folkooc | February 2023 Test Drive Meme

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*tdm

February 2023 Test Drive Meme

FEBRUARY 2023 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]

SPRING BREAKS LOOSE

Content Warnings: extreme weather

the time is near

The earth is awakening.

You are aware of this fact before consciousness truly returns. One minute you were a falling star but as your body reforms you can sense the freshness of spring just around the corner. In your minds eye you can see circling birds in the sky, feel the first warm breeze of the season, and hear icicles melting into crystal puddles.

But something isn't right.

The moment you are truly awake you find yourself in what could generously be described as a shack built in the snowy wasteland of Wintermute. You and another Star Child are at least being kept warm by an electric heater, but there really isn't much in the way of amenities otherwise. More disturbingly, the entire shack has a deeply oppressive aura to it, encouraging the pair of you to leave as soon as you can.

But where can you possibly go?

Stepping outside reveals the answer, as parked not far from the shed is a dogsled, complete with warm winter gear to protect you from the cold.

The dogs themselves are the real marvels; not flesh and blood, the sled dogs are in fact automatons. The winter sun reflects off of their silver and copper bodies and the steady tick of their inner workings breaks the chilly silence. Each dog has a key sticking out of its back, turning slowly.

The oppressive sense you felt in the shack continues to grow. Your thoughts begin to turn negative: sad, paranoid, fearful. It is quite unbearable... until your eye falls on a delicate splash of purple against the snow.

Close to the dogsled, a single crocus pokes out of the ground.

The very sight of it calms you down. Picking it will make you feel happy, and you will find yourself blurting out the first pleasant memory that comes to mind.

The robodogs bark, delighted, encouraging you to climb aboard the sled and look for more of those flowers!

Every crocus you collect will make you feel positive emotions and the urge to share good personal moments with your companion. The more you find, the happier you will be... and you might get quite close to a total stranger as a result as well!

in from the snow

While you are out and about, you'll want to keep an eye on your team of dogs - they can and will lose power after a point. Your job as a good dog driver is to keep them wound up! Yes, you'll have to stop and physically wind the dogs back up when they lose steam.

You are likely to discover weapons jutting up from the snow. These are all unenchanted items, basic swords, guns, shields, etc., but the second you pull them from the snow the weather will take a turn for the worse. You may even be subject to a sudden avalanche! Hopefully you got the dogs wound up enough that they can get you out of there without any damage!

Eventually the dogs will choose to take you to Akhlut Station in Wintermute where you can catch the train somewhere a little warmer.

BUT SO DOES FEAR

Content Warnings: Fungus, spores, live burial, mental confusion and hallucinations.

putting roots in my dreamland

Willow is definitely warmer than Wintermute. The tail end of winter means that while much of the farmland is still blanketed in snow, the more wooded areas have large clear patches beneath the conifers. The ground here is damp and rich smelling. Poking out of the soil are tiny white mushrooms. These fungi glisten wetly, strangely compelling in their little rings of earth. You just want to take a closer look... maybe have a seat under the conifers and listen to the snow melt...

The mushrooms enchant anyone who gets close to them into simply staying put. They cloud the mind, leaving you in a dimly pleasant haze, while your body sinks slowly into the earth. The longer you stay, the more you sink - maybe a passerby can come and pull you out! If you don't wind up suffocated by dirt you will find that your head clears on its own once night falls. You will probably still need a hand pulling yourself out of the ground, but at least now you know what's going on.

The woods at night are not still - there are mice and owls and the usual nocturnal critters. There is also something else, something that moves slowly beneath the trees checking the mushroom traps. About eight feet tall, this lanky creature resembles a human skeleton held together by muscles and tendons of moss and fungus. Its head is a huge mushroom cap, underneath from which glitter a pair of bright blue eyes. If it finds any unfortunates stuck in the traps without anyone to help them, it will push their heads beneath the soil and hold them there until they die.

The sight of this creature inspires feelings of disorientation and hopelessness. These feelings are lessened when you are in close physical proximity with another Star Child, so it is to your advantage to stick together. The mushroom creature's objective remains the same: to feed the living earth with your body.

The creature is not particularly tough - its flesh is soft and gives way easily. You can defeat it easily with weapons or even your fists provided you can get close enough without succumbing to the disorientation and hopeless feelings. Oh, and you may not want to hit it on the head...

The mushroom cap, when struck, showers spores everywhere. These spores burn if they land on your skin, and if they get in your eyes they cause vivid hallucinations of ghostly figures reaching for you, trying to immobilize you. These hallucinations are so real that it is likely you will act as if they are real, standing still as if you are restrained.

If you defeat the mushroom creature, it will dissolve into the ground and leave in its place a wooden chest. Inside each of you will find some canon clothes and/or an item from your homeworlds.

coast is clear

Not far from the forest treeline, a bonfire burns merrily in the center of a circle of light green tents. The tents are kept warm by portable heaters, with some containing food and drink, and others offering small packs of seeds as gifts. These seeds are for common earth flowers and vegetables. One of the tents provides first aid supplies, in case you got roughed up fighting a giant mushroom or something.

The tents are staffed by squirrels and chipmunks. Just plain old ordinary squirrels and chipmunks. They don't speak - only chitter and occasionally screech - but they will help as best as their tiny paws allow.

This is a good time to recover, and also to talk to any other Star Children you may see.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's his turn to swing an aggravated punch, also without any follow-through that would suggest intent to seriously injure. For now.

"If Mundus had never gotten his grubby mitts on the Qliphoth fruit, I'd still be nice and cozy at a high point on the underworld food chain. The last thing I need is someone else taking his place."

Dante dodges it and continues to dance, not getting tired of the little taunt. Even his wings get into the groove.

"You know, now that you're not involved in that underworld... if you're ever looking for a job? Hit me up."

Alastor won't scare the customers too bad. Probably.

"Oh, now you want my help?"

He kicks a small jolt of electricity at Dante's feet.

"Sorry, but that ship has sailed. Besides, I don't care for playing at being human."

Zap! It's enough to tickle again, and he cheers a little as he pretends it's like getting bullets shot as his feet. There's a certain kind of dancing in that, and he's doing it.

"Who said you'd have to play at being human? Nero certainly didn't when he still had his demon arm."

"Who?" He doesn't recall any Nero at Devil May Cry. "You're telling me someone went around with a visibly demonic arm, and didn't cause any kind of panic? Please, people these days run screaming at the mere thought that there might be a demon around. And besides..."

He can't quite keep the hurt out of his voice as he continues. "Don't you only welcome devils who might as well be human at heart?"

"Nero. Vergil's son."

He'll just let that sink in. In the meantime, he can tell the hurt is there, and he actually feels kinda bad about it.

"Hey, that was something younger me said. I don't exactly feel the same way anymore."

He doesn't know Vergil well enough to be properly surprised at that, so he just tilts his head. He'd be lying if he said he disapproved of Sparda's bloodline continuing...or if he said he expected Dante to have any luck continuing it.

"So what, no more recruiting entirely based on whether a devil has 'a gift only humans possess', or whatever? ...I'll think about it."

"As long as you want to save humans, and are strong enough to fend for yourself, you're fine with me." Dante has stopped dancing at this point, and motions to the cuts in his clothes as evidence. "Our battle showed you can keep yourself safe."

"No promises on sticking my neck out where I'm not confident it won't be chopped off. I might have a piece of myself tucked away safe in a broom closet, but I'm not too eager to end up stuck there for however long it takes to scrape together a new body."

And he still doesn't trust Dante to remember to give him something to do if that does happen.

"But I'm no coward, I'm willing to tangle with anything short of Mundus himself. Not that I'm the hero type, mind...but you're right about there being no love lost between me and the underworld."

The modern speak? Dante's noticed it. The usual phrases that get thrown around by humans and just the grammar itself - it sticks out. But he's not found a reason to mention it, yet. But boy, will it stick out like a crawfish until he does.

"I kinda don't believe you that you won't stick your neck out, but I'll let you have it."

...that's letting him have it, huh?

"What we faced last was kinda worse than Mundus. Even broke Rebellion. I should tell you all about it."

That is not letting him have it. Alastor shoots Dante a flat look, but he won't press on the matter this time. On some level, after all, he knows Dante's right. He's already risked his life for humans once.

"Broke Rebellion? Does sound nasty...that thing seemed to me like it could survive being a behemoth's chew toy."

"You know, for someone who doesn't like humans, you sure use a lot of their figures of speech." Okay, so it stuck out so much he had to finally say it. Nobody can blame him!

"But you're right, Rebellion could survive most anything. Except Urizen."

"Never said I dislike humans, just that I'm not soft for them. Truth is, I actually enjoy human civilization. When people aren't too busy screaming and running away to ring up my groceries, anyway."

That happens less when he looks more human, but it just isn't like him to rely on that sort of deception to get by.

"Never heard of a 'Urizen', but that doesn't say too much. Unless I'm making some huge mistakes in my calendar conversions, I'm two millennia out of the loop on what's going on downstairs."

"Ever heard of Doordash?"

Dante's smile turns grim at the idea of expanding on who Urizen is. "Well," he says. "You'd never believe it, but Vergil split himself into two. Demon and human. The demon was Urizen."

He knew his brother could be reckless in his own way, but he never imagined it could reach those heights.

"Can't say I have."

The explosion of delivery apps has yet to make its way onto the big screen...though, he's starting to wonder if he needs to be keeping up more with goings on in the real world.

"Didn't know it was possible for a cambion to split himself like that, but your family seems to have a knack for doing the impossible. I take it the demon half was itching for a rematch?"

"It's this great thing where people shop for you, and you never have to see their face. And they never see yours!"

So if he's felt like skipping a few showers, or accidentally fell asleep on his pizza, he doesn't have to feel like he should be embarrassed.

"He was itching to take Mundus' place at the top of the food chain."

He shrugs. It sounds convenient in some ways, but he's pretty sure he'd get bored if he kept himself cooped up in one building all day.

"Well, I can't say being puppeted around like that wouldn't wear on any demon's pride...sounds like a real mess, though. I remember the last Qliphoth sprout, it was a nightmare for any mortals who were unlucky enough to be in the region." Albeit a brief one for most. "What about the human half?"

"V. A real Mr. Poet, with some fancy magic." Dante liked the guy, but he'd never dreamed they could be related. "Could summon birds and shit from his tattoos."

It'd sure been a sight to see.

"Come to think of it, with such an obvious name, not sure why we never guessed. But he didn't exactly look similar."

"Sounds like familiars. Guess we know who got all the real talent in the family."

"Hey, I've got some pretty fancy moves, too. But now that he's back together, Vergil can summon V and get the familiars back. It's pretty weird."

Dante will forever live in defense of his powers! He can even use magic, he just doesn't feel like it right now! Or maybe -

He runs his hand back against his hair, using the hair gel spell that Vergil is so fond of, and makes a constipated face. "Show me your motivation."

"You've got some parlor tricks. Compared to a proper witch, you're like a stage magician."

He holds his arms up in an exaggerated shrug, as a gust of wind blows rain right in Dante's face.

Pushing his hair back down, Dante makes a face at Alastor and the rain. "I thought I'd had enough of a shower, huh?"

He doesn't like being told he's a 'stage magician'. He's better than that! But he has an idea. Maybe a way to appeal to the other devil's obvious good nature. Start building a better relationship?

"So teach me."

"Sorry, you're not the boss of me anymore."

He puts a hand on his hip, and his tail calmly swings back and forth.

"If you want lessons, you're gonna have to make it worth my while."

"I guess that all depends on what you want from me."

Actually, that was kind of a scary idea. What could a devil with a grudge want in return for a favor?

"Well, blood offerings are always a classic, and for good reason..."

It's his turn to circle Dante, like a cat sizing up its prey. There are devils who would bend over backwards for regular tastes of blood so potent as Dante's.

"But I'm a flexible kinda guy. A proper apprenticeship might be entertaining...that'd mean you get to do my drudge work as part of your lessons, by the way."

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