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June-July 2025 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2025 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:
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?
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.
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.
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).
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The server comes back to take their order, so Donnie leans back. "Dad usually put Raph in charge because he's the oldest, and it kind of stuck. Mostly." The guy probably has heart palpitations and six ulcers. "Until he made Leo the leader a few months before we showed up here."
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The fact that his alternate is, or was, the leader because he's the oldest makes him buh a bit. "Huh. We're all the same age. Sensei just picked Leo because he asked first from what know."
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"Yeah that does not sound like my Leo," Donnie says once they've relayed their orders to the server. "Or us, either; Raph's the oldest, then me and Leo the same age, then Mikey's of course the baby. ...though honestly who can tell anymore with the alterations to our individual timelines. Leo and I are probably older than Raph now. Don't mention that if you see him, it breaks his heart. And his brain."
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He listens, curious enough to pay attention to the differences between the quartet of brothers, but the fact that all of them have different ages is surprising enough. "So you're all brothers but from different timelines and whatnot? Like... you're older than your Raph and have been through other stuff than he has?"
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Donnie clears the bread basket from the center of the table and starts laying out napkins and silverware to use as visual aids. "We're all from the same timeline, the same point of origin. Here." He puts down a salt shaker. "But rather than us splitting off within the same timeline or creating branches, I believe we were removed from our home timelines. Leo and I were in another dimension before this one for about six months, and then we've been here two years. My Raph has also been here about two years. Mikey's only been here a few months." Silverware helps represent the different 'lines' of time passing; two forks are the furthest, a butterknife close behind, and a spoon trailing far last. "But this representation isn't accurate. Even if we experience time linearly, it doesn't reflect in our physical bodies as accurately. Leo, Raph, and I should've grown much larger if we were truly affected by linear time. So I don't think it's like this, but more like," and then Donnie picks up a fork and the knife and instead positions them as if they've been shot out of the salt shaker, the spoon significantly closer to it, "this. Additional axes to account from the 'distance' from the point of origin, that is, the time where we were all experiencing time at the same pace. We're not just experiencing time differently, but the three dimensions of space and perhaps even other scales as of yet undiscovered."
Glances up at Raph, brows raised. "You'll likely experience the same thing. You might have even more complications; my brothers and I are all from roughly the same point of origin time-wise, but some people have arrived here with points of origin years apart."
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He watches Donatello put things out in a way to explain the timeline, or at least what he assumes is one, though it seems way more complicated than he originally expected. Especially when Donatello moves the fork and knife that's supposed to represent the twins around.
"So...rather than being at the original point," he says, tapping the salt shaker with a finger, "there's like potential spokes, like a bicycle tire, that actually represents the timelines that you all might have gone through? Despite the fact that three of you have been here for years and your Mikey has only been here for a few months."
He motions toward the spoon representing Mikey. "So by rights - you've aged in the same way as time passing, but haven't say, grown like you should have - and that said, Mikey's the same age from what you guys expect here?" Salt tapping.
That's...kind of complicated but he thinks he gets it.
"So...from what we know, me being here might be an origin point for myself, but if like, my bros were to show up, they might not be from that same point - rather a differing spoke?"
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Donatello clears the silverware, lining his own back up neatly atop his napkin. "Do you remember the 'dream' you had before waking up here? About walking away from your body?" There's an assumption there, of course; Raphael hasn't mentioned it, but everybody has it, so Donatello knows he has, too.
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"I remember a dream, but not walking away from myself. I do remember fallin' though. Like outta the sky."
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The server brings over their meals and Donnie contemplates as he flaps out his napkin and then folds it in his preferred orientation. "Most people have a dream. Thirteen leads them away from their body, like she's taking a piece of them somewhere else. She's also occasionally made mention of those of us here being the sum of our 'potential,' but not actually the exact person." Separates the food on his plate so it's no longer touching. "Who knows if that's real or mass hallucination, though."
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He perks up when the server brings the meals, giving them a smile and a thanks as it's set out in front of him. He doesn't bother with moving things around, idly noticing that Donnie is making sure his food doesn't touch. Huh. Interesting.
But he doesn't comment on it, just listening as Donnie keeps talking. "So that piece thing ties into the whole fact that we're separated from our original worlds, but that we're...also here. But we have no idea why she wants us to figure out this potential? Just that she's a kidnapper fox?"
He digs into the food though as he considers the implications of that.
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"Well," Donnie allows as he saws off a truly huge hunk of what appears to be a concerningly rare steak, waving the hunk on his fork a bit as he makes his point, "there's rumors and hearsay that whatever this 'Lore' business is that supposedly powers this place also powers her, in a way, but." Chomp. Chew chew chew. "I'm not about to go putting all of my eggs into that particular magical basket."
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That made more sense to him. The turtle brothers often got into trouble because someone wanted to use them for some reason or another.
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Either way, he's mowed through that steak, and honestly nothing else looks appetizing right now so Donnie leans back in his chair, extracting his self-cleaning toothpick from a pouch on his utility belt to pick at his sharp teeth. "So. That's the long and short of things. Any questions?"
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He's munching away as Donnie leans back in his chair and picks his very sharp teeth. "Not any I can think of at the moment... kind of screwed either way being here."
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