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

( He's - so so lucky Oliver's second sandwich arrives. )

Maybe, Barry. Maybe.

( Give him a few minutes. Let him eat in peace, Barry. He knows how absurd the pigs are. Barry being here but not being informed why. But, if he had answers, Oliver would share them. )

[ ftr, oliver eats really, really slow. how did he never notice this? when was the last time oliver took him out for a buffet? why hadn't oliver taken him to a buffet? why was he starting to get hungry again?

that peace for oliver lasts literally two muggle minutes.

leaning back comfortably in his chair, barry surveys the street and sighs. ] Do you think if I eat pork, I'd turn into a pig? Maybe my metabolism would be fast enough to process all the pig-turning magic in the pork?

I don't know, Barry. What if whatever mysticism is in the pork, it bypasses your metabolism.

( But, he does -- think about that. )

I don't think it will do us any good if you also turn into a pig.

[ he sings in a deep homer simpson-like voice, ] Flash-pig, Flash-pig, does whatever Flash-pig does.

[ he laughs, then he comes right down from his laughter with a satisfied shake of his head. ah. that was good. he's actually been dying to throw that reference in for years now. ]

I'd make a cute pig. Cisco would make me a new suit that flatters my pig feet and tail.

[ bet oliver wishes barry was eating right now. ]

( Oliver sits, blinks, waits for this to pass. )

You think Cisco would let you stay a pig.

Edited 2020-03-30 04:38 (UTC)

[ scrunching up his face in thought, barry shrugs. ] Maybe for an hour, perhaps two. If he thought it was beneficial, maybe two and a half.

[ team flash gets down with a lot of fun and random things. wait until he gets possessed by a gorilla again.

shaking his head, he purses his lips as he concludes, ] Three's pushing it into unuseful territory, if we're being completely honest.

Right. Three is unuseful.

( :l )

What happens if I have yoga booked three hours from now? I can't go as a pig. [ he scoffs, shaking his head with a smile.

this is a genuine concern for everyone who is a pig. what happens if they have plans? they may want to go out for dinner, see a movie, do hot yoga...

he looks over at oliver's plate. ] Are you going to eat that?

[ yes, he is hungry again. ]

( Barry's smile can't keep Oliver's at bay, as his mouth, too, curls. He shakes his head, finishing his sandwich. )

Yes, Barry. I'm going to eat my side salad. I'll flag the waitress down.

No, it's fine. I'm not hungry.

[ he's starting to get hungry again, but it's fine!! it's fine! he's fine…

he has to not look at oliver's side salad or else he'll snatch it away flash-style. ]

This food is great. Super filling. No side-effects. No turning into another animal... Although, I'd like to be a meerkat if I had to turn into one.

Why a meerkat?

( He might as well follow this rabbit hole down, now. At least until they both finished eating. )

Timone's a pretty good survivalist and everyone listens to him.

[ his pumbaa is sitting right in front of him, btw.

he shrugs a shoulder. ] They're family animals. They're also pretty small, so I guess they can also hide pretty well. I figured if I said the giraffe, it'd be pretty predictable. [ since he's a beanpole in human form, and maybe even a giraffe. even barry likes to be unpredictable sometimes. ]

( Oliver can see where his thought is going, for the record. )

I would not predict giraffe, Barry. ( He pays the check... And the a sigh, he narrows his eyes. ) They're really going to make me carry this pig up a mountain.

You don't have to.

[ he shakes his head vehemently. although oliver could probably take a mountain, it would literally take him days... when barry could just take a few minutes, if not thirty at most. it kind of helps to be the fastest man alive in times like these. ]

I can take the pig in a flash. [ he did not make that pun on purpose. ]

( He draws his lips together, glances down at his pig. ) What do you say, Porky. Do you want to take a field trip? ( He looks back up. ) You're sure this will turn him back.

[ pursing his lips together, barry looks very sure… except: ] Nope.

[ honestly, he has no idea how any of this works. will drinking from the stream make this person stay as a pig? or will it actually work? maybe it'll only quench its thirst… the pig does look a bit hungry… ]

But it's worth a try, right? [ he grins toothily, ] Besides, I haven't run up the mountain yet.

Well, Barry, I have to assume there's a lot of things here you haven't done.

( He has to assume. Though, he does seem oddly at home in this town all ready. But, that's Barry. He could make himself comfortable anywhere. )

[ it's true. shove him in a room full of strangers and he'll have been invited to every single birthday party and unborn child's christening in five minutes. it's the barry allen smile. ]

Well, I haven't ridden a sleigh pulled by deer yet.

[ he does actually give that some considerable thought. that would be nice, although not a necessity. ]

Or run up a mountain yet with a pig yet. That's been on my bucket list for a while, if we're being completely honest here.