MAY 2018 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to May's Test Drive Meme! This is our first Test Drive ever so let's make it a good one. This month's Test Drive's theme is: DARK FAIRY TALE.

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: Body horror, disease horror, eye horror, fungal horror, mythical creature gore, child-eating monster.

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

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Prompt Three
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE

You could be anywhere in Deerington when you first hear it. It's a soft, stuttering click. Like plastic being dragged across the ground. The moment you stop, it stops. When you begin to walk again, the noise picks back up, clicking its way softly after you. It doesn't exactly sound hostile, but it's enough to make your skin crawl. Something is following you. When you finally turn to look, you'll find a....thing. It looks like it might have once been a mannequin, but the eyes staring up at you are so hauntingly expressive that it makes you doubt that. Its missing a leg, and both its arms, and to move it is pushing itself across the ground, its head lolling up to look at you with unblinking eyes. The moment you make eye contact, there's a low, moaning noise that's faintly feminine.

"Please...." it says, its mouth unmoving, but you know without a doubt it's coming from the creature in front of you. "Please hold me."

The request takes you aback. The plea is desperate, fragile even, the voice trembling with tears not yet shed even though the eyes remain dry.

"I haven't touched something in so long," it cries, and with great effort, it pushes itself into an upright position. Its entire body is destroyed from crawling around, the "skin" scraped down raw. But from what you can see, there's a film of something that's infested most of its torso. Whatever it is looks like it could be contagious, and the stench of cat urine overpowers you for a moment.

"Please, I beg of you."

If you should choose to hug this poor creature, the thing will sigh in immense relief, its body shuddering against you before it simply breaks to dust in your arms. From the dust rises not one, but several large black ravens. They caw loudly, flying fast and hard. One lands on your shoulder, or maybe your head, or perhaps an arm, but either way it begins to croak gurgled words in random order: "Top!" "Fly!" "Drop!" "Comes!" "Crawl!" "Egg!" And it seems to be insistent that you hear it out. At least if you begin to pet it, the bird calms down enough to stop squawking. If you stick around long enough, you'll find that weeks from now, even months from now, this same raven will randomly seek you out with tiny little useless gifts like pieces of shiny metal and buttons it finds that it'll want to give you. Not really helpful, but you've clearly made a friend.

...But if you refuse the thing affection, it'll start to sob. That's when everything goes wrong. Your entire body will start to turn against itself. Your skin will begin to split apart, and any number of things may come out whether it be scales or fur, but your body begins to rip itself apart. To accommodate horns, to grow in fangs, to sprout tails and distort limbs. Any number of appearances can come out of this, but all you know is that every single fiber of your being is in agony, and by the end of it all, you're no longer the person you had once been. What stands in your place is now a horrible monster, and the thing that had begged for a shred of affection has vanished.

Thankfully, the monster skin will shed off whenever you finally go to sleep. But have fun waking up in a literal pile of gore of whatever fur and scales you had managed to grow from the encounter.

Regardless of whatever interaction you face, the Townspeople around you are trying to hurry away as fast as possible. It seems like none of them want to deal with the mannequin or you. Hopefully other people might be a little more empathetic...or not...to your situation.

DON'T LOOK BACK

One of the most striking things in Deerington would be its National Park. It goes for several acres of thick, lush pinewood and beyond it, a beautiful mountain. It's picturesque and the smooth, glassy lake makes it all the more ideal of a place to visit. The National Park even has a camp ground for people who might want to pitch a tent and spend a night under the stars. Surely a place so beautiful couldn't be as dangerous as all the warnings signs keep saying it is, right? One warning sign is particularly curious. It's a simple orange metal plate nailed to a couple trees on a few paths that show a few cartoonish mushrooms, and then in thick bold letters: DON'T LOOK BACK. KEEP LOOKING FORWARD UNTIL THE END.

They aren't particularly descriptive signs, but it isn't too hard to figure out what they might be indicating. But that sort of thing is the stuff from kids' books. Surely eating mushrooms is dangerous, but just walking past them? Taking to the trails made for hikers is nothing short of a dream. There's various difficulty levels for the trails, and no matter which trail you pick, you'll notice at some point that there is a cluster of bright red mushrooms growing along the trail. Not just one or two. Dozens of them. Enough to draw anyone's attention.

It's hard not to think back to those signs you had seen before. Don't look back. Keep looking forward until the end. Until the end of what? Looking ahead, it seems like the mushrooms go on endlessly. Surely that sign didn't mean until the mushrooms were no longer on the sides of the trail? Who knows how long that could take?

The paranoia sets in naturally. Grinding its way into weary travelers. Or worse: the curiosity. What happens if you look back? Maybe it was just some Townspeople playing a prank. You'd seen kids around. You could always just peek back.....

But if you do, you'll instantly be struck into a daze. Your eyes won't just glaze over- your iris will vanish entirely from existence, instead leaving in its wake a network of fine red veins. Your jaw will hang open and you'll remain completely motionless. That is until someone finds you anyway. If you're lucky, they won't just walk by. If you're lucky, they'll try and wake you up. It doesn't take much. True love's first kiss is all....That or a really firm smack across the face. People who come out of this coma will find themselves disoriented and dizzy. The world around them will see a little too colorful and everything will feel soft.

Getting this person to turn back around and keep walking is the tricky part. If you can only both make it to the end of the mushroom trail, you should be okay....

On a few of these trails, people might come across those who weren't so lucky to be saved. These figures have been around for God knows how many days, weeks, months, maybe even years, but they're shells of former humans. The worst part is that splitting open their skin and growing out of every inch of their skin are the same, bright red mushrooms sprouting along the trail. Their mouths are filled with them, and while you can't see much, you'll be able to see those blank, white eyes staring endlessly, and if you walk past this figure...It'll feel like they're staring endlessly at you.

DON'T EAT THE FOOD

It's a Betty that gestures to you suddenly. Perhaps you were just trying to explore the town, but suddenly there's a woman in a strange mask beckoning quickly to you. "You're new here, right?" she'll ask, "Do you want to find a way out?" She's looking around, as if to make sure no one is paying attention to either of you, and then she will lead you to a nearby alley. It doesn't seem sketchy, not when the woman seems in a rush to pull out a small velvet bag. "Here," she'll say, pushing it into your hands.

"You need to draw a square into the ground here. It'll make a door you can climb through. There will be a...." Her voice will tremble for a second, but then perk right back up. "Just don't eat any of the food and you'll be okay. You'll see a red door at the other end of the room. Go directly to it."

It seems a little absurd, but after everything you've been through, it's worth a shot to try. Besides, it's not like you can ask too many questions because as soon as the Betty has finished talking, she's rushing away. You're left with a simple decision: draw a square or to not draw square.

Those who draw a square will find that the woman was telling the truth. A door will be made in the ground that you can slip through and you'll find yourself in a very...curious room. It's dark and filled with paintings of a horrible creature eating babies lining the walls. A long table sits in the very middle of it filled with beautiful, rich looking food that smells heavenly. And there's goblets of your favorite beverages sitting everywhere. The food has everything you have ever craved sitting on it ready for the taking, and while you might have the best control, you'll find that it's extremely hard to look away. And why are you suddenly noticing how hungry you are? It feels like you haven't eaten in days. But there is one thing that is a little more attention grabbing than all that food. It's the occupant sitting at the head of the table.

The Pale Man is motionless. That's when you notice you're not alone in the room. There's another person there with you.

And then there's the door the woman had mentioned. Now all you have to do is just get to the door. Simple.

Right?

Unfortunately for you, the door is locked and there's no way through it.

If you stop to eat the food that is tempting you so, the Pale Man will awaken. He's aggressive towards all. He'll aim to kill adults, but he will actively try and eat children. Either way? He doesn't seem stoppable. Any wounds inflicted on his body merely slide back together. But his eyes...Those are vulnerable.

That or you have an entire bag of chalk. Drawing a way in means maybe drawing a way out? At least you're not alone either way. Maybe if the two of you could somehow manage to tag-team this thing.

Character Arrival

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ooc: general content warning for blood and talking about death.]

[She can hear the darkness whispering to her: taunting her, teasing her, calling to her. Justine tries to block it from her thoughts but she's alone. There isn't anyone who can help her.

Thomas.

Worry and pain grip at her chest as flashes of sensual pleasure flicker through her. Her body shutters at the memory and she pauses to press her fingers to her temples. She's dead or close to it. She'll have saved Thomas at the cost of her own life. It's worth it. He'll be alive and, in time, happy.

A soft click and the shuffle of grass fills her ears. She turns towards a deformed shell of pale plaster dragging behind her. Her eyes lock with the creatures and she feels herself fall into an endless black sea of pain. It's mouth doesn't move but she can hear the soft echo of its voice.] 'Please... please hold me.'

[Justine steps forward. She lowers herself to her knees and reaches towards the figure with trembling fingers.] I know. [She whispers, feeling the acute memory of Thomas's touch against her skin.]

'I haven't touched something in so long,'

[Her voice falters.] I won't be able to touch him again. [She leans forward, brushing her fingers against the cracked plaster cheek.] I understand. [Justine whispers as she pulls the mannequin to her chest. The figure shutters and crumbles in her arms.

A raven lands on Justine's shoulder, it's talons biting into her flesh. Bright scarlet lines appear on her perfectly pale skin but Justine ignores it. She ignores everything. Her eyes close and tears fall freely down the beautiful curve of her cheeks. Her torso bends forward and the raven steadies itself on her shoulder blade. Crimson drops of blood begin to drip down her arm, stain her white shirt and then coat the blades of grass at her side. The raven caws loudly, attempting an failing to capture Justine's attention.]

[Justine is dressed in a loose white Kimono as she wanders through the woods. It isn't intentional. She's lost. The signs are the reasons she continues forward, each step following a little slower than the last. The mushrooms don't escape her notice but she keeps her distance. She doesn't trust them. She doesn't trust anything about this place and yet, she listens to the poorly posted signs.

Don't look back.

What would she see? Would it be the end?

Her steps quiet and then stop as she comes across the first human statue along her path. It looks like it was a man, standing a few inches taller than her with short wheat colored hair. He's covered in mushrooms, his eyes glassy and lost.]

I'm sorry.

[She whispers and then she hurries forward. The man's eyes press against her back and she feels her skin begin to crawl. Whatever was behind her, it wasn't an escape, it was a prison.

Justine hears another set of footsteps join her own and she pauses.] Who's there? [Her voice is low but sweet. She doesn't turn around but she can sense someone coming up behind her. Are they lost? Or are they the red mushroom culprit? Her shoulders remain tense as she listens to the steady rhythm of each breath.]

WILD CARD

[ooc: I'm happy to run with any of the prompts or if you want something specific you can hit me up on plurk -

mizuyoko I will also happily match whatever format you prefer.]

Edited 2018-05-07 01:07 (UTC)

[It's the scent of blood that makes him stop, look towards the source, the raven perched on the shoulder of a woman. Such a thing doesn't spurn much sympathy from him, but it's not wise to leave anything to chance. One more person in this place, suffering this nightmare along with him. Whether it's real, whether it's all just a nightmare conjured by a guilty conscience, Kurama does not take risks without first trying to understand what risks must be taken.

Another human lost in this cruel world is not one he wishes to see.

He stops, pulling his hands from his pockets as he crouches down, holding out a hand to the raven. He doubts it cares much he's there - it is not his attention it wants - but he tries anyway. To the woman it is insistently cawing at, he gives a small smile, pausing at the sight tears falling down her cheeks.]

Do you need assistance?

[She tries to hold back her tears, willing strength and resolve into the set of her shoulders, but Justine feels too weak and broke for her attempts to look convincing. She stops crying but when she lifts her dark eyes to meet Kurana's gaze, she looks as if she's about to shatter.

Her lips form a word but she isn't able to speak. After a pause she shakes her head from left to right.

The raven ignores Kurama and begins to peek at Justine's long dark hair. She finally offers it her attention, gently running a finger down the long slick feathers at it's side. While doing this, she finds her voice.]

There is nothing that can be done to help me.

[Justine's voice is sweet but also resolute. She's made her choice and she's happy with it, even if the thought of dying scares her.]

[He should have expected that.

Kurama's hand falls to his side, and he meets her gaze, the broken expression, lost and ready to scatter to the wind. It's difficult to ignore someone in such pain and so, he smiles kindly, allowing her words to sink in and to give him a moment for a proper response. Such hopelessness...]

Your troubles are your own, and I'll not pry, but if you wish to speak of it, I'll be more than happy to listen.

And if that will be too invasive, please allow me to at least tend to your wound.

[Justine meets his gaze and then pauses. His eyes are like emeralds. Not the color but the precious stone. They take the light, absorb it or refract it, changing it into something with meaning.

Her shoulders relax and, after a longer pause, she nods her head in a gentle motion.]

I don't have any bandages on me.

[Her teeth gently capture her lower lip, worrying nervously at the pink flesh.]

I thought I was dead. [Her voice is very soft.] When I first woke up here.

[His smile fades and his eyes lower. That is a theory, but not likely. Her reaction makes sense, now, though and he must remember to proceed carefully.

Curious as he is about the why, he'd much rather not drive her off. Tact is important, at times like this. Besides, he was raised much better than that.]

I'm sorry. How disorienting for you. [His lifts his gaze, offers an apologetic smile.] I cannot confirm or deny, I'm afraid.

[People are tight-lipped, and at the moment, he wonders if anything would reassure her, console her, especially since he doesn't know the circumstances.

He does not miss her nervousness, but her shoulders relaxing means she's not entirely unwilling to trust him. That's good, at least.]

You are bleeding, however, which means your heart is beating. Perhaps that is enough, for now?

[Kurama speaks softly, removing his jacket.]

I've left my bandages at home, but there is a hospital. Short of that, I have two sleeves.

[Unbuttoning the cuff of his dress shirt from one wrist. He will absolutely do it. There might be information is this.]

[Justine shakes her head slowly from left to right.]

It doesn't need to be confirmed. I already know. [Her throat dries and her chest heaves slightly. She's trying to breathe; to inhale enough to stop her head from swimming. She can hear a voice screaming in the back of her mind and tries to push it away.] It had been my choice.

I knew what I was walking into but- [Her head shakes again.] I wasn't supposed to end up here.

[There is no waking up for her. This is the last of her and will be what little time she has left.]

Whatever you prefer but I don't like hospitals. [She's never liked hospitals very much.]