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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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Maybe it's something to do with here. Who they bother reviving and all that.

[And he shakes her prosthetic like it's the most natural thing in the world. They'd probably both seen weirder, but he he was a pirate and there cliches about that kind of thing. Not that you could tell he was a pirate. From the back, his tattoo bearing his allegiance was all scarred over with burn marks, and otherwise, he looked like a surfer cowboy!]

Yeah, it is. You've never heard of a prosthetic before?

[ it's not accusatory, just curious. you'd think that being alive for 300 years would mean that you've seen some things, but maybe that's not the case. yang moves it around a bit to demonstrate how natural it is before setting her arm down again. ]

So...does that mean that everyone else here was pulled here like I was, too?

Oh, we have them, but nothing nearly so advanced. This looks like it has full articulation, and in my world that kind of grace would take considerable magic I've never seen the sort personally.

[She wouldn't put it past the Greer to fashion it, but that kind of workmanship was more something others did. Ah the disparities of different magical worlds.]

All of the sleepers were, yes. You'll have an easy time knowing when you're dealing with one. We tend to stand out from the locals. If you happen to see people with masks huddling in the corners, though, try to be nice to them. They may be the true people of this town, suffering like us and hiding away.

[ It was very pathetic, but non-magicians tend to be impressed by anything more than mundane.

His imitation of the forms is surprisingly not terrible for someone who's never seen magic before, but of course, it amounts to nothing. He doesn't have magic in him, or if he does - and even if he doesn't - it's not like hers, not like the kind from her world. ]

Do you have magic at all where you're from?

[ The sharp edge to her voice is a little dulled by curiosity. ]

No, just grass. I used to be two swords, and one of 'em used to be human. The other one was cursed and made out of grass.

[As he casually skewers another worm with his sword he rolls his free hand.]

It's complicated.

"O... kay," Fern says, figuring it might be a better idea to just go with it. From the tone of his voice it doesn't sound like he's from Ooo, anyways, so at least there's that. It sucks, but what is he going to do? No one who shows up is ever from home, and he's just got to deal with it.

His attention is dragged back down to his drink as the eyeball drops into - what is this, even? Mystery liquid? - and then floats back up, staring at him. "Uh," he starts, staring down at his cup. "Dude, I'm not drinking this."

[ Holy shit is she going to hate this place more and more as she learns about it. A harvest of organs? That match people here? Harriet's seen some shit, but this is on a whole other level. ]

Yeah. With a welcome basket and a tattoo I never asked for. [ She rolls her eyes. ] How does one "get used to" things like a black market organ vendor throwing a cannibal's dream party?

[ When she gets back home, she's using that in a headline. Cannibalism is clickbaity as hell. ]

You'd be surprised. [Wrench's stomach gurgles again, and he briefly lays his flattened palm against it. In truth, he thinks he's doing a pretty good job of controlling himself here. He knows the way the spread looks, but strangely it's hard to recall a time anything has seemed so delicious. It takes an incredible amount of willpower not to rip through the plate of brains like a man starved. He considers it again, and then considers the woman.]

You're bearing all this much better than I did when I first arrived.

If you'd seen what I've seen, you'd be okay with this too. This, as in, this place, not the spread. I keep repeating the word "cannibal" to myself, but do you know tempting that liver looks?

[ She's. She's really trying here. But the longer she stands here, the more her willpower erodes. Maybe it's some residual Rules And Principles bullshit from the Library that's keeping her strong -- her mother's own words, A crisis is no time to abandon one's principles play over and over in her head -- or maybe the mirror bridge fucked her up worse than she imagined, or maybe she's just so relieved to have run into someone who signs so comfortably that she can still see how strange this all is. ]

[Before Deerington, the only places Wrench had conceived of that were outside his experience came from stories in books. He's been introduced to a world of strange in the months since his arrival, and every new conversation seems to illuminate some bit of life he's been otherwise ignorant to. It's been a fascination, and he regards the woman with no less interest now.]

There's a good chance it's manufactured. [That's it. His willpower snaps like a guitar string, and Wrench grabs two plates. He offers the second out to the woman, but continues signing easily with one hand.] What's it like where you're from?

[Something twists and pulls at Magnus's heartstrings. Alec has no recollection, and they'd only shared one kiss it's stupid of him to assume it was more than something as simple as the shadowhunter acknowledging certain truths.

Magnus can't help himself though, he'd do whatever it took to keep Alec safe here. He knew it in painful clarity.]

Oh. Alexander. While flattering, I'm certain there's nothing that can be done. I simply need to sweat through this. I don't regret it.

[A smile found him, despite the obvious burden he was carrying now.]

A young man could've died. I did what I would've done anywhere. I'd likely do it again. If I can be so bold, it really is good to see you. We had come so close to never speaking again, and I'm thankful that wasn't the case. I feel more... myself around you than I've been in a very long time.

[If anyone were to outright accuse her of cannibalism, she would deny it. Typically, the mere thought of it would disgust her. She had killed before, all in the name of survival, and she'd felt no remorse. She had only felt relief and a dark sense of satisfaction. Eating body parts that had come from humans should have disgusted her. It should have horrified her. And yet, here, it was tempting. It was grotesque and satisfying all at once. She had numbed herself to so many horrors, all to survive. She tried to convince herself that this was no different.

She'd like to stop, but she's still famished and all she can think about is making it stop. The hunger must be sated before she can get to work looking for that awful woman. If Lucille is in hell, then surely Edith is here too. A slice of the liver might be nice. She reaches for a knife.

And she hears someone address her. She was hoping that she could move around unnoticed and unacknowledged, but it's also difficult to blend in when she's so disheveled. She's in such an unforgivable state. But finding new clothes has had to wait.

She turns to Harriet, her hand freezing just above the handle of the knife. Slowly, she retracts it, listening. Lucille doesn't smile. In fact, she shows no emotion at all. She straightens her back, standing tall. Watching. That description of a young blonde reminds Lucille of Edith, and it takes all of her willpower not to cringe. Instead, she forces a smile, and attempts to sound concerned.]

My apologies, but I have not. [She responds, setting her plate down.] Is this woman a friend of yours?

[After the past five or so years of her life, Rikku thought she was beyond being surprised by anything any given person around her could do. She's seen superheros, supervillains, and everything in between wield nearly every power imaginable. But the sight of this shirtless (and, now that she isn't screaming her lungs out, she happens to notice totally ripped) dude suddenly holding a handful of flames--

Well, that is certainly a box to check off her nonexistent list.

Rikku makes a noise caught somewhere between a laugh and a helpless cry for help, and throws her hands up in the air.]

Yeah, of course they know. Obviously!

[Because why wouldn't these oversized maggots also be sentient enough to understand a threat? But in a moment of clarity, she realizes that he's got a point, and she does feel a little better about the, well, threat display he's putting on. She sort of edges her way towards the street, making sure to keep him between her and the worms.]

So uh, are we gonna wait until they go, or are we gonna skedaddle while they're debating how much they like the idea of being barbecued?

[Rikku isn't sure if the woman next to her is having some kind of breakdown or is joking. Honestly, with everything she's seen over the past few years, it could be either because she's sort of stopped being able to tell the difference. She's going to go with joking, because it's the less messed up option. That means she's going to laugh along with her, even if it's a bit shaky.]

Nah, I don't think he looks like much of a Bob.

[Which she absolutely knows, even though she's never met anyone named Bob in her life.

Her latest bite of heart is just kicking in, which means she can't stop herself from raising her eyebrows and blurting:]

That's a really weird thing to admit. Like, who says that, whether or not it's true? It's gotta bug you at least a little. Are you just like, trying to act super tough or something? Been there, done that, never had good results.

Nah! [A small laugh!] You go ahead of me, I'll catch up!

[He can't leave until he knows they won't pursue, whether that means incinerating them or letting them decide to spook someone else.]

[She barked out a laugh right along with her. Rikku'd guessed right on this one, though Larxene was arguably sane by most people's standards. She grinned over at her and winked, shrugging.]

You might be right. He might be more of a Steve than a Bob.

... Hah, what do you mean, though? [She grinned away like there was nothing wrong.] Me being heartless? Nah, emotions are pesky, worthless things. I prefer being heartless if you ask me. Much easier to live.

i know a guy named shinra
well he's actually a kid
but he's super smart and could probably have a company if he wanted one

_{[There's more than a few things to resent about Deerington, one of them being that it forces her to do things she wouldn't normally do. Yes, like feel compelled to participate in arena battle royales and reenact the Donner Party at a dinner party (which is so on the nose that Deerington should be burned to the ground just for that)...

But also help people. She's not one for random acts of public service. Neither is she one to give her time to strange dudes who look old enough to be her dad.

He should appreciate, then, the monumental gesture she's making when she walks right up to him and knocks his plate on the ground. The beer, too. Gratitude. Mmhmm, that's what she's owed here--gratitude and lots of it.]}

Stop!

I'm swell. Peachy.

[It's sarcastic, but that's Theo for you. Her arms are crossed tightly, and she has her jaw clenched so tightly it's nearly visible, muscle jumping in her cheek.

The question gets a nod, because she knows damn well what he means -- is it just the two of them Crains. There might be other people here, but others aren't them.] I haven't seen the others.

--jesus. [Theo exhales slowly, reaching up to rake her fingers through her hair a couple times.] Over a year?

[That's a really longass time to be stuck in a dream.]

Of course not. But it's not going to change anything for you to rant and rage about how unfair it is. We're still going to be stuck here either way, sounds like.

If there was an easy way out, would anyone still be here?

[Okay, that makes her laugh -- a genuine laugh, the first one she's given since arriving. There's something about the full-on manic glee the kid is showing that's infectious, so...why the hell not fling herself wholeheartedly into the maggot-smashing?

At least until most of them are nothing more than oozy puddles, and Theo is pretty sure she's pulled about 12 of her muscles.]

Jeez, kiddo, you're a beast.

Yeah, it's a real spread. [Theo is cradling her own drink -- vodka cranberry, looks like -- between her palms, grimacing at the table like she hadn't just scarfed down half the liver in one sitting.] A regular continental buffet. Makes the Best Western down the street look plebeian.

[Theo is currently spitting into the gutter because holy shit, some of that got in her mouth, ew. She makes a face, sticking her tongue out, then trying to shake it off, because there's a -- kid with a chair leg.

Huh.

Well, "kid" is a relative term -- he's younger than she is, at least. And he seems to know how to use that thing, so Theo and her crowbar are coming a little closer, thanks. Safety in numbers.]

I'm great. Awesome. Exactly how I wanted to spend my day.

Theo quirks her eyebrows right back, smoothing the gloves into place, self-consciously, then crossing her arms. "Sure am. It's a big thrill." She tilts her head, shifting her weight to her back foot. "And you're...here, too. When'd you get here?" Denial never helps anyone, Grady.

She looks down at the crowbar, lips quirking up briefly in a humorless grin. "Softball. College. It's been a minute, but the general motion's the same, yeah?" She nods at the gun holster. "I'd trade it in a heartbeat for one of those, though."

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NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Character Arrival

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un: machina

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all you can eat

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