pixieledmemes | Test Drive Meme #4

TDM #4 - July/August 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.

Unlike all of the other parties the Adopted have attended thus far, this one lacks the fae's usual easy elegance and ethereal beauty. Instead of dresses drenched in shining pearls and gems or sturdy tables full of the most mouth-watering food around, this party looks... cheap.

While the chasm between the Seelie and Unseelie courts has stopped growing, it also hasn't started shrinking. But when it comes to party planning, the Day Duke and the Summer Queen have thrown out the more traditional kind of party in favor of a summer celebration that their human pets might be familiar with. A Renaissance Faire.

But this is the fae interpretation of a human Ren Faire, complete with cheap, itchy costumes, cardboard stalls in the marketplace, and soft, plastic weaponry. Even the fae themselves seem to have gotten into the spirit of the event, masquerading - poorly - as humans playing faerie creatures. Everything within this crafted townsquare is absolutely fake, except for the plentiful faire food and drink that can not be avoided. Newcomers will have massive turkey legs, steaming apple dumplings, and overflowing wooden mugs shoved into their hands as they stroll through the faire.

As the party winds down and everyone's eaten, a tall, stately elf 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.

🦋 We're the Rats

CW: loss of agency, character death

Between the faeries cosplaying as humans - flat, bland wigs and all - Adopted may catch a glimpse or three of strange figures slinking through the crowd, all dressed up in the same cheap robes, wearing masks made up to look like rats. If an Adopted attempts to catch one of these figures, they’ll find themselves drawn away from the lively crowd into some darkened corner of the faire, where the sound of the festival doesn’t quite reach. The rat man will say nothing if spoken to, only holding out a shining, jeweled crown that all Adopted will feel compelled to wear before they scurry away without a word.

And for most of the party, the rat men seem harmless enough, lurking around and handing out crowns, making a point to hit most of the Seelie court’s Adopted in particular. It just seems like another strange misinterpretation of human tradition by the fae, unintentionally sinister when really it’s all for fun.

But then the party goes silent.

One of the rat men descends into the market square with a cheeky little dance, pipe in hand, already playing a jaunty tune that carries from one end of the faire to the other. Any Adopted wearing a crown will be unable to resist the call of the music, dancing along to every note. And as the figure masquerading as a rat begins to step backwards away from the crowd, they'll find themselves following right after him, forced to mimic his every step.

If they are not stopped by those without crowns, the Adopted will eventually dance themselves right into the forest with their piper, blindly following him even as the trees themselves begin to twist in around them. The further they get from the party, the more the brush becomes so thick it suffocates, vines and branches curling around limbs, trapping the Adopted long enough that they'll be swallowed up completely by the forest, returned to their dorm bedrooms by morning.

🦋 Faire Festivities

CW: loss of agency, unintentional harm, blood and gore

There is a veritable trove of activities the adopted can pick from to entertain themselves for the evening as they battle the relentless heat and scorching sun. But don't be fooled, the activities present aren't mundane and offer some thrilling options.

It should be noted that while of the other weapons to be found all over the faire are plastic, Adopted will see for themselves that there is no mistaking that the items used in these games are incredibly real.

Axe throwing & Archery

some random Adopted (be they known to you or not) will be selected and strapped to the target board

Hope you have good aim.

Jousting

impossible to dismount until you win or lose.

Do not fear, no matter what happens during this event, the horses will be perfectly safe. The Adopted however do not have that same protection.

Darts

when either of you throw, the other will be hurt in turn.

Isn't teamwork great?

🦋 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, tell us all of a time when you saw through a facade that fooled everyone around you. Perhaps the most compelling story will receive a reward from us.

ｎａｖｉｇａｔｉｏｎ

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Mother would also visit me on occasion. She tried to hide her sadness and I, in turn, would pretend not to notice it." He doesn't hesitate with his next expression, beginning calmly: "I would've welcomed you, too, Father. Even if it took a thousand years for your feet to find their way there." His heart aches to think about what him and his mother have endured but a part of him wonder if they would be having this conversation without those moments.

"I have only one hope now," he echoes back, solemnly. It doesn't have to be said because Dream has heard it all before, him begging for death all those years ago. Endless time seemed like such a small price to pay for happiness that day, now he knows why she was so hesitant to grant his request. She knew that there would come a day where he would look back and feel nothing but regret for his actions.

"If they ask it of me, I'll sing for them."

It doesn't surprise Dream when he hears of Calliope's efforts. She had tried to speak of Orpheus with him in their brief interaction recently, but he had rebuffed her. This was too difficult a subject for too many reasons, though he wishes he'd been ready then. He wonders if he is now. "I was under the impression my presence would be unwelcome," Dream murmurs, deliberately failing to specify whether he meant unwelcome by Orpheus or Calliope. She had blamed him for their son's condition, and Dream had, too. He couldn't imagine either of them actually wanting him around.

He is just starting to see the error of that assumption. But that does not mean he is ready to grant his son's wish. It would kill him in so many ways, and just the thought of it is enough to inspire a briefly haunted look on his face. No. Not here. Not when he could do something else. "There is another option," Dream says, not quite carefully, but he's certainly choosing his words with precision. "I intend to speak with the Fae. They have the power to grant you a body in this realm." In this realm only was the caveat, but perhaps Orpheus would enjoy the taste of freedom.

His son's decision about sharing his gifts earns a respectful nod. Dream can understand that. Such things must be requested by mortalkind. Perhaps, one day, he might earn the right to ask it of Orpheus himself. But he doesn't feel as though that time is now.

"There was a time when I thought I didn't want to see you," he admits, candidly saying things he never thought he would be able to. "But much like the tides, that changed when I realized my anger was misplaced. Even if you looked upon me with scorn, I think I would've found a sense of happiness in it because it meant you saw me. Mother, I'm sure, would have felt the same way."

Orpheus listens intently, unsure, even at the prospect of being able to move again. In this way, he mirrors Dream almost perfectly when he finally gets the words out. "No. Father, it wouldn't be worth the price, not when you have finally found your freedom again. And I wouldn't be able to accept it knowing that you lost something. Deals with the Fae are often one-sided, I don't agree to this."

"When I said that you owe me nothing, I meant it. This is me, humbly, asking you not to do this." And knowing that, most likely, he will ignore him and do it regardless. "It was never great fanfare, beautiful sunsets or even my body that I wished for, only that you would one day grace the doorway to the temple."

Edited 2025-07-17 23:27 (UTC)

Dream listens to his son's confessions, his hopes, his regrets. He is silent, absorbing it all and offering his full attention, never once interrupting. These are thoughts and feelings contained for ages, and he will not deny Orpheus the opportunity to release them. It's the very least he can do after everything, and while it's certainly painful, there is a bittersweet relief to hear that melodic voice when he thought he never would again. "I cannot speak for Calliope, but I am here to listen to all you have felt in our time apart. Even if it is ... unflattering," he adds, a tiny smile tugging at his mouth. He, apparently, recently gained a bit more self-awareness.

When Orpheus begins to protest, though, Dream's expression softens. "I have more than enough to offer that might sate their interest," he says, "And it would please me greatly to give this to you." For all he might have gone against his son's wishes in the past, he's been trying — struggling, really — to do better and respect the people he cares for.

"Will you not accept this small gift, Orpheus? I swear to you, if I am asked to give up what I am unwilling to, I will refuse." That promise, at least, he could make with confidence. The Fae didn't deserve more — not when Dream and his son were contained against their will. The fact that he isn't condemning everyone to eternal nightmares is a blessing.

"I think," he begins, torn between relief and reluctance, "that lingering on the past would reopen old wounds that have already mended. There is nothing more to forgive and, with time, I've forgotten the worst of it." That isn't entirely true, he is just desperate to keep him at his side and the idea of his previous temperament rearing its ugly head is always at the back of his mind. Better to leave the past hurts where they belong and create new memories that neither of them flinch over.

"You have given enough and more." He can't keep the worry out of his voice now, knowing they will always ask for more and he, nearly frantic to mend fences, will likely entertain them if nothing else. "You don't understand," he sighs, teeth nipping at the inside of his cheek.

"You needn't gift me anything because you already have. You are the gift, the one I have waited centuries for. I would not ask for more. I have what I need, nothing more needs to be sacrificed on my accord." He was reckless in his youth, as it were, but greed was never one of his defining traits. Having his body back would ease his suffering, but he won't accept it if the cost is too high. In this case? It is.

"I am at peace."

Test Drive Meme #4

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