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Test Drive Meme #1 (cw vehicular crash, moderate injury)
Test Drive Meme #1
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
You don't need an invite to test
but please remember we're currently invite-only
but please remember we're currently invite-only
CRASH LANDING
Exit one dimension, enter the next. It was chaos: pressure against your ears, light bending in an impossible, unimaginable way. The very molecules of your body vibrating against one another. If you have windows, the view outside makes no sense. Even if not, your hands, your face, your feet seem like an uncertain thing. It's the feel of reality itself tearing apart, reshaping, reconnecting, thread by thread.
And suddenly, there's a beach— or ocean, whichever you land in. Smoke. Fire. Salt water churning up, fizzing around.
Maybe you crash, in a ship wrecking into sand. Maybe you merely stumble out of a portal, a ragged wormhole in space. Or maybe you fall off the back of an incredible steed, some creature that carried you into this place. Either way, there's pandemonium around you. Incredibly, severe injuries are far and few between— nobody's screaming about the dead. But you might have to help pull someone free of wreckage, or move quickly to salvage burning belongings from the landing craft. Maybe it's the crafts themselves, that you're trying to salvage.
Likely, you don't know them, these other strangers who arrived here[1]. Maybe you don't trust them— you just came out of a dying world, after all. But you all have one thing in common: you're here now.
When you get a second to breathe, maybe you'll see it. The brilliant green forest across the sand. Beyond that, the glint of a faraway city.
INTO THE WOODS
Your first night at Xistentia does not feature five-star accommodations, but as the sun begins to set, the forest offers everything you need to survive. By now, you may even have met your daemon, who'll help guide you through this. There is fallen wood to make fires for warmth and cooking, any number of rabbits, deer, and fish if that's what you're into eating. Those very same animals also provide guidance as to what vegetation is edible, including a variety of vine mushrooms, fruits, and flowers. If you're the kind of creature that mostly eats other sentient creatures, well. Technically, there are a lot of those hanging out too[2]! Now and then, you'll see tiny, winged humanoid creatures the height of a finger dart in and out of view.
A resourceful group, the multiversal refugees have determined ways to create shelters, using wreckage, supplies, and basic survival knowhow. There aren't enough blankets to go around, but the weather is mild and the fires seem to keep out any aggressive creatures.
Things get quiet. This could be a good time to meet the others under less fraught circumstances. Maybe you'll see some familiar faces and reunite with others who fled from your dying world; maybe you'll meet someone new.
Try not to seek out and fight any Rock Trolls. It's still early.
ENTER THE CITY
The city is beautiful, even with the vines covering everything, the streams running down half the streets, the massive white deer leaping off under the highway overpasses. The architecture of the skyscrapers is incredible to look at, modern and sweeping. It's clear that terraced gardens were part of the building design, and some of the greenery that lines the street had been part of the original city plan. This is a city of great potential.
And it knows you're here. As you walk by, beacons like streetlamps begin to emit a gentle glow, registering your presence. No doors are locked, though you might find yourself chasing out nests of silver-winged birds and bug-eyed rabbits.
Here, you can claim empty shops or the clothing and other sales items inside of them. Apartment complexes aren't difficult to find in a range of sizes; nor are standalone homes, brownstones, loft studios. Penthouses may not feel like penthouses when there's a thin layer of dust growing on everything and a flower growing out of the sink, but you know what? Maybe that little bud is gonna be your first roommate.
It's the strangest thing. After a few days, the lights begin to work and the water begins to run, fully operational within the unseen sewer system. At some point, the keys to your house or residence are going to turn up. Your daemon will help you find what you need. F.A.TE.S. welcomes you.
NETWORK
By now you've settled in. You have some time to explore the city, the woods, and your new kit.
Chances are pretty good that your daemon is not a phone or a computer or a wax-sealed piece of parchment or a Howler, nothing with a convenient camera or a keyboard; it probably isn't even a pocket sized. Likelier, it stares at you with eyes that contain the lenses-- or powers-- of a camera, and some part of its body projects a holographic keyboard into the air. For those of us who are not accustomed to manipulating intangible light prisms, it's about as intuitive to type on as shaping a cloud with your fingers.
But here's your network access. Accessible to all your fellow travelers in XISTENTIA.
Misfires, typos, and blurry video footage are likely. Time to feel like a Luddite!
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
hells yeah
Footnotes
- Some of these can be nameless, plot-device NPCs to facilitate interactions! But even in this case, please avoid gore in describing their current state of being. Anyone dead or catastrophically injured will have disappeared by the time your characters make it to Xistentia. There are no corpses or dying here.
- But like OOCly ask permission ofc.
no subject
He wasn't paying enough attention to notice the slip of the tongue, not that he would have cared much even if she had said the full name. And despite the fact that the wine wasn't to his tastes he took another swig, in hopes that it would get better after a few more.
"Mm, yeah, well you don't know that yet." He mumbled to himself after she said 'nice to meet you, Vex', because really. Nice and Vex weren't exactly bosom-buddies. "Yeah, it does. Rainbow flags and all that. That mean you only swing for the ladies, right?" Welcome to Vex's world of broad stereotypes, or he could just be saying that because he was a natural shitstirrer.
no subject
"Nope, I'm straight as a ruler" she said, as she continued focusing on the coffee maker, because that would make it easier to say this next part without crying. "My twin sister likes girls though. She's got girlfriend named Jaz." Sweet Maeve, let them have all found ways out. Tybalt could use the shadows and maybe take May and Quentin, Jaz could fly, but if they hadn't had time...
Her hand gripped a dirty cup hard enough to break the handle, the fear for all the people she loved--she couldn't even start thinking about the daughter she'd already lost twice, not yet--becoming impossible to hold back. She hardly even noticed the material breaking until the scent of her own blood hit her nose, although the wound was already closing.
no subject
But sexy turned to disturbing, his eyes widened at the sight of her suddenly bleeding. "Uh, you're uh," He wasn't close enough to see the wound was healing, and he wasn't about to get any closer either. He wasn't exactly 'helpful' to strangers in these sorts of situations other than verbally. "Think you broke the cup there, dear."
Yes Vex, very helpful.
no subject
She let out a slow breath, trying to calm herself, trying to keep her magic from rising into the air. She could smell a whiff of cut grass and copper, but she knew her own magic and it often came easiest when she was angry or bleeding, and she was both right now.
She raised her hand to her lips instinctively, then dropped it quickly before she licked the drops away. As much as she hated the sight of her own blood, it gave her strength. Thanks Mom.
"Don't worry about it," she said, too brightly. "I'm fine. Just a little stressed out. I'll be better after coffee." Coffee made everything better. It wouldn't bring May and Tybalt and Quentin here, but it would let her think of a plan. "See?" she waved her healed hand, only holding the smallest streaks of blood. "It was a lot worse than it looked." She frowned at the porcelain. "Okay, maybe not for the cup." She wished her magic would let her fix things, like some other Faes did, but all she could do was work their blood. She knelt to pick up the shattered pieces, so she didn't have to look the stranger in the eyes, afraid there were still tears there.
no subject
He mused to himself on the phrasing as he went to the counter where a derelict cash register sat. He hopped up onto it, made himself comfortable with his wine beside him, then leaned over to see if there was any money in the tray. Not that it would do him any good, this was clearly not going to be a currency-based economy for a long while.
"I think adding caffeine to the mix of nerves and adrenaline is a perfect idea, darling." No, it wasn't, but who was he to judge? Here he was taking another chug of bad wine. "So, San Francisco, not gay. But also with a name that was practically tailor made for a lesbian, alright. I'll buy it. Why not. Now, tell me you have the ultimate powers to make sure all the beasties will stay away from us and I'll be your absolute bestie."
no subject
"If it makes it any better, my full name's October. And yes, before you ask, my mother did actually name me October Daye. So now you know why I go by Toby, which you're going to call me if you want to keep everything under those nice tight pants." Despite--or maybe because of--the situation, Toby grinned as she got up from the floor, setting the broken cup aside.
His quip about powers made her tense for just a second, then she sighed. Given the situation--the rose goblin...thing that was apparnetly something like a machine, the portal that wasn't a Tutha portal, Faerie and the mortal world crumbling...well, she couldn't keep up a human disguise for long, if only just because it would take way too much energy that she'd probably need for something else. "Well, that depends," she said slowly. Then, shoving her hair back behind her ears in a movement that made the sharp smell of copper and cut grass flood the air, she let her human disguise fall. Even in the dim light, a human would have been able to see that her eyes had gone so gray as to be almost white, that dark hair had lightened and developed golden highlights, that her cheekbones were sharper--and her ears pointed like the most stereotypical image of an elf.
"Do you think illusions could come in handy?" she asked, trying to smile even as she was reaching in her pocket for her knife, just in case he freaked out.
cw: homophobia? idek. Vex.
"Appreciate that you waited this long before threatening my junk, typically that's within the first twenty seconds. Should I blame that on the lack of coffee?" He snickered slightly to himself as he took another swig of the wine-- which he promptly spit out when she shifted form. The laugh that bubbled up his throat was slightly hysterical due to his surprise, and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Warn a fae first, yeah?! Blimey! I suppose they're useful if you can turn into a tree, but that getup makes you stand out a bit more, love. What the bloody hell is that smell? Is that you? Dryad or somethin'?"
no subject
She realized then that she hadn't tasted his heritage--she didn't taste that he was Fae. There was something wrong about that. But there was something wrong with a lot of this.
"It didn't used to be so...obvious. Mom did a number on me awhile ago, made me stand out more." To save her life. She still didn't know how to feel about what Amandine had done--or that she hadn't stayed. "I'm not a dryad. I have a friend who's a cyber dryad though. She'd probably be doing a lot better with all this than me." April would at least understand all the talk about viruses and everything. "And my illusions aren't really that great. I could probably keep a couple people under a don't-look-here long enough to find shelter, though. I'm Dóchas Sidhe. A bloodworker." Even if she'd been at home, she would have had to explain that, since apparently she and Amandine were the only ones.
She blinked, confused. "That was my magic. What are you and where you do you come from that all fae don't have their own magic signature?" Going on old instincts now, she took a couple steps forward, lips parting a bit as she tasted the air and frowned. "I can't even tell what you are. And I'm good at that."
no subject
His eyes widened slightly as she began to approach him, his instincts telling him to be cautious of anyone with 'blood' in the title of their species. As such, he killed two birds with one stone: one to make himself more comfortable, and two to show her what he was. He rose an empty hand towards her and make a two-fingered 'walkie' motion, and Toby would suddenly find herself stepping backwards- back to the coffee pots.
"I'm a mesmer, luv. That is my magic, no signature required." In fact, she wouldn't be able to feel even a trace of his within her, very sneaky and obviously dangerous. He let her go once she was back where she started, his hand lowered back to his bottle.
no subject
Well, not anymore. And anyway, this wasn't half as bad as that--she didn't feel like her neck was going to break from being bent in subservince.
"Oberon's balls,," she breathed when she was back by the remains of the cup. "Sorry, force of habit. You get stabbed as much as I have, you like knowing if someone's going to be able to glamour you on top of it." She doubted with that power he'd been stabbed as much as her. But it was hard to tell with the Fae, as she knew too well.
"The opposite, actually," she said, mi wrapping around her middle reflexively when she thought of what her mother had done. What she had done to save Gilly. "She shifted my blood when I was a little girl, trying to cover up what I was with the blood I got from my human father." Why, she still didn't know. Maybe the Ludieag did, but it was another thing she couldn't tell. "She had to shift it back when I almost died. I'm still only half blood though, I'm just a half blood who doesn't know a whole lot about what she can do because the only other Dochas Sidhe is her clinically insane mother. All I really know is if you're mixed blood, I can shift the balance." Which was...maybe a stupid thing to say to another Fae? Probably. She'd blame the lack of coffee,
The fact that her mother might actually be dead now was starting to hit her, Amandine being dead...she didn't know how to feel about that. So she wasn't going to. She forced brightness into her features. "As for your question, I don't know. Since something's clearly different where you're from, I can't even tell if we have anything in common, besides magic. If your Leanan Sidhe is a descendent of Oberon, then yeah, probably, because he's...my grandfather." The words came out surprised. They were all descended from the King or one of the Queens in some way, but to be that close was still a shock. Especially considering she still used his balls as an oath.
no subject
"How are his balls, anyway? I've always wondered," he asked loudly instead, aware that it was more of a rhetorical question than anything else since he already knew because he'd roomed with Bill, who used to prattle on all about the inspiration for his plays. Though maybe Toby would be comforted by the fact that he had apparently no ruddy clue what the 'balance' was, nor did he care. Either that or he was very good at acting clueless.
"She might be, she's bitchy enough for it, but I never thought to ask. And hopefully she won't show up here so I'll never know." He gave a dramatic shrug before having another swig of his wine, which was starting to taste better thank you. "Mm! Not to say you're bitchy just because you're one of Oberon's lot, but you know how it is. Descendants from ancient fae tend to think their shit smells like roses."
no subject
She actually sighed at the mention of Oberon, shrugging and leaning against a dingy counter. "Don't know. He left us hundreds of years before I was born. He's not dead--well, we don't think he's dead, he and the Queens--Maeve and Titania--just...shut the doors to the old lands and left. Maybe that's why we keep using his balls and their tits as swears. Maybe we think if we offend them enough they'll come back." She was surprised by the note of wistfulness in her voice. Maybe it wouldn't have been there if she hadn't been to Anoon, if she hadn't seen just a bit of what Fairy had lost when the doors were shut, but she had. "Guess that's pretty much a moot point right now."
no subject
"Believe me, you probably wouldn't want them to come back even if there was the chance. What good are they anyway? Ancient fae should stay locked up and away, unless they're going to get with the times and enjoy the world for what it is. Too many of them want to change things to what they want, power-hungry and all that. No thanks. But yeah, I had a boss like your Queen, except she didn't have the bollocks to execute me because I was really popular with the elders. I'll say one thing about this apocalypse, we don't have to deal with all their lot anymore."
Not that he actually was while in Eudio, but why bother whining about that? It was too personal anyway. "How's that coffee coming along then?"