Autumn TDM

[polymods]

✖ Test Drive Meme

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island looks very much like a cute little seaside town from New England, the sort overrun with tourists in the summer. But it’s not summer anymore, is it? No. Even on warm days the air holds a secret knife-edge of chill. Autumn is here.


The gently rolling hills beyond the little town are alive with reds and oranges and yellows, a riot of fall colours just begging to be used as the backdrop for a Hallmark movie. The town itself is likewise picture-perfect, with a bandstand in the middle of the park at the center of town where sometimes bake sales are held during the day and local concerts in the evenings. Mr. Terwilliger from nearby Terror Lake is even going to put on a one-man performance of the entire score of the H.M.S. Pinafore! Is there a church painted white with a red roof? You bet your ass there is. There’s little restaurants and corner shops that will keep you happily fed, and all sorts of little tourist shops that will keep you up to your neck in shitty keychains and postcards.

Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

3. These residents of the island are normal humans. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

4. Any food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities.

5. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. PSL 4EVAH
The Coffee Shop AU is an alternate universe fanfiction trope; in most cases, one of two characters is the barista, and the other is or becomes their favorite customer.

Love it? Hate it? Too bad, you’re living it.

That’s right - succumb to the siren call of pumpkin spice and walk through the doors of C’Ya Latte and you’ll find yourself either in line like a normal customer, or suddenly and inexplicably behind the counter. Hope you know how to work that milk steamer.

Regardless of what role you suddenly find yourself in, you won’t be able to leave the coffee shop until a full shift has been completed. Not unless one of you notices that the tip jar on the counter is suspiciously radiant. Thanks for the tip! reads the sign in bubbly letters that actually sparkle, and yes, it’s a clue: if one of you offers up some heartfelt advice to the other, the coffee shop doors will unlock themselves.

Notes:
1. A full shift is eight hours, regardless of what time you may have wandered into the shop. Both customer and barista are trapped for the duration.

2. Yes, the barista gets free drinks.

---

Ⅲ. PUMPKIN PATCH KIDS
CW: Monsters, blood
If you wander just outside of town, you’ll find a road that is lined on either side with trees displaying their autumn colours. There’s a sign reading “this way to the PUMPKIN PATCH!” with a little arrow pointing down the road, and should you take a stroll you’ll find yourself at a quaint little farm. There’s a big red barn, some goats and chickens you can go and gawk at, an apple orchard, and of course the advertised pumpkin patch.

There is a little stand set up by the entrance to the farmyard, and as you pass by the kid manning it will hand you a cellphone.

“It’s for the scavenger hunt,” she explains with a smile, also handing you a list. “You and a partner have to take a picture of each of the things, and then you come back here and you get a photo prize!”

The list reads:

- one of you holding a pumpkin! :)
- you holding hands while one of you goes down a road/path!
- feet with autumn leaves!
- apple cider or hot chocolate (you can find these at our concession!)
- something you think is truly beautiful!

If this is a little too twee for your tastes, you can of course choose instead to wander the fields of pumpkins and apples. There will be children running around right up until the sun begins to set - one little tyke in orange footie pajamas seems intent on chasing after you as you walk, ducking out of sight whenever you turn to try and see him clearly. He appears to be wearing some sort of mask, which is a little weird.

As the sun bleeds out in the western sky, the shadows of the orchard grow long and longer. If you choose to wander out that way you’ll find that the neat rows of apple trees have begun to twist and turn, creating a maze that spirals inward. Sunlight fades from bruise yellow to purple, and in the twilight you find yourself at the center of the orchard.

There is a mound of earth here. If you walk around it, you will find it’s not just any pile of dirt: it’s a barrow. There is an old, nearly collapsed entrance there just barely showing above the ground. In front of this there is a stone into which the following is carved:

“Accept this sacrifice.”

As you read the words, you feel the ground shiver beneath your feet as the barrow splits open and a creature pulls itself from the stinking womb of the earth.

It is ten feet tall with an emaciated body and a grotesquely oversized head. The skull looks pulpy, and the face is a grinning nightmare of teeth and milky white eyes. Its fingers are nearly as long as its forearms, tipped with claws that cut through flesh as easy as butter.

Looks like it’s time for you to run.

But you cannot seem to find a way out of the maze… even if you can fly. You just seem to wind up back at the center no matter what you do. And the creature is always there, moving toward you as soon as you stumble back to its grave.

Accept this sacrifice.

What could that mean? Has someone given something up for you? Now would be a great time to acknowledge it. Have you given something up for someone else, and resented it secretly all these years? Maybe time to get it off of your chest.

Or maybe you’re much more literal. Maybe you carry a sharp object everywhere you go and don’t mind spilling a little blood… yours or your companions.

Whatever you do, you better do it fast or the creature will sink its talons into you and pull you back into its final resting place.

Notes:
1. If characters complete the photo scavenger hunt, they will each receive a photograph of an important memory.

2. The only way out of the maze is to either cop to a sacrifice - the character’s or another’s - or spill some blood in front of the creature.

3. You can try to fight the creature, but it is extremely difficult to kill. It also has a tendency towards not staying dead, and might pop up again later during your visit on the island when you least expect it.

4. No, you don’t get to keep the cellphone.

---

Ⅳ. CRAFT FAIR
There is of course a town hall in a town this quaint, and it of course is host to a craft fair! It is, after all, right before the holidays! What holidays? Well. All of them! Look, just come get your uncle some salmon rub and your mother-in-law a candle or something.

The hall has tables end to end, and there’s plenty to buy: jams and jellies, honeys, tea blends, and even locally roasted coffee. There’s jewelry and scarves and knockoff UGGS, knitted toys and home decor that reminds you to live, laugh, and love.

There’s also a row of tables near the back of the hall where you can actually sit down and do some crafts yourself!

There’s a few stations. A lot of locals seem to be making some sort of masks out of straw and twigs and burlap - there doesn’t seem to be any room for you there, though.

More accessible and less unusual are stations to make friendship bracelets at. There’s bright coloured thread and easy to follow instructions! It’ll be fun! No, really - as you work, you’ll start to feel quite relaxed and pleasant. Whoever you’re working next to will also seem super easy to talk to. Who knows? By the end you might have a new friend to give your bracelet to.

Notes:
1. You can purchase things from the fair, but if you can’t fit it in your bag it will not come with you off-island.

2. Eavesdropping on the locals making masks, you’ll hear them talk about ‘the holidays’ a lot, but that’s the extent of it.

---

Greetings, prospective Travelers! Welcome to the Autumn 2021 POLYMYTHOS test drive meme and thank you for your interest in our game! Our next application round will run from August 27 - September 3, 2021. For the Autumn season, we invite you to use this TDM to explore but one of many, many islands within the Endless Isles; use it as an opportunity to introduce and familiarize yourself with the game, form connections with other characters, and just have some fun. (Perhaps while also getting some solid samples together for your application!)

Use the prompts provided below as-is or feel free to write your own set within the environment detailed in each. You're even welcome to access the network via your character's ScryWatch. While there will be some inevitable changes, TDMs may count as game canon and some islands may be revisited in the future. Be mindful of your surroundings -- you never know how you and your fellow Travelers might affect this place in the long run.

Killer idea: pumpkin spice playlists!!

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

[gravity_grrl]

She smiles and shakes her head, "Nope not magic. Just your regular ol' government created super powered person."

[kyley_b]

Kyle looks skyward. "Another superhero?" he asks, then looks back at Roxy. "Well. You're in good company. Not so much the government created part, but the superpowers."

[gravity_grrl]

She giggles and gives him a playful shove, "Yeah I know. UGH. Superheroes, we're sooooooo boring."

[kyley_b]

He snortcackles. "I didn't say that! I meant you guys are all gonna give me a fucking complex. David and Quentin both have superpowers, too. And my best buddy Carter. AND I think there's gods wandering around, like Thor."

He steps up to the little concession and gestures for Roxy to order whatever she likes. He gets cider - he doesn't know when he'll next get to have any.

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy orders a cider as well a big soft pretzel, she bats her eyes at Kyle as he pays for them both.

"Don't let superheroes give you a complex, trust me, we aren't that great. Most of us are super emotionally fucked up and the only thing we are good at is getting into fights with like giant monsters. None of us have like real skills, people or even like job wise because most times we work for the government or have some creepy old rich guy who pays for everything so it's not like we know how to hold down a regular job let alone a career."

[kyley_b]

Kyle sips his drink before taking the phone to point at Roxy.

"That actually makes me feel better. Thank you."

[gravity_grrl]

She grins and holds up her cider, posing for the camera before continuing.

"You're welcome sweets. Trust me you're lucky not to have superpowers, they make life extra weird. Like you think going through puberty is hard normally, try learning how to masturbate with saaaay the ability to turn into any substance you touch. Can you say walking spooge-man?"

[kyley_b]

"That's revolting." He makes a face and studies their list. "So what's your thing?"

He gestures for her to follow him. They need a path or road, and he thinks they can use the orchard for that.

[gravity_grrl]

She grins and follows him, using her powers to float herself along next to him. She then rotates herself upside down and in front of him.

"My thing, is that I make gravity my bitch."

[kyley_b]

Kyle looks genuinely jealous. "Aw, man. When I was little I totally wanted to fly." A sigh.

"Well, you'll be in good company. Nobody's been able to fly off the islands though, in case you thought you'd try. Hey, c'mon, this way, I figure between the trees will be all Pinterest looking."

[gravity_grrl]

She drops down onto the ground with practiced ease, skipping alongside him. "That's because flying is dope! I can take you with me if you want, you don't look heavy so I can take you flying later if you want. Aladdin style, all 'I can show you the wooooooooorld."

Walking towards the Pintest trees she wrinkles her nose, "I didn't even think to try and fly off the island. Guess that either makes me dumb or just used to this kind of shit, I've been sucked into enough random dimensions to know that there's usually a riddle or test you need to succeed in before leaving."

[kyley_b]

He mock swoons. "I'd be cool with that."

He laughs. "See, I think that makes you more adaptable. Quentin is driving his big stupid brain nuts trying to figure out how to beat this whole thing, like it's a massive video game. I'm kinda at the point that it's just like... well. Might as well roll with it."

The apple trees grow in lines, making very nice paths indeed. They walk for a while, turning this way and that, until Kyle raises his eyebrows and slows. 'This looks pretty," he says, turning it into a half question. "Uh, it says to hold hands so I think it means like... I hold the phone and you make like you're going off on some basic bitch adventure?"

[gravity_grrl]

"That makes you the smart one then." She says in regards to Quentin's attempts to 'break the system'. When they enter the apple tree area she takes a deep breath and sighs, the smell of autumn is so crisp and welcoming.

"Basic bitch adventure, got it." She takes his hand and then takes a few steps away, moving so that their linked hands are in frame. She then tilts her head back towards him and utters a loud fake laugh.

"Oh gaaaaaaawd darling, I'm sooooo happy we are engaged and that you also want twine decorations for our wedding!"

[kyley_b]

"Maybe."

At that he tips his head back and cackles, sounding not unlike the derpiest hyena in the Lion King.

"Why yes, darling!" he says as he tries to get himself under enough control to snap a picture. "The only thing I love more than you is overpaying for supplies my great-grandparents would have used in the old country!"

[gravity_grrl]

When she hears his laugh her fake one turns into a genuine cackle, and she pulls on his arm while she skips forward a few steps.

"Oh honey bunny! I'm so excited for our wedding to have such over done and vapid things like the mustache bar, Instagram photo booth, and lip filler station!"

[kyley_b]

"Don't forget that instead of a cake we need a bunch of cupcakes that LOOK like a cake," he insists, snapping the photo. "And a choreographed dance for when we come to the reception, that we'll force all our friends and family to learn!"

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy cackles even louder, probably scaring some of the local children into thinking there is a witch in the apple trees.

"Fuuuuuuuuck. Can you believe that people actually do that?"

[kyley_b]

"I can, yes. People's capacity for stupidity never ceases to amaze me."

He tucks the phone away. The sun is dipping behind the horizon, leaving gold and orange streaks in the sky. "We should head back. I think if we go this way we can just cut right back."

[gravity_grrl]

"Sure, sounds good." She says and as they walk she looks at the list. "We just need one last thing, which is something you think is truly beautiful. Huhn...any ideas on that one?"

[kyley_b]

He frowns. "Uhm. The sky?" Really convincing, Kyle.

[gravity_grrl]

She chuckles, "You sound so sure. Hrmmm....how about...oh! Your hair! Yeah, let's get a picture of like the last bit of sun against your pretty curls."

[kyley_b]

Kyle makes a face. "I mean... Yeah, okay, if you want."

He lets her shuffle him around, feeling incredibly stupid. And ugly, but he's not about to say THAT aloud.

[gravity_grrl]

She man-handles him again until he's in the perfect position; his face in profile tilted slightly up, the last remaining rays of sun illuminating his hair and making it look like a soft fire. She snaps off a few pictures and then grins, nodding to herself.

"Perfect, that looks beautiful." She says and shows him the photo, which might actually surprise Kyle since it looks quite good.

[kyley_b]

Kyle peers at it and sees... well. It's him, so he's not a fan, but he has to admit the colours are nice.

"Awesome," he says with as much enthusiasm as he can fake. He then looks around. "Okay, uh. I think we got a bit turned around, but... yeah, let's head this way." He gestures to the way he'd been planning to go before, relatively certain that it should lead them right back to the main farmyard. Instead he finds they're in another row of apple trees. And another. And another.

The shadows are growing long, the sky purpling like a bruise.

They've reached a clearing, and in the middle of it is a mound of earth. Kyle eyes it warily - it looks like something cursed from one of the fantasy novels he loves.

"That doesn't look good."

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy follows alongside him as they weave their way through the trees only to wind up in a creepy clearing, she pauses and looks at the mound of earth noticing the stone that sits on top of it.

"Accept this sacrifice." She reads and then snorts, "What the hell does that mean?"