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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[As he watches the boy, he can feel his guard slipping bit by bit. Not entirely, however, not when they're both in a strange place, and nothing he's read nor seen has given him an explanation worth believing. However, Hau's reminding him of the non-threat that he is, and that's a little disarming.

Golisopod, however, continues to watch Hau, keeping his hold secure and firm.]

Sun?

[Guzma squints at the name, trying to recall who that even—]

You mean the part-timer?

[Was he even there? He guesses he was...there was so much going on at the time, he didn't really do much of a headcount when he unleashed the Ultra Beasts down upon the crowd.]

[Hau watches Guzma with interest, head tilting slightly as he did. Did Guzma not know who Sun was? But they were just talking recently....]

Part-timer?

[He repeats confused.]

Um... he might of done some work. I dunno! Do you really not remember him?

[Maybe Sun did something like Pyukumuku chucking during his island challenge? He wouldn't be surprised.]

[At the question, Guzma tilts his head even more. However, he does gesture for Golisopod to lay off. Thus Golisopod retracts his claws, freeing Hau completely, before returning to Guzma's side, watching the boy still.

Guzma scoffs.]

Should I?

[He does, but he's playing off his initial reaction as the more valid one. He shrugs his shoulders, downplaying it even more.]

Don't matter, the brat's not here.

Guessin' you ain't got a bone to pick with me no more—or did those captains just drag you along 'cos "strength in numbers" or some other silly nonsense like that?

[Hau breathes a sigh of relief at being fully released, taking a moment to stretch before ultimately resting both his hands comfortably behind his head.]

Well yeah! We, like, were all just talking weren't we?

[The way he called Sun a brat though... well, ok that checked out somewhat just by this being Guzma, but then he goes on about Hau ever having a bone to pick with him and the trial captains? That just makes Hau's face scrunch up in confusion.]

Wait— What are you talking about?

Huh?

[Hau's confusion...confuses Guzma. Well, that and the fact he was talking about the three of them chatting? That's never happened, hell, the last time he had any sort of "chat" with that part-timer was at the tournament, when he wrecked the boy's arm, and then got crushed...

His expression sours recalling that, but also because he's not sure what to think of this Hau before him. Narrowing his eyes once more, his brow furrows, those scars adorning his forehead pronouncing the creases.]

I don't got a clue what the hell you're talkin' about, kid. I suggest you start makin' sense.

[Everything so far has been strange since he's arrived, so he's starting to wonder if this Hau is just another part of the oddity this place seems set on. If maybe he's some sort of...delusion, or illusion, or...something. The way his posture stiffens and becomes tense when just before he had eased, isn't a good sign...]

Eh? You're the one not making sense!

[Hau can't help that he's confused and of course Guzma getting confused too just makes things worse! The shift in Guzma was noticeable though, prompting Hau to put his hands up in front of him disarmingly.]

I don't get what's going on, but before coming here I was, like, training for the league, yeah? I saw you and Sun recently though outside of the Aether House. Dunno what you were talking about before I got there, but I asked you about your Golisopod and you told me about your island challenge!

[Who knows if this actually clears up the misunderstanding, but Hau tries anyways.]

I've never had a bone to pick with you, Guzma!

[Guzma's silent as he studies Hau, still having not a single damn clue what he's talking about. His island trial...wasn't something he so freely talked to anyone about, and while he's opened up to Hau in the past, it's never been like that. Not to mention that bit about a league? What league..?

Golisopod seems to sense the unease in Guzma, his cross-shaped eyes looking to his trainer, then to Hau as if trying to decide what to do. Usually Guzma and himself are far more in sync, but it seems even this has Guzma out of wack, and with it Golisopod. The low rumble from the giant isopod is enough to pull Guzma out of his thoughts.]

...Nah.

[He shakes his head, then shrugs with an eerie smile.]

We never talked about that.

[Suddenly Guzma steps forward to grab at Hau himself. His fist grasping the front of the kid's shirt, lifting him up by it. He doesn't say anything, just stares at Hau as he is seemingly assessing him—appraising him through both staring him down and the weight of him in his hold. His eyes scanning over Hau's face, then looking at the shirt grasped in his hand, his brow furrowing before releasing that hold, letting Hau fall.

His hands find their place in his pockets once more as he begins to speak once again, staring down at Hau with an eerie calmness.]

I don't know what's going on, but I ain't likin' it.

Edited 2019-12-29 11:14 (UTC)

[Nah? For the first time besides the initial surprise grab from Golisopod does Hau's smile falter to something more akin to disappointment. Did Guzma just not remember? He also mentioned things Hau didn't remember so maybe something else?

He didn't get much time to think on things as he was suddenly being lifted by Guzma this time, apparently being scrutinized. He's not afraid, but it's surprising all the same and leave him feeling strange to the others behavior. Likewise he looks over Guzma's face, taking in the differences he hadn't noticed yet. Did he always have those scars on his forehead? He never noticed those before.]

...You don't believe me d'you?

[He's lucky found ground gracefully and didn't stumble back on his ass when Guzma let go of him. He sounds disappointed though, looking away from Guzma with a bit of a pout.]

Well I don't know anymore than you do about all this.