Entry tags:
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.

nero the sable } final fantasy vii remake } legend
[ losing time isn't new to nero. he doubts there's a being alive in deeepground who hasn't experienced the disorienting rush of awakening in another space, a gap in your memory a mile wide. in nero's case, there is almost always someone there to fill in the gap. some wary scrap of a scientist who is all too aware they've been deemed disposable will outline what it is he did wrong, request his compliance, and the inform him of what his next mission is to be.
that particular aspect is missing this time. there's only the sweltering, unforgiving heat to greet him in the place of the bone-chilling cold he had just grown accustomed to.
but it is of no matter. hot or cold, he's still trapped here and that simply won't do.
the selkie doesn't even notice their skin being stolen. it disappears into shadow, and nero reappears some distance away throwing it over his shoulders to save himself from the overbearing heat. hey, if you'd never experienced real sunlight for more than a few days of your life, you'd probably grab a coat too.
perhaps a good samaritan will fight him to return the coat, because even once explained - the cruelty of what he's doing doesn't seem to bother him much. ]
died last night in a dream in some old ghost town. a & b
[ the dead lingering is familiar to him. as is watching them to disclose their secrets. nero follows the first ghost he sees at a distance, not keen to interrupt their routine. he assumes it to be a memory, relived whether alive or dead. something potent enough to attach their soul to this plain but not so much that they fell into fiendhood.
he leans against the wall, watching ghost a go through the same routine of polishing his gun and staring dolefully out the window. whatever he's saying is too low to be understood, but the sable recognises the dim regret of a life poorly lived. he's not sure how long he's stood watching this particular preservered moment, only that he's caught enough loops that he's able to count the seconds between the old timer rising to his feet to close the window and the moment he drops back as if dead.
it's only when the door opens and another starchild walks through that something shifts. the ghost's head snaps up, the loaded gun pointed at them - before shifting to nero, rage in his eyes as they fall upon the stolen skin. nero doesn't waste a second, seeming to decide it was better to just outrun you than outrun the thing. in a flash the selkie skin is launched into your face and the sable is squeezing past, pausing only long enough to shove you at the entity. the ghost, as if realizing the gun to be nothing but a memory, the ghost launches himself at you.
if you can keep up, nero will help in the fight. if not, well.
guess you weren't cut out for the deepground way.
ghost b is a little less survival of the fittest. without the coat to protect him from the suffocating heat, nero seems to wilt... though the environment of the cruel summer is much to his liking. ]
Mm... the whispers are like a lullaby... [ he closes his eyes and wonders briefly if death would actually claim him here if he willed it to. unfortunately - there's a small spirit grabbing his hand. seemingly eager to aid now that the evidence of his theft has been abandoned.
the only problem is it uses the b word. the moment the spirit, amphormous and lost as it may be, calls him brother - nero stops short and yanks his tattooed arm out of it's grip. the darkness whips around his feet like the tail of an angry cat. ]
You are no brother of mine. [ he says, fury evident in every inch of his body. yet the spirit only insists upon it. ]
flames to embers.
[ again, he is ill-suited to this task. confessing is easy when one's entire life has been restricted to classified dossiers, but nero would much rather watch the world burn.
he hates it more than he'd admit. the wide, endless sky. the sprawling towns. the people acting without purpose. the strong going out of their way to protect the weak. deepground may not have been the place he would have chosen to be raised, but he cannot deny that it shaped him.
and the displays of weakness here baffle him. as though people are oh so thoroughly unaware that each and every whisper could be used to undermine and destroy them. why, his favorite thing to do is wrench confessions out of people and then force them to relive the moment they cannot let go of again, and again, and again.
the fire flickers before him, one pale hand extended to watch as it harmlessly licks the skin while destroying the forested area before him. he doesn't look at his partner, his feline gaze firmly affixed upon the flame. ]
If you wish to stop this inferno from raging further I suggest you speak your truth.
[ he wants to see it. these memories. the glimpse of a life not his own. ]
ghost tours!
[ The white fluffy creature emerges from the rocks, trotting along behind Nero -- a moderate distance between them. There's nothing admonishing about his tone. If anything, Kyubey is incredibly curious why this one would ignore the warnings. For most the cruelty of the action was enough of a deterrent. But Nero chose a different approach from most and therefore is the most interesting.
...it's not like Kyubey cares about the selkies anyway. ]
Does it provide adequate relief from the heat? It almost seems like a second skin. You'd barely be able to tell you're wearing anything at all!
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[ there isn't much that gives nero pause. talking animals is not necessarily unusual in the depths of deepground, however those 'animals' did not possess quite so clear a voice. nor did they look remotely natural. the creature that slinks out of the dark looks nothing like the once-human men who prowl about on all fours and manage only a few syllables.
it's for that reason that he opts to answer. ]
It is sufficient.
ghost b
[ The ghost of a child. Or a memory of the spirit. Vincent wasn't sure what these hauntings were playing out. But trust him to be swept up in it. More importantly, to have already caught on to the dangers inherent in disturbing the routines being played out.
He might have been present already when Nero walked in, hidden behind a partition in a seat or Vincent might have just arrived and taken that seat. Just as readily, Nero might have known of the former Turk's presence.
It's only when the darkness started to roil that there was a reaction. Vincent's eyes are closed and he doesn't even lean forward. ]
You can't force it to see the truth in front of it.
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Am I to presume next you will say you have a qualm with the destruction of this lost soul? [ he throws a glance to the ghost, who is still chattering on and on as though nero is providing the answers he seeks. ]
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Let's just call it... not wanting to deal with the consequences.
[ Is that having to bother to jump into the darkness and save the ghost? No, there's something else here. Maybe Nero has seen it in action, the dangerous beasts and monsters that will attack when the ghosts are harassed or harmed beyond a certain limit. ]
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( nero eyes the spectre. judging from that mean little glint in his eyes, being attacked or killed is a small price to pay for doing what he wants.
Still… Nero’s gaze rolls to Vincent. ]
So… You would rather damn this child to an eternity alone, so lost that he cannot recall his beloved brother’s face? Cruelty and compassion truly are two sides of the same coin for you.
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Think what you want want of me. There's probably some truth in it.
[ He could have pointed out that Nero was up in arms simply because a lost child spirit insisted on calling him brother. He does not. The man's body leans back, disappearing behind the partition once again.
But his voice drifts out once again. ]
There is a shrine in Never Fade. Some people say if you give the spoons there enough lore, it'll bring the owner back.
[ There's a point to this tale. There generally is with the man. It's probably one that's pretty obvious given the situation. ]
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Explain.
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Vincent lifts his left arm. Cruel, golden hued claw points to an object across the room. There's a table with a place setting waiting for a meal. Everything seems made of simple materials except the spoon; oddly ornate against the rest. It is not a true spoon. Somewhere on the shrine in Never Fade, there will be an identical one, in so many nigh undentifiable fragments.
He opens his eyes. ]
Spirits, just like us, have the spoons which hold lore. Like us while we're here, they must connect with others exist because of it. Otherwise they... and we, would fade away.
[ Though the child spirit can't be seen through the partition, Vincent does glance briefly in the direction it presumably wanders back into its routine. ]
I don't know the whole truth. Just that it might be possible to find that spirit's spoon and give enough lore to bring it back to living. Or whatever we do here.
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... but that feels like a waste when he could try to understand the nature of this place. memories he understands. they make a person. they are all that remain once a person ceases to be a person, merely a remnant of something that once was.
nero's wings flex slightly against his back, his gaze also shifting to the direction of the child. ]
And where would such a utensil be?
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[ Vincent is looking directly at Nero when he says that. There is the matter of being trapped in the maze after all. But aside from that, the gunman likely has little or no intention to leave the Sable to explore this option completely on his own.
Well, to the extent that he could. It would not be hard at all to dig out the information from someone else and the shrine itself, in the underground of the floating isle of Never Fade, was easily enough found.
Sadly the living spirits were quite helpful to most any Star Child and that would especially include a Legend-marked Nero. ]
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[ the look nero throws the older man falls somewhere between intrigue and annoyance. his babysitter is selective in his attention, and while nero would prefer to run amok, a guide doesn't hurt.
it's just a hindrance if he wants to have fun in a way vincent's surprisingly tender heart will not allow. ]
Do you have a plan to escape?
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At the very least, he has a moral compass that almost all Tsviets lacked.
A plan though. Vincent tilts his head to one side in thought. ]
I was sitting here deciding my next move.
[ There are four notable exits to the room in question. Any amount of time in the maze of the ghost town would have revealed that once he made a choice, he had to stick by it. There was no coming back the same way. ]
Thought I'd see I'd see what happens if someone else were to pass by and I tried to follow them.
[ Would the exit be closed off to following? Would he appear in the room with that individual? It was a relevant question, particularly if someone had the ability to find the quickest route to the exit. ]
Was also thinking of sniffing my way out. [ As that aggressive beast? Probably not at the time, but he's hardly going to use one of his frail Familiar forms in Nero's presence and reveal a weakness. ] What about you?
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Flames to embers.
[Nero's voice and appearance is completely unfamiliar to him, so it's a safe thing to admit, right? And in a place like this, what's one more misplaced teenager?
But there's no trace of a lie in his voice, only something like ... disappointment, though his expression remains utterly neutral. No images appear in the fire, images couldn't be put to this kind of confession, but the flames lean anyway, eager to hear.]
Some of it I do; I live there. But most of it is filled with petty, cruel, greedy people who deserve everything they get. [Some of the wildfire smolders to embers instead of strong, hungry flames.] I refuse to be the engine of their destruction, especially at someone else's command.
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what is odd is that the boy before him is not immediately familiar. the shape of his eyes, the cut of his pupil - those are familiar, but he's never seen the latter on another's face.
save for perhaps the template from which they were all carved. nero tilts his head to the side. ]
Why not let the planet be, and cleanse it of their greed and rot?
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Or let it burn.
Nero is studied for a moment before he continues.]
For the parts I do care about. Not everyone deserves it. Just.. most. There's no way to erase the bulk and leave the right ones untouched.
[Weakness, and he knows it. Attachments were a swift route to problems! Nero isn't at least horrified by any of it, which .. well that was relieving, most people would argue the other way instead.
With a thousand worlds out there, that they share one eludes him. Sephiroth himself is obviously a stranger, the man everyone seemed to adulate is .. well, was, an adult and he's maybe thirteen or fourteen.]
And it's still going. [The fire burns on, diminished but whole. It's ..really annoying; his control over voice and expression is good but it creeps in anyway.] you'd think the threat would scale to participation, not everyone has many profound secrets to confess to.
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[ nero's gaze drops to the fire, considering it for a moment. as content as he is to let it burn, it is an undeniable hindrance in getting anything done. he holds his hand dangerously close to the blaze. ]
Unlike you, I content myself with the image of the bodies of those finally granted a well-deserved death piled in towers, burning and blotting out that infinite sky. [ the fire flickers for a moment, hazy and ephemeral. a laboratory. an infinite hallway. a long elevator ride. a simulated sky. the swish of a labcoat. the way a blonde mustache curls at the edges. ] What becomes of the rest hardly matters.
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[Labs and lab coats, indistinct but familiar anyway, they seemed to be a near universal torment. Are those the places and people Nero would happily let die?]
I'm not sure there's enough doctors and scientists to make a tower of bodies but it might be fun to try. There must be someone or something that matters, though.
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[ but deepground's, y'know, not the best smelling place on the planet at the best of times so maybe don't listen to nero. at the statement though the image flickers, all the chaos replaced with a steady image of the one person in the world he thinks is worth anything at all.
the memory isn't really anything special. or doesn't look it. the sky behind the man looks oddly... stagnant. the light almost florescent, making the grey haired man look washed out. then again, it might be the fact that he's wearing all white - and seems to lack the common sense to throw on a shirt in a battlefield. ]
... My brother is all that matters. [ his gaze lifts from the fire to the boy. ] And we shall soak the land with the blood of those who have wronged us. They do not matter.
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[His tastes in burning flesh skew very much towards a light char on a delicious steak, which is a more or less recent discovery but that was nothing at all like setting someone on fire.
He's done both of late, rather excessively.
From what little detail the fire provides, Nero and his brother don't look alike, and for a moment it stumps him. It takes a little for him to recall that normal people can and do form family bonds outside of blood relation, and that pointing out the differences would be rude.
But that fellow is obviously much bigger. Paler. .. More shirtless.]
It's good there's someone, then. Your brother. [Is.. is he supposed to say killing everyone was wrong, when half the people he knew said otherwise? His brow furrows, watching the fire instead of Nero. Maybe it was different when it was family. The twinge of jealousy is easily suppressed; having kin wasn't something he'd get to enjoy.] I ... think that's what you're supposed to do.
[This conclusion is slow; he's not sure.]
Get revenge for terrible things done to you. A lot of people do it, and it's always a good thing when they talk about it. Maybe it's not happening enough and that's why things are getting out of control. No accountability. No worries about being beheaded if you experiment on people. Is he here, or are you alone?
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nero's brows pinch together ever so slightly. he's been doing everything in his power to ignore that part of it. the alone part. it isn't as though they have never been separated before, but this is the first time they've gone so long without even a supervised visit. ]
He is not here. I imagine he will do his fair share of beheading as it is unlikely they are able to explain my absence...
[ and weiss will assume the worst, as nero himself would do. truthfully, that brief glimpse other's pale hair had him hopeful. if they were together then there was no need to try to return home. ]
What of you? Are you alone?
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[If there's one thing he can offer.. it's absolute certainty about that. He sounds so utterly sure of it too, as if it's established fact and not conjecture from some kid.]
The Fox showed you a copy being left behind, right? Well that's pretty much meaningless as time stops while we're here. Completely. Should you return, it will be as if you never left. I haven't .. yet determined if it's because our worlds are stopped, or if this one merely operates much, MUCH faster..
[Beheadings may not happen at least on incentive of Nero being missing! They may happen by virtue of Weiss being Weiss.
What a strange thought in turn, the idea of not being alone.]
Always have been. It's not bad. ..Well you might have to get used to it, but there's nobody to tell you what to do. Or what not to do.
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nero's gaze turns a shade more calculating. that... is actually more promising than anticipated. weiss would know a copy from the real thing, surely, but... if time has merely ground to a halt then that gives him an advantage.
he opens his mouth to reply and then the boy says that and - that doesn't sit right with him. without his brother, nero would have no reason to rebel against the circumstances of his birth. without weiss.... there would be no point to aspiring to be anything more than an experiment. a weapon. a monster mindlessly obeying commands.
(though weiss is 90 percent of the reason he obeys commands at all, he's the only thing they can leash him with)
his head cocks to one side. ]
... if you are alone, then there is no one telling you that you need not follow orders. No one to remind you that you are stronger.
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The fire, partly ignored, works on rebuilding itself. That earns a frown, he's going to have to come up with something to appease it with. Nero didn't seem the type to much care, and .. sooner or later this fire would find innocent spirits.]
Is that important to you? Do you need someone telling you you're stronger?
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/sneaks a tag hours after should be sleeping
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