TDM - What lurks around the corner?

[whimsicalism]

Welcome, dear friends! It seems that the Queen has taken interest in you and has decided to take you to her Castle. That is, welcome to Castle Whimsical's test drive meme! Ready to send your characters to a hell castle run by a brat? The opening might be a couple of months away but sometimes you want to play in a setting regardless.




1. Hello, my friend.

You wake up in... a hotel room? At least, at first glance it looks like a fancy hotel room. The bathroom is really nice, too--wait. No, that's not important. You weren't here before, were you? What's going on? A young girl's voice comes out of nowhere to welcome you 'home' before going silent.

Maybe some exploration is in order?

2. Can we even call this a castle??

Is it fortunate that murder isn't happening all the time? Maybe. Maybe not. They do say boredom is killer. At least there's places to see? While only the first floor map is available, you can feel free to imagine a lot of different facilities in the Castle. A tennis court? A roller coaster? A bottomless pit filled with hungry man-eating flying squirrels? Sure! The Queen doesn't always make the soundest decisions when it comes to decorating her Castle.

Either way, there's plenty of things to keep you occupied in non-murdery pursuits. You might be living in a surreal hell castle but at least there's Zoobooks. Who doesn't love Zoobooks?

3. Who likes games? I hope you do!

Motive time! The Queen is getting a little bored and has decided to give everyone a little, ah, incentive to try to escape. Could be the standard motives like a hostage (she might even kidnap an adult, how scandalous) or revealing secrets. She could just release the man-eating squirrels from their prison to see you squirm. Also, aren't they just the cutest?

Either way, it's time to consider your options for this week.

4. In the dark of the night...

It's time to do a murder...or investigate one, at least. There's a dead body, go poke it. Unless you're the body. Perhaps you're trying to hide your victim. Murder, investigation, discussion after a trial? This is the prompt for all that nasty killing business. The Queen does hate it when blood goes everywhere, she's not a maid, you know!

5. Who was that again?

Well, that was a harrowing trial! At least you can sleep well knowing that you're safe for another week. Except... something is missing when you wake up on Sunday. That's right, this is the memory loss prompt. Was it the name of your best friend? The time you got laughed at for asking your crush out? Or maybe you just forgot you hate spinach. Why would anyone want that memory? Maybe there should be some sort of meeting to find out if there's any reason to this or maybe just to complain.

6. The Queen's got something for you

Regains! Everyone loves regains. Thanks to the vending machine in the dining hall, you're able to get a wide range of 'gifts' from the Queen. It might be things that belong to you or someone else in the Castle. It might just be junk the Queen is cleaning out of her closet, who knows. No one can predict what comes out of it, though.

7. And...?

Any other ideas? This is your wildcard prompt, go wild.

Art from here.

Comments

Kirika Kure | Puella Magi Oriko Magica

[clawscall]

2. Sweets, sweets, sweets

[Weird changeable scenery? Kidnapped people? Huh. Sounds familiar. She's not sure she cares about most of the people here but Kirika does know what she likes. That happens to be junk food. Lots and lots of junk food. So what if they're stuck in some kind of witch or magical girl trap? Eh, sounds like a day ending in 'y' for Kirika.

At least she's got her tea that has more jam in it than water, in the lovely garden. She takes a drink and thinks:]

Hey, d'you think if we threw someone really far they'd manage to go somewhere other than the front room? Some of us are really small, bet they'd fly real well.

[She pauses.] That's not something Oriko would think of, though.... Ugh.

4.a Sometimes things are just like that

[Surprisingly, this is after a trial. A real long one and the execution was pretty horrible, too. Kirika's leaning against a wall after they're dismissed. She doesn't have the familiar Chesire grin on her face as she watches everyone disperse. Her hands shove into her pockets.]

Y'know what? I never can get used to it... the smell. It sticks with ya no matter what. [Kirika pauses, rubbing the back of her head.]

I sorta feel bad about them. In the end, they're still stuck with that bratty Queen just like the rest of us. If she just wants us to die shouldn't she just do it already?

4.B. The hunt is on

[Fast forward a week or two. It's late Thursday and the motive this week didn't seem anything conspicuous. Something about wishes and giving them to a random person? Kirika's been in a bit of a funk, though, so maybe it's a good thing when her smile's back.]

Hey. It's late out... maybe ya should go to bed before the big bad wolf finds you? [She laughs at her own joke before her tone turns more serious.]

Maybe you've already met them, huh?

Wildcard

[Hit me with your best shot!]

4a

[thetempestsync]

[ What a girl. Though admittedly he's used to strange people. ]

Because that'd be no fun? What's the point in killing everyone when you can get them to slowly do it for you?

[clawscall]

No fun, huh?

[She thinks on that. That does seem right.]

It'd make sense. I don't know how I feel about being toyed around like that, honestly.

Seven | Seven Little Monsters

[myselfamhell]

[I hope it's alright with like. literally everyone because I'm using normal-sized text for actions and big text for speech with Seven to emphasize he's. Big. If I'm capable of painting the medium I take that chance.

also, ofc, none of these are gonna be representative to how long he'd actually live in the roleplay itself]

1. Help me, Mama...

[Slowly coming awake, Seven's head was strangely not in any of his other siblings' beds this time... in fact, none of his siblings were to be seen around here.]

A-Ah?! Where is everybody?! One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six- Oh, uh... I get it! You were all planning a vacation and I overslept! So you had to carry me while I was still sleeping when we had to go to the hotel. Silly me, I need to stop doing that...

['Welcome home...']

H-Home? This isn't my home! Where am I!?

[His attempts to rationalize his situation turning to panic, Seven ran to the door and swung it open, calling out for his family.] One?! Two?! Three?! Four?! Five?! Six?!

[Tears of terror flowed from his eyes, his breath went shaky, crying out for the only one he knew was truly strong enough to save him.] MAMAAAAAAAAA!!

[But... even that littlest bit of hope was snatched from his grasp as Mama didn't come to his side.]

2. I love cheese...

[Making his way into the dining room, Seven tried to keep his head on straight, no pun intended. He was distressed, lonely, and worst of all, hungry. But, all that faded away when he spotted rather sizable wheels on the serving benches.]

Is that...? Oh, goody! Cheese! [He reached over for a wedge... actually, he took the rest of the wheel first, leaving behind the wedge, and dug in like a lion tearing into a gazelle.]

5. Why am I Seven...?

There... there have to be six others, right? Please, tell me I'm not crazy! Why else would I be Seven?! But then, who are the other six?! Does Mama know them? Maybe they're also Mama's- M-Mama... Mama... M a m a . . .

[He trailed off. And trailed off.... if he forgot who the other six were... will he forget his Mama next? The only hint at the mystery of why he was Seven?

He doesn't want to forget. He can't forget. He can't...]

6. A perfect picture...

[Out of the vending machine, a framed monochrome polaroid came out. There he was in the upper leftmost corner of the picture. And in the rest of the picture... were six other monsters. And one little old lady.]

...Who are these people? And why am I with them? That one has a 4 on his hat, how quaint... That monster has a 1 on her cap too. That one with the big nose has a 2 on each shoulder. I wonder which ones are 3, 5, and 6. That little old lady in the center, she doesn't look like a monster. So why is she there? Is she supposed to be-

[Suddenly, Seven screamed in pain, dropping the picture and shattering the glass, holding onto his head as it felt like it was splitting down the middle. He couldn't remember. Were the memories trying to burst out but can't because they were locked away? He wants it to stop. If trying to remember causes such pain, he doesn't want to remember ever again.]

7. Insanity (Wildcard)

[Where did all the memories go? They were plucked from his head. Like apples plucked from an orchard's trees. Apples. Plucking. That sounds like you could make a fun song out of it! Let's sing it out loud, to celebrate the despair of forgetting all that's important!]

APPLE! PLUCKING! BEAAAAM! APPLE! PLUCKING! BEAAAAM! APPLE! PLUCKING! BEAAAAM! YOUR LIFE CHANGES EVERYTHIIING!!!

Veronica | Fire Emblem Heroes

[caligulass]

2.

[The castle isn’t exactly outside the bounds of what Veronica is used to, outside of several things that seem like extremely advanced tomes beyond anything they have in Embla and Askr. She’d heard some reports about tomes that could capture moving or still images, but as they didn’t give her a clearly identifiable edge over Askr’s forces, she didn’t care about them. Bring her pictures! Pictures of enemy formations!

...but none of those things were at all relevant here, so she had to figure out some way to occupy her time. Really, she just wants to get back home so she can go back to dealing with some nightmare nonsense and then destroy Askr, but it does seem like it will take some degree of pre-planning to murder anyone, so… she’s bored.

And, as she is bored, she has decided to try poking around the media room. She picks out a VHS and kind of… stares at it when she opens it, before giving the nearest person a somewhat imperious look.]

You. Tell me how to use this.

5.

[Socializing hasn’t gotten any easier, especially now that someone’s died. It’s not like it’s going to stop now that it’s started, and the only way to win is to make sure everyone else dies, so is there really a reason to try and form alliances here?

...then again, she is feeling a fair amount of spite right now, as she peruses some Zoobooks with her tea. Maybe she should ally with someone out of spite. After all, she…

…

She furrows her brow as she looks at the book, though unlike how it seems, it’s not the issue on lions causing her consternation. She remembers teaming up against a common enemy with… someone. A lesser enemy? She thinks so, but she can’t remember who.

After a moment or so, she closes the book and kind of zones out as she wracks her brain for anything that could explain the sudden hole in her memory. She doesn’t necessarily want to ask anyone about it, because that’s Weakness, but honestly, it looks like something’s up with her...]

2

[theawfulaccount]

[ Violet remains unsure what to make of many of the other anomalous - a word which here means "unusual moreso than all the other unusual persons in her life to this point" - occupants of the castle, but at her heart remains as ever a passion for invention, so between that and the naturally polite habits formed by her upbringing she offers an answer, though she does not seem particularly intimidated by the other girl's tone. ]

I'm fairly certain you put it in the slot on the device over there. We don't have them where I come from, either, but it's not too dissimilar from things we do.

[caligulass]

Ah, so that’s how it works.

[Veronica gingerly slides the tape in and... waits.]

...so do we need to do something else to get it to show moving pictures?

2

[undershadow]

[ Lena, who's been around since 2003ish and is probably fully able to work out how a VCR works, still doesn't love the tone! She's holding a VHS herself, some schlocky horror movie, which she raises along with an eyebrow. ]

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. These are definitely from [ and you can really hear the tildes surrounding this pronouncement ] the before times.

[caligulass]

...the before times?

[...that explanation doesn’t do much to improve Veronica’s ‘tide.]

Explain. Are they some lost art?

2 well this is going to go swell

[soverainty]

Ah! Onee-chan... you don't know how to use this either?

[Niko's been exploring after her own fashion, even if probably unlike Veronica she's studiously been avoiding rifling through anything like a ruffian so far -- not only would that be kind of rude, but she is pretty sure castle owners (and decorators) don't take kindly to everyone ransacking their stuff.

....... Despite their predicament, anyway. There's just a slightly apologetic smile for Veronica's trouble.]

All I know is that it's some kind of really, really old technology they don't make anymore. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've seen it in a museum back home...

[caligulass]

[Veronica gives Niko a somewhat baffled expression, because, uh...]

...Why are you calling me Onee-chan?

[...is that a hoshidan thing, she thinks it’s a hoshidan thing. But after that initial bit of confusion, she thinks about the other thing a bit.]

Is that so? It seems very advanced compared to what I’m familiar with.

Allen | Alice Mare

[xxxx_me]

2. Library

[There's a boy here, nose deep in a thick book. ...Actually, there seem to be several books stacked on a little table next to him, too. He's so absorbed in the story, he doesn't even notice he's got company - if you're wanting to talk to him, you might need to give him a poke.]

4. Investigation

[When the body's found, Allen freezes at the sight of it. However, after about a moment of staring at it like a deer caught in headlights, he slowly begins to approach it, movements full of reluctance.]

...Who did this?

6. Vending Machine

[Somehow, a live frog has been ejected from the vending machine. Once he realizes what it is, Allen makes a wry face.]

How did it even get inside?

[Still, it's not nice to leave the poor thing to fend to itself. Carefully, he crouches down, looking ready to try to approach and catch it.]

6

[rowboats]

...should we get a bucket?

[ watching it hop, hop hop. ]

It could hop out of your hands.

[xxxx_me]

Oh. ...Yeah, probably.

[...Tilting his head a little in thought.]

We'll need to find somewhere to put it. [What... does a frog need to survive...

Oh, whoops, it's taking another hop. Rather than focus on the future, he needs to focus on the present. With a determined look, he creeps a little closer. Heeeeere froggy froggy froggy...]

2

[strictura]

[ Nagisa's got a tall and precarious stack of books in his arms himself, and he peers around them as he stops at the next seat over on the opposite side of the table. ]

You don't mind if I sit here, do you?

[ He asks quietly; it's a library, after all. ]

[xxxx_me]

[It takes him a second to look up - had to finish the sentence - before looking at the spot indicated and nodding.]

I don't mind.

[He'll even mark his spot with a bookmark so he can set down his current book and move aside the stack to make room for Nagisa's. While he's at it, he'll take the opportunity to see what kind of books Nagisa's picked for his reading.

Maybe it's something he'll want to check out for himself later? The possibilities are endless when it comes to books.]

4

[scratchitti]

... if you can't handle it, just investigate something else.

[The words might sound a little harsh, but there's a softness there too- like Neku might be worried]

[xxxx_me]

[It's scary - so, so scary. Looking at those lumps of meat that formerly constituted a person.

He swallows hard.]

It's... It's not my first time.

6 ribbit ribbit...... rabbit

[soverainty]

Hmmm, that's a pretty advanced vending machine.

[There's suddenly a small redheaded girl crouched next to him and peering with huge curious eyes at the tiny creature -- which now has to contend with a crowd of huge and galumphing humans and is kind of twitching like it's getting ready to jump...

She seems to notice this and makes a small noise of alarm before shuffling behind her companion even if, uh, she came over in the first place.]

Are you sure it isn't just... a really realistic robot toy...?

[xxxx_me]

[Suddenly: girl. He startles a little, but doesn't fall over.

He'll listen as she talks, not moving much when she ducks behind him. Is she afraid of frogs?]

It looks like a regular frog to me.

[He should know, Joshua's put a few on his head and shoulders in the past.]

It won't hurt you.

Mizuki Okiura | AI: The Somnium Files

[ballooncaged]

I

[Mizuki has been meticulously scanning the room where she arrived, taking mental notes. Availing herself of the stationery in this suspicious location could be a little much. It's when she's standing in front of the open door to the hallway that she hears that voice. Pauses before the threshold to singsong back.]

I'm home!!

[She shakes her head. It's not the same. Out into the hallway, pacing purposefully, hands cupped around her mouth.]

Date... Date. Date! Dateeeeeeee!

[No, she's not calling for a romantic rendezvous, but the name as in Masamune Date.]

I left the pudding cups ouuuuuuuut! If you don't take me back home to show you where they are, they'll bring aaaaaants!

II

[Investigation has yielded next to nothing besides bad puns for days (case in point), and so the shock of confinement, the horror of their predicament, has given way to intense boredom. Mizuki has propped open a Zoobook underneath the net and is enacting a combination of jumping jacks and roundhouse kicks to turn the pages.]

That one's cute! [Jumps punctuate the comments on each animal.] That one's even less cute than Ota. [Jump.] This one? Could TOTALLY just EAT someone's head off!

[On each side of the net is a stack of Zoobooks, one half the size of the other... She's been doing this for a while.]

Here I goes

[soverainty]

Um... Welcome home?

[The response is from a small girl who's definitely not taking notes, though she seems to have raised her hand in a sort of aborted wave, wiggling her fingers a little before putting it down again. She's pretty much drowned out by Mizuki's hollering, though. F.

After a few moments of staring from a little further down the hall and waiting for her to run out of things to yell--]

Pudding cups sound really good right about now, though. You wouldn't happen to really have some??

[TIME TO TRY AGAIN TO GAIN HER ATTENTION. She might just be interested in pudding too, who knows. Maybe the dining hall is close by......]

Rolls uphill

[ballooncaged]

Oh!!

[Well, this is awkward. Mizuki had mistaken the second call of "welcome home" as just two creepy disembodied girls, but being addressed again makes it clear that the latter approaches were this friendly person the entire time. She must have turned in the other direction right away during her chase. As she faces her, Mizuki puts her hand behind her head.]

Haha, yeah, no, they're at my real home. Sorry.

[There's no point dwelling on that. Date would have busted through doors guided by Aiba's X-ray vision right now. Mizuki should focus.]

...if this place really is like a hotel, do you think they have cookies in the lobby or anything?

zoobooks

[imozon]

[Dark Dream isn't much of a reader most of the time. Or ever, technically, but she gets the feeling most books aren't really her thing. So even in her boredom she hasn't spent more than a minute or two in the library, and she doesn't recognize the stacks of magazines at all.

Of course, they're not at all the most interesting thing going on here.]

You're turning the pages with your feet?

[She is equal parts baffled and amazed.]

zoobooks!!

[ballooncaged]

It's probably not good for them, but maybe the Queen should have THOUGHT about what's good for us!!

[Upon closer examination, many pages are getting crumpled under the net, though a few slip under to the other side smoothly.

Also sorry Dark Dream, Mizuki's voice is a little tight since her core is clenched during the exercise she has not stopped yet. She is not trying to be mean.]