pixieledmemes | Test Drive Meme #3

Entry tags:

!tdm

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

code

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[No sir, that dog is as cool as a cucumber looking at Spike. Lazily relaxed even, with both ears perked up and its tongue hanging out of it's mouth.

For Szel's part, it was in fact quite simple to put two and two together about what Midge, and by proxy he, was looking at. No vibration of a heartbeat detected, Midge's heightened senses picking up nothing but literal dead silence from the vampire in front of him.]

Don't worry about it.

[The fluid that seeped from the scratch was an inky black color, and he reached up briefly to swipe his thumb over the mark.]

I'm doing you a favor, you're going to want to pick a different route. This one is... temporarily out of service.

[Something behind that corner he'd put himself in front of rumbled, the leaves and branches of the hedge shaking ominously, and Midge bolted upright to hop forward a few feet in obvious anxiety. Szel didn't budge, though the scowl on his face cut a bit deeper.]

Someone is an over-dramatic pissbaby, I can tell you that.

[Black blood. That was never a good sign, and the faint hint of smoke and...something that made his nose burn he could smell under the hint of expensive cologne? Demon. Spike wasn't sure yet what kind, but he was betting on Demon.]

Well see, now I'm curious. Why is it out of service? Especially since that might also be the way out.

[Spike notes the reaction of both the hedge and the...familiar. Has to be a familiar. Between that and the leaves and a twig still in the other's hair, he can't help himself. He snickers.]

Let me guess, the hedge did that to you?

I direct you back to my over-dramatic pissbaby comment. See, I thought people liked it when you thought outside of the box.

Turns out that's a lie, actually.

[Faintly in the wind, the scent of some chemical burning floated, still sharp but not overpowering. Whatever had happened down that corridor, it had been over for long enough for the maze to attend to it.

His expression, somehow, becomes more sour. Rude, stop noticing things.]

No.

[Yes.]

I tripped.

[Into a hedge tentacle after he maybe sort of spit on it- Look that's not important.]

New arrival then?

[Spike asked, not troubled by the sour expression. He could make some educated guess what had happened. If the hedge could move--and he was certain it could--then it likely didn't want people trying other ways to escape it. Such as climbing, or going through it. Bloody faerie hedge maze.]

Not sure what you did there mate, but I can still smell it. Doesn't smell pleasant.

[Spike wrinkled his nose and fought the urge to sneeze.]

No, this is my favorite vacation spot, right next to Pompeii and Centralia.

[He's not mad about it. He's NOT MAD about being here, he's FINE. A fine potpourri of what smelled like motor oil, ammonia and slightly gone off bananas was the scent profile. Something Szel was well aware of, naturally, and he answered casually.]

Tossed glyphosate and polyethoxylated tallow amine at it.

[Which was a crisply enunciated mouthful, and an extremely fancy way of saying 'I threw up Roundup'.]

I may have been a little overzealous but in my defense, the hedge started it.

Edited 2025-05-25 01:01 (UTC)

[Spike blinked at him, eyebrow raised.]

I'd ask where you got the stuff but not sure I want to know. Anyway, you figure out what the deal is with all this yet? Or do you need the intro and welcome.

Edited 2025-05-25 01:04 (UTC)

Probably better that way, the explanation is needlessly complicated.

I have a few basic bullet points so far: Fairies are terrible, but I already knew that. Going through this maze is arbitrary bullshit meant to entertain someone else, and I'll probably be lucky if I get a Chuck E Cheese token and a slap on the ass for my trouble.

That's what I've managed to deduce thus far.

You've either been through this shit before, or are more clued in than most.

[Spike studied the man for a moment, head tilting.]

Demon?

I am extremely, extremely, familiar with fairies.

[And boy does he sound exhausted to say it. Midge hasn't looked away once, not even blinking since the conversation started. In contrast, Szel's posture seems far more relaxed and easy, his head directed just barely to the side of Spike.]

Well that was quick. Guess I wasn't being all that subtle though...

While we're identifying each other: you're... an undead of some sort, right?

Vampire. Ever heard of Sunnydale, California? Hellmouth on it?

[Spike was untroubled by the familiar, or the other looking at him. He was amused the other actually looked kind of relaxed.]

Lots of different worlds and universes and realities being brought here.

[His head cocked, the motion distinctly birdlike]

... There's a Hellmouth in California...? ... Seriously, that's not a culturally relevant joke?

[Genuine confusion was in that tone, underscored by a hint of interest.]

Oh- Oh from another world. That part I didn't catch when I got here... Go back for a second- what do you mean there's a Hellmouth in California?

Bollocks.

[Spike sighed, turning his head to the side.]

For a moment there, thought you might be from where I'm from.

[Not that a demon from his world being here would be a good thing. But it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing either.]

There's a Hellmouth in Sunnydale, California. 's a small town about 2 hours north of LA on the coast. There's also a Hellmouth in Cleveland, Illinois. Figures the US would have two of 'em.

[A shrug.]

Got a name? I'm Spike.

Seems like a weird thing to want, meeting any demon from anywhere. Why, have a friend in Hell you miss?

[He seriously doubted it, Szel personally didn't have a very high opinion of anyone in there. The explanation in regards to Hellmouths though seems to irk him a bit.]

Why? How? That's a massive design flaw- is anyone even watching them?

[Which... is maybe not the most demony reaction one could have, and he also doesn't elaborate further on it.]

Szelhamos. Szel, if you're not interested in pronouncing Hungarian.

Eh, I've been here a few months now. On the one hand it's great, no one knows me. On the other, bleh, because no one knows me. Would've been nice to be recognized for a change.

[Spike explained, listening to the other.]

Szel it is then. And what're hellmouths where you're from? Where I'm from they're basically places where where paths were used to cut through to other dimensions. Usually various hell ones. So it leaks all kinds of magic and attracts supernatural types like flies to honey.

So... either you're famous, you're infamous, or you're lonely.

[One of these things... he could identify with.]

We have thin spots of course, but nothing that leads directly to Hell unless you know exactly what you're doing. You're more likely to end up in Tir na Nog before you'd ever reach Hell. It's convoluted on purpose: things that go to Hell aren't meant to come back out again.

There's only one true Hellmouth. He's mobile, and the path only goes one way.

[Samael was damn good at his job, Szel could give him that much.]

[Spike actually looked kind of pleased at the other for picking it up, until he said lonely. Which--yeah Spike was a little bit. But he'd been that way before ending up here already.]

Different kind of hellmouth then, and you sound like you're talking capital H. We don't really have a capital H where I'm from, just a lot of smaller h-Hell dimensions. Smaller h, not smaller in number.

... Could you... explain?

[Was that a rude way of saying it. Midge sneezed, looking away from Spike at last to rapidly dart his eyes around the area instead. There was a better way to put that. Szel gestured, trying to pick something better.]

Like- So Hell isn't a singular place, there...? There's no Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, so on and so forth?

Nope, not a capital H singular place, with different circles and stuff. I mean, that may exist too, but it's not greater or lesser than any of the other hell dimensions. 's pretty tame compared to a few of the nastier ones actually.

... So I'm not judging you when I say this. This isn't about you.

But your dimensional planning is garbage, I'm so sorry.

[But hey, no one had to tell him that wasn't Spike's fault. Szel seems genuinely bothered by this though, what a mess.]

... Still really interesting though- Is it even for sinners or is it more like a place where demons live?

[By this point, Midge had finally begun to move again. It was an awkward display, the dog walking backwards past Szel to sit just beyond the corner again, briefly peeking back to check and see if anything was coming to interrupt this impromptu interdimensional lecture.]

Couldn't tell ya, mate. Left all that religious garbage behind when I died. My only concern now is the stuff that affects me as a vampire, and that's because I hate it. Ruins all the fun.

[There is some invective there, but it's not personal. Midge probably had no way to tell for certain, but Spike was also keeping on a casual alert. He could smell things in here, besides the other adopted. Wouldn't surprise him if the hedge had more tricks to play on them than just moving about.]

Goddamnit.

[And now he knew there was no one else from Spike's home to harass about this either. There was of course no insult taken to the tone. Hey, he gets it, even if he's kind of a part of it.]

... Well I guess that at least indicates the existence of heaven- I'll assume you're allergic to the usual? Crosses, holy water, can't go into someone's house unless you're invited? The sun?

[The last one being the most egregious of the list he'd imagine. Midge huffs and snorts, beginning to trot back and forth from the pair as if irritated.]

... Fuck, we're never going to get out of this goddamn maze, are we.

[Can he walk and talk? Sure! Does he want to go around that corner? ... Debatable!]

Allergic 's a good way to put it. Although the sunlight here doesn't work that way apparently. Doesn't matter right now since it's dark of the night anyways.

Spike looked at the corgi, before moving to the corner. Listening for a moment, sniffing a bit. Seemed safe enough, as he only smelled green in that direction for now.]

Probably not until it or our captors want us to, but that doesn't mean we have to stand here all night. I'm guessing this is the Spring King's doing, but 'm not sure why it's at night. That might be one of the other ruler's doing it though.

Hey, I have a few of those allergies, I'm calling them as I see them.

[There's so many questions. It's obvious he's openly struggling not to keep asking them too, biting his tongue to shut himself up and re-calibrate a little.

Midge snorted and huffed again, still refusing to completely round that corner and walk down the path, and for once Szel directly mimicked that behavior, seeming to peer down the path just the same as the dog.]

I'm so glad they could come together as a team to make everyone fucking miserable, what a heartwarming story.

[Midge was at last starting to actually head down the path at least. Low to the ground as he was, maybe there was considerably less for him to worry about.]

Just... listen really carefully. Some of the bushes are kind of uh... energetic.

Maybe they relaxed by now I don't know.

Killer shrubbery. Got it. Walk and talk, and I can tell you got questions.

[Spike is following Midge. For someone who can be killed by pointy bits of wood, he's sure not worried about pissing off the Hedge.]

You're pretty perceptive.

[And he's not sure what to think about that right now, trailing behind Spike. It's certainly not a very inspiring sight; two grown men following a fat orange corgi in a pink cable knit sweater. Szel doesn't seem too concerned about that though.]

Who's the other rulers here? I was... busy with other stuff, didn't catch anything of what was going on at the party.

[He didn't want to talk to them because he's a petty bitch. That parts just implied though.]

Test Drive Meme #3

Oh hello!

Hallo and welcome. I'm Lin.

♥

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)