MAY 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to May's Test Drive Meme! This is our first Test Drive ever so let's make it a good one. This month's Test Drive's theme is: SUPERNATURAL 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: Sin related things? There's not much this month, actually.
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

VISION OF A WORLD

Everyone knows that people with special powers who show up in Deerington always seem to end up having them altered. Healers can't quite fix people the way they used to, teleportation can't ever seem to get you out beyond the town lines, resurrection ends up a little... messy. Whatever the case may be, people should be pretty used to the idea of their powers never being quite right.

That seems to have gone to an extreme. While some powers seemed to work just fine before, anyone with any kind of special ability will find that there's some sort of glitch occurring whenever they try to use them these days. Even those with technology-based powers that are usually left alone will find that their tech just isn't functioning the way it's supposed to. Some will find their powers have gone into complete overdrive, unable to control them in any manner - maybe you just meant to use your fire abilities to light a cigarette and instead you burnt down an entire tree, or if you're usually a strong telepath, you're suddenly unable to filter out anyone's thoughts.

On the opposite end, powers may cease to function at all. Maybe your super strength disappears and you're suddenly as weak as a child, or your self-healing no longer heals, leaving you vulnerable and capable of extreme injuries you've never felt before. Ever wondered what it was like to be "normal"? Now's your chance - hopefully you don't end up in any tricky situations where your powers may have come in handy after all.

Stranger still, people who have never had powers may find they're suddenly able to do incredible things. Those scrawny arms can suddenly lift cars over your head, or your usually slow and clumsy feet can now move faster than the speed of sound. Anything can happen - but now you're stuck trying to learn how to control powers you've never tried to use before. Maybe you'll be lucky and won't hurt yourself (or someone else) too badly...

NO SINNER LIKE A YOUNG SAINT

What's a better way to welcome the coming end of the school year than with a music festival? The record store has set up a nice party for everyone to attend outside their store, closing off the whole street so that everyone can have plenty of space to attend! Vendors are set up along the sidewalks with food of all kind (no negative side effects, honest!), clothes ranging over a vast number of styles, and merchandise for bands that people have probably never heard of. Maybe you can find their record inside and give it a listen!

Most importantly, they're trying to focus on the tunes. Record players are set up with headphones if you want to try out an album you've never heard before. Otherwise there's a nice mix of different genres that play throughout the day, cycling through in a random loop. If you don't like what you're listening to one minute, just come back in a few and you'll probably hear your favorite song coming through the speakers instead!

Each genre of music seems to cause a unique effect to those who are listening. Whether it's the records in private or the music flowing out into the streets, characters will find themselves acting a little differently throughout the course of each song.

Classic Rock will entice people to act a bit more prideful. Boasting about your greatest experiences, telling everyone about your greatest success stories from home, showing off your awesome skillset that you think is entirely unique to you. You're feeling good about your own abilities and accomplishments and you want everyone to know about it.

Metal will have people acting more wrathful. Anger will sky rocket and the desire to get into a fight will be high. Maybe you just verbally attack someone else, or your anger gets great enough that you start to physically lash out. Hopefully someone is around to calm your rage before someone else gets hurt.

Country will bring people a feeling of envy. Suddenly everyone around you has something you want but don't have. Anything from a haircut you wish you could rock to a significant other you wish was yours or a personality trait you want to possess. You'll find yourself wishing you had what everyone else did. It might sink you into a deep depression or it might even make you try and take what they have - at any cost.

Pop music will fill you with a sense of greed. You want anything and everything, whether it's something you would normal try and possess or not. A person, a food, a piece of jewelry, one of the records that's in the store, clothing -- you want all of it. It doesn't matter if you have the funds or if the person you've got your eye on wants to be near you, you're going to get what you want and no one is going to stop you.*

Jazz music will bring about a suddenly make you feel a little bit lazy and sloth-like. Everything has slowed down for you and you're not wanting to really try and speed them up. You're ready to lounge and forget about responsibilities. Just chill in the corner with your records - who cares about fun or work or eating when you can just listen to the smooth notes from Coltrane?

Punk suddenly makes you feel gluttonous. Your stomach won't stop growling, your throat feels parched, and you're trying to buy everything those vendors and local restaurants and cafes are trying to sell in order to satisfy your belly. It doesn't matter if your stomach keeps feeling uncomfortably stuffed or you're slowly getting to a point well beyond wasted, you're going to keep eating and drinking everything in sight until you feel better.

Blues will make people feel a great amount of lust. Is there someone you've been wanting for a long time but never had the guts to make a move on? Or maybe you're desire for a complete stranger hits you out of nowhere. Regardless, you want to feel close to them in any way you can, your body aching and your mind only able to focus on feeling your body against theirs.*

All effects of the music will last as long as the tracks are playing, changing the moment a new genre is playing. If you are pulled out of earshot of the music or take the headphones off your ears, there will be a lingering effect for five to ten minutes before it will finally start to fade off. Let's hope you're strong enough to fight it - or that you at least don't make too many mistakes you might regret by the time the track changes.

*Please remember that there is no non-consensual sex in this game. Do not use these prompts to try and maneuver around this rule.

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

...Well, that's comforting.

[ It's good to know that at least he won't be wasting that much time at home. Because he's kind of on the run and he could put a lot of people in danger. ]

You never saw yourself?

[He shakes his head.]

I wasn't here early enough for that. Which I guess is a good thing, all things considered.

You missed a lot of 'fun' stuff around here.

[... He doesn't particularly say it like it was fun. But you know.]

Care to give me a rundown or should I hit up Banner?

I'd be happy to get you a coffee if you're willing.

[ Or lunch or something. Just, he'd like to get a little context. ]

You could hit up Banner if you'd like, buuut.

[He looks at his watch, thinking.]

My next class isn't for another two hours, if you want to get your basket sorted out and maybe make a coffee, answer some basic questions; I'm always up for a decent conversation about Creepyville, Maine.

Creepyville's a good name for it.

[ He pauses as if considering it for a moment, before reaching his hand out. ]

You're on, Queens.

[ And I guess this is the transition for when they start going towards Steve's house. ]

What are you studying?

[What the heck, that's the cutest nickname; why hasn't his Captain called him Queens?

This is emotional warfare.

He grins though.]

Actually, I'm a chemistry teacher at the high school. I schooled a few years back in robotics, biophysics, the usual — never thought I'd end up teaching a bunch of unruly kids this soon in my life, though.

No, I can't imagine. You're so young.

[ He smiles at him because honestly he feels like kids these days are way more grown up than kids back home. ]

Where'd you work back home?

Almost 24, Cap. And almost 9 years a spider. I'm a big boy now!

[His chipper expression fades a bit, and he clears his throat.]

... Uuuhhh. [AFFOOOuuuu — the sound of a man puffing up his cheeks and breathing out.] Kinda... in-between jobs right now. The last one ran out of money. But you know, I'm still doing my usual Spider-Man gig. Not that it pays, but it's a job, right?

[ He smiles at Peter when he says he's been Spider-man for nine years, that's pretty crazy to him. He hadn't even joined the war at 24, and here he was doing all this adulting.

But then.. ]

Hey, kid. You do good, that's what matters. Happy you're getting paid for it here, though.

[ He knows SHIELD signed his paychecks and Tony sort of helped bankroll him from time to time, so he gets paid to do what he does. Why shouldn't Peter? ]

[He snorts a laugh.]

Right? It's nice to make a little cash and not worry about rent... And hey, Stark Industries offered me a job before; maybe I should finally take them up on the offer. [It's infinitely a better choice than Oscorp, that's for damn sure.] I don't know if I've been forgiven for the pizza incident yet, though.

Getting bankrolled by Stark isn't a bad idea. But if he ever asks you to suit up and come fight me, I hope you decline.

[ Mostly because all his friends getting into a fight was hard to watch, despite everyone pulling their punches. And of course Tony recruiting a 15-year-old kid was a low blow. ]

--You're gonna have to explain the pizza incident.

Hey, I have enough problems in NYC, I don't need to add slap-fighting other Avengers to my list.

... I mean, not that I'm an official Avenger. Or anything.

The pizza incident definitely lessened the odds there. Which is to say — I might've swung by the top of the Avengers tower, to show Stark I brought some pizzas as a sign of solidarity? Only I didn't realize how strong the wind would be that day, and the pizzas turned into little UFO saucers that slapped the windows and slid tomato paste and cheese down the building...

... Yikes...

[ He laughs, full of mirth. ]

--Sorry. Sorry, it's just.

That's beautiful.

And there's no way that Tony would actually hold a grudge over it, you're still in the running.

And as far as I'm concerned, you're official if you want on the team.

[He blinks at him, surprised.]

Who, me?

... A Deerington Avenger?

[That's clearly what they're called here. 100%.]

Yeah. You're a Deerington Avenger, now.

[ He just assumes that this one's no less competent than his counterpart. Someone should really warn Steve about how dangerous that is in the context of the multiverse, even if he's judging pretty okay so far. ]

We should probably come up with a better name.

[Hey man, Gwen had to tell him the bad news about the less pleasant versions of people in the universe — Matt Murdock is apparently a scumbag where she’s from, but the one here’s... well, he’s a big ol’ meanie, but a good one. A friend, even. He grins at Steve, considering their options for names with hardly an ounce of seriousness..]

... The Avengdeers?

[It’s horrible, absolutely terrible, and he’s living for it.]

[ He really wants to say "that's terrible, but it's better than anything I've got."

He says: ]

Sure.

We're the Avengdeers.

[ Okay, he might be laughing at that. It's pretty funny. ]