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soddersays2019-10-26 07:49 pm
sodder) wrote in soddersays2019-10-26 07:49 pm
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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!
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.
All affects from the food will wear off within about an hour if you’ve only had a bite — or they could last up to twelve if you really stuffed yourself. Please be sure to obtain OOC permission from any players for the brain and eyeball prompts!
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.
Ray Stantz | The Real Ghostbusters
[... 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.]
Not Beast Nor Kin
But then you have the idiots who get themselves into dangerous situations like this, and she hasn't got it in her to just walk away from someone in trouble. The maggots, at least, aren't interested in her- there's a bonus to being inorganic and this is exactly it. She hasn't got a lot to defend herself with, aside from her lasso- which won't do a whole lot of good against something made of maggots, but heck if she won't try.
Enjoy the tiny person (????) running between your feet, Ray. She lassos down a chunk of 'arm', predictably pulling it off and raining down the gross little things. Ugh. This is the worst day. She jumps out of the way of them, already jogging around to see if she can do it for another part of the maggot-blob.]
You might wanna start running! They're not gonna listen to you.
no subject
Yeah I'm starting to get that feeling! But I'm not one to run from a fight-
[And then he gets a look at the other person attacking the maggots. That... sure looks like a small human. He can't get a good enough look to figure out what exactly she is, but it's definately enough to pique his interest.
... Probably too much considering that they're fighting maggots right now, but don't worry.]
Hey! What are you exactly?
no subject
Um. I'd love to answer whatever questions you got but maybe those later and running first?
[She makes a desperate sweeping gesture away from the maggoty monster.]
Before that thing eats you?
no subject
Oh alright. I need to do some research on these guys first to see if they have any weaknesses.
[He's not even pretending to sound worried.
... He's also gonna assume that, whoever this woman is, is probably not really fast compared to him so he is just going to pick her up without asking and run away from the maggot monster.]
no subject
[Just pick her up with your grabby hands, wow, HECKIN' RUDE. Still, he can move faster than she can, so she'll just... dangle awkwardly from his hand while he races off with her. ]
Where did you wake up? That'll be your house- you'll be safe there.
[She's gonna make a big assumption and decide he's new. He's got new vibes- she can tell that and she's only been here herself for a month.]
no subject
[He quickly bolts in the direction of his own house.]
I know I could ask, but I like seeing for myself, you know! There's a big difference between reading about something and experiencing something, after all!
[He's talking about murder maggots.]
no subject
[Ecept for, you know, trying to talk to the goddamn murder maggots.]
Though, just so you know- most of the monsters here don't really talk back if you're asking them questions. I'd say just assume they're out to kill you unless they do otherwise. You'd give yourself a better chance then.
no subject
[Ray looks thoughtful and glances back at the maggots.]
So like back home then, got it!
[... Ok]
no subject
[Yes. Home. Away from the maggot monsters. Be smart about this, Ray.]
So... none of the horror in this place bothers you?
no subject
Of course not! You're looking at a Ghostbuster, after all! It'll take a lot more than a few angry bugs to scare me off.
[He says this as if everyone knows what a Ghostbuster is.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
Arrival
In another world, another time, whimsical piano music would be audible somewhere, somehow, as the gentle slaps of goose feet on concrete follow Ray wherever he goes. Ducking(hah) behind corridors whenever he turns. Watching him. Learning how he moves.
Eventually, the goose feels prepared- or, more likely, the goose gets bored. The mind of the goose is an enigma.
The goose's head ducks low as it approaches from behind and gets ever so slightly closer, beak outstretched and partially open as it slowly, almost imperceptibly, reaches for Ray's shoelaces.
It is time to become an inconvenience.]
Arrival
He definitely isn't scared, it takes a lot for him for him to get genuinely scared about anything, but the vague feeling that someone is watching him but consistently finding no one is def enough to make him worried that something is going to happen.
So he's going to gently turn on his proton pack and keep his eye out for anything that could be dangerous. It never hurts to be prepared.
He stiffens slightly when he feels something at his feet, and slowly looks down to see what it is.]
Oh! [Well that's a relief! ... As long as it doesn't turn out to be a huge monster disguised as a goose but it's probably fine. He gently tries to move his foot out of the way.] At least I'm not alone in this dimension.
[He grouches down to get a good look at the duck.] So, were you the one who's been stalking me these past few minutes?
no subject
It regards him- mostly indifferent. The goose likely cannot comprehend human speech- and if it does, it truly does not care about what it hears. It is, however, suspicious of Ray's actions. This is normally when the goose is chased away, or at least stared at with disdain before the targeted human returns to their daily business. The fact that Ray is getting close is a deviation from the norm. What is he planning?
The goose attempts to snatch the proton wand out of Ray's hand with its beak and tug it away. The fact that the proton wand is connected to the pack with a cord does not occur to the goose, for the goose does not understand these things.]
no subject
H-hey! Don't touch that!
[Ray is partially upset that this random goose is stealing his stuff, particularly his proton pack which he really can't deal without, but he's mostly worried because the proton pack is on and it's very likely the goose will accidentally shoot something with it.
The goose might actually kill a man.]
no subject
And the cord pulls taut, yanking the goose back before it can get far, like a dog tied to a stake in a yard. Surprised, the goose drops the proton wand, which clatters to the ground- shooting off a beam that ricochets off the ground and into a trash can in a nearby alleyway. The newly dented trash can crashes to the ground and spills its contents all over the ground. Another honk- this time startled. The goose can only barely comprehend what it sees.
It does, however, recognize that this object is a Powerful Tool of Mischief, which means two things. The first is that the goose must find a way to harness it. The second is that perhaps, the human it is stealing from is deserving of slightly more respect than it has given.
Or the goose might just be thinking of finding a new pond to swim in. Really, it's hard to tell.]
no subject
When he confirms that no one is dead, he sighs and stands back up, grabbing the wand with him as well. He then looks at the goose, disappointed.]
Be careful with that! It could completely split all the atoms in your body apart if you aren't careful.
[He sounds not unlike a parent scolding their child for playing with power tools.]
no subject
It honks softly, somewhat disappointed that the proton wand is now out of reach. It dips its head and considers Ray's shoelaces. To a layman, it would appear chastised by Ray's words.]
Arrival
Hallo, and that's the common belief. Not quite sure how much I believe that.
[Then scratches his chin]
But you know - question everything.
I'm The Doctor, by the way.
No, don't think so.
no subject
I'm Ray! Is "The Doctor" your full name or is that your title.
[And more importantly:]
You're not sure? You got any proof or is it just a hunch? I could believe that this is maybe just an alternate dimension posed as a dreamscape but obviously I just got here so I don't know much about what's going on yet!
And that's a relief that not everyone is here because of the Sandman... I guess
no subject
Name.
[Same name. Different face. Then shine in those brown eyes. You clever human]
That's what I'm beginning to suspect more and more. Given what I've encountered and learned from digging around.
[A casual hand behind his head]
Want me to show you around?
no subject
[He just met you but sure he'll definately trust you!]
Fascinating! If you're right, it really brings the question of why disguise it as a dreamscape, although I guess it's a lot harder to think you'll get home through your own free will if you think it's a dreamscape as opposed to an alternate dimension.
no subject
Be careful of the townsfolk. Don't take food from them. The Deer are your friends. So, is the DogKeeper.
Well, an alternate dimension or pocket universe can be just as tricky to get out of.
There's a part of this place called The Great Sleep. Which is a multiverse subconscious of everyone living here.
Be cautious of free food.
And always ask questions.
no subject
Perhaps, but when you know it's a pocket dimension, then you know you can try leaving; but in a dreamscape you can only either hope to wake up or that someone else wakes you up! You don't got much ability to get yourself out if it is a dreamscape.
So basically don't eat food unless I know it's safe, gotcha.
[... Huh Dogkeeper sounds vaguely familiar.]
So what's the Dogkeeper like? Beyond that they're my friend.
not beast nor kin
[John has a sword. Of course he does. That doesn’t mean he’s effective at using it at the moment, especially when in every single regard that is not “currently holding a sword”, he is incredibly useless in this situation.
...still, they’re far more interested in Ray than him. Which means that as soon as they’ve set their sights on Animated Dan Akyroyd, John takes the opportunity to run behind a nearby tree.]
Solve this at once!