SEPTEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

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.

Comments

iii

[cesspit]

Jason stares up at the digital scoreboard and lets out a long whistle.

"I hate to admit it, but this is my first time."

[turbedon]

The short teen just fixes Jason with a mildly incredulous stare through his shades.

"Seriously? The only other person I know under their 40s that's never tried DDR grew up in a giant tube. What's your excuse?" he asks, grinning. "Just keep your head and get turbed. We'll get through it."

Or die trying, and Dick would rather avoid experiencing death in Deerington. Synodiporia was more than enough.

[cesspit]

He raises his arms and stretches. "I can't say they really had them in my neck of the woods - to easy to break into."

We'd have lived like kings if some poor bastard actually tried to open up an arcade in Crime Alley where the kids were just as good to rob you as the next guy.

"Aye, aye. Captain." He grins, giving him a mock salute before turning to the scoreboard. "I hope you can back up that talk because I like this jacket. Be a real shame to ruin the leather."

[turbedon]

"I make no promises," comes the jaunty response as Dick reaches out to hit the START button.

He could maybe try seeing if he's still got his cherubic powers from Synodiporia, in which case he could destroy the building around them... but there's no telling what that scream could do to the guy next to him, and he's not risking that.

As the music starts to play, Dick absently taps a toe to the beat, screen reflected on his shades as the arrows start appearing from the bottom. "Here we go. What do I call you, in case I can't save your jacket and need to apologise?"

[cesspit]

I guess there are worse ways to die. Definitely beats getting bludgeoned half to death by a clown and getting blown up.

He ignores the death spikes from above and focuses on the arrows. It's not hard to get the gist of it. It's like a videogame only your standing on the controller.

I bet Bizzarro would've liked this.

"Jason." He's watching the screen now, his focus shifting to the task at hand. "Save your apologies. If we die, then me and my jacket are haunting your ass."

And so, the game begins.

[turbedon]

Dick pauses at that, eyes flicking to the side to Jason, though he's careful not to miss the beat. He'd thought that face was vaguely familiar, but Jason had only been in Synodiporia for such a short time...

"Call me Dick," he continues smoothly, refocusing on the screen and pretending nothing's amiss.

[cesspit]

The name is greeted by a red flashing word on Jason's side.

'Miss'.

Blue eyes flick to the kid, then quickly shift up as the spikes move down a notch. Get your head on straight, Todd. It's just a stupid name.

"Guess they really mean business, don't they." This time his smile is a little forced at the edges but it doesn't matter. He focuses on the scoreboard.

Just need to get through this murder session. Can't let the kid get hurt.

[turbedon]

"I dunno about that," Dick quips, easily hitting the arrows as they come. "Feels like a game, doesn't it?"

Ha.

Ha.

Ha.

Shame no one's laughing.

[cesspit]

And just like that he's back in the game. Jason's always been good at bouncing back. Fake it till you make it. The problem is you never really stop feeling like a fraud.

"I wouldn't say that," he executes a rapid number and continues on. "The assholes who put this death trap together could be watching us right now."

The music picks up along with his mood. "You see any cameras? I'd like to give them something to remember me by."

[turbedon]

He does take a moment to glance around, still keeping time with the screen in his peripherals.

"Usually you'd have it installed somewhere around the monitor, just to catch the player's faces," he points out. "But... not seeing any obvious ones around us."

[cesspit]

A loud screech is heard up above as the spikes come down further while another 'Miss' flashes on his screen.

"Oops. I guess I should focus on dancing my heart out before I kill us both."

So, that's what he does. His easy smile is gone the next moment. His mouth thins and hits his marks as his eyes travel across the room searching for a Plan B.

[turbedon]

"Death isn't so bad," Dick counters, focusing on the screen. "But I'd rather not die so soon on getting here."

The sequences are getting more complicated, now, as the song enters the final stages, and Dick goes silent, just focusing on hitting the arrows in time.

Then, just to make sure they don't stiffen up from being too serious, he adds lightly, "This is one of the few times I'm so glad I'm still short for my age."

[cesspit]

That grabs his attention, the short exchange enough to fall back on easy camaraderie. It was easy for him, the surface level interaction.

"What. You didn't drink your milk?" A row of arrows suddenly run through the screen splitting his attention for a moment before returning to easy cardio. "So, how old are you kid. If you don't mind me asking."

[turbedon]

"It's rude to ask a lady her age!"

Cackling to himself as his feet fly lightly over the arrows, not bothering to steady himself on the little handrail at the side, he chances flashing a quick grin in Jason's direction.

"15. Ish. I think. Time got a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure I'm at least 15, now."

[cesspit]

"You losing time in your old age?"

He chuckles, his breathing getting shallow near the end. "Almost there, kid."

[turbedon]

"You try jumping between being 14 and 15 and 18 and a few millenia in age within a year," he shoots back with a snort.

Then, "Sounds like you're outta breath. Probably should cut back on smoking."

[cesspit]

"I think I'll skip that mess. Puberty was bad enough the first time around."

The music starts to crescendo. Finally. The beginning of the end. Better not mess up.

"Guess I better cut back on those late-night burger runs." He still has a certain fondness for them, considering his few good memories with Bruce are still linked to shared meals of the greasy variety.

[turbedon]

"Late-night burgers, huh?"

He could see that, though he's also imagining how bad it'd smell inside that red helmet of Jason's with burger burps.

No bueno.

"Nothing beats late-night pizza," he returns instead. "Or, if you're feeling extra lazy, cereal. Nighttime's just really early morning, right? Technically?"

[cesspit]

Technically, late-night burger runs happen only after a bad guy take down unless he's playing detective and scoping out an area before a strike. Otherwise, he eats well enough to make even Alfred proud of his use of the food pyramid. He didn't spend all those years in Alfred's kitchen not to pick up a thing or two.

"Cereal?!" A memory stirs in the background. "That's not breakfast! That's the lazy guide to a shitty morning! You need a stove and at last one protein, if you wanna make it to lunch without starving!"

Standing at 6'0 and 225 lbs, Jason has a lot to say about food and metabolism. Being an outlaw tends to keep him running away from the law enough to build up an appetite and his stomach would be complaining at all hours if he ate like Grayson.

[turbedon]

"Breakfast of champions!" Dick shoots back, clearly finding the conversation hilarious and not willing to back down an inch.

He knows how to eat well. He understands nutrition. Unfortunately, being in the thick of puberty with his body burning through all that raw material means no matter how much he eats, he doesn't seem to gain weight or muscle... or height... or much of anything.

The four inches he's gained in the past few months are precious to him, thanks.

"Only thing I can cram down fast enough not to be late for school," he adds, snickering on remembering how dead-tired he'd be after a late patrol and having to roll out of bed with only a handful of hours sleep to tide him over for the day.

His chipper morning behavior can be blamed on all the sugar in his cereal, probably.

[cesspit]

He grins over at the kid. "We all gotta do, what we gotta do."

The game enters its final assault drawing his attention back to the blurring arrows and the song soon ends bringing their movements to a stop.

"Guess we ended on a high note." He looks up at the array of spikes. "We're not dead."

[turbedon]

Snorting to himself, Dick shakes his head, absently wiping the back of his hand across his face to get rid of some of the sweat, a flash of bright blue eyes appearing for a moment as his glasses are pushed up. "Yay."

A door appears in the darkness, swinging quietly open and letting in a dim light, which Dick trusts about as much as the last door he walked in through.

"Something tells me the prize isn't gonna be that great," he comments, making his way over to the door, adjusting his hoodie and jacket along the way.

[cesspit]

The flash of blue pricks at his senses putting to question exactly who he's looking at. He remembers the old photos of the first Robin in Wayne Manor. It's been a lifetime since then, and they were the memories of a kid. He'd looked up to the first Robin right up until the moment he met him.

They hadn't parted on a good note and it had taken them years to get back to a semblance of camaraderie that Jason still wasn't sure of. Still, face in those old photographs is vague in his memories and most importantly, he's not expecting Grayson to be younger than him by four years. He was younger than Tim and that in itself was enough to shake off the resemblance as nothing more than coincidence from a fucked up place that already screwed enough with his head.

So, he shakes it off, focuses on the present in a few long strides catches up to the kid.

Jason makes sure to reach the door first and gauge the danger before the kid walks through. But, the other side is nothing more than exit. They're in a back alley that leads out into a populated street in the middle of downtown.

This feels like home.

"We made it." He turns back to the kid. "Try not to get yourself roped into anymore death matches today."

[turbedon]

"Does that mean I'm allowed to get roped into them tomorrow?" he asks with a cheeky little smirk, otherwise the picture of innocence with his hands tucked away in his jacket pockets.

There's no way this tiny brat could possibly be the future Nightwing.

Nope.

[cesspit]

He laughs. The cheek on this kid.

"How about you table the deathmatches until you've grown another inch. What do you say?"