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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.
no subject
I had to try; it's a bar.
[Besides, he'd been in the Virginia summer heat just before this, drinking beers, and he'd been alright. Though, he did have to acknowledge that the desert had been a lot more brutal. The lack of a shirt combined with the lack of shade, feeling like he was going to go up in flames or evaporate at any moment... At least in the dream field, he could've collapsed in his car and cranked up the A/C whenever he'd really needed it.
He reached over to snag the flask as she slid it towards him, picking it up and eyeing it for a moment. He knew she had a good point, that water was way better in this kind of situation, whereas alcohol would have made him more dehydrated, but-]
Are you sure?
[After a pause, during which he realized it sort of sounded like he was questioning whether or not it was really water, he added-]
That you can spare some, I mean. I dunno how long we'll be here.
[Or when there'd be more water.]
no subject
[ She can become dehydrated if she overworks herself, of course, but it'll take some time for that. ] You new here by any chance?
no subject
Nodding, he started unscrewing the cap on the flask.]
Right.
[It was probably good to take it slow so he wouldn't make himself sick, too. So he took a slow sip, and...yeah, it was a lot better than alcohol would have been in this case.]
How does the heat not bother you? I guess if you're used to it, but- I've never tanned a day in my life, like- Being in the sun and heat every summer back home's always been an exercise in avoiding heat exhaustion or sun burns and shit.
[He'd probably been on his way towards a sun burn before ending up in the desert here, with the way he'd been lounging on the hood of the messed up Camaro Ronan had dreamt, but he hadn't cared then. There had been so many more important things going on.]
Yeah. Been here a few hours. I expected better than landing in a desert, but...
[He shrugged, taking another slow sip of water.]
What about you?
no subject
She nodded at this answer. Yeah, this definitely felt like a New Star Children Trial. ] The fox likes to test people coming in. She's a real bitch that way.
[ She leaned her elbows into the worn bar and sucked in a breath through her teeth. ] A little over a year now, actually. For my arrival, I got trapped in a stupid game of speed dating. I ended up fighting the host.
no subject
Magical in what way?
[Kavinsky tried to keep his tone casual, as if he wasn't aching with loneliness and desperate to make connections, to feel like he wasn't alone with fantastical powers he couldn't tell anyone about because they wouldn't understand anyway. He knew it was dangerous, but maybe not here.
Then he laughed.]
Damn, and here I thought she seemed pretty cool. But not if she's dumping people in the desert to test us.
[Over a year. His eyebrows went up and he almost laughed again. Not at how long she'd been here, of course, but all of the rest.]
What the fuck? I think I'd take speed dating over all of this, but- how'd you end up fighting the host?
[He couldn't imagine a speed dating event host putting up much of a fight. Some over-enthusiastic guy in a cheap suit or something, with his hair gelled to hell and back, maybe with a rose between his teeth--there was nothing about the idea that wasn't cheesy.]
no subject
She winced the moment she said Thirteen seemed cool. Sorry, you've met a member of her hateclub. Sharon Da Silva hated the fox.
At the question, she chuckled as she thought back to the moment. It was fucking wild. ] I was given the choice to fuck him or fight him and there was no way in hell I was going to fuck him.
no subject
[Potentially even cooler than the Fox. And to be fair to him, he'd only had a singular encounter and conversation with the Fox, and the way he'd gotten whisked out of his world had been like nothing else he'd ever experienced.]
Psychic like, seeing the future or reading thoughts or- [Or was the second thing more like telepathy?] -and weird blood like-... [But he didn't finish, because he wasn't sure how.
He scrunched his nose.]
Can't blame you for that. Making it a choice like that is- fucking creepy. Just don't tell me he set the choices himself. He'd absolutely deserve to get punched, then.
no subject
Uh... see the future, can't read minds but I can project my thoughts into your head. Pyrokinesis, telekinesis. [ She waved her hand. He got the idea. Psychic with a goddamn capital P. She won't get into the rougher shit like soul splitting, monster creation, and reality warping. ] Like my blood freezes. Keeps me from being bothered by extreme temperatures and I heal quickly. [ To keep it simple. She knew she was a lot. ]
He set the choices or Thirteen did. Either way, fuck that.
no subject
[He didn't doubt any of this was true, and it wasn't just because he knew there were legitimate psychics in Henrietta. He might not have been here long, but he'd seen a bunch of very obviously magical things.]
Do you get to like, control when you see the future or does it just happen?
[It was probably a good thing he couldn't project any of his thoughts into someone's mind. Actually, no; it was definitely a good thing that he couldn't.]
Freezy blood sounds like it's really coming in handy right now. I wish I could keep my cool like that.
[Because in addition to turning into a crisp lobster in the sun, he was hotheaded. Pulling in his temper was a struggle sometimes.
His whole face scrunched for a moment after that.]
Ugh. Talk about gross.
[He was aware he could be...questionable himself, but not like that.]
no subject
The moment he mentioned keeping cool, she laughed and then laughed again at his disgust. She drummed her hands on the bar and shrugged. ] Welcome to Folkmore, shit's weird.
I'm Sharon Da Silva, by the way.
no subject
[The not being able to remember things perfectly part, that was. What good was being able to see the future if you couldn't even remember it right? It was probably hard enough to do anything about it without that annoying bit.]
Weird can be good, sometimes.
[He said with a laugh. He liked weird actually, most of the time.
Taking another sip of water, he carefully twisted the cap back on the flask.]
I'm Kavinsky. So, how else is this place weird?
no subject
[ Maybe that's not weird for him, though. ]
no subject
Exotic as in-? Dancing jellyfish aren't the kind of weird I'd been thinking of but I like this better.
[And it also eased some of his worries bout this place being boring.]
Are there a lot of clubs and stuff?
no subject
Clubs, arcades, schools for just about everything. Folkmore would practically be heaven if not for the trials.
no subject
[And he meant it sincerely--and not even necessarily in a horny way. Sure, it was weird, too, but a refreshing sort of weird. He wouldn't have figured this, so far, for the kind of place that had strippers, let along jellyfish strippers, but sometimes he was happy to be proven wrong.]
Mmm, if it was too much like heaven, it might get boring.
[It probably would. At least to him.]
What're the trials?
no subject
[ She folded her arms across her chest as she thought about past trials. ] We've been hunted by fae, trapped in our dreams, lived out each other memories, dealt with veggies coming to life and freaking out. It's like every trial is a different episode of the Twilight Zone.
no subject
I guess this could be some kind of bullshit about learning to work with others. Though- [He made a point of looking around.] -I'd say we've been playing together pretty well and there's still no door out of here.
[So maybe he didn't understand how this shit was supposed to work, after all.
And then- he wasn't sure which part of that he wanted to comment on more--or first. Fae, dreams-]
Like- fuckin' talking veggies? Can't blame 'em for freaking out. And the fae have got like, the wild hunt shit, right? In folklore or whatever.
[He didn't know a whole lot about fae, but he had at least moderate knowledge about various myths and folklore around the world.]
Does dream stuff happen often?
no subject
Yeah, talking veggies. It was wild. Only ate ordered food for a month. [ The spoon came in handy often. ] And it was actually the Wild Hunt. A bunch of folk died, I got filled with arrows, it sucked. I'm hoping I never encounter another fae again. [ RIP Sharon ] As for dream stuff? I'd say it happens every couple of months. That shit interest you?
no subject
There's gotta be something more to it then that. Like- there's a fuck ton of rooms; are we supposed to just look through all of them or-
[He made a vague gesture, because he wasn't sure.]
Yeah, I don't blame you. I wouldn't be able to eat veggies for a while if they'd been talking and shit.
[It'd be weird. And it'd make him feel guilty.
He was interested in mentions of an actual Wild Hunt for all of 0.5 seconds, until she said a lot of people died and she got shot with arrows. Then, Kavinsky winced sympathetically.]
Yeah, that sounds like it sucked.
[Somehow, he managed to restrain himself from asking if the fae had at least been hot. Just as important as that was doing his best to appear casual about the topic of dreams.]
Sort of, yeah. I just think it's interesting. You know, anything can happen in dreams.
no subject
She looked back at Kavinsky, offering a grin and a chuckle. ] This whole place can suck but, luckily, it's not all shit. It won't be long before you're invited to some big ass party where one of the drinks will make you float. Folkmore is a literal mixed bag and... Yeah, anything can happen in dreams but anything can happen here, too.
[ No need for dreams when you live in a Studio Ghibli meets Brothers Grimm realm.
She jerked her head toward the door. ] Wanna find a way out of this shithole with me? [ The bartender grumbled and Sharon grimaced, all teeth, but didn't apologize. Hey, she was just being honest. ]