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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.
cw: rape; yeah these two have a LOT in common
"They killed my father and then raped my mother. Two years later, I met the man who'd been in the lead of my mother's debasement again. Only now... he had a son. I sought the father, Araya, out. Asked him for an apology. He wasn't having it. In the end, my bodyguard killed him, and the son, Renzo, walked in on it. Araya was his only remaining parent."
A rueful smile sprrads across her lips. "I went on with my quest and almost forgot about him. I don't know... what I should have done. All I know is that I did the same to Renzo that was done to me."
She bites her lip. "And that's the story."
Now, she figures, might be the time to pass the ball. Seeking Mizu's gaze, she asks with just a hint of challenge in her voice: "What about you? Wanna tell me? Don't worry, I've done the whole outlaw thing."
cw: references to fire, mass death. show uses princess for lady
When she was younger, the talk of revenge would get a larger reaction out of Mizu. The introduction makes it hardly a surprise. It's not a death Mizu judges Rin for. Death begets death. The man had it coming. Though truly, who seeks an apology? Who expects to get one? It's naive. All that, and Rin was naive to expect another outcome.
"Perhaps one day Renzo will come and kill you," Mizu suggests with a small shrug. Moral qualms aren't Mizu's area of expertise. If Rin wanted Araya dead, she did what she should have. As for the son? Mizu doesn't imagine the man was a great father instilling great ethics.
Tcch. Mizu's hold on the book tightens slightly. "I sought my own revenge. Fowler kept running away, so I trapped him in with me with fire. It caught. It spread to the whole of Edo," Mizu says plainly, "I killed tens of thousands. Don't know how many I orphaned. And their fathers didn't do anything to me to deserve it."
Her lip curls. "I should have kept it between us, him and me. I'm worse than an outlaw, princess."
no subject
Rin sighs and then sits down next to Mizu, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them. She's long taken off her sandals, because sandals! In a house! How rude! And now she's only in her bright red kimono with the flame pattern and the yellow obi. Something she still wears, even if the vengeance she wore it for is now done.
"But you... you didn't mean to, right? I mean, of course, that doesn't change anything. Doesn't bring anyone back. But I don't know, I'd like to think it matters." A shaky laugh. "Maybe that's just for my own selfish reasons." She taps her feet on the floor, up, down. "I've done more than my share of impulsive things! Some of that could've gone horribly wrong, too." If the explosion in Edo Castle had been near a building and not in a tunnel... the mere thought makes her shudder now. "So really, the only thing that separates us is luck."
no subject
It still is. It's why she's here. It matters most. Mizu needs it. Only once she's found and killed them all can she feel satisfaction.
Mizu sits, legs folded under her. "I didn't mean to, but I didn't care," Mizu says, "I didn't care about the consequences. Truly. You may have been lucky, but you care more about people than I do." That isn't hard. Everyone around her does. They care about others, but they've all found reasons not to care about her. Not protecting Akemi. Not protecting the shogun. Not protecting... whatever.
"I don't mean to do it again," Mizu adds. She is sorry those people are dead. "Killing anyone I don't intend to kill."
no subject
Rin does not sound remorseful. There's a part of her that feels proud. Because in those moments, she feels strong, not like the quivering, wavering girl she's so often been. When it comes to Manji, she feels certain for once in her life. And yet, tears prick at her eyes, thinking of him. Of being separated from him again. Until now, she's avoided thinking about it, but... ah, there it goes, she's crying.
She wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just... thinking of him. Yeah." And then, an idea forms in her head. She turns to Mizu. "So, since this is a strange land I was led to by a fox spirit, of all things, I can't be sure my bodyguard is here. You probably can't be sure your... Fowler is here. But much as I hate to admit it, I'm not a great swordfighter. You look like you might be." She holds Mizu's gaze, hard. "So what do you say? For the time being... do you want to be my bodyguard?"
no subject
The determination and iron will is mildly undercut by the tears, but Mizu knows better than to judge someone by tears. They can still slaughter people while crying. Or endorse said slaughter, perhaps, in Rin's case. The woman strongly reminds Mizu of Akemi for good and ill.
Less of a brat. As shocking as the offer is, Mizu recognizes that Rin asks rather than assumes. Admittedly when surrounded by men trying to take her, Akemi fell back on her assumptions, if only recently made, of being on the same side. Mizu feels tired, but she got Akemi out of the palace. What happens to her now is on her.
"I am on the path of revenge," Mizu says, "It will always be my first priority, more important than anything else. More important than you or your safety. I will let you die if it puts me one step closer to my revenge.
"That's not what you want in a bodyguard."
no subject
After ending her own quest, a sense of emptiness had overcome her. It came and went in waves. And she'll be alright, she has plans. At the very least, she has to work and repay her debt to Master Sori, who put her up and pretty much funded her revenge quest. But if Mizu lives for nothing but revenge... it's dangerous out there. Rin can use that.
"Besides," she continues. "Can you even take care of yourself? Cooking, cleaning, washing your clothes... most men are really bad at that kinda stuff!"
no subject
Showing up and killing someone is often the easiest part of revenge.
"I have the thinnest shreds of information on the other men I am sworn to kill. I mean to find all I need here, so that I can go and kill them once I return to Japan." Mizu is no fool. She came here with a plan. With Fowler's magic word he plans to buy his life with. If she doesn't need him, she can kill him and find the others on her own.
Rin's counterpoint reminds Mizu of Ringo. Useful. "I don't starve. I've managed this long for myself."
no subject
However, speaking of Anotsu... a wry smile appears on Rin's face. "You know, this feels really strange to say, but you kinda remind me of my enemy. All 'ohhh, look at me, I don't have feelings and don't need anyone'. But he sure needed me when he came down with illness! Hah."
Maybe it's the looks, too. The pointy face, the slender build.
But after listening to Mizu's tale, curiosity gets the better of her. Perhaps it's not wise to pry... but she'll just disregard that. "What did these men do to you that you want to kill them, anyway? Did they kill your family, too?"
no subject
"I'll avoid getting ill," Mizu snarks. It's half-sarcastic. Obviously that's not entirely up to her. That's part of the joke.
Her face sets, firm. "They made me the way I am. One of them," Mizu says. She lowers her tinted glasses to reveal her eyes. Blue. Like a demon. Like a white man.
no subject
It seems pretty absurd to Rin. Sure, blue eyes would get you looks, but as far as Rin knows, that had been less dangerous for Isaku than his religion. "I knew a guy like you, once. He was huge, though. Both tall and broad. But he wouldn't hurt a fly. If he fought, it was only ever in defense. I think it had something to do with him being a Christian -- a missionary's son." She eyes Mizu curiously, again. "Are you a Christian, too? Yeah, that could get you in some trouble."
no subject
His credibility is low, but it isn't hard to believe the worst of any of these men.
"They're poison, and one of them has put a bounty on me all my life. They deserve to die." Her tone gets hard edged with fire behind it. She sees the hut burning in the forest. Even knowing that her mother—her nurse maid? she doesn't know which—didn't die there, she cannot forgive it. Years later, years of living in that house, and leaving just once was enough to see it destroyed.
no subject
Something about that logic still nags at her, though. "But, y'know, if it's about hunting bad people, you don't need to look that far. Plenty of those among our own ranks." She swallows hard, thinking of some of the people she's met. The things she's seen.
Suddenly, everything is too much. A sob escapes her and tears start leaking from her eyes anew. She buries her head in her knees and grabs her clothes for purchase, heaving with more sobs. Then she lifts her head again, breathing in deeply and wiping her tears. "S-sorry. I'm crying again. D-don't know why. I should... it just came over me."
no subject
"I kill plenty of those people on my way to reach the white devils," Mizu says calmly. Anyone who works with the white men to bring drugs, guns, and more into Japan deserve it. Their fault for being in her way. They chose their path. She chose hers.
The crying is... awkward. People don't usually cry around Mizu, so she lacks experience of what to do in this situation. She sits there, not offering Rin support nor judging her for the outburst. If Mizu felt that way, she would go into the ocean and soak under the waves in the cool waters until the feelings ebbed away. Soothed by the cold.
"Is this about Manji? Being alone?" Mizu asks, despite the statement. She... doesn't know what else to do about it. Come on, Ringo, this would be a great time to show up.
I'm just throwing emotions at you asldfajsdfljs poor Mizu
Alright, Rin, time to get a grip. She forces herself to breathe slowly and deeply. It takes a few moments, but eventually, the sobs subside. She wipes the rest of her tears off with her sleeve. "Sorry for the outburst. I'm such a crybaby sometimes!" Really, she thought she'd gotten better about it by now, but maybe it was more that after she got frostbite, she didn't have the energy to cry. And now that she's had a bit of a good rest... well.
"Alright," she drums her fists on her thighs and straightens, determined expression on her face. "That's enough crying! Time to get out of here." She turns back to Mizu. "Surely our conversation's gotta be satisfactory by now, don't you think?"
and yet Mizu will be sad not to see her around
That's not Mizu's problem. Rin followed the fox spirit, and she's here. It is what it is.
Thankfully, the young woman pulls herself together. That makes Mizu more comfortable again. Yes, enough crying! "We both expressed apology," Mizu states, "That should satisfy the conditions. How long has it been? We might need to wait out the four hours."
Unless the fox spirit does something for people who complete it in under four hours.
AWWW Mizu you DO have feelings xP
Or perhaps it had been simple curiosity. The feeling that, if something as extraordinary as that happens to her, she has to go investigate.
Upon being asked how long it's been, she only blinks in surprise. "I... have no idea. I kinda lost track of time there. Uhm, do you think there's any way to tell here... ?"
She props herself up on her arms and gets up from the ground. Once standing, she shakes out her limbs; they got a bit stiff sitting around like that. "Well, if the time's not over yet, there are still plenty of books to read. I don't think we'll get bored."
No, feelings aren't a thing Mizu experiences, obviously
"The... headmistress," that title sounds strange to Mizu, "should return in due time. Whether it's four hours or longer, that's what matters."
She moves to crouch and put away the books that fell to the ground, roughly where she found them. It might not be exact. "You can read. I'll meditate." Mizu is used to boring.
uh huuuuuuh
"Well, then I'll be sure to stay quiet as I keep reading about...," she looks around and finally finds the book she was reading before happening upon Mizu, "technology." Honestly, it was a bit of a drag. "Or maybe I'll go find something else."
She takes a few steps, hesitates, then turns back one more time. "It was nice to meet you, Mizu. Maybe we'll see each other around."