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

[How did this happen.

Again, he finds himself unable to guess, to retrace his every step tonight. Except- he knows he's had, by this point, more than one glass of champagne to drink. All he can wonder, as he lets the woman do with him as she will, is if he tastes drunk. If she did or not, he couldn't tell. Didn't want to know. Because she was beyond interesting and entertaining, and (if he's honest) the smile getting brighter made his heart jump, his chest feel hollow of anything but want. Want for--?

He'd let no one play with his hair. It was a trophy of sorts. But if the bridge of his nose begins to feel hot and he sighs against the strokes, he's sure no one will belittle him for it. Her lips were too soft, too enticingly warm. He met them with relish (it's such an odd feeling, to want more of something). And then her hands are on his body and he knows he's being caged in. He can't care. There's color tinting his ears now, and... a jerk of his body toward her when her hands roam his back. He'd forgotten he was still sore, still wounded, still wearing bandages under his clothing.

All things must be in balance. He presses the kiss deeper, he takes his turn, in retaliation, to hold a bite of her lower lip between his. And he sucks it for a second and returns his attention to her mouth. He wants it open. It'll keep his mind off the flash and panic of injury and not knowing.]

[Her hand moved down from the back of his head to rest more or less at the neck. When he bit, her response was to curl a leg around his and to part her lips just as he seemed to wish. Her tongue slipped out, running first along the edge of his teeth and then almost beckoning for his to test the waters. Her own slightly pointed ears felt hot, the distant recollection of these sensations both familiar and unfamiliar. She teased so often, but she didn't really do much with others, least of all coplete strangers.

But at the same time, the compulsion she felt was so overwhelming that it had her completely under its sway. Her hand gripped a little tighter and with how close she was pressed, she was leaning very sightly against him, the soft swell of her breasts pressed through her top against his chest. She didn't bother to speak, only murmuring softly into the kiss, her eyes closed and enjoying the moment.

It was rather relaxing, to let go once in a while.

[There's another sigh, breathier and longer than the first. It's enough to be overwhelmed by, this intimacy, and it's of the kind he'd prefer to be having in a private room. Because his tongue is chasing hers, curling underneath hers, and drawing back into his mouth like it's experimenting or getting used to the taste of another person. Gods, but it's not shy.

And then two things happen at the same time-- no, three. Her hold was firmer and Neji again twitched under the feeling of her hand on his lower back, and in that same second she had her chest on his and gods did that feel good. It lured forward a low and droning buzz to his ears; it lured forward some, ah, creative imagination. And when Neji moved to grip her hips on either side and have the rest of their bodies touch, he had to abruptly end the kiss, that spellbinding, passionate kiss. Her leg was on his, meaning their hips were flush together. And if he hadn't been blushing before (the horror), he knows for certain he is now.

Hesitancy is his cousin's thing, not his. Never his.

The woman insisted and he must oblige. Hungrier, with more resolve, he bows his head to taste her mouth, her tongue again. He pulls her in, pulls her hips so there's-- movement. Small movement. Right where it should be. And he takes an experimental step back. Towards a wall. Any wall. Away from the crowds. He wanted her, not any other body passing by or pressing into his.]

[All so easy, all so intimate. Their bodies were pressing against each other in an embrace that felt almost playfully juvenile, like it was her first time this close all over again. She was drawn towards the wall one step at a time before she paused, one hand slipping between them to press fingers up against his collarbone. It was only a little pressure, but just enough to part their lips. Hers were tingling, burning with the urge for more, but there were people here, and no matter how shameless she was, she wasn't that shameless.

Her third eye glanced towards a door and she smiled with an almost giddy expression.]

You are a bold one aren't you? But I don't like to share... so perhaps. [She jerked her head and the hand at his hips was starting to guide a little more firmly.] A moment alone, from the crowds to ... get to know each other better?