July 2025 IC Mingle

[folkie]

July 2025 IC Mingle

Introduction

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This IC Mingle is open to all.
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly IC Mingle! Please feel free to post with any characters regardless of whether they joined this month.

All IC Mingles are game canon and work like "mini mini-events". They're a great way to gain new CR and immediately jump into the setting.

IC Mingle threads can be used for spoon spending at any time.

Current players are always encouraged to tag new players on the IC Mingle!

[ Prompt]

Meet Me in My Dreams. ★

Content Warnings: Dreamscape/Dream Logic, Potential Violence, Potential Memory Sharing, Potential Mind/Power/Etc Swap

In most of Folkmore, it's impossible to tell how deep the cracks go, their black void and nature to swallow whatever enters them evading the answer. On Never Fade, an island in the sky, one crack breaks through the bottom of the island. It devours the space it occupies and grows little by little by little. When it reaches a foot wide and crosses a third the island, Lavender declares enough is enough! Whatever Star Children decide for the rest of Folkmore, this threat must be stopped. Lavender sends chickadee spirits in dreams and reality to invite Star Children to join them.

Star Children can ease the process by coming to Never Fade with someone who matters significantly to them. People need to space themselves out on either side of the divide and connect. Star Children with bonds—soul mates, Familiar/Unfamiliar bonds, adoption, etc—are asked to go into the tunnels. They must use their bonds to find each other in a dreamscape, which will thin the void until they can see each other again. Star Children with emotional connections—non-formal bonds—are asked to face each other on the surface. There they will knit the energy of Folkmore together with yarn. They can toss the yarn back and forth to each other or even exchange yarn with someone next to them, to tighten the weave. Lavender goes hazy but walks above the crack on the woven yarn. The void fades until its blackness is gone.

The space remains empty, a chasm across Never Fade. No one will disappear from Folkmore should they fall down it, but if they cannot fly, teleport, or otherwise recover themselves from a fall, it's a long way down to go. Mildly problematic when it traverses so much of the island. Lavender asks for Star Children to come up with ideas for how to solve it. Either, Star Children will fix the problems in the process, or it can generate enough Lore for Lavender to heal the island.

Lavender creates a lucid dreamspace around the crack. The dreamscape allows Star Children to use any of their abilities, native or Role or something completely different, and to physically manifest challenges to build the Lore needed to succeed at this healing. It requires both physical and relational (Lore) elements. The greater the differences between Star Children, the more effective their challenges are at healing Never Fade. Differences include amount of time spent in Folkmore, Roles, regions they live in, worlds they are from, species, etc. The greater the gap(s) between Star Children, the bigger the impact.

The challenges manifest themselves based on the approach pairs of Star Children take to solve the issue. They follow dream logic. Success depends on both material means and emotional success.

• Add material to fill the gap > find common ground. Examples: walk across a rope bridge toward each other, with each slat requiring saying something you have in common; fighting an enemy together with teamwork.
• Pull/push the island together > understand a significant difference. Examples: complete a maze/obstacle course that requires skills of both people; walking through a memory that shows why the other person is the way they are.
• Magically connect the sides > switch places and succeed. Examples: complete a challenge with a power swap, body swap, or Role swap; fight an enemy in a mech where one person controls each side or each set of limbs.

• A crack in Never Fade gets so big, Lavender decides to banish it.
• Lavender invites Star Children to help:
• Star Children with bonds (in-game or from canon) go into the tunnels on opposite sides and focus on their bonds to thin the void.
• Star Children with strong relationships face each other atop the island and toss magical yarn back and forth, weaving it together. Toss it to your neighbors too!
• Once the void is vanished, the empty gap remains. Lavender creates a lucid dreamscape where Star Children can face different challenges based on their solution so close the gap:
• Fill the gap with material > challenges to find common ground.
• Pull/push island together > challenges to understand significant differences.
• Magically connect the sides > challenges to switch places and succeed.
• Wildcard (got another idea?) > ask below!
• The effects/impact of successful challenges are bigger, the more differences there are between partners: time in Folkmore, Roles, regions they live in, worlds, species, etc. The challenges are just as hard.

Comments

[notapancake]

[The only thing keeping Donnie from considering this to be the dream he's been having off and on since he got here is that Casey is here. Every time, he's been alone. The Krang always got him, he never got to know if his virus actually worked for himself. But Casey is here, he has to get Casey out, even as the teenager says they need to go faster.]

I know, I know! [He sounds so scared, probably something Casey hasn't heard before.]

[apuckalypse]

[Yeah, he really hasn't heard his uncle like this. It makes him anxious - Krang have always scared him, but this is an added layer of "parental/guardian figure is this scared, I should be much more scared". On the other hand, he's older than he'd been the last time he was in this severe a situation, no longer the 14 or 15 year old used to being shielded. He's helped to carry sensei to safety before, in the middle of a warzone- he'll do it here, too.

He is very much still terrified, but he also feels protective. And the last time he fought Krang in a dreamscape, he won. (Sort of. At a cost.)]

I'm with you. We got this! Just keep moving!

[notapancake]

You... You have to leave.

[Because even as they run it seems like the Technodrome is never ending. But what's worse is what is right in front of them, another... No the same Krang, in the exo-armor. As Donnie freezes in his tracks.]

Did you really think your foolish tricks would work?

[The movement is quickly from Donnie, as he knows what comes next. A sweeping strike from the Krang, that normally hits him and well... It's not pleasant, but he has to make sure Casey doesn't get hurt so he moving to at least get his nephew out of the way of the attack.]

[apuckalypse]

I'm not- [going without him, he'd have liked to say, but then the Krang is right there and he's being dragged back, protected again-] -No!

[He'd been so useless before, unable to save anyone. Surely there's something he can do this time, even if he's not quick enough to prevent this first blow.]

[notapancake]

[He's not going to let Casey get hurt because of him, not if he can prevent it. Maybe it's luck, maybe it's because he's lived this before, but he manages to move both of them out of the way of the swipe. It barely misses him, but the force of the swipe is a lot, not just from being hit by it but... blow back? The wind? Either way that will hit them both, which isn't as bad as getting thwacked by the Krang itself.

And while that is a blessing, Donnie just isn't thinking. His heart feels like it's going to jump out of his plastron, and he manages to choke out to Casey.]

Please, just get out of here, Junior.

[apuckalypse]

[He's shaking his head before the sentence fully exits Donatello's mouth. No. No way.]

I'm not leaving you here.

[Instead he steps up, mask dropping over his face, and extends his chainstick, revving it up and pointing it towards the Krang. He won't let himself be scared away into fleeing, he won't be a coward who only saves himself. He's Hamato. They fight together.]

[notapancake]

You pathetic, weak, little worm!

[The Krang's voice rings out, as Donnie just tries to stop Casey from fighting. Even as the memory starts to go faded and dark, those words being the last thing he heard before he... Before he died. There's nothing to fight, because he wasn't able to fight. Illness and fear just lead to this end, as he just...

A broken noise escapes the older turtle, he never wanted any of them to know this. Let alone like this.]

[apuckalypse]

[He knows better than to take his eyes off of the Krang, he's been trained more than a decade to not let a single weakness show; looking away for even a second could cause sudden death.

All that training, and it doesn't stop Casey from looking over his shoulder at his uncle at that sound. He's never heard Donatello make a sound like that.]

Uncle Tello...?

[notapancake]

[Oh he is trying to keep it together, because even though the Krang is right in front of them it looks like it's attention is more on something under it's hand. Which, Donnie is very glad that Casey's attention is on him and not that. Because even as what the Krang might be saying is faced and hard to make out, whatever is in its hand is making a sick crunching sound. Of bones and flesh and blood, it's Tello so how the hell did the dreamself end up there?

Dunno, dream shenanigans. But either way the one that has Casey attention manages to croak out;]

Don't... you shouldn't. Know this...

[apuckalypse]

[The sound of bones crunching makes him turn back. He wishes, in retrospect, he wishes to whatever god might or might not exist in the universe, that he didn't, once he sees what's happening. Once his gaze falls on the body under the Krang's foot, though, he can't look away, stricken, and frozen in place.

Uncle Tello's right. He shouldn't see this. He shouldn't know. He knew this happened, of course he did, they all knew Uncle Tello died when he'd planted that techno-organic bomb in the Krang's base. But he hadn't been there. He never witnessed it firsthand, and here...

Why this? Why is this being shown to them? Uncle Tello is right behind him, he's alive now, he's not dead. Yet right before Casey's eyes, he's dying.]

[notapancake]

[He knows what is coming next, as the Krang speaks, but the words are hard to make out. Seem faded and far off, as if whoever heard them wasn't in a state to hear what was said. Donnie just moves without thinking, as the Krang starts to leave and... those are Krang hounds lurking about, as he grabs at Casey and does his best to pull the teen close.

To keep him from seeing what comes next.]

Don't look, don't... Don't look.

[Of course it doesn't stop the sounds, the very unpleasant sounds from reaching them or the fact that there had been no sounds from Tello as he was crushed, but now with the dog-like creatures going at him? The sound is horrible, one no one should hear. As the living turtle is going to do his best to keep Casey from hearing or seeing any of this.]

[apuckalypse]

[Casey doesn't resist the pull, drawn away from that horrible visual, and presses his face against his uncle's plastron, eyes tightly clenched. He can still hear it, those hideous noises of blood splattering, flesh and bones and shell crunched between unrelenting teeth, but he has no desire to watch what must be an awful, awful memory for Uncle Tello. He's seen people torn apart by the Krang beasts before, it's part of the nature of their cursed world. But never family, not like this. And it never got easier.

His arms wind around the turtle's thin body, hugging him back just as closely. It may be little comfort compared to the awfulness they're being forced to witness, but it's at least something, he hopes. He hates that there's nothing else he can do.]

Uncle Tello...

[He won't look. But he's here, staying right here, to support his family.]

[notapancake]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

[That's all he can think of saying, as he will keep doing what he can to keep Casey from this. All while wondering as well why this memory and why with Casey of all people?

His hold on Casey gets tighter when the teen hugs him back, because what else can he even do here?]

[apuckalypse]

It's not your fault. It isn't!

[Maybe- maybe if he keeps talking, it'll drown out some of those wretched noises. He just wants it to be over.]

You saved so many people. What you did here- they had to stop attacking for a while to do repairs, we even gained some ground! A whole new area we could scout and get supplies... a-and we were able to recover after that fight...

[And have a tiny bit of time to grieve, a luxury they rarely could afford.]

[notapancake]

No... not, not that.

[Although hearing that helps a little, he was told that what he did gave them time, but it's not that, that he's apologizing for.]

None of you should know about... this.

[apuckalypse]

[Oh... oh.

Casey doesn't know what to say to that, for a bit. He swallows hard, fingers curling in Donatello's clothes, and when he finds his voice it's muffled.]

Not your fault, either. Trials... sometimes make us face the worst... b-but usually we don't have to face it alone. That's why I'm here.

[It sucks. It sucks! He hates it. But he'd feel worse if Uncle Tello had to go through this alone, again. If he can support his family, no matter what the price or the experience, he won't hesitate.]

[notapancake]

[Oh... How to even tell Casey that he has been facing this alone, he's had some restless nights where instead of just sleep he's relived this moment in his own head. And not like this, but actually going through it once more.

... he won't.]

You shouldn't be here though.

[He wouldn't wish this information even on someone he disliked, let alone a kid like Casey. But it... does seem like the noise has ceased? But he's not letting go of Casey.]

[apuckalypse]

Lots of things happen in this world... that shouldn't.

[Casey's no stranger to nightmares, to reliving the horrors. He's seen plenty in his young life. He didn't see this before, and thank goodness because he's more mentally equipped to endure it at this age than he'd have been at thirteen, but he's got a decade's worth of trauma, he's seen so many die, Master Michelangelo, sensei-

Their deaths were quick. It wasn't... this. But the pain of loss and their suffering isn't nothing. In the end, they all did this for their family. Uncle Tello did this for them.]

I'm okay. [An obvious lie, perhaps. He tries again, more honest, his voice more determined:] I'll be okay. You don't... have to worry about me. Let me be here for you.

[notapancake]

No.

[The word is out of his mouth as soon as Casey finishes saying that Donnie shouldn't worry about him, taking it as if Casey wants his problems put upon him. And like hell is he going to do that.]

It's not your problem to deal with, Junior.

[apuckalypse]

[Casey exhales a breath, both grieving and a sliver of exasperation seeping through. Of course he's like this...]

If it's my family's problem, it's my problem! You can't stop me from worrying, whether I'm close, or in the know, or what.

[notapancake]

[Mmm, he's going to start chewing on his bottom lip. A stress response when he can't do others that he has, since he's got armful of nephew right now.]

I know I can't stop you from worrying, that's an impossible ask but... I can do what I can to make it so you don't have as much to worry about.

[apuckalypse]

You think that hasn't been my whole life? As far back as I can remember, I was always waiting, worrying, left behind while everyone else deals with the real problems! It's why I wanted to get stronger, to fight, so I could help and protect you all... and it still wasn't enough.

[Everyone died. Everyone left him behind. He was the only one who got to live, at the cost of all the people he ever loved.

It's not about him. He knows. But- but isn't that proof enough that he can endure it? He's already seen so much. They can't protect him from terrible things when the worst is already memories that he'll never forget.]

I hate it... being left in the dark, being helpless. I hate it!

[notapancake]

[He could lie and say that he and his brothers never meant to leave Casey out, but... they kind of purposely did that. Also he's never lied to this kid his whole life, why start now?]

The point was never to make you feel helpless, Junior. But... To make it so you could see and live in a better world, no matter what.

[Also just trying to side step the whole emotional minefield here.]

[apuckalypse]

Well- I'm in a better world, now. I'm living. [Any world would be better, really, but this one's been pretty great to him overall.] You all made it happen. I've had a long time now to adapt and get better. Isn't the point of growing up that I get to step up, too? Let me help...

[notapancake]

Thing is, you shouldn't have to step up for us.

[Like, at least in his case? Coming back from the dead wasn't exactly something planned, sure maybe he could have hung around as a Hamato Spirit and maybe his brothers could have used his research to do what was done to Raph with him. But yeah... Casey moving on is fine? By him.]