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

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.]

Making something that sweet would smarten anyone up after that, I hope.

[At least Beatrix learned from her mistake? She'll at least give her credit for that. Though, is she morbidly curious or is she afraid that she might ruin sweets for Ilsa too, just like she did for Eustace?

At any rate—]

I wouldn't worry about this cake. I've heard the animals here are professionals... though, it is a bit strange to know that it's made by them in the first place.

That could be said about everything here...

[A light mutter as he glances back around him.]

I still find it too hard to believe.

[Ilsa, too, finds this all very difficult to fully believe. She's still convinced that this must be some crazy dream that her imagination has conjured up, and that she will awaken in her bed safe and sound just as she left herself... but the longer she stays here, the longer it begins to feel that isn't the case.

And for the first time since they left Eustace's house, she does frown a little.]

I gave the fairies quite the earful when I arrived, but they assured me that this was very real. I was convinced it was just a dream, and then you answered the door...

[There's something of a scoff that escapes from her.]

And now you're about to tell me that you really are from a year in the future. I'm not sure my consciousness could come up with something quite as elaborate as this.

Agreed.

[A small sigh.]

And given what I'm about to tell you, you'll understand more of why I reacted the way I did when I heard you were from the past.

[He leans back against the swing, rocking it a little as he look at her.]

Are you ready to hear about it?

If I wasn't, you would tell me anyway.

[It's said with a bit of a crooked, almost sheepish smile before her expression steels again.

Even if she wasn't ready to hear about all these things that supposedly happen in her "future", it would be better to know, wouldn't it? At least that way, the two of them can figure out where to go from here and further look into the why's once they're both on the same page. Being so far out of sync would only slow them down, and they hardly ever are.]

Start from the beginning.

[A small, wry grin in return before he takes a breath and sits back against the swing, rocking it.

Okay, maybe it's not so bad sitting here.

And so, between bites and answering any questions Ilsa might have in-between, Eustace slowly and concisely recounts the gap between their timelines. Of how his reports of all the events were taken and modified or even taken by the higher ups. How while Zeta and Beatrix primarily took care of Cassius, he was left to monitor him to judge whether he would remain a threat to the Sky Realm, and his eventual determination that despite his own personal biases at first, Cassius had begun to change and adapt to the skies.

Then came the point where there was an obvious suspicious shift in HQ. The reports of a dangerous glass crunching woman capable of using wires. The sudden increase and incessant badgering about Cassius. And then it all made clear when a man named Isaac appeared, revealing himself to be a descendant of the moondwellers and ordered to take Cassius back to the moon. He had a small robot named Raybury.

At this point it gets complicated, as there were so many different new players and revelations, and they were all interconnected to make it difficult to pick a starting point. CENTCOM taking Cassius back by force; Ilsa's own part in investigating everything at headquarters and keeping an eye on Cassius until they were able to return; the attack at headquarters using facsimile automagods; Ilsa joining Heisenberg to charge into CENTCOM only for more chaos and revelations to be made once they finally join up.

Grace, another descendant of the moon who furthered the Foe's agenda. It was then revealed that she worked with Heisenberg, who was also part of the Foe. This led to revealing Yatima, an original moondweller that had been supported by Alandus, whose personality and memories are actually within Raybury, hooked up to CENTCOM, the origins of Society, how it was originally created by the moondwellers who had been left in the Sky Realm and they worked to prepare the skydwellers for the inevitable return, knowing how powerful those on the moon were. It explains the high tech used within the organization and the knowledge about their seal weapons.

This leads to a large confrontation against Yatima who had been augmented by automagod technology and they all had to fight. Raybury would take a piece of her core, and due to the heavy injuries sustained by the fight, Cassius needed to return to the moon to be repaired. Isaac and Raybury accompanied him. With Society and all weapon contractors with a bounty on their heads for their weapons, they scattered and laid low until Ronan was able to reorganize and an even greater threat came to be.

Another whirlwind of events as Isaac had sent a distress signal to the Sky Realm, warning of Central Axis on the moon preparing to launch an attack on the Sky Realm as well as Cassius's own life in danger. Two operations were then put in place—first to rescue to Cassius, and second to stop whatever the moon is planning. To do this they needed to build their own ship, which was headed by Mahira, and using the automagods. Vaseraga had Grynoth, Gran took control of Pyet-A, and they had Arianensa from before, but not its core. This would be later discovered to be in Grace's possession, and after several battles, Rhen is able to defeat her before handing the weapon over to Gwynne, a recruit Ilsa chose to be the next contractor and the one for this mission.

In the process they had to fight off Otherworldly Beings who are also involved in this mess, and with their ability to possess the memories of the deceased, they are capable of cloning themselves to appear as other individuals. As he had also had to personally deal with one posing as his younger brother, that was why he had been so hostile to Ilsa earlier.

Eventually they are able to send up a ship with the automagods and the trio remote piloting them back in their headquarters. However it's not so easy as they had to fight against the Omega-3, powerful warriors under Central Axis. In the end, only Cassius was sent to return, but it turns out he was a clone. Isaac, the real Cassius, and Raybury were still on the moon and they worked to to disrupt the launch of the largest automagod the moon has, Diaspora. Originally the size of the moon, only a small fraction was able to be released... But even that was enough to threaten the Sky Realm. With the moon trio left to figure out how to get home on their own, the Society team had to figure out how to counteract Diaspora.

And that led to needing Eustace to awaken Flamek, something he'll admit had been very difficult. He was only able to after finding Heisenberg and learning the truth of what happened to his home town. Once he was able to finally open up and accept the help and trust in others did Flamek finally respond to him.

As Diaspora neared, Ilsa took charge to create a base of operations. However their plans go awry when they see a pod entering the Sky Realm. It has Isaac and Cassius, as Raybury had stayed behind with Yatima whom had managed to be reformed through the same process that made Diaspora and helped launch them off the moon. But attached to it was Dex, the remaining Omega-3 member. The group split off, with Vaseraga staying behind to fight him and protect the base while Gran, Zeta, Beatrix, and Eustace go to where Diaspora is set to land so they can engage. Hearing Ilsa's side having difficulty, Eustace leaves the others to stall Diaspora as he returns to help.

With Vaseraga saved and Dex defeated, Eustace makes his way back in time to finish off Diaspora with Flamek's awakened powers. Thanks to the constant barrage of overheated lightning, it is unable to repair and regenerate until it becomes a molten mess. Soon after Isaac and Cassius make a dramatic landing and Cassius is able to trick Diaspora into thinking the mission is complete and self-destruct.

After that, they spent a long time recovering. Society is still a mess, and the moon is no longer an immediate threat, but now they have Otherworldly Beings to watch for.

And once he's finally finished, whatever food is left has gone cold, the sun once high in the sky now lower as it turns into mid afternoon. He knows Ilsa has a lot more questions aside from the ones he had to answer during it all. And speaking about all of it...

He realizes just how much they had been through.]

[She listens patiently, quietly, and solemnly, and each detail that Eustace adds on top of everything else only makes her more and more certain that this isn't just some dream. No matter how creative or wild one's subconscious is, there is absolutely no way that she could weave such an intricate web of stories. At some point, Ilsa forgets about the last few bites of her burger and the skewer, and instead, she's taken to sipping slowly at her drink until she's reached the bottom. She doesn't interrupt, allowing him to continue as if he were on duty and giving her a full report rather than them casually sitting on a swinging chair sipping fruit punch and eating burgers... While she does sprinkle a few questions, mostly ones out of disbelief, here and there, she saves most of them for the end.

...

.....

After he gives her several minutes to let the information sit and stir.

It's a lot to take in all at once. Just when she thought things were about to get complicated with Cassius' presence back home, things seem to have spiraled a bit. Complicated would be an understatement, to say the least.

She'd been sitting forward, staring at the blades of grass beneath them, elbows propped on her knees, but eventually, she falls back against the chair with a sigh.]

Ah... so...

[She begins, looking over at him with a tired expression. Where to even start!?]

I am at the beginning of this all, aren't I? Cassius' arrival seems to be the thing that toppled the first domino.

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SPOILERS FOR SOCIETY EVENTS GOD THIS WAS LONG AND ROUGH WHEEZE

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