Entry tags:

DECEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE

DECEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to December's Test Drive Meme!

This month's Test Drive's theme is: PROPHETIC 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: Possible death via exposure (freezing), Krampus imagery, possible vore, visual and auditory hallucinations, monster violence, stalking, decapitation

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

Prompt One Prompt Two Character Arrival Master Navigation

VANISH LIKE THE WARM STOVE

Winter has set in in Deerington and it’s as harsh as one would expect for the frigid mountains of inland Maine. There’s snow on the ground, icicles hanging off of most buildings, and black ice all over the roads. Better be careful where you step or you might just slip and hurt yourself while you’re walking around town!

But there’s something unusual about the cold. It feels bone-deep and no amount of layers or staying inside seems to make it shake. Your teeth are always chattering, you feel the need to hunch in on yourself to keep any heat from escaping, and if you look at your hands, you might see them go from bright red, to white, to even the slightest tint of blue throughout the day. You’re getting colder by the minute and it feels like there’s no way to stop it. Maybe you’re just doomed to freeze.

The box is waiting on a bench. You didn’t see who placed it, but there’s a small tag with your name on it, so clearly it was meant for you. If you ignore the box, it will start to show up on random surfaces around town wherever you might be; the kitchen counter, a desk or display case at your work, the floor of your bedroom… No matter where you are, the box is there too. Eventually, you might as well just give in and open it.

Inside every box are three matches. They’re relatively long, like the sort you’d use to light a fire in a fireplace, and they appear to be completely normal. People who can sense magic won’t get a reading off of the match and no amount of testing the wood or the tip will show anything other than the exact chemical make up one would expect. So maybe they’re safe! There’s a small note tucked inside the box with only two words written in childishly messy scroll; Keep Warm.

If you light the match, you’ll find that you’re instantly starting to feel a little less cold. It’s the first bit of heat you’ve managed to snag in so long that you’ll probably find yourself a little desperate to hold onto it. The matches burn at a relatively steady rate, not too fast or too slow, and the wind can easily blow them out, so be careful! You’ll have to protect the flame from the elements if you want to keep yourself toasty. The only strange thing that you might notice is that whenever you’re near another person who has a lit match, both the matches seem to burn a little stronger and stay lit a little longer. So maybe you’ll have to pair up and learn to share. If you’re smart, you’ll light just one of each of your matches at a time, giving you a total of six chances to keep yourself from freezing to death.

There’s always a catch though, isn’t there? Each match will come with a unique vision as the flame dies out. A vision that can be seen by both of you. The vision will belong to whoever’s match as burning and it will be as vibrant and detailed as if you were really in the middle of it.

The end of the first match will show you something you want. It can be anything; a warm meal, a new bed, an object from home you’ve longed for. You’ll be able to pick it up, taste it, smell it, do whatever you would normally do; but at the end of the day, it isn’t real, and ultimately you might find that you’re just chewing on your own (or your companion’s) hand.

The end of the second match will show a vision of someone that you miss. Whether it’s from home, a previous world, or someone who’s come and gone from Deerington, you’ll see them clear as day, calling for you and beckoning you to come with them. It’s probably best to not. After all, you’d have to leave your matches behind, and it’s cold out there.

The end of the third match will show you a vision of somewhere you miss. It’ll be like you’re standing in the middle of the very place you’ve been longing for ever since you arrived in Deerington — maybe even longer. It’ll look, sound, smell, and feel like the place you’ve missed most. It’s almost easy to want to stay and forget to come back to reality and light your next match.

If you both can make the six matches stretch until the sun sets, you’ll find that the cold has finally broken, and you’re able to keep yourself warm again. If you don’t? Well, it’s time to find someone else with a bundle of matches, and hope they’re okay with some basic invasion of privacy to stop you both from getting hypothermia.

BETTER WATCH OUT

Have you been a good person this year? Probably not! This is Deerington after all and everyone’s got a sin or two they’ve committed that they’ve been carrying around some deep shame about. Whether it’s something you’ve done here or something you did back home, the things your character feels guilt over will start to plague them more and more frequently as of late. Maybe you’ll start to see small little snippets of the memory flash before your eyes, or hear the voices of the people you’ve hurt calling out to you for mercy. No matter how it manifests, it’ll be gnawing at your insides, growing more and more impossible to ignore.

It might just be the paranoia from having to flashback to your worst memories at all hours of the day, but eventually you start to feel like someone (or something) is following you. You hear the scrape of nails against cement, the thud of heavy footsteps, or the sound of a heavy sigh by your ear accompanied with the smell of rancid breath. But every time you go to look, it seems like there isn’t anything there. No matter how logical a person you might be, you still end up feeling a little on edge, and you know you’re right about being… well, stalked. You may not be the sort who usually goes for comfort from others, but something inside of you tells you that maybe you’ll be a little safer if you aren’t alone. You seek out a friend, a colleague, or even a complete stranger— just someone who might make this creeping suspicion of being watched go away for a little while.

Except the moment that the two of you are together, Krampus finally arrives. He seems to fall from the sky, landing in front of you with a ground shaking thud, his long tongue hanging out of a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. He’s ever bit the demon you’d expect him to be and he looks hungry. You can try to run or you can try to fight, but he’s quick and strong, certainly hard for any normal human to take down. And if you look into his eyes, then things are about to get a whole lot worse.

Whoever locks eyes with him will have the very thing you have been feeling guilt over put on display for both you and your companion to see. It’ll be like you’ve been transported directly into the memory, Krampus’ clawed hand gripping your shoulders and forcing you to watch whatever your shame is play out in front of you all over again. The detail is striking and there’s nothing left out, no matter how hard you or your companion try to stop it.

When the memory stops playing, Krampus will start to move his tongue around you, wrapping you in the long, blood red muscle like it’s a snake. You can try to break free and it’s possible to cut the demon’s tongue with a sharp blade if you or your companion happens to have one; whatever you do, it’s best to do it quickly before you end up a snack.

Krampus can be taken down in one of two ways; either the person who is experiencing the guilt must confess their sin out loud and profusely apologize, begging for forgiveness for their misdeeds or he can be taken down in a somewhat simple ceremony. The chains dangling from the Krampus wrists must be grabbed and somehow secured into the ground; this will weaken Krampus greatly and leave him more vulnerable to attack. Once he is secured, you must take off his head. It doesn’t matter if it’s cut off, ripped off or blown off, the moment the neck is severed from the rest of the body, the Krampus will turn a deep black, like coal, before crumbling into dust, leaving only the head behind.

A little messy, but definitely efficient.

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

( he doesn't know what to say in response to that. her mother's badge had to be a painful sight all things considered and he wants to comfort her, say he's sorry, say something that might ease the ache but then she tells him she'd seen him and he doesn't know what to say.

he'd seen lexi. she'd seen him. )

Caroline, I — ( he opens his mouth to try and say something but words fail him and he closes his eyes in frustration. ) I missed you too.

( a lot. more than she knows. more than she's going to believe. )

[ always the second choice. it's a motif that threads itself through every facet of her life. always the back-up, the replacement, the second choice that steps in when the person someone really wants isn't available.

even a magical gift box knew that. ]

Yeah.

[ she's not even sad about it. it's just a soft exhale in resignation as they approach her car, her hand extracting from its grip on his arm in order to pull open her car door. ]

Come on.

Do you believe me?

( he stops before he's gotten into her car. stops and crosses his arms over his chest because it's freezing but it's a question he wants an answer to. she sounds so defeated and he's making it worse. )

Caroline, do you believe I missed you? ( he's not getting in that car until she answers him, one way or another. and, depending on that answer, he might not get in the car at all if he thinks it's going to be too much for her. )

Does it matter?

[ she's defeated, her voice is hollow, and she can't quite meet his eyes. how many times do they have to do this? how many times does she have to repeat herself? how many times does she have to tell him that she's got these feelings that he doesn't have, that she's trying to move past them, that she can't let her control slip for one more second without the rushing, overwhelming desire to flip that switch again screaming in her head? ]

Can we just go? It's freezing, Stefan.

[ and if she cries in the cold, her eyes will freeze over. ]

It matters to me that you believe me because I did. I do.

( he's still missing her because she's stepped back in a way he doesn't know how to handle. she's there but she's gone and no amount of reaching out of, trying to grab her back has worked.

so, he doesn't move. he stands there, cold and shivering but he doesn't move because he wants to know just how much work he has to do to make this right. )

Do you believe me, Caroline? ( his teeth chatter a bit but the words are steady. )

[ why are they doing this? what does he expect to happen here? why is it not good enough that she's still here, that she hasn't run away from him or screamed at him or just shut down altogether? why is her tenuous grip on her own humanity not enough?

what else is she supposed to do? ]

Okay! Okay, fine, you missed me. I believe you, Stefan!

[ she believes he misses her the same way he might miss elena or his brother. as a friend, as a confidant. not in the way she misses him. so it doesn't matter. ]

Is that good enough?!

( no. it's not good enough. it's not because she sounds miserable when she answers, like it's the absolute last thing she wants to do. it sounds like she's telling him what she thinks he wants to hear and not what she's feeling. )

It's fine.

( he licks his lips and tucks his hands back into his pockets, still not moving towards her vehicle. that gap between them just keeps opening further and further and they're both standing on opposite sides, just staring at each other. )

Why don't you go ahead of me and I'll catch up? I want to check out the town a little more.

( stefan can't make her sit in a car with him now. she barely wants to be on the same street as he is so confined spaces is just going to make it worse. )

I —

[ the sound slips out from her open mouth, but it's choked off, caught and stopped by the thick lump that fills her throat, painful and impossible to push away. because he doesn't want to. he doesn't even want to be around her, even when it comes to something like this — even for something as simple as just escaping the cold.

he'd rather freeze to death then be around her. the realization of it is (appropriately) like ice water down her spine, and so caroline doesn't say anything at all. she can't. she just nods, a sharp dip of her head, and opens the driver side door to climb inside.

it's not until she hears his footsteps begin to move away that caroline lets her control slip, letting the floodgates of wracked sob after sob begin to roll through her. once it starts, she just can't make it stop. ]

( he starts to walk away, to give her that space she seems to want but he doesn't get far before his hearing picks up her sobs and he stops again, uncertain. one part of him says to keep walking because the sooner he steps away, the sooner she can start to get past this.

but he just...can't. he can't leave when she's crying in her car over him, painful sob after painful sob reaching his ears. he can't leave her alone like this when she's been alone so much lately.

so, he swallows and turns back around, walks closer until the headlights of her car fall upon him and he's standing in her car's path. for a moment, he watches her through the windshield before circling around to the passenger side and opening the door so he can slide in.

the warmth hits him immediately and he's not able to suppress a sigh of relief before he turns towards her. )

You're not alone. ( he reaches across the console and covers her hand with his, squeezes it as tightly as he dares before letting go. ) I missed you and you're not alone. Come on, let's go.

[ she's so tired. grief, loneliness, sadness — they have overtaken her life, consumed her memories; she cannot see the sunrise or a cup of coffee without thinking of her mother, cannot hear the thump of bass or the drip of an iv without remembering all the moments she missed in the fog that was the loss of her humanity.

it's embarrassing to be caught like this. to be exposed for how raw and vulnerable and emotional she feels, to be seen so plainly for how broken she feels — but stefan's hand is warm and firm around her own, his voice soft even as she hiccups through a break in her tears, and caroline can't find it in herself to pull away.

she can only rest her head on the top of the steering wheel, free hand sweeping the moisture from her cheeks, and mumble out a pathetic, ] I'm okay.

[ liar, liar, liar. ]

I'm fine.

No, you're not.

( he keeps his voice gentle and low while he says, stroking his thumb against her hand while she tries to get herself together. he half wishes they weren't in her car right now so he could reach across and pull her against him but the console makes that hard so he just keeps his hand around hers. )

Do you want me to drive? ( to give her some time to sit, think, breathe. it's a lame thing to offer but everything else he wants to say just seems like too much for right now. ) We'll find some place to get warm.

I don't know.

[ it's a nice offer. it's gentlemanly and sweet and well-intentioned, she knows. stefan is not a cruel person. not to her, anyway. he doesn't mean to be, he never purposely tries to hurt her.

but sometimes, even in trying so hard not to hurt her, he does it anyway. ]

I can't — I feel like I can't breathe.

[ like when her mother had died all over again, her body reliving that stress and pain and fear. the reality of this place setting in as she leans into the wheel and clutches at his hand. ]

Hey, it's okay. I think you're having a panic attack.

( that's what it sounds like to him. he let's go of her hand only so he can curve a hand around her cheek and bring her eyes up to his. )

Look at me, look at me. Breathe with me, Caroline. ( this feels familiar, achingly so. he'd done something similar with her when she'd first been turned, when he'd barely known her and still wanted to help her.

things are different now, they're both different, but he still wants to help. )

All you have to do is breathe. Don't think about anything else but inhaling and exhaling.

[ her mind is too splintered to remember, but her body does. muscle memory supplements what her mind cannot supply — the memory of hot tears spilling down her cheeks, mingling with the blood still dried on her skin, mussed and slid away by his hands cupping her face in a bathroom so many years ago. but too, there's a more recent memory: one in a danceclub, where they'd been surrounded by neon lights and the thick smell of sweat and drink and life, when caroline had been so close to him she could see the gold in his eyes.

now, it's a mix of both. humanity and pain, quiet and noise; she can hear the wind whip against the windowsills even over the shudders of her own breathing, his own slow inhales and exhales a steady rhythm to match.

he says look at me and she does. by desire, by memory, or by demand, she isn't sure, but she looks. she takes in the sight of him and breathes him in and aches for it, her head and then her body turning to face him until she's twisted in her seat, her free hand curving over the top of the center console in a grip so tight she's half-surprised it doesn't come free in the process, that grip pulling her forward until she can't help but follow it.

not quite launching but not quite a crawl, just an inevitable thing. just her body magnetically pulled to him, only the sound of their breathing a crescendo of sound in the small car.

she's not thinking about anything else. just feeling. ]

Good, that's good. ( she focuses and that's good. it means she's not drowning in whatever pain and misery's in her head right now. it means she's looking at him and not thinking about what he's done, what pain he's caused her.

but then something else happens. she focuses, she breathes but then she comes closer, climbing over the center console until she's pressed against him and he's pressed back against the seat.

he still has a hand on her cheek and he keeps it there while the other settles against her waist. their breathing sounds loud but he's forgotten about the cold. he'd forgotten about everything but her. )

Caroline.

( it's just her name. there's not 'wait or but or are you sure?' it's just her name and that's all he says. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only