TEST DRIVE

[ironwood]

TEST DRIVE MEME - TU SHANSHU EDITION!

Itching to try out writing a character? Then rev up your engines, grab your accounts, and slam your way into this meme! Here is a venue for you to try out whatever character there might be tickling your fancy, from fandom to OC, for as few as one and as many as MANY. Seriously, there's no limit.

How do you partake in this fantastic congregation of character testing? Why, by following these simple steps:

1. Comment with the journal of a character you want to test; put their name and canon in the subject line for added sparkles.
2. Tag around with everyone!
3. Profit like you live on a the back of a turtle!

But wait, there's more! For the low, low price of $9,999.99, you can even use one of our handy prompts when you tag someone. You could even pick one with a Random Number Generator to help decide which prompt to go with!

1. A Chance Meeting at the Turtle's Head.
   Remember, being here causes a great sense of-- well, shall we say inner peace.
2. Haggling Over Something in the Marketplace!
   Maybe someone else saw the exact same shiny thing you did at the exact same moment! However shall this be resolved? Remember: blood is extremely hard to scrub off of turtleshell!
3. Hey, I Just Met You, and This is Crazy...
   First impressions are always the most important, right?
4. WILDCARD!
   Go nuts. Suddenly your character is fighting dragons! Good God, they've found the Millennium Falcon drifting in the ocean! Do you really feel the need to polish every paving stone in the Earth Sector? Please note, Wildcard options are also what you can choose to do if you aren't yet comfortable in the Tu Shanshu setting and would prefer a more 'dear-mun' esque experience. Please specify in your post!

Comments

[cauchemal]

[She chokes out a sad, broken laugh. It's such an absurd question, considering—]

There was supposed to have been a kick, Arthur. I should be home. Were we ... we must have been deeper than I knew.

[She wraps her arms around herself, shivering; she's only wearing that blue dress she wore to the hotel, along with a light shawl some kind passerby left her with.]

Are you trapped here too? Where's Dom?

[aloadeddie]

[He's not sure what she's talking about, or what she thinks she's talking about, but that won't stop him from putting his arm around her shoulders, an attempt to comfort her in her distress.]

Dom and I are here. I assume he's at his suite. It's farther north, in the Earth sector. We're trying to figure out how to wake up.

[At this point, it's probably safer if he doesn't mention Ariadne. He's aware that the shade seems particularly violent towards the young architect.]

[cauchemal]

[Her eyes start to fill with tears. No. No. This wasn't what she wanted, not at all.]

That's what I was trying to do. Dom and I—he never believed me, but I knew we were trapped, I knew, and I thought I'd ...

[She breaks off, staring at him.]

How can I know that you're not a projection? How do I know it's you?

[She pulls away a little.]

[aloadeddie]

[This is why he pulled away from them, towards the end - never knowing how to deal with Mal in such a fragile state, having trouble seeing her like this and knowing how she used to be, but here they are now - and at least she doesn't seem inclined to murder him.

He sighs, resisting the old urge to just leave her with Dom and go to a bar and get really drunk.]

You don't know, I guess. But I won't hurt you, and I'm trying to wake up too. So you can trust me, whether I'm real or not.

[cauchemal]

[She nods, still wary, but what choice does she have? She could always trust Arthur, and even the dream-version of him was always reliable. That's something to hang on to, at least.]

What have you tried? The usual methods?

[There's a shadow there, now, of the old confidence, the competence of a woman known for her skill in working within dreamscapes.]

[aloadeddie]

Oh yeah. [It's easier for him to talk about work stuff, easier for him to push away the emotional fragility of the woman he's next to in the face of their current situation. Whether she's a projection, a shade, or... something else. Doesn't matter.] Shooting myself in the head just sent me right back here. We've been working on it, trying to figure out what the formula might be for this place. None of us has been able to alter the dream.

[cauchemal]

[Mal just shakes her head, feeling queasy with disbelief.] There has to be a way. There's always a kick. Always.

[Oh, and one other thing—]

I've lost my totem.

[aloadeddie]

Yes, there is. And we'll find it. It's just taking some time. [He keeps his voice low, soothing, reassuring.]

I wouldn't worry about that. I've got mine, but it's been really unreliable. They've obviously been tampered with, somehow. So we'll just have to... keep calm and not let each other forget this is a dream.

[cauchemal]

[She nods, folding her hands together tightly.]

Can you take me to Dom?

[Because he's here. That's—well, that's something, isn't it? Maybe he followed her after all.]

[aloadeddie]

[Arthur can't be sure that's a good idea, but what else is he going to do? So he stands, crooks his arm so she can tuck her hand in his elbow.]

Come on, he's in the Earth sector.

[Hopefully Ariadne won't be home.]

[cauchemal]

[She rises, takes his arm. She feels calmer now than when Arthur first found her, and it shows on her face, though she's still pale and tired-looking.]

Thank you. We...

[Sigh.]

We will need to talk, he and I.