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

[familiarnightmares]

[ WE LIKE HIM. HE'S FUNNY. ]

He's one of those friends that you just can't seem to get rid of, so, you know. Good and bad.

[ RUDE, EDDIE. ]

It's a joke. Relax.

[oversight]

[ There's literally no one else around and John's not sure what the hell is going on, but he already doesn't really care what the hell is going on because those donuts are telling him this conversation's totally amazing.

Good thing he's still go his detective brain, though, because he's still got some questions, most of which he's generating despite the urge to just throw an arm around Eddie and show him around town. ]

Is that friend invisible? Or, uh... in your head, maybe? [ A smile and a vague gesture at his own ears — he's not hearing what Brock is, obviously. ] 'Cause I've got nothin'.

[familiarnightmares]

[ CAN WE...? IT WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN. ]

No.

[ BUT WHY NOT. IT WOULD BE HILARIOUS. ]

No terrorizing the locals.

[ NOT EVEN A LITTLE...? WHAT IF WE AREN'T TERRORIZING. WE PROMISE. ]

I don't actually think you're capable of that.

[ YOU'RE NO FUN. ]

He's a parasite, technically. An alien parasite. He wants to say hello but I...don't really think that's a great idea.

[oversight]

Eat a couple more donuts and you'll change your mind. Anyway, when you say 'terrorize the locals,' you gotta remember we're all livin' in a goddamn nightmare already, so...

[ Your milage may vary, that's all. And horrific to one person might be child's play to another. ]

Can I meet your friend now?

[familiarnightmares]

[ He smiles, sudden and sharp, because Eddie is reasonably sure nothing here can really compare to Venom.

Who knows though, really. It's not like he's been here all that long. ]

You're serious.

[oversight]

As a heart attack.

[ Sober nod. And then a smile and a laugh - he's waving that off. ]

Actually, I'm a pretty funny guy. Or, I think I am.

[ And then, a more sober look again. ]

But, no, really. Can I? Promise I won't be weird...er.

[familiarnightmares]

Isn't that what everyone says?

[ But he's more amused than critical, so there's that.

COME ON, EDDIE. INDULGE THE FUNNY MAN. MAYBE HE'LL SCREAM LIKE A LITTLE GIRL. IT'LL BE FUNNY. ]

Man, that's not even... Why do you have to be like that.

[ Then, to Blake: ]

Okay. Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you, you freak out on me that's on you.

[ Venom doesn't need any more encouragement; it's as good as an invitation, and with that he seeps out, flowing over skin and fabric to engulf Eddie completely, ending in a set of too-sharp teeth closing over his head, and then it's just Venom. Well. Mostly Venom. ]

HELLO BLAKE.

[oversight]

[ He does not, in fact, scream like a girl. But he is looking a little... affronted. Leaning back a bit, he squints at Venom. Well. Mostly Venom. ]

Well, I mean, you're big.

[ Much bigger than Blake who is already remarkably short compared to a lot of Deerington. But honestly, he's gone face to face with the grinning maw of a sixteen foot long albino crocodile (and lost), so he fact that this mouthy, eye-spotty, tongue-y bastard offers salutations instead of death rolls already has things going in a more positive direction.

The donuts really help, though (and surely Blake will have every sense to be particularly unsettled later when the affection for all things wears off). ]

Seems like you respect some boundaries.

[ Eddie's boundaries apparently. Blake doesn't fail to notice it's been a conversation (of which he could only hear one side) that's brought them to this moment, and clearly not this guy taking over whenever. ]

You're symbiotic, too?

[familiarnightmares]

EDDIE'S, YES.

[ Inflection and body language, however, imply that it's about the only set of boundaries he cares anything about. He tilts his head, regarding Blake closely; the man seems uneasy, but not overly so. Certainly not as much as he would have expected, considering the magnitude of Eddie's reaction at the beginning. Or Anne's, for that matter, or any one of the handfuls of humans he's encountered so far. It makes him curious more than anything else, stalls whatever other reaction he might have had, so he keeps to conversation for now instead of intimidation. ]

AND YOU COULD CALL US THAT. HE FEEDS US, WE KEEP HIM SAFE.

[oversight]

What's he do?

[ Yep, this totally just turned into a conversation about Eddie because who better to dish than his parasitic, symbiotic pal? ]

[familiarnightmares]

[ The eye spots narrow, critical and suspicious of the question. ]

COMPLAINS, MOSTLY. WHAT IS IT ANY CONCERN OF YOURS.

[oversight]

[ Buuuuuurn. Blake was not expecting that and he laughs, quickly raising a hand to cover his mouth. Sorry, that was pretty funny. ]

Well, that's just how you get to know a person. The pleasantries, that's all. What d'you do, where're you from, what's your favorite color... And so on.

[ And then, as if to illustrate, his hand drops to his chest and he pats himself. ]

Barista, Gotham, blue.

[familiarnightmares]

BUT YOU ARE ASKING US, NOT EDDIE. SOUNDS LAME.

[ Eddie liked to talk about stupid things. About pleasantries. Venom liked to talk about food and killing things. ]

[oversight]

Okay, maybe. [ He's secure enough to admit he's occasionally lame, it's fine. Instead, he crosses his arms and leans in a bit, giving Venom a little nose scrunch for that comment. ] Then what d'you do, where're you from, and what's your favorite color? Or should I ask Eddie that instead?

[familiarnightmares]

WE ARE FROM KLYNTAR. WE ARE A RACE OF CONQUERORS AND INVADERS, AND WE DO NOT HAVE A FAVORITE COLOR.

[ Which is more than he's told Eddie about so far; not advisable, probably, it will only make Eddie ask more questions, and he is absolutely insufferable about questions. Not that it's not more than he already suspects, only a name for the place and confirmation of the purpose, but there's more to it than that. It's more complicated.

He can feel Eddie questioning already, the metaphorical ears perking up.

LATER. ]

[oversight]

[ Oh, god, he's going to get caught up on stupid shit here. It's the donuts. ]

How can you not have a favorite color? Like, you don't got an opinion or you don't see color or...? You're allowed to have opinions, right?

[ Hey, a guy's gotta ask. It sure seems like Eddie and Venom both have opinions, but at what level do they control each other? Or don't they? John has so many questions but suddenly all he gives a shit about is determining if this alien (otherwise terrifying and intimidating) is being granted enough agency. ]

[familiarnightmares]

WE DON'T SEE THE POINT. EDDIE HAS A FAVORITE COLOR. IT'S GREEN. WE DON'T, BECAUSE THAT'S LAME.

[ Well that was completely unnecessary. It's a game, man, not a political debate, just play the game.

Venom sighs, although it sounds more like the irritated rumble of a large predatory animal. He doesn't exactly roll his eyes, because that would require having pupils and not eye spots, but his head does roll back and his shoulders slump a little, and the gesture's clear enough as an eye roll in all but eyes. ]

FINE. WE WILL PLAY. IF WE HAD TO CHOOSE, RED. THE COLOR OF HUMAN BLOOD.

[oversight]

That's really sentimental of you.

[ Blake is too taken by that (thanks to the donuts) and he makes a vague circular gesture at Venom. ]

Eddie gets a pass 'cause he's helpin' you out. And so you're not exterminatin' me 'cause he's tellin' you otherwise? Or what? Are you dreamin' 'cause he's dreamin'? What sorta stuff're you gettin' from the donuts, or is it just his body that's feelin' it?

[ So. Many. Questions. ]

[familiarnightmares]

YOU ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS TOO.

[ But Venom is Curious and Eddie seems to like the guy well enough, for some reason. Eddie wants him to answer, so Venom wants to answer to make Eddie happy. To make them both happy.

It's a vicious circle, this thing they have. Vicious and dangerous, but it is the best way. The old way. Worth the mess of mixing. ]

I'M NOT EATING YOU BECAUSE HE ASKED ME NOT TO, YES. YOU ARE LUCKY HE IS SO DELICATE THAT HE DOES NOT RELISH OUR HABITS OR ELSE WE WOULD HAVE OUR OWN KIND OF FUN. WE DO NOT DO EVERYTHING AT THE SAME TIME BUT I WOULD ASSUME WE ARE BOTH DREAMING. AND THE DONUTS ARE DELICIOUS, THEY MAKE US FEEL GOOD. EDDIE IS MORE SENSITIVE BUT WE CAN STILL FEEL IT TOO.

[oversight]

[ Oh, no! If you can't imagine, Blake is delighted to hear this. Just delighted. And as he turns, he grabs up and candy apple and holds it out like Vanna White, offering it up to Venom by the stick, positively the picture of innocence. ]

If you like the donuts, you should try this.

[ John hasn't had an apple himself, but he's seen plenty of people eating them. Enough to know they turn someone extremely complimentary. And considering Venom's basically just admitted to only holding back because Eddie's got a sensitive tummy, he's intensely curious to see what the treat might do to change the symbiote's opinion overall.

But then, in the interest of not springing this on anyone without explanation, he attempts to stay somewhat on Venom's good side by giving the low down: ]

You've got empathy, right? It'll make you feel a bit more of that. Like Eddie prob'ly feels all the time.

[familiarnightmares]

[ Venom has empathy, but only so much as it extends to Eddie, no more, no less. It's necessary for things to work the way they do, to muddy the two until they are one, and Eddie himself had ensured its progression. No parasitic methods, only true symbiosis. The host was too valuable for anything less. But everyone else was something else entirely, their value only worth what Eddie ascribed to them. Venom respected Anne for her actions and tenacity, and how far she had gone to help them, and Eddie still loved her, so they liked her. Dan was useful and Eddie liked him, so they tolerated him. Most everyone else was inconsequential.

Venom frowns in answer to Blake's suggestion, despite Eddie's probing curiosity at the idea.

It's not gonna kill you, buddy. ]

AND WHY WOULD WE WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT. HE FEELS ENOUGH LIKE THAT FOR THE BOTH OF US.

[ Just eat the apple. It's not Snow White, he's not an evil queen, it's just an apple. ]

YOU DO KNOW THAT'S A HUMAN STORY, RIGHT? WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR SILLY FAIRY TALES.

FINE. GIVE US THE STUPID APPLE.

[ And with that, he grabs the whole thing with a clawed hand and swallows it whole, crunching and slurping. ]

[oversight]

[ How do you know he's not an evil queen, Eddie? Hmmmmm? ]

Nice.

[ Said with the utmost glee. He cannot believe that just happened, honestly. Literally one of the most amazing things he's ever seen (according to the donuts). He is, of course, going to question his sanity over all of this later, but for now, he'll bask in the glow of having successfully drugged an alien. Hello, bucket list update! ]

So, how was it?

[familiarnightmares]

[ Venom swallows, considering the taste. Sweet, a little tart. Not entirely unpleasurable. Once it's down, something warmer blooms, something echoed through the connection. ]

GOOD. NOT LIKE CHOCOLATE, OR BRAINS, BUT GOOD.

[ A beat, considering it further, then: ]

WE LIKE THE CRUNCH, IT'S LIKE BONES BUT TASTES BETTER. AND STICKY, LIKE A CLOT BUT SWEET. WE LIKE SWEET.

[oversight]

[ Okay, gross but at least Venom sounds a little happy about it. ]

You like chocolate? [ He grins and hates himself for it. Dude was just talking about sweet clots and here you are chit-chatting about chocolate. ] That's really neat. Chocolate's my favorite kinda candy if I'm gonna have some. Dark chocolate.

How 'bout your friend? Can I talk to him again?

[ He's curious how the apple's treating Eddie. ]

[familiarnightmares]

WE LOVE CHOCOLATE.

[ Blake asks to talk to Eddie again, and Venom kind of huffs, a rumbling, almost purring kind of sound, before retreating. Viscous black goo retreats in a series of fluid movements, revealing Eddie's head first before seeping through skin and fabric, ending with a lingering, twisting tendril wrapped around his wrist before that finally sinks into skin too. ]

That is always such a neat feeling. Like being hugged by warm slime, but it's firmer. And more reassuring, like hot chocolate on a really cold day.

[ A beat, a moment to just kind of bask in it before he shifts his attention to Blake, only it's sharper now. More focused, but less too. He grins, roguish and warm. ]

You have nice eyes. They're kind and stern at the same time, it works. And you've got that kind of...bad ass, take charge thing going on? I'm sure a lot of people get really into that.