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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
It almost -- almost -- assuages the guilt he felt leaving it out the first time, to have it dragged out of him, here.
It's really only the last part that hurt. But he'd had to, to get the last of it put out, as quickly as possible -- it was all he could think of.
It was that, or admit how lonely he really was, that everyone he'd loved was gone or dead, save one too-loyal old man on his payroll. And Bruce had already been one kind of pathetic in this interaction; he didn't need to pile on others.]
I'll start a sweep, take the doors on the right.
[And he starts to check the first floor apartments on the right-hand side of the hallway -- pushing open the doors that are unlocked, and the ones that aren't....are kicked in with surprising ease.]
no subject
[ she acknowledges, clearly used to working as part of a team and communicating even in tense situations. This is a far less dangerous situation than the sort she usually deals with; the fire doesn’t burn her, and even being crushed by a building won’t leave her dead for long… no, this tension comes from the aftershock of vulnerability, the frustrated anger at the spirits being treated as pawns.
The spirits don’t even seem to be angry about it, more frightened and resigned than anything, and that tears at her heart. She talks to them about the kind of help they have available, sets up a small first aid station, and leaves someone who seems competent a few more instructions to be followed to better prepare. By the time she joins Bruce, he’s more than halfway done with the first floor.
She decides to let him kick down the doors and moves to help direct any confused and frightened spirits outside. ]
cw collapsing buildings/crushing/mass death
It's all --
-- it's all a little Metropolis, except in this case, there was something he could do, and he'd done it. The building hadn't collapsed. There weren't hundreds, hundreds of people in there, unable to get out, with him, outside, able to do nothing, not enough--
He doesn't look at the peeled wallpaper, the scorch marks, and think about the last place he saw fire damage like that.
They cover the whole place, between them, checking maintenance halls and boiler rooms and emergency stairwells. One person with x-ray vision or super-hearing could probably have done it faster, but Bruce and Natasha are what they have, and none of the spirits seem to be complaining.
Thank God he did that setup work. He's got his picture up behind the bar in Whalefall with a DO NOT ADMIT THIS PERSON note, he's left mess all over Folkmore -- he built his reputation last month, and one chaotic afternoon, he knows from experience, won't undo it. But, when he's checked to his satisfaction that the building is actually evacuated, and is back at the little triage station outside, he pushes his hair back with sooty, sweaty hands, and stretches out a crick in his back and neck, and sighs:]
Well, that's my good deed for the decade. Ouch. Gonna feel that tomorrow.
[He gives an illustrative roll of his shoulder, his arm. Getting old!]
no subject
It would have been easier with ‘one of the big ones’, one of the powerful friends she ‘just so happens’ to have, but she doesn’t want to tempt fate - or Thirteen - and call anyone else here. The lack of fire, literal and figurative, is the best thing about this. Usually if she’s involved in evacuation efforts, it’s while being attacked.
There is no loss of life. The burns, abrasions, and few broken bones can be treated.
All this in the less than three minutes it had taken her and Bruce to confess. How many spirits would have died if they hadn’t? She is so coldly furious.
She’s crouched down beside a family. The lamb spirit girl has just stopped trembling, and is clutching a stuffed lion with all her strength. She’s just finished leading her through a breathing exercise when Bruce makes an exaggerated motion with his arm and claims this as his good deed of the decade.
Ah yes, the mask. Well. She’ll make it easier on him.
Natasha straightens and stretches, arching her back in a way that most people would have a hard time not paying some attention to. ]
I want a drink and a shower and not necessarily in that order.
[ Go on, be sleazy, it’s fine. She’s leaving him the open door. ]
no subject
...is exhaustion. A bone-deep weariness, of knowing he's set himself up to be the kind of person to chase that bait, after he's just heard about how she sacrificed the closest thing to love she's ever known for the sake of humanity's survival.
But it's the cover that lets him operate, that makes Bruce Wayne being Batman so unbelievable.]
I'd kill for a drink, [he says, the smile slipping back into place, tired but smooth.] After all that, there's probably enough energy on this thing to buy out a bar. [He taps the breast pocket the spoon's in.] Or at least everything in it. What d'you say?
[As though he'd been thinking about Lore while doing this. As though he's trading a rescue for currency he can trade for alcohol. The mother sheep gives him a judgy, but resigned and tired, look.]
no subject
I suppose you’ve earned the right to buy me a drink.
[ She turns to murmur some quiet encouragement and further instructions to the spirit who’d been helping to manage the triage, giving her relic contact.
Then she slips her hands into some of her vest’s many pockets and tilts her shoulders toward the street. ]
Let’s go.
no subject
Once they're out of earshot of the little animal people, though, Bruce lets out a breath, letting his shoulders slump, the smile slipping off again.]
Christ, [he sighs.] I should have known she'd take hostages. Threaten the public.
[They always do -- that's always the next step. When they get too big for robbing banks, they move on to bombs, bioweapons. Get the city to hand what they want over to them instead. Bruce supposes it's less work.]
no subject
When the spirits said something bad would happen, I thought it would happen to us.
[ She’d been prepared to deal with that, had participated but not at all felt desperate. This… changes things.
The spirits had no other lives besides the ones they had in Folkmore. This was their home. They should not be used in this way.
She runs a hand over her braided hair and sighs, compressing her anger until it can come out at a useful time. She still feels… raw, at the edges. Rattled. If she had to make a snap judgement right now, she’d still trust it, but she knows she’s compromised. Better to get some distance. ]
I really could use that drink.
no subject
[It's good to hear, in a small way, that while they were both putting on a show, neither of them was kidding about that.]
Would have gone alone, if you wanted to take off.
[It's another come-at-it-sideways invitation -- a drink is happening, it's happening today, and Natasha can stay or go as she pleases. There's no pressure, no sense of owing her a drink or owing him her presence, but there's no avoidance, either. She's welcome to recover from all that in the company of the person who experienced it with her, he doesn't object, but there's no angling for anything. Just -- god, that was far from the worst thing Bruce has lived through, but it kind of sucked for them both.]
no subject
It's considerate, to offer her an out. She doesn't want to take it, and not the least because all of her training screams at her not to admit to a vulnerability. It's too late for that; it wouldn't have worked if she hadn't been vulnerable. The only thing she can do now is try to shore it up. ]
It's better to make a clean cut.
[ She’s had enough time to be able to look him in the eyes again, at least. And she’s sure he has something he wants to say about what he showed her. Better to get it over with than try to avoid each other. It’s a small Folkmore after all. It will be far more awkward to try to bring it up at some point in the future. 'Hey, remember that time we spilled our guts in front of a fire?' Spare her. ]
Do you want to just go somewhere quiet and summon a bottle of something, or actually head to the bar?
[ She doesn't know how deeply into his persona he's going to need to be right now. ]
no subject
Fuck the bar.
[He doesn't want to have his other face on. He doesn't want to be overheard. Pulling up a bottle of something and breaking some open container laws while they debrief, or recover, or whatever this is is Bruce's speed if it's hers.]
no subject
We can go in, wash up, and slip out the back. [ In case they're being watched; she can tell he won't enjoy the sort of notoriety that rescuing those people will engender. Getting a little space should do the trick, especially if they shake off the shoot. Then they're just two Star Children out for a walk. ]
I know a place nearby we can go after that.