August 2022 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

AUGUST 2022 TDM

INTRODUCTION

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

[ Prompt One ★ Prompt Two]

Summer Is Over

Content Warnings: snakes, cultists, optional violence.

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.

Plaid Shirt Days and Nights

Content Warnings: Optional themes of identity and school trauma.

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.

Comments

[joidevivre]

Joi is glad that he's taken her hand, but he still looks troubled. And she can't shift clothing, hairstyles anymore in an effort to cheer him up. She is as she is, will always be now. Joi wants to give him a gentle kiss, but isn't sure how it would be taken.

And she melts. "Of course I want you to. I--I want you to take me everywhere we can go, see everything we can see, do anything we want. Together." She's relieved when he leans into her and she leans forward enough to rest her forehead against his. "And I'll need all of the help you can give." Him. Him. Always him. She didn't have to be programmed to love him to love him.

That notion reminds her starkly of who and what they are, and she looks troubled. "I...yes. That is how they wanted us to be. But can't we have a say in it? At least now, when we're away from those who used you?" She desperately wants to believe that they're free. That they're away from people who would use them as products, not people with their own thoughts and feelings and boundaries.

"I want...romance. Now that we can have it for real and not just me pretending to tend to you. Of course I want it with you. Not because you're what I'm used to, but because you're who I want. In my life, in every possible way." She smiles a little ruefully, still taking comfort in his touch even though what she's about to say may sound silly. "What can I say? I don't want romance and all of the...intimacy surrounding it because it's expected of me. I want it because I want it with only you.
Please, believe me." She finds herself holding her breath, waiting for his answer.

[obeir]

For K, it's still impossible to fathom he's even capable of having any choice in matters outside the parameters of his programming, but he hopes it can be different for her. That she truly can have and experience every last thing she desires, that she can choose for herself, that she can be who she wants to be. That she can grow as a person. It's a thrilling thought. He momentarily closes his eyes, smiling when she leans her forehead against his.

Sapper Morton's final words echo in his mind. Maybe this is his miracle.

"I believe you." How could he not? Here she is explicitly telling him she wants these things because she wants them, not because they're dictated by her programming. He might doubt his own capacity for autonomy — which is in itself an inescapable facet of his own programming, that doubt — but he'll always encourage it in her. And what's more— "I want to give that to you," he says with a gentle squeeze of her hand. "I want you to be able to have the life you want. And everything that entails."

He wants to try, at least. It's an indescribably good feeling to be wanted, needed — far beyond the programming-based satisfaction of feeling useful to someone. And just maybe, through her, he might get to experience something like freedom too, inasmuch as something like him can.

Realising that if he can smell the hot cider, she'll be able to as well, he takes a moment to just appreciate that before remarking, "Your drink's ready." A pause. "Smell's good."

And speaking of romance... he goes ahead and shows the woman at the kiosk their scavenger hunt photos thus far, who repeats the list as she looks them over:

-You holding hands while you go down a path
-Feet with autumn leaves
-A genuine smile

And there she pauses, peering at the pair of them with a knowing look as she inquires, "Something you think is truly beautiful?"

She's holding up the portrait K had taken of both of them together, looking happy, then scrolls to the one he'd taken of Joi afterward. It causes K to duck his head a little, still smiling as he offers a quiet 'yes' of confirmation. Someone, rather than something, but it counts. The woman delightedly informs them that their respective prizes will be awaiting them at home! In addition and possibly related to the prizes, Joi will also later find she already has a full wardrobe to get her started, much like the trunk of clothes and items from home K had been granted shortly after arriving in Folkmore. Perhaps intended as a housewarming gift.

(CW: sexual desire implied)

[joidevivre]

Joi wants to be herself. Learn how to be herself and learn how to love K with no line between them, Replicant and hologram, that maybe they can simply be. Without fear of prejudice or discrimination. And she can't help it, simply being with him makes her feel comfortable and happy. So, she smiles.

Maybe? But she'd count him as hers.

"I'm glad. I'm sure there are terrible things about where we are. But are those terrible things worse than where we came from? An autumn like this would have been unthinkable." And she leans forward enough so she can give him a relatively chaste, yet heartfelt kiss. "Being together like this would be impossible. I can't help wanting to explore our new possible, yours and mine together." Because the thought of doing it on her own, without him is unpleasant, to put it mildly. "And, I can't help wanting us to be together, in every possible way. Now that it's possible."

And he is wanted, he is needed. She feels like she felt that way even without the programming.

The drink takes her by surprise, almost. She was lost in the moment with K, feeling contented and peaceful. Once it's mentioned, though, the scents of apples and spice tickle her senses. After Joi takes the drink and has a sip, the taste is almost overwhelming as she tries to compartmentalize everything before choosing to let it go and simply enjoy it.

She smiles warmly, but a little shyly at the woman at the Scavenger Hunt kiosk. She's sure she looks giddy as a schoolgirl with love and happiness, but she can't feel embarrassed, far from it. She's proud to be with K and wants to tell all of Folkmore how much she loves him.

Joi grins at the woman when she mentions the something beautiful. She thinks that K is the most beautiful being she can see, can even imagine.

And at K's confirmation that the photo of her is the something beautiful, she feels a delightful thrill down her spine and pooling deep inside her. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and leans into him, remembering her fear the moment before she'd been...taken offline. She'd do whatever she had to to keep K safe.

And she'll be pleased to not have to go shopping. Shopping in time could be fun, but Joi worries that there would be so many possibilities, they might be too much.

Joi would consider a nice queen-sized bed another housewarming gift.

[obeir]

The multiple bedrooms of K's chosen home certainly fulfill that criteria: each came furnished with a large, comfortable bed complete with bedclothes. Should she want her own bedroom for any reason, she'll have her pick.

Exploring the possibilities. That could mean so many things, and he can only hope he won't disappoint her. There's still the nagging thought that she deserves better than him, deserves to be with a real person, at the very least. A real person with authentic emotions and memories and a past, better able to provide her with the life she wants... Her kiss helps to draw him out of those heavy thoughts, though some worry lingers. What if he isn't good enough?

Their conversation has his mind eventually turning to more simple domestic matters. Things that are within his control. And given the direction their conversation had seemed to be taking, it's probably best continued in private, anyway. He requests a drink carrier for their final two drinks, the cold ciders, explaining, "These could go with dinner." Their first 'real' dinner together, it ought to be special. "Anything in particular you'd like me to make for you?" he asks as he links their arms together so they can walk arm-in-arm. To the market first, maybe, depending on her answer. Despite the roles they'd played before, he has no intention of leaving the cooking to her.

Being provided with the means and opportunity here has allowed K to discover that he quite enjoys cooking. Proper cooking — selecting and preparing the ingredients himself, rather than the prefab dehydrated fare that was common in their home universe. Prefab meals were more convenient and much quicker to prepare, but they couldn't compare to the taste of something freshly made. He's even been learning how to make his own noodles from scratch. His cooking adventures will be all the more fun now, having someone to actually share his efforts with and who might want to learn with him.

[joidevivre]

She'd take a separate bedroom if that was what he wanted her to do, but she'd just as soon share a room with him. This was a miraculous occurrence, the ability to be a couple in everything, not her as his hologram beloved. Even though she knew she was already beloved, she could feel it, even in hologram form.

And, nonsense. She only has eyes for K. She's met several men during her time here already and while many of them seemed nice enough, they didn't stir her as K did. Even if she hadn't already been bonded to him, she feels as though she would have become so anyway. His thoughtfulness, his compassion, his willingness to follow clues where they led instead of where he thought they should lead. And that he was handsome. Yes, very handsome. All of those things alone were powerful allures, but all combined they made a sweet confection of a Replicant man and she'd rapidly found that she loved sweets.

And Joi nods at his statement. She's already had so many things surprise her new taste buds, she assumed that cider would do the same. And the thought of dinner, of him asking her what she wanted! "I suppose I should ask for a salad with grilled salmon. But what I really want is a strawberry milkshake! Are there strawberries here?" Because there weren't back home. Despite that, she'd always wanted to try one. And she'd cook by his side, they were equals, true equals now.

Joi would be overjoyed to help him cook in the here and now. She'd had things like Chinese noodles programmed in, she'd love to make them with K, take them from being dough to tossing them and tossing them until they became fully fledged noodles on their own. And she wondered what other thrills of cooking could be found. Real, homemade bread? French Onion Soup? Things considered decadent and only available to the very rich? Here?

[obeir]

"A strawberry milkshake?" he says, wrinkling his nose in amusement. If that's what she wants for their special first dinner together, he won't deny her. "I do have strawberries and almond milk, and I think that can also be used to make the ice cream. Guess we're having milkshakes for dinner. Do you want strawberry ice cream with it, too? Or vanilla?" A pause. "Both?" Because why limit themselves?

His choice of almond milk has nothing to do with the purported health benefits, which don't affect him (or probably her) anyway, and everything to do with how unsettling the notion of using animal products is. Even the mammary secretions from another species — some of whom happen to be sapient in Folkmore, he's definitely seen cowfolk around. Not even the wealthy could enjoy such things in their home universe, when there were simply no animals left to take them from; everything is synthetic, artificial. It's hard to break from that mindset, though the likelihood of everything being provided by Thirteen without harming any actual animals may make him eventually broaden his culinary horizons. Until then, the almond milk is a perfectly fine substitute for the 'real' stuff, so he isn't worried — he's too busy entertaining the many different flavour possibilities for ice cream.

And he does steer them toward the market, because obviously they'll need the full fixings to go with their milkshakes. Cherries, sprinkles, chocolate and caramel syrups, some cute little animal cookies... He's now determined to make her the best milkshake possible.

"I do need to get a few things from the market, though. Is there anything you want to pick up while we're out? I think I have all of the essentials you might need," though he spares a thought for whether Joi's new body is fully like his own or if Thirteen may have sneaked anything in that will need accommodating, "but — you can have more than the essentials. Like those bath products you mentioned. You could get those and try them out tonight."