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Sodder ([personal profile] sodder) wrote in [community profile] soddersays2020-03-25 05:21 pm
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APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME




APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME









Welcome to April's Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: ENCHANTMENT 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: Enchanted food, possible body horror, mild finger injuries, magic based mind control, rapid aging, possible death
Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!











YOU UNCULTURED SWINE


Pork is on sale!! Time to buy it up for all your family meals. It also means anything with pork in it in all of the restaurants is on special and super affordable for just about anyone. New arrivals can even get a free meal of bacon, sausage and eggs at the diner! Seeing all the low prices, you find yourself craving pork more than ever. But who doesn't love bacon, right? Maybe you had ham and pineapple pizza at Peter's or those delicious and mouthwatering pork dumplings at the Hot Pot. You could have cooked a nice pork loin with your friends and family for a large get together. Candied bacon is a real treat to munch on in the park!

You're cooking it yourself or getting it from the local restaurants, so nothing bad could happen with a little self-indulgence, right? Just about everyone has learned not to trust the food at a giant feast in Deerington, but short of the lunch and dinner menus at the diner, the restaurants and the grocery store have never done a Sleeper harm! At least, that's the way it's always been before. Two years is long enough to start taking things for granted.

Anyone who has any of the specials from the restaurants or who cooks any kind of pork related product at home will find that once they have finished their meal, they will slowly turn into... pigs. It seems to vary on how fast a single person turns, some moving slowly over the course of days while they eat more and more food, and others will turn into a full blown pig in a manner of minutes. At first you can still talk to others and display your usual personality in pig form, but the longer you stay a pig, the more boarish you'll become.

So how do you break the curse? Locals say there's a magic stream up on the mountain that will stop these kinds of enchantments, but you can't go alone. Someone will have to carry you up and sing to you while you drink. It might be a friend or a lover or a complete stranger, but whoever you can nudge into it will have to physically carry you in their arms up the side of the mountain looking for this stream. It can take a while— the walk is fairly long, a few hours at best, but you'll know it when you find it. The stream sparkles unnaturally in the sunlight and it seems like none of the animals are willing to drink from it's unnaturally cold waters. The moment you take a long sip while your companion sings whatever song pops into their head, you'll turn back into a human. Hopefully your clothes turn back with you.

If your character does not eat meat/pork, then they'll be safe from this event!


GOOD ENDURES


Mirror mirror on the wall...

The pork doesn't seem to be the only enchanted object around Deerington this month. There are several of them cropping up all over the place and each one has a different outcome for those unfortunate enough to run into them.

Spinning wheels seem to be in the most random of places. Some of them will even just appear in your house. Sometimes multiple spinning wheels show up. Anyone who gets to close will have the strong urge to prick their finger on the spindle, the needle very easily cutting the tip and making you bleed more than you might have expected. Hopefully you have a first aid kit around.

Anyone who pricks their finger will find that they are forced to follow the next person they see around everywhere. They'll follow them to work, to school, to the bathroom, to the kitchen, even to bed. It doesn't matter if it's someone you've never spoken to in your life, you will follow them like a lost duckling every hour of every day. It's enough to drive anyone bonkers.

Mirrors will also suddenly be being displayed in every home and every shop, even if you never had them before. It doesn't matter whether or not you have a reflection, any person who looks into the mirror will find that they are forced to imitate the next person they make eye contact with. This can be their personality, their posture, the way they speak, their basic movements— you'll start to become a total mirror image. If it goes on too long, you might even start to find the two of you start to look more and more alike...

Apples start to pop up in all the stores as well as in your fridges. They're bright red and look so delicious, you can't resist taking a bite. Even if you don't like apples or are normally allergic to them, you'll want to eat these, and you'll find they taste delicious and don't bring harm to anyone. At least... not at first.

A few hours after eating the apple, you'll start to notice differences in your appearance. Your hair has start to thin and become gray and limp, your skin is wrinkled and covered in spots, your hands become frail and shaky. You're aging, and rapidly at that. Before you know it, you've turned into a hideous hag, one that would frighten children in any fairy tale book. But how do you reverse it?

The cure for all three enchantments is to tell three facts about yourself. Even just introducing yourself will show improvement if it's to someone who never knew your name before. Those who ate the apples will have to seek someone out, but anyone who pricked their finger or looked in a mirror will specifically have to confess these three facts to the person they're enchanted to follow/imitate. Once three facts have been shared, you'll be able to leave, return to normal, and age back to your regular self.



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.
redheat: redheat. (❝and you expect her to believe it all❞)

[personal profile] redheat 2020-03-26 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
That voice.

Despite whatever hope she had gently held within her chest to perhaps find one of the others here, she'd also hoped that maybe she wouldn't. That... wherever she is here, this place that now holds her within a certain dream, that they wouldn't have to be lost here. Like her.

But to hear that familiar voice and to call her by that name... there's really no one else who's ever called her that and so it has to be him. Doesn't it?

Her eyes flutter open and her chest tightens as she stands there, dripping wet still. It's a little difficult to see and everything still feels so strange and yet, she knows who it is. Who it has to be.

"Logan..?"
shield_heroine: (Where Do They All Come From)

[personal profile] shield_heroine 2020-03-26 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
[She fidgets. What can she tell? She barely understands it as is.]

You... you might be better off asking someone else... This place keeps changing...
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Think think think)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
Yukio? That's a pretty name! Nice to meet you, Yukio-san! Hmm, I've never done hunting or like, farming before. Do uh, we need to go into the forest or something?

Um... okay so... no... pork... got it. No pork buns for me, I guess... Oh hey, what about fish, you think that's safe to eat? Fishing can't be too hard, right? You just like, need a stick string, and hook.
onerthes: (10)

C - Video, UN: Runseeker

[personal profile] onerthes 2020-03-26 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Well well... I might know a doctor or two, but it depends on how bad the pain is, doesn't it?

[The three eyed woman winked with that third eye as she waved at Usagi, smiling idly. She seemed to be seated at a kitchen counter and behind her, a green bird was munching on a bowl of mixed nuts.]

You realize it's on, yes?
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Angel face)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
[She tilts her head and realizes how shy Sana must be. Her smile becomes even more gentle.]

That's okay, Sana-chan, maybe you could help me with something though if that's okay?
shield_heroine: (Picks Up The Rice)

[personal profile] shield_heroine 2020-03-26 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
... I'll try. What is it?
lightthedarkness: (Usagi)(Luna) (GAAAAAH!)

Video; UN: Feedthebunny

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Usagi jumping a foot off her seat means no, no she did not know it was on.] GAH!

[She clutched her heart and then looked down at the phone.] OH um, hey-hi, ya scared me there! Um no, I didn't, actually. But uh, I do now. So, um, right, doctor you said? I wouldn't say, like, BAD bad, just really sore and tender.
redheat: redheat. (❝there's no daydreams here for her❞)

[personal profile] redheat 2020-03-26 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's not a voice she had thought that she would hear nor a presence she thought she would feel. She had hoped, some... small part of her had, of course. She loves and misses those she considers her friends, her family, and after what she had done back at Alkali Lake as a means to keep them safe... of course she didn't expect to actually see or feel any of them here.

So when she hears her name wrapped within a voice that, while perhaps different in how she last heard it, is one which is so familiar to her, she feels her chest tigthen and the shaking around her suddenly stops. ]


Logan...

[ His name is but a whisper as she lifts her head from the shelf and she looks to him... and stares with confusion. He looks... so different. So much older and she shakes her head, trying to understand what she's seeing here. How long has she been gone? ]

You're...

[ Different. ]
onerthes: (09)

[personal profile] onerthes 2020-03-26 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
[She giggled a little when the girl jumped. It was cute when she saw new people like this. Probably one of the few wholesome things left in this awful little nightmare. Resting her chin on her hand, she listened until she got that out and nodded.]

No need for the hospital then. I think I know a few people who might be able to help, though... tell me. Did you look in the mirror? The pain wouldn't happen to match a couple tattoos would it?

[Someone had some experience with those on the back.]
zunesareawesome: (Neutral - hm)

Peter Quill | MCU/GOTG | OTA

[personal profile] zunesareawesome 2020-03-26 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Note: Peter's canonpoint is right after Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but feel free to 4th wall him at any time if you'd like!]

a. Straw Houses cw: body horror

[Look, there's free food. And Peter hasn't eaten earth food in years, so yeah, the moment he's got the opportunity to? He's chowing down. So much. Bacon? Hell yeah!

...look, the fact that he's somehow gotten a pig nose and pig ears afterwards is...maybe kinda almost worth it. Almost.

It sucks that it's getting worse, though. Probably he should worry about it? Once his hands turn to hooves that's when he starts running around, trying to get someone to help him.]


Hey! Hey, you! I need some serious help! [A pig-faced Peter runs after you, waving his hoofs. Hooves? The tusks in his mouth make it a little hard to talk, but he should still be fairly understandable.] I swear I'm cuter than this!

b. Apple a Day cw: ageism likely

[So Peter ate an apple and now he looks really, really, really old. This sucks for obvious reasons, many of them being he was also, once again, not his normal action hero self. He stares at himself in a window, mouth agape.

No, he was freaking out because he kind of looked like his dad. He doesn't look like his dad, does he?

He looks worse than his dad. He rubs his face.]


I guess I could make it work by being the old wise sage of the group. Like Gandalf or something...

c. Network, Video; Un: Star-Lord

Hey, so like, is there anything you can eat in this stupid place that won't, I don't know, warp your face? It's just a little weird...

d. Wildcard:

Anything goes! PM or plot with me at [plurk.com profile] indymica!

Edited 2020-03-26 01:31 (UTC)
wolverinesbodyguard: (1)

[personal profile] wolverinesbodyguard 2020-03-26 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks you Usagi-san. You are very kind. We could do hunting, but I was thinking more like working for food. Perhaps I should have said to get money some how else. But now that you mention it, I think hunting and fishing shouldn't be too hard.

I was almost tempted by the pork buns myself.
knewaguy: (032)

[personal profile] knewaguy 2020-03-26 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
You're... the same.

[Sort of. She's young and full of life, looking at him making him feel like he's so far in the past he can't even think straight. She's the woman who appears in his dreams time and time again, scarlet hair smelling sweet and familiar before she ghosts away, out of his grasp. Always there to remind him she can be and always - always beyond his reach. Makes looking her in the face right now feel beyond surreal.

The only thing that snaps him out of his reverie is that she's still bleeding. The scent is thick and his gaze drops down to her hand and he instinctively steps toward her, holding his out. He reaches for her wrist and this feels like one of those moments where she's about to disappear on him before he can even get his handkerchief out of his pocket.]


You're bleeding.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Um... what?)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, no, I never thought I needed to go to a hospital or anything. [She's never been to one for herself.] And um, I mean, considering where it is, I'd need at least, one giant mirror and a smaller one to see things. Or... well, I guess I could try and take a picture with my phone later. Ah well, something to think about. But ya know, later. I mean, I don't know if it's a tattoo. I've not looked for it.
wolverinesbodyguard: (4)

a. Straw Houses

[personal profile] wolverinesbodyguard 2020-03-26 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
[She had been wandering the area looking for food as well. Something simple, and not something that kept getting shoved t her for SALE. Good pork is never on sale.]

[That's when the pig faced man came into view, and she couldn't help but draw back, her hand dropping to her sword. She didn't draw it, but it was there at the ready. Her other hand lifted, holding her palm out to him.]


Whoa, slow down there. [Was that a set of tusks? What the HECK?]

You're not looking so alright.
finaletea: (Wave)

B

[personal profile] finaletea 2020-03-26 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Mami was just minding her own business when she meets eyes with Usagi. She seems friendly enough, but she can't help but feel slightly alarmed when the young woman approaches her suddenly. But she tries to be friendly still. ]

Oh hello! [ Mami gives her a small wave. ] Is everything alright.
onerthes: (02)

[personal profile] onerthes 2020-03-26 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
Right. I ask because all of us have a tattoo. They look like deer antlers. If you're on the network you should have one. Mine are at the small of my back, and... uh, every once in a while? They suddenly flare up with pain. It usually means something bad is coming, but not always.

A little hard to predict. Though, if you want me to check, I don't mind, or I could give you Moira's number. She's a good doctor. Not the most sociable, but a good doctor.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi)(Luna) (GAAAAAH!)

A.

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Usagi was just about to put a bun in her mouth when suddenly someone was right in front of her. And that someone-]

GAAAAH! [Usagi was about to quite rightly, high kick Peter in the face but she was able to hold back and merely hugged her basket closer.]

Um... uh... h-hi... [She took a step back, putting distance between her and the other guy.] I'm... gonna... assume you aren't usually with pig ears and a snout.
incandescentfaith: (Bad Omen)

Arrival-ish

[personal profile] incandescentfaith 2020-03-26 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
[There are times when you're just going along about your day, having a relatively peaceful time (or as peaceful as you can in a place like this). And then there are times when the sight of a particular hairstyle on a person up the street can make your stomach do backflips, tie itself in a knot, and then go screaming down into your toes like a roller coaster ride.

SHIT.

Frozen in place for several seconds, the only word that Rei can even think about completely takes over.

SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT.

Usagi is here. Usagi is in this hellhole.

That changes a lot of things. Not everything. But a lot of things.

Usagi is here...and she's walking up to one of the locals...

The realization there hits her like a thunderbolt and she abandons propriety and darts forward, coming up behind the blonde with an expression that could curdle milk aimed right at the young man she's currently introducing herself to. He blanches, takes a step back, and Rei slips into the opening provided to reach out and grab Usagi's hand.]


Usagi. Hello. I need you to come with me.

[...Hello friend.]
redheat: redheat. (❝a never ending spiral of maybe❞)

[personal profile] redheat 2020-03-26 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ When he takes her hand, she lets him, despite her mind trying to quickly make sense of what she's seeing before her. It's Logan, she knows that and yet... he's different. So much in the physical sense if easy enough to see. But in the emotional? How much, she has to wonder.

But her bleeding finger which she holds to, blood still dripping down her wrist, pulls her out of those thoughts and she glances off for a moment. The spinning wheel she felt so compelled to touch... ]


Yeah. Just a bit.

[ She tries to shrug it off. ]

Or, I guess a lot more than you'd expect from... pricking your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel.

[ And it's here that she looks up to him. Really looks to him. Though doesn't attempt to slip into his mind. ]

I'm fine. I just... need some bandages and possibly some antibiotic ointment in case of infection.
sororis: (147)

well hello!

[personal profile] sororis 2020-03-26 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
Of anyone who could have caught Izzy doing something stupid it was Magnus Bane. And she's thrilled to see him, in spite of her embarrassment, her finger is still in her mouth as she gasps out, "Magnus!" only a little garbled. Her eyes are bright as she approaches him, knowing she's already healed from the small wound, and in another time she might have hesitated before throwing her arms around his neck, but a familiar face, in fact the only familiar face she's seen here yet, is more enough to trigger her impulsive nature.

It's meant to be a quick hug, an absolute reflexive gesture, and she pulls away just as quickly as he allows. She won't let him out of her sight, she decides, and is surprised by the thought for only a moment. But it's true enough, so she lets it lie.

"We both know I'm better suited to making the sharp objects than my own clothes," she agrees, with humor. She glances back at the offending spindle, however. "I don't know what I was thinking."



[ooc: I'm planning to go with a just-post-2x20-ish canonpoint, just for reference ♥]
lightthedarkness: (Sailor Moon) (Hm I wonder)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Oh! Oh yes, money, money is... good, important. Actually, I can probably do that way easier than hunting. Any idea how we make money? Like, I mean, get a job, I suppose? But like can we just... ask for one? The letter said not to trust the citizens here.

I know, right? They smelled so good!
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Default)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-26 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Well, do you know, Sana-chan, how I can make some money here?
zunesareawesome: (Annoyed - I'm not buyin' it)

[personal profile] zunesareawesome 2020-03-26 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[Peter pauses, eyeing the sword. He knows exactly what it's like to lose against someone who was an expert at sword-fighting, so he doesn't dare take another step closer. He holds his hooves up, eyes wide.]

...you think? Aw man, is it getting worse? It's getting worse, isn't it? This sucks...
shield_heroine: (Where A Wedding Has Been)

[personal profile] shield_heroine 2020-03-26 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Slow nods.]

... There all kinds of jobs here. Just like... back home, I guess. I work in a pet store... you just have to ask around.

[Living Alone Sign #1.]
wolverinesbodyguard: (7)

[personal profile] wolverinesbodyguard 2020-03-26 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose wee have to trust them a little in order to eat their food at all. I've never had to work a real job before. Not outside my normal job. Maybe a store or cafe? How bad can all the locals be?