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singillppl2025-12-04 08:00 pm
singmod) wrote in singillppl2025-12-04 08:00 pm
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December 2025 Test Drive Meme
DECEMBER 2025 TDM
A FINAL APP ROUND IN FEBRUARY WILL BE POSTED FOR RETURNING PLAYERS / CURRENT PLAYERS ONLY.
PROMPT ONE — ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST: The penultimate group of arrivals find themselves lost in the frozen wilds and vulnerable to the dangers of nature. With luck, they make it to the town of Milton, and to a friendly face offering food, warmth and shelter — and the current inhabitants, their fellow survivors.
PROMPT TWO — JUST A SONG: A being arrives at the doors of Interlopers, causing mischief — and rewarding Interlopers for being such good sports.
PROMPT THREE — THE ICE CAVES: Interlopers find themselves as unwelcome guests in a labyrinth of ice caves.
ARRIVAL: METHUSELAH'S FEAST
WHEN: Mid-month.
WHERE: Milton, Milton Outskirts.
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential animal attacks, potential injuries, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.
'You are the Interloper. You are not part of nature’s design.'
It’s the last thing you hear. A dark, deep voice. Impossibly ancient. You feel afraid. Maybe you’re dreaming, maybe you’re wide awake. You saw the lights, and then your world went dark. But you hear it in the blackness, you won’t forget those words.
These are the words of the Darkwalker, you’ll soon come to find. This ancient creature that sneers at you, who does not want you here. Your fellow Interlopers will fill you in on this being soon enough.
You awaken. You are not where you were before. It’s different for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be much of a pattern in where you find yourself. You may open your eyes to find yourself in a cold, dim and dank cabin. The air is stale, dust hangs in the rays of weak sunlight that shine through the tiny windows. Someone lived here once, but they aren’t to be found. This place has been ransacked, abandoned long ago. It is quiet. The wood creaks around you.
Or perhaps you may awaken to find yourself shivering in the yawning maw of a cave, the freezing stone below you. Or maybe you’re unfortunate enough to sit up to find yourself lying in the snow, in the middle of the wilderness. Snow lies thick around you. It’s freezing out. You haven’t felt a cold like this before in your entire life. Cruel and biting. You have no idea where you are, and what’s worse — you are completely alone.
The sun is bright, enclosed in light fog. It is a strange kind of twilight.
You may feel different, too. Any powers or magics you may have feel... absent. Disconnected. Things that may not have affected you previously now do. Something in you has changed.
You know you can’t stay where you are. You’ll need to move, try to work out where you are and how you came to be here. So you walk, head out into the unknown, in hope of finding a trail or a road. You’ll find one soon enough. It’s here you may find someone else in the same boat as yourself, equally freezing and confused. You’ll both need to keep going. It won’t be easy. You hear howls of wolves around you, and the terrain is difficult: slips and falls are likely. You’re completely vulnerable out here in the open.
Or it’s possible you may come across someone else here. Someone who looks far better prepared to deal with the freezing cold and frozen landscape, out hunting or gathering. They’ll likely offer help and get you into town. However, for the unlucky ones who don’t come across anyone, you’ll carry on until you see it: the lazy trail of smoke rising in the air. Fire. Not just one, but several. Civilization...?
Follow it, and soon enough the way you’ve taken will certainly become a path or road. Unfolding before you in the mountainous forests, you’ll see the most welcome of sights: a small mining town tucked up in the valley. Battered, rusted road signs will direct to “MILTON, POP. 947”. You’re almost there, you keep going, and it looks like other people have had the same idea as you. In fact, you’ll hear the muffled sounds of life. People! In the town!
As you head into the outskirts and then further into town, you’ll find it’s a little easier to walk but the cold has gripped you hard. You’ll find the buildings, both shops and homes, some are dark and lifeless, some of them are boarded up, some of them are occupied. People are going about their business, or stood watching from their tiny porches of their small, timber homes. For a town this big, there doesn’t seem to be many people. Several dozen at most, but no more.
Towards the center of town, you’ll find the building from which the biggest of the smoke trail rises: a school-house of sorts, or some kind of community hall. Perhaps both. You’ll find more and more people all drawn to this place, each and every one of them in the same position as yourself (and your companion, if you’ve found one). Some are in worse states than others: some are bloodied, nursing bite wounds or cuts; others might have some other kind of injury sustained in the journey here from falls. Others may look as if they could faint from the cold at any second.
The door opens, and you’re greeted by the gnarled, wizened face of an elderly man, dressed in thick furs. He has a kind face. He smiles warmly, and with pity, ushering you in with haste.
“Here we are, once again. This place continues to draw more souls in.” he nods gravely. “But I wonder for how much longer you turn up in this town. I am Methuselah. I welcome you Newcomer, although I’m sorry for how you’ve come to find yourself here. This world has been long since changed by the lights. And more change is still to come, I feel. Come. Mother Nature has not been kind to you, but there are plenty here to help.”
The room is dim, lit only by natural daylight through the windows. A roaring fire sits at one end of the huge hall. It crackles, bright and cheerful... and warm. Even as big as this place is, the room is pleasantly warm. You’ll also find basic cots set up down one side of the hall, and while it seems there's a few people already living here, there's enough space for those in need of them. There's places to rest for a moment and get your bearings, or just trying to recover from the cold. Down the other side are tables and chairs, and long tables laden with food, drinks and bottled water similar to one might find at a soup kitchen. Once again, Methuselah offers a feast, aided by some of the other Interlopers.
There are canisters with hot herbal teas, mostly. But some coffee can be found. There’s also soup and stew and trays of charred deer and rabbit meats, plus some grilled fish. It’s very basic, but it’s hot and filling. A feast for those who have battled the cold to come here.
Methuselah will continue to busy himself, still; there is plenty to do. He will fetch blankets, tend to wounds, serve food and drinks — aided by a handful of others in the Hall. Your fellow survivors, but those who have been here for some time now. He does not have much time to talk. More and more people seem to be coming in from the cold. He will not stop to sit and rest until everyone is seen to, taking up a place by the fire to gaze silently into its flames.
He will encourage newcomers to get warm and eat, and when they are ready to — they can explore the town and find one of the many empty homes to call their own. He will not speak much, but gesture to your fellow survivors. They will have better answers than him.
JUST A SONG
WHEN: The month of December.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural creatures; folklore-inspired creatures; skeletal beings (horses); pranks/mischief.
Sounds of revelry have been heard through the streets of Milton: music, singing, bells. You can hear them from your cabin, or even as you venture through the town. It really sounds like someone’s having a pretty good time. It’s actually kind of nice to hear it, all things considered. Interlopers often find themselves with little to be cheerful about with the long night, bitter cold and difficult daily life.
Going out to find the source of such festivities will come up with nothing, however, which is both disappointing and a little unnerving. Until one night you hear the noise right at your door, and there’s the sudden boom of a knock.
Opening the door will lead to silence, but instead stands a tall being that towers higher than the door frame. Slow to move, a skull moves into view and you find yourself staring at a horse skull, adorned with ribbons, bells and flowers, its ears flicking in curiosity. Its eyes glow white in the dark. The remainder of the being’s body is covered by a huge white shroud and while it appears as a rather frightening creature — it makes no move to attack you. Instead, it stands calmly, relaxed.
Its teeth chatter for a moment, and it bursts into song: slow and cheerful:
I am come, dear friend, why won’t you let me in?
If I trespass, tell me then, why that I must go.
If I trespass, state in song, you should tell me so.’
You must tell the creature, in song, why they cannot come in. It’s… almost like a game—?
So you try, singing to the creature why it cannot enter your home. But the creature is clever, and can come up with plenty of ways in which it can argue for coming inside an Interloper’s home — returning its arguments in song. It starts off a back and forth, a debate in song. Eventually, you’ll fail to come up with reasons against the creature gaining entry and fail to argue back a reply. The creature jaw chatters cheerfully and ducks — charging forwards and passes right through you. As you turn to look back inside, you’ll see nothing there — the creature is nowhere to be seen.
However, you’ll soon find yourself falling victim to a… well, it’s almost a harmless prank if anything:
Altered Speech: Interlopers find themselves talking backwards, no matter how hard they try to not. Even Interlopers with Aurora Call will find their ‘mental voice’ speaking backwards, too.
Animal Ears: Interlopers find themselves with some kind of animal ears. While they certainly don’t get the benefits of said animal’s hearing — it does make wearing hats a bit of a pain.
Confetti: Everywhere you go, rainbow-coloured confetti will fall from your head. It can either be a constant stream, like a little raincloud above your head. Or maybe it comes out when you sneeze, or cough, or even just speak.
They See You: There’s googly eyes. All shapes and sizes. Everywhere. On the furniture. On your toothbrush. On your soup can. On you. No one knows where they come from, and if you take them away — they will come back.
Plastic Wrap: When you try to go through a door, you’ll be hit in the face with plastic wrap. It won’t be every door, though. And you’ll never know if a door’s been booby-trapped with it. But any door might be one that gets you.
They keep finding a random item in every drawer
These shenanigans will keep up for several days. However, on the morning of the day after the effects have passed, Interlopers will awaken to find everything back to normal. They’ll also find at the foot of their bed a small parcel. Inside, they’ll find a sweet treat of their choice: maybe a cake or candy they like the most, something they can’t otherwise get in the Northern Territories.
Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
THE ICE CAVES
WHEN: The month of December.
WHERE: Everywhere…?
CONTENT WARNINGS: animal attacks / wolf attacks; supernatural animals; potential injuries, potential cold injuries/hyperthermia risk.
You wake up cold, to the sound of a great beast breathing restlessly. The sound echoes, and it feels far away and incredibly close at the same time. The air is humid, which makes the cold even more biting and the ground feels wet beneath you. As you sit up, you realise why: there are patches of ice that make up the floor, which now melt beneath your warm body. The light is dim, but you can see well enough with the soft blue glow that encompasses the area around you. As you get up to examine this glow, you realise it’s greeted by bioluminescent fungi which creep around the walls, floor and ceiling.
It’s an ice cave, and you find yourself not alone. Another is here with you.
Taking a few moments to recollect yourselves and take in your surroundings, you decide to traverse the caves in hopes of finding an exit. What meets you is a labyrinth of tunnels and atriums: all covered in the very same bioluminescent fungi and ice. The ground is slippery to walk on, and care should be taken. Every so often, the walls tremble and quake — not enough to cause any kind of cave-in, but enough to keep you on your toes.
But it’s not just you two in this cave. Not just the mysterious beast’s troubled breathing either. Something else is here, too — something far more familiar.
And soon you’ll find out: wolves.
You’ll find three here. Their eyes glowing green in the dim light. The first wolf is distinguishable by its more fluffy coat, their scruff poofs up a great deal more — tinged with white. Its approach is more softer, hoping to catch Interlopers unaware in the caves.
The second wolf is recognised by its scruffy coat, looking mangier than the others — missing chunks of it in places. This wolf is far more noisy compared to the others and tends to run more, barrelling into the Interlopers headfirst.
The third wolf is bigger than the other two, but its behaviour could only be described as being… sketchy. This wolf is far more silent, and likes to hide and stalk Interlopers from afar — even waiting for them to pass before it sneaks up from behind.
The wolves can be fought, they can even be killed — but they won’t stay down for long. Eventually, even if you’re sure they’re dead, they’ll get back up again and resume the chase of you through the caves. It’s best to keep moving and find a way out of this maze of a cave system.
You’ll find the opening soon enough, and stepping through the cave’s mouth will bring you back into a random location: you could find yourself outside a random cave in the Milton wilds, suddenly entering a long-abandonned cabin in Lakeside, or stepping inside the Frozen Angler in Silverpoint (to a confused-looking Molly). There seems to be no rhyme or reason to where you end up, and you certainly can’t go back — just hope you’re somewhere you’d like to be.
FAQs
1. Arrival threads can be treated as game canon.
2. Items characters have brought from home can be found either strewn around them when they awaken, or in the community hall — as if someone left them out for them to collect. Methuselah will not know how they got there, and will be quite bemused by the happenings.
3. Reminder that all characters are now depowered upon arrival. They can choose not to notice it at first, or can immediately sense something is different about them.
4. If asked any personal questions, Methuselah will smile and say "Oh, you don't want to know about an old man like me. But I have lived all over in these parts for all my life." He will be more concerned with trying to help Newcomers, and is genuinely concerned for them and their well-being. Other Interlopers will say much of the same — there's little to know about him.
5. More information about Milton can be found here.
1. The being is inspired heavily by a festive Welsh folk tradition Mari Lwyd, where participants would visit homes, singing and engaging in a rhyming battle of wits, known as pwnco. The Mari Lwyd is a figure of mischief and havoc, but also one of good luck to the homes they successfully win at entering.
2. The being can come to the same home multiple times, so Interlopers can be affected by multiple ‘prank’ effects.
3. Failure to sing at all will result in an automatic loss.
4. The being cannot be harmed, and attempts to hurt it will pass right through it. It will also mean an automatic loss — and the being might just leave you your WORST/LEAST FAVOURITE sweet treat instead.
1. The three wolves are a call out to the player-named unique wolves of The Long Dark who exist within internal locations: Fluffy, Scruffy and Sketchy.
2. Characters end up in the Ice Caves with whatever they happen to have on their person at the time.— if it’s typical for them to carry weapons, they’ll have this with them.
3. While the wolves will never stay dead for long, they can be killed by any means you would normally kill a wolf: bullets, knives, arrows, etc.
Felix Terzi | Original
[He'd thought he was fainting. There were strange lights, and then his vision swam, blackness crowding in from the edges, and Felix's last remembered thoughts were how embarrassing it was doing this on camera and how Marco was going to insist he went to the hospital instead of celebrating.
Felix wakes not on the ground outside the garage, nor even in a hospital bed, but in what looks to his inexpert eyes very much like an oldtimey log cabin.]
Che cazzo!
[He sits up. It's freezing, and the thin layers of his racing outfit aren't helping much. Through the window he can see snowdrifts. He can't go out there. He'll freeze to death wearing fireproof underwear, and that's probably ironic, and he's definitely not going to let it happen. Instead, he starts ransacking the cabin, because whoever brought him here - wherever here is - wouldn't have done it just to let him die. Not even his championship rivals.
There's nothing useful. Nothing. Not even matches to start fires. His search grows ever more frantic, the exertion keeping his body warm. He flings open bare cupboards, roots through old boxes. Still nothing. Having exhausted that strategy, Felix knows he has to find another. He watches at the window, waiting, until finally he sees a figure outside. Then, and only then, does Felix open the cabin door.
He had thought he was cold before, but with that door open it hits him like a wall. It almost takes his breath away. There's no time to focus on the discomfort. His life depends on it. Felix starts waving his arms and yelling at the top of his voice.]
Hey! Over here! Help!
2. Methuselah's Feast
I don't get it.
[Felix is in warmer clothes now, multiple layers of them, with a blanket over his shoulders, but he's kept his old Casella-branded baseball cap on. In one hand he's holding an oddly shaped steering wheel covered in buttons. It's his. He found it on the way in. Another inexplicable thing.]
I got teleported to - where even is this? Milton, Alaska? I don't belong here. I'm an interloper, whatever that means. I almost died in the cold. If this is some supernatural bullshit, why me?
[He accepts the explanation readily enough. Supernatural happenings don't make sense, but what else could it be? Aliens? The FBI? He's just some guy who races cars, there's no reason for anyone to want him involved in... in whatever this is.
Still with that steering wheel clutched in one hand, he sits down at a table, a bowl of soup already in front of him. Felix stares at it for a few seconds, but then picks up his spoon and starts eating. He doesn't need his nutrition coach here to tell him that he needs the calories.]
3. Just a Song
a. [Felix has taken to carrying around a bag filled with googly eyes. Whenever more appear, as they almost constantly do in his vicinity, he picks them up and puts them in the bag with the others.]
Have you seen this? It's an infinite googly eyes hack.
[Like he's stuck in a video game - which Felix doesn't believe, of course, but it's no more crazy than some of the other possibilities.]
b. [It is raining confetti on Felix's head. A pile of it builds up on the top of his cap, then falls down onto his shoulders like exceptionally colorful dandruff, and then, if he doesn't brush it off himself, to the floor. This is a new level of supernatural bullshit, but Felix is doing his very best not to let it bother him. The trouble is, his latest tactic for this is bothering someone else. Grabbing a big handful of the stuff, he lies in wait and throws it over the next person to come through the community hall door. Surprise?]
c. Look at this. Look. A real Apex Protein Bar.
[You can almost hear the capital letters as Felix waves the brightly-packaged bar in your face.]
It was there, on my bed when I woke up. Listen, this has to mean something. They're one of my biggest sponsors back home.
[Not that Felix knows what it might mean. Insane reality TV show by Apex Protein can't possibly be the answer.]
arrival!
Of course, they probably dress in clothing a lot hardier than what he currently has on, at least if they live around here. A hoodie + leather jacket combo, black jeans, and boots aren't exactly enough to weather this kind of cold. Ben tucks his hands deep into his pockets, shoulders scrunched up as he shudders violently. The trouble is, he's not sure anyone does live around here. So far he hasn't come across any living soul. No sign of Klaus, either. He's well and truly alone, and it's... it's a horrifying thought. Is this the afterlife? Some kind of Hell?
Which is why, when he hears a voice and snaps his head around to see an actual human being leaning out of a cabin door, he immediately feels a rush of desperate relief, and he's also immediately heading over. There's an odd jolt of awareness that the person has to have seen him to be calling out to him like that — which proves he's no longer just a ghost — but right now he just needs to get over there. Ben hurries as fast as he's able, tromping through the snow and shaking as he approaches the young man. He's alarmed but also can't hide his relief, mouth split into a grin that trembles at the edges, due to the chill and some of his own nerves. (How is this happening? How is he real again?) )
Hey! Oh man, you don't know how glad I am to see you! I thought I was all alone out here.
no subject
In Felix's mind, this man is his rescuer. This man is going to explain everything, and somehow it will all make sense. He wants this to be true so badly that he doesn't notice, at first, that jeans and a leather jacket aren't what anyone would choose to wear in this kind of cold. Sure, it's a better choice than Felix's racing suit, but that isn't saying much. Thin layers of overalls plastered with the names and logos of all his sponsors - Apex Protein, Azzura Finanza, FRENTEX - aren't exactly ideal for surviving here.
A gust of wind whips around the door, and Felix has to grab hold of his baseball cap to keep it from flying off.
Then his rescuer speaks, and all Felix's illusions about this ordeal coming to a swift end are shattered. The stranger sounds just as worried as Felix himself feels.]
Hey! Dai, come inside. Let me shut the door.
[Stepping back, he allows the other guy inside before slamming the cabin door shut again. He's shivering now, and he crosses his arms tightly over his chest, rubbing his hands up and down to try to warm up.]
Mate, what the fuck is going on here? How did we get here? I... I don't even know how I arrived to this place.
no subject
He's shuddering too, he can most definitely feel the elements, but he has to wonder if it's the normal way people feel elements. Or is something still kind of dulled down about him? Ben's been dead longer than he was ever alive, and the little details have all faded over time. He's cold, but is he as cold as a living person would be?
....Is he actually alive right now? Or just... perceptible? He has no fucking idea, brows knit in confusion, but he's not the only one who's confused, and he shakes his head at the questions. )
No idea, dude. I just woke up in the middle of nowhere, coughing out snow. ( ...There's a thought. He's clearly not the only lost soul inexplicably brought to this frozen hell. What if that's exactly what it is? Some kind of hell, or like... afterlife? (The very thing he's been avoiding all these years, unwilling to move on.) )
Sorry if this is weirdly personal and kind of crazy to ask, but.... are you uh... dead?
cw: car crash
Do I look that bad?
[The joke feels hollow. His heart isn't in it. It does, however, give him a precious few seconds to process what this guy is suggesting.
Could he have dropped dead right there, on his way up the podium to collect his trophy? That happened to athletes sometimes; they had undiagnosed heart problems and died before they even knew what was happening to them. No, it couldn't be that, he told himself. Casella's doctor would have caught anything like that.
That leads Felix to an even worse thought. He'd been second in that race until almost the very end, when he dramatically overtook his championship rival Zachary Clark, to claim the win. But what if it hadn't happened that way? What if he'd crashed out, pushed too hard trying to close the gap between them and slammed into a wall, or bounced off the barrier at Raidillon? What if his mind had snapped, given him a vision of victory instead of a nightmare of blood and broken bones and shards of carbon fiber in his last moments? It made its own twisted sense.]
Yeah.
[He says it almost breathlessly, as he takes quick, short gasps of air, as if in reassurance that he's still breathing. Would a ghost breathe? Felix doesn't know. He'd always imagined a ghost would somehow know he was a fucking ghost.]
Yeah. I... I could be dead, maybe. Dio mio, are we... is this Hell?
[He's hyperventilating now, gripped by panic, his hands dropped to his sides and clenched into anxious fists. He'd heard that the deepest circles of Hell were frozen. That was in the Bible, wasn't it? But Felix wasn't a bad guy! Sure, he didn't go to church on Sundays, but Sundays were race day! Was it because he hadn't gone to confession since he was 12? That was a whole lot of sinning, but nothing really bad. If Felix Terzi deserved damnation, wouldn't Hell be a lot more crowded?]
methuselah's feast
[ There's a youngish looking man with a British accent and light blonde hair, wearing a cricketer's uniform. Most notably, a piece of celery is pinned to the lapel of his coat. The Doctor sits down next to Felix, with a casualness to his voice like they've had this conversation before, like he's talking with someone he chats with on a regular basis. He's positioned so that he's facing the rest of the building, back leaning up against the table, as the conversation continues. ]
People often think things like 'why is this happening to me? I'm nobody, I don't matter.' I've found that the universe doesn't seem to care if you think you matter or not. Sometimes you're drawn into something because a greater force has chosen you. Other times you're simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. Time will tell which one this is.
no subject
I don't think I'm nobody, but I also don't think I'm the chosen one.
[He's seen enough movies to know the trope, and this situation is way too weird for it to be a superhero origin story.]
I'm Felix. [That's a normal thing to do. Meet a new person, introduce yourself. Even in the middle of frozen nowhere.] Do you play cricket? [He chuckles quietly.] Silly question, of course you play cricket. Were you playing before you got teleported out here?
[He recognised the outfit at once. Felix's accent is distinctly Italian, but he spent his childhood in Hampshire. He knows cricket when he sees it, even if the celery throws him off. Is that Welsh? The guy doesn't sound Welsh.]
no subject
But yes, I do play cricket. If the snow melts enough that we'd be able to have a decent pitch, I wouldn't mind rounding up more people for a match...though based on the accents of this group, I suspect we'll have a hard time finding more players. [ He's heard a couple of Brits, but just as many Americans and Canadians. ]
And I'm the Doctor, by the way. Pleasure to meet you, Felix. I assume you're also a new arrival to wherever we are?
no subject
I haven't played cricket in years, but I'll give it a go when the snow is gone. If the others don't know, we can teach them. It doesn't look like there's much else to do. [Felix sighs, glancing out a window at the white landscape.] My real love is motorsport, but apparently cars don't start around here.
[He can already see how frustrating that's going to become. Lucky that it's him here and not Livia - he can imagine the diminutive Casella mechanic would be out there trying to fix one and yelling about it already.]
Allora. Doctor, huh? You're into medicine, or is there a funny story behind it?
no subject
I can understand the appeal of motorsport, though. I never raced myself, but I had a Siva Tourer that I drove around when I was younger. [ Good ol'Bessie. ] Though you're right. Considering that we seem to be cut off from the rest of the world, I suspect gasoline is in short supply.
[ There's a small frown on the Doctor's face as he thinks things over. After a moment, he muses, ] It makes you wonder...why hasn't anybody tried to access Milton? Or if they have tried, what prevented them from doing so?
3-c
Ah, I see. It sounds as if many of us have been gifted with mysterious treats recently. What are “sponsors?”
no subject
Sponsors, uh... they're businesses who help to pay for my racing career. They cover some of my costs, and I put their company logo on my outfit or my car so everyone sees it when I win. [And also when he doesn't win, but that's a minor detail.]
Then I have to do promotions for them. For Apex Protein [he waves the bar again] I made videos where I eat one and talk about how tasty it is and how the protein helps me after workouts. I wouldn't do it if I didn't actually like to eat them. But I have no idea how this one got here.
[Felix shrugs, faintly perplexed.] Did you get a mysterious treat too? Was it an Apex product?