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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
"Please, I'm the king of no-anxiety. You're worried too. But no, it shouldn't worry you at all, so don't worry."
no subject
"What shouldn't worry me?" she asks, trying not to grit her teeth in frustration. "If this is some kind of 'blink twice if I'm in danger' kind of situation, I'd like to know if I should be engaging in constant eye contact with everyone I'm coming across so I can gauge where the biggest explosives are, metaphorically or otherwise."
no subject
"The name's Leo, bee-tee-dubs." Right, people like being introduced to someone, having a name makes him more approachable. Usually he's on the ball. Usually he is so on the ball, but so much has happened with Peter disappearing for a couple of days suddenly and then coming back saying he didn't die that Leo's not on the ball currently.
no subject
She does feel her grip on reality slipping a little again, so she takes a slow breathe through her nose to try and keep her focused. "Michelle," she finds herself saying automatically. She'd never really introduced herself that way, had only ever just noncommittally gone with it when teachers would read out her legal name from their attendance lists, but she's still not entirely sure she's comfortable enough to go by a nickname here. That would imply a sense of familiarity, and she doesn't want to stay here long enough to be familiar with anyone or anything.
But that's not Leo's fault, and so she decides to cut him just a little bit of slack. "How long have you been here, Leo?"
no subject
Whatever tension or anxiety he had melts as his shoulders drop and he puts his relic anyway. "Anyway- Sorry, uh. Just kinda got spooked for a sec, nothing you gotta worry about."
no subject
The incredulous question slips out before she can help herself, her expression showing just how aghast she is by that notion. "But-... how do you-... this is just life for you now? Don't you want to get back to wherever you came from and go back to whatever you were doing?"
And then it occurs to her that, if not for Peter, she wouldn't really have much of a reason to get back, either. Her home life isn't great, she hadn't gotten into M.I.T., she'd probably be stuck working pushing coffee and donuts for way longer than she'd initially anticipated, and to top things off, she won't even remember Peter when she gets back. How was she supposed to have moved on from that?
Shaking her head to get that thought out of there, she rubs at her temple and tells him, "Sorry. I'm not trying to assume anything about you or what you have or haven't done. This is just a lot for me to process. And I don't want to know what could possibly spook you if you've already been here as long as you have."
no subject
"It's kinda weird and complicated but we haven't exactly left home either? A part of us is here while we're still back home doing our thing. Nobody's missing us."
no subject
"Almost like they don't even remember us," MJ murmurs, thinking back on the spell that Peter had been initiating before she'd ended up here. "Sorry, that's-... no, I know that's not what's going on, I get it, I just... also don't get it."
It's not a laugh so much as an awkward series of breaths that comes out of her, and she wonders briefly if she's running the risk of going a little manic. That might be why she actually takes Leo's hand despite the fact that she's not generally one for physical contact; she does need some grounding, or else she might just pass out and actually hit the ground. "Yeah, can you-... can we sit down and just grab some food or water or something?"
I never got the notification for this one i'm gomen ;o;
"Yeah. I know a place with a great burrito food truck if you're into that. If not there's a couple other trucks next to it with some fried chicken or curry or something."
It'd be easier to just portal them to Satori Hills. Somehow, he gets the feeling that wouldn't go over so well right now. So walking it is.
No worries <3
She gives his hand a squeeze as they walk before she lets go, her hands going through her pockets. "My wallet's in my bag, which is in a whole other universe, apparently. I don't know how money works in a place with talking foxes and food trucks, so I don't want to put you out or anything. Maybe just something small, at least until I can figure out some way to pay you back?"
Her sense of independence (and her common sense) won't really allow for her to just accept free food from a guy she's just met, whether he would end up expecting something in return or not.
no subject
"I know how this is gonna sound, but don't worry about it. They've never heard of the US Mint or anything like that around here? You get stuff called Lore from talking to people and you use that." He takes a breath to let her kind of take that in. She seems to need things in small doses.
"You should have a spoon on you somewhere, that's yours. When you buy something, you just tap it like a credit card chip reader."
no subject
If anything, she'd almost expected the local currency to be gold or pieces of silver, or something else straightforward and archaic. The idea of currency being something you can get just from talking to someone....
"So-... what is the Lore for, then? If it's a commodity-...." The idea that she should have a spoon, of all things, on her doesn't quite compute, and she can only shake her head, deciding that this is all something she might understand a bit more clearly once she has something in her stomach and gets at least a few hours of sleep.
"I barely have a grasp on the economics of my own world, never mind trying to figure out how commerce works in a place filled with more magic than the Sanctum Sanctorum."
no subject
He doesn't really have any other way to describe it. His grasp on financial things is as far as Donnie managed them and they never seemed to do without growing up.
"It isn't an exact one to one exchange rate to US dollars, but it's pretty close."
no subject
With a sigh, she mutters, "I guess it's as arbitrary as taking pieces of paper or bits of metal and assigning value to them. It's just... going to take some getting used to. How would you check your balance? If you're buying groceries and don't have enough, do you just... talk to the cashier until you do? That hardly seems sustainable."
But then, most economies don't, so it's probably for the best to drop it. "Forget it; I guess I should get used to not asking too many questions about how this place works, huh?"
no subject
It's a relatively longer walk than if he portaled, so he pauses for a second to check the time. "Hey uh - this is gonna sound weird, but do you wanna take a faster way there? I didn't wanna just like - do it and freak you out or anything, but it is a reeeeaaaally long walk."
no subject
She hesitates at his question, and any other day she might have assumed he's asking if she wants to take a bus or something. But given his vague follow-up and the fact that the other two "quick" modes of transportation she's had to deal with have involved web-swinging and magic - neither of which are necessarily fun in her book - she frowns a little. "Don't tell me you can open up portals too?" She immediately glances at his hands to see if she notices a ring like Dr. Strange's, even if she knows that, if Leo had access to that kind of magic, he would have been able to send himself and everyone else home ages ago.
no subject
Leo grabs one of his katana and just holds it up like he's thinking about it. It'd be easier, and faster, and less hassle to just portal there. He really has no idea how long the walk is.
"You don't have to, but I'll gladly show it off so you can judge yourself."
no subject
She takes a surprised, wary step back when he actually withdraws a sword, not sure what he aims on doing with that. He doesn't have a sling ring, so maybe his focal object or whatever is a big pointy knife? Either way, MJ always errs on the side of caution, so she's watching him carefully.
"Um... sure? Presuming your portals don't cut through people rather than just space."