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

[paradoxpoint]

[Just going to watch the exchange with quiet interest because... Okay, it's not his first time seeing someone talk to themselves, but Eddie doesn't seem completely insane.

Yet.]

I mean just that. Takes about... half an hour? Sometimes a bit more? Bits of you start flaking off.

[He lifts his hand and twiddles his fingers.] Started with my fingertips. Soft tissue first. Ate the food pretty fast after that.

As for the apartment, if you woke up in it, it's yours, now. Whoever's trapped us here, they're 'nice' enough to provide some form of housing to start with.

[familiarnightmares]

[ He's not insane. He absolutely looks it, but he's not insane. ]

Because that's not fucked up or anything. I thought they wanted us here for something, what's the point in making us fade away like that? Seems like a pretty shitty incentive.

[ But at least they get housing! Hooray. ]

[paradoxpoint]

They make a point of providing us with the food. Which they wouldn't've done if they expected us to just die immediately.

[Just saying.]

Might wanna head back to where you woke up and find the basket. Should have your ID card and keys there, too.

[Seriously, though. Why didn't you check the basket first, sir.

... Muses the guy who refused to eat the food until he was practically dragged back to his place to keep from disintegrating into nothing]

[familiarnightmares]

And I guess it makes a good incentive if you don't want to die.

[ And a pretty shitty situation all around in general.

WHOEVER DID THIS IS GOING TO PAY. ]

Once we figure this out, yeah.

[ And then, back to Arthur: ]

Great. Perfect. Last thing we'd want to do is turn into dandruff before we've even gotten the chance to enjoy the scenery.

[ But he's going, because yeah. He might be feeling glib right now but he's not an idiot. ]

[paradoxpoint]

[You don't mind if Arthur falls in step with you, do you?

Because he's going to walk along with Eddie for a bit, intrigued by this American Eames lookalike and his private mutters.]

You should see the place when there are ghosts on the streets. So. What's your story?

[familiarnightmares]

[ He's not exactly in a place to argue and Venom's curious enough not to try to scare the guy off, so Eddie doesn't even protest when Arthur follows.

The comment gets a raised eyebrow and some curious rumbling from Venom which he promptly ignores for the moment. Ghosts. Yeah, right. ]

I'm Eddie Brock. I was an investigative reporter, now I've got a parasite.

[ STOP CALLING US THAT. ]

Shut up, I don't mean it like that.

So I know I probably look crazy, but I'm not.

[paradoxpoint]

... You talk to yourself because of a bug?

[familiarnightmares]

[ ...yeah Eddie knows as soon as Arthur says it that it's not going to go well.

WE ARE NOT A BUG, Venom growls, pushing forward in annoyance. Eddie's got a handle on it, they have an Understanding, more or less, but that doesn't mean there's not a flickering moment of the alien ooze monster underneath with sharp teeth. ]

Stop. He's not trying to insult you, so stop. He's helping.

[ A beat, a breath. ]

He doesn't like that word. That one or parasite. And I'm talking to it, not because of it. There's a difference.

[paradoxpoint]

... Okay. [That flicker was disturbing, sir. Really disturbing, but Arthur's poker face is his secret super power.]

You have a... parasitic but not actual parasite in you that... you talk to.

[Excuse him while he processes that. It's a lot.]

... How?

[familiarnightmares]

It's called a symbiote. It's...an alien? And it bonded to me. So yeah, we talk.

[ Yes, he knows how absolutely insane that sounds.

They turn the corner and he gestures towards a door. ]

I think it was this one.

[paradoxpoint]

[If Arthur hadn't already been exposed to some Kooky Shit here, he'd have a harder time believing you, Eddie.]

And how exactly did you end up with this... symbiote bonded to you? Are aliens normal in your world?

[He glances at the door but makes no move to enter - that would be rude, and it's now Eddie's home, after all.]

Heading in?

[familiarnightmares]

[ He nods, not that he seems entirely convinced of the idea; okay, sure, it might technically be his room now, but that doesn't mean it feels that way. Either way, he opens the door and steps inside before answering the actual question. ]

You can come in if you want. It's not like I've got anything good here.

[ It's accompanied by a chagrined kind of smile, but then he's more than half expecting Arthur to write him off as crazy and disappear anyway. ]

They're not normal, no. I got it by accident, believe it or not. Sticking my nose where it didn't really belong, tried to help, and just kind of. Made everything worse, actually, but hey. I made a friend, so, you know. There's that.

[ He picks through what's in the room while he talks, because if he doesn't look at the guy maybe it won't sound so stupid. He finds the letter, and the basket, goes through the food in it and sniffs at it appraisingly, like he's going to actually know if it's poisoned or not. ]

[paradoxpoint]

That's usually a bonus.

[Arthur might not be the best at making friends, but the few times he has in that kind of situation? It's been worth it.]

Does the symbiote have a name, or is it just... 'symbiote'?

[familiarnightmares]

[ The food seems edible, at least, so he takes a couple bites. ]

He calls himself Venom.

[paradoxpoint]

... I guess my next question should be about whether or not he himself has any venomous properties?

[At least Eddie seems normal enough. Despite the symbiote thing.]

[familiarnightmares]

No... Not that I know of anyway. Hey, why do you call yourself Venom?

[ WE LIKE HOW IT SOUNDS. IT SOUNDS REALLY BAD-ASS. ]

He thinks it sounds cool.

[ BAD ASS. THAT IS DIFFERENT THAN JUST "COOL". ]

Fine. I'm sorry, "bad ass".

[paradoxpoint]

[That... yeah, that's a surprisingly amusing reason to choose it, and Arthur does let a small smile slip. At least it's not mocking or accompanied with laughter that might cost him his head]

Makes sense. So is he just inside you all the time or... does he 'manifest' somehow?

[This is seriously starting to sound like a comic book.]

[familiarnightmares]

No, he's inside of me all the time. Although he can come out if he wants to.

[ And at that, Venom perks up a little more; Eddie can practically feel him grinning in anticipation.

CAN WE? ]

No. Absolutely not. We just met him and he seems pretty nice. Cool your heels. Wherever your heels are.

[ OUR HEELS ARE YOUR HEELS, EDDIE. ]

Shut up. That's not helpful. Also, kind of creepy.

[ STILL TRUE. ]

[paradoxpoint]

... Do I wanna know?

[familiarnightmares]

He likes meeting new people. Except he also likes eating new people, so. Kind of a toss-up.

[ NOW YOU'RE JUST BEING RUDE. ]

Is any part of that untrue. No? Then why are you arguing.

[paradoxpoint]

... How does that work? The eating, thing, when you're both kind of sharing a body...

[Because that sounds Questionable.]

[familiarnightmares]

If either of us eat it fuels the both of us, except he has pretty particular needs and eats a hell of a lot more than I do. Used to? I'm not exactly sure, I'm still getting used to it, let alone anything close to being able to explain it.

[paradoxpoint]

Sounds expensive.

[Since Eddie's eating for two. Without a husband/wife to support him.]

So when you say 'particular needs' while keeping in mind the part of eating people...?

[Eddie, are you a cannibal, or is it just Venom that likes a bit of long pork?]

[familiarnightmares]

[ He winces, implication or no. Yeah that's...less than ideal. ]

I don't know what exactly it is he needs, but...yeah. He needs to, uh. Eat people? Or, parts of people, anyway. Or chocolate, apparently. And if he doesn't, I get pretty sick.

[ A beat. ]

I don't eat people. That's...that's all him.

[paradoxpoint]

Okay... That's going to be a bit of a problem for you two, here.

[Cannibalism set aside for the moment, focusing more on violence against people.]

You can't attack innocents here without the Authority getting involved... They might let it slide if someone's broken the law and you're killing them for it, but... The Sleepers generally do their best not to break the rules. We're all walking on thin ice as is.

Can you substitute people for animals?