October Test Drive Meme!

[reddosmod]

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

Comments

ii.

[creationrebirth]

[ Sakura was making her way through the crowd, going about picking up different supplies. She was coming off of a long night of work and to say she was tired would have been an understatement, but she had things to get before she allowed herself to head back to her home and finally getting some sleep.

Walking back along the boardwalk, her mind is drifting and she wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that someone thought she might need some help with a pastry. She doesn't want to worry that stranger though, so when she realizes that she's being spoken to she looks up and waves her hand reassuringly. ]

Oh no, it's fine. I'm alright, I'm just on my way home.

[ Tired as she is, it only takes her a moment to realize that this man isn't actually a stranger. She knows him. Not well by any means, but she'd recognize him anywhere. Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke's brother. Her brother in law. The adrenaline rush is enough to wake her up at least. ]

Itachi-san...

[jikogisei]

[ Itachi would have been able to pick Naruto or Kakashi out of a crowd a lot faster than he would have Sakura, but he still doesn't hesitate to step towards her to offer the pastry. She was a member of Sasuke's original team, and also the only other shinobi he had seen so far other than his brother.

The woman was older too, not surprising considering his long absence from the land of the living. Her appearance tired and distracted, possibly indicating a long day at work, and Itachi idly wonders if she's a medic here as well. ]

I insist. There's plenty to go around.

[ Does he know that Sakura is the newest addition to the Uchiha family? Hard to say. That will have depended on what Sasuke told him on the beach. Either way, she was a resident of Konoha and wasn't attacking him. ]

Sakura. [ A small incline of his head in a greeting. ]

[creationrebirth]

[ She's so taken aback by his sudden appearance that she doesn't know what to say. She gives a small nod and reaches out for the pastry, accepting it with a quick 'thank you'.

There's a lot to unpack here, but she takes a bite from the pastry while she tries to figure out how to approach it. She and Sasuke had spoken in length since their arrival about Sasuke's family. It had taken awhile for her to get him to open up, but she knew much of it now and had her own feelings about everything. Sasuke had forgiven him though, so she would, of course, do the same. It doesn't make it easier to see him, especially when she worries about Sasuke and the pain it might bring up for him.

Sasuke had gotten the family crest embroidered on her clothes, a fact that she's acutely aware of in the presence of his family, but facing him it wasn't noticeable. She'd feel out the mood of the situation before bringing anything up. ]

Does Sasuke-kun know you're here?

[jikogisei]

[ Once the treat has been passed on, Itachi takes an unhurried step back to give her that small bit of breathing room. Both because he knows what his presence means to most, and because she may have been crowded in with people during work.

Not many knew about the truth behind the Uchiha Clan massacre, even when he last spoke to Naruto on the matter during the war. Yet, he sees that she makes no move to defend herself against it, or feel that he's poisoned the food that Sakura is now eating. Hard though it might have been out here on the boardwalk with so many witnesses, but not impossible for a shinobi of his caliber. So perhaps the last original member of Team Seven had been told the truth by one of them, or something much bigger has happened with the knowledge of all that transpired between the village and the Clan.

Itachi can't see the crest from here, nor is he looking for it in any kind of reflection that might be available. He's too interested in her own reaction to his presence to dig for that detail. ]

We met on the beach shortly after I washed ashore. He told me that it has been nearly four years since we last saw each other, between this place and our world.

[creationrebirth]

[ She watches him closely while she eats the pastry, glad for the distraction. How was she supposed to talk to a man who had caused so much chaos and so much pain. At the heart of everything she feels is the fact that she feels extremely protective of Sasuke. They'd already spoken apparently, so she hopes he's okay. ]

I guess that much time has past.

[ Had it really been that long? ]

Did that go well?

[jikogisei]

[ To have such people who are so protective over his brother, it's something Itachi is grateful for. He will also always want to protect Sasuke, but admits that his own actions to do so have failed in at least some ways. That they have hurt him in ways that a medic cannot heal through the use of chakra healing. That he was wrong to have taken the burden on all by himself instead of accepting help of those around him. ]

It feels like it was only a few minutes, but also so much longer.

[ Everything that happened after the Edo Tensei ended and arriving here isn't as clear as many other moments in his life. Perhaps it's simply how the process works in ending up as a new immortal squid being. ]

I'd say so, though you may know better than I these days. [ The Sasuke he knew was four years younger, set on the destruction of Konoha when they last spoke in the cave in front of Kabuto. They didn't fight, if that's anything to go by. ]

[creationrebirth]

[ Her feelings regarding their relationship or interactions were complicated to say the least. Whether Sasuke had forgiven him or not, she would struggle to trust him. After all, she'd seen the suffering that Sasuke had gone through right up front. Sasuke had told her a lot about what had happened, and part of her wants to just give the older brother a good verbal thrashing.

On the other hand, she wouldn't be able to do the work she did with the orphanage if she didn't understand trauma and it's complexities. So while she's still obviously on edge, she reserves judgment. ]

I do know him well. [ She finishes the last bite of pastry. ]

So, four years have gone by? What happened last for you?

[jikogisei]

[ As anyone's would be for those who care about Sasuke, his own are very straight-forward, yet is aware that the way he went about showing it has done plenty of harm. Before Itachi would not have gone out of his way to make anyone trust him, that would have undone everything he wanted to keep a secret from the world. He expects forgiveness from no one, even if they are aware of the truth. Now that he's here, far from anything to do with keeping the Uchiha name from being dragged through the mud or worried about protecting Konoha, Itachi can do as he actually pleases. That means being nice to those people in his brother's life.

Sakura hasn't attempted to punch him back into the ocean, so he supposes it's a start. They are having a civil conversation, and she accepted something from him, even bigger than a start. ]

Thank you for looking after him. [ Spoken with genuine gratitude and a gentle softness. ]

He said it had been three at home, and one here. As for me, I ended the Edo Tensei and said my goodbyes to Sasuke.

[creationrebirth]

[ His tone surprises her. Of all the things she might have been expecting from Itachi, it hadn't been softness. Then again she hadn't expected him to be a calm individual at all. Hearing stories about him typically left her a little shocked when she'd assumed that he was just a brutal murderer. She's still not happy with him, necessarily, but Sasuke loved him and that mattered to her.

A slight blush rises to her cheeks, like she's still just the schoolgirl with a crush. ]

O...of course.

[ The timeline makes sense to her, which meant it had been awhile since they'd been apart. The fact that him being here in Trench might mean that the two brothers would get to reconcile their relationship properly wasn't lost on her. ]

I see, so you remember dying then.

[jikogisei]

[ Once upon a time, he wouldn't have said such words to anyone, still heavily in the guise of having brutally murdered the entire Uchiha Clan for his own selfish reasons. Even now, this isn't something Itachi would say to anyone that might be from their world or village. He has learned that he can't do everything on his own, and Sakura was a part of Sasuke's team. She may also be the only other person here from their world besides the Uchiha siblings.

Save the blushing for Sasuke.

If a reconciliation is what his brother wants, then Itachi would absolutely do it. After all, he was the one that had wronged Sasuke and hurt him in multiple ways. ]

Both times, yes. I'm glad that I was able to help my village one last time.

[creationrebirth]

[ Oh but it's so easy to make her blush where Sasuke is concerned, and Itachi said his name after all...but she'll blame it on the cool weather.

The idea of him helping the village feels a little at odds with the other information that she knows, so it's hard to reconcile the man who tortured Sasuke and the one who helped save him and the village. She can't help but feel like it might be hypocritical to judge Itachi's actions while giving Sasuke a pass on his own destructive behavior. Even if she's used some of that behavior to justify Sasuke's actions. It's confusing. ]

You certainly are brothers...

[ She lets out a sigh, it's not much to go on, but at least it's said with fondness. ]

So now that you're stuck here, has anyone explained things to you?