folkooc | October 2022 Test Drive Meme

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Bummer he's not here. I mean, not that I'm not glad you're here. And doing this. I appreciate it, really." And he means that genuinely, offering her a smile. She doesn't have to help, but she stepped in to help him immediately. And that must mean she's good people. A great person to find in this weird maze in this weird world.

Dylan is quiet for a moment which is a miracle for him. He just loves to talk. But for this, there's a gravity that comes with it. A weight of processing what exactly happened back home. "I mean, I don't know for sure I was gonna turn. I got bit by something that I didn't know at the time was a werewolf. And I could feel the infection spreading. So, I begged the guy I was with to cut it off. It seemed like the only option at the time, but..."

His looks down at his hand solemnly. Or rather, where his hand used to be. "It's just. It's gonna take a lot of getting used to. That's all."

He flashes her a faint smile because the last thing he wants to do is be a mood killer. "But hey. I don't mean to make this all about me. Because we're trapped here together, so hi. I'm Dylan. And I am totally in your debt for the healing thing."

"Yeah. A pretty big bummer. And hey, helping people is kind of what I do. One of them, anyway." The other is killing lots of bandits and Qunari and templars. She'd honestly hoped that the bandits would have eventually learned to run away from her instead of right at her, but that seemed to be asking too much.

"Andraste's tits. That's awful. I figure being a werewolf isn't a fun time, at least the ones from home aren't, but the ones from your home most be really scary to go with the, the chopping your hand off method." Actually, werewolves were some of the only things she hadn't fought, but she'd heard stories about them. Very much not fun.

"I...can't imagine. 'Cause I have all my limbs. Was the one you cut off your dominant hand? That's going to be tricky, getting used to the other one." Granted, that wasn't exactly helpful, but it was something which would need to be addressed at some point, right? And she sounded sympathetic, right?

She smiles back a little awkwardly. "No, it's okay. Given the circumstances, it's fair to say that it really is all about you. We need to get you outta here. And, hey. I'm Hawke. Sarajane Hawke. And it's the least I could do, I mean I'm still kind of annoyed at the fox for not helping you first. I wonder if she's always annoying?"

"I mean. I guess neither of us really know. Maybe being a werewolf is a party we're missing out on. Maybe we just don't get it because we're not in the werewolf club," he says with a faint laugh, trying to make light of it. The joke definitely isn't his best humor, but he's trying -- trying with every effort he has because if he thinks about any of this too much, he might feel less of an urge to keep going in this maze and more of an urge to sink down in the hollow of that tree to his left and wallow.

But at her question, he shakes his head. "Nah. Small mercies, it wasn't my dominant hand. I'm a rightie. Not saying my left didn't get love and all, but I'll at least have an easier time making my left the hook hand. That'd be kinda badass, right?"

Dylan cracks a playful grin. "It is cool meeting you, Sarajane Hawke...helper extraordinaire. Kind of a mouthful, though. Can I call you SJ?"

"Oh, wow, when you put it that way, it sounds kinda tempting. Like, what goes on in this secret society of werewolves? But then I think that I'd probably have to eat a ton of raw meat and you never knew what that would involve, so it's probably for the best to stay as we are." And she's using humor in the same way. It's how she's coped with things for years. As long as she acts like she's doing fine, as far as everyone knows? She's fine.

"Absolutely badass. I'll have to introduce you to a friend of mine, Isabela. With a hook hand, you'll probably have a bright future ahead of you as a pirate. I hope you know some sea shanties?"

And she grins back broadly. "I'm very glad to meet you, too. And what can I say, I'm a giver! And SJ is fine. So is Hawke. I've even been known to respond to 'hey, you' on occasion."

"Well. I didn't wanna say anything," he leans toward her conspiratorially, looking from left to right as though he's about to divulge some juicy secret. "But I happen to know the Wellerman sea shanty by heart."

Dylan draws back to give her some space, playfully placing his index finger to his lips. Their secret! No one else can know! And Dylan's back to casual smiles afterward. "Maybe I'll sing it for you sometime....when my balls don't feel like they're about to fall off and shatter on the ground."

His single hand rubs at his bare arm. Although Dylan has to admit, it feels less cold now that she's here. "Is your friend Isabela a pirate? I mean, if she's recruiting...I could be her...left hand, man."

His brows raise in good humor at the pun. Sarajane has a very important decision to make here. Does she laugh at his lame puns and forever open the door for him to keep making them or does she roll her eyes and still probably be subjected to them in the future? The hard choices!

And she gives him a conspiratorial grin back. "Hey, that works! And I can teach you 'The Soldier and the Sea Wolf,' it's a Fereldan classic."

She's good at secrets. To be a free apostate mage for so long, she had to be. Though, after the incident with the Arishok, people of Kirkwall had more or less accepted her, even though the statue they made had her holding a sword, which was dumb. "Yeah, about that, let's get outta here. No body parts are gonna freeze off on my watch."

"She absolutely is! And--and--!" She breaks out into delighted laughter at the pun. She's a sucker for puns and dad jokes. And dirty jokes, too, but that can wait until she knows him better.

Many, many bad jokes are in her future and she's looking forward to every one!

It appears Dylan has found his new best friend! The way she laughs at his dumb joke makes him grin and start walking along the path a little taller. Laughter is the best medicine, they say...and Dylan's arm doesn't hurt at all. Granted, that's probably more due to her healing him than anything.

"Cool. Sign me the fuck up. I can look for a parrot if that's a requirement. But I don't think all pirates have parrots. It'd give a whole new meaning to the poop deck if they did."

That was if Isabela was even here. She might not be here. And Hawke probably wouldn't know if she is or not until they get out of this maze. He hears a twig snap somewhere in the woods behind them, and his smile fades a little. With an anxious glance over his shoulder, he asks:

"So, um....wanna teach me that song as we quickly walk the hell out of here?"

October 2022 Test Drive Meme

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(CW: murder)

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phew. I sank into the abyss to get apps done, lol. But I return now!

yay, glad you're back!

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