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NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to November's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: DEATH/ZOMBIE 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: Possible mild cannibalism, organs (including pictures of fake food that looks like organs), mutant insect in linked picture, blood, sensations of starvation, possible binge eating, possible binge drinking.
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

The blood and organs that have been festering in the ground and walls of Deerington seem to not only be attracting rats at this point, but something far more dangerous and... just plain gross. These deadly looking maggots are roughly the size of an average human. They’re slithering in an out of the ground, filling up holes where some organs seem to have burst open, or writhing around in the wake of the red waves that have left bloody puddles in the street. If you keep your distance, they’re mostly just disgusting to watch, adding to the feeling of utter decay that the town has gone into.

But those who wander too close or who are unfortunate enough to go by a nest of these maggots without noticing could end up swarmed. They can leap farther than something that large should physically be capable of and the sharp teeth on the end of their bodies will pierce through even the toughest of skin and bone. Once they latch on, they won’t let go; not until they’ve finished their meal. If you aren’t quick, the blood loss will be, and you could end up an evening snack for a whole group of these creatures.

They are fairly easy to kill, luckily. Average weapons seem to take them down or you can smash their heads (if you can call it that) with a few good stomps from a boot. The only trouble is how quick they move and how strong they are; you might need to call for help to get away from them when you get cornered by too many of these monsters.

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Maggots aren’t the only things that want to eat, though! And it seems that the community center is aware of that as well. Advertisements are strewn all over town for an all you can eat buffet that will be set up, not even an entrance fee required (though donations are welcome at the door if you’re feeling generous). No one in their right mind would want to go and get food from a party into Deerington at this point though, right? Of course not. You’re way too clever for that.

Except that as the party draws closer, anyone who saw the advertisements will find themselves slowly feeling like they’re starving. There’s a hallow belly feeling that no amount of food you consume will ever be able to fill. It feels like you might go crazy from how bad the hunger gets, craving something to fill your stomach, anything... And in the back of your mind, you might remember the buffet. You might start to feel a strange realization that the food they’re offering will actually help get rid of your cravings and you’ll be drawn to the party no matter how adamant you’ve been that it’s not a good idea.

The spread they offer isn’t something that should be appetizing to most on a regular basis; raw, very clearly human organs are laid out across the table on fairly decorative plates. A fountain of what looks like blood is put up in place of chocolate for you to dip your food into. No matter how disgusted you might normally feel, you find yourself practically drooling at the mouth and you’re quick to grab a plate and dive in.

At least the drinks look like they’re normal; sodas, beer, wine, champagne, and liquors ready to create your favorite cocktails. A menu will give you an idea of what pairs best with each organ, so make sure you select something that goes perfectly with your plate of intestines.

What would a Deerington party be without something tricky attached to all this. Even the smallest bites of any of the organs will offer sudden changes to the consumer, each power growing stronger the more that you eat.

Eating BRAINS will make it so that you are able to hear another person’s thoughts. Anyone standing near by, really. They’ll trickle in slowly at first, but the more that you eat, the more you’ll hear, and eventually it could become overwhelming. Sometimes you can focus in on just one person if you stare at them intently, but that could make you look like a creep. Maybe you should just go somewhere quiet until it passes.

Eating a HEART will make you feel compelled to confess your emotions to someone. Maybe a specific person or maybe it’s towards a complete stranger, but you just want to get everything out onto the table. You’re overcome with feelings so strong you don’t know how to contain them anymore and you’ve just got to get them out somehow.

Eating LIVER will cause you to want to drink. A lot. You might find that you’re not able to get enough, even. It doesn’t make you immune to the alcohol though, so it’s got the potential to lead some pretty nasty alcohol poisoning if you aren’t careful. Characters who usually can’t get drunk will find that consuming liver makes them a total lightweight. Woops. Better have someone help you walk home.

Eating the STOMACH will make you want to eat everything. You’ll no longer feel starving, but you just want to taste any food that’s near you, and you won’t stop no matter how full you feel. It’s not just organs, but any food consumed outside of the buffet. It might be a bad time to go to Peter’s Pizza for a late night meal.

Eating INTESTINES will give you an abundance of courage. You’ll find that you’ve got guts you never knew you had and it might make you willing to go tell your crush how you feel about them, or tell off that one guy who’s been pissing you off for weeks, or maybe you might start to think it’s cool to go scale a building or fight a monster when you don’t have any skill sets to actually take one down. Hopefully you don’t do anything you’ll regret in the morning— assuming you don’t get yourself killed doing something stupid, of course.

Eating EYEBALLS will allow you to obtain the memory of the first person that you touch. Depending on how much you’ve eaten, you may just see a small snippet or you could get sucked in to a full and heavy flashback. The memory will feel like it takes place in real time, but by the time that it’s over, you’ll find that whoever you touched is only just starting to ask you what’s wrong — or tell you to watch where you’re going, buster.

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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[ Alice is on her way out of Hart Mart with a cloth bag full of frozen dinners when Zelda stops her. She would've kept going, except it's just such a weird request. ]

No. [ she answers after a second of perplexed contemplation. It's equal parts rude and rushed, like she wants nothing more than to get out of here. ] Go somewhere else. Record animals.

[ Fucking weirdo. ]

Are you gonna record me anyway if I start walking?

[ Because if Zelda does, Alice will take it... not well. ]

It's difficult to say which of the two is more stubborn. Wrench would bestow that title on his partner without hesitation, pointing to thousands of instances over the course of a lifetime of knowing one another. Though he'd be loath to admit it to his partner, though, he knows how often Grady shapes himself for the sake of the two of them. Like the language that sometimes blunts his thoughts and presents an inconvenience. Like serving as Wrench's de facto mouthpiece. Like bearing the brunt of the shit that's hurled at them because of that, while the tall blond makes a case for his own ignorance. Sleeping arrangements, after-hours activities, cups of morning coffee... The men he's come to know in this place might not believe that Wrench could be so particular, but it takes a certain comfort and familiarity to let those edges show.

For five years he's dulled himself. He's slept even less hours, eaten far fewer meals, and had virtually no conversations. He's cried tears he wouldn't even admit to Grady, cursed God, cursed Yahweh, blamed Malvo and himself. And now, after listening to Kurt and Logan both independently share their stories of resurrection and connection, his partner is in front of him. Becoming more and more incorporeal by the moment. And Wrench will be damned before he'll be selfless now.

"Listen to me!" His voice echoes in the pale light, off the pristine countertops and around the swirl of Grady's dissipating body. It rumbles with the gravel of atrophy and decay, and of pure desperate terror. Wrench shoves his hand down the neck of the bottle and captures those blueberries in his fist. He sets the jar on the counter, and then he grabs Grady by his hair and shoves the food into his face.

Gwen is out walking her pet land shark, Jeff, when she spies a sentient tree poking his head out from a nearby house. Could it be...?

It is!

Jeff forgotten, Gwen bounds over to Groot. "You sure are! Though you're a lot... Shorter than I'd expect you to be."

Guess who hasn't seen GOTG2.

Grady knows Wrench's limits almost as well as he does his own. Knows, without looking to confirm it, when the eyebrow raise of a stranger will send the big guy crashing over the table to demand retribution. Knows the signs of him pushing himself too far or too hard, when it's time to put out a hand and stop him or lift it off his shoulder and let him go, like sending a hawk out from a wrist. He knows all too well how hard he can go arguing with him before he'll earn a cuff or, worse, the taller man turning away so he can't see the apologies tripped out off the end of his fingertips.

This, now, though? This surprises him, without enough context to explain it, a seemingly undeserved surge of emotion and sudden scrabbling for the contents of the jar that sends him backing up against the wall, because if he doesn't understand the why he's certainly smart enough to get the what.

"Hey, now, wait -- " is about as much as he can get out in the space of time bracketed by Wrench rounding the counter and grabbing him. Wrench isn't gentle about it. Blueberries end up smashed against Grady's mouth, his nose and his chin. Pushed up against the wall and pinned by Wrench's leaning weight, he's still not about to just take this bizarre punishment in silence. He grabs at Wrench's wrist, batters his chest and shoulders with his fists, squirming and kicking, some of the blueberries ending up inside his mouth more due to the fact that he's trying to accuse Wrench of having lost his mind than because he actually wants to eat them.

Then it's either swallow or choke, so he does the former and immediately the static feeling is gone, but not the partner still pushing his hand up against his mouth. Grady pushes him, hard, earning himself his freedom at the cost of his dignity as he almost slides down the wall.

"What the FUCK!" He yells, wiping his mouth with a shaking and much more solid hand, his shoulders heaving. He spits bits of blueberry onto the floor, then gathers himself enough to surge forward again, grabbing two handfuls of Wrench's goddamn fringed jacket and whatever else he can reach to shove him back again. "What the fuck was that!"

My wedding?

( the surprise isn't in the fact that there was a wedding. the surprise is in the fact that it sounds like a wedding happened. his stomach roils and he blinks quickly, averting his eyes so magnus wouldn't see him. )

I got married?

( he...doesn't know what to think of that. it had been a good arrangement, a good partnership but he knows it wouldn't have been what he wanted. except it sounds like he'd gone and done it.

he can't even answer magnus' question, too caught up in magnus' own response. )

[After almost a year of this place, the idea that it has a way in pulling even the strongest willed person into its clutches with a compulsion they can't ignore was somewhat of a normalcy. It wasn't a good feeling, but it was something that became a regular turn of events.

Though, Newt thinks that he's far less grossed out by what's being served than others. It's not as though he is a stranger to organs and body parts. Potions kind of desensitizes you to that.

The exception is that these were still human parts, but Newt wouldn't consider a creature lesser than anyways. Seeing a human heart would still be the same as, say, him seeing the heart of his beloved creatures on a plate.

He still isn't going to want to eat it normally.

At the very least, Lilac is surely feeling pampered. Newt could only ever feed her brains of whatever they hunted out in the forest and it's probably far less satisfying than what she usually gets to eat. She's surely enjoying a feast of brains at the moment. Newt was a little distracted. He went for something small. Something quick to dispel the compulsion. An eyeball. An eyeball drenched in blood, because Newt can't help himself seeing the fountain of blood. How alluring the smell of blood is and how he stared at it longer than necessary.

Eventually, she eats her fill and flitters about. It's when she spots Percival. She recalls the man. His capture, or what she thought was his capture. Lilac had been helpful in apprehending Grindelwald, but Grindelwald had been disguising himself as Percival.

The Swooping Evil suddenly takes off.] Lilac-! [Newt tears himself away from looking at the flowing blood to get to his feet and pursue his creature. Said creature glides and swoops right at Percival.

Hello.]

Down by the arcade. Let's go!

[ With that, Brianna zips down the block toward the nest of giant maggots. She'll let Theo follow at her own pace. ]

[Well, that's definitely a surprise. Alec doesn't know, and the way he melts under the words, Magnus can't help but place a hand between his shoulder blades a light touch of sympathy can go a long way.]

You almost got married.

[Magnus isn't sure whether or not he should say something to Alec about what transpired at the ceremony or if he should let him process the fact that he'd canceled his own wedding himself, without the implication of the kiss in front of the entire congregation.

Arrival here was stressful, it broke people down in a way that frankly he hasn't ever witnessed before and added additional stress, and more to cope with would only hinder him.]

I wasn't actually invited, you and I both know it was Isabelle's doing but- you ended the wedding before you and Lydia had drawn the necessary runes.

Oh.

( a few months ago, a touch as intimate and friendly as that might have made alec stiffen and flinch away. but, he doesn't do that today. his shoulders slump the tiniest bit and he exhales a shaky breath. )

Was — Was Lydia okay?

( she was a good person and none of that had been her fault. alec wants to make sure he hadn't hurt her too badly. )

What - No? I'm trying to utilize the voice function for a search.

Who is this?

She was surprisingly unfettered. I believe her words were, "You deserve to be happy."

[Maybe he was layering it on a little thick but given the actuality of what had really happened this much he at least owes himself. Magnus removes the palm between his shoulders and takes a long drink, so much for continuity.]

Your mother, Maryse, on the hand. Less than thrilled.

[As with most clave related meetings and ceremonies, the image was everything, and there's nothing much more tarnishing than your son - the shoo-in for the institute's director and high political affiliates kissing a downworlder in front of everyone.]

Don't worry. It all balances out.

[Some things do happen swiftly and there's definitely more tension to come but there isn't any sense in worrying him over something that hasn't happened yet.]

I was proud of you. So was Jace, Izzy, everyone that mattered.

Edited 2019-10-28 18:03 (UTC)

( it's a lot to take in and alec nods slowly. it's not surprising to hear that his mother was upset. she would be angry that the partnership that would have saved their family name was destroyed by his wanting to be happy.

but, he'd tried her way. he'd tried and it just felt wrong. doesn't he deserve to be happy too? jace and izzy got the chance so why not him? )

I'm not surprised that she was mad. The wedding was her way of having people forget some things she and my father had done in the past.

( valentine morganstern was a terrible person but they'd joined the circle of their own free will. )

I remember the time before the wedding. Right before the wedding.

She'll rise above it. You're hardly the solution to the error of her choices. Don't underestimate family bonds.

[More wine down the hatch. This was getting more difficult by the minute, and Magnus is left sitting there, with a forced smile and his attention occupied only by Alec. Typically that's how it had always been unless he was working, the clave never took kindly to less than perfection where his artistry was concerned.

If only they could see him now.]

I remember it well.

[Choice words and an uncomfortably bruised ego, but more than that- the fact that those words from Alec could wound him. It had been a very long time since a scathing remark actually took root.]

What do I risk?

A prince, huh? I can see that.

[ she smiles, putting her plate off to the side as she leans back against the balcony. ]

I've never heard of the "Galra Empire", but you definitely have royalty vibes going on.

[ a pause, then: ] I'm Yang. I'm a Huntress from Remnant -- you probably don't know what a Huntress is, right?

Maybe we should get you somewhere inside. ... If being inside is even safe around here.

[ she pouts a little at that. there's no telling where's safe around here, is there? especially since even the walls are lined with all these organs. it's so gross. ]

What happened earlier?

You chose to spend your holiday in a place like this? C'moooon.

[ continuing the joke train, at least! the fire coming from his finger is intriguing, though, and her mouth starts watering again when she sees the intestines....no, no. she'd rather not. she clenches her hands into fists to try to fight off the temptation to eat. ]

Me? That's a good question. I probably shouldn't be here, but [ she shrugs. ] here I am.

[ She just happens to see this happening, and catches sight of the moment where it shows on his face that he's in too deep. Damnit. She wanted to just keep going. Now she'd have it on her conscience if something happened to him. She has enough on her conscious. Goddamnit.

These thing at least don't seem conscious on the level the Lamprey and his family were, so killing them doesn't fill her with quite as much dread as it might otherwise. She casts, feeling the magic, adjusting for the city's interference, and shoots off a basic battle spell.

It hits, but it does little more than stun it. ]

Shit. [ Fuck you, Deerington. To Grady, she says, ] You'd better run.

[ ...fuck her conscience. She doesn't do what she wants to do, which is run and leave him behind. ]

[ ah, right. the fluid device. there's a conversation starter yang can totally get behind. it's better than complaining about this place all day, right? she smiles at zelda and nods in agreement. ]

Yeah, me too. It works kind of like the Scrolls back on Remnant. I'd say our tech on Remnant's more advanced, but the Fluid device isn't too shabby.

[ she pauses and takes out her device from her pocket. ] I gotta say though, the camera function on this thing is pretty incredible.

Arrival

[... Huh.

He sure wasn’t expecting that as a dream.

Or waking up in an unfamiliar room for that matter.

The last thing he remembered before that dream was him and the other ghostbusters attempting to stop the Sandman and… well… he guesses he might have fallen asleep at some point.

. . . There are some real odds that this might be a dream world that he’s going to be trapped in for 500 years but it’s fine, Ray doesn’t want to dwell on that too much right now, especially when he had so many other questions going on.

He ventures out and finds the basket, which has mostly unimportant things like clothes, comic books, a stay puft marshmallow man plush. However he does find one very useful item: his proton pack.

Soon you will find him wondering about, wearing the proton pack and looking around with great interest. Judging by the way he’s holding the wand he seems to expect something to jump out and attack him but he doesn’t look particularly jumpy himself. He looks more like someone exploring a museum than anything else.

And it’s particularly evident if Ray notices you, and he cheerfully waves before calling out to them.]

Hello! Is this some sort of weird dreamscape? Follow up question did the Sandman curse you?

Not Beast Nor Kin

[Ray is perhaps not nearly as concerned about the maggots as he should be, let alone the organs about the town. Whether it’s because he hasn’t quite grasped the seriousness of this situation, or it’s just that he doesn’t actually have a sense of fear, it’s unknown (but if I’m being truthful, it is mostly the latter).

Still, he finds these maggots more fascinating than anything else. He looks like he stumbled upon a new colorful species of birds the way he’s gently approaching one.]

Gee, I’ve met a lot of weird monsters back home, but these maggots are definitely new. I wonder if they’ll metamorphize into giant flies-

[As soon as he says that, he accidentally gets too close to one of the nests and a swarm starts attacking him.]

Whoa!

[Good news is that he woke up with his Proton Pack so he is far from unarmed. The Bad news? Yeah he definitely forgot to charge it up before he was attacked.

In the very least he’s able to use the wand to smack away the maggots, and is able to hold his own quite well despite being this ill prepared for this situation.]

C’mon, I wasn’t trying to harm your nest, honest!

[... Maybe someone should tell him to not try to reason with the maggots.]

[Where is the bell.

A startled, outraged HONK rings out through the woods, as if the goose expects the lovely chime of the bell to answer. But there is nothing.

Just once- the goose has been outplayed at its own game.

But perhaps not for long. It hears the faint, telltale slapping noise of goose feet. Familiar goose feet. Its own? No, that's ridiculous. Clearly, another goose has taken it upon itself to upstage it. That won't do at all.

With an indignant wiggle of its tailfeathers, the goose sets off into the night, following the gentle 'pap's of it's doppelganger's steps. It has two goals in mind. The first is to cause chaos- as always. The second is to take revenge.]

[Theseus is well-aware of the dangers that currently plague the town, quite hard to miss large maggots slithering around and trying to jump at anyone within their proximity. But it's because of the danger that he's out and about, refusing to stay at home when there's people out here, far more ill-equipped than him to either fight or run past them. Theseus hopes that most people manage to cross by, but almost anything can happen in this town.

Although, even with his wand and magic, there's always the issue of warping and well, if parts of his clothes are slightly singed because of some backfire from a few fire spells, it's just another part of this world. Theseus is fine though, he can keep going.

Well, until a familiar voice calls from behind him and-- is he now hearing things? The wizard turns sharply to face the source of the voice, somewhat expecting it to be an illusion, but--]

...Percival? [Surprise envelops Theseus' expression, almost like he doesn't quite believe that the long missing Auror-- his friend is standing right before him in Deerington of all places.]

[ooc: I went with a couple of headcanons, but if it doesn't work out, let me know! :>]

Edited 2019-10-28 20:30 (UTC)

I think that's what it's here for. I mean, I haven't had much time to go into-

[Rewind that a minute, did she just say the networks from home were more advanced? He could've sworn she said less, but that he knows is based on his own experience. Okay, wow. Mind explosion.]

Just how advanced are your networks?

[ Grady isn't expecting to be saved. He's not the kind of guy people usually stop to save, mostly because he's usually the one at the other end of whatever violence is going on. He jumps a little at the sight? Feeling? Whatever of the magic skidding past him and points his gun at Alice instead. Hopefully she doesn't know it's no longer loaded. ]

Hey, no. What was that you just did? To that thing. What did you do? You shoot it or something?

I like the decor. [Sort of deadpan, not quite, but enough to pull it off.]

Where should you be?

[ Oh my god are you serious, guy. ]

Yes.

[ Flat as a plateau. She raises her eyebrows. ]

You're seriously pointing a gun at the person who helped you? A gun that needs to be reloaded.

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Page 13 of 62

NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Character Arrival

a ... aaahhhh this good girl ;;

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SLAPS A TAG DOWN. Kisses ur face.

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audio; un: bblock

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beast or kin

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Ray Stantz | The Real Ghostbusters

hope this is ok w/ u

Not Beast Nor Kin

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