Test Drive Meme 010

[sinfulmods]

Test Drive Meme

Considering apping to the City of Sin, but unsure of who to bring or if they'll fit? Feel free to give the setting a test drive here! These are a perfect way of getting your playing sample done for the application.

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→ Comment with the character you'd like to test drive in the setting, with name and canon in the subject line
→ Choose a scenario or create your own!
→ Tag around!

Possible Scenarios 01. A New Arrival: Hello, New Person! You seem to have found yourself on a sidewalk in the City of Sin with nothing but the clothes on your back and a stomach chruning feeling of being displaced. Thankfully, the streets are full of people - Watch out that you don't get mugged! 02. Demonic Presences: You were just minding your own business, weren't you? But that's always when bad things seem to happen, and the City of Sin isn't really that friendly. Whatever bar or street you're hanging out in suddenly go dim, filling the area with an unnerving feeling as the shadows on the walls jump out into reality. We suggest you phone a friend for help, or maybe try running? 03. Party Hard: You've been invited to a massive, elegant party at the Tower that spills out its doors in welcome, by someone who calls themselves the Emperor. Obviously, that's weird, but maybe you can get some free drinks and food out of it! This place might not be so bad. 04. Prominence: The City of Sin influences it's population on a weekly basis. Too bad you came right smack dab in the middle of a heavy Prominence. Lust, Greed, Gluttony, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, or Pride. Choose your choice of sin and be wicked. 05. Trouble: Not everyone is sunshine and roses here. Some people are violent and cruel, raised in the sludge of a sinful city. And they like to pick on people they think can't fight back. Are you that person? Or are you the Hero who can't stand to watch? Worse yet, could you be the person doing the instigating? Villian. 06. Carnival: The City has carnivals or festivals now and then; you're lucky to catch one! With its open booths filled with cork gun games and funnel cakes, how can someone not have any fun! Go win your darling a stuffed animal, or meet someone new on the spinning cup ride. You might even see someone you know being talked into sitting in the Dunk Tank. 07. Wild Card: Choose your own adventure in the game's setting!

Comments

[diana_abel]

Having lived through the Great Depression and traveled through the dust bowl, Diana got a pretty vivid picture in her head. She wrinkled up her nose a little bit. The only worse place she could imagine was the Midwest. "That doesn't sound very exciting," she admitted. She had the sense that Luke was on the same page.

Sometimes, in the multiverse, talking about your home was a little like talking about your child. You could insult it, but woe betide anyone else who did.

This was probably not one of those occasions.

"This place must be a huge change for you."

[neverjoinyou]

Luke turns to lean his back against the bar, surveying the room. "More humans than I'm used to," he observed. "And it's weird how almost everyone seems to come from a place where they only know one planet. I mean," he turns back to her, "I only knew one planet until a few years ago, but I always knew I was going to get away from it as soon as I could."

[diana_abel]

Quite a few things clicked into place with that confession. He was a space man. Like Jack.

Well, no. No one was like Jack. But still, Diana made a mental note to introduce him to Jack and the Doctor sometime. She always liked bringing home strays for family dinner. And he probably had never tried Chinese food before. Which was convenient since that was all they ate.

"I have to admit, I've only known one planet myself," she said. "But my best friend here was born galaxies away from it. Took some getting used to the idea but...it's kinda cool."

[neverjoinyou]

Luke tried to think about how cool it was, but it was a bit like trying to imagine being surprised about there being a New York when you were in Boston. Even if you had no hope of getting there, its existence wasn't astonishing in and of itself.

He coughed when he took his first sip of the drink, trying to cover for it.

"Otherwise," he said after a moment, "I'm trying not to get used to it." His mouth firmed. "It... wasn't exactly my plan. Being here."

[diana_abel]

She gave him a sympathetic smile. Now that was a story she knew. "For what it's worth," she said, "it's never anyone's plan to be here. Sometimes, I think the multiverse goes out of its way to grab people who have something important to do. You can't it personally, though." She shrugged. "The way I think of it, being in the multiverse is like...a hiatus. From destiny. If you believe in that kind of thing. It's a chance to live the life you never led."

How often had she recited the same speech in Bete Noire? At least half a dozen times. The funny thing was, she wasn't so sure about it for herself any more. She hadn't been whipped away from doing something important.

She was dying.

When this hiatus ended, so would she.

It wasn't a hiatus. It was her last chance to live. One she'd been squandering until tonight.

[neverjoinyou]

"A hiatus from destiny," he repeats, shaking his head and chuckling slightly in disbelief. "Boy, am I sick of destiny."

He looks down into his drink for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"The thing is, I've spent so long defying what other people told me my destiny was. I'm... not sure I'd know what to do without that to fight against."

[diana_abel]

Diana couldn't help but laugh. "You have no idea how many times someone has said those exact same words to me, over the last few years."

Never mind the fact that they were entirely true of her life as well. The Cainite messiah? That was a total laugh. A joke, really. Derived from some sick, twisted Malkavian mind.

A joke that had managed to infect her entire life.

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I guess, the only real answer I can give you is that this is your chance to find out. Who are you when you're not living the life you're 'supposed' to live? Which might sound weird, but you can actually learn...a lot about yourself. I know I have."

[neverjoinyou]

Luke looked back up at her, faint surprise in his expression. "What have you learned?" he asked. Belatedly, he realized that might be too much. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that," he offered quickly. "It's just... I have no idea where I'd even start."

For one thing, his mind was too full of the people, the work, he'd left behind. It was hard to focus on anything else, having just gone through what he had. To then be ripped away from the aftermath had left a part of him torn out, imperfectly cauterized.

[diana_abel]

She shook her head. "I don't mind. To be honest, I'm pretty much an open book around here. You ask any random Chosen on the street and they'll be able to rattle off half of my life's story and my five favorite songs."

Okay, maybe that was a little bit of an exaggeration. But Diana had very, very little left to hide any more. And she really preferred it that way. It was just easier, a better way to live.

You know, as much as any vampire could claim to 'live.'

"I think the most important thing I learned about myself in the multiverse is that...I can heal. In ways I never thought possible. Some of the worst things that can happen to a person happened to me out here. I lost my faith in human beings. I was separated from people I love. I was cheated on. I was bullied and harassed. I had my trust broken. I was victimized by prejudice." She shrugged. "And I survived it. All of it. And I'm still...me. I still have everything I ever believed in. I still wake up each night and know that...that there's hope."

Diana covered her face with her hand for a second, half laughing and half cringing. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth."

[neverjoinyou]

There were too many people around for him to really pinpoint what was different about her, to distinguish her from anyone else in terms of the Force, but if nothing else her words had grabbed his entire attention. He watched as she spoke, focusing intently.

He blinked as she stopped, covering her face, and shook his head.

"No, don't," he said softly, forgetting the fact it was probably hard to hear in here. "It's not ridiculous. It's..." He cast about for how to explain. "I mean, it is--I can't imagine anyone wanting to do any of those things to someone like you. But the rest. Sometimes I think I'm an entirely new person, or should be, after... everything that's happened." He shrugs. "And then I wake up thinking I'm still some farmboy from the outer rim, like nothing's changed."

[diana_abel]

He didn't laugh at her. There weren't words strong enough to express how much Diana appreciated it. That was most people's usual instinct. After all, she was sappy and goopy and a cock-eyed optimist. Who wouldn't laugh at that? When every world seemed so incredibly jaded?

She gave him a smile.

"Sometimes, I think I speak in affirmations a little too much," she said. "But for what it's worth, I don't think you should let the world change you, so much as you should change the world. Be that inner farmboy you are. As long as it brings something good to the world around you, you know?"

Not that she really liked farms. But that was beside the point.

At least he wasn't from the Midwest.

[neverjoinyou]

He smiled, but his eyes were a little sad, a little haunted.

"I guess I was thinking about it as less of a choice," he said, "and more of a recognition. I can't react as I think I should be feeling. And... neither can you. I know it doesn't help, but I'm sorry all that happened to you." His mouth firmed into a line. "You're not really selling this place."

[diana_abel]

The poor boy.

Diana started to lean forward, but just then, a fancy drink with an umbrella was set in front of her. She was about to object, but then she saw a phone number was written on the napkin.

Cute.

Sliding the drink to one side, she leaned forward again, meeting Luke's eyes. "Then I guess it's only fair to tell you that some of the best things in my life happened to me in the multiverse too. I mean, really. I've been so incredibly lucky here, in some ways."