October & November 2023 Test Drive Meme

[folkie]

October - November 2023 TDM

Introduction

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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 One ★ Prompt Two]

Candy Man . ★

Content Warnings: Potential nonconsensual physical changes

Tides doesn’t have a farmer’s market. However, it does have a regular artists’ fair. Spirits—and Star Children—can set up stalls to offer art they have already made or to make it right before people. On the spot commissions! It’s a great way to see a wide spread of the art available in Tides, on rare occasions even Jewelia’s own.

Within the artists’ fair is a makers’ square where everyone is invited to join an artist in learning to make some kind of art. It might be painting and wine. Lithography. Embroidery. You name it. Seriously, feel free to put a suggestion in the box of what Star Children would be interested in. The artists leading the space don’t all teach at Jewelia Academy. This could be the only chance to learn from them!

This time it’s making salt water taffy. Spirit Children can learn how to complete the process from start to finish with a bit of an arm workout. If they aren’t interested in or cannot handle the arm workout pulling the taffy, they can help a spirit wherever they’re interested. There is any flavor Spirit Children can imagine to flavor their taffy, even ones only found in their home worlds. Share a little culture!

Star Children may keep up to half of the taffy they make, but the rest will be offered to everyone coming through the makers’ square in the artists’ fair. Perhaps it’ll encourage other Star Children to make their own! Star Children, whether they make taffy or simply take free samples, will find that eating taffy can have an effect on them.

Eating taffy made by Legends will give Star Children color changing eyes that give away their mood, just like Legends. Eating taffy made by Myths will give Star Children horns, claws, or a tail that grows larger when they react more logically and less emotionally. Eating taffy made by Familiars will give Star Children animal features. These effects last from one-six hours.

Eating taffy made by Spirits has no effect at all!

🦊 Star Children can attend an artists’ fair and make salt water taffy.
🦊 Eating salt water taffy made by Star Children will give temporary features of that kind of Star Child.
🦊 Eating salt water taffy made by Spirits has no effect.

Creative Block Castles . ★

Content Warnings: Pocket universe, dungeon castle crawl, forced relocation

One of the many food carts in Tides serves homemade ice cream. The fox spirit serving it promises that it will provide a jolt of inspiration—even to Star Children who cannot eat. Even holding a cone or cup of the ice cream can jolt someone’s imagination, the fox says. It’s free as part of the welcome to Tides, but no one has to accept it, not even to hold. The fox spirit won’t cajole anyone, and Star Children can go along their way.

At least a few hours later, long enough to have forgotten the offer or to get frustrated by the lack of promised inspiration, Star Children fall down down down into a painted, sculpted, sidewalk chalked, or otherwise artistically bent world. They are as artistically made as the rest of the world around them. They match it, as do their one to three companions who arrive with them. They may be friends or strangers. They are compatriots in this strange world.

Whether starting deep in the bowels or high in a tower, this artistic world is that of a castle. A unique castle to each Star Child host. Elements of its design, decor, and mechanisms tie back to a creative endeavor of the host. For the castle is a direct manifestation of whatever project the Star Child host experiences creative block around, whether that’s art or science or anything else. It’s baked into the design. Not only that, the castle is under attack! Dragons or monsters or knights, oh my! Whatever attacks, the very creative idea may crumble if it doesn’t get solved.

Star Children who ate the ice cream will have an easier time shoring up defenses, buying time to think, and even experiencing a breakthrough moment of inspiration. Any companions who ate the ice cream will have an easier time helping the host. Regardless, the only way out is a breakthrough or to see the idea fall to uninspired ruin. Which will it be?

When a group breaks through, they return to Tides with up to four nearly identical dollhouse castles. A miniature doll of one party member will be in each dollhouse. The doll will also have a miniature version of an item from home. Take it from one’s doll, and it becomes lifesize. It may even be a magical item or weapon.

🦊 Star Children will be offered homemade ice cream by a fox spirit.
🦊 Star Children will be transported into an artistic world set within a castle under attack.
🦊 1-3 other Star Children will join the host.
🦊 Escape by breaking through the host’s creative block.
🦊 Star Children whose groups break through will receive a personal item from home. It may even be a magical item or weapon.

Comments

[rueforyou]

She has to blink twice to make sure she's seen this correctly: Toge going from an adorable animal to being himself again. She's sure her father or brother would be screaming witchcraft to the rafters, but she's not them. Something she's never been more glad of.

"So...what do the wings and corona make me? I look like an angel, but I'm far from being without sin."

[cursedwords]

I don't think it means the same thing. You're a legend, like I'm a familiar. What these actually mean, no one seems to know exactly. I'm not sure there is an actual definition. Familiars support legends and myths, that's about all I know about the idea...and we've talked about it a lot on the network. No one knows more than that.

Toge lets her read while he takes a few more bites like the hungry teenage boy that he is. It's really good, although he doesn't normally summon his food. He's just been distracted.

[rueforyou]

And when she finishes reading, she's still rather confused. "If no one knows more, may I ask what the point behind these roles are? Other than Familiars giving support to others? What does that support involve," she asked, sounding concerned.

[cursedwords]

Toge shrugs helplessly. He doesn't know what the meaning is and no one seems to. It seems downright arbitrary, except you get some cool powers to go with it.

I've heard you can bond with a legend or a myth but I don't know anyone who has, so I don't know what it entails. I'd do it for an experiment but if I do that without asking Yuta first, he's gonna kill me.

[rueforyou]

Ophelia hums under her breath, also at a loss as to what it could all mean. She's a little alarmed that those who have been here for a while are still at as much of a loss as she is right now and wonders if they'll ever get simple answers.

"Why can't you do it with Yuta? Is he from your world and a familiar as well?"

[cursedwords]

We're both from the same world and Yuta's a myth. We could do it. We haven't talked about it since he arrived. I guess we probably should.

It would give them more information in any case. He'll have to remember to bring it up to Yuta again.

[rueforyou]

"It might not hurt? I don't know if a person can bond to more than one person, but I'd imagine it would be easier with someone you knew from home. Anyone else and it would be quite the leap of faith."

And she's not sure she's capable of such a thing. Should she ever find anyone she'd want to bond with and she's quite uncertain of that.

[cursedwords]

Hard to say. I guess it would be. I'm not really afraid of it, but I just don't know what it does yet.

No one forces anyone to engage, although there was the pairing app, but again it didn't force anything. Ophelia will get to make her own choices, that Toge is sure of.

As he finishes eating, he just rests his chin on his hand, letting her mull.

[rueforyou]

"I can understand your hesitancy, then. Not knowing what will happen until something is done isn't a very good basis for trust."

She's mostly interested in the plethora of schools on offer. She wants to learn as much as she can as quickly as she can so that things like electricity won't be as much of a surprise. A pleasant one, but still a surprise.

"I think I've decided where I want to live. A treehouse sounds like something out of a dream, but I suppose this place can make dreams reality."

[cursedwords]

Sometimes definitely. So to get there from here, you hop on the train, like we came here, but you're getting off at Elder Mother Station. From there, you should be able to head out to Leshy. Just find an unoccupied treehouse and make it your own.

At the very least, Toge can give her directions, which of course is probably a good thing.

[rueforyou]

Ophelia grins broadly. "It all sounds so exciting! I've never had a place which was purely my own before. And when the weather is nicer, maybe I'll try to garden. I've never done it before, but I love flowers, trees, all sorts of growing things. But, where do you live?"

A very good thing. The train was very strange, much faster than a carriage ride. She'd been glued to the window, watching the scenery go by.

[cursedwords]

This place is called Satori Hills.

Toge explains, waving his hand a bit.

Mostly apartments like this, around here there's all kinds of food carts though, out in the courtyard, so it's the place to come visit if you want to try a bunch of different food.

[rueforyou]

"I think I'd like that. Food I'd never even heard of in Denmark." And, impishly, "It would be a great deal easier than learning how to cook."

The sheer number of things she's never heard of but wants to try is mind-boggling. And she's worn trousers before as part of a disguise, so wearing them again wouldn't be terribly strange.

[cursedwords]

He laughs softly, sure to cover his face to do so, just in case. Toge gestures around the apartment.

You can check it out if you want, it's not like I have anything embarrassing out, and you can stay awhile too, but when you're ready I'll walk you to the train station and point out where you have to go. I don't want you to get lost.

[rueforyou]

Toge barely makes the invitation before Ophelia is peering through the apartment, the decorations, the devices, the vast windows. It's all fascinating, though she's not sure a similar place would be the place for her.

"May we go to the food trucks when I'm done looking around? I must admit that I'm hungry. And let's see...I really want to look at the treehouses and the cottages. I'm used to a certain degree of simplicity after living at the convent for the past few years."

[cursedwords]

He was amused by the way she just got to it, and he leans back in his chair, just watching. The decorations aren't personalized, so they came with the apartment, but the most personality seems to be in the kitchen, and the patio with the plants.

Toge nods. "Salmon." He can always eat anyway, so food trucks are no problem and they've talked more than enough that she'll be able to get anything she could possibly want.

[rueforyou]

She'd always been good at being decisive, even though circumstances back home had made her hem and haw more than she would have liked to. And in the end, no matter how convinced she was, she couldn't sway Hamlet from his vengeance.

"All right. I wish I could try one of everything, though that would make me full to bursting!"

[cursedwords]

Good thing is they're there all the time so you can just visit as often as you like.

Toge typed the answer and then tapped the table, but she's free to keep looking around, there's no rush on it.

[rueforyou]

"I'd like that very much, thank you!"

And look she does, wandering into a bathroom. The tub looks familiar enough and she's able to guess what the sink does since it looks something like a wash basin, but the rest has her completely flummoxed. She probably looks it, too.

[cursedwords]

When she doesn't reappear, he raises an eyebrow and gets up to check on her and gestures questioningly.

Toge isn't sure what she's confused about, but he's at least got the idea she's confused. "Tuna?"

[rueforyou]

Ophelia gives him a quizzical look. "What is this," she asked, pointing to the showerhead. "And that?" The toilet.

It will come as a massive relief that she no longer has to worry about carrying pitcher after pitcher of water to bathe in and that's after heating the water. And that chamber pots were a thing of the past.

[cursedwords]

Ahhh, those. "Tuna mayo." Toge said, but instead of writing it out, he went over to the shower and turned the tap to let the water run. He adjusts it so it's warm and beckons her over.

Then Toge mimes sticking his hand in. She should feel it! Warm water on command is probably neat if she's never seen it before.

[rueforyou]

Ophelia watched curiously as Toge turned a handle and water started spraying out. At his urging, she came over and stuck her hand into the water like he'd shown her and was delighted to feel hot water. "This is--this is amazing! I never even imagined it was possible, hot water without a fire or lugging jugs of water from place to place," she said with a wide smile.

[cursedwords]

He wipes his hand on his pants like any lazy teenager would and pulls out his relic again.

I'd guess you're from sometime in the past to me if you haven't seen this. It's cool right? No one wants a cold shower. The other one is the toilet. Kind of a similar idea, you use it and then press on the handle and your waste is transported elsewhere.

Toge can't describe these systems in detail to save his life, but he knows how to use things.

[rueforyou]

A smile twitched at the sides of Ophelia's mouth.

"Really, if I didn't know better, I'd assume that Mechtild's potion was a little too potent and I really was in Heaven."