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

Dance

[diana_abel]

There was nothing like dancing. It had a beat that rocked through Diana's body and reminded her of having a pulse. It made her feel alive.

And when she had the potential to dance with a handsome partner?

Well, that was just a bonus.

She clocked him across the room and was immediately drawn closer. It was the eyes. He had absolutely stunning eyes. The kind of eyes you could fall into. The kind, she imagined, that could turn jewel-bright with the right kind of smile.

Yeah, Diana wanted to see that.

So she danced her way closer, raising both eyebrows when she managed to catch his eyes.

[ostavil]

This particular tune seems to make him want to dance but not just dance but dance like the old days when he was making his way around every girl in Brooklyn. He's also smiling, which doesn't feel like him, but feels compulsive just now.

"Hey, c'mere, let's dance."

It's maybe not the smoothest invitation but it is one and that's better than he's managed for half a century.

[diana_abel]

Smooth enough for her. Diana liked a man who was confident. And those pretty eyes did have a kind of light to them.

She twirled her way over to him, which would have looked way more impressive in one of her vintage a-line skirts, but all she had were her flowery bellbottoms. But whatever. She owned a mirror, she knew what she looked like.

And in the heat and the hunger of this music, for the first time in a long time, she felt as glamorous as her old, 1940s self. Maybe even her 1840s self, but that was pushing it.

"Think you can keep up?" she asked, giving him a seductive smile, beneath her heavy eyelashes.

[ostavil]

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I can."

Bucky hasn't had a woman come on this strongly to him since his days of trying to use online dating and that had been a disaster. It's a little easier in person and the atmosphere of this place goes a long way.

"Question is, can you keep up with me?"

[diana_abel]

Honestly, Diana was almost surprised at herself. She was a flirt. A shameless one at that. And a hopeless romantic. But considering the situation at hand, she hadn't really come out to dance, expecting to...well, actually pick anyone up.

Maybe she should have been alarmed, but in the moment, it just felt kind of right, fun even, to pretend everything was normal and he was her next big mistake.

She sucked in some air between her teeth. "I'm pretty good at dancing. What do you say we find out?" She offered him a hand.

[ostavil]

"We can find out right now, actually," Bucky says, offering his hand. Normally he's slightly self-conscious about his left hand but right now, that doesn't seem to matter. He doesn't really care about it at all and he cares more about the charged moment between himself and this woman.

It's not like him, honestly.

"What kinda dancing are we talking about?"

[diana_abel]

"All kinds," she replied, taking his hand, slowly walking backwards to draw him on the floor. Her hips swished in time with the beat, but that was just a warm-up. When they crossed the threshold, she pulled him closer, their faces just inches apart, before she settled her other hand on his shoulder.

If she noticed anything odd about the joint between his left arm and shoulder, she didn't show it.

Honestly, the magic in the music was weaving around her like the thick scent of incense. It relaxed her to the point of not caring about much of anything other than this man with his beautiful eyes.

And she didn't even know his name.