countryclub | October Test Drive Meme!

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meme: tdm

October Test Drive Meme!

OCTOBER 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: A snowy, rocky beach in winter. ]
[Image Two: Bowls of mushroom soup and bread. ]

Prompt Two
[Image One: Dali painting of the moon as a city]
[Image Two: Twisted, warped cityscape]

Prompt Three
[Image One: Monster choking a sleeping person to death]
[Image Two: Death hovering over a sleeping person]

BONUS PROMPT
[Image One: Liminal Space image of a nondescript room with strange ledges]
[Image Two: Cenobite woman with borg-like attachments to her face]

[NAVIGATION]

TDM Questions • Reserves • Taken • Applications • Full Navigation

[Jump to Comments]

STANDARD ARRIVAL

WHEN: First Week of NOvember
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk, Koz's Orphanage
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 is not the greatest month to wash up on the Farther Shores. It's November and you'll pretty much immediately hate it! The waters are frigid but not quite frozen yet, but that won't make your arrival any less uncomfortable. Thankfully the Boardwalk seems well-stocked with heavy blankets and furs to give to newly awakened Sleepers. Barrels of hot chocolate and hot alcoholic cider are readily available to warm people up. There are several stalls selling hearty soups willed with mushrooms, potatoes, beans, and other filling components.

Fresh baked bread and pastries are sold on wax paper. Enjoy a steaming cinnamon roll or croissant or just your standard bread and butter. Many bakers have set up temporary stoves and seem to invite teaching Sleepers how to cook and prepare bread and pastries. Maybe knead some dough, learn some tricks of the trade. If you help out ab baker, they might even thank you with a sack of flour or other ingredients for bread!

Like last year, as the Moon shifts to Bone, whispers and hushed talk begins anew among the Trenchies about The Tower. There are whispers that something feels wrong. "You know Trench is his body, right?" one might say. "But look at what's been happening. Is everything alright?" There is nervousness, agitation. Trenchies can't seem to put a finger on it. One of the old fishermen mutters under his or her breath if overheard in this time. "Long time since we tried to leave the Tower's shield. Hope didn't bring anything back from out there. World's a strange place."

None of them seem to have anything specific to add. They just seem nervous for some reason.

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

IMAGE OF THE SELF

WHEN: Halloween through all November
WHERE: All of Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Distorted Reality, horrifying cityscape images, mounting paranoia, displacement

"They say that Trench is the body of the Tower." It is a saying so often repeated during the Bone Moon season that it becomes more of a mantra. Whether or not it is actually true remains a hotly contested debate between Arcane Scholars and Disciples, one of the few times that neither side fully agrees even with themselves. Yet, if it is true, what happens if the person whose body serves as a city begins to have an identity crisis of sorts? That certainly seems to be the case this month.

At random times, it just happens. You're walking from one place to another with your friend. You just stepped out of a lantern network teleportation circle. You open a door. Suddenly, everything is just wrong. It feels like you are in a surrealist's nightmare. Walls appear to be bleeding concrete in all directions. Stairwells twist impossibly, as if M. C. Escher himself were the architect. The pathway to where you intended to go warps and transforms itself into a perilous, twisted monstrosity that you have to navigate. Worse? The way you got here is just gone behind you, leaving you only the path forward.

Navigating this isn't impossible, but you will definitely need help. It might be that one has to stand on another's shoulders to get over an obstacle and then help them up. Maybe someone very small has to crawl into an opening to reach the door handle so the way through can be found. It varies, and the effect lasts only as long as it takes to get where you're going, but while you're here the reality continues to shift and some of these twistings could easily crush you! Don't tarry too long!

NOTE: The physical danger here is from environmental hazards. Feel free to choose any you like, but they will all return to normal when your character reaches their intended destination. Trenchies know nothing about this, though if one asks one of the former wastes, they will ward themselves as if against evil. They know something, but they dare not speak and will whisper hurriedly that the sleeper had best not talk too openly about this. "Best not to draw attention right now."

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP

WHEN: Last Week of October through the first week of November
WHERE: At Home, in your bed
CONTENT WARNINGS: Severe Insomnia, Sleep Deprivation, Deprivation induced hallucinations and mood swings

Something is clawing at your mind from the moment that the first signs of the cold coming. You can't put your finger on it, but even as you see the people of Trench preparing for the next month's arrival of sleepers, you can see they feel it too. Something claws at the mind and for a few people in Trench, this becomes a very literal problem. The thoughts are so overwhelming that you can't manage to find a good night's sleep. This problem is especially prominent for new Sleepers, who seem prone to arriving with terrible bouts of unexplainable insomnia.

That sounds simple enough to deal with, right? Perhaps some sort of sleep aid, or working oneself to exhaustion, and you can power through it, right? No. Nothing seems to work at first. Searches for a monster are futile. Warding and incense seem utterly ineffective, and no matter how hard you try, night after night you cannot sleep. You are terrified of falling asleep. If you fall asleep, you may never wake up! Even characters who do not fear a mortal death feel themselves compelled by this, and the longer that they do not sleep the more corruption risks them at its door. A night or two missed is one thing, but eventually irascibility sets in. Hallucinations may eventually start to crop up. The body needs REM sleep. It needs dreams, yet the horror that threatens the person will not allow them to sleep, for fear that it will come for them while they sleep. What 'it' is, they do not know.

There is only one solution. For those who already spend time with others? This is a simple thing, but they must still agree to do it. You can solve this curse only if you do not sleep alone. Another must stay awake for the vigil through the whole night. Simple enough given their insomnia, but they will be assailed by their own horrific lack of slumber. Only, after you have had a good night's sleep, be sure to care for the other who was so kind to you. Why? Because anyone so unkind as to not help their erstwhile companion sleep after they have finally gotten rest will find out that those fears were not unfounded and the next time they sleep, they really do not wake up!

Death, in this rare case, comes in the form of a heart attack. Its source is unknown, and all that the sleeper will remember is the worst nightmare of their life as they lay in bed, dying in soundless screams. So, be sure to take care of each other, sleepers!

[JUMP TO TOP] • [JUMP TO COMMENTS]

THE VEINS OF THE TOWER

WHEN: November 1st (And only November 1st)
WHERE: Beginning anywhere, ending in A Nightmarish Place
CONTENT WARNINGS: Liminal Space, Disorientation, Hints of horrible monsters, Possible Death, Insane Zealotry, Mutilated Bodies

Rumors have lingered since the first encounters two months ago of a 'space between spaces' that people could accidentally fall into that this occurrence has not been entirely limited to the month it first happened in. Every once in a while, on unusual days, it has happened since that time. There appears to be little rhyme or reason to it, but it has happened again. Maybe you took an accidental step backwards. Or maybe you were crazy enough to have identified some spot you disappeared before and you were actually experimenting with the effect every day to see when it happened. You know, to chronicle the dates it happen, to keep a record, to understand it better, all of those sorts of things that cause some sleepers to poke things that are Better Left Alone because that's what some sleepers do with their free time, and then they touch the spot with something and suddenly they and everything around them are sucked in. How you got there is not important. You're here now, wherever here is.

Only this time its different. You're not in the spot you were last time, and in the distance you can hear shuffling of feet. Dread enters your heart, as you know that you do not have the means to fight whatever it is. You have an overwhelming urge to run, to flee at top speed. You and whoever is "lucky" enough to be with you must run as fast as you can, around corners, a roaring, inhuman scream echoing through the hallways, slamming into walls. You can't quite see it, not unless you want a swift, awful death at least. But around a corner there is salvation, an elevator shaft and the door is open. Frantic scrambling, running and jabbing buttons will cause the doors to close, just as something black like a giant hand grabs the far wall. You hear the rush, the scream. The elevator shudders three times as something pounds on it, but you're safe. Or, are you?

Instead of the usual moldy hallways, you see what looks like a hospital hallway. Anyone who lived through the nightmare may have awful flashbacks, but nothing is chasing you this time. The impossibly stretching hallway seems ceaselessly unchanging, each door locked, at least until you happen to notice a grate on one of the overhead air conditioners open wide. If you are curious enough to crawl up and into it, you're treated to a long scramble through the passageway, right up until you hear voices, menacing ones in the distance. Crawl quietly!

A grate emanating ugly, light is up ahead. As you and your companion work your way over, you're hopefully not heard. Through the grate, you see something awful. Two mutilated and disfigured figures speak while a third, calm and ordered looking woman listens. She seems to have mutilated her throat such that she should not be able to speak, and the other two appear have performed torturous experiments on their own flesh, their twisted visages that of the 'Zealots' that the Sleepers sometimes whisper about in fear. "It is almost time for the harvest. We made the quotas last cycle but only barely. The need is greater. Sacrifices must be made," one hisses. The other nods vigorously. "Yes. The situation is decaying. We have to move to stop this before it gets out of hand."

Before they can say more, however, the third woman looks up, directly at the grate. She smiles once, and a voice echoes from her throat as what appears to be a mouth inside of it moves, her own lips unmoving. "Continue this discussion later. It seems the problem has worsened. We will need to step up security in the meantime." She reaches out a hand and wrenches. The air shimmers around them and suddenly the duct you are traveling in collapses and breaks beneath you. Instead of falling into the farm, however, you find yourself falling through darkness for what seems an eternity, until you collapse hard to the pavement, in front of the entrance to the Gate, your breath coming back to you slowly, shakily.

NOTES: Death is possible should a sleeper assault the first creature. It is a being of impossible angles and blackness, is itself unkillable and will rend its victims to oblivion through brute force. Fighting the Zealots is not possible through this prompt. The grate cannot be opened in time to exit into the Sleeper Farm and engage them. However, the astute will be certain that there was for a moment an actual entry through and into the Sleeper Farm, somehow. Those familiar with these locations will recognize them as being Floor 1, the Stalls

[JUMP TO TOP]

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(a) Re Arrival

[When he washes up on the beach, Atsushi's first thought is that this feels familiar. He distantly remembers the feeling of returning to his human form, which brings up memories of the last time he washed up on the beach. As his thoughts and feelings begin to settle, Atsushi can recalls two pasts: Hanging out with Kyouka and Lucy in Yokohama, laughing and having fun... and then a life here. In the Trench. With his family.

He quickly snaps out of his squidy daze and rushes to grab his clothes-- changing before the cold can get him,-- then scrambles towards the pier. His legs still feel wobbly from the change, but he's too stubborn to rest. There's something more important than being able to walk in a straight line.]

[Atsushi stumbles to a stop when he nearly crashes into someone.]

(b) Image of Self

[Atsushi quickly realized that he had been gone for a few months... Which felt terrible. This is the second time that he's vanished and left his friends behind. The first time, he went from Deerington to the Trench: It was understandable that he was both physically and emotionally lost after that shift in locations. But this time is different. He's lived in the Trench before and he lived here long enough to memorize the layout.

The Trench being weird was kind of normal to begin with, but this is ridiculous. When he exits a shop, Atsushi finds that the once sensible streets have morphed into an architect's nightmare. The buildings are tall and twisty, the roads wind in too many directions, and his head is already spinning. Not wanting to deal with this BS on the day of his arrival, Atsushi turns around and tries to go back into the store... Only to find that this building has grown too and the doorknob is at least fifteen feet above his head.

Atsushi growls in annoyance.]

come on.

[He glares at the doorknob, then looks down the road. Tightening his grip on the housewarming gift he just bought, Atsushi takes a step forward.]

[He sighs.]

[And he'll spend the next hour walking in circles. Please help.]

(c) A Good Night's Sleep

[Insomnia and Atsushi have never been a good mix. While he spends the first few days and nights acting relatively chipper, treating the insomnia as a chance to catch up on housework and refamiliarize himself with the Trench, the lack of sleep gradually begins to wear on him. And when the cracks begin to show, they show.

It gets harder to be cheerful and becomes impossible to block out his rising paranoia. He's already prone to seeing shadows of his past, but now he has a foreign fear gnawing on his consciousness: When he does finally sleep, he's not going to wake up. He might go back to Yokohama- Would that be bad? Would that be better? He's trying not to question it, but he has too many waking hours to not think about everything.

This paranoia begins to turn into irritation. Atsushi feels like he's going to snap, so he spends his sleepless nights wandering the streets and trying to avoid people. Even during the day, Atsushi begins trying to isolate. As angry as he is, he doesn't want to snap at people. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, even if he's so annoyed that he can feel anger boiling in his blood. But it's stay awake and angry, or risk falling asleep and never waking up... It's hard to decide which is worse.

When he does cross paths with someone, Atsushi's first instinct is an angry snap:]

[And then, hearing his own anger filled voice, he recoils and averts his gaze.]

[Makoto jumped back in shock at the hostile tone, a quick apology in his mouth, before stopping when Atsushi continued. Blinking in confusion, he lowered his arms and looked at the weretiger curiously before offering a small smile.]

There's no need for an apology. I was the one who ran into you. Really it's okay.

[Makoto took another look at Atsushi before hesitantly asking.]

...Are you okay? You look terrible.

[Honestly, everyone has been lately, but he was still concerned for this stranger.]

[Atsushi's first instinct is to brush under his eyes, where he knows heavy dark circles had set in. It's not like he can lie about being fine when the opposite is spelled out on his face. He sighs, shoulders sinking with resignation.]

I'll... figure it out. It's been hard to sleep. But there is probably medicine for that, so... [His voice trails off. He really doesn't want to worry someone. Especially someone who he just snapped at so rudely.]

[While Makoto was worried about Atsushi, he couldn't help but notice the last thing he said, his face falling from a concerned look to a conflicted and troubled one.]

...I don't think there is some. Sleep medicine I mean. At the very least, there isn't any anymore. ...I looked.

[Not to mention with how many people suffering from this, he doubted there would be enough for everyone, even if the Trench wasn't so low on stocks.]

Doors were a strange thing when they seemed to lead to so many different places in Trench and you could never take for granted that crossing a threshold would take you from one room to another, and not an entirely different location. Maybe she had just been lost in thought, going over the different orders and events for the shop, thinking about dinner and Hotaru's lessons. Or maybe there was something else that was distracting her tonight on her way home to Usagi, but it wasn't until she found herself outside of Flour and Bloom once again the twists in the street became noticeable.

Hearing something from a street over though she investigated, but rather than really getting anywhere it seemed like everything just grew larger and spread out around her. Everything looked so different from this vantage, but Makoto didn't hesitate as she called out.

"Someone there? Need a hand?"

[The familiar voice gives Atsushi reason to pause. He's already traded for a small gift for the girls, but he hadn't expected to see them so soon. Atsushi had been counting on the walk to their home as a chance to organize his thoughts. But despite not being fully organized, he can't help but respond;]

Makoto?! Is that you? It's me, Atsushi!

[And he's already kneeling down to remove his shoes and socks, ready to transform if it means reaching her faster.]

[She had thought it was a familiar voice before, but she had shaken it off as just a possibility of hearing things. But when she went to check it out and it responded again, when he called her name in a way that no one else would, when he said his own, she knew it him.]

Sushi-kun!

[He remembered her, and he was back, but he remembered. She couldn't help herself from throwing her arms around his neck in a hug. Though she did refrain from completely tackling him.]

I'm so happy to see you again.

[He's relieved that she remembers too. Without another thought, he drops the bag with her gift and stands tall in order to accept her embrace. Time feels strange for him, as if he's simultaneously been gone a long time and only been away for a blink, but Atsushi is grateful for any time with Makoto in his arms. He hugs her back, sighing in relief and smiling all at once.]

I'm sorry for being away. Are you well? Is everything okay? [This world has a track record of causing pain, so Atsushi is naturally worried.]

You missed the wedding. Vira-lorr and Mina-chan had a wonderful ceremony and tied the knot. Oh and you'll get to meet Hatoru-chan she arrived just after you left, but I've told her all about you.

[Releasing the hug she took a small step, suddenly blushing a little.]

Umm, I got a tattoo too.

[So much had happened, but she wasn't really sure what all to catch him up on. Or the complications that were going to come up when they got back to the house.]

Eh- I missed something so important? [Atsushi looks pretty frantic already once they release their hug,] I'll need to apologize..! I'm glad that they finally had a ceremony though..!

[He blinks in surprise when she mentions a tattoo.]

What, really? I don't see it?

It's alright, I know they'll understand and just be happy to see that you're alright.

[At the mention of not seeing it she blushed a little more, pulling the waist of her dress down just a little to give a small peak of the ear.]

I-I'll have to show you the rest when we're in private. But first it looks like we have to find a way back.

Oh!!!

[He gets it now..!!! Atsushi can feel his cheeks reddening as he realizes what he implied she should do. He’d expected a tattoo on her arm, but that one would be impressively big! She must have been really serious about it.]

Right! That, uh! [He clears his throat,] Seems this place is up to its usual tricks again, huh? I wonder how to get it to settle down. Has this been happening a lot?

[He talks about the Trench like it’s a living thing.]

[It was certainly something she'd been serious about, and it was in a very private place for only a few to see. After all it a symbol of his affect and bond with her.]

Well the costumes have been a bit trickier this year, some of the makeup and masks wouldn't come off as usual and were causing people to act strangely. But the ghosts from last year weren't a lot less common.

[Something she attributed to people being less homesick from a new city. Though the new twists and turns, new streets and stairs, this was something different.]

But this is the first time it's changed this much.

Is that so..? So it really is November now, huh?

[He's been away for so long... Atsushi can't help but feel guilty. He's always leaving Makoto behind.

Once again, Atsushi bends over with the intention of removing his shoes.]

The tiger's power should let me climb the walls. Maybe I can see over them... Are you still living in the same house? I'll walk you there? [He's not inviting himself back. They might have given out his room.]

[Makoto nodded.]

It is, but October was a lot easier this year, and everyone seems to be doing fine.

[Watching him, Makoto figured she could probably transform into Jupiter and help as well, jumping to clear the walls and get a better vantage point.]

We're still living in the same house. And you still have a room you know, we kept everything clear just in case. Ah though I do have a few of your things in my room.

[Unlike Atsushi, Sheliak had only been here for a month and as much as it pained him to admit, he was still hopeless lost about half of the time. These architectural monstrosities made it impossible and his eyes narrowed as he glared at the doorknob that was well out of reach, something that felt completely foreign to someone as tall as him (he's 6'4").

A spark of lightning flashed inside his frozen eyes as he joined Atsushi.]

I take it this isn't normal then?

[A sharp hint of disappointment slipped into his calm tone. Why couldn't he be trapped with someone more useful? He glanced down with a look of distain. Or at least someone taller.]

[Atsushi just sighs as he looks up to Sheliak, nodding in a regrettable fashion.]

I mean, sometimes this world gets a bit crazy and acts up... But no, it's not normal. At least, I don't remember it being like this?

[He glances around their surroundings again in search of a pattern;] Oh well. Where are you headed? I'm sure we can still get there...

[Sheliak's eyes narrowed slightly. That was not the answer he wanted to hear and he hid his quiet sigh with a casual shrug.]

Nowhere in particular.

[It was only partly a lie. His destination was the residential district but he was trying to learn the way around the city along the way. Either way he refused to admit how lost he was and he redirected the conversation away from him with a firm but curious tone.]

What about you?

[Echo just blinks for a few moments. She was completely prepared to move to the side; she's dealt with far worse attitudes than his so it didn't seem like that big of a deal. The sudden 180 has left her confused.]

...It would accomplish the same thing as your rude statement. I do not see the need for a difference.

[You don't have to acknowledge that he's being rude, Echo..! Atsushi groans. He's in such a bad mood that he feels like she's mocking him.]

I'm not going to make you change directions just because I'm going the same way! I'll go around you. Got it?

[But you said it was rude...? She's still going to give him a puzzled frown.]

Not really. I am still going in the same direction. And if you are discussing passing by, that requires very little effort to anyone involved. It is not even spoken about typically.

... [She has a point.

He's too tired to argue. Despite being grouchy, he yawns into his hand as he steps aside.]

Then please go ahead. I'm not really sure where I'm headed anyway.

[His only goal is to stay awake.]

[It's not you, she's an enigma. She doesn't even get herself.

Unfortunately for him, she's still got questions. Echo has had various issues with being tired over the last couple of months and they were all something Trench-related, so the yawn catches her attention. Her head tilts slightly.]

Are you overly weary? That might explain your forgetting basic traffic mechanics.

[...she's trying to help.....]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

October Test Drive Meme!

Atsushi Nakajima | Bungo Stray Dogs | Deer CRAU

C: A Good Night's Sleep

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I'm back!

B: Image of Self

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b (I'm so sorry Atsushi!)

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c

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