October 2022 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

OCTOBER 2022 TDM

INTRODUCTION

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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]

SHINING

Content Warnings: Possible insanity via freezing. Temporary nullification of abilities.

COLD AS YOU

You were falling...

The world snaps into place all at once; you are laying on the ground, surrounded on all sides by towering bushes that stretch up towards a beautiful sunset sky. The bushes were clearly flowered at one point, but now the flowers have died and all that remains are browning leaves that are beginning to fall. On the chill air you can sometimes hear the sound of music, too faint to completely determine.

As you stand, you are filled with an intense desire to find someone. You might have an idea of who, but chances are you do not - you just know that somewhere ahead of you is someone that you need to reach. Whether they are friend or lover or enemy remains to be seen.

You wander the maze. If you're the impatient type and you have the ability, you might try to fly out but you will simply be vaulted right back down if you do. Something clearly expects you to play by rules which were never actually explained. As you move through the twisting passages of nature, you will notice that there is a frost creeping along the branches on either side of you. This frost brings a deep chill with it, and it encourages you to move faster, to find that nameless person now now now! If you take a very long time to wander the maze you may very well be on the verge of freezing and half mad with the desire to find someone. If you try to force your way through the bushes, the frost will crawl over your limbs and inspire both the freezing and near madness at once.

When you find your Person, the cold evaporates. The air suddenly feels merely crisp, and the leaves on the bushes seem more vibrant. The two of you now can focus on finding the way out - so much easier now - but any sense of urgency will have passed and you may just walk for hours, talking and sharing things about yourselves.

It is possible to solve the maze alone, but it is much easier (and more pleasant!) with someone else.

KEEP YOUR BRITTLE HEART WARM

When you exit the hedge maze you will find a stunning display of lights: hundreds of candles and lanterns decorate the ground and hang from trees, illuminating a clear path over a gently sloping hill. When you crest the hill you can look down and see a beautiful hot spring sprawled out below. It too is lit up by hundreds of lights, all of them glowing under the late autumn sky as it darkens towards night. There are changing rooms where you can stash your clothes (yes, there are bathing suits for the very shy) and bathing stations to ensure that you are clean before entering.

The water of the springs soothes madness and heals physical injuries or any frostbite that may have been sustained in the maze. It also relaxes you, making you perhaps more likely to open up to anybody else present.

The hot spring is staffed by many mice. They don't speak, but they squeak to one another in such a way that it sounds like they are singing - high lilting chants that seem to promise that everything will be okay. They are happy enough to band together to bring you towels or hot tea. The spring is open 24/7, always with lights to fight the cold and darkness of winter.

HIGH STRANGENESS

Content Warnings: Monster sighting, optional violence.

GLITCH

Folkmore has trains and of course the cat bus, but it also has roads, mostly utilized by horses and bicycles. Maybe you're looking for the convivence store, or maybe you just like walking. However it happens, you find yourself on a lonely road at dusk. It is unusually quiet, almost as if the world is holding its breath.

Suddenly you hear the sound of wings. A man-sized creature soars above you, something with huge red glowing eyes. It drops something at your feet: a walkie-talkie. The creature lands some distance away, staring at you, and a thought arises unbidden in your mind:

Help them.

The walkie crackles and you can hear someone speaking, asking if anyone is there. It is another Star Child, brought into this trial as well. They are in danger somewhere nearby; maybe stuck on the edge of a cliff, or trapped on a rope bridge - whatever it is, they need someone else to help them get to safety. If they have any powers, they have been temporarily nullified, but if the rescuer has powers they remain intact. That's where you come in! Using the walkie you must communicate with one another so that the rescuer can reach the person in trouble in time!

But what if you don't make it in time? Or decide that you're not the hero type? Well. The rescue-ee will suffer a terrible fate... for a few seconds. Then the entire world fuzzes and resets, but this time the roles have been reversed. Both parties will remember what has already happened, so if you just ran off into the woods with no intent of helping the first time you miiiight get your just desserts! This process will repeat over and over, people switching sides every time, until someone is finally rescued or the sun rises. Whichever comes first!

If you do succeed at a rescue, you will hear the rustle of huge wings once more. This time you don't see the mysterious creature, but you will find a mystery trunk. Inside you will each find some of your canon clothes and a canon item. Looks like teamwork is rewarded! Nearby, there will also be some unenchanted weapons sticking out of the ground: basic swords, guns, shields, etc.

BAD OMEN

You don't necessarily have to have completed the rescue trial to get some goodies, though! Those aforementioned weapons are scattered all over Folkmore. But if you just go to grab any of them you'd better be prepared to fight; after all, nothing comes for free!

As soon as you have pulled a weapon out of the ground, a tall, man in a black suit and hat will appear from seemingly nowhere and attack you. He has no weapons but he is extremely strong. He's also just really creepy - his face looks like it might be fake, somehow. The only way he can be killed is with a wound to the heart - any other supposedly mortal injury will result in another man in black appearing. It is possible for someone with no combat training to beat these creatures, but they really might appreciate a little help from someone with more experience!

The good news is that they won't mess up your clothes any, as none of these creatures bleed. Because that is totally normal.

Good luck!

Comments

[chumpelstiltskin]

Why is who like this? [Dave asks, despite knowing this is not the time to ask. Every time is the right time for Dave.]

Anyway, whatever, yeah. I can fly, but the last time I tried it I got yanked back to Earth like I had magnets up my asshole. Then I had fucking bush leaves up there, so you can imagine my reluctance-- also, tree? Are you stuck up a tree? Seems kind of derivative.

[heirlift]

The weird fox lady who brought you here!

[ If he sounds a little exasperated, he is, mostly because he's not really keen on becoming a ground pancake. ]

Yes, a tree, I'll explain everything but I kind of need you to get here first! Can you just try the flying again? I promise, I'm not trying to embarrass you! I'm trying not to die for the millionth time!

[chumpelstiltskin]

Bro, this conversation is mid-flight. I can do two things at once-- three now 'cuz I'm scratching my butt too.

[He fibs, because he was totally dilly-dallying until he heard the exasperation again. He kicks off the ground and it works fine.

Dave describes his surroundings and eventually, with some difficulty, they're drawn together. Maybe it's fate. Maybe John is better at describing trees than Dave gives him credit for.

But here is he is, hovering alongside John.]

Sup.

[heirlift]

[ Maybe John happens to be in the tallest tree within viewing distance, so... hey. At least it's easy. It would really suck if he were trapped in a canyon or something.

He's relieved when he sees Dave off in the distance, an unmistakable smudge of red flying in his general direction. He tries to wave but finds that his balance is not great, so instead he resorts to shouting and just trying to hold on for dear life.

He maybe should have warned Dave about some changes he's been through first. At least it's not that weird in the grand scheme of things. Fluffy white dog ears and a fluffy tail... if anything, his relationship to Jade is all the more apparent. ]

Dave! Hey! I'm 'sup! So, uh. You're going to have to carry me down.

[ Oh yeah, and... he can't seem to control his tail. It is wagging like crazy, which makes sense, but is also terribly embarrassing. ]

[chumpelstiltskin]

[This is certainly a lot to take in, but Dave is very conscious of the fact that he's waffled a lot while his bud is in some sort of distress. He can admire and question the ears and tail later, especially because he has hours worth of questions.]

Okay, hold on-- I'm gonna put my hand like--- it's gonna go around--

[Dave's hands fumble awkwardly around John until he relents and moves to scoop him like he'd scoop up Karkat when he's hassling him. John doesn't weigh much more or less than his boyfriend, so Dave hoists him up with surprising ease until he thuds safely against his chest.]

Alright, buckle up. We're going down now.

[Dave casts a suspicious look toward the tree before he turns and starts to tread air downward. It's a slow descent, normally he'd just crash down and hope he lands on his feet but right now he's carrying precious cargo.]

Hey, bro?

[heirlift]

[ John will have time to have a crisis over this later, right now he just wants down in one piece, so he barnacles himself to Dave in whatever configuration he can. It helps that Dave is warm and also feels really nice, and it's been so long since they hugged...

He spares a glance at the ground, because he got over his fear of heights long ago, but it still looks way too far away. He's progressively more relieved the further they descend, but really... he just wishes Dave would hurry the heck up! ]

--uh. Yeah, dude?

[chumpelstiltskin]

I dunno how to say this but, the tail? Like, I'm gonna ask more about that later but right now it kind of tickles.

[It's just in position to be hitching his shirt and bristling against his tummy, which is ticklish as John probably knows.]

Should I drop us into rapid descent? Fuck it. Hold on.

[Dave's arms tighten a little more around John, there's something protective about the way he clutches onto him despite the fact that he's going to play his favourite trick and just let himself drop down through the air like they're jumping out of a plane.]

Here comes the ground.

[He says curtly, not slowing quite as much as he'd like as they reach the ground. Dave lands on his feet, but he doesn't anticipate the slip of the grass underfoot. Dave's feet slip out from under him, but he desperately tries to hold John upright as he falls back onto the ground.]

[heirlift]

Huh? Oh, sorry...

[ Unfortunately for Dave, the attention just makes the tail wag a little more. He just can't help it unless he really tries-- which he does! For Dave's sake and for his own, because he doesn't want to be dropped.

Someone less accustomed to flying might be unsettled by the sudden drop, but it's kind of par for the course for John. He's still holding on though. Maybe a little too tight, because when Dave slips, John slips with him. The animes always told him this scenario would be a lot sexier, but it mostly just ends in an awkward tangle of limps and what's probably going to be a pretty gnarly bruise on his hip. ]

Ow... hi, Dave.

[ He pushes himself back, trying to give a little space. ]

So yeah, the ears and tail. Oh boy. Where do I even start? Maybe we should go back to my place and I can explain there?