Entry tags:

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Whoa -- Hey. Are you okay?

[Because of course he's going to ask that. Of course he's going to lay eyes on the woman recoiling away from the nearest living thing like she's been struck. And be Concerned. That's just how he's wired. And hey, if he can help at all, maybe that will do something to take the sting out of the last few weeks.]

[But he does step forward. Offering her his right hand, just in case she needs to be steadied.]

You're not hurt, are you?

-- don't. [It comes out clipped, more so than Theo means. She shies away from the outstretched hand, arms crossed over her chest, fingers gripping tightly.] I'm fine. It's fine. Don't -- touch me.

Okay.

[His hand pulls back. Splays out to his side. He even shifts his weight away from her, offering her a little more space.] Okay. I won't.

Are you hurt?

[Theo breathes out, hard, hugs herself tighter for a moment, then shakes out her hands. She shakes her head.] I'm fine. I'm.

Where the fuck are we?

Deerington -- which, really doesn't help anything, I'm sure.

[There's a bench nearby. He gestures to it, carefully.] Do you want to sit down for this?

[He'll stay standing if she wants him to.]

Deerington. [Theo lets out a short breath, almost a laugh.] Cute. Cute name.

[Then she sits, very slowly, leaning forward so none of her bare skin touches the bench. She keeps her arms crossed, looking up at him expectantly.] Okay. I'm sitting. Have at it.

Yeah, that's about the only cute thing here.

[Aide from the deer themselves. Which aren't bad. He stands a few paces away from her. Out of arm's reach.]

It's also some kind of dream world. We're brought here, accidentally, by a little girl -- Sodder -- who was trying to make things better. But just brought us here instead.

[Theo just sort of...stares up at him for a moment, arms crossed tightly. It sounds ridiculous. It's absolutely absurd. What kind of...bizarre lie is that? A little girl trying to fix things who accidentally kidnaps a bunch of people?

After a pause, Theo straightens up, slowly pulling off one of her long black gloves. She exhales, slowly, then holds out her bare hand.]

Give me your hand.

[Bzwha?]

[He looks sort of taken aback by the demand. But... then does as he's asked. Because why not? What else can go weird today?]

[Unfortunately, he offers her his right hand, instead of his left.]

Are you sure?

[Theo lets out a sight, reaching to push her hair back with her still-gloved hand.]

Yup. It's the only way I can believe you. [A moment more of hesitation, then she sets her bare hand in the smooth, metal one.]

All right...

[He has no idea what this is going to do. Or how it's going to prove anything. He can't even feel her hand.]

[But he'll take it. And wait.]

[The first thing Theo feels is that the hand is cold and metallic and that's very strange, because most prosthetic arms aren't made of metal. The next is that she probably won't get as much as she would from a flesh and blood hand -- she's always had to focus harder with objects.

But then the images come, a wild kaleidoscope of them --

--halls, long purpley-gray halls, leading to sterile white rooms with needles and machines and straps, pinning down, holding in place, and screaming and screaming and screaming, begging for it to stop, for the pain to stop, but it doesn't, and so much fear, so much overwhelming, nightmarish fear, glowing yellow eyes and sneering laughing smiles and that pain and that fear and --

-- Theo gasps, jerking her hand away and lurching to her feet, eyes wide, breaking out in a cold sweat.]

Hey-!

[He pulls back, too. Startled by her reaction. Honestly, he's assuming the town is up to something now, because, for him, that's the only logical explanation at this point. That's... clearly what's going on here, right? Deerington being itself and traumatizing people.]

[He bites his lip, and, determinedly, pulls his sweatshirt sleeves down over his hands.]

[Only then does he reach out to try and steady her.]

Easy. Easy -- it's okay.

Don't. [It's much softer than the first time, almost gentle, as Theo moves back to sit down hard on the bench again. The residual fear and hopelessness she'd picked up is still washing over her in waves, and she reaches up, presses hard at her teary eyes with her hands for a long moment.] Just. Just give me a minute.

[She can't even begin to make sense of what she'd seen and felt, trying to sort through the lightning-quick images. Finally, straightening back up and looking up at him -- really looking now, realizing that he's not as old as she'd first thought. He's young, younger than her, younger than Nellie even. The thought makes something in her chest ache.]

I see things when I touch people. [She says it very plainly, matter of fact. No use hiding it when you're in a weird, creepy town that may or may not be a dream.] Or things. I see things and I feel things. Emotions.

You've got a lot of them.

[His hands fall back to his sides. But not without some hesitation. His natural instinct is to help. To support. And it's hard to fight against it. Especially when someone seems to be suffering.]

Okay. I'll -- I'm here if you need anything.

[Because what else can you do? His hands slide into his pockets. His weight shifting slightly back from her. Unsure of what else to do with himself while she composes herself -- he won't push. That never helps, he's noticed.]

[And then his head snaps up. His eyes widening before they drop to his right hand. To where he swears he can still hear the occasional whir of machinery within.]

I -- I didn't -- [Oh god. What did she see?] I'm sorry.

[Theo rocks back and forth for a moment more, squeezing her eyes shut to try and banish the residual images -- mostly the glare of blinding lights and that fear. When she glances up at the young man, she can see a faint echo of it, though it's overwhelmed by something like -- guilt?

Her hand twitches, wanting to reach out again and make sure, but she resists the urge.] Not your fault.

[Either the passing of the images or the contents of them. If nothing else, Theo had been able to pick up on the lack of informed medical consent.] So. Nice to meet you? Is that what comes next?

[Not your fault - boy. How many times is he going to have to hear that one? This month alone. Maybe too many. But it's never going to sink in. If it hasn't yet, it won't now. So he just nods.]

It could be.

[There's a sympathetic twist to his expression, to the line of his brow over the scar.]

I'm Shiro. One of the... veterans around here, I guess.

[Hey, she's a doctor, she knows what she's talking about!! There are books on trauma response, Shiro!! But she doesn't know yet how deep those visions go, or the ramifications in his day to day life.

So instead Theo just smiles, slowly pulling her glove back on.] I'm Theo. I take it "veteran" means "been stuck here a long time"?

[Oh... Oh honey. You have no idea. For real. Because Shiro keeps these things as locked down as humanly possible. And when they come out, they're explosive.]

Over a year now, yeah. I think... there's only five of us or so like that.

[Take that as you will, doc.]

--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.]

Yeah. Over a year.

[His face turns solemn, apologetic. As if this is, somehow, his own personal fault.]

We've been trying to figure out a way home, but -- this town doesn't seem to give us a chance to breathe.

...shit. I mean. I'm not...gonna ask you if you're okay.

[She laughs suddenly, waving her gloved hand.] I mean, I already kinda got my answer to that question.

No, I'm okay. Don't worry. I've gotten used to this place.

[That is not what the woman means -- he knows it, deep down. But this is Shiro, and we all know he's allergic to Not Being Fine.]

[Theo raises both eyebrows.] If you're genuinely used to all this, I'm more concerned now than I was a minute ago.

It's just something you have to get used to.

Or else you don't make it very long.

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Character Arrival

arrival

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: medical torture

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject