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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.
variantcover: (💣whisper)

C; un: gwenniefromtheblock

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-03-26 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Okay. New people not knowing how video phones work is always cute. Gwen decides not to be mean about it (for once). ]

Psst! You're broadcasting! And the bracelet phone thing is called a Fluid.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Oh gosh)

UN: Feedthebunny

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-28 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
[Usagi jumped a bit and then looked down... only to blush.]

Oh my gosh! I didn't know... um, thank you! [She fumbles with the phone a bit, the camera suddenly shaking as Usagi struggles to get a hold on it but thankfully doesn't drop it. She let out a deep breath.] Whew, caught it! Um, anyways, hi, thank you! I... I mean I'm okay with technology but I've never seen anything like this before. [Well, her communicator bracelet didn't count, Luna made that very straightforward.]
variantcover: (cheery)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-03-28 11:17 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, it's more advanced than most worlds' smartphones. But also lacks a lot of games and apps and crap that regular smartphones would have. So it's mezzo-mezzo.

[ What she wouldn't give for some phone games sometimes... But luckily she has a Nintendo Switch now so she can still play games on the go. ]

Anyway. I'm Gwen. You must be new.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Oh gosh)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-28 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Iiii don't even know what a smartphone is. [Full honesty. Usagi only lies about a couple of things.]

Nice to meet you, Gwen-san! And yes! My name is Usagi Tsukino. And yeah, completely and utterly new and trying to understand everything going on. Kinda wish I was smarter, maybe this wouldn't feel so overwhelming then.
variantcover: (proposal)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-03-29 10:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Not knowing what a smartphone is doesn't phaze Gwen that much. There are people here from all sorts of times and worlds. Her best friend is from the 1920s in Harry Potter world. ]

It's like a phone-sized computer, with a camera and other apps-- programs-- and stuff. [ She had to remember that they didn't call them apps until the iPhone years. ]

Cool to meet you too, Usagi! [ Should she use an honorific? She's read enough manga to know the basic ones... -san, -chan, -kun... But would it be weird for an American to use them? ]

Don't worry about not being smart. I'm a total dumbass and I've managed it here just fine.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Cute but ditzy)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-03-29 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw no way you're dumb! I bet you're super smart in ways no one even thinks of! Me though, geez, I'll show you my school tests sometime. But oh gosh, this phone is amazing, we don't have anything like this back home.

[Usagi is not the sort to judge people for such a thing.]

But thank you so much for your help! I'm totally in over my head here so a friendly face is super-duper nice!
variantcover: (Default)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-03-31 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude, I'm not like, shy about being dumb. I knew when I dropped out of high school, academics just aren't for me.

[ She's more about action, these days. ]

Any time! I've been here for like a year now, so if you have any other questions, I could try to help you out with some answers.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Little cutie)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-02 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I barely graduated. If it wasn't for my friend, Ami-chan, basically hounding me with study sessions I'm not sure I would have graduated. [Usagi also didn't think it would look that good for the future queen of Earth to not have finished high school. It was why she was even bothering with college.]

Academics aren't for me either. I much rather spend all day eating, sleeping, playing video games and reading manga.

A year? Ah wow! Um... well, hmm... I guess... geez, I've got a million questions but uh, what's something you wish someone told you when you first got here?
variantcover: (solemn confession)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-03 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, hey, if you like manga, you should come by the comic book shop. We've got a pretty good selection.

Oh, man... That's a good one. I guess I wish someone would've told me how dangerous everything would be. And, not to trust any food or drink offered by the locals.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (This is so exciting)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-05 06:32 am (UTC)(link)
I love manga! I fall asleep on top of it from reading it so late at night. Ah but, this place has a comic book shop? Count me in!

Aaaah geeeeez, so like, I can't even take food from the grocery store or a restaurant?
variantcover: (💣chinhands 2)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-05 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, no, the grocery store is fine. And some of the restaurants are run by Sleepers, so they're fine too. Like the diner. The diner's safe.

I just mean, if they host a party or something and it's catered, chances are the food and drink are going to mess with your head.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Um... what?)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-05 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, well that's something. Um, how... can I pay for things? Like, if the citizens here are always looking to do something to us, so can I get a job or something if I need to?
variantcover: (💣evil dismiss)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-05 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yeah, you can pretty much work wherever you want. They'll pay you to go to school, too, but school is lame.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (What awaits us?)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-05 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, well, I actually just graduated high school, so I guess I'm in the clear here... [Though, somehow, she can hear Ami screaming out in rage.]

I've never had a real job before. [No one paid her for being Sailor Moon.] Wonder what I should do....
variantcover: (proposal)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-05 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
You can do anything you want! What have you always wanted to do, but never got the chance?
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (It has to be more than that)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-08 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh... um... actually I never gave that any thought, my future back home was... pretty much set for me. I seriously never gave thought to anything other than it.
variantcover: (💣🦈Jeff the landshark)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-11 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh man, trust me, there is nothing that feels better in the world than taking charge of your destiny! And what better place to do that than in a horror trope filled small town nightmare!
lightthedarkness: (Sailor Moon) (Hm I wonder)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-12 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm... I guess that could be true. I'm definitely going to have to figure out how to cook a bit more. Um... geez, I don't even know what to do. I like comic books and video games... I like eating but I wouldn't wanna risk anything like eating the food here.

Maybe something with comic books or video games. Where do you work?
variantcover: (Duplicity)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-18 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Funny you should mention... I work at the comic book shop!

[ It's basically her dream job, before she got her actual dream job of being a superhero. ]
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Oh gosh)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-18 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
Um... don't... suppose they're hiring?
variantcover: (proposal)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-18 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
I don't see why not? You can basically have whatever job you want here. It's not like anyone's going to ask to see your resume.
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (You're amazing!)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-18 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Saving earth multiple times probably sounds weird to put on a resume anyway.]

Oh, um, well, once I find it, then I'll ask if they can hire me! Thank you so much, Gwen-san!
variantcover: (wave)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-18 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Not a problem, Usagi-san.

[ ...Nope, sounds weird when she says it. ]

Maybe we'll have a shift together or something sometime!
lightthedarkness: (Usagi) (Good morning!)

[personal profile] lightthedarkness 2020-04-18 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe! They have to hire me first! Wish me luck, Gwen-san!
variantcover: (💣Jeff the kitten)

[personal profile] variantcover 2020-04-18 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Good luck!