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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.
Byleth Eisner | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
[ At first, he thought it a dream. Though he rarely dreamed of anything but that empty throne, in the empty room, bathed in green light. Here is so much brighter, and he closes his eyes against the colors and light. Time to wake up. It's really only when he pricks himself on a thorn that he suspects this may not be a dream after all. ]
Dimitri!
[ He's not even really sure why he's looking for him of all people. Dimitri should be in Fhirdiad right now, doing... King Stuff. Then again, Byleth should be in Garreg Mach doing Archbishop Stuff. He hasn't seen the man in months, but something drives him. He must be here somehow... his pace picks up as he tries to navigate the maze. ]
OUT OF THE WOODS
[ Well. Now he has to be dreaming, because there are little cat people trying o feel him and encourage him to dance. The dancing is... less appealing right now, but he can't resist having some food. He was starving, and if this really is a dream, it's so terribly vivid and detailed, far more so than he has ever experienced before. So he stands and eats his bread, glancing down every few seconds at those cats.
Would it be rude if he petted them? It would probably be rude.
He wants to pet one so. So bad.
It's probably also rude to stare at them intensely as he is, but that's the lesser of the two offenses, right? ]
DAYLIGHT
[ He's grateful for emerging from his trial to find his own clothes, especially since they are the practical ones, not the ornate archbishop garb. Searching his pockets there, he finds a few things- his journal, a few owl feathers, and- ah! Hus father's ring. Squeezing it in his hand before placing it back in his pocket.
His luck unfortunately would not last long, as he was one of the unfortunate souls to pull a sturdy-looking sword from the ground, only to immediately be faced by an icy beast rising up from seemingly nowhere. Thankfully, he's no stranger to this kind of thing, and he will place himself between the monster and anyone nearby. ]
Allow me to demonstrate!
a thousand cuts.
a phantom of his past.
No, he thinks. His eye widens slightly in surprise and he takes an unsteady step back. Not here. Not now. Why, after all this time? Why him? ]
You... [ He starts. Stops. The man turns his gaze away because he can't stand to look him any longer in the face than he needs to and be reminded of how he failed all those years ago. No, no, no. He doesn't want to deal with this right now. He has to find Edelgard, has to find a way out of this awful and bright place. So, he simply grits his teeth and turns on his heel to walk away. ]
no subject
But- he looks...
He looks like he did before. When Byleth had first found him hunched in the ruins of the monastery. He looks burned out, haunted and distant, he utters one word and then turns to leave. Without thinking, Byleth's feet move him, running after him, his hand catching that cloak to try to get him to stay. ]
Dimitri wait! What's the matter? What-
What happened?
no subject
But he can't be. Byleth died five years ago along with whatever of the proper, respectful young lad remained in Dimitri. Now he was... this. A husk of himself that even he hated to be faced with on most days. ]
Go away, [ he growls, exactly as he had before in Byleth's memory. But in Dimitri's, this is the first time he's uttering such a thing. There's a moment of terse silence as he still doesn't face the man but a large, unsteady hand comes to his temple. ] Why now? Why after all this time-?
no subject
Dimitri. I'm not a ghost. I didn't die.
[ Well. He did kind of die, but... ]
I'm here. Look at me.
[ Boldly, and only in the way that Byleth could be so bold as to do what he pleased with a man who could snap him in half, he reaches up and tweaks Dimitri's ear. ]
Could a ghost do that?
no subject
He's lost in those thoughts when a sudden jolt of discomfort runs through him at the way his ear is tugged. There's an immediate, instinctual roar as he shoves Byleth away from him with a wildness to his gaze that can't be denied. ]
You- [ He starts. Stops. Growls, from deep in his chest. The indignity is what has upset him more than anything, it seems, but he's also just- Angry, in general. ]
no subject
Dimitri, please. It really is me. Let me help you.
I-
I've been looking for you. I should have- [ No, now is not the time for this. ] I'm from a different time than you, I think. I don't know how this happened, but I'm from your future.
no subject
He regards what the other man says, at first, with only silence. From his future? ]
Is she dead? [ Of course, that's the first thing he thinks to ask. That's the only thing that matters to him right now. ]
no subject
She is. By your hand. But...
[ How much should he say? Honestly, all he wants is to be able to hug his dearest friend. It's been ages since he saw him. He wants to be able to comfort him, but he knows from experience it's just not that simple. ]
There's a lot I need to tell you, but right now we need to sort out what's going on here.
no subject
But he doesn't. Whether because he can't confirm or deny it, he's not sure. All he knows is that he still feels hollow. It's infuriating as it is anything else but anger is the easiest thing to focus on these days. ]
Fine, [ he spits. ] Let's get out of this treacherous maze and then you can tell me everything I want to know.
no subject
[ This he mutters dubiously. But yes, the matter at hand. ]
I don't suppose you have been marking the paths you have already taken, have you?
no subject
Of course, I have. I'm no fool. [ He didn't call you one, Dimitri, but go off I guess. ] The pathways keep changing.
no subject
[ He thinks, a hand resting on his chin as he searches for a solution to this puzzle. ]
Actually... perhaps if you put me on your shoulders, I could see over the hedge...
a thousand cuts
[Kaeya had been searching through the flower maze as well, a number of little cuts mottled his forearms and fingers from his various attempts at making a shortcut out of the maze.]
I don't suppose you've come across someone- a man, about your height, red hair? I... I need to find him. [He manages to stop himself from talking despite feeling an almost overpowering urge to keep sharing with this complete stranger.]
no subject
[ He wasn't expecting to suddenly come face-to-face with someone else. Judging by the man's appearance he's been in here a while as well.
To the question, Byleth shakes his head. ]
Also afraid not. But you are the first person I've encountered here so... perhaps we can look for our respective friends together? Better two sets of eyes and ears than one.
no subject
[He looks a little surprised that he'd felt compelled to share that little bit extra. He preferred to keep these kind of things to himself. He forces a smile, if for no other reason than to try to force himself to stop oversharing.]
Of course. I'm-[He hesitates before doing his usual spiel with his full title and decides to simply go with a first name.] Kaeya. It's a pleasure, all things considered.
no subject
[ He offers a handshake before turning his attention back to their surroundings. ]
I suppose we ought to get moving. I wonder if we can mark where we've been so we don't backtrack...
OUT OF THE WOODS (CW: teenage pregnancy/marriage)
nonsense. as though they hadn't shared the role. as though they hadn't leaned on each other through the hard times.
and he was King. she would be queen. and she would start to pray and make offerings every day that Andraste would bless them with an heir.
but no one she asked had even heard of Alistair. or the Blight. or Darkspawn in general. she was trying to conceal her distress at those findings.
the cats in their clothes and their food were a passable distraction. Ferelden was known as a nation of dog-lovers only, but Mariane loved cats, too. and Alistair preferred them, at least over her Mabari, Chance, but he knew he'd be dethroned at such a heathen opinion.
so have a young woman at Byleth's side, also staring intently at the cats. not because she's expecting a trap, not that for once but because.
cats. in clothing no one in Ferelden would have recognized. offering her, them, tiny bits of perfectly crafted food.
quietly] ...they really are a marvel, aren't they?
no subject
They are. I've never seen the like before.
I feel as though I want to pet them but...
[ He makes a helpless gesture. ]
Would that be rude?
no subject
The nobility would have my head, but I do love cats. Though, Chance will be joining me and I'm not sure he could be trusted to behave himself.
As do I.
[she considers for a long moment]
Not if we ask?
[she kneels down so that she's within direct eye-shot as a cat dressed in his best with a white dress shirt, a vest, and a bow-tie] Ser. May we pet you?
[the cat gentleman mews excitedly. if that wasn't enough of an answer, the nodded head would be] Very well. Thank you, ser.
[she reaches out her hand for him to sniff it, then being given approval gently strokes his head]
It's not so bad. You try?
no subject
[ He watches her pat the little cat man, and with the permission granted, he is all too eager to follow suit, very gently stroking his head and scratching behind his ears. To which he earns a soft little purr.
A little smile curves up his mouth, barely there, but anyone who knew him would be able to say it's a rarity. ]
Thank you. I am- I guess you could say a big fan of cats.
no subject
[she wants to be gentle with the locals. they've given her no reason to not be gentle. and she's always believed in repaying kindness with kindness.
she smiles shyly as well. and anyone who knew her would say how rare that was, too]
As am I. And my husband-to-be, but he keeps his preference for cats secret, for fear that he'd lose his throne. We are terribly interested in our war hounds, after all.
no subject
[ His eyebrows raise a bit at that. ]
Lose his throne over a love of cats? Dash the throne, have all that cats you wish. They will bring you far more happiness than ruling I assure.