( TDM | #4 )

[spellbindmods]

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. A ▢ Your character's first experience here will be waking up in a forest. Specifically, located here. It's up to them to traverse and try to figure out where they are, whether they make it to the beach or the main house area. If this new little signet catches their interest, fiddling with it will result in a bit of a neural vibration in everyone else with telepathy. Nothing painful; it's actually quite pleasant. But if they do decide to play with this new jewelry, they're likely to find some seasoned telepaths (aka old coven members) in their brain space, wondering that's up. A2 ▢ Alternatively, new coven members are notorious for being bad at telepathy from the jump. Their panicked reation to this journey or confused mental state may send out some network messages that maybe they didn't realize they were sending out. Or, maybe what's pushing them over the edge are all the other voices already doing exactly that in their brain. B ▢ Unlike the previous coven members who found themselves on the hub, new recruits won't find as many supplies randomly in the forest they're suddenly in. However, like old coven members, they will come across some wild boars that aren't too happy to see the humans have returned to their stomping ground. Your character may also come across a boar with babies in tow, which means that they're even more likely to be aggressive. If your character has useful magic within them somewhere, now may be a good time to discover how to use it...? C ▢ Whether you've braved a boar encounter or avoided one entirely, there's a lot to do and see in the forest, as well as other areas of the hub! Well, "do" is debatable. But! Coven members before them have discovered some pretty nifty locations that can be stumbled upon, from a phallic fertility shrine to tree homes and passageways.

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! D ▢ Many of the old bloods in the coven can be found hanging around this area. Of course, a few of them have gone off on their own to do whatever it is they do, but since they just got back this is a good place to hang out if a new character wants to see a familiar face, ask questions or steal someone's belongings. You never know! E ▢ This will also be the place where they're given their first provisions. In a woven knapsack, they'll find a bag of cooked shrimp, a set of clothes (you pick the style) that may not fit, a toothbrush, and three other random objects -- dealer's choice! It's very likely that your character got something useful in there, but it's also likely you got something that your character would never use in a million years, or that doesn't fit. Time to start trading! F ▢ Finally, there's always the chance for your character to explore the big mansion next to the beach area. Actually, they may be asked to lend a hand. Everyone is tasked with unloading supplies from the caravan to the front foyer of the mansion, and there are quite a few trips to be mad. Or, alternatively, your character can slack off and play in the game room that they have. How good is your character at pool?

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. G ▢ There's that bathhouse that's nearby, for starters. Your character won't encounter any snapping crabs, like last time, though the water for some reason isn't as hot as it once was. Whatever was previously heating the bathhouse seems to have died out, so there aren't any steamy, comfortable pools to take a dip in. There are, however, acrid waters with pond scum floating on the surface. The showers also spew out a greenish liquid, so any hope your character had at having a relaxing bath is gone. However, the lack of heat and many closed off rooms can make for some nice alone time. H ▢ Your character may want to claim a beach house while they're at it. Some characters have disappeared from the coven over time, and some of these few may have left their belongings before departing. This makes it hard to tell what huts are free and which need to be cleared out. Might as well play roulette and see if you picked one that doesn't have an owner or not. (For the sake of the prompt, you might want to choose the former, just saying). I ▢ Wildcard prompt. Go nuts and utilize your own creativity within the setting. This can mean striking out on your own or utilizing a certain location in a different way. The world is your oyster!

GAME NAVIGATION

Comments

[splinten]

That's up to Priapus himself. Personally, I don't doubt your ability to make the world ready itself for alien hybrid lesbian babies.

[HE FUCKING KNOWS ABOUT YOU ROSE LALONDE]

[knitpick]

I'm a lucky girl to have such a supportive father.

[Yes she is going there. In the most nonchalant manner, too, as she steps away from the shrine, glasscock in hand.]

So. Beach huts and other residences?

[splinten]

[There's the slightest shift—just the barest hint that she got him. Then he locks into full irony mode. Rose Lalonde is as dangerous as the stories said.]

Dilapidated huts that way [points]. If you prefer the ruins of old mansions eerily abandoned in their prime, go West or East. For those who prefer a more rustic setting, pick a fuckin' tree.

[knitpick]

[There's a brief glance and a slight quirk at the corner of her mouth to suggest that she might have noticed. It's hard to say. If she did, she's at least nice enough not to mention it.

Now, as far as possible shelters go: spooky old mansions are her aesthetic.]

You've mapped out the local real estate quickly.

[She only just saw him a short while earlier on the lotus platform, after all. And her flying wasn't working for some reason, preventing her from figuring out where the hell she was more easily, so unless whatever was happening was limited to her she'd assume he's also flightless...

This is probably a time shenanigans thing. It's always a time shenanigans thing.]

[splinten]

Didn't anyone tell you? I'm a professional realtor. Strider Homes Inc.

[Realtors probably aren't incorporated? He doesn't fucking know. He'll roll with it.]

Establishing my business over several weeks here on the hub definitely helped.

[knitpick]

Several weeks. I see.

[She hates being right all the time.








That's a fucking lie, she loves being right. But this seems like a particularly bullshit situation in the grand scheme of their bullshit lives.]

And how booming is the business?

[splinten]

[Dirk looks Rose dead in the eye.]

Darling, your father is a billionaire.

[knitpick]

[Eye fucking contact. And she smirks just a little, oddly pleased.]

And here I thought our riches all came from the puppet pornography. We're more respectable than I thought.

[splinten]

Of course not. Early on in my financial career I learned that great truism of capitalism: diversify, diversity, and don't fuckin' look at your own hands.

[He tilts his head.]

I was going to ask your preference, but it's going to be the Gothic reprisal, huh.

[knitpick]

Of course. Find me my dream home, Mr. Strider. And then pay for it, because the best way to make up for being absent during childhood is to buy the child's love during adulthood.

[Too real, Rose. Chill. And maybe focus for a moment on the bullshit that is your life, however surprisingly fun it may be to snark with daddy.]

Where is everyone else?

[splinten]

[Setting aside his efforts to purchase Rose's love after a life of not being there for her:]

Jake's probably found a tree to climb up right now. You, Dave, and John were here, but you were apparently sent back. [He doesn't say 'home.' Being sent back to a dead end isn't really home.] So this is a pretty interesting turn of events from my perspective.

[knitpick]

[Huh. That's interesting from any perspective. Just also a little awkward from hers, since...well, she knows for a fact that she's the alpha Rose. And since she doesn't remember any previous visits here, either there's time shenanigans at work and for some reason her future self chose not to mention her past/future stay, or -- more likely -- that was a doomed Rose. And thinking to hard about one's alternate selves and their inevitable doom is not all that pleasant.

She chooses not to pursue that topic out loud.

Jake. Right, she remembers him. She mostly remembers Roxy shouting across the lotus pad trying to get his attention, but still. Hard to forget the hot teen grandpa with the underoos and the great legs, even if he'd been kind of quiet and reclusive when they all met up.]

So it's just you and Jade's grandfather here?

[splinten]

[Indeed, a hot teen grandpa with underoos and great legs is hard to forget.]

For a while now.

[He decides to make it easier by saying point-blank,]

We were all from a dead end timeline. John was apparently going to go retcon it or some bullshit, but the rest of us were one hundred percent dead kids, no coins left to play again. Don't talk to Jake about that, though. Being displaced as the alpha Jake isn't really a comfortable topic for him.

[Dirk... seems nonchalant about it? Honestly, he kind of doesn't care much. He's done for, another Dirk will have to deal with his shit. It'd be more unpleasant if he was stuck in the same universe, but they're here to fuck off on their own.

Except that Rose may not match up. And Dirk is perfectly aware that if that's the case, he doesn't count. He's a reject, a necessary corpse on the way to a true victory. Any relationship Rose might build with him, if she isn't from that same dead end, is inherently void, because he isn't the right Dirk. It will all collapse into a void only she will remember, an awkward set of experiences that simultaneously inform a relationship and are not a relationship. A splinter connection, like any other splinter, part of the greater narrative but not part of that particular version.

Time shenanigans are a pain in the ass. He doesn't blame Jake for being uncomfortable with getting wiped off the slate for another version of him. But no one ever worries about the Marios that fell in the lava pit when they boot up for their next try.]

[knitpick]

I'm aware of the retcon. John told us a little bit about it when he arrived from said dead end timeline with Roxy.

[That is to say. She is indeed not the Rose from their timeline. Lucky her.

She can't help but cast him a brief, pensive look as she fully understands the implications of what he's saying -- that he and Jake are both now redundant alt-selves and they know it. It seems sad to her. She can empathize just a little, still burdened wth the dreamlike memories of her doomed self from Davesprite's timeline, but what does one even say about all that?

It's kind of comforting, though. In a morbid way. She wasn't invested enough to be truly worried about whatever impression she'd be making on these teen guardians from the alpha universe, but it's kind of nice to know that, should she somehow fuck it all up irrepairably, she'd have another chance.

Of course, there's also always the chance that all this is somehow the necessary turn of fate for the alpha timeline. That, like Davesprite, these alt-selves would become significant and irreplacable in their own right.

She can't really say. Something's cutting her off from the Light. It's kind of annoying, really.]

Has Jake spent the entirety of your several weeks here in a tree, then? I admire the enthusiasm and survival skills, of course, but it also seems a bit ridiculous if there are actual buildings ready and waiting.

[Look at that. Subject change. She's so tactful, so kind.]

[splinten]

[It certainly answers the question. So, it matters, but in a different way. And they can move on.]

He spent about two months camping on the outskirts of a city on another world. His tastes have swung towards old man in a cabin off the grid back on the Hub. The dude likes his backwaters.

[There were of course other elements at play, but that isn't really his place. Plus, he hasn't fully assessed how Rose walks the line between sincere and ironic.]