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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( aw, will you look at that? baby bro says he's not eight and he's practically pouting. he gets it. it's all very strange that they're suddenly stuck in a town called... ) Deerington. It's somewhere in Maine. Supposedly. ( he's certainly never heard of it back in their world and he's traveled plenty. )

But look on the bright side. Your visit here might be all kinds of temporary. ( people come and people go. it's just the way things work around here. of course it'd be nice if stefan were to stick around because he could use the company. not that he misses him or anything. pfft. )

Want some blood then? ( he pulls a silver flask out of his jacket, uncaps it and takes a swig from it before dangling it in front of stefan. ) Ooh. F-Y-I, It's not Bambi. ( this will help him figure out if this is the 'i've been drinking tiny portions of elena's blood' stefan or the 'i'm strictly on an animal diet' stefan. timelines are a bitch. )

( gosh damon, you could just ask him what kind of blood he's on. wouldn't that be easier? probably but it would also be less fun for him, stefan knows.

the mention of blood gets his attention and his eyes flick down to the flask before he looks away, sighing. )

How temporary is temporary? ( a few days? a few months? a few years? should he look into a hotel or an actual apartment? ) How long have you been gracing this place with your presence, Damon?

( he can't ignore the blood question for long, though. damon won't let him and he knows that going too long without's just going to make things worse. )

Let me guess, this is from nice coed that doesn't remember a thing and thinks she's suffering from an animal bite?

Been here long enough. ( pfft. he'd just arrived about a month ago, but that's for him to know and for stefan to dot dot dot. ) Maybe we'll be here for an eternity. ( does it matter? does stefan need to go back to someone special? someone like... elena? but he doesn't ask him. doesn't bring up the girl. he takes another swig from the flask before capping it. baby bro's loss. )

And this blood, Stefan... It's from... ( drum roll, please. ) Believe it or not... ( he lets out a pout. oh, here it comes: ) A blood bag. ( he's been behaving himself. surprise, surprise. damon's managed to snag himself quite the supply from the local hospital. it wasn't at all hard to steal it. it was easy peasy despite his inability to compel anyone. who knows what that's about even. everything ever is a mystery around these parts so he's just rolling with the punches and keeping as cool as a cucumber. )

You're drinking from blood bags?

( color him dubious. not that he doesn't think damon doesn't have that in him but he's always been a fan of going right from the vein and trying to make everyone around him do the same.

he reaches for the flask and shakes it, hearing the blood slosh around inside. )

Does that mean there aren't any pretty coeds here for you to enjoy? Huh, what a pity.

Should I go get us a bunch of cuties to feast on? Hm? You up for that? ( he leans in a little more just then. personal space be damned. ) It'll be just like old times. ( now don't be giving him ideas, stefan. he's been playing the part of the "good" guy in the new town because self-preservation calls for it. after all, he's not an idiot. )

Ooh. You know who else is here? ( he reaches for the bowl of snacks and starts to build alphabets with some little pretzel sticks. k-a-t... come on. make that guess. )

I'll take a pass on that one. ( be good, damon. don't make him put you in a timeout. he'll leave that to the blonde girl that's going to show up here soon anyway. she's better at that than he is, anyway. )

Blood bag is fine. ( he uncaps the flask and tips it back, letting some of the blood slide down his throat before passing it back. )

I think you're going to tell me anyway so who else is here, Damon? ( what other surprises could this place hold? )

( is stefan not even going to appreciate his pretzel alphabet art? look at it. look. he's spelled k-a-t and well, that's as much as he'll do. can't be bothered to complete it. he pops a pretzel stick in his mouth and lets out a shrug. )

This town will try to kill you, you know. It's a thing it seems to like doing. ( at least that's what he's surmised. so far it's been one crazy thing after another. ) Rumor has it you can come back from the dead here though. Probably with like half a brain missing. ( hell, there's gotta be a catch. )

( he sees your art, damon, and yes, he'll give it a second look before sighing because, of course she was here. of course. it's not that much of a surprise because katherine pierce somehow always ends up finding a way to insinuate herself into their lives.

it's been like that for centuries now. )

Has it killed you, brother? Are you speaking from personal experience? ( because, well, sometimes you did exhibit traits that maybe made stefan think you had half a brain. )

( he'll take a good long look at stefan once more before he lifts his hand up and gives him a sharp whack on the back of his head. there. that should do it. )

I'm being serious. This place is no joke. Cut it out. ( he's so not in the mood for stefan's brand of blandness, boring humor. it's been a shitty past few weeks or months if he's counting the crap he's had to deal with back home. he lets out a shake of his head before finishing his drink and slamming the glass down. )

Now you, my brother, need to be careful around here. The last thing this town needs is you turning into a ripper. ( oh, he worries about stefan occasionally. or a lot. of course he does. it's a force of habit. can't exactly help it. he'd spent the past century and a half looking out for him. in his own shitty way. )

( stefan's only reaction to damon's sudden smack against his head is a thinning of his lips and an exhaled laugh under his breath before he shakes his head. the sting abates quickly and then he's turning back to settle his gaze on damon. )

I'm not going to turn into anything. ( ripper or otherwise. ) I'm fine, Damon. Your concern is noted but I'm fine.

( he hadn't been fine a little while ago but damon had figured out how to bring him back and now he was back and he was good. no shame spirals happening. )

I don't think I'm the one you need to be worrying about. Especially if this — ( he taps a finger under damon's pretzel art. ) — is going to be a problem for you. Again.

( he narrows his eyes as stefan repeats that he's fine, trying to see if he really is. if he's telling the truth... before he turns away and lets his concern pass. it's reached its limits for the day. can't care too much. he shouldn't. goddammit. just yesterday he had nothing to lose and now... damon lets out a dramatic roll of his eyes when stefan points to his pretzel art. )

Why would it be a problem? ( probably because of a thousand and one reasons. he'd obsessed about katherine for over a hundred and fifty years or so and that kind of thing just doesn't disappear overnight or over... however long it'll take. there's no love left or so he wants to believe. but there's plenty of hate there. and it's a thin line. he's aware of it. ) I'm so over that. She's dead to me. ( except he played a one word game with her for hours via text recently. that happened. whatever. he probably deserves to mingle with the likes of katherine anyways. he'd messed up big time back home: force fed elena his blood and almost turned her into a vampire. he's the worst. )

Of course she is. ( do you hear that voice? that's the voice of someone that doesn't completely believe you, damon. katherine was a lot of things but completely out of their lives was something she probably would never be. )

How long has she been here? ( have damon and katherine been the only ones here for however long damon's been here? ) She behaving?

I'm not her keeper. Wouldn't know. Katherine's her own... thing. ( does what she wants. keeps a thousand and one secrets. so who even knows how long she's been here or if she's newly arrived or anything. it's not like damon bothered to ask. one minute she wasn't anywhere to be seen and suddenly she's playing a one word game via the network. )

She's not the problem. This town is. Just over a month ago we had entire streets completely covered in blood. You would have gone mad. ( it's a good thing stefan wasn't here then. he can't imagine how he would have fared with the constant smell of blood in the air. ) How does your sleeping ID thingy look? Did they get a good picture? Hm? ( he wants to see. show him. )

You're being awfully defensive about this, Damon. ( his eyebrows inch towards his hairline, a question on his face that he doesn't outwardly ask. katherine's here, that's the truth and, from what he can tell, she's made contact with damon in some way, shape, or form. )

You know, I do have a modicum of control. Your faith in me is astounding. ( but maybe not that much. he doesn't know if damon's exaggerating or if that really happened but still, he's kind of glad he hadn't had to find out. no one needs a ripper in town. )

My picture's fine. It's a picture. What does it matter? ( no, you don't get to see, damon. )

Pfft. How am I being defensive? ( he reaches over the counter and picks up the bottle of bourbon and pours himself another drink, helping himself to it. one drink and then another before he turns to look at his brother, giving him that 'i don't like where this conversation is going' face. ) What are you thinking? That I've spiraled out of control in deer town? Done the unforgivable? ( that's pretty much his specialty. or ooh. wait for it: ) Teamed up with Katherine? ( he raises his eyebrows a little, smirking. )

Oh, come on. We're a team, aren't we? Bros before... ( he picks up the pretzel that forms part of the k in k-a-t, popping it into his mouth. )

I don't want to know what you've done with Katherine, Damon. Truly. But, I also don't think I'm wrong. ( about the defensiveness.

he waits till damon's grabbed the bottle before snagging it for himself and giving it a once over. he has no intention of drinking it but he can be a pain in the ass just like his brother.

when he wants to be. )

Careful, that almost makes it sound like you missed me. ( don't deny it, damon. you had. ) I don't know if I should be touched or terrified.

( probably both. )

( he's done absolutely nothing. but is he going to bother to try to make stefan think otherwise? nope. he can assume whatever. it's better when everyone thinks the worst of him. because then there's no need for them to expect anything good. he's over trying to be that guy. now what's bothering him though is that he doesn't appreciate the bottle being taken away from him. and the fact that stefan's messing with him. that's a big no no. so. he'll just kick at the bar stool that his brother is sitting on, hoping he'll fall off and try to make a grab for the bourbon. he wants it back. so give it back. )

( stefan's expecting retaliation because damon's not the type of person to walk away from things, even ridiculous things like this. the bar stool jolt and tips under the force of damon's kick and stefan hits the ground with a muffled thump.

he tries to grab at the bottle as he falls but only manages to tip it over and spill it across the bar.

he stays on the floor for a second, laughing humorlessly, before moving to stand up. he wipes the dust off his hands then grabs damon by the back of his shirt and tugs him off the stool so he ends up on the floor too.

better hold that bottle tight. )

( he's attempting to save what he can of that good bourbon when he gets pulled off of his stool, landing hard on his back, the bottle crashing to the floor right next to him, shattering glass all over and cutting him on the cheek. yeah. now he's pissed -- even if little injuries disappear right away because they're vampires. it's just a matter of principal and he can't just let it slide.

stefan deserves to get his butt kicked.

damon makes an attempt to reach for his brother, going for his leg to pull him down before standing up in vamp speed mode and well, let's see if he's able to shove this shard of glass in his tummy because hey, that's just how they roll. )

You're being annoying. ( says the pot to the kettle. )

( it would be too much to hope for that damon was too drunk to do much else but lay there and complain, wasn't it? it was definitely too much and stefan knows he shouldn't expect it but, even drunk, damon's faster and stronger for so many reasons.

stefan tries to grab the edge of the bar but ends up back on the floor because his brother's a drama queen who can't ever let things go. )

Damon — ( but he doesn't get a chance to finish that sentence before damon's stabbing him with a piece of glass and oh, this is familiar, isn't it? pain blooms and he grunts, putting a hand down over the blood that's already staining his shirt.

he shoves away from damon for a second, taking a second to lick his wounds. literally a second before he uses his own speed and strength to grab for damon's stool so he can shatter it to pieces against the bar and then drive one of the jagged edges of wood into damon's thigh. )

You started it. ( family. )

( having to get rid of splinters is not going to be fun for him, stefan. ow. he grips the piece of wood and pulls it out of his thigh. that hurts. injuries don't heal as well as they usually do in this town and-- ) Hold up. ( time for a mini break. he tugs at stefan's shirt, pulling it up before he points at his bleeding gut. ) Look at that, Fabio. It's not healing as fast as usual, is it? ( it's this crazy ass town. it took away some stuff. like his compulsion, his ability to heal quickly and who knows what else. so much to tell his brother, but first -- he'll just punch him in the face for being an ass. ) I've a limited amount of John Varvatos thingies here, you idiot. ( now his thousand dollar jeans is ruined. ugh. )

( stefan absolutely doesn't want to admit it but damon's right. the stab wound isn't healing like it should. even when he pulls the piece of glass out, the skin doesn't knit itself together quickly and the blood continues to ooze. )

Well, that's not good.

( you know what's even less good? getting punched in the face. damon doesn't break his nose but it does bleed and he sees stars for a few seconds before focusing again. )

Yeah, I'm real concerned about your wardrobe right now. ( except he wasn't. what he was concerned about was moving himself around enough that he could match damon's punch with one of his own, aimed right at damon's jaw. )

( if he hadn't been completely focused on the shitty state of his jeans, he would've easily avoided that punch but nope -- gets punched, tries to punch back. it's a whole mess. they're just fighting like two little toddlers now. ) Not the face, Stefan! ( never the face. ) Cut it out. ( easy for him to tell his brother to cut it out, but he's not exactly stopping this little scuffle yet either. ) Give. It. Up. You can't beat me. ( is he planning on taking this fight outside? yep. they're likely attracting attention in here. no need for that. he's going to make an attempt to grab stefan and zip off with him. it was a stupid move to pick a fight in a public spot. it's also a stupid move to head outside because it is beyond freezing. but whatever. )

I'm not trying to beat you. ( but he's not just going to let damon stab ahim and shove him around and if a fight is what his brother needs to get out of his seemingly drunk stupor, so be it.

he doesn't even resist when damon zips him outside. the cold sinks into his bones immediately and he has to suppress a shiver. )

Did you really just take me outside to finish this fight? ( fine. maybe the cold will sober him up. stefan doesn't waste any time in charging forward again in an attempt to drive his shoulder into damon's stomach to take him down. )

( okay. it's really too cold for this nonsense and he'd just been about to put his hands up in surrender when stefan comes charging at him like a bull. they wind up in a pile of snow. great. perfect. damon shoves stefan off of him to stare up at the ridiculously pretty sky. no. don't stare at the sky. some people stared at the moon and went crazy a few weeks back. he turns to look at his brother instead. is he maybe a little glad that he's here? possibly. but he's not about to acknowledge those feelings. he's looking to stamp down on every one of them. make it all disappear. )

Have you been chowing down on bunnies. ( he's definitely a lot stronger than he remembers him being. ) Or cows. ( poor clarabelle. )

DECEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

VANISH LIKE THE WARM STOVE

BETTER WATCH OUT

Character Arrival

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