SEPTEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to September's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: CHAOS.

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: Torture (emotional and possibly physical), claustrophobia, potential weapon violence (guns, knives, spears, flamethrowers, etc.), possible body horror, emotional manipulation, emojis
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Prompt Three
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

DICE BLOCK

In case everyone hasn't had enough fun and games to last a life time in the good old town of Deerington, apparently this month brings you one more. Maybe you were just walking through the door to get into your own house, or maybe you were leaving from work — the moment you walk through any door, you'll find that it doesn't open up to the place you were looking for. Instead, you find yourself standing on a giant game board and you seem to be right on the start space. The doors already disappeared behind you, don't bother trying to run back. The only exit is at the end and you'll have to hope you make it there.

But you aren't alone! With you are other unfortunate souls who hopefully weren't just looking for a quick bathroom break. Some of them might look a little worse for wear. What happened? Well, looks like you may have to ask later, because you'll only really have time to exchange names if you don't already know one another before a large screen you didn't notice was hanging from the ceiling will light up. There's a giant image of a typical six-sided game die that's completely stationary. For the moment. Shortly after, a voice will come on over the speakers, echoing in the otherwise fairly empty room. It's overly cheerful, grating, and giggles at the end of every sentence.

Welcome, players! Is this your first time? Yes? Great!
Would you like to hear the rules?
Okay!
Each player will take a turn rolling their die.
You can then move the number of spaces shown — but only those spaces!
You can move forward, backward, right, and left, but not diagonally!
Each space will have a symbol.
The spaces with a clover are lucky spaces! Congratulations! You'll gain some fortune, whether it's an extra turn, moving ahead more spaces, or gaining an important item you can take with you on your journey!
The spaces with the skull are unlucky spaces! Boooooo, that's too bad! You'll befall some grave misfortune here. Hopefully it won't set you back too badly! Make sure to avoid these at all costs!
The spaces with a chest are item spaces! Here you'll be able to win prizes, like medical supplies or weapons! Maybe even a small something from home! Wouldn't that be nice?
Your goal is to make it to the end alive! Good luck! And remember to have lots of fun!

The first player's name will pop up on the screen, before the die will begin to randomly blink between numbers. Eventually it will land on a number. Once the player moves forward and lands on their space, it will repeat for the second player. This will go on until one (or both players) reach the end!

When they said to make sure to not land on an unlucky space, they certainly weren't kidding. Each one seems to come with some sort of random punishment or horror; it can be as light as having to move back a few spaces or go back to the start, or as heavy as breaking a random bone or feeling a blade slice open your skin. Maybe you'll start to slowly turn into a monster or become filled with the desire to kill your opponent. Anything can happen, but it's always going to be bad.

Players who reach the end will be able to go through the door and end up back wherever it was they were intending to go in the first place. Players who lose? Well... It's back to the beginning for you. Time to wait for the next player. Better luck next time.

DANCE DANCE

But what's behind door number two! People are going to start to get tired of walking around in their own houses at this rate. Even if you managed to escape the board game horrors, this new room you've found yourself in doesn't seem much better. In the center is a large TV screen and on the floor in front of it are two pads with arrows pointing in four directions; up, down, left, and right. Anyone who is familiar with Dance Dance Revolution might feel right at home! But fear not, there are instructions on the screen for you to follow if you need them.

Two players only, and you'll have to work together! It's a team dance and you'll want to encourage each other to stay perfectly in sync. The doors won't open until you finish, and should you mess up? Well, look up, friend!

The ceiling is covered in sharp, painful looking spikes and every time someone misses a beat or steps on the wrong arrow, the ceiling will drop down a foot. It's pretty high up there, but miss more than three arrows and you're gonna start to really feel the pressure. The spikes are looking a lot bigger and more ominous than they did when they were all the way at the top. Hopefully you've got some good rhythm.

But this is a good lesson in teamwork! Even the worst dancers might be able to get out of here okay if they've got someone who they can work together with. Maybe their perfect scores will make up for your two left feet. You can only hope you're both so lucky.

THAT'S NOT A "MEH" FACE!

Everyone loves to get a text, don't they? Of course they do! Which is why someone has been kind enough to send out a little special something to everyone's Fluid's this month! There's no name you recognize — in fact, it doesn't even look like a name is attached at all. The sender's identification only looks like this: 🥳

The message you've gotten is pretty simple though! Each person has received a text message with one emoji inside. No rhyme or reason applied! That's... random, isn't it? You can try to text back, but no one will answer, and so you might as well just close your device and forget about it.

Every person who received a text will find that their personality starts to shift. They begin to take on some aspect that's tied to the emoji they received. Did you get a simple smiley face? You're happy and relaxed for the time being! Or maybe a silly face will lead you to become more of a prankster. An eggplant could have someone feeling like sexting a Special Someone. An angry face might get you really riled up, even towards people you love. Did you get a knife? Time to start stabbing. A gun? Those people around you look like really good target practice...

The options are endless. Each emojis effects will last for twenty-four hours or until another emoji is sent from the same user.

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 ~
[Are you up by the reservoir? Maybe? Hey, if you are, there's a high chance you'll hear some loud splashing. Something big swimming in the water. Some kind of new threat? A horrible new monster?]

[Well, it's a bright reddish pink creature, that's for sure. And when it pops halfway out of the water, it seems to have the head of a shark. A smiling shark.]

Hello! Are you a resident of this village? Can you assist me? I would be eternally grateful for it!

~ EMOJI ~

🐠

Oh! It's a fish! How delightful! Can anyone else see it? Should I use more?

[There's a pause in the text.]

THERE ARE SO MANY MORE!!

🤩 🦈 🌶 😍 ❣️❣️❣️

[... please stop him.]

🦅

[ absolutely no help at all, sorry. ]

Ah! A bird! What other animals exist to be discovered on this device???

[Look he's just happy he gets to play around with this.]

an eagle. no hawks in this. it's still pretty cool though. phones back home can't do anything like this.

A magnificent creature, assuredly! You have these devices?

sort of. people i knew did, anyway. i wouldn't have had anywhere to keep it.

being able to wear these like a bracelet is pretty useful.

Yes it is!! Swimming is easy with such a marvel.

flying too.

FLYING? Are you by chance, of the Rito?

what's a rito?

[At first, Mami is nervous about what is approaching. She had just been trying to relax by the water, but as soon as she noticed it, she's on her feet. She's just about to summon her soul gem when Sidon jumps out and makes her jump back out of surprise.

He... seems friendly enough. The girl does her best not to gawk at him and instead clears her throat before addressing him.]

I.... I guess I am. But I'm honestly new here; probably like you, hm? I'll try to help the best I can though. What do you need?

[Whoops -- He tilts his head, before rising a bit more out of the water. Enough to offer the girl on the shore a courtly bow. He is a prince after all. He should behave as one!]

Forgive me! I did not mean to startle you. [Buddy what did you think a person would do if you popped out of the water looking like a mutant shark.]

I am indeed! I am Sidon, Prince of Zora's Domain. And I wish to know how to return.

O-Oh it's fine!

[She tries to laugh it off, but her face is getting red all of the sudden? She's not used to being on the other end of chivalry it seems like. Especially from a...]

P-Prince? Well it's nice to meet you, your majesty. I'm Mami Tomoe, and I'm afraid I'm just as lost as you at the moment.

Hmm. A strange situation, to be sure...

[This is very strange. What sort of magic is this, to bring people to another world? He's seen Link vanish before his eyes, but that had always been accompanied by --]

Say, do you recall any sort of light before you appeared in this village? Please, do not be ashamed if the answer is no! I will not fault you.

A light?

[She thinks back to the moments before arriving.]

Yes... there was. But I doubt we saw the same thing? Why do you ask?

[He would recognize that voice anywhere. From where Link is wandering up towards the reservoir he spots the prince and comes closer at a run.]

Prince Sidon...?

[He's not too sure it's entirely safe to be swimming in this water. He comes near the bank and waves the prince over with a concerned look on his face.]

My friend!

[It's like Christmas morning. Except, you know, for Zoras. Fishmas morning. Whatever -- point is, safe or unsafe water, it's going to be used to catapult the big guy out, landing on the bank with a flourish.]

[Because it's Sidon.]

You find yourself here, too? How incredible!

[While he's not surprised in the least to see the big fish prince stunt his way out of the water he doesn't look completely happy to see it. He looks more worried than anything.]

Seems we are both here but I'm unsure how incredible we should call it...

[This world isn't exactly the best place to be!]

Are you alright?

Ah, yes. Yes, true. But to find a friend such as you, here? That! That is beyond words.

[Because friendship. And we all know this fish is Link's biggest fan. If anyone can make sense of this world, it's the hero, he's certain.]

Of course! Are you?

[Friendship. Link can't help the smile he gets now. Sidon's pure enthusiasm is always so hard to ignore. He's just too good-hearted.

Link does raise his left hand to show that he has some bandages on three of his fingers. Broken bones...]

I had a run in with a strange game, earlier. We had to roll a numbered block to move across a board of some sort. I'll be alright.

[He wasn't super lucky with it. Keep on trucking.]

[Yeah considering the power of friendship, seeing a bandaged hand is no comfort to the big fish. He literally gasps, and drops to one knee, cupping his own hands carefully around the injured human's.]

Link! Are you certain? Should we not find a healer quickly? What sort of game causes such injury!

[Sidon has no chill. Sidon has never heard the word "chill".]

[Sidon... !! Link frowns a little but he can't help but let the prince inspect him. He also can't just shove a bunch of apples in his mouth and call it a day here so finding a healer has been a little more difficult. ~~wtf is a hospital are hospitals in hyrule~~]

This town is large, I'm still finding which way is which.

[But he smiles again to try and reassure the prince.]

I've suffered worse than this before, I can manage for a while longer. Worry not.

Then let us look together!

[He's still kneeling. Honestly, he'd probably have picked his friend up in his arms and carried him away to a healer if possible. But Link's legs appear to be fine. There's friendship and then there's indignity.]

[So he'll just swear to be by his side. That works just as well, right?]

This town cannot be so large that it defeats the two of us!

[At least the kneeling gives Link the chance to pat his good hand on Sidon's shoulder.]

I'm glad you're safe. Let's see what else we can find.

[He's never seen a town quite like this one before. He's not sure how far away from Hyrule he really is... But perhaps if he can find a high vantage point...?]