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

time skipping~

[hatejakku]

Mm. Both.

[ He did really want to ditch, it's true, and he really wants to spend some quality time with Poe now that he has a moment with him. It's been... too long, after all. So Finn claps a hand to his shoulder and steers him towards whatever passes for this city's gates.

He has a home past Willow, he explains. A spacious cottage in Gram that he got the last time he was there and had been kept up by a friend during his absence. On the way, he talks about the cottage, some of the things that happen on this planet ("I had wings at one point, if you can believe it."), and some of the familiar names he ran into since having left home (Rey and Luke, mostly). Other times, he redirects the conversation on Poe, just trying to catch up with him.

It only has a small part to do with avoiding particular topics. If the conversation drifts some kind of way, Finn tries to deflect talking about his time on board the space station and the people he's met there aside from the most basic things. Like the droids he'd met. And movie nights in the mess hall. Whether or not Poe notices, Finn's not sure. He's kind of hoping the other man is too exhausted to catch on or care. Finn, selfishly, just wants to appreciate however much time they get together without ruining the moment with complicated memories. He knows entirely too well now, even more so than he did back home, just how short time together can be.

In the end, he leads Poe to his home, shows him around, talks about his roommates for a bit, and sees the other man off to bed.

It's late into the next morning when the sound and smells of food cooking starts to fill the cottage. The girls are away for now, but Finn is still cooking enough to feed a tiny army. But yes, he'd learned how to cook. Not too terrible at it, if he says so himself. ]

[volantes]

[ To say that Poe's exhausted would be an understatement. It's been months since he had anything like a full night of sleep, and lately he's been lucky to catch a few hours here and there when he isn't keeping himself awake, or isn't dragged out of sleep by a crisis that has to be handled immediately. He doesn't complain about it, they're all under a lot of stress, and he doesn't even need to tell Finn about it— he knows. Even if it's been a while since he was there, which is still a difficult concept for Poe to absorb, among a lot of other aspects of this place, he's mostly just... awkwardly working around it until it all sinks in. It's a lot easier, in the meantime, to accept the invitation to Finn's little cottage out in the woods.

It's nice. Really nice, actually, peaceful and cozy and quiet, and though he hasn't spent a lot of time thinking about where they might end up after the war, and he probably wouldn't have imagined anything this remote or low tech, it kind of fits him in a way. And while he's more than a little curious about these roommates that Finn's mentioned, the allure of a comfortable bed in a place where he feels like he can let his guard down is too good to pass up.

When he does manage to roll himself out of bed, after a minute of confused semi-consciousness where he remembers how he got here, he's quick to follow the smells to the kitchen, and he's still raking his fingers through his hair as he watches Finn working away. It does seem like a lot for two people, but hey, he's not about to complain. Real food sounds just as good as a real bed did last night. ]

Do you do this every morning?

[ They've both had enough ration bars to last them a lifetime, haven't they? ]

[hatejakku]

[ Finn looks up as Poe enters the kitchen, all ruffled and mostly awake. He's seen Poe in various states of undress, seen him hope out of a dead sleep and straight into battle, seen him nursing hangovers after a night of celebration for a small victory, but he hasn't seen him like this before. Poe looks... comfortable.

It's strange. Finn hasn't been in the midst of a war for quite some time, so one would think that he'd be used to someone groggily wandering into a kitchen by now, but not when it comes to Dameron. For a moment, it's like he's split in between two totally different worlds. And, boy, isn't that the truth?

But he smiles at Poe now, something slow after being a little surprised to see him like this, and ends up laughing over how cute the other man looks. He's adorable. Just look at him. ]

No. Only special occasions. [ He turns back to the stove, thinking about the answer for a second- ] And when I'm hungry, honestly. There's bacon, pancakes, and eggs are on the way. Help yourself.

[ And it's true. There's a stack of pancakes and a pile of bacon sitting next to Finn on the counter. Almost done. And no, he doesn't appear to be taking requests. Hope you like them scrambled. ]

[volantes]

[ Poe figures that he'll eventually get used to the surreal feeling of all of this. Maybe he won't, maybe it'll always feel like a dream, and he'll just have to cope with the nagging sense of guilt over abandoning the war for a relatively carefree life worlds away, even though he never asked for this. He wouldn't even have thought to ask for this, when just going so far as to think about what they'd do if... when they win, an eventuality that Leia's been trying to prepare him for when they have a minute to spare, felt like something impossibly far away. Most days it just feels like they're waiting on a miracle.

Right now he's just thinking that Finn looks happy. His eyebrows furrow slightly at the laughing, he doesn't get what's funny about it, which does have him wondering how messy he must look right now, but hey, if Finn's pleased he's not going to worry too much about it right now.

He could really get used to waking up like this. ]

I'm a special occasion, huh? [ He teases, following Finn's invitation to saunter over and pick out a plate from pile. He's leaning in to bump Finn's shoulder with his own before he sets to work on loading up that plate, and he's not about to complain about the choices. It smells amazing, and he's hungry enough to eat anything right now anyway. ]

I bet your roommates appreciate it.

[hatejakku]

[ Even Finn, who has seen the war come to an end, has had to deal with the guilt of leaving. He didn't ask for this either, but there was something about it that made him feel at fault. Ironic, given the very intentional decision he'd made to not return, though that decision is certainly not nearly as firm as it used to be.

Which leads into another point, because it's funny that Poe finds Finn to be happy. True enough, this is probably the happiest he's been in months, but only because both Poe and Rey are finally at his side again. The rest? The rest has been... hard.

So, yeah. His smile brightens a little when Poe bumps against his shoulder. ]

You're a special occasion everyday, Dameron. You already know that. [ He teases right back, poking at Poe's ego just a little, just like the old days. Not easier times, certainly, but somehow less complicated. ]

They do. Not sure if they cook, actually, but they haven't complained about my food yet.

[ He cuts off the stove eye and slides the eggs together on a plate. ]

How'd you sleep?

[volantes]

[ Poe's ego has been humbled a lot over the past few months in particular, those easier days feel like they were a very long time ago, but the teasing makes him smile all the same. As many legitimate reasons as Finn has to be annoyed with him lately— or, well, back in their own galaxy, which is a lot less recent for Finn lately, but whatever, Finn still talks about him like he's amazing. He's used to being in the spotlight and having a lot of praise, on good days, it's just different when it's coming from Finn for some reason. ]

I'm glad somebody around here recognizes that.

[ He can't keep a straight face when he says it, and he's not honestly trying. Now that he's all loaded up on food he's making his way over to slide into a seat at the table, absently wondering how long it's actually been since he slept in a real bed and ate a proper meal at a table like this. He's just not sure how great a thing it'll be in the long run to remember what life not in a war is like, but... he's getting it whether he asked for it or not.

Now he's going to alternate between eating and talking, because he's realizing now that he's hungrier than he thought, and it is good food. ]

Better than I've slept in a long time, actually. [ Which explains why his hair is more stubborn than usual about flopping messily, as he didn't toss and turn like he has been. He'll deal with hat later. ] What about you?

[hatejakku]

[ Finn gathers his own food and sits across from Poe, entirely prepared for a comfortable silence since the other man appears to be slightly ravenous. He's still happy that isn't the case, though. Didn't feel like they had a lot of time to talk last night, and there's so much to talk about, so many conversations to navigate through, most of which he's not really looking forward to. But this is better than never getting the chance in the first place.

As to the question, Finn shrugs. ]

I slept okay.

[ He barely slept, in all honesty. Even if he hadn't given Poe his bed (without really telling him that he had), he was way too keyed up and excited to sleep. So much was going on, so much had happened. How could he sleep at a time like that? ]

I'm glad you slept well, though. Most people find the first night the hardest.

You look like you slept good, too. [ And that's said with a chuckle before he bites into his food. ]

[volantes]

I probably skipped the first night or two.

[ Before he ran into Finn. He's sure that it would have been a whole different situation if he was still on his own. Even so, he hadn't exactly folded himself into bed with the intention of passing out for several hours, that's just what happened once he finally closed his eyes. He'd almost managed to forget how long he actually went without any sleep at all, and that's without counting how much he's been missing back with the Resistance lately.

Not that he has to explain any of that to Finn. He knows. ]

Is it that obvious? [ He chuckles, shaking his head, considering that while he works on his plate of food for a minute. On the rare occasions lately when he has had a decent meal he would usually be obliged to finish it as soon as possible, and there's none of that here either. No one's expecting anything from them here, are they? But that does bring up more questions. ]

So did you do here before? Aside from learn how to cook.

[hatejakku]

[ Finn nods in understanding, having already forgotten that Poe spent time here before Finn found him. Feels like he should have known, feels a little guilty for having not, but there's no reason to spiral down that particular well right now. They're here now, so everything else is okay.

Which is why he smiles but doesn't answer about how obvious Poe's looking right now. Instead, he skips ahead. ]

Not much, really. A lot of settling in and adjusting. Things were very different on the Ximilia, kind of non-stop, so it felt like slowing down was a full-time job.

[ That's partly true. At least, half true. He had to take time for himself and his grief whether he liked it or not. Not to mention trying re-wrangle the Force back into some kind of submission. But he skirts around all of that. ]

But I had just gotten this place about a month before I left. I was fixing it up and getting some animals together, but it looks like Usagi and her friend have handled all that by now.

[volantes]

[ Poe wouldn't use the word suspicious, but that nagging sense that Finn isn't telling him something is still there, lingering in a way that's definitely going to get to him sooner rather than later. Finn's just been through so much, he doesn't owe him or anyone else an explanation, and honestly he mostly just asks out of curiosity, a curiosity that's at least partially driven by the uneasy loss of direction that hestarted feeling once the whole concept of this place started to sink in. It's not bad right here and now, sitting across from Finn and feeling both full and well-rested for once, but their overall situation is the same.

He's over-thinking it, he knows that. It's hard not to when that's become an ingrained habit. This would have been a lot easier back before the war, there was a time in his life where he lived... kind of like this. Things were a lot different back then. ]

It's a nice place. [ He glances around, taking it all in again. As nice as it is he feels like he's crowding it, though he doubts Finn would ever say so. ] I guess you'll have to find some new projects to work on now?

[hatejakku]

[ Actually, Finn feels that he owes Poe a rather lengthy explanation. Same for Rey. Sure, he may not be going through on the idea of leaving home for good, but it was still a plan he had once been determined to see through. Even then, he'd felt guilty, and the feeling's worse now.

Clearly, putting it off is the best idea. Besides, Poe should get settled in first. Sure.

Either way, he looks around with a smile, glad that someone else can find comfort here, too. ]

Thanks. But yeah, I should. Before I left, I was dabbling a little with learning out to fly. Maybe I should start that up again.

[ With wings, he means. Because that's something he's got. ]

[volantes]

[ Poe's first instinct, naturally, is to think of a ship. But he knows that those are more or less unheard of here, most people are lucky to have some kind of personal ground transportation, though he has heard that maybe it's not impossible. What's clear when he thinks about it is that Finn would have told him already if he had some ship just laying around anyway, so he'd have to be talking about the other option for flight, something he's actually seen a few times since he arrived here. ]

You got wings?

[ He's glancing behind Finn reflexively, but obviously he would have noticed if they were visible. Apparently people can hide him too, he remembers that from his chat with Steven. Which makes sense, as weird yet interesting as the concept is generally, he can easily imagine how annoying it would be to have essentially an extra pair of limbs flopping around and getting in the way all the time.

It does seem like it would be an easy way to get around though, since the transportation models are archaic anyway. ]