Sodder (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sodder) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
soddersays2020-03-25 05:21 pm
sodder) wrote in soddersays2020-03-25 05:21 pm
Entry tags:
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.
Mirror, Mirror
[ Xander's been looking all over, of course, trying to find his people. So far his luck has been crummy, barring present company, and as far as he's concerned, whatever's going on here isn't good. No one gets transplanted to Maine and finds themselves happy about it. He would know. He's practically and expert in weird, talking now to a peer in the weirdness academia. ]
No, I'm not okay. Have you seen this place? It's like "quaint" had a baby with June Cleaver.
[ As if to illustrate, he reaches out and pulls a doll from the shelf. It's smiling face and sleepy eyes aren't anything unusual, but Xander shudders at his shows it off to Buffy. ]
This is definitely housing the soul of some demon. One hundred percent.
[ Clearly Xander's having nothing of it and he shoves the doll back on to the shelf and crosses his arms tightly like the doll might reach out and grab him. ]
no subject
[ Boy, is she ever happy to see him. A familiar face in the midst of whatever the heck this is is absolutely a welcome thing. And Buffy's been getting similar vibes, because being transported to Maine of all places is weird and that means there has to be something sketchy going on here. ]
I've been having a look around, yeah. It's like someone took the tackiest antique shop and combined it with one of those really old and gross thrift shops and plopped it down on this street. [ No offense to thrifters and antique lovers, but- This place is creepy. ]
Maybe you're right, though. [ Referring to the doll. It sure looks harmless, and Buffy's reasonably certain it's not a vessel for a demon, but then again, stranger things have happened. ] Maybe we should burn it.
[ As she says that, the proprietor of the shop leans out from around the corner, as if to express her disapproval of such a thing. ]
Okay, okay, maybe we should buy it and then burn it.
no subject
I was with you with the first suggestion. Light a match and let this whole creepy creepfest go up in flames.
[ When the shopkeeper narrows her eyes and steps more fully into view, Xander grabs Buffy's hand and pulls her out the door. ]
A valiant retreat seems prudent at this point...
[ Passing a window, he notes his reflection and marvels. ]
Does this sweater make my look fat?
[ It's definitely not something Xander would normally say. ]
no subject
I don't know, this is someone's business. She might not appreciate that just because we got wigged out by a creepy looking doll.
[ What? She's just trying to be considerate of other people here. It's the right thing to do, isn't it? ]
Valiant retreat sounds good.
[ She lets him pull her out the door, stopping only when that strange, strange sentence comes out of his mouth. ]
Uh, Xan? Are you feeling okay?
no subject
That's a yes, isn't it?
[ Reaching out, he grabs her hand and tugs her in the direction of a thrift shop a few doors down. ]
We need to go shopping right now.
no subject
[ She's frowning too as he grabs her hand and tugs her along. ]
Are you sure you're feeling okay?
no subject
[ He would known that was a very Buffy thing to say if he were in his right mind, but right now he's slowly becoming more and more like her and he's none the wiser. ]
No, I'm not okay. I look like a big, fat pumpkin.
no subject
[ And then she just puts her hands on her hips. ]
Okay, I know I've never said anything like that before.
[ Similar sentiments, maybe, but nothing involving big fat pumpkins. ]
no subject
[ 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?
no subject
Okay, I can do serious. I do serious a lot. Or- We do serious a lot, don't we?
[ Playing along, playing along... ]
All right, let's fix that outfit right now. [ They've just reached the nearest thrift shop, and she doesn't waste any time going in. ]
Hey, what's your favorite color anyway?
no subject
[ Said as he goes flipping through racks, pulling out things much, much more stylish than Xander would ever consider wearing.
He stops for a second and then looks over at Buffy. ]
Wait. What is my favorite color? Blue? Yellow? Orange? Pink?
no subject
[ She watches Xander flipping through the racks, really confused by what's going on here. ]
How about all of the above? You know it all depends on the outfit I'm- we're putting together. Hey, what's your favorite animal?
[ It's kind of a long shot, but anything's worth a try, right? ]
no subject
[ He pulls one final piece from the shelf and pulls it on over what he's already wearing. Honestly, it's not much better, but at least it's progress and Xander seems somewhat satisfied with his choice. He even poses in front of a nearby mirror, nodding in appreciation. ]
This is way better, right?
[ He fusses his hair back into place. Sort of. As in place as Xander's hair ever gets. ]
no subject
Yeah, looks great. [ She can't help but raise an eyebrow at him fussing with his hair. This is all so not Xander-like. ]
Remind me again, what's your favorite food? [ Maybe she'll get a real answer out of him this time. It's only a hunch, but it's better than nothing. ]
no subject
Shouldn't you know? It's peanut butter and jelly. Or sushi.
[ He lifts his finger to stop her from responding right away, going on. ]
Not at the same time, of course. Why? Are we getting a bite?
no subject
That's my favorite food, unless you've totally changed.
[ How's she supposed to get out of this if nothing she's done so far is working? ]
But yeah, why don't we get a bite? I'm kind of starving, aren't you?
[ Maybe whatever this is will just wear off on its own. ]
Fin~? We can start something else soon!
[ He heads up to the counter, tearing off the tag and paying quickly the entirely too cheap price for the clothes he's wearing. And then thanking the cashier, he gestures towards the door, Buffy in tow. ]
I saw a place just up the street. Maybe they'll have something we both like...