pajamabox | Test Drive Meme

Test Drive Meme

the t e s t d r i v e meme

Welcome to the Test Drive! In this post, you'll be able to interact with others to get a feeling for your character. All threads below will be considered non-canon unless otherwise stated. Multiple different scenarios are available, you are welcome to post multiple comments with different scenarios each or post one single comment containing different scenarios.

i n s t r u c t i o n s

• Post with your character (note character name in the subject).
• Other people reply to you by picking a number from the scenarios in the subject line.
• Have fun!

o p t i o n s

01 • AWAKENING. Your character has just woken up, or turned a corner, or blinked and now their animal companion has joined them. How do they react? What were they doing beforehand? How are they going to handle the news that they're a knight now? For this thread, you'll be threading with your animal companion. (You must provide the thread-start for this option)

02 • ON THE PLANE. You were promised a seat on a plane out to the island but it looks like you and another Knight (or the Princess) were double-booked! Chat it up with your fellow fighter, commentary from your animal companions is optional.

03 • THE ISLAND. You've just landed and you're somewhere on the island. One of your fellow companions is nearby and they sure do look like they've just landed with all their luggage still in tow. Or they're already wearing an Island tourism shirt. Or who even knows, but you're both here!

04 • COFFEE SHOP. All you wanted was a Latte, or a Frappuccino, to consider why you're here on the island and what you were going to do until the first monster showed up... Instead the barista called for "Drink for the Knight" or "Drink for the Princess" oh shit, but this isn't your drink! Or maybe it is your drink but someone else is there! Why would two knights have gone for coffee at the same time? Or did you get confused for or with the Princess? Come on, man, there are only so many unicorn frappes in the world.

05 • DISCOMFORT. Your room is an oven. Either that or a freezer. Or maybe this bed is just really uncomfortable? Who knows why you can't get to sleep, it feels like it could be anything. Why even bother trying? Maybe someone else can preoccupy you until you feel tired enough to ignore your discomfort. Go for a walk, go outside, looks like you're not alone in your discomfort. New island housing is wild!

06 • PENSIVE. Something's on your mind, and no matter how hard you try to focus elsewhere, it's just not going to work. Your body may be tired, but your mind is incredibly busy and it's virtually impossible to get to sleep. First night on the island is rough. Surely, talking it out with someone else will help?

07 • BEACH EPISODE. You're on an island!! There's beaches everywhere, there are pools on every street. Endless water opportunities, chances to fool around and relax before things get serious. You're not the only good guy to have had this thought! What are you both up to?

08 • LOCAL FOOD. You've been dying to eat X, a dish that you've seen numerous other knights eat on TV. Now YOU'RE a knight (or the princess) and you're eating it yourself, there are kids at home that'll be excited to eat this food because they saw you eating it! You might even get a commercial spot to advertise this food when you get home. Awesome! Except someone else is here, what if they get the commercial spot? Huh.

09 • DENNY'S. It's 3am and you've arrived at a Denny's. You're almost certain that there's not a Denny's on the island and you're not even sure you walked in here? But it is what it is and the server is already bringing you a menu and taking your drink order as one of your fellow allies slips into the booth across from you. Have you met them before, or are they new to you? Your animal companion is here, too, and they're ordering something as well.

10 • WILDCARD. Choose one of the options above, or make up your own scenario.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's weird."

The sign is quick and blunt, his eyebrow rising very slightly as he watches Seth move like that. Frantically, almost. This kid must not get to talk to a lot of people. There is this little flicker of pity across his face as he brings his hands up, more insistent this time.

"It's not my room. I'm not going to use it. You can give it to your roommate, if you want." Either way seems like it'll work fine to him, but that's because he doesn't realize that Marion is not uhh a real person.

Edited 2019-01-07 06:22 (UTC)

Though Seth was expecting Gyre to find it weird he is still a bit saddened by it.
Though then he's just feeling very, very awkward when Gyre suggest he can give the room to his "roommate".
Oh boy.

Poor Seth looks really awkward, which for him is quite a feat as he nervously signs.
"Oh um...Marion's...uhh...one of my life sized puppets?" If he weren't mute he'd be squeaking.

"...a puppet?" he says, out loud, forgetting entirely that this kid is probably deaf and can't hear him. It's obvious he's thrown entirely off his game at that statement, his hands folding into loose fists in front of himself. His eyes wander slightly upwards, staring at the moon for a good long moment as he ponders what this tells him exactly about this person.

Why would he sleep on the couch unless he couldn't get the puppet out of the bed, right? That's gotta be it, he imagines, though his gaze does drift down to the puppet Seth was signing with before. Maybe the kid thinks the puppets are alive? This is so eerie to him he almost doesn't want to think about it.

When he begins signing again, his hands are slow, almost delicate as he tries to find his words. "Is it too heavy for you...?"

Seth fiddles with his hands nervously while waiting for Gyre to respond again after the initial response. His gaze is pretty much anywhere except Gyre, though his attention is quickly jolted to his hands when Gyre starts signing again.
Too heavy? Oh...right of course that's what he'd probably figure.

Nervously he signs in response.
"N-no I, that's not it, I can move all of them just fine, I'm quite used to it really. Especially Miriel and Sophie, as well as Mary here, they always want to be looking over every little thing I do."

Yeah no, this, this kid was definitely talking about the puppets as if they were people with their own independent thoughts, even motioning to the puppet he'd been signing with before when mentioning 'her' name.

He hums in slow acknowledgement, realizing just beginning to dawn on him. His eyes follow Seth's gesture, staring the puppet down. The puppet and the puppet's dead eyes. What can they possibly look over when they look like that? Her??

"You're going to give a doll your bed? You're going to die if you don't sleep." He doesn't even realize he's echoing the things Seth had already signed to himself through the puppet. He just needs to say them because uhhh what the actual fuck.

This however clearly alarms Seth as his hands are quickly a blur as he starts signing back.

"I- I can just sleep on the sofa! I don't care if it's pretty hard I'm used to it- Marion sleeps in my bed at home most of the time too, though I get to sleep in it if they're feeling generous- and if I manage to fall asleep on the bed to begin with, I kinda have a habit of just crashing- Besides if I made them sleep on the sofa they'd be upset and I don't want that because-!"

His hands slow as he hangs his head, very hesitantly signing the next sentence.
"Because...they...they're my friend.."

Well. Seth has officially surpassed Gyre's ability to understand. The brief pity from earlier returns to his face and he shakes his head. It's entirely not his business to tell other people what to think. If this is what Seth needs to believe, then it's hardly his business to interfere. The kid is an absolute stranger and not even a wild elf at that. He shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place, he's realizing, and he needs to find a way out. This kid needs way more help then he can provide ever, much less in the middle of the night on a murder island.

Still, Seth is also a knight. They're supposed to be on the same team, though Gyre has never seen a team made of strangers before. He's beginning to understand why as he shrugs, unyielding to Seth's delusion.

"Plastic doesn't need to sleep at all, much less fight a bunch of monsters. You need to sleep in a bed. Take the key if you can't bring yourself to move your toy."

Edited 2019-01-08 22:30 (UTC)

Seth's hands freeze when Gyre signs his response.

A...toy?
Did, did he just call Marion...a toy?
It's like he doesn't even really realize Gyre just offered to let him use the room Gyre apparently wasn't using as he slowly starts to visibly shake, his usually rather blank expression slowly morphing into something that was very hard to describe. Horror would only scratch the surface, astonishment wasn't even close...to Seth Gyre had just stated something that was to him unthinkable, an practically as devastating as the world coming to end. And for once...

It showed on his face.

And then it turned to anger. Furious, delusional anger.

Seth hastily took out his phone and started to type into the text to speech fucntion, he wanted to yell, to scream, but he had no voice to do so with. So instead he typed it all down...

And turned to volume on his phone to maximum so that the voice might as well been a yell, though the monotone certainly didn't have the angry tone Seth would have had.

"What do you know!? You don't know them! They're not toys, they're my friends! So what if they're made of plastic and wood!? That doesn't mean they can't be my friends! Especially Marion! Diva or not Marion is one of my oldest friends and I'm not going to let you disrespect that! Who do you think you are acting like you know them!?"

There were actually a few angry tears falling down his face.

Edited 2019-01-08 22:47 (UTC)

He didn't realize just how blank Seth's face was until it started changing, first into that awful terror and then pushing further to real anger. This kid was really angry with him for calling his toy a toy. He truly doesn't understand, and he tenses as Seth's hands fly downward to grab something. He thinks he's going to be attacked for a moment, his body coiling up like a spring to run away. He won't be attacked he won't be attacked--

But it's just a phone. And Seth frantically typing on it. He's baffled, watching him hit the keys like he's shoving all his anger into them, and all that comes out is that deep monotone. Sure, it's a high enough volume that Gyre tips his head back slightly, but with no passion or tone in it, it loses all effect for him. He's completely out of his depth and every second that passes makes him realize it more and more.

He waits a few moments after the rant has passed to make sure that Seth doesn't have any more to type, before he returns, signing, "I don't know anything about you. Do whatever you want." He makes this utterly dismissive gesture, turning away from him. "Good night." And he's going to walk away from all this, assuming Seth doesn't stop him.

Seth doesn't stop Gyre from leaving, mainly because he can't. He's too shocked by Gyre's response. He had expected at least some push back, not for Gyre to admit he didn't know anything about him and telling him to do whatever he wanted before wishing him good night and leaving.

In his shock the anger slowly disappears and leaves Seth staring blankly after Gyre, confused.

Did...did he drive him away? That seems like the most logical explanations, and the realization makes sorrow take hold of Seth, easily overtaking what remained of his anger, starting to think more clearly now that the anger wasn't clouding his thinking and he could keep believing his puppets were real friends.

He balls the hand not holding the phone into a fist, at which point he realizes he's still holding the key.

He had only been trying to help. Even though he had seen him interacting with Mary and found it weird just like everyone else, he'd still just been trying to help.

And suddenly Seth feels horrible for blowing up on Gyre like he did, even if it purely instinctual and the anger born from his need to deny the truth about how real his puppets were, though he didn't even consider the last part.

Clutching the key he puts his phone away before starting to carry Mary with him to check out the room Gyre had given him a key to. And in the end after locking the room from inside he ended up actually falling asleep on the plush bed, curled up around some of the pillows.

He would apologize tomorrow.

Tomorrow comes and Gyre is nowhere to be seen! All through the morning and well into the afternoon, Gyre is hoveled away in whatever hole he managed to find to sleep in until past noon. He just doesn't want to deal with these cities. Even if they're small, they're still loud and packed close in a way he has never had to get used to, and he hates it, especially during the day when everyone's awake.

Still, he knows he should stick close to them. He has no idea when the monsters will start showing up, and those are the only reason he's here after all.

This is all to say, he finds a park bench sometime in the late afternoon and he sticks himself there, eating fast food chicken nuggets out of box with a sort of bored irritation on his face. He's lucky the store owner was willing to give him anything for free, even if the thing he got is uh genuinely disgusting. At least it's food, and at least he's sort of alone in the park here. Hopefully it stays that way.

Meanwhile Seth had been looking for Gyre basically from the moment he woke up, running around the city despite his anxiety as the need to apologize momentarily overpowered his desire to hide away in his room with his puppets.

So when he finally, finally, manages to find Gyre sitting on a park bench he is absolutely exhausted both physically and mentally.

Aaand then he the nervousness from the fact he was the one who'd driven Gyre away last night even when he'd just been trying to help him out finally catches up with and he clutches the doll he's been carrying with him to his chest, fiddling with his hands, slowly and very hesitantly approaching Gyre. The doll was his oldest creation, which showed as he'd never bothered to upgrade it unlike Marion.

He honestly doesn't see Seth for a good long while here. There have been lots of folks walking or riding their bikes on the path beside him, and he just can't be bothered to pay attention to everyone trying to get an afternoon run in. He's just trying to force himself through his lunch, eyes mostly unfocused forward.

It's not until Seth is quite close that he finally focuses up, gaze snapping to him. He looks immediately wary, looking Seth over, taking note of the old doll.

"I don't need the key back." Making assumptions about what he's here for, because he doesn't expect an apology at all.

Seth shakes his head quickly but firmly, as that wasn't what he was here for. He hesitated for a bit more, still fiddling with his hands before taking a deep breath and signing.

"I'm sorry. I, I wanted to apologize for blowing up on you last night...you were just trying to help. And I..."

He chewed his cheek as he held the doll to his chest even tighter. He had trouble making himself sign the next part, as it got a bit too close for comfort his mental stability to admitting his puppet friends weren't quite as real as he wanted to think.

"I got angry at you unjustly because I was upset over what you said about them..."

What a baffling way to start a conversation. Gyre squints, clearly confused, clearly not understanding the purpose of this at all. Wild elves don't apologize really, and especially not for personal emotional reactions. It's not his business why Seth got angry. It was only ever his business to leave when he became uninterested or unhappy with the conversation. Which he did.

This is to say, it takes him a good long while to turn Seth's words over and try to figure out what exactly he's looking for in this conversation. He's not really sure how to continue it, even as he raises his hands.

"Your emotions are your own. Bringing up the past now doesn't change what happened." He shrugs, not quite sure if that actually conveys his thoughts on the matter? He's trying, at least, and he definitely doesn't seem angry, but forgiveness is just not a concept that exists to him unfortunately.

Seth seems to shrink at the response, though he's glad Gyre doesn't seem angry at least.

"I, I know but...you still deserved an apology...I'm pretty sure I made you uncomfortable the way I blew up on you...I don't want to make people uncomfortable..."

Though sadly his puppet hobby by nature seemed to have most people creeped out.

He tilts his head, again unsure what Seth is looking for. He's not sure why they're dwelling on this honestly.

"Yelling tends to make people uncomfortable." His eyebrow is quirked as he signs, clearly wondering if this is what Seth needs to hear? Did he just not know that yelling was bad? What even is this conversation?

Edited 2019-01-12 19:44 (UTC)

Seth's starting to get confused himself, tilting his own head.

"I...I mean yeah... I guess...a-anyway I just...wanted to find you so I could apologize for blowing up on you when you were just trying to help me and...thank you...for letting me use the room."

There was even a small tint of red on his cheeks at the last part.

"Okay."

He straightens his head back up, unable to stop himself smiling just slightly at the sight of those pink cheeks. This kid is a mess. He hopes he doesn't die during all this.

"I hope you feel better."

Seth's glad to see Gyre smiling, though with him having accomplished what he came here for...

All the anxiety and nervousness and fear due to being outside finally came crashing down on him.

He falls a bit clumsily on the edge of the bench Gyre's sitting on, though there's a bit of distance between them, holding his head against the back of the bench, sitting on his legs and holding tightly to the doll with one hand while signing a bit clumsily with the other in response.

"About what happened with you, yeah but... ughhhh....why did I have to come outside? There's people, and they keep staring and it's scary-"

And on he goes, doing his version of rambling again. Yep, you're 100% right Gyre. This kid was a huge mess.

Wow, this kid is really a mess. He watches the signed rant for awhile, wondering if he's going to get a spot to respond at any point....

No. Not anytime soon anyway, appears to be the answer to that question. He squints a little before reaching out and just covering Seth's hands. Stop for a second, good lord. His sign is quick, simple.

"Who cares?" Why does it matter that people are staring?

Seth pauses in his signed rambling when he feel Gyre covering his hands, blinking and looking at Gyre signing back to him, before responding, though signing more slowly this time.

"I care. It's scary, it feels like everyone is judging me, laughing at me inside their heads, like they hate me just based on what they see and hear rather than what's actually true. I hate it. What they look like when they speak to me almost never matched what they say...I don't want to get hurt again..."

He's definitely feeling shy, but is willing to open up to Gyre a bit. He had helped him after all.

Well at least he got this kid to calm down a little. The frantic signing thing makes him nervous every time Seth does it. Now that he's calmer though, Gyre is left to just watch his hands, and ponder what in the absolute world he ought to say. It's a lot of weird assumptions that don't make sense to him. He's never had to think about what other people think of him, but he'll try anyway.

"Does it matter if they don't like you? You're still you, no matter what anyone else thinks." He can just begin to understand that last sentiment at least, and he nods carefully, clearly thoughtful.

"I understand not wanting to be hurt, but you can only do your best if people speak dishonestly to you. You know?"

Seth clutches Abigail to his chest even tighter as he signs back in response, though he nodded slightly at the latter part of Gyre's signing.

"I know...I know I'm still me no matter what anyone thinks but...they don't like who I am and avoid me. I don't want them to avoid or hate me. It hurts. Being outside is scary. It's not safe."

Edited 2019-01-13 15:18 (UTC)

Scary? The sign makes him tilt his head, shaking it after a second. No, no, no.

"You can't make people like you. If they won't give you a chance, they're not worth it." He signs it with utter confidence, like it's easy to just ignore what people think of you. It is, for him, and he's really struggling to understand Seth's perspective.

Test Drive Meme

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