fablecottage | TDM #3

Entry tags:

!tdm

TDM #3

fable test drive meme #3

// away with the fairies

In your land, there may be stories of the Fae taking people away. Perhaps you haven't heard of the Fae at all, or perhaps you are more familiar with them than others. No matter how well acquainted you are with the Fae, everyone around you has experienced the same fate tonight: Being taken by them. Partially, at least. For they did not want to kidnap anyone from their home and take them away from the life they knew. In a small jar of fairy dust, part of your soul was taken in the night and brought to a magical village by the name of Fable.

On arrival, the Fae release you from the jar before waving their magic wands, and materialise this taken little part of you into a brand new you. From here onwards, your new life begins, shared among all sorts of magical creatures. Here, you will be allowed to grow, thrive and enjoy the bounties provided to you by these mysterious and wonderful creatures. In exchange, they ask for a share of the magical fruit that you grow in your garden, donated to their dragon overseer in exchange for rewards. After a briefing on your new life, you understand things as best as you possibly can. Now, it's time to settle into a brand new cottagecore life.

Welcome to Fable.

// arrival

Now that you are a resident of Fable, you have a brand new cottage, a garden, and a few tools to use! There's not an awful lot in your cottage, though: Just a cardboard box, a lamp, a cassette tape and a single bed. Fear not, though! By participating in friendly tasks, your cottage will look great in no time.

Something sparkly catches your attention before you realise it's a message board, advertising an array of tasks for bonus fruit. Did this thing appear out of nowhere just now? That must be the case, since you can swear it wasn't there a second ago. The board may inspire you to go out there and mingle. It seems that the monthly tasks are geared towards friendliness to welcome this new season!

picnic party

// spring fling

At long last, the snow covering Fable has finally melted! While Spring hasn't made its full appearance yet, there are definitely tell-tale signs of its approach thanks to the greener grass and the days feeling longer. Some of the anthropomorphic animals who live in the neighbouring region of Limerick - such as rabbits, birds, sheep, fawns, mice and squirrels - have gathered in Fable to introduce an incredibly sweet welcome to the warmer weather.

The woodland animals, who work together like you would imagine them doing in a Disney movie, have arranged a picnic! They've got plenty of baskets, cups, blankets, plates and cutlery to give out - not to mention food created by both themselves and their Faerie friends! (They wash their paws, promise.) Just be careful on which you choose to eat, because consuming fairy dust can do strange things to Fable residents.

// let's have a picnic!

There's an incredible flow of magic in the air that fills you with the urge to get out there and enjoy the sun with some company. It's a beautiful day for a picnic! Fable has an assortment of hills and fields to lay down a blanket and relax on. Some of the more quiet spots can found be down by the river or under the willow trees. Inside of the basket gifted to you by the animals, you will find plates, cups, cutlery and freshly picked flowers!

There's plenty of food to go around for all dietary requirements! The animals and fairies have certainly gone all-out - so there's no need to feel guilty for stacking your plate high. The food prepared by the animals cause zero effects, but the food prepared by the Fae is cooked with magic and fairy dust which might cause some interesting changes to happen! Choose wisely!

// springtime celebrations

Across Fable while the weather is beautiful and bright, there are assorted outdoor activities available to participate in, especially while the picnics are on!

Near the areas where people are dining and socialising, there are swinging seats that fit two people, an assortment of musical instruments laid out for people to play, outdoor grills and ovens in case anyone wants to cook or bake some goodies for their picnics, and arts and crafts supplies!

For participating in any of these tasks, you will receive flowers or shrubs for your garden and pieces of outdoor furniture for your cottage! Feel free to leave a comment here to redeem these once you've written 5 tags in your thread! Since our TDMs are considered game canon, if you choose to app, these rewards will cross over with you when you join the game! Woohoo!

If you choose to partake in some Faerie food, you may find yourself feeling quite interesting!

The flower cupcakes look rather nice, don't they? The icing is in the shape of a flower! These sweet treats will make you feel extremely brave and sociable! You can't recall ever wanting to talk and mingle so much!

The flower punch is being served in several flavours, topped off with flowers floating in your drink for decoration. With every sip you take, no matter the flavour, you will want to share happy thoughts and feelings! Be warned, though: If you drink too many glasses, you'll feel a lot of sad feelings come to surface - ones you that might be trying to fend off or forget about. Comfort from another person is the remedy, however!

A slice of fruit pie still carries that warm feeling over from Winter! With all sorts of fruit flavours to try, there are pie slices for all tastes. Eating one will inspire you to compliment someone! That warmth from within is flowing right out, so much that you can't resist saying all these nice words.

A slice of cake will overwhelm you with the incredible taste of perfectly balanced vanilla extract and lemon zest! It will also make you incredibly affectionate. Depending on how big the slice is that you eat, it might make you feel very affectionate indeed. (Winky emoji.)

flittens

// purrfect gardening

The sunny weather looks so nice and refreshing that you may feel inclined to go out of your cottage and visit your garden. Except ... your garden is looking pretty barren at the moment, isn't it? You have your fruit trees, plenty of soil plots and fresh green grass, but no flowers.

While contemplating how empty your cottage garden is, you notice something appear beside you.

"Mrrrrrrrp?"

Oh. It's a cat. Actually, wait, it's ... several cats?! Where are they all coming from!? All of them have fairy wings in an assortment of different colours, and it looks as though they're very interested in you for some reason. The cats nuzzle your legs and around your ankles, which inadvertently causes the fairy dust in their fur to rub off on you. The shimmering sparkles coming off the kittens may not give you a second thought, until you move one of your feet to notice that there are flowers growing behind you when you walk!

"Mew! Can you make the flowers grow faster, please?" Did that cat just talk?! Actually, if you've been here for a while, this won't be a surprise at all. These purring kitties are all rubbing by your feet still.

"That Winter lasted for too long ... your gardens are so empty! Please grow some flowers for us to play in ... pretty pleeeeeeease?"

Against your better judgement, you decide to listen to the kitties. They are pretty cute and convincing, after all. But whether you know it or not, there are special qualities to these flowers...!

After a briefing from the Flittens, you understand that all of Fable's cat fairy population have been visiting the Fable residents to request big flowering gardens to play in. It's a win/win situation, though - since your garden will no longer be barren and empty!

The flower that grows is one that matches you entirely! Whether it's the colour of the flower, your personality or the flower's meaning - the flower that grows is an essence of who you are.

The Flittens have a very important requirement for you once you have grown flowers in your own garden: They want you to visit your neighbours and grow flowers in their gardens too! According to the Flittens, it's "boring" to play around in the same type of flower. They want big, colourful gardens to frolic and play in!

Flowers grow when you walk around barefoot on grass, or handle soil with your hands. When you feel happy, they will sprout and grow all around you! Maybe even in your hair if you're feeling extra happy.

The second important thing to note about these flowers is that their pollen has magical properties! When you have a neighbour visit and they grow their flowers in your garden, inhaling the pollen of these flowers will heighten your interest in them! Their flowers you grow smell so sweet - the aroma is very inviting! You're curious to learn more about where they're from, who they are, and you may even feel inclined to invite them to dinner or offer them tea from your cottage. The longer you stay in their presence, the stronger the pollen's effect! Just how much are you going to learn about this person?

After 24 hours, the flower growing magic will be over, but you'll wake up the next day with a bright beautiful garden and hopefully a new friend or two...!?

Welcome to Fable's third TDM!
We're excited to have you here, and hope you enjoy the prompts!
To familiarise yourself with the setting, please take a look at the arrivals & premise page!
We would also appreciate it if you could have a look at the rules as well.
As a general note, the TDMs are considered game canon!
Which means all rewards for fruit & furniture can be used in the game if you apply!

New arrivals have a cottage, a network device, the clothes on their back and a single item from home.
To view the locations, NPCs and more information about the game, please visit our full navigation!

If you have any questions that you have not seen answered in the FAQ, please ask in the FAQ post. Thank you!

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hm... Looks like there are some patties.

[Well he had some practice with these grills earlier, so he knows how to work it. Helps that it's not too much different from back home. So he turns on the gas, fire crackling before it lowers and he waits for it to heat up, preparing the ingredients so he can just put them on the grill when ready.]

Any sides? Toppings? There's an assortment of vegetables as well.

Mm. Some fresh lettuce and tomato?

[Simple. Clean. To the point. She doesn't need fix-ins, but...]

Grilled vegetables on the side would be nice. I could slice them for you first.

[As she's already reaching for the knife that's set aside with the rest of the utensils near the grill, as well as the big, red tomato that's there.]

And you?

I'll do the same.

[Easier than trying to do something special for the both of them.

As he waits for the temperature to rise, patties ready to go, he glances over at her.]

Can't remember the last time I saw you cook.

Anything can happen in a dream world.

[Or whatever this place is.

Ilsa slowly gets to work slicing the tomato with intense precision, the fruit just supple enough under her fingers as the knife goes through it. All of the fruits here are almost too perfect... which makes her wonder again what kind of place this really is.

She cuts up four thinner slices for the burgers, and then finishes up the rest of it as chunks for him to grill on the side with the other vegetables.]

That said, I don't think you've ever seen me cook. Unless that's something you're about to tell me.

There was at least once, wasn't there...?

[A nice hot sizzle as the grill is finally hot enough to put on the patties, the fragrance of the light seasoning he added in spreading as the meat begins to cook.]

Back when we were training and we had to do rotations once.

[...?]

Oh. I suppose you're right.

[She had completely forgotten about those rotations, but it was where she learned to cook a lot of the things she knows now. Most of it is simple, but over time, it's easy to take one's skills and hone them to make better, tastier things... like cupcakes...]

I didn't think you remembered those days.

Hmph... I don't remember everything, but enough.

[She should know his memory is impeccable.]

Hand me the buns over there.

[A small nod to the bread closer to her side. The patties are still cooking but they don't need that much time.]

And how do you want it? Medium or well?

Medium.

[As she hands him the buns before sliding the tomato chunks that she's cut up onto the grill. She motions to the plate of other vegetables on his other side.]

The lettuce, please. And how do you like it? Shredded or cut?

Hmm...

[A low hum as he exchanges the buns for the lettuce as requested.]

Cut.

[He'll also make a little more room for her in case she wants to put more vegetables on the grill. And since medium... Just a few more seconds then before he needs to flip them over.]

[Fortunately, everything has been freshly washed, so all it takes is a little tearing and she has two perfectly cut leaves of lettuce for them that she'll gently set aside to put on the buns once they're laid out.]

I don't think we've ever cooked together like this, have we? Even during rotations.

[It's actually kind of... relaxing? Oddly so.]

We've never really had any occasion for it.

[Aside from when they were training together, once they graduated they went into their respective fields and thus never had any real reason to interact outside of official capacity. In recent years there have been more casual meetings, but it's still few and far between.

Another nice, fragrant sizzle as he flips the patties as well as the tomatoes, letting them brown a bit before setting the tomatoes to the side.]

[Huh. Maybe this dream world or whatever it is isn't so bad after all...

Eustace is one of the few—maybe only person that she feels even remotely comfortable doing this with. Anyone else and she might have shrugged them off or flat out dodged, but with Eustace, it's a bit different. The two of them go way back, and although they've never done this before together, it does bring up memories of those days.]

Hm. Maybe so.

[She reaches across him to grab a potato to begin slicing up for the grill.]

But don't think this will become a regular thing just because we're here.

[Hah.]

I would question you if it did. But once in a while is not so bad.

[He's going to toast the buns a little, as well as grill a few more side vegetables before the patties are cooked to perfection and he can put them on the patties. She can also place the potatoes on whenever she wants, there'll be more room now.]

[And she does, tossing them onto the grill almost unceremoniously where they immediately start to sizzle.]

If we are here long enough for "once in a while."

[Next, it's onto the bell peppers and zucchini that she makes quick and easy work with before tossing those on the grill along with them to help give the potatoes a little bit of an extra kick. Fortunately, they won't take very long, and once they're finished, she'll start sliding them onto the kebab sticks that have been conveniently provided for them by the animals.

And as she plates the vegetables for Eustace, she heaves out an almost whimsical sigh.]

Ah, it all smells delicious. Better than anything I would have whipped up back in the day. [She picks up a bottle of olive oil.] Some drizzle for your vegetables?

Hmm... Sure.

[A low hum and a glance over as he briefly thinks over their situation, idly moving and turning things over.

...Is it weird for them to be relaxing like this right now...? But there isn't really much they can do as they each have already done their own investigations. Is this place real or not... That'll be a question that will likely remain for quite some time.

I'm any case, the food is soon finished and all that's left is to sit and eat... And somehow tell Ilsa of her future.]

[She drizzles the oil over the vegetables and it sizzles a little from the heat before settling before she sets it down for him to serve up their burgers.]

I will go make sure the swing is set up properly.

[Make sure that it's comfortable, at least. If they are going to discuss everything—this apparent "over a year" that he has to tell her about, then she has a feeling that it's going to be a while.

So, she leaves their plates there and wanders across the grass to the swing, fluffing up the pillows and folding the blanket over the back for something to sit against. There's a table there too, and she wipes it down with the napkins provided, brushing away any crumbs that whoever had been there before left behind.

By the time the burgers are finished, she'll be ready.]

Do you need help bringing it over?

Wait... The swing?

[Briefly he glances back at her in confusion before he has to turn back to tend to the vegetables, making sure they don't get too charred before he quickly sets them on the plates.

He thought they would be sitting on the ground....??]

Yes.

[The answer is offered curtly, giving him zero room to object.]

They are here, we might as well make use of them. Is there a problem?

[It's way easier than eating burgers while sitting on the grass! At least with the swing, they have a table to use, too...

And if she is going to listen to his "stories", then she wants to be comfortable doing so as well.]

[He still looks... Well, it's not like... Bad to use some kind of seating arrangement especially with a table, but a swing? Wouldn't the movement make it difficult...

At this point he has both plates in hand and is now just standing there in front of the table, staring at the swing before he sighs and sets down the plates before going back to get the rest of what they've cooked.]

Fine. Can you get the drinks then?

[...Do they have plain water—]

[She stares at him staring at the swing, a brow arching in confusion before she heads off to get the drinks.

Does he really have a problem with the swing!? It's not like it means anything besides it being a place to sit!!!

Even if they did have plain water, why would she grab that when there are giant bowls of delicious fruit punch instead? So, she'll grab two full, ice-cold glasses of those that she brings back for them and sets them down on the table with the food.

...

As well as the plate with a slice of cake that she has skillfully balanced between her chest and her elbow.]

For dessert. Have you tried the cake yet?

[It just seems weird, okay, does he need a real reason?? But he's... Taking his seat on one end, the swing shaking and moving a but before he digs in his heels to keep it still. Ugh this is why he didn't really want to—]

Cake?

[He looks up and eyes it for a moment.]

No, I don't really eat them much.

[She watches him on the swing, so stiff and unrelaxed, and she stifles the snort of laughter that she feels coming up. Even Ilsa, who is rigid in her routines, isn't quite as rigid as Eustace is most of the time. It's... a little amusing.

And the swing will rock a little more when she takes a seat on the other end, though Ilsa doesn't mind it as much. And it's not so small that there isn't room, but it doesn't leave that much between them. Enough, maybe, that she can set her plate down in the space there...]

Perhaps you just haven't found the right ones. These ones aren't too sweet. Lemon and vanilla.

...Hm.

[Just a low, unconvinced hum as he tries to not jostle the swing too much as he reaches for his plate.]

After trying a few of Beatrix's...concoctions, I'm less inclined towards sweets.

Concoctions?

[She picks up her skewer first, taking a bite of the grilled potato.]

Did Hellcat make an attempt at baking? It sounds like there is a story behind this.

No... I hear she's improved, but early she had cooked some food and shared it with me, Vaseraga, and Zeta. It looked normal... But it was way too sweet, as if she had dumped the entire container of sugar into it.

Put me off from sweets ever since.

[Going to start assembling his burger to add some more toppings to it.]

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