February-March 2024 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

February-March 2024 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 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.

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.

[ Soon You'll Get Better ★ Netfox & Chill]

Soon You'll Get Better . ★

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

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 their prey new 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.

Netfox & Chill . ★

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

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!

Comments

[ruevealing]

Whatever ailment appears to fall over him, the stranger seems to catch himself before he collapses, so Rue does not feel the need to rush forward and lower him gently to the floor. But Javert never once leaves the focus of their big-eyed, owlish stare. They will keep an eye on him, just in case.

The furry ears are quite darling. They remind the owlbear of their husband-to-be.

"Pray, I beg for your forgiveness, good sir. Being so suddenly imprisoned like this has clearly knocked all manner of decorum right out of me." It is with a flourish of feather and lavish skirts that the owlbear curtsies, their movement remarkably elegant for their shape and size, graceful even in their gentle head bow. "My name is Delloso de la Rue. Whatever titles I used to hold were given up freely some time ago. Nowadays, I simply go by Rue."

Saying that never gets old. They feel more and more free every time.

"As for that awful detention, it did not matter in the slightest. Everyone was on the same footing in that place, whether the crime committed was true or not, or whether an apology was even warranted." Finally, finally, Rue's attention drifts back to their captors, one of which is nosing a water-tight bag of colorful macarons ashore. The owlbear hoots in soft delight before plucking it up in between their talons. "Agreed. I don't believe it's forgiveness they are after this time, but whatever the case, they don't seem to want us to starve."

[inseine]

A flash of pale-eyed wonder grips Javert's face at the introduction (what a high-society sort of name!) and, equally so, at the macarons. How they retain their shape and defy soaking up the water around them like a sponge is an impossibility that hardly registers.

Blandly, and feeling wholly inadequate beside a splendid creature like Rue, he says, "I am only Javert. No titles or courtesy required for me, as well."

The shark hasn't forgotten that Javert must eat, too. In the man's large fist, the shark deposits a cloth-bound bundle, and inside is a thick wedge of rustic cheese wrapped in wax paper, a silver spoon dulled with use, and a lidded cup filled with stew, meant to pair with the dark bread, of course. His brow deepens, then, cragged with melancholy and a pinched, implacable feeling. He slides the rest of the way down the grotto wall until his seat fits flush against the ground, long legs bent into a crouch in front of him.

His stomach growls in protest, ears flattening.

"Pardon me, Rue," he addresses, awkward without a courtesy title. "It strikes me that I could do with a meal. This... place. This land. Folkmore, the Fox-Woman told me." He gestures roundly to the shark, the grotto, the murky ocean 'air' at large. "It has unseated me. The sea-creatures are too kind, the air is water, and I have thrown my good, practical sense and any semblance of manners downriver. I have been remiss in thinking clearly at all for some hours, now. Perhaps I must."

Must what? He stops short there, unable to finish the thought as his loosely-wrapped bundle falls open upon the floor. He is likely to follow Rue's lead with whatever they tell him, his head swimming with too many and too few ideas at once.

The shark noses him with pity (Pity! Javert is struck thunderously by that word, but the glittering in those wide black eyes most surely reads as pity), and his frown curls into a miserable grimace. He hisses in an undertone to him,

"No, not you, too. Don't you get started with that!"

[ruevealing]

Once Javert is settled on the ground, Rue comes to perch beside him. Not too close, the owlbear has had too many run-ins with those fearful of them based on their appearance, but nearby enough to continue their conversation with ease while the pair of them figure out just how to break free of this place.

They are quiet while they listen to the man speak his grievances aloud, talking of how out of balance he has felt since arriving, a feeling Rue remembers too vividly from their own nebulous arrival. But then that shark pops up to nose almost affectionately against him and Rue knows they must step in before this poor soul loses his mind completely.

The owlbear pinches the little bow holding the bag together between two talons and tugs it free, before they are stepping closer and offering him a pastel-colored macaron.

"Please, take one. I hardly need them all."

After this mess, they both deserve a little something sweet.

Whether he takes one or not, Rue will pocket the rest in favor of scooping up Javert's meal for him.

"Sit back and breathe, my friend. Here-" Not to mother this total stranger too much, but they pop the top off of the stew and press it back carefully into his hands. "Eat. You will feel more like yourself after a few bites. Ignore the sharks, just focus on my voice. You will be fine."

[inseine]

Friend?

Yet Javert does not protest, because an ethereal, well-mannered, sparklingly bright creature like De La Rue is as good a friend as he might have, as a freshly-fallen Star Child in the land of Folkmore. His first and only friend, perhaps, and one retained only as long as they are trapped together, but a friend nonetheless. He shoots Rue a dazed, gobsmacked sort of look, but has no fight in him to reject the small kindnesses, cupping the stew in his hands and bringing the broth to his mouth. When he sips, a small and scant sort of thing, he is astonished by how much it warms him, by how a surge of strength sparks through his extremities with every meagre swallow.

He sips again, more eagerly that time, and sets the cup on the floor beside him, tearing into his bread bit by bit to scoop up his meal. Though he is reluctant to touch the sweets, a man unaccustomed to indulgence as he, after a good hearty gulps of the warm stuff, he cannot imagine slighting his companion by refusing the offer. He pinches up the pretty pastel macaron between forefinger and thumb, turns it back and forth to examine it from all angles, and finally, pops it whole in his mouth.

Mmmmf. Javert might have moaned aloud at the taste, his eyes rolling skyward, lids sliding shut. Don't judge his crassness too harshly, Rue, he hasn't eaten in too long.

"Thank you," Javert says, righting himself out of his dreamy state. It's as much gratitude as he's capable of giving, in his current state. "You are much too kind to a miserable stranger. A stranger whom you are unhappily trapped with, judging by the locked door over there. "

He gestures with a torn piece of bread toward the shimmering silver curtain blocking the door. The shark again interrupts his gesture, his line of sight, big toothy smile, wide eyes, and flapping tail eagerly watching him enjoy the meal. He averts his gaze immediately, fixing again on his owlbear companion.

Javert grins wanly, a faint spark of morbid humor in his eye.

"Do you suppose he's fattening us to his liking? It seems he might succeed in that, if he keeps on fetching the best bites." He nods to Rue's sweets bag. "You must try one of your bon-bons. They are sublime."

[ruevealing]

No judging here. Rue's main companions during meals are either a goblin man who has hardly learned to chew with his mouth closed or a bunch of rowdy teenage boys who can't help leaving a mess behind. Javert is in the clear as far as they're concerned. A little pleasurable delight at a perfect dessert makes sense after the day they've had.

"I assure you, dear, my unhappiness only lies with the situation itself. If anything, your company has been a great boon. I imagine I would not be handling this nearly as well if I had to face it alone. The company lifts my spirit, even here in this damp cave."

And let's be real, being able to center and comfort someone else helps Rue even more. Putting their own worries aside to focus on someone else is just what they do best.

"Ha! You may be right, though I'd already be quite the mouthful to any of them as is." No shame behind the words, Rue knows exactly who they are and there are truly no skinny owlbears. "It's a shame my magic is nullified in this place or I would simply ask them myself what all of this is for. Though perhaps-"

Look, the sharks have not tried for aggressive yet, so the owlbear will just go waddle over to the edge of the water and step into it, kneeling down to run a massive paw over one of the smaller shark's back.

"Can you understand me, little one? Why are we here? What is it that you want from us? We could very much like to return home, if we may."

[inseine]

It is comical, how the delicate, ethereal Rue could, perhaps, dispatch of the shark with a few well-placed swipes of her massive paws. Yet the possibility does not even occur to Javert as something they were capable of; Rue presents themselves as the opposite of rancor, violence, disrepute. Their poise is irrefutable, refinement undeniable, and Javert's mind already sparks from its internal short-circuiting that none of this processes as utterly absurd, in the context of the greater world of Folkmore.

Only later, when he is alone, will he sink down upon his back on a firm cot and allow the tears to fall, the shock and nausea rending him useless.

Where Javert watches mutely, sipping and dipping his stew, the Shark brightens, swimming a little twirl for Rue's benefit. Look at him, now! He can spin! He can do cartwheels in the water! He can make fun tricks! He can fetch!

The shark noses, then rubs his 'cheek' and gill-plates along Rue's giant paw. He questioningly noses the items he brought for Rue and Javert, then swims a wide loop around the room, pausing with an inquisitive, bright glance -- like he's seeking approval.

Are they friends yet? Can they be friends? What else do you want?

Javert swallows his latest morsel after watching this display.

"It seems he wants us to partake," he snorts, brow arched in the shark's direction. The shark wags its tail in a frenzy, to and fro, to and fro. He chides the massive with a scolding click of his tongue.

"Which I have done already, you silly beast, as you see. What more is there to be done? We should like the way opened. Let Rue to mind their handsome home, and myself to..." there's a queer pause, which he pushes past quickly to say, "mind my own devices."

[ruevealing]

Oh, a little spin! It is a touch juvenile, but Rue claps their great paws together with delight, cooing out a soft, happy noise at their slippery captor's tricks.

"How darling they are!"

To the owlbear, they only see a child showing off to their parent - mom. mom! are you looking?!?! - so Rue is grateful for Javert's interpretation, whether it is correct or not. A different perspective is quite helpful or Rue might just be stuck here until their children bust in to save them.

"Oh yes, what a wonderful idea." Rue retrieves their bag of macarons and delicately pinches one between their sharp talons before popping it into their beak and swallowing it whole. "Mmm, how utterly wondrous! Thank you. Would you like a sweet too, little shark? Are you feeling left out?"

Let them just drop a pink cookie right into the water, where it will float at the surface until it crumbles to soggy, wet pieces of sugar and almond flour.

"My friend, Javert-" A little wave of their paw in the man's direction, as if the shark cares in the slightest. But Rue cares, there is something within the man they can't identify that worries their nerves. To be left to his own devices? Not if they have anything to say about that. "-And I would very much enjoy it if you let us return home. Would you mind terribly if we left? I have laundry on the line and I'd like to collect it before it rains."

[inseine]

CHOMP!

Whatever remains of the cute pink cookie, that shark will happily munch it down with a sharp snap of his jaws. Munch, Munch. There isn't much for him to crunch in his massive mouth, but it sure delights him, the sweetness bringing a blush (huh???) to his gill-plates. Javert, too, following Rue's lead, plucks a chunk of meat out of his stew and gently tosses it towards the shark's mouth. Again, he makes an impressive twirl and catches the bite squarely in the middle of his tongue -- well past the layers of pointed, sharp foreteeth at the front.

It flaps its fins, satisfied, and noses up against Rue, settling in for a snuggle between their arm and heavy, furred body. Friends! They're friends now. Rue and Javert will never be rid of this shark.

Javert hums contemplatively, his body kept still as his eyes wander over towards the grotto entrance, where the silver curtain shimmers and pales. The obstruction is disappearing. Does that mean they are free to go? He feels impelled to lower his voice to a smooth murmur as he bends nearer to his owlbear companion,

"That about does it, I think. Let us proceed carefully and not offend the lad."

[ruevealing]

The little darling burrows up against Rue, almost disappearing into their feathers and fur and overwhelming tulle, as the owlbear coos above the blushing shark, running a gentle paw over it's slippery body.

And whatever that had been - the affection, the kindness, or perhaps just the offer of food - it appears to have met the requirements Thirteen set for them. The way free appears and they are free.

"Take care, sweet shark. We'll come visit you again soon." Sorry, Javert, but you are signed up for shark visiting duty too. "Here, enjoy the rest of my macarons." They dump the rest of the bag into the water as Rue untangles from the shark and moves to Javert's side, a paw resting at his forearm. "I'll have my husband bake more for you the next time I visit."

And then to Javert, "I'm ready. Let us return."