TEST DRIVE MEME: At the Mall

[theearth]

THE MALL
It's where all the cool kids hang out and you can be a cool kid too.

How it Works
Due to the nature of Save the Earth, it's a more complicated process to play in than most other games. With this in mind, it can't hurt to experiment a little.

Post your character and in the comment share a few details regarding their reincarnation. Repeat if you have multiple ideas you want to try out, as many as you like. It's also suggested that you set a scene and there's a few prompts below to help there, but think outside the box if you like. Then tag around to other threads and help your fellow prospective players to test out their characters and the variations on them. Don't be afraid to presume a little CR to make a scene flow more freely, or to assume an Echo or two.

If you have an app, complete or in progress, you might want to link it.

Prompts

Chilling
There's no particular goal in mind to being here, but it's a nice place to sit around.
Browsing
The mall is made for shopping and that's just what you'll do.
Working
The place doesn't run on wishes, but takes hard work.
The Movies
There are other things to do in the mall besides shop. Are you there with a friend or are you that one guy who won't shut up?
Crime Pays
$59.99 for Call of Duty? Time for the five finger discount. Or think bigger.
Alien Invasion
The Martians* are attacking! They want our brains/world/women/hot dogs. Take these freaks out, or cower in terror.
Stake Out In
Mysterious goings on have made it seem suspicious goings on are occurring after hours at the mall. Someone is investigating, but are you with a partner or are you the mysterious thing yourself?
Meeting with Witnesses
Tensions are high and you don't trust the person you're meeting not to try something dangerous unless it's in public.
Taking Shelter
One of the dangerous foes to mankind has caused a gigantic blizzard. Its been days since it began and... now what?

*Martians are not actual Save the Earth villains.

Comments

[shendude]

Info!

[Browsing]

[Even at his advanced age, Shen Fujin has always tried to keep up with the times. It was one way to pass the time and he needed that. Although he still had a bit of trouble with using the internet for shopping. It meant he spent a long time searching for what he wanted and could be found wandering the aisles of a film store until-]

Grrrgh- Why is the second series so much more expensive than the first or third!?

[The old man is so frustrated by odd pricing conventions that he throws a DVD down the aisle.]

[comparative_insanity]

[Well, suddenly it's raining DVD's. He gracefully jumps out of the way without thinking, his muscles following patterns they should logically never have learned, but he files that away as unnecessary for now. He bends down and picks up the dvd, approaching the old man with the intention of replacing it in the shelves.]

It's because it's the second series. The first has you hooked and the third probably isn't as popular, meaning the second'll cost more. Pretty cheap, huh?

[He slots the video back in place, smiling cheerfully.]

[shendude]

[Excuse him for being a very grump old man about it all, he remembers when VHS was the norm and box-sets were unheard of. You had to buy a couple episodes at a time but at least they were all the same price!]

Cheap? Daylight robbery. I despise such backwards tactics.

[He is in fact so grumpy about all this that he decides not to comment on the youth's choice to clean up his mess.]

[comparative_insanity]

[That gets a small laugh, and he gestures around them both his slim fingers and sparkly nails.]

It's a mall, honey. Once upon a time maybe people came to stores to shop, but nowadays it's all about getting robbed blind with style. I mean, someone's going to rob you blind anyway, you might at least decide when you want to yourself.

[He probably sounds like every typical flippant youth ever, accompanied with a little shrug and everything, but he's really just trying to be friendly.]

[beyondrebirthday]

Info-in-progress

[Chilling]

[BB is sitting around. But not just sitting. He's sitting in a very weird, uncomfortable pose, that makes him look rather like a frog. But he's pretty comfortable in it, nevertheless. And he's thinking, incredibly deeply, on his new ability, with a thumb pulling on his lip.

Suddenly, he looks up at the person with him.]

I've come to a conclusion. This echo...! It's!

Completely useless.

[and he'll just flop down into a normal position on the bench - well, rather than normal, just like that he's sprawled out like he's dead. One arm dramatically covers his eyes - an arm covered in burn scars. Apparently he hasn't had the best luck getting things back - currently the ability to mimic someone he's still never heard of.]

[northless]

[Robb snorts when he sees this, then sits down next to BB, a cup of Starbucks coffee in hand.]

Try knowing how to wield a sword when there aren't any around.

[beyondrebirthday]

[BB is briefly jealous of the coffee - seriously now, he could have been getting one of those instead of whatever it was he was just doing. But after that short moment he courteously de-sprawls so Robb can have some more room on the bench, and contemplates that.]

Huhn. Well, I suppose it'd depend on the sword. A sporting goods store may still have fencing equipment.

[shut_up_idiot]

Info!

[Browsing]

[ Youou is not a man that is very fond of colours, at least not on himself, which can be shown by his selection of so far almost exclusively black items of clothing. And the items that are not black? They're a couple of white t-shirts that have been added for his version of variety. Not that he technically needs more coloured clothing, every year, at his birthday and at christmas his family insists on giving him clothes in all the colours of the rainbow, sometimes in the same piece, but they rarely get the pleasure of seeing him in them. He does his best to wear them when suitable but with his job being what it is he doesn't really see the point in wearing nice clothes if they're just going to get dirty within the hour. Hence his preference for black clothing, it makes the stains more difficult to spot.

Having picked out enough items he looks around for a dressing room, he hasn't been in this store much before and he's still not really used to the layout. ]

[Chilling]

[ Having finished his shopping Youou decides to stop for a cup of coffee and a bit to eat. Most of the seats have already been taken and not a single table was completely free. But a few only contained one other person and the tables are big enough for more. As he bends down to sit at the closest table his eyes seem to gleam almost red as they catch the lights. ]

This seat free?

1st option yes

[comparative_insanity]

[This store is really out of Fai's usual price range, but he got a big tip the night before and so he's decided to splurge on a really nice pair of jeans that will last him a bit longer. And that's where he spies Kurogane making his rounds. At first he hangs back, wrinkling his nose at Kurogane's boring selection. Then he picks out a few little things and sneaks stealthily closer.

He pinches the other man's butt in greeting and dangles three articles of clothing in front of Kurogane's nose. One nice chocolate brown sweater, a navy blue shirt and a dark red turtleneck.]

They're called colors, sweetiepie. They ain't gonna bite you or give you indigestion, okay?

[shut_up_idiot]

The sudden pinch causes him to make a rather undignified sound that he will forever deny if pointed out to him. He turns around, eyes glaring and a snarl ready on his lips both of which seems to die down quite a bit when he sees who the culprit is. Instead he sighs, and brings up his left hand to massage the bridge of his nose in a gesture that has begun to be a lot more frequent since he met the other man, before tilting his head so that he can give Fai an unimpressed look. ]

I know what they are. [ He holds up the clothes he's already picked out. ] These are more practical.

[wordsgate]

(App-in-progress is here!. There's also a cliff-notes version of his info in his profile.)

[Browsing]

[Ah, there's what he's been looking for. He grins and slides a hand gently along the strings of the guitar hanging on the wall of the shop and gives it a longing look.]

Hello, sexy! I'm surprised nobody's bought you already.

[Sasame has been on the market for a new guitar for a while--his old one that he got in high school is in danger of kicking the bucket any day now--so even though he knows he doesn't have the money for it he can't help but drool over the black Fender Jazzmaster that the music store has on display. It's perfect, exactly what he needs! But the price...

He knows there's no way he can convince his mother to spot him the money--even if she could afford it (and he's sure she can't), she'd probably rather save that money for text books or more college classes or something more "worth while."]

Maybe it's time to get a part-time job? It'd only take me a few months to save up, right?

[Alternate!]

[That's it. He can't take it anymore. The increased stress might make school a little difficult, but that guitar is worth it.

After picking up a cup of green tea from the cafe, he puts on his best, most charming smile and asks the cashier for an application. He's intending to sit down and fill it out right away, but in his rush to get it done he whirls around and runs right into another customer behind him, dropping the application and spilling his tea all over it and his clothing.]

Damn it!

SLAMS INTO THIS LATE let's do it ALTERNATE style!!!

[secondcomingof]

[ And unfortunately for you, Sasame, that wasn't just any customer you bumped into. That customer you just jostled is one Captain Casval Mass, sir, yes, sir, and boy, are they not looking happy at all to have been victimized by your drink-related disaster.

Not that he hasn't been victimized by drinks before, but that's an entirely separate matter. Cursing at the tea that's now seeping into both their clothes, Casval glares down at the young man with a fire precious few in this world can match. ]

Bloody idiot.

[ You are about two seconds away from getting kicked in sheer frustration. Fair warning. ]

[wordsgate]

[He's crouched down to pick up his application to see if it's salvageable (it isn't), but his head snaps back up to look at the man he ran into when he hears the angry words. He frowns and straightens, but to his dismay he still has to tilt his head back to even see the stranger's face. He thought he was a pretty descent height, particularly for someone that's Japanese, but this guy...this guy is huge.

He doesn't care for the tone of this stranger's voice, but he also knows he should've watched where he was going, and he certainly doesn't want to start a fight with this guy, so he takes a deep breath and does his best to sound polite.]

I'm sorry, I should've watched where I was going.

[earnedmystripes]

[ooc: No app, currently, but pre-incarnation info can be found here. Basic gist: preincarnation self was a superhero, reincarnation self is a troubled-youth-turned-cop. First echo: The scene with Ben where he tells Kotetsu that TopMag has been bought out and he'll be working for Alexander Lloyds of Apollon Media now, along with the phrase "I'll always be a fan of Wild Tiger, got it?"]

[Browsing]

[Why is there a clearly middle-aged man staring down an aisle of brightly-colored (read: pink) stuffed unicorns, ponies, and teddybears, you might ask?

...The answer is perhaps a little less mundane than one might expect: He's simply a clueless father, looking for a suitable gift for his eleven-year-old daughter for her upcoming birthday.

And mundane is certainly the kind of distraction he could use about now, after that bizarre....whatever-it-was back at the station the other day. Something about companies and Heroes and the name Wild Tiger, which he couldn't shake the feeling was supposed to be his--the kind of thing he'd read in comic books and watched movies about when he'd been a kid. Kotetsu's first thought had been that someone had spiked his coffee as a prank, but there'd been that number that stuck around in his head and the random message-board thing that'd appeared on his napkin when he'd distractedly scribbled the number there during lunch...

It was all ridiculous. And at least for today, he was going to pretend none of it had ever happened. Everything's as normal, dammit.]

They sure give these things weird names, nowadays....[Picking one up and eyeing it with great oyaji judgment] Lady Twinklypuffkins? Really?

[Putting it back on the shelf....and for some reason even he can't quite name, shying away from the neon pink teddy bears next to it.]

[comparative_insanity]

Sorry, honey, I've got work tonight.

[And approaching is a young man clearly having an argument - or rather trying to placate the arguing party - over the phone.]

Look, we've only been on a couple of dates, sweetie, isn't it a bit silly to be jealous of-

[Apparently he was hung up on, because he sighs and gives his phone an irate look before stuffing it in his pocket, muttering something about "never seeing you again". He shakes his head with a sigh and then joins the other man looking at the stuffed toys. He apparently overheard his comment despite his phone call, because he smirks and holds up another pony.]

Does Princess Sparklerosy appeal more?

[earnedmystripes]

[Still locked in the great debate of What To Buy Your Preteen Daughter, Kotetsu catches the tail end of the younger man's conversation, grinning a little to himself at the nostalgia it brings up.

Not that he's really ever had a similar experience--he's one of those rare special snowflakes that actually does find love at first sight, whose "first love" is their only love, really, because it's a sensation that's never been duplicated.

(He still wears his ring, even though it's been seven years since she passed.)

But it's familiar enough, from his high school days. Antonio was often griping about girl troubles, after all. Still, it's none of his business, and Kotetsu fully intends to let the stranger pass without a word when he realizes he's being addressed. And...just eyes that pony because good lord, were those glitter-filled tie-dye roses on its back. And how the toy company even managed to get so many braids into that mane he doesn't even want to know.]

...Geez, whatever happened to the simple names like..."Fluffy", or "Biscuit"?

[He has no idea if there were ever toy ponies called by those names, okay, but he's pretty sure these toys didn't always have names that were nearly as long as his own in full.

...That's when he notices the name badge on Fay's shirt, and he realizes he should perhaps ask help because he is clearly in over his head here.]

Oi, if you're not too busy, could you help an old man out for a sec?

[Not that he's that old, but. He has been on the police force for nearly twelve years, and some of his younger co-workers like to give him shit about it sometimes.]

I'm looking for a birthday gift for my kid. D'you uh, think a soon-to-be eleven-year-old would be into this kinda stuff, or would she've outgrown it by now?

[miata]

It just means no one in the marketing department knows how to name things properly.

[She's normally as quiet as can be, but seeing this man and his hopeless search...it's like trying to throw a life preserver out to sea. Clearly he has no taste, and a young person like herself can direct him to a much better area.]

Which means that their marketing is for a very young audience, maybe with the promotion of girls should like pink and cute things.

[She blinks slowly, and looks up at him.]

Are you just looking? Or really trying to find something?

[espigeonage]

[The app!]

A feather had appeared that morning on Julien's pillow. It was pure white and as long as his forearm, hard and structured along most of the shaft, soft and fuzzy near the base. Humming, he played with it as he went through the mall. All good school-aged boys and girls were in class at this hour, so it wasn't hopelessly crowded, at least.

...but it looked like his favorite baby supply store was closed. Julien sighed. "That's a tragedy, there."

[formermagicalgirl]

[App here. Also, still working on correct icons, so her hair will be shorter than it shows in the icons and she'll be wearing a more normal dress.]

[A girl is sitting in the food court. It looks like she just finished eating and there's also a few bags sitting on her table. She has a rather nice smartphone out and seems to be playing a game on it.

She doesn't seem too happy though, she's probably losing in the game. Actually, she's downright horrible at it, but there's nothing else to do while eating, she already checked the forums she tends to go to and nothing of interest there.]

[wordsgate]

[Sasame's grabbing himself a burger after a long day of clothes shopping when a familiar face catches his eye. Hey, that's one of the girls he knows from school, isn't it? One of them with a number?

He settles down a few tables away from her. He's been wanting to get to know her better for a while now but hasn't found a good excuse yet...but he was hoping to organize a "getting to know each other" meeting at his place, so...

He pulls out his smartphone and sends a message to her number. She's already using her phone so she's bound to see it, right?]

Hey Tamara! fancy seeing you here. on your left!

[and if she looks over, he's planning on waving and giving her a smile.]

[formermagicalgirl]

[Oh yes, she sees it and that just made her loss a for sure thing. And on the first level at that. Why must she be so bad at this game when she's good at everything else related to computers and phones?

She quickly exits out of the game, though if one were to be honest, she's ragequitting it. She hesitantly looks over, because she knows very well that among those who have a number is one of her victims. Please let it not be him.

Damn it. She really just has no idea how to react to him because he seems nice enough, but what she was told implies he isn't. And she definitely doesn't trust her own judgement when it comes to being attracted to a guy.]

You made me lose the game I was playing so this had better be something good.

[weathermetaphors]

[ooc: No app currently, but the gist is that he was a (likely-framed) death-row prisoner in a privately owned prison in Japan that doubled as a carnival and was a front for housing gladiatorial-style matches between Deadmen, those who were infested with a machine called the Nameless Worm, which gave them the power to control their blood and use it to fight. Yeah, Deadman Wonderland is a fucked-up canon, rofl. In his reincarnation life he's a simple meteorology professor at LCU. First echo is the scar on his throat from when his vocal chords were removed--just the scar, though, his voice is still intact.]

[Chilling/Browsing]

[It's perhaps a touch too warm today to really necessitate a scarf, but not enough so to be uncomfortable. Which is very much a good thing, in Nagi's opinion, because he has no idea how to feel about the scar that suddenly appeared on his throat after that minor earthquake a week ago, and he doesn't have an appropriate cover story yet, should one of his students happen to see it and question him. At least the scarf he could explain as feeling somewhat under the weather recently.

Fortunately, he's yet to run into anyone he recognizes, and passerby for the most part have ignored him or stared for a moment before moving on. Some people wore tank tops in the winter after all--it wasn't any more crazy than that.

Don't mind him, he'll just be hanging out by this table of owl-themed paraphernalia, chatting up the workers as they come and go.]

[miata]

She's young, she's studious and she's rather quiet. But she has been looking for some cute key chain charms for her cell phone, and there's a couple on the tables...they look adorable. Cute little owls!

But there's this fellow in the way.]

'cuse me.

[She really wants a good look at the key chains.]

[copyrightnoble]

[occ: no app, mostly seeing if the idea works out for the moment! Basically, she travelled with an alien until a crisis came along, and her memories had to be wiped in order to keep her mind from frying out. In her post reincarnation, she has a slightly better life (happier at least) as a translator. Most likely I'd have to work out some kinks if I app her in!]

Chilling

[Sometimes, it's nice just to people watch and see what people are doing. Sure, she bought a newspaper, but she wasn't reading it in the least. She had her coffee, her lunch, and...everything seemed nice. Peaceful.

It was nice. It really was. It was a beautiful day.]

[miata]

[occ: No app in process yet, but! Should she be brought in, this traumized warrior from Claymore would be brought in as a fairly quiet but normal youth. But she gained her first echo when she witnessed a bloody and fatal accident.]

Crime Pays

[She forgot her wallet at home, and she really wanted to get a coffee. She's so cold, and well...there is a wad of cash. She just found it on the ground, she really did! It's okay to get something like that, right?

...she'll do something nice with the rest of it. Really, she will.]

Browsing

[There's some wonderful music selections here and they're delightful. And this place allows samples! Which to choose first...it's so hard to choose.]