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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, as well as the weekly updates to make sure you have all your ducks in a row.

Comments

Krista Lenz | Attack on Titan | 10th Grade

[martyrerkomplex]

[A - Network Video Post]

[A young girl, probably in high school, is smiling shyly at the camera, sitting at her desk in her dorm room.]

I guess I should introduce myself, since I just transferred here...

My name is Krista. It's nice to meet all of you! [And for a moment, she looks a little lost as to how to continue, before lighting up and continuing:]

That's right -- I wanted to ask, would anyone be interested in going to volunteer in District X on the weekends? Or, are there any places here in town that need help? Please let me know if you know of anywhere...

Thank you!

[B - Action]

She really wasn't used to so many people being around.

It wasn't so bad as she'd expected. None of them reacted to her in the way she'd grown so used to over the years -- no sneers, no taunts, no mud, no thrown stones. Many of them spoke to her the same way that they seemed to speak to each other, and it was...

It was confusing, quite honestly. She was afraid at every turn that she was going to say something that was going to expose how little of an idea she had how to speak with peers -- that she'd end up giving a whole new group of people new excuses to hate her.

But so far, she hadn't. She'd smiled, been polite and kind and warm, and... And so far, it seemed to be enough.

The uncertainty of it all was fairly exhausting, though, so she found herself wandering out on the grounds with pockets full of birdseed, bundled up in all the winter clothes she had to her name. She found a bench, cleared it off, and began to scatter the seeds in the snow in front of her, smiling as the birds began to gather around.

Animals were so much simpler than people. It was so easy to make them happy.

Re: Krista Lenz | Attack on Titan | 10th Grade

[rhiaofdruma]

B

Rhia was sitting in the trees, above the bench where Krista sat. She had frowned at first, still not thrilled with all these weird two-leggers coming and going, and their lack of respect for nature, but when she saw the girl tossing seeds to the birds, she reconsidered.

Rhia watched for a while, unspeaking, observing the birds and their reactions to her, and to the seeds. After a while, she was convinced that the other person meant to help the birds, not harm them. She dropped from the tree onto the bench beside her.

At first it would look like a clump of leaves had broken free to fall on the bench, then she extracted herself carefully, the arms and legs each covered in clothing made of woven vines with bright green leaves, the skin the color of bark, the brown hair bedecked with green leaves. Rhia could have passed for a tree herself, if not for the blue-grey of her eyes. She smiled brightly at the other girl once her limbs were sorted and settled, and made a small wooshing noise at her.

[martyrerkomplex]

She nearly jumped out of her skin when something -- no, someone? -- plummeted out of the trees at her. And, try though she might to act normal, she flinched away, instinctively readying herself to take a hit. Other kids, after all, rarely came this near to her unless they were going to push her around. The birds, startled by all the sudden movement, scattered away.

But the strange girl raised her head and smiled at her, and the way she smiled was... different. New.

Calm down, she told herself. It's a fresh start, isn't it? No bad reputation, no lives that she'd ruined by stepping into them unwanted. She had a new name, a new identity, and this time, she'd be someone that people liked.

"...Would you like to feed them, too?" she asked, offering a cupped handful of seeds to the newcomer.

[rhiaofdruma]

The corners of Rhia's mouth turned up into a bright smile and she nodded accepting some of the seeds carefully with one hand. Then with the other hand she pulled two berries from a leafy pouch at her waist.

She put one berry in the hand that offered her the seeds, and popped the other berry happily into her own mouth. She burst the berry's flesh in her teeth savoring the sweetness.

[martyrerkomplex]

A berry? Krista took it into her emptied hand, looking it over. It seemed incredibly fresh, for this time of year... Well, you could get them anytime from greenhouses, right? But looking at the other girl, she somehow couldn't imagine her setting foot in a supermarket.

...Well, it could hardly hurt to accept, could it? It did look good, and whatever else anyone had done to her, it wasn't as if anyone had ever tried something as overdramatic as poisoning her. And what reason would this girl have to do a thing like that, anyway?

"Thank you."

She put the berry in her mouth. It was juicy and sweet, and she smiled a little as she went back to scattering the birdseed.

[rhiaofdruma]

"You remind me of a sweet berry found on a frozen bush," she said simply, then began scattering her share of the birdseed closer to the trees. She knew not all birds would approach such large ambulatory creatures as they were, even for food, and she should not hold their hunger hostage against them. So for those who would not want to come close, food as well. For Rhia this was not about the joy of watching the birds eat, but knowing that they would. Some would say she was missing the point.

[martyrerkomplex]

She wasn't quite sure what to think about that comment, but somehow, it felt good to hear all the same. The girl was strange, but what good had normal people done her before, anyway?

For a moment, she didn't understand why she was scattering the seeds so far away -- but a fluttering of wings in a nearby bush helped her understand. For her part, more than the joy of watching the birds eat, what she really enjoyed was the company. The birds were skittish, like any wild animal, but she wasn't a burden to them, and if she gave them something, they didn't much mind her being there. For a little while, she didn't feel so alone. Thinking about the birds who stayed hidden... That really was kind, wasn't it?

She resolved to try harder.

"What kind of berry would you be, then?" she asked, politely curious, starting to spread her own handful of seeds a little more broadly.

[friendofdorothy]

Liir was outside with the birds too. A fat pigeon was perched on his shoulder, cooing at him and eating bread crust from his hand. And he was...talking back.

"No, for the last time, you can't sleep in my room."

Coo.

"Because you're a pigeon. You shit on things."

She was so wrong about animals.

[martyrerkomplex]

Well, that just seemed... uncharitable, didn't it? Not that she blamed him for wanting to keep his things clean, but it seemed a little cold if the bird wanted to be around him. (Someone wanting to be around you was a luxury Krista hadn't yet managed to experience for herself.)

"Maybe if you put newspaper down?"

She paused, not quite meaning to have spoken, but it was too late to stay quiet now. "...To keep the floor clean, I mean..."

[friendofdorothy]

Liir starts, goes abruptly green with embarrassment. He just swore in front of a girl who's extremely innocent looking. Great going.

"Well there's also...I mean, diseases and also we're not allowed pets. He does this every..."

The bird lifted off his shoulder, feathers flying everywhere, and immediately attempted to settle on Krista's.

[martyrerkomplex]

She's listening to Liir and all, but honestly paying a little more attention to the pigeon, raising a cupped palm full of birdseed up to her shoulder in offering. It's nothing personal, Liir, it's just that she has a better track record of spending time comfortably with animals than with other humans.

"We aren't allowed pets? That's too bad... He seems to like you a lot."

Even if he's apparently abandoned him for her, for the time being.

[friendofdorothy]

The pigeon happily pecks at the birdseed, leening far enough to basically moon Liir. Like, with its cloaca.

"Iskennary..."

The pigeon looks up and cocks its head, the picture of innocence.

"You're welcome to him, if you want him."

The pigeon twitters back at him. There's something of an old, grumpy married couple in the way they talk to each other.

"You could say we go back a while...Oh, I guess that's kindof strange sounding. Sorry."

He flushes in embarrassment again. There's something about this girl that makes him want to appear to not be a weirdo, and he's failing at it. Like usual. he thinks.

[martyrerkomplex]

She laughs a little at the banter, one-sided as it seems from her perspective. It's peculiar how some friends can say such awful things to each other -- she doesn't know if she wants anybody to feel that way about her. It's sort of confusing.

"Not at all! It's nice that you've been friends for a long time."

>D

[siesinddasessen]

Volunteer.

[Have a face that conveys an emotion roughly described as "that is the dumbest thing that I have heard in a long time".]

At any cost, too, huh?

:D!

[martyrerkomplex]

[Krista's posture seems briefly to deflate, but she rallies more quickly than her shy bearing would seem to suggest she might.]

That's right. I've heard the soup kitchens are short-staffed... They're having a hard time getting help with all the trouble there's been recently.

[And, in spite of the other girl's totally unimpressed reaction:]

Would you like to come with me?

[siesinddasessen]

Do I look like I have nothing better to do?

[Yeah, someone doesn't believe in this at all. Especially not when there is this much of that attitude... wait.]

Are you some kind of enlightened missionary that is going to bother people who need those soup kitchens with your beliefs in return for some food?

[martyrerkomplex]

[What.]

...No! I... I just heard they needed help, so I thought I'd see if anyone else wanted to go, too...

And what do you have to do that's more important than feeding the hungry?

[Honest question here.]

[siesinddasessen]

Study. Which is why I'm here, why they pay for me being here, and what I have to do to not end up on the other end of a soup kitchen eventually.

[She... isn't really terribly interested in helping others before herself (most certainly not. It would be dumb). Especially not if they're strangers and she thus won't get anything out of it.]

[martyrerkomplex]

[She likes books for the stories, but studying has always simply been a way to avoid things that are more painful. Historia doesn't really see much point in it, and it certainly won't help her get people to like her -- not unless she's good enough to help them with their own studies.]

[Part of her wants to relent, to just be quiet and not start trouble. But... that isn't the person she's trying to be, is it?]

If you're worried about that, I don't see how it would hurt to give other people a hand up. Anyway, won't volunteer experience look good if you want to go to college, or on a resume?

B

[thirdarrow]

Footsteps sound in the snow behind Krista, and a young man looking about twenty appears. He lingers behind her to watch the birds, occasionally flipping pages of the book in his hands.

"They like you a lot, do they not?"

The snow on the other half of the bench shivers and slowly slides off onto the ground. He doesn't take a seat just yet, but moves forward to stop behind it.

[martyrerkomplex]

She's quiet for half a moment, as she considers how she ought to speak to him. They have college students here, don't they? Is he one of them, or is he a teacher?

Either way, she decides, she should try for a balance of politeness and confidence.

"Animals are easy to get along with, if you don't make too much noise and carry a little food."

[thirdarrow]

"True, true." He says this evenly, tucking his book under his arm. "But they seem to favour you more than the others."

Perhaps less than some of the students here who were more in-tune with nature, but it was certainly better than usual.

"You are quite kind." To offer food to the birds. Again, not something most people would do.

[martyrerkomplex]

A small part in the back of her mind protests, simply unused to kind words like that. She isn't kind. If she were kind, she would have made friends before now. If she were kind, then...

It doesn't matter. She's a new person now, and that person can be kind.

She smiles, warm and sweet.

"It's very cold this winter. I didn't think they should go hungry out here, either..."

[thirdarrow]

That is true, yes. Other people may not think of the birds, but this young lady certainly did. That is a level of attentiveness that not everyone has.

"With your help, these birds will not be."

But enough of that. He hasn't quite seen her around, though it may be due to the simple reason that she is not in his class. He spends too much time outside, after all.

"May I have your name?"

[martyrerkomplex]

"Krista Lenz."

She's practiced the name long enough for it to stop sounding practiced -- long enough for it to roll off her tongue completely naturally. Even so, she's a little proud of how easily it comes out. And it's not a lie, is it? That's who she is now.

"I only just came here. I... I didn't know, before."

Not strictly true. She had some idea for a long time, but her family did a good job of making sure she was too afraid to ever try using it until she had no other choice.