APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

[sodder]

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!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

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.

Comments

[oldhound]

really.

[ Dimension hopping is dodgy business. He's been to so many parallel earths he just stops asking who has what and when and who. It's why he'd just barged in as he had with Lucifer. Never mind the time pressures. ]

i suppose once you've saved each other a time or two and helped retrieve a person's soul from purgatory it's gone a little past the work colleague stage, so sure.

friend.

[bardish]

Yeah, um. [ He nods, looking a little pale. ] Closing my eyes. [ He shoots an attempt at a quick, reassuring smile before closing his eyes and covering them with his hands. Hopefully this'll be the end of it. She'll walk away now, and his head will clear, and he'll walk the other way. The end.

Except it won't be that easy, and he's starting to cotton on to that. There's a queasy sort of dread rising in his stomach, because as weird as this all is, there's something vaguely familiar about it. No, he's never felt compelled to stalk anyone before, but...

But. He has been in a situation where he didn't know which impulses were his, and which came from something else. Where he never really felt in control of himself. Where reality and dreams (and nightmares) all bled into one another, in a totally inescapable hell, and-- okay. This is mild in comparison, it is. But it's kind of like... the distant cousin of some old wounds. It's just similar enough to make him feel sick-- and worse-- doubt himself.

After all, it wouldn't be the first time he zoned out and snapped to his senses hours later, with big blank spots in his memory. Maybe he was stalking her? Okay, no, that's just paranoia talking, and he's got no reason to feel that way, except every second he stands there with his eyes closed, it just gets worse. The bad thoughts in his head, the self doubt, the sickness and bile rising up inside, the ghosts of traumas past, and the overbearing panic weaving through it all, telling him the only way to stop this is to follow follow follow--

He opens his eyes, and the girl's nowhere in sight. That should be a good thing, but the noise in his head doesn't stop. It isn't until he just gives in to the impulse-- follow-- that it starts to quiet down. But it won't go away until he's near her again, that much he's starting to realize. ]

I'm not crazy. [ He's just telling himself that-- and the girl, if she can hear him-- like it's some kind of mantra that'll put a stop to his... totally crazy behavior. ] Not crazy. I'm not crazy-- and I get that repeating that out loud over and over again definitely makes me sound crazy, but I'm not.

[enumerator]

Why do you care so much about what you look like?

[ arya shrugs, unimpressed. why should she soften the truth? if anything, this skinny old man should be proud that he's lived this long.

arya takes a long, drawn-out sip when barry asks about the coke. it tastes the same way it always does -- strange and fizzy and delicious. ] It tastes good, but perhaps not like "real coke." [ she shrugs again. ] This is the only kind of coke I've ever had.

[oofta]

As they made it into town, Molly twisted her hands together, thinking about what Airy had said. She hadn't felt like believing anyone in the first couple of days, but she'd certainly heard similar stories. It made her wonder if there weren't some truth to it, especially considering the consistency, not to mention how all of them had woken up.

"Sodder's a familiar name," she revealed. She plumbed the depths of her mind, trying to recall where she's heard it before. A crime? No, a tragedy. "There was a story. A family who lost five children. Don't think they ever found the bodies, but they were supposed to have been killed in a fire." She remembered there was something else in the original story that had bothered her, details in particular, like a missing ladder and a mysterious drifter, not to mention the lack of bodies as evidence.

Molly looked suitably disturbed, adding, "I sure hope they're not one in the same..."

[theheartpart]

Copying you? What are you talking about, Buff? This is serious...

[ He seems to think so, at least and he even... puts his hands on his hips, cocking on side out before realizing how it might look and folding back on himself. ]

Look, can we please fix this monstrosity of an outfit and then talk about all the crazy things in this place are?

[droptheious]

Oh... right, you're new new.

[Dangit, he figures he really should do... something here. After all, he showed up here knowing no one and having people already willing to look out for him made all the difference. He rubs the back of his neck. ]

Well. If you need anything, I'm always around, okay? I'm 25 Raccoon Alley, or you can contact me on my Fluid. Did anyone show you that yet?

[thighzits]

[Okay, that's probably not an excuse any home invader has used before - but that doesn't mean it's going to work. Syd glances around the barren space, trying to find something to arm herself with, something cleaner than her usual weapon, but she comes up empty. There's nothing but a mattress and some kitchen appliances, and she's not about to throw a microwave. The spinny part inside, maybe, like some kind of glass frisbee?

You need to open the door or I'm gonna die.

She swallows. She scrunches her eyes. She walks back into the kitchen.

-or I'm gonna die.

Shit. Shit.]

Touch me, [she says as she flings the front door back open, arms crossed protectively over her chest, ] and I will kill you.

[accelerate]

[ if she didn't bring up her commentary on coke, he'd inform her of why he cares so much. it all has to do with iris west-allen. also, because he wants to be the freshest barry allen in the multiverse.

his eyebrows shoot up, ] For real? [ there's no judgement whatsoever in his voice. maybe she comes from an earth where there's no coke, or maybe they just have fake coke. ] When I find real Coke, I'll buy you a can. You need to experience all the different types of Cokes. Real Coke, diet Coke, sugarless Coke, raspberry Coke... [ he scrunches up his face in thought, pausing only for a brief moment in his rambling. ] I think there was a lemon one? But I could be wrong. They do a lot of weird flavours all the time and most of the combinations never work.

[accelerate]

That sounds legit.

[ for real, this is not barry being gullible. people don't tend to meet and befriend oliver queen under normal circumstances... except maybe for him? who knows. ]

Wait until he tries to shoot you in the back and ruin one of your best shirts and blazers.
I'm still waiting for him to replace it with something Gucci. It's been 84 years, man.

[borntolove]

Oh, don't say that - you humans have a phenomenal capacity for learning!

[The Doctor remarks with a ton of enthusiasm and on a more serious note as they begin to walk around]

First things first, you can trust Sodder and the DogKeeper. Be very cautious about any free food or drinks offered to you. Ask me to taste first.

Everyone you're going to meet here that aren't residents are from other worlds and universes.

[laruetheday]

[ The door swings open and Clarisse is too busy gripping the frame with strained relief to worry about touching anybody. She looks rough compared to when Syd saw her earlier, pale and sweaty and sick, but the sight of Syd eases her headache a bit. She has another fleeting thought about Delphi Strawberry Service, but it's easier to come back from it. She doesn't try to step inside, though it's tempting—getting closer would help, she thinks, but she doesn't want to fuck this up and have the girl disappear all over again. ]

I don't—know what's happening. [ It's a struggle to get the words out, more from embarrassment than anything else. ] This is really screwing with me. My head—

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne shuddered involuntarily at the mention of a fire. Molly couldn't know, of course. No one actually knew, apart from Aunt Lysia, Uncle Tahafra, and Princess Amanda. Not just because Ariadne was secretive. She didn't like to think about the fire. She didn't like to think about everything she had lost that night.

It lived in a very small, very dark corner of her brain.

Still...

"A fire is such a mortal way to go... You'd think that would make this local god something like all of us. We live. We die. We suffer loss."

[stauncherhearted]

[Nancy had tried every shortcut she could think of, doubled back a few times, and yet, and yet this man persisted on following her! She couldn't even consider going back to her flat if he was going to follow her, because threat or not she didn't like random people knowing where she lived.

Suffice to say, she can hear him when he wanders back into her sight. She sighs heavily.]

You absolutely sound crazy. But lucky for you, this ain't the first time I've been followed. But it is the strangest. [Honestly, it sounded like a curse.] What did you do before you started following me? Is there anyone you've upset particularly badly lately?

[knewaguy]

[He almost says 'and now I know you're still with him' like it needs clarifying, but he doesn't. Maybe it's just because he's seen a world where he was the last of the X-Men that he doesn't really want to joke about Scott right now. Doesn't know how to go back to when things were easier, when he wanted to leech the heat off her body without a damn for anyone else. Still wants to do that, of course, that'll always be a part of his brain but somehow he possesses a little foresight.

Keeping his eyes on the road and his hand lazily on the wheel, he answers her question first with a tip of his head and a meager shrug. He's not sure how to delve into it all but he'll start easy:]

Mostly. Before you start callin' me anything - there are a couple kids here who're around time to time. I'm no Charles but I think he taught me enough to feel bad if I wasn't looking out for them a little. But ideally, yeah, I'm living a life of blissful seclusion.

[etincelledefierte]

[Claudine nods.]

Lead the way, Tomoe-san.

[She smiles when she sees the cafe. It’s very cute.]

Are you sure? Thank you. I’d like a cup of Earl Grey tea, please, and a slice of whatever cake you recommend.

[etincelledefierte]

A - a year?

[There goes any hope that she’ll be going home quickly.]

I’m glad you’ve found some good friends here, and that they’re watching out for you. I’m sure you miss your family, though.

[holybeasts]

A little. I'm a vampire hunter after all.

[Her tone is casual but it's equally clear that she's proud of that designation of hers.]

Forgive me, I don't wish to keep you out here chattering away.

[redheat]

[ It's not entirely surprise which touches her features so much as genuine curiosity as he gives her some sort of warning in regards to the company which he keeps around his place here. She doesn't let her thoughts linger too long on the Professor, however. Everything still feeling so raw despite the bubble she sits within inside Logan's limo here with him. ]

I don't necessarily think it's a matter of teaching you to feel bad so much as it's that you've always been capable of caring, Logan.

[ With a look to him, she offers him a smile. ]

Rogue comes to mind with that.

[ And the lengths he had gone to help her when he simply could have just taken off. ]

Rogue | X-Men: Evolution (+CRAU) | OTA

[touchofrogue]

Uncultured Swine

[ There are people in the world who look at bacon and think: Ew, gross. No thank you. Rogue is, sadly, not one of these people. Also, she's new enough in town that she's not expecting anything bad to happen from consuming a delicious cheeseburger topped with bacon, other than having to exercise with a bit more fervor the next day.

She is entirely unprepared for the slow transformation of 'walking upright mutant person' into 'my what big ears you have and now suddenly you are on all fours and oinking' sort of person. She is entirely unamused, and the penny has dropped as to why people in the restaurant were talking, loudly, about a stream that you need to get to, up in the mountains... with company.

So! That restaurant you were about to go into? It's suddenly blocked by a pig. Trust her, she is doing you a favor, as she tries to herd you toward some of the loudly talking NPCs discussing curses and magic rivers. Come to think of it, there sure are a lot of pigs around, aren't there? Maybe thinking twice will stop you from making the same mistake. Maybe you could do her a favor too? ]

Good Endures

A: Spinning Wheels

[ The first time she sees a spinning wheel, she gives it a w i d e berth. A wide berth. The last time she became sleeping beauty and people kissed her to wake her up, there was a string of knocked out rescuers in her wake. Unfortunately, compulsions are compulsions, and she circles back around to it. She reaches out to touch it - she can't help herself - but her thick leather gloves keep the needle from pricking her finger. The compulsion, however, has been satisfied, and she's finally able to back away.

She does kick it with a muttered: ]Take that! [ as she backs away from it, hoping that by knocking it down sideways on the ground, she's saved another poor soul not similarly equipped. It's truly sad that as she walks away, the spinning wheel rights itself. ]

B:Apples

[ As soon as she sees the apple, she knows she shouldn't eat it. For one, she didn't put it there. For another - spinning wheel? Okay. Poison apple? Probably. She does not want to eat the apple. She recognizes the compulsion to eat the apple as something that is not her own. Rogue is very, very good at resisting her desires; she's had a lot of practice. She puts the apple down.

She puts it down, she walks away... but oh, it is gnawing in the back of her mind. You may encounter her: 1) when she is doing her level best to resist the compulsion, and may therefore be somewhat distracted irritable or 2) when the compulsion has won and she has taken a bite, you can catch her throwing the apple far away from her with a: ]

I'm really starting not to like the food in this place.

Wildcard
Anything else? Hit me up!

[chambermusicandtenpins]

[The color streaking back into Ganymede's hair surprises him, and his eyes flicker over the way it shifts. With a small, careful huff of a laugh, he says:]

Perhaps I should say it would be safer, then. This is not an easy place to navigate.

[the_cupbearer]

No place interesting is. [ For all the accoutrements of age that still decorate him, Ganymede's face and voice still seem almost unnervingly young, still on the cusp of adulthood. ]

Do you think it would last? [ He wants to know what he'd have looked like, how he would have aged if he'd been able to. Ganymede bends and picks up the apple, brushing it off and biting into the clean side. ]

A

[threelayers]

[The show got itself a response from someone in the local audience. A slow, methodical golf clap came from a pink and brown haired young woman who was decidedly shorter than Rogue was. She was watching the display with a bemused expression on her face

As she saw the mutant departing her, Neo is tempted to and falls to the urge to point back the way that Rogue had just come from while silently snickering a little. Yep. Pyrrhic victories weren't going to do a whole lot of good around here, but it was fun to see someone expressing the same irritation she herself felt.

Least she didn't get pricked. That was even more annoying, Neo had begun to find out.]

[touchofrogue]

[ Oh yay, an audience. With opinions. She turns to face the other young woman and jerks a thumb over her shoulder toward the (she thinks) capsized spinning wheel. ]

Lose somethin'?

[ Yeah, that's right, she's calling you a witch. But, you know, you started with the golf-clapping and Rogue has never been known for her tact and sensitivity. On the plus side, at least it wasn't an out and out 'piss off', more a volleying back of another layer of sarcasm. ]

[littlelesshelpless]

That's...that's just how my voice sounds. [She sounds a little weary, a bit apologetic. She's got resting apathy face, Clarisse.] I-I wouldn't say no to pizza.

[littlelesshelpless]

-- woah, that's. That's a while after mine, yeah.

[Bella stands there for a moment, not sure if she's more taken-aback by the whole "from the future" thing, or from Johanna calling her "cute". Then she manages an awkward little wave.] Uhm. Bye.