folkooc | May 2022 Test Drive Meme

Entry tags:

*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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I dunno. At home, it has to be with a priest, right? But in a storybook, they didn't always have a priest. So, if it's not legal, it's a storybook marriage.

[ Sound logic right there, while talking to his best friend, who is half a foot tall and standing on his hand, using his finger for balance. ]

So you could marry someone, but without a priest, and then it's a storybook marriage. But, hey, up to you. You're the one who's tiny.

[ A storybook—

So it wouldn't—

Flynn stares up at Yuri for a long, quiet moment, his eyes wide and his face strangely red.

You're the one who's tiny. ]

You have cat ears!

[ Yuri grimaces, reaching up to touch the ears but-- he forgot Flynn is in his hand, so Flynn goes on a fun ride before Yuri realizes it ]

Shit. Sorry. [ Flynn comes back down, and so do Yuri's ears, a low growl that does sound quite like a cat's building in his throat ]

Yeah, it's fucking annoying. Dunno what kind of story this could be, but the fox told me jack shit.

[ It's undignified to yell when you are a Knight Lieutenant, even if you're suddenly flung into the air on your best friend's giant hand, and so obviously Flynn only screams a little bit. Obviously. He definitely doesn't dive at Yuri's fingers and cling for dear life (he does), and he's definitely not rumpled and wide-eyed by the time Yuri brings him back down, sitting there with both arms wrapped around Yuri's index finger with his heart in his throat and his feet lodged into the flesh of Yuri's palm to keep himself there. ]

Well, that's—we can fix those, too.

[ Even if they... sort of suit him? It's a strange thought but once it lodges in his head, it sticks there, immutable. Yuri does look good with the cat ears, and the long dark tail swishing idly behind him. Huh. Flynn hadn't noticed that before.

No, focus, storybook marriage. Flynn has to stop getting distracted because they have to fix this because he is very small. ]

You have a point about the priest. So, if this were a story, all we would need to do is find someone for me to, um. Declare myself married to? In those stories isn't it always "and then they were married and lived happily ever after"?

[ Yuri looks sheepish at least, even if the scream was sort of funny. Has he ever heard Flynn scream like that? Not since they were kids, at least. He'a always so put together. Flynn yells, but screaming? That's new. ]

Makes sense to me. Just depends on if it's enough for... the fox? Magic? I dunno, man. Fairytale curses are weird like that, from everything I've heard. [ Which is just stories from Hanks and Jiri, that Yuri used to listen to raptly, imagining himself as the hero of.

He doesn't imagine that quite as often anymore. ]

Whoever it is just has to know it isn't a real wedding. Anyone caught your eye?

What kind of a question is that?

[ Indignant! Flynn has been here for, what, a few days now? Of course no one has caught his eye: that was true even at home. The Knights were too much of a shining thing, the glare of his dreams gleaming bright and erasing everything else. Flynn is a Knight first and foremost. Being a husband is—

Well, just because he used to want it as a child doesn't mean it's still something he needs. Childish dreams have to fade eventually, don't they? ]

Even if it's fake, I can't just... marry a complete stranger.

[ That makes sense for Flynn. He isn't the type to let people close, too focused on his goals. Quick to take charge, slow to trust, easily trusted. An ideal leader, Yuri thinks, protecting himself and his people's interests, suspicious of others.

The words are out of his mouth before he can really think about it: ]

I'll do it.

[ Yuri will—

Yuri will do it.

It shouldn't hit him like a blow to the ribs, should it? It shouldn't press the breath from him and yet there Flynn is, still clinging to Yuri's massive fingers, staring up at him with his gut twisting strangely and his heart snared neatly in his throat like a thing in a trap.

It makes sense. He can't fake-marry a stranger and pledging himself to one of those pushy talking animals seems like an awful idea and probably wouldn't satisfy the story anyway. It has to be a prince, or at least a person like him, a person who lets him know that he isn't alone. Who better than Yuri, who has always been there when no one else would? Who defended Flynn against rocks and harsh words, who pressed his own dreams down to join the knights with him, who taught him the alleys and passages and tricks of survival in their childhood?

It's not all that important. It's a fake marriage, though Flynn isn't clear on how that works. He has vague notions of a kiss, and vows, and pledging yourself to another person in front of witnesses and the Goddess, promising to stay with them until death steals him away.

(He was going to stay with Yuri that long anyway, wasn't he?) ]

[ Anyway, it doesn't matter! It's a means to an end, which is obviously why Yuri volunteered: the quickest and easiest solution to a problem, probably not thought-through at all because that's Flynn's job, not Yuri's. Yuri sees the most expedient solution, thinks nothing of the consequences, and acts. He doesn't do what Flynn is doing. Does he even have a whirl of thoughts to get caught up in? He used to make fun of Flynn when they were children for the tendency.

It doesn't mean anything, Flynn tells himself, and so he swallows and forces back the swirl and lifts his chin. ]

If you're sure.

[ The words are soft, and too sincere. ]

[ ...way too sincere. Fix it!! ]

I promise I'll be a good husband.

[ NAILED IT ]

[ It's true, Yuri really didn't think it through at all. It was just the obvious solution here: Flynn needs out of a bind, Yuri can help, even if it means storybook marrying his best friend. His face feels hot, cheeks pink, and he can't quite look at Flynn. I'll be a good husband indeed. A good husband to someone like Estelle, who clearly likes Flynn, who would be a good wife for him. Not Yuri, never Yuri, who is no one's idea of a good husband, who has nothing to offer or bring to the table, who's just someone to fill space, to be a body to protect or to labor, a scapegoat to go to prison, a thorn in the Knights' side.

Flynn agreeing so readily just shows him that this is a good idea, an easy way out of this. ]

Yeah, okay. So... I guess we say some stuff? Maybe get a witness.

When Laurel and James were married— [ Too young, in both Yuri and Flynn's opinions; they'd gone back to the Comet that night swearing to never get married, now that Flynn thinks about it. ] —they didn't have a witness, did they? I think if we just say the right things, it should count.

...yeah, okay. That would be easier. [ Since Yuri sure doesn't know anyone else here. He looks around, and no one is in sight.

Slowly, he stands up fully, and smooths down his shirt with his free hand. He's suddenly kind of nervous ]

You start.

Me?

[ Why is Flynn suddenly nervous? There's an energy radiating off Yuri, too—his ears are standing straight up, and there is a vibration in the air that suggests his tail is swishing behind him—but it's not like it means anything.

Still. If he doesn't do it right, is he stuck like this? Flynn straightens too, standing up as best he can on Yuri's steady palm, his feet planted. The dress waves around his ankles as he plumbs his memory for the words that go with something like this.

He has to make it sound official, doesn't he? A few nobles got married earlier this year in the castle courtyard and he'd been assigned to be a guard. They'd clasped hands. ]

In... front of the Goddess and all our witnesses, I, Flynn Scifo— [ Wait, hands. He reaches out to press his palm against the pad of Yuri's ring finger. What comes next? His heart is beating too fast. ] —um, ask you, Yuri Lowell, to... be my husband, without barriers, through illness and strife, until the Goddess recalls us.

There are no witnesses. [ Yuri murmurs the words, trying to distract himself from how good Flynn sounds saying those words. He's going to make someone really lucky someday.

But playacting? That, Yuri can do. He used to play with the other kids in their group home, pretending to be the evil villain they had to slay, being the old wizard giving them a task, being the dragon they would fly around on the back of to rescue the princess. Rarely was he the prince who was married at the end, but he knows how this goes, knows how to act that way.

He takes a deep breath, which rustles Flynn's dress, his tiny head of hair. ]

In front of the Goddess, and all these flowers [ a slight smile at that. Witnesses his ass, Flynn ] I accept becoming your husband, and ask you to be mine in turn, without barriers, through illness and strife, until we're buried in the ground.

[ Maybe not the most elegant way to put it, but he feels like it might make Flynn laugh ]

[ Flynn does laugh. He isn't supposed to, probably, but Yuri's making jokes and this is just for them, just to make a point, to get out of this. It's funny (Yuri's always been funny) and strangely sincere, like performing for no one, and Yuri's smiling and the air smells sweet. Through illness and strife, indeed. He squeezes Yuri's fingertip, laughs a little more at that last line, and presses his free hand to his mouth to stop himself laughing louder so he doesn't ruin this. The breeze picks at Yuri's hair, sending it flying it long shining strands.

Nothing happens.

Flynn stares up at him, confused, and then remembers– ]

Yuri, lift me up. We have to finish it.

Finish..? [ Yuri stares at him, then, oh right. A kiss. ] But you're so small...

[ But he can manage, right? Yuri lifts Flynn up, close to his face, so close, and this is very weird. So weird. Carefully, he places a soft kiss on the top of Flynn's head ]

[ It's so sweet and so silly. Flynn can feel the warm puff of Yuri's breath on his entire body. Goosebumps rise on his skin as he turns his head, pushing up with his hands braced on Yuri's chin to press a kiss to his cheek, or something close to his cheek—it's a little hard to reach.

But it seems to work. Flynn pulls back, lets out a single breath, and in the next moment blinks and suddenly he's his usual size and on top of Yuri, practically crushing him back into the flowers with a sharp yelp of surprise. His wings—apparently still there—flap in an attempt to stabilize him but it absolutely doesn't work; they go crashing down in a heap of limbs and feathers and tail. ]

[ It happens quickly, and suddenly Flynn, at his usual height and bulk, heavier than Yuri, is on top of him, squishing his arm and Yuri's new tail caught beneath him uncomfortably. He stares up at Flynn for a bare moment, catching sight of wings, before Flynn topples over and squishes him further into the ground.

Well, it must have worked. Their storybook wedding did the trick, and Flynn is back to how he should be and Yuri groans and tries to push Flynn off of him ]

Jeez, I forgot how heavy you are.

I feel bad for whoever you really marry if that's the first thing you say to me after our wedding.

[ Snippy, but Flynn's laughing as he tries to detangle himself and not shove his hand onto Yuri's tail or his hair or anything else. He should be embarrassed, probably, or annoyed or something—and he's a little too aware of his skin and the size of his body—but mostly he's just relieved to be back to normal and glad not to have had to marry any small animals.

Carefully, he pushes himself to his knees, half-straddling Yuri for a moment, and then stands with a hand extended. ]

Thank you, Yuri.

[ Yuri snorts a laugh. The idea of marrying anyone is kind of absurd to him, but Flynn's weight is mostly off of him a second later, and he looks up to see Flynn haloed by the sun and his blonde, messy hair. Yuri's breath catches in his throat, and he feels very aware of his body and how Flynn is sitting on him and how uncomfortable this stupid tail is under his ass

But then Flynn is off of him and offering him a hand, and for once he takes it, a little too dazed to reject him. Flynn pulls him easily to his feet, and Yuri sways too close for a moment before he rights himself, pushing his hair back, fingers catching on his stupid ears and he scoffs, looking away from Flynn ]

Just glad it worked.

[ Flynn smiles at him, pleased and full of a buzzing feeling that can only be relief. His limbs feel light. So does the rest of him, really. The sun catches on Yuri, too, on the edges of the ears on top of his head, shining through and turning the edges pink. ]

It didn't work entirely.

[ Flynn's reaching up to touch already on some impulse he can't name. ]

They're still there. The ears.

[ Yuri flinches away from his hand and swats at him, without any real intent except to get Flynn to not touch his now, weird ears. ]

Don't think there was a cat in the story.

[ So, it would stand that Yuri is in a different story, but he can't think of any really about a cat. Maybe Puss in Boots? That honestly would track, for Yuri. ]

At least I'm the right size and can, I dunno. Do stuff.

[ What stuff? He doesn't know. At least he isn't being menaced by frogs ]

How many creatures did you turn down?

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1 / 3

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3 / 4 surprise

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SURPRISE 5

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