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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
Different for a lot of reasons, not least of all because their normal dynamic has changed a lot since then.
The prospect of becoming transparent, ghost-like even, is a new detail. Nothing that he could see himself getting into, but another piece of the puzzle at least. It doesn't take a huge leap of logic for him to suspect that Bruce found out the hard way, considering the state he's in here. They've kept the conversation going, but that death, his but not his, still feels like a heavy weight in the air between them. ]
I would guess that personal revelations have more inherent power, more psychic energy? I feel like that would be a question for someone like Raven. [ Talking to himself a bit here, he's not expecting Bruce to know who that is. Maybe they should just try to make a freaking list. ] Are all social interactions equal? Is there even a way to tell?
[ There's a lot to think about. He doesn't anticipate getting much sleep anytime soon. He shakes his head, trying to shrug off the restlessness that's creeping in on him. ]
Do you mind if I get a glass of water or something?
[ Alfred would have already had tea, possibly before he even walked in the door. They're all a little hopeless without him, he figures they all have that in common. Is it also an excuse to look around a bit more? Maybe. ]
cw disordered drinking
[He waves a hand casually in the direction of the kitchen -- not much more than a sink, a stove, a pantry, and some cabinets on the other side of the counter/breakfast bar thing that has no business being in a hobbit hole.]
Glasses are in the cabinet on the right.
[It's basically permission to lightly snoop. Dick can have a look around. The kitchen's tidy but not very lived in, doesn't get much use, and there's only enough flatware for two people at most. No roommates or live-in partners. The house is clean, though; Bruce cleans better than he cooks. From the kitchen, Dick will be able to see down a hall into a sliver of bedroom, similarly way too sleek and modern, but with unmade sheets and a little more clutter. The pantry door's shut, but if Dick opens it, there's rough wooden stairs leading down into a cellar.
Theeere's also a liquor cabinet, and the bottles inside, visible through the glass, are good, strong, and in varying states of partially empty. None are entirely untouched. Two of the four whiskey tumblers perched neatly upside down on top of it don't have any dust: this gets used, both to entertain guests and alone, but there aren't really parties here.]
I haven't tested whether one kind of interaction yields more energy than another, [Bruce says thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair as Dick goes; he doesn't ask who Raven is, obviously some kind of telepath.] Might be worth looking into.
[It'd give a motive for the confession-focused Trials. It'd almost be a relief, honestly, if that was it -- if Thirteen was just trying to maximize the energy yield on her investments, and didn't care about trading in secrets.]
no subject
Possibly only with the intention of prying information out of them to add to the collective. Still better than the alternative of locking himself in a cave and refusing to even look at other people, though maybe he would have still been doing that if he hadn't been punished for it already.
He's told Bruce before that he would have managed fine without him, things would have worked out, but when he said that he admittedly hadn't been thinking about what would have happened if he was there and he died on Bruce's watch. God, it's still such a weird thing to think about, despite the fact that he's had more brushes with death than he'd care to count.
By the time he makes it back out into the front room he has a glass of water for Bruce too — there is no possible way that this man has adequately hydrated since he arrived unless he was literally underwater at some point — which he sets down before returning to his spot on the couch with his own glass. ]
The tricky part is figuring out how to measure that, I'd be surprised if Thirteen would willingly admit that there's a significant difference any more than she'd tell us why she's doing this in the first place. At least we know that it's worked that way with the confessions lately. [ Then he makes a face, eyebrows furrowing briefly. ] If this is how she celebrates summer I bet the Halloween season is going to be fun. How many of these have you been through anyway?
no subject
Thirteen -- the Fox -- is a familiar sort of person.
He gives a noncommittal half-shrug at the question.]
Depends on how you count them. I'd say four, if the bonfire secrets and wildfire secrets count as two separate events.
[He's thinking out potential test conditions, and it shows in his tone.]
I'll see what I can find out. My next move is going to be to approach the headmistresses. Talk to them. Find out what makes them tick.
[Is there anything they want? What are they afraid of? How do they think? Where are their levers?]
no subject
Talking to them should offer some insight, no matter how dodgy they may be about revealing anything. It's hard to do that in a way that's not utterly transparent of course, but if anyone can keep their true intentions vague at best it's Bruce. Maybe he can sidle his way in to a few casual conversations at some point too.
Is there any point in pretending that Bruce isn't important to him? Possibly not. It doesn't matter that he's different, that he's from another Earth. He's Bruce and that's his dad, that's just how it is. ]
At least we've got somewhat direct access to those.
[ He takes another drink of his water, contemplative. As much as he's trying to focus on the present there's a lot of conflicting history here that could become a problem. A whole laundry list of people who hate them, who might not even exist on Bruce's Earth, maybe some that he wouldn't recognize in turn, but that's not all. ]
Did Steph tell you a lot about where we're from?
no subject
[He's tense. The tension is subtle -- not in his face, but in the muscles of his back, the way he holds himself, the way he reaches for the glass of water. Thanks, kid, Dick is absolutely right that Bruce is a mess alone and could be taking better care of himself.]
Mostly about -- the, uh, field partners she knows, that I didn't take on.
[Despite the difficulty of the subject, Bruce is listening. Go on -- tell him about what you feel is important.]
no subject
Jason Todd, he became Robin after me. [ Abruptly. The bitterness on both sides had been tangible, after he parted ways with Batman, just another circumstance foisted off on the poor kid that he didn't deserve. ] He did die.
[ There's no sugar-coating that one, not now. Unfortunately Bruce would have to know all too well what that was like, Dick doesn't have to tell him that his Bruce calls it his worst failure. Just like he would understand this different perspective, where he was the Robin that died. ]
He was inadvertently brought back a few months later, another long story, but he... There were, and still are, a lot of unresolved issues between him and the rest of us. But especially with Batman.
[ A pause, lips pressed together, then dryly— ]
If he met you here he'd probably punch you in the face as his way of saying hello. Best case scenario.