awoosh | Test Drive Meme 3.

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Test Drive Meme 3.


Mary, Mary, quite contrary How does your garden grow? With silver bells, And cockle shells, And pretty maids all in a row.
Prompt 1: t's probably been at least a little while since you managed to climb out of the well, so hopefully you've dried off by now and are enjoying poking around the Town. But who cares about all of that? More importantly, the Town has a new feature this time, for reasons entirely unknown to everyone. The flowers...seem to be talking. They have no faces, but they will definitely turn to talk to you, and if they have had their color restored, they will very brightly and contentedly compliment you, or your clothing, or wish you well. If they haven't? Prepare yourself for all sorts of horrible, horrible insults, because that's all that's coming your way. Prompt 2: ow are you settling in? Is the Town treating you well? It's not as bad as it used to be; some of the houses have color, some of the food has color and taste as well. It's been polished up a bit since everyone first got here. Granted, when you wake up that morning to find yourself in full fancy wear of many different types (all colorless, and gender has nothing to do with which you might end up in), you'll find that the Town might not be as well put together as it seems. You can't get out of the formal wear. It just won't come off, no matter what you do. Which wouldn't be so bad, but... it seems like these clothes will snag on just about everything in the Town, which is far from smooth. Try not to trip over those loose cobblestones, or your dress snagging on a nail sticking out from a door frame. This is really not the place for this sort of clothing. Prompt 3: e loves me, he loves me not... that's a pretty familiar game, right? For some reason, the urge to pick one of those flowers and casually pluck the petals from it while playing that game is going to grow stronger and stronger the more flowers you see. Eventually? You're just going to have to cave to it. (Certainly it doesn't help that the flowers scream a bit when you pull their petals; they still can talk right now, after all!) She loves you, she loves you not...and by the time you've picked the last petal, you've forgotten who you were even thinking of originally -- instead, the very next person you see is going to be the victim of a very impassioned declaration of love. Don't worry, you'll come back to yourself...after you declare your undying love for everyone to hear. Prompt 4: ut no matter how many people tell you not to go into the forest, however, it's still rather enticing, isn't it? It's sitting right there, waiting for you to explore it, waiting for you to just step a little bit out of the Town... And soon, you're surrounded by the dark boughs of the trees, the twisty, turny paths of the woods, where it feels like you're wandering in circles for hours upon hours -- And then, after ages of tree branches yanking at your hair and roots tripping you up, you find a clearing. And in that clearing? There's a field of flowers. They're colorless -- strangely eerie because of it, but still distinctly recognizable to the flower familiar as Asphodel. And touching any single one of those flowers will suddenly give you vivid memories of one of your precious friends -- so long as they're dead. Anyone around you is going to experience that flash of memory too, so be careful! Extra: Got something in mind? Want to play with the setting more? The sky's the limit, so feel free and make up your own prompts to play with! Welcome to Awash's third Test Drive Meme! Please check out the FAQ and rules as you test your characters out. The setting is yours to play with, so be creative and have a good time with it! An important date to remember is September 1st, 9 PM EST, when Applications will open. There will be no reserves for this app round or any future app rounds, so it will be first come, first served applications. As a side note, TDM threads are not canon, so please feel free to assume established CR for the sake of the TDM if it will make threading or showing off your character's voice easier. If you have any questions about the TDM, feel free to ask us here. If there are any other questions, you can catch us via PM, the FAQ or the contact page. You are of course welcome to use prompts from the previous two test drives. Thank you for your interest in Awash!

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[That's... not a compliment at all.]

What, so was all that talk about actions being more important just...talk?

[ There's shawarma! It's probably not quite such a thing, but it exists, she ate it with a couple of Avengers, and most importantly, it's delicious! ]

I hope to be.

[ It isn't until she hears it repeated, though, that she realizes how silly that must sound out of context and Nadia, with just a touch of ego there, assumes that if he hasn't recognized the costume, they probably aren't from the same world or timeline. She knows how these things usually work.

She kneels on the ground in front of the colorless flowers, running her hand through them. They respond, of course, shouting insults as she does. ]

I can forgive their rudeness. There is something wrong with them, don't you think? These ones are lacking something that the others have...

Oh, no, it was sincere. I just think...it wouldn't do any good to get upset over a flower. I need my energy for other things.

[No one else had ever been like him when he was young. They were all very different children. Even Naruto, who experienced somewhat similar emotions had other circumstances for them.

Ex-Team 7 Sasuke would have never been able to see himself with the eyes Sasuke is using to see Nico now.

His face doesn't really change even with the news, and it would take someone who knew a great deal of how to read him to see the softness of understanding at the edges of him. He thinks about their children. This isn't something their children know, and he hopes it's not something their children will ever know.

It would make her stronger, but Sarada shouldn't have to feel this kind of suffering to be a better person, he thinks, a person who can lead and protect people. The suffering he and Nico have felt. Appreciated, strangely, but unnecessary.]

It's painful. I know. [He wouldn't have wanted anyone to tell him it would get better. It never did.] Sometimes, it doesn't seem as if it will ever end. Sometimes, it doesn't.

Don't let what's hurting you make you believe you're alone. The worst thing you can do for your friends is keep them from being there for you when you need them most.

[Sounds almost like he's speaking from experience.]

[Time doesn't stop, but it's a near goddamn thing. Jotaro had been too embarrassed before to really look at who he was talking to, but random passersby shouldn't be able to see Star Platinum.

He looks like the old man. Not like how he looked last time Jotaro saw him, but like when Jotaro was little, before he went gray and grew the beard, or maybe even younger than that. It has to be some sort of trick, another of Dio's minions coming out of the woodwork at long last to avenge their fallen master, and it's that instinct that sends Star Platinum's fist out, separating from Jotaro's arm at full speed to grab for Jonathan's collar.]

What the hell did you do to get that face?

Oh.

[That only even remotely makes sense because some of the things Jotaro read when he was trying to figure out what Star Platinum was talked about objects turning into spirits when they got old enough. It's still a little freaking weird, but so's an orangutan who likes girly mags, and this way he has her all nicely organized in his tiny human mind.]

...What kind? [He's guessing one of the blue ones. Some of the colorless flowers call him rude, but they can choke on it.]

Must be frustrating, having someone disappear and not knowing what happens to them. Not knowing if they go home or if something worse occurs.

[ Maybe that's something Nico can help with. If he can sense someone's disappearance and whether it feels like they've died. ]

When they go home do they remember this place while they're there? Do they remember having been here when they come back?

[ Nico suspects most don't remember while they're gone, but asks it anyway. As for Damian's explanation of how the forest works - well, that reminds him of a certain Labyrinth. How it changes and shifts, growing endlessly and filled with potential dangers but also potential usable items. ]

Sounds like both a pain and yet useful at the same time. I know a place like that back home.

[ A heavy sigh. ] Maybe the people who disappeared in the forest made it to the other end. Though without anyone to confirm that there's no way of knowing if that's true or not.

... Are you the sort of person who needs twelve hours of sleep a day?

Weeding them?

[ They feel kind of bad holding these ones when there's plenty still on the ground at their feet.. ]

I was told not to do anything like that, since we can apparently make the gray ones colorful eventually. I just don't want them to get angrier if we're being nice to the colorful ones instead of them, or something..?

Right? No one really thinks journalists are all that great, but I think that's exactly why I need to prove to them that they're wrong.

Sure, you do, but do they?

[Sadie gestures vaguely in the direction of the rest of the town. Being here for any length of time likely builds a certain amount of character in and of itself, but they're just two of the gods only know how many new arrivals. There are bound to be plenty of people who could use some toughening up.

She's distracted by that train of thought by what he says, though. Strawberry fields at... Camp? She gives Nico a long look, as if she might be able to spot an orange shirt or a beased necklace under all his dark and brooding clothing if she looks hard enough, then narrows her eyes.

It could be a coincidence. In fact it probably is, and if she isn't it would most likely be more prudent not to ask, but Carter was always the prudent one, not her.

So.]

Hang on. This is going to sound absolutely mad, but I have to ask - does a bloke named Percy attend your camp?

[ wow, that's disappointing. she was hoping for a scream, or a wail in terror or something. this girl must be something else. ]

No? What're you supposed to be then, some kinda vampire?

[ her tone clearly implies a light jest to it, but after she says it... well is it really that far-fetched for draculas to exist when demons do? ]

[ Back home there aren't a lot of others like him - a child displaced by time, someone with creepy abilities who couldn't even bring his own sister back to life but could summon ghosts, skeletons and even zombies. Who's been turned into a plant twice by cross gods.

Never feeling like he had a place to belong, that no one wanted him around. That they whispered horrible things behind his back. Believing that everyone feared him -- feared what he could do.

And there are parts that scare even him. How he turned a regular guy into first a ghost and then damned him to the Underworld just because Nico had gotten so angry. He hadn't even known he'd done it but had to be told. It frightens him to know that he'd lost control of his emotions to the point where someone died at his hands and he can't remember any of it. That in that moment he had also inflicted every horrible moment of his life on his allies in the process.

Nico doesn't know how anyone could experience that yet still accept him and not be afraid of him - it's just baffling. They could have let him become a shadow but they hadn't, instead they'd saved him.

The wars he's been through... those are something he can share with others along with some of his experiences. Nico hadn't been alone in that. Hadn't been the only teen to risk his life for the sake of a world who'd never know what they truly did to save them.

As Sasuke talks, Nico is listening quietly. It's something he's heard before from others but no one has said it as if they know what it actually feels like. In a way, not having someone just trying to placate him with nice words is a comfort. To know that sometimes it never stops hurting. ]

I did believe that for a long time. Pushed away everyone and felt like I didn't belong anywhere so I wasn't really anywhere. Then I found a half-sister I didn't know about and she needed me sometimes but Hazel's strong, she found others to fit in with and I felt... out of place in the group.

[ His gaze goes up towards the sky, as close to the sun as he dares to look. ]

Some people saw the worst sides of me and I thought they'd hate me or be digusted or even afraid but they didn't. They just accepted it all. But they had other things they needed to do, people to lead and places to be so it didn't seem as if I'd fit in still.

[ Nico's face softens into something that could almost be called fondness if one knows what to look for. ]

In the end it took a blond, stubborn idiot who wouldn't leave me alone to get me to stick around in one place. To give me somewhere I wanted to be.

Who knows. I haven't met everyone else yet.

[ If she hadn't noticed, Nico is not exactly a ball of sunshine out to befriend any and everyone around. Left alone he may just turn into the brooding, emo loner wolf of the group despite his efforts to try and make a few friends. He might be trying to not push people away but it's harder without Will there to encourage him or drag him into situations Nico normally wouldn't go for.

Sorry but this is one camper who wears neither the blazing orange shirt or the beads veteran individuals collect from Camp Half-Blood. Orange is not his color and Nico has yet to actually stay a whole summer at Camp. Most of his clothing is black from head-to-toe except for the small splashes of white.

While Sadie is giving him the critical once-over, he stares back at her with an near unblinking stare and a expression that says "what are you looking at?" in the rude sort of way. Though the words don't get voiced aloud. ]

Percy Jackson? Teen guy with dark hair who lives in New York? [ And wields a Celestial Bronze sword that both magical returns to him and turns into a pen - more words he doesn't say because it'll be weird if they aren't talking about the same person. ]

Oh--okay, sure.

[Carefully, he tries to stand--

And windmills a bit when the hem of his skirts snag, but miraculously... miraculously he's able to stay standing.]

...Can you get it now...?

[The flicker of a scene from touching one of the flowers. Even steeped in hatred, his brother was the reason he kept living. To be better. Stronger. To get revenge. To get answers.

In a way, he knows how that feels, too. To hang on by a thread for a little while, to still be misplaced.

For a long moment, he stares at Nico without hardly even blinking. His lips part slightly, but he doesn't say whatever it is he had planned to say at the time.

Seeing it on him is amazing, though it's a handful more accessible now than it ever had been before: the corners of his lips tug upward into a knowing, amused smile. If he wasn't down with the whole Gloomy aesthetic, if he smiled more just like this, he is quite a handsome man.

But that look is for... Naruto. Yes. He'll keep the tall, dark, and brooding. The Hokage is the one who shines for the rest of the village.]

Usuratonkachi...

[The way he says it, without knowing the language or the word, it sounds very much like a nickname.] Thin Hammer. He was always about as useless as one. Still is most of the time. [He can see the look the loser would give him if he heard him giving away this kind of first impression.

What trouble was he getting into now, that old fool?]

Some other time, I'll tell you about Naruto. The stubborn, yellow-haired idiot who reminded me where I wanted to be.

[ It's very, very frustrating to be lost in a mysterious world but at least it doesn't look like a very dangerous place so far. So far it's just been a very ... dull place, with barely any food. He's actually used to the latter, having grown up in the streets, but this town doesn't even seem to have a market. It's been a real bummer so far. At least the strange talking flowers are saying some very nice things about him?

He does enjoy a good compliment. ] Oh, you're too kind, I don't even know how you're talking but I like what I'm hearing. Yes, I did work hard for these guns.

[ He gives a little flex. If you've got it, flaunt it!!

But the guy somewhere in front of him doesn't seem to feel the same way. ] Whoa. Okay. Tense. For the record, I happen to think those sunflowers have a point.

[ You do look like the cool, rugged type, Jotaro! ]

[ Would it matter that Sasuke spent all that time trying to kill his brother where Nico spent it trying to bring his sister back? Probably not if he heard the whole story.

Both of their older siblings tried to do what was best in the end, both of them had been loved and lost and they had even gotten a second chance to talk to them. The similarities in their history would not be lost on Nico.

Sounds as if they have something in common even now the way the man talks about the idiot blond in his life and Nico idly wonders if this is what he'll be like if he manages to grow up. To be patient and caring even for a complete stranger, keep his cool and offer guidance to someone who reminds him of his hard years. To be able to smile a little easier and mean it. (And truthfully, pretty cool.)

Maybe that's exactly what Nico will be like as an adult but only if he doesn't keep pushing everyone away. If he lets people like Will be apart of his life or do something stupid such as use his abilities too much and end up dying young.

His head turns so the kid can look up at Sasuke with a hint of curiosity. ]

Is it harder when he's not around? [ It being everything from finding that place to be or pushing others away or not pulling risky stunts or finding where he can belong because this kid is only just starting out on that journey.

Nico might not be here alone but Percy isn't Will and that's a whole different can of worms he's still trying to deal with. ]

[ He hasn't seen a cat since coming in here and he also, desperately, misses his ferret. Bolin will take any sort of delight that comes his way. The moment he spots his adorable cat (yes, just a cat. Not a possom-cat or anything like that) in an equally adorable, fancy dress, he's making a beeline for it immediately. This cat seems to have colour, too! At least, it doesn't look as dull as everything else around. ] Oh. My gosh. Just look at you, in your little fancy dress!

[ He's pretty much clutching his heart and staring at this cat with sparkling eyes. Bolin crouches over, trying to pick her up. ] Where'd you come from, little buddy? C'mere!

[ He loves getting new clothes, especially if they're the fancy sort? When you grow up in the street, any new, pretty thing is very exciting. Whoever's messing with them like this might have made a huge mistake, however. He's not a girl? He doesn't, in any shape or form, look like a girl? Whose idea was it to stick him in the largest, fanciest ballroom gown? Now, he just looks ridiculous, his bulky body stuffed into a dress that's bursting at the seams. He also looks very, very sad. ]

I appreciate the help, sir ... but I've pretty much resigned to the fact that this is the rest of my life now. [ Drama queen that he is, he slumps over. ]

[Jotaro questions the judgment of anyone who can be so easily charmed by a bunch of chatty rabbit food, but some of his best friends are idiots so you know what? He'll go with it.]

They should keep their points to themselves, I hear enough shallow bullshit at home. ["You care so much about your family!" a flower coos just then, as if deliberately dismantling his super witty comeback, and Jotaro pulls out his cigarettes and lighter to channel his irritation into something other than violence.]

[ Wow. The flowers have mostly been saying nice things to him so he's shocked to hear it go down so hard on this cute girl. ] It definitely doesn't look anything like that! Don't worry, I'll go talk to it.

[ He'll give this flower a stern talking-to about being polite. Or, at least try to, because he's the last thing from 'stern'. ] Now, listen here, you ...weird talking plants --

[ And the same flower immediately retorts: Oh, so the lumbering gorilla knows how to talk? ] Okay. Ow? I don't think I'm that hairy ...

It has not been a week! [ She looks offended, and reasonably so! ] How do you expect to impress anyone when you say something that's, for one, wrong, and two, so incredibly rude. You must not have many friends.

[ Or if he does they're all assholes. ]

Is that a threat?

Nice.

[ yeah she saw all of that, and is just chuckling quietly under her breath as he walks on by in a huff. leave to akira to ruin some fancy duds because he's getting all caught up. miki hasn't shed hers yet and she considers that a personal victory compared to him. ]

[ Fortunately her teasing is never meant to be taken seriously, so when he politely rejects she only so much as crosses her hands across her chest. ]

Well, if you won't warm me up, then I guess you could assist me by being my lackey! It's always best to explore with a partner, don't you agree?

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Test Drive Meme 3.

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had it not been for the laws of this comm i would have shattered you

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2 - and hello again

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