soddersays | APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

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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

CWs:general themes for chris include underage smoking, alcoholism, child abuse, domestic violence.

spinning wheels: stop following me

(It was bad enough waking up in some new shitty Maine town, but to have some asshole following him around? At first Chris had figured it was some sort of bad coincidence. He was minding his own damn business, hands shoved in his pockets, cigarette dangling out of his mouth and steadily smoking, keeping to himself as he tried to figure out what was going on. Then he started to realize that the feet following him sounded the same, the reflections in the store windows never changing, and after about five minutes, he knew he was being followed.

It sent a shot of hot insecurity straight down to his gut. He had people harassing him all the time in Castle Rock, and some part of him wondered how in the hell the Chambers name managed to make it out to bumfuck nowhere. It had him stopping at last, spinning on his heel, and staring down whoever was following him.)

Listen, if you gotta problem with me, let's get this over with now.

(Chris didn't like to resort to violence, and his posture was still mostly relaxed, but it was clear by the tight set of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders that he was prepared for violence. And that he was prepared to throw some fists if he had to.)

mirrors: simon says

(Chris wasn't a vain person. But when he walked by one of the body-length mirrors in one of the store windows, he does stop to give himself a hard, critical look. It's not the look of someone trying to see if they looked good or not, but instead the look of someone trying to figure something out. He bends forward to gingerly touch his fingers to the edge of his cheek where there was a fading bruise. Just about gone now. He didn't like the idea of showing up in a new town wearing his pop's handiwork.

After that, he doesn't really think much about it. But then he's making eye contact with some rando on the street, and he's feeling this gut-instinct pull. Chris's body shifts into a different posture, and he doesn't even realize he does it himself. He just moves. And then when the person he's looking at does something, he's doing it too, and he can't really figure out why. It felt like some hokey kids game, only he couldn't remember the last time he played something like this, and his face scrunches up in uncomfortable confusion.)

Stop moving. (Is he saying it to himself or you? Who knows.)

wildcard

pick any of the prompts/make a starter of your own! i'm down for whatever.

Edited 2020-03-29 00:34 (UTC)

[well. this is what's happening now, apparently? will's got his bleeding hand clutched close to his chest, wounded index finger still dripping down his palm, but rather than being concerned with this, he's instead following...a complete stranger.

and, rather than being concerned by this (or by the bleeding, or by the anything), he's mostly just -- wounded at the suggestion that he's following the other boy out of any sort of malicious intent. he frowns, lightly, shaking his head.]

I-I don't have any problem.

Then why the hell are you following me around, kid?

(Thing is Will didn't exactly scream threatening aura. But Chris was about as trusting as a feral cat, and he was squinting at Will with all of the skepticism in the world. Except now instead of thinking that this person wanted to jump him, Chris just mostly felt a brooding sense of concern start to bloom. This shrimp shouldn't be following around someone like Chris.

Chris's hands come out of his pockets, his shoulders rolling back.)

You shouldn't be following around a stranger. For all you know, I'm a psycho with a knife. (He somehow manages to sound like a father more than a boy who couldn't be any older than Will himself.)

[will leans back a little bit as the other boy comes closer, blinking a couple times in baffled surprise. he's following because...because of course he is. it just makes sense. why wouldn't he be doing just that?

he can't exactly articulate this, so he raises and lowers his shoulders, blinking up at the other boy. his hand is getting slippery with blood, so he adjusts his grip, tilting his head to one side.]

Are you a psycho with a knife?

I don't have a knife.

(Which is his funny way of suggesting yes on the psycho bit. He was a Chambers, after all, and he was pretty sure 'psycho' ran in the family. But Chris was far more distracted by the shimmer of cherry on the kid's hand, but no wait- no.

That was definitely blood.)

Hey.

(Chris says this a bit uselessly, and he feels a rush of Oh no followed immediately by his whole body going straight and steady. He strides towards Will, his eyes locked on his hand.)

What'd you do? Jesus, kid. You really got yourself good. Lemme see that sucker.

[will frowns lightly, looking the other boy up and down. he doesn't look like a psycho, and he hasn't lashed out violently -- yet. if he's even going to. so will stands his ground, holding his hand to his chest.

then the other boy's striding forward, and will flinches, taking a stumbling step backwards, one that's only possible because the distance between them has shrunk. he swallows tightly, holding out the hand, the blood streaming from the pinprick injury.]

I'm...not really sure.

[ Bill's used to people mimicking him to make fun of him, but usually it's his speech rather than his actual actions. So seeing a boy close to his age moving when he moves, copying even the slightest hand movement, might make him feel a little on edge, but mostly it's just confusing. What was the point?

Only then he's making a face and he's telling him to stop and Bill's wondering if maybe it's not just the usual teasing. He tenses up slightly, but at least he's still. ]

Sss-sorry?

(By the time the kid seems to notice him, Chris is agitated beyond recognition. He even dropped the cigarette he had been smoking somewhere along the way, and God, what a waste that was.)

I said- stop moving. (He grits the words out, his face contorting a bit into a similar face that Bill was making. Bill had stopped though, but Chris still felt tense, uncomfortable.)

Y-you move, I move. C-c-capiche? (Chris makes a deeper face then, because he certainly did not have a stutter. And it was too authentic to come off as some sort of joking mimic.)

I think. (He was almost positive that was what was happening here. And if this place was supposed to be some sort of wild dream? Okay, fine, he'd bite. It just felt so real, was the problem.)

[ He can't help the concern on his face, even though he was told not to move. It's instinctual, especially with the way his face scrunches and the stutter starts to come out from the other boy. It's different than what he remembers from Henry Bowers, nothing really like the moments on the playground in this town.

He's starting to get it and as the pieces fit together, he does his best to relax his shoulders in hopes it might help. ]

Well fuck.

[ That sucks for Chris, he thinks. ]

D-Did you eat something ffff-funny from the locals?

(Boy did this kid sound like a car that couldn't quite start. Chris felt a wiggling in his chest, the kind he always felt whenever he saw some poor schmuck at school being shoved around for no real good reason. Indignation, Gordie once told him. Total SAT vocabulary right there, that smart son of a bitch. Chris had even asked him to use it in a sentence and everything:

"You're feeling indignation, smart ass."

When the shoulders relax, Chris sighs with some marginal relief. Yeah, okay. That was definitely what was happening.)

Th-the hell would I do th-that for? (His jaw clenches. Okay. Talking wasn't so easy. Maybe he had to pick his words more carefully. His eyes at least seem to still be in his own control, because they start flickering all about, examining Bill critically. If they were gonna be stuck like this then, well.)

I'm Chris. (It's a blunt introduction, but he really, really did not want to trip all over his words if he could help it. The little piece of fact though is enough to make something loosen up between them, and Chris jerks suddenly out of the position he'd been locked in. He manages to get two steps back, but then the weird tension's back and he has to stop again.)

Goddamn. D-Do you think this will l-l-last long? Shit- fu-fuck.

Some p-eople are dumbasses.

[ Seeing him relax makes Bill feel a little better. The bluntness of his words is hardly noticed, given how often he speaks in short sentences himself just to make things easier. He gets it better than anyone, clearly, and he nods at the introduction. ]

Bill.

[ Seeing him back up means they'd done something to help it. He doesn't know what, but just the brief introduction, or maybe the quiet understanding that they should be friendly in some way...? He looks at him with thought for a second. ]

Mmm-might be that we have to just wait for it to wear off. Or i-i-it could have some kinda thing we gotta do to fix it. [ He shrugs his shoulders. ] Being amicable seems to be huh-elping a little. I think.

[ A beat. ]

You're new?

What, a-are you saying I l-look like a d-dumbass? (Chris gets a rather coy look on his face, though it's fleeting, the controlling connection still too strong for any of his real expressions to bleed through. At least the teasing holds up in his tone.

Bill, okay. Easy enough. One syllable.)

Ami-Amicable. (Because that's the important thing to do right now: tease. He truly was peak twelve year old boy here.)

C-C-Careful now w-with words l-like that. I m-m-might not be able to ke-keep u-up- Jeeeesus. Is th-this an every d-day thing for you?

(Chris obviously means the stutter, and maybe it wasn't polite to ask, but well, Chris had never been polite, and it felt kind of relevant to the whole situation.)

Yeah. I didn't e-even k-know that Maine had a D-Deerington. I'm f-f-from Ca-Castle Rock.

[ Bill shrugs at the question, giving an equally teasing grin in return rather than trying to spit out some witty retort. Sometimes it was easier to just look like a smug asshole rather than sound like one.

He outright laughs when he asks about the stutter, nodding quickly. It's always been way more awkward to have people tip toe around with politeness rather than just acknowledge what a fucked situation it was to have to talk like your mouth was broken all the time. ]

Sure is. Thh-thinking about what you wanna say fff-first and sp-eaking slowly helps, but I always sounds like sc-scratched record.

[ Castle Rock. Bill's face is clearly sparked by recognition. ]

Fff-for real? That blows. [ A beat. Though it could be worse... ] I'm from Duh-Derry.

(Chris finds himself smirking, and then he realizes that he was actually smirking for real. It wasn't the same tied up feeling as before, and there's a flicker of curious hope in his eyes. His smirk becomes a stupid grin when Bill laughs, and aw, shit, that always felt good.)

I keep c-counting sy-syllables. If it m-makes you f-feel better, it f-f-feels worse th-than it sounds.

(Listening to Bill's stutter really wasn't as bad as having to use it. Which that was something, wasn't it?

Chris barks out his own laugh, and he's relieved largely because his body rocks when he does, and he's definitely not as attached. Was it because he said something about Castle Rock? Maybe the laughter?

But his laugh quickly dies in his throat, and he gives Bill a genuinely empathetic look.)

Oh, tha-that's r-rough. (Everyone knew about Derry. There was some saying back in Castle Rock that if you wanted to get rid of your kid, just take a road trip out to Derry.

Or wait- that might of just been a threat from his dad the one time he'd forgotten to turn the TV off before going to bed. Whoops.)

It's n-not as intense. The c-copying thing. I c-can move my f-face now.

Really? 'Cause you ss-sound fucking terrible, man.

[ He clearly doesn't mean it, and really, the reassurance that he doesn't sound awful is more helpful than he could ever put into words. Hearing his own stutter, even mirrored back at him, always feels like nails on a chalkboard, edged with that constant fear of waiting for someone to just get sick of having to be patient wit him getting through his sentences.

Bill can't help but think that Chris has a nice laugh, for the brief moment he gets to hear it. It's not really surprising how fast it goes quiet all things considered. Somehow it still feels good to have someone outside of the Losers understand, to see the look that really should be there when someone says they live in his town. He shrugs, looking at his shoes for a second. ]

O-On the brightside, it mmmakes this place feels like a c-akewalk. [ He knows Deerington is fucked, and he by no means actually thinks dealing with monsters is easy, but at least you can usually tell who the people you're supposed to fight are. ]

Yeah? [ His forehead wrinkles in thought. It had eased with their names. Eased with their towns. ] T-Tell me something else about you.

Ouch.

(Chris was still smiling though. He always preferred his company with people who could jostle each other. Plus, guys like Bill always thrilled him. Smart guys with fast wit and big words. It amazed Chris that there were people out there like that. Not that he really knew if Bill was all that smart, but he obviously wasn't a goddamn brick either. Chris can't imagine spitting comebacks with a stutter was easy. That shit took dedication.

It isn't surprising to hear that this place wasn't great. Not as bad as Derry, but that wasn't saying much either considering Derry. Chris wondered where Deerington ranked on a scale of Maine's general shittiness.

The question makes Chris get a wise, thoughtful look on his face, and almost immediately after Bill asks, he sighs:)

I h-have the b-b-biggest dick in M-Maine. (Listen sometimes it was more important to make a dude laugh than cure yourself of a curse. Sue him.)

[ Any thoughts if the shitty qualities of Deerington or Derry are lost at the statement and Bill can’t even try and stifle the laughter that bubbles up, his nose wrinkling in the process. Chris had the humor and the disposition that would fit in well with the Losers and there’s a feeling of ease that washes over him with it. The kind of kid that resonated with the same vibes of the tight knit group would always make him feel more comfortable in an instant. ]

Shit, y-you coulda at l-east gone for just Pr-Presompscot County. Mmmm-aybe it woulda worked then.

(Chris has no idea what makes him grin wider: getting Bill to laugh again or Bill's own joke. Chris himself was used to being a complete social outcast, and it was nice not having a clean cut looking kid like Bill rush in the opposite direction just because Chris was coming his way. Refreshing.)

Y-You g-got me there. (Chris hesitates, contemplating something he could tell Bill. A truth of some sort, and then, he's grinning all over again, filled with absolute simple immature, childish glee:) I d-definitely don't have the smallest d-dick in Maine.

(It works like a charm and Chris gives a whoop of delight because he can feel the curse slipping off of him. He immediately takes his pack of cigs from his sleeve and knocks one out, relishing in the freedom of his own movement again.)

God damn. (The stutter was gone too, which gives him a little less joy. He was grateful to not have it anymore, but now he knew how much it sucked that Bill was stuck with it. He tucks a cigarette between his lips and lights it.)

Does that shit happen here a lot? Actually, you know what- to save you your delicate word count - It's Maine. Of fucking course it does.

(Chris sighs, slotting his fingers around the cigarette and tugging it out, staring at Bill now. His actual posture was a lot more slummin' it than Bill's natural posture, his shoulders curved inward, but his legs stockily and firmly planted.)

You smoke, William? (He's already offering his pack out as a sign of genuine friendship.)

[ Bill snorts at the rephrasing, but the small amusements turns into a relieved and happy grin when he hears him cheer. He knows it must have been a relief to be back to himself, to be free of his own actions and his own speech. It's not like he hasn't been on the opposite end of similar enough oddities in this town before.

He ducks his head slightly when he says to save his words, nodding along with his assessment. He wanted to tell him that it could be even worse than that, but there's something about such a negative statement that feels like it would kill the moment.

So instead he goes to take the pack, accepting it for both the much needed smoke and also for the symbol of what it was. Kids their age didn't share their smokes with just anyone, after all. ]

Th-Thanks.

[ He pulls out one of the cigarettes before going to toss the pack back at him, digging into his pocket for his own lighter. ]

You j-j-just woke up here, huh?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

APRIL 2020 TEST DRIVE MEME

YOU UNCULTURED SWINE

GOOD ENDURES

Character Arrival

chris chambers | the body

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simon says

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