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June-July 2024 Test Drive Meme
June-July 2024 TDM
Introduction
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: Ghosts, Potential Violence, Potential Death
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.Do not pass go. Instead they will haunt the ghost town for one week in the room where they were killed. Other Star Children may recognize them and work to snap them out of their routines. Yet nothing will free the Star Children's spirits before the week is through. At the end of the week, they'll come to, alive, in their bodies in the room they died in. Best get through and out of the ghost town before dying again!
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
Summer has hit. It's hot, and nowhere is it hotter than Cruel Summer. Naturally, new Star Children arrive in Cruel Summer with no indication of which direction to go to escape, unless they're so lucky as to arrive near the Selkie River. The water provides a break, and a selkie skin will protect Star Children from the heat. Though beware the cruelty of leaving a selkie without their skin. Along with the heat, Star Children can hear whispers and the echoes of screams throughout Cruel Summer. There's no obvious source of the noises. Not the normal creatures. Not anything anyone can see.
Whether new or old Star Child, anyone lost, overheated, in need of a rest, or anything else will find a friendly spirit will find them in the sands, rock, or shores of Cruel Summer. They'll guide the way toward the huts found in Cruel Summer. These huts have changed; the huts are bigger and grow together, making them one interconnected twisting winding empty town. No one appears to live there. The wooden town is in disrepair, varying from building to building. Even so, they are cool inside, a welcome break from the summer heat.
No matter how one entered, even through the swinging doors to the saloon, that exit disappears behind Star Children. There's no turning back. The only way out is to explore the way through the buildings. This fact continues to be true building to building as exits continue to vanish. The abandoned town isn't as empty as it first seems. As Star Children explore the branching paths through the wooden structures, they see ghosts of spirits going through the paces of their lives. They're familiar to these spaces and interact with missing objects that sometimes shimmer in spirit energy.
Spirit Children may interrupt these routines to try to talk with the ghosts. Some ghostly spirits are friendly. They may interact with Star Children as though they're someone else, someone the spirits used to know. Others, like the bartender, may treat them like a new customer. Other ghosts are determined to stick to their routines and, should Star Children continue to interrupt, will attack those who disturb them.
These spirits may kill Star Children when they attack. Normal weapons won't hurt them. There are revolvers, shotguns, iron pokers, hunting knives, and other plain weapons around to grab in self-defense. Salt bullets and iron will dispel ghosts. These weapons may be grabbed at any time. However, doing so attracts the creatures in Cruel Summer. A blood red worm spitting yellow acid may break through the floor to eat or spray Star Children. An enormous coyote may leap through the window. Whether attracted by the use of weapons or passing by, any dangerous creature found in Cruel Summer seems agitated when they come near these structures and will attack them and anyone inside. They will focus especially on anyone with a stolen selkie skin.
Should Star Children die, whether to ghosts or creatures, they will not immediately return to life.
A constant through these scenes are the spirits' spoons, visible somewhere in each scene. The ghost spoons are whole. Once free of the ghost town, Star Children may choose to travel to the Shattered Spoon Shrine in Never Fade to search for the broken fragments of any of these spoons. They are in such small pieces, however, that no Star Child may feed them enough Lore alone to bring the spirit back. Two or more Star Children may spend time in the Shrine creating and feeding Lore toward the spoons to heal them. It just may be enough to bring someone back.
- Whispers, echoes of screams, etc become common throughout Cruel Summer
- Huts become bigger, interconnected, growing together. Anyone lost, overheated, in need of something in Cruel Summer gets a friendly spirit redirecting them to these buildings
- Buildings will still be in some state of disrepair, but like a whole twisting winding town
- Insides are a cool respite
supernatural ghost spirit air conditioning - Only way out is through, no turning back, as the exits disappear behind you
- Many are friendly, but some are not. One can attempt to talk to them, but how interactive they are varies
- Occasionally other creatures from Cruel Summer may burst in and attack
- If a Star Child dies, rather than return to life immediately, they stay a ghost for about a week, part of the tour
Content Warnings: Fire, Coerced Confessions
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessionshelp Folkmore grow as well. Gardens bloom in beautiful displays. Crops grow healthy and joyful. It’s even possible to hear humming from some of the vegetables and fruits. The land grows with the Star Children. Anyone who lacks a green thumb can work their way around that with confessions! Save that dying plant and grow those tomatoes.
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
Fire! Fire across the realm! For the second half of June, wildfire burns everywhere. While it doesn’t hurt Star Children, it can reduce everything else to ash: homes, businesses, gardens, spirits. The local spirits will be in a panic and beg Star Children for help from small ice mice in Wintermute to fennec foxes in Cruel Summer. How can Star Children help? Confessions. Anything the person they are with doesn’t know. The more earnest and meaningful the better.
When wildfire erupts and spreads, Star Children may stand in or in front of an area they want to protect and confess something to another Star Child who happens to be nearby. Their neighbor? Their partner? A stranger lost in a new land? These confessions simply need to be something the other person doesn’t know to protect structures and spirits. Memories related to the confession will show in the fire. The fire will fuel these memories until they run out of energy, dying down to embers. At least in that place at that time.
Should something start to burn before someone confesses, multiple confessions are necessary to catch the wildfire’s attention and distract it from the fuel source it is feeding on. Two or more Star Children will need to make confessions whose memories are shared in the flames. Water powers can also help quell the flames, but confessions are necessary in the end.
Once July hits, the wildfires are mostly gone, only sparking up here and there on occasion. In their stead are embers. They spark in the air like fireflies and fly around Folkmore, attracted to Star Children. These embers land on Star Children and make them glow. There’s no pain. In fact, the embers provide sparks of insight into memories, situations, and other emotional dilemmas that Star Children haven’t previously understood. Talking the issue over with another Star Children provides further emotional clarity.
Spirits are welcoming to both embers and Star Children. Confessions
One time that a Star Child confesses, either to wildfire or to embers, they will find a jeweled box shaped like a flame. The peak of the flame comes off to reveal the insides. Within, there is an item from home. It may even be a weapon or magical item. Larger more meaningful confessions are more likely to receive weapons. These items may even be larger than should fit in the box or its entrance. Whether the box should only hold a single ring or fill the palm of one’s hand, these items fit. Star Children also can keep the jeweled box, and this one item from home can be stored within the box. Other items too large to fit the box will not enter it. Only the one from the box.
- Last two weeks of June, wildfire burns across Folkmore. After that, they are rare.
- Confessions can protect or rescue buildings, land areas, and spirits.
- Come July, embers spark across Folkmore like fireflies. They provide insight for Star Children. Talking helps.
- Confessions help the land grow.
- Confessions reveal a jeweled box containing an item from home.
Winter Anderson | AHS: Cult | Myth
To say that Winter crash-landed into summer was both insulting and a cruel joke. She knew all about cruel jokes, so she figured her less than graceful arrival was meant to make her the butt of one. She swore under her breath and looked around, seeing no signs of people, places, or things.
To be frank, Winter was fucked. And she knew it.
The bloody hands were another clue. Both of her hands looked like they'd been dipped in blood, dripping down onto the ground and resistant to being cleaned, no matter how many times she ruined her dress trying to do just that. Winter knew that these hands would be a giant red flag to anyone with any sense.
So Winter hoped that whoever saved her wasn't very sensible. Or even a little sensible.
She plastered on her best smile when she saw someone approach, calling out "Hey, is this standard operating procedure for noobs, 'cause it kinda sucks."
Ghost Tours
Grabbing a shotgun seemed like a good idea at the time.
Obviously, it wasn't and Winter was fucked. Again.
She screamed in a rage and did her best to manage the shotgun, her bloody hands making her grip simultaneously slippery and sticky, and managed what should have been a kill shot if she were playing Call of Duty.
But the fuckers. Kept on. Coming.
So she decided to temporarily beat down her pride and screamed again at the absolute top of her lungs. Nothing really coherent, more like a cross between a wail and a roar. Her dark eyes narrowed, her posture grew firmer, and her lips were pulled back in a snarl.
Folkmore, meet the true Winter Anderson.
((CW: AHS: Cult is easily one of the most disturbing seasons because all of the horrible things that happen have no supernatural means, it's simply humanity's inhumanity to others. Winter is a liar, a murderer, a hypocrite, and she's willing to do anything to survive, even though she's coming in fresh off of her death in canon. She's also very, very good at seeming like an ordinary social justice minded college girl))
i.
cruel summer has dappled sansa's face like a seal in weirwood-leaf red. she tries to look welcoming instead of weary, and not to look at this girl's red hands very much. her eyes are grey instead of their usual icy blue.]
It's usually nicer than this.
[sansa does not like cruel summer, and she is beginning to dislike its headmistress argona.]
I'm sorry you've had to arrive this way, but I'm glad to meet you. My name is Sansa Stark, and this is Lady.
[she looks briefly down at lady to indicate that she's not talking about the horse, but she continues to clutch the reins tightly.]
The selkies will let you borrow this sealskin for a time; it will keep you cool enough. I can take you back to their river, and we can follow it out of here. You'll have to leave the sealskin, though, or you and the selkies will suffer terribly.
[sansa has actually promised to track lost sealskins for them! she and lady do intend to let this girl or anyone else leave cruel summer with one. in the meantime, she's glad to help the new arrivals out of cruel summer, or at least to the river selkie.]
no subject
(even though she knew her death was Ally's fault, she wanted revenge because Winter had an affair with Ally's wife and she'd been such a perfect kiss-ass towards her brother ever since)
Winter is just plain red, clearly on the verge of being overwhelmed by the heat. her goth aesthetic worked fine just home, but not in this environment]
How? Texas instead of Death Valley?
[Winter couldn't help snarking. if she couldn't do that, she didn't know what she'd do]
Yeah, this was just adding all kinds of reasons to be pissed at Thirteen. I thought she said she'd help me reach my potential. I didn't realize that involved being face-first in sand. [Winter tried to laugh convincingly. if she made it clear she didn't hold a grudge, surely that would make her more trustworthy in the eyes of others.
wouldn't it?]
Sansa Stark. [nodding to the frankly gorgeous redhead who'd come to her rescue] And, Lady? [she wasn't for certain who to nod at, so she tried to keep it a general thing] I'm Winter Anderson. I'd say it's great to meet you, but I'm not sure about what makes this place great. Make Folkmore great again? [she snickered.
and her eyes widened, wide and dark] ...selkies. For real? That's a thing which is real here. Selkies.
[but it made a certain amount of sense given the whole folklore meets Disney meets and incredibly pissed off set of Grimm brothers vibe this place had]
I'm gonna take you up on that. Not just 'cause you seem nice, which you do. But because this dress [she hiked up her off the shoulder black dress to the knees] obviously wasn't cut out for this kind of weather. And of course I'll let the selkies have its own skin back. [does she sound convincing? she hopes she sounds convincing. if not, she's in way bigger trouble than her red, bloody hands could cause]
Which way do we go? 'Cause all I see is dessert, dessert, and a side of Ishtar.
no subject
besides, she reminds her of a friend.]
That's a beautiful name.
[this is sincere; sansa's hair darkens when she lies.]
Cruel Summer is the only place like this. It's meant to be for combat training. They say if you can learn to fight here, you can fight under any condition.
[it's clear from her tone that sansa doesn't think much of this.]
There are other lands, and most of them are lovely. I live in Epiphany, which is a beautiful town with woods all around it, and I go to school in Tides, which is a whole city in a bubble underwater. Willow is beautiful and very peaceful, and so is Never Fade. It's an island that floats in the sky.
[sansa likes exile and wintermute, but not everyone does.]
I can take you to the river where the Selkies live, and they can show you to Obambo Station. From there you can take the train anywhere you like.
[she smiles faintly.]
I do like your dress.
(CW: cults, bro culture)
she'd be thrilled to know that, so she could play it up]
Thanks. My parents were kind of hippies when they were young, they weren't into normal names. [which was true. her and Kai's parents were hippies in their youth. but life and drink and the basic beat-down that most Boomers got got in their way]
...damn. [Winter says, sounding genuinely impressed. mostly because she is] It's like a college town times ten, isn't it? But no frat bros or football bros to make life suck. Please tell me there aren't any frat bros or bros of any kind, I spent way too much time around them back home.
[because once Kai turned his loose gathering of wounded souls into a fully fledged cult, the whole thing was overran with bros. to the point where the teachings of Valerie Solanas and her crew made perfect sense]
I'd like that. Not just because Obambo Station sounds like a time and a half. Is it like Africa there? And anywhere I like, huh? Where do you like?
[flirting with intent counted as flirting, right?]
What, this old thing? [she asked, raising the hem of the long, black off the shoulder dress up a bit] I've had it for years.
no subject
I haven't had any trouble with the men here, like I did in my own realm. Many of them are very gallant. I don't think the Lady Fox likes the sort of people who say rude things to girls in the streets.
[she gives a tired, sympathetic smile.]
There are colleges––I study fashion at Jewelia at the university level, and my partner Ezra studies psychiatry at Kuma Lisa in Epiphany. There's a school in every land.
[sansa thinks this might be a conversation better had by the river, at least, where it's cooler, but she presses on.]
You can teach classes, too, even if you're a student of something else. Ezra teaches meditation at the Lavender Institute in Never Fade. Wintermute has Thoth, for computers and machines, Willow has Amrita, for necessary things like medicine and farming, and Exile has Baba Yaga, for bettering your magic abilities.
Obambo Station is on the way to Exile. I suppose it is a little like Egypt, because of the desert and the river, but it isn't very exciting. You can buy food there, and rent horses, but there isn't very much to do. I'm told Oozlum Station has more taverns and things.
[she clearly doesn't think much of oozlum. there are taverns to be had in places that aren't unbearably hot and don't have battle pits. she doesn't like battle pits.]
I like Exile, but not everybody does. My house was exiled in my own realm, so it's kind to me. It reminds me of the great swamp in our lands, and the river Encantado is very nice.
[her eyes shift grey, and her mouth curves to one side.]
I like every place better than Cruel Summer, but I'm a Stark of Winterfell. I've never known heat like this––and I mislike fighting.
I landed in Epiphany. I found it easy to make a life there.
no subject
alliesfriends]Phew! That's a relief. I swear to G-d, the idiot part of idiot men has been overwhelming the past few years back home! It'll be nice to get away from that. But what's the dating scene like? This Ezra guy, he's your boyfriend?
[because a steady relationship falls into the category of things normal girls want? and normal dates don't involve murder]
I guess I could go back to school...I'd taken a gap year to help Hillary campaign and [she sighs] after everything, it was hard to get the motivation to go back.
[and Kai needed her]
Magic. Magic. Literal magic? The fox wasn't bullshitting me? Holy shit, that's amazing! Like, what kind of magic can you do, show it to me.
[sounds like a request, buuuuuut...]
What about cars. Is there anywhere I could buy a car at? I'm not exactly used to hoofing it back home, everyone needs a car. [though, taverns in Oozlum? making note of that.
and she'd like battle pits. more accurately, she'd like to set up a bookie system at the fighting pits. she assumes it's possible, betting is a normal part of being human]
Yeah, Exile doesn't exactly sound welcoming. Though, your...house? How does a house get exiled? [she's taking 'house' literally] But rivers are nice. Swimming in them is even better.
[grey again. is that nice mode? hmm]
Is this where we are? Cruel Summer? If so, it's earned the name. I've never heard of Winterfell, though, is that in Alaska? But that makes two of us, I mean look at these arms! [she waves a suitably scrawny looking arm. strong enough to wield a power drill, though]
Are all of the places named after emotions or concepts? [with a little friendly laugh]
(no subject)
(CW: death, murder)
Ghost Tours
Copia emerges from where he had been watching, curious by the seemingly feral nature of one of the few living people he had encountered so far. The dark priest has fashioned his robes into a satchel, cut the arms off his long-sleeved black tunic, and is still sporting the frayed, black rocker jeans and boots. Silver claws broke through his black leather gloves, and horns continued growing on his head.
Some of the fabric from what had been a sleeve was wrapped around his arm, where he had bled himself in an attempt at creating a summoning circle and bringing in backup - but the area did not allow his ghoul summoning, just as it hadn't allowed him to banish a ghost with magic any easier than whacking at them with iron (which he hadn't tried, but witnessed fail).
His skull paint had faded and sweat off even before finding a stream to bathe in, but he had cast an illusory spell to keep it permanently on his face. Why he hadn't thought to do that years ago instead of thick face paint and makeup was beyond him.
"I am a fan of not having a melted face. Or a hole in my chest. Would you mind pointing that somewhere else?"
no subject
And Winter was certain it wasn't anywhere near Earth, astrology was a hobby of hers and none of the stars matched what she knew of.
"Of course I like having a face," she spat. "Don't tell me that the local flora and fauna can get rid of that, too!" It was more of a demand than a request, really.
Unlike Copia, Winter looked the same as she had when she'd died, only with the additon of bloody hands. 'Out, out damned spot,' and so on. Whatever, what she and Kai had been doing was supposed to shake society out of its complacity and usher in a new age. Too bad he forgot about his little sister as anything but a bargaining chip along the way. She assumed she was in the corpse room along with their mom and dad, their older brother, and Ivy.
She figured it was asking too much for Kai to drop her alongside Ivy.
Though, claws...Winter hadn't seen anything like them outside of a movie. She wondered which side that put him on.
And the skull make-up was cool. She wondered what he'd think of the good Reverend's Hell House, starring actual sinners who weren't.
Winter did her best to not snarl openly, though her success was debatable. "I'm not gonna shoot you. Just the ghosts. Assuming this fucking thing works in the first place, it's not doing shit so far!"
no subject
Their ministry basement had a portal to hell and a garden nourished by various biological resources, but as far as Copia was concerned, they were a source of light and goodness in the world. He was, technically, a leader of the family cult as well, though he hardly saw it that way. They were trying to rid the world of oppressive religions and tyrannical governments, and people thought that was evil? This quirky priest whose hobbies included retro videogames, boxing, and all things Star Wars who absolutely adored his mother? Banish such blasphemous thought - they would understand, some day.
"I have not been successful trying to kill anything here - they repel attacks and seem to resist magic, which is not normal - and watched people die trying. They are now wandering around here as ghosts as well, and I can't bring them back the way I would usually be able to. Maybe, eventually, someone will listen to reason and be willing to help look for some other way to help them or get outta here. Frankly, I am getting a little bored of this wild west-themed escape room."
As an afterthought, brushing some dusty filth off his pants, he adds, with a little bow after, for flair. "Oh, I am Copia. Papa Emeritus the Fourth. ...What do I call you, little Sister?"
(CW: incest mentioned)
And for the best.
Winter could've made the same--or at least similar--justifications for Kai and his cult at first. They were shocking a complacent society to its core and her brother would swoop in and save the day. And Winter would be at his side for the entire thing, the Hillary to his Bill. But not really into a creepy incest way, more of a behind every great man is a better woman way. Didn't turn out that way, though.
"So what the fuck are we supposed to do to them? I can't solve their problems or do whatever ghosts need for them to pass on! I could barely get a B in Advanced Calc!" Though she narrowed her eyes and for once it wasn't in a bad way. "Your world has escape rooms, too?"
Priorities.
The bow gets him back into her fully good graces so she smiled cheerfully and piped up with, "I'm Winter. Winter Anderson, formerly of Michigan. Where are you from?"
no subject
“Hello Winter, formerly of Michigan. Most recently I am from Los Angeles. I have also spent a lot of time in Italy and Sweden. It’s nice to travel, but Los Angeles is too fun to stay out of for long.” A little frown as he realizes what he is missing, stuck here, and waves away the thought. “I’ve toured through Michigan. It can be very…cold.”
Copia looks thoughtful and rubs his chin. “Fortunately, I do not think calculus will help us much here. I have noticed shiny glimmers around, which appear spectral in nature. Maybe it has something to do with the ghosts and getting out of this town. We could try collecting them?”
It may anger the ghosts, and he currently had no idea what to do with these potential spectral shards without tools to transmute them or somewhere to store them but hey, it was worth a shot and usually his area of expertise.
no subject
"Los Angeles, huh? You liked it that much to go back to it, even after being overseas? I swear, if I'd the chance to live the US for keeps, I'd never look back." After all, Kai wound up seeing her as disposable, too. That meant her loyalties were up for grabs. "And it's awful during the winter. I hated it there anyway, it was this little suburban shithole of a town." But why hadn't she gone back to college in December? Kai. And Ivy. And helping Ivy ruin Ally's life was fun.
Winter chuckled. "Pretty sure I agree with you. And being a gender studies major will help even less unless someone wants to help me smash the patriarchy." She looked thoughtful. "Gotta admit, I hadn't thought of helping ghosts? It's worth a shot, at least. Collect the little shiny things and go from there?" Winter was agreeable. Winter was an ordinary girl, that's what an ordinary girl would do. Help people.
As much as she hated it.
Arrival
To her the only sensible thing to do here was to investigate what that might be about.
The words she was greeted with left her confused enough to tilt her head to the side and repeat one of the words. "Noob?" Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment at the strange word. Why was it that the humans here seemed to have such strange ways to say almost everything? Nothing could ever be a direct or simple question.
"If you mean to ask if this is the standard manner of arrival, then yes. Though few arrive so...stained." There was a quirk of her lips as she glanced down to the blood on the woman's hands.
no subject
In any case Winter scrambled to her feet when she saw the woman...flying to greet her? Flying was a thing people could do here? So she hopped up briefly and did not recite the Peter Pan 'I think I can fly' bit at all, than you very much.
The bloody hands, though...that she hadn't bargained on. No one who was good had bloody hands. Right?
And Winter was briefly stunned into silence by Maleficent. One, hot, two? Nice horns. And three, hot. "I, uh. It's slang? For a newbie, an absolute beginner who's kinda dumb?" She laughed self-consciously.
"That's rude, you'd think if we're falling from the sky, at least we'd rate parachutes. And, it's a temporary thing! An accident!" And she tried wiping her hands on her dress yet again and it failed to permanently remove the blood yet again.
Really, she was so fucked.
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Oh well, life has always been far from easy for her. Why change that now.
"I see." Her tone and her expression do little to hide the hidden meaning behind 'I see' which is simply: that sounds rather dumb.
"Were you harmed in the fall?" She had yet to hear of someone truly being harmed from the way people arrived here. "Perhaps that's how your accident occured?" Does she believe that? No, not at all.
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Same for Winter, but that's because growing up in her family sucked except for Kai. Kai was her best friend, or at least he had been before assembling the Diet Fight Club army of bros and throwing Winter to the side, only good for cooking and cleaning for the aforementioned army.
It had made Winter want to rip his face off, as much as she still loved him and was still loyal to him.
Though that tone of voice made her want to snarl again. People didn't talk like that to her. Other than Kai.
She made a great show of looking herself over and patting herself down, spreading the blood all over her dress. Good thing she usually preferred black anyway, these hands were going to make almost everything a pain in the ass. "No, I think I'm gonna be okay. Other than the hands, hitting that sand as fast as I did probably ripped them all up. Do you know if there's a hospital here? I should have these bandaged up."
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Finally she simply shakes her head. "I have had no need to find such a place. Nor have I heard mention of one." She looks at her hands thoughtfully for a moment. "Perhaps I could fix them for you. If you would trust me to do so." There's a hint of apprehension in her voice, as though she expects her to balk at the idea of allowing her to do anything to her. It is, after all, what she is used to from the humans of her own world.
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"Oh. Seriously? That kind of sucks, what if someone breaks their arm? What are they supposed to do about it?" No, really, what kind of backwards place has she fallen into? It's still better than being dead, but she has so many questions in retrospect. Yech. "And...how? Like magic? I've heard it's real, but there's a big difference between hearing something and, you know, seeing it." She sounds more intrigued than scared. Power has always fascinated her, in whatever form it presented.
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Ghost Tours
The scream has her on her feet and quickly heading toward it before her brain quite catches up. It reminds her of her sisters screams of battle and she can hope, even if she knows better.
The older woman's white hair was too unnatural for something human, too natural for a bleach job. The mirrored rows of tiny, sharp, thornlike horns that ran along her hairline to her ear on each side of her face and the double set of fangs were new, a gift for this word but she didn't mind them. And the horns drew attention to her Nightsister marking, which she loved. She was from a galaxy with many lifeforms, and not entirely human herself, she didn't think of how the younger woman would react to her arrival; Morgan planted her feet in a sideways stance, drew her hands in a line as electric green Magick encircled her hands like a mist, then pulled out like a thread as she spread her hands in a line. The line grew thicker and Morgan threw the Magick, one part barrier between them and the attackers, one part battering pressure that slammed tnhem into the wall with enough force to shatter a rancor's bones. The shield stayed, like deeply green colored glass. The other dissipated into green smoke.
Teeth bared, face in a snarl, body posed to attack.
Winter Anderson, meet Morgan Elsbeth, Nightsister Witch of Dathomir.
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And Winter wanted it so badly for herself, she could taste it.
She was sure she was more wide-eyed and impressed looking than she wanted to be. She was cool, she was a normal college girl, she was going to be happy with a degree and a childfree life-partnership. Those girls didn't lust openly after displays of strength, they wanted an equal partner who took their needs into account.
Betas. She was supposed to settle for that, but that had been the thrill of Ivy, that she was willing to go so far to destroy Ally's life and be with Winter.
Now imagine Ivy could do magic.
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And humans could become Nightsisters, as Morgan's own heritage showed.
She turned to look at the younger woman, a sharp and victorious smirk on her face. And she recognized that look - the Empire wood have been a good place for her - "Morgan Elsbeth", was all she gave as an introduction, "come travel with me."
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But he'd been too busy with his brand new butt-buddy Ally, his army of bros, and his own importance to give a fuck about what Winter wanted anymore. She never would have thought him capable of killing her, never. But he was and he did and now she owed him nothing.
At least that's what she told herself.
Winter was smiling in full appreciation. That smirk sealed the deal, she was sticking as close as possible, as often as possible. Play the ingenue at first, she was good at that, then leave little breadcrumbs of darkness and power hunger behind. "Absolutely. Can I say that I'm really glad to meet you, Morgan? Because I am. My name's Winter Anderson. Are you new, too?"
Cw: Genocide
"I am. A pleasure to meant you Winter Anderson." Her hands resumed their normal place, clasped over one another at her back as she glanced at where the door she had charged through had been. "Do you remember where the door you entered was?"
Cw: Genocide, gross gender roles--"beta" males vs. "real" men
And she widened her eyes a bit and made a show of chewing on her lower lip contemplatively. "I think it's this way," she said, moving to the back of the building. "Like a restaurant kitchen, only there wasn't any food in it."
Cw: Genocide, gross gender roles, Nightsisters are worse
Cw: Genocide, gross gender roles, Nightsisters are worse, mental manipulation
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(CW: murder)
(CW: murder/violent dictatorship)
(CW: murder/violent dictatorship, dark web, sexism, bullying, trolling)
CW: hunting, child soilders, reverse sexism, menarche
CW: hunting, child soilders, reverse sexism, menarche, murder, cannibalization
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(CW: 'gay' used as a slur, cult)
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(CW: sex referenced)
(CW: sex referenced)/sexual slavery/sexism
(CW: sex referenced)/sexual slavery/sexism
CW: The Empire and it's slavery and mass murder
CW: The Empire and it's slavery and mass murder
CW: The Empire and it's slavery and mass murder
CW: The Empire and it's slavery and mass murder