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memesoftheton2023-05-27 11:00 am
thetonmods) wrote in memesoftheton2023-05-27 11:00 am
TDM II
Welcome to the The Ton's second Test Drive Meme!
Applications will OPEN on the 1st of June. Players with characters already in game are also welcome to top-level with them. However, we ask that all TDM-related prompts stay on the TDM post itself.
If you do write a top-level, please make sure to include your character's name and canon in the subject field - regardless of whether your character is already in game or not.
Please note that the Test Drive Meme does not require an invite in order to participate - submitting an application does.
NAVIGATION.
🌿 Arrival • Welcome Drinks • The Greenhouse Effect • Skinny Dipping • Give You Butterflies [NSFW] • That Belongs in A Museum • Jump to Comments 🌿
🌱 Applications • FAQ • Rules • Full Navigation 🌱
I. WELCOME
You don't remember when or where you fell asleep exactly...
Perhaps it's the tickling sensation of a low hanging tree branch brushing against your nose or the feel of the slightly damp grass underneath you that causes you to awaken but when you do you'll find yourself lying amongst a glade of wisteria trees. You're not alone - nymphs of the trees laugh and dance about you, clearly amused at the new arrival. Along with them, your new loyal servant is here on Pheme's bidding. How this servant looks is different to each arrival. Some are saddled with short, stout butlers, others are welcomed by towering, busty maids. Regardless of their appearance, they introduce themselves with a kindness and warmth that is simultaneously reassuring and strangely impossible to resist when they beckon you to follow them from the grove and out into the city of Andovale.
The closest structure within sight is the Palace and its grounds. It is here that the Lady Pheme resides and from here that she rules over the city, your servant explains to you. You have been selected and brought here personally by her. It is she who assigned the servant to guide you through the regency-inspired city that is your new home.
Eventually, they will bring you to your new residence within the outskirts of somewhere called the "Trade Quarter". You are now the resident of a room within one of the many imposing town houses which make up the Grand Crescent. Throughout your stay here the servant will be your own personal butler or maid. This is where all new arrivals will be living for the time being you are told. Your servant will also give you a crash course on life here and the concept of Thumos - the energy or life force that keeps Andovale and all life within it going - including you now that you are here. It's generated through acts of intimacy, whether that be physical or emotional.
Once you have been shown to your room, you are given two things: a network communication device and a letter. The letter reads as follows:
My dearest reader,
Welcome to Andovale.
The delights of our fair city are yours to explore.
I do hope that you make your stay here a most interesting one. I shall be frightfully disappointed if you do not - and we do not want that, do we?
You will hear from me again very soon.
Yours Truly,
Lady Pheme
You are free to wander about and explore the house and its surroundings as you please. It's certainly spacious enough. As well as your own quarters, each of the townhouses of the Grand Crescent have large communal areas, which includes the kitchens (although why you'd like to go there when your servant can fetch any delicacies you'd like for you!), a dining room, a parlour with its own small library, two drawing rooms (somewhere you can go to chill out basically - harp music anyone?) and a generously sized garden.
Strangely, unlike most accurate regency townhouses, there do not appear to be any servant's quarters - perhaps these servants don't need to rest? Or they go somewhere else entirely for that?
Why not introduce yourself to your new housemates? Or enjoy some tea and cakes that have been prepared for you personally by your retainer, which they seem to keep insisting on bringing to you?
II. AN INVITATION
Whether you're brand new to Andovale or a an establishedif a little unwillingresident by now, your assigned maid or butler will track you down. They are not empty-handed and they carry a silver tray, upon which is an envelope with a wax seal bearing the letter "P". Inside the envelope is an invitation. An invitation from your benevolent ruler, Lady Pheme herself.
Each character will receive an invitation identical in wording to the one below:
EVENT AT THE PLEASURE GARDENS
YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME HERE
Is requested to attend an exclusive event at the PLEASURE GARDENS, on 27th of May current.
Admission to the attraction begins at 6 o'clock p. m.
Wear something green for this special occasion.
Lady Pheme
Your servant can help you find something appropriate to wear - or not appropriate, the choice is entirely yours, after all. If you decide to go with their guidance, it is notable that they seem a little less decisive in the sort of outfit you should be wearing for this event - only, as Pheme said, that it should be something green. An evening gathering surely must require formal wear though and they will eventually press upon you the importance of wearing Regency Full Dress for the night ahead.
You may come to regret this.
Note: Even though it's a little different from the norm, this event will still count as a ball and all attendees will get 10 Reputation Points✨, just for showing up and looking respectable. Indulging with the theme and wearing an acceptable green outfit will also gain attendees a further 5 Points✨.
CW: alcohol
JUMP TO TOP • JUMP TO COMMENTS
So, you've received an exclusive invitation to the Pleasure Gardens' latest pop-up attraction from Lady Pheme herself? How exciting! Ordinarily, the Gardens are open to anyone willing to pay the small amount of Thumos required to enter, but tonight it seems that only those brought in from other worlds are permitted access. You're getting an exclusive preview of the attraction, one of the guards at the gates tells you.
One of their colleagues will escort you down the torch flame lit pathways, through the gardens to the centre - the open space where all events like this take place.
Tonight, that open space is not so open. Besides the vast outdoor ballroom floor, in front of you is a giant glass house - basically, a large fancy green house between you and I. These are often found at grand country houses to show off and cultivate exotic, never before seen plants from far off lands. You've been brought here for the unveiling of this attraction. How such a thing could possibly be temporary seems highly improbable, but that's Pheme for you.
Feel free to begin the evening with mingling and dancing as befitting of any ball, but before the night is over you will feel yourself propelled forward to join the queue to get into the "Palm House," almost as if an invisible hand is shoving you forwards. You're even handed an extremely green and theme appropriate alcoholic beverage to consume in the queue while you wait. It's all very civilised.
Oddly, this drink won't get you drunk in the usual way, despite the alcohol content. Instead you will find yourself imbued with a hefty sense of glee and eagerness for adventure. It's all to help ease you into this experience, after all.
You're admitted to the Palm House one at a time - it's fine, you'll see your friends inside! Just as you set foot through the doors, your head is filled with the sound of a woman's voice, soft and beguiling:
"Dearest gentle member of the ton - what happens in the Palm House, stays in the Palm House. You are free tonight."Note: For those that don't drink, there's also an alcohol free version. It looks completely identical to the boozy version.
Whether that drink has got you in the spirit or not, entering the Palm House is worth your while. All of those who enter will instantly receive 20 Reputation Points✨. And in case it wasn't already obvious, on this very special of occasions and the debut of her attraction, Pheme is turning a blind eye to what happens to you all in there. These things need a whole lot of Thumos to run properly and some of you will be doing her a huge favour... you just don't know it yet.
There will be no NPCs present in the Palm House, only your characters. Tonight is an exclusive preview for Pheme's Chosen, after all.
Entering the Palm House is a rather surreal experience to say the least. Sure, it looked pretty grand from the outside, but that's nothing compared to what greets you inside...
You might have been expecting a typical large tropical greenhouse as per any botanical garden visit, if such things exist to you back home. However, this particular green house appears to contain nothing less than a few dozen acres of rain forest. If the word "Tardis" resided in the vocabulary of the Ton's residents then it would surely be applied here. Pheme's out to show off again.
The moment you take a step or two through that door you feel strangely disoriented. Take a few steps more - perhaps you change your mind and decide to head back to the door you just came through. Only when you do, you'll find that the door is no longer there.
There is another door out of here but that involves crossing the length of the exhibit - and as you can now see quite clearly, that is not going to be such an easy task. There are paths to take and to (hopefully) stick to, but they seem to crisscross at every turn you take and go in all different directions. Thick rainforest surrounds you on all sides, its dense foliage extending towards what you can see of the glass ceiling and the night sky beyond that.
Pheme hasn't been quite cruel enough to leave you wandering through the rainforest by moonlight alone. Many of the plants here glow with an unnaturally bright bioluminescence - and there is more. Every now and again during your travels you will see the light of a of lantern darting amongst the trees, accompanied by alluring and lilting female voices, often laughing with delight. They might seem a little familiar to you.
It seems that the tree nymphs (or dryads) from the wisteria grove have sisters and they're making themselves quite at home in the Palm House. If you happen to catch a decent view of one of them, you'll find yourself face to face with quite possibly one of the most beautiful - not to mention scantily clad - women you have ever laid eyes on. They won't stick around long though. Make the mistake of trying to follow one of them and you'll find yourselves off the path and even more lost and disoriented than you were before.
You might be really regretting your choice of dress right about now - even if you are camouflaged with all of the greenery.Note: If your character does not manage to find the exit (or one of the magic wreaths mentioned below) then they will only remain trapped in the Palm House until dawn. After that time period they will themselves slipping into a deep slumber, only to awaken right back in their cosy bed within the Grand Crescent (or wherever they've now made their home) a few hours later. You can thank your servant for that.
JUMP TO TOP • JUMP TO COMMENTS
CW: large bodies of water, possible nudity
Unsurprisingly, it's hot in the forest, and the chances are that you didn't exactly come in here dressed for this.
While the dryads have made themselves at home on the land inside the Palm House, their naiad cousins (or water nymphs) have made themselves comfortable within the many rainforest pools. You can hear their delighted giggling as you traverse the forest and they will even call out to you in alluring tones, somehow knowing your name. It's impossible to resist following the sound and when you do you'll find yourself in front of one of the many pools that can be found within the Palm House.
Oddly, there is no sign of the naiads now that you're here. The water is beautifully crystal clear and dappled with the snatches of moonlight managing to shine through the forest canopy. That water is calling out to you, to drink and to bathe - you will feel an overwhelming compulsion to start removing your stuffy clothing, dive right in and cool down.
It's fine, after all, there's no one else around. Yet.
Just be care those pesky water nymphs don't hide your clothes.
JUMP TO TOP • JUMP TO COMMENTS
CW: sex, aphrodisiac, sex pollen, insects
It's not just nymphs and you lot making yourselves at home in the Palm House.
Often mistaken for moths, there's one species group of nocturnal butterflies, but their wings are dull, plain, and uninteresting. Clearly not a good fit for a glorious Palm House, designed by Pheme herself. That is precisely why Pheme has created her own, never before seen species of night butterfly, especially for this occasion.
Their wings are like gossamer, beautifully transparent like a ordinary glasswing butterfly but these ones glow in the dark. You probably encounter one or two as you make your way through the rainforest, but the longer you spend in here, the more the butterflies begin to swarm. Looking up and you'll see a "kaleidoscope" high above your heads, hundreds of them flocking together in a brightly glowing mass above the treeline. The display is only brief, but it leaves you with a strange yet probably not unfamiliar feeling.
You see, these butterflies have been carrying pollen on their bodies and legs, as butterflies often do, helping to spread the stuff. It seems whatever plant they have recently been feeding from has some very curious properties... and you can probably guess where this is going.
You feel hot - even more than you already did being stuck in a tropical forest. Not only that, you feel the strongest desire for physical intimacy. Effects vary depending on how much pollen you've been doused with, but you still have a deep, desperate need to do something about it. For those most strongly affected and desiring the ultimate, touching yourself may bring some relief. That may very well be your first thought to try, but some is the operative word here.
That person you've always had a flirtation with? Now is the time. You have to have them. You have to have each other. Or maybe you've just met this person, here, in the rainforest today? Maybe you're two people who ordinarily don't even like each other? Perhaps there's more than two of you?
It doesn't matter. You won't rest until you've gotten that release.Note: The butterflies swarm covers a wide enough area that you can be anywhere within the Palm House when their pollen hits. While this is obviously a sex pollen prompt, players can choose how strongly their characters have been affected. It may be that they only got the lightest dousing of pollen and kissing is enough to satisfy them. On the other hand, maybe they got so covered in the stuff that only doing the deed will do. The choice is yours.
JUMP TO TOP • JUMP TO COMMENTS
CW: chance for NSFW
So, you're not having much luck navigating your way out of this foliage filled nightmare? There is another way out. At some point on your travels, one of the naiads will take pity on you and try to help you out: "Find one of the wreaths!"
Deeper into the greenhouse, or this pseudo rainforest as it basically is, you'll find ancient Greek laurel wreaths made of pure gold. They might be just lying on the ground, or up a tree, or under the water in one of the forest pools... The choice is yours as to where you find it, We'll leave that entirely to your discretion.
It will take quite some doing given how far into the jungle these treasures are, but should you manage to find one, upon contact, it will teleport you, and whoever you might be holding onto, out of the greenhouse and right back to the entrance to the Pleasure Gardens again.
The wreaths won't be easy to find, and you'll face many obstacles along the way. Some set to distract you entirely from your goal, which is get the hell out of here. Unless you actually like it in here? You do you, boo. We're not judging.
The teleportation abilities of the wreaths themselves can only be activated by generating a small amount of Thumos between yourself and another first, another naiad will explain. That means no grabbing one for yourself and hightailing it out of here! Oh no, no, no. What about your chums? It would not be seemly to leave them in the lurch, after all.Note: Obviously more than one character can use one of these wreaths to teleport out of the Palm House, as long as each of you has a hand on the item and you have generated Thumos between all of you then it will work.
JUMP TO TOP • JUMP TO COMMENTS
Wildcard
To assist you with inspiration our full list of Andovale's locations can be found here.
Want to play something that isn't listed here? Go ahead!
no subject
Once the waiter has passed and the contact is broken he relaxes again. Comparatively. Still with the posture and demeanor of a man who firmly believes someone's about to leap out of nowhere and try to kill him, and is ready to prevent that in six different ways.
He's expecting to just slip away back to lurking through the crowd, but the commentary on his cufflinks gives him pause. A glance downward. A scoff.
"Not really a cufflinks kind of guy." Maybe it was obvious. "Who cares?"
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Bruce is used to being the biggest guy in the room--or at least the tallest--but for every inch this man has on him, he must have at least ten pounds too. No smiling, but his expression as he once-overs Krauser quickly and obviously is open and easy. Veteran. Young for a vet, but people come from everywhere to Andovale, it seems; it must be dangerous where this guy is from.
The drink has him feeling risky, so he guesses, "You're injured. I hurt you." His eyebrows raise, chin tucks for as level a look as he can manage. "I'm sorry."
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The guy's checking him out. Looking him over. Krauser recognizes at least a glimpse of him from the Grand Crescent, one of the many faces he'd caught staring and glared at until they minded their own business. He's used to being stared at, but he can give as good as he gets, eyeing Bruce up and down in return.
The guess manages to get a little surprise out of him, the brief rise of his brows as he realizes why he'd be thinking that. "No," he says levelly. "Not anymore. No harm done." Except for touching him at all, but Krauser can recognize an honest mistake. Acceptable social touching to get someone out of the way.
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"Bruce." A second thought, once he remembers that no one here cares who he is: "Wayne. Bruce Wayne. I think I'm as new as you are."
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His eyes follow the hand for a moment before he reaches out to shake it. "Krauser." No point in giving his first name. Nobody uses it. No point in giving his rank. He surrendered that along with his humanity.
Once the introduction is done he finds himself in the dreaded realm of conversation, a battlefield he has never been very confident on. He'd be tempted to turn around and walk off without another word, but he's trying not to stick out like a sore thumb here. Not doing a very good job with it, but he's trying.
"Don't know what the hell's going on here. Just woke up under a tree."
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As far as what the hell's going on, they're on the same page--all the information and still no clue what it all means. If they're both new, Bruce can probably count the beatific little girl he glimpsed as Krausers retainer, just the same as the almost reptilian young man that ran him through his own paces. As much as his retainer told him, he's still struggling for a why or a how. Nice to know he's not the only one baffled.
Krauser seems locked up at the jaw; what was he doing bumping into other guests anyway? Another educated guess: when waitstaff passes by again, Bruce hums for their attention and takes one of the full drinks on their tray by the rim. "Here." His own drink isn't gone yet. This one is for Krauser. He's careful not to jostle it as he offers it over, idly worried the deep green drink will stain his fingers. Maybe it's stained his tongue already? Bruce warns him frankly, "I'm reasonably sure these are drugged. Whatever's in them, though...I don't feel impaired. Just..."
His eyes cut up from the drink to Krauser. It sounds stupid to say, but: "...chill."
no subject
He's already got it to his lips and a huge glug in his mouth when Bruce says they're drugged. Yeah, he thought so too. Something potent enough to even slightly break through the mess that is his metabolism now that he's got a "passenger" fully integrated into his body.
"Good," he says after he swallows. "Because if I don't feel it in the next ten minutes I'm gonna start goddamn screaming."
A joke? Probably? At the very least, an admission that he's well aware he looks as uncomfortable as he feels.
no subject
As he asks, Bruce catches sight of a line forming at the entrance to the greenhouse. Brows furrow, knuckles brushing Krauser's upper arm to guide his attention. Just look at that--something's about to happen.Â
no subject
The absolutely deadpan response is accompanied by a curl of his scarred lip, right at the corner. A falsehood so blatant it may very well also be a joke, because he doesn't bother trying to make it stick.
"Soldier. Merc," he clarifies, before Bruce can ask him for whom he fought.
He lets the additional touch go, watching where the crowd is starting to move over by the building. Looks like they're about to get something started. Fine. If half this crowd disappears, more drinks for him.
no subject
Another tray, another drink foisted on each of them, the empties whisked away. The waitstaff isn't interested in Krauser starting to scream, either. "A mercenary." Bruce murmurs over the top of his glass. Here's what he's struggling with himself: "So does this feel like a vacation? Or like someone wants you out of the way?"
no subject
Fortunately, Bruce doesn't seem all that bothered one way or another. And his next question is far more interesting.
"Honestly?" Krauser pauses to knock off the rest of that drink, while he decides how honest to actually be. "Pretty sure I'm in Hell right now. Or something like it."
Though that does lead him to glance over at Bruce. "What about you?" It's unclear which answer he's looking for, exactly, if not all of them.
no subject
That honestly is a lot of honesty. The awkwardness of it pierces the pleasant haze afforded him by the drink (the drugs), so he finishes his current serving, too--sucks in a deep breath and lets it out slow. It feels good, but get together. He presses his smile flat, except for a hook at the corner. "I think I like your idea better. I'm not afraid of any devil. Are you?"Â
no subject
Funny that that hell guess is the thing that finally makes Krauser feel like he's said something strange. The fact it gets Bruce to actually crack a smile, probably. Guy's even more dour than him, somehow.
He shrugs one huge shoulder. "I'm not afraid of anything." And he'll never admit it if he is. "I don't know what this place is or if I even believe it. But what else you think happens to a dead merc?"
no subject
The queue lining up at the entrance to the Palm House has started to shift, one person by one person. Buoyed by the laugh and by the pleasant idea that this isn't all in his head, he straightens where he stands, a little taller, a little surer. He gestures to the door with his glass, eyes clear and challenging when they come back to Krauser. "No one is getting out the front, so that must be the way through.
"You aren't afraid of a garden, are you?"
no subject
Krauser watches the crowd starting to mill towards the Palm House, the same noncommittal look on his face. Place looks a bit small to be fitting in all of those people. But it does seem like the only way out of these walled gardens, as Bruce suggests.
"Only if there's a mandatory tour." Who gives a damn about palm trees? What the hell ever. "You trying to buddy up with me or something?"
no subject
no subject
He waits a beat, staring at the bottom of his empty glass.
"One more drink first. I'm still not feelin' shit." Not the traditional sort of drunkenness anyway, but that's only to be expected in his condition. The "chill" Bruce spoke of is just starting to sink in, but not nearly enough to go jumble around in that crowd.
"You gonna head in?"
no subject
That's a joke. He even smiles out of the corner of his mouth to show it. "See you inside, Krauser?"
no subject
His voice cuts out mid-sentence, like he's changed his mind on saying it. It's the verbal equivalent of watching a man his size trip on something and stumble. But he recovers a few seconds later, still looking away.
"Nice talking to you, Bruce."
🎀🎀🎀
no subject