October 2018 Test Drive Meme

[sodder]

OCTOBER 2018 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to October’s Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: HALLOWEEN 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.

CW: Wet and rotting corpses/zombies, ghosts, violence, blood, knives, possessed dolls, options for underage drinking

Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF HOCUS POCUS

It’s not Halloween if you don’t make a trip to a cheesy haunted house. At least, that’s what everyone in Deerington likes to say. The old Victorian stands at the top of a hill, rickety and in desperate need of a new paint job. The yard and porch have been decorated with what you’d expect for your typical haunted house; fake spider webs spread across the overhang, painted foam grave markers with cheesy names like “Here lies Richard Cranium” and “BEWARE!!” in creepy letter etchings. You can see the blinking of variously timed strobe lights in some windows and the shadow of what you’re pretty sure is a full-sized doll standing in the window, meant to look like someone staring out at you. The rocking chair on the porch near the door has a skeleton with a bowl of candy in his lap, and a sign is propped up against the wall next to him.

“ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. TOUCH NOTHING AND NOTHING WILL TOUCH YOU!”

Well that sounds promising.

The first few rooms you enter are appropriately cheesy. There’s the silly burst of air that you hear just before a plastic figuring pops out of a poorly constructed coffin, the clicking sound of the machinery inside echoing in the room when it starts to pull back and the lid closes once again. There’s fog machines trying to give the appropriately spooky air, stuffed sheets shaped to look like dead bodies wrapped up laying in piles on the floor with fake blood staining the white fabric, black lighting to show off words scribbled on doors like “TURN BACK NOW” and “SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.” Nothing you haven’t seen before. It might be even worse than things you’ve seen before, over the top cheesy, boring enough to give a yawn. Each door seems to open on its own so you don’t even have to touch the handles.

As you make your way through the next automatic door, the room you walk into is different than those before it. It’s a regular children’s room. A bed against the wall near the window, a dresser in the corner, a small desk with a chair. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for the lights not being on, and the strange flickering light in the closet. You step towards it, figuring you’re in for another jump scare, but the door doesn’t open. Whether you’re naturally the curious sort or not, something in the back of your mind makes you want to open the door and see what’s on the inside.

If you fight it and walk towards the next automatic door, you’ll find you’ve walked out to the backyard of the house, those same foam decorations and a dozen or more jack o’ lanterns lighting your way on a path back to the town.

If you choose to pull the door open, however, it’ll take you into yet another room, with a flickering television playing nothing but static. Once you step past the doors of the closet, they slam shut behind you and whoever else dared to enter. The doors won’t lock no matter what you do, no matter how strong the person shaking the handles or pushing against the wood may be. You realize you broke the one rule; you’ve touched something. But can things now really touch you?

The only light source in the whole room is that television and it’s not lighting up much inside the room around it. If you squint when the TV is at its brightest setting, you can just make out another door. Your exit, you hope. But as you make your way towards the door, the flickering suddenly stops, the TV steadily bright, a low humming noise coming from the screen, and suddenly the door seems several more feet away from you than it was a second ago. Before you can reach the door, there’s the sound of trickling water from behind you. If you choose to look back, you’ll see something coming out from the screen - a girl with soaked clothing and pale, rotted skin. She emerges fully from the glass and starts to move towards you. You know it’s best to start running for that door. If you stay and try to fight, you’ll find that no regular weapons work on her, though special weapons and powers that are effective against spirits will definitely do the trick. For those who don’t have any of these at their disposal, however, there is one more hope besides just trying to run; two old school VHS tape sit on the table near by, a fancy machine between them that is meant to copy one to the other. Work as a team and have one distract her while the other records, and you’ll find that she disappears as quickly as she flickered on the screen and the TV will return to static.

Regardless of what you choose before carrying on, the next room you come to as the door slams and locks behind you is entirely different. Brightly lit and filled with what seems like hundreds of porcelain dolls, it’s almost hard to tell where there could possibly be another exit hidden among the massive shelves. You can start to wind your way through them, but before long, you start to hear the sound of running feet, the jingling of bells, the swish of satin, and most eerily the sounds of children giggling - but there’s nothing that sounds save about them. Some of the dolls you saw on the last shelf seem like they’ve moved and are sitting in the corner or laying in a new position on a new shelf. Sometimes you swear you can see their heads turn to watch you pass, but it has to be a trick of the light, doesn’t it?

That is until one of those dolls runs by you, brandishing something shiny in their hands - something sharp. A knife, you realize too late, as it tries to slice at your legs and knock you down. You can kick them away and they’ll go flying, and when the porcelain smashes, the doll will scream in agony. You notice there’s blood pouring from the hole that formed, spreading quickly across the ground. The dolls are easy to kill, but are they really just dolls? You can take your time to contemplate that later, as now you have to fight your way through the violent and armed toys to reach the door at the end of the maze of shelves. Hopefully you can get out without too many severe injuries.

When (or if) you do manage to get to the next room, you seem to have a chance to take a breath and tend to any wounds. It’s decorated like the room of a small cottage, a large pot over the fireplace that isn’t lit, and several jars full of (possibly rotting) food and herbs on the shelves. You see a book on the stand in the center, latched shut and covered in dust. You can open it, if you want, but remember the warning you ignored that got you in trouble in the first place. It’s probably better to carry on to the next room.

If you do choose to open the book, though, there will be eerily glowing text lining the pages, the light will seem to poor out and fill the room, and you’ll be transported back out in front of the house.

Those who continued through the door will find themselves out in the backyard. Just like for those who got out sooner, there are dozens of jack o lanterns, but the graves don’t look like they’re made of foam this time. They’re real stone, engraved with real names and real dates this time. And the ground underneath them seems to be moving, like someone’s trying to crawl out of there. Better not to wait around. Soon as you start to move down the path, you’ll start to hear the sounds of groans as the undead start to crawl from their own graves, pulling themselves up through the dirt, and determined to get to the only food source they see - you. The zombies seem like they’re never ending, coming from every inch of the yard, but at least they’re just like normal zombies - completely incapable of being killed unless you cut off the head. There are shovels lying next to a few graves if you need a quick weapon, but there’s also still always the option to run as fast as you can up the stone path to the front of the house and back towards the street.

When you do finally manage to get back to the front, there’s a momentary blinding flash of light, disorienting anyone near it for a few seconds. When it finally fades, any leftover zombies chasing you have disappeared and the house looks like the same, cheesy haunted house you walked up to in the first place. If for some reason you decide to go and explore the backyard again, the grass will be back to normal, and the graves will all be replaced by cheaply painted foam once more.

Was that all in your head? Who knows. But maybe it’s best to just get out of here.

WE DID THE MASH

Somehow the street lamps have all been converted to oil based flames, the Authority are in witch hats, and every where you go there is music that seems to be playing from faintly glowing bats hanging upside down from telephone wires. The bats will open their mouths in succession, seeming somehow capable of producing the sounds of instruments and singers alike of popular Halloween songs.

Yards are decorated as thoroughly as the front of stores. Maybe you haven't bothered to decorate, but your neighbor sure has! Fake gravestones are propped up in yards, giant fake spiders in trees, and no matter where you walk, the ground seems covered in thick, rolling fog from machines. Or at least you hope it's coming from machines. Hell, you can't even find it in yourself to be too worried! Everyone around you is having way too good of a time! And God, there is food everywhere! Might as well grab a bite while you're out, huh?

It's tempting to break loose and dance. Jack-O-Lanterns absolutely crowd the streets. There's more than you can even begin to count, and all of them are lit all throughout the night. Even if you accidentally trip over some, they don't seem to catch fire to anything or go out! Some neighbors have camp fires set up with marshmallows to roast, while others have...are those broomsticks? Well that's kinda cool, you guess. Correction: it's really cool since you can actually pick one up and take it for a fly! Make sure to attach a little lamp to the front though because God knows it's dangerous flying at night. The brooms only work if you wear the appropriately provided hats, of course, but you can keep both the broom and hat indefinitely and have a readily available means of flight in Deerington after! Be forewarned though: the brooms are as easily broken as regular brooms and the hats easily blown away in the wind.

TRICK OR TREATS

At any of the events, especially the nighttime partying, you can find any number of the following treats (and their potential side effects):

Donuts (Will make you deliriously happy. Everything is amazing to you. May cause a lot of affection. A lot of affection.)
Candy Apples (You will eagerly tell someone everything you like about them. Talk about a sweet tooth.)
Candy Corn (Will make you extremely sad. Like god, you'll be wondering why you hate yourself so much.)
Pumpkin Spice Lattes (Causes suspicious amounts of obedience and a desire to do what you're told.)
Hot Chocolate (Can provide some minor healing. Best stuff to drink with a common cold!)
Hot or Cold Apple Cider (Nothing will happen. It's just really good.)
Alcoholic Cider (This isn't your grandma's apple cider. This stuff will knock you on your ass. Anyone who drinks this will get wasted regardless of whether or not they are immune to alcohol or even ingest regular food. It only takes one or two before you start to get tipsy, but any more than that and you'll be well on your way to drunk. Please drink responsibly. We don't need any FUIs.)

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.

Comments

lance | voltron: legendary defender | season 7 spoilers

[azurestar]

i. arrival.

[Surreal deer nightmares aren't a normal sort of dream for Lance. Normally his nightmares consist of the stuff your average teenager fighting an alien war in space would be concerned about. You know, like getting blown out of an airlock and dying a painful death in the vaccum of space: normal everyday nightmares. But even he's astute enough to realize that the weird deer dream was probably more than a dream and has something to do with why he's no longer on his lion making his way back to Earth with the rest of the paladins.

He woke up in a strange house that looks like it belongs somewhere on earth like a century ago, and after a short little panic of where the hell am I, ventured out onto the street to find... a regular, though albeit spooky looking old town. He lingers in the front door, looking around the neighborhood for any kind of familiar face. Or the first face he can find, would suffice well enough too. This feels too real to be a dream, but it can't be anything else, can it? The fever dream with that guy Bob felt pretty real at the time too.

Wait-] Oh, hold the phone! This isn't that Bob guy again, is it? [He says it outloud to himself, but notices a second later that someone just entered within earshot nearby and he steps out onto the sidewalk with more purpose.] Hey! Where are we? Please tell me this isn't about to turn into a game show set or something.

ii. seven days...

[Lance hasn't been in deerington long now, just caught the haunted red-eye that morning (if the term 'morning' even means anything here), and he's about to get a taste of the weirdness this place has to offer. So far, he doesn't think it's all that bad. It actually seems pretty fun? He always liked halloween back home, so this is a nice nostalgic walk for him. Going into a haunted house with his siblings was one of his favorite things to do at that time of year. And that thought has him pretty homesick again, but he ignores it with a sigh and decides to enter the haunted house and see what's going on inside.

It seems benign for the most part, the rooms are pretty cheesy as he passes them, but it's the closet door that has his attention the most. Of course, he failed to pay attention to warnings about not touching anything and his natural tactile curiosity kicks in as usual and he reaches to open it. Whoever has caught up with him and joined him by this moment is welcome to try and stop him, but it'll be too late.]

Oh hey, check it out. [Once the door is open and they see the static TV set, he walks inside confidently placing his hands on his hips.] See, it's just a broken old TV, nothing to worry ab- [That's when the door locks behind them.] ... -out. Oh, quiznack.

iii. fly my pretties.

[After shaking off the very real scares of the haunted house, Lance is glad to see some stuff that looks genuinely fun going on in the streets that he's more than happy to go and immerse himself in. Though, he has his guard up after the surprises of the house, he won't for very long. After trying one of pumpkin spice lattes, Lance finds himself contemplating a broom in one of his hands and the witch's hat in the other.]

To fly, or not to fly... [He squints at the hat, skeptical of the whole situation and also if that crime against fashion is really worth it. So far, nobody has told him to do anything so the effects of the latte he just drank are unknown to him. But he does feel strangely ready to obey anyone right now deep in his gut and he thinks that's a little odd. He'll turn to the person standing next to him for their opinion.]

Okay, be honest. Everyone looks totally lame in this hat, right?

iv. candy disasters.

[At some point in the festivities Lance will have tried a candy apple and the candy corn at the same time. The result is a very depressed looking Lance sitting by a campfire while trying to cheer himself up with a hot cider and poking morosely at a row of several pumpkins he's gathered nearby. He's telling each of the pumpkins everything he thinks is amazing about them, both as pumpkins and as the stand-ins for his family members.]

You're so awesome, Luis. [He says as he pats the top of the pumpkin closest to him.] Nadia and Sylvio are the best kids ever.

[If you choose to come sit next to him, he'll automatically shift his attentions onto you, praising you even if you literally just met in this very moment.] Oh man, you're also great. So so great. There... there are so many great people in my life. [Emotionally, he covers his face with his hand and sniffles.]

v. wildcard!

[Hit me up with anything you like! PM or private plurk at spypigeon if you have questions etc.!]

i. arrival | HELLO

[shiro2hero]

[Just another day in Deerington. Get up and head out, if you're not working, you start patrolling the streets. Just in case someone out there is someone you know, and just in case things have changed for the worse. It's happened before. Like with the squids and the fog.]

[So, wrapped up in an oversize sweatshirt, still sporting the bandage across his face, Shiro heads out. He doesn't expect much, hopefully it's a quiet day--]

... Lance?

[Either his ears are playing tricks on him, or that's his teammate, his friend, yelling at some local. A few steps later, there's no mistaking it.]

Lance!

hiya!

[azurestar]

[Lance turns at the sound of his name coming from a familiar voice. The local takes that opportunity to slip away, looking at Lance oddly for asking weird questions about game show sets. That's just fine with him, because holy crow, he's not alone here in the very least. Immediately, he brightens.]

Shiro! [He heads in his direction to meet him halfway and his brows draw togetheri n concern when he gets close enough to see the bandage on Shiro's face.] Hey man, are you okay?

[shiro2hero]

[Lance stops, and Shiro doesn't. He takes a few more steps, clasping his hands on Lance's shoulders. He'd go for a full-on, "I'm so glad to see you" hug here, but that might be too sudden.]

I'm fine -- I'm just glad to see you.

[It's been literally months for him, buddy.]

[azurestar]

[Lance blinks in some small surprise, but doesn't think it's too weird for Shiro to be this glad to see him. He was just excited to see Shiro too, but something tells him it's not for the same reasons.]

Yeah? I mean I'm glad to see you too, it's just... [He looks around them at the town and leans forward a little bit, lowering his voice like they're being spied on. He's bad at whispering though.] Where are we?

[shiro2hero]

It’s...

Where did you wake up? We should talk there.

[Because there’s too much to say, too much to explain and the locals staring at you from across the road never stops being unnerving. They stare enough when he’s at work in short sleeves.]

Allura, Keith and Krolia are here too. [He pauses.] Keith’s mother. [Said by way of explanation. Just in case that hasn’t come up for Lance. It sure hadn’t yet for him, before he’d met the woman in person.]

It’ll be easier to explain everything off the street.

[azurestar]

[Belatedly, Lance realizes something as Shiro is talking. He was so distracted by the concern over the bandage on his face, that he didn't see his hair is back to it's two-toned black and white and he has two hands. Instead of flipping out, though, Lance just looks more perplexed and concerned.

He looks over to the house he'd just stepped out of and gestures to it.] I woke up in there. [He rubs the back of his neck, looking deep in consideration at the building, then over at Shiro again.]

And I've met Keith's mom, you were there when I did. [sort of. He frowns slightly, looking Shiro over. Then he sighs and starts heading over to the door with slumped shoulders, waving Shiro to follow.] Jeeze, I got like a million questions, might as well get inside already.

[shiro2hero]

All right, back we go.

[There's the basket thing they need to find, for starters. They've got to figure out the whole timeline thing -- if it's messed up for Allura, for Keith, then, why would it be any different here? Why would their luck be any better?]

I... was? [Well, that did explain how Krolia knew him on sight. But he'd chalked that up to Keith more than anything.] I'll answer as much as I can, but I can't promise it's going to make a lot of sense, either.

[Once they're inside, and he can close the door, some of the tension in his shoulders eases out.]

The town's called "Deerington", for starters. And nothing here is as normal as it looks.

[azurestar]

[Lance glances over at the closed door, more than a little bothered by Shiro's apparent loss of that memory of meeting Krolia, even guarded and on edge. And his eyes keep darting around Shiro's general appearance as he crosses his arms and faces him inside the house.]

Well that sort of explains the weird deer dream I had... if that was a dream. [He's tense, though and decides to backtrack a little back to the matter of Shiro's memory.] But why don't you remember meeting Krolia?

[He holds back the more obvious concern of 'why do you have an arm again and why did your hair go back to oreo-colored'. This Shiro could be another clone or something, and he doesn't know what he should and shouldn't say. Even if Shiro hadn't gotten that memory from his clone when Allura "combined" them yet, Krolia had been traveling with them not too long ago.]

[shiro2hero]

Everyone has one. I'm not so sure they're a dream anymore.

[When this many people have the same dream? Or a similar one? It's probably not a coincidence.]

[Lance's question has him blowing out a breath, hanging his head a bit. This is going to be hard to answer. And not for the reasons Lance is thinking. At least he's already been through this with Allura.]

Because the last thing I remember is you, Pidge and I on the mission to pick up Slav. [He looks up, then, meeting his teammate's eyes. Tired and honest. There's no deception there -- even though he knows how wild this sounds.] We just left, and... then I woke up here.

I don't know how. I don't know why. But I've been here for months. And I'm going to guess you just saw me.

[azurestar]

[Lance's eyebrows go up at that explanation, and combined with the expression on Shiro's face as he speaks, his instinct is to believe that and so he does. Also, their recent adventures with time shenanigans makes it so that Shiro being from a different point in their timeline isn't that weird to him, though the science part he still doesn't get.]

Oh, like time slippage. [His hand goes up to his chin as he concentrates on remembering what he understood of Pidge's explanation.] It's probably a totally different situation here, but yeah it's not as weird as I would've thought like several months ago.

[He visibly relaxes and uncrosses his arms with a sigh. Okay, this is their Shiro, just from an earlier point in time.] That's such a relief. I mean, yeah I just saw you like yesterday from my perspective, but that was future you. Tooootally different guy.

[shiro2hero]

[Well. That takes him aback, a bit. And not in a bad way. Lance accepted that a lot easier than he expected him to. Thankfully. He lets out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, pushing a hand through his hair.]

Yeah, close enough, man. [A brief, weary smile.] Close enough.

[A smile that fades as soon as Lance continues on. He actually grimaces. Allura said he'd ... chewed Lance out for some reason. That he'd suddenly been more snappish. More controlling. He's still trying to figure out why that would be.]

Allura mentioned a few things. [Namely just the sudden change in attitude.] But yeah, that's about what I figured. She and Keith said about the same thing.

First though -- did you find a basket when you woke up? [They can talk about timelines later. Once they're sure the arrival things are handled.]

[azurestar]

[Lance looks puzzled for a moment since he hadn't meant that Shiro from his point in time was a literally different guy, and definitely not in a bad way. He's back to normal Shiro, but still recovering, so... different, but better. He's not sure what to tell him about all that right now, or if he should tell him anything, so he doesn't pursue the subject, just offers him a small, encouraging smile.

But the basket question gives him pause, as he tries to recall.] Uh, no. I didn't. But I didn't exactly look around the house much. [He brightens a little as a possibility occurs to him.] Ooooh, is it like a gift basket?

[He's aware the notion is on the preposterous side, but says it anyway just for the sake of lightening the mood since Shiro's seemed weary as heck throughout this whole conversation. Tryna help him in his usual Lance way.]

ii - hey stranger!

[princessences]

[ The real accomplishment here is that Allura hasn't punched out everything that's jumped out at them. Except they're not supposed to touch anything, so she's been on her best behavior. Mostly. She understands the desire to seek thrills, but seeking out horrors, specifically, is a little heavy on the side of odd.

Lance had been excited, though, so there they are. Of course he would be the first one to break the rules. ]

Lance, they asked us not to--

[ Welp. Too late for that. She frowns as she follows him inside. ]

--not to touch anything. We're supposed to stay on the path.

[ And then the door slams. ]

...

[ The looks she gives him says more than words ever will. ]

hey u! :3

[azurestar]

[Lance looks over at Allura, already fearful of the look he knows she's gonna be giving him. He'd just wanted to explore a haunted house for the first time in years and sharing it with Allura made him even more excited. And as expected, her gaze could kill him on the spot and a small squeak escapes him.]

Don't worry, I'll find us a way out. [He tries to reassure, waving his hands in front of him placatingly before he starts to pull on the door that just shut behind them. He puts his whole body into it, bracing his feet on the wall as he does, but there's not even a tiny budge, and he falls down on his ass.] Oh maaan.

[He gets up onto his feet and starts pushing his body into the middle of the door instead of pulling.] Ugh! [He slams his forehead into the door in frustration when that quickly proves to be pointless as well.]

i'm happy to see you found us!

[princessences]

[ Had it been Earth--you know, regular, not dream-world confusing Earth--Allura might be more understanding. But she has been in Deerington for several phoebs now and knows better than to assume that things will ever go as planned. She isn't surprised that the door doesn't budge, but she didn't really want her fears confirmed, either. ]

Lance! Please, hold on a moment.

[ Now she has to make sure he doesn't give himself a concussion. Hands quickly on his shoulders, she tugs him backwards. ]

Allow me.

[ She is the buff Altean, here. Once she makes sure Lance is not in the line of fire, Allura gets right down to business and delivers a heavy punch to the door.

Nothing.

She sighs. ]

Forcing our way out of here isn't an option. There's likely some sort of puzzle or unseen requirement we need to fulfill.

indeed i did! \o/

[azurestar]

[He steps back at her urging and watches as she punches the door, mouth forming a small 'o'. When the door doesn't fall down to her strength, he knows it's hopeless and his shoulders slump in defeat.] Aw maaan.

[Then Allura mentions a puzzle and that doesn't really lift his spirits at all.] Seriously? I'm terrible at puzzles!

[He opens his mouth to elaborate on just how bad he is at puzzles and how much he loathes them, when he notices another door on the other side of the room, hard to spot in the dim light. But almost immediately after he sees it, there's the unsettling sound of trickling water and his attention is pulled to the static television. A moment later, the mottled and rotting hand of a creepy little girl starts clawing out of the screen.]

Oh no. No nononono. That is NOT happening. [His hands come up to his head as he seems to try and will this to be a hallucination.] Allura, please tell me that the creepy little girl isn't crawling out of the TV to suck our souls out of our faces right now.

welcome to the monster mash!

[princessences]

[ Allura nods, crossing her arms. ]

We've encountered several...unconventional situations with equally unconventional solutions. This place doesn't operate on the same linear cause and effect that we're used to.

[ It's less an attempt to placate and more to try and help Lance come to grips with the situation. it isn't a nice one nor something she wishes on any of her friends or teammates, but the quicker he accepts the reality they're stuck in, the safer they will be. She should have just refused this haunted house all together. That's her fault.

Allura does hear the faint sound of water, but it's Lance's reaction that draws her attention back towards the television. ]

What?

[ Ah.

Lance.

She has some bad news...

She cringes and takes a step back. ]

...I'm not sure if it's our souls that she's after, but she is definitely coming out of the television.

[ Which is, decidedly, not good. The girl seems...wet as well, drips of water coming out of the set and pooling on the ground before it. ]

Is this of Earth!?

it was a graveyard smash /o/

[azurestar]

[Samara is now halfway out, her arms and body moving in disturbing and squelching wet jerks and Lance backs up instinctively.] Yeah, but only in movies!

[He looks around the room desperately for a clue on what to do. He saw a movie kinda like this a long time ago and couldn't sleep for a month. So he never got around to seeing the sequel, but he knows the basics: cursed video tape, and creepy girl from the well kills you if she catches you and you look like a contorted mummy.]

You can explain the weird linear whatevers about this place later, cause if that's who I think it is and she catches us, we die horribly and painfully. [His voice is trembling a little as old childhood fears start bubbling up from his subconscious. The girl is now completely out of the TV and slowly standing up to walk towards them. He makes a very undignified squeak and then starts waving his arms at her to get her attention.] I'll distract her while you figure out how to escape!

[princessences]

[ Whatever this girl is, it's clearly not good. ]

Movies?!

[ Of course...if this is really a reality of dreams, then theoretically anything is possible. ]

Hold on!

[ Allura backs away, grabbing Lance's shoulder and pulling him with her. Keep some distance between them and the monster girl for a moment. ]

I will do what I can, but how did the protagonist defeat her in the movie?

[azurestar]

[The slow and jerky approach of the girl in the well freaked him out when he watched the movie, but in this moment, he's glad for it because they have time to figure this out. Now if only he had a helpful answer to her question.

His eyes remain glued to Samara as he fumbles for a way to tell Allura they're probably screwed.] She just made a copy of the cursed video tape the ghost girl came from. For some reason that-

[He looks over to see the out-dated tech needed to make a copy on the table near the television.] There! [He points to it, but the girl is now standing between them and the tape copying set-up and getting closer.]

[princessences]

[ If she hadn't already seen some strange VCR/VHS contraptions in her stay, Allura would have been horribly confused. Really, who recorded anything on reels anymore? Earth couldn't have been that far behind, could it have been? But that's a conversation for another time. Her eyes immediately snap to where he's pointing. ]

Right!

[ Make a copy of the tape while a monster tries to eat or do who knows what to her friend?

No problem. Except for the girl standing between them and the tape. ]

Go to the left and I'll go the right!

[ She's bound to follow one of them. ]

[azurestar]

[Lance nods and hops into action, leaping to the left and waving his arms to try and get the attention of the ghost. As scared as he is of the creepy girl from the movie that gave him nightmares as a child, he'd rather be the one she chases over Allura, or any of his other friends for that matter.

Luckily, or unluckily, depending on your outlook, Samara sets her sights on Lance and jerkily flickers her way over to him. In a moment she's suddenly much closer than she was before and he yelps.] AHH! I forgot she could do that!

[He nearly falls over in his surprise, but the memory of how that is exactly how one of the characters in the movie died helps keep him on his feet, though he does stumble into a wall. He then hops away from the wall and starts walking backwards trying to keep pace with the creepy little girl so he doesn't run out of space to run.]

lance was right, the ladies do love him

[princessences]

[ Allura jumps to the right and is left unattended. It isn't a good situation either way, but with the monster girl distracted, Allura takes her role readily and goes for the recorder and cassette. Lance's shout brings her a moment of pause as she looks worriedly over her shoulder, but he's back on his feet.

This really is a ticking clock. "Dying horribly and painfully" isn't what they signed up for.

Turning her attention back to the contraption, she finds that it has two compartments and a series of small, unimpressive buttons. Poking her finger through one of the plastic flaps, she sees a cassette already in place. Right. There are a few stacked on the table and she just grabs one at random and shoves it in the next compartment.

Right. Okay.

Now record.








What is record? There are just some symbols and shapes. ]

Which button begins the recording process?!

[ Allura spares a quick look in Lance's direction and pushes a button at random.

She pushed "fast forward". ]

SOB. he doesn't want this lady!

[azurestar]

[Lance can't see what button she pushed, his gaze locked on his soon to be killer, but he hears Allura and tries to wrack his brain for the right answer. This is such an old movie, humans haven't used tech with those old analog symbols since before he was born.]

Uhhh! I think it's the red circle! [He dares to shut his eyes for a moment to envision that part of the movie and other old vintage films he saw that featured tape recorders, then snaps them open as the sound of wet squelching feet gets too close for comfort.]

Y-Yeah! It's the circle! IT'S THE CIRCLE! [He stumbles back again in a fit of panic and Samara warps closer once again, she could reach out and touch him with a couple more steps.]