Test Drive Meme: Feb/March 2016

[undergroundmods]

"Pulp - Common People" (Watch on YouTube)

Welcome to the Underground test drive meme! This is where you can try out the AU version of your character, start some potential CR and get a feel for the world of the game. Choose your character's species, read up on the available factions and you're ready to go. Put your character's name in your subject line when you post, tag out, and have fun!

Note to current players: Activity in this meme counts as game canon! So you can use it for activity check. If you end up playing anything that you can't or don't want to use as game canon, it's fine to ignore it. (In that case you shouldn't submit it for activity check.)

Here are some prompts to inspire you:

1) COMMON PEOPLE. What do normal Londoners do every day anyway? Sometimes you just want to blend in with everyone else. Make friends with humans. Talk about the weather. Go on, try it.

2) PENTHOUSE SUITE. But wait. Maybe you want to see how the other half live. The elite of the elite. You've been lucky enough to be asked to a meeting, or a luncheon, or a date. Find out what the most powerful people in London are really like.

3) GET OUT YOU FILTH. Supernatural prejudice is a regrettable fact of life in London. It doesn't matter what you are, there's someone out there who hates you because of it. They'll shun you, heckle you, even hunt you down and kill you. Of course, you're probably not immune to a few prejudices yourself.

4) SPEED DATING. Oh god. Why did you sign up to this. You should have known it was a bad idea when someone mentioned it was supernatural speed dating. Help.

5) THE REAL UNDERGROUND. Down in the darkest corners of the Tube, there are supernatural vagrants of all kinds, especially vampires. That friendly busker may well be a fae. That girl waiting for the next train is a ghost. Once you've seen it, you can't escape from it.

6) IN THE SUPERMARKET. On the other hand, you never know what you might find just walking around your local supermarket. You haven't forgotten how to do normal things like groceries, right?

7) A CURSED EXISTENCE. Maybe you literally are cursed. Maybe you just feel like it sometimes. There are things you can't do, weaknesses that normal humans aren't subject to, but they make everyday life in London that little bit more difficult. Try not to get too mad about it.

8) CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE. Anything goes.

Comments

[outstandingbalance]

She notices his expression, and wonders if it's because he's not really interested or not really interested in relationships. A little forward to ask that when they've just met, though.

"I haven't regretted it. It was the right time to leave."

That's also not a lie.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you, though."

[iustitiae]

"It's fine, I'm pretty sure I was the one interrupting you." This is what you get for being a paranoid jerk, Connor.

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha shrugs that off. "You can't interrupt someone who's not doing anything. Other than drinking too much coffee, all I'm doing is people watching."

Maybe actually talking to people is a good step? She's not sure that argument is convincing, but it's good enough for the moment.

[iustitiae]

The argument is definitely good enough for Connor, and he nods, holding up his own third-cup-too-many of coffee. "I sympathize."

[outstandingbalance]

She sips from her own cup to cover her skepticism at that. She really, really doubts he does. He means well though.

"So what about you?" she redirects the conversation after her drink. "What were you doing, aside from staying up all night?"

[iustitiae]

"Studying --" there's a beat, and he laughs a little, "Or pretending to study, I guess. Which ever one seems more realistic to you."

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha snorts at that, not quite laughing. "I think maybe you were ready for a break."

[iustitiae]

Connor smiles and then sighs, well, that was probably true at least. "A student's work is never over."

[outstandingbalance]

"I hear that's a thing when you study law." Not that she has much frame of reference for that, but she fakes it well. It's a good skill for a spy, or a vampire. And not as though she's lived under a rock.

"Do you like it?"

[iustitiae]

"I do," it's a lie. She'll probably be able to tell that. It's not that he doesn't like it, per se, but all the circumstances around it have gone downhill so quickly. He's scared - terrified - of his professor. That made for an unfun experience. It was stressful. He probably needed something stronger than coffee to make himself happy.

[outstandingbalance]

She can tell. And she's not sure why he does, aside from the fact that she imagines people are supposed to enjoy it. There seems to be more to it than just lying, though. If it were nothing but a platitude, she probably wouldn't have noticed, or considered it just a social convention.

What makes it stand out is the sense of anxiety. She's good at picking up on fear.

She doesn't know him well enough to pry, but it does make her curious.

"Yeah?" she says. "That's good?"

[iustitiae]

"Yeah, of course," he tries to project confidence, but at least he's always been good at faking that. "It's a challenge, and I like that a lot."

[outstandingbalance]

Her lips twitch. Nice recovery. She can appreciate a good front.

"I can appreciate that. There's something to be said for aiming for something challenging.You get a lot further that way than being comfortable not trying."

[iustitiae]

"Exactly. There's no fun in doing something you get along easy with." Of course, there was probably a happy medium where people didn't have to get murdered. Just a thought.

[outstandingbalance]

If there is, Natasha hasn't found it.

Probably not a representative sample though.

"There's not," and she actually believes that. She's not sure she could live that way at all. "Good luck with that."

[iustitiae]

"Thanks." He probably needs a lot of luck. But they've been talking about him a lot, now. And as much as he likes that, it's a little impolite of him not to reciprocate. "What about you? What do you do? Or what did you do, before you ended up here, I guess."

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha only has herself to blame for that turn of the conversation. She'd let that opening in the conversation. It was natural he'd take it. She didn't have a cover story ready, either. That was also her fault.

She was better than this.

"Will you think less of me if I said I mostly took care of family?" She shrugs one shoulder at that, like she can physically shake off the past. "Doesn't really matter. It's behind me now."