![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
February-March 2024 Test Drive Meme
February-March 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 canon items from homes 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: Power Nullification, Potential Kidnapping, Potential Animal Spirit Harm
The island of Never Fade can no longer be seen in the sky from elsewhere in Folkmore, enclosed within a large purple tinted cloud. Within that cloud, the island is under water—a dreamy purple underwater that all Star Children can breath in if they breath and function in if they function on electricity, so on and so forth. It causes no more difficulties than reduced visibility and greater effort to walk. It's even possible to swim underneath the island, so long as Star Children make sure to make landfall before they get too exhausted and… well… fall.
Friendnapped
Spread the Love
The island of Never Fade can no longer be seen in the sky from elsewhere in Folkmore, enclosed within a large purple tinted cloud. Within that cloud, the island is under water—a dreamy purple underwater that all Star Children can breath in if they breath and function in if they function on electricity, so on and so forth. It causes no more difficulties than reduced visibility and greater effort to walk. It's even possible to swim underneath the island, so long as Star Children make sure to make landfall before they get too exhausted and… well… fall.
Friendnapped
The purple water has streaks of silver shot throughout it. Beware, these silver streaks neutralize powers, canon and role abilities alike, for at least an hour. A neutralized Legend won't be able to sense others in danger. A neutralized Myth won't sense danger coming. A neutralized Familiar won't be able to shapeshift to help others. That may set of a danger alarm but not any spidey-sense. These silver streaks are harbingers of spirits recently returned to Folkmore thanks to donations at the Shattered Spoon Shrine: lonely sharks.
The source of the silver streaks in the water, these silver gray sharks swim up and gently bite people. These bites make people go instantly limp but otherwise don't do any damage. They won't even break the skin. Once limp, the lonely sharks take theirpreynew best friends down to a cave or grotto off the underside of Never Fade. These caves are full of silver water, saturated by the magic of lonely sharks, and the entrances are covered by a thin silver barrier that prevents Star Children from leaving. That means should a Star Child track down where someone is being kept, should they enter its home, they too will be trapped there.
Being held by the lonely sharks isn't the worst experience. These spirits will try to please their new friends, giving them their favorite foods and perhaps even an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item. Mind, the magic of these items will be neutralized in the shark's cave. It is possible to fight a lonely shark, even to kill one, but that will only be a temporary measure. Star Children will remain trapped and have to wait for the lonely shark to revive—with even more golden cracks than before. In the end, the only way to escape are hugs, cuddles, and other measures of friendship. Once all the golden cracks have thinned and disappeared, Star Children can leave.
Spread the Love
By the time mid-March comes around, most of the lonely sharks have been fully healed and no longer kidnap Star Children. Instead they swim the None of the Above tunnels below the island's surface, where they provide guidance to Star Children who ask them how to get somewhere. If Star Children have nowhere particular in mind, the lonely sharks encourage Star Children to make their way toward the Shattered Spoon Shrine.
The lonely sharks still create silver streaks in the water that neutralize powers, but they will accompany Star Children and warn them of some of the dangers. When voices call their names, the sharks will snuggle up against Star Children to provide comfort. They're devoted to helping Star Children reach the shrine. Once there, they will encourage the Star Children to donate Lore to one of the broken spoons there, each spoon representing spirits who have left, spirits who became shells of themselves from lack of lore, or ghosts.
Star Children who donate Lore will find their companion lonely shark presenting them with an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item. Mind, the magic will be neutralized until the Star Child has spent at least an hour away from the silvery water lonely sharks create. Lonely sharks will happily spend as much time with Star Children as they're willing but will show the way back to the surface either via LIM (Lavender Institute of the Mind) or the None of the Above tunnels.
- Never Fade is underwater within a cloud.
- Silver streaks in the water neutralize powers, both canon and Role based.
- Lonely sharks kidnap Star Children and take them to caves on the underside of Never Fade.
- Star Children who find those caves are trapped too.
- Escape by hugs, cuddles, and being friends.
- By the second month, most lonely sharks are healed and found in the tunnels.
- Lonely sharks guide Star Children to the Shattered Spoon Shrine to donate Lore to help others.
- Either when captive or once donating Lore, lonely sharks will give Star Children an item from home.
Content Warnings: Forced Relocation, Potential Secret Revelation, Potential Coerced Physical Intimacy
With the wide range of Star Children from many different worlds, sharing similarities, it's no surprise when moments of deja vu happen. That sense of the familiar with the new, the sense of something that happened before without quite being able to place it… or perhaps it being impossible. Regardless, when that connective moment happens, the Star Children involved are transported to a windmill home from the Cloud Colonies. They land together on a couch before a large television with all the makings of a movie night. There could be wine and cheese. There could be soda and popcorn. There could be tea or other hot beverages. There's a cozy blanket (only one). The movie has already been selected, and it starts playing.
Headliner
Remake
With the wide range of Star Children from many different worlds, sharing similarities, it's no surprise when moments of deja vu happen. That sense of the familiar with the new, the sense of something that happened before without quite being able to place it… or perhaps it being impossible. Regardless, when that connective moment happens, the Star Children involved are transported to a windmill home from the Cloud Colonies. They land together on a couch before a large television with all the makings of a movie night. There could be wine and cheese. There could be soda and popcorn. There could be tea or other hot beverages. There's a cozy blanket (only one). The movie has already been selected, and it starts playing.
Headliner
The movie is roughly based off one of the Star Children's lives, specifically for the Star Child that experience deja vu and triggered this experience. Regardless of the moment of deja vu, the plot of the movie is based off of some real or potential relationship—romantic or queer platonic—in their life. That Star Child can recognize some similarities immediately. If they had any doubts, they get a text message on their relic as the movie starts:
You need to get closer with your companion(s). You can either talk about what happened (or didn't) or not talk wink wink about it with them. The choice is yours (and theirs)! Have fun!
It's possible to ignore the message, at least for a while. The longer the movie plays, the more apparent it becomes that it's based off that Star Child. The starring character's clothes will change to resemble theirs. The cadence of their voice will shift to imitate theirs. Their facial features will shift. These changes will become more and more heavy handed as the movie goes on until even the most clueless companion will have real trouble not picking up on it. It may get harder and harder to distract them from talking about it! There's no pause button, and the only way to mute the movie is to *ahem* distract themselves from it until it becomes an indistinct background murmur.
Remake
If any Star Children thought this experience might have been a Valentine's Day prank, they'll be poorly mistaken come mid-March when it continues with a twist. The movie less closely resembles any one Star Child's life (whew?)… because it blends the lives of all those present together into a new story. One character is based off each Star Child, and it fits the other Star Child into the role of someone who was or could have been emotionally and/or physically intimate with them. If they had any doubts, each Star child gets a text message on their relic as the movie starts:
You need to get closer with your companion(s). You can either talk about what happened (or didn't) or not talk wink wink about it with them. The choice is yours (and theirs)! Have fun!
Not only does each Star Child have to decide what approach they want to take, but the other Star Child may pick up on what they're putting down! One Star Child may want to talk it out, but the other one desperately doesn't. Oh noes, how shall it be resolved? Well, the longer it takes, the more clearly the film demonstrates one way they could resolve it—a fictionalized ending, happy or sad or bittersweet or anything else, between the characters as they more closely resemble those watching them on the sofa. No one's free until they have a heart to heart or a something to something else. Any physical intimacy can do.
- Experience a moment of deja vu and get transported to a cozy living room in a Cloud Colony windmill.
- For the first month, the 'host' Star Child gets a text letting them know to get intimate—emotionally or physically.
- For the second month, all Star Children get that text.
- For the first month, the movie is based on the 'host' Star Child's experiences, what did or could have happened. As the movie progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that's the case.
- For the second month, the movie is a story blending Star Children's experiences together. That too will become more obvious over time.
- Some form of intimacy is the only way out!
Harrier Du Bois | Disco Elysium | Myth | New Character
i. arrival
She called out to him from the window of his new coffin, beyond the voice of the howling wind, rattling the glass. Every step forward hurt. He was bleeding through his bandages and the cold outside of the fishing shack called him an idiot for not staying inside, with the warmth of the sputtering heater.
But he followed.
He now lies in a heap in the grass. Reformed from stardust and light into solidity but with all the same old pains. The ache in his jaw. The wound in his leg. The fragile pounding of his heart. The sweating, the shaking, the headache. Tears on his face.
No, that last one is fresh. He touches his cheeks, still bare and clean shaven. (Ugly.) His dying neurons seem to have constructed a vivid hallucination for his final moments. A fox. A rebirth. All of that shit about true potential…
He lays in the grass. There’s no case to solve. No work to do. He’s a dead man. And there’s no one here to kick his corpse. No harm in resting.
PAIN THRESHOLD - (You aren’t sleeping through this pain. It’s forcing awareness back into you, waking you up.)
“Fuck me.”
He groans and begins the process of moving his stupid body around. Wiggles his toes. His fingers. It’s when he sits up that he finds a weight. His fingers find something solid, his frantic groping finds the shape of horns, thick and long.
“Can someone tell me if I’m dying or not?”
It’s less than a shout, his hoarse voice is too weak. But hopefully someone will hear him.
ii. friendnapping
PERCEPTION - (The table laid before you is much more expansive than what you’d expect from an underwater cave. With numerous dishes of food, steaming with an enticing warmth.)
Down here Harry doesn’t bother to keep his thoughts to himself. Why should he? A shark just grabbed him.
“I don’t expect tables from underwater caves. Like at all.”
HALF LIGHT - (Like a witch from a fable, it’s trying to fatten you up, so your meat will be all the sweeter.)
EMPATHY - (Your abductor looks at you. Something like expectation is shining in its simple black eyes.)
“Uh…hey.”
The shark shaped thing watches him. They sit in utter silence for a moment. Then it pushes a plate forward with its nose. It’s a bowl of soup that he doesn’t recognize. A thin and cloudy broth. Vegetables. Small pieces of dough. A single chunk of meat…
“This is for me?”
The shark nods, and gives him an encouraging spin. It’s pretty cute.
“Thanks...”
HALF LIGHT - (Careful. Remember those Gottwaldian witches.)
Cautiously, he leans forward to sniff the soup. It’s not just inoffensive it’s actually nice. When he slowly brings a spoonful to his mouth, boiled vegetables and broth. One of those doughy things.
INLAND EMPIRE - (All at once, it hits you. Memory. Dull and unbelievably distant. Sunlight in the kitchen. The sleeping cat. She shows you how to make the noodles by dipping your small hands into the floor. She presses them together and moves your hands back and forth.)
He clamps his hand over his mouth in surprise and begins to cry. The shark swims over, nudging him with its nose as he crumbles in on himself, but the crying only grows louder. Loud enough to attract attention, perhaps.
iii. wildcard
dm me or hit me up on plurk at
Arrival
"I dunno, that depends. You got a serious injury?" he asks. It hasn't crossed his mind that maybe this Star Child is a newcomer who will be weirded out by talking cats. There's so many dragged here by the fox these days, it's hard to tell who's new and who isn't.
no subject
“Yeah. I got shot. Few days ago...”
He points to his left side of his hip, the ridiculously form fitting bell bottoms show a bulge of bandage cloth, stained and dark. The pants are stained in general, but it’s the blood that stands out.
“You don’t have any Drouamine do you? Blue pill, sold in blister packs.”
He pinches air between his thumb and forefinger, showing the cat approximately how big each pill is. Mostly it’s in jest but it can’t hurt to ask. Cats know all kinds of things.
no subject
Never heard of Drouamine. Some kinda painkiller? [He takes a few steps closer, inspecting the dirty bandages.] Damn... I'm guessin' you were smart enough to leave the bullet in?
no subject
He shakes his head.
“My lazareth took it out while I was fucked up, but that guy really hates me. So it could be okay. Or it could be the next part of a plot to kill me slowly.”
It takes him a second but he sits up with a truly wretched groan. He pulls at his hair, the ends of his greasy mullet.
“I’ve been walking on it all day. Probably shouldn’t have been.”
Stupid. It was stupid. Didn’t change anything. He could’ve stayed in bed and nothing would’ve changed. They still would’ve shown up to kick him to the curb.
no subject
No shit. Hate to break it to you, pal, but you've probably lost way more blood than you should've. Did your uh... [He hesitates for a second, unsure what the word was that the guy just used.] your lazarus at least bother to stitch it up?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
friendnapping
Seriously, you... Good? [ Obviously not, stupid, Tony instantly hears, in his father's voice, deep inside his head. And then it hits him, that his own meal was significant; the sauce was his mother's recipe, and while time has healed a great many of Tony's wounds, he understands the urge to curl up and sob. Or punch something. Or drink. Or all three.
He eyes the bowl of soup on the table. ] Who's soup?
no subject
He rubs at his eyes, and when he opens them he sees the stranger’s plate. The shark watches them both intently.
PERCEPTION - (A rich red sauce, classic Messinian spices and garlic.)
ELECTROCHEMISTRY - (You should ask him for a bite. Just a little one.)
It takes a second for his brain to catch up to the question. Looking at his bowl, cautiously poking at the unidentified portion of meat with his spoon. He sips the broth so the shark will stop nudging him.
ENCYCLOPEDIA - (It’s the guest of honor in this bowl. A classic peasant soup, with a flour broth. Graadian. Though peasants are the same everywhere.)
“My mom’s. I think.”
He points with his spoon at the spaghetti.
“Yours?”
no subject
Tony hesitates for a second before shoving his plate slightly closer to the stranger. ] Want a bite? [ He admittedly was sort of curious about the soup. Any meal that could make someone sob like that had to have been delicious and full of warm memories. ]
no subject
ELECTROCHEMISTRY - (God yes. You want a bite so bad. Messinian takeout in Jamrock is almost exclusively pizza.)
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT - (Sharing food is a sacred rite by which manly men bind their bonds together.)
HALF LIGHT - (It’s a social trap! Would it be ruder to refuse or to accept?)
Harry glances at the sharks. And sips his soup to keep his assigned serial cuddler at bay. The shark points its nose at a salt shaker, blinking inquisitively. He gestures that he’s all good, thank you.
“Um. I’m good. I don’t know if our hosts would appreciate swapping. If these are all magic and shit.”
They don’t seem offended.
“Is it helping you figure it out? Having it again, I mean. This here is mostly water and flour, I think the meat is pigeon- 'cause it’s not canned.”
no subject
I think so. [ He takes another bite, there's definitely some thyme infused in the sauce... ] And hey, don't knock pigeon; pretty high in nutrition, pretty low in cholesterol. Honestly, the city I'm from is overrun with those things, we oughta make squab sexy and do ourselves a favor. [ He laughs, bubbles forming from his mouth and floating upwards. ]
Arrival i am so sorry
birdperson, who happens to be nearby and who (unfortunately) overhears his question. She stands beside him, places her hands on her hips, and screws her nose up.]Oh, yeah, buddy. It's the end of the line for you.
[A part of her knows it's a dick response, but she can't help it. She hears a question like that, and has to be an asshole about it.]
You've got... two minutes, tops.
no subject
HALF LIGHT - (Face it, you’re easy to laugh at. Everyone knows you’re just a joke.)
He glares at her.
“Cool. Thanks. You’re super helpful. You know what? You should pursue a career in medicine. You'll fit right in.”
no subject
Wow.
[She shifts her footing, places her right foot in front of her left, and cants her head to the side.]
On the brink of death and still capable of sarcasm! That's real impressive, bud.
[A pause.] You need help getting up, or are you cool?
check failure! cw: emeto mention
He plants his hands on the ground under him and presses experimentally. He feels grass. It’s thick and green, alive. He’s never seen green grass before. He remembers it but now for the first time since he woke up in the Whirling. It’s here under him. No more mud and ice.
“Uh…I don’t think so. I should try, right? I was walking earlier…”
It takes some time and a wretched groan, but he hefts himself up into a sitting upright position. Pale, sweaty. It doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere fast. Unless the place he’s going is gonna-throw-up-on-the-ground city.
ENDURANCE - (Bad news, this is all you’ve got in you right now.)
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT - (No way, not in front of the girl. Come on. You’ve been running on that leg all day. You’re an expert in getting around with a gunshot leg!)
(I don’t care about her or her blonde hair, this is about me and being able to walk.)
What Harry sees is a big whopping red 17% chance of success. This check cannot be retried.
What Dee sees this middle aged man…he’s not sitting still. He is gritting his teeth together and balling his fists up very tightly. His legs are moving. But he’s not getting up. He’s not even close to getting up.
cw: stabbing/injury mention
She feels like she might catch something if she gets too close to this dude. That, or she might get stabbed, and she would really like to not get stabbed.]
What... the hell are you doing, bud? [She slowly tilts her head; maybe she shouldn't be staring, but she can't help it.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
cw: self hatred, substance abuse, vague references to a really bad trip, fear of the self? violence
cw: abuse of power/trauma from abuse/thoughts of physical violence
(no subject)
(no subject)
Arrival
[Maybe he should go check. He doesn't particularly want to, but he does know field medicine. More than that, he can practically hear Michelangelo's voice in his head cheering that you have to help people when they're in need, and blah, blah, blah.]
no subject
Harry rubs at his face, the stubble where his beard used to be scratches his palms. For a moment he’s quiet, inside and out. The fabric of his blazer is still damp with snow, from when he left the fishing village.
PAIN THRESHOLD - (and you’re still shot.)
ELECTROCHEMISTRY - (Your opioid receptors would like to remind you that morphine doesn’t last forever.)
Harry can’t see the source of the voice, he has to crane his neck to see…a lot of pink. A big guy.
“Hi. What are you? Can I ask you something?”
Forgot to mention it, but I'm canon familiar! So I'm good with anything, for the opt-in
Draxum sighs and closes his library book, turning to approach the bushes. At 6'8 he's quite tall, so he doesn't have to search hard to make out the figure lying in the grass there. Aware of the effect his kind has on humans, he holds off on approaching until the prerequisite screaming is over with, should it occur.
"That's two questions. Choose one to start."
hell yeah!
“Do you have any painkillers? I got shot a few days ago and I’m not sure how much morphine is left in me.”
no subject
Perhaps he should acquire other materials while he's at it. Yes, with that in mind, curiosity finally gets the better of him and Draxum approaches. He's a strange sight to be sure from the waist up, but his animal traits are even more pronounced in the lower half of his body, with his hooves and goat legs.
"And show me your wound. If I'm committing to helping you, I might as well be thorough and treat the injury."
(no subject)
(no subject)
sorry, I had this written up and didn’t post
No worries!
i. arrival
[The exasperated voice came from up above. Altair just happened to be resting in the tree next to Harry. The gentle sway of the branch underneath him reminded him of sailing days and it was soothing. Although the presence of a clueless stranger ruined that.
People were a hassle but he knew what it was like to wake up lost and alone in a strange world. He couldn't just ignore Harry. He blamed Skylar and the promise he made to his mother and sister. With a reluctant sigh he sat up, muttering a curse in his native language that sounded similar to Arabic.]
no subject
“I should be dying. I shouldn’t be here.”
He muffles a sob behind his palm. When he removes his hand the words just jumble out at once.
“Have you seen anyone else? His name is Kim, he wears a- he got shot. Worse than me. He needs help.”
He struggles himself up into a sitting position. The world around him blurs in pain, in dizziness. He knots his fingers into the grass and earth, trying to stabilize himself.
the snail returns! sorry I'm late
His eyes flickered with a sharp purple glow for a second when Harrier mentioned dying. He knew the feeling. He was distracted by his frantic worry for someone else. The last time he saw his friend Arrakis flashed through his mind at Harrier's words. His eyes flashed with a sudden bright glow that resonated with the sadness and guilt that was written on his face.
He violently pushed the thought aside as he leapt down from the tree and walked over to Harrier.
"You won't be able to help anyone like that. How bad is it?"
np!
INLAND EMPIRE - (Whoa…gold. *What* is that.)
EMPATHY - (Compassion. Guilt. Grief. You’ve struck a cord with him.)
Harry lets out a little wet noise and rubs at his face again.
“I’m not sure, haven’t looked at it. Been too scared to check under the bandages, worried I'll fuck it up. My lazareth patched me up but didn’t stick around to tell me anything. I know he took a bullet out but…that’s it. Took drouamine a few hours ago, it’s wearing off.”
He struggles on the ground, grunting like a sick boar on his back, but he manages to sit up. The weight of horns on his head feels…unobtrusive. But it’s there. He can’t help but run his fingers along the surface of one, for a moment it looks like he’s going to zone out like that. But he keeps talking.
“…I was running around on it earlier. That probably didn’t help- but I think I can walk. If you help me up.”
thanks!
(no subject)
the snail returns! sorry I'm so late