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April-May 2024 Test Drive Meme
April-May 2024 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Forced Relocation, Forced Sharing, Potential Violence & Harm
New Star Children arrive in Wintermute. Not at the hot springs, the school, or anywhere else near civilization. They arrive in the middle of white, snowy nowhere. The good news is that Wintermute is no longer dark twenty-four seven. There is enough light to avoid crevasses, blocked up wells, and other dangerous features of the landscape. Further, no one is expected to figure out how to get out of there on their own.
Usually Thoth finds the lost travelers in the cold expanse of Wintermute. However, she's busy exploring the multiverse for new and interesting ideas for technology. Not to fret! She hasn't abandoned ye who've entered here. There's a new emergency lost and found network:
The Wandering Dog food carts are now open twenty-four seven! The dogs work in shifts, but the food remains as delicious as ever. When a Star Child gets lost in Wintermute, another Star Child will happen to be buying food from a Wandering Dog somewhere in Folkmore. One such lucky unlucky Star Child gets transported to the School of Thoth. Specifically, to where the mechanical sled dogs hang out. They receive a warm winter coat over whatever they were wearing and another one on hand for whoever they are rescuing. Then it's off across the snow! Don't worry, non-mushing experts, the dogs know what they're doing and lead the sled right to the designated lost Star Child.
The rescuee gets to lay in the sled for the ride back, wrapped up warm and cozy in their new winter coat (it may be spring, but it's always cold in Wintermute). The sled dogs bring Star Children back to the hot springs, so that they can warm up even more. Alternatively, Star Children can explore the Cutting Edge, the School of Thoth, or something else in Wintermute. However, the Star Children cannot part ways or leave Wintermute immediately.
The sled dogs, yes the whole team, will stay with the pair to enforce this. They may surround the pair like a pack, cuddle pile on top of them, or lay around the edges of a hot spring. No matter how long it takes to realize the dogs are doing this and that there's a reason for it, Star Children will eventually find instructions in one of the dogs' collars: Share something that other people have refused to listen to you about. Everyone ought to be listened to.
Only once both Star Children have shared something with each other will the dogs let them part ways and see, perhaps, the rest of Folkmore.
On the walk to Akhlut Station, Star Children will see plain weapons sticking out of the snow: swords, guns, knives. These are simple, non-magical practical weapons. Experienced Star Children may know to suspect such free offerings, but nothing immediately happens upon picking one up. However, once on the train, the train will be attacked by frost spirits. These icy spirits must either be hacked to pieces until they can no longer reform or melted with fire. Innocent passengers who didn't pick up a weapon may be forced to get involved, but the frost spirits will be most focused on those who picked up weapons.
New Star Children arrive in Wintermute. Not at the hot springs, the school, or anywhere else near civilization. They arrive in the middle of white, snowy nowhere. The good news is that Wintermute is no longer dark twenty-four seven. There is enough light to avoid crevasses, blocked up wells, and other dangerous features of the landscape. Further, no one is expected to figure out how to get out of there on their own.
Usually Thoth finds the lost travelers in the cold expanse of Wintermute. However, she's busy exploring the multiverse for new and interesting ideas for technology. Not to fret! She hasn't abandoned ye who've entered here. There's a new emergency lost and found network:
The Wandering Dog food carts are now open twenty-four seven! The dogs work in shifts, but the food remains as delicious as ever. When a Star Child gets lost in Wintermute, another Star Child will happen to be buying food from a Wandering Dog somewhere in Folkmore. One such lucky unlucky Star Child gets transported to the School of Thoth. Specifically, to where the mechanical sled dogs hang out. They receive a warm winter coat over whatever they were wearing and another one on hand for whoever they are rescuing. Then it's off across the snow! Don't worry, non-mushing experts, the dogs know what they're doing and lead the sled right to the designated lost Star Child.
The rescuee gets to lay in the sled for the ride back, wrapped up warm and cozy in their new winter coat (it may be spring, but it's always cold in Wintermute). The sled dogs bring Star Children back to the hot springs, so that they can warm up even more. Alternatively, Star Children can explore the Cutting Edge, the School of Thoth, or something else in Wintermute. However, the Star Children cannot part ways or leave Wintermute immediately.
The sled dogs, yes the whole team, will stay with the pair to enforce this. They may surround the pair like a pack, cuddle pile on top of them, or lay around the edges of a hot spring. No matter how long it takes to realize the dogs are doing this and that there's a reason for it, Star Children will eventually find instructions in one of the dogs' collars: Share something that other people have refused to listen to you about. Everyone ought to be listened to.
Only once both Star Children have shared something with each other will the dogs let them part ways and see, perhaps, the rest of Folkmore.
On the walk to Akhlut Station, Star Children will see plain weapons sticking out of the snow: swords, guns, knives. These are simple, non-magical practical weapons. Experienced Star Children may know to suspect such free offerings, but nothing immediately happens upon picking one up. However, once on the train, the train will be attacked by frost spirits. These icy spirits must either be hacked to pieces until they can no longer reform or melted with fire. Innocent passengers who didn't pick up a weapon may be forced to get involved, but the frost spirits will be most focused on those who picked up weapons.
- New Star Children arrive in remote areas of Wintermute.
- Star Children buying food from The Wandering Dog get teleported to the School of Thoth to rescue people with a team of sled dogs.
- Star Children get amazing new winter coats!
- Star Children cannot part ways until they share something others have refused to listen to! The dogs enforce this.
- Simple, non-magical weapons stick out of the snow on the way to the train station.
- Anyone who picks up one of those weapons will see their train get attacked by frost spirits.
Content Warnings: Potential Forced Participation, Potential Harm
Thoth has been listening to any and all ideas people have had around science in the last few months. Whether they were shower thoughts or a discussion between scientific colleagues or anywhere in between, she's made her list and built every one as an experiment. On a human scale. A human test subject scale. Because every idea has merit. That's right: Thoth believes in you.
Posters saying Thoth Needs You! go up around Folkmore. They offer a reward for participating in an experiment. Simply tear off a piece of paper from the bottom of the poster, and at some point in the future, you're in. Now, there might be a little hiccup here or there. These posters are experimental too! So some Star Children who don't tear off a slip might get pulled into an experiment as well. (Who said Thirteen ought to recruit for her trials? Thoth listened… or she tried.) Oh well, at least it's all in the name of science!
Perhaps Star Children need to sing Baby It's Cold Outside to convince the other to stay (it really will be cold outside). Perhaps they have a choice of spinners, buttons, levers, or other devices to interact with. Perhaps they make their way through a maze. Perhaps they try a new contraption. Perhaps they even recognize their own idea come to life! There's a multitude of new tech to try, and it has not been safety tested.
Nothing will explode. Probably. Maybe. Okay, some experiments are definitely going to have explosions. How about pressing that button anyway and finding out if it's this one?
Once Star Children survive the experiment—and they will, Thoth may be a loose cannon of a scientist, but she's ensured that much—they will emerge from one of the School of Thoth's laboratories. Togo, the grey wolf mascot, waits on the other side with an item for each test subject: an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item.
No one is left to the cold to fend for themselves. One of the nearby classrooms has been set up as a first aid center. Dog spirits of all sizes, from the smallest Maltipoo spirit to the largest Great Dane spirit, staff a healing clinic and will treat any injuries Star Children received in the experiments (or already sported). They offer hot lemonade—lemon juice, molasses, and hot water—to everyone to warm their soul. Injured Star Children can find a corner to rest by themselves or company with which to discuss their experiments.
Thoth has been listening to any and all ideas people have had around science in the last few months. Whether they were shower thoughts or a discussion between scientific colleagues or anywhere in between, she's made her list and built every one as an experiment. On a human scale. A human test subject scale. Because every idea has merit. That's right: Thoth believes in you.
Posters saying Thoth Needs You! go up around Folkmore. They offer a reward for participating in an experiment. Simply tear off a piece of paper from the bottom of the poster, and at some point in the future, you're in. Now, there might be a little hiccup here or there. These posters are experimental too! So some Star Children who don't tear off a slip might get pulled into an experiment as well. (Who said Thirteen ought to recruit for her trials? Thoth listened… or she tried.) Oh well, at least it's all in the name of science!
Perhaps Star Children need to sing Baby It's Cold Outside to convince the other to stay (it really will be cold outside). Perhaps they have a choice of spinners, buttons, levers, or other devices to interact with. Perhaps they make their way through a maze. Perhaps they try a new contraption. Perhaps they even recognize their own idea come to life! There's a multitude of new tech to try, and it has not been safety tested.
Nothing will explode. Probably. Maybe. Okay, some experiments are definitely going to have explosions. How about pressing that button anyway and finding out if it's this one?
Once Star Children survive the experiment—and they will, Thoth may be a loose cannon of a scientist, but she's ensured that much—they will emerge from one of the School of Thoth's laboratories. Togo, the grey wolf mascot, waits on the other side with an item for each test subject: an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item.
No one is left to the cold to fend for themselves. One of the nearby classrooms has been set up as a first aid center. Dog spirits of all sizes, from the smallest Maltipoo spirit to the largest Great Dane spirit, staff a healing clinic and will treat any injuries Star Children received in the experiments (or already sported). They offer hot lemonade—lemon juice, molasses, and hot water—to everyone to warm their soul. Injured Star Children can find a corner to rest by themselves or company with which to discuss their experiments.
- Thoth has built experiments to bring Star Children’s ideas to life.
- Pick a paper tab off a Thoth Needs You! poster to participate. Or don’t. A mishap may bring Star Children there regardless.
- Do science! Be a human experiment! Maybe experience explosions!
- Togo, the Thoth mascot, will have an item from home for every Star Child who participates.
- Dog spirits man (dog?) a first aid center in a nearby classroom.
no subject
again silence lapses. nero mulls over the question in his mind - they are not in deepground, and he is far from it, but if this is a fellow experiment then... ]
Do you resent what they have done to you?
[ there is the smallest sliver of hope that this one will not be as useless as project g. ]
no subject
Hm.
[ The noise is... speculative. It's not immediate, not like a seething, burning hatred should prompt. And the truth is Vincent is weighing the value of answering honestly, and it's not entirely because he has an ulterior motive. ]
Shinra? It's hard for me to say I hate them. I knew what the company was capable of. Saw it firsthand.
[ He was a Turk. Even if the human experiments and trials were not at the level they would become, all the hallmarks were there. ]
I save my hate for the one who did this.
[ And even that copied, digital imprint of the man is gone now, to an ignominious ending that would have been wholly satisfying to watch for Vincent had it not been as the advent of a much more calamitous problem.
Briefly, focus from thoughts of distant and not so distant past returns to the present and his gaze flicks briefly to Nero. ]
What about your own resentment?
[ Vincent can guess and it'd probably be accurate. But the aim is to listen to Nero, not speculate on assumptions of what the Sable would say. ]
no subject
It is the resentment of one who did not have the luxury of forewarning or choice.
[ but that is obvious. a sentiment shard among all of deepground - save perhaps azul, who came willingly at the promise of power and only rebelled when he found the door slammed shut behind him. ]
no subject
Even seeing the signs doesn't mean there's forewarning. Or choice. We've that much in common.
[ He shakes his head. ]
I've had a long time to think about it. [ For a second his head shifts. The collar hides the way his lips press for a moment. ] And different circumstances.
[ Freedom at least on a level those imprisoned in Deepground never had. Vincent knows all too well the prison of his own guilt was nothing compared to what Nero and the other Tsviets suffered. What's more, unlike most of them, Vincent had known a normal life, once. ]
I wonder if there's any amount of time that could dull your hatred, Nero.
[ Part a question but so much more of the words approach rhetoric. He is welcome to respond to it like a query, or not. Vincent's tone seems to understand the question itself probably has no answer that could be fathomed. ]
no subject
[ he does not care what happens to him, what he endures... it's what weiss endures that eats at him. nero is a monster, an abomination, but his brother has never deserved the life that a monster should live.
how his beloved brother has suffered, still suffers. how everyone, everyone has turned a blind eye to it. refusing to aid them. he still burns at genesis' refusal, how he loathes how sephiroth opted to destroy himself rather than destroy their makers. ]
How is it you know of me?
no subject
But even though this tells Vincent that they've satisfied a certain requirement, he does not get up to leave just yet. Nero gets an answer though it's probably not the one he wants. ]
I can't tell you that right now.
[ But there's just a slight hint that Vincent gives Nero more credit for his intelligence than most through the next thing he says. ]
Though I think you'll figure it out on your own soon enough.
[ In this new place, this Folkmore, it shouldn't take too long to realize the manner in which the Fox's Star Children are pulled from various times.
And besides, it seems prudent to give Nero something to focus on. There is a solution that would be readily apparent of course; that Vincent knows more about Deepground than he's letting on. But his manner and tone do seem to suggest that's not... quite the case. That it's the too easy answer. ]
Like I said before, the Shinra Company isn't here. This isn't our world. What you end up making of all this is something you'll have to decide for yourself.
no subject
this isn't our world. the shinra company isn't here.
the sable's eyes go wide. of course it clicks. why the dark is so silent here. he still hears the howl of the energy, but there is no dark phantom memories whirling about his mind. whatever rot the planet failed to re-absorb does not stick to him like ichor.
He is not home. Weiss is not here with him. And he knows all too well what will happen to Weiss if he remains loose and rampaging outside the halls of Deepground. Neither brother cares how much they're harmed, but threaten the other and they simply bow down. He did not care when he thought this some far flung corner of Gaia, because he could always return to Deepground through the shadows.
But now he knows he's cut off. This is not home.
He's tossing the sheets aside and getting to his feet, the movement sudden and aggressive but not toward vincent. The promise of a new future here, away from harm, is just as useless as it was back on Gaia. There is no point if his brother is not with him. his cool breaking for a moment as the panic seizes him, the dark flickering around him weakly as his emotions begin to broil. ]
No... No! How do I return?!
no subject
Calm down, Nero!
[ Vincent might not often reach the level of shouting but his words hold an intensity that presses the boundary between statement and exclamation. Something where he tries to penetrate the panic that seems to induce a loss of control over the Sable's dark.
A fact that is being keenly felt. He may have chosen a place in relative isolation, but given what he experienced in the fight, Vincent is no longer willing to place faith on the range of Nero's power is limited to what he displayed during the events leading to the advent of Omega. Vincent reaches out to place a hand on the Tsviet's shoulder, hoping to somehow ground him; and if not that at least keep a hold if he tries to teleport away. ]
I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?
[ Let the attention and aggression be focused on Vincent. He expects to deal with the fallout far better than any of the spirits or nearby Star Children. ]
no subject
the darkness takes a toll after prolonged use. though he is its host and it is much a part of him as he is of it, human flesh is still not meant to hold the corrupted lifeblood of the planet. nero grits his teeth and tries to reign it in, one hand wrapping around his midsection while the other grabs for his hair.
the psychic part is not nearly as bad. the dark is still so unsettling quiet here. but the physical pain is no different.
and he has certainly overdone it today. vincent's hand touches his shoulder and it's quick to lash out, unable to pierce through him but lashing at the older man's face like a fierce wind. but the man does not relent, and after a few failed attempts to throw him off, away, or into the pit - nero manages a nod. ]
no subject
After all, there are some things Nero can lob which still hurt and which aren't bullets. But these lashes seem to be no more than efforts to erode and thus... nothing. Vincent keeps his hold.
Restores it when it's heaved off.
Returns from pits.
And finally nods in return before releasing the Sable and taking a step back. ]
I don't know how to get back. Other than it's up to that creature that brought us here.
[ A 'fox'. Are there foxes on Gaia? There are wolves, but... ]
People call her Thirteen. Or just the Fox. If she brought you here, and you can't get back then she's the only lead right now.
no subject
what had compelled him to deviate from the mission and follow it? he... he had been following the plan. securing someone immune to the Patricia systems and... and then the fox.
Then the cold.
Idiot. Idiot. Getting caught up in a fight when Weiss' safety was on the line. ]
Where is its lair?
no subject
[ Seems like there's a lot of things Vincent doesn't know after all. And it doesn't sound like he's trying to mislead Nero. ]
I've only been here a few hours longer than you. Hadn't had the time to investigate.
[ Though it does prompt him to ask a question. ]
Don't suppose you can teleport back?
[ Not that this would help anyone other than himself or Nero, really. ]
no subject
... No. The dark is not... connected to this world as it is to ours.
no subject
Hmph.
[ It's probably disappointment. Though what Vincent thought he was going to be able to do if Nero just took off home was anyone's guess. Certainly not leave his friends behind.
...Well, Nero would effectively become someone else's problem for a while. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option, so where does that leave Vincent? Thinking; this may create an infuriating moment of silence. ]
no subject
the problem with the first generation of experiments is that they are all selfish. in his limited experience, not a one of them gave a care as to what or who came after them. and when they finally had enough and bit back, it was never the right hand. ]
... do you intend to selfishly take this world as a fresh start, then?
no subject
No. This isn't my home.
[ Seriously. He's saved Gaia three times already. It's almost personal that someone decided to kidnap him after number three. Vincent would have to be something else to give up on getting back a few hours after arriving. ]
Doesn't seem you feel like sticking around either.
[ So why judge Vincent that way, huh Nero? ]
no subject
[ how could he when he is not deserving of this new chance. when someone more deserving is held hostage by shinra itself. ]
no subject
Weiss.
[ A man who, if Vincent is correct, might still be alive. He has no way of asking that without risking this fragile truce however. It's enough that he's aware of the name. ]
no subject
If I do not return then it will be he who suffers.
no subject
There's questions Vincent would dearly like to confirm, but they can't be asked here. And probably not until he figures out a few things himself. ]
...
[ And sometimes, the silence is meaningful rather than annoying. Vincent never really imagined himself doing this. The amount of people who had his cellphone details might barely surpass the fingers of both hands.
And here he is, pulling out the relic granted to him by that Fox creature. ]
You have one of these? I'll give you the contact information. If I learn anything that will help you get back, I'll pass it on. That's all I can do for you right now.
[ He'll... help? Vincent isn't going to remain as some watchdog over Nero's every move? ]
no subject
nero doesn't trust it. why would he? one does not do favors in deepground. any overtures of kindness are a ruse to lull another into a false sense of security, to set them up for failure, or to force them into a debt that can only be repaid in blood.
but this man is immune to his powers. and it would be better to play along with whatever it is he intends than to risk getting mauled again before he's gotten the full scope of the one before him. and any opportunity to save weiss is one he cannot pass up. ]
Very well.
no subject
Vincent will need Nero's if he's going to be able to reach out and why he keeps out the device with a certain expectancy of adding it. Though in the end if it's refused now he'll probably get it should the Sable deign to contact him. One way or the other... ]
Hope you find your answers.
[ At least as far as this mystery of Folkmore goes. But it seems just like that, Vincent intends to leave Nero to his own devices. ]