TDM #3

[fabulists]

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!

(CODE)

Comments

[flamekthunder]

[...Why is she stepping closer... Yet he doesn't actually question it too much, her words distracting him more instead. There's just a soft, quiet hum.]

Of course. You would have done the same for me.

[Just the faintest of smiles before he nods his head.]

See you.

[neunkugeln]

[Don't ask why she's moving closer. She has no idea why she did that—]

See you.

[She returns the nod with her own, in that curt way they always exchange them before she's turning on her heel and walking back in the direction of her home. She does glance back once at him, though only briefly and through the corner of her eye, but with that, Ilsa makes her way down the street with plenty to think about, her head already swimming with memories that have yet come to pass. Things in her future that she hasn't even experienced yet...

And will she even, now that she knows? Has this caused a ripple effect through her own timeline? There's only one way to find out, but with her being stuck here, it'll be a while before she does...

At any rate, she'll busy herself with her garden, taking what she learned earlier from Collei to plant some more of her flowers in her front yard, decorating it with orchids with the help of several flittens who have followed her home.]

[flamekthunder]

[Eustace will watch her for a bit, catching that glance back but again—thinking nothing of it. It's only when she's far enough away that he starts to turn back and stare at the garden and cottage he's somehow "inherited." Now that he's on his own, his thoughts return to their situation and what they discussed.

This world...the time difference... It feels so unreal, but the longer they're here, the more he feels as if he should accept it. He's still a little skeptical, so there's no harm in being a little wary for a little longer... But if the days pass and tomorrow and the next he's still here, then there will be no choice but to accept.

He would have been fine on his own, but since he knows Ilsa is here... Rather than thinking he has to "look after her"—she's more than capable of taking care of herself—it's more that he'll be more mindful or her presence and well-being. In some ways it could be a boon that they are here together as they could team up and figure things out faster than if he were on his own.

With a sigh and rubbing the back of his neck as these thoughts and more swirl through his mind, he walks over to the garden. He had done some work, but it's not like he really knows how to make a flower garden. He's done some field work before, though most of it had been in his childhood... Still, he's not ignorant at least, so he could make some decent headway. There's more tools and supplies he'll need...

And the cottage itself...

Seeing the orchids Ilsa had left him, he remembers his original plan and goes to find the pots that had been given and starts picking out a few of those white wolf roses...and seeing some pinks, he thinks for a moment before adding them as well. And once he's finished, he'll make his way down to her house.

Could he do this tomorrow? Yeah, probably. It's been a long day and she could use the downtime. Plus they've....spent more time together today than they probably ever had in the many years they've known each other. Even more than when they were training together as recruits.

Anyway, if Ilsa is still out there, she'll see him coming with the potted plant. If not... He could just leave it at her door...

[neunkugeln]

[She is indeed still outside, and when she hears someone approaching, her ears swivel back first and the flittens all flutter about to greet Eustace.

Confused, Ilsa gets to her feet and slips off the gardening gloves, and her eyes move to the pot his hands. Those aren't her orchids, so...?]

Do you need some help with those? You may be better off asking Collei about plants.

[Because why else would Eustace be bringing a pot of flowers over?]

[flamekthunder]

[Just a bit of a wry look before he's holding the pot out to her.]

No, they're for you.

[neunkugeln]

[Before it even sinks in what he's saying, she takes the small pot in her hands, eyes wide.]

Ah. [They're... for her...? Blinking down at them, Ilsa tries to process what's going on.] You brought me flowers?

[...

But after a moment's pause, she laughs.]

This must really be a dream.

[flamekthunder]

[Just a small tilt of his head in confusion.]

...Is it really so strange... It's in return of the ones you left with me.

[Although it might not have been as intentional, in the end she did give them to him. And it only seemed right... Well, that's really what it boiled down to. He just felt like doing so.]

[neunkugeln]

[She tilts her head right back, though it's with a smile.]

A little. You just never crossed me as the type to give away flowers to just anyone.

[Ilsa won't tease him too much about it, of course. The gesture is nice, and the flowers themselves are pretty, and she doesn't want him to take it all back.]

Thank you. I will take good care of them.

[flamekthunder]

[Well she isn't "just" anyone... She's a long time colleague, possibly friend but that's not something he really ever thinks about for his relationships. But regardless, Ilsa is someone he's known for sometime and has always cared about at least in a professional capacity, mostly since they never really spent much time outside of it together.

But he'll just hum in some understanding before moving to make his way back.]

I'll head back then.

[He delivered the flowers, so mission accomplished. Time to head home.]

🎀

[neunkugeln]

[Her fingers tighten around the pot when he turns to walk away, and Ilsa's gaze lingers for a few more seconds before she heads inside to put it someplace safe, and with enough sunlight. Maybe she'll show it off at the front window...

The realization that this is the first time anyone has given her flowers before, regardless of the intentions, makes a strange feeling sink in. One where she's not sure if she's sad or happy about it. On one hand, she appreciates the gesture and the flowers. They're pretty, and although he didn't have to do it, he did anyway.

On the other...

What she wouldn't give to receive them in another context. Being suddenly yanked out of her world and put in another really puts a wrench in those wishes, doesn't it...? How is she supposed to find love in a place like this?]

Ah well. [She laughs, looking at the flittens that have followed her inside.] It will come someday. No use in getting hung up on it here, right?