royalooc | Test Drive Meme #3: Season of Budding

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Test Drive Meme #3: Season of Budding

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to the Royal Decree Test Drive Meme!

If you're new here – hi, hello, welcome! This is your chance to give your potential character a little test run and see how they might fit into the world of Rosavelle. You can find all the relevant info over on our Navigation Page, so take a peek if you need to get caught up on the setting, rules, or just want to gnaw on the worldbuilding a bit.

This TDM is non-canon to the game overall, but feel free to treat individual threads or CR as canon between characters if everyone involved agrees. We've included some prompts and locations below to help spark ideas, but as always, feel free to go off-script and go ham!

Not long after Budwake ends, the shift into Budding becomes impossible to miss. The last of Fallow's frost finally retreats, though early mornings remain chilly and the first weeks still bring occasional overnight dustings of snow. From there, Rosavelle wakes quickly. Fresh shoots push through newly turned soil, vines reclaim walls and bridges and colour steadily returns as gardens, trees and canal paths grow greener by the day.

The thaw also brings with it plenty of rain, usually just in passing showers that are chilly but surprisingly refreshing. According to locals this is a prelude to the rainy season that won't be too far behind. And as the Azurite Sea warms, new fish return to Rosavelle's waters, filling Marelys' markets and drawing seabirds back to the coast - another sure sign that the cold season has finally passed. Rosavelle is finally awake again!

By now you've likely found your footing in the ebb and flow of island life and you know how things go around here: when someone needs a little warmth, a little effort, or a little magic, the people of Rosavelle come together - and that includes you!

PROMPTS

Budwake Work

The first thaw has finally broken and that can only mean one thing: Budwake has officially arrived! Across Rosavelle, everyone’s pitching in to help the island wake up in time for the warmer weather. Volunteers are needed everywhere, whether they're tilling fields or tidying the streets - hauling soil, pruning stubborn vines, reorganizing tools, or just providing moral support while someone else does the heavy lifting. Once the work is done, the After-Till Feast begins! Castle kitchens and community halls alike declare it time to eat everything that won’t last another day: soups, stews, pies, fritters and casseroles made from odds and ends and whatever happened to be left in the pantry. Enjoy the fruits of your hard labor and tuck in!
A Stormy Situation

Storm clouds are rolling in earlier than expected and the docks at Marelys are suddenly alive with urgency. Boats need to be secured, sails tied down, loose cargo hauled out of reach of rising water and ropes checked twice before the wind picks up. The fishermen are grateful for any extra hands willing to help even if you’re mostly just holding a rope and trying not to get blown sideways by the gusts. Between the rain rolling in and occasional wave splashing a little too far inland, it's a pretty soggy affair - bit once everything’s secured, there’s something oddly cozy about ducking under an awning or crowding into a dockside shelter with your fellow volunteers, watching the storm roll in together while the sea churns safely beyond the harbor.
Secondhand Spring

Budwake has everyone in Menthward in a tidying mood and the market district has transformed almost overnight. What started as a few people clearing out cupboards has turned into a full-on swap meet, with rows of temporary stalls and plain old blankets rolled out on the street, all piled high with old trinkets, forgotten keepsakes, mismatched dishes, spare tools and plenty of things nobody quite remembers buying in the first place. Everyone's browsing with enthusiasm, bartering cheerfully and swapping stories about where each item came from - and if you're in the mood to be busy there’s plenty of opportunity to get involved. Help vendors sort through clutter, hunt for hidden treasures or even set up a stall of your own if you’ve got belongings ready for a new home. Just be careful what you pick up - while most of these items are perfectly safe and ordinary, there might be some magical trinkets with with surprising effects mixed in with all the clutter...
Freshwater Overflow

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Primavain Food Tour

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Rainy Day Reading

With the weather turning unpredictable, the Amourian Library has become the refuge of choice for those in and around the castle - all that rain pitter-pattering against the windows makes for the perfect atmosphere to catch up on your to-read list. Claude, the librarian, is delighted (if just a little overwhelmed) by the sudden uptick in activity and as such, extra hands have been drafted in to assist with the day-to-day upkeep of the place. Depending on where your expertise lies, you might be found at the front desk checking books in and out, or maybe you've been tasked with reshelving returned tomes. If you've spent a lot of time in the library, you might be able to step in for Claude and point people to where they need to go. Or you could just go around aggressively shush-ing the people who are getting a bit too rowdy. Your call!
Pollen Problems

Budding has arrived a little too enthusiastically around the Castle Grounds. A burst of early blooms has coated everything in a thick layer of glittering golden pollen - statues, windows, unsuspecting passersby… nothing has been spared. It's harmless in the long term, according to the gardeners, but that hasn't stopped the sneezing fits, watery eyes and wounded pride of anyone caught walking through the worst of it. The castle attendants have organized a cleanup effort, armed with masks, brooms and enchanted cloths designed to gather the pollen without spreading it further. Unfortunately, the stuff seems determined to drift right back where it came from, reforming into lazy clouds the moment anyone turns their back. Volunteers are needed to help clear paths, keep the worst of it out of the halls and maybe figure out why the blooms are producing quite this much in the first place.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, that's what I mean. Another, what, invitee?

[she slips her hands in her pockets, which are way too wet to be comfortable, and pulls them back out again. struggling to find some way to be casual, she ends up leaning backwards against the wall with her arms hanging awkwardly.]

I think we'd be justified in not helping out. Next time, I mean. [she lets that thought sit, obviously unfinished as the goody two-shoes discomfort rises in her chest. it purges itself with a bitter taste.] But we're both still gonna do it, aren't we.

Oh. Then... Yeah. I guess I sort of answered that already, though?

[ a beat - and venus sighs, crosses her arms. ]

...yeah. [ she looks out to the dockworkers, her expression falling into a distant neutrality. ] I'm still not used to it. People just... helping each other. No expectations, or evangelizing, or making sure you know you owe them. Just- Kindness.

[ a moment of silence. ]

It feels kind of fucked up, right? That's not just me?

Definitely not just you.

[she wasn't expecting to find something so relatable here, nor so quickly. but here she is, taking a break with somebody whose beliefs actually align with hers so far. weird.]

People always want something. Nothing's free. Nothing's ever been free. But... this whole island is like that? A bunch of people from different worlds all show up in one place and everyone just agrees to help each other out because it's, what, the right thing to do? [her mouth twists into a frown and she just barely falls silent.]

Already feels like I'm waiting for the other shoe.

That's really it, isn't it? Nothing's free, and now we're just. Supposed to believe all of this, so much of it, is free. Like they're not going to set a bill in front of us at the end, or turn this into some- Ugh. I don't know. Some mission kind of thing.

[ ...another heavy sigh. she reaches up, combs her fingers through sopping wet hair, and if there are rainbows in the corners of emerald's eyes they dance for only a moment. ]

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure the Everbloom- You know, the big tree? It's like. Powered? Off of all this? [ just. a gesture. the workers, their assistants, the town itself. ] Which makes it feel less magical, but also, makes it make. Some kind of sense? Like, you get magic and healing and power, but only by helping other people. So even if you're being selfish, you've got to be nice to people. Does that make any sense?

Oh yeah, total sense.

[not in the finer details, but in the broader way, sure. no matter how uneasy this level of freedom makes emerald, she can see where things fit her worldview now.]

That's the other shoe. Everyone here does all this for the Everbloom, and the Everbloom gives everyone power, and it can take the power away if you stop giving it what it wants.

[she flits her eyes over, trying to catch another glimpse of those rainbows that she's certain she saw this time. nothing. awesome. maybe her eyes are just playing tricks on her from how tired all that work made her.]

It doesn't matter if it's for a good reason or if it's doing something that isn't... pure evil. It's still asking for something in return for something else. [her shoulders get less tense as she looks forward again.] Which means it makes sense, and this world operates just like yours and mine do. Just... with fewer evil dogs that kill you if you ever let yourself feel anything.

Yeah. Exactly. [ and then, without even changing the tone of her voice: ] Wait. No. Sorry, what was that last bit?

[emerald laughs dryly, which is the only dry thing about her right now.]

Yeah, I'm learning that Remnant might just be the only world that has to deal with the Grimm. [it makes sense, though. look at what her boss did. hard to imagine anyone else doing anything like that.] They're monsters that hunt people's emotions. It's dangerous to feel anything too strongly, to the point where there's at least one guy whose whole thing is temporarily suppressing emotions. So my home's great, thanks.

Oh. Wow. No offense, but that kind of sounds awful?

[ thanks, venus. as tactful as ever. but she at least has the grace to continue: ]

...I sort of get it, though. I think I do, at least? A lot of the things that were just a part of life for me are things nobody else has ever heard of. Nobody here has even heard of the Scouts. Half the people haven't even heard of the devil.

[ before meeting her, at least. ]

And also, I haven't seen a single transformation sequence since I got here? I mean, unless you count Yyyyy- Night Owl? I think that's her name. Night Owl. But that feels. I don't know. Kind of different.

Transformation sequences? [at least that's a lighter topic.] What, like in anime? I didn't think there was a world out there where those were actual things. That's a shame. They look fun.

[but something about what this other person is saying makes it seem like maybe these aren't as fun as it sounds like. there's a few things that she says that give emerald pause, in fact. she decides to actually reply to the one that feels more important by raising her hand with a couple fingers curled down.]

Mark me down as someone else who's never heard of the devil. Sounds important, though—it has "the" and everything. What can you tell me?

They're less cool than you think. [ a beat. ] No, that's a lie. They're pretty neat? I always wanted one, growing up. But only the good kids get them, and, well.

[ she just. gestures to herself, before listening to what emerald's got to say. there's a moment's disappointment, knowing that emerald's another part of the crowd- ]

[ -but then emerald asks, and there's a moment of what feels like- vindication? validation? whatever. she's just happy someone actually wants to know. ]

Oh. That one's easy, haha.

I am the devil.

[ and for a moment, that refraction becomes impossible to ignore. her skin really, truly becomes something other than skin; light given shape, touch, physicality. she is radiant. she is a star. she is the devil.

and she just. sort of sits there. for a good two or three seconds. ]

[ and then, like the world itself didn't suddenly feel less real for a solid three seconds, she says: ]

If I weren't soaked right now, that would have been the part where I took the cloak off? And you would have seen the wings, and been like. "Whoaaaaa. The devil rules, actually?"

[ she is. very notably. not doing that. ]

But I, uh. Forgot. To wear a bra? Or I guess. "I didn't want to do that." And if I take this off I'm pretty sure my, uh- The girls? Are just. Gonna be right out there. So.

[ the most awkward two seconds known to man elapse here. ]

Just imagine I have awesome wings, I guess??

[holy shit.]

[so her eyes haven't been playing tricks on her this whole time. it's all been real. of course, it's raining like hell and apparently this other person is worried about decency, so emerald can't be sure of what this "devil" actually looks like in full, but there's a few things that come to mind: she has massive wings, and massive "wings", and it's weird, and she's extremely proud of it. so, when the light show subsides and emerald is done debating over whether she should clap (she doesn't), she fixes her companion with a grin.]

Oh, hey, Venus.

[ emerald, did you somehow have any lasting hope that the devil was cool? because that's about to be thrown out and shattered. ]

How did you know my name??

[ there is not a hint of irony or beguilement in that question. ]

Edited 2026-02-12 06:26 (UTC)

[ohhh, this always feels good. she's the one who feels devilish now. but the satisfaction is short-lived only because venus is so genuine in her reaction here.]

I met your girlfriend. Simran? She kind of gave me a crash course.

Oh.

[ she looks. Decidedly Put Out by that for a moment. ]

[ and then something clicks in her head, and even if the mystique has been permanently lost, there's undeniably something magical in the sheer happiness radiating off her in waves. like sunlight finally breaking through rainclouds. like a tiny patch of warm sun in a cold house. ]

-oh! That's- She's great, isn't she?? She's just so. I don't know how to put it exactly but. She gets it, even when you don't know what it is?? And she's so pretty. God. I know she doesn't like it when I say she's prettier than me, but it's like. Have you seen her??

[oh. wow. okay. so either simran and venus are in the lovey-doviest relationship known to mankind, and emerald's seen bumbleby so she doesn't think it's that, or there really is something special about this place. or some third option that she hasn't considered yet. either way, she's dropping herself into the middle of a pretense again. pretending like it doesn't hurt, just a little bit, to see people like this.]

She's pretty great. She helped me make sure the weird food I was eating wasn't going to take my head off and we just talked about, like, whatever for a while. [though she doesn't know how to handle this, really, she has an idea of the right... sentiments?] You're both pretty. You're a good looking couple. And I don't know what it is she gets, but I know she does a really good job at helping people get adjusted.

[ who knows? it might be the third option, emerald. especially with the way venus smiles and says: ]

She gets a lot of things. How to stop a fight, and how to make someone feel pretty, and how to convince you to do something you still think might be kind of a bad idea. But most of all...

...she gets the parts that are harder to teach. The things that aren't true for everyone. Or maybe it's that they are true for everyone, and only the people who are hurt think they shouldn't be. Ha.

[ her arms cross; her eyes narrow. she's still smiling, unchanged, almost radiant - and yet there's something much darker in those eyes of hers. ]

You wanted to know about the devil, right? [ it's spoken casually, yet even now, venus gives the impression of watching emerald much more closely than she seems. ] Then I guess the quickest way would be... Who do you believe created the world?

[all of this does seem to make sense. the things venus says about simran make her seem like there's a lot more to her than just one conversation gave away, and almost makes emerald feel embarrassed for giving away what feels like so much of herself so easily. but the way that venus talks about her, the careful words and reframing sentences—and the damn way she looks once she's done talking up her girlfriend, too, all of that feels like water rising around her ankles.]

[what venus asks is definitely not just a simple question. but the only answer that comes to mind is a very simple one. a literal one. not emerald's forte when she doesn't understand where someone's going with a thought experiment yet. at least she can speak confidently on what is widely considered a fact where she's from.]

Two brothers, a light dragon and a dark dragon. They created Remnant and all of us on it, and when they decided we weren't fun enough toys to play with anymore, both of them flew off into space and left us behind to figure it out without them. [it feels more uncomfortable than it usually does to leave that in silence.] But I guess that's not what you're getting at.

Why wouldn't it be?

[ those eyes stare at emerald again, unyielding in their intensity. a piercing baby blue. just two eyes shouldn't be able to look with that sort of sharp clarity - but then, who says it's only the two? even beneath the hood, her light is undeniable. ]

Two brothers create the world. They give everyone free will, bodies molded in the ways they set forth. They create the rules that govern everything. And then, they sit back and watch until they get bored. [ her fingers grip onto her own elbows; they tighten, a light beginning to shine out from beneath the gloves. ] They ignore their own children, and people say "they work in mysterious ways." They leave problems, and people say "isn't it lovely they made people who could solve them?" They create a broken world, and it's broken on purpose, and people expect you to thank them for their creation. Like... Like owing filial piety to a father who never raised you.

[ there's a heat in that light - a burning anger in that gaze. but it tempers, and the light evens with it, until once again they're just sitting beneath an awning.

venus asks: ]

Do they have enemies? The dragons.

[this must be the "covered in extra eyes" part that simran mentioned. it makes emerald squirm. she doesn't hate the sensation, but knowing she's being watched more than she's being seen has always put her on edge. there's no corner to back into, but that doesn't mean she can't shrink into herself. slumping more against the wall, making herself look smaller. less of a threat, so she can get out easier if she has to. if this conversation starts to go bad.]

[she thinks, while venus is talking, that she would've appreciated simran warning her about this. it's too late now, though. trying to muster up the energy to be casual when she feels like venus is boring into her skin, she answers.]

I hope so. A whole world of people who owe their lives to a couple of petty gods who couldn't even be bothered to stick around to see how their creation grew up. Maybe that's why they left—because they knew everyone would be mad at them for exactly what you said. [her nerves turn into a scowl. that's better than nothing.] Cowards. We can't even do anything to fight back.

[she realizes, then, that she sounds a little too close to one of salem's dissertations about the purpose of the mission. it sickens her. she shifts her weight to the other foot and crosses her arms over her chest.]

[ venus...

...sighs. the light fades once more, and though it never really leaves she just seems like an exhausted teen once again. ]

Then maybe it wasn't what I was getting at after all. [ she pauses - stretches her arms forward, grimaces from the exertion. and this time, the cloak bulges out behind her, unseen wings stretching out as much as they can in that little space. ] Where I'm from, there's only one god. The holy creator, in His infinite grace. And saying the kinds of things we just said...

...I keep expecting to wake up to the sirens. To know the Scouts are coming, and my time here's finally run out. Is there even anything left of the boy I tried to be? Would they be able to pull him back out? Or would I go out in one beautiful, final moment? A crash of storm and flood, and then just... Gone, completely?

[ ...the bottom feathers on one wing stretch and peekout, just past where the cloak ends. a few feathers of golden light. and upon them, another eye - looking up inquisitively at emerald. ]

Sorry. You didn't sign up to hear any of this.

Edited 2026-02-13 06:49 (UTC)

Test Drive Meme #3: Season of Budding

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