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August-September 2024 Test Drive Meme
August-September 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 a canon item from home, 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: Potential Wilderness Survival, Potential Death
New Star Children arrive in Amrita Academy, the largest school in Folkmore. They might arrive in the medical wing, or they could arrive in areas of the school that don't look like a school at all: forests with animals to hunt or gather, including for their medicinal properties; rocky crags with climbing routes; fields full of growing grains; meadows with sheep covered in soft wool; lakes and rivers with unusual denizens. It's like a miniature of Folkmore all in one school.
A fox with a clipped ear and a few scars greets each Star Child upon arrival. She explains that while things can be summoned with Lore, the best survivors learn to scavenge and to find what they need. New Star Children haven't earned much Lore yet, so that surely applies to them double. In fact, as befits a survival school, there are items that will help Star Children survive hidden all around and immediately outside the school. Star Children are directed to make a list on their Relic of everything they think they need to survive. Once made, the list cannot be changed. They will be more likely to find those items than others (though it will not be impossible).
Race, jog, or stroll around the expansive school in search of these items: clothes, bags, first aid kits, tents, survival supplies, etc. They might be harder to find than expected as they will be miniature and in little cubes aka survival squares (a misnomer). These cubes may be tucked away above, below, beside, or inside something. They also may float against a rock face or in the air among tree branches. The most likely locations are those densest in Lore. The longer Star Children explore, the more they will realize that these cubes are best and most easily obtained by working together. In fact, they will try to dodge and avoid the grip of a Star Child more than ten feet away from any other Star Child. Perhaps that's because two Star Children interacting are creating Lore and a Lore dense location? Once two Star Children touch the cube at the same time, the cube will disappear, and the item inside will grow to full size. Congratulations on being one step closer to survival. Remember to share.
Come mid-September, few cubes will remain inside the school. Star Children will have to check the perimeter of the school to find more survival squares. That task grows exponentially harder as the cubes are in the molasses-thick moat of concentrated Lore surrounding the school. Should anyone dip their spoon in the moat, in the Lorasses if you will, they will find that it tastes sweet, a rich spicy sweetness. Amazing! Less amazing? It is impossible to get past the moat of Lorasses. No matter how strong a swimmer or oarsman, it is impossible to make headway through or atop the Lorasses. Anyone attempting to fly across the moat will find themselves slapped by a giant sticky slappy hand rising like a goliath from the depths with perfect aim. Star Children can find themselves slapped anywhere from the shore to the center of the school. Star Children are free to get creative with ways to dig the survival squares out of the Lorasses, but beware! They'll have difficulty freeing themselves on their own from the sticky substance, should they fall in.
Since Star Children are likely to find themselves in sticky situations quite literally, they may be pleased to know that Amrita Academy has showers available for use. Unfortunately, due to one student's experiment, the shampoo is all made of beer. That's right, beer. It's good for one's hair! Or so the study should demonstrate. Be sure to fill out a feedback card outside the locker rooms.
New Star Children arrive in Amrita Academy, the largest school in Folkmore. They might arrive in the medical wing, or they could arrive in areas of the school that don't look like a school at all: forests with animals to hunt or gather, including for their medicinal properties; rocky crags with climbing routes; fields full of growing grains; meadows with sheep covered in soft wool; lakes and rivers with unusual denizens. It's like a miniature of Folkmore all in one school.
A fox with a clipped ear and a few scars greets each Star Child upon arrival. She explains that while things can be summoned with Lore, the best survivors learn to scavenge and to find what they need. New Star Children haven't earned much Lore yet, so that surely applies to them double. In fact, as befits a survival school, there are items that will help Star Children survive hidden all around and immediately outside the school. Star Children are directed to make a list on their Relic of everything they think they need to survive. Once made, the list cannot be changed. They will be more likely to find those items than others (though it will not be impossible).
Race, jog, or stroll around the expansive school in search of these items: clothes, bags, first aid kits, tents, survival supplies, etc. They might be harder to find than expected as they will be miniature and in little cubes aka survival squares (a misnomer). These cubes may be tucked away above, below, beside, or inside something. They also may float against a rock face or in the air among tree branches. The most likely locations are those densest in Lore. The longer Star Children explore, the more they will realize that these cubes are best and most easily obtained by working together. In fact, they will try to dodge and avoid the grip of a Star Child more than ten feet away from any other Star Child. Perhaps that's because two Star Children interacting are creating Lore and a Lore dense location? Once two Star Children touch the cube at the same time, the cube will disappear, and the item inside will grow to full size. Congratulations on being one step closer to survival. Remember to share.
Come mid-September, few cubes will remain inside the school. Star Children will have to check the perimeter of the school to find more survival squares. That task grows exponentially harder as the cubes are in the molasses-thick moat of concentrated Lore surrounding the school. Should anyone dip their spoon in the moat, in the Lorasses if you will, they will find that it tastes sweet, a rich spicy sweetness. Amazing! Less amazing? It is impossible to get past the moat of Lorasses. No matter how strong a swimmer or oarsman, it is impossible to make headway through or atop the Lorasses. Anyone attempting to fly across the moat will find themselves slapped by a giant sticky slappy hand rising like a goliath from the depths with perfect aim. Star Children can find themselves slapped anywhere from the shore to the center of the school. Star Children are free to get creative with ways to dig the survival squares out of the Lorasses, but beware! They'll have difficulty freeing themselves on their own from the sticky substance, should they fall in.
Since Star Children are likely to find themselves in sticky situations quite literally, they may be pleased to know that Amrita Academy has showers available for use. Unfortunately, due to one student's experiment, the shampoo is all made of beer. That's right, beer. It's good for one's hair! Or so the study should demonstrate. Be sure to fill out a feedback card outside the locker rooms.
- All new Star Children arrive in Amrita Academy.
- Star Children are greeted by a fox who prompts them to write a list of what they need to survive. These lists cannot be changed once made.
- Star Children search for tiny cubes with survival supplies, especially ones on their lists.
- Star Children must work together to catch & open the cubes.
- Come mid-September, Amrita Academy is surrounded by a Lore-rich molasses moat—Lorasses. Thou shalt not pass.
- Once the moat arrives, most cubes are in the moat. Shower to get clean afterward with beer for shampoo.
Content Warnings: Forced Close Contact, Coerced Behavior
It can be stressful to arrive in a new place among strangers and strange things. It can be even more stressful, sometimes, to be among people one knows. The fact remains that in Folkmore, no one is an island. The Shattered Spoon Shrine is a testament to that. Interact or perish. Those interactions usually don't even have to be positive. An emotionally charged argument generates Lore same as a touching reunion. However, Amrita's iteration has taken charge of Folkmore this month. She values cooperation and connection.
What does this mean for Star Children? It's time to get along.
When Star Children fight—physically, vocally, emotionally—they get stuck together in a magical t-shirt. This plain white t-shirt has 'This is our get along shirt' written on it on both sides, one in each Star Child's handwriting. (If a Star Child does not have handwriting, Thirteen will invent a handwriting she feels best represents them). The shirt works exactly as written on the tin. Until the two Star Children can get along, they will be stuck together in the shirt. Getting along can look a few different ways. It could be working through the reason they were fighting. It could be cooperating to accomplish something else. It could be helping someone else together. It could be large or small. Somehow, Star Children will have to get along to accomplish something.
The shirt will disappear, leaving them standing next to each other, only to reappear duplicated in each of their hands, perfectly sized to fit each individual. Should they so choose, either can be used for a repeat performance, with both of them trapped inside again. While the same condition will apply—they must get along to get out of the shirt—the shirt will now make it easier for them to work it out. Note: only the two people who originally wore the shirt can put it back on. No one else can wear these shirts.
One time only, a Star Child's cooperative escape will have an additional prize: their souvenir t-shirt will be wrapped around an item from either their home universe or their partner's. That's right, getting along can get a Star Child something from another universe.
It can be stressful to arrive in a new place among strangers and strange things. It can be even more stressful, sometimes, to be among people one knows. The fact remains that in Folkmore, no one is an island. The Shattered Spoon Shrine is a testament to that. Interact or perish. Those interactions usually don't even have to be positive. An emotionally charged argument generates Lore same as a touching reunion. However, Amrita's iteration has taken charge of Folkmore this month. She values cooperation and connection.
What does this mean for Star Children? It's time to get along.
When Star Children fight—physically, vocally, emotionally—they get stuck together in a magical t-shirt. This plain white t-shirt has 'This is our get along shirt' written on it on both sides, one in each Star Child's handwriting. (If a Star Child does not have handwriting, Thirteen will invent a handwriting she feels best represents them). The shirt works exactly as written on the tin. Until the two Star Children can get along, they will be stuck together in the shirt. Getting along can look a few different ways. It could be working through the reason they were fighting. It could be cooperating to accomplish something else. It could be helping someone else together. It could be large or small. Somehow, Star Children will have to get along to accomplish something.
The shirt will disappear, leaving them standing next to each other, only to reappear duplicated in each of their hands, perfectly sized to fit each individual. Should they so choose, either can be used for a repeat performance, with both of them trapped inside again. While the same condition will apply—they must get along to get out of the shirt—the shirt will now make it easier for them to work it out. Note: only the two people who originally wore the shirt can put it back on. No one else can wear these shirts.
One time only, a Star Child's cooperative escape will have an additional prize: their souvenir t-shirt will be wrapped around an item from either their home universe or their partner's. That's right, getting along can get a Star Child something from another universe.
- When Star Children get in a fight of any kind, not just physical, they get stuck together in a magical t-shirt.
- The shirt says “This is our get along shirt” front and back in characters’ own handwriting (or imagined handwriting).
- As written on the tin, Star Children are stuck until they figure out how to get along
- When they separate, both partners will get a copy of the t-shirt that fits them. They can choose to get back into said t-shirt together to figure out how to get along easier in the future.
- One time only, Star Children receive an item from their home universe or their partner’s.
no subject
Queens isn't known for going in as hard as Brooklyn or the Bronx, but yeah, you can say that. Though the drone thing happened during my European vacation. London, to be exact.
[Terrorist attacks have a funny way of finding you when you go to school with and eventually date a superhero. Though MJ doesn't find anything particularly funny about it, if she's being honest with herself.
She frowns at that cube, and the frown only deepens when he manages to snatch it up effortlessly. Great. Let's make her feel even more inadequate and out of her depth.
Before she can call him a show-off, though, he holds the cube out to her and mentions that they'd both have to touch it. That doesn't make any sense to her, but then again, nothing about today has, so she looks down at the cube as though afraid it might snap at her before gingerly reaching out, careful not to touch his hand as she grabs for the box. (It's nothing personal, she just has physical boundaries when it comes to strangers. And acquaintances. And most of the world.)
When the cube suddenly disappears and is replaced by a full-sized knife, MJ gasps and snatches her hand back, even if she immediately regrets leaving a weapon in his hand when she hasn't gotten a good enough read on him yet to know whether he can be trusted. Frustrated with herself and with everything else, she lets out a small groan.]
Are you kidding me? I hate group projects!
i'm sorry I've been so slow! it's hellweek at work soz
[ New York then. On Earth, at least. Around here it seems to be a toss up as to whether someone is from an Earth that's at least passably similar to the one he knows, or from some completely different universe. He considers himself lucky that he's able to roll with that, given he's had experience with exactly that type of situation, he can only imagine what it must be like for people who would see all of this as pure fiction. Talk about getting thrown into the deep end.
Maybe Michelle's one of those. He can't tell her because she would probably be rightfully offended, but she kind of reminds him of a hedgehog, prickly and retreating into her spikes the moment things seem questionable. He's always felt like they had judgmental looks too, when they decide to poke their noses out. But she's having a rough day, that's obvious, he's just trying to make it a little bit easier, if he can. Which isn't the most achievable task, since he doesn't have the power to just bust them out of this place, he's as isolated as the rest of them.
She yanks her own hand back, but he's still holding onto the folded knife, which he extends toward her, offering. Is it maybe a little odd that he's unconcerned about handing a stranger a knife? Possibly. He's not worried about what she might do with it.
Which is partly because his instincts aren't telling him that she's a threat, also partly because he's confident in his ability to handle the situation regardless. ]
The Fox is all about group projects, unfortunately. Sometimes we don't get to pick our group either.
no worries, I totally understand! always happy to see you in my inbox regardless! ❤️
[A school trip that had gotten hijacked by spies early on, preventing her from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see certain cultural sites that she'd been looking forward to seeing, but that much doesn't need to be said. If nothing else, it had gotten her wound up even more tightly with Peter and had solved the Spider-Man mystery, so she's just grateful to have come out of that alive.
She's literally only just found out about the multiverse yesterday, and she hadn't expected to be thrown headfirst into it with little to no preamble. So while she might allow for the fact that Dick is from a different version of Earth, that's not her default assumption. It's probably for the best, anyway, since she's definitely met more disturbed superpowered villains from alternate Earths than she has heroes, so the odds as far as all that goes seem stacked against her having met somebody from another universe with no ill intent towards her whatsoever.
Still, he doesn't seem like he's bent on chaos, destruction, and/or power. In fact, he holds the knife out for her, not seeming the least bit concerned about letting a total stranger have a weapon. Granted, he'd also been the one to pose the idea that they would have to work together, and he also looks like he could easily disarm her without breaking a sweat, so MJ still isn't assuming he can be trusted. He just doesn't have any overt reason to hurt her. There's a difference.
All of that races through her mind quickly before she reaches out for that offered knife, gripping it tightly for a moment as though needing confirmation that it's really there before accepting that she has possession of it.]
Thanks. Sounds like you've been here a lot longer than I have.
aww same!
Out here in the woods? Or this place generally? Either way, probably not as long as you might think. I'm just used to landing in unusual circumstances.
[ Massive understatement. There's a reason he's taken to this so quickly, that he immediately had a list of priorities organized in his head, contingency plans if things were to turn violent or if threats more severe than running afoul of natural occurrences suddenly started popping out of the forest. That same analytical approach would tell him that it would be better for his cover to fudge the details more, to avoid dropping too many hints about what he can do, but he's not driven by selfish practicality. He's not approaching this the way that Bruce would either.
He pauses to glance around the clearing with a thoughtful look. ]
We could go look for more of those. They're very tricky to catch unless you're close to someone else, apparently.
no subject
Yeah, you'd think I'd be used to it, too, but this is my first time literally landing into something this weird.
[Seriously, date a superhero for less than six months and she ends up dealing with monsters and wizards and getting her picture plastered on the front page of the paper, alongside an article about how she and her best friend are part of a spider-cult. MJ might not be a stranger to weirdness, but being on the frontlines of it is still relatively new for her.
This guy, though....
He seems confident, if not in his situation then in the fact that he can handle himself through the worst of it. She doesn't want to think about needing to be taken care of, but she does need to get her footing in this new landscape, and if he can help with that....]
Yeah. Okay. Just-... watch what you mean by "close," okay? I might not look like much, but I've faced off with a giant lizard man and am still standing, so don't get any ideas.
[Granted, by "faced off" she means that she got a look at that reptilian face coming straight towards her and promptly ran in the other direction, but he doesn't need to know that.]
no subject
Right, close but not close, I got you.
[ She might poke him with that knife after all. Which wouldn't be great, even if no one's around to bear witness and tease him mercilessly for it. It's one thing to catch a knife unexpectedly from some random mugger on the street, it's another to hand a strange girl a knife and let his guard down to the point where she could turn it around and use it on him.
It's fine, he'll stay a few feet back, which is probably still close enough to get the 'teamwork' benefit that seems to apply to the cubes. ]
Do you have any other supplies yet?
no subject
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, he doesn't look particularly impressed and seems to think she's joking, which makes her huff a little. She has a knife and the survival instincts of someone who'd grown up among the perils of a big city; she's confident she'll at least be able to draw blood if he tries being aggressive. Unless, of course, he really is secretly a supervillain with some powers up his sleeve, in which case... she can still probably nick his arm, at least?
She starts to walk, not really sure in which direction to turn but deciding that continuing on in a straight line is usually the best way to avoid getting lost.]
No. I'd just started trailing that box a few minutes ago. I would've hoped to have gotten the sword I'd initially requested instead of the knife, but I guess this is more practical. Unless we're stuck out here until dark, in which case, matches will be more useful.
[Though she really doesn't want to think about being stuck in the woods after dark with a strange guy, regardless of his intentions.]
How about you?
no subject
There's not much urgency for him. Aside from the looming concern of more complications to this little challenge his main worry is about finding enough food, since he's not exactly an expert in foraging, and even if he was it would be impossible to know if the same rules apply here. At least water has been easy enough to find, and that's a lot more of a pressing necessity. ]
We could always get a fire going without them if we have to. I've got a few things back at my improvised camp, but I haven't been out here for too long.
[ He's not sure if everyone was dropped off all at once or if some have been filtering in as things progress, but he does have the impression that the Fox isn't trying to starve them out here. Just to make them work together, which he already knew was a central theme in this place. ]
... What were you going to do with a sword, anyway?
no subject
She's about to tell him that maybe he can get a fire going without matches, but then he mentions a camp and she looks at him a little more closely, albeit with somewhat less suspicion.]
Improvised camp? How long have you been here? We're not actually expected to figure out some way to survive for days, are we?
[She'd sort of been hoping she would just hang out for a few hours until Spider-Man or Dr. Strange or even Ned could come in through a portal for a rescue, and she could go back to her life as usual. She's not exactly a survivalist, not when she doesn't even have so much as her phone on her.
At his question, she furrows her brows as though the answer is obvious.]
Swing it at anyone or anything that came at me with the intent to kill me. What else would I do with a sword?
no subject
A couple of hours or so? It's mostly just someplace to get out of the rain, in case that happens. I don't know how long she plans to leave us out here, but we'll be okay.
[ He puffs out a breath of a sigh at the rhetorical question though, not annoyed just— concerned, maybe. An inexpertly wielded sword is less likely to kill someone by accident than most more modern weaponry, but still, it's easy to imagine someone losing a finger or two, let alone who might get slashed in a moment of panic. On the other hand she would need some way to defend herself if things get bad. Or if someone out here doesn't care to play by the rules.
He's just seen too many things go wrong with deadly weapons, even the more mundane ones. ]
Some pepper spray might be easier to whip out if you get stuck in a bad spot. Swords tend to be heavy and slow... unless you've been really working on your arm days?
no subject
I should've asked for a tent. And an insulated blanket. And an air fryer with a portable freezer filled with frozen food. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll actually bring me a magic box to pop myself back home.
[Whether that would help Dick or anyone other than her get back to where they need to be, she doesn't know; it doesn't matter, though, since nothing in her life has ever been that simple.
She waves a dismissive hand over in Dick's general direction when he criticizes her choice of weapons.]
I asked for bug spray, which is almost the same thing as pepper spray if you aim well enough and means I won't have to carry extra on me. And I imagine that a sword is a lot easier to handle than a mace. I killed a couple of droids with a mace and that was unwieldy as hell. A lightweight sword would give me extra reach with a sharp object without compromising my balance.