Test Drive Meme | #43

[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?? (Please note: This scenario isn't applicable to becoming game canon if you choose to app your character, as an alien pterosaur attack is a major event.) 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 uncontrollable urge to polish every paving stone in the Earth Sector? Anything goes!

Comments

[secondskin]

Who says you are my boyfriend?

[There's a grin with the words. They both know he is, no matter what they call it or don't call it, and she wouldn't have it any other way. At the kiss she gives him a wary look. Avell knows it's not the safest thing to do right now.]

I am feeling... less nuclear, thank you for asking.

[By this point she's nearly alright. Cold, but alright. He did a good thing out there today.]

[secondskin]

[She nearly snorts. Of course, she hopes that the man is alright but doesn't say as much. Chuckling, Avell leans a little more into Vic as she looks to the street below.]

He should learn to catch better.

[Avell shoots Vic a grin and looks back to her own target. The merchant hasn't quite noticed the plane yet.]

Pick it up already.

[landsonhisfeet]

Then what am I exactly?

[Vic kind of wants to know the answer to that. At times they feel closer than just boyfriend and girlfriend. Those words sometimes feel too...lacking, in what they really are. The word he's looking for never comes to him though, and he's long since caring about having a label.]

Someone's gotta make sure you don't go nova. Might as well be me. Can't let anything happen to my Tempete can I?

[If anything happened to her, heads are going to roll.]

[landsonhisfeet]

[As she leans against him Vic puts his arm around her and holds her a little closer.]

Honestly, it's really his fault he didn't.

[Vic answers her grin with a smile of his own. She really is the better of the two of them. While she hopes the man is alright Vic really couldn't care less.]

Come on, use those latent psychic powers.

[Meanwhile, Vic's target finally notices the plane and reaches for it.]

Think the fun is about to begin.

[spiderforhire]

"Holy shit. That sounds awesome. I want to date her now."

[secondskin]

[There's a pause at his question, the first more than the last. He's not the only one that isn't sure anymore. They're definitely something, but as for what she can't quite find a name that fits.

Well, save for one. Avell smirks up at him, smug as ever.]

Mine. You are mine.

[And that's all there is to it.]

[secondskin]

For you, maybe. Mine is a fucking imbecile-- wait. No. He has it.

[Suspense. Which one will work out the plane first? Avell thinks she's in with a chance and then the merchant simply throws it again, off into the street. She frowns.]

Idiot.

[With a huff, she looks to Vic's target.]

It looks like it's all up to you.

[landsonhisfeet]

[If not for the rain and the fact she's still recovering, that answer would have gotten a much bigger reaction out of him. The fact that they're in public never really enters his mind though.

Instead Vic just kisses her. The shock is there and it turns his lips numb, but fuck it. He just doesn't fucking care right now.]

You're god damn right I am.

[No Vic without Avell.]

[landsonhisfeet]

Plenty of other saps out there for us to fuck with Tempete.

[He kisses the top of her head but he's still watching his target. Vic knows how much she hates to lose. Probably as much as Vic loves to win.

The person at the cafe finally grabs the plane. At first it looks like he's about to crumple the thing, but then something stop his. Instead he just freezes for a moment. A moment later he slowly unfolds it and reads the message inside. Suddenly he jumps out of his chair and just begins screaming something at the people around him.]

I think I like this guy.

Alex Conklin | The Bourne Series (novels) | three guesses who this is, first two don't count

[saintoflangley]

2. Can you not?

Conklin has no idea what he'd done to deserve this.

Actually, he does, but not specifically. Thirty-some years in grey-to-black operations sure puts a lot of red in your ledger.

He can deal with one child. He can, on occasion, deal with two, but only if someone more experienced with children is around because he makes one hell of a bad babysitter.

He's dealt with the street urchins throughout southeast Asia, in Saigon during the bad old days, and he knows the 'swarm of adorable pickpockets' strategy. He is not, however, used to them being so damn fascinated with his cane and damnable boot!

"No, you may not look at it. Go away."

They giggle and press in closer, drawing more kids their age, one crouching down to get a better look at his prosthetic foot.

5. No but seriously Can You Not

Sure, so a guy limping through the city - a new Foreigner - looks like a soft target. And Conklin isn't unused to being tailed, but his erstwhile tails had been more experienced than mere petty thieves.

Or just the one, in this case. Why send two people after an old man with a cane who can't even walk right?

Conklin turns down an alley, the thief follows him, and halfway down Alex turns on his good foot, plants his cane in front of him, and smiles.

"I'd advise you to reconsider," he says evenly. "Your current plan of action's pretty ill-advised, friend."

[Dealer's Choice]

There's a new Foreigner in town. An older man - about sixty - with greying brown hair, a face prematurely lined by stress, and - most noticeably - a pronounced limp. The cane makes the limp steadier, while the still-awkward gait is courtesy of a late-eighties prosthesis.

What.....do you do?

5

[spoilsfun]

When Conan sees a man with a cane being followed into an alley, it didn't take a detective of his skill to guess what was about to happen. Sticking close to the alley walls, he follows after them while talking full advantage of being light enough to have very quiet footsteps.

And then when they come to a stop, he steps out directly behind the prospective thief and makes a loud remark.

"It isn't nice to steal things from people, you know."

[saintoflangley]

The voice came from pretty low down, and was high-pitched enough for Conklin's brain to stop just for a moment - Jesus, a kid! What did he think he was doing?! - but the kid's arrival seemed to distract the would-be thief even more. He half-turned, and that was all the opening the retired spook needed.

Nobody ever expects to get their feet swept out from under them by a guy with a limp and a cane. But then it happens and you feel like a damn fool. Sweep the leg, Alex! No, not that one.

Once the wannabe thief hits the ground, Conklin plants his boot - his very obvious prosthetic foot - on the small of the kedan's back, and smirks. "Naughty, naughty. Didn't your mother ever teach you to respect your elders?"

Then he looks at the kid. Christ, he can't be much older than Jamie, David's son, who he'd give his life to protect - and nearly had. "What d'you think you're doing, following a thief into an alleyway?"

[spoilsfun]

"He was acting suspicious. I was curious."

Conan delivers the line blandly, without showing any hint of remorse.

"But that was done really well! Do you have a lot of practice doing this kind of thing?"

[saintoflangley]

The black belt - in the days before a land mine cut his career as a field man tragically short - laughs a little. "You could say that." Thinking someone defenseless due to a mobility issue was really rather stupid on the thief's part, Conklin muses. People adjust.

Speaking of which...he lets the thief up, and the kedan gets to his hands and knees, groaning. "Scram," Conklin says, giving the thief a not-so-light tap in the behind with said prosthetic foot, and the kedan wastes no time in getting out of there. He's obviously outclassed.

There's something off about the kid, though. Conklin files that gut feeling in his mental Rolodex of Hate and studies the boy. "Got a name, o curious one?"

[spoilsfun]

Conan had noticed his leg immediately, of course. But Conan knew better than to ever think anyone defenseless for a disability. More often, he'd seen people using disabilities to fool people into thinking them harmless.

"Conan Edogawa. I'm an elementary school detective from Japan."

dealer's choice;

[whipcracks]

Jane's known plenty of people with limps, it came with the territory: mining accidents, animal related injuries, war wounds. Sometimes, just pesky old bad luck. No matter what the cause, it's not pleasant, and it's not convenient.

Jane's known plenty of people with limps, it came with the territory: mining accidents, animal related injuries, war wounds. Sometimes, just pesky old bad luck. No matter what the cause, it's not pleasant, and it's not convenient. (Joe reminds her, almost daily, that old injuries can make even easy jobs a challenge -- usually right around the time there's work to be done.)

So when there's only one table left at the outdoor cafe, and they were both heading for it until each noticed the other, the redheaded woman inclines her head and gestures to the seating.

Her accent is a distinct western tang, but there is an underlying Georgian flavour there. "You look like you'd do better with a sit down," she said.

tw: past alcoholism mentioned

[saintoflangley]

"Alex Conklin. I didn't know they let elementary schoolers be detectives, unless the police force there's far more understaffed than I remember."

If Conan seems older than his years, Conklin seems younger than his own. A renewed sense of purpose will do that to you - but there's also the evidence of hard living about him, independent of his injury. Several years (almost a decade in the past) of alcohol abuse will do that to you, too.

[saintoflangley]

Normally - normally - he'd be grumpy at anyone assuming he'd need special accommodation for his age and his limp (unless, of course, he was exploiting it), but there's something about her that gives him pause from immediately snarking. She looks so much like Marie - granted, a younger Marie than he or David had ever known, and maybe it was just the hair, because she doesn't sound a thing like the French-Canadian economist - and maybe it's just age making him sentimental, but any reminder of home, no matter how slim, is welcome.

"No law that says we can't share," he says with a smile. His own accent's a carefully cultivated generic East Coast American, no trace of the Russian of Brighton Beach he'd grown up with.

2

[consultingbishop]

There'll be a loud whistle from behind you, Alex, one that draws the attention of the urchins.

And it most definitely will, as there's a small pile of juulan in the middle of the road. All unattended.

[saintoflangley]

Free money beats out harassing a Foreigner any day of the week, and while a couple of them are wary of a trap, they're swept up in the wave of their buddies scrambling to be the first to the pile.

"Nice one," Conklin says, leaning on his cane as the other man approaches. "Sure you can part with that much?"

[consultingbishop]

Peter steps out from the alley, walking towards the harrassed foreigner, a slight smile on his face.

"It's fake. No self-respecting merchant would take it." Peter then nods down the road. "I suggest we move before they find out."

[saintoflangley]

Rolodex: this guy carries significant amounts of counterfeit juulan, or at least has access to it. Good to know.

"Lead on." The former field man inclines his head.

[consultingbishop]

There's the briefest of pauses in Peter's movements and Alex will likely clock that he's looking him up and down, before he shifts and moves.

"How long you been here? Got a place to stay set up, or are they literally harrassing you off the boat?"

[saintoflangley]

What, you ain't never seen a guy with a cane before?

"Couple days. Cooling my heels at the hotel for now." Beat. "Or just the one, actually."

Never let it be said he isn't good-humored about it.

[consultingbishop]

"Good."

Because Peter would have to have a word with someone if they were harrassing Foreigners who had just woken up here.

"Got a plan? Or just here for the free vacation?"