Test Drive Meme #2

[changelinged]

TDM #2 - March/April 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 a garden party at the crack of dawn, with the sun still in its early stages of climbing through the yonder, casting a good mix of pastel hues of blue, pink, and beige on everything. Heralding the first day of spring, the Ruler of the Spring Court has found it fitting to arrange this gathering where guests can feel the blades of grass touching their ankles, as well as the rich soil beneath their feet. Flowers of all kinds surround the party as if they were carefully curated. With spring as the "dawn of seasons," which marks a transition from winter's latency to the resurgence of life everywhere, the Ruler of the Dawn Court has also seen it fit to host aspects of this party during the one time of the year that dawn occurs the whole day. Tall candles and torches grace the outskirts of the garden party, providing warmth and an orange glow everywhere. Not one flame goes out even with the occasional wind, the Duchess always makes sure of this.

There are also freshly picked blossoms and branches with leaves on every table accenting the festive spread of food and drinks. This time, a lot of the food prepared for the Adopted guests are familiar to them with a little bit of a twist. Burgers might come in small packages and in toothpicks, while hotdogs in buns are also diminutive. Cookies look delectable but they have a flowery flavor to them, as if eating freshly picked daisies or daffodils. Fruits that may have been present in an Adopted's home, such as pineapples and watermelons, have seeds in odd places. Picking this selection of food is an attempt to be more welcoming and to appease the lovely guests the fae have invited.

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.

🦋 Chance at a Dance

A party is not complete without dancing, of course, and while during the last gathering held for the Adopted, different fae danced to music exclusively for them around a glowing tree, this time they are insisting their guests to join in.

This is a party for you, after all.

If the prodding of the different fae hosts won't convince you, perhaps the music will. They play easily recognizable tunes that their wonderful guests must have heard before. These melodies have certain unique effects to their mortal attendees, which are as follows:

• Upbeat Music: You will believe that you and your dance partner have been friends forever and have known each other a long time.
• Romantic Music: You will become amorous and flirtatious towards your dance partner.
• Slow Music: You will develop some tension with your dance partner. It may be negative or sexual; completely up to you.
• Quiet Music: You will assume your dance partner is a threat and try to fight them.

🦋 Flower Power

At the Spring King's behest, every Adopted should wear a flower corsage or boutonnière to the gathering. After all, this is to celebrate the coming of spring and what better way to do that than to honor everything in bloom.

The thing is, though, the King of Spring, while amorous and friendly, also has a penchant for playing with mortals' memories, if not also affect their desires and despairs.

So, mischievous as he is, he made sure to enchant the different flowers present in every corsage and boutonnière for the party with the effects below:

• Rose: You will recall a horrific trauma
• Carnation: You will see a vision of your future, whether it's good or bad
• Orchid: You will remember a time you lost someone
• Chrysanthemum: You will believe someone among the Adopted is your soulmate
• Dahlia: You will believe you betrayed someone important to you, whether you actually did or not

It is perhaps a good thing that no one but the Adopted are allowed to see these visions and memories, but everyone who wears a corsage or boutonnière will be able to see each other's memories and visions when in close enough physical proximity to the vision-haver, for better or for worse.

🦋 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.

Tell us all of a time you gave someone a gift. Perhaps a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates. Was it appreciated or not? A reward might await the most meaningful gift given.

🦋 Link to Overflow Post



ｎａｖｉｇａｔｉｏｎ

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Comments

[victus]

[ It was with great care that Viktor set aside his staff in order to gently — almost reverently — lift the watch from the table. He recognized the craftsmanship as easily as a birth mark, so intimately familiar with his mother's skill that it felt like he was seeing her again for the first time since her death. What would she think of him now? Would she be pleased or horrified? His face twisted into a frown.

Shaking his head a little as if to clear it, Viktor placed the watch back on the table very delicately, but deliberately. ] Thank you. I did not expect to see my mother's work again. [ Ever. Still, it was a helpful reminder of where he came from — and where, apparently, he would return to sooner than he'd anticipated. ]

[hybrid_king]

Yeah, that would be Billy's style. And if Teddy knew, he'd adore it. He'll actually appreciate it later when he sees the stuff.

"Not Venom specifically, and definitely not Maui," Teddy answered with a shake of his head. It had been a wonderful belated honeymoon but... "Listen, Loki already warned me you were here, and Billy too. But not from even his point in time. So I have to warn you. I'll answer any questions you have. I'm not him. So make sure you want to know before you ask, okay?"

Because while he gave his word without reserve to Billy to always be honest, he was willing to be evasive with Tommy if the speedster needed that. He's pretty resistant to being annoyed after all.

[angotas]

And if this is a war amongst kin?

[hevenly]

If you mean this...

[ Angela gestures with one hand towards the vision playing out over her shoulder— herself, cradling the lifeless body of a darker skinned woman in the empty silence of a bloodstained battlefield. She doesn't even turn to look at it— she needn't look, when she knows exactly what it will show. ]

...then it has long since passed.

[astronema]

[ Astronema doesn't even try to hide how that observation makes her feel. That's a shudder of actual revulsion, and her expression's sour. ]

Don't remind me.

[ Ugh, human. Why did she have to be born as a human of all things? ]

Those of your planet may be too backwater to know better, never having set foot on another inhabited planet, but there are many sentient and sapient species besides human and fae. And beyond them, many others unique to themselves with no species at all.

[ Ecliptor had been that final category, but no less a person than anyone else here. ]

I had the misfortune to be born a human, but I have not lived among any since before my memory was strong enough to count.

[cross_swords]

Information is power. People tell you plenty in how they say shit as well as what they say. It's intel gathering 101. But it's a weird ass first step into it. That's why I'm bothered.

[nothasty]

Another deep rumble emanates from Fangorn, this time emerging with a frustrated, "Burárum!" The word is a swear in his language, but he doesn't hesitate to say it, on this occasion. "This Sequoia is no better than the Dark Lord Sauron of my lands—Middle Earth, it is called. Deep in the heart of Mordor he plots and schemes, enslaving orcs to do his bidding, for what purpose? Only his thirst for power and his own revenge on the Maiar for not creating him as better than the best!"

He comes down from his near-shout and grumbles again, slowing in his speech to a more typical pace. "It is not right for one kind to kill another."

[bestials]

It definitely bothers me, too. If only because the only answer I have for it is an embarrassing one.

[attackbrows]

[ Jack Harkness. Still as sharp as ever since the two have crossed paths. He tries to mask the small smirk that grows across his face. A simple task given the face he’s regenerated into.

The Doctor folds his hands neatly on top of the dining table as he steals a glance in Jack’s direction. ]

Then that makes two party guests without an appetite.

[hybrid_king]

"Wonderful," Teddy says with a smile, taking the guy's hand and pulling him close. "Sometimes you just have to dance when the music's bouncy, right?"

He himself wants to bob along. Maybe do the Ally Mcbeal dancing baby thing. But that doesn't feel right for here. So for now he's going to figure it out with this guy.

"Teddy. You?"

[opheliac]

[she is still in disbelief when he bowls her cheeks, but burning tears seem to trail down anyway. and when he tugs her into an embrace, jinx doesn't return it immediately, however she sinks back into the reality of things and caves herself into him. asking her if "they" hurt her is too broad of a question, because many people hurt throughout her years and months. and about hiding, well... does he mean here or during the explosion between them or... before then?

later, she will correct him when it comes to her name, but also, having vander call her by her birth name isn't as uncomfortable like it had been in the past. even she's been able to utter that name without venom seeping through her teeth. the crow has a few question of her own for the wolf to answer, but those can wait. or at least, to put a pin on for the next couple of minutes. right now, she is just relieved that he managed to fight of the beast he was entangled with. or... maybe this was the work of the magical "hosts"? ]

No, I'm. — 'M fine.

[she finally replies in his chest. it's not answering all his other questions, but it's a start.]

[bestials]

[ The corner of Hank's lips twitch into a halfhearted smirk, that only lasts for a second. ]

Luck? Maybe. It didn't really feel like luck.

[ Arguing with his closest friend over the death of the only woman he's ever loved? Not his idea of a lucky chance. ]

[theomachy]

It seems to be a matter of where people are coming from that decides how the people here view and react to gifts.

I feel the same. It's been very interesting seeing different opinions and experiences.

I'm very curious what will be picked and what the criteria for "meaningful" will be.

[bestials]

"The bouncy music definitely helps." Especially when you don't exactly have the best sense of rhythm, like Hank does.

He's not quite expecting the guy to pull him in so close, but he rolls with it, feeling bolstered by the confidence that the music instills within him.

"I'm Hank. It's nice to meet you, Teddy."

*voice dropping an octave* mmmrrrm yup!

[nothasty]

Mmr, I do not believe this to be a dream, dear companion. I myself came to be here and drank what I thought was an ent draught, only to find it is a 'hard' liquid called 'punch'.

[ He gestures toward himself with one limb. ]

For that is what I am, you see: an ent. A shepherd of the trees. The trees here speak to me, but in a language I do not know, and they do not seem to know how to follow me. It is curious.

I have been told the drink I consumed was cursed. That I am now fated to remain here, for until such time as the fae will it.

[kirammans]

None of that brings my mother back.

[theomachy]

Neither can I.

[ because of course he just already knows. believe it, understand it, both are difficult right now. erwin does intend to find answers. of course he does. but that doesn't matter right now when levi so, so clearly needs this.

in turn, erwin feels the gnawing clutch of guilt over his own death having left levi like this, but it also means he's steeling himself to make sure it doesn't happen again if at all possible.

his hand slides upward mindlessly to rest at levi's nape, just steady and warm. ]

I can't imagine. I barely had any time here before seeing you and I already did.

[hybrid_king]

Woah. That was... definitely a reaction. Teddy's frankly shocked. This ent guy, Fangorn, looks a lot like some of the larger Cotati, so he would have thought the guy would agree. Nice to see it's not true like that.

"I'm sorry your world and your people face that," Teddy insists, and he sounds so genuine. With a flex of his fingers his sword disappears in a blue burst of light, leaving him unarmed again. "And if it were simply revenge on the Kree and Skrull, I don't think I could judge him. But some voice was leading him astray I think. And he hurt people. He..."

No. Those were stories too sad, too painful, to share.

"There is a saying on the world where I grew up. An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind. It needs to be remembered."

[opheliac]

yea? and none of that brings my kid back. and both my dads, and my birth parents, everyone else either. so what the hell u want me to do, huh?

[sod_off]

Well, now Spike was paying attention. "Alright. Explain." Privately, he figured the last thing any of the fae wanted was a feral vampire, so the blood was probably safe. But he couldn't count on that and he knew it.

[cross_swords]

Oh come on. You can't say that and not expect me to go 'oh, tell me more'.

[victorycurls]

Not a super-soldier.

[The multiverse can be a lot to wrap your mind around at first, she knows. So she's sticking with the simple explanation - not that she's told anyone here the full story yet.]

Steve was wounded when a saboteur hit Project Rebirth, and I was the only one ready and willing to step in to keep everything from being lost.

[Simple enough, right?]

[bestials]

Let's just say, I tried to give the girl I liked a solution to a problem we both had. But it turned out she didn't think it was a problem that needed to be solved.

[hybrid_king]

"And what do you do when you're not being kidnapped by the fae? Got to have something more interesting than being a captive, right?"

Teddy is a little too used to being kidnapped to not be facing this with a little chill. That and he's already told that he can protect some of his loved ones here.

[toothaches]

Maurice finally takes a bite of his very tiny burger (because eating the whole thing at once seems rude to him) and uses his time chewing to stall. It was getting so hard to think. He isn't drinking any water so he isn't sobering up any time soon.

"Uhm..." Maurice says wearily. "It's like...look, they didn't tell me everything. They were too busy accusing me of murder. But I think the thing is, if I'm a human vampire I have to drink human blood. And I don't want to know what kinds of other vampires are out there to make that a true thing."