folkie: (Default)
folkmore mod ([personal profile] folkie) wrote in [community profile] folkooc2023-08-13 08:57 am
Entry tags:

August & September 2023 Test Drive Meme

August & September 2023 TDM
Introduction

[ TDM QuestionsJump to CommentsFull Navigation ]

This Test Drive meme is open to all.

Welcome to Folkmore's bimonthly 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 and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’

TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.

Playing and interacting with the 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 always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!



🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.

and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.


🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.

Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.

[ Prompt OnePrompt Two]

Oh How Quiet .
Content Warnings: Difficulty seeing, possibility of drowning, forced relocation

Fog & Footsteps
Some Star Children find themselves on land. The air is foggy and damp, blurring and distorting vision making it difficult to tell where they are, what’s real and what isn’t until–finally–Star Children find themselves on wet sand. Continue marching forward and trees begin to form a skeletal border, dark shadows growing and stretching further into their depths. Star Children who have experienced being exiled before can feel a path through the trees should they choose to venture further. Star Children who haven’t been exiled can feel resentment building around them and have greater difficulty navigating the path ahead.

Anyone who glances back may find footsteps in the sand alongside theirs. The more anyone looks back, the more prints appear. They’re inconsistent like their maker hops or flies part of the time or fades in and out of the physical universe… or something else. They may be human, or animal, or something Star Children can’t quite put a name to.
The Will or the Wisp
The longer Star Children dwell on them, the more tempting they are to follow—familiarity, comfort, curiosity, something. The footsteps eventually lead Star Children down a branching path toward a wall of thick, colorless fog. Inside the fog, there are enchanting wisps of light dancing just out of reach, urging Star Children to keep following. Just a little further, the sweet voices promise.

Continue onward and soon outlines appear in the mist, showing just who (or what) the earlier footsteps belong to–distorted human or animal shapes that exist only where fog is displaced by the will-o’-the-wisps they carry like lanterns. They lure Star Children deeper into Exile, all the while making promises they have no intention of keeping...

Salvation comes in the form of a fellow Star Child guided toward someone in distress by shifting sands. They radiate starlight that pierces through the thick fog around them, allowing people to find the sandy forest path toward The Beach. Once Star Children reach it, they will both find an old, sea-battered treasure chest which offers characters a personal item from home and either a nonfunctional compass or lantern. A will-o-the-wisp will fly directly into the item, which doesn’t seem to make it work. The compass needle points toward somewhere in Exile, not north. The lantern doesn’t light up. However, when the Star Child is truly lost, the compass will point where they need to go and the lantern will light up any darkness. Each Star Child can only receive either the compass or the lantern.
A Magical Day
Whether passing directly through the forest path or guided back to it, Star Children find a shoreline extending in either direction. Some water laps against the beach, but farther out is the long expanse of tenuous reality. Come September, it fades into the distance until it can no longer be seen. The beach itself is in Exile, heavy with the weight of magic. It feels reassuring and encouraging. Star Children can indulge in a sunless day at the beach, playing in the sand, and soaking in the magic. Those wishing for a bit more warmth can explore the shoreline north to the Boat Bonanza at the port where the Encantado reaches the ocean.
Key Points:
🦊 Star Children may pass through a thick fog to reach a wet, sandy path that passes through trees and leads to The Beach in Exile.
🦊 If they keep looking behind them on the path they will find footprints following alongside their own. Those footprints will try luring characters deep into fog using will-o’-the-wisp lanterns, leading them into the swamp so they can drown them.
🦊 A fellow Star Child can act as a light to guide lost characters back to the safety of shore.
🦊 Star Children that are rescued from the lure or who rescue another Star Child will be rewarded with a non-weapon memento from home and either a compass or a lantern (not both).
🦊 Star Children that don’t succumb will simply continue forward to The Beach without issue and will have opportunities to find a non-personal item from their home worlds being sold at the market. See below.


Christening Ceremony .
Content Warnings: Possibility of drowning, fetch quests

Boat Bonanza
Whether venturing up the coastline from Exile, floating down the Encantado River, or simply being plopped into the water, Star Children new and old find themselves in water. A strong wave rolls up the beach to drag suspecting and unsuspecting alike. Playful pinkish-red dolphins spray people off boats into the river. Or Star Children find themselves treading water deeper than they are tall with no land in sight. No worries, those who need help getting out of the water will get it. Along the shore, spirits in boats will pick up anyone in need of a ride and bring them back through the fog to the sounds of shouts and cheers and music to a large clear spot in the fog.

Boats come into view. Boats of all shapes and sizes, from single person kayaks to large houseboats, fishing craft and sailboats. They rise and fall with the waves but aren't otherwise moving. Ropes, planks, and bridges tie the boats together. Whether approaching by river or by sea, new boats explore the outskirts of the great conglomeration of boats and attach themselves—increasing the size of the gathered ships. So many boats are gathered that the shore isn't visible from new boats tying up.

Everyone's welcome aboard and to wander from boat to boat. Starfish spirits offer games of chance at low tables on broad open decks under awnings. There are even holes in the bottom of the deck, so players can dip their feet in cool water. A cephalopod band plays upbeat music other spirits and Star Children can dance to in competition with a scavenging of seagull spirits singing sea shanties as loudly as they can two boats over. Far from them, jellyfish spirits offer places to rest in quiet, with curtains drawn and sound dampened. Many spirits offer food and drink—seafood or seafood shaped candy or in the case of mystery flavored taffy, sometimes seafood flavored candy. Those who don't want freshly rolled sushi or take a chance with the candies can always see the Wandering Dog cart on the shore, where the dogs try very hard to be included.
Flotilla Afterparty
Come September, nymphs pop up in the waters and start shooing the boats away until only the houseboats and some submarines remain. Some go off on their lonesome, but more of them form flotillas that float along the coastline continuing their activities and coming to shore to pick up any who wish to join them. A restaurant flotilla, a meditative flotilla, music performance flotillas, and even gambling flotillas. Should people want off and the boats aren't ready to go to shore, sometimes Catbus shows up, able to leap whatever the distance.
Fetchquest
At any time, during the boat festival or smaller flotillas, Star Children may find non-personal items from their home world for sale. It may be a weapon or magical item. These spirits can sense who is from the same world as an item and will only offer them to those Star Children. These aren’t free! After all, these spirits pulled up these items from chests in the water. Star Children will need to do a few favors or barter something else to obtain the item from home. Star Children who help in Vasilisa’s, now mostly staffed by spirits, will find they have an easier time bartering… unless it’s in the Cuttlefish Curiosities shop. If the cuttlefish spirit smells a whiff of the grumpy old octopus spirit who has taken over as chef, that Star Child will have to do twice the work.
Key Points:
🦊 Explore your way to Nereid where the Encantado reaches the shore or get dropped into the water.
🦊 Enjoy an enormous boat festival! All kinds of boats! All kinds of activities!
🦊 In September, the boat festival will split into multiple flotillas floating around the shoreline.
🦊 Do favors or barter goods to receive a non-personal item from home. It may be a weapon or magical item. A magical gun from your world? Yes. Your personal magical gun with your dog’s name engraved in it? No.


heyunderoos: (Peek/sneaking/Curious/HC era)

[personal profile] heyunderoos 2023-09-28 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I've met a different version of you before, actually. We were roommates. [Peter has no idea how to properly even explain the whole multiverse thing right now, but its definitely going to keep things interesting.]
pyrighteous: (vlcsnap-2022-05-22-17h10m55s623)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ That is SO MUCH. It’s enough to stop Hunter dead in his tracks as he tries to parse what Peter’s just said. A different version? They were roommates?? ]

I - I would never be roommates with a human. You must have known the previous Golden Guard. Not me.
heyunderoos: (Conversational/Head tilt/curious)

[personal profile] heyunderoos 2023-09-28 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)
You're not the Hunter I knew, but a different version. [Peter answers simply enough, not entirely sure how to proceed. Hunter wasn't so... standoffish before? He sure wasn't an emperor. Peter doesn't want to be mean to the guy.]

This place pulls in different variations of everyone, so, you're Hunter as much as he was.
pyrighteous: (vlcsnap-2021-10-08-13h53m28s371)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This face says he is still wildly confused. ]

But - I - fine! I apparently have clones I don’t know about. And you knew one of them.

[ A slight pause. He can’t help it - he’s too curious. ]

What’s he like?
apuckalypse: (106)

[personal profile] apuckalypse 2023-09-28 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Casey accepts the second page, touching its center, and once again a whole lot of nothing happens. He sets the paper down on the sand between them, so he can show Hunter where he's touching it.]

Look, see? It's not working.
heyunderoos: https://buckybear.insanejournal.com (Awkward/conversation/HC era)

[personal profile] heyunderoos 2023-09-28 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[Its not exactly clones as far as Peter knows, but, he doesn't push against the assumption. He knows the multiverse thing is... a lot. Peter still can't get his head around it completely and he thinks its cool.] We'll go with that, yeah.

Well, Hunter was pretty quiet, but curious and thoughtful. Genuinely really fun to talk with.

We talked about going to find a sewing machine together. The biggest problem was keeping Flapjack from getting into stuff. [He huffs a little in passing fondness for the Palisman.]
pyrighteous: (vlcsnap-2022-05-22-17h28m56s353)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hunter flares down at the piece of paper, eying it from all angles. No issue with the design - circle looks good - and when he taps it, the glyph immediately resolves into a small whoosh of fire. ]

… you really can’t do it.
fistofvengeance: (Brow raise)

[personal profile] fistofvengeance 2023-09-28 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[Marc would love to give her a tour on the motorcycle sometime. He'll have to find a helmet that fits her, because Steven's might not, but that's easily fixed. It'll be nice, he thinks, to just zoom through various parts of Folkmore with her arms around him. That last bit is a trickier topic to navigate, though. His lips press into a thin line and he stays where he is, close to the door.]

Nah, that's fine. I can turn into a cat, remember? Couch is fine, then. Or I can sleep in front of the fireplace, or the foot of Steven's bed or somethin'. Don't underestimate a cat's power to sleep just about anywhere.
apuckalypse: (142)

[personal profile] apuckalypse 2023-09-28 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
…Nope.

[A little depressing, but Casey isn't surprised. More resigned to what he's always known.]

Maybe… is it because this is a different world than yours? It makes sense that the magic would work differently for me than for you. Most people here only have the same kind of power they had at home.
pyrighteous: (vlcsnap-2022-05-22-17h27m28s143)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Quiet and curious - okay, he could see that. This Hunter is being kind of loud right now, but curious? Yes, even so. Fun to talk with? THAT sounds fake. The sewing machine… Hunter twitches an armored hand to his white cloak, which has several spots with awkward stitching. He hasn’t quite discovered his own love of sewing.

He would normally have plenty to say about either of those things, but he’s distracted by - ]

Flapjack? You knew Flapjack?
pyrighteous: (vlcsnap-2022-04-15-17h44m03s810)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
I - maybe but -

[ He’s so CONFUSED. ]

I normally can’t do magic either.
apuckalypse: (16)

[personal profile] apuckalypse 2023-09-28 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[That makes Casey blink. He definitely didn't expect that.]

You can't? Is… that what you meant by powerless witches?

[Trying to say it gently- he has no power either, so he can't judge.]
lilscarab: (13)

[personal profile] lilscarab 2023-09-28 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oddly, for as much as they were talking about him being able to turn into things, she didn't even consider he could be a cat for sleep. But it makes sense. Cats can sleep anywhere and so long as the man has somewhere comfortable to sleep, then Layla could concede to taking his bed.]

If you're sure, then let's do that for now. [His room is probably spartan, so she doesn't expect it will be too hard to settle in there or figure out which is his.]

I'll borrow some of your clothes to sleep in, if that's alright? Go shopping for my own things tomorrow. [She brushes some curls from her face.]
heyunderoos: (Thoughtful/Distance/Stare)

[personal profile] heyunderoos 2023-09-28 03:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[The question does a far job of making Peter blink, realizing just now Flapjack wasn't here.

That's weird. As far as Peter knew, the two always were together.

Maybe Hunter needed help finding Flapjack?
]

Yeah, I knew Flapjack. He's sweet, kind of silly. He really liked pancakes or eggs in the morning.
lilscarab: (7)

[personal profile] lilscarab 2023-09-28 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Mine neither," it's why she used it as an example, it was always one of her worst subjects. She smiles though at how he's glad they are all together, she feels the same really, she would be so much more lost here without them. Might as well find the silver linings where one can, count a blessing or two where they are.

She smiles at Tut approvingly, already fond of the strange slug cat, reaching over carefully to give him a pet on the head, not making any move to take away his snacks from him. He's a reminder in a way that she's not somewhere normal. Steven looks normal enough, but the look of her golden fingers petting the strange creature makes it abundantly clear.

"Bonkers, yeah that's a good word for it," she looks at Steven once more, giving the man a tired smile. "Yeah, would struggle to fit all four of us in your old place," reaching over, she pats his knee. "And thank you, Marc already offered his bed, said he'll sleep as a cat with you or on the couch."

Standing up, she stretches her sore arms. "I might go lay down for a bit, let my brain digest everything."
pyrighteous: (crack in the facade)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Absolutely no Flapjack here at all, not even tucked away in the folds of Hunter’s cloak. Hunter’s expression is hard to read with the mask in the way, but there’s something stricken in the way his shoulders hitch. Flapjack was here? His copy had Flapjack? Why did his alternate have Flapjack when he doesn’t—-? ]

Flapjack left. I - had to shoo him away when I went back to my uncle.

[ That had been painful enough but - ]

He still stayed with the human after the invasion started and everything went to heck.
pyrighteous: (scarred (s3))

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oops. He REALLY hadn’t meant to let that slip. Too late now, and besides, Casey has seen under his armor both figuratively and literally now. ]

I - well - yes. I couldn’t do anything at all. Something was wrong with me.

[ His voice drops to a whisper. ]

My uncle risked a lot taking me on. Powerless witches are worthless in the Isles.
heyunderoos: (Conversational/Glancing down/Well)

[personal profile] heyunderoos 2023-09-28 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[Peter has to stop himself from reaching out, reminding himself this Hunter doesn't know him. They're pretty much strangers right now. Touching his shoulder would probably go over badly.]

Oh. [Peter isn't sure what to say to that.] I'm sorry you had to do that, it doesn't seem... fair.
fistofvengeance: (Making a point)

[personal profile] fistofvengeance 2023-09-28 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[His room is so spartan and minimalistic, it's laughable. But at least his mattress is soft and comfortable, and that's the only thing that matters. She raises a good point, though; she's going to need her own things. Not just pajamas, but all those necessities that don't cross the mind until you're in need of them. Marc found that out the hard way after he first arrived.]

Oh. Yeah, that's fine. What's mine is yours, but... [He steps closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.] I'm just gonna go out real quick, okay? Get some of the... basic stuff. Won't be long.
chaotictide: (13;)

[personal profile] chaotictide 2023-09-28 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[A wry smile spreads across his face. It really shouldn't- but he can't help it. The more worked up this man gets, the funnier all of this really is. In a way that really shouldn't be funny. He turns his head away in an attempt to conceal his growing amusement.]

Well...

[A magical artifact...? Well then. That restores his focus. Thanks to his current lack of, well, anything equipment-wise, any relic left out in the open would have him willing to talk down a beholder. And, well, even if the relic is already spoken for and Emet, crash notwithstanding, seems capable enough of finding it by himself...

He should help. He has sidetracked him quite a lot.
]

I'm not capable of speaking to them, if that is what you mean. But I can try to assist you.

[Except that he lacks wings himself. He has started to manifest them, certainly, though that fact is not apparent to him. If anything, the two vague pains at his shoulders could have been related to anything- strain from the journey through the mists. Walking for hours upon hours with the fox. Hells- even battles back within Toril.

Regardless, the problem is hardly prevalent. Knowledge of the changes Folkmore would bring to him or not, he has his wings in the form of his magic- most specifically, a certain enchantment. He takes a few steps from Emet-Selch, readying both the verbal and somatic components of the spell.
]

Facera ascendio.

[Seemingly instantly, he is enshrouded within a pair of gigantic wings that glitter within the dim light. Unlike Emet-Selch's, formed of feather and bone- these are formed of magic itself- shimmering and vaguely translucent. The air around them seems to bend itself and scatter light in disparate directions in order to accommodate them- and his eyes are filled with pale blue light.

He hovers perhaps a foot or two from the ground, seemingly exerting effort to stop the magic from hurtling him upward throughout the sky.
]

This won't last indefinitely. Let's move.
lilscarab: (26)

[personal profile] lilscarab 2023-09-28 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[Yeah, now that she thinks about it, she has nothing, just what's on her person and it wasn't much of anything at all. She can think of a handful of things she will need at the very least, thinks to ask to borrow some money for it tomorrow. But when he offers to go out and get some basic stuff, she gives him a smile.]

I'm a big girl, I'll be fine. [She nods even if she feels a little strange being left in the apartment alone, she won't say it because she is a big girl, she can handle it.] You know what I like.
fistofvengeance: (WHY SO PURPLE)

[personal profile] fistofvengeance 2023-09-28 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[He can't stop himself from smirking at that. It's the sort of remark that makes it feel like things are normal between them again. In this moment, he feels safe enough to enjoy it and safe enough to joke about it. He leans in, pressing his forehead against her own.]

Yeah. I'll get you a nice Hello Kitty toothbrush.
pyrighteous: (ear droop)

[personal profile] pyrighteous 2023-09-28 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sorry Peter, that would be a quick way to get punched at this point. This version of Hunter is radiating “don’t touch me” vibes pretty hard. Especially at this exact moment, where said vibes are being joined by roiling jealousy. Why couldn’t he have kept Flapjack? What makes his twin so special?

He just shakes his head hard. ]

Of course it’s not fair. I -

[ He doesn’t really want to cry at some human he barely knows. Breathe, Hunter. ]

I guess if you know Flapjack then you really did know a version of me.
lilscarab: (22)

[personal profile] lilscarab 2023-09-28 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's strange how his smirk and the touch of foreheads makes everything feel like the old days, when it wasn't as painful to love this man with everything else going on between them. Like him, she feels that it's okay to enjoy this moment with him, to feel the warmth of his touch, the smell of him..]

Perfect. Don't forget the bubblegum toothpaste. [Her voice is light with humor.]
fistofvengeance: (Smile(???))

[personal profile] fistofvengeance 2023-09-28 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[He chuckles under his breath, eyes closing for a few seconds. She's joking along. That's good, right? Can't possibly be bad. (God, he hopes so.)]

Bold of you to assume we don't already have that here.

[Truthfully though, he's going to get Layla the nicest, fanciest-looking toothbrush he can find, and then some. Socks and some simple shirts, deodorant, a handy bag to put things like her spoon in... He considers flowers too, but that might be too much.]