folkooc | May 2022 Test Drive Meme

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*tdm

May 2022 Test Drive Meme

MAY 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]

A PLACE IN THIS WORLD

Content Warnings: Possible insanity via cuts by thorns. Temporary nullification of abilities.

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?

ENCHANTED

Content Warnings: Optional selective amensia and/or altered sense of self, possible monster/creature violence, temporary enchantments, forced relocations.

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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i. death by a thousand cuts

Ah-- wait! [This gasped-out plea is followed very quickly by someone crashing through one of the thorny flower bushes, heedless of the fact that there is a logical, nice, normal path that could be followed instead. In his (alarmingly expansive) experience chasing after things through underbrush, Natsume Takashi has always found that going through takes less time than going around.

Still, the downside is that he gets tangled up in the thorns, opening several ugly scrapes across his arms and legs and face, and making an absolute mess of his school uniform. Worse than that, he ends up tumbling out into the open again, right in front of someone who's just trying to go through the maze like a normal person. He sprawls on hands and knees for a moment, panting, wide-eyed, looking up at the stranger.]

Is...are you...? [Natsume trails off, frowning in confusion for a moment, then shaking his head.] I was...I was following someone, but I can't...I can't remember who. [Another headshake, this one sending leaves and flower petals everywhere, and he lurches to his feet.] I'm...I'm very sorry, I...I'll leave you alone now...

ii. out of the woods

[Whether he ended up finding whoever he was looking for or not, Natsume ends up where all the other unwilling newcomers do, in the little cat festival, sitting cross-legged and being fussed over by two or three concerned nurse kitties. He keeps murmuring apologies as they mew indignantly at him, shoving a bowl of soup into his hands and patting bandages into place on his face and arms. One of them even starts trying to poke a needle and thread into one of the bigger tears in his shirt, but without thumbs it's sort of an exercise in futility.

Natsume allows the attempt at mending for a moment, wincing slightly every time the determined cat jabs him with the needle, before setting aside the soup and reaching out.] Here, I can...fix it. Sorry. [The cat gives him a very feline scowl, but lets him take over stitching up the rips. Natsume does so quickly, with the ease of someone who's done this a lot. Once the thread is tied off, he glances over at someone sitting nearby, with similar tears in their clothing.]

Ah, do you...need some help? There's plenty of thread left.

iii. long story short

[Natsume likes fairy tales. He really, truly does -- they're one of the best things for a lonesome, friendless kid to lose themselves in. He's always liked the ones about equally sad and lonely people who end up having happy endings and living happily ever after. Granted, now that he's a teenager he considers himself a bit too old for all that, but the affection remains.

But being thrown in the middle of one is...not his favorite thing. Especially considering that it's apparently Snow White, because he's stuck in a tiny, grimy cottage in the middle of nowhere, with a broom and cleaning supplies and about fifty-seven forest creatures who probably mean well, but won't stop getting underfoot.]

I said get out! [This is accompanied by Natsume chasing a half-dozen squirrels out of the cottage with the broom, scowling ferociously before swinging it upwards at a bunch of bluebirds, who flee to the trees and twitter angrily at him. He stands, one hand on his hip, glaring up at them.] It's not sanitary for you to lick the dishes clean!

[...yes, he has Snow White's ensemble on, that's exactly the sort of thing that this weird fairy tale curse enjoys, but he's deliberately not acknowledging either the skirt or the hair ribbon. One thing at a time.]

(Did you call for a Prince? You get a prince. He's gone through this a few times now and is generally just trying to figure out which one this is when he comes across the little cottage in the woods. Damn the Germans and their love for cottages in woods. Dirk has never seen so many fucking trees in his life and he's kind of over the redundant themes.

Though he's perfectly fine with continuing to find really cute guys in dresses? Maybe...Maybe the woods could stay. This is like the third time now and he's thinking the Fox might just be on his side. He folds his arms over the opened window's ledge thing that I can't remember the word for right now. Windowsill? Bitch, you know what I mean.

Anyway, he's sitting there, with his Pete Davidson aura about him, watching this dude freak out in a dress, not offering any help or even really letting him know he's there. Lurking like a weirdo. Then the guy's chasing the animals out, and Dirk's turning around to lean against the window instead.

Finally, he whistles.)

I never headcanoned the OG Snow White to be so cute and feisty. I think this might be a really different kinda fairy tale than I was expecting.

[With the woodland creatures gone, Natsume had just crouched over to examine the cookstove, wondering if he'd actually be required to get it going in order to progress the story along -- which seems extremely dangerous, considering that the entire cottage is made of wood and could easily burn down -- when he hears the unexpected voice. He whirls around, brandishing the broom like a sword, and staring wide-eyed at the strange princely guy.

There's a long, silent pause, wherein Natsume visibly debates whether to be frightened or annoyed, before ultimately settling on annoyed. Lowering the broom, he scrunches his nose in a very un-princess-like scowl.]

If you're here looking for unconscious people to kiss, you can keep moving. I'm very much alive and staying so. [A swish of the broom.] Go on, shoo.

(Oh damn look at that. It's almost impressive. It probably would have been if Dirk didn't know the first thing about swords. Or if he had any capacity to feel anything remotely similar to fear. But like???

To him, it's just a cute boy in a dress and he's just happy with life at this point.)

See, that's what they always say in these stories but then you broads go and eat some apple a stranger gave you and go bottom up.

(Don't call strangers 'broads' Dirk that's so rude...

He catches the broom mid-shoo. Doesn't take it away. Just kinda holds it.)

But I'm already here. Unless you wanna keep going with whatever the hell fantasy you're living it up. What if seven greasy, hairy dudes show up and wanna like just obliterate you? (That's not at all how the story goes????????)

That's -- how the story goes. [Did this obnoxious stranger not hear the fox? Is Natsume the only one who respects the clearly supernatural animals around here??

He tugs the broom a little, trying to dislodge it from the young man's grasp.] I don't think I want to know what you mean by obliterate. You're the only other person I've seen, so...maybe I missed a part. [Quickly, hurriedly:] Not that I. Need your help.

[ At least - for better or worse, who even knows in this case - Natsume isn't the only one who's frantic here. Even if Asahi didn't decide to go straight through the bushes the way he did, she seems fairly out of breath as well. While he's staring at her like that, it's visible in the way her chest rapidly moves up and down, the girl trying to catch her breath now she's actually standing there still for a moment instead of running around like a crazy person. ]

.. no. You're looking for someone, and I am too.

[ That's the conclusion she's slowly reaching here.

It feels like a ridiculous one. How come they both are doing the exact same thing here? Is there a reason for it?

.. Asahi's mind is too frantic to really consider that right now. So instead the girl does the next best thing - which always, when it comes to Asahi, is the most impulsive thing possible. In this case it means that she's latching onto the boy's hand, grabbing it tight, and starting to run once more, simply dragging him along.

Sorry, Natsume. This is your day now. The girl seems surprisingly strong too.. Not supernaturally so, but she definitely is holding onto that hand tight, not seeming like she's going to let go anytime soon. ]

Let's go find them..!

[Fortunately for Asahi (and unfortunately for him), Natsume is precisely the perfect mixture of awkward and polite that if someone grabs his hand and drags him somewhere, he's going to go. He'll stumble over his feet, sort of squawking in surprise, but he'll go!]

That -- who are you looking for!? [If she doesn't know either he's not really sure how this is an improvement on their previous situations.]

For someone important, of course!

[ Despite the fact that she's providing absolutely zero details here, there's an unshakable kind of confidence in Asahi's voice as she speaks those words. As if it's just that simple to her. A feeling inside of her chest tells her to desperately look for someone important, so she will do so.

Hence why she's still running and dragging him right along, even as Natsume does the smart thing of starting to question this situation a little bit. ]

They've got to be around here somewhere..! I can feel it! We're not alone here!

[ .. maybe it's just that, more than anything, she wants to keep that burning hope alive.

Asahi is too hurt of a person to have to try and start all over again in a place where she doesn't know anyone, nor has a single bond. ]

Oh. [That both seems like a logical answer and one that makes absolutely zero sense. What sort of important person? Natsume doesn't know anyone objectively important, just people important to him. Friends, mostly. Could one of them be there? Could she know them?

Regardless of the answer, before too long Natsume's inherent lack of physical prowess slams into him like a ten-ton truck, leaving him panting and wheezing for breath. He drags his feet a bit, trying to slow the girl's frenetic pace.]

I-If they're here, shouldn't w-we stay in...in one place? So they can f-find us easier?

[ Honestly, Asahi looks like she could still run on like this for miles. Even though she's been running just as much as him, she looks like she's still got about ten people's worth of energy.

But even for her there is a problem with attempting to run fast - except for her it's the dead weight she's trying to tug along now. There's only so much running she can do when Natsume is hardly moving his feet anymore, and though she was about to say that they should keep running, Asahi does stop now for a moment.

She turns her head to look at him, frowning. ]

.. Are you okay?

[ He's wheezing, girl. What do you think?

But she's mostly asking about something so obvious since the girl is pretty obviously kind of antsy about having to stand around here, unmoving. It's like there's still someone out there calling for her, and every single moment that she isn't moving towards it feels like a wasted moment. ]

[She finally slows and Natsume just about doubles over with relief, bracing his free hand on his knees and struggling to catch his breath. This is why he doesn't do any sorts of sports. Physical effort is exhausting.]

Do...do we have to run? [This is managed between wheezing, somehow.] Can't we just...walk very briskly?

Of course we have to run!

[ Despite the concern for him from a moment ago, Asahi doesn't hesitate with saying this much. It's just true, after all. She can't imagine any other way to tackle any given situation other than running head first into it. ]

Isn't there someone here you want to find too? Can't you feel it? If that person is waiting for us, then.. maybe they're in trouble! Or maybe they'll think we're not showing up if we just wait around here! [ She shakes her head, the energy about her turning rather fierce. ] We can't just stand around here and do nothing!

Well, y-yes, there is, of course. [Not that Natsume could tell her who, just that there is someone. But still, he digs his heels in and frowns, his natural caution rising, even alongside the urgent need to find whoever-it-is.]

But we won't be able to help them if we run into trouble too.

[ Asahi glances at Natsume for a moment, but then turns her head to look around them. Mostly ahead of them, but just for the sake of truly having looked, she even glances around them and behind them. ]

What trouble would we even run into here?

[ Asahi figures that if this place was monster-infested, they'd already have seen one of said monsters.. ]

There's nothing but you, me, and a bunch of rose bushes! Unless you're saying you are the dangerous one here.

Um. Monsters. Demons. Evil plants? [Literally anything?

Though the idea that Natsume himself would be the danger gets a sort of choking laugh. Has she seen him? He's like 90 pounds soaking wet.] Ah, no. Definitely not.

That's what I thought.

[ .. sorry for the bluntness, Natsume. At least he's also able to kind of laugh about the idea that he could be the threat here, so they-- they're.. on.. the same page, clearly.. ]

Besides, if there really was any danger like that, surely we would've seen it by now! [ Asahi throws her hands up in the air.

Yes, she's very dramatic. ]

I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been running pretty much all over this maze already, and I haven't seen anything. [ For better or worse. ]

Neither have I. [Natsume still has his hands braced on his thighs, catching his breath slowly. Now that he's actually stopping and thinking about it, this entire thing seems fishy.] ...I'm beginning to wonder if we aren't actually going to find anyone.

Maybe this is all some...enormous terrible prank.

...

[ Asahi stares at him as if he just delivered her terrible news. Like that they're too late for school. Or that all the ice cream at the local parlour has been sold out before they could get there. ]

What do you mean..? [ Apparently even with all the paranoia and scepticism that fuels Asahi on any given day, she still didn't even consider this possibility until he brought it up just now. ]

But there's someone out there waiting for us. I can feel it.

[ The tone with which she's saying it sounds almost strangely innocent in comparison to everything else she's said so far. Just truly trusting. ]

Well, yes. [Natsume definitely still feels that part, but...] It could be a trick. Things...can do that...sometimes. [By "things" he means "spirits", but he doesn't want to freak her out even more. That probably won't make it any better.

He quickly adds:] But m-maybe not? I could be wrong.

[ She frowns. ]

Things?

[ It's not even that she understands what he's letting out here. No, that frown is born from genuine confusion. She doesn't have the slightest idea what Natsume could be talking about here. ]

What kind of things can do that? [ After all, Asahi comes from a world with a single fantasy element, and nothing else. She can't even imagine something that has the power to put ideas into people's minds like that - yet Natsume seems to know something here. That's all she can figure out. ]

...things from, um. From my world. [Oh dear, this is awkward. Natsume has spent his entire life trying to downplay the fact that he's one of the few who can see just how bizarre the world is, and now he's mentioned it ten minutes into a conversation with a stranger.

He clears his throat, running his fingers through his hair a couple times.] Stories, really, legends and...folklore. They're not real, they're just...I figured if this place brings fairy tales to life, it might bring other things too.

[ At first Asahi still seems tense, but.. when he starts about stories, all those nerves seem to slide right out of her rigid shoulders, making her relax a little. She was worried about there really being something here, but.. of course everyone knows those things aren't real.

Natsume is lucky Asahi was looking around them as he was speaking - it means that she didn't catch the fact that he was lying there, and so she just believes him. ]

Of course it wouldn't bring that to life. I mean, if there really were dangerous spirits here, surely we would've seen one already! It would've eaten us right off the bat! And since that didn't happen, they can't be here.

[ .. or so she's telling herself to keep from freaking out.

We all have our coping methods. ]

[Natsume lets out a soft sigh of relief when he sees her relax -- even if there are spirits around, he will likely be the only one able to perceive them. Which is fine; he has plenty of experience hiding his reactions. Plus he'll be able to draw their attention, if worse comes to worse.]

You're right, of course. If there was anything malevolent around here, it surely would've found us already. I'm just thinking too much.

(no subject)

integrous - 2022-05-25 21:37 (UTC) - Expand

[Rorschach is nearby, awkwardly let himself being attended to by all the little cats. He's learned if he tries to tell them no, they get upset and sad, creating more noise than he'd care to have directed his way. So he lets them fuss over him, bandaging the parts of his hands that had gotten cut up and feeding him some warm cornbread one of the cutest cats offered up on a tiny plate. The portions are so small he can eat them one at a time just by popping them into his mouth, his mask pulled up for just a few moments as he does so.

At the question, he nods at Natsume silently. Aside from clothes that look as if they were selected from a dumpster, the most striking thing about Rorschach is his face. It's made of white latex with black liquid fluid in-between two layers. They never mix into grey, instead always remaining black as the fluid moves, creating mirroring patterns on the left and right sides of his face.

He takes the needle and thread and goes to work with such a fluid nature that it's clear he's had quite a bit of experience with repairing clothing in his past. Perhaps this strange, silent man was a tailor at some point in the past? (Indeed he was, far longer ago that Rorschach would care to remember.) It doesn't take too long for him to get the holes in his clothes well on their way to being patched up.]

[One benefit to constantly being surrounded by spirits and demons is that Natsume has a very good poker face. So, even when the strange, silent man's mask begins moving like a liquid, he swallows back his surprise, which only registers as a slight eyebrow-arch. He hands over the needle and thread, folding his hands in his lap and watching quietly for a long moment as the stranger sews.

Finally, a bit hesitantly:] You're very good at that.

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May 2022 Test Drive Meme

Natsume Takashi | Natsume Yuujinchou | ota

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