![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
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's easy to make new allies in this world, too.
[He's happily drowning in them, now. It's kind of amazing.]
What's the, uh. Ultimate evil?
no subject
[She shakes her head as she thinks back. She might as well lay it all out, for the other CJ's judgement.]
I served as his general, but that whole experience caused me to realize that I'm just not cut out for true, heartless evil. It was fun when we were just destroying things and collecting forbidden artifacts! But... actually trying to destroy everything and everyone? That felt distinctly less fun! And most importantly, not right.
no subject
He offers up a reassuring smile.]
That must be why you're a Legend. You're here for non-evil destruction and adventuring for treasure and stuff. You can be your own general.
no subject
Of- of course! Now I can be the general of my own destiny! [She balls a fist of determination.] I thank you for your understanding and your words of wisdom, Other CJ. You have helped me to feel more confident in my heart about my new life as a Legend! You truly get me! [Now she flashes a smile at the dog, while they continue moving along.]
no subject
O-of course. I mean- we're comrades in arms now, right? We defeated a big monster together. [Sorry, giganto-dog.] It's easy to understand someone when you share a victory.
no subject
This is the type of bond that is forged through the fire of combat...!
[She flips back to give him a friendly punch to the shoulder, before returning to her position. And she doesn't mind his tears. Clearly he must be moved by her passion!]
I'm used to having felt that experience with my clan in the past... This is my first time experiencing it with an unaffiliated stranger! Well, we are connected by our initials. There is that! But this bodes well, Other CJ. We can make for great allies, as if fighters from the same clan!
[It is a relief of her to find someone else she gets along with so well outside of the Foot!]
no subject
But no!! No death. Only the joy of a very old dream in the process of being fulfilled. He's so lucky. It isn't the first time, but he's... actually kind of grateful to Thirteen for granting him this moment.]
I... I feel the same way! I hope we can be, um. Friends. Good friends!
[Or is that too much? Maybe he should have said allies. Oh well, too late now. Also, they're approaching the edge of the little makeshift town, so it's about time to say farewell to their new dog friend.]
no subject
Why yes, I am quite open to friendship! [Now that she no longer has her position in the Foot holding her back from befriending potential enemies. And heroes often do seem to have friends, so she thinks she's on the right track making more!] And we do seem well-qualified for it thus far!
So why not let it be so? My friends call me Casey by the way!
[With that, she turns her attention to the dog as they see it off. She grasps the dog's head and leans forward to speak directly to it, smiling even as it makes an attempt to bite her.]
You will find your place out there. Just as I have! Now go and carve your new path!
no subject
[Oh this is just going to get harder, isn't it.
He watches as she deals with the dog - very brave of her to face it head-on, that sure does seem like his mom - and once she's out of the way,]
And don't cause any more trouble for the ghosts, either! Leave their houses alone. Find a better home that suits you.
[He gives the dog's tail a light thump, coaxing it to scamper off into the open desert, very soon to vanish over the nearest dune. That... felt good, yeah. Much better than killing it. He smiles at- at Casey.]
no subject
She gives an approving smile as the Other CJ sees the dog off, then releases it and watches it go with a warm smile. And she flicks a tear from his eye, before smiling back at the guy.]
I apologize if I seem too emotional! I just hope for the best for that beast. It's almost like seeing my own pupil off! [Or some other kind of person one teaches and raises!]
no subject
He wonders if-
-no, no. He needs to keep them separate! He doesn't want to repeat the mistake he'd made with sensei before. This isn't his mom, it can't be his mom, she just looks and sounds and acts like-]
You're not too emotional! I mean, it's okay if you are. I actually cry really easily, so it'd be weird if I pointed fingers for it. [He shields his eyes as he scans the horizon. It's still really hot out, and there's nothing but sand for miles.] I hope it does good out there, too.
no subject
[She smiles and sniffles while releasing a few more tears, and she places a hand on his shoulder.]
A true warrior does not fear their own tears! So... sometimes you need a good cry! [She looks on over the horizon as well.] I hope so as well. And more than that. I have faith! After our talk, I can't help but believe in that dog's chances out there! Perhaps I'll see if I can find it out there and check up on its progress someday...!
no subject
[And maybe she won't notice or be weirded out when he leans subtly into that hand against his shoulder, instinctively drawn to it. These bursts of familiarity are so jarring, but it feels good, too.]
no subject
She stands proud, with her hands on her side, and she grins as she looks back at him.]
I must thank you for this, Other CJ. My first quest in this world has been more enjoyable and fulfilling than I expected! You have done well. [He would make for a great underling. No wait, ally! Ally!]
no subject
sonHer enthusiasm is so very infectious, and he catches himself smiling along with her.]
Um- thank you! You too! You're amazing, I'm... I'm glad I got to meet you here!
[He wishes he could tell her why, truthfully, but he can't bring himself to say it just yet. He opens his mouth to say something else - fumble over something, ask to keep exploring together, anything - but his mask blips, and he is reminded-]
Ah, shoot! I'm supposed to meet up with someone soon. [Whyyy did he actually have a schedule today! He doesn't want to leave his mom, but he doesn't want to ditch.] Want a guide back to the train station? Or do you want to stay here and explore more? I-I'd love to meet up with you again later, if that's okay!
no subject
I will remain here for the time being and continue adventuring! There is much to explore and possible foes to vanquish. [It's her first day as a Legend. She feels like she has to meet a good quota of dispensing justice here!]
It is good that you are punctual. That is a key part of etiquette! Go on now. I would be glad to meet you again as well! [She points a challenging finger at him.] You do owe me a spar, after all!
no subject
Right, right! We can spar, and hang out, and... whatever! I look forward to it.
[This at least buys him time to think about where to go, next.]
Until then... bye, Casey!
[he shifts back into his bird form and flutters off, disappearing over a rooftop.
...And maybe he hops back when she's not looking and peers over the edge, watching her a little bit longer before he leaves for real. That's his mom... she's really here, in the flesh. Even if she doesn't remember him, he can't believe this is happening.]