Test Drive Meme (February + March)

[bravenewmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME: FEBRUARY + MARCH EDITION

Welcome to bravenewworld's test drive meme! This post is designed to help players test out their characters within the setting, as well as give them an opportunity to collect samples for their future application. The prompts below are all optional, and can be used to get a feel for the game, but we encourage players to get creative and use this post however best suits their needs. Players are welcome to use either prose or brackets for their threads.

When creating a thread, it is advised that players give their prospective thread partners a bit of information in the subject line, such as the characters name and canon, or a possible typing and Enlightened ability (if this is applicable). These are not required, but will make it easier for any prospective players to thread with you. While not required, we also encourage you to take a look at the most recent AU Planning post.

THIS CYCLE'S PROMPTS
#1 After the events in Union, the settlement of Refuge has decided to make the Shattering a more public affair. People who were impacted by the tragedies that befell the city, or those who wish to pay respects to a lost family member are encouraged to either send a Litwick off into the caves, or go off to find one. Who knows, you may find something out about yourself--or about the others around you.

#2 The Medical Center in Union is in need of volunteers, and has sent out a call. But it's not because of what you might think. The weather has been surprisingly warm this time of year, and because of it, a number of Pokémon have decided to, um, fix the population discrepancy that the Elite Four's attack has caused. Baby 'mon have overrun the Breeding Center, and many have found their way at the Medical Center for overflow. There are going to be a lot of diapers that need changing...

#3 With the warm weather hinting at a full return, flocks of Pokémon have begun their northern migration back into the Verdant Forest and beyond. Unfortunately, a few of the wild Flying-type breeds are less than respectful of old monuments, and the Lake and Forest Shrine have received a few unwanted guests making a mess. Shooing them off only seems to anger them, and the Shrines are filthy as a result of their visit. Ugh, will these rude Pokémon ever leave?!

#4 After the attack from the Elite Four, help has been filtering in from all parts of the known world. As a result, a number of temporary food carts have opened up in the business district of Union. Workers have to eat, right? This is a perfect time to expand your palette, but be warned, some of the delicacies can be a bit... eclectic, we'll say. Eat at your own risk.

#5 Wildcard! Come up with your own prompt!

If you have any setting questions, or want to do some reading before posting a thread, you can find the setting directory here! Happy tagging!

Comments

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[For the moment, she's finding herself a little lost and more than a little caught off guard by the girl she finds herself suddenly staring across at. A familiar face she hasn't seen in a long time, one she'd only known for a brief time and then never expected to see again only to find... here just around some random corner sitting on a random box in a random street.

She's stopped dead in her tracks, the disbelief more than a little mutual. For some reason her usual standoffish bluster escapes her completely and she's left blinking at her across the suddenly very short distance separating them.]

Yeah. I, uh, helped you with those guys. [Stupid, but it's all she can think to say.]

[duette]

[ Normally, she might act a bit more lively at meeting an old acquaintance. But Ryuko had been a little different all together. When travel became more frequent between Union and its allies, her family had been right there in the interest of supporting those who likewise came to Union. When they'd met, it'd been one of Kanade's first trips to Caldera.

When they'd met, Ryuko also took on a couple of guys who got a little too rough with her in one of the fiery city's markets. One had met an unfortunate end to his day — face-first in a garbage bin.

Kanade remembers, and starts laughing to break the spell. ]

You look like you saw a ghost. I'm the one who lives here, remember?

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[Truth be told, Ryuko had mostly been looking for a fight, business as usual. The fact that she'd gotten to smack down a couple of punks who decided to push around the girl was a nice bonus. What she hadn't expected after sending the first guy to his new home and introducing the second to his new best friend, The Dirt, was when that girl had refused to let her saunter off into the sunset afterwards but instead tugged her along on her trip through Caldera, to see the sights and the best places to eat.

It had only been a few days but-- ... and then Kanade starts laughing at her, and that's enough to snap her out of whatever that was. Blinking, she gathers up her flippant attitude and folds her arms with an attempt at a haughty 'hmph'.]

I knew that! I'm just a little surprised to see you, y'know, here.

[Shouldn't she be helping run some fancy restaurant out there somewhere?]

[duette]

[ Oh, so that's how it was going to be. Not that is very surprising for Kanade — it was only by the virtue of being equally as stubborn that she'd gotten this girl to stick with her at all. A Calderan native was just who she had needed at the time, and she was lucky to come across one. ...Or have one come across her. Being bullied. Details.

In a stunning display of maturity, she sticks her tongue out. ]

Excuse me, then! [ She bites right back, though it's not at full force. ] I could go sit on another box —

[ That's when she seems to catch herself, falling short. ]

...but I had a reason.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[Seriously? Yeah, real mature there, Kanade. Fortunately, Ryuko's grown a lot in these past couple of years and as such replies to the gesture by blowing an actual raspberry. Like a grownup.]

Tch, whatever! Go ahead and sit wherever you want, I just didn't think you'd wanna sit all the way out here, is all! [She folds her arms behind her head and then glances downward and, ever the perceptive and sensitive one, kicks at the broken rubble again.] A reason, huh? This an important pile of busted junk or something?

[duette]

[ Kanade's face immediately steels. Picking up the bowl of food in her lap along with her apron, she stands wordlessly. Uh oh.

She marches right over, sternly shoving the edge of the bowl at Ryuko's middle. Now that the contents are visible, they're bright, savory red. Loaded up with oil and spice and something that might actually even be meat. Yes, she's offering the bowl over. ]

That "pile of busted junk" is the building my family was going to turn into a restaurant.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[... Oh, crap, she she suddenly has the chilling feeling that she just said something wrong. She stands in place, blinking and only leaning back a bit when Kanade storms right up to her with that angry look on her face aaaand... shoves a bowl of food at her?]

Huh? [She takes the bowl in her hands on instinct and immediately stares down at it as an amazing scent reaches her nose. Wh-whoah this thing is some kinda spicy meat bowl! ... And she has no idea if that's the right name for it, or the right name for anything at all, because her mouth is already watering and--

-- the junk pile is what?]

... Oh. [Her head lifts to look back at Kanade, staring like a Deerling caught in the headlights. Crap, crap, think of something! Her head swings left to right, looking for anything.] Uh... you guys picked a nice street?




[A chunk of wall teeters and falls over with a dull thud.]

BZZT WRONG ANSWER

[duette]

[ That wall now laying in broken bits of brick and plaster on the ground has timing as about as good as Ryuko's. Which isn't very funny to Kanade. A mixed range of emotions flash across Kanade's face. Flat anger, a twinge of disbelief, possibly a brief moment of smugness at having witnessed Ryuko open her mouth and promptly shove her foot in it.

At least she's there with her passive-aggressive offering of real Calderan cuisine.

...which is also partially Ryuko's doing. ]

It would have been, if not for those Elite Four weirdos coming in and making a mess of everything!

[ AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING KANADE HATES, IT'S A MESS.

She sighs, dropping her arms. ]

But I guess... I also have to thank you.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[Yeah, at least she's got that. Not that Ryuko's really making a move to eat the food in her hands right now, no matter how delicious it looks. Jeez, what the hell is her problem? It's not like she knew this was her family's place, she wasn't trying to be a jerk about it!

Her own expression shifts from wide-eyed and a little panicked to something a bit harder and she opens her mouth to fire back when... the tone suddenly changes again, leaving her blinking. Wait, what?]

... What?

[This girl, throwing her for a loop all the time.]

[duette]

[ It's one of her growing number of specialties, cooking aside. In truth, she hadn't even been all that good at cooking a year ago. She'd been a baker at heart, and she still is. But the times had evolved and she was going to keep up, come hell or high water. That was her whole reason for venturing outside of her charmed Union life — for the trips to Citadel's markets, and the brazen streets of Caldera.

She says none of this out loud, of course. ]

What "what"? It's like I said back then. If you hadn't [ saved her ] stayed with me, I wouldn't have even learned how to make that.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[It seems like they've both done some growing in their chosen... let's say professions since they last met. A fight like that was barely a challenge for her back then but for the newly crowned Queen of Caldera's Southside Streets it wouldn't even be worth her time. Of course, things had shifted even further since then and stomping her way to the top of Caldera's street gangs was no longer her top goal.

She says none of that out loud either.]

Oh. Right. [That. She glances down at the bowl she's holding again before shifting it to one hand and rubbing the back of her neck.] Well, don't worry about it. I was just kinda goin' around looking for a fight that day anyway, so....

[There goes the foot again??]

[duette]

[ She's beginning to think you enjoy the taste of your own feet more than actual cuisine, Ryuko. Kanade sighs heavily. ]

You, looking for a fight. I'm completely shocked.

[ No she isn't.

Shoving her hands on her hips, she glances back at the sounds of voices rising up for the last call on the food. Much of their supplies from this last trip to Caldera have been used up. In a way, it's lucky. With the building flattened, it would have all just gone to waste anyway. ]

Anyway, you'd better eat that before it goes cold. That's the last of it.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[She just wouldn't be her if she was good at this whole words thing.]

Didn't have a problem with it back then....

[But her muttering is cut off by that shouting getting her attention too. The news that this could be her last chance to have some real food for a while gets her going. It smells so damn good too, SHE CAN'T LET THIS CHANCE GET AWAY.]

Okay, okay. [She goes for the spoon, starts to lift it and then pauses and looks back at Kanade.] ... Hey, what about you? Isn't this your lunch?

[duette]

[ Jeez, this is taking entirely too long. Even she may have to zip her lips long enough to see the payoff here. Because Kanade may have a very vested and not-at-all obvious interest in Ryuko's reaction to the food, so much so that she's actually silent as the spoon lifts, almost there, aaaaand — ]

Huh? [ That was a dumb noise and it sounded dumb. Good going, champ. ] O-Oh, um.

[ Crud. ]

Well, you see, it's not really my style! Those are just the finest Calderan ingredients, and letting them go to waste is out of the question...

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[Not really her style? But she was just sitting there eating it.... Eh, whatever, she's not gonna sit here and try to figure out every weird thing this girl does. Besides, that just means more food for her, right? Right!]

Okay, if you say so. [A shrug and she digs the spoon into the bowl, lifts it out and finally takes that first bite. Seconds tick by as she chews and then--]

--!

[Her eyes go wide and she blinks, staring down at the bowl in her hand.]

This is--

[Here it comes...!]

--pretty good!

[Aaaand there it went.]

BZZT WRONG ANSWER AGAIN

[duette]

[ Excuse her! Of course she has to taste the things she's learning how to make or it could be disastrous — too spicy, too chunky, not the right broth to... meat... ratio. But given the choice, this is not her go-to thanks to her Union-based stomach. So yes, Ryuko. More food for you.

Which means that for the split second she decides to actually get on with it, Kanade is watching her with rapt and unguarded interest.

...Only to be met with the immense sound of wind rushing past her ears.

Aaaaand it's gone. ]

"Pretty good"... What, that's it?

OH DARN IT. RESPIN! RESPIN!

[guitar_case_vagabond]

[More food is always good food. Especially this food which really is... well pretty good. If anything, it could maybe use some more spice but even if Kanade made a damn good Calderan meal, she can't really blame a Unionite cook for holding back on the spice.

It's good enough that she misses out on Kanade's intense expression and that she's going back for a second spoonful when Kanade interrupts. She pauses, looking up and blinking.]

What?