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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.
no subject
but there are people whove been stuck here for like
3 years now
where are you?
ill leave now
[which would be everything, except-]
i have friday
well
the other you had friday?
but when he left i took her out the house so she wasnt alone
ill bring her with me
no subject
Wow
Sorry you got wrapped up in whatever this is
I'm uh-
I'm by a restaurant
The Hot Pot
You have Friday?
That might be the best news I've heard all day
no subject
i know where that is
give me like
10 minutes??
just
dont go anywhere
please?
[and he's immediately on the move. he just needs to make a quick pit stop to collect friday first]
no subject
[ And he stays right there, not moving very far except to have a closer look at the aforementioned statues. They're not particularly interesting, but it gives him something to zero in on while he waits for Peter to arrive. ]
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so it's barely five minutes later that he drops in to the alley beside the restaurant, his backpack in place for once as he darts around the corner to find--]
Mr Stark!
[hope you're ready for this, because you're getting an armful of happy teenager, tony]
no subject
Hey, Pete. You're looking good.
[ And alive. That's always good. ]
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but eventually, he does force himself to step away, a wide grin on his face as he almost bounces in place.]
You read the letter, right? And you ate the berries? [of course he did. this is tony stark.] I uh- I brought my notes too. About this place? There's not much, but I thought you might want to look. The other Peter knows a lot more about Deerington than me though.
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Beggars can't be choosers, or so the saying goes. ]
Yes, and yes. Read the letter, ate the berries, here I am. And yeah, let me see what you've got. [ There's a pause but he just goes on. ] If I hadn't learned that time travel and multiple versions of the same person was a thing, I'd be a lot more weirded out by what you just said.
Two Peters? How has the universe not imploded? [ It's a joke. It's okay to laugh. ]
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[that, and he really hasn't spent all that much time around him really. not once he found out that the other peter revealed their secret identity to the city. he's only recently tried to mend things between them again, so it's still a work in progress.
tugging his backpack off, peter takes a moment to dig around inside it, before pulling out a notebook and repurposed bluetooth speaker. the microphone crudely built in to the side probably gives away what the latter is as he holds it out towards tony. but if not--]
Welcome back, boss.
no subject
[ But moving on, because that Bluetooth speaker has just caught his attention. ]
Hey there. Long time no talk. [ Hey, is that something in his eye? A speck of dust? Yeah, that's got to be it. It's just nostalgia, that's all. ]
How've you been, FRIDAY? [ And since he can't just overlook Peter and what he's done, he adds: ] Thanks.
no subject
[though given the grin on his face, it's clear that he really doesn't think that. sure, he may be a literal decade older than him. but he's long since passed that point in his childhood where he thinks being over 20 is middle aged.
handing over friday, peter leaves the two of them to talk for a moment. as much as he'd like to bring tony back to the house, he knows it isn't his place to. not when he's only really a guest there himself, no matter what the toys may think. so instead, he just watches in silence, his smile slowly starting to fade the longer he watches. the longer he has to pick up on the changes. sure, the tony who was here before was a lot older than the man he remembered. but that was it. that was the only real difference.
this tony--
he leans to the side a little, just enough to try and get a better look. to catch more than just the hints of scarring. a move that'd be a lot smoother if it weren't for the person he manages to bump in to in the process.]
Sorry! Sorry, sir. [just going to...step out the way to let the guy through to the restaurant. nothing to see here.]
no subject
[ He manages to keep a straight face while he says that, and then he turns to have a little quick chat with FRIDAY. It's mostly catching up and small talk, but it really is good to talk to her again. He assumed he'd never see her or hear about her ever again, so this is a nice surprise.
But before too much time passes, he turns his attention back to Peter, who's apparently bumping into someone just trying to get into the restaurant. ]
Making a new friend?
[ It's said with a half-smirk that may or may not be a cover for the fact that Tony's noticed Peter trying to get a better look at him. It's not like the scarring is something he can hide. ]
no subject
No. No. I don't know who that was, but I guess he's really hungry right now?
[the response is a somewhat distracted one, and he turns silent right after. but it's clear that he has more to say. has a question there that he really wants to ask. despite how obvious the subject of it all likely is, he really doesn't know quite where to start. not when everybody from home (well, aside from beck) is so hesitant to tell him anything about the future. there has to be a reason for that, right?]
Mr Stark, uh- Are you okay? I mean... [a flick of his eyes towards the scars and back again] Did something happen?
no subject
He's glad that, as far as he knows, Peter came back, survived the last battle, and presumably went on to do bigger and better things. For the Peter right in front of him, he still wants to make sure that happens somehow. Timelines are tricky things.
But the point is, Peter deserves a serious answer. ]
Makes sense, right? We are standing outside a restaurant.
[ Well, okay, a halfway serious answer. ]
But me, I'm fine. [ Now, anyway. ] Look, before I answer any questions, I gotta know- Does the name Thanos mean anything to you?
[ Because that'll put a lot of things into perspective. ]
no subject
[so no, he has no idea. but he at least gets the reason behind the question. with everybody else from their world being from his future, he's gotten used to the idea of not knowing what lies in wait for him. and as much as beck is willing to tell him everything if he wanted to know, he isn't so sure that's a good idea.
with tony though, he's a lot more willing to take that leap. assuming, of course, that the man thinks it's one he's allowed to take yet.]
I should probably tell you that it was 2017 before I got here. I still had bruises from Toomes when I woke up.
no subject
2017. Huh.
[ Well, at least he has a frame of reference now. ]
But Thanos. Definitely not Thor's relative. Picture the world's worst villain, multiply that by a thousand, and you get Thanos. He's bad news.
no subject
You managed to stop him though, right? I mean, you're the Avengers.
[because it doesn't matter what he sees on the news, or what he's faced himself. he knows that iron man and the other avengers are the strongest team in the entire multiverse. they wouldn't let anything bad happen.]
no subject
He's asked himself before if it was all worth it, all the trade-offs that were made to get there, and while he wouldn't dare speak for everyone, at least for himself, it feels like maybe it was.
But he remembers a little too late that Peter's still there waiting for an answer, and he shakes his head to clear away the cobwebs, finally saying: ]
Sure we did. It just took some planning, a lot of doing, and-
Things.
[ God, he really doesn't want to be talking about this right now, especially with a Peter who doesn't know all the things that are going to be coming for him in his future. ]
Point is, he's a thing of the past and we set it all right again. World's still turning and everything.
no subject
as much faith as he may have in tony's abilities, that confirmation lifts a weight off his shoulders. this thanos person is gone, defeated, and everything has gone back to normal again. albeit with a few leftover battle scars to show for it.]
Are you okay though? [another glance at the scars] It doesn't hurt or anything, does it?
no subject
He forces a smile because the last thing he wants is Peter worrying about him. He's fine; he's here, he's moving around and talking, and aside from the scarring, no one would even know anything bad had even happened. ]
Oh yeah, I'm fine. Completely fine. [ He waves a hand in an airy gesture, with the only detractor being the scars marring the skin there. ]
It just looks worse than it is. So I won't be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon. No big deal.
no subject
[the words are mostly for his own benefit, a few nods to go with them. if tony's saying that he's fine, then he has no choice but to accept it. even if he doesn't...entirely believe him. but it's something he's used to, whether he likes it or not. his aunt does it, and his friends here are just the same. so while he may hate the idea of others trying to protect him from things, he does also take a small level of comfort in it. they wouldn't need to hide anything from him if they didn't care about him in the first place.
so he eventually manages a smile, his hands tucking into the straps of his backpack as he quickly reverts back to the excitable teen he was when he arrived, almost vibrating on the spot with his need to get moving again.]
I don't know if you've had a chance to explore much yet, but I can show you around if you like? I mean, you've got the map, right? So there's not really much else to show you. But... [a shrug. he just wants to make himself useful in some way. otherwise tony's probably going to want to leave, and peter really isn't ready for that yet]
Oh! Do you know about the others from home yet? I still haven't met them all, but I'm sure they'd want to talk to you.
no subject
Yeah, I'd like that. Sure, I could figure it out by myself, but where's the fun in that? [ And he'll never turn down an excuse to hang with Peter, not after everything that's happened. ]
How many are we talking? I've talked to some of them, but-
[ He doesn't want to miss anyone. ]
no subject
...six and two halves? [it makes sense to him.]
So there's Dr Banner, Mr Rogers, Mr Barnes, Mr Wilson- [who isn't actually here anymore. but it's not like he talks to any of them to get included in those kinds of updates] -Mr Lang, and Miss Maximoff. There's also Beck, but he's not technically from our world. And then there's uh- There's kind of another me too? But he's definitely from another world.
[life was so much less complicated when it was just aliens and gods. this place is a mess, and he's still barely keeping his head above water. but considering he isn't particularly close to any of the other avengers, at least he doesn't have to do much about managing those relationships. tony may have his work cut our for him though.]
no subject
So who's the two halves? [ It kind of makes sense to Tony, but it's sort of a leap to get there. ]
Huh. Not bad numbers. Sure, it's not the whole team, but it's close. [ He puts on a would-be casual tone, because heaven forbid anyone accuse him of caring. ]
How's everyone holding up? Okay, I hope.
[ And then there's a pause. ] Beck... Beck. Kind of rings a bell. [ And it kind of doesn't. It's something he files away to revisit later. ]
Two of you, though. How's that work? Don't tell me it's time travel related.
no subject
[he just shrugs. sure, he's tried to talk to some of them. but considering the only time he met them all he was in costume and definitely on the opposite side, he hadn't really had a reason to seek them all out. especially when his few attempts at contact had gone unanswered. not that he blames them. they don't have any reason to talk to a random teenager like him.]
Beck and Peter are from different universes though. Peter's been Spider-Man for a lot longer than me. And Beck- His world was destroyed, so he came to ours to help protect it. I haven't met him back home yet though.
[so yes, it's time travel related too. at least with beck.]
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