spacehorses | Test Drive Meme

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Test Drive Meme

Did you want to test your characters? Do you want something that you can use for an RP sample without digging up an old thread? Well, here you have it. Pick one or multiple prompts below or, if you want, make a prompt of your own. Just be sure to tag around so that everyone gets plenty of exposure.

1: Explosions in space! Space Bandits attacked the space colony everyone was visiting! Dozens of fighters and mobile armors fly through space, locked in deadly combat. Are you among those battling to save lives? Or are you watching from the windows, praying everything will be safe?

2: Explosions underground! You were part of a trading party, exchanging supplies with an underground penal colony when alien animals burrowed through the walls and started assaulting convict and Confederation member alike! What are you going to do?

3: Explosions over the city! The Colosseum is shooting off fireworks as part of a concert or a sporting event! Are you watching in the crowd, a main attraction, or watching the bright colors from the city?

4: Explosions on an asteroid! You're either observing, guarding, or mining an asteroid! It's rather dull, save for the explosions that rock the ground under your feet. It looks like it'll continue to be just as slow, but... was that something moving in the shadows there?

5: Explosions on a space station! As you approached a research station, you receive a distress signal! Fire's broken out and their systems aren't up to spec! Can you do anything? Are you a part of a scouting crew or out for a joyride in your new yacht? And is this an accident, or something more sinister?

6: Explosions at the gym! Explosive competition! Swimming, weightlifting, running, boxing, someone has just challenged you! Whether they know it or not, you're going to do your best to show them up.

7: Explosions in the past! A star has died! The Fleet is flying through the nebula it left behind, with swirls of beauty as far as the eye can see. If you're the type, you can watch it all you like.

8: Explosions on the road! Most of the traffic on the Teuberg is computer controlled, but some young showoff took his off the grid and promptly caused a wreck! Traffic has been backed up for almost half an hour now, with no way out for you and the people in your vehicle. Are you close enough to see if anyone needs help? Or are you just stuck with people who are as late for their appointments as you are?

9: Explosions in the marketplace! Explosive bargains! You're in a trading hub, surrounded by stalls of all kinds selling every type of merchandise you can imagine! Luckily, you've got enough money to handle a few purchases here. Will you buy one of those daggers on display? An incense burner? Some alien fruit? Or maybe you're on the run from the corrupt guards? Or perhaps you're the one doing the chasing, did someone just steal your wallet?

10: Explosions in your mind! The explosive inspiration that drives this world! Make up your own prompt!

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[They totally ruined it, didn't they? God gives humans a perfectly nice planet and they keep making it uninhabitable and going to the moon and other unreasonably oxygen-deprived places.]

That far away? Oh my... Sir, may I ask what do they teach at schools?

[They arrive at the cafeteria. And it is as busy as expected. Cocoa is on the house, and one can find cookies in more flavors than necessary. Some of them completely mysterious.]

[They ruined it in so many ways. AI helped. Ruin it, that is, in Shiroe's opinion.

In the cafeteria Shiroe makes a beeline for a fresh mug of cocoa before he answers, which he does while eyeing an array of cookies thoughtfully. Decisions, decisions.]

How to fit into the role chosen for you. [He glances up, then goes on,] In the good schools, it all filters back to the military. I was in engineering.

[Ah, military. After his time in post-nuclear London, he can tell where this is heading.]

...Training the youth to better serve society does not seem like such a bad idea. [says the guy whose role eventually plunged him into a breakdown of biblical proportions.] Do you enjoy engineering?

[Kevin is very conservative in his cookie choice: chocolate and strawberries. Alien food still scares him.]

[Ooh, bad step. Shiroe rolls his eyes unabashedly, with all the airs of a teenager who can't believe an adult could be so willfully blind to some greater truth. A bit more serious than most, but all the same. He hates and resents the entire system and has never been shy about that much, but when faced with snacks and much nicer questions, he decides not to dwell.

So, as he plucks a frosted cookie of some kind from its tray,] I'm really good at it.

I can build all kinds of machines-- top of the class, you see. It's my hobby.

[is he oozing enough pride yet]

[Sometimes one needs to keep lying to themselves until something snaps. Oops.

He is more than happy to accept Shiroe's decision not to dwell. The boy's pride brings back memories and fills his feathery heart with sappy warmth.]

My goodness, top of the class? In the future, even. I say, you must be incredibly smart.

[Ins't free cocoa especially delicious. ]

[Flattery is even better than regular not-dwelling. He'd never turn down a compliment, even from someone who clearly has no idea what most of the things he could talk about even mean. Suddenly, cookies and cocoa and company seem much more welcoming.]

No one who doesn't have potential to be an elite member of society gets into the school I attended. Some people have more potential than others, too, of course.

Haha, that sounds incredibly familiar, though I am quite sure it couldn't possibly be the same.

[Competitive and ambitious boys struggling for power? Brattish rivalries? Certainly a thing from the past.

Being a lucky angel, he finds the perfect table for nebula viewing. With a pleased sigh, he sits down with his cocoa and forgets the light show once more to concentrate on the child before him.]

[His brattish rivalry gets him in a lot of trouble, let's skip that part for now-- Grabbing another cookie before following along to the table, and with just an ounce of future-boy smugness as he slides into a seat:] No, it's definitely not.

[Conversely, he is going to watch the stellar view, although he'll chance talking about something besides himself. (Very daring.)]

Are you thinking of your own school days?

[Doesn't it always?

He watches the boy watching the stars.]

Ah, not quite. My young master attends a prestigious school. A few months ago, I became the school's reverend in order to stay close to him.

[Sometimes the difference between the past and present tense is paramount to a butler's sanity. More often than not, young master is allotted the shiny and lively realm of the present tense.]

[Has William ever been arrested--

Anyway, more ancient history, it seems. Even for the elite of the elite, things like young masters and butlers are a think of the distant past. To say nothing of how religion has all but died out. Oops?]

Oh. [...] What do they teach in that school?

[N-not yet. Just give him some time.

Though seriously, Shiroe, how broken is your world.]

Well, the three Rs are very important, of course. [He raises his fingers to count each one of them.] Reading, WRiting and Dictation, and ARithmetics. But of course, good schools will also teach you such things as ethics, history, geography, science, modern and classical languages and, as we mentioned before, literature. ...Ah, there is much singing too.

Edited 2014-01-29 06:03 (UTC)

[Soon...

And it's really broken. It's obvious because only Shiroe and a couple old people seem to have a problem with it.

Those three Rs are really dorky...] They actually teach singing? And people participate?

[Students have fun in ways that aren't designed to make them better military drones? Oh, the Golden Age--!]

I can hardly imagine a school like that.

[Kevin finds it sad that Shiroe cannot imagine signing students. Such a critical part of a young boy's education!]

Church choir singing, no less. Religion is a very important part of our curriculum.

[There is also sports, which is an awesome excuse for betting, but he is leaving that out for the time being since demonic forces are involved.]

[The religion thing again... Nope, he's got nothing. To compensate, he focuses his attention on taking a good swig of cocoa, which has cooled enough to handle a swig without burning terribly.]

It sounds like a very dull place. But the kind of dullness that students can be relaxed in, so I suppose it's alright.

[The entire Victorian education system summed up by this brat kid: "alright."]

[He heaves a small sigh. Oh, the memories!]

Ahhhh, I fear one can never have that many children in one single place and still call it "dull". [Young master's surroundings are never dull. Not to mention the unnecessary amount of demons pretending to be students.] You'd be surprised at how creative our boys can be.

[Honestly, Shiroe should have seen the fag wars...]

However, it seems I have shown terrible manners in spite of all my talk about education. My name is Kevin Cecil, sir. May I ask yours?

[Until there is a secret lab full of clones in jars, Shiroe will think it's dull. And even then, he will still think it's dull--]

I don't think I'd understand. It's been a while, hasn't it? [Like, possibly, um, millenia. Maybe.

It's not clear. Shiroe makes good on his other cookie, meanwhile.]

That aside, I'm Seki Ray Shiroe. Just call me Shiroe.

[A while. The hand holding the mug is seized by an unexpected tremor. The first sign that things are not completely all right with this Victorian butler pulled asunder from his probably dead world. He uses the napkin to wipe up the spilled cocoa.]

It is a pleasure to meet you, Mas--Shiroe.

[Shiroe's gaze snaps to the mug, just in case cocoa sloshes across the table at him. But all is well, probably, and he watches Kevin wipe the spill before clicking his tongue and looking out the window again.]

Don't do that. I heard that. [He thinks: By now, his parents back home have likely replaced him with a new child, who they will read to and dote on and (if his selfish heart had its way) occasionally almost call Shiroe, rather than its actual name. It's hardly enough.

He does not want to be replaced by someone else, and he figures he would do well to squash any accidental similarities he just had to Kevin's master, for that absent stranger's sake.]

Do you need another napkin?

[Kevin pales at the reprimand, and then starts blushing furiously. He...He didn't mean it like that. However, explaining will probably only make the boy angrier.

He cannot win, can he? ]

N-no, thank you, sir. It is all right.

[It is not all right. Not by far. But that is what polite butlers say when they are offered additional napkins.]

[Once Shiroe is irritated, it really doesn't matter what the original meaning was. Bad habit.

But he was almost enjoying himself... The next events all proceed without any kind of explanation. Shiroe looks at Kevin, frowns, rolls his eyes again, gets up and walks away. He does leave his mug and only partially-eaten cookie, however, and if Kevin is not too mortified to look where he's gone, he has returned to the snack area.

When he comes back to the table a minute or so later, he plunks (carefully plunks) a fresh mug down in front of Kevin, and sits down with--yet another cookie...]

Aren't you done looking at me like that? [huff]

[A laughter. A little broken, it is true, but still a laughter. If Shiroe is trying to dissociate himself from young master, he is doing a terrible job... though Kevin would have told him the truth if he asked:

A loved child is irreplaceable.]

My apologies. It does take getting used to.

[He raises the mug, being careful to keep his hand firm this time.]

Thank you. That was very kind.

[Wow see if he ever does a nice thing ever again!! Don't laugh!]

If you spill that one, you're on your own.

[A very serious threat. Shiroe puts his elbow on the table and his cheek in his hand, as if he's just bored rather than kind of uncomfortable.]

Get used to it soon. There are a lot of people here, and only so much cocoa to spill.

[At least he is not laughing anymore, but merely smiling behind the cup, even if he can tell that Shiroe's threat is super serious.]

Understood, sir. That would be a veritable waste of cocoa.

...Have you found a place to stay?

[Parental concern 101: children should not sleep in spaceships hangars or alien laundry closets.]

[Incredibly serious, yes. The question leaves him a bit surprised; is he supposed to have found another place, besides--] Well, there are the rooms we were provided.

[A half-shrug. Quarters are quarters, as long as he has his pitiful belongings from home and no one around to catch him panicking in his sleep.]

I'm thinking of becoming a student here. [SHOCKING] So what's there is good enough, for now.

[A warm room and school. It is not a bad start. He remembers having practically dragged Master Walker to the school bench after the young man had spent one year in Exsilium, and his entire life really, completely unaware of the need to properly educate himself. Perhaps children from the future are wiser about that than children from the past. Or perhaps it is just that Master Shiroe has once more revealed himself to have his philosophies aligned with young master's. Either way, school most likely means meeting people his age. Perhaps even make friends?

The boy seems lonely, he thinks. He could use some friends.]

Later you might wish to move in with others you feel affinity with. I must confess that this is not my first stop, though the previous place was much more...hostile. Back then such improvised families were the rule rather than the exception.

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