APRIL 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to April’s Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: SPRING HORROR.

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: Violent urges, violent furries, hallucinations, paranoia.

Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

SPRING TIME'S FAVORITE TROPE

Despite the slightest of chills still lingering in the air, Deerington's spring seems to pop up all at once. It'd be easy to assume every flower and every tree has gone into bloom overnight! Along with all the beautiful foliage, there's another wonderful thing about all the new flowers; pollen. And it's everywhere.

The pollen settles on top of every car, every road, sticks to every screen; a thin layer of yellow that gets in your eyes and fills your lungs. Hopefully you're not allergic. No matter what, there will be one interesting side effect you may end up exposing yourself to. Those who spend too much time outside may find they suddenly have the urge to cuddle, to be close to another person, and to maybe even fall in love, even if you normally wouldn't be interested in any of it. It may be with a complete stranger or it may be with someone who you've known a long time. Regardless, whoever is on your mind will end up becoming like your new obsession.

If the person is also interested in you, you're in luck! Get in your snuggle sessions (or more, you crazy animal). If they don't return your feelings, though... You'll find yourself not handling the rejection very well. The obsessive thoughts will come even worse, turning troublesome quickly, and you'll find your head filed with violent urges. You can take them out on the person who rejected you or on a complete stranger, or you can do your best to fight them off entirely.

All the urges, positive and negative, will go away once you get covered in water, either through a shower or jumping in the lake.

GAZING AT THE PURPLES AND PINKS

The only place that doesn't seem to be covered in pollen for whatever reason is the Spring Festival at the Staggering Heights Theme Park. The usual $20 entrance fee is waived for the day and everyone is encouraged to come have fun on the rides, listen to live music, and grab a partner to dance if you feel like it! Special foods on top of the usual carnival fair can be found around the park; lavender and maple ice cream, maple cotton candy, lavender sorbet, and maple candies.

At first, it will seem like none of these foods have any ill effects. After about half an hour, however, anyone who had any of these special desserts will start to see and hear things. It will start off mild - you may think you hear someone walking behind you or you'll be sure you saw someone from home out of the corner of your eye. As time goes on, they'll become more heavily intense. You'll become actively convinced someone is out to get you, even turning on friends who you are sure are part of some elaborate plan to bring you some sort of harm. You'll begin to see enemies from home - or friends who are now acting like enemies, even if you've never done them any harm. You'll feel more on edge, ready to defend yourself at any cost, and it will be particularly hard to calm you down when you're not trusting anyone to get near you. Effects from the desserts will disappear after three to four hours - or if you get a slice of freshly baked bread from one of the vendors.

The usual 9 PM closing time seems to have been extended until midnight, but people may still find that the familiar creepy elements start to sneak their way in even with the park open. The rabbit mascots are still following you with their eyes, and the closer it gets to midnight, the more obvious it gets. By the time it hits 11 PM, the rabbits will actually pull themselves up from their seated positions and start to follow you around the park. Some of them have weapons in their hands - golf clubs, steal pipes, and knives seem to be a favorite. If you get out of the park, they won't follow beyond the edges. If you try to stand your ground, however, they will attack. If you knock off the head, the mascot will crumple to the ground; and you'll find out that they're still completely empty.

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

[Mary was looking down at the digital camera on her lap. She was so busy scrolling through the dozens and dozens of pictures of flowers she's taken, she didn't even notice when the gentleman sat down beside her. Not until he began talking, of course. That's when she looked up, her different colored eyes taking in the sight of him and the congenial way about him. She smiled in return, her voice a little wispy, like someone with her head in the clouds or perhaps on a regular dosage of Valium. It could very easily be both.]

Yes, it's beautiful. I only just arrived, so I don't know much about the winter weather here. But this, it's like a dream. Or maybe it is a dream. It's so hard to tell, isn't it?

[Mary looked down at her camera again and scrolled through a few more photos.]

I just keep taking pictures of them. This one I might have taken four or five times... there's just something about it...

[Her voice drifts off, as though she can't quite pinpoint what it is. Maybe it's how the dew drops sit on the petals. And then, as if snapped from a daze, she looks up at him again and smiles.]

I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Mary.

[ So others might be just arriving, too. This helps Hannibal differentiate the dream; it may not be one that he is having alone. How deliciously interesting, this bending of the bounds of human connection, to think that multiple people could share the same dreamspace.

He wonders if the terrors hidden in the oubliettes of his unconscious mind will bleed out into this place like ink into water. ]

Isn't it always hard to tell when you're dreaming? What, then, could be a bigger indicator of being in one?

[ He watches her examine her pictures over her shoulder. Hannibal is sometimes prone to subscribing to the belief that art can be more true to life than life itself, but this spring bloom is too strange to understand through a lens. ]

It's lovely to meet you, Mary. I'm Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Well, [ he pauses, savoring the very confusion of not knowing, ] I was a doctor, and am should it still matter here. With how long it takes to become one it's not a profession you so willingly abandon. [ A warm smile and an inclined nod. Simple and neat. He gestures to her camera. ] Are you worried they won't appear again next year?

[For the sake of the world, hopefully neither of their minds will bleed into the dreamscape.]

If I were creating my own dream, it would be filled with flowers, that's for sure. And maybe some interesting architecture to sketch.

[She could spend all day drawing lovely things. When Mary looks to him again and finds him near, she doesn't appear bothered by it at all. She's more than willing to allow him to look at her photographs, since his assessment might help her improve.]

A doctor? I should've known. You have a certain way about you.

[And she's known plenty of doctors.]

Hm, maybe? Who's to say we'll be here next year? So much can change.