The Twenty-Eighth Trial

[joybound]

Who: trialgoers
When: Day 60 all day
Where: the trial zone and elsewhere

[Sometime this morning (morning? there's still no sun, so what's the difference), you feel the call to a new Trial.

The entrance to the Trial Zone is a new one: a tower has sprung up in the clearing, like a bit of a fairytale castle. It's made of a sparkling pink granite and has lovely star-themed carvings -- if you can see them behind the excess of neon and lights its been decorated with. If the fairy godmother made a dance club, this would be it!

Rather than a disembodied "come hither", your call is a video on a big screen above the entrance -- a young man in a masquerade mask and a flashy, witchy costume (including a big hat) stands... on top of the tower?? It's hard to see up there, but on the screen you can tell he's got twinkly star-filled hair and a black cat with blue eyes perched on his shoulder. He's also striking a pose.]

Heroes of Distant Stars, gather 'round! I, the mysterious and handsome witch of love, have a Trial for you! Come into my party tower and prove your love to me! If you're not a weenie, that is...

[Upon entering the tower, you find yourself in a vast ballroom. Lit with rainbow lights, magic sparkles, and an excess of blacklights and glowing things, it really does look like a club. Bubbly electronic pop blares over the speakers, though there are several tables and curtained-off booths if you'd prefer to avoid the dance floor. One table includes infinitely re-filling glasses of fruity soda, which lower inhibitions incrementally as you consume them (though only for positive urges). If you wish to get even more in the mood, there's a changing room with costumes -- all hybrids of fantasy and neon pop, just like the decor.

Time to get your love on!]

Rules ☆ Turn-in ☆ Winners & Endgame

Comments

[bowtiedbones]

Aren't lips one of the most sensitive spots on a horse, too?

[daydreamshimmer]

....you know, I don't actually know? I'm not sure if I ever paid attention to that?

[bowtiedbones]

Whether an animal is picking apart something like a seed or just ripping up greens, flexible lips or fingers help a lot. If they're sensitive, the animal has better control and can collect more information.

[daydreamshimmer]

Maybe we do then. Without magic, the most fine motor control is a pony's mouth.

[bowtiedbones]

Right? Plus the face has a lot of nerve endings in general.

[daydreamshimmer]

Well, that's a little harder to be sure of with fur. Everything feels weird without it.

[bowtiedbones]

I can confirm that it’s true from an anatomical perspective. The cranial nerves are among the first to develop in a vertebrate and the facial nerves are some of the most extensive.

[daydreamshimmer]

Oh? To help all those operations, I'm guessing?

[bowtiedbones]

Right! Fine motor control and sensations actually share the same pathways, so it’s very robust.

[daydreamshimmer]

Really? Huh, maybe that's why the mouth works so well.

[Also she's taking out some of her hair clips, and gonna hold them up to figure out if they'd look good in Eliza, putting back on the 'rejects.']

[bowtiedbones]

It might be a little grody, but if you ever get a chance to look at a dissected nervous system I super recommend it!

[daydreamshimmer]

....I don't think I could ever do that. [MEAT STUFF IS]

[DEFINITELY NOT EASIER AFTER SNAKE GAME]

[bowtiedbones]

That's fair, they're pretty creepy looking even as isolated models.

[daydreamshimmer]

[She shudders.] Yeah. Just models can be rough, the actual thing....

[Takes a deep breath. Lets it out.]

This one might work. [An orange, feathery hair clip held out to her.]

[bowtiedbones]

[distantly, maybe, sort of picking up the discomfort vs. necropsies. that necromancer blind spot, man.

but either way she takes the subject change quickly]

Oh! For the 3-point? Here, let me trade you.

[getting out a glittery black scrunchie]

[daydreamshimmer]

[Herbivore is not a fan of meat and dismembered dead bodies, nope.]

That's the idea.

[And will accept the scrunchie. Will even use it to hold back some of her bangs.]

[bowtiedbones]

[tucks her own hair back with the hair clip]

How many points are you at so far?

[daydreamshimmer]

Twelve points. You?

[bowtiedbones]

13! Two kisses and the hair clip.

[daydreamshimmer]

You're popular.

Not that its a surprise. You are a pretty smart and charismatic person to talk to.

[bowtiedbones]

And you just got yourself another handful of points.

[daydreamshimmer]

That is the idea. [Winks.]

[bowtiedbones]

Well done! But of course you're always astute.

[daydreamshimmer]

I do try. [Doesn't always feel like it, BUT]