![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
TDM: April
- Welcome to
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
aefenglom's test drive! All threads can be considered game canon, should you choose to do so; regardless of if you pick specific threads to remain canon to the game, the prompts and test drive itself will be. This will be touched on later in-game, so it's fairly important to note! Aside from that, here are some quick reminders:• Reserves Open Today! If you're interested in securing a spot, put one in! We accept applications without reserves too, of course. Reserves will expire three days before the end of the application period, on the 28th.With that taken care of...
• Applications Open The 24th! These will last until the end of the month, the 30th, with the game formally beginning on May 1st. The application page can be found here.
• If you have any questions about the game or the world, please refer to the FAQ page; if you still have questions, feel free to ask them! For questions specific to the test drive, please ask them on the appropriate thread.
• For the purposes of the test drive, your character will have access to all magics taught by the Coven if they're a Witch, and as much of their shifted form as you'd like if they're a Monster. Feel free to play around and experiment with each!
• Test drive threads can be used as samples for your applications!
You feel like you're floating. Around you, colors and sounds and smells swirl as if trapped in a whirlpool, vibrancy and hue ever shifting. The more you watch them, the less solid they are; they only become clear out of the corner of your eye. The area around you begins to feel more solid as well, until your feet are on the ground, the wind brushes playfully against your face -
and you know one thing, and one thing alone: this is a dream, and an incredibly realistic one at that.
The Tea Party
The air turns a sweeter smell, almost like a bakery; the gentle laughter and chatter of living creatures filters in through leaves that brush against you, hanging from winding vines that hang from above. Flowers in shades of orange and red glow faintly among the greenery, their petals curling in shyly once they're paid attention to. As the area comes more into focus, the shadows of insect-winged forms become clearer, flitting about - talking about some kind of party, about a Queen, about the Courts meeting on neutral ground for the first time in a thousand years.
You're not entirely sure what's going on, and it doesn't seem as if anyone's noticed you've arrived - but three different paths unfurl in your mind's eye, vague in shape and meaning.
 A Taste of Faeryland... Following the voices, you find them: smaller-than-average humanoids with thin limbs, a variety of wings (prismatic butterfly, fuzzy moth, delicate bee - all of it), large, glittering compound eyes, antennas fitting their winged insect-type... Those familiar with the tales of the fae might recognize these Monsters as something similar. They greet you as if you were an old friend regardless of your appearance, inviting you to sit down at the table - which seems to go on forever in the large dining hall-esque canopy of nature they have set up, lined with elegant porcelain tableware and shimmering orbs of magic. The food is similarly endless, ranging from the familiar to the unusual, and careful observation (or just plain digging in) shows the following effects: breakfast foods make you glow and emit colorful sparks, brunch foods get you floating as if filled with bubbles, lunch foods will make you feel as if you've taken part in happy hour, dinner foods will make you insatiably hungry, and dessert will make you feel as if you should simply stay in Faeryland forever... It's possible to mix and match these with effects, but do be careful. The creatures present speak in high, lilting voices about nothing in particular at all - if asked anything serious, they merely give the character a curious if disproving look and say it's impolite to speak of politics over a meal. Ask something a little more lighthearted though, and they laugh and still... don't quite answer, patting your hand and asking if you'd like an extra slice of buttered bread and jam. The tables aren't exactly the best place for eavesdropping and learning what's going on, it seems - but there are plenty of exits out of the dining hall. Large, beetle-like Fae stand guard at the entrances of various hallways outside of the hall in the castle though, preventing anyone from entering them. When asked, they simply reply these are to private quarters that ordinary guests aren't allowed into and refuse to budge on the matter. |
 A Coalition of Interests... The Seelie and the Unseelie Courts of the Fae - whether you know them or not, evidently it's a big deal that they're meeting tonight. Or over several days and nights; the Fae themselves seem to be in a bit of an argument over how long they actually want to stay in the same company as their counterparts, neutral ground of the Dewaint Forest. Regardless, there are no marked differences between the two physically, and they all speak of a singular Queen heading them; behaviorally, though, that's another thing entirely. Those of the Seelie Court are quicker to engage in conversation and prefer it one-on-one, hardly allowing a word in edgewise and getting irritated when interrupted; their pranks are usually mildly malicious, with spells causing uncontrollable laughter, color changes, and charms to make the charmee fall in love at first sight with whomever they see first peppering their repertoire. Returning to their good graces is fairly easy - the gift of something pretty as an apology tends to work, but each Fae has their own very particular gift they like. If it's messed up even a little bit, they won't accept it, and will merely play another trick upon the giftee. Those of the Unseelie Court, meanwhile, are a little harder to talk to; they prefer to prank and trick first to test those they might be interested in as a group, not unlike children trying to get the attention of someone they like by pulling their hair. Their pranks usually range from genuine hurt (such as pulling hair, stinging nettles, or simply beating them with bound vines) to curses (losing one's voice, the head of an ass, or full-scale animal transformations). Withstanding these, or standing up to these Fae, earns as much of their ire as it does their respect - the truly respectful human will be subjected to headpats and collars, like a pet. |
 A Treacherous Adventure... As beautiful as it is outside of the main dining hall and newly-grown castle (just for the momentous occasion itself, going by the rumors!), Faeryland as a whole is mired in danger. The wrong step sends one tumbling down a rabbit hole full of interesting sights, landing in a wide field of drooping flowers that snore softly and scream bloodcurdling loud when awoken. No matter how long one walks, discovering both familiar and unfamiliar sights, never ends in finding the castle again. In fact, it's much easier to find yourself accidentally going deeper into the woods. The exceptionally tall trees of the Dewaint Forest show hints of decay and rot, the smell of the dead barely covered by the flowers desperately growing across the blackened bodies of Fae and other animals that wandered too close to the growing infection in the area. What look like corpses will tremble and rise when they sense someone is close by - their eyes and mouth are pure white, contrasting with the darkness around them, and throughout the shell are cracks of a similarly pulsing whiteness; it smells magical, it feels incredibly heavy and overpowering, and it might just be too powerful for those most sensitive to the corruption and to magic. The shadowy creatures' wings are larger than normal and monstrous, with their bodies held up by the dew-crying flowers that simultaneously hold them back yet sneak their roots closer to grab those who awakened them and drag them closer. Where the monster begins and ends with the corrupted nature it's made its bed in isn't completely clear, but one thing is: it's very, very hungry. Thankfully, it's a good thing some of you have new abilities at hand, and some of you have a few neat changes to help. Teaming up makes things go quicker, and once defeated, these creatures bleed white magic and disappear in ashy smoke, shell breaking off in bits to reveal a dried-up corpse of a Fae. Nothing else remains, not even a hint to their identity, and the more of these monstrously-turned Monsters characters meet, the bigger and more terrifying they get. |
no subject
[Now she seems thoughtful, toying a brief moment with the danish in her hand. One shouldn't play with their food but she's trying to piece together what's happening here still. She had assumed in the beginning that everything here was either something she dreamed up or some sort of... realm she was trapped in? Somehow?
Not that she had experiences with 'realms' beyond Dracula's sentient castle but...]
These are fantastical to you.
[She says the words as if she's just realizing the fact. They aren't exactly typical for her but they aren't so outside of the norm that she can't say they're unrecognizable. She feels like she's starting to understand the situation somewhat better now.]
This can't be strictly a dream then.
no subject
[ The possibilities run through his mind, but Izuku isn't certain how to test it. How do you tell if you're in a dream or not? There's supposed to be ways to tell, but he can't remember what they are just now. Something about the time, or about reading...? ]
no subject
I can't imagine dreaming up something I haven't experienced or at the very least longed for. And I don't recall longing for parties or more benevolent creatures.
[She pauses there, lips pursing a bit.]
I have wished they wouldn't hurt others of course so perhaps that's part of this.
[That said she looks to Izuku again, brows raising slightly.]
And if this is a dream, would I have not dreamed you up as well? Yet you say you don't know these creatures and surely if I created you in my dreams, I would have not made such a distinction.
no subject
[ But. He thinks this is his dream? ]
But I feel like I'm sentient...but, even if I weren't sentient, wouldn't I just say that...?
[ He's...going to give himself a headache, here. ]
no subject
And then she just sighs out before taking a big bite of the pastry. As she chews, so begins the glowing and the sparks. She's thankful she was warned about it beforehand. Once she's swallowed that bite she speaks again, a musing quality to her voice.]
I don't think this is something we're going to solve really. I think you have the better idea of observing and documenting what you can.
[Then she directs a small smile towards him.]
And maybe enjoying yourself? Just a bit.
no subject
[ Well. Amazing? And so is the magic-inducing food? ]
I just think it's so fascinating. It's sort of like having a bunch of quirks all at once!
no subject
She does so now as she speaks, tucking them into the golden sash around her waist once finished.]
If you don't mind, may I ask what a quirk is?
no subject
[ He claps his hands together, always willing to nerd the fuck out about quirks. ]
At home - er, when awake? - quirks are, well, most people have one. It's a power, unique all to you...my best friends, Iida-kun has engines in his legs and can run really fast, and Uraraka-san can control the gravity of anything...
no subject
I see! We call abilities like that magic where I'm from. Or simply power, I suppose.
no subject
[ He's curious, because - well, this is EXACTLY what he normally nerds out about. ]
no subject
[She says as much cheerfully, then pauses a moment in thought. She's listening for the every present voices and presences of those four spirits that linger inside of her. Their absence was something she already felt keenly, a hollow spot where there typically wasn't one.]
Something about this place though has silenced them. I can feel something but it's not the spirits themselves.
[She's fairly certain what she does feel is still magic but she hasn't quite grasped what magic here is like yet.]
no subject
[ But initially he just figured he'd...well, lost it somehow. It wasn't originally his... ]
But...if you don't mind, can you tell me a little bit more about what the spirits are like?
no subject
I'm very sorry for you as well. It does help to know others are in a similar situation, even if I don't exactly wish for that at the same time.
[Then she perks up.]
Of course! There's Byakko, Suzaku, Genbu and Seiryu.
[The names likely sound familiar to anyone who knows mythology. She ticks them off on her fingers, a fond smile on her face now.]
When I was much younger I usually summoned them as animals. Byakko was a white tiger, Suzaku was a red bird, Genbu was a black tortoise and Seiryu was a blue dragon. Since I've trained for the last few years, they lend me their abilities more than their forms... except for Seiryu.
no subject
no subject
[Chiefly she's moved on from the vermilion birds and doves of her youth to owls now. She wonders mildly if she could still call on their different forms though. It's not been something she's considered in a while.]
I think perhaps in the beginning my connection to them was more tenuous and so they manifested more. I've adapted to them now so they lend me abilities more easily.
no subject
[ Or is it like one per customer... ]
no subject
[Richter had the Vampire Killer of course but she wasn't precisely sure how that weapon worked. Alucard... was he able to call spirits? She had never had the chance to ask him.]
no subject
[ It seems like it might just be a generalized dampening, but... ]
no subject
I'm not sure really. No matter where I go in my own reality, I do still hear their voices and feel their presence inside of myself. Here though, with everything so still and quiet, it's almost like they're completely gone.
[It's rather lonesome really. She's had their presence and strength to comfort her since her parents' deaths after all.]
no subject
[ Is he being presumptuous...he just loves friendship so much. ]
no subject
Oh... of course.
[Why wouldn't they talk?]
no subject
G-good! Although, I'm wondering if there's a way we can, uh, "wake up"? [ He's not sure that's the right kind of terminology here. ]
no subject
I wonder. I have heard of someone who slept quite a long time but I have no idea if they did any dreaming or not.
[What would you dream about for 400 or so years stuck in a crypt anyhow? It's one aspect she's not thought on deeply because frankly it's fairly sad, isn't it?]