spellgrinders | ( TDM

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!tdm

( TDM | #4 )

IMPORTANT: The weekly update post will go up later than usual tonight to give time for any other barrier quest responses to come in. Nothing major will be affecting how old players respond to newbies on this post, so tag away! Threads here do count for September bonus AC for old players.

TDMs can be used for anyone interested in the game and/or testing out a new muse.

Test Drive samples are encouraged to be used for your application sample, though they are NOT a requirement.

Feel free to use one prompt, multiple prompts or make up your own!

These threads can be considered game canon upon game opening if you so choose.

Telepathy and magic can be used at any point in time on the TDM, from Prompt A to your wildcard prompt. A specific prompt exists, however, that makes sure all characters have an equal chance to use this mechanic within the TDM. You're encouraged to have characters use telepathy and their magic accidentally or even purposefully on any TDM prompt.

If you aren't set on your character's power yet or want to try out a few, you're still able to use the test drive. Maybe your character is a late bloomer and hasn't fully unlocked their intuitive drive yet. In the case of multiple powers, only prompts that contain the power you choose for your application will count as potential game canon threads.

While only one character can be apped or reserved during a cycle, feel free to post with more than one character if you like! This is for those who are uncertain of their first choice or who would like to try out different characters within the setting.

IMPORTANT: This world is low-frequency. No canon powers or abilities are allowed! Also check out the setting information for more info about what the hub island looks like and what can be found there.

You blink and that's all it takes. At first the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over.

There's a lot to take in here -- you feel weird, your surroundings are weird. Everything is just weird. For starters, there's that new piece of jewelry inserted in the space above your chest. That certainly wasn't there before you opened your eyes.

here

pretty nifty locations

If you eventually make it out of the forest and aren't devoured by a boar, you'll eventually come upon your new base camp. Someone (Genette) will be there with your introductory letter and a brief description of magic you now have. If you didn't discover it earlier...surprise!

One thing of comfort might be that you aren't alone in this journey. There are other coven members here, fresh back from a journey to another world. If your character wants to get the lay of the land or understand what's going on a little better, they may want to hit up some of these folk for information.

There's a large, gold, floating caravan hanging around next to a bonfire, and there's a back gate open that reveals something of a space pocket containing lots of different things. Luckily for new characters, the Palai from the previous world didn't want them to go hungry...which also means they'll be inundated with shrimp to eat. Hopefully they like shellfish!

If you're much more of a loner and don't want to follow the flow of things, there are of course other locations that you should probably check out. Travel to your heart's content and find something new...but there are two other points of interest you may want to discover.

GAME NAVIGATION

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Mado... ka...?

[ Homura's head jerks up when she hears that voice. even as unexpected as it is, it's one she'd never forget. she's given enough time to react, to kick away any stray items and clear the area around her and brace herself; despite that, she still falls backwards over herself with a small 'oof' as Madoka makes contact. ]

—Madoka! It is you, I...

[ it's said breathlessly, wonderingly, helplessly? she hasn't been caught this wrong footed, at this much of a loss for words, the kind that used to leave her stammering through her hesitant ums and ahs, for what feels like a very long time. it's been a very long time since Madoka's been this happy to see Homura, it feels like, and while she will not, can not regret how the timelines have changed her, Homura can regret the effects they've had on the bonds she once had with the others.

they'd grown so distant by that last timeline. even once Madoka had regained her memories as she ascended, the permanence of their final parting...

...Madoka is probably hugging her. Homura should probably- Homura squeezes back, tightly, as if that can convey just how much she's been missed. ]

How?

[Madoka, unfortunately, entirely misinterprets that question. her memories — her knowledge of what she is, what she had wished for that one final time — are locked away, replaced with a new set more palatable to the new, false role she had fallen into.]

[the necessary side effect of entering a witch's labyrinth.]

I'm so relieved ... I've been here for months already, and I was really worried about you.

[she pulls back a little so she can look at Homura square on, hands holding on to Homura's arms gently.]

Are you all right? Is everyone else?

They were fine, the last I saw of them.

[ months? but that's... no, the Law of Cycles was still in place, wasn't it? she would have known or heard of it, seen and recognized the signs, if witches had begun to manifest again in the new world.

that's a concern to be dealt with later, it seems. having Madoka present, here, in front of her, that's something to focus on. it kickstarts old habits into gear. first things first. things like... ]

Months? I didn't ... even know you were gone. [ gave up the shield and took up the bow, but that Madoka could have been here for that long, alone and worried, without anyone knowing... it still feels like failure, somehow. regardless of how rational it is. what fussing Homura does then isn't necessarily obvious, but it's there: the subtle, searching glances, scanning for drawn smiles or nervous hand movements or slumped shoulders and timidity of posture. anything that would mark evidence of previous worries Homura might have to try to deal with. ]

... I think I should be asking you that, Madoka. [ Madoka, who Homura knows from so many timelines valued her family and friends so highly; ] It sounds... It must have been lonely. Are you all right?

I... [lonely isn't quite the right word. it had taken only a month or so, as far as she remembers, to feel so close to Homura, to feel like they've known each other forever. Madoka has certainly felt similarly toward certain people in the coven.]

[but maybe it is loneliness, to a degree. the ache is there. she misses the meals her Papa makes. she misses Mama, the sturdy backbone of their little family, and she misses Tatsuya's smile. she misses lunches on the roof and the laughter of her friends, and even the sleepless nights, because although the Nightmares were persistent and the battles often exhausting, at least they were struggling through them together.]

[she'd lowered her head for a moment, as she was turning that question over in her mind. but when she looks at Homura again, she's wearing a small smile — not an unsure one, but one of acceptance.]

I'm all right. [she means that, truly.] There are so many nice people here who have been helping ... and you're here, so now I really don't have anything to worry about.

I think it's been long enough that I'm a bit mixed up, though. [does time flow differently on this world? how could she have been here for several months, but without anybody noticing? if there was anyone who could answer questions about time, it'd be Homura, after all.] Um ... when exactly did we see each other last?

[ Homura's alarm and confusion both rise, but they're stoppered, lidded things, set aside and compartmentalised for as long as they aren't useful.

(Homura has traversed timelines, a girl out of time, but still always following the flow of it except for when she rewound the clock. but for Madoka, existing beyond its normal trappings entirely, it must be something entirely different. Homura has never been everywhere and everywhen, even if sometimes she'd thought she'd wanted to be with how the Incubator seemed to always be lurking atop every streetlamp. so perhaps, Madoka has... lost track, and is wanting to remember which Homura from which timeline she is?

somehow, that doesn't seem quite right to Homura. but regardless, she answers carefully:) ]

The last time I saw you... was right before you were going off to do something very brave. [ 'on your own, some time ago.' ] I couldn't... I wasn't able to follow you. But I'm glad you've been safe. [ she manages to meet Madoka's smile with her own, small and tremulous, before it's replaced by an expression of concern. ]

Madoka, did you choose to come here? Was... there someone that needed help, here? [ was it Qri? Madoka had wished to be able to destroy all witches, anywhere, anywhen, with her own hands, after all. the scope of that feels dizzying to Homura, but perhaps if she'd been pulled here by her wish, but then somehow couldn't get back... well, it wouldn't explain everything. Homura is too naturally suspicious of information freely given by mysterious sources to take the letter they'd been given entirely at its word, but it would, perhaps, ground this slightly more in a frame of reference Homura could understand. ]

Edited (minor tweak now that i've found the letter . . .) 2017-09-30 03:50 (UTC)

[the more questions they exchange, and the more answers she's given, the less Madoka understands. Mitakihara is large, of course — enough so that there are certainly streets and dark corners that they haven't yet reached. but there is no where that she could go that her friends couldn't follow her. and there is nothing, in her mind, that she could do in their endless battle against the Nightmares that is brave enough that Homura would single it out now. but ... she also knows that Homura wouldn't lie to her.]

[she doesn't understand. it's set in her frown, and the way she glances to the side briefly, but there's something else there, too. like there's a truth she's desperately trying to reach, one that would at least bring the two of them to the same page, but she just can't seem to grasp it, or even fully comprehend that it's there.]

I know that Qri is the one who needs help. [though, Qri isn't the witch Madoka had initially set out to save.]

But I didn't choose to come here ... the last thing I remember is the two of us visiting with Mami-san, and she was explaining to us how she met Bebe. And then... [Homura had stopped time, then, though Madoka couldn't begin to guess why. she's not sure what to say.]

... Bebe?

[ That's a name Homura's completely unfamiliar with. So that either means Mami met her before Homura had ever known her, and they'd never kept in touch or never contacted each other during that month and a half, or... Mami would go on to meet her?

But while Homura can understand the idea of perhaps meeting other people she'd known, and finding their experiences to be asynchronous... while she can accept the idea of someone from a different point in time from her... ]

I don't remember any such visit. [ What Madoka describes to her sounds like something that could have happened, in some anomalous timeline, when she was still navigating that month and a half for timelines on end. A timeline where they were all on friendly terms, and Mami had a friend that she didn't in the other timelines.

But such a timeline never occurred. And Mami cannot have gone on to meet someone named Bebe in the current timeline, because Madoka— is already gone. Right?

Homura shifts a little, uncomfortably. Rocking forward a bit, as her weight redistributes itself and she sits up straighter. Her mouth opens partially, then closes. Then opens again. ]

I'm sorry, Madoka. I don't think I remember all the things you do. Who is Bebe?

[it wouldn't surprise her if there was a difference in time frames between the two of them. the people here are from all manner of worlds, from the mundane to the utterly bizarre, so ... the idea that Qri could pull people from different times as well isn't that far of a stretch.]

[but Homura should know Bebe — Bebe has been with them since she transferred to their class. she's been there for every battle they fought, and for every celebration afterward, hasn't she?]

[this ... isn't the first time something about home hasn't quite added up for her — tiny details that didn't fit together perfectly when she tried to describe them to someone — but Madoka has always chalked it up to being tired when thinking about it. she can't blame this misunderstanding, this gap between them, on fatigue.]

[but she can at least answer Homura's question. Madoka reaches forward, to take her best friend's hand.]

I should be able to show you. Can we go somewhere more quiet to talk? [Madoka could either draw a picture, or maybe try to use the signet to conjure a telepathic image. she should be able to handle either one back at her hut.]

[ Homura schools the involuntary shiver that runs through her when Madoka takes her hand in hers as best she can, but doesn't manage to rid herself of it completely. Which is silly, and doesn't make sense, even, as a reaction. Madoka is here, and she's been holding on to her this entire time.

Madoka is here, and alive, and... real. And yet... ]

... Of course.

[ She grasps Madoka's hand back, tentatively, before glancing over at the things she'd scattered to the side when Madoka had rushed toward her. A quick weighting of objects and vague notions of value later and she's picked up the pack and its small, odd collection of items, with the sword left lying where she'd left it- out of the way and unlikely to be tripped or sat on.

Homura dips her head in quiet acquiescence. ]

Lead the way, Madoka.

[by the time they've arrived at the hut Madoka's claimed for herself — a cramped, but somehow still cozy little space that she's filled with books, notebooks, random trinkets from friends — she's decided how she best wants to share what Bebe looks like.]

[she lets go of Homura's hand and grabs a notebook and pen, and settles herself down on the cot that's situated in the corner to start sketching.]

Bebe is sort of ... like this. [a creature that looks like a doll of some sort, with large, oval eyes and sleeves that extend longer than her body. her head almost resembles a piece of candy.]

[a witch, clearly. but Madoka wouldn't be able to conjure that word on her own; she only knows her as Bebe.]

Does she look familiar to you at all?

[ when they arrive Homura glances around the living space a bit — it's all new, nothing she could have ever seen before, but the details match up. the hut looks lived in, and the little things, the trinkets and books— they're quintessentially Madoka. Madoka has been here for a while, and if Homura thinks about it a bit she can even come up with a possible, reasonable explanation for why or how.

but she isn't thinking about that, right now.

she folds in on herself, a little, as she hesitantly settles down on a stool. the living space is so small; it almost feels as if she's intruding, even though Madoka is the one who invited her here.

she peers over once Madoka indicates the notebook, and doesn't quite manage to smooth the furrow in her brow before it forms. ]

That's... Bebe?

[ a familiar shape. the Sweets Witch- Charlotte, her name would be, if any of them actually understood the runes. ]

I remember something a lot like her.

[ similar, but altered. less expressive, a more solemn sort of cute, disarming in its apparent harmlessness. minor differences, really, akin to how the Mermaid Witch changed across timelines. not enough, then, to mark them as different entities. an anomalous timeline, then, treat this as such? ]

But that something was dangerous.

[ not something to be told stories about over tea, unless 'meeting' in this case meant 'how the witch was defeated' instead.

...somehow, she doesn't think that's the case. but she leaves it at that, her question instead plain in the features of her face as she waits to see how Madoka wants to continue. ]

Dangerous? No, not at all — I mean ... she helps us out a lot in fights, but I would never think of her as dangerous.

[she falls silent, staring down at her drawing. for an agonizing moment, she's at a loss for what to say.]

... To be honest, ever since I got here, I've sort of had this feeling that something about home wasn't quite adding up. But I never really worried about it too much.

I know you wouldn't lie to me, Homura-chan. [she's still staring down at her notebook. Bebe.] There's something wrong here, and ... it sort of feels like it might be me.

[ Homura, surprisingly, or maybe not that much so, shakes her head in vehement denial. ]

There's nothing wrong with you, Madoka. You're you, and that's... what matters.

[ but, then again, this is a Homura more used to seeing Madoka talk herself down more and more in recent timelines. and it hurt, seeing Madoka think so little of herself. it's her fault, she knows, for not letting Madoka fight, for not letting her do anything but watch as her friends got hurt again and again... but that's Homura's fault, and not Madoka's. never Madoka's.

but after her outburst, Homura falls silent for a moment. she looks down to the open pages at first, then glances from one corner of the cot to another, searching for words. ]

You aren't wrong, [ she repeats, voice small, but starting again to carry in it a thin undercurrent of steel now ] but I think ... something else might be. [ was it Qri? did she-- do something, to Madoka? for a moment Homura thinks of her own memory magic, and something in her goes cold at the thought. ]

Madoka. Start ... start from the beginning. What makes you think that something is wrong?

I just ... [where to start?]

[by the time Madoka was pulled here, reality had already started to slowly unravel for some of the other girls. it hadn't for her (she's also operating under different circumstances, of course), but here, when people who had no initial perspective on Mitakihara City or magical girls asked her questions, she ... just had this odd sensation that something wasn't quite right.]

[what season was it back home, before she came here? what had she wished for? she didn't even have any inkling of what was really housed in her Soul Gem, before she came here.]

[Madoka shakes her head.]

It just doesn't make sense ... our stories aren't matching up at all. It doesn't feel like there might just be a time difference — it feels more like we're living in two different worlds entirely.

[one more question would confirm it for her.]

Do you know what a Nightmare is?

[ Homura looks up. brushes away with one hand the hair that had fallen forward into her face, unrestrained by its missing accessory. focus, compartmentalize, one thing at a time, even if the weight of what Madoka's saying is too much. ]

I do not. I'm sorry. I think...

[ but she trails off, leaving whatever the thought was unvoiced. even if Madoka was— somehow— remembering a timeline Homura had never traveled, with her reach her wish had given her...

why only this one? why only one?

there could still... be another explanation for this. but Homura's already set on edge by the idea that something could keep Madoka here, and pull her where she hadn't meant to be pulled. that, more than anything, is what makes her suspect foul play.

(but before, or after here...?) ]

... My best guess. A creature, born from and given form by the curses of humanity?

[ that much... has to be the same, doesn't it? ]

[Homura's best guess is exactly what Madoka needed to hear — she's almost instantly reassured, despite it all, and she manages the tiniest of smiles.]

That's exactly it. [this whole conversation has been the two of them trying to meet — trying to remember something about their world that they still share — but they've been hitting a barrier just barely out of each other's reach.]

[Homura doesn't know what a Nightmare is, but at least she understands the concept. they still have that in common. it's enough for Madoka.]

I don't know what's going on ... I couldn't even begin to guess why the home that you know is so different than the one I do.

But I do know that you're still Homura-chan, no matter what. [her very best friend.] We can figure it out together, right?

I... [ it's a small, short intake of breath — not even a hitch in her voice, not yet — but it seems so loud to her. so many timelines, and yet Madoka can still catch her aback.

she nods, faintly, and manages the barest of genuine smiles. it's almost, almost timid in nature. she didn't think anything like this could ever happen again. and though none of their questions have been answered and their specter still looms ominously over the entire situation, Madoka is right. Madoka will always be Madoka, no matter what, and like that, with her worries pushed aside even for this briefest of moments the relief of their reunion comes flooding in all at once. ]

Yes, of course. We'll face it together. No matter what.

I'll always do my best to protect you, Madoka, no matter what happens. No matter what world this is. I promise, I won't leave you alone if I can help it.

I know you won't. I'm just ... sorry that it sounds like I did.

[with these memories, never in her wildest dreams could she imagine doing what she did. making that final wish.]

I think you'll really like everyone else here, though — I can't wait to introduce you to the friends I've made here.

Mm-mm. [ a small shake of the head, this time. it doesn't quite manage to be a rebuttal, but it's something like a denial, at least. ] You... did a good thing, Madoka. Something wonderful, and great. And if you were happy, doing it, then I'm happy too.

[ Madoka doesn't have to worry herself over someone like Homura. if she tells herself that enough times she'll start believing it. ]

But... yes, I would like that, Madoka. [ a breath — does she still even remember how to make a good first impression, outside of the posturing and curtness involved in magical girl confrontations? — but ] I'd love to meet the friends you've made.

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( TDM | #4 )

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