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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
He didn’t want to believe he would have. He couldn’t really think he would have. But he honestly wasn’t sure, and that troubled him more than a little bit.
This story was certainly surprising. “They simply disappeared and you don’t know why or how?” he said. “Did Sailor Moon call them to her?”
no subject
And yet somehow she had done it, and had managed to steal back the crystals as he was frozen in the effects of Pluto. But to him no time had passed and the crystals had simply vanished.
"Correct, I held them in my hand, inches apart. Just as they were about to touch and erase it all, they vanished. She only called out to the fallen guardian, and to the rabbit. The one who awoken as the next Sailor Moon. And with the crystal once more, Sailor Moon and her future King were the ones who destroyed me.
But it seems I have been given another chance. In this world it may be possible to achieve the full potential that I have."
no subject
He frowned in concern at the final statements. "Do you truly believe the Fox will allow you free reign to do whatever you wish here?" Yes, there was the talk of true potential, but surely if everyone unleashed all their powers, the world would be destroyed many times over. That was illogical and made no sense. Surely there were some ground rules that everyone would be forced to abide by.
no subject
He would not be a mere puppet again, and he had resisted Wiseman's control, and Demande would find a way to overcome any influence the fox attempted. In time he would fulfill his full potential and he would grow his power, and then not only would he destory the silver crystal that had found its way to this world, but he would have the fox kneel before him as well. To that end, he had found that there quite a few who willing to appose the so called god.
"For now though, I will play along with the goals and purpose that she has put forward. Looking for the balance between light and dark, to see each in the other."
no subject
What a bizarre thought.
"And what if in playing along you end up discovering you are coming to see things quite differently?" he had to ask.
no subject
But it wasn't likely, rather Demande would force others to come to see things his way. He would force them to bend to his will and see things as they truly were, to embrace the true nature in which the light and goodness were not the absolutes that everyone believed them to be.
"And what is it that you hope to gain from your existence in this world?"
no subject
“As of yet, I do not know. Right now I want to learn more about this world and our purposes here. It would be foolish to blunder ahead without clearly understanding both.”
no subject
Demande gestured to one of the spirits that passed by, seeming to ignore them in favor of the task at hand. It served some purpose that it had been given to carry out, one which it completed without contemplation or objection. Whatever Demande's purpose was, it would be what he determined it to be.
"The true question is what new gifts we have been given to fulfill the roles that we are to fill. Don't tell me you haven't felt it stirring within, the subtle change and shift in power."
no subject
“We are not drones as they appear to be,” he said. “So I would doubt our purpose is anything that trivial.”
He nodded slowly, cautiously. “I have felt it.” He still wasn’t sure what form it was going to take, but there was absolutely something there. He wasn’t, however, certain he would want to share it with this other version of himself. If they ended up enemies, as they very well might, he would prefer to keep at least some secrets until they met in battle. “It seems to manifest differently in each person.” He had seen plenty of wings of all kinds, and horns, and strange animals that he wasn’t sure were actually animals. There were also those with more subtle physical changes. For each of them he saw, he wondered what the full scope of their new power was, and what his would be. It was taking its time to fully manifest in him, for some reason. Perhaps if he got into a dangerous situation, which seemed likely in this place, it would happen.
"I also wonder why for some it is fairly easy to determine their Roles, while for others it is not."
no subject
Demande was confident in his abilities and self, and so the changes wouldn't manifest as quickly or as drastically as one struggling to define who and what they were. The role he was assigned wasn't something that he cared much about, just how he could use the fox and this world to fulfill his own wishes.
"Tell me, how clearly can you see yourself, how firm of a grip do you have on that power?"
Stepping forward once more, for the first time he touched the doppleganger, placing a hand on Diamond's shoulder. Around him the shadows seemed to darken and dance.
"We can leave this place and show them all the strength of the Black Moon Clan."
no subject
Whatever his new powers were, he could feel them stirring within him all the more at the other him’s words. But he still did not really know what they were to be.
He stiffened at the other’s touch. An alliance? Why would such a thing even be suggested now that it was clear how different their goals truly were? How could he trust this person any more than he could trust Wiseman? On some things they were the same, at least enough that he could understand some of the other’s thoughts and feelings. And understanding even some of the other’s darkness made him very leery. This other him had not had the awakening that he had had, and since their goals were so vastly different in the first place, perhaps he never would or could. That made him very dangerous.
“I have no desire to conquer and subjugate this world,” Diamond said at last. “Right now I just want to learn more about it and look for the others of our Clan, if perhaps any of them have been brought here as well.” He hoped the most that Sapphire had.
no subject
He hadn't mentioned the subjugation or demise of any, but it had shown that this version of himself had become weakened, less resolved to what was necessary to restore the true glory of the Black Moon Clan. This Diamond has lost it's brilliance and was clouded by doubt and failure.
"We can find those of our clan, and learn the ways of this world, adding to our numbers by finding those who reside here and are sympathetic to our cause. Who know also are willing to turn against the light, who would not be complacent in a passive world without conflict or advancement."
no subject
“If there are any others of our Clan here, I intend to find them,” he agrees. “And I am going to learn all that I can of how this world works. Only then will I decide what I am going to do about it.”
Perhaps no one else from the Clan is here. Perhaps the best option will be to find a way to return home, if he can indeed do so and stay alive. Or ... if he goes back, will he just be dead?
That is another thing he must learn about this place. Perhaps he can even learn how the Fox is bringing people here and he can save Sapphire, if he isn’t already here.
For now, he debates whether to move on. The problem is, in this place, there only seems to be one path. He is probably stuck with traveling with the other until they discover the exit.