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

sod_off: (Spike 19)

[personal profile] sod_off 2025-05-18 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
You think they actively choose us then, or we just get swept up by accident? It's a good word, especially since I like being a nuisance to those I dislike.
astronema: (17788458)

[personal profile] astronema 2025-05-18 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"Kiriya?" Astronema asks, startled, and then... horribly amused. Her smile's right there in her voice. "You... drank out of the well, didn't you?"

This guy cannot catch a break when it comes to magic, it seems. Touching cursed plants with his bare hands, drinking cursed water? And now, he's a horse. She supposes that's better than burning up with a lethal fever, at the very least.
in_her_shadow: (i have been changed)

[personal profile] in_her_shadow 2025-05-18 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Not everybody, but wayyy more people than you'd think."

Lena had actually been one of those people on day one, buuut Twilight doesn't need to know that.

"So many people just assume 'oh, in my world, fae never lie' and, like... okay? Not your world? Not your rules? Of course they're lying. They're trying to make it easier to break us down into submission."
lutin: (trapped)

[personal profile] lutin 2025-05-18 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"Here?" Eponine gives Dodger a confused look before she turns back to where Marius stood.

No one.

There's nothing in front of Eponine besides hedge and path.

"Where did he go?" Eponine looks around, confused. "Monsieur?" She addresses Dodger. "Monsieur, did you see where he go?"
Before Dodger can answer, she sets off at a steady run in the direction that she thinks Marius might have gone in.

"Monsieur? Monsieur Marius? Where are you?"
tempeststorm: (Thinking)

[personal profile] tempeststorm 2025-05-18 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[If it’s just something strong… either way, that was drugging oneself, in Sync’s eyes.

To that question though… he shrugs, the motion still somewhat on edge. Like he can’t quite relax.]


Not particularly. I just like staying aware.

[If they would have been drugged, and on the off chance that the colors had different effects, Sync would prefer to know who drank what… just in case things got nasty in the maze.

It was all about intel, and information was a form of currency, something useful to him. That was all.]
in_her_shadow: (i am to pull through)

[personal profile] in_her_shadow 2025-05-18 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Instant Regret.

Lena runs a hand down her face and beak. ]


Oookay. Sooner we finish this, the better...

[ She goes quiet for a moment, contemplative. She then looks down at her hands, frowning. The Narciso incident proved she can move living things with her body, so maybe...? ]

... I'm gunna try something. This is new, so, no promises.

[ With a breath, she closes her eyes, and puts her hands together. The blue-white glow from last time appears again, as she mumbles quietly... is it some secret, ancient chant?

Actually, if they listen closely, she's murmuring "don't mess this up, don't mess this up, don't mess this up..."]
geiger: (Default)

[personal profile] geiger 2025-05-18 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, it is. The fun of the people in charge here, at least.

[ She was already pretty certain that they were brought here just for their entertainment. ]
in_her_shadow: (but i know i'm who i am today)

[personal profile] in_her_shadow 2025-05-18 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At first, she doesn't recognize him - that first talk had been all text, it'd been a while since they first and last 'spoke', and you humans look a lot alike. Which is why she allows the company, though she doesn't bother to look up from her Leaf. ]

Good, so, I don't have to do the whole 'trapped here forever, fae say everyone's dead back home, blah blah blah' spiel. Good, that was getting old. Need to start making pamphlets.
in_her_shadow: (been playin' second fiddle)

[personal profile] in_her_shadow 2025-05-18 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Whatever.

[ That means yes.

She sticks her hands in the pockets of her sweater and already begins walking. ]


For the record, I can fend for myself. But if you want to be my meat shield, who am I to deny you the privilege?
lementeur: (033)

[personal profile] lementeur 2025-05-18 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At first, Verso hunches to drape his arms over his knees, still reeling with everything he's learned and all he has yet to discover. There's still so much he's keeping from her, but at the moment he genuinely doesn't know the answer to her questions.

He can't stand living in a state of ignorance. Maybe this is just one more form that his karma is taking. ]


For us, I don't know what this means. But I know it can't remain like this.

[ Glancing sideways, he sits up a little straighter and reaches out to cover her hand with his in what he hopes is a reassuring gesture. ]

Hey. I told you that I'd figure this out. We will together, right? That hasn't changed.

[ What does that mean, exactly? He wishes he knew. ]

Our best bet is to learn everything we can about the fae. How they control this world. How they even brought us here. What they've done with the others they've brought here.
kingforboth: (thinking)

[personal profile] kingforboth 2025-05-18 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Kelson thought of something and tilted his head, stopping himself from blurting it out right then and there. Instead, he considered, watching Wrathion and trying to make heads or tails of if he should bring it up, considering the others reaction to his mind earlier. No, better to get it out in the open, and if Wrathion was against it, then he knew where he stood, at least at that moment.

"There actually might be a way for me to see it and your people. I don't very much think you're going to like it though."

Kelson wasn't sure how old Wrathion was but he looked over than Kelson himself, and if years also translated into experience, well, it wasn't hard to find someone with more experience than him or another Deryni from his kingdom. There were so few with full training to begin with.

There was something about him that reminded him a little of Morgan. Maybe it was the protective nature, the manner of speech? Either way, it was a good comparison. For now.

"It would involve me going back into your head though." And Kelson remembered how he reacted to that.
tempeststorm: (Neutral)

Post-Maze (New, hi, and TY in advance! ^^)

[personal profile] tempeststorm 2025-05-18 10:01 pm (UTC)(link)
After the hellish night (few hours? Was it a whole night?) that the Maze had proven to be, Sync finds himself at another table.

A different one than the others that had been laid before them earlier. How strange, for it to be touched and yet set apart.

Maybe that would give him some peace and quiet. Already, he’s growing weary of the constant interaction. (There is more than one reason, aside from the obvious, that he was delegated to being in the shadows on missions before here.)

With a small exhale of breath, he sits - not relaxing (never, as tension is his constant companion through life, and it keeps him prepared). A small gash on his arm, blood crusted over, throbs almost as much as his head.

“What now?” The teen murmurs. Would they continue to be thrown into the maze for someone’s amusement? Would they be placed elsewhere? ‘Going home’… Sync didn’t have a place like that, nor the option, and their hosts had made it quite clear they were to stay.
sine_metu: ([matt] collar)

[personal profile] sine_metu 2025-05-18 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Matt sighs deeply. "I've been blind for longer than I had my sight. I get around fine on my own."

It's one of those common misconceptions the sighted have about the blind. A new environment doesn't leave him helpless. As his hearing recovers he senses things even better, allowing him to move with more confidence.

"There's more than one way to see the world around you."
umas_second: (pic#17755203)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-18 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Nope, got all tha th'first party. Ye tried th'pink stuff? It's a wee bit odd, but no' awful.


[He offered his plate and a fork along with his smile. So far so good, although technically she hadn't actually looked at him. Was it possible Lena hadn't even realized who she was talking to?]
sine_metu: ([matt] collar)

[personal profile] sine_metu 2025-05-18 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"Is it?" Matt smiles briefly. "I can't tell."

A blind joke which will hopefully keep the questions to a minimum. He's not sure how he's going to explain he got shot at a very fancy party.

"I was hoping to find a bathroom to wash it out," he says off the cuff. For a lawyer he really should be better at lying but he's only really good at bending the truth just before it breaks. "Which direction should I head?"
memorycardio: (008)

[personal profile] memorycardio 2025-05-18 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I have no meat to shield with. But I will shield you with this body if I can. And okay, you can "fend for yourself". I'll remember it.

[Feels wrong to be too picky and prolong things, so she'll go ahead and pick an optimal direction, starting back into the maze.]

May I ask your name?
killedzordon: (listen to me)

[personal profile] killedzordon 2025-05-18 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Wait what?

[It kept getting weirder and weirder, the more she spoke.]

Zordon. Was a red ranger?

[you know what, forget the train, forget the car. WHAT?]

Zordon. The head. Was a power ranger?
notimefordreams: (007)

[personal profile] notimefordreams 2025-05-18 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[Sarah turns near immediately after the collision, ready to fight it out but quick to dismiss that with the sorry that comes immediately after.

Then she curses and a blinking Sarah can't help but huff out a laugh.]


Yeah, I feel the same way about any maze.

[Again the crying just rips right through the maze itself. It's location is indistinguishable but it sure is still present and brings a furrow to Sarah's brow.]

I'm starting to think the crying is more of a trap than anything real.
digophelia: (as the world is slowly coming down)

[personal profile] digophelia 2025-05-18 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
“Butcher?” Alice raises an eyebrow as she shifts her stance. Decidedly, correcting him that she was technically an orphan matron, whilst sporting a bloody apron, wasn't exactly a good idea. Sure, she could conjure up a vorpal cleaver, though the Vorpal Blade works just as good.

Her only correction is swiftly moving out of the direct line of fire from the creature by dissolving into bright, blue butterflies. Once Alice is solid again, she shifts her attention onto the beast, instead. It's hard to get in a good swing of her knife when she sees it fly across the grass.

“Perhaps,” She knows by now not to second-guess a Londoner on their strange preferences of what they consider musical. “You might call it 'sonorous' if you call Whitechapel home.”

Unphased by her predicament, she debates how hard it would be to sink her knife into the creature's chest, while carrying on a conversation as if she's discussing a symphony, “I don't mean to nitpick, sir, but wouldn't you like to keep your instrument intact?”
tempeststorm: (Thinking)

Party (OK, finally made it! Hi ^^)

[personal profile] tempeststorm 2025-05-18 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[That offer is one that Sync takes begrudgingly. His feet are starting to ache from the constant pacing at the fringes he’d done earlier. Still, the teen does sit on the edge of the seat (aware, prepared, ready to move if necessary).

At least she isn’t sobbing her eyes out at their supposed entrapment here? That’s one thing they have in common.

She seems to have chosen more food and drink than Sync himself would have felt comfortable with (though he had taken a few small bites earlier). His gaze finds hers from behind his mask, head tilted in mild curiosity.]


Anything here that’s agreeable?

[Translation: doesn’t taste disgustingly like a mouthful of perfume and flora.]

umas_second: (pic#17755308)

[personal profile] umas_second 2025-05-18 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"Aye. It is." Harry wasn't the biggest fan of secrets, but he also wasn't the type to pry when there seemed like a good reason not too. The middle of a crowded party was a good reason to wait. He studied the man for a moment before reaching for his arm. If the guy couldn't see all that blood, he'd get where he was going faster with some help.

"Here, let me help. We'll get oot o'this crowd." Once they were free of the crowd he'd let go, but at the moment, it would be a lot faster to lead the man.
black_black_heart: (tiger - earflick)

[personal profile] black_black_heart 2025-05-18 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Tannusen, of course, batted at the dead body a bit with one massive paw. The depths of his disappointment was endless. The little fucker wasn't even twitching.

What a rip-off.

The little human priest with the firearm and the machine-gun mouth, though, sure was entertaining. One big monochrome ear rotated in his direction, and the tiger chuffed out some breaths in a way that definitely sounded like a laugh.
feckinboomstick: (you all suck)

[personal profile] feckinboomstick 2025-05-18 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't think he didn't hear that, or that he didn't understand what was happening over there.

"Oh aye laugh it up, ye massive prick, think you're so feckin' funny." He's pulling himself out of the hedge now, dragging along sticks and leaves in his long frizzy hair as he clambers to escape.

"... Should have picked up on some magic bollocks when ye took the matter of eatin' it so personally..." Grumbling and mumbling as he pulled detritus out of his hair, still glaring at Tannusen the whole time. Well he doesn't expect a response, cats don't have that going for them after all, so he's free to run his mouth as he pleases.

"Feel like a right twat now."
black_black_heart: (tiger - hm?)

[personal profile] black_black_heart 2025-05-18 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
In this shape, Tannusen's mind and instincts are more feline than human or fae, so Cassian is... not entirely out of danger, actually. But he's not hungry, actually, and something the little human had said earlier is really funny right now.

So he gets up from crouching over the dead Devil, all twelve feet length of cat pacing on over to Cassian at a very casual walk. It takes no time at all, as big as he is, and as confined as space is here.

At least it's not a stalk? Or a leap? So it could always be worse.
bossyboiler: ((blue) 5)

[personal profile] bossyboiler 2025-05-18 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ When in Rome, Bobby boy. When in Rome! One day you too will look as though you just stepped out of a ren faire. ]

There are but you and I both know that's not what I meant. It's unnatural just like the food here is.