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OCTOBER 2019 TEST DRIVE ME

OCTOBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to October's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: HALLOWEEN/MONSTER 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: Blood, organs, stalking, food poisoning, rotten food, bugs, worms, evil scarecrows, body horror, skinning, murder via throat slicing, torture
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Prompt Three
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

pumpkins scream in the dead of night

Everyone loves fall, right? Pumpkin spice, the leaves changing, Halloween. The costumes alone are always worth it. And what's a more classic way to ring it all in than some good old fashioned pumpkin carving.

There's a wave of nostalgia that hits anyone who comes near the carving station set up in town. It doesn't matter if you've never carved a pumpkin in your life or if you've even heard of jack-o-lanterns or Halloween before. You just feel like you know this, feel a longing to reconnect with an act that maybe wasn't even part of your childhood. Some people might be strong enough to ignore it and keep walking. But others will find themselves sitting down at one of the empty chairs and a pumpkin being placed in front of them with all the necessary tools for a good time.

You'll stab your knife into the pumpkin and pull off the stem once you've carved it out. Grab your spoon, get ready to scoop, and then...! You see what's inside.

The pumpkin is filled with blood the moment you stick your spoon inside. Maybe it was like that from the start and you just didn't notice. The knife is covered in blood, so it must have been there all along. Even if you feel sick to your stomach and go to pull the spoon out, it will come up with something stuck to it. Pieces of brain, eyes that look like they've been ripped from their sockets, a still beating heart... Looks like someone was playing a trick on you this month.

When you back away from it, the blood might still be covering your hands, but the moment you try to warn someone else? All the pumpkins innards go back to being exactly what they should be. The only thing stuck to your hands are stringy pumpkin guts and some seeds. Was it all in your head? Maybe you'll stab into another pumpkin to find out. Or maybe you should just get out of there.

everybody scream

TRICK OR TREAT!!!

So you had some rough luck with the pumpkins, but candy can't be all that bad, right? Some of it comes with a money back guarantee if there's any tricks inside instead of just your favorite sweets. Buying these seems to go okay! You get your candy corn, your caramel apples, chocolate bars galore, and all of them are totally normal! It's a real treat for anyone with a sweet tooth. Stuff your face and enjoy.

Getting some from one of the buyers who isn't guaranteed, though — well that's a different story.

Any candy bought anywhere else in town will have some definite tricks attached to them. The candy corn might make you overly flirtatious and downright corny with your pick up lines. The caramel apples will make you clingy and needy to anyone who gets too close. Chocolates will make you bitter and unfriendly. Taffy will keep your mouth stuck shut for at least a full day.

And that's all if you're lucky.

Some places are even giving out bad candies. They look fine from the outside - the apples are shiny and perfectly candied, the Hershey's bars are giant sized and look so good! But when you bite inside a piece of fruit, it will be rotted and filled with worms, the candies will taste like earwax and have maggots stuck inside in place of filling, the chewy candies taste an awful lot like actual rotting flesh — you can only hope it's bad meat and not human.

People who eat these candies will get horrifically sick almost instantly. They'll need to be helped home and probably kept an eye on until it passes. It might only be a few hours or it could be for a several days. It really depends on how quickly it works through each individuals systems.

the "who" when you call "who's there?"

Walking to and from locations isn't always a breeze when Deerington starts to get up to its new tricks. It's unnerving even during quiet times with all the strange things that go on in the shops, or in the cornfields, or even in some of the houses of your neighbors... Sometimes it's best to just keep your head down and walk as fast as you can to your door.

But there's a different sort of unease that follows you as you make your way around Deerington now. A sense of being watched. Of being followed. You can't tell from where and every time you try to look around, the streets seem empty. The fields are still. The only thing you might see here and there are scarecrow decorations in people's yards or even the legit thing in the middle of some crops. Everything seems totally harmless.

Except that feeling gets stronger. Eventually you start to hear rustling. It sounds like it might be jeans rubbing against each other or maybe... straw?? When you go to look around again, you notice that one of those scarecrows has moved — in fact, it seems to be missing entirely. But where could he have gone...?

Turning back around, you'll find yourself face to face with your sneaky friend. The grin feels empty and cold, the eyes bright like fire, and there's a large sickle in his hands that's poised and ready to come down right on your throat if you aren't quick to dodge out of the way. The scarecrow doesn't respond to most weapons the way one hopes — blades just go right through it without even so much as a flinch, bullets will fly out of the straw and hit whatever solid objects are behind it. None of it seems to stop the scarecrow from advancing, so maybe your best bet is to just run.

If the scarecrow manages to catch you, you're in for one hell of time. The lucky individual might just get their throat cut and bleed out quickly. Others might end up getting skinned alive. And still some might find their bones twisting and breaking, their body shrinking, their skin turning to deep, dark and rich black feathers. An evil scarecrow would be nothing without a loyal flock of birds, after all.

But if you remember your lessons from The Wizard of Oz or are just a genuinely reasonable person, you might think to fight the thing with fire. It's the only weakness the scarecrow has and it will do anything it can to fight through it. Crows will swarm around, using their wings to beat out the flames as quickly as they can. So if you really want to do the sucker in, you're gonna have to make sure he gets fully torched and fast.

If you manage to kill him, the crows will lunge at you, disappearing in a thick burst of dark smoke before they can do any damage. The scarecrow will remain a pile of ashes and you should have enough time to get you (or whoever you were saving) home. The ashes will blow away in a gust of wind, though, and the scarecrow? Well, it'll go right back into the yard or field it came from, waiting for the next person to come along.

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.

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pumpkins scream in the dead of night (cw: blood, organs, panic attacks)

[Pumpkin carving isn't necessarily something that Ellen Ripley grew up with--she lived on Luna, after all, and there isn't exactly time to celebrate festivities like Halloween on a mining colony. Still, she's always wanted to do this. She had so many plans with Amanda, what she'd do once she got back to Earth after her last mission, how she'd introduce these things and then maybe the two of them would have a tradition that they could carry on for years. Just the two of them.

The thought of spending time with Amanda is bittersweet, at best. She shakes her head, wandering over to the station and picking up a carving knife. She begins carving in a half-daze, like she knows how to do this. Cut out the stem. Scoop out the seeds. Make a face. Right? It's that easy. As she pops open the newly-carved lid and begins scraping the bottom of the pumpkin, she makes contact with something that she assumes is pumpkin seeds and scoops them out.

Her attention is now focused entirely on the end of the spoon, mostly on the blood that has suddenly found itself in the pumpkin. There's something in it, something that she's pulled out. Whatever it is, it long, it's fleshy, and it's dripping blood.]

Jesus Christ!

[Without thinking, Ripley screams and flings the spoon as far as she can, breathing heavily. She stares down at the bloody knife in her hand. Stumbling backwards, she nearly trips on her chair's legs as her breathing starts getting more shallow and--

kane's convulsing on the table and blood is spurting out of his chest there's a yelp and the crew goes silent and kane begins squirming and choking and there's an awful crunch then more blood splatters the wall and lambert's face is bloody and something pale and white crawls from inside his fucking chest

The knife drops from her hand and clatters to the ground. She kneels down, her hand over her mouth as she tries to slow her breathing. Stay calm. Don't panic here, God dammit. Who the hell even puts organs in pumpkins? She's not in danger. At least, she doesn't think so. She's just--it's just--it's just trauma. It's just trauma, you know that. Just seeing things again. Just stop. Stop it.

Somehow, degrading herself doesn't seem to be helping.]

the "who" when you call "who's there?"

[This is bad. This is very, very bad. Dread seizes Ripley's chest as she slows her pace. It was a familiar unease, but it something that she never wanted to feel again. Not since she was safe, not since the colony--

Her finger rests on the trigger of her flamethrower. It was one of the things that actually came with her, and it was something she was grateful for. Even if she hadn't used it yet, feeling the weight of the weapon in her arms provided the same comfort of a familiar old friend. You were safe as long as you still had it, as long as you could defend yourself.

The thought makes her feel ill.

Calm. Got to stay calm. Keep your wits about you, being hysterical means that you'll end up being dead. Her eyes dart to the side, and somewhere in the back of her head, she registers that one of the scarecrows is missing. A second too late. There's a rustling noise behind her. She instinctively whips around, points the flamethrower towards the scarecrow. Before she can fire, however, the scarecrow brings its sickle down on the weapon, snapping the strap in half. Ripley scrambles to keep her grip on it, but it slips out of her hands and clatters to the ground.]

Shit--! [She dives and tries to aim it towards the scarecrow, and manages to pull the trigger--just for a second. The flames engulf the scarecrow in a bright blaze. The scarecrow is silent as it burns--and perhaps that silence is even more terrifying than any noise it could conjure. Ripley gets back on her feet, sprinting in the other direction as crows begin to descend from the sky, cawing harshly and trying to beat out the flames.

As she sprints past, she spots someone standing off to the side, witnessing this whole display. In a desperate, almost furious tone--]

Don't just stand there, help me!

network

un: ripley
Was anyone going to tell me about that creepy goddamn statue in the pet store, or did I have to find out after I walked in and nearly had a heart attack?

Anyways, how the hell are you supposed to adjust to this town if there are unsettling things lurking around every corner? Asking for advice, here.

wildcard

[go nuts!]

Edited 2019-10-11 03:46 (UTC)

Huh?

[Fred looks up from the pumpkin at his own spot at the carving table, knife brandished in one hand. His pumpkin is still pristine for the time being- looks like Ripley startled him just in time.

He stands up and crosses over to Ripley- still holding the knife in one hand- curious and concerned (and more than a little hopeful that she's discovered some sort of pumpkin monster in their midst).]

What's going on? What's wrong?

[It takes Ripley a moment or two to respond as she tries to calm herself down from a possible Bad Situation. Breathing. That's a thing. Eventually, she manages to say a fragmented sentence, pointing towards the abandoned pumpkin.]

Blood--over there--

[But as she gestures back towards her station, there doesn't seem to be any sort of blood or organs. Confusion sets into her face as she slowly gets up, her arms still shaking.]

I don't believe it. [She lets out a shaky, almost...derisive laugh.] Of course it's--it's not real.

Blood-

[He looks briefly startled, but just as Ripley says, there's no blood anywhere on the table or the pumpkin. He frowns- not in disbelief, but thoughtful.

Fred tries to bring his hand up to his chin and nearly stabs himself in the face with the knife he's still clutching. Sheepishly, he sets it back down on the table as he speaks, though it takes an oddly significant effort.]

Why don't you think it's real? Do you think someone put hallucinogens in the air? [Wouldn't be the first time something like that happened, though the gore is new.] Or maybe someone cleaned it up really fast without you noticing?

... What were you doing when you saw the blood?

[The absurd suggestions just prompt Ripley to glare at him. It's like he's not even taking her seriously!

It takes a moment or two before she realizes that he's not joking. She stares with some amount of incredulity before shaking her head, running a hand through her hair.]

It...doesn't matter. I was just carving the pumpkin, trying to scoop out the seeds and then--

[She pauses, then raises an eyebrow.]

Why are you so interested in this, anyways?

[For his part, Fred doesn't even notice her initial reaction to distrust him, and smiles blithely in response to her question.]

Back home, weird stuff like that happens to me and my friends all the time! I mean, usually there's no blood, but we've definitely been hit with hallucinations and made to see weird stuff before. Usually monsters. Do you have any enemies?

[He asks the abrupt question without a beat.]

Edited 2019-10-13 07:46 (UTC)

(no subject)

xenoqueen - 2019-10-13 21:40 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

whymustifeel - 2019-10-13 22:49 (UTC) - Expand

My guess is that we just don't.

But again, just a guess.

Though you have to wonder who the fuck's face that is on that statue.

Great. Just great.

I don't think I really want to know. But my guess is that it's a bunch of people stitched together.

How do the locals just...not question any of this?

Looks less juicy than what I'm used to, but just as horrifying. Can't tell if I'm grateful for suddenly finding myself here or even more upset.

They're locals, this is their normal. Weird dog statues and goopy innards-filled pumpkins.

Honestly, I'd trade a familiar horror with any of this shit any day.

Wait, hang on--you say that you also had organs and blood when you went to carve a pumpkin?

I thought

Nevermind

What the hell?

[Bev has mostly tried to avoid the pumpkin carving stations since she went for it herself. Mostly. After Bill had calmed her down, she'd seen that it was just her imagination after all. Just one of Its last remnants in her; she's sure there are more left behind, like a scar in your soul.

But the fact is, there are stations for pumpkin carving on a lot of the main roads in Deerington right now, and Beverly isn't always one to avoid her fears entirely. Not anymore. Sometimes, her curiosity and her desire to seem stronger than she feels win out. To look bigger and better than she knows she is.

That's why Bev has worked up the nerve to pass by this stand, sparing the setup a wary look, when she sees a woman yell and throw her spoon. Bev jumps reflexively, immediately freezing. That's ingrained in her now.

But she's not really afraid of this woman, not right now. Bev is seeing panic in her, panic like what Bev felt, only the younger girl had been inconsolable until Bill had come to calm her down.]

You saw the blood?

[Bev calls from a short distance away. Because what else would make her react like that? When Beverly glances at the fallen, half-opened pumpkin, she only sees orange pulp and scattered seeds.

But she remembers what it looked like before.]

[Fortunately (or unfortunately), Ripley has become accustomed to dealing with this. The response is familiar, and she know the steps to take to swallow it beneath a stoic mask until she's finally in a safe place where she can just stare listlessly at the wall and cry. Taking the steps to manage your brain screaming at you meant the difference between life and death in a time not too long ago.

Isn't it funny? You know exactly how it's going to happen, but it doesn't make it any more pleasant to experience.

Frankly, it makes her feel sick to her stomach.

It takes Ripley a few moments to respond as she tries to compose herself again. She exhales sharply, pushing her hands against her eyes before glancing back at the stranger. Her expression appears neutral, but even Bev can see that she's shaken, and her voice has a shaky quality to it.]

I don't know--It was there, and then--

[The panic threatens to spill over yet again, but she quashes it down, focusing solely on the girl in front of her. Not now. Not here. Later. Alone.]

I'm not just seeing things ag--am I?

I don't know. But I saw it too, when I cut one.

[This doesn't seem right, though. Beverly thought she was... just remembering something. Bill didn't even see the blood from the pumpkin, and it went away as soon as it came. But the blood from the drain, the blood she thought she was seeing again, any of the Losers could see that. But Daddy couldn't. He didn't see it at all, even when he looked right at her, her face dripping so much red.

So she doesn't know if either of them are seeing things. Maybe they are. And maybe that should make her worried about approaching this stranger, but oddly, it doesn't.]

Does it... still look like blood?

[If it doesn't, what does it mean? Bev still feels like she has to ask.]

It's just orange pumpkin stuff. It's okay.

[Ripley lets out a slow breath as she glances back towards the spoon on the ground. Just pumpkin, of course. She runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head.]

No. Not anymore.

[This is dumb. She shouldn't have freaked out like that--it wasn't like she was in danger or anything. Did she expect a facehugger to just leap out of the bloody, putrid mess?

As soon as she imagines it, she feels her stomach turn and instinctively moves away from the pumpkin.

She decides to focus instead on the child. She attempts a bitter smile, but there's little actual emotion behind it.]

Thank you. I'm sorry about that, I just...reacted poorly. [A beat.] What happened when you saw it, if you mind saying?

[Beverly bites at her lip and looks away when the woman turns her attention back to the pumpkin. Trying to give her some privacy, maybe, because Beverly knows what she felt like when she was found like this.

Once the moment of realization passes, though, she looks back at her.]

The same thing. I saw blood splash everywhere, but when someone found me and made me look again, it wasn't blood at all. A bunch got on my clothes and it was still just pumpkin guts when I washed it.

[She'd mention that it reminded her of something, but... she just met this person, and the lady is way older than her. Besides, Beverly's not sure how she could even explain that.]

(no subject)

xenoqueen - 2019-11-21 02:31 (UTC) - Expand

I understand how you feel! :-) Back home I was pretty used to not seeing much concrete paranormal activity until we got a ton of it! :-O It was shocking at first but pretty fun once you get used to it! :-D Of course, I had a job revolving around capturing them so I guess I'm thankful we had a lot of things happen.

... So I guess one way of adjusting would be to start a business! :-)

Thanks for the advice.

[Can you feel the sarcasm emanating off her?]

You had a business centered around capturing supernatural creatures despite not seeing concrete paranormal activity? Must've been a lousy job.

That's not entirely accurate! We had a ton of evidence over the existence of ghosts before starting the business! And we found a Class 3 full torso apparition! :-D We definitely had more than enough proof!

Also we got kicked out of our old job just before we started the business :-( It was probably either that or working fast food.

[Frankly, she doesn't entirely know how to feel about this whole situation Ray is laying out for her right now. He did call it "fun", which was the thing that put her off the most.

...She needs information before she makes any snap judgments.]

I see. It sounds...interesting.

How many people work for your company, exactly?

Edited 2019-11-03 21:33 (UTC)

Well there are the boys! Winston, Egon, and Peter! And there's Janine, who's our secretary, but she helps us out plenty of times! :-D

[Please don't hurt his feelings by insulting his boys, Ripley.]

(no subject)

xenoqueen - 2019-11-04 18:42 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

ghoststanning - 2019-11-04 22:56 (UTC) - Expand

Oh, shit-

[The sight of Ripley and her flamethrower is a bittersweet one for Childs. On the one hand, thank God, at least someone in this fucking place knows how to use one. On the other hand, it sends a shiver of fear up his spine to see the scarecrow go up in flames- the memories of other monstrous Things burning are too fresh, too recent, and for one half-crazed moment he expects the scarecrow to split into a mess of gore and writhing tentacles. But the silence is deafening- loud enough to drown out his worries with the fresh memory of the Thing's horrible screeches and moans whenever it burned.

And besides, even if it was a Thing, he could deal with that later- after it finished burning. Ripley's yell snaps him out of his brief reverie, and Childs points his own flamethrower and holds down the trigger, careful to aim where the wind won't blow the flames into Ripley's face. He catches a few crows in the crossfire, and they shriek, tumbling to the ground like little fireballs. One or two swoop down at his face in an attempt to mob Childs, and he grimaces, trying to hold his head down and shield his face without taking his finger off the trigger.]

Edited 2019-11-03 03:59 (UTC)

[If there's one thing Ripley is grateful for, it's the fact that this stranger also happens to have a flamethrower.

The scarecrow continues to lumber forward, its arms flailing and flapping like one of those inflatable car dealership noodle men as it attempts to smother its own flames. It would almost be comical if not for the razor-sharp sickle in its hand and the way it continues to march menacingly towards the two of them. Ripley scoops up the flamethrower in her arms, balancing it with her limbs and pointing it back at the scarecrow. A grimace. A scream--]

Burn, you son of a bitch!

[The remaining crows fly off, trying to avoid being burned by the cone of fire that erupts from the barrel. The cloth covering the scarecrow's face blackens and disintegrates, revealing more burning straw beneath. Thick black smoke billows out from the blaze.

Breathing heavily, Ripley continues to back away. For a moment, it looks as if the scarecrow has been defeated. She relaxes her grip on the flamethrower slightly, slowing her pace. As the burning pile crumples to the ground, however, it lifts its arm and heaves the sickle at Ripley.]

Jesus--! Watch out!

[She dives to the ground, and the sickle sails past her, closing in on Childs' face.]

[Once the crows begin to taper off, Childs glances up again, and he feels a brief flash of relief at the sight of Ripley returning to the fight. Both because he's glad he doesn't have to watch yet another person die and because it means this scarecrow is cooking twice as fast.]

Don't think he's got much of a choice.

[He takes the trigger off the flamethrower as the scarecrow falls apart- no need to waste fuel, after all- and watches, his expression grim. A few of the burned crows on the ground limp away, their feathers scorched off; one or two go completely still among the autumn leaves.

Childs is about to speak up again when he catches the arm twitch, and he tenses- Ripley shouts, dives-

He dodges just in time to avoid a sickle to the face, but it catches him in the shoulder, and he hisses strangled curses under his breath as he stumbles back.]

Motherfucking... piece of shit Halloween decoration-looking freak-

[Childs stares down the burning pile of straw with renewed hatred. His flamethrower spits out one last fireball for good measure, setting the arm ablaze.]

[The scarecrow is quickly reduced to a smoldering pile of ashes, the flames flickering and dying as they desperately scramble for more fuel to consume. Ripley doesn't spare a look back--she hefts the flamethrower in her arm and walks towards Childs, a grim expression on her face.

The sickle is gone. Because of course it is. She looks down at Childs' shoulder.]

Can you move your arm?

[Her voice is authoritative and firm. She glances over her shoulder, as if ensuring the scarecrow is truly dead. A chilly breeze picks up and scatters the ashes into the air. The whole street smells like a propane bonfire gone wrong.]

We can't assume this was the only scarecrow lurking around. Come on--let's get you patched up and get moving.

[One or two crows swoop down again as they recognize the weapons are lowered, disappearing in a cloud of ashy smoke before they make contact. The crows on the ground dissipate as well, filling the air with a harsh, thick smog that chokes for a moment before fading away swiftly, as if it was never there at all.

Childs looks at his shoulder. Carefully, he rolls it.]

Not bad.

[The thick, insulating layer of his coat protected him, it seems- there's a thick slash through the material, and his shirt underneath it is cut, but the wound itself isn't deep. Blood seeps into the fabric, but he'll worry about that later.]

Sooner we get outta here, the better.

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