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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.
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-but then she looks on with wonder as he assumes his new form.]
Other CJ! You have become a - an incredibly tiny and adorable bird?! [Some confused flaps as she looks towards him.] How could this be? Are you a mutant - or is this what is known as a Familiar??
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Oh, yeah! I'm a familiar. I can turn into a couple of animals. My- [-mom, he almost says, but his brain sort of short-circuits midway. Is it weird to talk about his new mom to his first mom? Even though she's not really his mom (yet? maybe never now? will he still exist without the apocalypse?). Oh no, that's a spiral he can't get into right now.
...Let's. Start over.] I read about it in a book, this one's a painted bunting.
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[Oddly shifting sentences aside, Casey's impressed by this transformation! It may not seem powerful, but she sees how it could be useful.]
You are full of surprises, Other CJ. And well-read as well! Truly I have found a fine ally for my quest! [She observes the way his wings flap, for additional pointers on how to work her own.] You may continue leading the way while telling me more of yourself. How many other animal forms have you obtained?
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(Mom thinks he's a good ally... aaaa...)]
Um- I have two others. I started out as a pangolin, and months later I learned how to turn into an owlbear. This one's more recent, I got it about five months ago. Haven't learned any new ones since.
[He doesn't know if he needs more bonds or if 3 is his limit. There doesn't seem to be any consistent rules for familiars at this point. (Not that he knows, at least.)]
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I see! A random yet incredible-sounding set of forms ! A pangolin's armor must be very useful. And an owlbear?! [Her eyes shift color with intrigue!] I have never heard of such a beast! It sounds quite fearsome.
[She imagines some fearsome youkai. It sounds cooler than a ghost bear at least!]
You must show me that form when we are no longer in flight! I'm excited to see if I can outwrestle a creature like that...
[Familiars are more exciting than she expected!]
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If birds could blush, boy howdy he'd be doing it. He does chirp quite cheerfully, though.]
I can do that! It starts out kind of small, but I can make it grow. Usually if I get mad, so it'd be good in a fight. We should find some monsters first.
[The seemingly abandoned huts scattered around and full of ghosts are getting closer, now. he's not sure if they should be fighting ghosts, but there ought to be some of the desert beasts roaming around causing trouble.]
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So that form starts off more on the 'owl' side of the scale... [She was picturing the opposite.] Interesting! It does still sound very powerful.
[Casey totally wants to punch a ghost-]
Yes, let us seek some worthy opponents for my first battle in this world. A true trial by fire! If we have trouble locating such monsters, I can try making a variety of animal calls to draw them out!
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[He sweeps in towards a set of huts sticking out of the desert like a sore thumb. He can sort of see figures moving about, but they're hard to discern until they get closer. (Ghosts, maybe?) Instead of getting too close, however, he circles around Cassandra again.]
Ready to learn how to land? The trick is to glide in without flapping, then angle yourself feet first. Let your wings be sort of like a parachute.
[He flutters down to a rooftop to demonstrate. landing smoothly. Thankfully he's had months of practice for this, so it's much easier than the first time... he's rooting for you, kind-of-Mom!]
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[How many times has Casey just haphazardly leaped from perilous heights in her past? Well Casey Junior should feel extra lucky that he was born, that's for sure.]
To glide without flapping... like the majestic, tiny bird...
[She focuses. She closes her eyes for a moment, then realizes it's probably important in this instance to keep her eyes open. She focuses, with her eyes open! She angles her wings and feet just right, even spreading her arms to keep things extra balanced and slowly descends towards the rooftop.]
Behold! As this Legend heroically descends at a steady, controlled pace...! [She declares that dramatically in the moments before she touches down upon the rooftop near him.]
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[Casey shifts back, straightening up and giving an absolutely earnest, zero-irony clap. After hearing nothing but stories for so long, he's eager to see his mom in action, and this is a great start.]
You did that like you'd done it a million times before.
[Unless she doesn't stick the landing, in which case, it's probably still awesome, just slightly unpracticed.]
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Why thank you! All I did was follow your capable instruction to the letter!
[With that, she bows at him.]
I should thank you for acting as my sensei in aerial maneuvers! I have learned a vital lesson from you and have not fallen on my face.
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[Sensei taught him almost everything, true enough, but... his mother deserves credit for teaching him and taking care of him for the first five years of his life, so! Teaching her younger self to fly feels like a small price.]
I've never been a sensei before. That's weird.
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It is an honor! You have gained enough wisdom to pass on what you have learned in the manner of a true sensei. I know I have felt a strong pride in acting as a sensei for my Brownie Clan. You should feel proud as well, Other CJ!
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Your... Brownie Clan?
[A chance to hear about the Brownies firsthand!]
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Yes! They are a clan that I myself have taken command of. It consists of a number of young scouts clad in traditional apparel who sell delicious brownies to the masses! I made sure their fighting arts were up to snuff, and they acted as my agents in my campaign for world domination! ...One which was, admittedly, a bit too much of a long-term plan.
[A beat, and then she decides to add.]
For additional context! ...I should mention that until recently, I have been evil. But my allegiance has since changed!
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How recently?
[He'd like to get a timeline without making it obvious he knows who she is and where she's from. Eventually he'll figure out how to broach that... weird topic...]
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[She offers a small shrug.]
I turned against my master who was seeking to destroy the world, and I united with my former enemies in glorious combat! I had just welcomed them as allies - friends- and started this new path for myself, when... well, before I knew it, I was being led here by that fox.
no subject
Great! Great. Help.]
....Well, uh. You're doing amazing so far! Welcome to the good guy side. Thanks for not destroying the world.
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You are quite welcome! I am glad that I do not wish to lay waste to this world either. It would be tragic to have to destroy my fellow CJ! Instead, we shall lay waste to evil!
[She hunches over as she glances around giddily.]
Now where are they? Where are our foes??
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...But maybe they'd held back.]
Let's see... we could start by scouting around on the rooftops. That'd at least help us avoid getting lost. There's-
[And whatever else he might've said is completely lost as a giant, feral-looking dog crashes right through the door of the hut they're standing on. Casey jumps, staring down at it and instinctively reaching for the folded chainstick at his hip.]
...Uh. There's one?
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She doesn't have a chance to recall her experience before the crash sounds. And as the beast surfaces, Casey leans forward with an excited grin.]
Splendid! Your instincts must truly be keen, Other CJ, to lead us to this menace. Now, let us show some Legendary - and Familiar - fury! Attack!!
[She wastes no time leaping forth and trying to land on the dog's back!]
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Nice mask!
[Once can never go wrong with a hockey mask. Come to think of it, she has idly thought about wearing a different kind of mask from her ninja one now that she's no longer in the Foot...]
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Uh- thank you! It's... a family heirloom!
[That's the easy way to explain it, anyway... he hooks his chainstick on one of the legs, sweeping it out from underneath and causing the dog to stagger further. Are they meant to kill these invading beasts? He'd feel bad about it, even if it did attack... it's different from fighting Krang monsters. Maybe they can just run it out of town.]
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[She shouts out before refocusing her efforts on the beast. She can focus on the details of that mask later. In any case, now that the other CJ's swept out one of the legs, Casey presses down her weight on the beast forcefully in order to get it to fall down completely, driving her elbow down as well, while her other arm keeps it in a tight headlock.]
We have it on the ropes! [While her instincts are typically to destroy, she does feel hesitant in this case. It's like a big old dog! And not even a yokai kind, which could have had a rotten personality.] ...This would be an ideal time for a finishing blow... but... but what do you think should be done next, Other CJ?!
[It's okay to defer to someone else with more experience in this world! In that sense, it's almost like being a recruit all over again.]
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