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

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."

"I won't? Really?" Frisk had been here a year but Frisk looked almost the same. Asriel noticed how longer their hair was and the new clothes. They definitely had a very unique style of clothing. He nodded slowly. The idea of never turning back did make him relax some. There was still a fear deep inside him. A fear of hurting people again and not caring.

"So I'll stay me? But I don't have a SOUL. What if I stop...feeling again? Even if I'm not a flower...I don't want to be Flowey again. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore. ...I don't want to hurt you."

Edited 2017-04-02 23:10 (UTC)

It'd be nice to have an answer, wouldn't it? Some kind of reassurance. Some kind of consolation that he won't hurt people, that he won't stop feeling things, that maybe he's not just running off fumes the way he seemed to be, standing over his best friend's grave.

It'd be nice.

"I don't know." They can't know, unless anything changes, can they? Can't know unless maybe someone tries to turn him blue and something of a shattered remnant of a ghost of a SOUL emerges instead. Can't know at all unless things get bad.

"We can't know."

A sad smile spread over Asriel's face. He rung his hands in the hem of his sweater at the thought of not knowing. Despite everything, the fear, sadness, and even happiness at seeing Frisk again, a new emotion cropped up. An emotion he hadn't felt in a long time. Excitement of the unknown. He chuckled softly to himself. It was nice in some sort of dark twisted way. In a Flowey kind of way.

"It's been so long since we haven't known something. You and me. It's...exciting. In a scary way. Don't you think?"

It's exciting. It's different, knowing things will change even if other things will stay the same. But the cyclical nature of the world has fallen to pieces, and it's like they keep saying, like they've always said - things can be different here.

Good different and bad different, in equal measures.

"It is." Eyes dropping, skirting the patches of grass surrounding them in the absence of anything else to do. "No RESETs here. It's...been a whole year without them, for me. For Sans."

A moment, and then they add, quieter, "for Chara."

"No more SAVE files. No more RESETs. Just...one chance." Asriel said quietly. For him , Frisk, Sans, and Chara. Chara. Chara was here. He went quiet again. Another silence. He looked down at the grass then out to the rest of the gardens.

"...Which flowers are Chara's favorite? I'd want to take them yellow flowers but has that changed? I should give them flowers when I see them again. And apologize. For everything." He said with a nod. He looked back to Frisk. He was filled with Determination and it was clear in his eyes. He wanted to try and do this.

"They have a golden flower in our room." Two pieces of information rolled into one. The first, that...some things, despite everything, haven't changed at all. The second, that - what? That they're bent on standing at their Partner's side? That they're going to make sure no one destroys themselves over what could be solved with being able to finally, finally talk to each other?

That Chara might not be the greatest person, but that Frisk isn't either?

Who knows.

"And a forget-me-not. From Sans."

As it turns out?

The Game has changed.

"The Ga-...Sans." He stopped himself before he said it. He hadn't thought of him by his name for so long and after a lot of RESETs. It was Sans who caused the most of his RESETs thinking about it. The skeleton was strong and has a sense of things that made sure he couldn't get away with too much as Flowey. Hearing he gave Chara flowers made him hope maybe they could be nice to one another. Maybe.

He didn't catch the bit of information about Chara and Frisk right away. Not until he thought on it a bit more. Then something hit.

"You and Chara share a room? That's nifty. Does that mean you're friends too?" He asked. There was a bit of fear in his heart now. What if Frisk told Chara all the things he said. Would Chara be mad? ...Would they hate him? Did they still hate him?

"I'm glad you two found each other. I'm sure you're taking good care of each other and everyone else." He said with a smile. It was forced and sad but still a smile.

Nifty.

He...really is a funny person, isn't he? Chara loved him, loves him still, with everything they have. All they've really had were Chara's memories of someone precious, someone important, someone truly wonderful.

A faint glow of amusement coalesces in the pit of their chest, almost prompting a smile - almost, but for his next words.

"We're Partners." There's an emphasis the word receives, something set apart from the rest. They've been together from the start.

Always will be.

"Partners?" Asriel asked with a head tilt and raised eyebrow. He wasn't sure what that meant. They shared a room and were partners. Did people get partners here like they did in school? His mom told him about group projects a few times. He couldn't do one really until Chara fell into the Underground. Was that how Frisk meant it?

"So you live in the same room and work together?" But the way Frisk said it seemed to mean...more. "Or is it something else? I don't think I get it." Despite everything, he was still an naive little goat. Death and destruction he understood. Sadness and despair he understood. Mercy and Genocide he understood.

Partnership? He was in the dark.

He didn't know. He never knew at all, did he? The reason his confession about Chara not being the greatest person shook them both to their core; because it wasn't just Frisk he was confessing it to. Because he never saw the asterisk in their head, the voice that offered them guidance, advice, the person that walked beside them, hand in hand.

"We were together," they admit, quietly. "From the start. We went through the Underground...together."

Not everyone knows that, at first.

Not even Frisk did.

"W-What?" Asriel froze and his face dropped. He just stared. They were together? The whole time? All of it? He tried to think how that could be possible. Then was he right to some extent? That it was Chara he was speaking to. Or wanting to speak to. Chara and Frisk were one but now they were separate. Then Chara heard everything he said about them. All of it.

His stomach sank. He never wanted to tell them he knew they weren't the greatest person. He had meant it, but he didn't mean it to be harsh. If he had known he wouldn't have said it.

"Golly...I...oh no. ...Oh no oh no oh no..." He grabbed both his ears. He was scared and nervous. Grabbing his ears made him feel better. Good thing they were floppy enough to do it.

"I don't think flowers are gonna be enough."

His paws go to his ears, the effect instantaneous. Almost immediately, their mouth parts in soundless regret as they shift forward, step by step. Should've SAVED before this but...he'd remember, wouldn't he? Or wouldn't he? Does he work the same way Flowey did, like this?

Doesn't matter. Can't change it now.

Their voice is low, pitched soft and quiet.

"They don't blame you," they murmur, gently. "They don't. I promise."

"They blamed me before. I blame me. I feel bad. I just...I should talk to them. I should. I need to." Just because he wasn't blamed didn't mean they would be happy with him. Maybe there was no blame but that didn't mean there wouldn't be hard feelings. Mean feelings. Hate.

"I just want...nevermind." It wouldn't be like how it was. That was why he was hiding. He would rather be invisible. This is what he was afraid of.

"I'm scared. I...they're still my friend. You're my friend. And...I just want us to still be friends. That's all I want."

At least it's better than running away. Refusing to admit to something that needs to be admitted to, refusing to talk to one another. Whatever has to be said and done, they'll do it.

They have to.

"We are friends." Firm, uncompromising. He can think he's awful all he wants; everyone they've known has, in some form another, hurt or killed them at some point. He's no different. "We'll help each other out."

That's what friends do.

Asriel looked up at Frisk and stared. He blinked and pulled on his ears a little. Hearing it was nice. Very nice. He smiled softly and gave a nod. It was nice to hear it in such strong and convincing words. He stepped closer to Frisk and let his hands fall from his ears.

"You're right. We're friends. ...Can I have a hug?" Asriel asked and opened his arms. "Please?"

He asks. Everyone thinks to ask, to allow them the choice, to give them the option. It's more than they've ever...more than they deserve, really. No rushing forward, assuming one thing means another. No grabbing hold because don't be ridiculous, everyone loves hugs. Don't you dare try and squirm away. You owe me for this, sweetie, because I'm the one who puts the roof over your head. The least you can do is just stand still and -

And they move forward, slow, easy, careful, to wrap their arms around him. It's okay. It's just him.

It's just him.

"It's okay."

+ ENTRANCEWAY TEST DRIVE MEME +

OMG HEY THERE

HOWDY!

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