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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.
(CW: cults, bro culture)
she'd be thrilled to know that, so she could play it up]
Thanks. My parents were kind of hippies when they were young, they weren't into normal names. [which was true. her and Kai's parents were hippies in their youth. but life and drink and the basic beat-down that most Boomers got got in their way]
...damn. [Winter says, sounding genuinely impressed. mostly because she is] It's like a college town times ten, isn't it? But no frat bros or football bros to make life suck. Please tell me there aren't any frat bros or bros of any kind, I spent way too much time around them back home.
[because once Kai turned his loose gathering of wounded souls into a fully fledged cult, the whole thing was overran with bros. to the point where the teachings of Valerie Solanas and her crew made perfect sense]
I'd like that. Not just because Obambo Station sounds like a time and a half. Is it like Africa there? And anywhere I like, huh? Where do you like?
[flirting with intent counted as flirting, right?]
What, this old thing? [she asked, raising the hem of the long, black off the shoulder dress up a bit] I've had it for years.
no subject
I haven't had any trouble with the men here, like I did in my own realm. Many of them are very gallant. I don't think the Lady Fox likes the sort of people who say rude things to girls in the streets.
[she gives a tired, sympathetic smile.]
There are colleges––I study fashion at Jewelia at the university level, and my partner Ezra studies psychiatry at Kuma Lisa in Epiphany. There's a school in every land.
[sansa thinks this might be a conversation better had by the river, at least, where it's cooler, but she presses on.]
You can teach classes, too, even if you're a student of something else. Ezra teaches meditation at the Lavender Institute in Never Fade. Wintermute has Thoth, for computers and machines, Willow has Amrita, for necessary things like medicine and farming, and Exile has Baba Yaga, for bettering your magic abilities.
Obambo Station is on the way to Exile. I suppose it is a little like Egypt, because of the desert and the river, but it isn't very exciting. You can buy food there, and rent horses, but there isn't very much to do. I'm told Oozlum Station has more taverns and things.
[she clearly doesn't think much of oozlum. there are taverns to be had in places that aren't unbearably hot and don't have battle pits. she doesn't like battle pits.]
I like Exile, but not everybody does. My house was exiled in my own realm, so it's kind to me. It reminds me of the great swamp in our lands, and the river Encantado is very nice.
[her eyes shift grey, and her mouth curves to one side.]
I like every place better than Cruel Summer, but I'm a Stark of Winterfell. I've never known heat like this––and I mislike fighting.
I landed in Epiphany. I found it easy to make a life there.
no subject
alliesfriends]Phew! That's a relief. I swear to G-d, the idiot part of idiot men has been overwhelming the past few years back home! It'll be nice to get away from that. But what's the dating scene like? This Ezra guy, he's your boyfriend?
[because a steady relationship falls into the category of things normal girls want? and normal dates don't involve murder]
I guess I could go back to school...I'd taken a gap year to help Hillary campaign and [she sighs] after everything, it was hard to get the motivation to go back.
[and Kai needed her]
Magic. Magic. Literal magic? The fox wasn't bullshitting me? Holy shit, that's amazing! Like, what kind of magic can you do, show it to me.
[sounds like a request, buuuuuut...]
What about cars. Is there anywhere I could buy a car at? I'm not exactly used to hoofing it back home, everyone needs a car. [though, taverns in Oozlum? making note of that.
and she'd like battle pits. more accurately, she'd like to set up a bookie system at the fighting pits. she assumes it's possible, betting is a normal part of being human]
Yeah, Exile doesn't exactly sound welcoming. Though, your...house? How does a house get exiled? [she's taking 'house' literally] But rivers are nice. Swimming in them is even better.
[grey again. is that nice mode? hmm]
Is this where we are? Cruel Summer? If so, it's earned the name. I've never heard of Winterfell, though, is that in Alaska? But that makes two of us, I mean look at these arms! [she waves a suitably scrawny looking arm. strong enough to wield a power drill, though]
Are all of the places named after emotions or concepts? [with a little friendly laugh]
no subject
We were given magic to do with ice [water] and fire in a trial, in order to help the spirit of the hot pools in Wintermute. All of this place is magic. I don't know how much the Lady Fox has told you, but we make a kind of magic called Lore when we talk, and we can trade it for things or use it to summon them ourselves.
[the other questions are harder to sort through. she knows alaska on earth; she'd had a friend who had lived there. she smiles a bit, remembering him.]
I'm not from Earth, though many of my friends are. Winterfell is in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. My family is meant to govern the whole of the North from there, but we were cast out in a war. I mean to win it back, but in the meantime House Stark remains in exile. I was hiding under a different name when I left my world.
[she looks around briefly.]
This is Cruel Summer, and they barely have carriages for the horses here. There are electric [steam-powered] ones in Tides, but if you want to drive one anywhere else you'll have to summon it with Lore. We have to take a submarine boat to go between Tides and the rest of this realm, or ask the cat bus.
[he accepts fish as payment!!]
Ezra is my boyfriend, but I don't know very much about dating. There are very nice restaurants we go to sometimes, and Willow is lovely to walk in. There are a lot of shows and clubs and things in Tides, and an outdoor ice rink in Never Fade when it's cold enough.
[surely this is what she means? sansa and ezra spend a lot of time running around wintermute as wolves, but that doesn't seem like it would work for anyone else.
as for names...she pauses.]
Does your world have Taylor Swift? The Lady Fox seems to admire her very much.
[sansa had discovered her music in a previous game, and shares in thirteen's enthusiasm, though perhaps not to the same extent.]
I have noticed many places here seem to share a name with her songs.
(CW: death, murder)
I heard about the Lore part and she mentioned the magic, but it all sounded so out there I didn't really believe any of it. But it was one of those situations where it was either go or stay dead and I know which one I prefer. [because she was fairly certain that if there was a Hell, she'd go straight to it.
and at Sansa's explanation, Winter whistles lowly] Holy shit. All of that sounds like something out of a book, but it's true. How do you, y'know, manage being here while bad stuff happened there? It sounds like the kind of thing which might take a lot outta you.
[and all of that sounds like the public transit of nightmares, but she's stuck with it, so!] Then I guess I'll have to be extra chatty to get that electric car. Good work on only having those, by the way. Way better for the environment. But how hard is riding a horse, I haven't done that since the pony rides at the state fair.
[and Sansa can't have literally meant a cat bus, there's no way. but it would be kinda cool if there was one. she likes cats. one of the few things on Earth aside from Kai and Ivy she genuinely liked]
Shoulda known a girl as gorgeous as you already has a boyfriend. [and she was being sincere about that] I mean, I'm pan as fuck so I don't really care about gender, you know? If I like someone, I like them. And sounds like this place is, I dunno, almost an all-inclusive resort. Given the restaurants and sight seeing and all kinds of houses to choose from. And an ice rink! Do you like to skate?
[being sincere again. one of the great things about Michigan was that it had plenty of indoor skating rinks and she was actually pretty good at it]
Yeah, not my kind of music though. I like Christine and the Queens, the Raveonettes, the Cure, stuff like that. But [she snaps her fingers in an exaggerated eureka! moment] That's who she looked like. I knew she was familiar.
[this shit is weird. nuff said]
Huh. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Who came first, Thirteen or Taylor? And is one leaking into the other?