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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.
I mean, yeah.
Kyle has his eyes closed so he doesn't see any energy flickering, or those eyelashes move behind Dirk's sunglasses. When the head suddenly slips him the tongue he is completely unprepared.
For a split second, he kinda enjoys it. It's been a while, okay?
But then he remembers decapitated head and he screeches like a seagull with diarrhea, flinging the head away from him. Thankfully it bounces into the bed, so at least they're spared trying to find it after having it roll under a wardrobe or something.]
no subject
Dude, what the fuck. Be careful with the product. (His voice comes out in a bubbly bite, some blood trickling out of his mouth. Have you ever tried to talk without your lungs? Yeah! It's bullshit. It also technically shouldn't work, but you know. Neither should Dirk being alive at all right now. His body is slowly beginning to twitch to life, fingers curling loosely into the sheets.)
Stop screamin' like a bitch and come help me.
no subject
I was not screaming like a bitch.
[Yeah he was.]
You just jammed your tongue down my throat! I was startled. That's all.
[He walks over to the bed to grab Dirk's head. He is aware dimly that he can hear something large and angry outside. It's possible his screaming has alerted the dragon.
He studies Dirk's face, holding the head in his hands.]
You're pretty rude for a Sleeping Beauty. I could just kick you out the window, you know.
no subject
(Do you enjoy being scolded by a headless dude? When Kyle has picked up his head, Dirk crinkles his nose mildly.)
You would be rude too if you woke up with your head detached from your body. This isn't exactly a dreamy situation here, asshole.
(His body has slowly pulled itself into a sitting position, hands absently moving around in the air. It was tricky trying to move your body without being connected to it.)
Sure, yeah. Why don't you try that? You really look like you could take on Drogon out there all on your own. See how far you get.
no subject
Okay, point. I'm just saying, you were shocked to wake up like this, and I was not expecting your immediate reaction to be to French me.
[God. This is so Re-Animator. Kyle eyes the body, but then he's back to scowling at Dirk's head.]
I could. [He absolutely could not.] I made it up here, didn't I?
Do I just hold your head to your neck?
no subject
(Dirk, no. Don't be a dick - okay, well, he was being a dick this whole time but this was a different kind of dick altogether.)
What the hell am I supposed to do? Cute dude mackin' on me. I'm lonely, damn. Sue me.
(Dirk snorts. This, unfortunately, winds up with some blood spitting out of his mouth. Oops.)
Sure, bro. Sure you could.
(He has zero faith in this lanky asshole.)
Yeah. It would probably happen anyway, but that will speed it up.
no subject
[Wait.] I. Cute? What? Are... are you flirting with me? [He sounds so confused.]
Sick, dude, don't spit blood on me. And I could! Like, okay, I wouldn't KILL it, but... look, whatever, shut the fuck up and get your body to sit still.
[Kyle moves to place Dirk's head on his neck with a care that is downright fussy.]
no subject
(Asking the important questions. Especially with a dragon rampaging very near.)
I can't exactly help my bodily functions right now, Kyle. (How does he wind up sounding like that creepy robot from 2001: A Space Odyssey?)
I'll try, man. (To his credit, his body does seem to want to reattach with the rest of him and goes still when the head comes into contact. After a second, the hands come up and grab the sides of Dirk's head.)
...I think you can let go.
no subject
You could try. [Said like the huffy bitch he is.
But he keeps that head there until Dirk's own hands come up, and when he lets go it's cautiously, ready to grab him again if need be.]
Okay. Does it hurt?
cw: resurrection gore?
He considers the question seriously. There was some interesting magic going on around his neck. Purple energy started to glow as his skin fused itself back together.)
Not yet. But I don't think my pain receptors are exactly functioning yet- oh. Yeah, there they are. (To his credit, he doesn't so much as a grimace. He makes an unpleasant gurgling noise, a bit of blood bubbling out of his mouth. There's a god-awful moment where he's halfway between being alive and halfway feeling like his neck had just been slit open. It's a sharp, prominent pain.
No one ever talked about how much it sucked to come back to life. It's not his first rodeo through this bullshit, and soon enough, his neck is healed up. There's a telling scar left behind, a new one on top of an old one. He slowly lets go of his head and rocks it from side to side juuuust in case. Yeah.)
Think we're good to go. (His voice is a lot deeper now that it's connected back up to everything. He clears his throat.)
Y'know. I always said I'd be good at deep-throating but this really isn't what I meant.
no subject
[Kyle doesn't actually move away throughout this process. No, he stays standing by the bed, waiting, just in case he's needed. Also, he's never seen anyone get their head reattached like this, and it's as fascinating as it is disgusting.
Kyle grimaces.]
Uh, yeah, no. You're really okay?
no subject
(It's a short response and it's not clear if it's to the first statement or to the question. He slides back down against the flowers, but mostly because he was kind of dizzy. He's not going to admit that.)
I'll be fine. I die all the fuckin' time. (Okay, not ALL the time, but enough times that he's kind of accepting of it as a reality. It's the coming back that sucks, really.)
Do you think kissing me a second time would make me feel better sooner? Like a rejuvenation kiss? (Is he being serious or is he just looking for an excuse to kiss Kyle again? Mystery! Although considering how Kyle just brought him back to life there might be some actual logic to the theory.)
no subject
That sounds fucking horrible, dude.
[Kyle blinks, looking around, like maybe he's going to find further written instructions somewhere. Seeing none, he huffs. His cheeks are scarlet.]
I. Maybe? If you really wanna try it, okay, but you might be giving my makeout skills too much credit.
no subject
(He rearranges himself on the bed to lay in one of those classic seductive poses.)
Hell yeah, I wanna try. It's magic, dude. You can kiss like an Amish person and it would probably get my juices going. (He's also just kind of a dog.)
I'll let ya cope a feel.
no subject
[Kyle's still blushing furiously as he sits on the bed. His thick eyebrows draw together.]
I'll kiss you, but I'm not copping a feel.
[He's not that kind of boy!
But he does lean over to give Dirk a warm kiss. Nothing too familiar, but not Amish.]
no subject
(Ahhh hell yeah. It's been way too long since he has made out with someone properly. The flowers are a nice touch, if he does say so himself, and it turns out to be a pretty good idea. He actually does start to feel better.
He licks Kyle's lower lip, just a bit playfully, before breaking the kiss and leaning back, smirking.)
Thanks, sweetheart. That was just the perk-up I needed. (He hops up from the bed then, stretching his arm out one way and then the other.)
So, were you bullshitting earlier about being able to fight a dragon? Or should I just go ahead and steal the show here?
no subject
[Okay, but. Dirk's a good kisser.
Son of a bitch.
Kyle shakes his head slowly.]
I mean... I'm not exactly WELL equipped to do it, but I have a sword? But if you're genuinely experienced, far be it from me to hog your spotlight.
no subject
Oh, no, doll, if you think you're so capable, why shouldn't I let you play out the whole prince role? (Is he gonna make Kyle admit that he's maybe not capable? Yes! Or at least he's gonna try.)
no subject
Okay. Together, then.
[He's going to get his stubborn ass killed, but at least he's brave?]