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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.
Flames to Embers
It's probably going to be a shock for Bucky to see him. Steve Rogers still small and scrawny is not how his best friend looks back home. He knows that from everything Steve and Natasha and Tony have told him.
And this is not the Bucky from his universe who is old and living a fulfilled life doing good work. He does have a similar haircut though.
The flames have started to die down thanks to the confession but Steve knows he needs to add his own to truly put them out. He clears his throat and speaks plainly. "A lot of people say it's not my fault what I did under the control of the Red Room but it will always feel like my fault."
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It's such a shock that it takes him a moment to realize what Steve has even said and when he parses it, he shakes his head and laughs. "Of course you'd say that. You're you."
It's the second confession that haunts him. What Steve did in the Red Room? What could Steve had done there? That had been him, hadn't it?
"You weren't ever in the Red Room, were you? Am I missing something?"
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"I didn't get the serum in my universe. Peggy did. Things worked out a little differently." And those little differences led to Steve being in the Red Room and being his world's Winter Soldier though he never got the title.
The fire starts fully dying out. Two confessions have made whatever magic that fuels it die out. It won't spread now.
"There obviously a lot more to it but those are the important things," he explains. "But I don't mind asking questions."
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It's a stupid question to ask considering he's currently standing in a different universe from his own but the idea that there's another universe with a different Steve, a Steve that went through what he went through doesn't seem fair. No one should have to be the Winter Soldier.
"HYDRA didn't give you the serum?"
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While Hydra took him out of the suit and used the power source the Red Room kept him in the suit. He and the Hydra Stomper were one and only because he had to pilot it.
Steve smiles a little. "Different universes are very real. You're going to hear a whole bunch about them here. I could try to explain over something to eat?"
The fire is out. There's not much more they can do about it unless they go searching through the rubble.
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"So food is always something I want. If the fires die down because I just confessed something, I'm sure I've got plenty of dirty secrets to go around."
And no matter what, this is Steve. Maybe a different one, to be sure, but still Steve Rogers. Still his best friend.
no subject
He motions for Bucky to follow him. "Come on, we're close to one of my favorite sandwich shops. We can talk a little more over some lunch."
This Steve has a small limp that's barely noticable but someone who knows him as well as Bucky will probably pick up on it. He certainly didn't have it when they were kids.
"Oh and I guess, welcome to Folkmore."
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When he says one of his favorite sandwich shops is nearby, Bucky realizes that yeah, he's hungry. Starving, really.
"Folkmore? I think the fox explained that but I was too stuck on the fact that it was a fox that I didn't pay as much attention as I should have."
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He doesn't trust that. It doesn't make sense and frankly the Trials can be cruel. Anyone who truly meant to help wouldn't be so heartless. This Trial is a perfect example. The locals are suffering and they can't stop it.
"Outside of that, it's just kind of a nice place to live." It's peaceful and quiet most of the time. There's good people he's met and made friends with. He's got his Peggy. It's great.
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He doesn't think a fox named Thirteen giving him tests is going to make him better at anything, either, but if that's the prevailing opinion, he'll go with it.
"Except maybe I could clip some time off that mile run of mine. Always room to beat your best."
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He opens the door to a surprisingly old fashioned looking deli and there's a hare spirit behind the counter who greets Steve as he walks in. Steve waves clearly used to the local spirits. He's been here awhile.
"It's that bad mental health she'll claim to want to help you with." He stands near the counter so Bucky can have some time with the menu. "These Trials are supposed to help you deal with all that but most of us are skeptical about that."
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"Yeah, probably. She'll have her work cut out for her with that one, though. I've been struggling for a long time. It's better than it was but it's never gonna be the me I used to be. I'm never gonna be me in 1943 ever again."
Is that a good thing? In some ways, he thinks so. He just doesn't know how to reconcile that with his current self sometimes.
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"None of us were going to be the same after the war," he muses. "Brainwashing and torture didn't help."
Steve's upfront about what happened to him with a few people. He'd never keep it from Bucky because Bucky went through the same stuff. Just a slightly different flavor.
He orders his usual from the rabbit. Clearly he comes here a lot. "I've only really met one person who thinks this place is really meant to help us. Everyone else is kinda skeptical."
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"That person probably has the kinda optimism we used to have," Bucky says. "I miss that about us. We used to have a hell of a lot of fun."
All right, so this isn't his Steve. Steve Rogers is Steve Rogers no matter what version it is. He's always going to be his best friend even if time and circumstances separate them.
no subject
But there's always room for one more, especially Bucky.
"We can still have a lot of fun," he argues with a slight roll of his eyes. "It'll just have a cynical edge. Maybe we look over our shoulder a little more."
He is trying very hard to push past what was done to him and live as normal of a life as possible in this weird magical fairy tale land.
no subject
The booth's a comfortable fit and that's nice, considering some places just feel too small and too tight for him after being the soldier. This one is just right and even though he doesn't have the door view, Steve does, and Bucky thinks he can trust any version of Steve Rogers. That's got to be a constant.
"Having people around I can trust will help a lot with it, though."
no subject
There's no hint of jealousy about this other Steve. He likes the bigger, serumed version of himself a lot. He's a great guy.
"And there's my Peggy Carter who got the serum instead of me. She's incredible." And yes, love slips into his tone when he talks about her. She's clearly the love of his life and he doesn't see a point in hiding it.
"And then there are some of the Avengers here. Steve's team of other superheroes. Tony Stark. Natasha Romanoff. Clint Barton." Steve hasn't met all of them but he knows of them. He's close to Natasha. "You've got plenty of people to watch your back, pal."
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He wants to meet the other people Steve knows, too, but he doesn't know that they'll meet him necessarily. He's a criminal, after all, even if he's gotten a pardon from the US government for that.
"Not sure Tony Stark's gonna want to have my back, though. He's probably gonna want to kill me like the last time I saw him."
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He shakes his head. "Tony's met a few Bucky's not. Version of us can come and go. He hasn't killed a single one as far as I know. I think you'll find him more forgiving than you expect."
Because Tony's had a bit of time to work on things, Steve's optimistic that he can welcome this new Bucky too.
no subject
Bucky is wary of any creature that has the power to bring you to a new world and he's definitely going to be looking over his shoulder while he's here.
"I'm gonna want to meet your version of Peggy, though, soon as I can."
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Of course, he will push and he will kind of be a pain in the ass about it the more Bucky fights him because that's just how he is.
"You will. We're, uh, usually together." And now he's blushing a little but he's happy.
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It feels good to be able to tease Steve because it is Steve no matter where he's come from or what the differences are. He knows his face is split wide with a smile.
"Cause I can still give you lessons if you need them."
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He's not really that annoyed at the teasing. It's the principle of the thing. He's got to give as good as he gets when it comes to their friendship. It's a matter of habit, really.
"Don't need you to play wingman for me."
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Modern dating is nothing like what it used to be, especially when electronics come along with it.
"I'm not the same guy I used to be and it made it more difficult, I think. I'm more difficult."
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Because Steve has his moods. There are times he doesn't want to be around people, even the woman he loves. There are times the paranoia and fear grips him so hard it's like an asthma attack.
"But hey, if I can figure it out after being brainwashed on top of every other reason women didn't want to date me, you can figure it out too." He gives an encouraging smile.
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