entranceworks | + ENTRANCEWAY TEST DRIVE MEME +

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+ ENTRANCEWAY TEST DRIVE MEME +

Has this ever happened to you? You are a young and dynamic roleplayer full of inspiration and zest, and you have just the fictional character to enrich dreamwidth's roleplaying world, AND YET... you doubt.

Is that magnificent voice in your head shakier than you would like it to be? Are you bringing out an old favourite and need to be sure they haven't gone rusty from disuse? Do you need an opportunity to perfect your character's Mirror before sending them out to tag? Or do you simply want to take a look at Wonderland's atmosphere, and get to know some of

entranceway's characters and players?

THEN WE HAVE JUST THE THING FOR YOU!

If the fears and doubts expressed towards this piece of fruit

accurately represent your feelings in regards to playing one or more characters in this game, then you have come to the right place! We proudly present the latest edition of the radiant, delicious and vitamin-packed

♥ ENTRANCEWAY ♥
TEST DRIVE MEME

► Try out any new characters and new Mirrors here! Have a go at the setting, thread with its current players, and see if Wonderland is a good fit for you and/or your character. Post a top level comment, tag into other people's starters, enjoy yourself!

► Thread your character's arrival, set a scene with them as long-established inhabitant, or let one of our past events inspire you. Any starter is fine, and both prose and comment spam are welcome!

► Please only note that threads on the test drive meme ARE NOT GAME CANON. They can't be used as part of the activity check OR as samples for any future applications. Thank you for understanding!

► Intrigued? Check out our...

NAVIGATION | INPUT & INQUIRIES | TAKEN CHARACTERS | WANTED CHARACTERS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS

AND THAT IS ALL, throw yourselves into the fray, test your drives, and seize the grapefruit! ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Prose]

The gardens were beautiful here. Asriel could see the mansion from his small hiding spot behind the hedges. Waking up in this place had been a surprise. Asriel had been sitting with the yellow flowers and Frisk had just walked away. He was going to stay there until he turned back into a flower. He's surrendered to the idea but here he was, still himself, and in a place with so many monsters from his world. And Frisk. And Chara. He was afraid. Afraid to face them all. Afraid to see his mom and dad again. Afraid to hurt them.

Afraid he'd turn back into a flower the moment they all saw him. He couldn't do that to any of them. He decided to hide. He pulled his knees to his chest and stayed in his hiding spot. He was sure he'd turn back into a flower soon. He would just stay hiding until he did. Hopefully after too. He sniffled and tried his best to keep the tears from spilling but it was pointless.

He'd always been a crybaby.

[Network]

[It's hard for Asriel to open the compact and speak but he needs to. He needs someone to talk to. Someone who will understand. Someone he won't hurt. Only he has no idea what he's about to do will be seen by everyone. He doesn't know how to use the thing yet. Oops?]

...Chara? Are you there? It's me. Your...[He pauses. He isn't sure he can say that anymore.] It's Asriel. Can I talk to you? [He sniffles and he starts tearing up.] Please?

[They're... not ready for this. No matter how many times they do it, over and over again, they're still... they're not ready to face someone who's already let them go. Someone who's realized what kind of person they are - not the greatest - and found something better to hold on to. Someone who... he might be from a bad timeline. From the ending they haven't seen. From... from whatever it is that makes him afraid of them, but not of Frisk.

God, they're not ready for him to be afraid of them.

But he calls, and - and he's spent enough time calling them and not being answered, hasn't he? They can't be a silent ghost, even if they thing maybe it would be be better for him if they were.

Smile, Chara. You have to smile. Giggle and grin, so he won't cry. So he won't think it's so bad. It'll be fine. You should be smiling, too. Don't make this into a big deal. Don't make it feel like the world is ending. Who cares if he is your entire world, and you're going to have to go through him being afraid of you, wishing you were Frisk, knowing that what you tried to do would have started wars and ruined everything and it was all your fault? Who cares if you're not what he wished for, the one last threat to everyone's happiness, not the greatest person? Who cares if maybe he won't love you anymore, now that he knows how putrid and vile you are?

Just smile. Pretend this isn't as big as it is. Pretend you're just playing in New Home. It's all going to be fine.]

You'd better pause the waterworks, crybaby. This is public to the whole of Wonderland.

[Two sentences in, and they kick themselves. Don't start it by being mean. Don't start it like that. No wonder you're not the friend he wished for, you utter dunce! All you ever manage to do is be mean!]

...Still figuring this camera out, I'm guessing.

[Asriel sits and watches the mirror, hoping to see Chara's face. Maybe Chara doesn't want to see him. Maybe they don't like him anymore. He did say bad things about them to Frisk. Maybe they know. Or maybe Chara hasn't forgiven him for before. For not fighting with them. For walking away. For dying. The thought made his heart clench yet he understood. If Chara never wanted to see him again, he'd understand. It would hurt more than anything but he would understand.

Then their face appears and he hears their voice. He smiles, even when being called a crybaby. Though his face drops when Chara says everyone in Wonderland can see this. He looks around, almost expecting to see Mom, Dad, or anyone else suddenly beside him, but he's still alone. He turns back to Chara. He is scared. The fear is obvious in his eyes and in his features.]

You mean Mom and Dad can see this? Oh golly no. I didn't want them to see me. I just wanted to talk to you, Chara.

...Now they're going to be sad. Gosh darn it. [And in Asriel fashion, the tears start to fall anyway.] I don't want to make Mom and Dad sad! I don't want to hurt them any more. I...I gotta hide. Chara. Can you hide me? Please? Before they find me?

A shame there was no lens cap to leave on this time around.

[It's not a very funny joke. It mostly just sounds like they're making fun of him. They're not doing a very good job of helping him laugh this off at all. He's... he's kind of just crying this off, if anything.

That's not funny, either.]

...Asriel. Take a deep breath.

There's nothing left to worry about.

You won't turn back into a flower. You won't stop being yourself.

[He never stopped being himself, in their eyes. Compassion was only a single facet of all he was. For all that the plan took away from him, even if it might not have felt like it, he never stopped being worthy of love. But that's... if he doesn't want Frisk to think of that as really him, then it must be a comfort if they do the same.

Just keep being calm. Keep being unaffected. This is no big deal, Asriel. You don't have to be scared. You don't have to be sad. See? Chara is calm. Chara is smiling. It's all okay.]

I'll hide you if you want, but you should know... our clocks have stopped.

...In a different sense than back home.

We don't age anymore. We don't change. We're stuck in the moment Wonderland took us. They won't have to lose you.

[The lens cap comment does get a snort out of the goat. Memories of fun and happier times come to mind. He sniffles and the sobs die down. He takes a big vocal inhale. How does Chara know he's afraid to turn back into a flower? But he won't and that's good news. The best news even. He sniffles more and wipes his eyes, trying to calm down. It's hard to stop crying once he really started.

He was going to stay as he was now? Really? The idea brought a weary smile to his face. He wouldn't turn back into a flower. He was going to be himself...but with one big difference.]

But I don't have a SOUL anymore. I don't know what that will do to me.

...

Are they okay? Mom and Dad? Are they happy here?

Asriel...

* Despite everything, it's still you.

[Is it fair to use words they'd reserved for Frisk for him as well? They're not sure. Can they consider these just... words to comfort a best friend? Words to console a friend who may not have liked you at all. Words for someone who might have lost themself, a little?]

You don't need a SOUL to be a good person.

[The happiest ending would never have been possible if he had not worked to pull those threads, to tell the human how to get a better result. To make sure life wasn't really that unfair for them, at least.]

You don't need a SOUL to be worthy of compassion. To be shown MERCY. To be SAVED. Even if fate has carved parts of you away... you're not less than a person because of it. You're... Asriel, you're everything. You're still my everything.

[Even in a world without love. Even if they can't be what he hoped for. Even if they can't - can't cure him, can't "fix" him, can't bring back what the surface's cruelty hacked out of him. They can at least... with what little power they have... just living together on the surface won't be so bad, will it? They can be unpredictable. He won't get bored. They can give him that much, surely.

They... they have to keep smiling.]

Mom and Dad are happy. They've escaped the burdens of the underground, of having to lead. They have a future here, now. I'm... Frisk and I... we're trying our best to take care of them.

I think... you may not be ready. I wasn't ready either. But... they would be happy to see you again, even if it was only for a little while.

[The words are comforting. Hearing that he's still himself despite it all is nice to hear. He didn't feel like he was still him as a flower. Or maybe he did. He didn't like to think about Flowey as himself. That was why he asked Frisk to not think of Flowey as him the next time they saw him. He closed his eyes and sighed. He was trying to calm down. He words next hit him like nothing ever had before. Not even Chara's blade.

He was worthy of compassion. He was worth showing mercy. He was worth saving. He stares at Chara for a long moment. He can't find the words to say at the end. Frisk and Chara are here and his parents are happy. He nods slowly. He wants to cry again but he's trying to keep the tears down. They don't stay down but he isn't sobbing.]

...Thank you. I...I knew I could count on you. I mean...I know things are...have been...but I'm really glad we can talk. I'm glad I can see you again. Can I come find you? Please?

The world's just begun to turn to spring, but Wonderland doesn't do things by half-measures. It never did. When the season they change, they simply shift, the world going from the thick white carpet of snow to the warming rays of sunlight.

Perfect weather for a game of catch. Among other things.

They've a basket of bulbs in hand as they meander contentedly along, humming one of the latest songs they've been learning. Their fingers tap unconsciously along the basket's rim, inadvertently aping the adjustments they would be making on the frets.

The sound of someone snuffling among the bushes draws their eye, and it doesn't take very long at all to figure the source of the noise; white fur tends to stand out against the green.

They kneel down slowly, breath catching in their throat.

Hardly daring to hope.

"Asriel?"

Asriel fortunately arrived just after the change from winter to spring. Though seeing snow suddenly shift away into warm weather and green grass would be a sight to behold. The wonders of Wonderland weren't on his mind, in fact they were the furthest from it. He was more concerned about the others here from home. He was hoping to spare them pain by hiding away until he turned back into a flower. None of them would ever have to know he was here as himself and it would make things easier for everyone, including himself. Big ears perked when his name was called. He looked up from his hiding place and saw them.

His friend.

"Frisk?!" He shot up straight. He rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater and sniffled one last time.

"I...um..." What should he say? What could he say? What timeline was Frisk from? Were they friends? Frisk knew his name but that didn't answer everything. He had to think. He had to say something. He was just standing there staring at the last fallen human. Only one word came to mind.

"Howdy."

It's him.

There's no mistaking the tremble in his tone, the flopping of his ears at either side of his head. Him as he was here last - looking the way he's meant to. No vines, no seething network of plantlike matter, no stars or bursts of blinding rainbows. Just a small, scared kid.

We were always just kids.

They stand there, basket in hand, feeling woefully, stupidly like someone trying to pretend to be something they're not; wide-brimmed sunhat, eyes too red, mouth open and grasping for words that might be halfway adequate. Only they're not. They never are. They're just another best friend waiting to happen. Another incredible friend who, upon reflection, is nothing more than not the greatest person.

They've never been good with words. Not the way Chara is. Chara would have a whipcrack retort, despite the paralyzing welling of emotions in their SOUL, and they'd be able to maintain it, that facade, pretending their world hasn't just cracked straight down to its CORE.

Takes them a minute to find their voice, mouth opening and then shutting, inadequately.

"Hi. I mean, um." What can they say? What do they say? "Are you...real?"

Not that.

Asriel watched the emotions on Frisk's face. It was hard to decipher exactly what they were feeling. Were they scared? Worried? Surprised? It was almost like all of those things and maybe something more. Asriel didn't blame them. He had thought he'd never see Frisk again as himself. Maybe again as Flowey but he doubted it. He hoped not and it hope came true. It just wasn't a way he ever thought possible. He waited the silence out until Frisk asked the question.

The goat blinked before he moved to pat his belly with his hands. He looked back up at Frisk and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm real. I'm glad I got to see you again. I mean, I was hiding but you found me so I'm glad I got to see you while I'm still me." He said. He looked down at his feet. What was he supposed to say next?

"...How are you? Are you okay? Are you happy?" That sounded stupid.

He has to give himself a pat-down, as if to affirm that he's real, that he exists. The urge to reach out and check for themself only flares up for a moment. In the next, the urge to recoil has to be tamped down just as hard. Stupid. Don't be stupid. Nothing to be afraid of, here. Not even the wideness of those eyes, the humming of words he spoke and would speak and will speak, as though they're the friend he wished he always had.

"I'm..."

Wet lips. Set down basket, gingerly, hardly daring to look away as though he might dissipate in the space between blinks. Try to stand there naturally, but it looks too stiff, feels too rehearsed. Urge to fold their hands behind their back - that's Chara's, isn't it? Too formal. Don't be like that. Don't confuse him.

You've only ever just confused him.

Start from the beginning.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

No answer to his question. He frowned. Was Frisk not happy? Were they sad here? Was it bad here? It didn't seem so bad from what he'd seen but maybe it was like the Underground. It could look good and happy but there was a secret sadness and terror to it. He didn't want that for Frisk. Frisk didn't deserve that. Frisk deserved a happy ending.

He looked up finally when he heard the question. It was a good question. A very good question. He tried to smile but the tears started to fall anyway. His last memory was not a happy one.

"I asked you if you didn't have something better to do. You left to go to the surface with everyone. I was going to stay with the flowers until I turned back into one. Then I woke up here." He explained.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Are they happy? That's...its own question. Its own complicated, eternally unanswerable question. And why...ha ha, what point would there be in asking them something like that, anyway? They're supposed to be happy. Supposed to be living their life, right?

"Seeing the sun." So...the timelines align there. But what about - does he remember the other paths? The ending where he quails, where he utters the words that haunted Chara for months? Does he remember tearing the world apart piece by piece, and remembering fragmented pieces of something that doesn't exist?

Deep breath. Continue.

"You're in a place called Wonderland." It's...easy, after a year, to trot out the old explanation. "It's like...its own little word. Apart from everything else."

Good. Frisk got to the surface then. At least they were from that timeline. The good one. The one everyone else deserved. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. He was in a strange world called Wonderland. A place separate from everywhere else. That was a weird thing to think about but not hard. The surface seemed like a different world so it must be similar. He nodded with the explanation.

"Okay. So...we're in Wonderland. And...we're here. Okay." He wasn't sure what to say next. Awkward silence came back again. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. It was hard to speak with someone you never thought you would ever see again. Who knew?

"Can you please not tell Mom and Dad I'm here? I don't want them to know I'm here. I know I'll turn back into a flower eventually and I don't want to hurt them like that."

Again. Again. For a moment, their expression creases from its default emptiness to something harder, almost stern. They've done this dance before. They've...they've gotten so tired.

Sorry, Asriel.

This is why they hate promises.

"Time doesn't move here. I've been here a year, and I'm still..." Still twelve years old, physically. Their hair is longer, their eyes are a different color, their wardrobe has begun to acquire a hodgepodge variety of gifts people have given them, but -

Ha ha.

It's still you.

"You won't change back."

Asriel Dreemurr || Undertale || Prose / Network Post

SLAMS IN HERE AT WARP SPEED

/holds up umbrella as the dust cloud consumes all/

HERE FOR THE GOOD GOOD GOATBOY

HE'S A BAD FLOWER THOUGH!

HERE FOR THE GOOD GOOD FLOWERBOY

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OMG HEY THERE

HOWDY!

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oh hello there

Howdy. Best Asgore journal name ever. Hands down.

I'm generally the worst person. If you haven't already, click through to his profile.

PFFFT I love Alphys' face at the end. You Gorey. You Bara.

"You've got to get out of there! The bara's calling... from inside the house!"

AAAAAH!

Anyway I'm terrible; get used to it. Asgore's Mirror account is undynewhatsabishie

I'm a terrible person myself. I think we're going to be great friends.

Wonderful. I look forward to seasons of horrible ideas.