hugtopiamods (
hugtopiamods) wrote in
hugme_mes2021-01-20 12:04 pm
Entry tags:
January Test Drive Meme

January (Lasra) Test Drive Meme
Premise ♥ Setting ♥ Rules ♥ FAQ ♥ Mod Contact
The first few months of the new year in Havenwell are chilly, a little blustery, and full of energy as everyone braces for the months to come, as well as anticipate whatever new changes their little corner of the world will have in store for them. Ever grateful to the gods who grant them safety and the offworlders who bring them hope, locals clean the streets of snow and go about their lives with the kind of energy that flesh and blood folk might find envious. Hopefully their gracious attitude will give newcomers some comfort in the midst of Havenwell's strange situations.
If you are curious about the situation of the city at large, have a look at our current World Status Page!
❥ PROMPT I: Your Yearly (Mis)Fortunes

At each temple along all the other celebrations and games, you can also find a separate booth that has a strange and unreadable Aellyn script on it. The robot sitting behind the booth has their face covered with a strip of fabric that obscures it completely, but it calls out to you when you walk by. It offers you an ancient-looking wooden container with a single small hole at the top. If you take it, it mimes shaking the container and tipping it over. Do as they say and a wooden stick pops out of the top with that same strange script on it. The robot takes a look at what you got and takes the container back, passing you a single strip of paper with reverence. "Keep your fortune close or learn to let it go," it says, and then looks to find another patron. Turn your paper over and discover what your fortune holds for you.
- Big Luck: "The world shall become your limitless bounty, until you choose to rely on others." After reading your fortune, the world does indeed seem limitless. Or maybe it's just large? Everything around you has suddenly gained in size. The fortune-teller's booth seems like a mountain. The stones under your feet like a massive raft. Has the world suddenly grown? Nope, you've just shrunk down to about 5 to 6 inches tall. Everything you were holding and on your person is also proportional to your new size. Hopefully you can find someone to carry you around for a bit because only by being carried will you return to your natural size. As an option, this can happen to you again randomly at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.
- Medium Luck: "All that glitters is gold for you until another helps you out." After reading your fortune, nothing much seems to have overtly changed. And you probably won't notice anything until the next time you try to eat something. Any time your hands touch any food or anything that can be used to feed yourself, it explodes into glitter and your communicator rings as a deposit of Dora is made into your bank account. This seems pretty awesome at first, until you realize you can't eat anything and you're getting hungry. You may need to get someone else to feed you your next meal, after which the curse seems to have been broken. However, you have the option to have this effect happen again randomly at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.
- Small Luck: "The smallest things can bring the biggest rewards." After reading your fortune, nothing much seems to have changed until you return home and find all of your pillows, blankets, and bedding have turned much, much too small for you. If you're an adult, the bedding is now the size suitable for a baby. If you are a child, you're looking at something small enough for a large doll. Any bedding you try to borrow changes its size as well, and it seems the only thing that can change them back is to share your bed or a blanket with someone else for a night. When you wake up from your nap or your slumber, everything will be back to normal. As an option, you can have this effect happen again randomly any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you.
- Bad Luck: "The love of an animal is almost as strong as the love of your fellow people." After reading this fortune, all the temple animals turn and look at you in unison. They seem to be drawn toward you, literally, as they begin to converge and run toward you like a tidal hoard in an attempt to cuddle you. You best run or they threaten to bury you under their mass, and they'll keep chasing you until you find comfort in the arms of another - whether that's climbing on top of them to get away or jumping into their arms to avoid the tidal wave of mice - as soon as you cling to someone else, the animals seem to lose interest. You can optionally have this effect activate again at any time during the month so long as you keep the paper fortune on you, creating a new stampede of animals of any variety that try to love you just a liiiittle too much.
❥ PROMPT II: Festive Flora Festoons

They're trying to keep the holiday spirit going with some greenery among all the cold wintery snowy weather! All around the city, over doorways, strung across roads and walkways, threaded in entryways and hallways alike, people can find colorful wreaths and garlands hung overhead. Prominently displayed among the Rawna-centric ribbons and synthetic greens are real live plants! It seems the natives have picked up on the idea of holiday decorations involving seasonal flora and other decor to brighten the darker winter days. Sadly, it seems they've missed the mark on what kinds of plants are meant to be involved. Here and there, people can find all manner of plant strung up from things that look like ivy to pine-adjacent trees to weird decorations that miss the 'plant' mark entirely. Moreover, it seems these decorations are being tampered with by the gods in a haphazard manner. Some, not all, of these decorations carry a strange field around them, affecting people when they walk beneath them. Watch out, offworlders! While the natives are also getting caught sometimes, you're the most susceptible to this mysterious meddling.
♥ Mistletoe: Some of these plants are actually mistletoe, and for those familiar with the Earth tradition, they carry the same effects. On occasion when you and another person walk under the mistletoe, an invisible force field springs up, trapping you both in a six foot circle beneath the plant. Any attempts to destroy the decoration does nothing to dispel the field and teleportation does nothing but bounce you to the other side of this odd bounded circle. For those in know, they may have an inkling of what needs to happen to escape this little trap: positive physical contact in the form of hugs or kisses! Platonic kisses on the hand and cheek do seem to work for some people, though, so maybe you can both escape this without too much embarrassment? ...Maybe?
♥ Missile...toe??: Some of the plants around town have brightly colored stockings and socks hung in them. The natives seem to think that hanging footwear is an integral part of the offworld winter tradition, so they've carried it over to Lasra. On occasion, when you and another person are caught under these decorations, a cloud will form overhead and begin pelting both of you with tiny foam darts. The cloud moves with you both and will give chase for an indeterminate amount of time. It even seems that it can follow you indoors, which is entirely illogical but so is a cloud blitzing you with foam darts and here we are. It isn't omnipotent though and quick thinking or some fancy moves can throw it off your trail for awhile. The only problem is you and the other person can't seem to get more than six feet apart from one another, so you better come up with an action plan to either dispel the cloud or figure out a way to elude it or you'll be spending your day annoyed at the constant barrage of toys.
♥ Verdant veritas: This is just getting weird now. Some of the garlands have miniaturized versions of entire trees hung upside down from them. These trees range from off-colored pines to what passes for this world's version of plastic palm trees to miscolored birches, oaks, and fruit trees. Most of these trees are plastic, but it can be a little strange to see a scaled down tree hanging into the roadway. Getting caught under one of these with another person when they go haywire will trap you both in an entirely uncomfortably small circle of 3 feet from one another. The only way to widen it is to tell the other person a truth about yourself that they may not know. With each truth you tell, the circle widens by 1 foot until it snaps at some indeterminable point. For some, this might just be 2 truths and you're free. For others it might be 20. The natives tend to get caught by this one the most, so at least you have examples of what needs to happen should you find yourself trapped!
♥ Berries aplenty: Some of the decorations are filled with red and white berries hanging in clusters. These are the most innocuous seeming of all the garlands and, since the berries are small enough, the easiest to miss. They do, however, seem to be causing quite a stir with anyone caught beneath it. When you and another person walk beneath these garlands, you'll find yourselves trapped with one of you suddenly wearing a Santa outfit projected over your normal clothes like an illusion. You cannot escape the six foot circle under the berries unless you sit on Santa's lap and tell them what you really really want for the holidays. You've been a good person/robot/cat/creature this year, right? The gods hope so because only those on the Nice List who say what you want and mean it get to leave the clutches of the berries.
♥ Mistletoe: Some of these plants are actually mistletoe, and for those familiar with the Earth tradition, they carry the same effects. On occasion when you and another person walk under the mistletoe, an invisible force field springs up, trapping you both in a six foot circle beneath the plant. Any attempts to destroy the decoration does nothing to dispel the field and teleportation does nothing but bounce you to the other side of this odd bounded circle. For those in know, they may have an inkling of what needs to happen to escape this little trap: positive physical contact in the form of hugs or kisses! Platonic kisses on the hand and cheek do seem to work for some people, though, so maybe you can both escape this without too much embarrassment? ...Maybe?
♥ Missile...toe??: Some of the plants around town have brightly colored stockings and socks hung in them. The natives seem to think that hanging footwear is an integral part of the offworld winter tradition, so they've carried it over to Lasra. On occasion, when you and another person are caught under these decorations, a cloud will form overhead and begin pelting both of you with tiny foam darts. The cloud moves with you both and will give chase for an indeterminate amount of time. It even seems that it can follow you indoors, which is entirely illogical but so is a cloud blitzing you with foam darts and here we are. It isn't omnipotent though and quick thinking or some fancy moves can throw it off your trail for awhile. The only problem is you and the other person can't seem to get more than six feet apart from one another, so you better come up with an action plan to either dispel the cloud or figure out a way to elude it or you'll be spending your day annoyed at the constant barrage of toys.
♥ Verdant veritas: This is just getting weird now. Some of the garlands have miniaturized versions of entire trees hung upside down from them. These trees range from off-colored pines to what passes for this world's version of plastic palm trees to miscolored birches, oaks, and fruit trees. Most of these trees are plastic, but it can be a little strange to see a scaled down tree hanging into the roadway. Getting caught under one of these with another person when they go haywire will trap you both in an entirely uncomfortably small circle of 3 feet from one another. The only way to widen it is to tell the other person a truth about yourself that they may not know. With each truth you tell, the circle widens by 1 foot until it snaps at some indeterminable point. For some, this might just be 2 truths and you're free. For others it might be 20. The natives tend to get caught by this one the most, so at least you have examples of what needs to happen should you find yourself trapped!
♥ Berries aplenty: Some of the decorations are filled with red and white berries hanging in clusters. These are the most innocuous seeming of all the garlands and, since the berries are small enough, the easiest to miss. They do, however, seem to be causing quite a stir with anyone caught beneath it. When you and another person walk beneath these garlands, you'll find yourselves trapped with one of you suddenly wearing a Santa outfit projected over your normal clothes like an illusion. You cannot escape the six foot circle under the berries unless you sit on Santa's lap and tell them what you really really want for the holidays. You've been a good person/robot/cat/creature this year, right? The gods hope so because only those on the Nice List who say what you want and mean it get to leave the clutches of the berries.
❥ PROMPT III: The Weather Outside (and Inside) is Frightful

To some, the best part of winter is the beautiful snowy landscape and Aellyn is delivering on that this year. All across Havenwell, the snow is drifting down in lazy, cozy piles that turn the city even more picturesque than usual. It's a lovely sight and even the natives are enjoying it by doing things like building snowrobots, snow forts, snow sculptures, and snow fights! Some of the less jolly ones are grumbling about the need to shovel the snow to keep roads and walkways clear, but overall the city seems to be enjoying the weather.
The grumbling might be justified, however, because at random times and in random places all over the city, the gentle drifts of snow suddenly become small localized Snowpocalypse pockets! Small storm clouds will whip up in pocketed areas, dumping feet upon feet of snow all at once before dissipating. These massive snow drops have the potential to trap people inside homes, businesses, in doorways, or even bury them outside. If you're unlucky enough to be caught outside, you'll need to cuddle up to keep warm until you or the locals can dig you out. If you're stuck inside, you better start digging out from your doors or you might be stuck for awhile. The cold of these snow drops seem to seep in through the walls, making even those inside want to cuddle up for warmth before either digging themselves out or awaiting rescue.
The gods must not know the saying, "All things in moderation" when it comes to snow!
The grumbling might be justified, however, because at random times and in random places all over the city, the gentle drifts of snow suddenly become small localized Snowpocalypse pockets! Small storm clouds will whip up in pocketed areas, dumping feet upon feet of snow all at once before dissipating. These massive snow drops have the potential to trap people inside homes, businesses, in doorways, or even bury them outside. If you're unlucky enough to be caught outside, you'll need to cuddle up to keep warm until you or the locals can dig you out. If you're stuck inside, you better start digging out from your doors or you might be stuck for awhile. The cold of these snow drops seem to seep in through the walls, making even those inside want to cuddle up for warmth before either digging themselves out or awaiting rescue.
The gods must not know the saying, "All things in moderation" when it comes to snow!
Have fun however you like with the setting! Make a network-style toplevel, make up other prompts based on the general setting, go wild. Havenwell is your oyster.
This TDM is for the February-March application rounds. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below. The reservation rounds begin 3 days before the next application round at 10:00PM EST and our applications will run from the 2nd 10:00PM EST to 9th 10:00PM EST of the following month.

no subject
Venti puts on a show of humming, hand on his chin as he thinks. The first thing he thinks of... Well, it’s just typical of him, really. All he’s ever wanted is for his people to be free - for everyone to be free to explore their wants and desires, moving through the world like the breeze. He’s fought and used every trick he has to keep that freedom around, but...
Such a thing is intangible. It’s not just something you can wish for or force on people who don’t want it. Still, it’s the first thing he thinks of, and he wonders if it’s because a city surrounded by a storm is far too familiar.]
Hmmmm!
[He snaps his fingers, still exaggerated.]
Inspiration for a new song!
[He is, after all, a bard.]
no subject
Still, if he was correct, they should be free to go now! And so, she looked around...! Nothing changed. ]
Delightful. [She hopes the kid can feel the sheer dryness and joylessness behind that word.] I see two possibilities here. Either you've missed on an aspect of how the confession is supposed to go...
[ She drew on her pipe again, but she expelled the smoke away from him. She may be an asshole, but she's not the sort of asshole who breathes smoke in your face. ]
Either you are being untruthful about your desire. Perhaps both.
[ Her bet? He both missed on an aspect of the process and was being untruthful about what he desired. Maybe intangibility isn't the problem here. Inspiration is just as intangible as a wish for freedom... But she can sympathize to an extent. She would rather die of thirst and hunger waiting it out than tell a total stranger what it is she truly wants. ]