Test Drive Meme #2

[changelinged]

TDM #2 - March/April 2025

🦋 Introduction

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🦋 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

Dr. Stephen Strange | MCU | The Day Court

[a_keyhole]

A Chance at Dance - OTA

Dances were not really Stephen's things. He'd attended a few conferences with parties that included a dance floor but he'd never really cared to dance. He danced with Christine because well she was the exception to many things when it came to him. If she wanted to dance Stephen would dance.

At least, early in their relationship.

Less as his ego grew and he started to see events like this as networking and bragging instead of a good time to get away from the hospital with his girlfriend.

He's right back to not really seeing the appeal of the dance at this point but he's noticing something as the music changes, so do the dancers. The Adopted ones at least. The fae don't seem effected but anyone brought in to this world does.

Interesting.

Of course his curiosity is going to get him in trouble. Stephen scans the crowd and picks someone who he thinks might be amenable to joining in on his little test. He approaches them with a, perhaps, surprisingly charming smile.

"Excuse me," he says as he offers his arm, "Would you join me in a dance?"

[ ooc: Going to choose music on the roll of a dice unless you tag with a specific music mentioned. ]

---

Flower Power - Orchid - OTA - CW: Sibling death. Drowning.

It's the cold Stephen feels first. He hunches his shoulders against it but there really is no stopping it. The scene unfolds all around him before he can stop it.

Spring vanishes as winter moves in. Snow covered hills in a suburb. A retention lake. There are marks of sleds in the hills. Children laughing. A young girl begging for one more ride with her big brother before they have to go home.

Stephen's expression is stony as he gives in to his little sister's demands. They climb a hill together, his young self gives the sled a big push before jumping in and they're racing down the hill as fast as they can.

The sled doesn't stop at the edge of the water like it had before. It's too fast. They hit the ice, there's a crack like a gunshot and they go in the water.

He looks away but he can't block out the sounds of his sister screaming for help that fade into panicked gurgles and coughing.

Before she can drown Stephen summons his magic and cast the first spell he can think of, a shield. His hands move fast and stiff through the motions, not hampered by their constant trembling. He needs something to protect himself from the memory of his sister's death and how absolutely helpless he had been to save her.

It muffles the sounds but doesn't banish the images. Stephen takes a few deep breaths and only then does he realize he's trapped someone else with him in his pocket of magic.

"Ah. Sorry." But he doesn't take the shield down. He'll need a moment before he's ready for that.

---

Wildcard - OTA

Want something else with Stephen? Feel free to provide your own starter or reach out through PM to talk things out.

Flower Power.

[closecall]

Zhane knows death more intimately than he would like to admit and seeing that it happens to someone so young, one hardly old enough to comprehend it, is a kick straight to the gut. Not to mention it feels utterly intrusive to be walking into a memory that does not belong to him.

He has nothing to comfort him, nothing to drown out those screams, the bitter, biting cold of the ice or the overwhelming feeling of loss. When all is said and done he acts on instinct, reaching up to clasp both hands over Stephen's ears in a fruitless attempt to stifle what he believes is the worst on the mental onslaught.

When the memory finally finishes washing over him, he lets out a breath he isn't even aware he was holding and shoots the older man a smile, unbothered by the circumstances. If anything, Zhane is borderline dazzled by the display of magic. Something like that would be pretty effective in his line of work.

"Hey, don't sweat it. Take a minute to recover." Not a peep about what he saw, this guy has already been through the ringer once. He might even be reaching to prod at the inside of the shield as if trying to work out exactly what makes it tick. Magic, tech? There is a sore lack of the latter here.

Lamely, because what do you say to a say after that, he finds himself murmuring. "I'm not the greatest cook but I do a mean reheat." God, that sounded so dumb. "What I'm trying to say is can I do anything?"

[a_keyhole]

The touch is unexpected and entirely unwelcome. Hands suddenly over his ears startles Stephen more than the memory playing out before him. He's relived that day plenty of times. Never once has anyone slapped hands over his ears.

Luckily, the cloak is there to react for him. It shoves the guy away and flares out protective around Stephen until he can face this person and glare at them. Even the idea that this person was trying to help doesn't really settle the intense dislike he feels at being touched without asking.

"Don't do that again," he says holding up a finger. Stephen takes a second to compose himself and his cloak settles down again.

The question is utterly ridiculous. "It's the magic of the fae doing this. Have you mastered their magic and are able to turn it against them? That would be the only case in which you could do something."

Not the best first impression but Stephen's on edge and unfortunately, the young man is the target of his temper.

[closecall]

It happens so fast that he has just enough time to brace himself before taking the hit but he doesn't get irritated by it, he just raises both hands in an attempt to show that he does not mean him any harm. A little too late for that maybe, but that has never stopped him before.

"Got it, no touching." He finds himself staring at the cloak and smiling a little, mostly in wonder. Even if he had to deal with a dark memory, at least he has someone — something — watching his back for him. Definitely something he will have to tell Andros about later. There is a bigger problem right now.

"I just got here, so no, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna fight. Since they're capable of doing something like this we need to stick together. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I was just trying to help. I thought maybe if I covered your ears the sound wouldn't be as loud. You looked like you were—" Nope, better not to finish that sentiment, so he just shakes his head to dismiss it.

What he did sounds even sillier when he says it aloud, he has a lot to learn about this place and the customs surrounding it. The only fae-like thing he's ever seen was a keychain hanging on a backpack of a girl on Earth. Green outfit, wings, blond hair pulled back into a bun.

Disney? Something like that.

[a_keyhole]

Assumptions all over the place. Heroic type. But not the clever heroic time. Painfully earnest too. Stephen does not look any more sympathetic was the younger man rambles his reasons out.

"Perhaps instead of making assumptions about the help a person needs when reliving a past trauma, you ask first." Because it certainly would not have been to have hands slapped over his ears.

And he's clearly capable of taking care of himself given the glowing golden bubble of magic around them. But the man had assumed him helpless instead.

[closecall]

"You're right, I'll remember that in the future." And he plans to implement it quickly and efficiently. Kind of. He is still the epitome of an idiot sandwich, but his heart is in the right place, not that the fact seems to be garnering him any points here.

"I really blew the first impression, huh?" Zhane rubs at the back of his neck while trying to figure out a way to remedy the situation but comes up short. Something about him reminds him of Andros, maybe that's why he went about it the way he did. But he's also smart enough to realize this guy? Probably wouldn't care if he brought that up.

"Aside from don't be an idiot, if you have any tips for someone who just got here, I'd appreciate them. I'm familiar with magic but I've never seen anything like this. It's almost palpable."

a chance at a dance

[meforsaken]

Perhaps Loki is the perfect person for this experiment, as they had been considering testing it for themselves. It looks fun as well, all the sudden changes. When Stephen approaches them, they grin their usual shit-eating grin.

"Is this truly happening? Has Doctor Strange at long last found his whimsy?" Loki says as they take his arm. Obviously they know his reasoning, unless he's got a secondary enchantment on him that actually has made him whimsical. Still, they must tease him, it is their way.

Before they make their way onto the dance floor, Loki's form shimmers with a green light. Their ordinary clothes are replaced with the full regalia of the Teller of Tales.

"Since I doubt this will happen again. Might as well make the most of it, yes?"

rolled a 1 for the music type

[a_keyhole]

"I'm sorry to say this is in the name of research, not whimsy." Stephen is so sorry to disappoint on that.

He is certainly not dressed as elegantly as Loki. His cloak gives him a certain flare but his robes are still relatively simple but he's not about to be shown up. A wave of transmutation magic changes his simple robes and cloak into the appropriate finery to match Loki's but in blue and red with touches of gold.

Perhaps that's the first sign of whimsy he's shown.

"I'm going to lead," he says as he leads them towards the dancefloor.

[meforsaken]

"Must you ruin everything, Stephen?" they say with a roll of their eyes, though their smile remains. The transmutation spell helps too, they actually look like two proper former Sorcerer Supremes now. At this point, it might even be gauche that they're showing up like this to a simple spring fling.

It's cute that he feels the need to state his intention to lead, Loki presumed as much given the fact he asked them in the first place. But they allow him to do so, and the song(and the dance) begins.

Little changes in Loki's expression or demeanor, as if the enchantment has had no effect. It's not an entirely useful reaction for their experiment, but it could affect Stephen differently still.

"I could make it easier on you, if you'd like. Make myself shorter, take an ever so slightly more feminine form."

[a_keyhole]

The fae probably appreciate a flare for the dramatic. If they get any sort of punishment for out dressing the royalty around them, the royalty needs to up their fashion sense.

Stephen does try to block the music, casting a spell to deafen the music. What happens is he can't hear the music... but the magic still comes for him. It gets into his head and suddenly he's feeling very warm and friendly towards his dance partner.

"You don't have to change yourself," he says with a small shake of his head. "You're perfect just the way you are, Loki."

[meforsaken]

"I am!" they reply cheerfully. While they're themselves no matter the form, they do appreciate the sentiment. It would be rude not to gracefully accept Stephen's words of kindness. This is graceful for Loki, at least.

Still, no way of telling what the deal with the spell is... All that's happened so far is Stephen being nice to them, which isn't strange, heh.

"We really ought to do this more often, we're well-suited as partners," they pause and add, "I would get awfully lonely without you, you know. There are so few who can understand magic the way we do, not to mention the expanse of the multiverse. "

Which is all something Loki has admitted to their Wanda, but only in a duel of truths.

Dancing

[biwildered]

Evan Buckley stood nervously at the edge of the dance floor. The soft glow from the fairy lights illuminated the dance floor as Buck watched various couples partake in dancing. Buck had always liked a good party, don't get him wrong, but he felt out of place here. Buck, deep in his head, his thoughts pulling him away from the party surrounding him. He was startled upon hearing the question. He looked around, giving a slight smile.

"Where you talking to me?"

[a_keyhole]

"Yes, though apparently I should have left you to your wonderings," he says dryly.

Stephen feels a little bad taking advantage of someone who seems to be pining for the dance floor but he's got a theory to text and it's very rare Stephen won't take every opportunity to test his theories.

He really loves being right.

"But I can ask someone else if you're not interested. No hard feelings."

[biwildered]

Buck immediately shakes his head no. He doesn't want the attractive, oh who is he kidding, really fucking hot man in front of him to think that he doesn't want to dance because he does.

"I'll dance with you," he says, extending his hand to the offered one. "I'm Evan Buckley, uh... Buck."

Rolled a 3 for music.

[a_keyhole]

"Dr. Stephen Strange." He shakes his hand. There's a slight tremble in it but he leads him out onto the dance floor with confidence.

It music slows to a sedate pace. Relaxing almost except for a sudden electric tension in the air. Stephen's very aware of the fact he is dancing with someone.

He throws up a spell to block the sound of the music but the tension doesn't fade with the sound.

Re: Rolled a 3 for music.

[biwildered]

Buck felt the tremble but knew enough about people to know that pointing out someone's faults is terrible, so he stayed silent. Buck may be new at same-sex dancing, but he can also feel a charge in the air. He wasn't sure what happened but he suddenly couldn't hear the music.

"Did you do that?" He asked, giving Stephen a small smile.

Flower Power

[foraride]

Well that was a lot. It takes Kiriya a moment to blink away memory he just walked into, and from the looks of things the other guy isn't doing much better. One glance is all he needs to clock that this is someone who needs space to deal with it but unfortunately it seems like space is kind of an issue at the moment.

Which is why Kiriya fluidly spins around instead as if that was the plan all along, back to the guy to give him what privacy he can. Though if he's completely honest, the wall-shield thing Kiriya finds himself facing is more interesting, no offense to the trauma-processing behind him. He pokes absently at it, sunglasses finally coming off to give himself a better look as if that will help him figure out what exactly it is.

Still, Kiriya is Kiriya and it's only a matter of time before curiosity outweighs mental health considerations. "Hey, how strong is this thing?"

[a_keyhole]

Stephen is actually grateful for the question. Talking about magic is so much easier than answering any painful questions about his sister's death or listening to empathetic platitudes about it.

"It would take quite the magical force to shatter it," he says taking a deep breath. "It is able to withstand the crash landing of a spaceship."

Which says something to the level of trauma his sister's death still makes him feel. The Shield of the Seraphim is powerful magic and absolutely overkill for this situation. Or maybe not given how much easier it is to ignore his past now.

[foraride]

"Huh," is the extremely clever response, but Kiriya's completely distracted now. What exactly 'magical force' would correlate to, he has no idea, but hey that's what testing is for.

And so with absolutely no warning, he suddenly dissolves into what looks like a cloud of red-and-yellow pixels which give them impression of sliding towards the shield wall. And then the same impression of bouncing right back off of it, only to coalesce back into a lightly more rueful looking Kiriya. "Ow."

Well that answers that, at least. And it also shows that Kiriya's new friend will in fact indulge him in questions, which is a dangerous thing to start. But if he's going to be stuck in here he should at least try to get something out of it, right?

"You deal with a lot of crashing spaceships?"

[a_keyhole]

He raises an eyebrow as the younger man seemingly disassembles himself to try and get through. Stephen's not worried about him getting out. This is one of his strongest shield spells and the magic is woven very tightly together.

"Do you become particles often?" he asks just to counter the question. He's only dealt with one crashing spaceship luckily but they keep showing up at earth. It's likely he'll have to deal with them again.

The guy's answer doesn't really matter, actually. Stephen assumes that is a power he brought with him to this realm.

"I can lower the shield if you'd like to leave." Stephen is more prepared to face his past now. He can always put this shield up if it does become too much.

[foraride]

Oh, getting a taste of his own medicine. That's even more fun. Kiriya's grin immediately widens as he spins back around to get a better look at his companion. Still seems a little off, but apparently distractions are doing wonders and Kiriya is great at those.

"It's been known to happen," he says easily, looking far too pleased with himself for the vague response. In part because Kiriya's never met a statement about himself he couldn't deflect from but mostly because he wants to see how the guy will react. He's trying to pull himself back together, sure, but that just makez Kiriya want to poke at him more.

"No bother on my account. I just wanted to see what would happen." Stupid thing to throw himself into? Probably. But that's never stopped him before.

dancing any music!

[umas_second]

Harry grinned at the man and fought the urge to tug that lovely beard. If he wasn't so keen to dance he might have played hard to get, but dancing and singing were in his blood. He grabbed the man's hand and started to drag him onto the dance floor.

"Aye, I'll join ye. C'mon then! Nae sense wastin good music!"

Rolled a 4

[a_keyhole]

Stephen did not expect that sort of enthusiastic reaction. He doesn't even get a chance to explain what he wants to do as a test. They're out on the dance floor before Stephen can say anything as a warning.

Well, a blind study partner is probably better in terms of scientific accuracy. Now he won't be influenced to try and make Stephen's test work.

The music fades to something quiet and relaxing as they settle in to dance. Stephen takes a breath and casts the spell around them. The music is silenced but pretty soon a tension settles into Stephen's muscles.

Dancing with a stranger, not knowing if they're loyal to the fae or not... has he walked into a threat? Is there danger here? He looks at his dance partner with some suspicion.

nice XD

[umas_second]

Quiet music was a lot less fun to dance to, but Harry was game to try anyway. And then the man did magic. He had no idea what sort of spell it was, or what might come of it, but he knew magic when he felt it. If he hadn't been standing so close, he probably wouldn't have even noticed with all the other magic already floating around, but that close he couldn't miss it. Harry stiffened and stared at the man, more than a little worried. You didn't spend you life at the mercy of magic users without getting at least a little paranoid.

"Wha was tha? Did ye jus cast a spell?"

[a_keyhole]

"Yes," he says with a slight smile. "I did."

A minor one and he's not entirely sure why he's trying to protect this person from the music. He should leave him to fend for himself when it comes to this fae. They do occasionally bring threats here.

Loki's here and they're still a threat even when they're just trying to have a little fun. Stephen has no idea if this stranger is the same. His gut tells him this person is.