August 2022 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

AUGUST 2022 TDM

INTRODUCTION

[ TDM Questions ★ Jump to Comments ★ Full Navigation ]
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.

All TDMs are game canon. You can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Each TDM will provide a scenario for how characters arrive in-game that particular month.

Playing TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.

Current players are allowed to have in-game characters react to TDMs via the Network or make a log with the prompts. Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!

TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

Summer Is Over

Content Warnings: snakes, cultists, optional violence.

FALLING DOWN LIKE PIECES INTO PLACE

A breeze with the crisp smell of dying leaves caresses you awake. You sit up to find yourself in the middle of an apple orchard, rows spreading out in all directions. Mouth watering apples hang from the branches, and nobody will stop you from taking one. You can wander the orchard as long as you like, but eventually you will find yourself emerging into the front yard of a little farm. There’s a red barn with perfect white trim set far back, and to one side of the yard is a kiosk modeled to match the barn. This is staffed by a woman who sure looks a lot like the fox that brought you here.

On the side of the kiosk are advertised a few different items: pumpkin spice lattes, hot apple cider, cold alcoholic apple cider, and hot chocolate. The cider, you will be informed, is made on site. (But you have to be of legal age to be given that hard cider!)

There are two other things advertised: APPLE PICKING and a SCAVENGER HUNT.

“You need a buddy for those, though,” the woman running the kiosk will tell you. “Lucky for you there’s plenty of people you can pair up with.”

If you elect to try the scavenger hunt, you and your partner will be handed a piece of paper. On it reads the following:

TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR RELIC! :)

- YOU HOLDING HANDS WHILE YOU GO DOWN A PATH
- FEET WITH AUTUMN LEAVES
- SOMETHING YOU THINK IS TRULY BEAUTIFUL
- A GENUINE SMILE

“When you’re done, bring it back here and show me,” the woman instructs you. “You’ll get a prize if you do.”

It’s an easy enough list, right? Although you have to follow the instructions - you really DO have to find something you genuinely think is beautiful, and that smile can’t be forced! Those might require opening up to your partner a little bit!

If you succeed in the scavenger hunt, you will be gifted with an item from home.


Now, what if you decided to go apple picking?

You will be given a bucket. “Be careful to only pick apples from the trees in the rows,” the kiosk woman tells you with a secret smile. “You don’t want to bother the old trees off the path.”

Yeah. That sure sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it?

If you do stick to the orchard proper, you will be able to pick your fill of apples. All of them are crisp and sweet and delicious. But at some point you will see the other trees.

They’re both huge and old, standing on two sloping hills just past the orchard rows. One of them has apples red as blood, and the other apples gold as the sun. In the shade of these trees are weapons sticking half out of the earth, as if they were carelessly buried many years ago.

If you pick one of the red apples, you will find that you are suddenly besieged with huge snakes. They are as big as anacondas and an inky black that absorbs the light, with eyes the same red as the apples. They aren’t poisonous, but they bite and they crush, so you’ll have to fight them off at least long enough to run like hell!

If you pick the golden apples, a crowd of people will silently begin appearing from the orchard. They are all wearing animal masks… and they are all holding hand scythes. Uh oh. You’ll have to fight them off in order to escape! If you don’t manage that, well, in some places it’s traditional to have a big ol’ sacrificial bonfire…

All the weapons below the trees are non-enchanted items, but you may keep them.

Plaid Shirt Days and Nights

Content Warnings: Optional themes of identity and school trauma.

IMAKEOVER MAKEOVER

Thirteen believes passionately in education. There are, after all, five academies in Folkmore all catering to different types of learning. While these academies are open year round, it becomes apparent if you walk through any of the districts housing shops that back to school is definitely a thing.

A new school year represents a chance to learn more about the world, and about yourself.

Also? It’s a great time for a makeover!

Yes, step into any of the shops selling clothing and accessories anywhere in Folkmore and you will find yourself passionately invested in helping another person discover who it is they want to look like! Do they want to look cool and aloof? Warm and approachable? Are they an e-boy or a cottagcore witch? Punk or prep? You two can figure it out together!

As you shop together you will find it easier and easier to open up to one another, sharing who it is you want to be.

You’ll also be able to score a sweet outfit. Nice.

SAVED BY THE BELL

Wander into any school in Folkmore and you will find a handmade poster instructing all new students and faculty to report to the auditorium. Normal enough, one supposes… but the moment you enter the room you will find reality swims all around you and all of a sudden you’re stuck in a school nightmare!

You know the kind. You’re late for class, no matter how fast you run. You’re in gym class, trying to climb that goddamn rope. You’re getting your books dumped. You’re naked and giving a book report.

These could be memories, but it’s just as likely that they aren’t - you and another person are just trapped in this cliche together. Whichever one of you is in the audience role could maybe help the other one out? Get them some pants or something? Yeah.

Comments

Naoto Hisami | Escape Journey

[naotorious]

Scavenger Hunt

Hehe~ A scavenger hunt, huh? That takes me back~ [ It was one of the few sporting events Naoto had to partake in back in high school. Running around was a chore but he could at least locate a scarf a mile away. Thankfully, this version of the game isn't as chaotic since it (hopefully) doesn't involve shoving through crowds to snatch something.

As much as Naoto would love to do something so cute with the love of his life, he's more than happy to be able to do this with a friend. They may have just met but...ey, they're friends! He turns to his companion, flashing a grin that shows off his canines. ] This doesn't sound so bad, right? I'm pretty good at figuring out the best angles to get the most flattering pics too!

Makeover

[ Being a bit of a fashion nut, it's not an uncommon sight to see Naoto in one of these shops browsing the latest display. He's one to follow trends but having been on a student budget, it's easier to do that by reading magazine articles and watching YouTube videos. Occasionally, he's able to score some brands and styles that he's had his eyes on.

It's definitely not as fun when he's alone though. And while he's normally not one to bother strangers most of the time, he can't help but step away from the jeans section and towards the person that catches his eye. ]

Hey hey hey~! Do you need help picking something out? Ah, I don't work here, so I can give you the most honest opinion!

( ooc: down to do apple picking too; but Nao will be playing it safe...he may try to help someone who is being chased by grabbing them and hiding but that's about as much as he can do! It'd be funny. Feel free to reach out to me for other ideas/suggestions! )

Camilla Hect | The Locked Tomb | Familiar

[goesloud]

i. scavenger hunt

[So perhaps this isn't precisely the kind of activity she'd usually be keen to get involved with, and she may have been looking over the options purely in an attempt to gather information, but she's here now. Holding the list in one sturdy, calloused hand. Mildly scandalised that something so frivolous has been committed to a resource as precious as real paper.

The list itself is...interesting. It reads less like a scavenger hunt and more like a series of outlandish happenings. She tuns to face whoever’s close enough for her to be partnered with, the blunt sheet of her slate-brown hair swaying fluidly as she turns. One brow arched, incredulous.]

Some scavenger hunt.

ii. apple picking

[Camilla stops short as the other trees come into view. Ancient gnarled branches spider upwards like some particularly rough-made construct, the fruit hanging from their twisted bows gleaming in unexpected contrast. The apples look crisp and bright and delicious, so much more vibrant and enticing than those found throughout the rest of the orchard. Almost begging to be picked. It's the array of weapons nestled beneath the trees as though casually discarded and forgotten that have her dark eyes narrowing. That have something quickening long her spine, palms itching with anticipation.]

Odds of this being a trap?

[There's something in her voice which suggests she knows it is. Something that hints at the possibility that she might want it to be.]

iii. makeover

[Scholarship and life-long education is at least one thing she's intimately familiar with, but the array of clothes on display once she steps into this store? Decidedly less so. She stands there a moment, a compact grey wraith amidst a swirl of patterns and colour, looking decidedly non-plussed.]

Doesn't look especially practical, does it.

[Never mind that her near-shabby and colourless attire looks like it has seen better days.]

[ooc: this is literally me voice testing this character for the very first time so please bear with me whilst I try to get the hang of her!! ;; Happy to match brackets or prose as you prefer :)]

Giovanni Rammsteiner | DOGS: Bullets and Carnage | familiar

[ofobedience]

i. the fall

[for one bright blinding moment, he thinks that the world is ending. the light - his own light , it's blinding. It rings in his ears and through his skull, reverberating right down to the core of him like it'll shake loose the snatched parts of himself that make him who he is, separate him from muscle and bone and metal once and for all. almost, he wants it. it doesn't last though, and when the light stops and the metaphorical dust settles and he can once again discern the shape of himself, he laughs. it's a staccato sound that falls oddly flat in expanse of the orchard, lets him know that the space he's currently occupying is finite. clearly, things have taken a turn for the outlandish.

he picks himself out of a pile of leaves, smoke still rising from him in acrid wisps as he straightens his cracked glasses, flicks dust from his ravaged suit; he doubts anyone is here to observe his performance, but the show must go on. it helps ground him, helps him retain his poise.

he cocks his head as he listens, trigger-fingers twitching in reflex. is that the crunch of footsteps making their way through this strange and alien place?]

Come out, come out, whatever you are.

ii. apple picking

[The trees and the orchard and even the picking of apples from their true source are all so strange and alien to him that he's left feeling undone, unmoored. Disconcerted. Of course, he allows none of this to seep into his outward appearance, stalking through this strange, new place with all the loose and languid canine grace at his disposal. Hands shoved into the pockets of his torn suit, eyes partially obscured behind cracked orange lenses, he picks not a thing, touches nothing-- not until he comes to the other kind of trees.

It's the weapons, of course, that catch bright at his interest. It's only when he's done rifling through them - armed once again, settling some of the unsteady feelings in him - that he plucks one of the shining golden fruit. Almost unconscious, an afterthought. When the people and their array of strange masks begin bleeding out of the woodwork, his face splits wide on a crooked-pin smile. Now here is something that he knows. Something he can sink his teeth into.]

Play time.

ii. makeover

[He'd stepped inside ostensibly to see if there's anything that can be done to save his now-ragged appearance - one should always strive for elegance, no matter the circumstances - so its a strange sensation, to abruptly realise that others around him are in dire need of his help. That he actually wants to give it.]

Now, this may be what you're looking for. It's just your cut and colour.

[He holds up a fine-tailoured suit, no matter your gender or present state of dress.]

[ooc: It has been a few years since I brought Gio out to play so I’m feeling rusty, please bear with me!]

cho hakkai | saiyuki | undecided

[knowsvinewhip]

1) APPLES
[Collecting apples? Can do. A normal enough activity for a very abnormal situation. Something very grounding, centering, about collecting food. And the apples are quite lovely. There is little to be said except the most banal small talk - Hakkai kind of excels at that. Asking questions patiently enough about the world, about his apple partner's day...]

[Everything except allowing the conversation to veer toward anything like personal admissions or information.]

[... At least until the gold and red apple trees come into view.]

That cannot possibly be a well-meaning invitation. [They have WEAPONS growing out of the ground!] I suggest we avoid those particular trees.

[... whether or not he's listened to is another story. Oops.]


2) MAKEOVER MAKEOVER
This won't do at all.

[It's said so matter of fact. So completely to the point, even if there weren't some kind of magic going on here, it might be believable all on its own. The speaker looks... honestly, the guy looks like you could break him in half if you sneezed wrong. He's dressed very simply, greens and browns. The only remarkable thing is the dorky little monocle he's got.]

[And he's holding up a coat that looks suspiciously like tweed. Oh no.]

Change into this, if you please. [... It's easier to be suddenly invested in other peoples' outfits when your normal way of speaking to people is, well. That.] It's far more suited to cooler weather.


(( ooc: trying out an old character again after a long time!! kind of voice testing, and undecided about myth or legend or anything, whoops. ))

Natasha Romanoff | MCU | Myth (?)

[expionage]

Scavenger Hunt
[Finding things is something Natasha has become very good at, all things considered. When one is a highly specialized spy, trained by the KGB, things don't tend to stay hidden very well.

However, she's not used to the downgrade in tech after working with S.H.I.E.L.D. for so long. Even on the run with Steve, she still had a few of her favorite toys to play with when she needed them. The relics seem simple enough, sort of like a very large slider smartphone, like the phones the Finns made popular back in the early 2000s. Or perhaps more like the gaming systems made by the Japanese in the late 2010s.

However it is, she's well acquainted with how it works quickly enough so that when the woman gives her the list, she looks at it before lifting her eyes up with a look of mild surprise mixed with annoyance.]

A prize. Does this need to be accomplished with a partner or can it be done alone?

Apple Picking
[Being told to follow the beaten path holds little charm for Natasha and she looks over at the person who is with her before tossing her head to the side.]

I'm going to look over there. I see other apples that might be more interesting. You're free to stay here if you want.

Imakeover Makeover
[While her clothes might fit in any major city in the Western world of Earth, Natasha's normal outfits sort of stick out. Then again, with all the different people here, maybe not. She can't help but stop into one of the boutiques offering different clothes. It's sort of nice to be able to do something so mundane as buy new clothes. She's not really used to it, if she's being honest with herself.

Looking up from a rather pretty red dress, she spots a sight that makes her flinch.]

You don't want to wear that. It makes you look like a pumpkin.

Clint Barton | MCU | Familar

[archerandfamilyman]

Apple Picking

Clint had gone apple picking with his kids before both on the farm and in other places, so it was a familiar activity that seemed safer to do with a stranger then running around the property and getting touchy feely or anything like that. He does keep a close eye on the older looking trees though curious about them, but knowing better than to get close. He was the king of getting other people out of trouble not getting into it himself.

He makes sure to keep an eye on his partner too, but given he can't hear as well as most other people he does turn around at one point and realise his partner is walking towards the trees. He starts running in their direction trying to get to them before they grab one of the apples. "Oh COME ON," he calls out, "Can't I have one quiet day?"

Makeover, Makeover

Clint was not a clothes horse by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a beautiful day, nothing had tried to kill him yet and he was enjoying poking his head into various shops and exploring the things on display. He slid into one of the clothing stores and frowned as he watched someone trying to choose an outfit.

He had watched both his wife and daughter wear that expression more than once and had often been roped into helping them choose an outfit when he was home long enough to do so. Walking up to the person and making sure they could see them, he pointed to a colorful looking outfit with a smile.

He also made sure his hearing aides were in and on so he didn't have to fumble with sign language for the conversation. "That one might work," he offers with a slight smile.


Wildcard

[Interested in something else with Clint, throw up a prompt or suggest something and I'll roll with it.]

Sam Wilson | MCU | Legend probably?

[jetpacking]

[ 1. Scavenger Hunt ]

[Sam remembers some weird-ass dream about a Fox and the next thing he knows, he's opening his eyes in... an apple orchard. This is new. But honestly his life has gotten so strange, he's going to try rolling with it. What the else is he supposed to do? A quick series of light slaps to his own face did not wake him up, so he can't pass it off as some dream.

Then he winds up with a scavenger hunt list in his hand. He stares at it then back to the woman who's handed it to him.]

Right.

[Maybe there's some point to this. Time to find a partner.]

Hey, uh... gotta be honest. Scavenger hunts are not my thing, but when in Rome. Or wherever this is. [He flashes a smile, all easy charm. Or, well, he likes to think it's charming. It does have a habit of working.] Feel like partnering up? I take great pictures.


[ 2. Apple Picking ]

[So he's been warned about the fruit of the old trees and is currently standing, hands on his hips.]

This is some biblical Garden of Eden shit. Don't eat the special apples.

[A tilt of his head towards said trees.] What do you think? I mean probably not a great idea to go breaking the rules first day in a place. It does kind of make you wonder though, right?

[A shrug of his shoulders.] It really is a heavy-handed metaphor though. Not even a little subtle.


[ 3. Saved by the Bell ]

[Sam Wilson is naked in English class. He's right up in the front of the room and holding a small packet of papers -- plastic cover and everything. Very official looking.]

Well. This is awkward.

[He will lower the packet so that he is hiding his unmentionables.] Anyway, here's my report on Moby Dick.

[Humor will diffuse this situation, right? Where are his clothes anyway? ...and also why is he in high school?]


[ 4. Wildcard ]

(( Find him anywhere honestly. Or hit me up at seasided to plan something out. ))

Loki Odinson | MCU | Myth probably

[morethanatrickster]

I. waking up and scavenger hunt

[For one blindingly hopeful moment, an exceedingly disoriented Loki is optimistic. The scent of autumn leaves and the gentle kiss of a breeze welcome him with open arms. He made it. This was Valhalla, it had to be. After all his missteps, he’d finally done something selfless enough to earn a place in the hall of heroes.

Only the sound of laughter brought a confused frown to his brow as his eyes flitted open. Trees towered above him, brilliant in autumn splendor, branches hanging heavy with ripe-]

…apples?

[He couldn’t recall any description of the great paradise that awaited the greatest of Asgard’s heroes to include such heavily leaden trees, but perhaps it had simply missed notice. There weren’t exactly many who’d gone to the great beyond and returned.

He stood from the ground, dusting himself off and straightening his cape before setting off in…well, he had no idea what direction was the correct one, but he took an apple for the trip, which took him on a meandering path through an idyllic grove before depositing him quite abruptly in a-]

And a farm. How quaint. [He tossed the remains of his apple to the ground and made his way to the only other person in his direct vision who seemed to have some sort of input. The kiosk had an authoritative look to it.

The Asgardian prince’s confusion only deepened when the fox woman directed him to a task, though he was up for the challenge.]

It’s going to be a hunt then? So be it. [He smiled a charming smile to their host and moved on. If he needed a partner, it was better to find one quickly than to mill about. He didn’t plan on keeping them around for long regardless.]

Pardon me. [He isn’t discriminate in whom he approaches. Anyone here is equally viable to use, er befriend in this task.] Would you care to join me in a scavenger hunt? It ought to be at least slightly entertaining.

[That prize would be his and his alone, whatever it may be.]

I. apple picking

[You don’t want to bother the old trees off the path. It was as though the vulpine woman intended him to do just that. He makes his way through the rows without touching the apples, keeping an eye out for these “old trees” the woman had mentioned, and smiles mischievously when they come into view. His eyes immediately fall upon the golden apples, certain they must contain some sort of forbidden power, but he doesn’t fail to take notice of the weapons scattered about the base of the trees as he approaches them. He tosses aside the basket, stooping smoothly as he walks past, pulling one dagger, then another from the ground. A flick of his wrist and a glint of greenish energy and away the daggers go, magicked into a secret place for later retrieval. A total of four daggers are hidden thusly before he arrives under the boughs of the trees.

His expression falls once the apple is in his hand, as the sounds of the bushes rustling catch his attention. Another shimmer of greenish energy and the golden apple disappears as well as the Frost Giant turns, smiling and raising his hands.]

Greetings! It’s quite a fine evening, is it not? [He smiles at the approaching masked ones, brandishing their scythes like promises.] A fine evening for new friends, rather than…whatever it is you may intend to do with those weapons. I can assure you, it is not in your best interests to attack me.

[As they show no signs of stopping, a quick flourish from Loki’s hands and another greenish flow and a golden visor topped with great, curved horns appears in his hand. He places it upon his head and flicks his wrists again, drawing forth two of the daggers he so recently acquired. They weren’t his daggers, but they would suffice.]

So be it. You were warned.

Hermes ☿ Hades ☿ Familiar

[messageforyou]

Scavenger Hunt

Hermes could be easily mistaken for a legend. He already has wings connected to his head and feet, and he exudes a divine aura that glows with the feeling of the sun on your face after spending too long inside, of the brisk breeze in the air just before setting off for an adventure. But that's just the Olympian in him, really.

As he's given the list, he smiles down at it.

"Will you look at that." His wings perk as he examines his relic, tinkering with it for a moment to figure out it's functionality before turning the camera on the nearest person and takes a picture. It flashes, and he looks down at the contraption. "How clever!"

He smiles at the person he just took a picture of. It's a laid-back but opaque smile. When he speaks, there's a divine echo behind his words. "I usually work alone so I'm not slowed down, but you seem like you might keep up a brisk pace. Would you like to join me?"

Apple-picking

She told him not to bother the old trees, so of course he had to. He picks a bright red apple, and is immediately besieged by snakes.

One would think that a guy alone dealing with all these snakes might be alarmed, but nope, not really. He just smiles in mild amusement as the snakes come for him.

"So that's what she was talking about."

Instead of taking a sword or a mace, he picks the longest weapon from the ground--a pitchfork. And his wings flutter, allowing him to take off from the ground as he hums, piercing snakes on his pitchfork and wrapping them around the tool like spaghetti while they snap and coil around the staff to crush it. He can probably through these in a river somewhere nearby.

Kaede Kaburagi | Tiger and Bunny | Undecided

[likewildtiger]

1. Saved by the Bell

[This certainly was unexpected. Here she was, in the middle of the school, as she stared up the rope and then back at the gym teacher. Smiling to herself, she gave a quick peace sign to her "classmates".]

Don't worry, I got this. This will be a piece of cake! Just you wait...!

[After all, she considered herself a fairly active girl and she wasn't going to put her father to shame by not climbing up that rope! And yet, the moment she decided to climb said rope? Was it just her imagination or did it seem endless no matter how far she got up?

Come and help her out?]

2. Scavenger Hunt

[Looking at her partner and then back at the piece of paper, all the following items weren't so bad. If anything, most of them seemed like things she already did back in her world. That being said, she tried her best to flash a genuine smile to her partner before raising an eyebrow at the picture taken.]

No, I think I could do a little better. [She said before attempting another smile and then giving a slight frown.]

I don't know, what do you think? Does it seem "genuine" enough?

3. IMakeover Makeover

[It seemed that Kaede is walked right in time for back to school season! The moment she stepped into a store, her eyes immediately widen at all the various clothing items! Granted, she might not have any money to buy a lot of things but she couldn't help it!

Walking over toward a certain section, she quickly pointed to said egirl style of clothing.]

Do you think that will look good on me?

4. Wildcard

[Surprise me...!]

Genjiro Chibana 🍵 Handead Anthem 🍵 Familiar.

[gokuraku]

01. ) FALL INTO PLACE

//////////////////////////////// SCAVENGER HUNT ////

Lucky for me, I can find beauty in most things. ... How about you? Did anything catch your eye?

( He asks his partner for the day gently, smiling all warm-like. Just getting started on the scavenger hunt, he's figuring he might go in order of easiest, but it's best to just relax. )

02. ) WHO WE WANT TO BE

//////////////////////////////// MAKEOVER ////

( He hasn't had this much fun trying on clothes since, like, GREAT MUSIC FESTIVAL with Gara and Yuki.

He's a traditional type of guy, as the 12th iemoto of the Chibana family, but he does like some modern flair. He has to laugh when a leather jacket is suggested. )

Oh, my word. It's been ... mmm ... Ten years since I came near anything leather and studded.

Anne Shirley | Anne of Green Gables | Legend

[oftheisland]

i. scavenger hunt

The concept of a scavenger hunt is one she's familiar with. What's odd is the device she'd been given, a hand-held miracle. Photographs without an eternity of sitting, getting stiffer by the moment; without a black cloth or smoking flash.

But the list itself appeals, direct as an arrow, to what she calls her romantic sensibilities and what Marilla refers to, dry, as stuff and nonsense. Anne points to a brilliant swathe of leaves beneath one grand, gnarled old tree, a carpet of russet and crimson scattered gently over soft, still brightly green grass. "We could hardly hope to find better autumn leaves than those, surely."

ii. apple picking

Wandering through the orchard, her basket piling high with sweet apples, Anne feels a bit like Ulysses among the Lotus-Eaters, and the

Branches they bore of that enchanted stem,
laden with flower and fruit
She hardly notices, lost as she is in a delicious daydream, when her steps lead her off the well-ordered paths of the orchard and onto a twisting, overgrown trail, thick with moss and shadow. She picks her way around ancient weapons, seemingly a silent testament to a battle long gone by, and imagines the ringing of sword against sword, the flash of sunlight on armor. The trees here loom overhead, their branches thick with the most gorgeous, gleaming red apples she's ever seen, and she simply can't resist.

No sooner does she reach up and pluck one of the apples than she drops it again with a gasp of surprise as an enormous snake uncoils like a lazy shadow from the trunk of the tree. She steps back, but instead of the path, her heel meets something smooth and muscular and moving. She can't stifle a small scream, but even so it seems strangely muffled in the shade of the old apple trees, their branches now seeming to blot out the sky.

"Help!" she calls, despairing that she might be heard. Her voice seems to disappear into air without carrying at all. "Someone, please!"

iii. saved by the bell

Anne stands at the front of the classroom, face hot with shame and anger, her temper flaring, as she attempts, over and over again, to work out the problem on the board as the students behind her laugh and jeer. Miss Stacy is nowhere to be seen, and this is not her own schoolroom, and the equation she's meant to work will keep shifting on her. None of the symbols make sense, and she's about ready to explode with frustration.

Worse still, her hair is back in two stiff braids that hang over her shoulder, looking unfortunately like carrots, and she's dressed in the same cheap yellow wincey dress she'd worn the day she came to Avonlea. It's much too small for her now and pinches unbearably.

She doesn't even want to think about the freckles.

"Why don't I understand?" she blazes at the problem she's trying to solve, working herself into a passion. "Why won't it work?"

Yelena Belova | MCU | Familiar

[fiveseconds]

(I.)

Scavenger Hunt

(Yelena had never been a part of this kind of scavenger hunt before. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she poured over the list.)
What is the purpose of this?

(was it like hunting Widows or somehow a part of the stories that Alexi used to tell her and Natasha as children. She looked to her left.)

I hope you can keep up.

(II.)

Makeover

Yelena stepped into the store, looking around curiously. She loved clothes! She especially loved coats. She loved all things American; it was one of the reasons that she had gone to New York to see Natasha in the first place. She shook her head, refusing to let her maudlin feelings take over. She scanned the small shop with purpose.

She wanted to play dress-up.

(III.)

Wildcard

(ooc: I will match the tagger's style in both threads. If there is a prompt you want to play out with Yelena, feel free to drop it down or message me on DW and I can write a starter.)

the balladeer | assassins

[singthesong]

i. scavenger hunt

[This guy looks like he fits into the whole vibe here perfectly. He arrived already wearing plaid flannel!

On one hand, he doesn't seem to entirely know what's going on. He's visibly startled when the woman at the kiosk asks him if he wants a drink - even turns as if expecting to find she's addressing someone behind him - and doesn't seem to know what kind of drink he even does want. But he also seems perfectly good-natured about it!

Sipping his pumpkin spice latte, he wanders along, reading over the list for the scavenger hunt. Normally he wouldn't participate in something like this; it's the kind of things stories are about, which puts him neatly on the outside. But apparently he...can, here. At least a little. Might as well seize the opportunity, right?

He wanders a little, looking for someone else who seems to be in the same boat.]

Hi there! [Huh. He blinks for a second - weird.] Are you doing this scavenger hunt, too? Did they give you a camera?

[He did get one of the phones! He does not know what a smartphone is.]

ii. makeover

[The Balladeer has never been clothes shopping before, obviously. He just sort of stepped into this shop out of curiosity. But he was almost immediately intercepted by some of the sales staff, who are now trying to figure out what his new style ought to be! He's being completely unhelpful, confused and a little alarmed by all of the attention:]

Um...well, this is...what I wear...

[Yeah that's not the concept of a makeover though? He doesn't seem to get it; he flashes the nearest other customer a helpless and rather baffled smile. Help? Save him?]

Alex Jiang | The Raven Cycle | Legend

[silkensupra]

I. Scavenger Hunt

[Jiang tastes just about everything that the kiosk has to offer, starting with the hot cocoa and ending up with the cold alcoholic cider that he'd had to make pleading eyes at someone that looked older than Jiang did. He has two cups, and seems willing to part with the spare to anyone that's willing to help him with the scavenger hunt as he goes over the list again.

He'd much rather be taking the photos on his 35mm Canon, but he supposed that the relic would work for a silly little game. But of course, he thinks of beauty, of things that make him smile for real, and he thinks of people that he doesn't think are here with him. Kavinsky and Proko and Skov and Swan, stoplights at night and cars on asphalt, boys hungry for a race. This place was nice, but it wasn't beautiful in the same way as Proko or Swan or Ronan.

(Yes, he had something of a type, what of it?)

He wasn't even particularly against the idea of holding hands with a stranger. It was just the fact that he'd prefer if it wasn't a stranger. He'd had crushes on basically all of his friends, but could you really blame him? Skov had picked up on the fact that Jiang was gay before he'd even considered being "out" to anyone, so it apparently hadn't even been as subtle as he'd thought.

Which is to say that he might be not-so-casually looking for a scavenger partner that's about six-feet, with broad shoulders and an external demeanor like the sort of dogs assholes use in fights. Damaged and with something to them beyond the snarling and the sharp teeth.]

II. Saved By the Bell

[Jiang's nightmare is simple and subtle: he's back in Aglionby, stepping into Calculus. Swan and K laughing over some unsaid joke as Skov pretends to be confused about his lack of last night's assignment. Kavinsky has his feet kicked up on the desk next to him. If it had been the days before he'd ended up here, he would have slipped over to them like he belonged there- shoved K's feet off his chair, only for the boy to resettle them in his lap.

But it doesn't happen like that. Their eyes slide over him like he's just another member of the student body, a stranger. Jiang finds himself walking over to the seat by the window, like this was freshman year, like he was nobody. Something occurs to him and he searches his bag for his camera, but comes up empty-- but of course he does. Without Kavinsky in his life, who would have told him that he was worth it? Who would have believed in him? He shivers, his lips thinning to keep them from trembling. He tugs at his tie, pulling out of place like it's strangling him.]