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[astonishing_xmods]

THE TEST DRIVE MEME

Hello, True Believers!

This is for anyone wanting to test out their characters in the setting before the applications open, see what clicks. Multiples will be allowed for this post, and you can generally assume any threads are a self-contained continuity unless you feel like getting creative.

Just post a thread with your CHARACTER NAME and CANON NAME in the title with a prompt and others will reply. Prompts and threads can be action spam or prose or whatever. These threads can be used on the sample section of your application, as well. Go out and have fun!


Be sure to read up on all game information and the "!event" tag to make sure you have all your ducks in a row.

Comments

Hunter Hirota | Original Character

[clothesmakethemutant]

[The feed opens to an unfamiliar face curled up on top of a bed in the dorm, his legs folded up in front of him like he's unconsciously trying to make himself smaller. Plain jeans, plain t-shirt.]

[Those with an eye for detail might notice that there are absolutely no personal touches in view - he's done nothing to make the room feel like home, nothing to take ownership of it. In a way, it looks even more stark, even more devoid of personal touches than your average hotel room.]

I'm supposed to go see a Doctor McCoy about - [It catches. It still feels a little surreal, saying it.] about my powers. [He doesn't even know what they are. Though that's why he's going to see Doctor McCoy - to figure it out. Whatever it is, it isn't anything like super speed, or super strength, or flight - he'd have noticed that. But whatever it is he can do, their machine (Cerebella, or something like that) picked up on him, and now he's here, on the other side of the country, knowing no one.]

[He should be more excited about being closer to New York, about actually having a hope of glimpsing the Avengers or the Fantastic Four if he visits New York City, but somehow, he just can't muster any excitement.]

Thing is... I'm new. So I don't know where his lab is. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[Oh. Right. He ought to smile. He tries to, but it feels... unfamiliar. Rusty. It feels like a lifetime ago, when he could smile and it felt natural.] Thanks.

Video

[koukai_kirai]

[He's seen so many people come through their doors with that look on their faces -- lost, worn a little dull, looking for their place. Every now and then, he wonders if he looked the same all those years ago. It's doubtful, but still... there were moments when he felt it, and more when Souji did.]

[Hijikata is sharply dressed, sitting at his desk in a small office with a bookcase full of old books in English and Japanese. On the wall, the edge of a calligraphy scroll is visible, but not enough to actually see what it says.]

I can forward a map to you. Give me moment.

[He's direct in his tone, nearly brusque, and quiet as he opens the editing software, eyes off the camera. Highlight the boys' dorm in blue, Hank's office in red, save, and...]

You'll need to approve the file transfer request.

Video

[clothesmakethemutant]

[Huh. He looks... pretty normal. Talks pretty normal, too.]

[It's still weird, actually talking to another mutant - knowing he's talking to another mutant. To Hunter, they're still people you hear in news reports, not people you talk to.]

Oh. Yeah. Okay. Got it.

[He could just be any other teacher at any other private school. Makes Hunter wonder how many teachers at schools across the country are mutants.]

Thanks. 'preciate it.

[koukai_kirai]

[The long hair -- he started growing it out when he moved to America 14 years ago, and never really saw fit to stop -- is about the only truly unusual thing about his appearance, yes. He shakes his head slightly, as he closes the window for the photo editing software.]

Not a problem. A recent arrival?

[That seems like the most straightforward explanation for why he hasn't seen him around in the first couple of weeks of classes. While his sentences are simple and to the point, they're quite thoroughly unaccented and confident. It's not that he can't speak more eloquently, he's just the sort to save his words up until they're more necessary.]

[clothesmakethemutant]

[Hunter's a little surprised the guy bothered to ask. Not that he hasn't been helpful, sending the map and all, just - he seems awfully business-like. Not the sort that Hunter would expect to make small talk.]

[If he was the thoughtful sort, Hunter might've realized the man reminds him a little of his father - albeit younger and with much longer hair.]

Oh. Uh, yeah. First day. From San Diego. [Wait. Shoot. He didn't ask where Hunter was from.]

Sorry for the slow tags, been a little out of it!

[koukai_kirai]

[A little more introduction than he asked for isn't a bad thing -- Hell, the kid is hardly babbling, or anything of the sort. Hijikata just nods slightly, sitting back in his very utilitarian desk chair.]

[Someone better with feelings might try and quiet the discomfort the boy seems to be having. The stammering and whatnot.]

[Feelings, and the gentle care thereof, are not precisely Hijikata's greatest strength. But he can introduce himself politely, at least.]

...Tokyo. The suburbs of it, at least.

[How long he's been here feels irrelevant, but...]

Toshizou Hijikata. I teach World History.

[clothesmakethemutant]

So not your first day. [... That sounded funnier in his head.]

[To be honest, it's a little weird that the first person he's getting to know here is a teacher instead of other students. Though, he guesses it makes sense. He is asking for directions, after all, of course a teacher would respond to a post to the intranet like this.] Thanks, Mister Hijikata. Or, uh - [Crap, what did his dad say was the proper way to address teachers in Japanese? It's there on the tip of his tongue, but the longer it takes him to remember the dumber he feels. When he finally gets it out it's small, uncertain.] ... Sensei? [Right. Yes. That would totally impress a teacher with how long it took for him.]

[The thought of dealing with another teacher after this, however pleasant, is starting to sound more and more daunting - especially one with a lab, who'll have questions, who'll want to know his powers when Hunter has no answers himself about what his powers even are, let alone how they might work.]

[koukai_kirai]

Not precisely, no.

[On the bright side, his being so used to making students awkward means it doesn't offend him, or particularly make him awkward, too.]

[On the other hand, him not being bothered by it means he won't really go out of his way to try and fix it.]

You can call me that if you'd like. Mostly, it's just the kendo club members who do.

[Sounds like he got the word right, at least!]