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February 2023 Test Drive Meme
FEBRUARY 2023 TDM
INTRODUCTION
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.
Content Warnings: extreme weather
the time is near
in from the snow
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.
Content Warnings: Fungus, spores, live burial, mental confusion and hallucinations.
putting roots in my dreamland
coast is clear
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.
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He quickly shakes his head as he snaps out of his thoughts.]
No, thank you... That's very kind, but I don't feel the cold.
[Heavens Above, he does not want to make a fuss, but landing in a place like this filthy, injured and dressed in a single layer of clothing without even any shoes was bound to draw some attention. More fool him for even thinking he could skirt around it.]
I, uh...
[What is that feeling? It's like something just on the edge of being recognisable, yet tantalisingly out of reach.]
I feel strangely as if I know you, somehow.
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He tries to hide his excitement, but it's simply impossible for him to completely push down that feeling, the corners of his eyes crinkling as his smile only increases. It's nice not being alone anymore, even if he may be slightly different from the angels he know. That's fine!!]
You're like me, aren't you? [He holds one of his flowers out to Raphael, a small and silent offering.]
Um. [Okay, saying this out loud is a little awkward, but he decides to push through.] An angel.
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And he knows what the question is going to be before he even hears it, and just the thought of it sends a jolt of unexplainable fear through his entire being. He doesn't remember the last time an angel who wasn't Gabriel looked at him with any sort of kindness or smiled at him like that, and it feels... ridiculous to be panicking about it.]
I...
[He can't lie, can he? He could, but he's terrible at it, and the question is so direct as to make it almost impossible. His best lies are ones of omission, and even they are not always the best.
So, with his mouth dry and a faint tremor in his hand, he takes the offered flower and bobs his head in an unsteady nod.]
... Raphael. I'm Raphael.
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...
Raphael. That's a small surprise, but Michael doesn't lose that easy smile. In fact, he seems pleased when he takes the offered flower from him.]
It's good to meet you, Raphael. You're a little different from the Raphael that I know, but... I'm still happy that you're here. [He places his free hand against his own chest, figuring that he should introduce himself as well.] I'm Michael.
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Michael?
If he thought the display of emotion was visceral before--
As soon as that name leaves the other angel's lips all trace of colour drains out of Raphael's face. The only reason he doesn't drop the flower he's holding is that it feels as if his entire body has locked up, tense and frozen in the grip of a level of pure, cold fear that he didn't know he could actually experience. He doesn't want to experience it.]
You--
[Is it some kind of joke? But... no. The Michael he knows does not make jokes like this. He never made jokes like this. Michael does not toy with people - he will leave that to Uriel - he's blunt and decisive in his approach to everything. He's not... he's not this.
A little of the instinctive response he felt on hearing that name thaws away in the face of reason. He does not feel the same, so perhaps--
Raphael gives his head a small shake. His brow pinches in a frown.]
You're Michael?
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I... yes, I am. Um, Archangel Michael.
[He isn't going to take back what he said, because that would be untruthful, even if it's clear that he is the source of his fear. It's been a very long time since anyone has looked at him like that, and he briefly wonders if Gabriel or Raphael back home actually fears him in some way. It's not like you can easily wipe away the fact that you completely destroyed another archangel from existence... and without mercy.
Michael shifts uncomfortably for a second, fully feeling an old shame that really hasn't disappeared, even after thousands of years.]
I'm... I'm sorry. [He's not sure what he's apologizing for exactly, at least in this case, but he feels like that's the best thing he can say right now. His hand lowers from his chest to start fiddling with the sleeve of his coat, feeling a little lost now.]
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The Archangel Michael he knows would never say that he was sorry. Not for anything.
Raphael holds the delicate flower still clasped in his hand up to his chest and closes his eyes for a moment. He doesn't need to breathe, but he often finds the action calming, and so he takes in a deep breath of crisp wintry air and then lets it out evenly.]
It's all right.
[It's not. It's the furthest thing from all right that it could possibly be, but--...]
You're not... the same one, are you. You don't look the same. [You don't forget the face of a brother, and certainly not the face of someone who has tormented you for hundreds of mortal years. He's shaken but not stupid and even if it doesn't make sense, he can try not to panic here.]
I don't think I've ever heard Michael apologise.
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If his name alone caused such a reaction... what is this other version of him like? It's a strange concept to think about, but a little easier to swallow since he arrived in this world. Parallel Earths are common, it's not impossible to think that another him exists.
And he thought having two other bodies of himself was a bit too much.]
I'm quite certain that I'm not the same. I'm... not entirely your brother.
[And he can't help but wince when Raphael mentions his refusal to apologize. Other Michael must be... something. A part of him wants to admit that there's probably some similarities to him and the Michael he knows, just because of their name and standing, but comparing himself right now seems like a bad idea.
He releases his sleeve and tries to offer Raphael a smile, even if it's a little uneasy.]
I'm probably not as strong as him, for one.
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Ah...
Raphael lets out a soft sound - a tense, almost-laugh of something like disbelief. It's been so long since he even had anything he would call a conversation with any of his brothers save Gabriel, and to be standing here like this now is utterly surreal.]
I, um... I'm not going to object to that. [Because, as has no doubt been made abundantly clear... Michael terrifies him.] You're also far more-- ah...
[Um...]
Lucid.
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Lucid.
[Michael repeats slowly and almost softly, as if trying to comprehend the ramifications of having such a description given to him. Nothing good-- well, good for him, but it definitely hints to the terrible nature of this other version of him, the one that's caused such fright in Raphael. A brutal monster, it's the only way he can describe someone that's such a feared being back home.
Like the way he was before. Maybe he's not so different in some ways--]
I... I have it pretty easy. [Perhaps it's best if he talks about himself a little more, give some details about his existence.] For the past thousands of years, I've been wandering the Earth... watching the humans grow and evolve. They're a truly engaging species.
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He thinks that conveys as much as it needs to, and perhaps gives more of an explanation as to his initial reaction to the other angel than he would have really intended it to. Hopefully he does not need to explain further and it comes as no small relief that even if this Michael does not quite understand, he isn't pressing the issue.
Raphael still feels tense, but... the vibrating hum of anxiety is lessening, at least.
The talk of humans makes his expression soften, and sadden a little. He smiles faintly as he wonders what that might be like, barely identifying the small twinge in his chest as a pang of jealousy.]
I haven't seen any humans in a long time. [He always loved the idea of them.] I think... most of them are gone now.
no subject
[As soon as that question leaves him, Michael almost has a sinking feeling what the answer may be. Maybe there's a speck of hope in him that believes that any version of him, no matter how terrible, wouldn't go to such lengths as killing an entire species, but he can't dismiss the idea. Is this a possible outcome of him if he didn't have his soul split in the first place?
Maybe he should never combine into one being.
His eyes draw down to the flowers he's holding, letting out a slow breath, not really wanting to imagine how quiet and desolate Earth must be. At least he's not trying as hard anymore to only feel 'positive' emotions.]
I-- your Michael. He was responsible, wasn't he?
no subject
He...
[Raphael rubs his face tiredly with one hand. This is not his favourite topic.]
He is responsible for a great many things, and none of them good of late. [In a word... yes. Yes, he is responsible. A weary glance goes around where they're standing.] Do you think we might... go somewhere more comfortable? There are other places here, aren't there?
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Yes, there's a tavern nearby. Be a good place to warm up.
[He wants to offer Raphael a hand, but there's hesitation on his end, not quite sure if the other angel is comfortable with such a gesture yet. Michael fiddles with the flowers in his hand, but takes great care not to tear off any of the petals.] I can lead you there, if you'd like.
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Yes... please.
[Maybe it isn't the best idea, but he can think of few things he desires more right now than a seat and the comfort of a warm fire. He fidgets with the flower in his own hands in turn.]
I think... I would like to hear about you.
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As Raphael fidgets with the flower in his hand, Michael offers another one from his own small collection, and whether or not Raphael takes it, he starts leading them.]
I'll tell you anything that you want to know. [It's an offer that he hasn't made to anyone before, especially not here, but this is a unique situation. Plus, he's still happy that another archangel is here with him, even if there's a deep trauma weighing on his shoulders. Maybe it's his duty as a not!Brother to help him in some way? Least he can do is reassure him that he won't go on a murderous rampage.]
But um, I guess I should say this now. I'm not... fully myself, if that makes sense. My soul was splintered into three parts long ago. [He throws a slightly self-depreciating smile at him.] I am quite sure I'm the least impressive one.
no subject
The offer of information is slightly overwhelming. Though he has never been afraid of asking questions, he doesn't even know what he should ask. Where would he even begin? Luckily for him Michael says something that draws his attention entirely and he finds himself looking the other angel up and down.]
... You have a soul...
[Ah... so that's what it is.]
How curious. I hadn't even thought to look.
[Raphael himself... does not have one. Not even the faintest whiff of one.]
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Do... you not have one?
[He's unable to stop the shock from reaching his eyes, his face expressive about knowing this tidbit about angels from Raphael's world. So, none of them have souls? Just created bodies from their Father? That's completely possible, but none of them have that bit of them missing.]
...Do none of you have one?
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Only the humans have souls.
[And that had been a part of Lucifer's original problem with them... and something that troubles Raphael greatly with both Heaven and Hell being in such turmoil. He isn't even sure where their souls go when they die anymore, nor why he cares except that he definitely does.]
The Host was made with one purpose - to carry out His Will. We have no souls, and we weren't created with free will. [Clearly, though... free will is something that Raphael currently possesses.]
None of us.
no subject
Father created us to carry out his Will as well, but... he still gave a piece of himself, his power, to all of us.
[Honestly, Michael never thought about the implications of not having a soul, other than the fact that animals and other creatures don't have one. Raphael seems to be just like the other angels he talked to, with emotions and fear and everything, and he hasn't noticed anything too odd other than the the fact that he felt a little strange. However, everyone's felt strange to Michael since coming here, so he placed little importance on that.]
...But you're like me. [In the good way, really!] I mean, being able to make your choices, right?
no subject
It's difficult - of course it is - but aside from sharing a name this Michael does not seem anything like the one he knows. He doesn't look the same, or act the same... and nor does he feel the same.]
I wasn't always this way. [Raphael murmurs in reply.] It was something that started not long before the war with Lucifer. He wasn't the first to start asking questions... he was simply the first to try to do something about it. We didn't all adjust well to being able to make our own decisions.
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If I'm to understand... you didn't start with free will, but you and all of the other angels eventually did? [He wonders how the angels in his world would react if such a change happened. Well, it happened to him, and Michael likes to think he's handled it quite nicely. He was sort of the Worst before the splitting of his soul, so maybe the others would be okay too.
He smiles a little at him, in a manner that hopefully comes off as both supportive and comforting.]
...Well, despite all that, do you like it? Being able to make your own decisions? It's a bit confusing at first.
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The question posed is a difficult one to answer and the response doesn't come immediately. Raphael frowns at the ground in front of their feet.]
I was happier before, but... I also didn't really understand what happiness was. Being able to think for myself has brought me little but trouble. [He shakes his head, still with that softly troubled frown. His attention strays to one of his wrist, the shackle-marks on it, and he rubs his thumb across it distractedly.]
But still, I don't think that I would want to go back to how I was before. How we were before. These were... lessons that we needed to learn. Even if some of us learned them poorly.
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Instead, he continues to smile, even if it's a little more fragile compared to earlier. Not quite less sincere, but just pained thinking about what Raphael has been through.]
Seems like it's been nothing but pain for you. [He folds his arms, almost stopping for a moment as he thinks about this for a bit longer.]
You're away from Earth now. Maybe you can finally enjoy the free will that's been granted to you.
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Well, it seemed like a natural conclusion, given everything else.]
Enjoy it?
[A small frown furrows his brow as the mulls the idea over.]
I've never really been given much opportunity to... aside from my painting.
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