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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ... that's not a voice she recognizes, jade realizes. or maybe she does, and it's hampered by other things - she's not sure. it's like a distant memory that she can't place, familiar but forgotten. or maybe it's familiar only in her head, like the sound of a beloved family member telling her she should be safe out in the jungle.

hm. ]

Hi, I'm Jade!!! I want to meet you but I do not know where you are?? Also how do you know the Squiddles???

[ the latter is the most important thing here - she hopes he hears her, and not the entire planet, but she's not that good. practice makes perfect, and this is day one. ]

[Oh. Oh, that's so weird. It's weird not just because she knows Squiddles, and not just because she says her name is Jade, but because it sounds so familiar. But he can't think when he would have heard her. Unless she really is Jade? But he doesn't want to hope too much.

Still, it seems unlikely that another girl named Jade would know Squiddles? That's never been how their lives have worked. It's all predestined this and fate that and you were always going to meet and do this and that and no, he's just going to ask.]

Um! Salutations. Forgive me if this seems a queer question but I really must. Um, are you... by any chance... Jade Harley?

[ it's not like becoming hope or being mindcontrolled by an alien dictator who also happens to be your fishmom from an alternative timeline leaves much room for deep family conversations, but jade can recall things vaguely - it's probably more because jane was concerned with jake that jade's memory of his voice is distant to her. she associates it with grandpa before she associates it with the teenager in the page garb.

she winces for a moment, but then she supposes that telepathy is a step up from sending letters and this is no different from a letter. thoughts become green ink in her mind. ]

Yes, this is Jade and you are Jake, right? ...Short time no see but long time no talk, I guess! Sort of?

[ after all, if jake remembers her, then maybe he remembers jade wasn't entirely herself. ]

[It's the same for Jake; he wasn't exactly at his most aware at the time. He saw Jade become some sort of dark and gritty version of herself and then when he saw her again, well. He only barely recognised her, somewhere inside, where all that power wasn't twisted up around him. God, he hopes she doesn't take that fight too personally.]

Ah, yes, that was... one hell of a pickle we were in. A whole jar of the slippery son-a-of-guns. Um, are you... okay? Where are you? I can, um, come down and...

[God, he hates his nerves. He had a thousand things he wanted to say to her. He thought about them all the time. But now he's freezing up and anxious and god he just wants to see her.]

Um, you know! Anything you need to help you out.

[ there's a sort of confidence missing from his words. it's not the self assured tone in letters they've sent back and forth, and for a moment, she thinks back to getting knocked out by his hope-splosion (as she's so lovingly named it) and wonders what it is that's brought him such power but so much hesitation. is the hesitation because of her? she doesn't know, but she knows better than to ask. if she asks, she's a little afraid something bad will happen.

it's not a thought she voices, though. what comes through is: ]

Fuck!!! I can't do my cool spacey thing over to you!!! Jeez....

[ she'll deal with that inconvenience later. jade rolls her eyes, sighing loud. ] Well, I am in a clearing of some kind... actually, if you give a second I will send out a signal! I want to see you too!

[ thankfully her home was full of trees to climb and jade got the hang of it as quickly as possible. hellmurder island had its perks, like making sure you knew what you were doing in the wilderness. once she's got a solid footing on a branch high off the ground, she whistles with her thumb and index finger between her lips, as hard she can. she learned to do that before she learned that bec just always seemed to know where she was. ]

Oh! Yes, okay. I'll just, uh, hang tight then!

[And worry. He's sure Jade can take care of herself but last time he saw her, he's pretty sure she was hurt or something? Paying attention and being aware wasn't easy at the time.]

Yes, I am literally doing just that!

[ how did he know? soooooo cooool.

jake won't have a particular hard time spotting jade; after all, she's a doggirl in a tree, and provided he's willing to look up a bit, it's hard to miss someone with such a familiar face. it's younger, of course, but there's definitely a familial resemblance; and when he finds her, jade's got a grin on her nervous grin on her as she balances just so on a tree branch. the glasses might be a family trait (bad vision must be in their genes) but so, too, are the buckteeth she's not afraid to show off. ]

Hi! It's me!

[Before, everything happened so fast that he really didn't have time to get a good look at her. Just one minute she was there and then she was some gritty werewolf thing and then Jake died a couple of times, so frankly he didn't have time to really think about Jade much. But now he can look and think and—]

You really... look how I imagined.

[Which he realises, a beat later, might be a weird comment to make instead of a greeting. Fuck.]

Um, I mean— Salutations. I'm Jake. [Wait.] Obviously, yes, I am— [Fuck. Jake runs a hand through his hair.] Um, it's... really a delight to see you.

And you do not have a great big mustache!

[ she's teasing.

jade doesn't give much of a warning before sliding off the branch, so hopefully jake is. nowhere in her vicinity or they'll be a pile of limbs, maybe. either way, this isn't the way to have a touching family reunion - she'd rather be on the ground with him so that they can properly actually... see each other. ]

I have waited a very, very long time to meet you, penpal. I mean, I guess we met before, but it was not very conductive to getting to know each other, was it? There are about three years worth of conversations we did not have, that is a lot of catching up, did you know that?

[Jake makes sure to move either way to give her space to land. Wow, she's really close now. Somehow he missed that the dog ears are apparently a permanent part of her but they look really cute. And though he has a lot to say, he's suddenly confused.]

Three years? [Wait no he thinks maybe that makes sense?] That must be... how long it took you to get to our session, right? What a frightfully long journey. I, um, I was only waiting about six months for you. In our session, I mean. But I had your queer window! Or rather, Grandma's queer window? But I had it and I looked at it everyday to see if you were here yet though I'm not sure that was actually how it worked anyway.

I will get to that in a minute!

[ the first order of business is a great big hug. it's the kind jade isn't quite accustomed to giving - mostly because she didn't grow up giving hugs to people. it's a full bodied hug that's tight and familiar but different all the same; it's strange to hug someone you feel like you've known for so long but who you've technically never met. jade's always known there was a hole in her heart that was begging to be filled, but it feels like she's found that hole all over again and has the opportunity to put the pieces back together.

it's nice. comforting. reminds her a little of hot cocoa during a snowstorm on the island. ]

I saw a movie with John on the boat finally!!!

[Oh. A hug. A hug from Jade. He always kind of imagined this, that they would hug when they met, because he remembers Grandma hugging him even if it's so distant and faded now. But hugs as something he actually gets and gives are a pretty new concept and he wants to give her a good hug that's worth how nice hers is but he thinks the way he hugs back might be a little too clingy, fingers curling against her back as he tightens his arms and tries to hold her closer.]

Really? Finally dazzled by the silver screen? Since it was John, I'm certain the choices were aces.

[ it's not a bad hug, in jade's opinion. she doesn't have much to compare it to, but she's sure it'd do fine on it's own. it's a combination of things that make her feel good, which feels more and more rare these days. between the breakup, the way john took it, her own feelings and then crashing right into being used against the people she cared for most - it's nice.

she feels needed and that feels good, like she's not messing up. she leans back a little, craning her neck so she make a face at him to illustrate that it definitely didn't wow her. ...she means well, though. ]

We watch Con Air! He threw a giant fit on his driveway and fell asleep because he hated it so much, he is suuuuuuch a baby sometimes.

I liked it, though, it's fun and silly and not too serious about itself!

[Seeing her face, even with that expression over a very excellent movie, feels wonderful. It's just so nice to see her at all. He's still not sure how long hugs are supposed to last but he's happy with this one lasting as long as she likes.]

Really? What a shame. I thought John would enjoy such a rip-snorting adventure. But I'm glad you did! I might have to take you on a tour through Hollywood's brightest stars, like Ben Affleck and Keanu Reeves and of course more Nic Cage.

That's the thing! John really loved the movie before but I guess it just lost it's charm for him? Well, it was a pretty intense birthday for him... [ always give the benefit of the doubt, especially for your brother. ]

Dooooooo you even have movies here? No offense, Jake, but this place seems like it's lacking technology!

[ ...maybe she can make a tv? in theory, it wouldn't be that ridiculous to put together. no movies to play, though, huh. ] You should tell me about them from memory, I think I would like that a lot.

[ they've both got a lot of missed bedtime stories to catch up on anyway. ]

[Now that he thinks about it, he could probably get them movies but he's not sure what sort. More importantly, Jade wants to hear about movies? From him? Sometimes he tried to tell her about them but it always seemed to really go over her head. And he thought maybe because of that, she didn't enjoy it. But maybe now after seeing one, she can enjoy it? Or maybe he's overthinking this.

Probably the last one, yeah. Okay. Deep breath.]

Do you, um, want to hear about Avatar? Or Weekend at Bernie's? Or, um, gosh, there's The Mummy or maybe National Treasure or Twilight... Do any of those titles strike your fancy?

[ he's definitely over thinking this. jade just likes to enjoy things with people - it's so different, watching squiddles next to someone instead of watching it on your own. it was a little jarring at first but... it's normal, right? this is how normal people do that thing. ]

Hehehe, Avatar sounds pretty interesting! Maybe not right now, though! You said something about my window thingie, but... if it's what I am thinking of, Jake, for me, it was your's. I never knew what it was for but once I did, it worked out pretty great, I think!! That means you have not used it, though, right?

Oh, no! I didn't want to mess with it and muck up your whole entrance! [Even though, with the way Paradox Space works, he guesses if he had, it would have been what he was supposed to do anyway. But he's trying not to think about that too much.] Um, I think I forgot it on my planet though...

That is fine, because I think I forgot mine in John's house! [ besides, if they're missing powers here, what's the fourth wall gonna do?

ahahaha ]

I guess we don't need it anymore, do we? There isn't really a way back... and even then, I am pretty positive I can find both of them. Remember? I have the spacey thing and all!!

Oh! That's right. Witch of Space. [He beams at her.] Well, we can look for them when your powers turn back on if you want but... so far it's not so bad here? Um, minus the others not being here but maybe they'll turn up.

[A little shier, he glances down.] I am just... glad you're here now! And, um, I... apologise if I um... come off strangely? I... am beginning to think I'm not very good at people.

They will? [ jade wants to pursue this if only because the goal here is to avoid ever talking about the fact she yelled at dave and then he got emotional back. Avoid, Avoid, and Avoid: that's the glassesfam way. ]

You are not good at people? Wow! Who told you that?

I did? [Like he really thought this was obvious, that he is very bad at this!] But um, I think so maybe? I don't know! But maybe!

[ honestly jade is not seeing it? maybe he expects too much of himself. or thinks he's supposed to be a specific way. ]

Well... I want to ask why you say that about yourself? I mean there are some people bad at being around others, but that does not mean I need a warning of some kind when I talk to them!

[Jake shifts, worrying his bottom lip.]

Umm... a lot of things happened in my session. And I was kind of an asshole to my friends.

[ jade ponders this for a moment before responding. ]

It is ok, if you want to tell me. I am not Rose but I can do my best to help!

[ not that jake knows the whole therapy thing with rose? jade thinks. maybe he does?? ]

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