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JANUARY 2021 TDM

JANUARY 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to January’s Test Drive Meme!

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: Claustrophobia, panic attacks, ghosts, demons, hallucinations, blood, violence
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Prompt Three
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

THE ONLY ME IS ME

The room is unfamiliar. You're not even sure how you ended up in here. Had you fallen asleep? That has to be it. Even if you're not a being who ever sleeps (which must make being in a dream world feel that much more surreal), it feels like the answer. There’s no door, no windows, and the only source of light in the whole place is two tiny, extremely dim side table lamps that give a soft, orange glow to your surroundings. It’s hard to see and easy to bump into the sparse amount of hotel room furniture that seems to be scattered around the small space. Hopefully you don’t have bad knees.

While there is no exit, if you look along the walls, you will eventually find a peep hole. The small hole in the wall makes you feel instantly uneasy, even if you’re someone who isn’t prone to fear in the first place. You’ll feel fidgety and tense, but there’s a part of you that still desperately wants to look through it. Avoiding the peep hole will make the tension disappear eventually, but it creeps back up every time you look at it.

If you woke up here alone, another person will appear in the bed you woke up in the moment you turn your back. It’s good to not be alone, right? But with the room so small, the air might start to feel a little thin. Is it getting hot in here? Is the ceiling feeling a little lower than it did last time? Are the walls closing in? It’s hard to tell if it’s all in your head or if the room really is getting smaller. Having to share it with another person, to share the limited air with someone else, is enough to make anyone panic a little.

Whenever one of you decides to look through the peep hole, you will see a man standing on the other side in a typical hotel hallway. He’s just waiting. Watching. Or at least you think he’s watching; it’s hard to tell when he doesn’t have a face at all. His presence makes that fear in you spike, your worst memories flashing before your eyes, and you won’t be able to look for long without going into a full panic attack. Getting as much distance between you and the peep hole is the fastest way to get a chance to calm down. If you can get yourself to calm down at all.

The key to getting out is the person beside you. If you choose to let them close, eventually the panic will start to ebb, and you’ll find yourself feeling more at ease the longer you sit beside them. Touching, whether it’s a hug, a hand on the shoulder, or more, will eventually make the room stop feeling so tight and the air won’t feel as thin. Eventually, you might start to feel some semblance of trust— trust that they can keep you safe. Approach the peep hole with your roommate and look through it together; while you’ll still see the painful memory from before, one of your happier memories will play soon after to soften the blow. Seeing both your dark and Your light is the best way for someone to truly get to know you, after all.

Once the memory fades, you’ll both be on the other side of the wall, and the man outside the door will be nowhere in sight, with no sign that he was ever really there at all.

DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL NOW

Walk through a door, any door and you're not where you thought you'd be. Instead, what lies before you as well as to your right are what looks like perfectly normal hallways you'd find in an apartment building or a very large, fancy house. There's doors spread out along either side at varying intervals and one of them opens to let another person in, someone just like you who probably meant to go to the restroom and ended up here. If you try opening the doors, none of them budge no matter what you do and so it seems the only choice you have is to pick a direction and walk.

There's a tingling sense of dread that creeps up your spine as you go. You pass what looks to be doors to restrooms, bedrooms, living rooms and recreational rooms, but none of them seem to be an exit. On the walls are pictures and paintings, it looks like there's a familial theme to them, there's group portraits and moments captured in time such as when someone's Dad spilled punch all over himself at the family barbecue. All wholesome and loving looking pictures but oddly not of just one family, in fact you might see some familiar faces in there. Along with pictures, there's narrow hall tables with vases and more photos in frames and all the drawers seem to be locked, though you get the sense there's something in there...

Eventually, you turn a couple corners and it almost feels like you've come full circle, but at the end of the hallway there's a clear exit. Three steps down to a cracked open door. It sort of looks like a garage from what you can see, but when you open it... you're right back where you started. Only now, the halls are colder, the lights overhead that were once warm and steady are flickering and the pictures on the walls are tilted, some even cracked. There's a creaking sound somewhere far off, like something heavy swinging from a rope. You feel as though something is watching you, following close behind as you hurry your way through the halls again to find another exit.

Again, the only exit is the garage door and with no other option, you step through. And you're back where you started only now other doors in the halls are cracked. In one you see the light of a television playing static in a dark room and someone sobbing and muttering to themselves, in another there's bright red light spilling out of the crack and you see movement, something swaying, the creaking is louder. Heart pounding, you make your way around the corner and the drawers of the tables in the hall all open at once to let damaged photos fly out, all of you and your friends and family in horrifying circumstances or dead.

Run to the exit again and you are back at the start and there's now spatters of blood over the walls like a grisly murder occurred in several locations along the halls. The creaking is louder and so are the wails of the person in the room with the television. More doors are open a crack here and there and each promises something horrifying should you open them. Maybe they're abstract manifestations of your greatest fears, painful memories coming through the static T.V. set, or a stereotypical ghostly spectre with unfinished business. There is a supernatural force in this place and it feeds on your deepest traumas and fears whatever they may be, or it'll be content to sip on the fear brought on by a jump scare or a ghostly shadow watching you from afar wherever your turn, waiting for the moment to suddenly appear beside you.

To escape this haunted loop of rising torment, you must bring the demonic spirit with you as you pass through the exit door. This can be any way you wish, though the easiest is to allow it somehow to possess your body while your companion wrestles it, and you, through. You can discover this solution through clues behind the pictures and scratched into the wood on the bottom of the drawers in the form of riddles, or you can stumble upon it by accident. Once the spirit is pulled through the door, it will break the loop and you will be back in Deerington, though perhaps not quite where you were when you opened the door the first time.

NOW'S THE TIME FOR ACTION

There's something watching you. You don't know what, but you can feel it in your bones. Sometimes you think you see it (them?) out of the corner of your eye, but you can't quite make out the who or the what that might be following your every move. Sometimes it looks supernatural, a mythical creature from your own world maybe, and other times... It looks like someone from home you never wanted to see again. People show up here all the time, it's not impossible...

It doesn't stay just one being, though. Eventually you start to see small groups of people or things you can't quite make out before they disappear. It's hard to tell if they're really there at all or if it's all in your head. But the danger feels real. The inexplicable feeling of pure terror, the solid idea that they're going to kill you and you aren't going to be able to fight them off, the absolute assurance that they're evil. The longer this goes on, the more drawn to a crowd you'll begin to feel. There's safety in numbers, after all. But just being surrounded by people doesn't feel like enough, not when the other Sleepers you find feel just as on edge as you are.

In the center of the crowd are scattered tables. Each table has a bowl or jar filled with various party supplies. Bluetooth speakers that can connect to your Fluid to play music, noise makers, snap poppers, even pots, pans, and their lids. It's enough to make a real ruckus. And you're realizing that that might be the answer. You start encouraging the people around you to make as much noise as possible. Grab the things on the table and just start shouting whatever comes to mind. The more noise you make, the more the fear ebbs, and the shadows following you start to disappear. They almost seem like they're actually running from the noise. You keep shouting just to drive them as far away as possible.

You might notice that you're shouting out things you never expected— and so are the people around you. Emotions you wanted to keep buried, confessions you never planned on giving to someone, secrets you've been trying to keep to yourself. They come pouring out faster than you expect them to and they're there for anyone to hear before you can even stop yourself. Hopefully this doesn't have too big of a fall out for you.

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

[That voice, the face, he should know who this is and yet... there was no way it could be him. Still, he looks the man over curiously as he spoke.]

I grew up on Tatooine. Do you know it? [That's going to be a funny question later.]

[ obi-wan blinks. ]

Ah . . . yes. Very familiar. My padawan is from Tatooine.

[He blinked as well, brow raised.]

Really? What a small universe. [Padawan!] You're a Jedi. [Not a question.]

[ obi-wan cocks his head at luke curiously. something about the way he looks feels strikingly familiar. ]

I am. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi.

[WELP. That name struck him hard, almost stepping back in surprise, then leaning forward a bit to look him in the face, shocked.]

Ben? Ben Kenobi? That Obi-wan? But you're so... young. [That's a stupid comment to make, and it'll hit him in a bit, but he's staring.]

[ ben. interesting. not many people knew of that alias. his eyebrows go up. ]

That's very flattering, I think.

Obi-wan? [He repeated, still in shock. He's staring, looking over the mans face. The feel in the force. He should have known it all this time and yet... it's so... strange.]

It's just... I know you, but you were much older.

[ hmm. obi-wan gives luke a long look, gauging him. ]

Then you must be from my future.

Future, hmm. [He repeated, frowning. Could that be possible? Then again he appeared in a dream like place out of no where, so... maybe.]

[He frowned just slightly, but then introduced himself in return.]

Well, I'm Luke. Luke Skywalker, and you helped.... train me. [Kind of.]

[ skywalker. it couldn't be. and yet, obi-wan could not deny the truth of it. from the slant of luke's mouth to the twist in his curls. there's only one person he knew that was.

oh anakin. what have you done? ]

You're . . . his son.

[Oh Anakin, the things you have done, that Obi-wan doesn't even know yet. Poor guy]

[Luke couldn't help the small smile that crossed his lips. There was... a lot there. A lot to revel, and he had a feeling the other wouldn't want to know it all.]

I am. [He sad softly, thinking about the fire and the black mask he had literally just come from. The ghost form of his younger father and his two masters. His heart ached. All of them were gone.] Though I only just learned about that.

[ he sighs. ]

He never did listen to me.

[ the wound feels deeper. obi-wan knew that anakin had feelings for padme. that's fine. as he told anakin many years ago, feelings are natural. the jedi were made to feel. but to break their tenets in such a way . . .

no, more than that, to not tell obi-wan about it hurts more. ]

[He watches the other, his head tilting, eyes softening. This must be a tough subject for the man. Luke didn't know Ben well enough to know his past, but the generally reserved man looked as if this was... bad news.]

Sorry, this must be a tough subject for you. [It was a bit rough, to learn that your existence shouldn't have been. He literally only learned, from Obi-wan's ghost, that his father was Anakin Skywalker. Vader. That was still hard to know.]

[ obi-wan shakes his head, moving away from his melancholia. the regret will linger, but for now, obi-wan will focus on luke. anakin's son. ]

It is, but it's not your fault. I'm glad to have met you, regardless.

[He understands it's a lot to take. It was a lot for him as well. And then there was Leia...]

I'm glad to have met you as well, both then and now. [He still couldn't believe how much younger the man was. Amazing.]

[ obi-wan is going to shake anakin if he ever get his hands on him. for sure. ]

And you met me on . . . Tatooine?

[He'd almost like to see that, really...]

I did. You were an old hermit that had always been there as long as I remember. [He said it with a faint smile though. That felt like so long ago.]

[ okay. that's . . . new. obi-wan wants to ask why but perhaps that's saved for a later conversation. ]

An interesting choice.

[He can't help the look that crosses his face, as if to say yeah, that IS a choice, a bad one. But he did raise a brow, folding his arms to keep his one hand warm.]

You said your Padawan was from Tatooine as well. Was that my Father? Anakin, yes? Maybe that was part of why you hid there?

[He knew so little about his father. Or about Ben Kenobi. Or Master Yoda. Or anything about the Jedi, other then legends and myths. When he had asked Obi-wan about his father and what he was like, he heard nothing but good, and then to learn he was Vader. It was... a shock.]

[ obi-wan blinks, surprised. hid there? that makes sense if he was taking on a new identity. jedi can go undercover for months, even years. ]

Most likely. Anakin was from Tatooine, but he never liked the planet much. He had bad memories there before he joined the Jedi.

[Yeah, he might be saying too much. He'll have to watch that, because knowing too much of your future might be too much for the other.]

I don't blame him. There isn't much there but trouble.

[ obi-wan sighs. ]

It is a difficult place to be in, certainly. It's hard to do much there with Jabba's influence.

[What little memories he had of Hermit Ben, ,and later Jedi Legend Kenobi, told him one thing. All these sighs seemed in character to what he knew.]

Yes, well, Jabba is no more, so maybe that will help those stuck there out a bit. Though I'm sure some other being will rise up and take his place.

[ jabba's dead? that's a surprise. ]

I hope not. Tatooine deserves a rest from crime lords.

[Sure was. If Leia hadn't of choked him out, the blast of the canon to the ship would have done it. Thankfully.]

It really does. [He said softly, agreeing completely. He had never wanted to go back there. There was nothing there for him, but saving Han and his friends was worth it.]

[He felt a chill of the snow around them, reminding him he wasn't on the desert plant, or Endor anymore.]

Have you been in this place long?

JANUARY 2021 TEST DRIVE MEME

THE ONLY ME IS ME

DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL NOW

NOW'S THE TIME FOR ACTION

Character Arrival

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