NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

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.


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.

Comments

[effinphd]

[Yep, she's definitely got a whole...bloody vengeful ghost thing going on, and Theo's more than a little unnerved by it. Then again, she thinks this is all a dream, still, so.]

You look pretty lost, yeah. Any of that yours?

[blackmothwings]

[She holds up her hand and looks at her fingers. The wounds have somehow closed, but she remembers the way the knife cut through her skin.]

We were attacked. [She responds quickly, her brow furrowing. She makes a solid attempt to look upset. Afraid. She stares at the ground, and crosses her arms over her chest.]

She murdered my brother. ['She' being Lucille. Oops.] She did it... with such ease. Oh, it was terrible. I held him as he died, you see.

[effinphd]

Jesus. [Theo rakes her fingers backwards through her hair, uncomfortable. Her gloved hands twitch, wanting to reach out, wanting to -- make sure. But that's not polite, not when someone's covered in blood.]

I'm sorry. That -- that sounds awful.

[blackmothwings]

Thank you.

[She answers, actually managing to sound grateful. There's a part of her that sincerely believes that her brother's death is Edith's fault, after all. If it weren't for that awful child, Thomas would still be alive.]

I apologise for burdening you with something so dreadful. But your concern is appreciated.

[effinphd]

No, it's...totally fine. [Theo clears her throat, gestures vaguely towards the house she'd come from.] You wanna, uh...come in and clean up?

[blackmothwings]

You're certain? [Her eyes follow the gesture up towards the house. She hesitates.]

I would hate to impose.

[effinphd]

It's not my house. [Theo shrugs, offering a wry half-smile.] I woke up there, but it's...definitely not mine. Seems empty, though. And there's a shower, at least.

[blackmothwings]

Peculiar. [Lucille comments, letting her gaze wander up to the home. She falls silent, and seems to contemplate it for a moment.]

Very well. I thank you for your kindness. My name is Lucille.

[effinphd]

That's an understatement for this entire place. [Theo pauses, looking down at her gloved hand for a moment before tugging it firmer into place and offering it to shake.]

Theodora. Nice to meet you.

[blackmothwings]

Yes, I suppose it is. [She agrees; she glances down at Theo's extended arm and gently accepts her hand.]

I'm pleased to meet you. It is a pity that the circumstances are... so strange. Have you seen anybody else?

[effinphd]

[There's an urge again to reach out, touch skin-to-skin, get the real story behind all that blood, but Theo swallows it back.]

Besides the rats? A couple people. Apparently this happens regularly, new people arriving. And some people stay for...a really long time.

[blackmothwings]

[A look of disgust crosses her features for a split second upon the mention of those awful, scurrying rats. Disgusting creatures, they are. Creatures trying to survive, just like every other living thing, but they're repulsive all the same.

She pauses, contemplating this new information.]

Is that so? [She remembers grasping for her weapon in the snow. The sudden strike to her head. The darkness... She never liked religion, but she still fears this might be some version of hell.]

What... manner of place is this, do you suppose? It's so unlike my home. I fear I don't understand it at all. The theories I have are all implausible.

[effinphd]

Mmmm-hm. It's apparently some sort of a dream? [Theo shrug, waving one hand dismissively.] Who the hell knows, though. You could all be a very vivid hallucination I'm having.

[blackmothwings]

A dream.

[No, that doesn't make sense. Whose dream? Her dream? Is it one big collective dream? No, that seems silly.]

...Yes, likewise. I think I was hit on the head rather hard. [She touches her head, right where she can still feel a twinge of pain.]

Perhaps it is a shared hallucination. I'm not even certain that makes sense.

[effinphd]

Yep. Or so I've heard.

[Theo pushes open the door to the house she'd woken up in, still looking around warily, like she's expecting someone to jump out at them.]

Shared hallucination makes sense -- except we don't seem to be from close to the same time period. Then again, considering the shit I've seen in the past few days, nothing seems impossible...

[blackmothwings]

[Theo's wariness causes Lucille to tense up, as though she's suddenly expecting someone too. She suddenly wishes she'd found herself a knife. Just in case.]

No, it doesn't. A shared hallucination that, somehow, crosses time itself...

[She pauses, looking over Theo's shoulder.]

We ought to make sure that none of those grotesque larvae have found their way in here. I shouldn't think so if the place was closed up properly. However...

[Nothing seems impossible.]

[effinphd]

...there are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio... [Theo looks down at her gloved hands then, curls her fingers and uncurls them a couple times.] ...than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

[Then she shakes it off, reaching for a crowbar leaning against one wall.] Right. Bugs. I'll take the top floor. That's where the bigger shower is, if you wanna follow?

[blackmothwings]

A fitting quote. [A rare, close-lipped smile creeps up on Lucille's face, but it vanishes as quickly as it appears. Theo speaks plainly, but the quote demonstrates that she's familiar with literature. This, Lucille can appreciate.]

Thank you. Yes. [She agrees, her eyes flickering down to see Theo reach for the crowbar. She supposes she could kick the foul creature a few times, should they encounter something, but she's otherwise useless. She follows, looking the place over.]

You must allow me to return the favor someday. Such kindness is so rare.

[effinphd]

Yeah. [Theo laughs, a little uncomfortably, passing the crowbar from hand to hand.] My folks were big on classic lit.

[She turns away then, abruptly quiet, not wanting to talk about her family any more than necessary.] It's fine. We'd all be dead if we didn't watch out for each other, right? Or...something.

[blackmothwings]

[She senses that Theo doesn't wish to discuss it any further than that. It's fine with her. It would be impolite to pry.]

Indeed. I'm accustomed to people caring only for their own interests, so you must forgive my shock. [Lucille's lips turn upwards into something that might be a smile.] Not that I can blame them. It's perfectly normal to put yourself before others, isn't it? In orer to survive...

[She honestly believes in her words. They're without any bitterness or resentment. She speaks like her words are simple facts that she's reciting from a book.]

[effinphd]

Depends on the situation, I guess. [Theo says this tactfully, but she gives Lucille a quick, appraising look out of the corners of her eyes as she scales the stairs to the upper story of the home.] When it's the only option, yeah, most people think only about themselves. Human nature.

[blackmothwings]

Human nature. [Lucille echoes; there's a touch of ice in her voice, like she's reflecting on something. Some unspoken memory.]

Well, then. I shouldn't be too long in the bathroom, and then I will no longer impose upon you. [She follows, bunching her stained nightgown up in her hands so she doesn't trip.]

[effinphd]

[Theo nods, vaguely, nudging open the bathroom door with her foot and peeking inside.]

Bug-free, milady. [She's teasing a little, picking up on Lucille's lofty accent and attitude, but there's a sharpness to her smile, all the same.] Please, enjoy. The hot water works, at least.

[blackmothwings]

[She's not sure how she feels about that. Her lips twitch, and she looks like she wants to respond, but she doesn't know what to say to it. Instead, she simply breaks eye contact and steps inside.]

Thank you, dear. [She finally says once she's inside, moving to shut the door.]
This will do.