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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!
ii. Spread the Love
[What he saw next there took the breath from him faster than any distance running.]
[Mid-length white hair. Dark skin. Could it be? He'd found him. He'd made it after all!]
Kel-- ! [The name died on his lips as Astarion's joy was crushed into despair at the glimpse of the other man's face. Unfamiliar tattoos. The subtle curves of their lips. The eyes. This wasn't Kelthrae at all, just another drow.]
no subject
Astarion!
[His eyes brighten, an easy smile on his lips as he swivels around on one heel.]
Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, I was starting to think I was going to have to deal with this all by myself.
[But then he trails off. A frown pinches softly at his eyebrows. Something isn't right. He can't quite put his finger on it, but something isn't right.]
... What's the matter?
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How do you know my name? Who are you?
[There had been so many "conquests," so many he'd lured back to Cazador's palace, he didn't remember all of them. But he would have remembered this one, at least when he'd met Tav, for the resemblance. They were so similar, it was unnerving.]
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[He knows that look. The guarded, wary expression. He knows it but he doesn't know why it's being pointed at him... but he can see very well that Astarion is not joking.
Just as well. It wouldn't be a bloody funny joke if he was. Still, the bard's expression creases in faint consternation.]
It's me. Tav? What's wrong with you? Did you hit your head?
[He doesn't move forwards but his body language says that he wants to. All but screams it. That desire to offer reassurance and comfort to someone who took so long in accepting it from him.]
no subject
[He wasn't. But, strangely, he didn't seem to be lying, either. Astarion squinted at the half-drow, perplexed. How was this even possible?]
If this is some shape-shifting trick, it's a poor one! You've gotten messy and the eyes are all wrong! [He gestured flippantly with his hand. Sure, a case could be made that Tav might have gotten a tattoo and new scars in the short time they'd been separated, but there was no mistaking those eyes.]
[Gods, this couldn't be Orin again, could it? Astarion began to reach for the dagger he'd been so thankful to find from the shark. The shark itself looked between the two men with uncertainty and drifted closer to the shrine.]
no subject
[He doesn't quite look afraid, but definitely wary as he sees Astarion going for that knife. Tav steps back with his hands slightly raised but his eyes still on the elf's face, searching, trying to find a reason for his friend to be acting like this.]
I headbutted you the first time you drew a knife on me, don't think I won't do it again. [But Astarion isn't lying, is he? The confusion is real, he doesn't know who he is, and Tav was in no way prepared for how much that would sting. It must be a spell, right? Or he's been dosed with something, or this place has done something to him.]
Look-- I'm... I can prove it. Listen. Your full name is Astarion Ancunín. You're a vampire spawn. You have really expensive taste in wine. You think flowers are pointless because they don't make good poisons. [His hands lower, just a little.]
You don't remember what colour your eyes were before Cazador turned you. [Then, his voice softens at the edges.] You want freedom. More than anything.
no subject
[Slowly, he released the hilt of his dagger.]
You... do seem to know me...
[He pushed out a light laugh and shifted his weight, pulling up the defensive charm over actual physical aggression.] It would seem my reputation precedes me! But I can't say the same for you. I don't remember you at all.
no subject
At least they're not in danger of coming to blows. He thinks.]
... Don't do that.
[He rubs the bent knuckle of one thumb against his temple, his reaction to Astarion's immediate throwing up of those familiar walls seeming all too tired. Gods. As if they didn't have enough to contend with...]
Don't do that, Astarion. I know it's not real. [No more than it was when Tav used to do it, too, and had the situation been reversed he's sure the vampire would have got a full show of just how much of a front this bard can put up to protect himself.] I need to figure this out. I—... I need you to be fucking normal with me, so I can concentrate on everything else. If you can just... try to do that.
no subject
Normal? [He dropped the act, since that's what "Tav" wanted, and scoffed instead.] Normal? You do understand that I've been confronted with a veritable stranger, claiming to be my -- [lover] -- Tav, knowing secrets about me while I'm left in the dark, and you want me to be fucking normal about it?
There is nothing normal about this!
no subject
All right. All right. I'm sorry.
[He pushes his hands together, both forefingers pressed against his lips for a moment.]
That was inconsiderate of me to ask of you. I apologise. [But he can feel the panic rising in the back of his throat. He takes a breath, pushing it back down.] If I could tell you anything about me that would ease your mind, then I will.
[Though, given the circumstances, that might not be nearly enough.]
no subject
[Astarion's shoulders drooped as he sulked with resignation. That was just the sort of apology his Tav would make, too. They really were quite similar. The shark that had escorted him here nudged against his side and wriggled close, and Astarion stroked its side with a sigh.]
I don't even know where to start. And it's hardly the same as -- well, you know. Describing things isn't the same as living them. I don't understand how we could have possibly gone through the same experiences but have entirely different memories.
[His brow furrowed.] I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Gale were here. He might know what's going on.
no subject
[The bard rubs his thumb against his temple as his mind ticks over. He's usually good at reading a situation, any deficit in intelligence or wisdom made up for by a keen perception and far too much time spent in books, and he hums softly as pieces begin to fall together.]
Alternate realities. That fox has some power to her.
[His lips purse slightly.]
Well, maybe we can't get back to Toril but we can get out of here. Can—... Will you be all right outside? Don't suppose she's made things convenient for you.
no subject
[Heh. The visual was amusing, even if frustrating, and his lips quirked ever so slightly into the briefest smile.]
[The vampire shook his head.] Oh, no, she's definitely left things as they were when we -- I -- was in the Underdark. No convenient magic this time to allow me to be in the sun. [And he was maybe a little bitter about that. He glanced up toward... well, toward where the surface must be.] At least I should be so thankful that it isn't killing me to be underwater. But when the sun begins to rise again, I'll need to make sure I'm well out of its reach.
I don't suppose... you have found some place to stay around here? Some other cozy shark-filled cave of your own?
no subject
But Astarion back to being stuck in the shadows is a small sting, when he's fairly sure that with all of her power Thirteen could have done something to make it otherwise. Then again, small mercies... he's still alive standing here (so to speak), and that's something.
The question draws him out of his thoughts and he looks up, putting his hands behind his back and scuffing one foot lightly against the floor.]
No. Haven't been here long. Still trying to figure out if I wanna set down somewhere, you know? [He rubs the back of his neck, almost cringing at his own words.] But... If you need to find somewhere, I'll help you out. Don't want you having to hide in a hole in the ground.
no subject
[He pat his escort shark on the side, a little more enthusiastically than was probably necessary, and the animal eyed him suspiciously.]
So, you know, no hard or fast plans, certainly not staying around here any longer than I have to. No need to worry, though, I've been through worse!
no subject
[He knows, and Astarion must realise how intimately in that moment as they lock eyes and Tav replies to him, a faint wince pinching his expression. Briefly, he glances down at the shark that Astarion pats, and then over to the one that had escorted him in here... still hovering around a respectable distance away.
There's almost a strangr sort of guilt in it... of realising how much he knows that Astarion can't reciprocate. Just how this has happened, he isn't sure... but he doesn't want to press the vampire by asking more of him just yet.]
The offer's open, but I get it if it feels... too weird for you.