thetube | Test Drive Meme: February/March 2017

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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) SOMETHING NEW. Welcome to London! Spring is approaching but it's still bloody freezing, the wind is howling (are you sure it's the wind?) and your umbrella isn't much use when the rain is driving into you from the side. Maybe the appeal of a new experience is what brought you here. Does the reality match your expectations?

2) RUN THIS SHOW. You are the host of an event designed to showcase the particular skills and power of your people or faction. It can be small scale or ridiculously lavish, but this is your chance to enter the spotlight and show the supernatural community what you're made of.

3) CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. The police are after you. Maybe you did it, maybe you didn't, but they're on to you and now it's your job to make sure the case goes cold. Don't want to leave a supernatural paper trail.

4) WALK ON THE WILD SIDE. London's many parks are a haven for those who like some greenery in their concrete jungles. Popular and peaceful during the day, at night things are different. When the moon is full or the wind blows from a certain direction, the balance of magic can shift and open up ways into the far wilder woods of the Other Realm. Alternatively... you got really really drunk and passed out in a field.

5) BETTER WATCH YOUR BACK. Let's face it: you have a thousand reasons to be paranoid. Maybe the powers that be have it out for you. A werewolf or vampire wants to eat you. You pissed off a shapeshifter just last week. There's a hunter trying to kill you, a witch trying to control you, a fae that wants to kidnap you, a ghost haunting you. Hell, maybe they really are all out to get you. Are you in real trouble this time... or are you scared of your own shadow?

6) FOLLOW THE LEADER. Take your pick: your boss has ordered you to a) threaten an enemy; b) approach a potential ally who might side with you against a common foe; c) dispose of a dead body; d) deal with a spillage at table four. Good luck.

7) GO GO GO. There's nothing like a morning run. Maybe you're training for the London Marathon in April, maybe it's a good way of working out your hunting instincts, maybe you just like to keep in shape. Wait, did that guy deliberately overtake you? Don't get competitive now.

8) CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE. Anything goes.

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Who would have thought, that with all the kerfluffles going on in their community, that the biggest thing on Laura's plate right now was hosting, of all things, her school's talent show. She'd never considered herself much of an emcee, but apparently this job was now up to her. The headmaster had said it was easy, a right of passage for the new teachers.

So please explain why Laura was practically tearing her hair out over creating a decent set-list, a few jokes and oh, right, coming up with a decent prize.

Right now, her idea for a prize was simple, and that's what brought her to Tesco, grabbing a few packages of jelly babies and jammy dodgers. Everyone liked candy as a prize, right? She looks at the cookies for a moment, hesitates, and then puts them back. "Maybe I should stick with Cadbury... What do teenagers even like anymore?" She hadn't been a teenager in a long, long time, and when she had, it had been in upstate New York. London was a very, very different sort of thing.

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She can almost taste the full moon. It's coming, at the end of the week. Right now, the moon is in the sky, even though it's the middle of the afternoon, a phenomenon she'd seen countless times before. Something about it's appearance makes the air sharper, taste more of ozone than it had before. Or perhaps that was the magic?

It draws her attention, however, as it does for so many supernatural sorts, and instead of taking the normal way back to her flat, Laura finds herself wandering through the park, one eye glued to the moon that seemed to follow her with every step. It's comforting: the same moon from back home, every 28 days.

Idly she wonders where the hell she can get some chains around here.

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One foot in front of the other, in front of the other. Her footsteps echo across the nearly empty streets. Running had always been a favorite of hers, a way to clear her mind before the busy day ahead. She liked to get lost in her own thoughts, let her feet lead the way. There's a cold mist in the air, but Laura knows if she runs enough, she'll hardly notice it. Instead, she'll focus on something else- an upcoming assignment for her students, something she'd heard from her pack, her life back in Ithaca.

Life before she was bitten and chose to uproot her entire life, choosing to come to London rather than stay and face a life that had suddenly become so empty and lonely. She'd made a good choice, she knew. The right choice.

She just needed to remind herself of that.

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boom.

Edited 2017-02-25 17:14 (UTC)

"Money." Oh boy, there's Ghoul. He happens to be browsing through the same aisle, popping his gum loudly before he offers an answer to the question that he knows wasn't technically meant for him. He was a teenager not too long ago- not here, sure, but teenagers are usually very similar at their core. He's got this. "Food and money are good, but money'll win out every time for sure."

There's another obnoxious pop, and then he grins.

It's the American accent that catches her off guard, followed quickly by the familiar smell another wolf. Laura turns to look at the young man, and gives him a small sort of smile.

"Of course." That popping is a little irritating, and she resists the teacherly urge to tell him to knock it off. "Unfortunately, I'm on a teacher's salary, and a cash prize for a talent show is a little out of my budget. I don't suppose you have any other ideas, do you?"

He wrinkles his nose. "Lame." Whether he means the talent show or the salary cap is anyone's guess. "Doesn't gotta be a lot of money, just like, a gift card to a store or movies or somethin'." What else was a big deal back in school...

After a giving it a bit more thought while (of course) smacking his gum, he flaps a hand in her direction when something else comes to mind. "Homework passes. That shit was like gold." He'd only received them rarely and way back in middle school because he hadn't exactly been the greatest student after he hit junior high, but the concept was always nice. Who wouldn't like a slip of paper that gives them permission to not do an assignment?

At his first utterance, Laura fixes the young man with perhaps her most teacherly look. Talent shows were not lame, please don't let her students hear that. She wants it to be cool, so people go out for it.

But then he's got a good idea, and she's completely forgiven him. "My gods," she breathes, "That's a brilliant idea. Thank you, Mister...?" She needs a name so she can thank you properly. She holds her hand out to him, a proper adult gesture.

"'Course it's brilliant." It came from him, so obviously it would be. Ghoul grins, although he falters a little when he realizes she's waiting for his name and a handshake. Ew, adult gestures... Who even does those anymore?

"Um." He has a feeling she may not be amused by what he usually goes by. She might give him another one of those stern looks if she thinks he's yanking her chain, so he goes with the first normal-sounding thing that comes to mind instead. He also takes a quick look at his palm, wiping it off against the leg of his jeans before reaching out to shake- because she probably wouldn't appreciate a filthy hand grabbing her own, either. "Ollie. Don't gotta get all fancy or anything."

Yeah, no. Ollie is a cat that a friend of his back home owns, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her.

Adults do handshakes. Adults like yourself. You may be a young adult, but an adult never-the-less.

"Good to meet you, Ollie. And thank you for your input. I think you may have just created the perfect prize for the talent show." She gives him a warm, motherly smile. "Pick something." She gestures at the wall of relatively foreign candies in front of them. "It's on me." Everyone liked candy, right?

"I'd give you a Get Out of Homework Free pass, but I don't think you're in my first years' English class."

He will never be an adult.

Case in point, he is still easily swayed by offers of candy. After a quick laugh and a comment of, "Pretty sure you wouldn't be actin' half as nice to me if I was in your class anyway," he turns his attention to the spread of colorful options. Hell, if she's offering...

He spots something soon enough. Something terrible. "You ever had a bag of giant shrimps?" Ghoul steps forward and plucks a cute pink bag from the display, looking it over. Apparently they're soft raspberry flavored candies. Shaped like fucking shrimp. "Why?"

Laura's been teaching for long enough to know that sometimes the kids who were the rowdiest were the ones who needed help- being ignored at home, for example. So she's learned patience. "There's one in every class," she says, "but you're not in my class. You're in the same candy aisle as me."

She watches as Ollie looks over the candies- so many strange things here, really, like, wine gummies? do they have alcohol in them? Y'know what, she's going to... grab one of those, anyway. Just out of morbid curiosity.

Laura raises an eyebrow at the shrimp, able to smell the raspberry from here. "I've seen scorpion gummies before. At least they're raspberry."

He steals a glance at the package she picks up, laughing once he realizes what it is. What in the utter hell are wine gummies? Is wine a flavor? Why would someone want a candy that tastes like wine? That's nothing but a matter of getting all the awful taste and none of the buzz as a payoff. Horrible.

Maybe not as horrible as rhubarb-and-custard. That's the newest flavor he's got his eye on, his face scrunched up like he's not sure what to make of it. At the mention of scorpion gummies though, he takes a step back and looks over the whole display again, on the hunt. "No way. Not like, made from scorpions or anything, right?" They must be just scorpion shaped, which is pretty badass on its own.

But he did see little boxes of dried cricket snacks back in the States, so who knows.

It's pretty disappointing to note that there is no alcoholic content, according to the label. Just the flavor.

Laura was having a hard time hiding her disappointment, truth be told.

"Oh, this was forever ago," she waves the idea away. "I'm not even sure where I saw them anymore. But I don't think they were scorpion flavored. But if they weren't, I shudder to think of what else they'd have been made of."

She points at a bar of chocolate that seems to have air holes in it. "What's the point? It's less chocolate, for the same price."

Being an assistant for a secondary school teacher? Not the best pay in the world, but it's surprisingly not awful. Scott's just fresh out of High School so it's not like he's a generation apart from the kids, and he likes Laura plenty. Even if he doesn't always agree with her on how to deal with vampires and the like.

So he's helpfully carrying the currently empty shopping basket as they wander around the store, trying not to get distracted thinking about lunch when she asks her question, and he purses his lips in thought. He doesn't know much about kids in London, but teenagers are teenagers, right?

"Music?" He supplants helpfully. "Maybe some iTunes giftcards or something?"

Scott is young, but Laura likes him. He's smart, funny, and caring.

"You don't need to carry that basket, if you don't want," Laura says, looking at him over the top of her glasses. But she's not complaining, if he wants to hold it.

"Does anyone buy music anymore?" Is her genuine question. "With all the subscription services- that's it! Winner gets free year of spotify on the school." Was that something they could even do?

Party's not exactly out for a morning run so much as he's trying to get home after a late night of partying, his leather jacket pulled tight around him to ward off the brisk morning air as he trudges through the street, a little lost in his own mind. He knows he looks more than a little sketchy with his torn clothes and dirty, bright red hair, but he's not really concerned with appearances and when he is, he usually likes giving that impression.

Still, he smiles in greeting at the few people he comes across, whether they're joggers, fellow hungover party-goers or simply the odd homeless person. He's in a good mood and he's in the mood to spread the love. "Morning!"

It's at a crossing that Laura finds herself next to what she assumes is a young punk- perhaps homeless, but kind enough. Surprised at his warmth, she turns to him and gives him a smile. "Good morning," she returns.

"What's got you in such a good mood this early?"

"Had a productive day and a good night." He grins, cheeks flushed from the cold. "Havin' a good run?"

Unable to really be still, he rubs his hands together and crams them into his pockets as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other and back again. Maybe he should run a little, too. He's still so full of energy that he probably won't crash for at least a while longer.

"I'm glad to hear it," Laura says with a bright smile at him.

She nods. "I am- good to get the heart pumping before a full day." Same way she liked to wind down after a long day at work with a glass of wine, or even a bowl of canway.

"And I don't want to find myself winded come the full moon." She gives him a wink. Yeah, she can smell him.

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Test Drive Meme: February/March 2017

Laura Roslin | Battlestar Galactica | Werewolf

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