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Entry tags:
December 2023 & January 2024 Test Drive Meme
December 2023 - January 2024 TDM
Introduction
Overflow TDM post found here
[ 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 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.
🦊 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.
Content Warnings: School Detention, Time Not Passing, Forced Reflection/Confession, Potential Violence
Welcome to detention. Star Children, whether they're new arrivals to Folkmore or old hands, find themselves sitting at two person desks in a library. Perhaps there's only two Star Children, perhaps up to four or five. Regardless, each Star Child has a slip of paper in their hands which spells out why they are in detention, a secret detention slip no one else can read. Which, whew, because the reason any Star Child is in detention is for something they've never been punished for, something they might reasonably have thought they got away with, something they know was wrong.
The door to the library opens, and Kuma Lisa enters. She explains that Star Children will be in detention for four hours, and by the end of detention, they will need to reflect on what they did and express contrition. The headmistress gives no further guidance before leaving and closing the doors behind her.
Four hours is a notable chunk of time, but it's not so long, is it? Surely it's possible to wait it out without making good on the assignment… Or perhaps it's enough to write about it in one of the notebooks on the table in front of each student, without explaining it to another soul. Star Children are welcome to try whatever they want. However, they may notice an oddity with the clock. Namely, no matter how many times the second hand ticks around a circle to mark a whole minute, the minute and hour hands don't progress. It's the same minute over and over and over—
Detention is four hours, but how long four hours takes is entirely up to the Star Children in detention. Read every book in the library. Throw a dance party. Get high. Pull weapons out of the books. All matter of non-magical weapons. Nothing immediately happens upon pulling those weapons—no monsters to make detention less boring. Unless people make progress reflecting on their transgression, communicating about it with another Star Child, and showing penitence for it, time won't pass. Reality warps to stay in the same minute, minute after minute, hour after hour.
What's it going to be? Never ending detention or personal accountability?
However long it takes, it only takes four hours in the realm of Folkmore.
A word of warning to those who grabbed weapons, they will be attacked on their way home after detention. They will be attacked by creatures out of storybooks. Star Children will need to know the literary weaknesses of these creatures, good luck, or the help of someone else coming along who does know their weaknesses. At least there's some excitement in the day after four long long hours.
Welcome to detention. Star Children, whether they're new arrivals to Folkmore or old hands, find themselves sitting at two person desks in a library. Perhaps there's only two Star Children, perhaps up to four or five. Regardless, each Star Child has a slip of paper in their hands which spells out why they are in detention, a secret detention slip no one else can read. Which, whew, because the reason any Star Child is in detention is for something they've never been punished for, something they might reasonably have thought they got away with, something they know was wrong.
The door to the library opens, and Kuma Lisa enters. She explains that Star Children will be in detention for four hours, and by the end of detention, they will need to reflect on what they did and express contrition. The headmistress gives no further guidance before leaving and closing the doors behind her.
Four hours is a notable chunk of time, but it's not so long, is it? Surely it's possible to wait it out without making good on the assignment… Or perhaps it's enough to write about it in one of the notebooks on the table in front of each student, without explaining it to another soul. Star Children are welcome to try whatever they want. However, they may notice an oddity with the clock. Namely, no matter how many times the second hand ticks around a circle to mark a whole minute, the minute and hour hands don't progress. It's the same minute over and over and over—
Detention is four hours, but how long four hours takes is entirely up to the Star Children in detention. Read every book in the library. Throw a dance party. Get high. Pull weapons out of the books. All matter of non-magical weapons. Nothing immediately happens upon pulling those weapons—no monsters to make detention less boring. Unless people make progress reflecting on their transgression, communicating about it with another Star Child, and showing penitence for it, time won't pass. Reality warps to stay in the same minute, minute after minute, hour after hour.
What's it going to be? Never ending detention or personal accountability?
However long it takes, it only takes four hours in the realm of Folkmore.
A word of warning to those who grabbed weapons, they will be attacked on their way home after detention. They will be attacked by creatures out of storybooks. Star Children will need to know the literary weaknesses of these creatures, good luck, or the help of someone else coming along who does know their weaknesses. At least there's some excitement in the day after four long long hours.
🦊 Star Children, new and old, in groups of 2-5 are in detention for something they did wrong & haven't been punished for.
🦊 Kuma Lisa explains detention lasts four hours, and people have to express regret for what they did by the end.
🦊 Time doesn't pass unless Star Children make progress toward that assignment.
🦊 It always takes four hours in Folkmore time.
🦊 Star Children who draw weapons from books during detention will be attacked on their way home.
🦊 Kuma Lisa explains detention lasts four hours, and people have to express regret for what they did by the end.
🦊 Time doesn't pass unless Star Children make progress toward that assignment.
🦊 It always takes four hours in Folkmore time.
🦊 Star Children who draw weapons from books during detention will be attacked on their way home.
Content Warnings: Theft, Glitter Bombs, Minor Power Nerfing
There's a problem with the nonexistent mail delivery system in Folkmore. Gifts are being delivered to residents' addresses—their correct addresses, even if they live in the woods—but those recipients, written on a fat cream label, cannot pick them up, teleport them, or otherwise move them under their own power. These gifts sit in garish and contrasting colors that make certain to draw attention to themselves. Hello, here they are.
Anyone else can pick these packages up, from the person next door to a stranger walking by. There's so many gifts around it's easy to pick one up, remove the label, and go on one's way. Few people are home all the time, and even if they are, what are they going to do? Pick it up themselves? Ha! It's freereal estate. Star Children with abilities to see inside the packages can see something they want badly within as extra motivation to go for it.
When Star Children open their ill gotten gains, these packages explode in a glitter bomb that coats everyone within a ten foot radius. This glitter is impossible to wash out, magic away, or otherwise remove for twenty-four hours. Walk, swim, fly, or otherwise go about with glittery evidence of the crime committed.
Almost always. If it were guaranteed, where would the fun be in that?
The rare fortunate criminal or the original recipient, helped by another Star Child, will receive an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item. Those who receive an item will stop receiving gifts on their doorstep, whether they stole the gift or received it from a package addressed to them. They can keep stealing other people's gifts, but they will only receive a glitter bomb from then on.
Mischievous Star Children can even prank each other by changing the label and redelivering packages to someone else. Should that person get help to bring the gift inside, it still isn't their gift, not really, so it too will explode in glitter.
There's a problem with the nonexistent mail delivery system in Folkmore. Gifts are being delivered to residents' addresses—their correct addresses, even if they live in the woods—but those recipients, written on a fat cream label, cannot pick them up, teleport them, or otherwise move them under their own power. These gifts sit in garish and contrasting colors that make certain to draw attention to themselves. Hello, here they are.
Anyone else can pick these packages up, from the person next door to a stranger walking by. There's so many gifts around it's easy to pick one up, remove the label, and go on one's way. Few people are home all the time, and even if they are, what are they going to do? Pick it up themselves? Ha! It's free
When Star Children open their ill gotten gains, these packages explode in a glitter bomb that coats everyone within a ten foot radius. This glitter is impossible to wash out, magic away, or otherwise remove for twenty-four hours. Walk, swim, fly, or otherwise go about with glittery evidence of the crime committed.
Almost always. If it were guaranteed, where would the fun be in that?
The rare fortunate criminal or the original recipient, helped by another Star Child, will receive an item from home. This may even be a weapon or magical item. Those who receive an item will stop receiving gifts on their doorstep, whether they stole the gift or received it from a package addressed to them. They can keep stealing other people's gifts, but they will only receive a glitter bomb from then on.
Mischievous Star Children can even prank each other by changing the label and redelivering packages to someone else. Should that person get help to bring the gift inside, it still isn't their gift, not really, so it too will explode in glitter.
🦊 Gifts appear outside Star Children's residences, even those without residences.
🦊 Recipients cannot pick up the gift but any other Star Child can.
🦊 Almost all stolen gifts explode in a glitter bomb that leaves glitter for 24 hours.
🦊 Star Children can receive an item from home, even a weapon or magical item.
🦊 Star Children can prank each other by changing the labels/moving the packages.
🦊 Recipients cannot pick up the gift but any other Star Child can.
🦊 Almost all stolen gifts explode in a glitter bomb that leaves glitter for 24 hours.
🦊 Star Children can receive an item from home, even a weapon or magical item.
🦊 Star Children can prank each other by changing the labels/moving the packages.
no subject
He would have been content walking away with a box of unsalted crackers, but it turns out he gets a choice? Decision paralysis washes over Dolph before he can even think back to the last thing he had before his meal plan became a single nutrient block three times a day. ]
Fast, filling. Don't care about the rest, go nuts.
[ Inevitably, his knee-jerk reaction is fastest. ]
Who the hell are you that you're so eager to feed a stray?
no subject
The box is far less important than proper hosting, so he straightens up. Fast and filling... there are a few quick recipes he can put together in a matter of minutes. It shouldn't be a problem.]
Caduceus Clay, it's a pleasure to meet you. [The rudeness doesn't ruffle him, nor the stray comment. People cross his path from all walks of life. He just lets it roll off his back.] It's a simple thing to share a meal with someone, no matter who or what they might be. Now, you're welcome to join me while I put something together, though I'd understand if you'd rather wait here. Do you like tea? I'm gonna make a fresh pot.
no subject
Call me— [ Dolph realizes he has another decision to make here. For the first time in ages, infamy doesn't supersede the need for an introduction. Laserhawk was a household name, synonymous with hero before it came to mean traitor. To him, it's not a tainted word, because he knows the truth. But it has gotten old.
His mouth twists. ]
Just Dolph is fine.
[ The deal seemingly sealed, Dolph regards the narrow mystery box for a moment before scooping it up underneath an arm, intending to bring it inside while the food-half of the bargain is fulfilled. Literally, it's the least he can do in response to the overwhelming hospitality. ]
I'll stay by the door. I'll watch you work, and if I don't see anything hinky, maybe I'll have a cup.
no subject
[He doesn't know how long the glitter lasts yet, but he'd rather it not get all over the poor interior. Speaking of, the cottage is simple but tidy, and just like he said, it's mostly undecorated, just enough for the barebones of functionality. He goes first to the sink to wash his hands, then to the icebox to fetch a collection of vegetables. He lights up the stove, one burner for a kettle and another for a pan, and begins chopping for an easy veggie stir fry.]
I'm assuming you're new here as well? Are you settling in alright?
no subject
Ordinarily, he wouldn't be conscientious of how many walls there are surrounding him, but encountering so many particularly indestructible ones lately has him cautious. ]
Settling. [ He huffs. ] Are you familiar with the term "culture shock"?
[ Take where they are right now, for instance. How natural it is, canopies reaching wherever they want to go instead of cut to fit into tight little spaces. ]
First time being in a forest.
no subject
Now, culture shock, he says...]
I'm familiar. It seems we're the opposite- I grew up in a forest, but the first time I went into a proper city I was pretty overwhelmed. Lots of unfamiliar sounds, hitting me all at once. A part of me wanted to turn around and run home.
no subject
[ Those vegetables look fresh. He'd ask whether they were grown by the land or in a lab, but he doesn't think he has to. Caduceus absolutely has Dolph's attention. ]
Tell me more about your country. [ Dolph's arms go in for the crossed pose that's such a classic for guarded people. ] You don't want to hear about mine.
[ Or maybe he does. He's nice enough. But Dolph's making that call for him, because happy people who share their quaint little homes with whoever the wind blows in don't get to exist where he's from. ]
no subject
[For Caduceus, it's not a niceness factor. He likes learning, and hearing about the lives of others. He's never heard about other worlds before, which makes Dolph even more intriguing.]
I don't mind going first, though. I'm afraid I don't really have a country, though. I lived in something of an unclaimed wildland, called the Savalirwood, north of the main countries I'm aware of. The continent I grew up on is called Wildemount, a huge stretch of land with two warring nations, the Dwendalian Empire, and Xhorhas, as well as a handful of neutral areas. I only recently started travelling outside of my old homeland, with a particularly adventurous group of friends. It's been... enlightening, to say the least, experiencing the rest of the world.
no subject
Then some random fox offers you more, so you follow it... is that where this story goes?
[ It sounds judgmental when it isn't; Dolph has trouble controlling his tone. ]
no subject
[There's a soft, subtle edge in his tone that wasn't there before. He's still plenty friendly towards Dolph himself, but he can't help feeling wary at the nature of his own arrival. This is a lovely world, yet one in which he does not belong. Things still need doing before he can go home- and he wants to go home. This isn't it.
The pan sizzles as he slides the vegetables over to start cooking, and he plucks some spices from a shelf and adds those, two. The food very quickly starts to smell delicious.]
no subject
Dolph can't remember his encounter with the Fox either, not perfectly. He should. Half of his brain is a computer. Maybe the gaps can be explained by how little reason he had to care what it was saying. The Fox was an inexplicable presence in what should have been a void, and he was a mind freshly without a body... or a soul without a body?
But the deal can't be the same for everyone, right? Because happy people are here, those with things to lose.
And then there's Rayman.
Either way, how talkative Cadeucus was before compared to how talkative Cadeucus is now helps Dolph parse that the last subject stung. He's content to let the silence stretch out until something occurs to him that's worth saying.
That aroma, that deserves some commentary. ]
Maybe you're here to stuff the rest of us with carrots until we can be better people.
no subject
I can't think of a more noble cause! There's plenty of healing to be found in a good meal. Fuels the soul on a bad day. [He grabs a fork, plucking up a scrap of carrot from the pan and trying it before nodding his approval, adding a dash or two of extra spices.] Oh, yeah, that's good. 3 minutes, and this'll be a proper dinner.
[And by then the kettle's done boiling, so he fetches two cups and pours the hot water into a charming little clay teapot, leaving it to steep. Pretty soon even that'll start smelling good.]
no subject
[ Dolph (digitally) zooms in on any labels that may appear, curious what sort of seasonings Caduceus is using. By the time he's run out of things to scrutinize, his physical body has inched further into the kitchen area.
If there's a chair he can claim?
Fine. He'll sit. ]
no subject
Fairydust... I've never heard spices be called that, but they do have a certain kind of magic to them, I'll admit. [He finds another fork, plucking a piece of vegetable out of the mix and offering it out for him, as a taste test.] See for yourself, if it's to your liking.
[If he tries it, he'll find it to be savory, a little hint of spicy, and in general quite delicious. The kind of flavour you'd give to someone whom you don't know the preferences of yet still want it to be enjoyable, in other words.
(And also definitely not poisoned, rotting, or garbage. An incredibly normal piece of cooked vegetable.)]
no subject
Just a bad guess. I don't know what ingredients you use in other worlds. [ Mused while taking the whole fork from Caduceus with his metal fingers. ] In Eden, any solid food is a delicacy if you're low on the social ladder.
[ After bringing the morsel to his mouth, Dolph doesn't let any emotion show until he's done savoring it. ]
Alright. [ There it is, the teensiest smile. ] You pass.
no subject
Good, good.
[He stirs the pan a little more, satisfied with the result, and first pours the tea, then scrapes the majority of the stir fry onto a plate, before carrying both over to the table for him.]
There we go, one meal and one tea. I've got a fresh loaf, too, I can cut off a few slices if you'd like.
[Just gonna throw all the tasty food at this poor guy who apparently doesn't get solid food in his world, what?? Horrifying, he can't imagine. Please eat a lot.]
no subject
Meanwhile, meeting Caduceus feels like the universe trying to convince him that hospitality can be real. It's mind-blowing to Dolph that part of "just settling in" for this man is presumably firing up his oven to bake.
Nodding, Dolph pushes aside the food on the plate he's only just received, hollowing out an area for the bread to sit. Whatever's in that box, he hopes it's worth this Caduceus Clay's while, even if he's not the type to dwell on debts left behind.
Despite that his little fun fact about Eden, he doesn't descend on his helping with the desperation of someone who's never eaten this well. His table manners are impeccable, in fact. He doesn't overload his fork or drink his tea too fast. Most of his adult life wasn't spent in hardship, in truth.
And if he's asked no more questions, Dolph will finish the whole meal in silence. ]
no subject
Once it's evident that Dolph is done, Caduceus at last pushes off the counter, setting aside his tea.]
Have you had enough of everything, or are you still hungry?
[He says it in a tone that promises if Dolph wants for anything, Caduceus would absolutely cook him a whole new meal and not complain one bit.]
no subject
It'll get me to the next town.
[ Afterwards, he speaks with determination and, getting up, he walks with determination, too. Caduceus might be in for a scare though, when rather than rushing off like a man on mission, Dolph grabs the gift box again and is clearly preparing to open it.
No, he hasn't forgotten what his orders were. He's just
a dickconfident that he now knows why they explode, and that intent has something to do with it. When he tore through one of these for that devil-horned girl, not caring enough to even steal a peek inside, he got to walk away unscathed; she got to enjoy her silly gaming system. The package he found unattended much later, on the other hand, made him pay for getting curious.What that means is—
Dolph punches his metal hand into one end of the oblong tube of cardboard, putting a gaping hole straight through it. There, that should do it. Now, all Caduceus needs to do is tip out the contents. He holds the maimed package out to his host.
No glitter. ]
Like I said.
no subject
[Wow he is. So very glad that didn't result in an explosion of glitter in his kitchen. He'd have been quite put out. But since no sparkly disaster occurred, he does tip the box and allow a long, mottled wooden staff to slide out and into his hands. (Was it a very long box? Whatever, it had a whole staff in it.)
Caduceus blinks at the staff for a few moments- its gnarled wood is peppered with patches of soft pink and green lichen, the former not unlike his hair colour, and tipped with a large shard of rough-cut amethyst. It has a series of little boreholes throughout its length. As he holds it, he slowly begins to smile.]
Oh, well. I was wondering where you'd disappeared to. Anybody still home? [He holds it up to one long ear, listening a moment, then turns it to rest the end on the floor, looking back to Dolph with a pleased expression.] My thanks, friend.
no subject
"Staff" is not a typical inclusion in Dolph's vocabulary, and what comes to mind when it's used is a streamlined instrument used for martial arts, not a lumpy piece of wood with enough wear that looks like it would snap right in half if a seven foot tall man were to put his weight on it. That is a stick.
That the man apparently recognizes it only raises more questions. If regifting is rude, what do you call having your own stuff snatched and sent back to you?
But Caduceus seems happy, which... he guesses is what matters. ]
Does it ever talk back?
no subject
[Caduceus offers a friendly, cryptic smile. The staff, despite appearances, is sturdy and shows no issue with holding his weight. It is in fact a very special 'stick'. Magical, one might say.]
no subject
[ Hm. ]
I'm gonna go.
[ That's as good a cue as any. He'd already been bracing to reach for the door, which he pushes his way out of now, dappled sunbeams entering in his wake as the door swings. ]
You were kinder than you needed to be.
[ Dolph is still addressing Caduceus as strides away from the cottage, back to the path that happened to bring him here. The way he dumps out the words on his heels might make them seem like afterthoughts. Given their meaning, though, he must have been thinking them this whole time. ]
With you here, this place might not be bullshit after all.
no subject
That's the dream. [To leave this place a little better than he found it, at least. That's his usual goal.] If you pass by again, feel free to stop in for another meal. On the house.
[For now he'll leave Dolph to his travels.]