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

[phaseflex]

Mm.

[yeah she does look briefly concerned at that, but also she's not unused to the idea of people being in fights daily. the best part of it is the fact that she didn't do worse to him.]

I... yes, the water here is... full of something. I haven't been out this far on an ocean before-- maybe it's normal. [she wants to believe it. if her memories hadn't been affected and her siren powers suppressed, amara might've been the one to jump off the ship to fistfight everything down there.] I'm starting to regret seeking naval passage.

B

[phaseflex]

[that certainly is a sight, and amara takes a moment to enjoy it. they're in trouble, sure, but you gotta enjoy the little things. she saunters over (fortunately without her weaponry, else she would've open fired on golisopod. she knows better from FL4K and their companions, anyway.]

Having fun? [she asks sardonically.] You're supposed to avoid the angry magic child. It's not hard.

[maybe not for someone with literal space magic, but she's overconfident as ever. it's hard to see, but guzma might notice there's several hand-shaped bruises running up both her arms, dimming the glowing tattoos on them slightly. when she gets to guzma, she crouches down and holds her hand out.]

Come on. Let's get you and your friend out.

[phaseflex]

Lucky.

[he's good at playing the part-- even if it's not something she'd look into anyway. amara can read people well enough to know when they're lying, but she doesn't really notice anything off.]

I'm not in the business of ratching people out. What could I possibly gain from it, anyway? Blackmail? Please, I'm not that sort.

Deck (/screaming internally because Genjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii)

[no_reload]

[Reaper had been trailing him, easy and casual. From the first moment that he had seen Genji working in the belly of the ship, he had known him. Part of being Reaper was expecting some kind of curse, and his was knowledge. His life hadn't been rewritten, his memories intact, but he knew that talking about it meant that he was more ostracized than usual. Normally, he wouldn't care, but he was stuck on the most famous ship to sail - and sink - in the Third Class.

His usual attire was gone, replaced with dirty slacks, long-sleeved shirt and a jacket. He had sewn on a hood to the shirt, allowing him to hide his head for the most part. A mask actually covered his face, thankfully. He managed to find himself worn work gloves and worn them all the time to hide his appearance as much as physically possible.

And Genji? Well, it was unexpected to see the kid flit around like there wasn't a care in the world, like he wasn't a half-cyborg. Reaper followed him at a distance between shifts, able to blend in with shadows more than anyone should.

Yet, when he was hailed, he further approached and glanced at the water. The wind of the moving vessel caused his hood nearly blow back.]

Looking for mermaids now?

Hellooooo <3!!

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[Why should he have a care in the world? He was King of the World now! On the Titanic, getting away from crime lords and bosses, getting away from a strange life that he didn't want. He would run all he wanted, and the only reason he hasn't ran the outside of the ship is because he doesn't know if he can or not. But he feels like he can scale anything if he tried.]

[It was leaning over the railing that a glimmer of something hit him. Dread. Something wasn't right. Why were there things in the water. Someone else had to see them, right? He had called another person over wearing mask, but Genji didn't seemed bothered by this.]

It would be nice, if it were a mermaid. I'd let her call me to my death, but no, I think it is something else. Do you see it?

[Then he frowned, rubbing at his eye above his green scarf, frowning again.] I could have sworn there was something in the water.

[pinballs]

[If Kim notices the contradiction with regards to her camera, he doesn't comment. Revachol is very much a place where motorized stagecoaches fly about the streets while lightspeed aircraft zoom from isola to isola while television still isn't really a thing. It's kind of like someone left a game of Civilization on autopilot--it's not that unusual in his world to have such a great contrast in how things are developed.

He gives an apologetic look towards the stranger, but otherwise doesn't budge from his posture.]

I apologize for startling you, madame.

[He pauses for a moment--he has a feeling that she doesn't entirely know the definition of entrapment, in the legal sense, but it's not like it matters. He hardly has any jurisdiction on this ship, and even if they were back in Revachol, it's not like the citizens really respect their authority.]

I find that more people are willing to speak to someone in casual clothes than a policeman in an intimidating uniform. [It's a choice. Also, he gets to look much cooler.] Do you mind if I ask your name and occupation?

[teamfun]

[He's gonna let Kokichi go scream it out. He gets it, Bud, it's a shitty situation when they've already been in one. ]

Pretty much! This place is way worse than Wonderland, too. Like, you know how the Events only lasted a couple days and we always got a warning? Well, now shit lasts for a couple weeks. The Dogkeeper tries to warn us, but he can only do so much.

[He rubs the back of his neck, he won't beat around the bush.]

This is a pretty shitty place, sorry to say. I mean, you can make a life here- but this place is pretty consistently trying to kill us or fuck up our heads. Wonderland is easy compared to here.

[teamfun]

[Louis had been on cruises before- in the world that was- back when his life was simple and he didn't have a single care in the world. Back before he knew just how good he'd got it- what a lucky roll of the dice existence had given him. He knows what the ocean does and it's not this.]

Yeah, it's not normal. Most of the time the ocean doesn't give you spooky-ass hallucinations.

[He's not sure if she remembers herself, or if her mind has been altered. It could go either way, honestly. He decides to play it safe, offering a smile.]

Well, you're here now, right? I think so long as you don't stare at the water too long, you'll be okay.

[Unless the boat sinks. In which case, none of them will be okay. ]

Noho Hank | Barry

[bulletgram]

with your feet on dry land
[ Hank's no stranger to cold; home's freezing part of the year, much colder than this, and while he's spent some time in L.A., it hasn't been enough to outweigh the memory of it. So sure, he bundles up appropriately, because he's not an idiot, you can still lose toes and such, but not as heavily as he could. Cold and wet is worse, and finding a place to stave off the chill is harder, but he's from a hardy people. He'll endure.

The dreams are weirder. Not scary, exactly, it's similar enough to stories from his childhood there's only the familiar chill down his spine, but they feel more real than that. It's a dead girl, drowned, not so strange or unusual, considering the stories he grew up with, but then he starts seeing her when he's awake, and that's creepier. He rubs his eyes and crosses himself, wracks his mind for some other superstition to keep her away but takes to singing some song his mother sang to him in the colder months. Softer than he might have otherwise, like there's a bargain contained within it.

Except it doesn't keep her at bay. So he leaves gifts for her instead, whatever cookies and sweets he can find, which is ultimately what leads to her pulling him under.

He's not a bad swimmer, but she's stronger than she should be, making for a harder fight, but he'll eventually haul himself out even without assistance, panting and cursing under his breath in his native tongue. ]

unsinkable, that's what you are
[ Hank is firmly lower class, thanks, and perfectly happy there. It's all too evident by his accent that Hank probably isn't his actual name, but it's the only name he gives, and he does his very best to fit in, chatting hurriedly and cheerfully to anyone who will give him the time of day.

He gets caught looking out into the water only once, a harrowing experience that has him babbling mostly incoherently for twenty minutes, but once it dissipates he's back to his normal self; sure, he may be stuck in the crappier quarters, but honestly he's just happy to be here, and it's not like it's all that unfamiliar to him anyway. He can be found trying to start singalongs, or just generally exploring, and overall trying to take in every new experience he can. ]

Re: Choice 1

[captainspain]

The man looks up his blue eyes twinkling with something like a cross between amusement and friendliness. "Darwin," he says his voice a smooth tenor, "not as shocking as most make it out to be." He sets his journal aside and picks up a glass of amber liquid sipping from it. "To think one being made the world in a week is a bit mad is it not?"

Re: Choice 1

[borntolove]

Those brown eyes stare back; but they're not cocky or cheeky or wisdom the reaches deep down. They're relative - human for a lack of a better word. Sure, there's the glitter of intelligent but doesn't seem to be bottomless as usual and there's definitely a more serious look to the face overall.

As far as the answer to that question - John is a bit conflicted and rightly so - when he is a professor of learning this is also one of those times that science is conflicting with religion. As before with Copernicus.

John does begin to open his mouth but stops and closes as the thought of Copernicus does cross his mind and like that - does rewrite history.

"Nowhere does it say, man came from anything else in here." Which John states a matter of fact.

Which the book does not say that man came from ape - if anything humans are left out. However, does imply

Still, John's face appears conflicted between science and religion because then it becomes do you go anywhere after you die? And the thought of you don't is a chilling fact.

Re: Choice 1

[captainspain]

The other man tilts his head thoughtfully. If one were to look into his eyes they would seem oddly old for such a young looking face almost like he'd seen too much in his life to be his actual age. Then against given he is dressed in the uniform of a soldier that might make sense to the man speaking to him. "That book is the word of one man," Jack points out quietly, "based on his observations yes, but there may need to be more testing to fill in the blanks. That is how scientific theory works is it not?"

[phaseflex]

[she doesn't remember most of herself, but she's still... enough of herself.]

Thank you for checking on me. I'm Amara, [she says, holding a hand out.] I'll be sure to pass on the warning... figures I haven't truly learned anything about this ship. I've been too busy in the bars.

[shaking her head lightly:] I suppose you've encountered others who've had this problem?

Re: Choice 1

[borntolove]

"Scientific theory is testing variables in various, yes." John does sort of notice how those blue eyes seem older than the face but shakes his head; that's quite impossible. The uniform, however, seems vaguely familiar - though, John is probably covering up with denial a uniform that is quite similar in his dreams... of impossible things.

"Pardon, my rudeness." John extends a hand, "John Smith."

it took me a sec to get your username and when i did i Yelled (where feet may fail)

[phaseflex]

Peter's intervention is quite timely, as spider-people tend to be. Almost like they have a sense for it, or something. Ghost girl had a good hold on Amara who had been struggling to get away from her as she was dragged down and Peter's kick to the head gives her enough reprieve to wrench her arm out of ghostly hands. It's a weird feeling. This is weird and she hates it.

"Never swim with a murderous ghost, either!" she calls out with a laugh-- look, she's a superhero on her planet, too. She gets the whole smart-ass talk thing. Hers aren't as finely honed, but it's the attempt that matters, right?

Now she has a chance to get some space, Amara summons her siren powers and uses them to boost herself into the air to slam down onto the ground. She lands close enough that it knocks the creepy little ghost back several yards and leaves electricity arcing all over the place for a few moments. It's a little overkill, but... look. No-one here wants to get grabbed again. She sprints to a car, leaping onto the roof and jumps over to a metal awning.

"This is a problem, flying man! She's been grabbing onto everyone!"

where feet may fail;

[hedon]

[It's not the first time Magnus has seen someone succumb to the fantasies of the sea. The small ghostly girl had visited him more than once, met with only derision and apathy. The longer a person stays in Deerington, the more discordant they become when faced with the mystifying faculty at the town's disposal. Trust nothing to be what it seems, he's familiar with the logic and has generated it himself - more than once he'd glamoured the unwitting mundane just to get his way.

When this new unfortunate soul submerges, Magnus figures him for a dead man. His face isn't familiar, so he had to be new, and the ugly thick robe he's wearing is enough of an embarrassment that he's not all that mournful to see it go down with him. When he resurfaces, however, it's an altogether different situation. Try as Magnus might to not use his talents when unnecessary he's never been able to reject a fighter's spirit, limiting the ebb and flow of the water is inconsequential for him.

Magnus uses the new limitation he'd given the tides around them to pull this new stranger out of the swell that threatened to devour him. The fabric of the lime green monstrosity around him is a soggy porous mess, not to mention a hindrance, Magnus balls a fist into the fabric in an effort to remove it from his shoulders. It's better off overboard.]

Are you with me? Or do you need mouth to mouth?

Arrival!!

[almightythirst]

Fine as a fiddle down here, [ Jesse drawls, unbothered by the close call of Genji’s heel with his face. He’s been in tight quarters like this before and knows the drill. He’s just grateful he didn’t get stuck having to drag himself up to the top bunk every evening. The bottom bunk is much more his speed.

So the smile he has for his bunkmate is genuine as he props an arm on his leg and looks up at this new face. New to him because, like Genji, his history has been cleverly swapped out with another. He’s a third-class ne’er-do-well on the run from an unsavory past that hasn’t stopped nipping at his heels since before he crossed the Mississippi. But no one here has to know that. ]

Last ship I was on, I was sharin’ a floor with half a dozen other people. So as long as you don’t step on me, I’ll be just fine.

!!!

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[he leaned over a ways to look at the other, giving a smile behind a scarf, wrapped around his scarred face, though his eyes were in view. He pulled it down a bit to speak.]

I will try my best not to step on you. I seem to have forgotten I fell asleep up here is all. I will be more careful next time.

[His accent is thick, Japanese for sure.] These bunks are much better than a floor, aren't they?

HIYA!!

[almightythirst]

[ Jesse takes in the sight of him in one quick glance, from the scars to his jaw and the cleverly-placed scarf. He's not seen many people of Japanese descent here in England, but he feels pretty confident that he has the accent pinned right. These are all details he'll keep track of, on the off chance they come in handy down the line. Not that he intends them to. It's just habit by now. ]

I just woke up myself. The bunks aren't much to write home about, but definitely better than the floorboards.

[ His own accent is thick and very distinctly American, and his clothes not unlike Genji's. Before his first trip over the Atlantic, he'd decided to leave his usual attire back in the US. Blend in. Keep a low profile. That had lasted all of a few weeks after he'd gotten his feet back on solid ground again. ]

I'll try not to wake you up snorin', but no promises.

[green_cyborg_ninja_dude]

[Genji too was taking the other in, a 3rd class guy who had been on a shit before. Sharp eyes and something to Genji that felt like he knew the guy, but perhaps it was just having seen him in here before.]

[He drew his feet up and folded over the, looking down at the other to be conversational. He was, after all, awake now. Not that he remembered exactly how or when he got here. That wasn't a problem though, was it?]

I barely remember falling asleep, so the bunks must be better than not. [He noticed the accent and smiled about it.] I can sleep through snoring though, so worry not. American, is it?

lmfao surprise

[hitactor]

[Hank might be lower class, but Barry has been all but pulled into the belief that he's a former naval soldier from World War I and a single father to boot. The Barry left behind for this delusion would have been offended, the feud between the navy and the marines went back further than he did, but this Barry short for Bartholomew is a different beast altogether. Softer than Berkman, more socially aware than Block. He is for all intents and purposes the man that Barry could have been had he not chosen the line of work that had completely encapsulated his life into a mess of blood, bodies, and bad judgment.

He's dressed down for a change and isn't wearing his blazer or his hat, despite the clean pressed appearance he still looks a little erratic. Barry narrowly misses body checking Hank on his deliberately fast-paced jaunt across the outer perimeter of the ship, closest to the deck railing.]

Shit. Uh, I'm sorry. My son got away from me again and the last time he went missing he was in the brig, so- you alright?

Choice 1

[so_dark_a_road]

Jan Karczmarek is one of the ship's crew, an engineer who was hired on not long before the voyage began. In between shifts, he reads, studies languages, socializes, or makes sketches of devices he'd like to invent. Sometimes he just sketches landscapes or seascapes, having a bit of artistic talent as well.

He slips into the first-class lounge, on the pretense that he's looking for a co-worker with whom he needs to confer on a work-related matter. He passes a dark-haired man who is absorbed in a book that Jan is familiar with. He stops.

"What do you think of Darwin's ideas?" he asks.

[lottarazzi]

Well, don't be going too cas' now, or you might wind up wearing the same ol' dirty detective coat every day like one fella I know...

[She quirks a corner of her lip, mulling over the proposition for a second before shrugging.] What the hey, it ain't the first time I got interrogated. Guess it wouldn't hurt to fill you in. ...but you'd best be able to answer me some of my own questions in return- got it, mister?

Anywho, the name's Hart. Lotta Hart, and I'm a paranormal photographer. Best in the biz, if I do say so myself. ...reckon that'd still be who I am, but y'wouldn't know it from where we're standing. Why, some of the highfalutin types're out here calling me "Dr. Charlotte Hart", every time. No shortening it or nothing. Real freaky. [Freakier still is how faintly familiar that form of address sounded when she first heard it, even though she's... pretty sure nobody's ever called her that in her life, not even as a joke.] Don't they get tired of being so uptight?

arrival - hope this is okay.

[wiseass]

[The thing about swinging through a town as small as Deerington, Maine was that the laws of physics had to apply to something, even if they were in a fever dream.

Claire's minding her own damn business when some french fries fly from the sky and normally, in a place like this one she wouldn't be questioning it but the sight that plays out in front of her is something else entirely.

It's like, a superpowered hobo robbed a McDonalds and made off with the loot the Hamburgler didn't take. It takes her a minute because she definitely met a guy that fit the profile earlier on. This guy didn't seem like him but it wouldn't be the first time some sadsack came back changed.]

You look like crap. I thought you were supposed to be fighting crime or something.

[weiward]

The queen of where?

[definitely not one of the greater sects or territories. he would've heard of it.

juniors. they reach this age, they think they know everything. wei wuxian wags a finger at him]

You remind me of someone I know.