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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.
Bucky Barnes | Marvel Comics | Familiar
[Bucky has heard stories about heroes being sucked into other worlds with missions so when approached he just makes a joke in his head that he has finally reached a level of cool to be involved in such a thing and goes with the flow. What he's not expecting is to end up being dropped of in a wandering desert that's hot and beating down on his dark outfit.
At first glance around the sand he sees nothing until he turns around. There he sees what looks like river in the distance and starts walking, hoping it's not a mirage. ]
II. Ghost Tours
[Bucky has been wandering through room after room hut after hut of this place. With the most notice of a ghost one that seems to have tipped a hat at him. He did not have a hat on to tip back but he didn't seem to notice, maybe the ghost just did that at random intervals.
Man he hates weird mystic crap. It's something so very rare that he has to deal with it but when he does it always becomes a mess. Like the time that Billy refused to use magic to get them pizza when they were all locked in that weird room on Strike Force. Really, vampires were all he was used to dealing with. Vampires, the occasional werewolf. Normal things, not transparent ghosts that seem to not even notice you. Although he hasn't tried to interact with any too much past attempting to sit down when the ghost bartender called for him and then, continued on his day like he wasn't there. Which is pretty rude in Bucky's opinion.]
You know. I'm starting to feel like I'm the one that no one can see.
III. Flames to Embers
[The fires are weird that keep popping up everywhere are strange, and Bucky wonders if maybe the Fox should have perhaps gotten some fire fighters or people who can control water like Namor instead of an old man soldier. He does his best to avoid any congregation around the fires he does spot, because he's been told that apparently you must confess to put them out and confessing to all the crap he's done is not on the top of Bucky's things to do.
That's way too long of a lest and better left in the dark, no one wants to hear such a thing. That is until he's on a walk one day and a fire breaks out and he starts looking around for someone anyone who can take this over and there's only one single other person, just enough to hear the confessions. He waves at them with his metal arm. ]
You over there! Quick, give me a hand!
flames to embers
The other super soldier is on a walk herself when the fire breaks out, and she's already jogging over when an oddly familiar man with an even more coincidental metal left arm catches her attention. He's not quite the same as the ones here, but if Peggy had to place bets on his identity they'd go squarely on a variant of Bucky Barnes.
She's in street clothes, a red t-shirt tucked into high waisted, tailored jeans with boots, but it's her height and build that stand out.]
Just one? [She teases out of habit, but then offers him a quick, apologetic glance.] Right. We need to prioritize anyone in harm's way before making confessions.
[Also, in case he hasn't recognized her, introductions:] Captain Peggy Carter.
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Bucky has experience with the multiverse at least so it's not that strange even if Peggy herself seems completely different. From The Dryad ageless spy to super soldier is an interesting change and he wants to ask questions, but the fires however are the first thing that need addressing. ]
You think I haven't heard that one before? [He gives her a grin to make it clear he's not actually bothered by it. Lord knows Sharon has made enough of them back home. Maybe the Carter humor runs in the family.]
You're the only person I've seen around her Captain.
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[The fact that he's Bucky definitely makes this easier, so she's hoping they can knock this fire right on out together. Like old days perhaps? She's curious to hear about his world and happy to tell him about hers, if he'd like to hear about it of course.]
Right. As you might have gathered, in my universe, I received the serum instead of Steve Rogers. [There's A Way that she says his name that gives away her feelings for her partner.] Howard used the Tesseract to power an indestructible, pilotable suit of armor the size of an M4 Sherman.
Steve piloted it. [She's proud of what he accomplished, but with the Red Room getting their hands on him later, it gets complicated.] We rescued the 107th together and formed the Howling Commandos. The Bucky I know never lost his arm.
Ghost Tours
Bucky has never been a big believer in coincidences, and even less so since he dropped into this world. There aren't many people with metal prosthetics, even in universes completely different from his, even less so on the left arm like him. So he sticks to the shadows, silent as ever to observe the other man as he explores the huts, ignoring ghosts that don't seem even to acknowledge his presence either.
There are some notable differences, like their heights and how their voices sound, but truly, Bucky can't ignore the long hair and metal arm, and he wonders if this is a case like the two Natashas: similar but different enough. When the other speaks up to the shadows, he has no doubt he's found. In any given universe, the Winter Soldier would know when he's followed, after all. But why the fox seems to be fixated on collecting more of 'him' is beyond his comprehension.]
I can see you, [he offers as he steps out of the shadows, momentarily raising his hands, palms out in a non-threatening manner, even if he has a number of weapons on him, including Steve's shield on his back. He's not here to fight, not if he can assess if the man is really another version of himself, and if so, if he has his own mind back like Bucky does.]
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The last time he'd met one though the guy was old and this one clearly is not. He raises his own hands, even though he's unarmed with anything but a spoon, just to make it clear he is unarmed. ]
Just, please tell me you're not here to try and drug me and get me to fall in love with some woman that you think will help us save the universe.
[It is a very specific ask that sounds exasperated like he still can't believe that happened.]
Ghost Tours
[Sure, her life is weird and mystic adjacent, but that's Kanan's area and she lets people handle the things they're more skilled at than her.]
That hasn't really been an option since getting here though.
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Delegate to whom exactly?
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[He'd already grown so much before all the things that happened in other worlds]
But these things just seem to find us here.
arrival - please lmk if this doesn't work/you'd rather I edit something
The random howls coming out of no where are new and unpleasant. She's already tense and annoyed when she sees a glint of something metal heading towards her. She pauses, shading her eyes, to see what it is and deal with it appropriately.
...Barnes? Not the long-haired one, or the short-haired one, but... there's something different about the way this one moves. Oh man. She really hopes he's not still scrambled. Fighting the Winter Soldier in the middle of a desert is so not the way she wants the rest of this day to go.
So she stays right there and waves one arm, like an idiot. Hello, I'm harmless, please underestimate me. Or even, Hello, I'm not trying to sneak up on you, maybe we can get through this together, depending on how this goes.
"Hello over there!"
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Apparently if you're going to be stranded in the desert it's way better to be done so with a pretty red head. He waves back, still going to be cautious as they approach but not show any particular hostility as they cross they sand between them.
"Did you just show up here too?"
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But, well. It's dangerous to assume.
She answers from the distance, more or less allowing him to be the one to close it. The only steps she takes coincidentally put the sun right in her eyes - if this turns into something else, one of the few advantages she'll have will be to suddenly reverse that position. "The desert, yes. The place in general, I've been here a few months. Please tell me you remember talking to a fox."
That makes the explanations so much easier.
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"And now I'm here in... whatever the hell this place is, Folkmore was it?" he doesn't really know why he knows that name just that it was passed on to him. It's still strange, did he really follow a fox for days for no reason?
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God, would he have even spoken to her in English?
That means honesty is going to be paramount. Not just her version of honesty, either, not a web. She's not going to add her name to the list of people who've manipulated him. He deserves better than that.
Actual, uncomfortable, complete honesty. Ugh.
"Folkmore. If we keep following the river, we'll end up back in civilization. I've got some food, and the water's drinkable. I'm not sure how far into Cruel Summer we are, but I've gone exploring out here before and I should recognize something sooner or later."
...okay, so, maybe she's really bad at starting up with that complete honesty thing. But she's going to try! She is!
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"We can walk together if you want?" He was going to suggest that they should but it's rude to come off too pushy to a woman when you're worried you might be dangerous. Not because Bucky has realized this is Natasha or that someone might be worried he's the Winter Soldier at all, but just because he realizes that's the case when you're alone with an unfamiliar woman.
"I'm Bucky, if it helps."
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arrival
There are fires. The water will replenish from upstream.
[ They start exasperatingly chattering about something or another, gesturing behind Steve, and he turns to find a face that he squints at, as if trying to place it. From a distance, he looks just like Bucky. ]
Re: arrival
Multiverse maybe? Or just another good looking blond solider?]
Friendly? [He asks as he approaches from a bit away assuming that this guy even speaks the same language as him. ]
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[ He raises an eyebrow and the selkie he's talking to stalks away. He's not sure if that's a tacit acceptance, or if it's gone to grab reinforcements. ]
They're possessive of the water. I get that, it's their home. But the fires are destroying others.
[ Maybe Bucky over here can help. He decides he'll introduce himself. ]
I'm Steve.
ii. ghost tours
[ She has been keeping to herself, strictly no contact with any of the spirits here. She remembers, what happened the last time she was invested in taking an arsenal. (A girl has better things to do with her time.) ]
[ She sees him enter the salon, from across. Even if she hadn't recognise him, his shape and walk would have been intrigue enough. She ducks past the window, and observes, quickly, very careful to keep to the time. It won't do for people like them to think they're being watched. ]
[ She pushes open the door and elegantly avoids walking too close to any of the other ghosts here, and comes up to where he's sitting, at the bar. ]
I wouldn't say that.
[ After all, he's only seen when it's too late, isn't it? She flashes a quick smile. ]
You are who I think you are.
[ His alternates are here. But she has circled the realities enough. This is the one she knows. ]
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Bucky has no logic when it comes to Natasha at this moment. Just a big smile as he stands up from his seat to take her in. ]
Darling now aren't you a sight for sore eyes?
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[ She reaches up to touch his cheek, her thumb brushing his cheekbone, and look into his eyes. Yes. It is better to look at him as she hurts him. ]
[ (He has so faithfully been her shadow. She is not so foolish to think she would be alive now if he hadn't been watching over her.) ]
[ Softly, (his first warning) ]
What do you remember?
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He leans his cheek into her hand and hums for a moment.]
You left me in bed to go save Clint in Madripoor because Bobbi asked you to is the last thing I saw you before the fox brought me here. [Maybe the 'left me in bed' was little bit of an overstatement, it was an early morning she left and he could have gotten up he was just tired.]
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Clint does get into trouble a lot.
[ Natasha knows she doesn't want to 'stay out of it'; she's an Avenger, they're all family. She has tried, so often, to stand on her own, to spin alone at the end of the thread. So often, and failed as often. ]
As do you.
[ — turns out she has to tease, just a little, even if he's the one who's been saving her lately. ]
Do you remember what the fox said to you?
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I am not nearly as stupid as Clint Barton. [A frown]
[He thinks on that for a moment before shrugging it off.]
Something about a new world and myths and legends and having to experience it.
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ghosties
Despite coming dressed appropriately, the lure of a crisp, icebox of a building out of the sun was impossible to refuse. So much so that she ignored how it practically screamed trap.
The ghosts are unexpected, and unnerving. Rogue avoids their paths as best as possible, continuing to float quietly forward in attempts to find some sort of exit without an angry ghost fight. The sound of a more tangible voice, one that almost sounds familiar maybe, draws her towards the unmanned bar.
The arm's a dead, shiny give away, but it looks foreign to her now that she's far more familiar with the vibranium one. This one looks like the Bucky Barnes from her universe, at least the one she remembers fighting with in Pleasant Hill. She lets her feet scuff against the floor when she's just out of arm's length from him.]
You'll be waitin' a long time for a pour here. [A beat.] Honestly, ah think it's better we don't pull their attentions.