May 2022 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

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.

Comments

Kyle Broflovski | South Park AU | Legend

[kyley_b]

Death By A Thousand Cuts

[Loneliness is such a part of him that initially Kyle doesn't even notice that his yearning is in any way unusual. He's been looking for people to fill the void left behind by others for years now.

He wanders the flower maze until he foolishly wonders if he can push through it. His arms wind up scratched by the thorns and he gives up, but it's already too late - the urge to find someone special to him is overwhelming.

By the time he does spot someone else in the maze, he's looking a little wild eyed. Tall and gangly, he runs toward whoever he spots with a wide grin and a frantic wave. At least he doesn't look dangerous?]

Dude! Hey! Wait up!


Long Story Short
((CW: potential for cannibalism, animal death.))

[The woods are dim with early winter shadows. A thin dusting of snow barely covers the ground and drenches empty tree branches with moisture, creating a million sparkling sequins that catch the low light and reflect it back in short lived glimmers. The bushes occasionally rustle as a skunk or racoon trundles by, and a few birds late to bed still cry out into chill air.

Against this subdued landscape, the red of Kyle's cloak looks as vibrant as arterial blood.

Yes, it's Little Red Riding Kyle, walking through the forest. Thinking about guys? Only secondarily - mostly he's thinking about the fact that it's hard to breathe in a corset. At least it's not some Leg Avenue shit - his skirt brushes his ankles and he has a shirt on, so he's perfectly decent. Just uncomfortable. His hair - a mass of rust coloured curls - pokes out from under his hood. There's a basket over one arm, and he's careful not to spill its contents as he picks his way along the woodland path.

Kyle knows the story. He has to get to Grandma's house.

He also knows there's a wolf somewhere out there, and that not all wolves are hairy on the outside. Maybe it's you. Or maybe you're more the Granny type, or the heroic huntsman. No matter which you are, this story has to play out somehow... and in most versions, Little Red does get eaten.]

Long Story Short!

[obeir]

[ There is, in fact, an enormous wolf stalking Kyle.

A wolf who's not really a wolf, because just a few minutes ago he was an android. The fox had appeared to explain the story and instructed K to play his part, and before he knew what was happening, his body had contorted, reshaping itself into its current lupine form.

He's programmed for obedience. Perhaps the fox hadn't realised quite what giving him orders would result in when combined with his newfound Familiar abilities... or maybe she did know.

Either way, he's dutifully trotting along the path, following after Kyle's scent. He's big even for a wolf — standing on all fours, his head will nearly reach the human's chest. But he has absolutely no intention of eating said human (nor his grandmother, for that matter). Why would he? Who knows where they've been. Besides, K hadn't been explicitly ordered to.

Instead, once he's caught up to Kyle, he offers a very tentative: ] Hey.

[kyley_b]

[Kyle whirls on his heel, skirt flaring, eyes wide.]

Oh. Oh, fuck.

[Because that is one big wolf.

Kyle starts backing up, one hand held out in front of him.]

Nice doggy.

[obeir]

[ That startled reaction startles K in turn, and he pauses mid-step, one forepaw still raised as his ears fold back. Right. He probably doesn't look very friendly, he imagines. And he doesn't exactly know how to in this form.

He eyes the human's clothes, noting the eponymous red cloak. And skirt. The outfit actually doesn't look bad on the guy... It even matches his hair. ]

Little Red, I presume?

[kyley_b]

[Okay, the wolf really is talking. Kyle doesn't relax, exactly, but he drops his hand.]

Uh. Yeah. Apparently.

You're the big bad wolf, then. You can't eat me yet, we haven't gone to Grandma's house!

Thousand Cuts

[anthropophagite]

[ kaneki always yearns too. he is always desperate for others and always desperate to fill that lonely void inside of him. Just like Kyle, when he arrived here it was no different. But naturally that need for someone grew deeper, and it also grew the idea that he'd find that person there, in this field of flowers.

So Kaneki wanders around, ignoring the thorns, and desperately trying to find a way out but also that person.

when he hears a voice, kaneki freezes in place until he turns around and sees Kyle. He has never met this person in his whole life. And yet, somehow? He was waiting for him. ]

You-- [ Kaneki feels the need to rise his hand and wave back because... yes. He is great at human interaction. ] Hello!

[kyley_b]

[Oh thank god, they're waving back. Kyle runs over like an excited puppy, all smiles. He very nearly throws his arms around him in a hug, but manages to restrain himself.

Barely.

A little out of breath, he stops in front of him.]

Dude. Dude. I've been looking for you. I have NO idea who you are.

[anthropophagite]

[ the excitement is contagious, however Kaneki is an introvert and shy, thus he shows it with a relieved smile. relieved because Kyle looks like he's a nice person - and also relieved because he isn't the only one feeling like that ]

I-- I think I'm the same. I'm not sure why. [ it's a bit embarrassing! But he is so glad to have found whoever this person is.

kaneki manages to keep his hands to himself, otherwise he would have reached for Kyle, to actually touch his shoulder and make sure he is there and this isn't just a strange ghost ] I'm Kaneki. Ken Kaneki.

I just arrived, I'm not sure what is going on [ do you? please help. ]

[kyley_b]

[Kyle is definitely nice... when he's not being a preachy dickhead, anyway.]

Kyle Broflovski. It's so good to meet you.

Dude, me too. Like, magic fox, yadda yadda, but I wasn't expecting all of this. I kinda thought maybe I was just supposed to get out of here? But it was like... yeah, I had to find you. Which is pretty goddamn weird when you think about it.

Where are you from?

im just gonna give you all my dumbasses - death

[pigsona]

(The guy that Kyle comes across is.....................a pig. Or rather, a guy wearing nothing but pants and a boar's head. And he's folded in half on the ground just kind of chilling. He was really just trying to think because the smell of all these flowers was starting to make him feel a bit sick.)

STOP! (He barks the word out when the other guy comes into sight. He starts to chuckle, deep and low.) Unless you want to DIE. Hehehee--haaa!

(...Except...

He feels...kind of good seeing this guy? He doesn't even know this guy? Or does he? He unfolds himself and is suddenly squatting low to the ground, sniffing.)

Who are you? What do you want from me?

I love dumbasses.

[kyley_b]

[Okay. That's... different.

Some part of Kyle recognizes that maybe this isn't the sort of person (creature?) that he should be excited to see. This guy might very well be from an island of cannibal mutants. At least he's not carrying a chainsaw.

He stops, smile fading only a little.]

I'm Kyle. I don't want anything, exactly, I, uh. Just felt like I had to find you. Whoever you are.

im immediately realizing this is just karkat and kyle again but with less braincells

[pigsona]

Lyle! (...He...said Kyle, Inosuke. But Inosuke has no capacity at all for remembering anyone's names. So! At least it kind of sounds right.)

I'm Inosuke! (He's so proud of formally introducing himself right now. Back in the day, he would just have attacked Kyle right on the spot. He still kind of wants to actually, now that he's really thinking about it, but well...)

You're really scrawny, Chyle. (Nope, still not right. He stares, stares for a moment longer, which is kind of unsettling because Pig's Head.)

Maybe I'm here to protect you! (He's like. 5'4. But he is ripped as fuck, so maybe he's not bullshitting on that front.)

oh god

[kyley_b]

Inosuke. [Said carefully so he can get the pronunciation right.] Nice to meet you.

[Uh, rude. But not inaccurate. Kyle can't help but pull himself up to his full height.]

I... suppose you could be. But from what? I've only seen a whole lot of flowers, and unless you're hiding a Reactin on you I don't think you're gonna protect me from seasonal allergies.

Uhm. Inosuke? Uhm. Is... why are you wearing a pig head?

Long Story Short

[medeiun]

( She already has the claws and the fangs. She would claim delight in the thought of eating humans alive. She would have made a wonderful Wolf.

However, for some unknown reason, Maleficent's role in this absolutely absurd tale is..... Granny.

Of course, she doesn't know how this is meant to play out; she is not accustomed to the fairy tales of human children. She only knows what the Entity told her when she'd tried to leave and was unable to. She must finish this story.

She's in a cottage-style home, warm and cosy, a fire crackling away in the modest living space.... She hates it. It reminds her of the home of those three fools, the ones entrusted with raising Aurora. The incompetent old biddies. The dark fairy's patience runs thin, and she ends up leaving the cottage very quickly. She's a strange sight: a tall, foreboding woman-thing, with large wings and large horns. ...She is also wearing a lavender nightgown, and a matching bonnet, with her horns jutting right out through holes in the top. She looks ridiculous. Her mood is foul as she stalks off through the cold trees, eyes burning a venomous green.

When she senses movement up ahead, Maleficent doesn't hesitate to approach the person; she wants this to end, and she stalks right up to Kyle, voice an irritated hiss. )

Do you know what I'm supposed to be?

oh my gawd

[kyley_b]

[Kyle stops in his tracks, staring up at Maleficent.]

A drag queen?

[Kyle. No.]

I, uh. I mean. If I'm dressed like this? And you're dressed like that? I think you're my grandma.

[He's fast to add to that statement.] Not for real, obviously! Just. This is the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I'm supposed to be going to your cottage to give you this basket.

screaming hlf;gf

[medeiun]

( Maleficent tilts her head back, so far back that he's practically getting a view of the underside of her chin. It is, of course, so that she can look down on him (....he's quite tall.)

She isn't sure what he means by "drag" queen, but at least he recognises she's royalty. (Technically, she no longer is, having given her kingdom to Aurora. But she'll happily take the title of "queen" from any man.)

Even one dressed the way he is. As he speaks, she's just now really getting a good look at him, eyes dragging down the young man's body purposefully, brows raised. So she's his grandmother in this damned tale.... How disgusting. Maleficent wants this over with, and thrusts out her hand, wiggling her fingers impatiently. )

Give it to me, then. And we may end this.

( Maleficent no, you have to play out the story... )

[kyley_b]

[Even if it's obvious that it's an intimidation tactic, it still works. Even dressed up as she is, it's pretty obvious that Maleficent is both inhuman and terrifying.

Kyle hesitates a moment, but hands the basket over. Inside is bread and wine. He looks around expectantly, but absolutely nothing changes.]

Okay. Well. We might be doing this wrong. The story goes that Little Red Riding Hood goes to grandma's, but a wolf beats her there and, uh. Eats the grandma. Then she shows up and gets eaten too, because old fairy tales are fucking brutal. In some versions a huntsman shows up and cuts the wolf open and everybody is okay. Besides the wolf, obviously.

I really don't wanna get eaten either way.

Death By A Thousand Cuts

[moralabsolutism]

[Rorschach has his back to Kyle when he approaches and slowly turns around when he hear someone else calling out to him. He's a short man, though compact with muscles that can't really be discerned under all the layers of clothing he's wearing. The main feature that sticks out is his face.....or lack thereof.

On first glance, it seems like he has no face whatsoever, just a blank white void. Then it becomes clear the longer one looks that he's wearing a mask. It's white latex with black fluid that moves around, never mixing with the white to become grey, instead always forming mirroring patterns on either side of his face. Right now, there's two long horizontal marks on it that have small splotches that grow wider the longer they move, one by his eyes and the other by his mouth.]

brb dying

[kyley_b]

[Is that no-face mask hella creepy? You bet! Does Kyle give a shit at the moment? Not at all! Dude is a living emoji!

Kyle hurries over, grinning widely as he stops in front of the shorter man.]

Whoa. Cool face.

Uhm, hi. God, I'm so glad I found you! I've been trying to get out of here and it's just not happening.

Two gingers. The chances of no souls? 100%

[moralabsolutism]

[Rorschach's body language is very stiff and he doesn't seem inclined to talk, though he does incline his head in a manner slightly more friendly when Kyle compliments his face and calls it as such. It tends to irk him a little when people refer to it as a 'mask.' For Rorschach, his human face is the one that's a mask, just something to wear and discard as need be.

He shrugs at the mention of finding their way out of the maze, although now that Kyle has found him, it does suddenly feel like getting out of here is going to be a lot easier.]

at least kyle's a daywalker

[kyley_b]

[It's probably good Kyle didn't hug him.]

You too, huh? [Yeah, he's just gonna assume.]

Well, you know, two heads better than one and all that. C'mon, we can walk together, see what's up.

I'm Kyle.

Death By A Thousand Cuts

[phantomthot]

[Tinya was more wandering the hedge maze than she was exploring it. sure, she heard the song. sure, she expected to find someone special (hopefully the hunky Ultra Boy or the adorably awkward Brainiac 5) but she was a Traveler.

she made her own pace to them, not the other way around.

but she could hear a commotion, one rapidly making its way towards her, so she smiled and waited.

even if it wasn't Brainy or U-Boy, maybe it could be a friend? and no, he didn't look dangerous, not at all. older, definitely. tall and gangly, those as well. but she smiled anyway. it was always best to start things with a smile]

I'm waiting! Hi! Who are you?

[kyley_b]

[Kyle pulls up short, beaming. He has a natural friendliness about him, even if he's a little awkward.]

Hi! I'm Kyle. Uhm, Kyle Broflovski. Sorry, I just saw you and like... I know this is weird, but I swear I've been looking for you.

Uhm. Whoever you are.

[phantomthot]

[funny thing about being a Traveler, she was expected to serve as and speak for the Bgztlr government. she'd always found that being friendly made even the worst stuff easier. that worked well with her natural interest in people]

Hi, Kyle Broflovski! And it's okay, it's like I've been looking for you too! So...now what?

I'm Tinya and I'm a Traveler from Bgztl. Did you follow a fox, too?

[kyley_b]

Bgztl. [Yes, he's trying very hard to pronounce that correctly.]

I did follow a fox, yeah. Which I guess in retrospect was kinda reckless, but still probably not the stupidest thing I've ever done.

As for what to do next, uh. You wanna walk? We're sure to find something, eventually.

[He's just so excited to meet someone. Later his enthusiasm will be a little embarrassing.]

Not to sound like a jackass, but where is Bgztl?