Third Permanent Test Drive Meme

[ourearth]

Third Permanent 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. The mighty cat spawn

One of your fellow Numbered echoed the ability to spawn cats. They don't know how or why, and they have very little control over it. The problem is that all those cats are a little magic, and all of them like to escape directly after they spawned. So all Numbered have been recruited to find the cats and bring them back to their home.

Find a cat and bring it home really sounds a lot easier than it is... At least they are easily recognisable by the little gemstones set into their foreheads.


2. Winter Wonderland

This far to the south, in the very maritime climate of England, there rarely is snow. And if, it isn't much, and it doesn't stick for long. Not so this Christmas. Snow as thick as on Christmas postcards covers Mossgate Council. Public transport has shut down, the roads are impossible to drive on, stores have closed down, and electricity is down in many places.

In Folkton and Moss Manor, the church halls are heated and offer mingling spaces. In Mossgate, people go sledding on the Greens. And in Tarwich, whole roads are covered in giant snowmen. All corners of the council area are in a special state of existence, and to be missing it, you'd have to be in deep hibernation.


3. Halloween is a bit extra this year

As in, very extra. Not only does every household wake up to a bucket of water on their doorsteps in which scary apples are floating, complete with a sign attacked to the bucket that reads: Have fun bobbing!

No, the whole of the council area is also covered in cobwebs, and the graveyards are covered with the skeletons of those that should normally lie buried under their soil.


4. Summer summer SUMMER!

There is a summer fête and a Pride to enjoy during the summer months. But one can also just lie at the beach, wade through the rock pools at the bottom of the cliffs to catch starfish, tiny shrimp, tiny fish, shellfish, and anemones. Or you can take a ride on one of the attractions on the Pleasure Pier. Or enjoy a concert on the greens. ...Or return from a trip to Spain and suddenly have all echoes come back to one at once. That's also an option, but probably less pleasurable.


5. Past tdm prompts

Feel free to use a prompt from an earlier tdm!

6. Wildcard

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

Comments

B-52 | Food Fantasy | OTA

[roomforgrowth]

1.

Round up some cats. How hard can it be? Brandon likes cats, after all, and does pretty well with the ones that hang around the winery. So he collects a carrier or two and goes out hunting.

Which is how he's found well into the evening on hands and knees next to his motorcycle, peering under someone else's car, going, "Here kitty kitty... come on kitty... I've got some nice tuna here.... ow, hey!"

The kitty does not care for the tuna, it seems. Someone come help. Or laugh at him, whatever.


2.

One of those snowmen in Tarwich is Brandon's. He putting his finishing touches on its look, which is... kind of odd, actually. He's found a ratty black suit jacket and a funny square sort of hat and a big hunk of piping he's made look kind of like a big-barrelled rifle, and slung it against his snowman's side. There's some dark gray rocks for eyes and a thatch of dark twigs for hair.

And he's looking at it with a frown, as vaguely concerned by what he's made somehow. Or at least by how familiar it looks for some reason.


4.

Brandon is experimenting this summer with alcohol-flavored ice cream. Why not, right? Surely some adults will enjoy this. So he has a little stand at the fete with tubs of ice-packed jars of ice cream, battling the heat to stay cold and not start melting everywhere, and a bunch of little paper bowls to scoop ice cream into.

"This one is red wine flavor," he tells someone eagerly, pointing to a rich pink ice cream. His booze is one thing he can get excited about. "And this one is mead. That one is vodka, and this one is my personal favorite, Irish cream. Come on, have a taste."

2

[channingchanningchanning]

There's a tiny white dog sniffing around the snowmen. And, as dogs are wont to do, those snowmen that smell especially interesting or already have a bit of yellow snow at the bottom... well, get a bit more yellow snow. Not much, considering the size of the dog, and at a very low altitude, but he's definitely going around making sure that other dogs know of his claims.

And now he's heading for Brandon's snowman and sniffing around there...

[roomforgrowth]

Brandon is not as fond of dogs as he is of cats, especially not small fluffy yappy ones. He gives Chad a disapproving expression and nudges at him with one foot. "Shoo. This isn't for you."

He's not sure what it's for, exactly, and that bothers him. But it's definitely not for dogs to go sniffing around on.

[channingchanningchanning]

Chad stops his approach for a moment and gives Brandon an indignant glare. This clearly is a signpost, made for dog communication.

It's very rude of this human to expect him not to get in on that communication.

[roomforgrowth]

Brandon meets the glare with an unimpressed expression. "Shoo," he says again, and makes an accompanying shooing motion with his hands. "This is mine, not yours." He doesn't know, yet, that there's a dog on the network, and that this is him. He's still kind of new to this.

[channingchanningchanning]

What is it with people and claiming that things who clearly are for public dog perusal are not for public dog perusal? Terribly rude, is what it is.

He tipples closer to the snowman despite of Brandon's shooing motions, keeping an eye on the human.

[roomforgrowth]

"Oh, no, you don't." Brandon moves around the snowman, ready to bodily pick the dog up and carry him away if merely approaching him doesn't work to shoo him off.

[channingchanningchanning]

...Nope, Chad will not be deterred. Why would he, really? This guy is not his boss, he can't tell him anything. Which is also why he doesn't particularly care what he says.

So he approaches the snowman.

1

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie is also on cat-catching detail, though from the look of things she has had a more successful run of it that Brandon.

Wincing sympathetically she makes her way over, "Do you need a hand?"

[roomforgrowth]

He sits back on his heels with a slightly embarrassed expression, nursing a scratched hand. He doesn't look angry, or upset really, just kind of baffled, in a polite way. "Apparently this one doesn't like me much. Or doesn't like tuna, and I offended it by offering."

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie quickly glances underneath the car, receiving a hiss for her troubles as soon as she comes in to view, "I think it's just scared by our size..." She holds her hand out in askance for the tuna, "May I try?"

[roomforgrowth]

"Sure." Brandon offers the can to Sadie and stands up, moving a step or two back so he's not crowding the cat's hiding place. "Maybe you'll have better luck than I'm having."

[dragoonrouge]

"Ta," Crouching back down, Sadie places the tin on the floor under the car and scoops some of the tuna out onto the ground as well. Listening out for any non-Numbered, Sadie starts chirping and chittering away, perfectly mimicking the sounds that the cats at the shelter make to each other when it is dinner time.

Slowly, slowly, the magical cat inches forward towards the tuna and, quick as a whip, Sadie grabs its scruff when it gets close enough.

"Got it!"

[roomforgrowth]

"Good job," Brandon says, impressed, offering the carrier for her to drop the cat into before it wriggles free or scratches her. "How did you get to be so good at cat noises?" He isn't good at all. He tried that, but it didn't fool the cat at all, and obviously he didn't sound that good.

4, as promised~

[iamnotgod]

Walter is torn. On the one hand, his habits regarding alcohol range only from 'not at all' to 'utter lightweight', and he has never been motivated to change that...

On the other: ice cream. Given the weather, is there really a choice?

"I- guess the Irish cream, then?"

This isn't binding, and the alcohol content almost certainly can't floor him; presumably he'll be fine regardless of the flavor he chooses.

[roomforgrowth]

"Good choice," Brandon says, already pulling out his scoop and one of the paper bowls for Walter. "The alcohol content isn't all that high," he adds, by way of reassurance, since Walter does look uncertain, "but I still don't really feel comfortable selling it to little kids, you know?"

[iamnotgod]

Walter's shoulders grow a little less tense.

"Understandable," he replies, taking care not to let himself lean against the stand's legs.

"It's more a problem when they're teens and think they can handle it... and then try and have more than they can process."

Far, far too many people he'd known in uni had had problems of that sort - Russell, at least, hadn't been one of them.

[roomforgrowth]

"Right. You'll be fine." Brandon offers the bowl and a little plastic spoon (it's really very tiny, like a tasting spoon) to Walter with a smile. "There you go."

The ice cream does have a bit of alcoholic bite to it, but mostly it just tastes like vanilla and, as promises, Irish cream.

[iamnotgod]

There's a quiet "Thank you" as Walter takes the bowl-and-spoon, but he's rather silent as he eats the ice cream.

It's not until he finishes that he speaks up again.

"That was actually quite good. Again, thank you."

Alcoholic bite aside...

[roomforgrowth]

At least Brandon is patient while he eats, waiting for a verdict. He smiles with something like relief at the response. "Oh good. You're welcome! If you want to take some home with you, it's 2 pounds a carton." Hey, he has to pay for the booze to make it somehow.

[iamnotgod]

Walter made a wry face.

"You're lucky I budgeted for this event. Otherwise it'd be a disappointment for both of us."

He'll only get the one carton, though. Perhaps someone would share it with him later...

2. (This was such a hard choice, homg)

[faimommy]

A tall, spritely faerie boy is having a field day in all this snow. From starting snowball fights to making snow angels. He even totes a bag of lollipops around with him to give to passerby.

And, of course, he's innately curious when he finds someone intently staring at a snowman.

Rini leans in towards Brandon, trying to peek at the snowman over his shoulder.

"Maybe it needs glitter!" Rini says with a bright smile, probably louder than he meant to.

"Want to try? I brought some."

Rini reaches into his coat pockets and grabs a handful of vials filled with various colours of glitter, holding them out to Brandon.

"Come on, we'll make him look like he belongs in West End Theatre!"

[roomforgrowth]

Brandon looks vaguely alarmed at the idea. "No no no, it doesn't need glitter. It needs the opposite of glitter. It's supposed to be-- to be-- refined?" He's obviously groping for the right word there, and he doesn't look satisfied with what he came up with.

[faimommy]

Rini looks at Brandon, noticing that dissatisfaction in word choice.

"Hmmm... Sophisticated, then?" How do you make a snowman look sophisticated. "What if we got it a vest and some cufflinks? OOH! What about a cummerbund! And maybe one of those frilly Victorian-style ties."

He's pretty sure he can make those pretty quickly. A few switches on the sewing machine would be no problem.

[roomforgrowth]

The excitement is a little overwhelming, but Brandon does consider the options. "A vest... seems right. There's nothing for us to put cufflinks on, though, and I think those would get lost too easily anyway."