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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

come on, you cant tell me you aint even a little restless
ill be gentle, scouts honor

[ mickey was never, ever even close to being a boyscout.

in the mean time, he'll be lounged on a bus stop bench, man spreading, with arms stretched out over the back rest of the bench, head lolled back as he stares at the sky, bored. if alec happens to catch a glance at his face, he'll notice mickey's still wearing fresh cuts and bruises from the last brawl he was in. ]

Edited 2019-11-06 18:11 (UTC)

( it doesn't take alec long to get there. he's not familiar with the city enough to know his way by heart but it doesn't take him long to figure it out and soon enough, he walks up to the only other person in the area that looks to be waiting. )

Nice face.

( had you already gotten a head start on getting your face beat, mickey? )

[ Mickey's eyes shift to the stranger, looking at him upside down, assuming this is his new buddy come to deck him. Sup, bro. He grins. ]

Thanks. Shoulda seen the other guys.

[ that fight was amazing and he doesnt give a damn what marks it left on him. Besides, Mickey's spent most of his life running around with some kind of bruise or injury on his face at all times, either from fighting or his asshole old man. This doesn't feel new. ]

You're scrawnier than I thought you'd be. [ said with a yawn as Mickey picks himself up, stretching while he stands. Which puts him at a grand height of 5'8". Next to Alec, who is a giant. Haaaa. ]

I'm flattered that you've been thinking that much about me. [ he doesn't know what he'd been expecting when it came to mickey but it doesn't really matter. he's fought bigger things, smaller things so he's not at all worried about this fight. ]

How many fights have you already been in?

[ seemed like a lot. ]

Must be a fun hobby.

[ mickey flashes a quick, clearly sarcastic smile that doesn't reach his eyes, more like a flinch than a real expression. yeah, haha, you're adorable, smartass. anyway - ]

Today? None. [ mickey shrugs, ] Last night, one, but with a whole buncha drunk fucks that watch too much WWE.

[ as if the mention of chair-weaponry spurns it, mickey's pushes the heel of his palm against the middle of his back, features twisting into something more like irritation than actual pain. he's taken worse and still gotten back up ready to keep going. meh. he snorts at alec's comment, and yeah, it's more survival than hobby, but fuck it, this dude doesn't need his life story, so he shrugs. ]

Passes the time. You gonna deck me or what, gentle giant?

I was giving you the chance to prepare yourself.

( he'd seen him stretching but, while he absolutely wants to punch this guy's nose off his face, he doesn't want to sucker punch him. he doesn't dislike him that much. )

But if you're good — ( he stops talking and then throws a quick, straight jab right at mickey's chin. if it hits, it's going to stagger him, knocks him backwards and hopefully hurt. )

Ah, shit. [ mickey curses when the punch connects with his jaw, right on top of another bruise from the fight last night. aaawesome. ] Was it too much to hope you'd be left-handed? Least I could even out my face.

[ he'd been expecting the punch to come any second, so it's not too much of a shock, even when it staggers him (no shit, he got punched), even if mickey's making a show of rubbing his jaw. he didn't make any move to evade it, seeing as he told alec he'd let him hit him (well, that's what he meant, anyway), and didn't so much tell him that he'd take that as officially kicking off a legitimate fight. woops.

mickey's walking it off after recovery from the stagger, pacing a bit while he shakes his head, like trying to shake the actual pain of it off (and it mostly works - he's learned how to take punches in his life, especially from people stronger than him (hi dad)). ]

That was your free one, since I was a dick — [ he's self-aware, and he's not completely unfair, just really weird. but this also implies there will be more than one, and mickey doesn't let that sink in for long, barely even enough to get the last syllable of 'dick' out before his 'walking it off' turns into sneaking out a sharp, fast, vicious gut punch. if it connects, it won't feel great. mickey packs a hell of a punch - for a human. but that's not nephilim, and he doesn't know he's out-classed yet. ]

[ alec's not expecting a well executed, graceful fight at all. he's expecting a scrap or a brawl and that's exactly what he gets when the blow buries itself in his gut. it hurts and he winces but he refuses to do more than that. he takes the pain and packs it in, using the power in his blood and the runes on his body to stop himself from hitting the deck.

with mickey being so close because of the punch, he's able to bring the point of his elbow up to try and swing it across mickey's jaw. it looks like he's going to pay attention to that part of mickey's body for the moment.

poor mickey's jaw. ]

Fuck, man! [ another punch, right on top of the other one, right on top of the bruise that was already there, and that shit had to be on purpose. mickey disengages for a second to shake that off as well, letting out a cackle as he holds up a finger to point at alec. ] That one was shitty and you know it.

[ bad form, asshole. but also, not unexpected. half of the people mickey goads into fighting are more pissed off than he is. it's kind of like a business transaction, at this point, except this is less about doing what his dad tells him to do and keeping a strong hold on his alpha status, more about therapy.

therapy and getting yourself punched in the jaw until you stop being so fucking shaken up about a crappy situation.

to mickey's credit, he does learn, and he does improve pretty quickly, getting a little more serious now and holding up his hands near his face, looking like a pretty classic boxer (maybe he wasn't formally trained, but he was raised by a lot of criminals). the arm guarding the bruised up side of his face doesn't budge much, ready to block and protect, and the other throws out a half-hearted jab or two, looking for a good opening. ]

( if alec smirks, it's brief and goes away quickly but he's pretty proud of himself for getting a rise out of the guy. he lets mickey punch at him, deflecting the blows easily enough before making like he was going to lunge forward to see what mickey does.

he's got the longer reach and the size which means mickey's probably got the speed so he has to pick his spots well.

he could just out and out tackle the other man but tables that for the moment to aim low, going for a gut punch to see how well he can defend himself. )

[ mickey's been the shortest dude in a fight pretty much all his life, so he's learned to compensate for it, as alec correctly guesses, with speed, along with maneuverability, and general viciousness. he tends to stay close in fights, and he usually drops people pretty quickly, but alec isn't the usual person.

he just needs an in right now, that isn't a fake out, like the lunge is, which has mickey shifting back at first, but quickly finding his center again when it doesn't follow through. finally, there's the gut punch. his shoulders shift, narrowing his body so the punch more glances off the side of him than hits home, and from there, it's a step forward and to the side - at a 45.

as he's turning to keep himself facing alec, mickey uses the momentum for another punch he tries to land somewhere between alec's ribs on his side and his kidney. ]

( so, that lands and it lands solidly and alec actually grunts. he hadn't gone into this with any illusions that this would be an easy fight but he hadn't expected mickey to be as good as he is. he's not trained in the way that alec's trained but he knows where to land blows and this one lands enough that it hurts.

he's going to have to use a healing rune if he doesn't want it to bruise and that just pisses him off. he steps forward, a glare on his face and tries throwing fist after first, a flurry of punches to see what mickey can block because something has to land eventually. )

[ and then alec starts wailing on him and mickey's really glad he knows how to take a hit, because it's not a great time. he keeps his arms up and in classic boxerespue style, absorbs the blows on his forearms or bodychecks them, which stops them from really damaging him, but still doesn't feel great.

he can tell he won't last long like this, and alec's just hovering close, waiting for him to fuck up. cool. diversion time.

snapping foot up, mickey lifts it only high enough to plant the sole of his boot on the inside edge of alec's knee, kicking outward hard, hoping he can get the guy's leg to go out. ]

Edited 2019-11-08 20:51 (UTC)

( you're an asshole, mickey, and alec hates you. he would have kept going, kept pounding on mickey if it didn't suddenly feel like his leg was snapping in two. it's the only thing that gets him to lay off and take a few steps back. it's not broken, he doesn't think, but it hurts all the same and he limps for a bit to try and get some feeling back in his knee joint.

so, mission sort of a success. he doesn't go down but he's hobbled a bit and he's stopped throwing punches for the moment. )

[ the second alec stops punching and mickey sees the limp, he's surging forward, giving him a hard shove in the center of his chest, with a foot that steps forward to hook behind alec's bad leg.

if he can get enough force into it, maybe he can knock the dude all the way down. it's always satisfying to see tall people fall. ]

( the only thing wrong with that is alec's expecting something. he would do exactly the same thing if he were in mickey's shoes so while he stumbles, he grabs onto mickey's shirt when he's close enough and takes the other man with him, landing flat on his back.

the wind whooshes out of him but he still has the presence of mind to rear up to try and headbutt mickey. )

[ mickey can hardly blame alec for dragging him down with him. he'd have done the same, and mickey should've moved out of the way faster.

they hit the ground hard, though mickey less hard given alec's underneath him, taking more of the impact, but the headbutt makes up for any pain that spared him, and mickey's head snaps back with a hissed fuck.

but, we're done with the chatty part of this. like the other hits he's shrugged off fairly carelessly (he's going to have a nasty concussion to deal with later), mickey gets a forearm braced against alec's throat to keep him down and plants his knees against the ground on either side of alec's ribs, thighs squeezed tight to keep him there where he straddles him high up on his chest.

aaand it occurs to mickey that this is the exact same position he was in with ian before they realized they were both way too into it and had sex for the first time. alec's frame is a little too close to ian's for comfort and something in the back of mickey's mind panics. wow, fight magic ruined, and mickey's jerking back and pulling himself off alec abruptly, flopping himself down on the ground next to him instead as he stares up at the sky. ] Okay, okay, time out. I think your thick skull gave me brain damage.

[ not at all why he's declaring a time out, but whatever, it works. ]

[ the change in demeanor and tone is so abrupt that alec can only lay there and stare for a few seconds. he watches as mickey pushes himself away and he watches mickey lay there, breathing hard.

while the excuse about brain damage is a valid one, he doesn't think it's the only reason but alec doesn't press either. he lays there, breathing hard and staring up at the sky. ]

Do I need to call an ambulance or something?

[ he's such a nice guy. ]

[ his chest heaves as mickey's body tries to catch up to him after the fight, vision spinning from the headbutt still, pain starting to set in and what feels like blood trickling from his nose. not the worst he's been after a fight, but not the best either. alec's no joke, and mickey's kind of glad for it, giving his mind something else to worry about for a while.

the question gets a sharp laugh from him, and he lolls his head to the side to look at the guy next to him. ]

And stick me with that fuckin bill? Jesus, man, you really are an asshole.

[ of all the injuries and fights and whatever else mickey's been in before, the only times he's ended up in the ER or an ambulance have been when he was unconscious at the time it showed up. that shit's not cheap, and if he ever brought a bill like that to his dad, he'd get his ass beat worse than whatever he was taken in for, then have to find a way to scam the money to cover it on his own. ] Nah, don't get too excited, I'll live.

They charge you for that here?

( from everything he's heard about this place, people got hurt or people died a lot. the hospital would have been gilded in gold if they were charging people.

still, he just waves a hand in the air and then pushes himself up into a sitting position. )

Where'd you learn to fight anyway?

Fuck if I know, but I ain't taking that risk.

[ does he look like he has a single cent to his name, alec? the answer is no. there's holes in his jeans, the laces on his boots have knots in them where they've broken and he's tied them back together, his jacket has rips in places and is thankfully too dark for the blood and dirt stains to really show up. if there's even a chance he'll have a hospital on his ass to pay medical bills, he'd rather wait out the concussion himself.

alec sits up and mickey doesn't bother yet, dabbing at the blood trickling from his nose and a split lip, dark against his pale as hell ukrainian chicago kid skin. ]

Chicago Southside. [ he answers, as if that ought to explain it. ] My brothers, my bastard old man, Russian gangsters, whatever other assholes on the street I ran into and couldn't beat. You?

Huh.

( so, he's trained but not in a regimented sort of way. it still works for him but alec doesn't think he'd have been much good in a place like this. his life was built on rules, laws, and guidelines and he needs those to know what to do. )

New York. It's where I'm from. Fighting's part of my job.

( not that he's really going to tell mickey what that job is considering the whole angelic business part of it but he does share a little, at least. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

NOVEMBER TEST DRIVE MEME

NOVEMBER 2019 TEST DRIVE MEME

NOT BEAST NOR KIN

ALL YOU CAN EAT

Character Arrival

text > action if ur good with it?

yes, definitely!

Action!!

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cw: brief mention of child abuse

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cw: child abuse mention again

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