pixieledmemes | Test Drive Meme #3

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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

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Wait- His head turns after that voice he'd know anywhere.
"...Angel?"
The fuck is the little twink doing here??

That sass he can properly deal with later, when Angel isn't the only familiar face he's seen in a space full of strangers. And so- despite a brief frown- Valentino strides quickly after him to catch ahold of one of Angel's arms before he can slink too far away.

"Care to try that one again, Amorcito?" he prompts, dragging him closer.

The instant he heard his name, he knew he was fucked. Damn him and his big mouth, getting his ass in trouble again. It didn't take long for the moth to close to gap between them with those long stems of his and Angel turned to face him. There was no use running now.

Angel tensed at the tight fingers wrapping around his arm and Val met some resistance as he dragged the spider closer. One month. One ~~relatively~~ peaceful month was all be got. He knew it was all too good to be true.

"Seems like ya hearing is still good." Angel snorts, trying to pull his arm free. "Could ya let me go? I'm off the clock. In case you're that blind, we ain't in Hell."

That resistance spurns Valentino to tug that much rougher, grip pointedly tight. He holds a beat longer, a warning look on his face as those eyes sharpen, releasing him with a false smile.

"What's this attitude, Baby? Hmm? Hell or not- you're still mine. Now why don't you seem surprised by this shit? We just wrapped our shoot." It's unnerving, Angel full of information Valentino needs, and the moth is reluctant to admit he needs Angel, and not the other way round.

Angel tried to keep his face stern and unreadable as he stared down Val, when on the inside he was trembling. But when the Overlord released him he took in a breath of relief know he just got off easy. There's no tell when he was going to pay for it later... Angel took this chance to take a step back, rubbing the spot where those fingers just were as he kept his eyes trained on Val.

"Jokes on you asshole, but ya don't own me here." A very bold faced lie. The sinner didn't know how soul contracts worked here, if they still held their power. Valentino was the first of his kind to show up and it terrified him to find out. "Just wrapped?.... Maybe for you, but I've been here a lot longer. Didn't you pay attention to their little welcome speech?"

A lie Valentino's very clearly worried might be true, eyes wide behind his glasses- before his own stern mask slid into place. "Is that what you think? I own you with or without that contract, Amorcito. Don't fool yourself. You always come crawling back to Daddy. You need me."

He crowded Angel back and grabbed him by his lapels, giving him a pointed shake before cooing- "You know you can't take care of yourself, Baby. Don't pretend."

The speech had meant little to him before now, and the idea that Angel had been here, out of his reach for Lucifer only knew how long. Who knew what ideas had been put in his head by now. It was worse than the hotel.

Edited 2025-06-18 03:31 (UTC)

this time his new found abilities his adopted court granted him betrayed his emotions. As the moth gripped him, the spider flickered in and out of existence. Or more like in and out of sight since the lapels in those claws where still very much tangible. Why was is only now did it occur to him that all of this could have been avoided if he just went invisible and snuck away? Fuck, well, too late now.

Plastering back on a brave face, Angel glared up at him. "What's the matter, Val? Sounds like a lotta hot air steamin' out your ears. Ya scared you can't control me without a chain to yank?" Angel lets out another little huff. "As if its any business of yours but the position of 'Daddy' has already been filled."

The fuck? Val flinched in surprise as Angel seemed to flicker in and out of existence, a skill he knew damn well he didn't possess before now. All the surveillance they keep on their number one asset, they'd know if he'd been hiding something like that.

He bared his teeth with a possessive growl, pushing Angel away at the notion that someone has been touching what's his without permission. He controls who fucks Angel, and no one who isn't paying or one of his actors lays a finger on him without consequences.

"Who?" he demanded, patting himself down in search of one of his guns, "I'll kill him...Kill his whole family," he muttered in frustration. "That ends now, Angel. I swear I will put you back in the ground myself."

Edited 2025-06-18 03:51 (UTC)

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. His damn mouth again. He really needed to shut the fuck up. Again, speaking only in half truths. Sure, he had a new 'Daddy', but in name only? Nothing has happened between him and the feline bartender from the hotel, though not by his lack of interest. It was just... things were a bit awkward between them. God, he was deeply regretting being such a coward and dipping out from Talking when things got too real. If he would have known this asshole was going to show his ugly face...

That tone in his boss' voice was one he knew all too well, sending a chill up his spine. Being freed once more, Angel took an extra large step back, bracing himself to make a run for it if need be.

"I ain't telling you shit. But ya really gonna off your best money maker?"

"I'll make you wish I would," he growled, a promise they both knew he could be counted on to fulfill from experience, and he scanned the party with narrowed eyes. Which of these fucks was it? Maybe he should just start blasting heads and worry about who was guilty later? "Your ass is going to make up every damn cent you cost me. Now give me a name or I let chance decide."

And boy, does Angel know that those words were a promise and not a threat. Fuck, could he not have one nice thing going for him? Was that too much to ask for? Maybe this is the price he pays for making poor life choices.

Following the moth's vengeful gaze out on to the other party goers, Angel's heart seized in his chest. Not that he knew most of these people, but there was a part of him that didn't want to see them get hurt because of him. God dammit Charlie.

"I don't care what ya do to me, just don't go hurtin' people who ain't nothing to do with this. Besides, money is no good here. Its all favors for favors. Bartering."

See what that nasty hotel was doing to you, Baby? Who needed that guilt?

"Well guess who owes me a backlog of favors, hmm?" he countered quickly, though internally he was seized with a momentary panic. A world without money?? How was someone supposed to climb the ladder without some green to flash around?

The ruff of fur around his neck was flared in anger, and he considered Angel with narrowed eyes, still seething. "You're going to have to give me better incentive than that, Angel. Show me why I shouldn't kill every one of these fucks..."

Genuinely, Husk was going to mind his own business and let Angel do what Angel wants, but with that very obvious form known as Valentino? Oh, that was enough to get the cat-bird demon's fur standing on edge. No one owned them here as far as he was concerned, he was certain of that and he was pretty sure that they were on somewhat equal footing while in this place.

Which is precisely why Husk is slinking his way over and casually wraps an arm around Angel's waist, a long brow raising slowly as he turns his attention onto Valentino with a grin full of those sharp teeth.

"Did you not hear the fuckin' part where those contracts don't mean fuck and shit here? Or are you as deaf as you are fuckin' blind, Valentino?"

A better incentive? Angel felt like his back was pinned up against the wall. For a moment, the spider stood there with his hands clinched at his sides as he thought of a way out of this. It was the last thing he wanted to do but he might need to sacrifice himself to Val. He's been through it before... Freedom tasted sweet while it lasted.

But right as he was about to speak, he felt a hand slip around his waist. Before he could look he heard the warm soothing baritone voice he knew so well. His head whipped around so fast to stare wide-eyed down at his ~~boy~~friend. Fuck, they really needed to Talk.

"Husk? Whadda ya doing here?"

The Radio Demon's mangy cat? That was who Angel was whoring him sell off to? A disgraced former overlord???

Valentino saw red, pulling Money Shot free from his coat and leveling the barrel with Husk's temple with one hand, while another backhanded Angel.

"Say goodbye to the disgusting gato, Angelcakes," he growls, finger starting to squeeze the trigger.

At least Husk's good for one thing and that's being on his guard any time he's around any other Overlord, past, present, or future. And Valentino was near the top of the list to be on guard with. "Dealin' with some trash," he states simply enough to Angel's question before his attention returns to the giant moth.

He's always been taller than him, that's not a surprise, nor is he surprised when he pulls a gun on him. But it doesn't stop him from bristling and that grin sharpening before his focus shifts enough for ice to start crawling along Val's hand starting from the trigger. "Nah, don't think you'll be doing none of that here. 'Sides, we don't permanently die here, last I heard, so it's the same shit as always." A slow shrug follows, tightening his grip on Angel's waist to pull him closer and casually opening those large wings. "But he ain't yours and I'm not about to let you continue this fuckin' bullshit while we're here, fucko. So what you're gonna do is turn the fuck around and leave before I decide to see how quickly I can slit your goddamned throat and make your guts into fuckin' streamers for this fuckin' party."

The slap rang clean across the spider's face, which wasn't entirely unexpected. Out of all the possible things he knew the moth demon being capable of, he was counting himself lucky. But then he saw Val whipping out his trusty hand gun and his blood ran cold as he leveled it at Husk. Oh shit. This was exactly why he wanted to keep Husk's name out of this. He needed to-

....Do nothing?

Ice crept along the Overlords out stretched hand and the spider blinked, confused. Looking back down at the feline to see the wicked grin on his face it clicked that this was his doing. In his chest, he felt his heart squeeze as Husk protectively pulled him in closer, which was only made worse listening to what words followed after. Was... was it bad that he was wildly turned on right now? If Val wasn't standing right there he'd.... No, right, focus.

Shaking that look from his face, a deep chuckle rumbled in his throat as he leans over to drape an arm around Husk's shoulder.

"Yeah, what he said. There's gonna be a new order 'round here. You better get used to it."

"The fuck-?!" Val barks in confusion, trying to will his finger to pull the damn trigger, backing away as the ice spreads.

That momentary loss of control makes his face flush with both humiliation and rage. It's been far too long since anyone has been able to effective stand up to him.

"You and your kitty are going to pay for that, Angel," he hisses.

Been a while since he's been in this particular position and at least Angel can hear the undercurrent of rumbling while pressed against him that might be something akin to a purr. Not that it shows in his face as he absolutely looks more like a predator than he does some simple housecat right about now. His posture shifts to actually stand to his full height, tail casually wrapping around Angel's thigh as his attention remains on the stumbling moth.

"Just because I was on a fuckin' leash doesn't mean I don't remember how the game is played, Valentino. Make a single. fucking. misstep. around him and I'll be glad to remind you that we're on the same fuckin' level." He pauses for a moment, tilting his head somewhat as if pondering something. "Nah, I'd never stoop so low to be a piece of shit like you. Moths ain't predators, remember it."

Oh holy fucking Hell. He was really enjoying seeing this side of Husk. ~~What did that say about him? God...~~ If there was one bright side of this prick showing up. it was seeing Husk acting like a big shot. Angel wasn't even trying to hide the lustful glances he was casting the feline's way. As soon as they were back at the castle... He needed to thank him for coming to his aid. If he hadn't shown up when he did, he might have thrown himself back into the flame. It was easy to forget that he didn't have the face things alone.

Playing into it, the arm wrapped around Husk's shoulders drifted down to toy with the old man's suspenders as his free hand reached up to draw lazy circles on the tuft of fur on his chest.

"That's right, baby, you tell him." Angel grins. "Your threats are hollow without your little cronies here to back ya up."

Fuck. He wants to tear the cat apart with his bare hands. But with that little freezing trick of his, Valentino won't be able to get close. He swears he hears Vox's voice in the back of his mind, urging him to keep his cool.

He kicks over a near by table, and it does something to release a fraction of that rage, wiping at the poison that drips from the corner of his mouth. "You enjoy your gutter trash, Husk. All of Hell's had a go, you might as well take your turn," he spits.

"You fell so far this time baby. I'll be here when you come to your senses." He gives Angel a pointed look, violently knocking over another table as he stalks away.

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Test Drive Meme #3

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