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pedalbike2020-11-24 06:53 pm
upcyclingmod) wrote in pedalbike2020-11-24 06:53 pm
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Fourth TDM: Winter's breath
Welcome to the Test Drive Meme.
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As a quick note: This will be the last TDM and Application Round of the year! Have fun everyone!
Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.
Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.
The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.
Oops.
Start of Winter
Thankfully things have more or less dried out, for the seasons are already changing. Or at least, the weather is, and with it...comes snow.
The grass on the island is covered, various trees lose the last of their leaves, the sand becomes crunchy, and even a portion of the ocean water becomes frozen solid. (Take THAT, water!). And with it, Wickies wake up at their feet (or suddenly in their hands if they don’t sleep) warm clothing and various ways to keep warm- or at least keep the cold from messing with their joints!
And with it, there are snow shovels and boots that are set out neatly by the door. It seems more snowk is expected, and foot protection is more important than ever. While it is possible for some (those who are not infected by the Silence at least) to use the teleporter to get from town to their homes, there are pathways that need to be cleared for everyone.
It might be a good time to offer a helping hand! Especially with some Wickies who are snowed into their homes.
Or it could be a good time to use the shovels to gather snow for snow ball fights, snow forts, and similar winter activities. The nice thing about the winter shovels is that they’ll have them for a few months.
Too bad the ground is nearly frozen solid, and these particular shovels are not good for digging into the ground.
Frosty Protections
While there may be the snow and the quiet that’s coming in, there are other things that are coming into the island too. There are tables that linger day or night, which have tangyuan. Some in the shape of various animals, and some of them that are simply balls of colored dough. They are edible, and thankfully they don’t have a negative consequence to eating them (unlike the mooncakes from before) but there are written instructions, which also proclaim outloud to a Wickie if they linger for awhile:
“For the use of protective talismans! Stick it on your chair, your door, your window!”
Interestingly enough, they do seem to work. Wickies who are Silence infected are repelled by them, feeling uneasy and nauseous around them and touching the tangyuan even with covered hands will cause a burning sensation.
Infected Wickies who eat the treats...they’re in for a rough time. Really rough.
There are also little tables with various drinks, some being fruit juice, sparkling fruit juice, champagne and of similar ilk- but not ever with water. That’s just bad luck after everything.
The inscription for this table, which is again read out loud, “Toast to others health”
Picking up the cups, they will be unable to drop it, and the fluid will refill in the Wickie’s cup until they find someone to toast to- whether it’s in humor or in earnestness.
For the next twelve hours after the toast is made, even if the drink is not drunk after, the Wickie toasted will find they will have better luck in that subject, whether it is in health, love, or friendship, or just in general.
The same applies if Wickies toast together to a group of people as well.
Of hooves and horns
The strangest thing of all isn't the sweet rice balls, nor is it the smell of evergreens heavy in the air. Instead, it's the masks set to everyone, and the ruckus music that thrums through the air, deep into the night.
The masks are of a haggard old woman, well worn and aged, and that of a man with horns and facial hair similar to a goat.
There are different effects when it comes to the masks, both happening at night with the music starts.
Wickies wearing the devilish mask find themselves wearing a ragged fur suit, prancing in the streets, ready to whip other Wickies whose behavior has been suspect or bad as of late. Finding the wicked and punishing them is an impulse, neigh impossible to ignore. And, too, there is a sense of wicked glee when they do punish someone with their reeds and whips. Krampus masked Wickies thankfully can be pacified with rum or brandy. They'll need the help of another to pull of the mask. But once it's off, the costume vanishes, and the chagrin of what happened ( or the satisfaction) follows.
Wickies wearing the woman’s mask will find that they’re not trying to scare people, but instead, they find themselves loping in and out of the crowds, searching, scanning, for certain people, all the while wearing ragged clothing, and often a scarf on their now ratty, graying hair.
It’s with a sickening horror that Wickies will realize there is something in the mask that is watching through the mask itself, and is nodding to itself far away and writing their names on a list.
And it’s not Santa Claus.
The Wickie’s wearing the old woman’s mask can be distracted by scattering seeds or threads in front of them- one inducing a true distraction to count and pick up the seeds, and a rage that comes over that of wasted thread.
Seeds make it easier to pull off the mask, and thankfully popcorn counts as a seed! But thread...well, it is a distraction too, but one that can lead to violent consequences. It might mean some rounds of bait and switching until the mask is taken off.
And that’s when the Wickie who had been wearing the mask realizing the list is of ‘bad’ Wickies, But…
how bad could they be?
Confession network
Yet again, the phone goes off. Doesn’t look like it’s anybody in town, but it’s that weird, cheesy app called The Heart Game. And it’s persistent, too: it doesn’t want to be ignored, making a series of beeps and chirps, much like a pet that wants attention.
The message that pops up is as follows:
We’re back! It’s the time for everyone's favorite game- Confession! So beloved users, our question is:
What do you love about winter? Is it the nip on your nose? The hot drinks? Playing in the snow? Tell us!
no subject
[ why fish? fish were the smelliest of them all, of course. and it was a creeping, seeping sort of stench. it made the bridge of her nose wrinkle in slight distaste. it smelled bad, yes. it smelled like the blight demons would leave behind and sink their claws into when humanity was at its worst. ]
But it has not rooted itself just yet. [ which would've been her greater worry; in her voice there's some relief. ] I have been told of ugly creatures out to harm those who live here, but these citizens aren't citizens at all. They have been spirited just as you and I.
[ it's a lot to think about at once, but luckily— she's vaccinated. she has her clients back home, but retrospec worked in so many mysterious ways as she was brought back to enlightenment . . . and then during the last life, when the wood sprite desperately called upon her. oh, she'll think of something to tell them all. her spirit has been ready for such calls for centuries. ]
—Is this the first time you have been summoned?
no subject
It is. My duty is to my homeland.
[ Having defended his people and then founding two settlements for them, he had walked alongside Liyue for the past six millennia. The life of an immortal meant that even distant memories refuse to fade. He had stepped away from his long reign recently, but the adjustment period for his newfound freedom has yet to end. ]
What of you?
no subject
From what I remember, this should be my fourth grand adventure in a third coming. Twice in one life is a blessing. [ though she can’t say it’s just started . . . all that traveling and adventuring beforehand! so much has been done. she folds her sleeves, and abruptly feels like taking a stroll. she’ll still give this fellow his tea, but as she glides across snow covered streets in elegant steps, but an ever playful dip of her head, ] Would you walk with me?
no subject
He takes the tea with a nod by way of thanks, cupping it in his gloved hands. The shovel... will casually disappear in a cloud of geometric dust, as he had summoned it instead of taking a physical one. ]
I will.
[ Being with Ahmi gives him a certain subtle sense of peace. It's not unwelcome. He expects her to speak first, so silent he shall remain. ]
no subject
I have yet to know your name, dear, and I'd prefer I have one before I name you myself! [ it is a playful nudge rather than a threat; her naming is harmless and more embarrassing, she'd imagine, calling strangers son or just boy, or maybe scale-ball, in issun's memory? haha. ] I have met many dragons, but not of an essence like yours.
no subject
In this form, I go by Zhongli.
[ Morax, Rex Lapis, the God of Contracts, the God of War, the Prime of the Adepti... the list goes on. But here and now, they are very far away from him, from this world, and thus have little consequence on the present. He had always been a pragmatist, and always will be. ]
The foundations of my world rest on a kaleidoscope formed out of seven elements. Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Viridescence, and Earth. All that lives upon Teyvat exist under one of the Seven. [ Or rather, Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, Electro, Cryo, Dendro and Geo. But he is a god after all, and they have a different view of the elemental forces than the names that were given to them by humanity. ] I am of the stone.
[ She knows that already, though. To be able to perceive his divinity even when he intentionally restricts it tells him of how powerful she could be. ]
And you?
no subject
[ may the earth here speak to him as much as his home did. as for her? oh, dear, she murmurs, ]
I am Ahmi Okelani, born in the small coastal town of Haaula, Hawaii. It is a state belonging to an evolved country of fifty spanning across a vast earth still in growing conditions. There's much more to learn. [ everyone, by her belief, was alive to grow and learn, and it had quite a bit since she last remembered. ] The names I have gone by are either forthright or fond. Shiranui and Amaterasu were the most renown in their time when the country of Japan was still a newborn.
[ she extends her hand outward, in a gentle swish and gesture. ]
But The Sun, Mother to All, and even "Snowy", as the children would say when they'd see me loping their villages— warm my core to this day.
no subject
A pleasure to meet you.
[ They are still walking, so he inclines his head by way of showing respect. His voice is calm and somewhat soothing when he doesn't have too many things on his mind. ]
Are you accustomed to appearing in many forms?
[ She did say 'loping'. He has a feeling that the mortal appearance is not her only one, just as how his mortal appearance is not his only incarnation. The Adepti also generally choose to manifest as beasts, so it is not strange to him ]
no subject
I am accustomed to two! All of which depend on the eyes who see me. Many may see a wolf rather than a woman— humans, spirits and gods alike. [ she gestures with a sleeve, a gentle "come closer". ] I will tell you a secret: I do not know how that works, to this day. I do believe it has to do with one's heart, but that is all a theory.
no subject
Your theory seems sound to me. You are close to many people's hearts.
[ Perhaps it too is a test of the mortal's purity of heart, though he doubts that Ahmi would turn away those who were not devout to the divine. Liyue also had its fair share of impious individuals who were nevertheless treading the same path as Rex Lapis did; for the betterment of their nation.
He places his left hand behind his back and his right arm poised in a thoughtful gesture; a quirk that many who know him are now accustomed to seeing ]
I take on my current appearance as a form of retirement from my duties.
[ As much as he is dutiful, there was still a limit to what he could tolerate without rest. Six thousand years is long enough. ]