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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.
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kaneki looks around and at least all the people around them are animal shaped and now there is even a priest. How. Why. He would like to have a word with a certain Fox, but she is nowhere to be found, of course.
Perhaps animals are less embarrassing than people, though.
And kaneki does hold onto Dirk's arm because the first step he tries to give, he nearly falls. This is all so bad and he is so embarrassed and Kaneki doesn't even know how to approach the priest mouse without feeling like he will break his ankle. ]
W-what? [ WHAT. KISS? ] N-no, that's not-- [ it's true, the Prince and Cinderella kiss at the end, don't they? Oh god, Kaneki feels like he will die ] I never... [ kaneki decides to whisper that last part, just in case the mice and the other animals are in fact actual people ] I never kissed in my whole life, I can't--
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That's a shame. (Kaneki is cute enough that someone should have kissed him by now. Ah well. Dirk gives him a casual shrug.) Ain't gotta be some sentimental thing. My first kiss was with a corpse.
(Dirk...That's...Absolutely not something you should just be saying like that?)
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[ a corpse? Oh no, is this some creepy person who kills people? Or goes around kissing dead people? Or maybe Dirk is just making fun of Kaneki again?
A mystery ]
I'd just rather not go around kissing... corpses? [ and people. Kaneki is incredibly sentimental - a romantic! - and would rather make a kiss count. Although it is true, it doesn't have to be something incredibly sentimental and probably just a tiny peck on the lips would work for a story like this, right? ]
What do you mean, a corpse? [ this is important, before they kiss. Even though they are walking down the isle and Father Mouse is already staring at them and does expect them to go through with this royal wedding ]
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I feel like the average person would prefer their make-out buddy alive and reactive, yeah. (That's not the point, Dirk. It's the part where this is apparently normal for you.
Probably would work, but the closer they get to the altar, the more Dirk plans to do anything but simple.)
It's a long story. I'm talkin' like, longer than War and Peace kinda long. But just imagine a video game where you had to kiss your dead friends to wake them up in their extra lives. It sounds fake and stupid. (He glances down at Kaneki.) I'll tell you about it later if you really want. For now, I think we oughtta focus on making out.
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Honestly, a lot scares kaneki due to having a very normal human life (not true) until he became a ghoul and everything turned upside-down. he is willing to listen to Dirk's story and believe him, but Dirk is right. They have a story on their own, right now, to finish.
kaneki looks back at the Priest, then back at Dirk, thinking on how to get this over with without... well, the smooching part. But then they are in front of the mouse and kaneki can only turn to the other boy with a quick gasp ]
Right. Uhm-- so, we kiss? [ DO THEY??? WHY?? Kaneki is so confused at everything and he hates this place why must he kiss random boys while dressed like a princess bride? (no matter how handsome Dirk is, it's still weird to kiss someone you've just met, right?) ]
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Although God help Kaneki's soul because if Kaneki so much as gasps or moves his mouth at this time? Dirk's going to use it as an excuse to slip his tongue right on into his mouth. Your husband adores you already, Kaneki!)
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That's all kaneki wanted to say until he is dipped and loses all his ability to say anything, and it only gets worse when Dirk's lips are on his on a not-quick-kiss. His eyes go wide, face flushes with embarrassment, and hands quickly move to hold onto Dirk's arms because what else is he meant to do?
it's a kiss like in the books, he tells himself, a normal kiss and that's how romantic fairy tale kisses are,. But Kaneki's heart is beating loud, so loud he is sure even Dirk can hear it, and then he realizes it's hard to breathe because Ken isn't breathing at all.
So he gasps.
And the tongue goes in and Kaneki freezes in place right there and then because he has no idea what to do here. No matter how many books he has read, how many times he imagined how it'd be like to kiss a cute person, nothing prepared him for this moment when he is finally being kissed for real. ]
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Maybe it's both.
He curls his tongue around Kaneki's and, well, this is exactly why Jake got overwhelmed by Dirk. He had absolutely no brakes. It was 0 to 100 in three seconds flat. He wanted to dominate everything he did including stealing the first kiss of some poor guy he just met in a dress.
In his defense, Kaneki is outrageously cute. He gives Kaneki's tongue this nice, tiny little suck and then he breaks the kiss. He considers it a gesture of mercy, but the smirk that it leaves on his face probably isn't much better.)
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His mouth is full of tongue and suddenly kaneki recognizes the taste of human and it's amazing and he is trying so hard not to focus on that. And yet he moans a little because of course he does (his ghoul instincts would never let him off without a moan), specially with that little suck and then the kiss breaks.
kaneki looks completely disheveled, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights, his hands still gripping onto Dirk's shoulders and there is even some saliva dripping from his mouth because Kaneki has no clue how to process any of this at all.
And Dirk is smirking. ]
WHAT WAS-- [ no time to scream because the story ends and everything around them vanishes, except Kaneki's lovely dress that is still on him for some reason. The half-ghoul looks around and forgets he was about to scold Dirk, and somehow he is just... so tired of this place.
Instead he slips away from Dirk's embrace, face completely red, and wishing he could just run away. What the heck was that? He should be mad, furious! But here is the thing about Kaneki: he is a bit of a doormat. And Dirk did say not to put any thought into it and that he kissed his (dead) friends so... yeah, kaneki sees this as being made fun of. ]
T-that was a bit too far, you know? [ not a bit. A lot ]
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Instead, all he can do is focus on Kaneki, the look on his face, the fact that there's a bit of saliva shimmering from his mouth. The fact that he had absolutely moaned into that kiss. All of that had gone straight to Dirk's dick and obliterated any other thought in existence.
He's never had a guy looking at him like this before and he actually has no fucking clue what to do about it. Oh shit, he's being yelled at. He was in trouble, wasn't he? There's the slightest color rising into his own face, though thankfully most of it was hidden behind shades - but still...A little telltale amount manages to spread out into his ears.
He otherwise remains stony-faced and stoic. He mastered that poker face forever ago, cute boys be damned. At least he wasn't smirking anymore.)
You seemed to like it. (The moan. He was gonna remember that moan for the rest of his life, he's pretty sure. He reaches out and swipes his thumb across Kaneki's lower lip to clean that saliva off. Then proceeds to just...Pop that thumb into his own mouth and lick it off.
Dirk stop.)
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kaneki's face remains bright red, and because he is so pale, it's a dead give away that he is only getting even more embarrassed at the whole thing. Unlike Dirk, he has not mastered anything, but specially not the art of argument.
Hands quickly reach for Dirk's hand, however, a weak attempt at stopping him from bringing his thumb to his mouth ] Oh my go-- stop it!
[ he huffs a little ] You shouldn't tease people like this...! Specially not a stranger. [ kaneki could be a crazed hungry ghoul for all Dirk knows. But also he'd rather not be teased into oblivion ]
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But I already tasted you. (Did it matter if he wanted to enjoy a second helping via some casual spit sampling? He thought not.
It's such a good thing Dirk is an immortal who could withstand being eaten alive by Kaneki! Or at the very least come back from it. Probably. It seemed like that would be a just death, letting a cannibalistic creature feed off him, but somewhere in Dirk's fucked up mind, he would just get off to it.)
You're not a stranger. You're my husband, Kaneki. We just got married like two seconds ago. I'm a changed man. Totally committed here. I'll let you step on me right now. Seriously. Do you want to pull my hair? (Then he proceeds to make a show out of bending over. Kaneki is way shorter than him so Dirk puts his head right about at his level.)
Go ahead. Do whatever. Maybe slap me a bit? (Is he still teasing him? Who knows.)
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(although, isn't that what kaneki did as well? That's why he moaned, after all, because he tasted Dirk. But he didn't do it on purpose!)
And he is close again. kaneki doesn't know how to deal with this, even Hide who always teases him, does not do this; this sort of personality is one kaneki has no idea how to deal with or expect, and feels like everything he says will be taken as a joke.
he still doesn't think Dirk is being malicious about it, but it's very difficult to keep up with all of it! ]
I'm not slapping you, stop that. [ and instead he places his hand against Dirk's cheek and pushes him a little, so they won't be so close to one another ]
And the story has ended. [ in case Dirk didn't notice the scenario change. Kaneki is also attempting to change the subject, too! ]
no why they vibing so well tho
Fine, all right. (Figures he would only ever get married in a lame fairy tale rip-off. Not even a good fairy tale. He's not sulking! He's just crossing his arms over his chest and staring intently into the distance.)
For the record, I did like kissing you. (There's some sincerity in his voice, even if it's a bit stilted. He didn't do emotional warmth too much. As soon as he says it, he's turning away from Kaneki, mostly because ew, sentimentality, and examining their immediate surroundings. Oh! Look at the treasure trunks! Sweet, is that his sword sticking out of a nearby rock?
Dope. He's gonna just...start walking towards it.)
because they are both disasters
He should be more tactful.
kaneki coughs a little and decides to grab his dress while he walks after Dirk ] I'm sorry, Dirk.
I get it. [ probably? Most likely not. ] I just don't really do that sort of thing. [ at all! he did tell Dirk he has never kissed before. ] Where I'm from friends don't kiss friends. And people who've just met don't kiss each other. [ well. Some do, but not Kaneki ]
A-anyway, thank you for playing out the fairy tale with me. You helped me alot. [ it was so embarrassing and dumb, but Kaneki is very thankful that is over ]
u got a point
He jerks his head around to look at him. Okay, so. That's new. He stops moving towards the sword and stares down at Kaneki, silent, not bothering to interrupt him. He stays quiet for some time after Kaneki, but there's an unusual quality to the silence.
It's a heavy silence, heavy with his thoughts as he puts them together in order before speaking up. He's used to having the time behind screens, and he's also the kind of guy that sometime just...
Casually dissociates while thinking, so. There's a moment where the silence is borderline awkward, and then he seems to come back to it.)
Yeah, I didn't really want to kiss my friends when I did. It was a life-or-death thing. Not exactly my idea of an ideal first-kiss-scenario either. (And he found that he didn't want to give Kaneki the wrong impression of him.)
I get it. (He did! He's not feeling rejected at all! He does force himself to relax a little. Dirk, you don't have to be the Prince of Heart so literally all the time.)
Yeah, no problem. That's what us Princes do. (...) You were kinda like my first kiss situation where it wasn't completely fuckin' weird. Although I guess there was still a 'do it or fuck off' quality to it.
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Regardless, once Ken is done explaining and thanking his "prince" for the help, silence follows again and he feels so awkward over all of this. He hopes Dirk isn't mad, though.
He doesn't seem to be, but still. Ken is back to blushing soon after when their kiss is brought up, unsure how to address that particular situation.] W-well, it wasn't... [ oh God, is Kaneki really going to admit to it? He shouldn't but he wants Dirk to feel better] ... The kiss wasn't bad.
[ it's Kaneki's turn to find a trunk and quickly head towards it to avoid looking back at Dirk after he admitted that the kiss was nice. Running from embarrassing situations, that's what Kaneki will try to do heee!]
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He pops open his own trunk and digs around. It's mostly useless robot parts and random smuppets that he tosses out. They squeak across the ground and he sits back, sighing. Oh, but hey. His normal outfit. It's way better than the stuffy prince shit. He takes off the crown and meticulously rearranges his hair (not that it was even disturbed...) and starts tugging off his clothes.
He ain't wearing this shit no more. But if Kaneki happens to look, he'll get to enjoy the whole muscled out thing and scars and yada yada...Dirk's pulling on his far more comfortable and familiar t-shirt, matching orange sneakers, jeans, and some fingerless gloves. That's better.
Then he walks over to the stone and grips the sword by the handle. Yeah, he's really about to have to kick some ass to keep them both safe and doesn't even know it.)
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Kaneki figures this is just two worlds colliding and people having different upbringings and different ways to look at things. He doesn't think the other is being mean or means anything bad by it, it's just... uh, different. kaneki probably is coming off as a huge prude who worries about small useless things.
There is a reason why he is a familiar. Kaneki tries hard to see things from a less biased lens - he has to, after he became a ghoul.
But he is in front of his trunk and after opening finds his clothes. Well, it's his work uniform, actually, but it's much better than a bride's dress. While he grabs it, Ken glances to the side, wanting to ask Dirk for help to unzip his dress, but then he catches a glimpse of him stripping. He is handsome, isn't he? Really like a Prince Charming. The scars catch his attention, too, wondering what they are about; it doesn't look bad on him, honestly it makes Dirk look badass, but--
Oh.
No, no, no, Kaneki. Don't look at people like that!
he quickly turns his gaze back to the trunk, blush returning to his cheeks tenfold. What is Kaneki doing? He shouldn't be looking at people like that. He shouldn't be looking at anyone like that, much less someone he just met! Kaneki figures it's all because of the kiss, that's why, but he quickly shakes his head trying to get it together. ]
Uhm- sorry. [ Ken calls out softly, only after Dirk grabbed the sword ] Can you help me with the back? [ the dress' zipper ]
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Dirk is oblivious to the staring though that is probably for the best. Had he caught Kaneki...
He's sliding the sword out of the ground. It looked like his old katana. Certainly felt like it too. He wanders over to Kaneki.)
Sure thing, hubby. (He unnecessarily slides his fingers up along the length of that zipper, as if he has to look for it or something, and then gets to the top. He sloooowly pulls it down, revealing inch by inch of pale skin and man. Wow.
Dirk is feeling some sort of way all right. Like the earth is shaking beneath him...
No, wait. The earth is actually shaking beneath him? He has the dress unzipped all the way to the waist when the serpent bursts out of the ground behind them. He whips around, automatically falling into a defensive fighting stance in front of Kaneki. Yeah. He's gonna fuck this bitch upppp.)
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But Kaneki is oblivious to the way he touches the zipper, and even more oblivious to the way he pulls it open. Honestly, he is far more worried about how embarrassing it is that he's still wearing a dress and now has to undress it in front of someone.
He is about to pull it down to go topless, when suddenly he feels the ground tremble and kaneki's eyes go wide at the sight of a snake bursting from underground. He gasps, quickly turn, and quickly grabs onto the dress because he knows that thing is about to be in the way.] What is that thing?! [ a rhetorical question, really, but no matter, Kaneki is about to step back when he notices Dirk rising his sword ]
You are going to fight it?!
cw: monster death because??? dirk aint fuckn around via decapitation
(Seriously, Kaneki?)
I'm not a passive class, baby. Sit back and let me take care of it.
(Partly to show off, but also because he was riled up and wanted to take his energy out on this ugly beast of a monster. He's assuming Kaneki isn't exactly one for violence - especially not with that reaction to the monster. Dirk doesn't wait around for Kaneki's response. He rises up, as a Prince is expected to, and it's both metaphorical and literal here. Lifts up off the ground and snaps through the air at the snake.
Ya boi can fly, Kaneki. He also immediately decapitates the shit out of the monster because this is low-level work for a high-level player. His sword is bitching, but it is his soul that is of superior bitchingness. The monster's head is still screeching as it falls apart from the body and comes crashing down to the ground below it.
There's a minimal amount of monster guts on him, but he wipes it off as he floats back down to the ground just a few feet by the monster's head.)
That wasn't even that hard. What the fuck. (Dirk...Don't sound so disappointed...)
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and yet he still is surprised and fearful, because he still has not fully accepted what he is and what he can actually do.
But none of that matters because the whole thing is over very quickly. So quickly that Kaneki is just left staring while holding on to his skirt, unsure what to even say. He stares at Dirk, then back at the snake. Then at Dirk again, and mouth opens. But then it closes once again
Okay, so that is a thing ]
You... can fly? [ what ]
cw: suicidal ideation
(He moves over towards Kaneki after he has cleaned his sword off and slipped it into the sheath around his waist.)
I'm godtier, bro. (Because that means anything to anyone outside of the game. Although the name is kind of self-explanatory, so.)
I can do a bunch of shit. I'm technically immortal too. (He points to the scar around his neck as if to say 'see'? Because, like. It's impressive, right? Granted, he's kind of dead inside about not being able to die but no one actually wants to hear anyone angst over their conflicting sense of mortality and the meaning of life.)
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And apparently immortal???
He looks confused, but his breathing falters a little when he sees the scar. That's... awful... ] Immortal... because your friends kiss you and you come back to life? [ look, kaneki has been trying to pick up on the weird things Dirk has mentioned so far ]
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