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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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[ ooc: canon point is late season 3. ]

• arrival; cw - blood, allusions to self-harm

[ This is wrong.

This isn't where you end up when a mirror bridge explodes in your face. She's sure of it. You don't grow up in the Library of the Neitherlands without picking up this kind of information. By all accounts, she should be suspended between worlds, trapped in a place where time and space have no meaning. And Victoria--

Shit. Victoria has to be here too, just as confused as Harriet herself. And since Harriet is the reason this happened -- sort of; it was more her mom's fault for sticking to the rules and regs like she'll literally die if she so much as bends one of them -- she feels responsible, or responsible enough to decide to go and look for the younger woman who fueled the bridge with her blood.

Harriet marches downstairs like a woman on a mission. She looks up and down the street, decides to head to the busiest section of the city, and pays close attention to every person she passes. Victoria will look drawn from blood loss, staggering along, every step a struggle. She probably won't even notice Harriet's here.

Well, Harriet won't give up. She gets all the way to what is clearly one of the main streets before she stops short -- because there are puddles of blood on the street, and the buildings are dripping with it. And god, the smell. ]

What the fuck.

[ Said out loud because look, this is some shit and she needs someone to answer her immediately. ]

• all you can eat

[ Harriet is new, so she doesn't know how dangerous the food here can be. All she knows is that the letter in her basket said that she should eat, so she figures it can't hurt to look. If it's not appetizing, she still has toasted pecans in her house to munch on for the time being.

It... does not look appetizing at all. She makes a face that broadcasts oh, gross with perfect clarity, but you know what? She's hungry. How is a dreamer, a Sleeper, hungry? And how are there actually people eating this shit? Maybe it's fake? It's gotta be fake.

She walks up to the person closest her, and when she has their attention, she says both in sign and out loud, ]

Is this a joke? A Halloween thing?

• wildcard

[ Come at me! I'm at punnyinpink @ plurk if you want to plot anything specific. ]

Edited 2019-10-29 23:55 (UTC)

[Where food appears, bullshit follows. It's become an enduring theme over Wrench's time in Deerington, and one for which he anticipates no change this time around. The restock of supplies has inspired little difference in behavior; he has continued to fish and hunt and forage even as the last bits of living sustenance disappear from the landscape. Some washed away by blood, some replaced by squirming organs, and others simply closed into hibernation for the season. He has amassed enough to last for some time in the little cabin he shares, or to hand out to others should circumstances become dire again. But a man who snubs food from the diner and home-cooked meals isn't likely to be swayed by whatever this place is serving up now.

Except that, inexplicably, he finds himself drawn to the buffet.

Wrench is no stranger to organ meat. Brains are a delicacy and liver a staple, but something tells him the origin of these are a little more questionable. Still, the gurgle in his stomach is demanding. He's about to grab a plate when his attention is drawn by a familiar sight from an unfamiliar woman.]

Why? You've never heard of T-R-I-P-E before?

Of course I have. [ She makes a face - what, you think she's so sheltered? ] But I've never seen a buffet of internal organs laid out like this. They look real. They look human. Seems thematically appropriate, but also just gross.

[ She's just. Trying so hard to both convince herself it's all fake and to get herself out of there so she doesn't have to do anymore convincing. ]

Is this normal here? You'd think you'd see this at a butcher shop.

[Now that she mentions it, this may be the harvest. For more than a month something has been growing underfoot, replacing soft earth with beating organs. Some Sleepers have noted that the bits of heart and kidney and lung they've dug up share genetic patterns with others in town, but to Wrench's knowledge they're all still whole. An after-effect of the doppelgangers? He looks at the buffet and wills himself to feel queasy at the thought, but his stomach is a pit and he feels every meal he's ever passed over in his life. He just can't bring himself to care.

And then his attention returns to the woman, and he spares enough thought to find himself curious at the most fluent signing he's seen thus far around Deerington. Maybe that leaves Wrench a little suspicious, but:]

You get used to it. I guess you just arrived? Best thing you can do is put the idea of "impossible" out of your mind.

[ 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?

[ You know what? She'll buy it. Seems solid enough. Tis the season. Etc etc etc. she grabs the plate with a thank you.

What's it like where she's from? Well, that depends on where specifically she talks to. New York is weird but mostly in mundane ways. The Library is... well. It's the Library. The mirror bridge was something else entirely but also, not a place she's from, per se.

She goes for a piece of liver. Fuck it. Puts it right on her plate. When her hand is free, she answers. ]

Similar to what I've seen here so far. There's magic, portals, illusions. We have cell phones and internet and drugs and booze - I would say that's "normal". But then there's things dragons, vampires lurking at parties, magicians who use illusions to keep the IRS off their backs.

[ And then there's her "news" website, Fuzzbeat, masquerading as your standard clickbait site to share restricted knowledge with any magician savvy enough to figure out at least half the articles are covered with illusions. ]

In the neighborhood where I grew up, there are cannibals. So, you know. This is weird. But it's synthetic, at least.

[ Yeah. Sure. ]

What about you? What's your home like?

[Wrench doesn't need to be told that "typical" is a relative experience, but it seems that this place is intent on re-emphasizing the point to him at every turn. Virtually everyone he's spoken to is from a place or has lived through experiences that he thought only existed in stories. Magic, zombies, far-flung planets, folks who refer to themselves as literal gods... If he ever made the mistake of describing his place of origin as "ordinary," Wrench knows now that holds no meaning in a place like this.

As she explains, he glances at the spread. It's rude, but he can't help himself. Despite the raw and bloody look of the organs, he wants to taste them more than he can remember ever wanting anything. Wrench spears a slice of brain, then adds a couple of eyeballs. These are, at least, organs he is particularly familiar with the texture of.]

Northwest United States, 2010. [He lays out the details first, if they mean anything to the woman.] If there was magic, I didn't know about it. [He shapes his thumb and index finger and arcs it at his forehead. Clueless. They share a language, and he knows that's not down to the universal translator in this place. That says plenty.]

You're Deaf too?

[ Ah okay, so if she names her current address (more or less), he'll get it. Maybe later. This is important, and furthermore, she appreciates his sense of humor. ]

Yes. [ She smiles. ] I take it there's not many others here?

[ She hasn't seen any, herself, nor any hearing person who knows sign. Bummer. ]

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wwrench - 2019-10-31 19:03 (UTC) - Expand

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fuzzbeat - 2019-10-31 23:33 (UTC) - Expand

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wwrench - 2019-11-01 01:57 (UTC) - Expand

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fuzzbeat - 2019-11-01 18:17 (UTC) - Expand

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wwrench - 2019-11-02 00:57 (UTC) - Expand

Ditto. [Theo is tiptoeing around the puddles of blood on the sidewalk -- and she's not normally a squeamish person, but. There are literally puddles of blood on the sidewalk. She shudders, full-body, crossing her arms tightly.] Shit's no better a couple streets over. I thought it might be localized, but nope. Crazy gross shit all the way down.

[ Harriet catches sight of her just in time to read her lips and get all of what she's saying. Which makes Harriet look even more disgusted, because what the fuck caused this. What the fuck is going on. ]

This is a nightmare.

[ Not a dream. The letter in the basket did not prepare her for this. ]

It's too early to need a drink, but god I need a drink.

[That gets a weary, but wholly genuine grin.]

There are guts spilling out of the walls. I don't care if it's 8am, it's time for a fucking drink.

[ A bar or wherever is as good a place as any to find Victoria, so you know what? Yeah. ]

Would you know where the nearest bar is?

Tragically, I'm brand new here. [Theo makes a show of sighing heavily, before breaking into a smile.] But fortunately, I have a built-in bar radar, so I'll bet you ten bucks I can find one around here somewhere.

( There's a figure crouched on the sideway, a mass of blonde hair, a dress that was once pale, but now is streaked with mud and blood. The woman has dipped her fingers into one of the puddles of blood, and is sniffing at is as it rolls down her fingers, with the intensity and focus of a feral animal, before tasting it with the tip of her tongue.

The sound of a voice gets her attention, there is an unusual quality to it, and Helena cranes her neck at an almost unnatural angle, before slow standing. She moves with a strange way, holding herself as though she were something disjointed, or held together by broken glass. )

The blood is being rancid.

( Helpfully, she holds her hand up in offering, as though the stranger would want to smell more closely for themselves. The intense focus of her gaze is challenging, almost daring the woman to look away from her. )

I think they were gutting many pigs to get so much.

Edited 2019-11-04 13:35 (UTC)

[ The strange way the woman moves catches Harriet's eye immediately — and also the way she licks the blood off her fingers. It's almost enough to make Harriet gag, but she's seen a dragon, danced with a vampire, had shitty beer, and so much more — and so she can hold this stranger's gaze without fear. ]

I heard, [ Harriet says out loud and in sign, ] that the organs on the streets match the DNA of people here.

( The unusual sound of her voice would flag Helena’s attention immediately, even weren’t watching the woman’s hands so intently. Drawing closer, the way Helena holds herself is strange, head hanging slow as she cranes her neck to look up at the woman, something almost akin to a snake or bird in how she shifts and sways.

The closer she comes, the easier it is to make out the details of her dress - an old fashioned wedding dress, like something from the Old West, splattered and soaked with blood. Her expression, though, is a little less dangerous. )

You are not hearing?

( It was sad thing, children being punished for sins of their parents. Children suffered too much because of the people guiding them, carving their flesh as though their were statues to be made from marbles.

Still, her expression twists at the thought of matching DNA, and spits on one of the puddles of blood. )

Then these are being work of devils. Wretched, unclean copies.

[ "Not hearing" — she likes how that's phrased. Harriet shakes her head. ]

I'm Deaf, [ she signs. It's probably clear enough. The woman in the torn, bloody dress seems like she'll understand that.

"Work of devils" isn't something Harriet comes across often. Reading about earth, her mother's home before the Library, introduced her to the deep ignorance of the extremely religious. It had shown her just how much power information had. The irony behind the Christian teaching that the truth shall set you free was that they held fast to error and twisted doctrine. They punished women for being women and blamed illness on the ill. They would have told Harriet her deafness was a trial, for the glory of their god, or that it was her mother's fault she was defective.

Ignorance is the greatest ill in the universe. They would probably look at this blonde woman and say she's also some sign of their god's love, or justice, or whatever the fuck. But she's intelligent. Harriet can see that. Maybe she just has trouble communicating it. So of course, that means the key is finding that common medium, a way to understand each other. ]

Maybe. [ Back to using her voice. ] No one knows who's in charge here. The organs are decaying. I just got here, so I can't answer any questions.

What's your name?

( For all that Helena was strange, odd, freakish to some, she was clever. The gesture to chest, to ear, it makes sense, and she nods her understanding. She's looking around them, trying to get a better sense of their surroundings, before re-training her gaze on the stranger. )

But you must be good at surviving, I think.

( All the senses were needed for this, to not be able to hear? That is creating trials and struggles. Points of vulnerability. Helena moved silently to strike unexpectedly. Being deaf, this means sensing so much more. )

Helena. ( A roll of her shoulders, and she starts to straighten herself up a little more. ) What is yours?

[ Helena. The intelligent woman in a dirty dress, who moved like a predator but somehow seems to have an easier time understanding Harriet than some hearing people do. They've both had to work hard to make a place for themselves in their worlds. There's a kinship there, if... well, Harriet probably had it easier. The Library provided. Her mother adapted, never stopped signing even after Harriet became proficient in lipreading. She passed in ways Helena doesn't—and maybe that's why Harriet feels like they should stay together, at least for now. ]

Harriet. [ As she says it aloud, she makes her name sign. ] Do you want to clean up? Eat something?

[ Please say yes, you deserve clean clothes, Helena. ]

( Watching sharply, Helena tries to imitate the name sign. Frowning, uncertain at first, before she tries it again, more precise - if nothing else, she is observant. Her nails are bitten down, hands filthy and blood stained, the skin pale and sallow, and it feels more pronounced now that she has watched Harriet's hands so closely for the signing. )

I like to eat.

( Being clean, eh. There's some dried grass and twigs in her hair, no big deal. )

That's good. [ Encouraging. Harriet will never tell someone not to learn sign. She might ask them to stop if they're particularly bad at it, but learning, making the effort, is good.

It says a lot that Helena doesn't leap at the chance to at least change into clean clothes, but hey. Okay. ]

Me too. Let's go.

[ They'll find food here and then maybe... maybe Helena will want to put on a clean dress. And wash her hair. And... just clean up in general. ]

( Helena hangs back a moment, watching Harriet before she follows, sticking to the shadows out of habit, trailing her fingers along the nearest wall. She's about to speak when she realises Harriet won't be able to hear her without seeing her.

She prowls along, idly picks up the lid of a trash can, and puts it under her arm, before jogging a few steps to be caught up with Harriet again. )

Do you believe this is dream?

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fuzzbeat - 2019-11-10 01:11 (UTC) - Expand

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NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Character Arrival

Harriet Schiff | The Magicians

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arrival

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arrival / wildcard-ish - cw blood and just... helena.... being alarming....

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