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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.

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[ and his reaction to her reaction makes her feel even guiltier, because she doesn't- actually want to make him feel bad, or like she blames him for any of this. because she doesn't. she takes another deep breath

and another once he brings up burning the tunnels, because ]

That was- [ she's trying to trace it back, think of the timeline of all the insane shit that's happened to them over the last few years ] a year ago. Almost exactly a year ago, from when I left and woke up here. [ which at least explains why he doesn't... look a year younger. he really has been here this whole time. it makes her heart sink and twist up in her chest, especially when she pieces together that that means steve might've been here that long, too. at least they weren't here alone? without a familiar face? there isn't much comfort in that, though ]

So do you guys just- not know what's being going on, back home? You're missing all that time? [ yo nance that probably won't make him feel any better ] What the hell.

Edited 2019-11-24 05:57 (UTC)

[Pursed lips, and a twitchy shake of his head.]

Steve told me all about it, though. Up to killing the monster. [He doesn't know if there was more. There always seems to be more.] He and Billy and Jonathan are all from then.

[It's weird, how easily the language becomes customary. When, instead of where, like they're time travelers. If this place weren't so horrifying, it might be cool.]

-- Billy Hargrove?

[ oh, if she wasn't already freezing cold, her face would pale. she definitely... looks horrified. nope, no, she doesn't know whether or not her brother knows that killing the monster kind of went hand in hand with killing billy. that it had to be that way, with the way everything went down. it was too late. but of course, she gets really distracted from the "how can billy be here" and "YOU NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM" thing once she registers the other name he just gave her ]

Jonathan, too? Where-? I mean, he's- Does he live with you, too? [ nancy's bias: showing. but wait, focus. she shakes her head. ] This is all insane. Please tell me you haven't been hanging out with Billy "remember that time he tried to run you over with his car" Hargrove. You can't- He's- [ huff!! ] What did Steve tell you, exactly, about - when he's from. What does "all about it" mean?

[ turning into the pushy big sister probably isn't a good idea right now, but she can't help it. it's obvious she's actually kind of scared right now, moreso than just being bossy or demanding. ]

[That was a lot of questions at once, and Mike just wrinkles his face up, like he's personally offended by the onslaught Jeez, Nancy Drew..]

Okay, yes, we all live together, and no, I haven't been "hanging out"- [Air quotes not included, but clear in his voice.] -with Billy.

[They interact daily, sure, but it's only to argue over what to watch on TV, or who got which chore, or to see who can eat their pancakes faster.]

And I don't know, I just know they killed the monster and trashed the mall. I guess they got it out of Billy, or something, but he still brought it here. [But her frazzled line of questioning has teeth, and the more he hears, the more he can't shake the sense that something isn't right. It's like she's checking to see if he does know something, and the implications set him on edge.] Steve said everyone's alright.

[It's a simple question:Did Steve lie?]

Edited 2019-11-26 18:14 (UTC)

[ mike's face is doing the mike's face thing, so nancy's doing the nancy face thing right back. excuse you, sass mcfrass. she's listening though, trying to sort out just how censored or abridged his version of the story is. because no, maybe she and her brother don't share all of their deepest secrets with each other, but with this? his.. future? their lives? this feels different.

the only things that stand out are "but he still brought it here" and "steve said everyone's alright". but, okay. one step at a time. ]

Mike. [ huff. okay. ] I know you're going to think I'm just being paranoid, or that I think I can control your life or something now that I'm here, but please just- Promise me you'll be careful around him. Always. Especially if you know for sure that the flayer is still stuck in his head. Because that means there's a very good chance that Billy might not even really be Billy. [ she pauses, trying to choose her words like.. super carefully ] It's not like how it as with Will last year. [ wait ] When you're from. It wasn't just using him as a spy. Does that make sense? [ please don't make her go into detail ]

[God, it's like the whole freaking world knows about the time he spilled punch on Billy. And the time he got puke on Billy's tires... on purpose.]

I know, I get it. Billy's bad news. [The perfect representation of a Little Sibling Whine, despite the anxiety still brimming beneath it. He pictures it like ginger ale, popping nervously in its can.] I don't need to be reminded to watch out for the actual Mind Flayer.

[And he doesn't mean to argue, really. Nancy know shit he hasn't lived yet, and he should be taking everything she says to heart, and he knows it. But at the same time, he just wants to close his eyes and sit down on the ground and scream until Nancy somehow realizes everything he's been through for the last ten months, every new, nauseating threat, and the fact that Billy Hargrove being possessed by the Mind Flayer is only one more chapter of nearly monotonous horror. He doesn't have the energy anymore to approach it as a crisis.]

Steve's the one you should be lecturing, anyway.

[ he's putting on the little sibling whine, but nancy actually holds her hands up this time, the only acknowledgment that she knows she's pushing buttons. it doesn't happen often when she and Mike bicker or try to have a serious conversation, but she'll admit she's coming on strong, this time. she's new in town, she knows that. she doesn't actually think she has all of the answers, even if she wants to. all the time. ever. still.

steve's the one you should be lecturing. yeah.

she supposes he is ]

If Steve thinks it's okay that you guys all.. live with him, then- [ i trust him. c'mon, nance. say it. it's true. right? it's usually true. the most true. the truest. but right now that trust is definitely being tested.

so instead of following that thought, she just sighs. ] You're right. [ this is a safer route ] Maybe he's the one I should be coming down on for it. Not you. [which... isn't totally fair. it's not like steve's their parent, or really a parental figure at all. he's only a few years older than mike. it's... maybe a lot to ask, to make decisions like that when they're in a situation like this. hm.

so for a moment she's just kind of looking at mike. and then... really, actually looking at mike. and squinting at mike. ]

What happened to your nose?

[Mike was actually alluding to the fact that Steve is now kind of dating the Mind Flayer, and thus needs far more of her "be careful around Billy" warnings - but he's more than happy to change the subject.

... Just not to him. Shit.]

This guy broke in and stole my toaster, before I lived with Steve.

[And he waited like a whole day before letting Wynonna set it on her porch, and received no actual medical care.]

It didn't hurt that bad.

[ luckily!! nancy is still blissfully unaware of that. so, yes, she's moving on to fussing over mike and the fact that he looks like- well, like he might've been stuck in the upside down for a few... months. which maybe he kind of has been. shit.

still, even with all that worry, she's just... squinting at that explanation ]

He stole your toaster. Really? And... what, hit you with it?

[ h m m. definitely thinks she caught him in a fib! how could something so ridiculous be the truth??? ]

You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but that wasn't your best cover-up story.

[An Exasperated Sigh.]

I tried to get him to stop stealing my toaster, so he kicked me in the face.

[It was honestly not even the most alarming part of that day. He'd just come home after nearly killing a guy with a lamp, getting strangled, and then watching his friend try to cut his said strangler's hands off, so the details of the toaster theft are a little foggy in comparison.

... Sorry, Nance. Just, sorry in general.]

It's literally not a big deal at all.

[ so he's really sticking with the toaster thing? okay. she's not sure if she actually believes him, but she'll pretend to for now, but only for the sake of avoiding an argument. and no, she doesn't know just how dangerous this place is - so far she's only been faced with this insane winter storm, so she's not sure why he's being such a Tough Guy about how his nose got busted. sure, they've been through a lot back home, but hawkins is nothing like this place. right? ]

Being kicked in the face is kind of a big deal, actually. [ which is why she's giving him a Look ] Maybe not compared to what we've gone through back home, but still.

Or anything else I've gone through here!

[Mike says it too loud, causing another customer to skitter away in alarm, but he doesn't seem to notice. His arms are crossed defensively over his overstuffed lasagna of thrift store sweaters, like Nancy could see through them and right to every single terrible trauma he's hiding.]

You don't know, okay? [Voice rising, hands wringing nervously.] Getting kicked in the face is great compared to most of the shit that happens.

[And he doesn't want to tell her - he doesn't want to say - any of it, but somehow he just wants her to know.]

[ there's nancy's eyebrows jumping up again, but this time there's no smirk or side-eye going along with them, she's just... genuinely shocked by the outburst. her voice is a little quieter when she talks again, although it has nothing to do with the people around her and entirely because mike seems like a frayed live wire at the moment, more defensive than usual, and physically? kind of manic, in a way she actually hasn't seen him act back home. and she isn't actually interested in making it worse, so. ]

Okay. Hey. I'm sorry. Okay? [ a beat ] And I'm not saying that just to say it. I'm sorry I haven't been here for you. And that- you weren't home, so you don't know where I'm coming from, either. I'm just- I'm trying to understand. Alright? I'm in the dark just as much as you are, here. So... We're going to have to talk about some stuff. No more secrets.

[ didn't they try this, like, two years ago? maybe they'll stick with it, this time. ]

[The tension in the back of Mike's head pulls tight as Nancy talks, and then, behind pinched-closed eyes, flips a coin - gives up, sag back into the calm olive branch she's offering, or snap.

He snaps.]

I had to fight a monster myself last week, bigger than a demogorgon, with just shit I could find in the drugstore. And before that they killed Will, and they brought him back but turned me into a ghost for a month, so I couldn't even take care of him. And in August they threw us all into this arena and made us try to stay alive for days just to get food, and Steve kept going back in because we were all starving. And that's not even half the time I've been here.

[He isn't even sure what point he's trying to make anymore, other than airing some of the terror he's been through to someone who won't brush it off, won't be unsurprised at the shit Deerington can pull. By the last sentence he's breathing hard and uneven, wide eyes damp around the edges, a little bit unhinged from the fierce intent he'd started out with.]

[ o-kay. okay. nancy's been at the mercy of one of mike's rants before, even a few that were directed at her for one reason or another, but this isn't like that. not really. out of context, half of the things he's saying don't sound like they could be real. it sounds like he could be talking about what happened during one of their more brutal campaigns, down in the basement. they killed will, but brought him back? they were tossed into an arena and left to their own defenses? but the intensity behind every word keeps her frozen in place, even as her heart hammers in her chest. it's real. this is real. he's been through all of this and she wasn't there to help, or protect him.

the logical part of her brain knows she had no control over mike showing up here and was stuck dealing with it all on his own for some of that time - especially considering he had been home with her that whole time, somehow - but there's another part of her, the one that wanted to track down the demogorgon to avenger barb, and for will, and get to the bottom of the story with the new monster that was trying to destroy hawkins... that part of her wants to tear this whole town apart for making mike hurt the way he's clearly hurting right now.

she wants to reach out, give him a hug and hope that it could be half as comforting as a hug from their mother would be right now, but instead her hands just move towards him a bit before she stops herself. she doesn't know what to do. ]

I can't promise things are going be different now that I'm here, I know that, but I can promise that you won't ever have to fight anything alone again. I'm not going to let that happen.

[Mike wrinkles his nose against every wild, reactive feeling her words summon up. He's had enough of lashing out, eyes watering, embarrassing himself in front of people he wants to respect him. But really, there's only so much he can do - some of the words, more mournful than angry, find their way out anyway.]

You can't promise anything, okay? Even if you mean it, you can't- [When there's no control - no ability to expect that the world won't completely implode five minutes from now - promises are only a gesture. An intent, empty a result. They'll only disappoint people. Because what is Nancy gonna do, come to work with him? Stick him in a bubble? The bad shit always finds a way to get you alone.]

No one can protect anyone here. [Grim, but assured.] You just have to be there after.

[ and naturally, nancy only has one thing to say to all of that. ]

That's bullshit.

[ her nose scrunches too, because that's definitely a wheeler thing, and her stubbornness is definitely rearing its stubborn head right now, complete with her arms crossing over her chest and a head-shake. she hates being told she can't do something she's put her mind to, and she's not mad at mike for saying it, but she's definitely mad at this whole place made him feel like he had to.

it's surreal, seeing mike so emotional and yet so.. jaded? to the situation? it makes her hate this place even more already, somehow. it's obviously more complicated than one monster or one corrupt laboratory to take down, it's an onslaught of something different, every day. she gets that. she hears him. but also- ]

What you've been through sucks, and it's not like I think me showing up here is going to make it all better, I mean that, but I can promise that I'll be there for you when things go to hell. And I hate that this place made you feel like you can't count on that.

[ she huffs a breath though, tries to loosen up some of the tension that just drew up inside of her because she really has lost her ability to hide that stubbornness around people she cares about, yeah. but. it's not productive sometimes, she knows that too ]

And if this place kicks my ass? Then so be it. But you're crazy if you think I'm not going to be doing everything I can to make sure you're not dealing with this place on your own.

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