![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
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.
no subject
But he doesn't say anything else. She wants a moment. He'll give her that. Instead, he's watching the world around them with slightly narrowed eyes. One of them had best keep watch and he's good at it.]
no subject
Even if everything seems like a party right now (and Asahi doesn't seem to fully trust that, since she keeps glancing up from her bowl to look at everything too, despite the fact that Vax is already keeping a vigilant watch), she knows to not take anything for granted. ]
.. All of this is so weird.
[ It's the first thing Asahi suddenly speaks up with, after letting a few moments of silence linger between them where she's just eating. ]
no subject
[Vax shrugs as he uses his bread to scoop up some of the soup into his mouth. The bread is already soft and freshly baked. But, old small-town habits die hard. Especially when one doesn't want them to.] The cats are really weird.
no subject
Hold on.
Asahi was halfway through pushing another piece of bread into her mouth when she suddenly starts choking on it. Pretty violently too, though thankfully she seems to manage to resolve it by pounding against her chest with her fist a few times, rather than miserably dying here on the spot by having choked on a piece of bread.
Once she's sure she can breathe again, she just voices: ]
Dealing with a god?!
[ P-Please, Vax?! You talk about dealing with a god like it's normal? You can't just throw that at a normal girl in the middle of a simple meal here, it startles her! ]
no subject
It takes him a second to realize what did it. He coughs and looks off to the side. That’s right, to the day to day person dealing with gods is unusual. He starts to shrug then forces himself to nod instead.
He is a representative of his lady.] Yeah, look I know it sounds really impossible or scary. Or both.
It kind of…is. But just remember, they need us as much as we need them.
no subject
[ Asahi's mouth hangs open for a moment, but no words come out. After all, the thing she wanted to say is that she was fairly sure gods weren't even real.
But thankfully she realises just in time that saying that to someone who has dealt with one is more than a little rude, and she manages to swallow the words right back up before she loudly exclaims them.
Still, it leaves her pausing for a moment, unsure of what else to say in its place. She stares at him awkwardly for a moment or two before she manages to avert her gaze. ]
.. maybe I'm the only normal one in this place who's never dealt with anything strange then.
[ There, that feels safer to say than what she initially wanted to say. Even if this one makes it sound a little like she's sulking.. but she is sulking! This entire situation still feels dumb and unfair to her, especially after having only barely made it out of that maze. ]
no subject
I figure there will be some weirder ones like me. And others who…aren’t like that.
[His weird just happens to be a lot more than normal weird. Or so he would say. He takes a bite of soup before he says,] And I’m pretty sure everyone’s version of normal might be a little weird to each other. I don’t think we’re from the same places.
no subject
We're definitely not.
[ That much has become rapidly apparent to her. After all, how could someone who has interacted with a god come from the same world as hers? She can't even imagine that happening in her own - no matter how mind-boggling the idea of meeting someone from another world is.
Maybe Asahi's mind is trying to process the surprises one by one, just so she won't get overwhelmed.
Like here. She's slowly eating another bite, thinking as she's chewing, and then decides to try and process this entire 'another world' business by just comparing that weird god situation to an entirely normal one for her..
.. not realising that it's the one thing that makes her own world different from all others. She just assumes it's something universal, so-- ]
Hey, so.. when you interacted with that god.. did your Iris work on that god as well? or does it only work on regular people? Or.. [ She seems to realise something, shaking her head. ] I guess you're probably too old to have one, huh.
no subject
[What the hell is an iris? Too old? His eyebrow raises as he thinks over what to say. He decides it's best to just talk.]
Talk to me about it? I can tell you exactly what happened with the Matron of Ravens, but might require a bit of a history lesson.
no subject
[ It's not even about the last part of what he says. Asahi figures that name is just the name of the god he was talking about - that much makes sense to her, as wild as the idea of anyone communicating with gods still is to her.
No, she's completely mentally tripping over what Vax says at first. She stares at him, her eyes super wide in surprise - looking at him like he suddenly grew a second head on the spot. ]
What do you mean, you don't know what an Iris is..?!
no subject
Just like I bet, you’ve never heard of Tal’Dorei. Or the Chroma Conclave and what they are doing. The later is hard to miss.
They’re taking over cities and forcing people to pay tribute to them.
no subject
[ But those are just organisations - or something along those lines, she thinks. It's what it sounds like, just judging by the way Vax talks about them, the description he gives there at the end. It sounds like something that could have been happening on the other side of the world in another country, just something Asahi doesn't know about since she's just a little bit too much of a typical teenager to pay super close attention to far off world events.
Which is why she can reconcile why she wouldn't know about something like that.
But the other matter - that still makes her look majorly uncomfortable in this moment. ]
An Iris is not just-- it's not about something that might only be happening in one place, you know? Everyone has an Iris. People who haven't heard of them just.. don't even exist. [ Hence why it's so hard for her to wrap her head around it. It's like Vax just told her that he doesn't know what breathing is. ]
no subject
This is about connecting and sorting through the confusion.] I don't know if elves or dragons exist in your world. But they do in mine. My father is one of the former. A group of the latter are terrorizing the people of the Tal'dorei continent. [He taps his pointed ear and drops his hand.]
I can't imagine how much this is to process. But take your time with it, okay? You can ask me anything to help you sort through it.
no subject
But the idea of elves not having Irises is weirder. What if she's the only one with an Iris here? That'd be so.. weird.
Asahi exhales, but her breath is shaky, like she's on the verge of a breakdown here. But she, too, is trying in her own way to prevent that from happening, especially in front of a total stranger. ]
How.. are we supposed to come to terms with this place? It's like every single moment I'm hearing or experiencing something stranger than the last..
[ That sure is what her experience has been so far, anyway. ]
Everything feels so hard to understand. Where I come from, elves and dragons.. those only exist in stories.
no subject
I can only tell you so much about the last one. I'm only half and they're not fond of us on a good day. [He skips past the possible awkwardness of that statement. He's so used to elves and men not having a place for him. He breaks his still warm bread in half again, then scoops some soup into it.]
But if you ask me what's the strangest thing you've dealt with. I'll need a minute to figure out what was the oddest.
no subject
Well, it's worth a try, she thinks.
Asahi sucks in a breath, doing her best to just speak without thinking too much. ]
An Iris is the power to see something that other people can't. Everyone has one where I come from, which is why this is so weird to me. [ Especially when someone not having one is such a big deal where she comes from. Toru would have a field day here, Asahi thinks.
At least that explanation is relatively easy for her to force out. So right, mental checklist. Told him what an Iris is, next to ask him a question.
.. maybe a question that avoids - what sounds to her like - fantasy racism. ]
And, um.. Was your life back where you come from dangerous? You know, since there's dragons around and all. [ Those aren't exactly super safe creatures. Even running into a tiger sounds better, and it's not like that'd just happen in the middle of a Japanese metropolis. ]
no subject
He drags his fingers over the edge of the bowl.] Yeah, it was. It's always dangerous to travel but, we're in the business of making the world safer.
[He sets his hands on his knees as he says,] That comes with risk. Like anything worth doing. ...you mentioned I might be too old to have an Iris before. Do you just...age out of it?
no subject
.. it's a bit of a wild thought, and she figures she needs a few moments to try and properly wrap her mind around it, so she focuses on answering his question instead with a shake of her head. ]
No, it's just a recent phenomenon. [ As far as Asahi knows. She's not old enough to have experienced a world before Irises, after all.. ] The first kids with an Iris were born less than thirty years ago, but back then it was super rare. But then more and more kids were born with them, until basically everyone has one nowadays. That's why you usually don't see many people over 20 with an Iris, and no one at all over 30.
[ Asahi is still speaking about it in general terms, rather than it just being about her own world, but she's also still trying to come to terms with the fact that it's not normal here. ]
no subject
And for a reason they wouldn’t know. How many kids weren’t understood? Scared? He shakes his head slightly.]
Mages can see things others can’t. Anyone whose god is talking to them a lot. [He grimaces at that. All he has to do is think of the Matron of Ravens white porcelain mask suspended above him.]
Sorcerors are a different thing all together. [They can’t ask Gilmore anything about them. He isn’t sure she could even handle Gilmore if he were here.]
no subject
[ Mages. Sorcerors. .. People who have a god talking to them is a little more debatable, but considering Asahi herself isn't particularly religious - and has seen way too many religious scammers - she's leaning towards that also not being a thing where she comes from. ]
An Iris is just seen as a normal ability, since pretty much everyone is born with one by now. But being able to do anything else.. we'd just call that magic. [ Even if said magic might have a different place in society and daily life in his world than in hers. ] And that's something no one can do where I'm from, so people would just say that's not real.
no subject
Then he sketches another city. This one is sheltered by mountains and forest. The city looks a bit battered. He makes eye contact with Asahi as he does it. The action is deliberate. It too has a castle. But the third, a ruined wreck does not have a castle.]
Past three cities I've been in. Emon. Whitestone. Westrunn. Made of stone, metal, and wood. Most travel is by horse. Unless you have magic or an airship. So you have a frame of reference for what technology I know.
no subject
It's a weird idea, but she gets it. Magic is a normal thing in his world, but it's not something that everyone has - like how all people her age have an Iris. It's somewhere more in the middle.
And while Asahi is contemplating that, she stares at his drawings in the sand. The girl is definitely noticing something about how those three cities sure are different when it comes to their condition, though she isn't sure if asking about that might bring forth some awkward feelings on Vax's part, depending on whether those cities have been that way for long or not.. ]
Uh. [ She says, snapping out of the thought momentarily when the other speaks on. ] We usually use cars. Or bikes, if you don't have to go too far.
[ She looks over at him. ]
Have you heard of those? [ Who knows, maybe someone else here told him about them. Maybe he saw one here.
(Do they have cars here? Asahi isn't sure, she hasn't checked yet.) ]
I can try to draw those for you, but.. uh, I don't think it'll be as nice as your drawings. [ Look, she knows where her talents lie! And it certainly isn't with drawing. ]
no subject
Please, draw them. If it makes you feel better I couldn't track my way out of a forest in broad daylight. My talents are all in looking pretty and being quick. [He grins, hoping to distract her a little from her thoughts about her supposed shortcomings.]
no subject
[ .. apparently not Asahi, since rather than looking at him, she's instead just taking the stick and starting to draw - with a bit more enthusiasm than she'd usually have if it wasn't for the fact that he's so tactful about making sure she doesn't feel bad. It makes her hesitate less, and instead just start drawing.
The drawings are.. indeed not so great. They're basically just doodles. But she can at least make the general shape of a car here. ]
Do you know that in my world there are tons of people out there who basically just earn a living by being pretty? [ Congratulations, Vax.
You're being compared to idols.
At least it sounds like the girl's earlier worries are pretty far from her mind right now, especially since she seems to be speaking with casual candor over here. ]
no subject
That looks a bit like a cart. But it lacks horses. It runs on its own…how?
(no subject)
(no subject)
cw: mention of traffic accidents and their effects
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)