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

[sod_off]

"What can you imagine? They probably have it." Spike says around his cigarette. "Food this time mostly seems to be sort of what you'd normally find at home. 'Cept for the size of it. Burgers, hot dogs, fruit. Juices, wines, so on."

[toothaches]

Maurice scratches his neck. "Well that's a relief..." Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe this could become the new normal. Who wouldn't want to be whisked away from living out of his truck and biting late night Big Mart shoppers and given free food and board in fairy land.

He then remembers the fact that they might want to eat him instead.

Maurice pinches the bridge of his nose. He can feel the hangover stirring in the back of his head like a bear waking up from hibernation.

"Thanks for getting me up to speed."

[sod_off]

"Oh. You'll want to learn the rules real quick. One of 'em being, don't say thank you." A shrug, and Spike held his cigarette in his fingers. "You're welcome, as I'm not a bloody fae. And you'll get some leeway for not being one, but learn and learn quick."

[toothaches]

Maurice's polite southern boy eyes widen. No saying thank you? But...MANNERS! Well. He guesses fairies are contrary. Okay. No thanking anybody with wings.

He is also momentarily charmed by Spike saying "bloody" just like James Bond.

"Alright."

[sod_off]

"Don't really care about the rules, except they're likely helping keep us alive." Spike murmurs, taking a very unnecessary breath. "Don't apologize either. And here's the big one---Don't steal. They'll definitely kill you, and eat you. Again, maybe not in that order." Hazel-eyes flicked over to Maurice. Studying him again, before Spike rolled them. "What that means is, don't get caught stealing. They take it pretty soddin' personally."

[toothaches]

"You keep saying that," Maurice says, trying not to sound whiny, but Spike is freaking him out here! He doesn't want to be eaten alive by Tinkerbells like an unlucky man falling into the Amazon river.

"I got it, I got it! I won't steal anything." He lifts his hands again. "If they're feeding us and housing us, I can't imagine I'd want to. I'll just--keep my head down."

[sod_off]

"Yeah, I do. Because it's bloody important." Spike said without sympathy or pity. It was a fact, as far as he was concerned. Right now the Fae held all of the advantages. He didn't like it, but he could bide his time. For a little bit at least.

Then he was giving Maurice a look again. "Please. Have some soddin' self respect. You're a vampire. Not a whipping boy."

[toothaches]

"I didn't ask to become a vampire." Maurice's voice grows something like an edge. Not sharp enough to puncture on its own, but if pushed... "I hate it, actually! It ruined my freakin' life!" This has been bubbling for a while.

[sod_off]

"Yeah? Cry about it some other time." Said without pity, and then Spike was taking another unnecessary breath. "Look, you want to stay alive--so to speak. Right? Deal with the here and now, and cry when you get a chance later alright?"

[toothaches]

"I AM NOT CRYING."

He is crying a little bit.

[sod_off]

Cigarette back in his mouth, Spike barely looks at the other. Before punching him (albeit not as hard as before) right in the face. Going more for the shock than the impact.

[toothaches]

Stars and little fairies in tutus burst before Maurice's eyes as his head is rocketed backwards. The strike is so fast that the rest of his body doesn't even react--not that Spike hit him as hard as he had before.

Once the party fades back into his vision, Maurice blinks and shakes his head before rubbing his nose. Not broken. This time. He still hisses through his teeth as he tweaks it gingerly.

"Now you're remidin' me of Charlie." Maybe vampires are just Like That.

[sod_off]

"Never claimed to be a nice guy, kid." Spike is utterly unperturbed by this. Although he does let hazel-eyes flicker to the other. "Got you to focus at least."

[toothaches]

"That's fair," Maurice concedes. He finally leaves his nose alone and opts to try something a little different. He glances at Spike, trying not to be obvious. He's very obvious about it. He is very drunk. But what he does next will either enfuriate or amuse his elder vampire.

Maurice folds his arms across his chest and sinks into the same exact posture as Spike before looking out at the dancers. See? He can be a cool guy.

[sod_off]

Not what Spike was expecting, and he arches a brow. He doesn't say anything though, just continues with his cigarette. Hazel eyes watched Maurice for a moment, before flicking towards the rest of the party.

[toothaches]

Maurice lets a silence stretch between them. The music swells and dies. People laugh. Forks and dishes clink.

Maurice reaches up to prod at his nose again, just to make sure it's okay.

"I met a talking horse today."

[sod_off]

"I've met her too. Not the weirdest thing you'll see here." A pause, Spike taking the cigarette out and tapping it lightly to get rid of the ash. "It is strange though, and considering where I come from that's saying something."

[toothaches]

"Yeah? You're from England, right?" He's just guessing. That's why there are differences in their curses, it just makes sense!

[sod_off]

That brow arched up again. "Not what I meant, but yeah. Originally. London." What is Maurice getting at?

[toothaches]

"Cool." And Maurice...just does not elaborate, because in his mind he has presented a complete thought. He continues looking for Horse in the crowd.

[sod_off]

One would think Horse would be easy to spot. But given the variety of the fae and the adopted, it might not be so easy after all. Spike takes his time to finish his cigarette, idly scanning the ground.

Once done, he pinches out the lit end (ignoring the sting of the burn), then drops it to scuff it into the ground more. "Why'd you ask where I'm from?" Because Spike was curious about that.

[toothaches]

Maurice refocuses his eyes and glances over. "Oh, well, you said you had a lot of weird stuff where you live. I've only seen a few weird things where I live. I did se Bigfoot though. Do yall got Bigfoot?"

[sod_off]

The kid thought Spike meant in London. Of course he did. At least Spike resisted rolling his eyes this time.

"Not in England, and also not where I meant I saw the strange stuff." Hazel-eyes flicked over to Maurice, not expecting much in the way of intelligent replies. "I was last in California. City named Sunnydale. It was on top of a Hellmouth. Know what that is?"

[toothaches]

"Oh," Maurice says. Now that he thinks about it, there could just be Different Weird Stuff in places other than Texas. The hangover in the back of his head snores. "Naw, but it doesn't sound like anything good."

[sod_off]

"Least you understand that." Spike muttered to himself, wishing he dared another cigarette. Maybe he'd check the market again, or the alchemist. See if they could make cigarettes.

"I don't think we're from the same world, kid. Vampires where I'm from don't look like you. And there are other vampires here who are different too."