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June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 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: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. It’s even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
Mai Taniyama || Ghost Hunt || Legend || CURRENT CHARACTER
A. Ghost Tour Newbie
B. Ghost Tour Guide
C. Flames
D. Embers (Closed to Established CR: July 2nd only)
c - i tripped and here i am again
His own confession, though... he fumbles for a moment, but the flames are still big and erratic and starting to spread again, so he blurts out,]
I-I'm from a future that doesn't exist anymore!
[The flames spark and sputter, a neighbouring fire shifting to reveal Casey in the midst of a ruined landscape of wreckage and bones, being thrown through a glowing white portal and landing in the middle of Times Square at night.]
catches you!
For now, she needs to save the Red Pandas' house! It's only just down the street from Satori Hills, which is already dangerously too close for her comfort.
She sees him in the fire and--
Not important right now.]
Um! My best friend here thought I was in love with him because I made him cake for his birthday and turned me down and honestly I was offended.
[The fire shows Akechi-kun sitting her down to reject her. But the fire is also sparking and dying down]
uwu my hero
Poor Mai, though. Rejected without even intending to "confess". Who the heck is that guy? (He's only seen Akechi via the network, too...)
Oh, right. Confessions. Still more, huh.]
I... was adopted and raised by giant mutant turtles!
[They're getting there...!]
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Still! Right now wasn't the time to be amazed by the turtle people and instead stop the fire first.]
Um, oh uh... [She was struggling to know what to say. What to confess next. She hates this, she doesn't mind saying these things but she rather say it because she wants to, not because she's forced to. Frustrated tears spring to her eyes.]
Sometimes I'm terrified of sleeping because I don't want to have visions!
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cw: vision of murder/blood
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b
But before he even has the chance to leap to defend himself from the attack, Mai is right there wielding her own abilities, quicker than even the spirit, who shrieks out a scream and vanishes in mid-air. Whatever he'd been expecting of her talents, it hadn't been quite so violent.
He prefers it this way.]
...Impressive. [Akechi is watching Mai with new appreciation in his eyes, not even remotely scared of the fact he was almost attacked.]
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Still, she stays vigilant, feeling that the ghost isn't gone just... banished temporarily. This place gives her the chills, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up on end constantly. She looks on edge, not really smiling when she nods at him, even if she can see his appreciation, even as he compliments her. Her eyes are a serious gray. ]
I can only ward them off, that one'll be back soon. You okay?
[She's nervous of possession happening. What if Akechi-kun gets possessed and she has to use the nine cuts on him? She'll hurt him... She-- No, focus on getting out of here.]
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Maybe Hereward can just Rebellion Blade his way through the wall. Somehow, without even investigating it further, Akechi doubts it. Thirteen wouldn't make it so simple.]
Was there any doubt? [Oh, she's quite serious about this, isn't she?] Don't worry for my sake. We need to either slaughter through all of them or make our own exit.
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Eyeing the weapon, she leaves that for Akechi-kun to deal with, she's never used a gun before, she's just as likely to accidentally shot him as shoot a ghost. Even if she's been working on her aim with the darts, she doesn't have faith in her ability to shoot a gun of all things... But why was he handling it so easily?]
Wait, not all the ghosts are bad, a couple have been friendly to me... but I don't know which ones are which... they all feel the same to me. [She eyes one that walks by harmlessly in the hallway.]
We just need to be careful.
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A
Lex has been around Cruel Summer extensively before. But he wishes he had been prepared for it. The relocation effect was not something he knew to expect, and as such he's only here with his shortsword (which is drawn), mercifully his black gloves (worn) and the clothes on his back. As his other camping gear and the shit in his backpack is, well, where he had last made camp. He's thus dangerously low on supplies and water, which is somewhere between frustrating and alarming-
And so when approached, ]
Good call! But unless you can fight, I'm on point.
[ His eyes shift from hazel in color to something like red in shade. And furthermore - as she approaches, the halo appears above his head. That halo which senses other people's pain is apparently resonating with her discomfort from the heat - and it's already ringing in his skull a little. Ah, man.
But even so, any time he's been in this desert, there's been a lot of dangerous beasts. There's no way he can conscience the idea of not being the first in danger if there's something in one of those huts. ]
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I can't actually, so I'll be relying on you.
[She can fight ghosts, but that hardly seems relevant.
Still, she follows him towards the buildings.] If I can just get a glass of water I could summon some supplies... there was no warning though about coming here, just POP! You're here.
[Rude Thirteen.]
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[ He laughs it off, but it's something which definitely bothers him. Lex, sword in hand, makes it towards the hut and the dubious looking construction of it. Shouldn't be long until they get there! ]
-- I considered trying to sweat into a little contained space, but seemed less efficient.
[ Okay, they made it to the hut and - ... Huh. This looks like it might collapse, but even as he gets closer he can feel a breeze coming from within it. Through the glare of the desert, he can even see a few other buildings around it. He was coming here anyway, but...
He mutters for one lesser wind spirit to materialize near his ear and augment his hearing.
... Mai like has ghost powers right so up to you if she can see little elemental magic spirits which are invisible to most people, it'd just look like a little mildly anthropomorphized greenish wind gust. Either way, he strains his hearing, trying to filter through the sounds of the wind. ]no subject
[She can feel the coolness from the building as they grow near, but it looks like it's about to collapse in on itself. How scary.
Turning to look at her companion, (
and I'll go with yes because that's more fun and she's seen tree spirits in canon!) she sees him with... a spirit at his ear.. Tilting her head she watches for a moment and then finally decides to just ask.]What's that? By your ear.
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1/2
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c
Let go. [ She makes a move as if she's going to try to throw the girl, but stops at her confession. Well, that's interesting. Interesting enough to give her pause as she watches the memory in the flame. ]
Do you usually keep that a secret? [ No, she won't be confessing anything. Instead she'll just be asking a question to satiate her own curiosity. If the fire continues because of that, that's not her problem precisely. ]
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I mean... some of my close friends back home know, but I don't just tell anyone. I-- That doesn't matter! Are you going to help me or not? Because their home and lives are in danger, we need to help them or you need to get out of the way.
[Mai was usually much more cheerful and happy, putting on something of a front with some people because being happy was easier, but if this girl wasn't going to help then Mai was going to do this alone.]
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That's hardly our problem. [ But then again it kind of was. If it continued to spread it might end up impacting where she lives. She twists her lips contemplatively for a second as she debated something easy to offer as a confession. This girl offered up about her powers so maybe Wednesday offering something about her own would work. ]
I see visions when people touch me. Or when I touch objects. It's unpredictable and always something negative. Something you wouldn't want me to see. [ Which is why she was unhappy about the sudden touching. ]
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[And then even though the girl said that that it was hardly their problem, she's offering up her own confession, making Mai smile a little as the fires die down even more.
And that makes sense, Mai nods an apology.] I'll be more careful to not just grab you or other people. I knew such abilities existed but I never've known someone to have it with people, just objects.
[The fires were almost gone, so she tries to think of another confession, something that she hasn't shared much...]
I'm scared to have visions without my spirit guide at my side.
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B
Which he appreciated, because as it was, the spirit had managed to scratch him, somehow corporeal enough to leave angry marks across his collarbone, when it'd been going for his throat. He thought they hurt extra just because he'd gotten sun burnt along his shoulders and arms--and probably other places, considering he'd been wandering through the desert without a shirt on before this, and was still shirtless.
One his new white wings twitched while he eyed the place the ghost had been before turning his attention to the girl. "Yeah, I'm okay. I have no idea what you just did, but it was pretty cool. You banish a lot of ghosts or something?" She'd jumped into things without hesitating, which was the kind of reaction he associated with doing something a lot.
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Then he's talking and distracting her.
"Ah, yes weirdly, I've done it a lot back home. Though I haven't run into many ghosts here in Folkmore yet. A couple in the swamp, but--" she waves her hand. She was she was bandaged up in a couple spots, but nothing too serious. She held her own enough in the swamp to get actually rescued later on.
"You just arrive?"
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"Mmmm." He couldn't help but ponder if it would've been better to show up in a swamp than the desert. There would have been more shade, probably, but swamps were usually...very wet...and full of predators. Slogging through gross water might have been just as bad as the desert sun. "Thank fuck this place isn't all a desert. And yeah, been here for a few hours or something like that. Dunno how I feel about being stuck in here yet, but-" he shrugged.
"Good thing you were here; I've never had to deal with ghosts before." And he wasn't even sure if they were real, back home. But that was also something he really didn't want to think about, because then he'd have to wonder if Proko's ghost was out there and- he didn't think he could handle that. "A lot of 'em seem chill, but some of them are cranky. Which makes sense. I'd probably be cranky, too. So how'd you end up learning how to handle them like that?"
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"Oh, definitely not all desert, as my friend would say there are different biomes and things, there is forest and winter wonderland and a swamp and lakes and an ocean and a place in the sky!" She still finds that to be the craziest part, something in the SKY of all places. But then he's talking about other things and she changes with the subject, her ghostly wings fluttering a little.
"I'm glad I could be here too to help, and... well, I'm a ghost hunter back home, so I learned these mantras to protect myself against the more aggressive ghosts we sometimes face," she says it pretty simply, because it was just the truth of the matter. But she knows not everyone believes her, so she isn't here to defend herself too. Let people believe what they want.
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B
"I'm alright." That was the standard answer he tended to give for any situation, up to and including ones where he may have been bleeding out. At least in this case, he wasn't doing too bad, the ghost not having had a chance to do a lot of damage to him aside from a few scratches. "How were you able to do that?" He questioned.
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"I don't think we got introduced last time! I'm Mai Taniyama," she bows. She remembers him from the ribbon, but she has no idea what his name is. SO time to fix that!
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“My name is Darth Maul Reyes,” he told her. Since she had just saved him and possibly his life, he was a little more polite as he explained his preferred way of being addressed by someone he didn’t know that well yet. “You may call me Darth Maul, Lord Maul, or just Maul.”
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Looking around them, she sees a couple more ghosts that seem to be just doing their own thing regardless of what just happened over here. "Most of the ghosts are friendly from what I can tell, they just don't like to be... interrupted."
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