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Entry tags:
May 2022 Test Drive Meme
MAY 2022 TDM
INTRODUCTION
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.
Content Warnings: Possible insanity via cuts by thorns. Temporary nullification of abilities.
DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS
OUT OF THE WOODS
DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS
The world comes into focus in one sharp, overwhelming rush. You are laying on the ground surrounded by staggering walls of flowers of all types and colors. Their sweet scent fills the air and the sky above is clear, blue, beautiful, and endless. It would be easy to be lulled into a quiet nap in such a peaceful place. You can even hear a soft, disembodied voice singing songs from some unknown place all around you. After some time, this siren song creates an intense yearning that will eventually bring you to your feet and pull you forward. You are filled with the urge to find someone important. You may know who or you might just have some aimless, faceless person at the forefront of your mind.
All you know is that when you finally find them, you'll know. Is it love? Is it a friend you have always needed? The perfect enemy? Only time will tell, but for now, you must find them. The flower maze is dense and for now, it doesn't seem like flying out and above them is an option. If you try, you just wind up vaulted back into the maze. Nope! This trial is about using other means of exploration. Maybe you can destroy the flowers, but you will find that this flower field is apparently endless. If you get cut by thorns along the way, you will become increasingly hectic about finding this mystery person. Some have been thrown into insane desperation just looking for their People among the flowers.
But once you finally find them, you're both filled with relief and the flowers around you blossom wider. You can then treat the flower maze like a solvable puzzle and get your way out of it. However, some people spend a bit more time in the maze since once you do find your person or people, you will be stricken with the urge to talk to them, to "open up" about your yearning to find them...even if you've never met them before!
OUT OF THE WOODS
Just outside of the flower maze is a little festival set up just on the edge of Willow and partway into Epiphany! Little stalls of food and drinks have been set up - and we mean little! The good folk who set up these stalls are magical cats standing upright and wearing clothes like little people! All the stalls are cat-sized and so are the dishes and food - which means most of the people walking through will likely be quite a bit bigger! That's okay, the cat folk seem happy to serve you bigger or multiple helpings of their yummy soups and bread. None of them seem able to really communicate with the new arrivals, but that's okay, their cute meows are fun to listen to anyway.
The music is a bit more pronounced here and a handful of cat couples are dancing around. Don't be surprised if they encourage you to join in the dancing! Maybe you didn't actually find someone in the flower maze - if not, the cat folk will encourage you to dance with another new arrival to get to know them! Because apparently dancing with someone you don't know is a good formal introduction? Ah well. Sometimes it's just the idea that counts.
There will also be some supplies to help patch people up who have gotten a lot of cuts from the flower maze. Some of the bouts of insanity are probably still going a bit hectic, so you might want to lay down in the recovery area until you feel a bit more stable. Talking to people apparently helps with the stability, so maybe strike up a conversation with a fellow newbie?
Content Warnings: Optional selective amensia and/or altered sense of self, possible monster/creature violence, temporary enchantments, forced relocations.
LONG STORY SHORT
DAYLIGHT
LONG STORY SHORT
You're in a very unusual, specific outfit and in a place you might have seen once or twice in a storybook or in the imagination of your childhood. For some, you might pick up on what's happening immediately. For others, you might be so immersed in the role that you don't realize it - but you're featuring in a classic fairy tale. Maybe it's Sleeping Beauty or Little Red Riding Hood or Tale of the White Snake or The Mirror of Matsuyama. Either way, you're the main character or the main antagonist and it looks like you're going to have to play out the story with whoever you're stuck with!
The other person in the trial can either match up to the other side of the story or just arrive as themselves and have to play along. Trying to just abandon the trial is quite literally impossible! You're stuck in the weird woods or high tower and trying to "leave" just results in you going in repeated cycles until you wind up where you started. You have a role to fill and you might as well get used to playing roles in Folkmore! It's time to understand how these trials work. What lesson are you supposed to take away?
If you're grumbling about it or are left confused, don't worry! Thirteen will appear to those struggling and explain the situation: "You need to play out the story! C'mon. Everyone knows this story...Right? Well, whatever, it's obvious! If you play your part, I promise I'll give you something you want." Can you really trust a fox though? Especially the fox who brought you here? She laughs before you can really pester her for more information and vanishes in a burst of red dust. Foxes really are mischievous, aren't they...At least most fairy tales are incredibly short, basic, and straightforward so most people should be able to figure it out!
In theory.
DAYLIGHT
At least the Fox wasn't lying. When you complete the task of the story, the fairy tale world will melt into one of the settings in Folkmore and you will be brought back into the current reality. You will be left in the weird clothes, but fear not! A mystery trunk has appeared in front of you and whoever you completed the trial with. Inside the trunk, you will find some of your canon clothes and a few canon items. Nearby, there will be some weapons sticking out of the ground: basic swords, guns, shields, etc. These items might not be enchanted, but at least you have something to work with!
Better yet, you don't necessarily have to complete the Long Story Short prompt to find these trunks either! They seem to be dotted around Folkmore and you might find them just by virtue of exploration! The trunks seem to mysteriously know who is opening them so you won't find someone else's stuff by accident, but you might have to fight over who gets the sword in the stone...
A word of caution to those who grab the weapons...You will immediately be tested on how good you are with them. As soon as you have pulled them out of the ground, the ground will begin trembling and a serpent-like creature will form out of the ground. If you're in Wintermute, you have a sizeable icy creature to deal with. If you're in Cruel Summer, meet the fire-breathing snakey nightmare that's going to try and roast you alive. Don't think Epiphany or Willow will have gentler creatures! They might be covered in moss or flowers but they will hit just as hard. You have to defeat the angry creature - or try running for your life. They are relatively easy to beat and people without powers can manage if they are highly skilled or...really lucky...Or if someone far more capable finds them! Good luck. As a pro-tip, maybe don't pull weird swords out of the ground in the future.
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And he is also socially awkward too, to be fair.
So quickly Ken shakes his head, with a smile while he touches his own chin, a small gesture he does often]
Not at all. Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who knows how to talk to people very well. [ it's... A bit different now. Because he is so relieved he found Kyle somehow, and that despair inside of him vanished. If it's not permanent and it's just the Fox's doing, that's fine for now. Kaneki rarely gets to feel like this.]
Plus, I'm also the kind of person who loves to study.
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Oh, thank god, this way when we both fuck up we can just gloss it over.
Are you in school? [Said with bright, genuine interest. It's like he wants to know everything about Kaneki. Some of this is of course the magic of the place, but he also really does just like learning about things and people.]
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I started college, I'm a freshman studying Japanese literature. It has been interesting, although I had to miss the start of the year. [ an accident happened, but kaneki decides not to talk about it and instead focus on Kyle ]
What about you? What are you studying?
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[Of course he has to ask.] Why'd you miss the start of the year?
Me? Oh, psychology. I'm pretty sure I wanna work with kids, specifically.
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A-ah... I had an accident. I was in the hospital for most of October due to an organ transplant. [ actually, Kaneki has to wonder if he shouldn't be taking his medication here, as well. At the same time, he has a feeling it won't matter because the medication was just a lie.
Hm.
Kaneki just shakes his head softly ] Psychology is interesting, though. I've read a lot of books on it. [ with a head tilt, kaneki's smile remains on his face while he continues to walk through the flower filed ] Do you like children a lot, then?
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[Kyle, please don't start giving a speech, you just met.
He nods sympathetically.] I get that. I had a kidney transplant as a kid, and it can really knock you out.
I do, yeah. I grew up with a little brother, maybe that's why. And like... I know a lot of people who had pretty traumatic upbringings? I'd like to help kids with that, if I can.
['People.' He does not list himself with that, but he probably should.]
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Books also have practical knowledge, because besides introducing you to a world of imagination, it can show you the outside world, improving memory and intelligence. [ spoken like a true Literature student ] But they can also connect to you emotionally. Written words have so much power that they can move you off your feet. [ see, Kyle? he is the one who is ranting.
but at least Kaneki realizes that. He stops, and his cheeks turn ted, a bit embarrassed ] S-sorry. I just... have a big connection to books. I don't remember my father, but he left a big collection of books for me and... I just feel closer to him by reading. And this way I don't feel lonely. [ he says that with a big smile.
Why is he oversharing? Well, perhaps it's the fact that he feels so comforted with Kyle around. He wants to know about him, wants to connect with him, which is something that kaneki rarely does. Because even if he says he isn't lonely, Kaneki is incredibly so. Painfully so. He may not admit to it, he may even lie to himself about it when he reads books. But he is so very lonely.
Guess who also had a traumatic upbringing, oops; ]
... But. Wanting to help others like that, it's very noble. I'm sure you will be able to do it.
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I can safely say that fiction has had just as much of an effect on me as factual texts. Fiction can change your life. And books will be around long after were dead, to inspire others for as long as the written word exists.
[Kyle's smile softens.] Don't apologise. I think that's really sweet, dude. And like... I get lonely, too. So I get it.
I hope so. Guess I'll see, someday.
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Ken nods quickly, with a bright big smile ] Yeah, while history is important, fiction allows you to see how people think, imagine, work. Even after so many years have passed, you can still learn so much about the authors by reading their work.
[ and speaking of authors ] Oh- what is your favourite author? Do you have one?
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Yes! Dude. You are so a lit major, and it's awesome.
Oh, gosh. [That's a tough question, and he has to think about it.] I really have to read more fiction, to be totally honest. I'm a dork, I do like a lot of scifi and fantasy stuff... I guess my favourite might be Harlan Ellison. You?
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He is so glad he had met Kyle, now.
Ken nods as he hears the other] Harlan Ellison... He wrote a bit of horror, "I have no mouth and I must scream", right? [ Kaneki is not well versed in sci-fi, but there is something he is very well versed on: horror.]
My favorite genre is horror. Psychological horror, but honestly any kind. [ yes, this tiny nerd absolutely love horrific writting]
Although my favorite author is Sen Takatsuki. They are a Japanese horror writer. [ but she only exists in Kaneki's world due to Canon Reasons. Not that Kaneki will know, but it's not a name anyone else will recognize]
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[He brightens.] I've never heard of them! If we find a library at some point you'll have to recommend me the best work. I think the only Japanese horror stuff I know is comics or movies. I watch a lot of movies, I guess.
[He looks around at all the flowers.]
Gosh. You suppose we'll get to like, stay in a town or something? Once we get out of this garden thing, I mean.
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and well... to kaneki, sharing book ideas and titles and knowledge like this is so much fun.
However when Kyle mentions the flower field, Kaneki pauses, looking around. That's right, they have been walking for a while. ]
Hm... it's probably magical, right? [ a pause follows before Kaneki sighs ] I did just say "magical". [ he is starting to accept this is all real and talking foxes and magical flower fields are indeed a thing ]
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Kyle nods, smiling a little.]
Probably magical, yeah. It's weird, right? This is like... I guess I've seen some strange things in my life [an understatement] but this is... a whole other level. But it doesn't feel sinister, at least? Although I guess if it's magic we could be being manipulated and not know it.
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But Kyle is right, it doesn't feel... bad ]
It feels a lot better than back home, at least... [ because back home, Kaneki was... not in a good situation at all. In fact, he had just been kidnapped. This felt much better.
But Kaneki quickly shakes his head and smiles after ]
Well, let's try to get out of here. Be careful with the thorns, I have seen them around. [ he can't get hurt by them, but Kyle seems like a normal human, so he probably can ]
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[He stays close to Kaneki as they walk, like they're old friends.]
Were you in a bad spot, back home?
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But the question leaves him pausing. For some reason he is compelled to share, even though it's not something fun or happy ]
I... was taken by someone. I'm not sure what will happen but... [ he hums softly ] Probably staying here for a while sounds safer.
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Kyle's expression sobers quickly.]
Taken? Like kidnapped? Jesus, dude. Yeah, better to be here. I can protect you. [Hec says this with perfect assurance in spite of being built like a stork.]
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Hmmm. Who is the gentleman now? [ he tries to bring some light-heartedness into the conversation, even adding a smile. Although Kaneki is a bit afraid of what might happen but it's probably no use thinking about it now ]
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Why would people be trying to kidnap you?
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Ah... I got involved with some bad people somehow... [ kaneki realizes that just sounded really suspicious ] Not on purpose!
But they were looking for the person whose organs were transferred onto me. She died, so I suppose I was the "next best thing". [ Something like that? Honestly Kaneki isn't entirely sure why him in particular, but he can only assume it's related to Rize, somehow. ]
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It's cool, dude. It happens sometimes.
Oh. That's fucking weird of them. Did... were they trying to take them back?!
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I don't know. I don't even know how they heard about me or why they even need me. [ everything is a mystery and it sucks. Because a lot happens that kaneki does not get ]
... I don't think it matters much, anyway. [ it matters to Kaneki, but what's the point of thinking about it in this place? ] Ah- hopefully things were easier for you, Kyle.
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[He smiles.] H. Me? Yeah. Yeah, everything was great for me. Totally cool, totally normal.
[Liar.]
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so he will focus on Kyle instead! Kaneki blinks, looking back at the other for a second, and after he hums ] Well... regardless of good and bad. Sometimes it's nice to have a break, right? [ said as gentle as possible ]
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