October-November 2025 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

October-November 2025 TDM

Introduction

[ TDM Questions ★ Jump to Comments ★ Full Navigation ]
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]

Over the Garden Wall . ★

Content Warnings: N/A

Drizzly Willow is where newly arrived Star Children touch down, touching down gently in the soft moss beside a grand lake, or a babbling brook. The leafy strands of weeping willow trees flow gently in the breeze. All would seem calm, and yet, something prickles the back of Star Children's necks. Goosebumps erupt along skin and a sense of unease settles in the pit of the stomach. Some sort of invisible tension pulsates through Willow, and the closer one comes to the border shared with Exile, the worse it gets. It's almost as if something foul is drifting in from the neighboring marsh lands, affecting Leshy and Talaria in particular. Still, if one were to cross this border and enter Exile proper, all the tension dissipates. If one were to ask Baba Yaga, the iteration of Thirteen who rules over these marshes, she'll smile mysteriously and shake her head before vanishing.

Curious.

Amrita, the one in charge of Willow, has a plan to be rid of these uncomfortable vibes infiltrating her domain. All along the border shared with Exile, within walking distance of both Leshy and Talaria, Amrita has set up communal gardens. Not only are there wide, open spaces of freshly dug soil, there are a few lavish greenhouses. The glass panes are all squeaky clean and any sunlight to pass through almost seems to be filtered, removing any harsh glare and leaving only a pleasant glow. A warmth, almost. Within these greenhouses, that nasty prickle wafting in from Exile cannot be felt at all.

Veteran Star Children, the ones who would normally have no reason to visit Willow, are extended an invitation through their Relic to help tend to the gardens. Not only will it cleanse the area of that curious tension and be a valuable learning experience regarding agriculture, a small reward may be in it for those who participate!

Step right up, dear children! Pick up a spade or a watering can, there are more than enough to go around. More importantly, there are seeds, sprouts and bulbs of all types of plants. Fruits, vegetables, grains, certain spices… And yes, even flowers. Greenhouses and fields are both available, though one may need to do a little research on which option would be best for which plant. Either ask a friend, or consult one of the few books on gardening on loan from Amrita Academy.

Getting these gardens up and running isn't as simple as planting a seed in the correct location and watering it, though. No, instructions from Amrita are quite clear: Once planted, the seed (or sprout or bulb) must be watered with a watering can that's been infused with Lore. Only then will the plant grow at supernatural speeds, poking up through the soil and transforming rapidly into its full potential. A large pumpkin, an apple tree, a colorful rhubarb… Or maybe a banana tree? Or a patch full of potatoes, ready for eating! For those curious about the reward Amrita mentioned, this is it: delicious, fresh, homegrown food. Anything grown here won't go bad for a good long while, either. All fruits of labor will retain their size and hardiness for a whole month, if not longer, so harvesting need not happen any time soon.

The more plants grown in these gardens, the more the strange tension from Exile will decrease, almost as if the air is being purified by the flora.

Watering with Lore-infused tools isn't as easy as it sounds, though. It never is, as veteran Star Children will be able to guess. With these gardens being communal, the focal point to get the watering cans powered up is talking to others about community. What makes a community, or even just a team? What does it take to feel accepted by others? Reminiscing about communities one has been a part of in the past works just as well, of course.

• New Star Children land in Willow. Veteran Star Children are sent an invitation by Amrita (Willow's Thirteen) to come tend to gardens.
• Amrita has set up several communal gardens, fields and greenhouses near Talaria and Leshy with all the necessities to get started.
• Special watering cans powered by Lore can have plants grow to full size immediately. In order to invoke this Lore, Star Children must have conversations about the concept of community.
• Meanwhile, a strange, uncomfortable tension seems to be seeping out from Exile. The plants from the gardens absorb this tension to cleanse it. When entering Exile itself, the tension can no longer be felt.

Attack of the Killer Pumpkins . ★

Content Warnings: Violence

After a few successful days of gardening, the outer rim of Willow is decked out with lush fields and fully-populated greenhouses. The assortment also includes a few patches that play host to huge pumpkins, rutabagas, turnips and other such big roots and gourds, perfect for carving in this fall season. And wouldn't you know it, there's tables nearby with carving kits, all set up and ready to go. From the child-friendly kind to the extra sharp tools for skilled adults, there's a kit for every preference. Star Children who look upon these kits feel a strange inclination to use them, even when they normally wouldn't bother with this.

They take hold of a small saw, a paring knife or even a gutting spoon and get to work on carving a pumpkin, or any other root vegetable that strikes their fancy. The mood becomes intense, like it's a competition. A battle with great stakes. A sour tang is in the air. Chunks of pumpkin begin to fill up the little waste buckets.

But wait! Any pumpkin (or other gourd or root vegetable) that's received a finished face comes to life. It grows until it's larger than the average Star Child, thick roots and vines springing to life along its bottom to serve as limbs. Whatever emotion its expression was originally meant to convey makes no difference; the newly born plant creature is angry. Like Frankenstein, being the creators of these monstrosities does not shield Star Children from hatred and hostility, making them instant targets. Vines attempt to wrap around arms and legs to keep Star Children in place, and don't you regret putting so many sharp angles in their mouths now? If given the chance, these plant monstrosities will attempt to 'eat' whoever they get a hold of. They won't get very far, since they don't have a digestive system, but being forcibly pulled into an enormous, wet pumpkin maw is still not a good time.

As if sensing the need for them, weapons begin to sprout from the ground nearby, similar to ripe carrots. Swords, pitchforks, spears… Even weapons a Star Child may recognize from home. These are free for the taking, and will be a helpful asset when fighting the overgrown, living gourds.

Squash those squashes!

• Willow's communal gardens soon hold patches with huge pumpkins, other gourds and root vegetables. Tables with carving kits appear near them.
• Star Children who look upon these kits feel a strange inclination to use them
• Any pumpkin (or other gourd or root vegetable) that's received a finished face comes to life and attacks.
• The living plants can't actually digest anyone, but they will try to 'eat' Star Children by stuffing them into their mouths anyway.
• Weapons (local and from home) sprout from the ground to help fight the plants off.

Comments

iv

[apuckalypse]

[Casey peers over at the comment, brows lifted. He hasn't gotten terribly far with his own pumpkin, and its design is... decidedly basic. So he's in good company at least.]

Uh... I think it looks fine? [Does it??] I've never done this before, either. [Yeah, it shows.] I've heard of people doing this for Halloween, so I think it's common in, uhhh, America, at least.

[thesameleft]

Ah, America, of course.

[ He sounds more than a little disdainful at the mention, but it's unclear for now as to whether or not that's down to the idea of pumpkin carving being popularised in general, or the place itself. Being painfully British, it more than likely seems like the latter, and he doesn't appear interested in elaborating. ]

At least one aspect of tradition has remained with the season, though I'm not sure a celebration of harvest typically comes with this much waste.

[ A brief glance at the surfaces around them, the pumpkin guts strewn across the floor. ]

And it's awfully messy.

[apuckalypse]

Wow, okay. [Impossible to miss that tone, though Casey's response is more of a mumble than a protest. He's not exactly passionate or patriotic (America was basically destroyed along with the rest of the world in his timeline) but that's still, like. Home. Weird thing to say on a first meeting.]

It's not so bad. This is all fruit, right? It isn't wasteful if you eat it.

[He has indeed saved his whole pile of guts and seeds in a container rather than tossing it.]

[thesameleft]

I believe you are an outlier in that regard, as it doesn't seem many have followed in your lead.

[ He nods at the couple of pumpkins here and there that have been left in a state of incompletion — with one in particular looking very rushed and lop-sided, almost as if the owner had to quickly put down their tools and abandon their craft in favour of something much more imperative.... ]

Now, granted, the artist in question may have very well been inspired by cyclops mythology, but I feel the placement of the one eye it has leaves something to be desired. Dreadful craftsmanship.

[ Judgey McJudgerson here focuses back on his pumpkin, taking a precise step back and even holding up a gloved hand to gage any size discrepancy between the two eyes he's slowly whittling away at. ]

So the idea is to eat them, after you carve a face into them?

[ He's realising only now that he's only ever dismissed Charles' discussions on Halloween, rather than indulging in the details of the holiday as he might typically, which is leaving a large gap in his wider knowledge of the tradition. ]

[apuckalypse]

[Casey glances around, and- yeah, that's a fair observation. He makes a mental note to ask other people to scoop their pumpkin guts into a box once he's done, he can take theirs too. For now, he scoots his container in between his and Mr. Judgey-Brit's pumpkin, give him your guts and cuts, too!]

I can't say for sure, I haven't really done this before. [If you wanted to celebrate Halloween in the apocalypse, you went to the surface and slapped your ass at a Krang zombie or something. Much more trick than treat. (And usually someone died. Lots of bones around. Fun!)] I think they're just for display, though? So yeah, pretty wasteful.

[thesameleft]

Mmm. Someone ought to figure out an enchantment of some kind to halt the process of decay so that they last a little longer.

[ Edwin says, in a kind of distant voice that makes it pretty clear his mind is deliberating the difficulty of doing that very thing. He isn't sure if magic works in this place yet, but the general vibe given off by, well, everything makes him assume it's more than likely possible.

He wordlessly scoops up the little pile of pumpkin leavings he's neatly gathered beside him on the work bench, and slides them off his knife and into the container offered to him. ]

Though, I must confess: this entire charade is doubly wasteful for me, given that I cannot eat any of this. [ He gives the guts box a side on look, and his nose wrinkles a bit in distaste at the sight of the stringy, fleshy innards. ] Even if I wanted to.

[apuckalypse]

I'm... actually working on that spell. Like, literally, that exact spell.

[Working on deciphering it, at least. This would be a good place to test it out, now that he's thinking about it. He reaches for his side pouch to check his notebook, then remembers his hands are still kind of pumpkin-gutsy. He could try the glyph by memory, but it's still incomplete... hmm, hmm. Let him think.]

You can't eat? Are you a ghost, too?

[He's thinking about Charles, and a little bit about Ciel, though his was a very different situation.]

[thesameleft]

[ The appeal of carving a face into a pumpkin, however magically compelling it is, pales in comparison to the news that this unassuming stranger is someone who can write spellwork. It's common, of course, for unsuspecting people to be capable of magic given that Edwin runs in some significantly supernatural circles, but usually they have a certain magical vibe to them. Casey doesn't quite fit the typical bill. But it would be rude to point that out. ]

You don't look like a spellcaster.

[ That... won't stop Edwin doing it, though.

He's so taken by his own interest, in fact, that he barely even registers the question about his physiology, blinking almost owlishly as if confused why Casey would care about something like that before he realises that he brought it up in the first place. ]

Yes, well deduced. [ He says earnestly, even as he wafts a dismissive hand while laying down his tools down with his other. It's pretty impressive that Casey guessed, after all - he could have just as easily had a pumpkin allergy or a fear of edible gourds - but there'll be plenty of time to judge Casey's merit as a detective later. For now, there's magic afoot. ] How far have you got with your attempt? May I see?

[apuckalypse]

[Casey quirks a brow. What exactly does a spellcaster look like to this guy, he wonders. And in truth he'd only guessed ghost because he'd had more or less the exact same exchange with Charles very recently, so it was on the brain. He accepts the dismissal (who wants to talk about being dead, anyway?) and pulls his gloves off so he can fetch his notebook, flipping through to get to his currently in-progress equations.]

Do you know anything about glyph magic? It's from a place called the Boiling Isles. Or- maybe the Demon Realm?

[He doubts either, but you never know.]

[thesameleft]

[ The intrigue he'd felt before at the mere mention of spell crafting had been one thing, but as he sees Casey pull out a notebook, Edwin's eyes are practically sparkling with interest; wide and intense in a way that might even be a little off-putting depending on how experienced Casey is with being under this kind of vehement attention.

The desire to take the notebook and flip through it for himself is staggering, so he tightens his hands into fists to stop himself; spend thirty years with a boy who will let you be as rude as you want and only tell you off in a way that makes it clear he finds it kind of charming, and see how easy it is to stop yourself just snatching things out people's hands without a physical restraint. His want to touch is, luckily, somewhat stymied by the mention of Demons. The Boiling Isles means nothing to him, and by that logic the Demon Realm shouldn't either as it's clearly not the realm he's thinking of, but it still gives him pause. ]

I've studied runic magic quite extensively, but I am under no assumption that the glyphs I am familiar with are transferrable to any magic that exists in your universe.

[ He's still looking at the notebook with those big eyes, though. He glances up at Casey's face, if only to make clear his interest in seeing the work Casey has done, regardless of any understanding Edwin might have or not. ]

However, I might be able to at least understand the intention, if not the specific detail. The same way Italian speakers can understand some Spanish without learning a word — a root connection, of sorts.

[apuckalypse]

I don't know much Spanish and zero Italian, but I get the idea. Hang on-

[Casey's a little cagey with his notebook - he just met this guy, after all, he can't be sharing all his cards in the first five minutes - but he doesn't mind letting someone see the equation he's working on. He tears loose a blank piece, tucks the book away, and lays the paper flat so he can draw out the configuration. It's a series of glyphs, using light, ice, and plant in a circular pattern, several in the center as well.]

It's this. Each glyph has a specific effect, and depending on the array, they'll cast a new spell. But there's only 4 glyphs, so the configuration gets really specific. And sometimes big, if you want a complicated effect.

[He assumes that part's normal for glyph magic, but from the witches of his world, there's usually more than 4 options to start with.]

[thesameleft]

[ Edwin comes close, tilting his head to study the lines Casey makes upon the page. They aren't immediately familiar, as he expected they wouldn't be, but there are certain stylistic designs in the circles that remind him of things he has already seen in his prior research. ]

And I expect they are elemental in design, correct? Fire, water, air, earth....

[ He gets out his own notebook then — or at least a notebook that has been temporarily loaned to him by Charles until he finds a way to retrieve his own notebook from this place — and flips to a blank page himself. He does not tear it out, however, as the wince he performed when he watched Casey do it earlier makes it clear how offensive he finds the idea. The page has a few doodles in the margins that don't exactly translate well to Edwin's steadfast handwriting as he titles the page as Glyph Magic, but he doesn't seem particularly distracted by them. ]

And the method in which you place them has a different effect — are there constraints on how many glyphs you can place in one arrangement? Can you combine glyphs into a further adaptation? Fire and water into steam, steam and fire to create energy — that sort of thing?

[ Sorry Casey, you've activated his trap card and now Edwin needs to know everything. ]

[apuckalypse]

[It's fair to be protective of his notebook pages, but once Casey gets around to the demonstration, Edwin will get to understand why the page needs to be out of the book. And thankfully it's less a trap and more of an indulgence, as Casey loves magic theory. He grew up fascinated by alchemy and mystic powers, so.]

You got it right, yeah- you can compound the effects on top of each other, which complicates and increases glyph size but can change the spell exponentially, too. It follows both size and equation. Your element guess is off, though- the glyphs are light, fire, ice, and plant. Weird, I know.

[Very non-standard, which adds another layer of complexity. It isn't immediately understood what glyph combinations do what effects.]

It's a pretty versatile system, but you can probably guess, there's plenty of limits, too.

[thesameleft]

[ Edwin's eyebrows quirk, which should tell Casey in no uncertain terms that Edwin is very much not used to his guesses being incorrect and is even more unaccustomed to not being the person who knows the most about any given thing in the room-- however, where one might expect someone as fussy as Edwin to be annoyed by that fact, he actually only seems more curious, more eager to listen, to learn, to watch. ]

Curious. [ He comments, in the way his partner might say 'aces', tilting his head and glancing between Casey's page and his own so that he can jot down a few initial notes and sketches for himself. ]

And how far have you got so far in crafting something to prolong plant life? [ He asks, now pinning that laser focus on Casey himself, gesturing to the paper with his pen as if to prompt him. ] What does this spell do?

[apuckalypse]

The spell's actually built to prolong the safe viability of blood. Like, blood stored to transfer to someone else?

[He doesn't know if that's a thing where Edwin is from, but that's what it does, so.]

In theory it should work on anything organic, but it works better when the glyph is designed around what it's trying to extend. Food, or fluids, it varies. I'm still in the testing phase for the most part. But it's getting real good at keeping blood healthy!

[thesameleft]

[ Edwin raises his eyebrows at that, because it was not what he was expecting, but he doesn't seem particularly perturbed by the sudden shift in subject matter, nor the somewhat morbid change in focus.

He glances down at the glyphs drawn on the paper, wondering what parts of the circle pertain to which aspect of the spell — which glyph specifically singles out blood, what glyph keeps it stable? ]

Blood. [ He glances back up, and with an earnest expression he asks, as if he meets them every day: ] Are you a vampire?

[apuckalypse]

[Casey blinks back at him.]

No? [Wait, that shouldn't be a question.] I didn't even know vampires were real until I got here. It's for medical use.

[thesameleft]

I see. A more sensible explanation, certainly, but I'm sure you can understand that my interpretation of what might typically be considered sensible is somewhat skewed in this place.

[ Given that he has no idea what's normal here and what isn't. Vampires, though, apparently still exist here. Good to know. ]

Are you a doctor, then? Or merely addressing a problem with a solution?

[apuckalypse]

Oh, sure. I mean, I guess if you're from a world that has vampires, someone collecting blood might be sus.

[Meanwhile he came from a world at war, so blood donations were more commonplace. Lots of wounded on the daily.]

Trying to solve a problem, mostly. Sometimes I was a field medic, but that doesn't happen too much in this world.

[thesameleft]

[ Edwin's eyes tighten, like a child's might upon the assurance that there is no surprise planned for his birthday. It isn't suspicion, but it's certainly the kind of sharp expression that inspires thoughts of interrogation until one wrenches out the truth for themselves. ]

So. If isn't for vampiric consumption, and it isn't for field medical work, but it is for a medical reason— [ He sighs, frustrated, but not at Casey. He's clearly just annoyed he has to ask outright instead of figuring it out himself. ] What is the problem you're trying to solve with this spell? Is there a great need for saving blood for transfusions in this place but no storage facility in which to do it?

[ He glances around, then back with a strange quirk of his eyebrows. ] Do people lose blood often here?

[apuckalypse]

[Casey makes a face, torn for a moment. This guy's a stranger, it's really none of his business. He doesn't owe anybody a full explanation. But he sort of opened the door, and he doesn't want anyone to think he's some kind of freaky blood fiend.]

There's storage, but blood won't keep forever just in a fridge. To extend its lifespan, so we can safely collect a specific type of blood for a longer time period, I'm testing this spell. It isn't because of bloodloss, it's a... blood infection.

[thesameleft]

An infection...

[ Edwin enjoys natural sciences as a byproduct of being a rather inquisitive boy, and though he has, indeed, gone through a medical journal phase— he only ever had limited resources, all of which tended to be related tangentially to blood magic and it's application in casting magic. Infection is another matter entirely, and though he knows enough, he's under no impression that what he's read has any shot of being a one-for-one with any infection from Casey's world.

Edwin hasn't clocked on to the fact that this is none of his business, nor something that might be difficult to talk about, and is simply latched on to getting to the bottom of this mystery. Because, honestly, it's rather a good one to sink his teeth into. ]

I wasn't under the impression there was an epidemic underway here. What are the symptoms?

[apuckalypse]

It's not an epidemic. It isn't contagious, either. You don't need to worry about it.

[Ghosts probably don't need to worry about illnesses period, usually. At least, he'd guess as much. Though things are quite different in this world, where lots of weird things can happen to all kinds of people (weird or otherwise).

This is a more subtle "it's none of your business", but also, a genuine answer. They'd tested a million times, and his uncle never infected anyone. It was incredibly targeted, for him specifically. More weapon than disease.]

Unless you see anyone growing extra eyeballs or oozing pink goo, then maybe hit me up.

[thesameleft]

[ You don't need to worry about it is as good a mind your business as Edwin has ever heard. He doesn't seem all that troubled by it, to come across the ruins of a boundary he just spent the last ten minutes or so blundering across, because that is quite a normal experience for Edwin at this point. It's quite frustrating how it only serves to make him more curious, though. But that's only because he's both at a loss without something tangible to puzzle over (mysterious Foxes not withstanding) and because he's incredibly nosey.

He makes a show of diligently noting down the symptoms, one eyebrow raised. And then, because he can't resist and because Casey hadn't actually explicitly told him to drop it, he asks: ]

So this is a danger from your home world, then, is it? [ It had seemed personal, somehow. Edwin can guess from the dedication at least — someone simply trying to help would surely accept all the assistance they could get, and wouldn't be quite so cagey with the answer. ] Or, is someone you care for here infected with it?

[apuckalypse]

Yes, and yes. [He won't say who, though. Uncle Tello deserves some privacy when it comes to his health situation. (At least until SOMEONE - Raph - blabs it all over the network this week)] Aliens from my universe. They can infect people like parasites, turning them into zombies that obey their command.