JANUARY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

JANUARY 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to January's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: OCEAN 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.

PLEASE NOTE FOR CHARACTER ARRIVALS: This month, all players can choose to have their characters wake up in the town of Deerington or on the Titanic.

CW: Ghost of a child, rotting corpses, drowning, hallucinations, paranoia
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

WHERE FEET MAY FAIL

For those who were left behind in Deerington while everyone else was whisked away in the flood during the New Years Eve party, they will find that the town is a little more wet than usual. The streets are still flooded, houses are damp, and the chill of winter isn't making it easy to deal with. Your hands can feel like ice any day of the week and it's hard to focus with how badly you may find yourself trembling from the cold.

But it's almost preferable to the visions. They start off while you're sleeping; large sea monsters roaming the ocean, waiting to pull you down into the darkened depths; or maybe it's a strange, ghost looking girl with glowing eyes and tattered clothing, her skin blue and rotting the way a body does when it's been submerged in water for too long. She's calling out to you, beckoning you down, and all around her are the strung up, floating corpses of the people who were foolish enough to listen.

It's just a dream though, right? Slowly you start to see the girl around town. She's still calling to you, watching you, waiting for you. If you get too close, she'll even be able to grab onto you, pulling you down into the waterlogged streets, and into what you thought was only a puddle of water. It's as deep as an ocean, and just as dark and cold too. Someone near by can grab onto you before she can drag you under and the vision will disappear. If no one does, maybe if you're a strong swimmer, you'll be able to struggle free, but when you resurface, there will be a bruise forming on your arm in the shape of a hand – something to remind you that maybe these visions are a little more real than you gave them credit for.

The only way to stay safe is to travel in pairs. The girl seems to keep her distance when there's more than one person around, but it doesn't mean she won't try to find the means to separate you. Whether it's increasing the flooding in certain areas of the street or trying to distract one of you long enough to put some distance between you and your comrade, she'll do whatever it takes to try and grab onto whoever she can.

GHOST SHIP

Those who are on the boat might find that life is a little easier, depending on what class you've found yourself in. The struggles between first, second, and third are certainly rough on everyone, but many seem to find themselves thinking this is just the way of things. Maybe your mind has been altered to just accept the class differences or your memories completely rewritten and you think you've led a completely different life so far; either way, only a handful of passengers seem to fully understand that this isn't the way things are supposed to be.

There's nothing anyone can do to change things, though, and so many find themselves getting lost in day to day activities. Whether it's working on the ship, enjoying the finer foods in the first class dining halls, or enjoying the rowdy parties in third class storage after hours, everyone seems to be finding something to keep themselves occupied. As the days pass, even those who know full well what's coming seem to forget the looming doom, and you might even find yourself feeling lost in the monotony of day to day life.

But those who stare into the water too long, who look at the strange, large shapes swimming just under the surface might find a sense of dread filling them. The paranoia will shake you to your very core, leaving you with a sense that all is not right with this journey. You can try to tell people, but most will look at you as though you're insane. Eventually, your fear will become so heavy that you start to see destruction all around you. Whole sections of the ship will look flooded, rotting wood and rusted steel taking over every inch of the once proud ship, and every section is covered in algae. You might start to realize it looks uncannily like an old shipwreck.

The ship is still floating, though, and the coarse steady. So it's all in your head, right? Staying away from the water will make the visions and paranoia eventually ebb, but any glance at the floating shapes will cause it to come back tenfold. Maybe just stay inside and away from the ship's edge. It seems a lot safer that way.

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

NOTE: Character's this month can wake up in Deerington or on the Titanic.

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

hello!! /o/

[especiallyparanoid]

Oh, good.

[Wesley sighs in relief, then pauses.]

Well... not in the sense of general positivity, of course. But, a shared encounter diminishes the possibility of us losing our respective minds quite significantly. ... Unless these hauntings were to continue, of course, I admit they're already putting quite a strain on-- regardless.

[Focus. Focus.

Wesley forces himself to tear his eyes off the apparition and take a first good look at his companion. He seems momentarily distracted by her armor and hesitates, losing his train of thought.]

Miss... Anderson, I presume? The girl, you... don't happen to have seen her in your dreams, do you?

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[he should know her, or, well, HIM. Should know this person, this doctor, and yet the face is only sparking a vague connection. Much like with McCree, there was something there behind it all, and yet he had no clue why they were.]

[For now, he was just a lower class runaway flitting around on a deck, pleased to be here on this ship. He leaned there, frowning.]

No, you barely looked. Try to look past the water, to the under side. [He said, worried he was seeing things now.]

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[Had he been there for the outting, it wouldn't have mattered to him. Genji was a very open and loving kind of person now, but he had not been there, and even if he had, he wouldn't remember it at all. At the moment he only remembered running away from his crime lord family and getting on this ship as lower class as he could get. Hiding.]

[Here no one would know him, so here he was most comfortable and open, right?]

[He watched the other pat himself down and put on gloves. Genji didn't mind the wait, he just smiled and bounced a bit in time with the music, which was lively and merry. People danced, jumped and tapped along all over the storage area.]

[When the other took his hand he brightened and tugged lightly to pull the other man out to dance with him. Screw anyone who thought that unwise.]

You looked as if you needed a dance is all! Might as well enjoy ourselves while on this trip, no?

[inventa]

[ wade wilson. english? the accent isn't right, though. but then, there's so much of this place that makes very little sense. and as much as he hates to think of anything al-rahim had told him, hadn't he said time is a type of circle? considering his experiences thus far with time, well..

regardless, the note of disbelief in the other man's voice is certainly familiar. at home, people seem to expect him to be a great deal older than he is; some well-fed, bejeweled lord's son. even so, it's something of a surprise for his reputation to have spread to-- wherever this is.

he scoffs, tapping his worn notebook into his other hand. ] I am precisely who I say that I am. I'd prove it, only I seem to have been kidnapped and set out to sea on a ship with no sails and lit with lightning. From what I've gathered thus far, it seems a common enough occurrence here.

[wronganswer]

Judge Anderson, [ she corrects automatically, momentarily nonplussed by being called Miss anything. It's almost more surreal to have a normal citizen casually sharing thoughts with her than to be here at all.

Anderson pulls her thoughts together, which is something of a struggle. It's getting overwhelming, being here. Something about interacting with someone is cementing it in a way that just wandering around a dreamworld didn't. She's not sure she wants to reveal she's psychic yet - it's not a secret, it's just that mutant bigotry is alive and well - but it makes it otherwise difficult for her to be a credible source. ]

It's not a delusion, [ she's able to say, at least, with a tense frown. ] I'm pretty sure we're in a large scale shared dream right now. [ Maybe he'll just not ask how she knows that. ] I don't know who's directing it, but we aren't losing our minds.

No problem! I'm only getting back to this now as well!

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[He should know him. He should know so many of them. Memories were failed and false though and faces were just at the edge of those missing memories. One moment things felt fine, perfect, connected, the next he felt like he was missing something. Like something was wrong.]

[It had to be the ocean, he thought, stuck in false memories. It felt... off.]

[the stranger leaned on the rail and looked over, but didn't seem bothered by the water. Genji frowned, looking down at it again, squinting.]

[Had he just imagined it?]

Death holds no surprises for me. [He said at first, wondering why he bothered to say that at all.]

Dread seems like the right word for what I saw, though I don't see it now. Perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me. [if only he knew the truth.] I can swim though, but this is the Titanic. Unsinkable. It shouldn't be a concern.

ayy we meet again /points at eyes points forward c:

[especiallyparanoid]

[He found someone. It's so important he found someone! Wesley is so relieved he feels like crying while shock and windchill come together into a terrible mix. Before long, he's shivering violently, his teeth chattering as he tries to force out the words.]

The girl, she--

[His eyes are impossibly wide as he digs his fingers into the man's arms like he's afraid of going under again.

Words, he's good with words. Expressing them. Using them. But they seem to be stuck in his throat, he can't get them out.]

She was in the water, I... I was in the water, do not get too close, they're deep--

[There is a part of him that realizes he's rambling, that he's not making any sense. His arm hurts, he should mention that. Has he mentioned that? They need to get away from the water. He needs to save this man! It's his job, it's what he does, it's so dreadfully cold...]

She's out there, she's real...

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[He shifted, lifting both legs to sit indian style in his bunk, leaning over his knees to look to the other. They were both free of being known.]

Well, they might be fun, but they might place me in a light I must hide.

[he smiled at that, a troublemaker for sure by the sounds of it.]

Genji. [he said to Joel, a hand coming up to rub at his scarred face.] Just Genji now. My last name was lost to me some time ago. I brought dishonor to my family, so here I am. It is a pleasure to meet you Joel.

lindsey p l s his blood pressure

[especiallyparanoid]

Wesley just sputters at this impossibility, looking very much like he's about to have a conniption.

"Maybe I shall indeed tell everyone what a fraud you are," he shoots back in a snippish voice.

"It's obvious you don't belong here. With that mouth of yours, clearly you made your way up here from below to deceive the good people on this journey. Did you steal these clothes? We had better conduct an investigation. Maybe they shall toss you overboard indeed!"

[4thwaller]

[ He watches the other man process something in his head, but it'd be a lie to say he himself doesn't find this situation pretty weird too. Or maybe he's just antsy from being on a ship with so many people. It would be a shock if this ship doesn't end up with a hole in it simply from Wade's pacing alone.

Wade's no history expert... but... well.

He figures he knows a con when he sees one - usually he's the one lying through his teeth about things. Hell, he still is lying through his teeth. ]

Let me guess - you just happen to have your sketchbook that has nothing in it?

[ Being mouthy at strangers is a great way to keep his head down, clearly. ]

You after money or something?

[inventa]

Nothing-- [ he huffs, then slaps it into the other man's hands, brows lifting. ] If you wish to see it, you're welcome to it. I can't imagine that would help with identifying myself, though. And besides, I write all of my notes in code.

[ not that it had stopped his sister from learning at least part of it, but well. she's his sister, after all.

he folds his arms, leaning his shoulder against the wall, his smile returning. ] I'm after precisely what I said that I was after. I could use a model.

[especiallyparanoid]

Apologies.

[It's automatic and followed by a bewildered pause as the title fully registers. Judge? Odd.

But horrific visions and drowned little girls take precedence right now so he files the information away for later.]

Shared dream, interesting theory...

[He hums, tapping his chin, losing himself in thought now that he's prompted on.]

But how did we enter it? And when? It would take a powerful spell to create such a vivid, palpable environment. A demon? Blood magic? The girl, is she part of this or an outside disturbance?

[teamfun]

[A laugh bubbles out of him. Any adult that suggests they go to a bar instantly raises themselves in his cool estimations. ]

I mean, I don't know what the drinking age is in... whatever the fuck timeline we're in currently, but sure! The bar's pretty fancy.

[4thwaller]

[ Wade snorts when it's slapped into his hands and uses a thumb to flip through the pages like someone looking for any content quickly. When he sees nothing, he hands it back.

The guy doesn't exactly look like he has it in him to try to rob or murder him. A shoulder is lifted in a lazy half shrug. It's not like Leonardo could do anything the mutate couldn't handle anyway. ]

Convenient.

I'm really bad at holding still, and being quiet. They're two of my biggest flaws actually. That and dealing with cats.

[ They're just so fluffy, how are you supposed to commit crime when cats are around? And maybe most in first class would scoff and walk away by now, but the idea that he's better than anyone on this ship doesn't even cross his mind. He'd be rotting in a cage somewhere otherwise. ]

Willy McLean | the To-Do List

[doggypaddler]

Drown Me In Bullshit
[ Willy was supposed to be going east. Road trip, broadened horizons, the whole nine, except the bright sunshine and open road gave way to fog and drizzle, and then his car stalled and he couldn't get it running again. So he started walking, in the rain, and the fucking cold, and everything else, but it didn't get any better. He just got soaked, which made him increasingly annoyed.

And then there was a little girl. Well, dreams about a little girl, and then she started following him around. He wasn't necessarily a paranoid type of person, but it started unnerving him, putting him on edge. ]

I've seen Poltergeist. Don't come any closer, you creepy fucking kid.

[ Yes. Yes he will start running if she moves closer, extremely undignified and ridiculous; THIS WHOLE THING IS SUPER MESSED UP OKAY. ]

I'm on a Boat
[ William is just lucky he made it onto the ship, honestly. Yes, he's supposed to be there, it's kind of obligatory for staff, but considering he's drunk more than he's not, and not especially great at actually working, far more likely to be found sleeping off the previous night's revelry than making sure the guests are taken care of, it's not necessarily altogether helpful.

One night, he finds himself staring off over the railing, and there's...something out there. Something ominous, and slithering, something that saddles him with lingering unease and paranoia, which really only makes him drink more. Helpful. But he tries to be; he tries to tell the rest of the staff, and the passengers, mumbles about it whether or not it seems important or relevant. ]

Stay away from the ledge, there's somethin'...there's somethin' out there.

i couldn't resist enabling your possible consideration of this place!! (cw: description of decay)

[fumitory]

( the girl—

for one small burst of hopeful stupidity, the clue doesn't connect. girl — what girl? it nearly begs to question in Ben's mind, he who hasn't heard anyone else acknowledge the bizarre visitations of the little one he keeps seeing down in water depths, her flesh bloated and piecing away—

Ben might have looked as though ready to ask, lips pulling apart to pose a question for it, but it takes just that long for the reality to occur to him. in the end, realization sharpens his expression: someone else has seen her, someone else knows her...and she is here, now.

the drenched, shaking man rattles at Ben, and that's when both of his hands close around his shivering arms, just under the round slope of shoulders — to stabilize, to reassure. )

All right — slow down. ( Ben's voice is nearly hushed, not quite so skilled at placating through tone. he withdraws a hand to pull at the scarf from around his throat like a loose thread in a sweater, and it comes away freely. the ropes of yarn permeate warmth of their own, enchanted far beyond his own capabilities. Ben lifts it up and pulls it around the stranger's neck. ) Here, take his for now, you're freezing. ( thanks, Ben, he might not have noticed if you didn't point it out.

he looks up the street, a simple commercial strip of modest mom and pop stores. the book store stands just steps away, warm and hazy-lit, and away from the elements. Ben looks back at the other; he doesn't even think of escaping the vicinity of the haunted water, as much as he thinks of just getting out of the cold before hypothermia sets in. ) We should get you inside — then, tell me what you saw.

[wronganswer]

[ She's equally impressed and bewildered by the immediate smooth apology, which is again totally outside of her normal experiences with citizens. It hasn't quite sunk in yet just how out of place she is as a Judge. Anderson's happy to put that thought aside and focus on the situation instead. This is what counts as a professional, on-the-job conversation for her, and she's relieved for that piece of normality.

His speculation is not totally out of line with what another Psi-Judge might say, but it's a little more wild in the theorizing than Anderson's comfortable with. She's only heard the barest whispered rumors of demons, and no one uses words like spells. Since he didn't openly criticize her despite her lack of credibility or evidence, she does the same, but her expression takes on a more deeply thoughtful, uncertain cast. ]

If it's really a shared dream, it could just be someone's nightmare. Especially if someone here has a strong mental presence - if they know what they're doing, it's not that hard to override someone else's thoughts. [ She does that all the time. It's just weird that she can't retake control here, can't even get the barest toehold. ]

Whoever's orchestrating it is definitely powerful, dream or not, [ she concludes. ]

[inventa]

[ he takes his sketchbook back and flips to the first clean page, taking his charcoal pencil from behind his ear. ]

Thankfully for you, I don't particularly require either. [ the pencil is already moving over the page, his glance flicking between it and wade himself. ] What's wrong with cats, then?

[ other than getting underfoot and shedding everywhere, which leo generally doesn't mind as long as they're not in his workshop knocking things off shelves. ]

good luck wes

[lookattheglass]

Lindsey laughs, turning to leave again when--

--when he goes and says that.

Lindsey stops cold, turning back around, all mirth gone and a cold sort of rage burning in his eyes.

"I think...you're mistaken."

He takes an aggressive step closer.

"I have a ticket, I belong here. These are my clothes, I bought 'em. But maybe I oughta toss you overboard."

he's so messy I'm sorry

[4thwaller]

They're distracting.

[ His expression goes from surprised to anxious pretty quickly, but he doesn't do anything to make the guy stop. He's curious to see this Leonardo da Vinci's art skills.

Not that be could judge good or bad art to begin with. His own doodles look like a five year old had done them. ]

They have those little eyes that demand you love them and pet them. And then they trap you in with the purring.

[ As he rambles he seems to shift from anxious to trying not to practically vibrate in place from some manic or anxious energy. It's almost laughable in a way, that the man who looks like he's seen war and plenty of things much worse than an artist with a piece of charcoal could get anxious about something so mild. ]

You didn't even give me a chance to ask you to wine and dine me first.

[ Deflective humour is the name of the game. And with it, somewhere to shove the anxiety of someone studying him so closely. ]

bullshit.

[sscuriosity]

Hey. Sasquatch.

[Did he just? Oh, he definitely did. One Dustin Henderson is perched on the roof of a nearby building in the rain and he slips the ladder he used to get up there off the eaves to this new unsuspecting victim.]

Yeah, that's right. Over here. For the record, this has nothing to do with Poltergeist.

it's part of his charm

[inventa]

[ he's not as surprised by the anxiety in the other man's expression as many would be, perhaps. it's a lot for some people, for someone to really see them like an artist can, capturing not just their beauty on paper or canvas, but also their flaws, their doubts, the little parts of themselves they like to hide. ]

Some would say that in brothels, [ he says with a chuckle, and then glances up at the comment, brows arching in surprise at the blatantly flirtatious nature. they're out in public among the wealthy, after all, and at home, well.. people of good standing wouldn't do so. no, they'd wait for behind the closed doors of one of those brothels he'd mentioned.

perhaps leo's preferences have spread this far, too. or.. things are much more different here than he'd realized.

his lips twist up at the corner, a little coy in spite of himself. ] I'm but a poor artist, you know. But perhaps I could gift you with the sketch in dinner's stead.

[bythehand]

[ the fact that she attempts manners means everything. finn knows, in his heart of hearts... it means that he's special to her. no, he doesn't need to have known her for more than a few days to know that. ]

I don't need it. They serve food on the other levels, too. [ trying new things is great, he's been into it when he has the chance. but a lot of the time, his body is busy saying something like "well historically, it's only time to be hungry for 15-30 minutes at 3 specific points in the day, let's not go too crazy," anyway.

it's weirdly the hardest habit to break of all the habits he got raised into.

he gives the dining hall a little visual sweep. there's not much to say about it. easy to get in and out. no one who seems like they want to do a murder right now. ]

I'm gonna get a better look around today. If you're interested. This thing's no star destroyer, but it might have something worth digging into.

[ he knows in a broad and unsettling to examine sort of way that he can basically poke around wherever he wants, for the most part. might as well use it.

and maybe if rey comes with him, he can kill two birds with one stone. him not enjoying the lone wolf thing and rey being deterred from making herself sick. ]

rip this is a disaster (cw: classism)

[especiallyparanoid]

Aha! A reaction!

There is a grim and nasty sense of satisfaction when Wesley finally gets a rouse out of the man who so dastardly tripped him over and then refused his attempt of saving face. It's childish, yes, but he doesn't care, he sees that opening and latches on to it.

"Am I."

He sticks his chin out, circling Lindsey, one hand coming up to flatten his tie.

"I'm not so sure about that. You may have the looks but you surely don't have the attitude. It's in your voice, your movements, your... everything. What now, are you going to swing at me like the fairground boxer you are? I beseech you, good sir, do control yourself. If you can."

rip them, rip the titanic (cw: classism)

[lookattheglass]

"You--"

Lindsey sputters, every word hitting at a long-buried insecurity. He looks down at his clothes for a moment, frantically trying to figure out what's giving him away. Was it his walk? The fact he tripped someone surely couldn't be it...

"Who do you think you are!?"

Because yes. Yes, he is going to swing at him like a fairground boxer, his hands already balled into fists.

"If that's what I am to you, what's the point in hiding?"

He reaches out to attempt to grab him by that stupidly flattened tie.