and he's not keen on jumping at every strange coincidence. ]

You can get in good practice when you're bored.

[ a beat as sam decides what the hell. he's never been good at anything but taking the plunge. ]

. . . You're Steve, right? Steve Rogers?

[tentacap]

[Steve catches the double-take, but he doesn't exactly put his finger on the why of it until the inevitable question that follows. He smiles a little at the man, a slight shrug of small shoulders.]

I have trouble even hitting the board.

[He admits it with a slightly wry curl of his lips. Not that it was the most athletic game, but it still wasn't exactly his sort of thing. Though maybe the man was right, maybe he did just need more practice.]

Yeah. Sorry, I can't say I know you, though. What's your name?

[He holds out one hand, offering a handshake by way of greeting. He's not used to being this famous.]

i

[ewww]

[Alexis is in her element, it's been so long since she's been at a real party that she's almost forgotten the strange circumstances surrounding her presence here. It's obviously a mistake of some kind, David or her parents will fix it, and it'll all be fine.

(That motto has carried her through worse than this.)]

Cheers to like hors d'oeuvres, oh my god, I haven't had food that didn't come from a cafe for way too long.

[Hi she's the worst but she's like, bubbly about it? And she gives Sam a big smile as though she expects him to understand this complaint.]

[wingmans]

[ sam doesn't seem to mind and by the broadening of his smile, he seems to welcome it. ]

Yeah? Are the cafes here any good at least?

[ rich food or the lack thereof doesn't really bother sam. he'll be the first to admit he's a total plebian. ]

[ewww]

Oh, um, I haven't actually eaten here yet except for that smoothie they left me? Which was super nice of them considering they kidnapped me and everything, I wish everyone was that thoughtful about it.

[Everyone who?? kidnaps her???

This is what happens when someone's parents have too much money and don't pay attention to what their kids are doing.]

I guess I'll have to figure out where to go, there's a kitchen in my apartment but like...

[She makes a face that seems to convey the message of "I never learned how to cook and I don't plan to". Oops.]

iii

[weaponised]

[ suddenly, there's a blur of black and red and white, and sam's attacker is sent flying, crashing into a table. the person left behind is a slim white-haired man in leather, lips drawn back from his fangs, a growl in his chest.

he takes a shaky breath and twitches, his shoulders easing back, lips lowering over his teeth. ]

You're okay? [ if his voice is still a little rough, well, hopefully he can be excused. he tends to starve himself, and violence just makes the thirst worse. ]

[wingmans]

[ sam stares, trying to catch his breath before straightening. ]

Yeah . . . Yeah. Everything's still in one piece. Thanks, man. Any idea what that was all about?

[weaponised]

[ he bites the inside of his cheek hard, glancing back over his shoulder at the chaos still happening. people are all over each other, either making out or fighting or sometimes a little of both. ]

Drugs in the drinks? [ he hazards uncertainly, still trembling with the instinct to-- he's not sure. drink, maybe. fight or fuck. it's all twisted up in him, often all the same thing after his years as yevgraf's dog. ]

1 - hi again

[shiro2hero]

We could always just say... here's to not being dead.

[Which is, sadly, about as good as it gets some days in this town. Maybe it's not the best thing to drop into the lap of someone you just met. But... hey. Better letting them know now than later.]

[Better just get it over with.]

[wingmans]

[ is that a normal thing. still, sam raises his glass. ]

Sure. To survivin' another year.

[shiro2hero]

Same to you.

[He pauses, and then extends his free hand.]

I know it doesn't make for a great welcome. So, hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Shiro.

dart board

[lednikovyy]

[ Bucky can't help butting in when he hears the familiar voice. He grabs a dart and walks up behind Sam while he's showing off to someone else. When he throws it, it hits Sam's dart and knocks it from the board where both darts fall to the ground. ]

Definitely skill.

[ There's a cocky smile as he waits for Sam to turn around. What can he say? He likes to ruffle the guy's feathers. ]

[wingmans]

[ ugh, this guy. sam casually flips him off. ]

Or cheating. Don't you have super reflexes?

[lednikovyy]

Yeah, but I was a great shot before that, too.

[ He goes to get his dart and just as casually flips the bird right back with his metal hand. It's not a hand that Sam would have seen before, as Bucky had gotten it here in Deerington and it looks a fair bit less advanced than the arm he'd had before, but seems to move just as smoothly. ]

i'm sparing you deadpool for now ok iii

[mileages]

[ Thwip thwip and the guy that was advancing on Sam no longer has the knife in his hands because of a small black and red Spider-Man that is suddenly falling from the ceiling between Sam and his attacker, and landing surprisingly gracefully on his feet. Nailed it!! ] No-one's gotta be stabbing anyone. Why don't you just get some fresh air.

[ The dude hightails it away, and Miles' interest is suddenly on the guy he'd been protecting. Cue a 'sup nod. ] You okay? [ His spider-sense will probably tell him if that guy comes back with another knife, probably. ] These guys on bath-salts or something?

[wingmans]

[ did everyone shrink? first steve, now spider-man? though man might be generous. still sam nods warily because the last time they "met", he got web-wrapped. ]

I'm all good. And I have no clue, I didn't set him off.

[ 99% sure he didn't set him off. ]

[mileages]

[ MAN IS NOT GENEROUS. MAN IS JUST CALLING IT AS IT IS. Tyvm. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for Sam, Miles is definitely not Peter. So any possible web-wrapping isn't going to happen unless he starts acting bath-salts-y. ]

Yeah, a lot of people have been acting stab-happy. I think there's something in the drinks or something, I wouldn't drink 'em. [ This is like... his first time doing Spider-Man things, wow, he's kinda nervous. ] This whole thing is kinda giving me bad vibes. [ A pause. ... Finger...guns??? ] Cool, so uh, be safe citizen? [ Is he asking or telling him....... ]

( i. have a drink )

[oversight]

Honestly?

[ John raises his glass, leaning in over the sound of the party, gesturing with his drinking hand to Sam's attire. ]

That jacket. I'll drink to it. Nice touch.

[ He's come in something a bit more casual, too. Something about wearing a tuxedo just felt a bit too over-the-top for a town in Maine stuck in time. ]

[wingmans]

[ sam smirks, taking a sip of his own. ]

What can I say? I like a pop of colour.

[oversight]

It fits the theme, I think. Some days I go into the stores here and— I dunno, man, I'm just not sure I could do the whole Miami Vice vibe.

[ This is how John's choosing to make friends, apparently. He switches his drink to his non-dominant hand and offers the right to shake. ]

Name's Blake. John Blake, but pretty much everyone just calls me Blake. You pretty new in town?

ii

[exteroception]

[The blind man just smiles placidly at that.]

I will have to take your word for it.

[Matt considers whether or not he wants to be an asshole and comes to the conclusion that he absolutely is going to show off.]

Actually, want to point me in the right direction?

[wingmans]

Sure.

[ though sam may be none the wiser, he gets an inkling that he might be setting himself up for the fall. just a hunch. slowly, sam touches his elbow, directly him to the board. ]

Right over there. Give it your best shot.

[exteroception]

[He reaches over to the table and spends a moment locating the dart before he picks it up and turns it over in his hands.]

So how many tries do I get?