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Deer Country Mod ([personal profile] reddosmod) wrote in [community profile] countryclub2022-04-27 07:28 pm
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APRIL 2022 TEST DRIVE MEME

APRIL 2022 TEST DRIVE MEME
Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!

All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.

Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.

Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.

If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!

IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Prompt One
[Image One: Delicious, Gelatinous Fruit Treats]
[Image Two: Women in white dancing around a May Pole (Animated)]

Prompt Two
[Image One: A woman turning away from a mirror. ]
[Image Two: A woman trapped inside a mirror with disembodied hands grabbing at her. ]

Prompt Three
[Image One: A Forked Trail on a Wooded Path]
[Image Two: The Grim Reaper at the end of a sewer tunnel]

A MOSTLY PLEASANT ARRIVAL
WHEN: May
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Forced honesty, personality changes, physical changes.


Congratulations, sleeper! You're one of the lucky ones to arrive in a month that is not awful to come ashore. The transformational process is almost alarmingly quick and painless. In fact, it is so quick that it is deceptively easy to change back into a squid and do it all over again! Partial transformations are not uncommon during this month for the first twenty-four hours after arriving, and even brief transformations of minor facial features like hair color, eye color, height, weight and a few more extreme possibilities have been known to happen. Don't worry, because the transformations are all temporary and none are inherently monstrous (Unless you already are a monster, in which case good luck with that!). Greeters are present in force to help accommodate you as you make your way, your welcome backpack and items all freshly and neatly cleaned and ready for you as they put the robe on. Everything is so welcoming and inviting that it almost seems like they're having a party.

This is, in fact, because they are. The Wild Moon is about and festivities are in full swing throughout the month of Bauphomette. May poles are set up and it is possible to dance around one if you should wish. Doing so can help to ground oneself in their current form, which may help new arrivals settle in a bit better. Even ignoring that, it feels good to sing and dance, and everyone is very friendly. Even the usually grim Hunters who guard the roads and entries to the shores seem to have less stern smiles on their faces, though their eyes are ever watchful to keep the peace of the festivities.

SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK

Decorations this month are decidedly floral in nature. Everyone is dressed in white, regardless of their usual preferences. Flowers adorn many of the people of Trench and the weather throughout the first week of May is pleasant. Even if it rains, it is a refreshing, light and pleasant rain, and there are many awnings and umbrellas to take shelter underneath.

And of course, there's refreshments. What festival in Trench would be without them? The foods this month have a very floral theme to them. Edible flowers have been grown and prepared especially for this time of year. They've been used to help create infused and gelatinous sweets, Floral spring rolls and edible flower cookies and the like, along with floral teas that are meant to calm the mind. Additionally, the people of Trench will note that any of the foods present can have a beneficial, albeit transformative effect on the mind and body. They promise it won't last long, but if you're really concerned there is hard tack and water available that's quite filling.

Changes from Food will last a few hours at most. There are several options available among the drinks and foods. These may be combined as the player sees fit. Drinks have mental effects, while Treats have physical ones, the Trenchies will inform:

Pomegranate Juice: Sweet and tart, anyone who drinks it or has some of the fresh pomegranate and seeds will feel compelled to speak nothing but the truth. Pomegranates are found littering makeshift shrines to Bauphomette throughout the party, and Trenchies insist they are free to take.
Petal Infused Hot Tea: Pungent and aromatic, it is relaxing. The heat gives a warmth and vibrancy that fills a person with confidence, to the point of arrogance and fearlessness, leading the emboldened to try something that they might not otherwise do, even if it's very risky!
Floral Iced Tea: While refreshing, it feels like there's something just a little lacking, and anyone who drinks some will feel that they need more but not what they need more of at first, making them clingy and affectionate towards other people, especially strangers.
Iced Water: It's not the tastiest, but has a way of washing things away. Water can cleanse and remove the effects of other drinks, though it leaves the person feeling emotionally drained if it is used this way.

Floral Spring Rolls: Trying one of these surprisingly edible treats will have the added effect of giving a person plant traits temporarily. Hair may convert into tresses of ivy or carefully manicured moss, or perhaps a mushroom cap! Skin might become bark-like or chlorophyl green. The more that one eats, the more that they change.
Gelatinous Sweets: These curiosities come with a note. “Have you ever wondered what it is like to walk in someone's shoes?” Eating one has a profound physical effect, causing a person's appearance to transform into that of another person in Trench! It may not even be someone they've met, or seen yet! It would be awkward to meet someone, not looking the way you're supposed to, or worse? Looking like them!
Edible Flower Cookies: They come with lovely notes saying “Eat Me!” What could be sweeter? Well, like something out of Alice and Wonderland, eating one can cause a person to grow or shrink by a foot. More cookies can cause the height difference to become worse and worse, though if you're only a foot tall, it's a good way to end up an inch tall! So, maybe eating more to fix the problem is risky.
Hard Tack: Like the water, it can fill the stomach and remove prematurely any physical effects, though if it does so, removing a physical change physically drains the character.

A DIM REFLECTION
WHEN: May
WHERE: Throughout Trench
CONTENT WARNINGS: Paranoia, existential dread, hallucinations, possession-related horror.


They warned you about mirrors. Every once in a while, one of the locals in Trench might have whispered it, made a sign of warding when they passed by mirrors, but nothing seemed out of place. They told you that you might see yourself in it, and you would never be the same. However, every time you've looked it's been fine. So, maybe they were being superstitious about something? It certainly wouldn't have been the first time someone had gotten paranoid about nothing in Trench, would it?

How wrong you were. Maybe it was when you were looking down at a puddle rippling in a light breeze. It might have been a formerly polished piece of bronze covered in tarnish that adorned a building. Perhaps it was that lovely bit of obsidian in the shop where you caught your reflection garbled by the shape. It happens only when a reflection is seen in a distorted surface, especially those that are naturally occurring, though occasionally damaged and weathered surfaces that were polished will work. When you were looking at the image, it seemed to look back at you and something was wrong, distorted, imperfect. By then it was too late.

The natives were right. You saw some part of yourself there in the mirror. It might be something that you've hidden from others for a long time, or it might be an exaggeration of a single part of yourself that you aren't proud about. What it is, is a distorted and incomplete part of yourself, something that you try to keep controlled and in check, and it was there, smiling at you and winking. The moment it winked, it was like you were riding in your own skin, watching and unable to act as you changed into a self that reflected that distorted, unnatural and incomplete side of yourself. What shadows do you hide from yourself?

This effect lasts for, at most, one solar cycle. From the rising of the sun to its setting, or the moon to its setting, the effect can last no longer than that. Especially strong-willed people, particularly palebloods, can end this effect sooner through force of will, though it usually lasts at minimum an hour. The character is, for the duration of this effect, changed in personality to behave in accordance with some singular aspect (of the player's choice) of their personality that they do not usually focus on in their day to day behavior. This change can be subtle, or it can be drastic and even dangerous. Its goal is to make sure that everyone sees and witnesses this change, and goes out of its way to impact others in a memorable fact, making sure that they see there is more to the character than what they are revealing. This could be relatively innocuous or extremely dangerous, depending on the person, and the whole while the dominant personality is riding inside their skin, forced to watch what is happening.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
WHEN: May
WHERE: Dream worlds
CONTENT WARNINGS: Existential dread, disturbing visions


It happens when you are asleep one night. There is no warning for this effect, and it comes without apparent cause. One night, you go to sleep, and then suddenly you find yourself in a dreamscape, on a path. You can sense eyes on you the whole time that you are present in this field, and though they have a sense of benevolence to them, there is a deeply alien element to the experiment, almost like you are being observed by a scientist through a microscope. You are not alone on the path, either. One, or possibly more than one, other people that you may know or not know, they seem to have entered the same dreamscape. Behind you is nothing but shadow, and before you is a path. Might as well get going if you want to wake up, right? That's how these things work.

Introductions and questions aside, there's nothing but the path and dense, impenetrable woods on both sides, so eventually you and your companion start walking. As you do, shortly you see a branch in the path ahead of you. The fork has two paths, one of which shows the traffic of many feet, footprints grooved well into the worn cobblestones and mud. One of you will somehow recognize that the footprints are their own, and will notice that the other path has no footprints or very few. That is when the compulsion hits. It is inexorable and impossible to deny, the curiosity to see what is down the path that those footprints do not travel.

Travel, walk and taking that path, you will be treated to a vision. It is a moment in the dreamer's life, where they see something that happened in their life, which involved a choice. Did they go left or right? Did they say yes, or no? A choice they made, even one that seemed immaterial at the time, had some profound effect, and now you and they watch as the other choice was taken. And, within the hour, you will see the results, to your horror. Something terrible will happen to them. It could be anything, but it will be life-shattering, perspective altering and ghastly. They might even die from the experience or see a loved one die. The horror of it will still be in your hearts as you stand there for a moment, trapped in the sight of the aftermath, trying to come to terms with what you have just seen, and just at this moment, after a few parting words are said, both will wake up in a cold sweat.

The event that plays out can be from either character. Close CR is not required. Bauphomette has summoned the characters into the dream directly, and is sharing a distorted mirror of an opposite choice that could have been made. Actual “What if” canon events such as alternate timelines in Supernatural could be used for this, or the entire event can be concocted for this scene. The characters themselves are witnesses, and cannot be personally harmed in any physical way, but the horrific ending for the 'vision' version of the one whose dream this can be as awful as desired and take any form wished so long as it is unpleasant. Please be aware and mindful of each other's Content Warning Preferences in setting these scenes up.

CODING
erasureye: (1)

THEIR DAD POWER IS TOO STRONG... i feel you, they're all great!

[personal profile] erasureye 2022-04-30 10:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Unprepared for the hug, Shouta stiffens in surprise - but what he's even more unprepared for is his own reaction. The affection and happiness that blooms in his chest is so strong that he can't resist hugging Uraraka back, and while he'd normally be hesitant about that sort of thing... he decides, just this once, that he won't fight his instincts. Uraraka clearly needs it, after all, and... who knows? Maybe he does, too.

He finds he's smiling when she pulls back, too relieved to see her to be baffled by his own reaction - at least at first. But after a moment, he looks away, clearly embarrassed. At her question, he quickly jumps on the opportunity to distract himself by answering her. ]


Not much. We've been taken to some kind of new world... no, reborn would be the better way to put it, right? And... we're not exactly human anymore. [ At least, not in the same way as before. ]

But I don't know a lot about this world or what it's like. ...Is there... anyone else we know, here?

[ He doesn't want to get his hopes up, but... ]
floatsaway: (102.)

yesss the UA teachers are so good ;;;

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-05-01 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[For a moment, Ochako is happy to receive the affection back, soaking it in like a sponge and feeling almost like she's back home again. Not quite the same as her family, her papa, but it's...pretty close. The teachers at UA have become their guardians, after all, so it makes sense...and Aizawa has been put in charge of caring for Eri the most, given he can cancel her powers if it gets out of hand and--

But then it registers that Aizawa is hugging her. Aizawa. Ochako's gotten hugs from Mic (because let's be honest, he's been fond of her from the start), and the rare ones from All Might and even Midnight...but never ever from Aizawa. Ochako blinks, peeks at her teacher curiously, and freezes when she sees him smiling. Oh, that is so, so weird. Weirder even than when Bakugou does it. It's a very nice smile, she was just, erm...wholly unprepared for it, woof.]


Eh, ah--...r-right, yeah. It's what they say, anyway. I'm not quite sure I really believe it all, and I've been here for quite some time. [It would make sense, people have different blood here, and Ochako definitely remembers her hair was tentacles for a while, when she woke up on the beach.] It just seems too weird to be true, but...

Yeah, there's a few others from UA here, sensei. Me, Todoroki-kun, Deku-kun, and Bakugou. Th-There's...also... [She frowns, looking down with a scowl.] Dabi and Shigaraki, too. I haven't seen much of them, but they're here as far as I've been told.

[Dabi definitely is, she's actually had a run in with him earlier in the month... Ochako's been lucky not to have run into Shigaraki.]
erasureye: (9)

[personal profile] erasureye 2022-05-01 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Shouta definitely notices Uraraka's shock, and his embarrassment only grows stronger at that - so he decides to do the rational thing, and... completely refuse to acknowledge the hug at all. Yep. Though, even if he hadn't decided to do that, Uraraka's words would've been enough to distract him entirely, because-

Shigaraki's here? [ He near-growls, clearly concerned. Dabi, too... shit. That can't be good.

Other than that, though, it sounds like only a handful of people are present. Hearing the names of his students - once more, it's nice, because okay, he likes his students, as much as he'd never admit it - and knowing that at least some of them are here does make him feel a little better. But when he thinks about the people who Uraraka didn't name... he can't help but feel disappointment in his gut, too.

Come to think of it, it sounds like he's the only adult Pro Hero here at all. ...No pressure or anything... ]


Got it. I guess that if Dabi and Shigaraki are here, at least they're not causing trouble back home... [ That's something, at least. Suddenly, he sighs. ]

I guess it's too much to ask for anyone else to have shown up. What a mess of a situation...
floatsaway: (176.)

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-05-04 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
[She's also going to just...maybe put that little information tidbit away into her mind's back pocket. Because compartmentalizing is a totally healthy and okay coping mechanism, yupyup! Though, really, the current conversation is a bit more pressing, honestly. To his question, she nods grimly, quietly, then sighs a bit.]

It's what I've been told by the other boys. I haven't run into him myself, but I believe what they say.

[Because why the hell would they lie about it? Dabi is here, after all, and Ochako actually did come face to face with him a while back. Nothing bad happened, thankfully - they've sort of established a very peculiar truce of sorts - but it's still uncomfortable. Because at any point it could break if one side gives.]

Mm, how people show up is a bit, um...random. It could be anyone, but the timing is about the same, and always on the beach. I've only been here maybe two or three months, but I can answer a few of your questions, sensei. Oh, but...um. B-Before I do that, can you tell me what the last thing you remember from home is?
erasureye: (9)

[personal profile] erasureye 2022-05-06 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Two or three months... Shouta remembers seeing Uraraka only days ago, so hearing her say that is a weird feeling - but he doesn't doubt that it's true. If pulling people into another dimension is possible, taking them from different times isn't out of the question either. But that explains why she looks so different... ]

The operation to save Eri. It was a success, and I remember going to the hospital, but... not much after that.

[ Not for the first time, he feels a pang of pain as he thinks about all the people he might not see again. Hizashi especially weighs heavily on his mind, and he wishes he could've at least said goodbye before ending up here without warning... but he can't think about that now. Not in front of Uraraka. ]

You look... older. Has it really only been three months?
floatsaway: (198.)

[personal profile] floatsaway 2022-05-07 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[Perceptive as always, her teacher. Ochako should have known - her hair was indeed longer, in need of a cut, and she's gotten a bit more fit. Or, well...she did, before March. March was terrible, and she actually lost a bit of weight from her blood sickness, putting it back on slowly throughout April, thanks to Bakugou's ability to cook, and actually make sure she got her nutrients back. Not unhealthy, but definitely different in appearance, and Ochako rubs the back of her neck.]

Eh, well...time is a little funny in how it works here. I don't know how much you were told, but. Um...w-well, the last thing from home I remember was winter break, a bit after the holidays. [So shortly after the new year, more or less. The Hassaikai raid...that was around September or October, wasn't it? So about three months then, another three months in Trench, and--] Also...sensei.

Before this world, Bakugou-kun and I were in a different one, too. This is the second new world we've been to outside of Musutafu. It was called Nippon - but definitely not like our Japan. It was less modernized, magic was real, and yokai and various spirits were also very real, too. [Bakugou got cursed by a malevolent yokai, it was...very not good. At all. One of Ochako's least favorite memories.] We spent about four months there...and actually were there before coming to Trench - this world.