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

[defenderoftomorrow]

[ Jayce's interest leans more towards engineering and machinery than biology and genetics, but he knows a little about it. Viktor is the real expert between the two, alas. Perhaps if his partner were here too, he would be able to help more. ]

Money? As far as currency goes, I give this world points for originality. We use coins in my world, they're smaller and easier to carry around. [ He doesn't think it is stupid, only that it is unusual. Different world, different rules, he imagines. Foxes talks, the frost is alive, spoons are money...he wonders what will be next. ]

Are you sure? You seem...agitated. [ Freaked out is a more fitting description, but Jayce has a lot of tact. He looks utterly confused when Aoi seems unaware of Vastaya when he himself looks like one, but perhaps they are called a different name in Japan. ]

Vastaya are the descendants of the Vastayashai'rei, enlightened mortals that took the power of the spirit realm into themselves. They are chimeras, humans with animal traits. But they can look considerably different from one another. Some have bird features, fox ones, lizards, or cats ones...that's why I thought you were one.

[ But it seems that Aoi's real nature is more complicated than that. Jayce listens and doesn't look like he's judging or overly concerned, still focused on understanding his new friend. ]

That's amazing. Not the ears appearing when you don't want it, I can see how that's insanely stressful, but the rest. I've never met a hero before. Or seen an  Iriomote Cat. Do you get night vision, faster reflexes, or something like that?

[ Jayce has all the questions, sorry Aoi. Scientist's curiosity, it's a flaw of his. As for the mice, a couple of them who are carrying a towel pause to give Aoi a look back, but it's more to see if he needs anything rather than real concern that he might try to eat them. ]

That's a high price to pay for normalcy.[ And this time Jayce frowns, moving a bit closer, concern in his eyes. ] Did you choose it? Any of this? Or were you forced into it? 

[servicenyan]

Yea, we had coins and bills in mine. Or cards. [A small realisation, and his eyes blink wide.] I bet we use the spoon as some sort of credit card!

[How? He still isn't sure. But now he feels less dumb for saying a spoon is currency.

Vastaya don't sound very far from Mew Mews. So even if Aoi isn't a Vastaya himself, he can certainly understand the similarities. He wonders if he'll meet any of those here. (Boy, you are going to be surprised by the amount of animal traits in this world.) Aoi nods as he listens.]

I don't think I inherited mine, though...

[Annnd there's the questions. This is fine.]

I did get a lot faster, and I became able to tolerate the heat. I can hear a lot better. I can jump, climb. I also can heal faster, for some reason.

[There's a thing or two he's leaving off that list. He has attributes to the cat that he's certainly not proud of.

When Jayce moves in a bit closer, Aoi blinks at him, not entirely sure what to expect. But those questions weren't what he thought in that line.]

I... no. I didn't choose it. Supposedly, it was at some sort of random. Because Hinata and her sister didn't know who the other Mew Mews would be. The common trait we all share is that we're good-looking and male. Which was... surprisingly how we found the last two.

[Look, Aoi's not smart. But even he thinks it's weird that those common factors were the ones that lead to finding them.]

[defenderoftomorrow]

Cards, like...to play games? Do you use that to trade money?

[ He's never seen a credit card in his life, which is why he sounds like a fool right now. Some tech in Jayce's world is really advanced, he helped to invent teleporters and flying ships, but they are also lacking some other more mundane inventions, like...ATM machines or telephones.

Aoi and Jayce are both in for a discovery once they learn about the whole Legends, familiars, and myths. It is not enough to be kidnapped by a fox, the lil troublemaker and this also decided to be creative with their bodies. ]

Truly like a feline, that's incredible. It must be really helpful in your everyday life. Does it affect your metabolism? Do you need to eat more to compensate for the extra fast reflexes?

[ Jayce almost wants to ask what happens if Aoi trips, if he always falls on his feet, but that might be interpreted as mockery, and he doesn't want to offend him. He can't help but chuckle a bit at that last explanation, letting out and being amused; ]

Oh. [ And a moment later, Jayce's smile eases a little, once he realizes that Aoi is serious.His eyebrows go up and he blinks quickly a couple of times. ] Wait, really? that is a common trait? I mean, you are handsome of course but...any supermodel could end up turning out to be another Mew mew?

[servicenyan]

It's plastic. Although I guess it's kind of like trading money. You can put money on it, and use it to spend that money.

[Aoi doesn't think Jayce is dumb for not knowing what a credit card is. If he's bad at studying, he figures there are probably things he's well-associated with that others aren't.]

I'm tired more, sometimes, but I don't really need to eat extra.

[Thank God. That would be a nightmare.

Jayce chuckles, but Aoi just stares for a moment, unsure how to break it to Jayce that he's serious. But Jayce seems to get it on his own.]

Yea. One of them is, actually.

[Ayato Roppongi's fanbase is... something else.]

We literally found him during a performance. He transforms into a Red and Blue Lory.

[defenderoftomorrow]

[ Jayce seems totally lost after that explanation, as if Aoi just told him cards are made of stardust. Actually, that might have made sense, he has a point of reference for that. ]

What is... 'plastic'?

[ It's a good thing that Aoi doesn't think he is dumb because Jayce feels like it. He is a scientist, he likes having proper knowledge of pretty much everything, so he feels rather out of his element now. ]

It doesn't sound so bad then. [ Jayce runs his hand through his hair, wetting it in the process as he slicks it back and then seems amused at the new bit of information. ]So...not all of you turns into cats, but you are still called Mew Mew?

[servicenyan]

[Aoi opens his mouth to answer, but then he stops, blinking for a few seconds as he ponders what plastic is made of. And he has no idea. He knows it's manmade, but uh... that's it. Huh. Would that have been covered in science class? It was probably covered in science class. Where's Shizuka when you need him?]

It's like... a hard piece of... something. [Well this is going swimmingly...] I actually don't know. It's just a hard, kind-of-bendy material back home, that can be harder or more bendy based on how it's made. They can be see-through or solid, too.

[Yea, he has no idea, and that's probably the best explanation he can give. Whoops. They can feel dumb together.

As far as the other Mew Mews not being cats...]

I... actually never thought of that.

[Questions to ask Anzu and her sister when he gets back home.

If he gets back home.

....Please be safe, Anzu.]

Anzu's sister called us that, and I never asked why. It didn't occur to me that it was weird at all. We were looking for something called "Mew Aqua" too. It's...

[Aoi frowns a small bit, thinking of the earth being destroyed by the Three Wiseman, because humans were responsible for damaging climate change. His cat ears lower to match, his tone more somber.]

It was supposed to purify the pollution in the world. And we were gonna use it to save it, before the aliens destroyed it.

[He didn't think that much when he got here, if the other Mew Mews could locate the Aqua without him. Their instincts were supposed to harmonise, or something. Can they find it with only four? Is humanity going to be gone when he makes it home?

He can't help it; his eyes begin to tear up. A world without humans, a world without Anzu... What can he do from here?]

I like long replies, it's all good!

[defenderoftomorrow]

[ Once Jayce has more time to get used to this place, he will figure things out on his own, but right now, he's only been in a maze and the hot spring, and only knows the sort of technology standard to Runeterra.

The corner of his lip upturns at that first useless explanation. 'A hard piece of... something doesn't help him much, but there's a joke here. He can tell Aoi is trying, so Jayce keeps it to himself and then nods. ]

I get it, thanks. It must be a kind of material that doesn't exist in my world, or that has yet to be discovered. It sounds very interesting.

[ He will appreciate how malleable plastic is, then learn to dislike it with a passion once he discovers that it is both terrible for the environment and highly toxic when it burns. ]

Do you know who came up with the name? Perhaps at the beginning, there were only cat-people. It would explain the choice and the reason why the name stuck. [ Of course, Jayce is simply theorizing.

The loss of the Mew Aqua clearly affected the other man, if his reaction is anything to go by. He's also surprised by the mention of aliens being real, but that's a worry for later. Jayce's expression turns to concern, and he reaches out to place a hand on Aoi's shoulder, speaking softly. ]

Ey...I'm sure you'll figure things out, find another way.  Just because we find some trouble along the way doesn't mean everything's hopeless.