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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.
this is 676572834 years late I'm so sorry
[And potentially dangerous.
Wes steps over, taking her wrist and inspecting the found. It seems small and inconspicuous enough – if it weren't from a spinning wheel that simply appeared in the middle of the street and apparently made people touch it. He does not believe for a second that there's anything harmless about it.]
I do have a handkerchief, just a moment...
[He goes through his pockets but glances back up at her, seizing her up with a worried line between his brows.]
How are you feeling? Any lightheadedness? Impaired vision?
it's okay!! I know you're busy <3
[ Whoops, she's panicking. That's not helping. She pauses for a moment, trying to calm herself down. ]
I mean, maybe it is a little interesting. Has anything like this happened before?
[ Freaking out and panicking won't make anything better. She's faced worse than this before, right? ]
I feel fine, Wesley, really. [ Now she just looks sheepish. ] Sorry, I kind of wigged out on you there. Um, hey, where were you going before you- uh, before you saw me?
no subject
[Is this helping.]
I was headed home, actually. Well, the apartment which I currently inhabit. I take it you just got here?
no subject
And it's kind of helping? At least it's distracting her from her problem, as well as the other big elephant she doesn't yet want to address. ]
I did just get here, so I'm still figuring things out. Like, where am I going to live, and what am I supposed to be doing? [ But she figures there's also time enough to work out both of those things. Possibly. Hopefully. ]
no subject
[He will just resume walking, beckoning for her to follow suit. Might not be a bad idea to properly bandage that finger.]
Oh, there are many things to slay. I very much doubt you will get bored. It's a rather horrid place.
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What's the catch, though? I figure there's gotta be one.
[ She also makes a face at his reference to things to slay. ]
I guess it beats being bored, but it would've been nice not having to slay anything for awhile. Guess that's just my luck, though. What kind of things are we talking about here?
no subject
[You know. As terrible dreamscapes do.]
Ever since my arrival I have had my memories tampered with, made an addict to a power-enhancing slug species and witnessed sacrificial mass suicides from the local inhabitants.
[Or, you know. One of those Tuesdays for the Buffy crowd.]
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[ No, no it's not. Nothing about this is good. ]
Sounds like a typical day to me. I mean, not that I ever ran into power-enhancing slugs or-
[ She just kind of shudders at the mental images Wesley's words are conjuring up. ]
Lucky me, though. I leave one crazy messed up place behind and just jump right into another.
[ But wait, there's one important question she has to ask him: ]
This place isn't built on top of a Hellmouth, is it?
[ Because that really would be just her luck. ]
no subject
[He leads her over to the apartment building.]
From what I have gathered, this is a dream. The dream of a rather troubled girl named Sodder. Us, the people brought here, are called the Sleepers - for rather obvious reasons.
[A rather straightforward name.]
Unfortunately, it is the kind of dream that feels very real, especially when it comes to pain or death. And the persistent, annoying inability to wake up.
no subject
[ And she has another question after that, but she's not sure how to properly put it into words. ]
But I guess the short answer is that we don't. Figures.
[ But her question is still bugging her, and she's not going to get anywhere until she asks it. So, a made up situation it is! ]
I wonder what happens to people who've died. Do they dream the same as the rest of us? Like, how does the dream feel real if they're already dead? I met someone who said he was dead, so- It just got me curious.
no subject
[It is a good question and it's probably going to bug him for a couple of days now.]
Then again, there is a chance that we are all dead and this Great Sleep is but an illusive lie.
no subject
[ But then Wesley continues, and Buffy's frown deepens. ]
I guess that's possible. But for what it's worth, I really hope you're not dead. That no one's dead.
[ Because even though living is hard and sometimes feels like climbing a neverending mountain, she wouldn't wish death on her friends or anyone who's not a big bad. ]
no subject
[He leads her back to the apartment and opens the door, inviting her in.]
So how are things going back in Sunnydale?
no subject
[ Keep it vague, Buffy, keep it vague. Maybe if she keeps telling herself that, it'll remind her not to say too much. ]
Oh! We stopped the end of the world. Again. I've lost track of how many times that is now.
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[He looks rather pleased at that. Always good to hear about the not-ending of the world!]
Before I found myself here we had recently returned from Pylea, a demonic dimension where people were enslaved and held as cattle.
no subject
She even puts on a bright smile just for his benefit. ]
Yeah, it's always a good day when the good guys win.
[ But then she's raising an eyebrow at that revelation. ]
Gee, that sounds like a great time. Not. How'd that go?
no subject
[He sounds quite proud and accomplished there.]
Although Cordelia was quite heartbroken when she had to leave all her riches behind.
[A beat, then, helpfully,]
They made her queen.
no subject
[ She'll let him have his moment of pride, because that does sound like no small feat. Maybe he has come a long way since she first knew him. ]
Ha, I bet. Poor Cordelia, getting everything she ever wanted and then having to leave it all behind. That must have been a real nightmare for her.
[ It's not said unkindly, though. For all the differences she and Cordelia might have had, she really wasn't that bad. ]
Queen, though. Like, a real actual queen? Wow.
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[But his tone, too, is soft, affectionate. They've grown rather close over the past two years and not in the stilted, disingenuous way of the past.]
Angel rather enjoyed that place, too, as the sun there didn't burn him and he could walk out in the open.
[He pauses, suddenly awkard, unsure if he should have brought up the A-word.]
... Well, then of course he turned into a terrible monster and almost ripped us to pieces but what would be an adventure in a demon dimension without him turning violent and having to be brought back to reason.
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[ But it's said with a little bit of fondness too. Cordelia actually turned out all right, all things considered. ]
Angel was there with you? Was- Was he all right?
[ Sure, Angel is a bit of a complicated topic, but Buffy tries her best to sound unfazed. And when Wesley's answer comes, she finds herself staring open mouthed. ]
Uh- I guess he wasn't all right, then. Were you all okay?
[ That sounds terrifying, and Buffy knows a thing or two about terrifying things. ]
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[He nods quickly, holding his hands up to indicate that it wasn't actually a big deal. Even if, at the time, it may have been.]
Fred helped us out and all was well in the end. Uh, we met her in Pylea. She was trapped there for years and we brought her home with us. She's adjusting but of course it's challenging when you--
[Going off on a tangent? Apparently so, and he shakes his head.]
Anyway. Yes. We're all okay.
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But his talk about adjusting is reminding Buffy that she has a lot of things of her own to adjust to. Not that she's willing to talk about that right now. ]
Oh, yeah, adjusting can be a doozy. Being trapped anywhere for years majorly sucks, so I'm guessing wherever Pylea is, it wasn't a picnic.
But hey, I'm glad you're okay.
[ And she's kind of glad he's here. He's someone who at least has some understanding of how messed up things can get. ]