June-July 2025 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

June-July 2025 TDM

Introduction

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This Test Drive meme is open to all.
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.

Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!

🦊 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.

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

Pirates of the Loreibbean . ★

Content Warnings:

Old wood creaks and groans, barely audible over a howl of wind. Wet droplets of rain hit faces and soak into clothing. Clouds overhead are a murky gray, blocking out the sun. Though summer weather is often somewhat temperamental, a true storm has now hit. Both newly arrived Star Children and veterans may find themselves in the midst of this situation quite abruptly, standing on the unsteady deck of an old, grand ship. Those who run to the nearest rail and peer overboard may be shocked to discover a stark absence of water below. Instead, the view just goes down… and down… The land of Folkmore lies far below, as this ship is flying through the storm, its sails struggling to hold under the force of whipping winds. There is no captain, there is no helmsman- there is no crew at all to be found, only fellow Star Children. And yet… the ship is still moving full speed ahead through the storm, as if it has a destination in mind.

A resounding boom echoes, and those with a keen gaze may just spot something whizzing past, missing the ship by a hair. Was that… a cannonball?

Just like that, a second vessel weaves its way out of a deck of gray clouds, pulling up side by side to the ship the Star Children are on. Lightning flashes, illuminating a whole bunch of sneers across the way, along with some eye patches, bandanas and goggles. Sky pirates are attacking! It's clear from their animalistic features that they're local spirits, but they're hardly as benevolent as those typically seen in Folkmore.

Ready yourselves, Star Children!

Those who wish to return fire will find several cannons lined along the ship's deck, ready to be used. These don't work just like any old artillery, though. In place of those unwieldy metal balls, one must load magic into these cannons. Lore, to be precise! It even says so on a small metal plaque, attached near the firing mechanism: "Connection is one's true ammunition." Find a fellow Star Child and start chatting! The more meaningful the conversation, the grander the magic ball one may blast at the pirates with the cannons.

Unfortunately, the cannons alone are not enough to fight off the pirates, as several of them swing their way aboard with ropes. (Or just fly, if they're bird spirits.) Star Children can head down into the armory below deck to grab a weapon. Yes, even weapons from home (or items that can be improvised weapons) are available, and may be kept after the fight is over. Star Children capable of flight may even be daring enough to make their way to the enemy's ship and deal some real damage over there.

The ship continues to shake and creak and bob in the storm, which may complicate the fight, but not all is lost. There, in the distance, up ahead… A beacon of light flickers, struggling to be seen through the thick clouds. What is that?

• Star Children (new and old) find themselves aboard a grand wooden ship, flying through a storm. Yes, literally flying!
• Sky pirates attack! They're just the local spirits, but a rowdy bunch nonetheless.
• Use conversation to load up a cannon with Lore energy, then blast it at the pirate ship.
• Alternatively, grab a weapon (possibly from home) from your ship's armory and start swashbuckling.
• Star Children can keep one (1) weapon/item from home and other basic weapons.

So Said the Lighthouse Keeper. ★

Content Warnings:

Other Star Children, both new and old, may find themselves drawn to the floating island of Never Fade. Up here, in the clouds, the storm rages just as fierce, and the native spirits all share the same worry: the lighthouse is broken. Indeed, up on the highest hill of Never Fade stands a towering white spire, its beacon dimmed. 'A ship is coming in at any moment', the spirits all whisper. 'And there's reports of pirates in the area, too. What will we do?'

The goats which are quite common in Never Fade join forces to guide Star Children up the hill towards the lighthouse. And if not guiding, then dragging, chompers clenched around the fabric of sleeves or pant legs as they pull. The rain does not slow, but the wind thankfully blows uphill. Best to just go along with it, so you can go take shelter from the storm inside the enormous spire building, because the goats won't leave you alone otherwise.

Just outside the lighthouse stands a very curious cat. It's so large, it's almost the size of a pony, and its fur is black. No, white. … No, it's black, isn't it? (It really depends on what mood it's in.) Karma the cat peers up at any approaching Star Children with knowing eyes. It dashes inside the lighthouse for a second, then reappears with an envelope in its mouth, holding it out for the newcomer to take. Careful- the paper might get wet in the rain! Come stand under the awning or inside the house as you read:

"The lighthouse keeper is on vacation. Please help! The beacon needs to be charged. We need positive energy to power the light, and negative energy to rotate the lens. Be nice or be mean, both are good! :)"

Are you up for the task, Star Children? Then stay in the lighthouse's near vicinity, or go right on up to the beacon, and do as Karma asked: Either compliment your fellows, or insult them. Share fond memories with one another, or commiserate on how terrible this situation is. Both pleasant conversation and nasty confrontation will do the job. Before long, the light springs to life and the great glass lens begins to rotate around it, a majestic beam of light revolving outward from the spire, piercing the dark clouds.

Those who wait around will see it: that great big wooden ship which comes flying towards Never Fade's docks to make port there. … Is that a hole in its side? And a cutlass sticking out of the mast? Confusion may make way for relief, as all the Star Children aboard disembark, surely bursting with a great tale to tell. Elated spirits bring out the hot soup, bread and all other hearty comfort foods to celebrate the successful arrival. Time to celebrate! Or raid the armory for a free weapon from home, if you haven't gotten one yet- with an emphasis on one, because Karma the cat will attack anyone who got greedy, be it now or during the earlier voyage.

• Star Children who weren't taken to the ship may instead have been drawn to Never Fade, where the storm rages just as fiercely.
• Goats guide Star Children towards the lighthouse, which is broken. Karma the cat awaits them there.
• In order to get the lighthouse beacon working again, it must be charged with both positive and negative energy. Engage in either pleasant or hostile conversation with a fellow Star Child to help out!
• Once the lighthouse is up and running, the ship from the first prompt will dock at Never Fade, uniting all the Star Children for a great celebration.
• The ship's armory is still available for a free weapon (possibly from home), but anyone who got greedy and tried to take more than one will be confronted by Karma. Literally. (And lose the additional items).

Comments

[apuckalypse]

Oops, sorry Raph. Casey mumbles an apology as he grasps the rigging properly again. "It wasn't really exploding, but there was bad stuff happening everywhere. One area was flooded, another was so cold it wasn't survivable, another where things kept falling in and out of reality... it was super messed up."

[saisdoesmatter]

Raph nods his acknowledgment to Casey as soon as the boy's holding onto the rigging again, just making sure that he's stable before easing his hand off of his leg. "Is that...common here? For everything to go belly up like that?"

[apuckalypse]

"Kinda yes, kinda no? A few times a year things get really wild, in my experience. Otherwise, every month there's something weird or dangerous or just, uh, emotionally... fraught? But not usually deadly."

He should probably be taking this whole pirate invasion more seriously, truth be told. But they weren't that tough to fight, so this is probably the less dangerous type of trial or whatever.

[saisdoesmatter]

"Sounds kind of like day to day life," he mutters, knowing that it was always something going on that wanted to kill them.

"Wait, how long have you been here???"

[apuckalypse]

Oh boy. People love it when he answers this question. "Um... almost two years...?"

[saisdoesmatter]

"TWO YEARS?!"

He can't even imagine being away from his fam for more than like a few weeks - maybe a month. Years??? Even if there's some fake version of him back home.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

[apuckalypse]

"Yeah, uh. Sorry?"

Here goes Casey once again being the bearer of bad news. (At least it isn't an alien invasion this time.)

[saisdoesmatter]

He takes a deep breath and just kind of lets it out slowly. "It's...fine. S'not like you can help it if you've been here that long."

"I just can't--imagine being away for that long." What the hell is he going to do?

[apuckalypse]

"Some people aren't! There's people who show up and vanish real quick, like in a few months. I don't know why."

Even that might feel really long, admittedly, so his tone is still apologetic. It's true that it's not his fault, but still.

[saisdoesmatter]

He waves it off, taking another deep breath and letting it out in a huff. "Don't worry about it, Case. M'still getting used to the idea... s'not your fault."

[apuckalypse]

"Yeah, I know. Just... y'know. Sympathy." He's trying! "Sometimes I worry I'll sound insincere when I say this stuff. I... really love it here, it's way nicer than anywhere I've ever lived."

It's hard sometimes to agree with people who hate this place or want to leave. This world is kind of all he's got right now.

[saisdoesmatter]

He shakes it off himself, glancing up where Casey's perched. "Yeah? Better than yer home work, eh?"

Raph considers that, tilting his head to listen. "M'just complainin' because it's not home. At least there's no Kraang trying to shoot m'head off. And yer fam's here too, right? Must be way better for you then."

[apuckalypse]

Anything else Casey might have said is immediately derailed by that name drop. "Krang? You're fighting the Krang!? How bad is it? How's the world? Are you okay?"

[saisdoesmatter]

Whelp, he was not expecting Casey to drop everything to ask about the Kraang. "Oh jeez, you got them too? Every time we turn around, there's more popping out of the woodwork."

"We lost New York for awhile there but they were too slow on the whole 'turn the world into a new Dimension X' - we managed to stop them from doing that and pop them back into their dimension again." A sigh. "M'sure they're still around though."

[apuckalypse]

"You stopped them..." Casey's shoulders slump, exhaling heavily in relief. Thank goodness. At least one other universe doesn't have to suffer the same fate as his own. "That's amazing. I'm- really glad for you! It's a huge deal..."

[saisdoesmatter]

"Yeah, it was a bit dicey there for awhile... they've been around forever so it's like... 'what if they're still around' sort of thing, but for the most part we're gucci." He smiles, glad that everyone was alright.

[apuckalypse]

"Whoa... that's really amazing. I hope they stay away, or at least that you can keep fighting them off." He tries to quell the burst of jealousy and focus on just being happy for the guy. It's better for everyone that there are other universes where the Krang didn't ruin everything.

[saisdoesmatter]

"Same here, Case. They're like cockroaches." He shivers, shaking the thought off. Not the best saying as he hates bugs so much. But he smiles. "It might be fun punting them around but not when they're doing stupid crap to make our lives hell."

[apuckalypse]

"How'd you beat them? Did you have a really powerful weapon? Advanced tech? Mystic- oh, wait, you said you guys don't have ninpo. Um..."

He's trying to think. How else would someone win against them!? They're so unreasonably strong, no one gets to 'punt them around'.

[saisdoesmatter]

"We had to save the humans of New York from their dimension, which led us to jumping into their dimension, de-mutate the humans back to normal, and teleport them out. It was a huge group effort to get them out, along with ourselves, 'porting the Kraang back into their own dimension."

[apuckalypse]

"You guys figured out how to de-Krangify people?" Wow, did his timeline manage to get everything wrong? That's... depressing. Like more than usual.

[saisdoesmatter]

"It definitely wasn't easy - Donnie figured it out, with some weird help from Mikey," he says, because it's still very much a "what the hell did you do" moment with Mikey, but in the end it helped people, so it wasn't a huge disaster.

"It took Donnie months to process the stuff before they somehow managed to turbo charge the whole thing, but it worked."

[apuckalypse]

"Months…"

For a moment, Casey doesn't even know what to say to that. What did Raph's world have that his didn't?

"We… tried everything, for twenty years. Nothing worked."

[saisdoesmatter]

"If I remember right, yeah--that's what Donnie said it took for the retromutaten or whatever it was that he called it..." It was a few years ago now to him and with everything else going on...

He stops and swallows hard at that one. "...what? Twenty years with the Kraang?"

[apuckalypse]

"Yeah." He's reluctant to admit it now, knowing yet another timeline had the horrors reverted, and no one should have to deal with the knowledge of just how bad it could be. But there's no running from the truth. "They took over the whole world, destroyed everything. Nothing was strong enough to stop them..."