July Test Drive Meme!

[reddosmod]

JULY 2022 TDM

Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!

All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.

Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.

Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.

If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Colorful paper lanterns shaped like jellyfish lit up and hovering in the air. ]
[Image Two: A person with long hair wearing a crown dedicated with shells and rocks. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A GIF of waves breaking roughly out in the middle of the ocean. ]
[Image Two: Strong waves crashing into a lighthouse and rocks. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A large Ningen (a sea creature that is half human, half monster, and has no face except for a large slit for a mouth) towering over a deep sea diver. ]
[Image Two: A person standing out on the rocks with their arms out stretched as the tentacles of a large sea monster wave in the air above the ocean. ]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

STANDARD ARRIVAL

WHEN: August
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A

---

You're one of the lucky ones. Your journey is smooth sailing and you wind up exactly where you're supposed to: on the Farther Shores. You grow out of your squid body without a hitch, either with the help of another Sleeper or one of the Wakers, and you get to discover this new world. All new Sleepers might take some time to find their bearings. It might be tricky to remember how to use your body parts the way you're supposed to. You might stumble around the beach or forget how to talk - but don't worry! It'll come back to you sooner or later.

Hopefully, you've found something to wear, either in your Welcoming Bag or otherwise, and can start familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Maybe you help some other squids out on the beach. Waking up sucks! You feel for the little guys. And hey, maybe you're hoping one of those squids is a good friend...Stranger things have happened.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK
This month has an entire festival dedicated to Mariana. The people of Trench seem to be quite enamoured with her, despite her often cruel and unpredictable behaviors. The festival has gone all out with decorations. The boardwalk will be lined with lanterns in the shape of various sea creatures, such as jellyfish, dolphins, seahorses, and (of course) squids! These lanterns will be lit every night throughout the month and will burn through the night. They are bright beacons to a month that is otherwise becoming more and more gray and chilly as time passes.

The people of Trench are also decked out for the occasion. Blues and greens are the popular color choices for outfits, and many people will even decorate their hair with pieces from the ocean. Whether it's with full headpieces that are worthy enough for mermaids or just something as simple as weaving shells into a braid, everyone seems to have something on them that ties them to the sea. There are stalls set up to help newcomers (or oldies who just want to have some fun) decorate their hair as well and face paint for those who want to go the extra mile.

The festival comes with all sorts of celebrations that can be partaken in at absolutely no cost. There are food vendors, though they seem to be short on seafood this month. Likely it's due to the rough seas with waves so treacherous that not even the most skilled of sailors seems to be able to get out into them. They'll remark on how difficult is must have been to swim to shore in those awful waves. So instead of fish and shrimp, there are other sea-dedicated dishes: seaweed salad, noodle dishes made with seaweed broth, caramelized chicken in a fish and ginger sauce, etc. There are also ocean themed desserts, such as cupcakes with blue frosting shaped to look like a great wave. There are games such as dunk tanks, dart balloons, ring tosses, and other typical carnival entertainment. If you can think of it, it's probably there. At the end of the night, there's often a fireworks display over the rolling waves.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

rough seas and high winds

WHEN: Last Week of July, First Week of AugustT
WHERE: Beach and Nearby Oceans
CONTENT WARNINGS: Threat of drowning, severe weather phenomena, Environmental hazards, possible death

---

For some reason, Mariana is particularly wrathful even as the month begins. Even leaking into the end of the month of July, the sea begins to foam and rage in ways that are almost impossible to imagine. As you stare out int the beachheads, you may see vast waves and surf that would daunt the most professional of surfers. Water crashes into each other in colossal spouts. Waterspouts can be seen as storms occasionally buffet the coastline and just out into the ocean itself. However, the one thing about this chaotic energy is that it is just that, chaotic. One moment the sea may be calm, and the next it is a roiling, seething force out to destroy everyone.

This is, naturally, dangerous for those who are just hapless squids trying to reach shore. They may find themselves inexorably being flung towards sharp rocks and shoals, threatened with being dashed upon the stone near to the coast, or they may find themselves constantly swirling in eddies and whirlpools to the point of near exhaustion. However, they are not the only ones so threatened. Even those on the coast are in near constant danger of being washed right back out to see by an unexpected wave and sudden rip-tide. There are wood planks and other detritus to grab hold of, but it is very much a battle for one's life out there!

The sea's rage, the locals say, is because Mariana is particularly incensed over something that occurred. They do not know what exactly, but many have said that sleepers have felt a particular brunt of this ire lately. For now, it is a game of survival and a constant battle to bring people in safely.

Notes:
-Any natural weather occurrence is possible in the first week of August and last of July. Seemingly impossible combinations may occur (A waterspout in the middle of the eye of a hurricane, almost anything.
-These threats will be upon anyone who is not far enough inland to enjoy the festivities. The beach is not truly safe and sleepers are hustled inland quickly.
-Death is possible, though sleepers who die in the ocean find themselves returning very quickly as squids for some reason, within 24 hours, only to be threatened again before they eventually find shore.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

of monsters in the water

WHEN: Throughout August
WHERE: The coast and waterways
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monster Horror, Possibly Getting Eaten, Threat of bodily harm, Unnatural Physiology, Existential Dread

---

Something has been dredged up from the deep by the storms that rage. It is said that Mariana not only presides over the oceans, but also the most powerful monsters that dwell within the deep. Some of these, it is believed, may be the remains of Pthumerians whose minds and lives were lost during the hard times before, or the spawn of their mating with things other than humans. Whether these rumors are true, eldritch things have begun to emerge from the depths and darkness, things best left unseen.

Throughout the month of August, it is possible to encounter creatures that can only be described as monsters emerging from the water. With every passing storm, another emerges. Some are as large as small kaiju, while others are closer to human size, and each shares very little in common with the others, save for two particular details. The first of these is that they are all aquatic in nature and bear at least a passing similarity to sea monsters of ancient legend or particularly large and dangerous aquatic animals. Giant cuttlefish, Megalodons, Plesiosaurs, Octopi, Sea Cucumbers, Whales, or any of a number of other sea creatures appear to be their basis. The other similarity, however, is that all are hideously and grotesquely deformed. Tentacles, second rows of teeth, great clawed hands and feet enabling them to walk on dry ground, a thousand eyes all over the hump of a hunchback whale all shooting laser beams in the full moon, almost anything seems to be possible, though the changes are all chtonically horrendous in nature.

These creatures are violent, dangerous, and horrifying to behold. Just looking at them jars the mind and threatens to damage one's psyche while they try to understand what they are seeing. Bones are in seemingly impossible angles, bodies moving in ways that they shouldn't. Just looking at them can cause nausea, vertigo or mental breaks, though the danger does not stop there. They are agents of chaos, seeking to destroy mind or body, on a rampage whenever they reach ground, though they do not delve far into Trench beyond the waterways and beach, almost as if they are prevented by something. When one strays too close, an ominous light glows from the tops of the tallest spires in the city and they are inevitably repelled, but until they are killed or sent back to the deep from whence they came, they remain a threat outside of the city.

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Comments

rough seas

[zib]

[Not too far down the beach where 2B had awoken, she and her pod may come across something interesting: a small person who appears to be attempting to investigate and gather any materials of interest that have washed up along with the newcomers. He's wearing a hood that hides most of his face, but there's a metal cable sliding out from under their hood that is picking up random objects to carry as he continues scurrying along to the next object to pick up and examine.

2B may be forgiven for thinking he's a machine of some kind because of the cable, but if she has the pod scan him, she'll find that he'll either come back as an "unknown", or perhaps as some kind of strange hybrid of both human and alien, of all things. Either way, it takes a moment before Zib turns and finally notices 2B and her pod. He hadn't gotten to the part of the beach where 2B had washed up yet, so he doesn't know yet if she's new or not, even if he is definitely giving the pod at least a considering look of interest.]

Do you need something?

cw: android... nudity??

[robussy]

[ her body knew what to do now, and finally begins to recapture the feeling of who she was by separating the twining facts. the problem had been her system, her mechanism— they were lagging, and only lowly climbing its percentage to greater working order. Loading: 27%. she sees something move in the sand, something with an appendage, masked by fabrics. it's too small to be another YoRHa unit, which hadn't been detected in the first place. this was possibly a native, or a pudgy machine. it certainly moves to fluidly, but 2B can't tell for certain. her vision occasionally scrambles and has trouble focusing.

there's an erratic limp to her trudging, using her extended blade's tip to help keep her wavering balance— it's not that much help when her walking surface is as soft as the sand. but as she comes closer to this one, baring no clothes, not that she actually needed to hide something— where her joints connected, so did sleek carbon fibers, both black from the thighs down and to her pointed heels, and light-peach colored, where artificial skin was more prominent. her body has not the detail a woman would have. she never needed them. she's breathing oddly, improperly. when her throat scratches to speak— ]

W̽̿̕h͒̚͠a͌̒̓t̐̓͝, a̢̝̼r͉͇͕e͉̺͙, [ choppy and too much static. Warning: vocal output impairment, please wait. System processing. Would you like me to perform a scan? 2B nods, the pod scans zib— Analysis: Unknown lifeform. how helpful— but if it talks, and it's not attacking her . . . she tries again: ] Whe̝̘͚r̡̞̙e̺̦̦.

[zib]

[Zib's eyes widen in surprise when she speaks, only finally realizing that she seems to be injured... or rather, damaged? It's starting to look like this person is more android than human like he had previously thought when he had seen her approaching.]

This place is called Trench. [But he is more concerned about the other person's wellbeing than giving the usual introduction speech.] Are you okay? Is there... um, anything I can do to help?

[robussy]

[ Loading: 35%. it's still not enough, but it was better than the last few moments. trench, trench— those are in old human files, pod should be able to have a back up of some sort that wasn't completely lost, or disconnected— she could only hope. mariana's trench was in the atlantic, wasn't it? ]

My systems . . . Areₙₙₙₙ't, at, full caрⷬaͣcͨity, [ —but she's causing him some sort of distress. she doesn't like it, human or not— it does something within her. ] I'm perf̡̫͖o͖̼r̡̪͙miͥng mainᴛⷮeͤnaͣnce. Dͩoͦn't worry.

[ she will still use her sword to keep upright. Loading: 41%. ]

I am— YoRHa uͧniͥᴛⷮ 2B. What, Areͤ yoͦu?

[zib]

[He frowns a fair bit at the question, not particular fond of being asked what he is as opposed to who he is as he would have preferred. But just for now, he will let it slide.]

My name is Dib Membrane. [Not that many people actually bother to use it in favor of "Zib" though, given what he's become now, but he still gives his former human name anyway, like an automatic reflex.] From the sound of things... I'm guessing you're an android of some kind?

[robussy]

[ the bridge of her nose crunches with the middle of her brow beginning to kink, her eyes seem to unfocus and refocus rapidly— she’s attempting to assess, and does not like that she was left with more questions than she had. she continues, though, to verify her identity: ]

All-purpose . . . Comвⷡat andͩroid. I fought— for the futuͧre of mankind. [ her voice firms from the last glitching waver. she adds: ] And you d̶idn̶’̶t answer my quess͛ᴛⷮion.

[ this doesn’t actually make for a good look: a battle android wielding a sword and demanding whats over names. she is strict— in her mind, both her suspicion and confusion haywires. she did not ask for a name. she was not built for friendliness. as much as she was capable, she was still designated for business; she keeps this boy, if she could call him a boy, at an emotional length—

but there was something in her rippling eyes as she waited, even if she’s veiled it with unapologetic aloofness. expectation. worry. a touch of fear, swallowed by duty and a tendency to be prepared for the worst of repetitions. but just then, she adds, with something close to urgent. close to a plead. ]

I need— to know.

[zib]

[Zib seems to stare at her face for a long moment ("the future of mankind", huh...) before he finally concedes.]

I'm a human... or was, I guess: I've got some alien tech attached to me under my hood, which might have been what confused your friend there when they were scanning me.

[He says, as he points to the metal cable hand that's still holding his things at the moment, it's origin clearly coming from somewhere in the back of his head under the hood.]

[robussy]

[ 2b’s grounding base literally begins to crumble. the shock of his words seep through to her— eyes first, brows in an arch and wide enough to see the whites. they started to redden, and she maintains the sheen glazing them by blinking. it doesn’t get farther than that. she keeps looking at him, and looking, all while her sword dissipates into sparks from her hand rematerialize behind her back, and she slips down the her knees. ]

You were all gone . . . [ that can’t be a joke. why would he be trying to lie if he mentioned alien technology? she could have killed him if pod had said “alien” first. an awful, unknown pain twists in her chest, but comes out as nothing more than a grimace to compose her features. she breathes the words out in repeated disbelief. ] Is that— how you survived?

[zib]

[Zib is a little startled when she falls to her knees, fidgeting a bit at how seriously she seems to be reacting to this.]

Yeah, I guess so. It... was something that ended up becoming necessary for me back home.

[It's a long and painful story that he does not feel like getting into though, not with a stranger yet. Instead, Zib decides to focus on other things here.]

I'm... not sure what happened to you and the humans of your world, but you'll find that there are other people here too. Humans, aliens, androids, you name it. This place seems to have a way to pull in others from all kinds of different universes and timelines. So, uh... you won't have to be alone while you're here.

[robussy]

[ different universes, different times . . . humans, aliens, androids. her concern is only one, and not tied to the fact that she just hopped universes—

her work, her duty, first. ]

And you, all, [ she’s not glitching outright, perhaps only lagging compared to earlier. it was about time. Loading: 69%. ] coexist?

[zib]

Yeah. Or at least we try to, anyway. It's not as if there isn't any disagreements or things that don't happen sometimes, but... well, you know what I mean right?

[It's not all rainbows and sunshine but they make it work somehow.]

[robussy]

[ 2b nods slowly to it; sure, there was no such thing as a peaceful utopia when the community was made up of more than one living, thinking being with opinions. ]

Conflict takes part. [ oh, finally. that's the first sentence she's managed to speak in full. even if she's . . . greatly overwhelmed. ] Your community. Where is it?

[zib]

Oh, I can take you to the boardwalk! There's probably a bunch of people gathered there around this time, and from there, you'll be able to find the rest of Trench to explore to your liking.

[He's gathered about as much as he is going to be able to carry anyway from his beach exploration, so it's no problem for him to lead her there.]

[robussy]

[ she's in better working condition to walk, he thinks. more humans? more everything— with an inhale, 2b rises to her feet and stands with greater purpose. that alien technology . . . she'll ask another time, at a later date. she had priorities, and that included his safety. pod pips up and hovers around her head.

Paremeters are safe for exploration. Suggestion: Follow Dib Membrane to the boardwalk and investigate the human population.

her lips tighten and she considers this, her hands placed close to her front: something she's learned on her quests with 9S, anemone and jackass: ]

—I'd appreciate it.

[zib]

Okay! Just follow me and we should be there soon... oh, and uh, be careful to not step on any squids you see.

[Wouldn't want to accidentally hurt any of the newcomers that might still be lying somewhere yet to reform back to their proper shape.]

[robussy]

[ with a flurry of golden sparks, her sword seems to disintegrate— but it simply changes its location. from the hilt in her hand pushing the blade into the sand for support, it now materializes into a hover behind her back.

she has more stability in her legs. she'll follow closely behind him, as suggested. ]

Why squids?

[ she doesn't quite . . . remember her time as one. it would be too much for an android brain, already heavily attached to being made in the image of humans, to suddenly and in some way, become a squid. that's just impossible.

but plenty of the impossible has been possible lately. ]

[zib]

I don't really remember why squids specifically, but from what I understand... I think the entities that rule over this place change a person's form into one to make it easier for us to enter this world from the ocean? Or something like that.

[Don't take Zib's word for it to be fact, though. Admittedly, he has not really looked into it that much, more concerned with thinking about other things.]

[robussy]

[ through her breathing, one may pick up a sigh, or may thing it just another rush of the waves behind them. she’ll stay clear of the squids, then. it felt inhumane to step on anything just flopping around to survive, even. ]

Nothing is ever clear, is it?

[ trench is a bag full of mysteries and she doesn’t quite like the dark. at least she has directions. she could give herself orders. ]

[zib]

[He almost offers a faint smile at that, a little teasing, a little self-deprecating perhaps.]

Nah. Sorry to say that never changes, no matter where you end up in the universe it seems.

[robussy]

[ just as much as things never being easy, she supposes— that's why it's called work. 2B will keep silent for most of her following now, up until she can catch the dull glow of fairy lights and wooden pillars. ]

Is that it?

[ it might be strange to say, but she feels bare without her uniform. at the very least, she'd like some clothes, and hopes to find them. ]

[zib]

Yes! Oh, hang on, there should be... yes, there they are.

[Zib drifts away from 2B for a moment to approach someone nearby, and after a brief moment of conversation, they hand something to Zib that he brings back, holding out for 2B to take--it appears to be some robes that they supply for newcomers.]

Here. You can wear these if you want.

[robussy]

[ robes— simple, but doable. 2B takes the bundle with little hesitation attached. if anything, it just brings back a bittersweet memory of t-shirt shopping. or, lack thereof.

she throws it on and gladly covers her chassis as any woman would their modesty. ]

It’s better than walking around without a uniform. [ and, since they’re here, now . . . she can start looking around. ] Thank you, Dib.

[ pod doesn’t say anything, but— she could tell it wants to say something. oh, she’ll say it herself— ]

If you’re in danger, don’t hesitate to call me.

[zib]

You're welcome.

[He nods in agreement to that--not that he thinks he wouldn't be able to take care of himself in a fight because of the PAK, but he doesn't mention that.]

The same goes for you as well, okay? If you ever need anything, you can call me whenever you want.

[robussy]

[ before she turns to leave— she does incline her head in a nod and raises her hand to her chest in something that looks very similar to a salute.

and once that's done, she turns to inspect the premises, her heels clicking consistently on the wooden floor of the boardwalk. pod hovers right along after her. ]