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soddersays2020-03-25 05:21 pm
sodder) wrote in 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.
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[ He did walk right into that one, though. ]
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[ He's too tired to not just jump at it head-on. ]
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How'd you know? I'm just dying to go on a Murder Bucky rampage.
Yeah, we're on speaking terms this time.
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buy you a drink? we can line up our timelines and see who remembers what.
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Sorry about that. Did I ever say that? I can't remember. Well, I'm saying it now.
A drink would be great. There's actually a bar around this place? Must've missed that.
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you haven't apologized on our Earth, but we're okay. we don't need to talk about it. I have plenty to apologize for, too.
Glass. I used to work there so I can get us the strong drinks.
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And now we're talking. See you in 15?
[ So the fastest way to get on Tony's good side is to mention strong drinks. ]
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[ He heads right there, not really sure what he looked like last time this Tony saw Bucky. Now, he's got the arm Shuri made him and his hair's about as long as it's ever been, scuff growing on his chin and a weariness in his eyes that doesn't ever quite leave, even when he's smiling, which he's doing as he chats with the bartender while he waits. ]
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Tony walks up to the bar, and gives both Bucky and the bartender a wave. ]
Hey. Been waiting long?
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[ Bucky waves the bartender off with a request for two strong drinks and then turns more fully to Tony. The last time he saw Tony on their own Earth, they'd nearly killed each other, but since then he's met a few different versions of the guy and he's made peace. The only wildcard is how Tony will react to him and so far so good here. This Tony looks older than any Tony he's met before. Interesting. ]
Good to see you in one piece.
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[ And for Tony's part, he still hasn't forgotten about that. It's kind of impossible to, even though a lot's happened in the intervening years, but he still feels a pinprick of guilt when he looks at Bucky and remembers that terrible fight they had way back then.
But time has passed, a lot has happened, and he kind of feels like maybe they're in a decent place. Maybe. At least they won't be trying to kill each other this time. ]
Yeah, you too. Still sporting the metal arm, I see. [ It's not really funny, but Tony's not grinning or anything, just making an observation to try and fill in the space. ]
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[ Also fighting monsters with one arm is a little more challenging. ]
So last I heard, you were out of communication, possibly somewhere in space, but it looks like you're as indestructible as me and Steve, huh?
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[ And another valid point. No one wants to fight with a disadvantage, so he definitely doesn't blame Bucky. ]
Oh, so it's been awhile for you, then. The whole stuck in space thing was months ago.
[ Maybe. The timeline's gotten a little confusing. But hey, he puts on a smile because yeah, he's totally indestructible. ]
Oh yeah, you know. Iron Man, made of iron. I'm completely indestructible.
[ Only not really. So far he thinks he's done a pretty good job obscuring the signs of damage, but it's inevitable that someone's going to notice something's off with him sooner or later. ]
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[ Bucky isn't exactly familiar with Vision or any of the other Avengers, really. He's familiar enough with the people who stuck close to Steve after Siberia, but there are others he hasn't seen since the fight. ]
We were getting ready to fight and then I was back here again like I'd never left.
[ And the fear of what's to come eats at him sometimes. There's a good chance they won't all be walking away after the dust settles and that's assuming they succeed at all. He's never gotten a hint from anyone, but then he's not sure if anyone's ever been further along than he is save for Sam before he left. ]
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[ And now Tony's feeling like he really should keep his mouth shut. If Bucky doesn't want to know what's coming, then who is he to tell him? ]
I won't blame you if you say you don't want to know. I'm not so sure I would if it was me.
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People come and go here. Sometimes when they come back, they don't remember this place at all or sometimes they don't even remember things they remembered the last time they were here from back home. About two years ago, Steve showed up briefly and he made it pretty clear that something's going to happen to me. I don't know if I die or if someone manages to put that fucking programming back in my head, but I know it's going to be bad. Sam never told me. No one else seems to remember even as much as I do, so it's been a dead end.
[ He looks into his cup. It's not something he's talked about much, but whatever's coming, he's going to fight it like hell. He's not ready to go after he's fought so hard to find himself again. ]
Just tell me Steve's okay. And Sam. And the Spider-kid.
[ Bucky might not know Peter back home and the Peter currently here might not remember their friendship anymore, but Bucky still feels protective of him. ]
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[ But he stops talking long enough to listen to Bucky's summary of events. It helps place things, knowing that Bucky's been told some things but not everything. And then the man gives him a jumping off point. ]
They're all okay. They're alive, they're doing just fine.
[ As far as he knows, anyway. ]
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[ There are more people he wants to ask about, but he's carefully told no one here that he's in Wakanda and he's not looking to change that by asking after its royal family, even if he is worried about Shuri and T'Challa. ]
Peter's a hell of a kid. I don't know where you found him, but he reminds me so much of Steve when he was younger. Except, you know, smart.
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And yeah, I'd say the kid's probably the best of us, except for Steve and maybe Lang.
[ Hopefully that doesn't offend Bucky. He just means Peter's so squeaky clean compared to most of them. ]