folkooc | May 2022 Test Drive Meme

MAY 2022 TDM

INTRODUCTION

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He isn't laughing. Or, at least, not out loud. That would be exceptionally rude, and Natsume is not a rude person. He's even familiar enough with enchanted things and spirits that he's aware of the likelihood that this angry fox is some sort of vengeful demon. A...small fuzzy one.

So he swallows back his laughter and shakes his head very gravely.] Ah, no, no it doesn't. Unless you wanted to...dance with one of the cats? [They seem to be having a nice time.]

[ is this dude— is he swallowing laughter?! that's just the cherry on top! ]

Alright, bub, [ this fox just couldn't get puffier, but he does. he looks like the rattiest, most bristly broom to ever be walking in someone's direction like they're about to be stepped on. ] you tell me, what's the god damn difference between dancin' with you, [ sharp point with his snout! ] and dancin' with the freak kittens? Huh?

[ the cat offering them this dance is in a top hat, and he doesn't quite like that tone. hisss!!! ]

[That is an extremely poofy fox. That fox is more fluff than substance at this point, and he's approaching like he's about to try and fistfight Natsume, despite being barely more than shin-high. And truly, at this point Natsume isn't sure who he'd put his money on to win.

So he puts on a grave face and tries to answer seriously. Sort of.] Ah, about two meters.

[ aran? aran?? is that you?? did you immediately just own him??? this one guy, this one, smug guy, actually has. to the point that the bristly atsumu is without words. without a comeback. he's just been. smacked. across the face. with a rubber chicken.

the smack has given him clown paint, a red nose, and a curly rainbow wig. he is boo boo the fool. the fox slowly turns away with folded ears, and all that poof only floats there when he can no longer bristle, and just. hangs his head low. the lowest.

he's defeated. ]

Didja really have to kill me like that—?

[In his defense, Natsume immediately feels guilty about it, okay? He winces, crouching down on his heels to better be at the gloomy fox's height.] Ah, sorry, that was...that was a little too far. [It was hilarious and accurate, but yes, too far.]

[ he's being sore and wouldn't actually admit that he's ever being sore about it, alas! harumph.

this here is silence. ]

Ain't you gonna pay up?

[Natsume blinks a few times from where he's crouched down, sitting on his heels.]

Do I...owe you...money? [How. Since when. Is this how gambling addictions happen? He's pretty sure this is how gambling addictions happen.]

[ thank you for crouching! atsumu can never be Big Enough like this, even when he puffs up his best and sits on his hind legs. the fox's bros expressively slant in thought, and a bit of irritability. ]

You owe me somethin' for the psychological trauma. [ and after a pause, he kind of points. with his paw. ] You said money, not me. But I'll take what you've got.

[He looks so soft and pettable. Natsume would Never Dare, but!! He does.]

I don't have anything. I appeared here out of nowhere. [This is said very, verryyyyyy slowly, in case fox boy doesn't understand.] It's difficult to bring a wallet when you're taken to another dimension.

[ huh . . . huh. atsumu sizes him up and down before squinting at his general torso area. ]

What size shirt d’you wear?

[Natsume unconsciously crosses his arms over his chest. Some propriety, mister fox!!]

You're a fox.

[ the absurdity!! ]

No— I'm a dude turned into a fox, and I'm not in the mood to run around streakin' people again!

[ "again". is this why mister fox is in a bad mood . . . ?! ]

Oh! [Why is he so shocked?? He's literally met like five other people-turned-animal in the last year alone. This isn't an uncommon experience.]

Ah, I'm very sorry to hear that, but I...can't give you my shirt. I can help you find another?

[ hmmm. ]

—Don't think I'll fit in yours, anyway. M'pretty, [ gesture, a click of his teeth. ] big.

[ he's definitely taller than this guy, right? and more muscular. yup. definitely. he's definitely not trying to raise his own self-esteem right now. nope. ]

Meh. Alright. S'least you can do, yeah?

Oh, I see. [Natsume nods very seriously, clearly not buying a word of it. This is the tiniest, ittiest, bittiest fox in all the world, how big can his human form be? But still, he feels bad enough to stay true to his word, straightening up and looking around the clearing.]

...I don't suppose the cats have any extra clothes. [You'd definitely fit in those, foxy.]

[ ………… he hisses, and the fox swats his paw at the human boy’s leg. it was supposed to hurt more. it’s just a swat. ]

I just said I’m huge! They ain’t gonna fit me!

[Like having a cotton ball thrown at his shin. Natsume covers up a chuckle by coughing.]

Yes, of course, huge. My mistake. Definitely no huge shirts around here.

[ flat, flat stare— and look at that, even his ears fold back! ]

. . . You ain't takin' me seriously, are ya'?

I certainly am. [Huffy face right back, crossing his arms and glowering down at the fox.] I said I would help and I honor my word. It's a very serious matter.

[ hmmrff. ]

. . . Then, c'mon. We ain't findin' clothes here.

[ only clothes big enough for cats to fit in! and he certainly won't fit into cat pants, neither does he want to! wearing someone's fabric touching fur all the time feels gross.

maybe they could find some kind of . . . store. certainly and by now, he has enough lore. ]

[At least someone understand the currency system around here. Natsume is just relieved he doesn't have to go shirtless. How embarrassing would THAT be.]

May 2022 Test Drive Meme

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we can start wrapping up here maybe! make room for the event stuff!

sounds good, handwave that eventually they found a shirt