thetube | Test Drive Meme: April/May 2016

"The Jam - Going Underground" (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 and canon 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) GOING UNDERGROUND. For some people, London is an escape. A place to be anonymous. A place to be themselves. Or a place to hide. Steeped in ancient magic, it attracts supernatural types from all over the world. Of course, that doesn't mean its inhabitants are always friendly to newcomers.

2) CHOOSE YOUR LEADERS. The Night Council election campaign is in full swing and on 5th May the supernatural community votes for its leaders. Visit any supernatural haunt and you'll find people arguing about who to vote for – not to mention the volunteers handing out badges and flyers in an effort to win your support. Try to keep it civil, folks.

3) THE PUBLIC WANTS WHAT THE PUBLIC GETS. (29th April) The Night Council candidates gather in a town hall in Westminster to explain why the supernatural community should vote for them. Traditionally a noisy and raucous event, it's your last opportunity to ~~heckle~~ question the candidates before the election. There are four separate Q&As: first up are the candidates for Shapeshifter/Meta Human representative; then candidates for Witch Representative; then Vice President; then finally the candidates for President will take to the stage. They each make a short speech and then take questions from the audience. Or if you want, you could just turn up for a free meal: in the room next door there's a sandwich buffet plus tea, coffee and fruit juice, so it's a good opportunity to mingle.

4) FIRE FESTIVAL. (1st May) The fire festival of Beltane is a time of celebration for witches, marking the beginning of summer. Come along to the bonfire for music, food and drink, flower crowns and fertility rituals.

5) SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES. (1st May) Beltane is also a time when the barrier between the human world and the Other Realm is at its thinnest, making it easy to pass from one realm to the other by chance. You might even have an encounter with the mysterious and mischievous fae.

6) WHAT'S DONE CANNOT BE UNDONE. You've gone too far, done something you know you'll regret. Maybe you ran away, broke a promise, even committed a crime. Maybe you've been supernaturally transformed. Either way, there's no going back.

7) WHAT ANGEL WAKES ME FROM MY FLOWERY BED? Oh, sweet mortal. There's an enchantment on you that makes you suddenly, devastatingly attractive. Especially to more magical types.

8) CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE. Anything goes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

First up are the candidates for Shapeshifter & Meta Human Representative: Yasmine Merad, the current Representative and a panther shapeshifter; Sandra Ng, a teacher; Jasper Burns, a researcher who believes that the supernatural world shouldn't have to hide; Faolan O'Neill, leader of the Hillingdon Clan and a Night Council Guardian; and Bernice "Birdie" Salander, the oldest candidate at 71 with a long history of civil rights campaigning.

Yasmine's speech demonstrates why she was elected to this position in the first place: she's cool and confident, making bold proclamations about ensuring that the voices of meta humans and shapeshifters are heard.

Sandra has one key message, which is that if elected she intends to split her seat so that shapeshifters and meta humans are each represented in their own right. Faolan delivers a truly awkward speech in which he admits that he didn't expect to be nominated and isn't sure if he's right for the job, but if he was elected he would strive to make sure that the law is applied fairly and equally, which he doesn't think always happens right now. It's honest, at least.

Jasper's speech is an impressive mixture of conspiracy theories and wild rants, while Bernice rambles on about equality, ensuring that the powerful protect the vulnerable, and ending the scaremongering that too often pervades today's politics.

After the speeches, there's time for questions. Any takers?

Edited 2016-04-28 21:22 (UTC)

Assuming you can split the seat the way you want, how would you push for the Shapeshifter Seat to be filled? Would you just pick whoever from among yourselves and your friends, or you would you have an actual vote? And if you do have a vote, would you ensure only shapeshifters got to take part since it's them that'd be represented by the position, or would you allow anyone to vote?

"I'm so glad you asked," says Sandra, and she does look genuinely thrilled to have been asked a question. A good question, even! "I would push for another election to be held just for the Shapeshifter seat, to be voted on only by shapeshifters. It's the only way to go about it fairly."

Next to her, Yasmine barely resists from rolling her eyes. "What she isn't telling you is that if the seats were split, that would be very bad news for shapeshifters–"

"No," Sandra tries to protest, shaking her head, but Yasmine continues.

"–We would lose our influence. The shapeshifter population is far smaller than the meta human population. Break away from that and you might as well ask for everyone to ignore you. We're stronger together. Sandra thinks she knows what's best for us. She doesn't."

Sandra is still shaking her head, muttering something inaudible. The two of them are colleagues, but this is something they fundamentally disagree on.

Daryl switches his attention to Yasmine for the moment, directing his next question at her, "You don't think splitting the seats would be stronger for both? Each would have an individual voice to speak for 'em without getting muddled up in the politics that they don't have as much of a vested interest in. I'm not seeing how we'd lose our influence if we had our own voice speaking for us, even if the general population is on the smaller side."

It was almost like she was implying the Night Council wouldn't treat them fairly. Though he refrained from saying that outright. Daryl's own thoughts on the council weren't exactly kind, and he was actually trying be fair in his questioning since this was the first time he'd be paying attention to all the politicking.

Sandra is nodding, but it's Yasmine who answers since the question was directed at her:

"It would weaken both, and shapeshifters in particular because we are a minority. I can do a much better job representing your interests if I have the backing of shapeshifters and meta humans behind me. Alone, our voice would be lost."

"How can you possibly say that when we would have twice the number of Representatives?" Sandra protests. "That's two people speaking on our behalf instead of one–"

"But it wouldn't be two people speaking on our behalf. You're not advocating unity, Sandra, you're advocating a split, a split that would mean each individual Representative has less influence, and we'd be more likely to argue amongst ourselves. If you want to stand up to the witches, we need a single, united voice."

Birdie raises her hand here. She speaks more slowly than the others and is less likely to interrupt, but she does make them pause. "The truth is that the Night Council as a whole has completely skewed representation." That gets nods and sounds of agreement from the audience. "The President: a witch. Vice President: a witch. We should demand better representation across the board."

Yasmine nods, quick to agree with a point supported by the audience. "I agree."

Test Drive Meme: April/May 2016

SHAPESHIFTER/META HUMAN REP Q&A

Questions for Sandra Ng

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