Test Drive 017

[voidtreckermods]

Welcome to the Test Drive Meme! Here is the place to see how your character might fit the setting, grab samples and have fun!

1. Post with your character, including their name and series in the subject. We’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

2. Assume they've been around long enough for threads to jump right into the action.

3. Have lots of fun. Mandatory, mod-sanctioned fun.

Happy testing!

Pumpkin Patch

It seems the ingredient of the month is pumpkins. The store room is full of them, in all sort of sizes all ready to be made into delicious meals. Pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin seeds, stuffed pumpkin, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pie. All the recipes are on the ICP and are easy enough to follow, even for those who have never seen a pumpkin before in their life.

Get cooking or perhaps passengers from worlds with Halloween festivals wish to carve the pumpkins first, creating grotesque faces or fancy works of art.

Hopefully no one eats a masterpiece!

Movie Wars

The Cinema carriage is as tall as a double carriage, but has only the one floor. Instead it features sloped seating. To enter the carriage from the sleeper carriage side you must first go upstairs. You enter at the top of the carriage, in the centre aisle with paired seating sloping downwards on either side. On the opposite wall there is a large screen and there is a door to the left of the screen once you get to ground level, to allow you into the next carriage.

On the right of the screen there is an ICP and in this carriage it has a catalogue of films and TV series. There are hundreds to chose from.

Hundreds of films to chose from and hundreds of passengers to share it with. Choosing what to watch can be difficult, agreeing what to watch can be impossible.

Are they a fan of Merry Little Voidtrain- the long running cartoon series about a Voidtrain and captain Kheli. Or perhaps a hard hitting drama about cross alien-species romance. Or an action film? A heal tapping musical about robot mice?

Choose a film, try not to argue, grab some popcorn and hope your fellow cinema goers understand cinema etiquette...

Spookstown

A series of mysterious events have struck a small town. The Voidtreckers are in need of help.

The train has brought the Voidtreckers to the town of Carcel. It is a small town with a small population in a world that is low in technology. A town of cobbled streets lined with gas lanterns. The occasional carriage drawn by strange creatures with six legs and long necks. The town is far away from any of the larger population centres of the world and yet it is here where the Voidtreckers must help.

A series of strange disappearances have rocked the town. People vanishing, sometimes from the streets but more recently from their own homes. To make matters worse the town is plagued by ghosts, invisible yet dangerous. They attack by manipulating the environment, throwing knives, tables and even people across a room. The town has descended into chaos and are in desperate need of help.

Team One

There has been some investigation into the missing people and there have been rumours of cries for help in the woods.

A thick, dark, slightly scary woods. The townspeople who are left have lanterns to borrow and promises that the path is safe and easy to follow. Don't worry about that howling, it's just the wind...

Team One must make their way through the woods to find the missing townspeople. Unfortunately for the Voidtreckers the cries and calls for help don't come from the safe paths and so they must move through the undergrowth to find the lost and confused townspeople. What's that creaking noise? Is that a shadow? What lurks in the bushes?

Team Two

Back in the village team two must try and help the villagers who are plagued by ghosts. The ghosts roam around unhindered by walls or doors. Sometimes they are just mischievous, blowing out lanterns, knocking books off shelves. Other times they are violent, throwing objects, throwing people, locking people in or out of their houses.

Protecting people against invisible enemies is no easy task. Help the town gather together, set up barricades, try and hide any dangerous objects before they can be used against the townspeople.

Or perhaps try out some traditional ghostbusting techniques. What harm can it do?

Team Three

Of course all this must have been caused by something. It seems some of the towns teenagers had found a strange cave in their ramblings not a week before. It had been full of strange objects, small gems, daggers, ancient books.

All the sort of things that probably should not be taken from their ancient resting place but of course someone had taken something. Maybe. Few of the teenagers are willing to talk and those that do are unwilling to get their friends into trouble.

Investigate, try and convince them to do the right thing. Round up the items that have been taken and return them to the cave. Hopefully that will end this nightmare!

Comments

Yoite | Nabari no Ou

[comefadeaway]

[Cinema]

Yoite entered the cinema and looked around vaguely. It wasn't that he was terribly interested in watching movies, but it was more interesting than sitting around doing nothing, and perhaps easier to avoid a large group of people that way.

He was so uninterested, in fact, he would scroll the list and hit one at random, before taking a seat up front to watch. Hopefully it wasn't animated, because that was going to be a lot harder to follow.

He wouldn't object to someone coming in to change the movie, either.

[Team One]

If one was looking for a partner who seemed fearless, that was Yoite. He wasn't afraid of spooky woods, for a variety of reasons, but instead he just charged forward, walking calmly, without an ounce of trepidation.

He might not notice his partner until they walk right up beside him. "Keep your ears open for cries." Yoite instructed, speaking quietly and his voice a bit muddled, glancing in their direction.

[Team Two]

A book was flying in the direction of a helpless villager and Yoite spun and kicked it out of the air. He had good reflexes, if nothing else. "Duck." He told the old woman, offering a bit of advice.

[Pumpkins]

Pumpkins were an interesting choice, in that Yoite couldn't remember ever having one.

He wasn't much of a cook, but he took a knife and cut into it, slicing himself a piece. It was a very odd thing. He was fairly certain Yukimi never brought one home to consume.

He brought it to his mouth and took a slimy bite.

Koumyou Sanzo | Saiyuki | OTA

[its_dad_sanzo]

xxxxx🌙 1. Spookstown Team One

"That sure is a lot of howling out there!" Koumyou Sanzo shuffled along the path, holding a lantern up high and squinting out into the dark. He spoke to the air at large, really, with no real concern for who was near him -- or who was not. "Do you suppose someone stubbed their toe? They really should have taken a lantern with them."

Koumyou, people are missing.

You're here to help find them.

"Well, I suppose there's nothing to do but go look!" And with that, the priest proceeded to set his lantern down on the path and then go wandering off into the brush. Yes, good, this is helping. This is what helping is.

Maybe someone should go with.

xxxxx🌙 2. Movie Wars

The priest had wandered in halfway through whatever movie was being screened, and squeezed his way into a seat with no apparent concern for who he may be sitting beside or how many empty seats there were elsewhere. And then he'd sat quietly, hands folded primly in his lap. Maybe it was going to be okay, potential boundaries issues aside.

It was a quiet moment, dramatic, tension as high as could be--

And Koumyou leaned over to the unfortunate soul he'd decided to inflict himself on, and whispered, "Who is that?"

Lan Xichen | Mo Dao Zu Shi / The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

[lanxichen]

Team One

In the tense shadows of the forest, there is suddenly a soft sound of music. A xiao is being played, the sounds clear and gentle - it is easy to recognize that even if the melody may be strange, the player is highly skilled.

But more, those who move closer to the sound will discover that the forest is calmer, and even they themselves are less frightened or agitated by the surroundings. There is power in the music, and it is used to make the finding of the missing villagers - and the way back - easier.

The source of the music is an exquisitely beautiful Chinese man with long hair, straight stature, and elegant bearing. Anyone who knows Lan Wangji on the train will find he looks familiar, though the eyes are darker, warmer, if infinitely sad. But that grief does not leak into the music. There is work to do.

Team Two

Inside the village, Lan Xichen has put the xiao away, and instead is sitting cross-legged, a seven-stringed zither - a guqin - settled across his knees. The skill with the music is no less, but this time, the music is less soothing and slightly more imperative. Even though Xichen himself looks like he might be a ghost, he is that pale. But his hands are steady.

"If you have a question to ask of the ghosts, think wisely. For a while, they will answer."

Wildcard

ooc: Choose your own adventure. Ghost hunting is kind of usual for him so his skills are very good, but he is trying to understand where he is an why, so he's not going all out unless there is specific damage. Also, his item is a qiankun pouch / small bag of holding with the guqin, the flute, a set of acupuncture needles, a writing brush, and an ink/graphite stick. No forehead ribbon for him right now.

Team One

[brightjade]

Music. Familiar music. Mingjue grits his teeth, Baxia leaping into his hand as he stalks through the trees despite the soothing effect of the tune.

Had Meng Yao lied and taken up music again?

No - the source of the melody becomes clear quickly and stops him short before he lets out a relieved breath. Baxia settles. Xichen's music is safe.

"Xichen," he greets when he moves closer, pulling two of the missing people along with him.

[lanxichen]

The xiao is parted from Xichen's lips, which utter a helpless, startled, "da ge?" as he spins around to face the familiar voice...

... only to pause, blinking slightly.

Everything about being here is extremely strange, and the man standing there in a purple hoodie is ... both familiar and not.

The jade token, on the other hand. He knows that.

For another moment, he blinks in uncertainty.

Then he breathes in, pulling himself a little bit more together.

"Have any of you been hurt?" Meaning the two villagers mostly.

And just like the Movies

[fun_thementalist]

Gen smirked at the question, watching the villain monologuing about his grand plan in a clear climax of the second act, setting up the hero's fall and need for a pep-talk after. It's terribly predictable.

Which is why he answered the question to this guy - who walked in basically halfway into the movie - in a soft, conspiratorial whisper, "He's the hero's ex. This is the reason why they've broken up."

Pum pum pumpkins~

[fun_thementalist]

Gen was just sneaking into the kitchen to see if he couldn't steal a slice of someone's pumpkin pie, and then ...

...

"... Did you just bite into a raw pumpkin?" Gen asked with slightly wide eyes.

lan wangji (rule 63) | the untamed

[lanerguniang]

Spookstown: Team One
Lantern in one hand and Bichen in another, Lan Zhan makes her way into the woods. It seems simple enough: retrieve the missing people. Whatever creatures that lay in wait, she's ready. Her footsteps are light as she walks off the beaten paths to follow the cries of help.

The warm glow of the lantern lights up against her pale skin as she walks, perhaps giving her her own ghostly visage to those who wouldn't know any better. Her eyes are sharp, trying to peer through the darkness to see if there are any humans.

Spookstown: Team Two
When they are tasked with helping with the ghosts in town, Lan Zhan is comforted by the prospect of doing something familiar. While barricades are being set up around and dangerous objects are being hidden, she finds a spot that is clear and sits down, setting Bichen down beside her.

With a graceful swoop of her arms, Wangji appears before her. Graceful fingers reach over the strings to start to pluck out Inquiry, a song she knows all too well. Perhaps they could speak with the spirits and settle them that way. The sounds of Qin echo through and, she hopes, these ghosts resonate with it as well as the spirits back home.

Wildcard!
[OOC: Always open to a wildcard option! Just send me a message :)]

[comefadeaway]

He hadn't really been paying attention, and hadn't noticed Gen coming in, until he spoke.

'...bite...pumpkin...' Yoite didn't catch all of it.

He raised his head slightly to look at Gen, glance briefly at the pumpkin and back to him.

"Is it yours?"

[lanerguniang]

When she hears the soft sounds of the xiao, Lan Zhan stops.

"Jie."

She silently and quickly makes her way toward it. There is only one person she knows that would play with such skill. When she arrives in the area, her eyes narrow. The robes are vaguely familiar, the music is very familiar. The stance is very much like her sister and yet. Lan Zhan stays aside but within view, keeping an eye out for any spirits that would come forth.

She awaits for him to finish playing before she speaks.

"Where did you learn that song?"

[lanxichen]

Xichen blinks at the young woman, a stranger to his eyes, though the way she speaks sounds very familiar. He cups his hands before him in greeting--

And the slight motion brings a whiff of an also familiar scent. His eyes widen, the seemingly only part alive of a face that's far, far too fallen to belong to the first jade of Lan.

After a moment, he does speak out his guess, his voice gentle as always, but very quiet.

"Wangji?"

He might be wrong. He probably is, and he will find excuses, weak and useless, if that is the case. And... yet.

"I learned it in the Cloud Recesses, studying to ready for a night hunt."

[lanerguniang]

She gracefully moves her hands in front of her and bows back, glad for familiar manners. But when he speaks, she freezes. Her eyes narrow a little as she steps closer, searching his face.

Cloud Recesses? Then this man is a Lan. This man called her by her name without her introducing herself.

The features are familiar and Wangji lowers her guard for a moment. The sorrowful look on his features familiar to her as it is fresh in her mind. That broken look that her sister had before she locked herself away.

Wangji frowns imperceptibly. This cannot be Lan Xichen. Her sister is in seclusion. Her sister is her sister. But the calming presence, the sorrowful look deep within his eyes, the xiao. How could it not be.

"Xichen?"

Meredith Baker | OC

[hurt_comforting]

[tl;dr: teenage navigator/therapist for a teen mecha pilot or two from a YA fiction as hell, Evangelion-ass postapocalypse; rightfully hates the only adult authority figure and is plotting his downfall. Originally from a tabletop game and now from her own thing.]

Pumpkins
Merry isn't going to pass up the chance at making pumpkin pie, now that she has a reasonably well stocked kitchen and there's no sugar or spice rationing. The pumpkin spice must flow.

"Good god, real vanilla," she says at a bottle of extract, before she gets ready to whip some cream. "It'll be hard getting used to this but I suppose I'll just have to weather it," she adds, and giggles.

Movie Wars
After taking a single look at Brutal Instinct and tossing it aside with great force, she finds a copy of Code Deep Blue - with the mecha on the cover, wading through the ocean, punching a sea serpent - and nods.

"We could use a laugh," she says as she offers it up as a potential thing to watch. "Won't be the same without everyone at base cracking jokes about Sync Compatibility, but still."

Spooktown 1
Meredith is armed and ready: lantern, full medkit in her pack, gloves for the thorns, scarf for the chill, gun under her belt/sash just in case. She marks her passage with a caern, stacking three rocks of decreasing size, so she can find it again. In theory. Hopefully.

She's not marking the trees with a knife. This is the kind of place where trees might resent that; she's talked enough people down from nightmares to know better.

"I think I heard someone call for help that way," she says, pointing. "Did you hear it too?"

[lanxichen]

Xichen's eyebrows twitch ever so slightly, because never in their lives has his brother used his courtesy name, but then.

This is not his brother. Whatever this whole situation is, and as it seems this young woman is Wangji, probably, she cannot possibly be his brother.

And, at the same time, it is not that she is not. And he is ... not focused enough to understand.

For now, he inclines his head. Then... observing, because the two of them are how they are, he swallows. "Have you found any of those lost?"

She may have, and returned to seek out more.

[lanerguniang]

While he speaks, she is still...observing him. Wangji takes a step, then another step, watching him. He is not her sister. The eyebrow twitch, however, serves to prove that he is indeed her sister...brother...somehow. He is Lan Xichen.

"I have not." She hesitates a moment before asking "...why are you so much like jiezhang?"

Zhongli | Genshin Impact

[highsocietyknowledgepower]

Pumpkin King?

"The pumpkin is not native to Liyue -- to the contrary, it's seen as foreign and exotic. Certainly moreso than anything from Mondstadt, for example, but not so rare as the finer silk flowers that now only skilled horticulturalists can grow."

Zhongli's turn in the kitchen consists of a nugget of knowledge, delivered in a calm tone as he looked over the supplies.

"That being said, the techniques to identify a good pumpkin aren't unknown even in the Lands of Geo. First, the visual inspection, looking for any obvious signs of damage, or rot. A good pumpkin also makes a hollow sound when struck lightly, and the stem atop it should remain firmly attached when manipulated. That will do to start with."

He motioned at a pumpkin, then, inviting his audience to make their tests... apparently having not at any point thought that he himself should get involved directly.

Who Ya Gonna Call

A book flew past Zhongli, narrowly missing his head to slam into a house nearby.

"Tut tut," he said, the mildest frown on his face. "Such behavior in ghosts is simply negligent. You've already caused no end of grief to the people here. Consider on this course and the reprimand you earn will only intensify, to your regret."

Leaning to one side to duck the cart wheel that was the ghost's response, Zhongli took a few steps back to behind the cover of a wall. "They seem very insistent on being banished, I'm afraid. I know the methods of Liyue to handle ghosts of this sort, of course, but the more direct ones require an adeptus."

Re: And just like the Movies

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Ohhh, how dramatic!"

Yes Koumyou, that would be the point of such a plot. He sat quietly for a while again, and then after a while he leaned over once more.

"How long were they together?"

[fun_thementalist]

"No, it's ..." Gen blinked at him, maybe he didn't hear him? Also, he'd just been terribly rude. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"No, you just caught me by surprise, my dear. I don't think anyone would've been brave enough to try that, back at home," Gen said, and offered him a curious little look. "How was it?"

[fun_thementalist]

"They've known each other since childhood," Gen told him, with a playful little grin. This was more interesting than the movie, anyway. Who wrote this trash? At least the special effects were cool.

"See, they made a pact to always be by each other's side, which is a teeeny bit trite but they were just little kids, that helped sell it. But now they've drifted apart, for some reason megavillainy and mass murder was a dealbreaker for the hero. It's very tragic. The hero still wants to be friends."

[comefadeaway]

He was watching Gen this time and he shrugged slightly. "The texture leaves much to be desired."

Yoite didn't think raw pumpkin would become his favourite or anything. He turned away to rinse his hands in the sink so he could tuck them into the pockets of his hoodie, hopefully the other man had been too surprised to see the splotches across his fingers.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou leaned an elbow on the armrest between them, his free hand at his chin as he listened Intently.

"I see, I see!"

There was a particularly impressive explosion on screen, which Koumyou watched before diving back into the actually interesting story here.

"If they want to be friends, they should just be friends! Maaah, I hope they work it out! I feel so invested now!"

[fun_thementalist]

"Yeah, I'd imagine it would, it's a lot more palatable cooked," Gen agreed with a sheepish little smile.

His eyes were sharp, though, and he saw those splotches.

That didn't mean he'd say anything about them, yet. He was curious about what they meant, though, and would continue to observe.

"If you're hungry, I could whip up something with a far better texture, at least," Gen offered brightly.

Bulla Brief | Dragonball GT

[fashionably_strong]

Pumpkins

Much like all other saiyans and half-saiyans, Bulla had a considerable appetite. So when trying to plan for meals, and factoring in the necessity to feed more than just herself, she'd gone a little overboard with assembling the materials needed for a full meal. There were pie dishes, several large pots for soup set out on the stove burners, and she appeared to be setting up something reminiscent of an assembly line for preparing all of this.

"Hi!" she called out to someone peeking in on her. She raised her hand to wave before gesturing to her handiwork. "Mind giving me a hand? I thought it might go faster with two or three people."


Movie Wars

Although Bulla glanced through some of the movies, none of them really captured her attention. Instead, what she looked at with great interest was a reality television series focused on top fashion and makeovers.

"This looks pretty good," she remarked cheerfully. "But if you don't like it, we can always switch to something else after a couple of episodes."


Spookstown - Team Two

It was hard to say why the ghosts were tormenting the poor citizens of Carcel. Had someone done something to offend the ghosts? Or was this something that had just happened? Rather than immediately focusing on fighting them, Bulla decided it might be best to try more peaceful methods of solving problems. Fighting them might only agitate them further and make things worse for the townsfolk.

"I wonder if we can get the ghosts to communicate with us somehow," she mused. "We already know they can pick objects up, and it's pretty clear that they want attention."

[comefadeaway]

"Alright." Yoite agreed, since he really didn't know what he was supposed to do with this pumpkin and if this stranger did, who was he to complain?

He moved back out of the way to let Gen at the supplies.

[fun_thementalist]

Gen gave him a wistful little smile. "I think the villain's feelings are too hurt. He's murdering millions for the hero, you see? I can't say I see the romantic appeal, but it takes all types I suppose ..."

He shrugged a little, what could you do? "But there's a sequel so maybe they'll work it out in the second movie."