Royal Decree Mod Account (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
royaldecreemods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
royalooc2026-04-07 12:19 pm
royaldecreemods) wrote in royalooc2026-04-07 12:19 pm
Entry tags:
Test Drive Meme #4: Season of Ripening
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!
The shift in weather Ripening brings to Rosavelle is impossible to ignore. The air grows heavy and thick with humidity that clings to basically everything and unlike the passing showers of earlier seasons, rain now arrives in frequent and stormy bursts - sudden downpours that sweep through the streets and canals with little warning, soaking everything in their path. It rarely rains without pause, but clear skies offer little relief. As the weeks pass, the rising heat turns each shower into lingering mugginess, leaving the whole island feeling stifling. Hope you enjoy being overhheated and damp all the time!!!
It's not all doom and gloom, thankfully. True to the season’s name, fruits begin to swell and sweeten on their branches, with the first harvests ready by midseason - a sure sign that Ripening is well underway.
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!
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!
The shift in weather Ripening brings to Rosavelle is impossible to ignore. The air grows heavy and thick with humidity that clings to basically everything and unlike the passing showers of earlier seasons, rain now arrives in frequent and stormy bursts - sudden downpours that sweep through the streets and canals with little warning, soaking everything in their path. It rarely rains without pause, but clear skies offer little relief. As the weeks pass, the rising heat turns each shower into lingering mugginess, leaving the whole island feeling stifling. Hope you enjoy being overhheated and damp all the time!!!
It's not all doom and gloom, thankfully. True to the season’s name, fruits begin to swell and sweeten on their branches, with the first harvests ready by midseason - a sure sign that Ripening is well underway.
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
Honey Downpour
- The beekeepers of Primavain are in a panic: the relentless rain has driven their hives into overproduction and now thick, golden honey is starting to pour from the combs in a tremendous waste of hard work and delicious treats! The bees themselves are docile (if a bit reluctant to exit their homes), but the situation is rapidly getting out of hand. Volunteers are needed to help harvest excess honey, redirect curious crowds and maybe convince a few stubborn bees to relocate. Or, if you're less helpful, you could always sample a bit… purely for quality control purposes, of course.
The Drip-Drop Duel
- Somewhere in the Castle Grounds, an extremely niche and equally petty disagreement has escalated. Two scholars, both convinced they have perfected the superior rain-deflection Bloomcraft, have taken to demonstrating their work in increasingly dramatic fashion. And now there’s a localized "dueling" ground where rain refuses to fall normally, instead redirecting itself in arcs, spirals, or suspiciously targeted torrents. Spectators are gathering, bets are being placed, and volunteers are being roped in to test the limits of each spell. Step in to assist, sabotage, or simply survive the increasingly creative ways water is being weaponized.
Puddle Predictions
- Something odd is happening in the streets of Bellvine Hill: certain rain puddles have started reflecting things that aren't actually there. A clear sky where there should be clouds, a stranger standing just behind you when you’re quite certain you’re alone or fleeting glimpses of moments that haven’t happened yet but will do in just a few moments. Naturally, this has drawn a crowd. Some are treating it like a game, trying to find the strangest reflections, while others are attempting to interpret what they see. Pair up to compare visions, test which puddles are the most reliable (if any) or dare each other to act on what you glimpse. It’s probably harmless. Probably.
Runoff Relay
- With the heavy rains feeding into the canals, the water flow through Marelys has picked up speed, carrying with it all sorts of debris from upriver-driftwood, stray fishing gear, and the occasional very confused fish. The dockhands have organized a cooperative effort to intercept anything useful before it's swept out to sea, forming a chain of volunteers along the canal's edge to catch, grab, and pass things along. It's efficient! It's practical! It's also turned into a slightly competitive relay, with different teams trying to outdo each other in speed and quantity. The victor doesn't seem to get anything more than bragging rights, but isn't that what competition is really about at the end of the day?
Canal Critter Convoy
- The rising waters have displaced more than just goods - small canal creatures have started turning up in all the wrong places. Tiny fish in fountains, curious crustaceans in market stalls and at least one very indignant waterbird refusing to vacate a bakery doorway. A coordinated effort is underway to gently relocate these wayward critters back to their proper habitats. You can help catch and carry them, guide them along flooded pathways, or simply keep them calm (easier said than done) until more help arrives.
Leaky Greenhouse Blues
- The Everbloom's Greenhouse is not supposed to leak. It is, in fact, famously not supposed to leak. And yet, with the relentless rains of Ripening bearing down on the glasswork overhead, a series of suspicious drips have begun appearing in the most inconvenient places possible. Now the gardeners alike scrambling to catch the leaks before delicate plants get overwatered (or worse, offended). Volunteers are welcome to help patch things up, hold buckets in increasingly awkward positions, or attempt to soothe particularly dramatic flora that have decided this is a personal slight. Just try not to track mud everywhere - some of these plants hold grudges.
The Overripe Affair
- The Season of Ripening means abundance but someone may have gotten a little too enthusiastic. A Primavain orchard has produced fruit so perfectly ripe that it's started to… burst. Not rot, not spoil - just gently (and sometimes not so gently) popping open under the pressure, releasing sticky-sweet juice and an almost intoxicating fragrance into the air. It's drawing crowds, insects, and more than a few opportunistic snackers, and the orchard keeper is at their wit's end. Help harvest the fruit before it explodes, find creative ways to contain the mess, or just brave the chaos and see how many you can catch mid-pop. Fair warning: you will get sticky. There is no avoiding it.
no subject
W-Why don't you, um...start at the beginning, Yayoi-san? So I can better understand.
no subject
[Where does she start. How does she start.]
... Has anyone told you what horses are yet?
no subject
I meant to start at the beginning of Gold Ship's issues here, please.
no subject
Apparently, there's a ghost horse named Gold Ship following her around. They're the same thing, from different worlds? And that's true for all umamusume? It's something like shared karma...?
... Basically, it sounds like she's trapped by fate. And she made it sound like umamusume are basically just discarded and no one cares once they stop being profitable for humans to watch.
no subject
A horse creature bearing her name, haunting her like a spirit from a fairy tale. Gold Ship herself being trapped by fate. Little more than a fun pastime for the masses to be thrown away when she's no longer fun to watch.
McQueen would be lying if she said such assertions are wrong. Anyone who performs in the public eye is subject to being adored and then abandoned. It doesn't matter if you're a movie star, a singer, a comedian, or a racer like herself and Gold Ship and all their friends. Fame is fleeting. That's part of its appeal. You either shine brightly or fade away into obscurity. ]
Don't tell me...she's become so focused on others that she's lost sight of her own goal...
no subject
[She knows a couple... But they're goals Gold Ship only set after coming to Rosavelle. So... what goals could McQueen know?]
no subject
[ She sighs deeply and scratches at a spot behind her ear. Only a little scratch, though, so as not to mess up her hair. ]
But even so, there's no end to the races one can run as an uma. As long as you want to run, the doors for you will never close.
[ Her leg taps impatiently against the ground, matching the flicking of her tail. Gold Ship can still run, so why would she forget her goals so quickly? So long as she can still run, shouldn't she do what she loves?
The thought of it twists McQueen's stomach into a knot. She can no longer run at her best for fear of her leg giving out on her. So for Gold Ship, who always egged her on to open up and be her best self, to just throw that away... ]
It seems I'll have to talk to her.
no subject
... She's... my best friend here. She's helped me out a lot.
[She's talked to Oguri, and talked to McQueen. She doesn't understand what the Twinkle Series is... But...
She doesn't understand anything. What's been hurting Gold Ship. What she needs. What umamusume really need.]
So I want to help her. Whatever I can do.
no subject
'I'm glad. I'm glad. I'm so glad.'
Gold Ship hasn't been alone in an unfamiliar place. She's had people on her side this whole time. People who want to see her flourish. People who love her. ]
Yayoi-san... [ It feels like her chest might burst. Her heart might just break through her sternum at this rate. Still, she can only smile. ] Thank you, for being her best friend.
[ Yayoi isn't an umamusume. She can't really be a rival driving her to be better like Tokai Teio was for McQueen. But she's been the support Golshi sorely needs in a place that isn't her home. That's more than worth its weight in gold. ]
I'm glad she's had someone she can rely on here.
no subject
[She frowns. Gold Ship is trying to bear everything on her own... Never relying, never being a problem. Always Useful.
But maybe, someone like McQueen can get through to her...]
But I'm doing my best. We had a rough start, but... I care about her. She's like a sister, I guess?
I wish I could help her properly with races, but there's no place here for my bike to be any good.