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folkmore mod ([personal profile] folkie) wrote in [community profile] folkmeme2024-08-13 07:55 am
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August-September 2024 Test Drive Meme

August-September 2024 TDM
Introduction

[ TDM QuestionsJump to CommentsFull Navigation ]

This Test Drive meme is open to all.

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 a canon item from home, 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.

Current players are always encouraged to tag new people on the TDM!



🦊 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.

[ Prompt OnePrompt Two]

Scavengers Survive .
Content Warnings: Potential Wilderness Survival, Potential Death

New Star Children arrive in Amrita Academy, the largest school in Folkmore. They might arrive in the medical wing, or they could arrive in areas of the school that don't look like a school at all: forests with animals to hunt or gather, including for their medicinal properties; rocky crags with climbing routes; fields full of growing grains; meadows with sheep covered in soft wool; lakes and rivers with unusual denizens. It's like a miniature of Folkmore all in one school.

A fox with a clipped ear and a few scars greets each Star Child upon arrival. She explains that while things can be summoned with Lore, the best survivors learn to scavenge and to find what they need. New Star Children haven't earned much Lore yet, so that surely applies to them double. In fact, as befits a survival school, there are items that will help Star Children survive hidden all around and immediately outside the school. Star Children are directed to make a list on their Relic of everything they think they need to survive. Once made, the list cannot be changed. They will be more likely to find those items than others (though it will not be impossible).

Race, jog, or stroll around the expansive school in search of these items: clothes, bags, first aid kits, tents, survival supplies, etc. They might be harder to find than expected as they will be miniature and in little cubes aka survival squares (a misnomer). These cubes may be tucked away above, below, beside, or inside something. They also may float against a rock face or in the air among tree branches. The most likely locations are those densest in Lore. The longer Star Children explore, the more they will realize that these cubes are best and most easily obtained by working together. In fact, they will try to dodge and avoid the grip of a Star Child more than ten feet away from any other Star Child. Perhaps that's because two Star Children interacting are creating Lore and a Lore dense location? Once two Star Children touch the cube at the same time, the cube will disappear, and the item inside will grow to full size. Congratulations on being one step closer to survival. Remember to share.

Come mid-September, few cubes will remain inside the school. Star Children will have to check the perimeter of the school to find more survival squares. That task grows exponentially harder as the cubes are in the molasses-thick moat of concentrated Lore surrounding the school. Should anyone dip their spoon in the moat, in the Lorasses if you will, they will find that it tastes sweet, a rich spicy sweetness. Amazing! Less amazing? It is impossible to get past the moat of Lorasses. No matter how strong a swimmer or oarsman, it is impossible to make headway through or atop the Lorasses. Anyone attempting to fly across the moat will find themselves slapped by a giant sticky slappy hand rising like a goliath from the depths with perfect aim. Star Children can find themselves slapped anywhere from the shore to the center of the school. Star Children are free to get creative with ways to dig the survival squares out of the Lorasses, but beware! They'll have difficulty freeing themselves on their own from the sticky substance, should they fall in.

Since Star Children are likely to find themselves in sticky situations quite literally, they may be pleased to know that Amrita Academy has showers available for use. Unfortunately, due to one student's experiment, the shampoo is all made of beer. That's right, beer. It's good for one's hair! Or so the study should demonstrate. Be sure to fill out a feedback card outside the locker rooms.

  • All new Star Children arrive in Amrita Academy.
  • Star Children are greeted by a fox who prompts them to write a list of what they need to survive. These lists cannot be changed once made.
  • Star Children search for tiny cubes with survival supplies, especially ones on their lists.
  • Star Children must work together to catch & open the cubes.
  • Come mid-September, Amrita Academy is surrounded by a Lore-rich molasses moat—Lorasses. Thou shalt not pass.
  • Once the moat arrives, most cubes are in the moat. Shower to get clean afterward with beer for shampoo.
This is Our Get Along Shirt .
Content Warnings: Forced Close Contact, Coerced Behavior

It can be stressful to arrive in a new place among strangers and strange things. It can be even more stressful, sometimes, to be among people one knows. The fact remains that in Folkmore, no one is an island. The Shattered Spoon Shrine is a testament to that. Interact or perish. Those interactions usually don't even have to be positive. An emotionally charged argument generates Lore same as a touching reunion. However, Amrita's iteration has taken charge of Folkmore this month. She values cooperation and connection.

What does this mean for Star Children? It's time to get along.

When Star Children fight—physically, vocally, emotionally—they get stuck together in a magical t-shirt. This plain white t-shirt has 'This is our get along shirt' written on it on both sides, one in each Star Child's handwriting. (If a Star Child does not have handwriting, Thirteen will invent a handwriting she feels best represents them). The shirt works exactly as written on the tin. Until the two Star Children can get along, they will be stuck together in the shirt. Getting along can look a few different ways. It could be working through the reason they were fighting. It could be cooperating to accomplish something else. It could be helping someone else together. It could be large or small. Somehow, Star Children will have to get along to accomplish something.

The shirt will disappear, leaving them standing next to each other, only to reappear duplicated in each of their hands, perfectly sized to fit each individual. Should they so choose, either can be used for a repeat performance, with both of them trapped inside again. While the same condition will apply—they must get along to get out of the shirt—the shirt will now make it easier for them to work it out. Note: only the two people who originally wore the shirt can put it back on. No one else can wear these shirts.

One time only, a Star Child's cooperative escape will have an additional prize: their souvenir t-shirt will be wrapped around an item from either their home universe or their partner's. That's right, getting along can get a Star Child something from another universe.

  • When Star Children get in a fight of any kind, not just physical, they get stuck together in a magical t-shirt.
  • The shirt says “This is our get along shirt” front and back in characters’ own handwriting (or imagined handwriting).
  • As written on the tin, Star Children are stuck until they figure out how to get along
  • When they separate, both partners will get a copy of the t-shirt that fits them. They can choose to get back into said t-shirt together to figure out how to get along easier in the future.
  • One time only, Star Children receive an item from their home universe or their partner’s.
fuzhuan: (pic#17215991)

jc's in a mood and it's a day that ends in-y

[personal profile] fuzhuan 2024-08-19 10:53 am (UTC)(link)
A good teacher.. could it be Nie Mingjue? Wei Wuxian pauses, a look of confliction mirroring Huaisang's own contorting his features. Has his elder brother already passed by now? Is he aware of how? Has he passed at all? The three of them present bear physical differences... could there be other differences too?

With a swift shake of his head those thoughts are dispelled, or at least subdued for now. First comes instruction on the Relics and avoiding stirring up trouble with Jiang Cheng, heavier topics such as murder and alternate worlds can be dealt with later!

"I don't know if it will give you people to fight or cook for you, but that isn't to say you can't find such people here! You ran into me, didn't you?" Quite literally, almost. "And I can cook! More than that, the markets here have all sorts of foods and spices that you've probably never even heard of before!"

"Aha!" A wide smile settles on his face as he reaches out to tap on Huaisang's Relic with a finger. "Add rice to your list! If we find some, I'll make us some of my special ghost rice!" Nod nod. Perfect. Stunning. A meal for champions.
reloves: (♥ will also turn into flowers someday)

[personal profile] reloves 2024-08-19 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"Mamoru-san."

If the man looks up after hearing those words, he'll find the familiar shape of Minako standing there, not even too far away from where he just pushed himself off the tree. There's definitely a lot of thoughts going on in her mind upon seeing him, but the blonde just smiles at Mamoru. Sweetly.

.. a little too sweetly, in fact.

That impression will absolutely be confirmed the moment she speaks up, asking: "So.. did Makoto already kick your butt?"

You know, just asking! Minako is pretty sure her friend would be picking up that duty - whether physical or verbal - for arriving here so much later after Usagi, but hey, if Makoto didn't yet, Minako can pick up the slack.
soft_shelled: (306)

[personal profile] soft_shelled 2024-08-19 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ah yes, a lab. If he had his way he'd be in one right now, but he doesn't so. Yeah. But also he knows himself, as he crosses his arms over his plastron, he likes to think and well...]

That might be so, but if I'm here for a while, it'd probably be best to get it over with quickly. Us meeting.

[Get the Donnie pissing contest over with quickly so he can focus on better, more important, things.]
fortheimagination: (a stranger's light comes on slowly)

sorry for the delay, impulsively went to a con this weekend!

[personal profile] fortheimagination 2024-08-19 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Anne can't really help it. Ever since arriving in Avonlea, she's felt far more free to be herself, not like with that awful orphanage she was trapped in for longer than she cares to think about it. No one there was interested in what she had to say, if anything she was mocked for it, but she didn't know what else to do. She'd had to comfort herself somehow.

"Really? I've never heard of such a thing and even in my wildest imaginations I'm sure I couldn't come up with them. Unless it was for a gothic story with a tormented Byronic hero whose heart had to be melted by a plucky yet determined heroine. I think that would make for a very good story.

That's troublesome, not being told what we have to do to find out. Wouldn't be easier to simply tell us so that we know what our goal should be?"
fortheimagination: (and close my eyes)

sorry for the delay, impulsively went to a con this weekend!

[personal profile] fortheimagination 2024-08-19 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
It's absolutely time for new arrivals and unlike many, this young lady is gazing around with an absolutely enraptured look on her face. Everything is stunningly beautiful and she can't believe her good fortune at being invited to such a place.

Granted, she's yet to hear about trials, only that here she can reach her full potential, an absolutely irresistible hook to snag an Anne Shirley with.

And Anne is positively thrilled, she can't wait to meet everyone and make new friends and hope that Gilbert and Diana follow quickly behind her.

"Used to have wings, but no longer? Oh, that's positively tragical! I think my heart would break if such a thing happened to me, I've always wanted wings like a bird, but wings like a dragonfly will do since they're so shiny. Though, I'm not sure if they'd carry my weight should I wish to fly, I know I'm a dreadfully skinny thing, but the wings seem so delicate! But...how did you lose your wings? Was it scary? Painful?"
neverdisappointed: (pic#17344884)

[personal profile] neverdisappointed 2024-08-19 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
When Peter hesitates, MJ finds herself holding her breath somewhat, afraid that he's going to drop some kind of crazy bombshell. Instead, while what he says definitely sounds like a different flavor of trauma, it's not nearly as bad as anything she could have imagined so far. Her ploy of constantly imagining the worst possible outcome so she ends up pleasantly surprised when things are slightly less terrible continues to serve her well.

"So... as Strange would say, you were literally Scooby-Doo-ing shit," she brings up dryly. "At the behest of a controlling government entity or in spite of them? Either way, you look like you came out of that okay."

Of course, looks can be deceiving, and Peter might be hiding some scars that she just can't see, be they physical or otherwise. That's why she tilts her head as she peers up at him in that discerning way that she has, trying to make sure he isn't needlessly hiding something from her.

"Did you?"
donetodeath: (Adagio Hammerklavier)

sorry for the delay, impulsively went to a con this weekend!

[personal profile] donetodeath 2024-08-19 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Nina was terrified and upset. She'd never imagined that her wings as arms could mean something so horrible as turning into an actual black swan. It seemed like a cruel joke being played on her and she was absolutely bereft.

But that feeling gave way to shock as she saw someone with her own face staring back at her. How was it possible? She'd always been an only child as far as she knew, but mommy had always told her to throw a dart at a map of the United States and there her blood father might be.

She'd heard of cloning, of course, but never thought it would be real.

So Nina lowered herself in what she hoped was a non-threatening gesture and honked despondently. Could a swan look pathetic? Because she certainly did.
fortheimagination: (afraid of the dark that surrounds me)

sorry for the delay, impulsively went to a con this weekend!

[personal profile] fortheimagination 2024-08-19 02:56 pm (UTC)(link)
It's nearly impossible to not hear Anne from at least one hundred meters away. She'd been blessed with both the ability to talk about almost everything and to see no one as a stranger.

She smiles when she sees the newcomer and her smile widen further when she sees the fish. Anne had always seen the outdoors as something to wander through and appreciate, not as something which needed to be survived so that when she was asked what she'd need, she'd thought she'd done a good enough job of it. Though, it turns out she'd been wrong and she was very glad to have stumbled upon this campsite.

"What kinds of fish are those? Rainbow trout? I hope so, that's my absolute favorite kind of fish. Also, it's very nice to meet you, sir, my name is Anne Shirley Cuthbert. May I ask what is your name please?"
neonleon: art by <user name="sixofclovers" site="tumblr.com"> (human - profile smirk)

[personal profile] neonleon 2024-08-19 02:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Caught. Leo starts fidgeting with a button on his jacket, trying to sound far more calm than he feels. He hates not knowing all the facts, he can't make plans like this. How is he supposed to schmooze if he doesn't know what makes this person tick because he doesn't know for sure who she is?

"Nervous? Please, I'm cool. I'm so chill, I'm ice cold." Even if his fingers fidgeting looks more and more nervous the longer she scrutinizes him. "Seriously, noooooothing to worry about, not a thing at all."
donetodeath: (Adam Zero)

sorry for the delay, impulsively went to a con this weekend!

[personal profile] donetodeath 2024-08-19 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[pretty nervous would be putting it mildly. she felt as though she had both a rock and butterflies in her stomach and she was desperately wondering what she'd gotten herself into. if maybe all of this was some strange dream she couldn't wake up from.

the smile helps, though. she'd been so used to unkindness ever since she got the role of the Swan Queen that kindness was like finding an oasis in the desert]


All of that? I--I've never been outside New York before and I've never had to do anything like this. Is there, I mean if you don't mind could we go looking for things together? [her deep brown eyes were wide with hope]
sweetoncebitter: (you're the curses through my teeth)

sorry for the delay, impulsively went to a con this weekend!

[personal profile] sweetoncebitter 2024-08-19 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Alicent looked troubled. "I don't doubt you, but. I cannot imagine Rhaenyra taking such news well. Nor can I imagine it doing anything but split the realm into factions, leading into the war you mentioned. And. No, it hasn't. I wonder what made my lord husband change his mind?"

Her own children were largely ignored by their father and Rhaenyra was clearly his favorite. Was it the lie Rhaenyra had told about keeping her virtue, that she'd been discovered in her lie later on? It would be poor form to cuckold Laenor even before they were wed.

"I'm--the fox doesn't care about that. I have heard that when we leave, time sort of pauses so that when we go back home, it will be as though we never left. But tell me of Aegon and Helaena, are they well? All of this must have been a terrible shock to them as well."
Edited 2024-08-19 15:16 (UTC)
thisislife: (and I won't get out)

it's got its ups and downs (seriously it needs a writer's room, stat)

[personal profile] thisislife 2024-08-19 03:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Lexi's been in situations like this enough to know that if you don't want to start anything, you make as much noise as possible to ensure that the other person doesn't think you're a threat. And she was anything but a threat at this moment, overjoyed to see who she thinks is Rue.

Though, Rue usually wouldn't do that. Hold her at a distance. Or more accurately, she would but she'd use her words instead of actions. She'd been at the receiving end of Rue's sharp words more times than she cared to think about. She'd mostly gotten over it (and her crush) while in Trench, but she couldn't deny that a little bit was still hopeful.

Only to have that hope crushed by the other girl's words. Lexi tried to laugh it off and look casual, though it was debatable how good she was at it. "Uh. Yeah. Rue's a person and she's my best friend back home. You...obviously aren't her and I should've known better to assume, but the two of you could be twins. It's a little weird? If that makes sense?"
donetodeath: (Acadian Songs and Dances)

Scavengers Survive - Sticky sweet

[personal profile] donetodeath 2024-08-19 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Nina's eyes were wide as she saw the young girl eating...something she'd been certain wasn't to be eaten. It all reminded her of Alice in Wonderland, only this would have a 'don't eat me' label attached.

At the request for vanilla ice cream, she hemmed and hawed for a long moment before saying "I'm sorry. I didn't request ice cream. But I could help you look for some if--if that's fine with you?"
auderes: (pic#17340903)

[personal profile] auderes 2024-08-19 04:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"Fishing for cubes."

Dick chuckles a bit as he says it, because yeah, it would have to look kind of ridiculous from her perspective, but hey, when necessary supplies are held hostage by a molasses moat, what else can he do? Granted it's a very difficult solo project, though just the fact that she's wandered over to ask about it is enough to give him a much better shot at corralling one of them. He can't even tell what's inside it because of the sticky mess, but he'll pull it up regardless. They're usually useful things, with a few odd items scattered in that he can only assume were important to someone here.

As he stands, newly acquired cube in hand, he is trying to skim off some of the excess goop from his arms, now sticky up to his elbows, but there's only so much he's going to accomplish without some hot water at the very least.

"See?" He holds it up for her to inspect. "This is how we're supposed to get the items off of our lists. Two people have to touch it at the same time to active it."
demonicbeauty: (Interested)

No worries!

[personal profile] demonicbeauty 2024-08-19 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
That swan did look pathetic. And while Ariadne was more fond of plants than animals, she had a certain weakness for birds. Maybe because she resembled one so much. Maybe because she knew what it felt like to fly. And to have broken wings.

"Are you all right?" she asked, somewhat pointlessly, since she was pretty sure that swans couldn't talk.

Then again...this was Folkmore.

Cautiously, she moved closer again, still keeping her hands up defensively. She took a quick sniff of the air and immediately picked up on ozone. There was magic present. Not surprising, but it might explain a few things. "Do...do you understand what I'm saying? Honk once if you do."
apuckalypse: (49)

[personal profile] apuckalypse 2024-08-19 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Pr...obably, yeah.

[He's not sure if this is one of those "someone should be here to supervise" or "I want to be as far from this as possible" situations, but. Hm.]

I can try to call him here.

[He probably won't answer! So... it'll be fine either way!]
spideyguy: (115)

[personal profile] spideyguy 2024-08-19 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Peter hated this time of the month, when shooting stars rained down and more poor people were sucked into this weird liminal space the fox lady was responsible for. So far, there was no way to stop it, no way to get home - no way to do anything but continue existing, continue trying to find a way out. He was becoming more and more concerned that there was no way out, and he...didn't know what he'd do if that were true.

Regardless, he'd held in his sigh and suited up when he saw the first glimpses of light on the horizon, cascading down somewhere over Willow and the Academy. Peter hadn't spent much time over there, beyond passing through for his patrols; he split most of his time between Epiphany and Wintermute, bouncing between Kuma Lisa and the School of Thoth for his homegrown Graduate program.

Peter's in full Spiderman regalia at the moment, traipsing through the woods - occasionally flitting up to a tree with his webbing, but wanting to save it in case he needs it. He has a vague suspicion the Fox (foxes) aren't going to let them all leave Willow as easily as they were lured/frog-marched into it. He'd put webbing supplies on his list, but as for the efficacy of that - well, it remained to be seen.

There's rustling up ahead, piquing Peter's hearing, and he pushes through the brush to see - a girl. Up in a tree, probably higher than she should be in tennis shoes, reaching for one of the tiny supply boxes just out of reach. It's a simple matter for him to leap, kicking off another tree to get up to the height he needs - settling one arm behind her upper back as a safety net, his foot sticking to the tree to brace himself.

"Need an assist?" Peter snatches the box - well, it tries to dodge, but he smacks it into the girl's reaching hand, and between the two of them it manages to subdue, dropping an item into her palm.
auderes: (pic#17357281)

[personal profile] auderes 2024-08-19 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Some people, at least fellow new Star Children, might find the wings to be a weird addition. Dick seems to be taking it in stride, he's actually met a few people who had them so this isn't completely out of the ordinary. The halo is different though, but considering what else he's seen here so far? It's more or less expected. He hasn't noticed any changes of his own just yet, but he's heard that these things can manifest at any point.

"Maybe it's supposed to motivate you into learning." He squints back up at the cube, dangling innocent far above their heads, glinting a bit in the sunlight. "It would be tricky to get to it without having your wings all tangled up in the branches anyway."

Whatever happens to be in it definitely wouldn't be worth potentially breaking himself in an attempt to retrieve the cube, but they don't have to risk that.

"I don't know if I'll be able to catch it all the way up there by myself but at least I can knock it down some."

He's already dusting off his hands on his jeans and heading over to the lowest branch that looks like it won't immediately collapse under his weight.
supersmashbro: (the audacity....)

[personal profile] supersmashbro 2024-08-19 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hm. Another day, another thing to deal with. Really takes the fun out of that dirt clod.

This is probably just another glamour thing, right? A Trial? Or maybe Donnie was doing something that could have killed him and decided it would be cool to not tell anyone about the risk he was taking, again. Something. ]


Well can you go back to normal or what? What's the prognosis? [ Is there one???? He guesses that's not a fair question. How would Donnie even know if he's in the middle of being enchanted or whatever?

So Raph sort of just. Sighs, in biggest-brother put upon fashion. This is fine. It's fine. There's way worse things that could be happening. ]
Y'know what, don't answer that. I don't got brain space for timeline stuff right now.
donetodeath: (Adams Violin Concerto)

❤️ (CW: paranoid delusions)

[personal profile] donetodeath 2024-08-19 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Nina certainly felt pathetic. None of this was like anything she'd been told it would be. She supposed that on some level, she was relieved to have the feathered wing arms that she had, that not everything she'd felt and experienced had been a dream. But she wondered. Why didn't Tomas mention her transformation?

But he'd called her his little princess. A name she'd desperately wanted, even though it had been Beth's. Like her tube of lipstick, little bottle of Chanel no 5, her diamond earrings, and...her nail file had been. And Nina took them all. She tried to give them back, but it was too late for Beth. And likely too late for herself.

At the question, Nina shook her head no and released a little, sad honk.

She settled onto the ground as the girl with her face approached. Maybe this was fitting, since she'd seen Lily and Lily as herself everywhere. But she didn't feel like she was seeing things, not this time.

Nina perked up and honked once as requested. She really had no idea how to be herself again.
3wingedangel: (Default)

Oh fun!

[personal profile] 3wingedangel 2024-08-19 08:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hm. I've heard of such stories," Sephiroth says. They certainly weren't what he tended to read; that would be more along the lines of his world's version of War and Peace. But people in Hollow Bastion had talked of books like Anne's describing. He remembers Aerith talking to Tifa about some.

He smirks a bit. "Easier, perhaps, but the Fox probably feels that it's more valuable for us to work for the answers instead of having them handed to us. We may learn more this way."
3wingedangel: (Default)

Re: Okay!

[personal profile] 3wingedangel 2024-08-19 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's unusual, but it can happen," Sephiroth said. "I know someone else with a wing as well."

He ponders this. "But you don't in your realm?" Interesting.
miniroth: (pic#17183588)

Arrival

[personal profile] miniroth 2024-08-19 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
As Sephiroth walks around the Academy, he's watched by ... Sephiroth.

He'd come to Amrita to brush up on some skills in surviving in a jungle, as Wutai seemed to be in his near future and who knows how that might go. New Star Children were arriving right on time, and at least weren't being dropped in the desert this month. But one of them is .. familiar.

Not perfectly. He knows what he's spent the last month looking like, and that man isn't quite right. But it's close enough that the teenager's been following at a distance, watching and waiting, sticking to the trees that easily hide him from sight. There's no sense of 'self', no tug of Jenova's cells that tells him he's dealing with one of his own kind .. or himself.

It's not Cloud that drops to the ground before the man eventually, but a boy of perhaps fourteen years old, small for his age, with only two wings instead of three, barred black and white in juvenile stripes and as silent as the owl's wings they resemble.

Unlike the elder, he's armed, though with a normal-seeming katana and not the intimidating blade that was Masamune. Not a word is said.

The older man's eyes are blue. Blue, with round pupils.
sayhitobianca: (eyebrow raise idiot_icons)

Varric Tethras | Dragon Age | Familiar

[personal profile] sayhitobianca 2024-08-19 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
A: Scavengers Survive - Preparation

Honestly? Varric isn't a hundred percent convinced this isn't some strange new trick from Corypheus or one of his followers.

He's never dreamed before, but, well. He'd also never done shit like getting mixed up with mages and templars and qunari and darkspawn and dragons and walking in the Fade itself before he started hanging around with Hawke or the Inquisitor, so it wouldn't surprise him if this was just one more thing to add on the pile.

It's easier to blame things on his tendency to make friends with people who have the makings of myths and legends than it is to fully confront the fact that he's reasonably certain that there's so many things back home that are at least partially his fault, so yeah, he's going with that.

Still, it's not like Varric doesn't have experience making a list like this. Between planning an expedition to the Deep Roads, running all over Kirkwall with Hawke, traipsing all over Andraste blasted Thedas with the Inquisitor, and a not insignificant amount of research that was purely for a section of one of his books that he didn't actually end up using - this is something far more familiar than chasing foxes and mysterious new realms.

Which means he's got papers spread all around him, filled with notes, as he works on finalizing the list on his Relic and cheerfully ignores any kind of self reflection that would serve as a reminder that chasing foxes and going to mysterious new realms actually does sound like his life as of late.



B: Scavengers Survive - Now What?

All right.

List in hand - or, well, multiple lists, and not so much in hand as saved in the weird tool he'd been given on arrival here, which he is steadfastly refusing to check as often as he's tempted to in order to make sure that what he'd compiled is still there - Varric has set out to go hunting.

It feels strange, being alone. It feels like he should be turning to someone else in the party to share a joke, or make some kind of commentary on the wilderness, and he'd curse himself for being such a soft hearted sap if he was willing to actually admit that to more than one or two people.

He's standing below a tree, now, staring up at a cube floating in its branches - way too high up even if he wasn't a dwarf - with a distinctly unimpressed look.

"....you've got to be shitting me."


Wildcard

[ Or throw anything else my way! Happy to roll with get along shirt prompts or just about anything. ]
fortheimagination: ([mumbles almost indecipherably])

It was! I still can't believe I got to meet MARK HAMILL. ❤️

[personal profile] fortheimagination 2024-08-19 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"Really? What do you think of them? I think they're lovely, we used to write those kinds of stories in the story club I belonged to. Diana, my best friend, always had too many murders in hers because she'd invent too many characters and then not know what to do with them and Ruby's were all about boys and flirting with boys. Flirting is fine for some, but a story has to have more meat on its bones than just that," she stated decisively.

Granted, finally being 'official' with Gilbert made her rethink flirting, but she'd never flirted with him and he seemed, well, positively enraptured by her! It was all rather thrilling.

And Anne nodded, looking thoughtful. "You're likely right. I can't imagine achieving one's potential is an easy task, even if we were pointed in the right direction. Besides, what one may consider a pleasing fate may be anything but pleasing for someone else!" She brightened again. "It will be like solving a puzzle or a mystery! Don't you think it might be more like that?"