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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( a more open person would have insisted he go to the hospital, or at least press further into it.

however how could he when he cared very little about his own well being? he would betray whatever morals he adopted after the death of his wife.

instead james simply glanced up at the masked man, a small amount of fear creeping into his mind. why would this stranger wear a mask- one that reminded him too much of a certain monster. he was clearly becoming uncomfortable with the way he avoided looking directly at higgs and instead opted to glance away. )

You'd probably be better off being careful then. This place....there have been really strange things going on.

[...Well. That's quite the reaction, isn't it? It's clear it's not what he's expecting, though, because he goes a little still.]

Have there?

You might have to be a little more specific; "strange things" don't exactly faze me. Call it an annoying quirk as a result of not being able to die.

[The reaction to his mask is... hm. He shifts uneasily on the balls of his feet.]

Not a fan of my aesthetic, I take? I don't much care for my face, you see. Nothin' personal, or anything of the sort.

Well I haven't really paid attention but last I heard, people were being fed pies made of meat. Something about being skinned alive too.....

( although he wasn't exactly sure on the days it happened or the order. each day blended into the next, and while he wasn't excited about having to work in a place like this, it did help to kill time.

higgs words simply made james shut down, ignoring and avoiding the comment. he wasn't too sure how to engage in something like this, and the stranger probably didn't want to hear about the 'red pyramid thing'. )

I take it you just arrived?

Sounds like somethin' outta a horror novel.

[He sighs, because the guy is not exactly the cheery sort. He turns abruptly on his heel, not to walk away, but to pull off the masks.]

Just arrived a couple days ago, yeah.

[When he turns back around he's still in his hood, his face is downcast, clearly not wanting to show his face. Both masks are clutched in the hand that wasn't pricked by the spindle.]

The welcome basket made it seem like an underworld.

Oh I see.

( it was just slightly more violent than what he had been used to, especially considering it was happening to others here.

james simply remained in the same position, idly eyeing higgs' movements. when he noticed he took off the mask but kept his face down, he simply continued glancing off to the side. )

I'm not sure......well you wouldn't be far off I suppose. I still don't know everything about this place but it isn't the best place to be.

Maybe not, but I'm bein' honest, where I was before ain't the best place to be, either.

[He shrugs.]

What about you? This is quite presumptuous of me, so forgive me if my question is outta line, but you don't sound as bothered by this whole thing as I'd have guessed.

( the question certainly is an intriguing one. there were moments were james was genuinely concerned about the things he saw and faced, but for the most part he seemed pretty disconnected from it.

the tables were turned on him now surely- not long ago was he suggesting the same to a certain man who opted to stuff his face with pizza. )

I uh....

( it's disturbing enough to cause him to finally look up at higgs, taking in his appearance more. it seemed that he was more human that initially thought, which helped ease james a bit.

still he wasn't sure how much he should give away. the only thing he's told anyone here was about his wife, but not about the fact that she was dead nor ill. )

Came from a town where odd things happened. I guess you could say I'm used to this.

Ah. I see.

[He does not see.]

Well, this scenery is completely new to me.

[He gestures at the town itself for emphasis.]

Never seen a place that looks like this that wasn't in old books.

( james certainly wouldn't have expected him to. not that he wanted anyone to know what exactly happened to him-

all anyone knew was that he had driven that little car of his....somewhere. )

Is that so? Ah....

To me all of this is very modern. Apparently it isn't 2001 anymore.

What?

[That gets him to look at James, bafflement on his face before he goes back to not meeting the guy's eyes.]

That was the better part of a century ago.

( although james had been avoiding direct eye contact with the man before him, he found himself staring back at him when he did. he appeared to be young, maybe close to the same age as him-

but who could ever tell. with the trauma james had gone through, he was looking far older than he was. especially with the fact he had been working nights here and barely eating, sleeping, or doing anything to help his crumbling mental state. )

Oh.....I believe someone who runs the movie theater here told me it was somewhere around 2024 or something....

( he wasn't paying attention to the fact that he was told it was 2020 and that the man was from 2024. regardless he knew very well the shock higgs was facing.

about that injury though- )

I guess that means medical advancements here are more basic. Are you sure your alright?

Jesus.

[Higgs rubs at his forehead with his hand, which luckily doesn't smear blood all over his face.]

So time ain't consistent, here, have I got that right? Guess that explains why everything looks normal to you, if you're pre-Stranding.

[Which, naturally, he doesn't explain, replacing the glove on his hand.]

Medical advancements 'round here are probably more advanced than when I'm from. A lot of knowledge was lost; most of it, actually.

[At the question, he shrugs.]

Reckon I'm about as well as I can be. I'd return your handkerchief, but it's impolite to go handin' out bloody rags.