sodder: (Default)
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.
fiorenero: (.46)

[personal profile] fiorenero 2020-04-10 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Is Mysterio the name you actually go by when you're in your... ( do not say fishbowl, Michelle. don't. say. fishbowl. and don't say costume. ) ...suit? We all thought it's just what the Italian media was calling you since you showed up out of nowhere.

( a beat. )

I'm gonna backtrack a bit here to clarify some stuff. You mentioned hanging out with Peter? You're talking back home, right? Because he's not here. No. That'd be... ( bad. super bad. )
fiorenero: boh. (.52)

[personal profile] fiorenero 2020-04-10 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
cool. is she here with you? i don't think anyone i actually like is here.

i mean there's this guy from home who's here, but he isn't someone anyone should like. bright side is it's better for my friends that he's here instead of back home.

it's not going out of my way if i offered? besides. what else do i have to do around here? not like there's school i have to attend. or practice. or a field trip to get back to.

was Godzilla was made of ice? did the titanic sink by hitting him or did he have his atomic breath even while made of ice and did he use it to destroy the ship? did people join the cults? i feel like you need to elaborate on the hate. are the locals giving dirty looks to people, or do they act on their hate? and is there a specific reason the locals hate everyone?
especiallyparanoid: (happy – good mood)

[personal profile] especiallyparanoid 2020-04-10 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[Wesley perks up at that. A man of research and science such as himself! What a pleasant surprise.]

I'm afraid not. Though it has been a while since I have been to the motherland... Are you affiliated with the Watcher's Council, by any chance?
itknowsyou: used with artist permission (== yeah the sky was falling)

[personal profile] itknowsyou 2020-04-10 03:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ 'Watcher's Council'? Christ, if there's an organization of the Eye that goes beyond Jonah bloody Magnus— ]

... oh, that does sound ... worryingly relevant. But if I am, no one's told me yet. I haven't been Archivist long, for all the trouble it's got me.

[ How did his predecessor survive decades of this. He continues to marvel. ]
Edited 2020-04-10 15:50 (UTC)
especiallyparanoid: (research – on the floor)

[personal profile] especiallyparanoid 2020-04-10 04:19 pm (UTC)(link)
It does?

[Most interesting. So he was on the right track here, he had a feeling.]

What exactly is it that you do at the Institute, Mr. Simms?
droptheious: (Would it kill you to be civil?)

[personal profile] droptheious 2020-04-10 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[He rolls his eyes skyward. ]

No. I mean grey like... old lady grey. Not your bangs. Obviously.
vatical: hozierspam | tumblr (002)

[personal profile] vatical 2020-04-10 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he settles into his seat again, plucking up the charcoal and flipping to a clean page in his book. the question makes him pause, though, glancing back up to jon as if surprised by it. ] Oh. [ he glances back down at his fingers once more, rolling the pencil between them. ] Well.. because you have a nice face?

[ and because jon seems so sad and so wounded and so intense and determined, and it speaks to him on a very visceral level. as jittery and aching as he still feels, there's a part of him that wants to wrap the man up in a hug that makes his bones creak, that wants to bundle him in a quilt and give he and martin somewhere quiet and private to be, away from the world and the things that hurt them.

he can't do that, won't do that, and if he can't, won't, then he needs to deal with those impulses in other ways. those, and the lingering fear of the thing that watches through jon, which he's a little nervous may take over his art for a while.

and jon does have a good face, sharp-boned and scarred and hunted. ]


Also.. [ he trails off for a moment, and the pencil begins to move, sketching out the rough strokes of jon's face on the page. ] .. it helps me with things. Working through feelings, um.. fears, sometimes, thoughts I'm trying to make sense of.. that sort of thing.
itknowsyou: used with artist permission (=- do you see no ghost)

[personal profile] itknowsyou 2020-04-10 04:31 pm (UTC)(link)
The Institute performs academic research into, um, events a-and artefacts of a paranormal nature...

[ He feels wrong-footed and uncertain, now: should he be talking about this as he would to someone not in the know? Or should he be clearer about the actual purpose of the place?

The man doesn't seem to recognize the title of Archivist or the name of the Institute— but then, Jon hadn't a clue what kind of cult he was working for until his promotion. He can only imagine how many others are likewise uninformed.

He decides to cover his bases, as it were. ]


One primary purpose is to collect... statements. True accounts of supernatural experiences. Horrific ones, generally.
especiallyparanoid: (05)

[personal profile] especiallyparanoid 2020-04-10 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[Academic research! Artefacts! Paranormal events!]

Aha! A valiant endeavour!

[Wesley brightens considerably, immediately standing taller and flattening a tie he isn't wearing.]

If I dare say so, I am a scholar of the supernatural world myself. Though lately I have been using my skills in a fight against its darker forces...
itknowsyou: used with artist permission (== yeah the sky was falling)

[personal profile] itknowsyou 2020-04-10 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...

Jon is acutely reminded of Trevor the Vampire Slayer. Before he became terrifying. ]


Are you of the, um, the Watcher's Council? How— [ he'd been trying not to ask questions but he can't help it, this is crucial, this is good information: ] How do you fight? What do you fight?
redheat: redheat. (❝because this isn't how it should be❞)

[personal profile] redheat 2020-04-10 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ To say that's unsettling would be an understatement, but Jean does her best not to let her concerns show too strongly through expression as she sits there, gaze drifting off. Mutants are no more. Laura has lived in a building and not told of the outside world while also being a mutant... it doesn't take much for her mind to begin gently clicking and sliding certain pieces into various places and she looks to Laura with a soft concern lingering within her eyes.

Something about her still pings familiar to her. ]


I'm sorry. [ She wears a weary smile on her lips. ] I'm asking you so many things out here like this when I haven't even dried myself off. I feel like conversations like this are a lot better over hot chocolate and something sweet, don't you?
especiallyparanoid: (happy - good golly)

[personal profile] especiallyparanoid 2020-04-10 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I, uh.

[There is a bit of a pause, the first one ever since this conversation started.]

Not anymore, no. I am now working as a paranormal investigator. Helping and protecting people who have come under the attack of sinister forces and their nefarious purposes.

As for the how, well... stakes, swords – I've lately become rather partial to a ceremonial dagger my boss gifted me to slay beasts? But unfortunately, it hasn't appeared here alongside with me.

[A wistful sigh. What can you do. But by God, he misses that dagger.]

The odd exorcism here and there, countercurses – I'll say, it really rather depends whether we're dealing with a vengeful spirit or a vampire nest. I mean, the dragon required more, ah, improvisational skills. It's like they say, sometimes you do fight fire with fire.

[There's a chipper tone to his voice. What can he say? He loves his job.]
itknowsyou: used with artist permission (!= right before my eyes)

[personal profile] itknowsyou 2020-04-10 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
You— you've seen a dragon?

[ His tone is pitched somewhere between alarm and incredulity. Is that?? Possible??? Well, the Hunt readily accounts for stories of werewolves, so he supposes— would this be some horrific fusion of the Hunt and the Desolation? What kind of dragon?

Jon is looking the man up and down in absolute bafflement, and a funny mixture of mistrust and awe. This man is a Hunter? Really? ]


Your boss— who is that? I-is he part of the Watcher's Council, or is he a Hunter?

[ He wonders how drastically bad an idea it would be, to sit down for tea with this man.

Martin won't literally kill him, after all. ]
vlogged: (pp | 009)

[personal profile] vlogged 2020-04-10 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
no
theres people here from back home
but theyre all from the future
or i dont know them too well

theres a school here if you wanted
and i dont know what club youre in
but im sure you could find someone to practice with too

i never saw godzilla
but the titanic hit him
and some of the sleepers hung out with the cults

so this place is kinda old fashioned
at least compared to the world im from
the locals here discriminate against all of us
all the isms you can think of
sometimes they act on it
sometimes they dont
casuistic: (pic#10700660)

[personal profile] casuistic 2020-04-10 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Eames stares at Arthur with narrowing eyes. That's a lot longer than he thought. If this person means to harm Arthur by getting close to him under this guise - Eames doesn't know why they would pick him and not Dom Cobb, though - they've had a long time to establish a bond.

He leans forward, licking his lips with a look that says he's going to bring something serious to the table. ]


Has he asked favours from you? Did you... [ How is he going to say this without Arthur hitting him square in the face?

Just out with it Mr. Eames. ]


Have you become to... trust him?
paradoxpoint: (your fate)

[personal profile] paradoxpoint 2020-04-10 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[That earns an unimpressed stare.]

Are you actually sitting here asking me if I slept with him?
casuistic: (is much appreciated)

[personal profile] casuistic 2020-04-10 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Eames rolls his eyes, frustrated. ]

Did I ask you if you sucked his dick? I think I didn't.

[ He knows they're getting dangerously close to that punching territory here. ]

Are you being slow on purpose?

[And this ladies and gents, isn't going to win him any favours. But it gets away from him. Why? He isn't completely sure. ]
itknowsyou: used with artist permission (! when you follow)

cw continued enjoyment of tasty tasty suffering

[personal profile] itknowsyou 2020-04-10 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He drinks it in as it all plays out before him. Until she is alone, soaked and shivering, as quiet as she can be. Prey for something new to him, something uniquely sharp and hungry and terrible.

The experience winds down into the rhythm of her prayer. It's funny: he can now perfectly understand Mandarin and Sanskrit, apparently, but he doesn't have the first idea what she's saying. The gist of it, though. That he Knows.

As the story fades— and the compulsion with it— Jon looks down at her with the bone-deep warmth of satisfaction written across his face. He knows that he had been distantly dizzy with hunger before this, weak and irritable and frazzled with a familiar gnawing exhaustion. That is gone now; he feels thrumming with life and power. He feels incredible.

He says, softly: ]


Statement ends.

[ There is some guilt in it. He feels it rising. But it is so distant, somehow. ]

Thank you. You told it very well. I'm sorry it was painful. [ He's not, though. But perhaps he wishes he was. ]
bettorup: (Default)

[personal profile] bettorup 2020-04-10 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Same to you. Maybe I'll see you around.
bettorup: (Default)

[personal profile] bettorup 2020-04-10 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[He'd rather be the test subject than her, anyway. Don't mind him as he lets out a little noise of pleasure. It's been so long. It's tempting to stuff his face, but he makes an attempt to pace himself. Also tempting to just take some stuff and hold it for later, but better see if this does anything to him yet.

He swallows his mouthful before answering the question]


Other than feeling more full than I've been in years? Nothing yet. But you'd better wait a little longer just to be sure.
bettorup: (Chill)

[personal profile] bettorup 2020-04-10 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[He smiles a little at that]

When I first met her, she held me up at gunpoint.
paradoxpoint: (Default)

[personal profile] paradoxpoint 2020-04-10 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't make me shoot you. You're not the only one who reads between the lines and I know what you were implying by asking if I 'trust him'.

[Rolling his eyes, waving the barkeep over to get some drinks for them both.

And even if he should leave well enough alone, he can't help a little jab of his own:]


Why should you care, anyway?
casuistic: (31557a4d)

[personal profile] casuistic 2020-04-10 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Eames bites his teeth together and finally looks away, obviously frustrated and irked.

He drums his fingers against the table until the waitress walks up to their table to take orders. ]


Bring me a scotch, [ he says and gives her a smile that doesn't reach up to his eyes. ] Make that double. Thank you, luv.
oversight: ([±] makin' calls)

[personal profile] oversight 2020-04-10 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Wait. Is this Tony??
paradoxpoint: (in a black book)

[personal profile] paradoxpoint 2020-04-10 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
That's not an answer, Eames.