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zubatopia2015-11-30 08:34 pm
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Test Drive Meme (December + January)

TEST DRIVE MEME: DECEMBER + JANUARY EDITION
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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.
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!THIS CYCLE'S PROMPTS
#1 The end of the year means Salvation holiday is in full swing in Union. This month long celebration means that houses, businesses and other establishments are decorated to the nines in garlands, ornaments and other fineries, and that retail establishments are sure to be swamped. There is an outcry for helpers around these various shops, and while jobs here do not necessarily pay well, the discounts on goods cannot be beat. Just beware of difficult customers...
#2 With the biting cold settling in most places, Caldera has seen a sudden influx of visitors. Something about being in extremely close proximity to a volcano seems to have some kind of appeal, and places are packed. But what does that matter to tourists? It’s warm, the food is good, and the crowds in the business district aren’t nearly as cut-throat. Residents of the city, however, might get a bit fed up with the sudden surge in (temporary) population. Caldera wasn’t meant to take so many people.
#3 Whereas most of the countryside is barren during this time of year, Citadel stays green despite the cold temperatures. With snow-like blooms speckling its branches, the tree that houses this settlement is a go-to place for people looking for a bit of spring in the middle of winter. Unfortunately, however, with flowers come allergies, and those not used to the blooms (and even some who are) may find themselves a bit more congested than usual.
#4 Glacier is a frozen wonderland this time of year. Literally and figuratively. The place is about 70% ice normally, and the winter bite has opened up a number of “interesting” (see: suicidal for anyone with any remote cold intolerance) activities. These include ice fishing (both with a pole and, for the brave at heart, ice noodling), speed skating, luge and the annual Beartic Swim. We hope you brought your swimsuit and a thirst for adventure!
#5 Wildcard! Come up with your own prompt!
Ryuko Matoi | Kill la Kill | Enhanced God of War | Fighting/Steel/Dragon
[Man, what a time to roll into town. The decorations and flashy lights is bad enough but, man, these crowds are something else. So in the middle of all this holiday cheer is one certain teenage girl who's clearly not feeling the festive mood if the perpetual scowl on her face is any indication.
For the moment, she's pretty well given up trying to navigate anywhere and has picked out a relatively-quiet looking place to get a bite to eat. ... At least the tiny Cubone sitting across from her at the table looks happy enough, munching away on its snacks, but the girl... less so as she frowns unhappily at the plate in front of her. Finally, she sighs and just leans her head on her hand.]
Man, I heard Union food was boring but they weren't kidding.
#2
[Speaking of crowds, Union's got nothing on Caldera these days it seems. Made even worse by the fact that Ryuko's usual stomping grounds are now completely swamped by a bunch of goddamned tourists! But there's more important things to worry about than that as she muscles and shoves her way through the crowd of people.]
Watch it-- hey-- comin' through-- AAGH! Get outta my way! [She shoves her way past a few visitors from other cities, ignoring their rightful indignation as she comes to a stop and looks around.] Damnit, where the hell--? I told her not to wander off.
[And not far away is the source of her worry. A small, very young Cubone dodging around feet and looking frantically for the partner it had been separated from in the hustle and confusion of the crowded streets.
Which one do you run into first?]
1
You ain't joking on that one.
[Kon leaned back in his seat and poked at the dish of spiced, sauteed vegetables and fish with his chopsticks, a dissatisfied frown settling in on his face. He had heard that Union was starting to become a more metropolitan city with the foreign influences it has allowed within it's walls since it opened itself up to the world...but this?]
Sheesh. I was hoping for some actual meat in this weather!
[The little Litwick sitting on his shoulder chittered in disapproval at Kon's apparent rudeness-- to which Kon snorted under his breath in reply.]
Quiet, Chochin. Some of us have refined tastes!
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Keh. [She glances over at Kon's direction with a characteristically sour look before grabbing a quick chug from her glass of water and banging it back down on the table.] Think it'd kill them to put some taste into this stuff.
Hey! [She raises her head, looking around for a member of the staff.] Can I get some hot pepper over here or something?
[Yes. She is that kind of customer.]
[Meanwhile her Cubone blinks a few times and starts examining its own food as if trying to figure out what has her so upset about it.]
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You're gonna need more than just some hot pepper, [he murmured, taking another bite of the veggies.] We're gonna need more garlic, maybe some soy sauce...
[Another bite, and he bit down on the chopsticks while he mulled over the flavor. This was going to need more than a quick fix-- he needed to redo the entire recipe.]
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[Yeah, she kinda missed that mumbling because the waiter had managed to dredge up a shaker of that hot pepper she'd demanded. A shaker she currently had upended over her plate, vigorously patting the bottom of it as she dumped out what could only be called a heap of the stuff onto her plate.
The poor waiter's starting to look a little green.]
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[That poor waiter...]
Uh, stranger. You're scaring the staff.
[He wasn't without complaints, but he didn't want to be run out of the establishment either!]
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[She sets the shaker down beside her plate and mixes the fiery red powder in with the dreary rice and veggies and then takes a big bite of the resulting mix. The waiter blinks, leans in a little bit as if expecting some disastrous reaction... and then recoils in amazement when she just grabs another bite.]
They don't gotta watch.
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[And he's just gonna keep chewing on his chopsticks while he watches this mess with the same fascination that one pays to a fire burning through a building at the end of the street.]
But I think I feel sorry for the food, now. Nothing really can stop you, huh?
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[She grunts in agreement as she chews and swallows. By the now the waiter's retreated to a safe distance to join a co-worker or two in watching the girl scarf her meal down with a kind of fierce determination.
Hey, there's not much money in being a vagrant so if she's going to buy a meal, she is going to enjoy it.]
You got that right. [She punctuates that point with another chug of water before pointing to the pepper shaker.] You want some of this? S'not bad when you add a little bite to it.
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Pass, [he said bluntly, finding himself unable to tear his eyes away from this travesty he was witnessing.] While I like a little kick? I like being able to actually taste my food, too.
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[She's more than allowed to ruin her tastebuds if that's what she wants to do-- Kon's just going to make a grab for the soy sauce and garlic and shake some of that on before digging in again. The fix wasn't perfect, but it would more than suffice for the moment.
Later, he was going to go to the kitchen and tear this recipe apart.]
1.
Seated at a nearby table, she pulled off the various pieces of cold weather clothing off (seriously, it was way too cold, Union you need a volcano or something), she noticed something familiar. Hey, she could have sworn she'd seen that Cubone before...
Then that voice. ]
Ryuki?
[ She knew that bitching anywhere. Turning around and leaning over the top of her booth, she looked down, her whole face lighting up once she saw the younger girl. Target acquired. RIP. ]
Ryuki, that is you!
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Wha-? Uwah! [She whips around and immediately shoots right back to the other end of the booth when she comes right up against Excellen's wide grinning face.] What're you doin' here?!
[And, hey, wait a sec--]
And quit callin' me that!
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What do you mean what am I doing here? Hey, waiter!
[ Slinking back to her booth side, she grabs her things, raising her other hand in the air. ]
I'm moving over here now!
[ And promptly plopping down in the seat across from Ryuko. They had a lot of catching up to do. ]
Kyosuke and I got stationed here after all that stuff with Union a while back. But I didn't expect to see you here, Ryuki!
[ Sorry friend, the nickname stays. She gives the little Cubone a wave before diving into her menu. ]
Hmm, I wonder what's good here~
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[Too late, Excellen's already sitting down in the seat right across from her, leaving Ryuko grinding her teeth. What the hell? Who just sits at somebody else's table without even asking, why she oughta-- no wait. They'd been down this road before and Ryuko knows the game by now! Yeah, she's not gonna rise to the bait this time! Ha! Take that! Ryuko: 1, Excellen: ... Shut up, that's how many!]
Hrmf. [The Cubone at least seems happy to see a familiar face and makes a little noise in greeting around the food stuffed in its mouth before diving back into its meal. Ryuko meanwhile just... sits there, looking sullen. Seriously, if you could look up "Grumpy Teenage Bullshit Face" in the dictionary, this would be the picture beside it.]
Nothin'. Nothin's good here. [She glances down, picking up her chopsticks and jabbing them at the food on her plate. Is she talking about the food or Union in general? Who knows? All she knows is it took her the whole trip here to realize she didn't even know where to start looking for the answers she wanted. And it was too damn cold, and she'd already spent one night on a bench, and she'd just used the last of the cash she'd left home with on a crappy meal.
Yeah. Everything sucks.]
2
Ryuko's Cubone is one of those Pokemon. She sees the poor thing trying not to get stepped on and picks her up so the worst of it can be avoided.]
Hi there, little guy. Did you lose someone?
[Only a Unionite would have no issue with just picking up a stray Pokemon and talking to it in the middle of creation.]
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She's a little thing, even by the standards of her species, and clearly very young and by the impression she's giving off it looks like Maka's hunch is right on the money. Lost. Lost and scared.
Aaaand not far away there's some kind of scuffle going on. It seems like some girl has decided to hop up onto one of the many vendor stalls lining the streets and is hollering at the top of her lungs.]
HEY! I'M OVER HERE! WHERE'D YOU GO?! -- Ack, hey, get the hell offa me! [And that sure is the owner of the stall reaching up to yank the girl getting footprints all over his stuff back to the ground. He gets a palm to the face as Ryuko makes an impressive show of standing her ground... so to speak.] Lemme go! I'm tryin' to find my friend! HEY, CUBONE!
[Cubone's reaction is immediate. Lifting her head toward the source of that voice as a rush of recognition rises from her. That's her! That's her friend!]
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[Someone causing a scene while calling out for a Cubone--that sounds about right. Maka doesn't put down Cubone, not yet, it's more practical to continue carrying her over to the source of all the trouble.]
She seems really worried about you, if it's enough to climb on top of a stall like that. [Maka comments idly as she breaks into a jog.]
Excuse me! [Now she's addresses the vendor when she reaches them, holding Cubone in the air.] I'm sorry! We were just looking for a friend, but I found them now so don't give her a hard time, please.
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By the time Maka gets there with Cubone, the situation seems to have... escalated. The owner is up on top of his stall and grappling with the crazy girl who very much appears to have the upper hand, what with the headlock she's got the man in and all. But the scuffle comes to an abrupt stop, both of them looking up when Maka intrudes.]
Ah, Cubone! [A quick shove and the poor owner goes tumbling over amid a crash of leafy green products. Ignoring the plaintive wail ("MY CABBAGES!") Ryuko jumps down, reaching out to take the little Pokemon into her arms, Cubone reaching out just as eagerly.] Jeez. Where'd you get off to, huh?
[With her Pokemon safely back where she belongs, Ryuko finally turns to Maka, smiling a bit in relief.] Thanks for finding her, I was really starting to get worried. How'd you know she was with me though?
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[A hesitant smile comes in return, Maka knows very well that saying "because you were squalling atop a cabbage cart for Cubone" is incredibly rude even if it's the truth. RIP in peace, cabbage merchant.]
Well, she told me she was looking for her friend, and then we saw you and she pointed you out. [..."She told me" sounds odd out of context, and this girl certainly doesn't look like a Union native.] ...My Enlightened ability is communicating with Pokemon--uh, with a clearer understanding than usual.
[Anyway, enough about her. Even if it's a "normal" thing Maka still hesitates to talk about it at any particular length, it sounds like she's bragging or something.] --I'm just glad she found you before she got hurt, these crowds can get really out of hand. Were you trying to get anywhere in particular? I can show the way if you want.
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Whoah, seriously?
[She blinks at Maka's claim. She'd never really heard of anything like that. But it seems sudden subject changes are effective against her and she looks to Cubone again, nodding.]
Huh? No, not really... [she glances around, rubbing the back of her neck.] I'm just kinda looking around. Unless you know somewhere good to eat around here.