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Entry tags:
August 2022 Test Drive Meme
AUGUST 2022 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. You can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Each TDM will provide a scenario for how characters arrive in-game that particular month.
Playing 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 allowed to have in-game characters react to TDMs via the Network or make a log with the prompts. Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Content Warnings: snakes, cultists, optional violence.
FALLING DOWN LIKE PIECES INTO PLACE
FALLING DOWN LIKE PIECES INTO PLACE
A breeze with the crisp smell of dying leaves caresses you awake. You sit up to find yourself in the middle of an apple orchard, rows spreading out in all directions. Mouth watering apples hang from the branches, and nobody will stop you from taking one. You can wander the orchard as long as you like, but eventually you will find yourself emerging into the front yard of a little farm. There’s a red barn with perfect white trim set far back, and to one side of the yard is a kiosk modeled to match the barn. This is staffed by a woman who sure looks a lot like the fox that brought you here.
On the side of the kiosk are advertised a few different items: pumpkin spice lattes, hot apple cider, cold alcoholic apple cider, and hot chocolate. The cider, you will be informed, is made on site. (But you have to be of legal age to be given that hard cider!)
There are two other things advertised: APPLE PICKING and a SCAVENGER HUNT.
“You need a buddy for those, though,” the woman running the kiosk will tell you. “Lucky for you there’s plenty of people you can pair up with.”
If you elect to try the scavenger hunt, you and your partner will be handed a piece of paper. On it reads the following:
TAKE A PICTURE OF THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR RELIC! :)
- YOU HOLDING HANDS WHILE YOU GO DOWN A PATH
- FEET WITH AUTUMN LEAVES
- SOMETHING YOU THINK IS TRULY BEAUTIFUL
- A GENUINE SMILE
“When you’re done, bring it back here and show me,” the woman instructs you. “You’ll get a prize if you do.”
It’s an easy enough list, right? Although you have to follow the instructions - you really DO have to find something you genuinely think is beautiful, and that smile can’t be forced! Those might require opening up to your partner a little bit!
If you succeed in the scavenger hunt, you will be gifted with an item from home.
Now, what if you decided to go apple picking?
You will be given a bucket. “Be careful to only pick apples from the trees in the rows,” the kiosk woman tells you with a secret smile. “You don’t want to bother the old trees off the path.”
Yeah. That sure sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it?
If you do stick to the orchard proper, you will be able to pick your fill of apples. All of them are crisp and sweet and delicious. But at some point you will see the other trees.
They’re both huge and old, standing on two sloping hills just past the orchard rows. One of them has apples red as blood, and the other apples gold as the sun. In the shade of these trees are weapons sticking half out of the earth, as if they were carelessly buried many years ago.
If you pick one of the red apples, you will find that you are suddenly besieged with huge snakes. They are as big as anacondas and an inky black that absorbs the light, with eyes the same red as the apples. They aren’t poisonous, but they bite and they crush, so you’ll have to fight them off at least long enough to run like hell!
If you pick the golden apples, a crowd of people will silently begin appearing from the orchard. They are all wearing animal masks… and they are all holding hand scythes. Uh oh. You’ll have to fight them off in order to escape! If you don’t manage that, well, in some places it’s traditional to have a big ol’ sacrificial bonfire…
All the weapons below the trees are non-enchanted items, but you may keep them.
Content Warnings: Optional themes of identity and school trauma.
IMAKEOVER MAKEOVER
SAVED BY THE BELL
IMAKEOVER MAKEOVER
Thirteen believes passionately in education. There are, after all, five academies in Folkmore all catering to different types of learning. While these academies are open year round, it becomes apparent if you walk through any of the districts housing shops that back to school is definitely a thing.
A new school year represents a chance to learn more about the world, and about yourself.
Also? It’s a great time for a makeover!
Yes, step into any of the shops selling clothing and accessories anywhere in Folkmore and you will find yourself passionately invested in helping another person discover who it is they want to look like! Do they want to look cool and aloof? Warm and approachable? Are they an e-boy or a cottagcore witch? Punk or prep? You two can figure it out together!
As you shop together you will find it easier and easier to open up to one another, sharing who it is you want to be.
You’ll also be able to score a sweet outfit. Nice.
SAVED BY THE BELL
Wander into any school in Folkmore and you will find a handmade poster instructing all new students and faculty to report to the auditorium. Normal enough, one supposes… but the moment you enter the room you will find reality swims all around you and all of a sudden you’re stuck in a school nightmare!
You know the kind. You’re late for class, no matter how fast you run. You’re in gym class, trying to climb that goddamn rope. You’re getting your books dumped. You’re naked and giving a book report.
These could be memories, but it’s just as likely that they aren’t - you and another person are just trapped in this cliche together. Whichever one of you is in the audience role could maybe help the other one out? Get them some pants or something? Yeah.
falling down
there's a thread of something, though, that feels.. familiar. familial, even. he thinks nothing of it, at first, at least until he spots the figure and the sword. he doesn't really look like his grandfather--too young, not quite guarded enough--but he knows it has to be him anyway. the magnetic energy of his mutation practically hums through billy's bones.
he considers, briefly, going on his way. you never know what you're going to get in alternate universes, after all. but it's not like this place is so large that he can avoid him forever, even if he wanted to, so after a few moments of consideration, he crosses the path and up toward the tree the older man is settled under. dressed in dark jeans and a dark, long-sleeved shirt, billy could very nearly be any other young man his age, but the blanket-scarf looped lightly over his shoulders looks like it was cut from the night sky, swirling with stars and galaxies. he figured it was a good way to warn people that he's apt to do magic without warning.
he stops a respectful distance away and drops lightly down into a crouch, folding his arms across the tops of his thighs as he regards.. yes, that is absolutely his grandfather now that he's closer. wild. ]
Hi, [ he greets, offering a small smile. ] You're Erik, right? Or.. Magnus? Magneto?
no subject
After lending himself to that destruction, but that is beside the point.
Erik glances over as someone approaches, but it's clear that he doesn't regard Billy as much in terms of a threat. It's a sort of casual, lazy confidence in himself as he continues to spin the metal, to test out his tight-grip control over his powers in a new world, just to make sure nothing has changed or gone wrong. He can still almost feel the flood of strength that had awoken inside of him when Apocalypse had come, and while he will carry the guilt of the past few months in his heart forever there's no way of denying how thrilling it is to feel strong again.
Tilting his head, he slows the spin of the sword and moves it away to one side so he can get a better look at the stranger, almost amused at the question. ]
Erik, yes. Or Magneto, if you prefer. [ Once upon a time he would have demanded the latter, but these days the name Magneto carries a weight he's not sure he wants to bear. ] And you are?
no subject
and because that isn't the sort of thing you expect to hear every day, probably, billy nods his head back in the direction he came. ]
From an alternate reality, that is. You're, um.. older back home, but you're still pretty clearly you. [ he flicks the index finger of his other hand toward the sword, sending a little shower of blue sparks racing along the blade. ] Your mutation's pretty distinctive.
no subject
The idea of grandchildren is a painful, incredibly sore spot for Erik, his eyes widening just enough and the sword stilling. It was only weeks ago that he was burying his wife and child in the middle of a forest for lack of a better place, trying to find some means of enacting vengeance, of filling the void inside of him and erasing his grief, and this...
If he had less control over his rage he might fall into one at the very thought.
In some other universe, apparently, some version of himself had children that survived, children that had grandchildren. His eyes follow along the blue sparks - and it inspires something inside of him, a little flicker of joy amongst the grief. His grandchildren are, apparently, mutants. It pleases him more than it should, and he can already hear Charles' voice scolding him gently for being so proud of the idea.
Leaning forward, he hesitates at the offer of a handshake but decides to swallow his emotions and accept the offering for what it is, slowly reaching out to shake Billy's hand. It's likely clear on his face the rush of emotions that are going through him, a mixture of hurt and relief that is quickly tucked away. ]
And how many grandsons do I have, Billy?
no subject
Two, [ he says gently, squeezing erik's hand before releasing it. ] My twin's name is Tommy. Thomas. [ he hesitates, then settles back in the grass, seating himself and spreading his palms open on his knees. ] Here, I'll show you, since he's not-- I think it's just the two of us here. [ he'd sense if his twin was here.
since he's not, though, and since he doesn't know if he and tommy will ever exist in this erik's reality, he tweaks a little thread of his magic and breathes out. between them, above them, illusory figures bloom into being, edged with the same blue sparks as before for a moment before they solidify. first, a young man with billy's face, white-haired and rolling his eyes. beside him, their mother appears, pietro and lorna following close behind.
billy lifts his hands and spreads them out, and the figures obediently go still as portraits. ] My twin, [ he says, pointing at tommy. his index finger moves to pietro. ] Uncle Pietro, Mom's twin. He and Tommy have basically the same mutation. They're speedsters, though I personally think Tommy's faster and does cooler things with his. [ the finger moves on to lorna. ] Aunt Lorna. She has your mutation. [ then to wanda. ] Wanda. Mom. She and I have the same powers. We're reality-warpers. [ that's the easiest way to put it, anyway. ]
no subject
Two grandchildren. Tommy and Billy. It's enough to make something warm settle in his chest, even if he feels - jealousy. Anger. That he might have had this and it had been taken away from him by stupid humans with no concept of his attempts to find peace. The best he can do is watch as the figures appear - and make a note, of course, of his grandson's mutation.
It's beautiful.
One of the figures does capture his attention more than the others, though, and he leans forward as the image of Pietro appears. A white haired speedster... His mind goes back to Peter, the boy from the Pentagon, from Cairo, and his words: I'm here for my family as well. My mom knew a guy who could do that. The chances are slim, but not impossible. If this is his son in another world, then... ]
Reality-warping. [ The sword lowers to the floor, stabs into the ground, and Erik leans forward. He finds that he wants to meet them all, almost desperately, this family that he'd never had, that he'd never had a chance to even glance at. Daughters, one who has his power. It makes him yearn. ] What does that entail?
no subject
Oh. [ the name probably doesn't line up with what what he's displayed thus far, and if you haven't encountered it before, it makes sense to ask. ] It's.. [ he trails off, and a twitch of his fingers makes his family wink back out again. ] It means I can alter existence. [ that's probably the simplest explanation, isn't it? it doesn't encompass it any more than saying he's a mutant encompasses what he and his twin and his mother and uncle actually are, but it's the best equivalent he has right now. ] On a small scale, like changing the color of your shirt, or on a.. galactic scale. Technically.
[ don't get any ideas, grandfather. ]
Mom and I are a little different, and she approaches her powers a little differently, but we both have to be careful not to literally speak things into existence. [ it's cause massive problems for both of them.
then, because it's still nagging at him: ] .. Did you recognize Uncle Pietro?
no subject
Erik hasn't met a mutant with those sorts of powers before, and there's certainly a sense of smug pride at the idea of one of his children - his grandchildren - having such strength, but he tries to quash that down quietly. They're not actually his, even if he does believe that Billy is his grandchild from another world.
A galactic scale. If he hadn't just seen Apocalypse almost destroy the world and destroy the only person he could call a friend these days - well, he might be a little more interested in the notion. ]
That must be interesting for the both of you.
[ Haltingly, he leans back against the tree, wondering how much he can - and should - give away. ]
Not Pietro, no. But there is a boy called Peter that is a... 'Speedster'. They look similar.