Test Drive Meme | #35

[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: → Comment with the journal of a character you want to test; put their name and canon in the subject line for added sparkles. → Tag around with everyone! → Profit like you live on a the back of a turtle! → Maybe even RESERVE so you CAN live on 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! 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 turtle shell! Dramatic Chase Sequence! You're running away from something! It could be anything, from a rampaging kirin to a gaggle of overly enthusiastic children! One way or another, you can't stop, and much like a katamari ball, you feel obligated to grab everyone in your path along the way to keep them out of danger! Or perhaps you're more the sort to try and knock them into it as a distraction...? Where There's A Will, There's A...? The Life and Dreaming Planes have been merged, and sometimes what starts out as wishful thinking becomes lured into reality. That slick new motorcycle or pile of kingly treasure you were just daydreaming about? Surprise! It's just appeared in front of you. Though, it may only stay for a short while before it disappears again, so make it count. Hopefully you're not the type to daydream about terrible things befalling people you don't like... SECRET UNDERCOVER MODE ACTIVATE! The three major kedan families all have their own agendas, and you've chosen to entangle yourselves with one (or more!) of them. Are you hoping to shift the balance of power? Gain some favours? Perhaps you're on a mission to bring a criminal to justice, or maybe you just want to get the cream of the crop from the black market. Maybe you haven't been hired by them at all, but are using their name for your own goals... as long as no one discovers the lie! Wait... you want my what now?! The kedan are a curious folk, and the Foreigners are entertainment in conveniently arriving packages, especially when they come along with unique items that the kedan might not have seen before. Maybe it's your cellphone... or maybe it's your knickers! How badly do you want to keep your stuff from some overeager native shapeshifters who want to buy, bribe, or burglarize it right off your person? Sea prunes, get your sea prunes right here! Life in Keeliai can take a little getting used to: the chickens have scales, the cows have feathers, and the fruits come in more colour and pattern combinations than your average tye-dye shirt. Not to mention that meal you just ordered from the food vendor? Has arrived on the plate, and you're pretty sure you just saw it move. Everybody needs a little darkness... The Great Enemy may have been defeated over two years ago, and people are even willing to speak Malicant's name aloud now, but there remains a taint in the city never fully purged. Those who consider Malicant a dark god whose end was unjust are the cultists of Keeliai, and they aren't always so easy to identify as one might think. Sometimes their presence is felt in the growing urge to give into one's darker instincts, especially in such a foreign place... Illicit substances, anyone? Every city has its vices, and Keeliai is no different. Perhaps you actively sought it out, or perhaps an opportunistic dealer saw you as a potential customer needing a free sample, but you're now in possession of a packet of Lucid, an emotion-enhancing drug. Interested in finding out what happens when you crush that colourful crystal and ingest it? Incoming! Tu Vishan's latest landfall stop has brought an unwelcome problem to its residents: enormous, toothy creatures who look more like pterosaurs than most people are comfortable with! With a twenty-foot wingspan, these aren't exactly harmless local wildlife, and they have a nasty habit of swooping down on targets both Foreigner and kedan! How are you going to fend them off, or help someone who might have been injured by the latest dive bombing?? 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? Anything goes!

Comments

[androit]

wait... you want my what now?!

I told you, you're not getting it!

[ Although he's got height on the kedan right now, this foreigner probably won't last long holding some kind of solar-powered flashlight/rechargable battery combo away like a game of keep away. Maybe some assistance would be useful. ]

wildcard.

[ There's a new face at the local bakery! Where did he come from? He's quite clearly not kedan but it looks like he's been working here for a while already... oh well, whatever. Whether he's new and good at hiding it or you just didn't notice, it looks like a lot of people have been dropping into this bakery more than usual.

Why don't you check it out too? ]

wait... you want my what now?!

[deathwalk]

[For a while, Wilde just watches the exchange with waning interest.]

[Eventually he takes pity on the human, and approaches, lightly tapping the Kedan on the shoulder with the butt of his shepherd's crook.]

I thought there were laws against theft in most places.

[His poise is relaxed, but his hand is resting on the carved bone hilt of a short sword. He radiates a strong smell of goats.]

wait...you want my what now?

[ambibionic]

Maybe you should pick on someone your own size, huh?

[A mechanical hand reaches to grab the kedan's shoulder from behind and slams them backwards onto the ground. The perpetrator looks up at Will and appears to be amused by the situation.]

Why is it that I'm always getting you out of trouble? Big guy like you should be able to get out of scrapes like this no problem.

Bisi (The Operator) | Warframe

[ten_zero]

Haggling

Coming to the market had been a mistake. While Bisi was familiar with the concept of transactions, Ordis had always handled their finances. Also it usually just involved remote transactions with automated vendors, not random assortments of stalls and noises and people. There were no listed prices here, you had to ask a stranger for a price, and the price was always too much. That was when she could even get a word in; trying to get someone's attention here took as much strategy and precision as sabotaging an enemy base. Perhaps she could do it if she had a warframe; she was sure she could deal with this amount of data, with this overwhelming stimulus within the protective armor of her surrogate. But this, exposed, in the open, barely mobile and having to transport herself via crude wheeled device? She found herself craving the isolated comforting metal walls of her orbiter.

She tried to maneuver her chair and with a slight shift in the cobblestones, the wheel fell, lodging itself into a crack. Bisi groaned in frustration, trying to work the wheel lose, but it was feeble. Her composure started to crack, and with it, the discipline that held her powers at bay. Raw void energy started to seep through her into the environment around her, filling the air with sickly toxins.


Hotel

Life in Keeliai was so alien. There were so many things. It was hard to articulate it. Perhaps the most disorienting thing in Kelliai were the smells. The existence and variety of them. Smell was not a sense that was built into her warframes, and so the only smells she'd come to know was that of the sterile metal of corridors and banality of nutrient bars.

She had (thankfully) figured out that people ate things other than nutrient bars just by observation. And also fortunately Anton provided a cafeteria in his inn that didn't require her to barter juulen for basic sustenance. She need only pull some type of pre-prepared food from the refrigeration appliance and consume it.

She was working up to that still, staring at the strangely colored, strangely smelling, strangely textured food while sitting at the table. She'd been poking at it for a few minutes, and had instead opted to look at other people in the dining area instead.

[miraculous_magery]

Bisi wasn't the only one agonizing over food, though A'rho's dilemma was considerably different. His concern wasn't whether or not the food would taste good, but where was he to begin on the small mound he piled onto his plate.

Portion control was not in this Miqo'te's vocabulary.

He looked over to her, tail twitching.

"Are you going to eat that?"

Dramatic Chase Sequence!

[hadthehighground]

This is how it usually started. He would be going about his business and then something out of the ordinary would happen.

In this instance Obi-Wan was admiring some of the local beasts of burden. Kirin they called them, and one of the Kedan was all too happy to explain their use and the importance of the animals in their culture. So he listened with rapt attention, politely nodding his head when it mattered and stroking his beard thoughtfully when the offer of sale came up.

However, the Jedi Master looked up just as there was a shout of surprise. Something had spooked the animals, knocking a handler into the gate and causing it to fly open.

Oh...

What happened next was nothing short of chaos as the the herd of Kirin poured into the street. Stampeding right in his direction.

Why do these things always happen to him?

Like many of the Kedan around him, Obi-Wan ran. Pushing stunned and surprised Kedan out of the way as he went. It was quite a site really as the robed man dashed through the market, pursued by a panicked mass of deer-like creatures. This was not how he intended to spend his day.

[insertdadjoke]

Oh goddammit, not again. Cain wasn't one to really insert himself directly into danger—oh, who was he kidding? This was just up his alley. Much like the foreigner keeping ahead of the pack and trying to get the civilians out of the way, Cain was trying to cut his way through the alleys to make it up front. Wait for it... wait for it...

They were passing by just then and Cain darted out to tackle the foreigner out of the way before the kirin would run up against a wall and either squish the man or carry him off into some deeper part of the city.

"Well," he said after a moment, once the kirin had started circling and rampaging off in other directions — more and more kedan were picking up on the panic and clearing the way before anyone was hurt. "That was fun."

Inara Serra > Firefly

[zhengmian]

Wait... you want my what now?!

Inara is certainly used to attention. As a Companion she often stepped into a room where most turned their gaze towards her. She was more than aware of being followed as she attended her shopping for the day, only watching from the corner of her eyes as she paused to pursue the wares of a tea vendor.

Attention was one thing but wandering hands grabbing at her shawl was certainly not welcomed and she caught the wrist of her follower when they attempted to snatch it from around her shoulders. But as she moved through the market, it seemed her warning hadn't sunk it as she spied her follower tailing her once more, eyeing her shawl.


Sea prunes, get your sea prunes right here!

The food could be worse. Inara took a moment to consider the food on what seemed to be a piece of crinkly paper by a street vendor. She had been exploring the market since she had an afternoon to herself. There could be many things worth learning by observation.

She was used to what Mal would pass off as his attempts to cook so she sounded the mass of food in the palm of her hand wouldn't cause her too much harm. What took her most by surprised when what the vendor had handed to her suddenly- did it-it twitched.

No matter how bad the food was aboard Serenity at least it wasn't still moving. With a new appreciation of Mal's attempts at cooking, she quickly disposed of her purchase into the hands of a passerby who was more than thrilled to take the offering with a grateful bow before running off to eat.

Sea Prunes

[flybyshooting]

Balthier was scoping the area for pockets to pick. Inara had the look of a local - at least as far as clothes went, and she was dressed smartly. The fact she didn't know what the local cuisine was gave her away as a foreigner and Balthier immediately scratched her off the list. If she was wealthy in her world, she sure as hell wasn't here.

"They're not actually half bad," he remarked, emerging from under the shade of a tree. "A little bitter, but I can see how they're popular."

He always was the adventurous sort, and that even extended to food.

Pitch Black | Rise of the Guardians

[rideofthefearlings]

3-ish - Nighttime Notoriety

The merged planes of Life and Dreaming? It was almost too good to be true, especially without Sandman hanging around. An entire realm of possibilities for the Nightmare King-- and while he didn't, in the strictest sense, himself sleep anymore, he could only imagine what sort of delicious terrors might be manufactured by the likelihood of one's bad dreams actually having the possibility of becoming reality.

That, and there was an entire population of kedan that had no idea what a boogeyman was-- what a magnificent opportunity to sculpt a brand new reputation.

And so someone walking through the city at night may feel a presence matching their trajectory, or sense a fullness of the shadows and dark corners that isn't quite normal...

6-ish - Rigid Rejection

One good thing about being in Keeliai, Pitch had discovered, was that he could be seen by most people-- not even only children, but those of many ages. His appearance marked him immediately as a Foreigner, which he didn't care about, except...

... now he was dealing with issues of having unwelcome attention, a phrase he didn't think he'd ever consider uttering before.

"I said no," he said, not quite snapping out the words, as a well-meaning kedan tried for the third time to insist on a free sampling of something on a plate that did not seem as though it should be eaten. "What sort of comprehension issues are you having with that? I am declining."

3!

[shroudofgray]

There were many things about Keeliai that were unfamiliar, but then, even a city in her own world would be utterly alien to her. Every step was a lesson and her knowledge was growing exponentially over a matter of days.

Why can't you understand, Yorda? You can't survive in the world outside.

Her mother had repeated that in some capacity, again and again and again. But here she was, in a city. With people. She was alive and whole. She felt, for the first time, a rush of hope and confidence. She took a turn down an alley that she knew led back to the Midnight Hotel...

...And felt the prickle of something horribly familiar. If she had organs, her heart would have dropped into her stomach.

Her pace slowed, and her ears twitched as she scanned the darkness, waiting for the crackle of waking shadows.

"I won't go back," she said, defiant. There was still a crack in her voice though.

Elizabeth (Bioshock Infinite)

[isochrone]

[ #1 ]
"Yes, this one?" Elizabeth said, laying her hand on the cover of the thick book, its leather wrapping obviously old. The kedan shopkeeper, not needing to be particularly insightful to see her keen interest in the item, named a high price of juulan that had her faltering, before offering to compromise and take part of the price in coin, and part in the silver thimble she wore.

Elizabeth pulled back her hand, almost as if she were afraid the shopkeeper might try to take it.

"Oh, no, I'm... this isn't for sale. That's quite all right, I'll... perhaps another time, for the book, if you still have it."

[ #10 ]
Even though her sheltered upbringing meant that she'd never known anyone her own age growing up, let alone had playmates, the kedan children were perfectly sweet and enthusiastic about the Foreigners, and she felt at ease with them. They shared her wonder of far-off places, and so she's currently sitting on a bench with at least half a dozen clustered around her, the very picture of a practiced storyteller.

"Let me tell you all about a truly magical place, very far away from here: a city called Paris..."

#10

[flybyshooting]

Balthier had an almost pathological aversion to children, but a magnetic attraction to a good story. Especially a good story about a place he'd never been.

So he hung back from the throng of attentive eight year olds, leaning against a tree with his arms folded, but listening quite intently. Paris didn't sound magical. In fact, there was hardly a mention of actual magic at all. But the way she described the place, you'd never know that. Maybe it was magical to her, and Balthier reckoned that's all that mattered in the long run.

To him, it sounded a lot like Bhujerba, with it's narrow, hilly streets, little shops, and old architecture. In other words - charming.

When the story had wrapped up, it wasn't just the children applauding.

Horo; Spice & Wolf

[wisewolf]

2.
Horo isn't participating in the dramatic chase, which consisted of a deer-like creature was eluding the three people attempting to catch it, but rather watching it with a blithe smile, one hand wrapped around a tankard of ale. This place had become immensely more tolerable when the sage wolf had discovered that there was tasty ale here, and a good portion of the Welcome Center's initial juulan allotment was already spent.

Her wolf ears were perked, listening to the excitement, and the swish of her tail poked out from beneath the full skirt she wore. A cloak, discarded once she'd seen the similarly strange features here that others had, was draped across the table next to her.

She cheerfully banged her mug on the table when the animal was finally lassoed. "Another round!" she called, and whether she meant another drink or another chase, it could have gone either way.

[drinkuntilidie]

She's not the only one watching the show, even if that's not what it's meant to be. A troll needs to get his entertainment somewhere though, and Kevas can't think of a better place than somewhere with plenty of ale and plenty of ladymons. So far this spot has plenty of both.

"Cheers to dat! Come on, ya heard the ladymon. Give us another show!"

One of the kedan looks toward Kevas to glare at him. Kevas only offers a toothy grin.

"Aww, don't be like dat now. Ya bein' a spoil sport!"

John Constantine | Constantine/DCU

[hellboundheart]

[Wildcard - Midnight Hotel]

Just how long John Constantine would be allowed to stay at the Midnight Hotel was anyone's guess. He was well aware that he was breaking a minor rule on alcohol, and that Mr Anton Shudder (Shudder... there were days John lost all respect for a suspected demon's imagination) had a firm stance about the whole alcohol issue. The problem, two problems really, was that John needed his drink and that the Midnight Hotel was supposedly run by demons according to the locals.

And John believed it when he had first seen the place. Magic had seeped off the walls, wards or sigils at every turn. The place was a literal trap and a place built on magic. It was amazing in its own way. Every single solitary block was shielded. While John might dodge the alcohol rule to a degree, he was not about to trifle with the no combat one. Even with his knowledge, he didn't know what sort of power this Shudder might be harboring that would make that possible. That didn't mean John wouldn't use his residency there to his advantage. Without the Mill, he needed a bolthole, and the Midnight Hotel was everything he needed. So long as no one found out he would smuggle in a bottle or two. John had his suspicions about that mint candle burning birds who saw all and kept clean in its sight. Damn bird reminded him too much of Papa Midnite's raven or crow or whatever that had been.

The Twenty-Fourth room? After the Rising Darkness, one John Constantine had no desire to see what was going on in there. Trouble found him enough without needing to borrow more. Doing his own dishes in the kitchen was better than that. Didn't hurt that this Shudder knew how to cook a good meal or that a pretty bird was often at the desk.

Right now, one might find John Constantine parked in front of the fireplace in the hotel's common room, sifting through some scribbled out pages on the old families. The interested might catch the name 'Daseng'. Never hurt to know a little history, right? A cigarette was in one hand, smoke drifting upwards as he took an impatient draw off it. At his elbow sat a tumbler filled with, oh, let's call it 'tea'. Had to be that, right? Right.

[Wait... You Want My What Now?]

"No, mate, not for sale."

John was used to people pawing at him. One got used to it when traveling in certain areas of the world. He'd been in one area where blond hair had been a sign of fertility. It was almost worth it to sacrifice some of his hair when nude women were tugging at it. Then again, he'd been in another where English pale skin was a sign of evil and required a (far too) lengthy ritual that ended in unnecessary flaying of a body. Namely his. Seeing as how he didn't want to be pinned to someone's wall for eternity, he had gotten out of there quick.

But trying to take his lucky Zippo lighter was not going to happen.

Keeping it closed tightly in his hand and ignoring to the best of his ability the busty lady trying to con it from him, John sidestepped and barely avoided a second pickpocket.

"Oi! Try taking something I don't need! Did you see that man walk by with that big black coat? I bet that would be much better."

It was like being back at the Souq except that no one was trying to sell him all the useless trinkets they did most tourists.

Midnight Hotel!

[edgeoftheknife]

New people came and went at the Hotel. Foreigners, kedan... Erskine had long since stopped paying them much heed. He had a few friends living in the Hotel, and of course he shared a room with Shudder, but other than that he kept his head down and did his work, and tried to stay out of sight in the meantime.

Of course the sight of an almost unnaturally beautiful man in a three-piece suit cleaning the Hotel always tended to draw a few bemused stares, but he'd learned to live with that. As one does.

He should have been done with his work hours ago--he liked to finish early, while almost everyone was still out in the city at work, so he could move about the Hotel without bumping into too many people. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that today was the day he ordinarily ran a vacuum through the common room. Even more unfortunately, perhaps, there was someone sitting in the common room. He couldn't run a noisy vacuum with patrons in there. Eventually he decided to settle for the carpet sweeper. He'd just have to run the vacuum tomorrow.

The pretty man in the impeccably tailored suit moved quietly through the common area, eyes down, skirting around the edge of the area where John was sitting. Pushing a carpet sweeper through the room wasn't perhaps the most dignified of tasks, but he'd long since given up on dignity where his job was concerned. Sweeping the carpets was better than cleaning the toilets, at least. He came to the first armchair in his path and paused, lifting a hand, palm upward, toward the chair. The chair began to levitate gently, and when it was a good three feet off the carpet Erskine used his free hand to run the sweeper underneath.

Jay Kulina | Kingdom

[jayotic]

[Wait... You Want My What Now?]

Jay's in the process of checking out one of the vendors when a stray hand reaches for the glasses on his face. They're sunglasses, white and bold and definitely not something he needs to survive, but something he's still rather attached to.

In an instant, the young man snaps out a hand to catch the wrist of the thief, his expression one of mock scolding. "Whoa, whoa, steady on there little thief. Uncle Jay will be needing those back."

His tone is light, and his expression shifts to match. If anything, Jay looks amused. The Kedan's hand earns a firm but non-damaging squeeze. "Now come on, I know they're pretty shwanky but it's time to let them go."

The Kedan however, grips the sunglasses that little bit tighter.

"C'mon, kid. Give it up," Jay says with a grin, tightening his hold a little more. "I ain't gonna warn you again."

[Sea prunes, get your sea prunes right here!]

There's a thing on his plate and it's wriggling. Jay's seen some strange things in his life, but this has got to be towards the top of the weird-o-meter scale. His eyebrows arch in question as he looks from the vendor to the food, before leaning in to sniff at the odd looking morsel.

"Y'know," he starts, smirking at the vendor in amusement. "If there's a trick to eating these little suckers, you should probably let me know. Otherwise I'm just gonna go for it."

let's all word together??

[isochrone]

[ sea prunes ]

"I think the trick is having them a little less, ah, fresh," Elizabeth offers with a smile, overhearing the question and giving Jay a sympathetic glance from an angle the vendor couldn't see. "The special of the day certainly is special."

Zachariah Cash | OC

[helluvachin]

Dramatic Chase Scene!...minus the drama

[Riah knew something was up when he heard the rumbling and the ground beneath him begin to shake. Instincts told him not to stick around to find out what it was. Unfortunately his instincts weren't as quick as he'd like.

A moment later three teenage kedan turned the corner running down the street towards him. They laughed wildly and hooted with excitement as the blew by him. Then Riah saw the source of the noise as the rumbling became even more intense. An entire herd of kirin stampeded around the corner and straight towards him.

Riah let out what could only be called a squawk of surprise before turning and fleeing down the street at full sprint while the enraged kirin tried to run him down. He really thought he was done with running for his life.]

[Wildcard]

[There are probably a hundred different, easier ways for Riah to find what he's looking for. The problem is that most of those ways involve talking with people and haggling. Both things Riah is awful at doing. So that's why he's doing a bit of dumpster diving today.

He rummages through any trash he can find, searching for a bit of scrap metal there or some bits of junk here and stuffing it into a bag. Riah enjoys fixing what most people think of as junk or building something new out of what's broken. Unfortunately, a large problem with dumpster diving is that it makes you look like a vagrant.]

Wildcard

[redlightgreenlight]

[Valdis wasn't sure what made her pause in her rooftop maneuvering to glance down into the alley below her, but the sight of the man going through the trash held her attention. She sat on the edge of the roof, folding one leg over the other to watch him, an amused smile on her face.]

What's a handsome man like you doing going through the garbage?

Kevas | World of Warcraft

[drinkuntilidie]

Incoming!...who wants to do some fly fishing?

[The sound of panicked shouts fill a crowded street as kedan desperately try to get out of the way. At the center of the commotion hangs a large troll and one of the smaller flying creatures. From a distance it looks like it's trying to lift Kevas away for a snack, but if someone gets closer they'll see it's actually Kevas who's holding onto the creature while it tries desperately to shake him off.

It looks just as confused and terrified as the fleeing kedan do. Kevas on the other hand grins madly.]

Where ya think ya be goin' ya ovahsized turkey!

[The creature screeches again, flapping its wings harder and lifting them both into the air a little more.]

Hey! Hey! Quit dat already! Just give it up!

SECRET UNDERCOVER MODE ACTIVATE!...FORM OF A BAD IDEA!

[When you're over seven feet tall, have tusks and blue skin, and wear an extremely flamboyant hat wherever you go people might think you'd stick out. Living in a city full of shapeshifters helps mitigate that problem. Knowing how to make yourself disappears helps even more.

Most of his life Kevas has only been good at a select few things: infiltration, espionage, and killing. (Also drinking and flirting up a storm with any woman with a pulse but that's a story for another time.) Fortunately for Kevas someone is always looking to get an edge over someone else. One just needs to know where to find such an opportunity.

Tonight Kevas tails a kedan through the backstreets of the city to find some clandestine meeting between some powerful organizations. One way or another, tonight he plans on making a name for himself. Then once he gets his foot in the door he can really get his plans moving.

That is, if all things go according to plan tonight.]

Fenris | Dragon Age 2

[handonheart]

A) Where There's A Will, There's A...?

At first, he thought he was in the Fade. It didn't make very much sense, but neither did this place. People kept changing everywhere Fenris looked - the pointed ears of an elf on this side of the market, the horns of a Qunari on the other. The squares were as busy as the markets in Kirkwall, but if any of the crowd were nobleborn, Fenris couldn't tell. No one but the merchants gave him a second glance, and the merchants all seemed intent on selling him something, despite his lack of coin. It was the sort of attention Hawke might expect, but Fenris wasn't used to friendly smiles free of suspicion.

He found himself missing his more precarious presence in Hightown. At least there, he had a place to retreat to. Six years of living in Danarius's mansion, and he'd only barely made a dent in the wine cellars.

A moment later, Fenris came across a small table in the middle of the market square, with six bottles of Tevinter wine sitting on top of it. He stopped dead, and his face hardened. That was hardly a coincidence - he must be in the Fade, in danger of becoming a desire demon's thrall. He took a step backwards, reaching for the sword on his back.

"Where are you?" he demanded. "Show yourself!"

B) Incoming!

The large creature bearing down on the tram station looked like a dragon. Fenris had only seen one that large once before, and he'd hardly fought it off on his own. He didn't think much of his chances here, either.

Which is why, rather than charging it, Fenris can instead be found trying to get small groups of kedan out of the tram station and safely back down to ground level without drawing the frenzied dragon's attention. Once or twice he helps carry a child, or takes half the weight of someone injured by the attack. It's only when everyone's safe - and when a group of armed Snakes show up to try and drive the dragon off - that Fenris joins the fight.

A

[redlightgreenlight]

The man with the strange tattoos seemed quite agitated as he walked through the market, a newcomer it seemed. Valdis started in his direction when he paused at table, stopping when she sensed the anger. His words were quite odd, but she stepped up, careful to keep her hand from her own blade.

"Easy, stranger," she said, circling around so she wasn't coming up behind him, "You are safe here."

anders | dragon age 2

[mewnifestos]

[ 5/6 ]

[ Holding his own in a bustling marketplace is not something Anders is unaccustomed to; he's survived Lowtown at high noon and plied his way through the even seedier crowds beneath the docks without losing his footing (or, too often, his purse, light as it tends to be). But even the most suffocating throng in Kirkwall was still a familiar one - the most remarkable sight among so many Fereldans and Free Marchers the occasional qunari looking stoically lost. This, though - this is something else.

His own paranoid penchant for watching the crowds around him (always his own lookout, in case of templars, or carta, or any other rabble-rousers looking to start a dangerous commotion - or looking for him) backfires spectacularly as Anders struggles to take in half of what he's seeing. The kedan come in all shapes and sizes and colors - some recognizable, if off-pallet, some bizarre beyond imagining. And trying to keep an eye on all of them as they mill about around him is a dizzying effort.

Especially when he's trying to barter on one side and ward off the handful of overeager onlookers who have fast become fascinated with the feathered ruff of his robes on the other. ]

Are you certain you haven't got anything less-- [ Colorful? Strange? Alive? Whatever he was about to say is lost as Anders feels a very distinct tug at the back of his jacket, and rounds on the crowd at his back. ] Hey! I felt that! You--!

[ Unfortunately, the kedan who finally worked up the gall to simply pluck a feather from his coat disappears into the crowd before he can get a good look, and the rest remain unhelpfully silent on the matter, turning back to their own business, for the moment. Anders' outrage fizzles, his expression souring, and he turns back to the fruit vendor in front of him with a disconsolate mutter. ] Oh, fine. Take it, then. I suppose I can stand to lose a few. ...Unless all the birds here are as poisonous looking as the fruit.

[ A nice black crow, a plain red apple - he's homesick for mundanity, already. ]

[ 9 ]

[ There are things in life for which one can easily prepare, even when given precious little notice: a burst of chokedamp, a charging ogre - even an obligatory invitation to a fancy Orlesian party. But crooked, beaky little dragons falling out of the sky is not one of them.

Anders was rather enjoying his first palatable meal since coming to the city (the Water sector a pleasant surprise in many ways), but it's rather difficult to continue when half the patio seating around him is abruptly taken out by a crash-landing - something or other. Tables and chairs are flung away in its wake, as the shrieking tangle of limbs skids across the pavement. He's on his feet in an instant, nearly toppling his chair in his haste to avoid joining the casualties of furniture (and a few unlucky kedan, too). He scoops his staff up off the ground, brandishing it cautiously before him as the not-quite-a-dragon disentangles itself from a couple of badly warped chairs - neither of which it's much bigger than. A baby, then.

Not that that arouses even the slightest bit of sympathy in Anders, as he whips his staff around with practiced ease, cracking the disorientated creature over the head with the weighted, spiky end. The fact that there are no consequences for using magic in public escaping him, however briefly.

He only remembers that there are no templars here to stop him when he takes another glance around to survey the patio carnage, and then it's almost sheepishly that he asks, ]

Anybody need healing?

[ wildcard ]

[ it's just cats, it's anders covered in cats. ...or this is a placeholder for (insert alternate prompt here), if you'd prefer to order off-menu. ]

Wildcard;

[fadedchampion]

[On the whole, this place isn't bad. It's ... weird, but no weirder than most things Hawke has seen, to be fair. Actually, it reminds him of what he imagined Orlais might be like, from his mother's stories about it. So he's just strolling down the street, eating something-on-a-stick (he's not looking too closely) when he comes across a pile of ...]

What are those?

[They could almost be cats, except that some of them have scales. Or feathers. And plumage ... things. And the way the tails curl suggest they're curling independently. Magically mutated cats?]

Uh ... is there someone under there? Because while I'm known for being a dramatic fighter for the little people, I'm not sure I could bring myself to kill things that meow. Or ... whatever sound that is.

Arya Stark | A Song of Ice and Fire

[braavosi]

A) Wildcard - Begging

[There's a young person sitting along one of the avenues in the Water Sector, just out of reach of the foot traffic but in a good, visible spot. It's hard to tell if she's a boy or a girl at first, because she's dressed in shapeless rags--they're warm and clean, but rags nonetheless--and her head is shorn. There's a plain strip of cloth tied around her head covering her eyes, and she's holding a long walking stick, just a little taller than herself (all of five feet, this one) with leather wrapped just below the top. Just in front of her on the ground is a cracked wooden begging bowl.

She never made it to the Welcome Center. She's spent the last few days trying not to panic, trying to decide if this is a test or if the test is over, and she failed. Has the kindly man sent her away, to this city she doesn't recognize? It's not Braavos, and it doesn't smell like anything she knows. She knows the smells of Lys and Volantis, Pentos and Myr. Even the people smell wrong here, their language wholly alien to ears accustomed to the sounds of different tongues. She's heard the name Keeliai but it's the first time in her life she's heard it. How can that be? Somewhere beyond Essos, then?

But she will not panic. If this is still a test, she will not fail. She will not let them expel her from the House, not forever. So she sits patiently with her bowl and her stick and her dead eyes, and savors the sound of metal clinking in her wooden bowl, and wonders what new kind of food she might be able to try tonight before she finds some corner or back alley of this new city to sleep in.]

B) Wildcard - B is for Brothel!

[In Braavos she knew all of the taverns and brothels. She knew the girls who worked in the brothels and she knew the barkeeps and she knew the best times to visit each, who would give her something to eat and who would send her away, and who had the best stories. She doesn't know this new city half so well. There simply hasn't been time. But she's learning.

Currently she's been adopted, more or less, by the girls (and a few boys) at one of the brothels in the Fire Sector. In their free time (and it seems to be a slow night) they sit with her, asking her about the city she comes from and telling her stories about Keeliai and the people in it. She sits quietly, eagerly sponging up the information they impart, even the bits that don't seem important at all. Who's pregnant. Who's sleeping with the higher ups in some gang she doesn't recognize. She doesn't even question that they give her this kind of information, as young as she is, because she's used to it by now. This is her life. She is no one, and no one can learn an awful lot by being quiet and listening.

And if the girls at the cat house wrap her in soft clothes and the boys offer her sweet things to drink and coo at her, she's not going to complain. She'll stay wary, but it's the most comfort she's had in... weeks? Months? She can't even remember.]

C) Choose your own Adventure

[Throw something at me!]

A

[drinkuntilidie]

[At first Kevas just walks by the begging child doing his best not to look at them. Out of sight out of mind right? He only makes it a couple of steps before he feels at tug at his heart that makes him stop. Kevas tries to tell himself to keep moving. There's nothing he can do for the kid, and someone more capable will likely help them.

It doesn't work.]

E'chuta. Ya be a big stupid soft-hearted bastard.

[Kevas turns around and walks back to the child. Squatting down in front of them, he snaps his fingers to get their attention. With all the dirt and ragged clothing he can't tell if it's a boy or girl yet. Pink-skin children nearly look the same at this age.]

Hey little mon, ya be hungry?

[littlelightofmine]

incoming!

Being tall, intimidating, and standing out in a crowd usually worked in Kylo's favor when he was dealing with a good number of people. As it was right now, it merely made him a target for the creatures swooping down upon him. The large creatures seemed to favor him as such, swooping down with far more regularity than they would with other people.

But Kylo's no defenseless target. He has his lightsaber drawn, the wild and unstable device that it is, and is swinging it around with immense force as he's yelling at the creatures in fury, almost as if he's daring them to keep attacking him while he's taking down the majority of them that are stupid enough to get in the range of his lightsaber.

Wild Swinging Sword Meet Wild Swinging Sword!

[wolfstrike]

And then Kylo will hear a yell off to his right as something else comes flying through the air. Not one of those creatures but rather a man with long black hair and a sword in his own hand. Not a fancy light up laser sword mind you, just a metal one. But that guy just happened to cut down a creature that was just about to chomp that strange masked guy from behind. His sword slicing through it's wing and sending the creature slamming to the ground with a shriek.

Yuri then quickly finished it off with a Fatal strike that resulted in the flying menace being impaled right through it's back.

"Need a little help?" he then asks cheekily, twirling his sword around in his hand with a smirk before looking for the next target.

[innercactus]

{Incoming!}

"Nooooo I don't want to go flying!" Standing out isn't working for this foreigner. In fact, Asteffiel is flailing in a pair of claws right now.

Until there's a burst of inky black darkness and Asteffiel drops back into the rapidly clearing street. Except he's radiating black energy, and is entirely shadowy, but for his bright green glowing eyes.

Pros of being able to turn into a spectre at will. And you know what? He's just going to stay like this for now. Being incorporeal is probably going to help right now. Hopefully it won't make anyone scream at him.

{Everyone needs a little darkness...}

Asteffiel is in the mouth of an alley way, purple hands buried in red leaf hair, eyes wide and a pale off-white.

"No nonono nooo." Is the tiny whisper as he tries to make himself as small as possible. It doesn't really work, he's a fairly tall sylvari.

{Dramatic Chase}

"I am not a plant for eating!"

That's all the warning before the young sylvari crashes into some poor bystander. Seems like something on the turtle decided that plants are plants, and thus edible.

[coralberry]

Wait... you want my what now?!

"I told you, if you get me supplies, I can make one for you, but this one is not for sale!" The dark purple-blue plant girl has a twiggy hand curled protectively over what looks like a coral earring she's grown her ear around, glaring at the kedan.

When one tries touching the leaves growing out of her back, she takes a step back. "I'm not going to sell you my clothes, either."

Incoming!

"Stay away from me!" The small plant child yells, swinging a crystal greatsword as big as she is in front of her, knocking the creature away from her by a couple yards. With the space between her and the creature, she lets go of the greatsword, but it stays between her hands, purple energy leaping from her palms to the blade and leaving the point to strike at the creature in an oddly straight purple laser-beam.

[impendings]

Meidhbhín doesn't seem surprised by the plant child's appearance, but fixes the overly curious kedan with a stern frown. Wrapped in a rust-red cloak, her thick brogue when she speaks manages to convey even more reproach, making more than a few of the kedan shrink backward.

"Leave th' poor lass alone, she's obviously a person, not for decoration."

gabranth || final fantasy xii

[judicatus]

( 1. haggling + you want my what now )

"You want how much for this?"

Gabranth has not been long in this world, not yet, but he knows when he's being swindled. The kedan merchant repeats his price, a little more adamant than before in his assertion of entirely too many juulan for one small trinket — a compass, just one, as he'd had a mind to do some exploration beyond Keeliai, but at this rate he's starting to feel as though he'd be better off without — and a scowl twists its way across Gabranth's face.

"Forgive me," he says, his tone leaving little room to wonder whether he really cares about being forgiven, "but I hardly see how this is reasonable—"

His right side is blinded, but he senses the movement nevertheless: a small, curious hand reaching for the patch that covers his right eye. Gabranth snatches it by the wrist before it can reach its mark, and turns his scowl down to the small kedan it belongs to, wide-eyed and looking no less curious for Gabranth's intervention.

"No," he says firmly, releasing the kedan's hand and taking a step back. Still, the kedan doesn't seem at all deterred; a few more have been attracted to the scene instead, each one pointing at his eyepatch and asking for it in pleading tones. Gabranth takes another step back, warier than before, and turns to the merchant again, but he's already attending to another customer.

Just his luck, it would seem. Gabranth doesn't consider himself a man easily stirred to anger or violence — well, not too easily — but the small gaggle of kedan crowding him is testing his patience.

( 2. wildcard??? )

[ i'm up for anything, come at me! also a note: this gabranth is a crau and despite the icons he looks a little different from his canon self! for more info i have his app (still in progress!) over here and a more detailed history for him over here. ]

Spoilers for Skulduggery Pleasant through the end of book 8

[edgeoftheknife]

It's easy to spot a new Foreigner in Keeliai. No matter how savvy they are, no matter how composed or self-assured, there's almost always something that gives them away. Maybe it's how they look at the shapeshifting kedan, or the way the kedan can zero in on them as potential targets. Oftentimes it's simply the fact that Erskine hasn't seen them at the Hotel before, or on the network--and Foreigners usually look quite a bit different than kedan. So while Erskine waits patiently for his turn with the merchant, huddled in his hooded jacket with his shoulders curled inward, he can clearly see that the man with the eyepatch is a Foreigner, and probably new. And definitely getting swindled.

When the man turns away to deal with the children pestering him, it's to Erskine that the merchant turns next. Erskine doesn't get out much, aside from his forays into the poorer parts of town, but he does a fair amount of the shopping for the Midnight Hotel and the merchants in this part of the city recognize him on sight. Erskine doesn't respond right away, sure that the other man was trying to deal with the merchant...but.

He relays his list to the merchant quickly, inciting a similar bit of haste in the kedan, and tacks the compass onto the end of the list. The merchant shoots the man with the eyepatch a quick look but says nothing. He hadn't been able to close the deal anyway, and Erskine is a familiar face and a certain source of juulan. The knowledge of who Erskine's employer is means that he doesn't pay more than is strictly fair for the trinket.

When his purchases are wrapped and bagged and safely tucked under his left arm, Erskine makes his way through the throng of kedan children and holds the compass out to the Foreigner. What parts of his face are visible beneath the hood of the jacket show that he's quite beautiful, with stunning golden eyes. At first he doesn't say anything, merely offers the compass.

Zach Spencer | Lazer Team

[lefthandedpass]

wait...you want my what now?!

Hey, fuck off, [Zach says, yanking his right arm away from the Snake who seems overly interested in the laser cannon attached to it.] You wanna be a part of Lazer Team, you find your own alien spaceship.

[Zach, you didn't find it. You just happened to be in protective custody when the damn thing got blown out of the sky by some drunk assholes.]

----

wildcard.

[There's a nineteen-year-old kid stalking the streets of Keeliai, but he doesn't look too much like a kid anymore. He's still got the baby face, but the military jumpsuit and the cannon attached to his right arm - it looks like a cross between a Portal gun and a Mega Buster - make it pretty obvious he's not just a kid.

That, and the fact that he looks like he's just come from a pretty serious fight. He's singed and bloody and scowling.]

Wildcats! I mean... card. Wildcard.

[fuckinghateadrenaline]

Need some help, there, champ?

[The voice comes from a short-ish man he's not that short! in green. He looks worse for wear himself, but has what looks like a medical backpack sat at his feet.

He's sat up on a wall, munching something that looks like an apple, but tastes like a pear, a weary look in his eyes.]

[shirtlesspersona]

{ Dramatic Chase Sequence! ... sort of.}

That sure is a kirin running, but the target of the chase - as most people on the street pulling out of the way rather than outright running - is... A little trickier.

People with a good sense of magic, a tie to nature, or some ability to see spirits and other supernatural phenomena will see a shirtless man in leather pants running, laughing his head off.

Everyone else? He's a image in the corner of your eye, a ghost that a blink takes away. A figment on the wind, maybe. Just don't stare too long, there is still an annoyed kirin coming.

{Wildcard}

Zaveid's trying to get into one of the Jagaiz rings for foreigners, only it's a little tricky. Not only is he somewhat transparent, which is making things a little awkward, but-

"Aww, c'mon man. What do you mean you don't got any pendulums? Its a rock on a wire!" They have their rule for weaponry, and .. he uses weird weapons.

wildcard

[impendings]

There's a burgundy-cloaked woman standing nearby and watching him steadily, apparently not having any trouble keeping her eye on him despite his transparency. He feels like a breeze, like a zephyr, to her fae senses. Another faerie? But no, not quite.

"What's the matter, lad?" she asked, her brogue thick and rolling. "Afraid t'be trying something new?"

Bladewolf | Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

[wolf_of_war]

Dramatic Chase Sequence!

[Bladewolf had heard that there were other canines...dogs and wolves, specifically, that he might have to watch out for on the back of the turtle. That hadn't prepared him for the zeal with which he was now being chased through the busy streets of the Metal Sector. At the very least, the environment was similar to what he was used to that he could dig in and find purchase enough to push himself fast enough to keep hims just ahead of his ravenous pursuers. Barking and shouting as he went, Bladewolf is largely unaware of what's ahead of him.]

Dexter Grif | Red vs. Blue | FORGIVE ME TURTLE FOR I HAVE SINNED

[fuckingorange]

video;

[Please enjoy a grumpy orange space marine in a helmet. Who looks a lil chubby underneath all that space armor.] So let me get this straight.

I go from one backwater fucking shithole in the galaxy to another, deal with the Freelancers and all that fucking bullshit, then the ship I'm on crashes on some other bullshit backwater planet up Orion's asscrack, I get drafted into some bullshit civil war, and now I'm here on this giant dinosaur turtle...

...and now you're fucking telling me nobody has any fucking Oreos?!

Re: Dexter Grif | Red vs. Blue | FORGIVE ME TURTLE FOR I HAVE SINNED

[shieldofathena]

I don't know about most of that, but yeah, you're here on a giant dinosaur turtle and yeah... there aren't really any Oreos in this place...

(Why did you mention Oreos? This guy now wants some. Two whole family-sized packes if possible.)

In any case, you should watch out for the annoying locals. They'll decide to hassle you for your suit first chance they get...

6 - The Accountant (Drive Angry 3D)

[on_the_books]

[When one considers that the concept of death is as old as time itself, you'd think that The Accountant had seen it all, in terms of food. He's eaten just about every animal that can be eaten as food both raw and cooked, and sometimes both at the same time (he's a hedonist, what can he say?), but when he's handed his plate of...whatever it was, he honestly hesitates.]

Now, I like to consider myself an authority on the great divide that is cooked versus uncooked, but...I'm not entirely sure that...whatever this is was cooked thoroughly enough, wouldn't you agree?

[The vendor argues with him that all is at it should be (which he can't help but doubt...just a little. He simply shrugs and digs in, with a gusto that contradicts his trepidation only moments before. Gaping is absolutely allowed, for as long as he spent in the shadows, The Accountant doesn't mind being the center of attention, now that some of the pressure to meet his quota is off of his shoulders.]