( TDM | #1 )

[spellbindmods]

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.

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. Depending on your situation and ability to acclimate, you may not fully understand what's happening. A dream, a hallucination. But when you feel the trunk of the trees surrounding you, it's oddly...real. The smell is real. The moisture on the ground is real. The small grass snake you find slithering close to your feet seems very real as well. There are a few other sensations that also begin to feel a little more like reality with every passing second. Like the fact that your intuition is trying to tell you something that doesn't seem plausible. One is more obvious -- you now have a new piece of jewelry inserted snuggly between your collarbones. Maybe that's when you realize it is real. When you realize that there's no delusion here -- you aren't where you once were. But if that's the case...where are you? 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. There's also a mysterious trail of soft, felt bags, tied off with thin rope, leading your character to what appears to be a specific destination. These items can be as useful as a granola bar to as seemingly useless as a stapler. Let's just say that some of these mysterious objects are pretty out there. They're free to travel off the beaten path, but that comes with its own perils. Maybe your character has a power that could fend these creatures off...? They aren't exactly happy about sharing their territory.

After an hour or so of trekking through the forest, you finally come upon a break in the tree line that reveals to you an area that appears to be inhabitable. Your first stop is the large mansion that sits in the valley of the opening...if anyone is here or there's a way to get out of here, the house makes the most sense, right? There are a variety of rooms in this mansion, and you're free to explore them. You also spy a lot of crates sitting in the middle of the floor in one of the main rooms...are you curious enough to open them? B ▢ Feel free to have your character explore the mansion (the won't find much but you can take some liberties with the TDM), and they're free to open these mysterious crates. In them they'll find edible fruit and bread, modern clothing in a variety of sizes and portable medical kits. Characters who apply using the TDM are free to carry these objects into the game opening. If you want some specifics, there are a few rooms of note: the game room (containing a working pool table, non-electric pinball machines and a card table with supplied chips and multiple decks), the cellar (filled with a variety of liquor and wines, all aged quite well) and a large room upstairs that contains a glass ceiling and a variety of books in a foreign language. One more thing -- if you happen to go rummaging around, you may find tiny pin cameras. They're minuscule...you may not even notice them unless you look hard enough. At this point you notice that you aren't alone -- there are other people in the same boat as you! When they're around you, that signet you feel in your chest tingles slightly. The sensation isn't unpleasant, but instead like a warm tingle is spreading from their neck outward. You instinctively attempt to talk to your fellow kidnapping victims, and that works just fine...but what are all these voices you hear in your head now? Are you crazier than you thought you were? C ▢ Here's where you can play around with the telepathy mechanic. It's likely your character won't be used to it which can lead to accidental broadcasting. If they happen to tap the signet purposefully or try to pull it out, everyone within a radius of 100 feet will feel a throbbing pain in their head. But your character won't know that, will they? For those more inclined to adventure, there's also another building to investigate. From the outside, it looks very circular and unidentifiable, but upon entering you'll discover that it's a fully-functioning bath house. D ▢ Despite containing steamy water and luxury bathing accommodations, the bathhouse is currently being overrun with crabs. The not-so-smart members of this species have fallen into the extremely hot water, flash boiling themselves after being unable to get back out. Others are a little more intelligent but equally aggressive. Characters: watch your toes and be cautious if you really want to take a much-needed bath! They may also want to check twice before using the restroom, otherwise the experience might be more painful than they're used to.

Exploring the mansion and the bathhouse was fun and all, but aside from the crates they didn't prove to be very useful. When you came into the clearing, you also saw a row of very colorful buildings down near the beach. It makes sense that this area may be more beneficial to any escape plans you have, and taking a dip in the ocean might be nice! It's not until you reach the beach huts that you realize that murky blue color you spied wasn't the ocean. It's outter space. There goes any hopes you had of swimming to safety. E ▢ Time to explore the beach huts! Most of them are abandoned, but your characters will notice they seem to be more livable than the mansion somehow. This is in part due to a little note tacked to the door of each beach hut that reports in scrawling script "Claim your hut, please!" Will your character listen or reject the sinking feeling that they may not be leaving anytime soon? Some huts are also bigger than others, and a few even contain small sinks and softer beds. Grab these while they're available! Even though it turns out the ocean was a lie and you're precariously close to falling off the edge of the world, the area around the huts is decidedly beachy. Sitting on the beach is a lobster trap, though about 10 times the size of any you might have seen before. Inside are more felt sacks, though larger. The weirdest part is that peering through the bars, you notice each has a nametag attached. The reason you know this to be true is because you just spied your own name written on one of the labels. There's also something else underneath it. The descriptor may not mean much to you yet, but it will soon: it's the title of their newfound magic. In each felt sack is a sort of starter kit: a set of dated and drapey plainclothes, a bag of dried boar jerky, a leather flask filled with water and a small tube of sunblock (the writing is in a bizarre pictograph language, but the giant picture of the sun on the tube should explain the purpose). There's also a rolled up paper tied with a string that reads as follows: "Welcome. Things will be explained in due time. For now, understand that you have been blessed with a gift of magic. Look into your brain and feel the instinct for both. Practice makes perfect." F ▢ Here's the official prompt for playing with newfound magic (and telepathy if you want more practice). It's likely characters have already accidentally broadcast their thoughts, utilized the C prompt or used their magic inadvertently, but maybe this new information and small explanation has motivated them to try and see what they're truly capable of. Don't worry. If they're lucky enough to stick around, all will be explained. ...What if you're a wildcard, though? Someone who doesn't play by the rules and follows a different path, no matter what direction the world may be guiding you in? This island is large and contains many areas of interest, from crystal streams to hidden locations. Maybe you want to do something different...so break the mold and explore! G ▢ 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]

[They can both stand here weird and frozen and awkward. Seeing that Dave reached out, he holds them forward again.]

If you want?

[parodeity]

[ he should say no because bro without his shades never happens and there's a trap here somewhere and he hates the pointy kamina shades anyway.

but dave hates even more the sensation of simply having nothing on his face to block out the world and when dirk holds them out again this time he takes them despite a thousand objections and unfolds them to shove up onto his nose.

he relaxes only by a hair even as he waits to see if this is in fact the prelude to some kind of attack or something.

when dirk presumably proceeds to Not Attack Him, he will say: ]

...Thanks. [ and then fail to explain why he's so weirdly attached to having shades on but. ]

[splinten]

[He doesn't attack. He just stares, confused and nervous and very unsure. And without sunglasses]

No problem.

Um.

[um]

So.

[parodeity]

So.

[ SO ]

Are you sure you're ok with this?

[ lmao no nevermind we're going back to the topic we supposedly just left god ]

[splinten]

I... Yes?

[The iconic line.]

I'm okay without them?

[parodeity]

[ WEIRD AS FUCK. but he seems. genuine.

anyway, this makes it a little easier to read dirk and a little harder to read dave. which is what he prefers.

still wants his fucking shades back, though, but at least one half of the issue is solved on a temp basis. ]

...Ok. [ ...........................

fuckdamnit he has no idea what to say. this time when he pushes the shades further up he has shades on to push up, though, so. improvement. ]

I'll be honest. I have no idea what the fuck is goin' on here. [ between them and IN GENERAL ] So priority one is probably findin' Rose.

[ so she can tell dave

what the fuck is going on.

alternately, just so rose is Located. ]

Pyrope might also be a good bet. Any Seer would be more use than a Knight right about now. Or just...leavin' this forest is also a good idea, I think?

[ he feels weird suggesting anything. why isn't bro coming up with a plan. ]

Not super thrilled at the idea of campin' out here so...

[splinten]

We did a bit of campin' in our session [fun fact his accent is going to get stronger throughout this conversation!] but never in a forest. I'm down with prioritizin' locatin' the other members of our group.

[The "our" comes out thoughtlessly. Of course they're a whole now.]

[parodeity]

[



?????????????????????????????????????????? ]

I'm not incapable of campin', survival's like, whatever - but given a choice it seems a stupid idea. [ if he can hazard the opinion without anything happening although so far there's been. absolutely no real backlash to anything he's said.

it is lowkey wigging him out, but matters less than finding literally anyone else. ]

All right, then. I'm gonna go that way. [ he will just. pick a direction mostly at random but partly on instinct, uncertain if dirk plans to. fuck off, as bro does, or come with, as bro does not.

he is not sure he wants to ask but also he isn't going to start walking immediately because he's not completely comfortable leading the way with his back to the stranger danger bodysnatcher (who is only stranger danger because he seems, so far, completely fucking innocuous). ]

[splinten]

Can I.

[A pause.]

Come. With?

[GOD hE'S AN IDIOT he wANTS TO DIE]

If that's okay. We should maybe have a way to keep in contact before we split up and we—don't.

[parodeity]

I...don't have one if wifi ain't workin'.

[ or well maybe he does but. HE HASN'T EXAMINED THE WEIRD THING STUCK ON HIM TOO CLOSELY EVEN IF IT'S not visible with a knight's outfit actually. thanks knight class. ]

If you want??

[ to come with. shit. fuck. but he has no idea what to do with the idea of giving bro permission to do anything this is the twilight zone and he did not die for this? ]

[splinten]

Yeah that'd be cool.

[It's a little rushed with his monotone eagerness as he picks up pace to walk alongside Dave. Nervous, holding his sword awkwardly, and not having shades on. Sorry Dave.]

[parodeity]

[ this is weird and he hates it? maybe in one of those weird trail bags they will find some janky sunglasses and a trade can be made, lord. dave doesn't make any move to like shake dirk, though, simply picking his way along and keeping an eye on his surroundings.

this would be much easier if they could just fly out. ugh.

teen hardass strider doesn't seem the way he should at all and dave's not sure he can like. deal with that thought currently, so he just shoves it away. ]

So...

[ so

fuck ]

[splinten]

So.

[FUCK.]

Uh. It's... cool we're dead together?

[....FUCK x 10]

I mean. Just. It was a worry of mine that I'd be stuck alone in the dead session unable to die. I mean. Not that I. Uh.

[fuck^1000]

Shit.

[parodeity]

[ are you ok, dirk.

although

wait ]

You just said you saw planets exploded. [ there was no mention of dying, and he just said he wasn't sure he was dead, basically? so.

it occurs to dave he should like...ask...for more information on that. but what the fuck ]

You...want to be dead together?

[ what the fuck ]

[splinten]

Yeah.

[And Dirk should explain it but now he's very flustered because he said a stupid thing.]

I... didn't want to be alive alone? An eternity of that is a comprehensively more horrifyin' fate than poppin' off to the dream bubbles.

[parodeity]

I mean, I'm sure the semipotent dogs would have happily murdered you. It was their thing.

[ mostly jack's, but.






shit that was said like it was half encouraging and half a joke but this is not a topic to joke about

shit ]

[splinten]

[Thanks Dave]

I didn't see them, I only saw—[Uh. He glances at Dave.] John.

[parodeity]

[ his attention is caught immediately. ]

Was he ok?

[ or are you about to talk about john egbert's corpse because that would about top off the day ]

[splinten]

He was just confused. As far as I could tell he was unharmed.

[And then Dirk was like 'TAKE ME, PIXELS OF DEATH' and left him]

[parodeity]

Oh, ok, business as usual then.

[ AT LEAST THERE'S THAT. if john's fine then...maybe things will be okay. he was doing that dumb as fuck "it's not time travel, dave, promise!" shit just beforehand, so... ]

Well, he'll sort shit out or he won't. Nothin' to be done about it now, though.

[splinten]

Agreed. Our best plan is likely to focus on our current situation and how to handle it.

[This is talking of What To Do, this is a safe topic and he can do it]

[parodeity]

[ he keeps saying "our" and it keeps sending dave into quiet confusion. it's a few minutes before he just manages a nod. like. yeah? that sounds like a plan?

he's still not sure what the fuck to say here. like...does he ask if dirk-bro has the jewelry thing at his collarbone or whatever? does he ask why the fuck he's okay without his shades on? does he say...something?

holy shit, rose should have been the one to find teen hardass strider. even dirk simply agreeing with a thing said by dave is weird, although at least weird means he isn't having to throw down right this second, which would be a pain in the ass. ]

[splinten]

[The silence lasts for some time, as Dirk is awkward and unsure and walking beside Dave. Occasionally, he has to be careful about how he picks through the forest, because this is New to him.

After a bit.]

So.

[Hello darkness my old friend]

[parodeity]

[ dave...seems okay with the forest layout actually. he's dealt with this kind of terrain before, if more Cold and shit, and he's mostly just kind of watching out for whatever is inevitably going to attack (he's not particularly optimistic).

when dirk talks, however, dave kind of glances over.

so? ]

[splinten]

[...He didn't think that far ahead.

Fuck.]

Can you fly?

[Wait he already asked that FUCK]