Second Test Drive Meme

[ourearth]

Second Test Drive Meme



Welcome to the SoE TDM!

Due to the premise of the game, everyone on this testdrive must be the modern day reincarnation of the characters we all know and love. Please take a quick look at our navigation to familiarize yourself with the concept and setting of the game before you jump in.

If you have a relationship plotting post comment for your character (which is NOT mandatory to play in this tdm), please link to it when putting up a toplevel on the TDM. That way, other players can easily get an idea of what kind of character they will be tagging.

Other than that, you know the tdm drill - when commenting, please put your character's name and canon in the subject line, and write one or more threadstarters so others can tag you easily. Below, you'll find some prompts that you can use or discard at will to write those threadstarters.

1. A ghostly apparition

There are many places in Mossgate Council where one may spot ghosts, but the place that yields such sightings most frequently is the ruins at the top of the cliffs. So one beautiful night, you're up there - for a date? To smoke weed? To watch the stars with a bottle of whiskey? - as you suddenly notice something out of the corner of your eye. Perhaps it is a bearded man in a long cloak, or a woman in historical clothes, or something much more outlandish... What do you do?

2. Old ships

A new exhibit at the museum has opened! ...Or rather an old exhibit has reopened after some repairs and an overhaul of the presentation. So now the old pre-Roman-times ship that is the pride of the museum can be visited by the public again, and of course there are all kinds of advertisement around town, and a large sign in the entrance are of the building guiding visitors towards the correct room. The ship sits elevated on a platform in the middle of the room and other items and explanations are placed along the walls. A volunteer guide is always close by to explain more about the ship (if your character is the volunteer guide - just make something up!).

3. Moss Manor gathers

In Moss Manor, there is reason for curiosity, gossip and free drinking. Wait. No. Of course it's just that the village gathers to warmly welcome the new vicar of the local church, and since that church is so important locally, even those who aren't directly related to it show up to say hi.

But while they're there, why not take advantage of the free food and drink and the opportunity to talk to everyone else at the welcome festivity?

4. Water activities

In Folkton, summer has begun. People are boating on the little river, sitting near the water while studying or take an afternoon nap there, older relatives try to keep children from falling into the water or at least not going in without supervision, and occasionally someone is yelling at a dog that just took a leap into the cool waters and splashed them at everyone in the general surroundings. An ice cream van is parked near the river, and some kids play football near the river.

5. The wonderful everyday

Being people living in our regular, modern world, people need to work or study, eat and commute, shop and relax... Just that all those regular, normal tasks can hold unexpected difficulties if you were just sitting at the tills at Tesco's, and this noseless customer suddenly made you remember the day you lost your parents. Or maybe you were getting some exercise, and running down the street you developed superspeed and have no idea how to control it yet...

6. How many times will they have to tell you?

Twice a year, there are guided tours through the tunnels under the cliffs east of Mossgate. Those tunnels, dug into the chalk throughout centuries or perhaps millenia, were built without a general plan, so their layout is an absolute confusing mess. On top of that, there are cave-ins and unsafe areas. It is strictly advised to not stray from your group, as people have been harmed because they got lost in them before. But you just had to get distracted, or perhaps think that it would be more fun to explore on your own, and now you are lost without a blip of signal to call for help with...

7. Fun, fun fun!

At Mossgate's seaside, a Victorian pleasure pier extends about 40 metres into the sea. The platform at the end of the pier holds fairground rides such as a merry-go-round, a small rollercoaster and a helter skelter and along the pier kiosks sell candy floss, rock candy, roasted nuts and other goodies. A small distance down the street, a minigolf site can be found and on the street along the coast there are fish and chips shops, family-friendly arcades and souvenir shops. Maybe you are actually here for the fun, or maybe you just work here or are trying to track down a wayward friend...

8. Wildcard

And, of course, the obligatory do-what-you-want option.

Comments

[vernal_miss]

The number of voices surrounding her are a babble of pitches and timbres. The words spoken flow into a background as her own inner voice rises with confusion and fear. She doesn’t know which way to turn because she cannot remember which attraction was next in the list of requests among her siblings; especially when requests tended to pull them in alternating directions or be reordered intermittently due to various influences. Maybe they would come back this way soon....but how long until they leave the pier?

Yet, through it all, that trained recognition triggers at the sound of her name, causing her to freeze in place and strain to listen. She knows precisely who is calling her the second time her name is shouted, and turns towards the direction from which she hears it. Distant though it seems, she starts walking towards where she thinks her grandfather is calling her from, and tries to wind her way through the mess of legs and other children to get there. In her mind, she’s nearly screaming I’m here!

[blueskying]

There we go. When Sky opens his eyes he can still pinpoint the person he's looking for. Whatever presence-sensing is it's mapped onto his general awareness as if he's always been able to do this. He forges on steadily, feeling swallowed by the crowd's collective presence. Where... yes.

"There you are," he says, and reaches out with his left hand. He's got the more handlike prosthetic for his right today, more yielding and less deft than the hooks. "Did you get turned around?"

[vernal_miss]

Worry begins to mount once more when she no longer hears her name being called. It does not stop her from continuing forward, and instead hastens her pace in hopes of catching up before she loses the only lead she has to her family. Darting around other pedestrians, her long hair swings with her movements and the turn of her head as she looks side to side. She very nearly collides with a woman’s oversized purse in the effort, and stumbles to regain her balance in the near miss.

Ornella feels herself breathing faster as she turns to reset on her previous course when her grandfather speaks from right next her. As soon as she sees his hand stretched out towards her, she springs forward to grasp it with both of her smaller hands latching tight. In that instant, she knows she’s safe, and the relief shows in a well of tears in her eyes as she looks up to his face. All she manages in answer is a nod of her head before she steps in closer, seeking to lean in against him if she can.

[blueskying]

Sky immediately holds the child against himself, patting her on the back. It's hard to be a sensitive kid. At her age he'd been pretty independent, always running off and getting into trouble, convinced for several years that his aunt and uncle hated him - but of course it's one thing to race away into familiar fields and stands of trees, another to get turned around in the midst of a welter of strange people. He knows she's willing to do the former.

"There, there. Of course we were going to find you," he murmurs, knowing the tone matters more than the words just now. "You're all right. Aren't you?"

[vernal_miss]

He knows her well then to recognize she’d vanish into a range of flora in an instant.

Permitted closer, a sign she is not in so much trouble as she had worried upon first realizing she was separated, she releases his hand to find purchase holding the fabric of his clothes instead as she burrows her face right in against him. A few deep breathes with his hand patting on her back, and the fear dissipates. A hard blink pushes the tears away, and when she lifts her face to peer upwards again, a slim smile has appeared. She nods her head a few more times to confirm that yes, she is in fact quite right.

Ornella is a bit small for her age, but the recent loss of her voice has changed a lot in how well she relates and responds socially. Left out of discussion, her attention wanders all too easily.

[blueskying]

"I'll give your parents a text message and say you're with me, do you want that?" He's not entirely up on modern technology and its terminology but he's no Luddite.

There are options, for a mute child, and in some ways they're easier to explore than for adults. Sky has friends with electrolarynxes, little handheld voice boxes pressed to their throats to give them whispery electronic voices, and some with less obvious ways to communicate. Or more obvious ways. He can read; he can read lips from straight on at close range, if they're not moving too fast; he can understand some American sign language, though British sign language is nearly incomprehensible to him. There's no reason to treat her like she can't participate in conversations or make her own decisions just because it's a little harder.

Bluh, sorry for letting this get away so long.

[vernal_miss]

His suggestion to send her parents a text is met with an enthusiastic nod and a stronger smile. Not only would that alleviate any more worry over her getting briefly lost, but it would mean she could linger a few minutes with her grandfather on her own before rejoining the group. Her hands release the fabric to stretch her arms around him as far as she can reach for a hug. She might cling more for a while yet, but this is specifically to show gratitude.

It’s hard in a family with three other siblings who are eager to fill the void left at the loss of her voice. They aren’t even doing it consciously, but less competition vying for attention from two busy mothers is a grand opportunity. There has been some discussions regarding how to best help Ornella cope, sign language high on the list even if it means the whole family has to dedicate to it to make it effective. Ornella tends to cheat by writing on a dry erase board around the house for now, and that method is unfortunately ineffective when they are on the go.

[blueskying]

Sky presses her with an elbow absently to acknowledge the hug as he flexes a muscle in his right arm so his prosthetic hand clasps the phone that he puts into it, and with his left hand laboriously hunt-and-pecks out a message. He's not really sure about the smartphone his daughter gave him. It seems fragile and is such a trial to use - Sky's reluctant to grasp it with the hooks he's more comfortable with, its screen doesn't recognize prosthetic taps, and he thinks of the five-fingered hand he's out wearing now as more decorative than functional.

When working like this he keeps thinking about the impossible memories, the prosthetic he wore in them that was sensitive and yielding, if less good at inhuman speeds. It's not even heavy. Sky has spent more than twice as many years with one hand than he had with two, but the way that in those memories he never had to think about compensating is... odd.

"There we go," he says, finishing with relief. "Hang on to this, you can nudge me if your moms mail me anything back. Want anything to eat, or would you rather just take a walk?"

[vernal_miss]

The press of his elbow is plenty for her, and Nel is careful to keep still while he works at typing out the message. Given their current position on a crowded pier, she knows the shortcut would not work entirely, but she has to wonder if anyone thought to show her grandfather voice to text functions. Just in case, perhaps she should make sure he remembers if anyone had.

Hearing him speak once more, Nel lifts her head and eases a step back to better look up to her grandfather. Offered the phone, she takes it with both hands. Clutching it against her chest with no real pockets, she keeps it held securely there with one hand and frees the other to make gestures. It only counts as charades, but that’s something. She doesn’t need to think long about the choice, and taps her fingertips to her mouth with a raise of her eyebrows. A snack would be nice, and more alluring, it means a chance to sit down. Nel is far from tired, however, she can communicate much better looking at someone rather than walking beside them.