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

no judgement here. i just couldn't resist

[trustbutverify]

[Moira hadn't felt this frazzled in almost half a day. It was almost starting to feel like a new record for her.]

[Jokes aside, however, the Queen matriarch was currently standing in what appeared to be a foreign marketplace, where one of the stand owners appeared to be haggling with her. Only haggling was the furthest thing from her mind.]

Are you deaf?

For the last time, I don't want to invest in your fruit stand. I'm trying to find my children. Oliver and Thea. Were they brought here as well? ...wherever 'here' is.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

[Jesus Christ.

Oliver Queen was dumbstruck when he hears the rising female voice and turns to see her. His mother. She was standing there looking young, healthy, and alive, demanding for Oliver and... Thea? Who's Thea?

He tilted his head, looking more closely at the woman. No, the resemblance was too strong for a coincidence.

Another alternate universe. Great. This was going to go over like a ton of bricks. It would be better to avoid the mess of emotions entirely. Ollie attempted to mosey on past the fruit stand and the woman like he ain't seen nothing, he ain't heard nothing.]

BECAUSE IT NEEDED TO BE DONE

[trustbutverify]

[It was a good plan. It might have even worked; at a glance, Moira would not have given the man a second glance.]

[However, she just so happened to chose the very moment he strolled on passed to abruptly spin around, crashing right into him in a fairly undignified manner.]

Watch where you're--

[Here, she managed to catch herself. Balance regained. Closing her eyes, and taking a series of deep breaths, she opened them again with something resembling a weak, slightly forced smile.]

Please forgive me. I'm a bit out of sorts today.

[She looked up at him. Into those eyes. And something seemed to flash behind hers, because the smile faded into a look of curiosity.]

I'm sorry, but...have we met before? You seem familiar.

CRUEL

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

[He was taller than his mother. No, she wasn't his mother. If he held onto that, he'd be fine.

But he remembered her being a giant. Ollie shook his head against the rush of memories, but it looked like he was answering her question. He knew it, too. No was the safer answer anyway.]

I don't think we have.

[There's the slightest emphasis on we, implying something very specific about it, as if we is now a malleable pronoun. He's too busy wondering if it was this hard for Connor, to meet him as a teenager, and latching onto that line of thinking to keep the lions at bay.]

WELL YEAH

[trustbutverify]

[She caught the subtle emphasis on we, and it made her curious. One did not spend as long in the company she had without picking up on such subtleties. However, she had yet to figure out exactly what this particular one meant.]

Are you sure?

What's your name, if you don't mind my asking?

YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

[There were other options. He could have walked away. He could have lied. He could have done anything other than what he actually did.

He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her.]

Oliver Queen.

I REGRET NOTHING

[trustbutverify]

[She scoffed almost immediately.]

Well, at least now I know you were serious when you claimed to not know me.

Word of advice, pal: if you're going to come up with a fake alias, you might want to check and make sure you're not doing it to the man in question's own mother.

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

[She was just trying to insult him now.]

Moira Queen. You married to Robert Henry Queen, founder of Queen Industries, when he left the military. He made his fortune selling weapons and ammo to third world countries. I changed that, by the way. He gave me a little bow and arrow set one Christmas. I killed a rabbit and swore I'd never use them again. That changed too. You make the best damn chili in the world, and that'll never change.

[trustbutverify]

[Well.]

[Well, that--]

[And he--]

[What kind of trickery was this?]

So you have done your research. [Her voice is calm. Reserved. Still not sure what to make of this, or what this stranger is trying to convince her of.] Though you've got one or two facts wrong. Oliver's never picked up a bow and arrow in his life. I'm not sure he'd even know what to do with one if he saw it.

And I'm fairly certain his sister would have banned me from the kitchen by now if Walter hadn't intervened. [Though that was moreso a typical rebellious teenage daughter tease than actual reflection of her cooking skills.]

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

And I'm fairly certain that I never had a sister.

[And that his mother had never made it to his age, but he's convinced the similarity in demeanor and looks that she's not lying. Ollie reaches into his back pocket and retrieves his wallet. It's useless, here, but carrying it is such an engrained habit that he can't give it up. Besides, it holds money the same.

It's still full of his cards, however - driver's license, credit cards, health insurance - you name it, it's in there. He tosses it at her.]

Research is knowing that the old man was descended from the Earl of Dornee. I'm sure he broke out the family legend for you.

[trustbutverify]

[She takes it, flipping through each one with careful scrutiny. The dates were wrong. But the documents themselves...well, she wasn't exactly an expert, but they were as close to genuine as she would imagine.]

[And his information. He was starting to rattle off things that she was certain even her Oliver hadn't known.]

I don't...understand.

[She still couldn't quite believe it, but the chances of this man being an imposter were shrinking minute by minute.]

What are you trying to say? That you're my son?

You can't be. Oliver's not even thirty yet.

[itsnoteasybeingreen]

[He doesn't understand this one either. Time travel, he can wrap his head around. Other planets, sure, he got those too. Resurrection? Completely possible. Happened all the damn time, it's an emotional roller coaster every time.

But he's not thirty anymore, and his mother never came back.]

No. I'm not yours, but I am Oliver Queen.

[This was about all he could take. Ollie plucked the billfold from her hands. If he kept up this conversation, he was going to ask what changed about that safari.]

Still don't believe me? Go use your fancy little computer. You'll get all the confirmation you'd ever need.

[trustbutverify]

What computer?

[She hasn't even been to her so-called 'suite' yet.]

Oliver--[It takes her a moment to recover from that, but she does, and continues on]--tell me, please. What is going on?

Some time after meeting Oliver?

[raptorcanaria]

No, it's okay, I really don't need anything, I'm just waiting for someone.

[Guess who arranged to meet his wife outside this cafe at this time, and has obviously been distracted by a shiny looking bow or a new idea for a trick arrow or the chance to give a speech about fascism?

Dinah is carrying a paper bag of motorcycle parts, and is as politely as possible deflecting as many attempts by street vendors to sell her something as she can.]

No, please, I'll eat when he gets here. Thank you, I hope you have better luck today.

[She could do with rescuing.]

Sounds good!

[trustbutverify]

...are they still at it?

[Moira sat on a nearly bench, nursing the headache that was her current life. The adrenaline was still pumping after her heated conversation with Oliver. Or an Oliver. One who certainly had her son's stubbornness, that was for sure. Then again, he probably inherited it from her.]

[It wasn't hard to notice the signs of a woman in roughly the same position as she had found herself an hour prior. Rising to her feet, she made sure to send those stand owners a stern Queen Look before offering a smile.]

So, are you actually waiting for someone, or was that a cover?

[Because she recognizes that trick.]

[raptorcanaria]

Usually I don't mind, but there's something in the water today, I don't know.

[She pushes her hair behind her shoulders and grins a grateful grin for rescuing her from the locals.]

Really am waiting. For my husband, but it'd be asking too much of him to arrive on time.

[trustbutverify]

[Its impossible not to smile at that. The loving, yet still moderately frustrated sentiment was something she knew all too well.]

My son used to be the same way. Still is, now that I think about it.

And even when he shows up on time, you'd barely manage to get in a hello before he was off again.

[Once upon a time, it had been models and parties. Now, it was usually business.]

[raptorcanaria]

Uh huh.

[That sounds more than a little familiar.]

At least this time there's food involved, so at least he'll stay long enough to complain about that, I hope.

[trustbutverify]

I'd say your chances are pretty good.

What does your husband look like? If I see him along the way, maybe I can remind him his loving, patient wife is waiting for him.

[raptorcanaria]

About this tall, blonde with a beard he thinks makes him look dashing.

You'll probably hear him before you see him, though. Listen for the rage about the evils of hereditary monarchy and the rights of the common man.

[Dinah loves Oliver very much.]

[trustbutverify]

[Her brows raise a fraction at the description. It couldn't be...]

[No. Of course not. A lot of men had blonde hair and beards. As for the rage...well, she was still a little put out by the circumstances herself. Anyone would be.]

Blonde, bearded, and beside himself. I think I can remember that.

[She extended a hand, tilting her head upward a fraction out of residual pride. Having to actually introduce herself was still a novel concept, but proper upbringing dictated it.]

I'm Moira. Moira Queen.

[raptorcanaria]

[Dinah tenses, not quite sure what to do with that. She's seen pictures of Moira Queen, of course, but she'd never spent time looking at them. Now, though, she looks familiar.

But that could also be her imagination.

She shakes the offered hand.]

Dinah. Dinah Lance.

[trustbutverify]

[It was Moira's turn to tense up.]

...that wouldn't be Dinah Laurel Lance, would it?

[raptorcanaria]

That would be me.

[The tenseness means recognition, and the recognition is a relief, but it's a relief that comes with a whole lot of awkward. So she offers a grin.]

Hi.

[What do you say to a surprise!mother in law?]

[trustbutverify]

Laurel.

[Surprise was an understatement. She looked the other woman up and down several times. It was only thanks to seeing Oliver already that she was even willing to believe it.]

You look so... [Old? Different? Relaxed?] ...blonde.