undyingcourt | Test Drive Meme

Entry tags:

Test Drive Meme - New Blood

DEC TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to the Undying Court Test Drive Meme! This post will allow players to test drive their AU characters in the setting, as well as meet fresh faces or even connect with those they have preexisting CR with. As with anything involved in the setting, this post will likely contain: violence, enthrallment, torture, and sexual content.

Regarding continuity, all TDM threads can be taken as in-game canon if desired. Please keep in mind that the game proper will begin in mid December, in the Winter Season, so Students/Novices should create their prompts under the assumption that the TDM takes place during the season prior to the one they will be apping as. This means that students planning to app as first season novices will be visiting Castle Courtsheart prior to their Beginning. In other words, if you plan to app a student as a second season, the TDM will take place during their first, and so on.

Feel free to brush up on the Premise, Vampire Powers, and head over to the FAQ/Game Info page if you have any questions!

Make sure you are aware of the Rules when posting your top-level. (Content warnings are always welcome!)
Please format your Top-level in this format: Character Name (AU Name if different) | Canon | Teacher/Student | Court
As a reminder, a Test Drive sample is required in order to app.
If you have any questions specific to the TDM, ask them in the Questions thread below!

Top-Level Directory:

Chat with NPC: Revar
Ace Attorney - Apollo Justice (Student)
Alice in the Country of Hearts - Alice Liddell (Student)
Attack On Titan - Erwin Smith (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Astarion (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Halsin (Teacher)
Baldur's Gate 3 - Raphael (Teacher)
Batman - Bruce Wayne (Teacher)
Bridgerton (Netflix) - Anthony Bridgerton (Student)
Castlevania - Soma Cruz (Student)
Castlevania: Nocturne - Maria Renard (Student)
Cosmo Warrior Zero - Harlock (Student)
Critical Role - Percy DeRolo (Teacher)
Daria - Daria Morgendorffer (Teacher)
Devil Summoner - Raidou Kuzunoha XIV (Student)
Dragon Age - Fenris (Teacher)
D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves - Edgin Darvis (Teacher)
D&D: Honor Amongst Thieves - Xenk Yendar (Teacher)
Ensemble STars!! - Mayoi Ayase (Student)
Fate/Zero - Kariya Matou (Kariya Makiri) (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Hilda Goneril (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Lorenz Hellman Gloucester (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Marianne von Edmund (Student)
FE: Three Houses - Sylvain Gautier (Student)
Final Fantasy XIV - Estinien Varlineau (Teacher)
Frozen - Prince Hans (Student)
Genshin Impact - Diluc Ragnvindr (Teacher)
Genshin Impact - Tighnari (Teacher)
Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name - Conrad Achenleck (Teacher)
Hannibal (NBC) - Will Graham (Teacher)
Jujutsu Kaisen - Gojo Satoru (Teacher)
Jujutsu Kaisen - Toji Zen'in (Teacher)
Lucifer (Netflix) - Lucifer Morningstar (Teacher)
MCU - Loki Laufeyson (Teacher)
Original - Aurinn Laurentius (Student)
Original - Bellatrix Bakhar (Student)
Original - Christine Delacroix (Teacher)
Original - Hanako 'Rosalina' Nurumi (Teacher)
Original - Jisu (Eden Woods) (Student)
Original - Karma D'Auvergn (Teacher)
Our Flag Means Death - Edward Teach (Teacher)
Our Flag Means Death - Izzy Hands (Student)
Persona 3 Portable - Kotone Shiomi (Student)
Persona 5 R - Goro Akechi (Student)
Persona 5 - Haru Okumura (Student)
Persona 5 - Ren Amamiya (Student)
Pride and Prejudice - Elizabeth Bennet (Student)
Return to Labrynth - Sarah Williams (Teacher)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Snow White (Student)
Stargate: Atlantis - John Sheppard (Teacher)
Star Trek: AOS - James T. Kirk (Student)
Star Wars - Darth Vader (Teacher)
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order - Trilla Suduri (Student)
The Adventure Zone: Balance - Kravitz (Teacher)
The Adventure Zone: Balance - Lydia (Teacher)
The Adventure Zone: Graduation - Fitzroy Maplecourt (Student)

NEW ARRIVALS

New arrivals will be starting their first season in the winter, but they're welcomed to the castle early, under the watchful eyes of the Silver Court. Upon arrival, they will be shown to a room by a human whose eyes glow softly from within, with vacant smiles. Thralls. There, the human thralls will draw them a bath and bring them new clothes to wear to their first meeting. These are rich, expensive things made of high quality fabric. Whether it's a silk dress and a heavy velvet cowl, or a fine pants and a vest made from a brocade, the servants will provide. The new initiate's old clothes will be burned after, in a symbol of the life they are leaving behind. If they are hungry, they will be provided food. If they need anything at all, they need only ask their new servants.

Later that night they are taken to a grand hall, with high arched ceilings and candles burning in chandeliers. There are figures painted overhead, beautiful and entwined. Some have their eyes are colored to match the courts, others are gracefully placed in their death, with blood dripping from necks and wrists.

Balconies line the hall behind a forest of pillars, and vampires all watch as the group walk through (some more hungrily than others).

"Welcome to your first undying season, initiates," a pale, silver-haired vampire calls. They have silver eyes are clad in silver robes, but command the attention of everyone in attendance. They have a beauty that seems neither male nor female. They are standing at the center of a wide semi-circle of other vampires, "As the Silver Court's acting voice at this end of the Autumn season, allow me to introduce you to the Houses that will be your new homes."

The vampire, Revar, gives the newcomers an overview of all of the courts—Blue, Red, Gold, Silver, and Black—and then invites those already claimed by their Courts to join the vampires who will be their Makers.

Revar offers the Foundlings who are left a gentle, knowing smile, and then allows them to be chosen. They are like the last sheep left at the auction, and the vampires who take them may not be the enthused about it. Nevertheless, Revar waits patiently until all have found a maker.

Now that they are paired up it is expected—indeed, required—that the initiate drink from their maker. That is their Beginning. Only once they have truly begun can they can be considered novices.

AUTUMN NOX

Silver Court is in season and for the Autumn Nox it holds a large symposium, inviting all the best vampire minds from around lands nearby and far. The whole castle is abuzz with new activity. The stables are packed full of horses, carriages litter the grounds, but somehow the castle has enough rooms to house all the new arrivals.

Novices will find that some of these vampires have not seen a human-novice in a very, very long time. These vampires might see the human-novices more like specimens, curious about their every move. They won't bite, but novices may find themselves observed as they wander the castle and its grounds.

The symposium itself is open to anyone at the castle. Scholars can present on any topic at all. Novices will find that these range from the incredibly mundane (you've always wanted to attend a history of bottom-feeding river fish, haven't you?) to the truly fascinating (new insights into how vampire hearts work) to the downright strange (the symposium has a range of lectures very close to dawn about the sharing of vampire...fluids). Seasoned novices with their own Autumn classes to attend are expected to keep up with their studies, but some teachers may let them out of a session to attend the lectures and workshops of the symposium.

The Silver Court vampires are incredibly busy between running the symposium and trying to help the new novices get settled in. They may need some volunteers to lend a hand with setting up rooms or helping scholars find their way around. In fact, volunteers might find themselves leading scholars down to the second kitchen for a bite to eat, a strong reminder that even these demure learners are still monsters who must drink blood.

PUMPKINS-GONE-WILD

The symposium isn't all that the autumn season brings. The Silver Court’s talents are on display in other ways—sometimes not in ways another had particularly hoped. An overly zealous youngblood in the Silver Court tried to grow a few extra pumpkins for the occasion and ended up with a few too many! The pumpkin vines break out of the green house and start sprouting pumpkins everywhere. These are no ordinary pumpkins, they will sprout and grow and become fully formed in the course of a night. Better keep an eye out for those vines or else your room might become full of pumpkins! Luckily, the pumpkins aren’t rotting any time soon (they’ll last until winter, or so the Silver Court vampires are saying), but it can be pretty inconvenient for them to grow everywhere. Start cutting those vines to pieces, and hope they don’t try to entangle you in the process.

LIBRARY CLEAN-UP

Meanwhile, with all the scholars in town are making a mess of the library, much to the Silver Court vampire’s dismay. Books are being checked out and not checked back in, passed around from scholar to scholar. You might find those lost books just about anywhere. Who was reading in a tree? Anyone who collects the books and returns them to the library is sure to get a little bit of favor with the librarians, and it’s never a bad thing to have a bit of an in with a Court. If you’re worried about failing Silver Court, it’s time to get searching! Although how you’re going to convince a 300 year old vampire that time is not fake and that deadlines are real (and in fact were two days ago) is anyone’s guess.

UNETHICAL EXPRIMENTS

[CW: Torture, experiments]

Those who venture towards the basement might hear something a little different than normal. The thralls who spend their time down there are normally quiet, commanded to keep silent and pleasant for the vampires they serve. But with the arrival of the new scholars comes disquieting, inhuman screams from the darker reaches of the basement. Novices trying to catch a glimpse will be chased away, but teachers might be invited to watch as these vampires experiment on one another, all in the name of science. What’s a little torture, when you’re undying?

Thanks for joining us for our first TDM! For any questions regarding the TDM prompts, please comment in the thread below. For general game questions, please check the FAQ/Game Info. Remember that the game proper will begin mid December, in the Winter Season, so Students/Novices should create their prompts under the assumption that the TDM takes place during the season prior to the one they will be apping as.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Too bad for Bruce that he's not the only one that excuses themselves from the whole thing as it really wasn't worth the time and effort. Though, well, perhaps Lydia's idea of why it's not worth the time is different from his, it almost certainly is given her reputation for being far more chaotic than Red has any right to be.

But for someone that wears nothing but bright colors, the fact that she can manage to sneak out of places is perhaps a little admirable. Even if she's been more invested in the blood wine in a flask she'd hidden in her corset during all of that before she could get out.]

Still playing the part of the broody Black teacher this time around or are they really not worth your time this go-around? [Says the woman that found it far more interesting to try following after him the second she got eyes on him. Or the fact that she hasn't ever bothered taking a Novice before this recent crop of newbies, either.

But she wouldn't be her if she wasn't being hypocritical.]

Lydia.

[ he replies before seeing her, as though he had seen her for some time. his tone, as usual, is brusque, with perhaps a hint of derision...? though that might just be him. it's only when she's closer that he turns with black eyes that were once an icy blue. it's a shame really, for as classically tall, dark, and brooding, he would likely make a wonderful addition to the red court. he can dance very well, too; something known to very few. ]

What makes you think I'm acting?

[Derision, brusque tones, it's something that she can wave off when it's not important or just how someone tends to be. Black is always a strange group to her and it's not as if she hadn't once been toying with the idea of joining them two decades ago before Red really sat perfectly with her.

She shrugs slowly in turn, really it's quite a pity that he ran off to Black so long ago. A waste of his appearances, if she were perfectly honest, though there's little to be done for it now.]

Call it a hunch. Really, darling, the way you act really makes it seem as if you don't care to be around any of us and as if you're the only one allowed to act as if something is always wrong, always off. [Some of them are more content shoving away the issues of the past, lord knows she had done that and refuses to speak of most of it outside of a vague hint or comment here or there. Humanity had been a drag, anyway.]

Alternatively, it's perhaps a bad look on the castle if you disappear before everything is over, isn't it? [... Probably not, but she'll run with it.]

[ he raises an eyebrow. ]

I'm known more for my effectiveness than I am my geniality. I somehow think my presence won't be missed too much. [ he teases: ] Unless of course you're speaking personally, Lydia.

Status is status, whether we like it or not~ [As if she actually cares about that, she never has and never will. Especially when it wasn't until these last few years that she's willingly gone to the ceremony instead of having to be bribed or dragged kicking and screaming.

However, she huffs and crosses her arms over her chest with pursed lips at his assumption.]

Well, Bruce, if you really want me to be honest, while your personality is sometimes questionable and abrasive, you're at least not hard on the eyes. Unlike some of the others. [Her annoyed expression slips back into a grin pretty quickly, at least.]

Not that I expect I'd be able to get anywhere with it.

[ the shame about black eyes is that they lose their depth and glimmer, especially when he's pleased with finding a chink in armor. he grins only slightly, enough that you can see a single pointed tooth set among the other pristine whites of his mouth. ]

Please don't tell me you're still upset about the dance that I refused during the last ball. How long ago was that now?

[And yet she falls into the trap easily enough and time and time again in doing so. For as prideful as she can be, it's not hard to fluster her if you find the right spots to prod.

Oh, rude. In turn she's rolling her eyes and shifting her attention to that lovely patch of wall next to him and high up. Totally not at all annoyed by him bringing that up, what do you mean?]

I don't have a clue what you're talking about, it's not something I've held onto or anything as if it hurt my pride or anything. Not at all. [Except it absolutely is.]

I see...

[ he turns away. ]

Then you're not interested if I offered to make it up to you now.

[ here, alone, in the middle of a grand, empty silver hall. ]

[Hold on a moment, did she really just hear him say that and in a place like this? He has her attention again as she narrows her eyes at him, clearly suspicious.]

Why now and why here of all places? You don't get to just do that and not give me an explanation, Black Court nonsense or not.

I've heard rumors about the Red Court. That they would make you perfect the waltz by dancing without even music, until your feet bled. Maybe I want to see if the rumors are true.

[ he turns and throws his arms open wide, his cape expanding out around him like the wings of a great bat. ]

Or maybe I just want to see if you can keep up.

You aren't wrong, though it's been quite some time since someone's feet have actually bled. [Luckily she wasn't one of the ones bad enough at it to have to get to that point some twenty-odd years ago.

Of course he also has a flair for dramatics and it both amuses and frustrates her in equal measure.]

I don't typically let those who aren't Red lead, before I take you up on your offer. [Is it a matter of pride? Perhaps. Or she just wants to make sure she's in control of the situation and what happens within it, always make sure you have the upperhand when it comes to... whatever is going on here. Subterfuge? Weird kind of seductively foreplay? Power play? She's really not sure, but the point stands.]

Unfortunate for you that these kinds of things were more what I focused on than the weaponry classes.

Then I won't have to worry about you stepping on my feet.

[ he almost unmakes himself before her, tendrils and wisps of inky black shadow that manifest directly in front of her, hand firmly set around her waist. call this what you might: to take control, to learn something, or even scarier, maybe he was just doing this for fun? ]

Do you have a preference? The Waltz seems too simple, the Foxtrot too boastful. Perhaps the Quickstep?

Edited 2023-12-05 04:37 (UTC)

I would never.

[Even when she was on the streets she was always quick and careful on her feet and not much about that has changed in her time of being a vampire. And this whole... thing still never ceases to startle her somewhat, especially when it's used for a matter like this. Initially stiff and guarded posture from the sudden movement is quickly melted and she's lightly huffing in turn and finding it easy to place her hands where need be.

Perhaps it's not too bad to let someone control something for a brief moment, especially when it's not something dangerous, right? It's even odder to her when she's in this situation with someone that's actually a bit taller than her even while she's wearing heeled boots. Such is the nature of the beast when you're basically the top end of the supermodel height range.]

I don't particularly, dancing is dancing and all of them I've done numerous times before. So I think it better to let my partner pick what they'd prefer. [Is she boasting? Juuuust a little.]

Of course, forgive me.

[ the smirk remains, though he begins to move. together, their steps glide along as they each follow an invisible thread of music only they can hear within themselves, their hands and hips and head moving in an independent rhythm creating an undeniably fluid performance. in such an opulent hall, shared only by the two, the sound of their shoes are hardly heard, as though they were floating, though no such supernatural abilities need be used for such relentless talent. ]

Edited 2023-12-05 23:55 (UTC)

[Really, he should know better than to insinuate such things by this point, especially given she's one of the Reds that focused primarily on this nonsense along with the seduction and intrigue side of things instead of battling.

Though she's quiet as she manages to keep a note on where she can feel muscle and tendon shift to know where he's going and to be able to match to it. It's been some time since she's had to do this without music to guide her, but it's much like riding a bike, you never really forget the basics.

Her silence doesn't last forever, however, as she's actually laughing a bit after a bit.]

You do realize how ridiculous all of this is, right? [Typically that would have been said with some sort of derision, for doing something that's just utterly mad. But this is at least pleasant madness, which is something she hadn't really had much of a chance to do as of late.]

Still such a shame that Black had snapped you up so quickly, you could have done wonderful things with us. Not that it really matters in the end. [Some specialization, certainly, but it's not like she hadn't learned quite a bit of Black Court's nonsense in her years through classes and the like. Even if she was probably... a little more sadistic and too gleeful to cause problems for their liking. Oh well, their loss.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive Meme - New Blood

Somewhere just after the arrivals thing

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he's absolutely listening to kiss from a rose in his head

Neeeeeeerd meanwhile her playlist shuffled into Siames' Firestorm