changelinged: (Default)
Pixie Led Mods ([personal profile] changelinged) wrote in [community profile] pixieledmemes2025-05-16 12:28 am
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Test Drive Meme #3

TDM #3 - May/June 2025
🦋 Introduction

Welcome to the Pixie Led Test Drive Meme!

The prompts will always be game canon, provided both characters who participate in a thread are either already in the game, or get accepted in the next application round.

You do not need an invitation to join the Test Drive Meme, it's open for anyone!

Please indicate character name and canon in the subject line of your top-level. For current characters, you may also indicate your character's court.

For prospective players, Invites open on the 18th, Reserves on the 20th, and Applications on the 22nd. Thanks for checking us out and we hope you'll join us!

🦋 The Party

You wake up at a party.

You're not sure how, exactly, you got here. You may have just been walking in the woods or at a meeting for work or doing any other normal activity for you. But you know you weren't supposed to be at this party, you're fairly certain.

Anyone you ask about it will say the party is for you. You and the others also waking up and looking confused. Further questions will lead to the partygoers insisting you have something to eat. You're starving and others are eating the food without repercussion, so you figure there's no harm in a bite. You finish your portion.

It's another garden party near a large hedge maze in the middle of the night. With his penchant for games the Ruler of the Spring Court decided it would be nice to hold an actual game for all the Adopted present. None of that dreidel game a couple of parties ago. This time, he wants more spectacle with higher stakes. Forced to participate and host aspects of this gathering as well, the Ruler of the Dark Court wanted nothing to do with this, so he figured his participation in itself is for the party to happen at night, during his rule, when his mood is at its most pleasant.

Of course, there is no shortage of light sources such as candles and torches, much to the Earl's chagrin, as well as no shortage of food. This time, the fae decided to try their hand on some pasta. They heard it's a good delicacy from the mortal plane. Thing is, sauces look and smell bizarre. One's purple, while another's bright pink, and they taste fruity, as well as flowery, much like the cookies from the last gathering.

As the party winds down and everyone's eaten, a tall, stately woman stands up and speaks. You feel her voice more than hear it.

I am the Lawspeaker of the Fae, elected by Seelie and Unseelie alike, and you are all, now, subjects of Faerie. You cannot leave this realm once you have eaten our food, and even if you could, there is no saying how much time has passed back where you're from. Your loved ones are likely dead, your problems have likely played out. We require assistance in various matters, and each of you has been chosen for your talent and skill. You will be adopted by one of the Seelie or Unseelie Courts based on your strengths and personality. Your Court will decide what to do with you from there.

As suddenly as she stood, she sits back down.


🦋 Feeling on Hedge

So, what about this hedge maze that seems to have appeared out of nowhere and looming quite eerily beside this night's gathering? For one, peculiar noises can be heard whenever one's near its entrance. From the rustling of leaves to a woman crying, everything seems to be coming from inside.

Of course, the Adopted's participation is required and paramount. Anyone who refuses will be met with harsh penalties and consequences, whatever those may be. They also hint of a prize to anyone who comes out victorious on the other side. It's unclear what it is, though.

The fae know that while the Adopted have been very useful so far, they are also vulnerable and susceptible to fear, so to mitigate that, they have some colorful shots on a table marked LIQUID COURAGE near the entrance to the maze with such effects:

  • Gold: Essentially a strong drink that gives you profound energy for 24 hours.
  • Red: Downing this will make you feel warm like an aphrodisiac.
  • Blue: Basically functions like a normal tequila shot. Or three. Comes with a little bag of salt.

These shots are not compulsory for the Adopted to take, but they will be highly encouraged to do so before entering. Once inside, the rustling of leaves and the sounds of someone crying become louder and even more evident. There are also a few key things that seem to be very clear the longer an Adopted is within the maze's walls:

  • The maze is moving. How it's doing it, nobody knows. But it appears to be alive somehow, much like the castle grounds, so finding a clear pathway is almost impossible.
  • Whenever an Adopted turns right two consecutive times, they will see a more positive outcome from a terrible event in their lives. Lost someone? They're now here and alive. Gave up on a dream? You find yourself currently living it.
  • If an Adopted turns left two consecutive times, they will see someone, a family member or a friend who's still alive and had a deep impact on their lives, bleeding and dead on the ground.

It would be great if no one else can see an Adopted during their most vulnerable, but since the maze moves constantly, another Adopted or two might be able to see them trying to parse out what they're seeing, even if their fellow Adopted can't see it themselves.


🦋 Can't Unseelie It

CW: dismemberment, body horror, forced body transformations, mild gore, asphyxiation, drowning of children, death

The Spring King only wanted some good-natured fun within the maze, but unbeknownst to him, some Unseelie creatures and Unseelie magic have appeared inside, threatening the safety of the Adopted traversing every nook and cranny. Surely this will not have any lasting consequences between the relationship of the Seelie and Unseelie court rulers. Not at all.

A few of these Unseelie beings and Unseelie magic roaming around the hedge maze that the Adopted will have a chance to meet are as follows:

  • Manananggal: Capable of severing its torso from its legs, this vampiric creature usually preys on sleeping pregnant women and unborn babies. But not anymore. Due to magic put on it, this manananggal will strike anyone it comes across. Better pour salt on its severed lower torso once you find it, or else.
  • La Llorona: Remember that woman crying? Well, somewhere in the maze alongside the eerie sounds of water flowing, you'll come across a weeping woman cloaked in white with her back turned against you. Be careful not to approach her because once you do, she'll try to choke you to death, reminiscent of how she drowned her own children.
  • Jersey Devil: The first thing you'll hear once you turn is a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream then the sound of bat wings flapping. You better run as fast as you can to the other direction because this devil is out to attack anyone it sees on its path.
  • A fountain: How odd. Running from the jersey devil or the manananggal might have made you thirsty so perhaps there's no harm in drinking from it. But just coming in contact with its water will make any Adopted soon realize they have transformed into an Unseelie creature.

Fighting off these creatures might be best with a fellow Adopted. After all, there's power in numbers. Just be careful not to die within the hedge maze. There might be some dire consequences.


🦋 GEIS

You feel a vibration in your pocket sometime after the Lawspeaker addresses everyone. When you search for the source, you will pull out your Leaf, the device the Fae use to stay in touch with each other. Anyone who's used a smart phone will easily recognize how it works.

Greetings, Adopted. This is your Lawspeaker.

To be on theme with our festivities for tonight, we want to know a time in your life when you felt lost and wandering about. Perhaps the most compelling story will receive a reward from us.



navigation

maritorious: (realization)

[personal profile] maritorious 2025-05-25 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
She has nothing to do with any of this.

But she looks at him like he's gone a bit mad. "A doggie bag?" She looks around for the dog. It's not her fault she's from the early 1800s.
betenoir: (Resolute)

[personal profile] betenoir 2025-05-25 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
So you believe they haven't told us the truth? That we are needed for some other purpose?
undertheweight: (suspicious)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2025-05-25 06:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I admit to being suspicious by nature, so I do not believe they have told us the truth, no. What purpose they might desire us for, however, I honestly could not begin to fathom.
whichisit: (Default)

[personal profile] whichisit 2025-05-25 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"Spike," He says again, giving him a little shake, "Spike, whatever is happening, it's not real," Henry says, moving into Spike's line of sight.

"We need to find our way out of the maze," he says softly.
betenoir: (Interest)

[personal profile] betenoir 2025-05-25 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
In the end does it really matter? Better to believe we are here to serve a purpose than as entertainment, isn't it.
memorycardio: (078)

[personal profile] memorycardio 2025-05-25 06:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[Go? Don't look back? As in... leave her? That... does not sound like the actions of a good companion at all! But a good companion also follows the directions they're given... ohhhh. What a crossroads.

The sudden, sharp command snaps through her indecision, and Sophia turns and runs for the nearest unblocked corridor of the maze. She starts going... and then she stops, tense and ready to move again, yo-yos out to attack as needed. She followed the directions, but she's also following what she's been taught: a real Phantom Thief would never leave someone behind like this, right? So she's waiting!]
undertheweight: (I'm not certain)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2025-05-25 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I doubt it is mutually exclusive, sir. That, and I had a perfectly good purpose where I was. Though I am also certain the same could be said of you.

If I've been brought here for some sort of purpose, I suppose it behooves me to do it well, whatever it is, in the hopes we're returned to where we were taken from, when we were taken.
biwildered: (Default)

[personal profile] biwildered 2025-05-25 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
uh... yeah, why wouldn't I be?
betenoir: (Default)

[personal profile] betenoir 2025-05-25 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
But we cannot guarantee we shall return to when we were taken. Or that we shall be returned at all. I'm not saying I disagree with you. I only disagree that our outcomes might not be perfect.
umas_second: (pic#17755205)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[Harry lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender, real confusion and almost hurt on his face. For him, he'd given her the best compliment he knew.]


Hold on! Why're ye so mad aboot it? It's a compliment! Best one I can give actually. Did ye grow up in Auradon after all?
umas_second: (pic#17755203)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Harry always had his weapons on him. Considering he'd showed up with just the the clothes on his back, he didn't doubt their captors might do the same thing to them again. Keeping his weapons close was just smart. Besides, people expected a pirate to wander around clanking and jingling with swords and jewelry and Harry enjoyed playing into stereotypes. People often underestimated him.

He glanced back at the lady with a pleased grin before approaching the downed creature, stabbing it forcefully to make sure it was dead before he turned around to speak, "Seems ye didny need th'help after all. Want me tae look at yer arm?" Harry had enough experience back home to be able to bandage a slash.
umas_second: (pic#17755306)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ye make gems when yer nervous? How?" Harry didn't really expect her to be able to explain that, or willing to actually, but he had to ask. His treasure, what little there was of it, was back home. A pirate really needed a treasure to feel himself. He chuckled and took a big bite from a slice of bread.

"Usually I'm th'one doin th'kidnappin back home. Less fun from this side, but I don't think our hosts actually think we're being fooled. Jus smart tae play along. Who's yer dad?" Was it someone he'd know?
umas_second: (pic#17755203)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Aye. We're allies. Always willin tae help a fellow swordsman.


[He gave Aya a crooked smile. Harry wasn't one to use words like "friend" and "thanks" or "sorry." They just weren't the kinds of things you said back home when everyone was watching for weakness and a leg up.]


Ye want tae tell me wha ye saw?
umas_second: (pic#17755316)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Harry chuckled as he ate some pink pasta, "Aye. Been here for a bit now. Wha's yer name?" He offered the plate again. Knowing he could always go back for more made it easy to be generous.

Unlike home, the food was always fresh, usually tasty, and generally in full view. It would probably never seem like enough to someone who'd spent their whole life fighting for everything, especially food, but Harry was a live-in-the-moment kind of guy. Life was good enough for the time being. Sharing wasn't really a habit he'd grown up with, but he was starting to get used to it.
umas_second: (pic#17755203)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
An they didny like tha I'm sure. Here, c'mere.


[Harry reached out to both of them. He glanced at the real Wormmon and patted a shoulder with a grin, inviting him to get high again. Both arms opened toward Ken, either for just a hug or to be carried.]


Tha was awfully brave f'the two o'ye. Ye didny know wha might happen. Tha was a real risk.
umas_second: (pic#17755200)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"No' quite th'kind o'key ye might be thinkin of. Sword'n hook; ye ought tae know in case it comes ta a fight, aye?" Harry enjoyed people who teased him and gave as good as he did. That was part of the point in being flippant, wasn't it? Amusing people?

Harry paced at the man's side, glancing at him from time to time. Interesting guy, "Wee bit left now, We're almost past th'crowds. No' long after tha before we hit th'castle an th'toilets." He meant bathrooms, not just actual toilets.
umas_second: (pic#17755215)

<33333333333333333

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Aye, we are. My dreams usually tend tae be a lot less . . . vegetative." Harry gave the guy a crooked smile, head tipping toward the surrounding hedges, "Do ye need some help handsome? Ye were starin at th'ground for a while."

The flirting was his default, though he never expected someone to respond to it. Back home he usually crashed and burned on the regular. He patted the guy's shoulder gently, "Do ye want tae tell me wha yer seein?"
umas_second: (pic#17827039)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[Harry knelt at the man's side and laid a hand on his shoulder, faint confusion and concern on his face. What was the guy seeing?]


Got a sword'n a hook mate, an th'skill tae use 'em. Beyond tha . . . Who's in need? I canny see anyone but ye.
umas_second: (pic#17633555)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-25 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Are ye now? Canny say yer wrong in tha. Hevny made my way over tae tha table jus yet.


[Harry had another few bites as he thought over the guy's words. He hadn't spent any time trying to talk to their captors. Harry wasn't nearly as pissed about being captured as some people were. It was still more of a vacation being in Fairy than a punishment. Like being able to eat fresh, if odd, food.]


Wha did ye do tae gain th'bad will o'one o'our hosts?
figureskated: (Welcome to LA)

[personal profile] figureskated 2025-05-25 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
When I left, you were in a coma, barely hanging on.
undertheweight: (they're all out of spicy burritos)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2025-05-25 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[His brows fly up at that, and then, startled, he bows.]

My apologies, Sir Toby. I had not known. And, yes, I did miss that part, because until you said so, I had never heard of Faerie.

[It's been a day already. Wrathion's voice might be pitching slightly higher in annoyance, but he's still doing his best to be polite. This is free information he's gathering, after all. Though he suspects she might not care about who he is, so for the moment? He isn't about to offer his name.]
fetusdeletus: (i kissed a guy who ate his women friends)

[personal profile] fetusdeletus 2025-05-25 08:49 pm (UTC)(link)
If my character is basically a manananggal, will that result in any fun stuff when interacting with the NPC manananggals?
undertheweight: (uncertain)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2025-05-25 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
He might be breathing a little hard; but at that point in his life, there had just been so much at stake. Wrathion gave Kelson a little smile, and then he nodded.

"It was called the Fury of N'zoth, a manifestation of an Old God. The type of being it looked like--those are n'raqi, or Faceless Ones. They still do exist, where I am from, but...hopefully, not here. And yes, I am all right.

He figured he owed the young king an explanation of what he'd just seen. Hopefully, they wouldn't spawn nightmares, but even he still had nightmares about Ny'Alotha. It had been gone for years, and still.

"I did not fight it alone. I had help from other champions of Azeroth. But even I might have faltered, if I'd had to do it myself." Wrathion did not relish the thought at all.

"But are you all right?"
undertheweight: (when you don't win prom queen)

[personal profile] undertheweight 2025-05-25 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
No, no. And even if you were disagreeing, you are making logical points. And we are both trying to be civil, yes?

[Wrathion was, but it wasn't a struggle to be civil, now. They were just having a discussion. Exchanging ideas or theories.]

I suppose no outcome could be perfect. Maybe it's immature of me, but I was simply hoping for the best.
monomachy: idolatry @ dw (born to fly)

[personal profile] monomachy 2025-05-25 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"Changing?" She sounds surprised, but not as if she doesn't believe him. A shifting maze sounds exactly like the kind of thing fae would come up with for a party. She adds, "I do." Simple as that, no further explanation needed. In her mind, he has no reason to lie about something like that.

She follows as he races through the maze, ears alert for anything that might be following them. And the beast must know, because the next time it attacks, it jumps in between them, perhaps from between the hedges. Regardless, Diana sees it draw breath to scream again, and does the first thing that comes to mind: she shoves her forearm into its maw, the metal of her bracer scraping against its teeth.