sixthiteration | Test Drive (December & January)

→ Holds and applications are always open. Holds are required for all applications.

→ Choose one of the scenarios below or make up your own. Feel free to try multiple scenarios.

→ Write LOGS or NETWORK prompts, or both.

→ THERE ARE ONLY THREE RULES FOR THE TDM:

1. It has to take place in the 6I universe.
2. It cannot be the character's arrival into the game.
3. Please only test new characters who do not have a version in the game. Our cast list is here.

→ TDM threads cannot be used to meet AC, but if the character is accepted into the game and both players agree, you may keep the CR.

→ Character want ads are here.

Prompts

SNOW BLIND - It's snowing, a lot, and pristine landscape though it might create, it also brings plenty of problems, especially when you live in an Edwardian-style village with a serious lack of snow shovels. It's currently blizzard conditions and visibility is nil — Maybe you gave in and ducked into the nearest house for temporary shelter, and discover someone else had the same idea (or just lives there, oops). Maybe you're stubborn enough to still be out in it, struggling against the wind and snow. Or maybe you've tromped into the South Village Inn like a human popsicle, and are just hoping you don't lose any fingers before you make it to the fireplace.

JUMPED-UP - Winter's here, which means it's the perfect time for an expedition to warmer, southern climes. You've joined a group following the river all the way down to the far southern beach, for fun and for science. On this latest break in your journey, you've spotted a large, jewel-colored feather and picked it up, maybe as a specimen to bring back or just a feather for your cap. Turns out it's an archaeopteryx feather, and you're now, well... let's call it a little gravity-challenged. Not a bad benefit once you figure out how to control it.

COLD CALL - The snow has slacked off, leaving behind a winter wonderland. Sure, there's plenty to do, but after being cooped up inside for days, most people won't blame you for a morale-booster — That is, unless your way of starting a snowball fight is to pop up and throw them at unsuspecting passers-by. Making a snow man or snow angels might come with a little less retribution, but you do you.

WILDCARD - Choose your own adventure. Maybe play powers roulette.

Network

All characters are fitted with a smart watch-like device on their left wrist, which they can use to send text and video messages to other villagers.

- Text and/or video, any length
- Display names may be changed by characters on the fly, but anyone can tap to see someone's real full name

Please list your CHARACTER NAME, CANON & PROMPT in your SUBJECT LINE.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cold Call

A childhood in New Hampshire - mostly raised by her father's sister while Thaddeus Ross stayed away - means Betty Ross is well acquainted with the wild and wonderful world of winter. Those same years meant she'd learned to knit, and it hadn't taken too long to fashion herself a hat and matching mittens. All of this is to say that of course Betty is outside as soon as the snow stops, and when she sees someone she thinks looks familiar, she's quickly packing a snowball.

It may not actually be who she thought, but it doesn't stop her from grinning. "Oops."

NETWORK: un - nobelle

I'm about to embark on an experiment to see which fruit in the cellar can be turned into cider, who's in?

Me. Very me. Please include me. The risks are probably worth the reward.

We're going to live through it. Almost 100%. Honestly accidental fermentation is the best/worst thing that could happen.

If only we still had some peaches left- fermenting those would've been interesting. They've got curative properties.

I think we're down to autumn fruit now. I saw apples and pears, of course. I made some momo peach jam before they were all gone, though. Somewhere, Aunt Martha's laughing at me. I always whined when she made me do any of that shit.

Builds Character doesn't always translate well to 'will need in a survival situation'. Me, I just knew I needed custom machined parts.

Learning to make swords was a cool perk.

See, we might be here, but you're living the dream you've had since the first time you saw Seven Samurai. Me? I'm using my microbiology research to make drinks.

With SCIENCE! I'm willing to bet it's the most efficiently made cider in the village.

You know what would really be sweet?

If we made our own pressure cooker. That's your area, I believe.

Ask and ye shall receive, Betty Boop.

Jane, huddled beneath her winter coat and staring down at a small, obviously hand-crafted notebook, is oblivious. She needs to take an expedition south, she thinks, just to have a stouter data set, but that brings with it all kinds of problems because she probably shouldn't go alone and—

She halts, blinking as the snowball slides down the back of her coat. "...ow," she says, although it's mostly on principle — It hadn't hurt that much, but she expects when she turns around, she's going to see a boyish God of Thunder crouched behind a snowbank. The man is like a 6'3" puppy: He has no boundaries, even for his ex.

Mouth open, she falters at the sight of Betty, and then pushes out a relieved sigh. "Is it weird to say I'm glad it's you when we don't really know each other? Because I'm glad it's you."

Mirth lightens Betty's lake blue eyes, and she laughs a little. "Let me guess, you're relieved I'm not extremely tall, extremely built and extremely blond." She doesn't know Dr. Jane Foster all that well, she thinks, but they have a couple of things in common. One, Phds, even if in disparate scientific fields. Two...formerly dating Avengers. The former part can lead to occasional awkwardness, even with Bruce.

"I thought you were my housemate," she explains. "We're in the middle of renovation which is not my strong point, and sometimes you have to blow off some steam." She tilts her head to one side, eying Jane's notebook. She's got a stack of her own, and one always in her pocket just in case. "Doing research?"

She is a liar because she absolutely knows who she is throwing snowballs at, and he wouldn't believe otherwise. This is not the first time that Bruce has been hit by a snowball by Betty. He's mostly bundled up at the moment, as if he's expecting a disaster, but when he spies her he smirks. "Oops, she says. Elizabeth Ross, you are a fiend and cannot be trusted!"

He also has never, ever won a snowball fight with Betty, but that doesn't stop him from scooping up snow and throwing it at her, running away right after to get a better battleground. It's been awhile since he did anything this silly, but they met when they were young and sometimes she brings it out in him. He hides behind a tree and tries to make a pile of snowballs to use as quickly as possible.

"You were looking too serious," Betty explains to him with eyes of wide, faux innocence. "And you should pay attention to where you're going. I'm surprised the spies and soldiers haven't taught you that one yet." It's a reference not only to Nat and Steve, but also oh-so-vaguely to Thaddeus Ross, too. He hadn't been around much for her childhood, but enough to teach her some of what he considered life skills.

A few of them had even taken. A few.

Some might say they're why Bruce never wins a snowball fight, but the truth is that Betty has a devious streak. She dives, sliding behind the corner of a shed as she packs another snowball and sends it sailing.

Bruce has learned absolutely nothing from all the spies and soldiers. He's been trying to learn basic self defense here, but his greatest stealth skill was his remarkable ability to be unremarkable. It was easier for him to hide in a crowd than most people. It's not his fault that Betty's so observant she can see right through anyone and anything. Maybe it's how she got through a household with a certain someone through her life.

Bruce throws all his snowballs in her general area but none of them land because she's behind a shed. He has to make a daring attempt to come closer, and he is feeling confident for about five minutes before he slips and falls right into a snowpile. So basically, he defeated himself. He very awkwardly attempts to get up, and then ... decides eh and tries to slide into pretending to make snow angels. Yep. That was intentional.

They'd never talked much about life with her father, and that had been on her. She hadn't wanted to think about the less good aspects, or how many they were. It's also why she'd believed that his support of Bruce was...support of her.

But it was also why she'd managed to make copies before he ordered the self-same research destroyed.

In any case, when he hits the ground, she laughs and tromps forward, leaning her hands on her hips. "Look at you."

"Yes, look at me making snow angels, I definitely wanted this. All according to plan." If he was a better strategist this would be an excellent ploy to bring her over for more snowballs, but it's too cheap of a trick for Bruce Banner. "And not that I think I might have pulled something in my back."

He sits up just to test it out, and something does twinge, but it's only that. He winces and stretches that muscle out, looking up at her. "I'm old, Betty. I'm finally growing into the age my personality has been waiting for."

Betty has always been too self-assured and too good at projecting Normal to see the therapist that probably would have been useful at various points in her life, but if she'd ever done it, they probably would have told her that one of the reasons she fell in love with Dr. Bruce Banner of a gazillion PhDs was because he'd never pull a cheap trick. Other men she could mention are renowned for it.

Not that she's thinking about dear old dad just now; just the opposite.

She laughs as she bends down to help Bruce heave upwards, but the snow is the heavy, wet kind that makes excellent snowballs and snow angels and snowmen - but also is easy to slip in. In short, they're both on their asses now. "Well, at least something's rejoicing. No amount of yoga has been enough to mitigate the fact that things hurt a lot more in the morning than they used to."

Bruce takes her hand to get up and then tries to catch her when she slips, both of them ending back on the ground. It stings, but it also makes him laugh. One of the many amazing things about Betty is whenever he feels stupid or embarrassed, she manages to get him laughing instead. They were friends before anything else, and he's glad no matter what they've stayed that.

"Do you remember that time at Harvard where you made all of us go outside at three in the morning, in the middle of finals, because it was Johnny DeGrasse's first snowstorm?" Bruce has a very sharp memory, especially because he sometimes kept sane purely by trying to remember good times in his life. "And of course you were the only one who didn't get the cold afterward."

She laughs, and partly it's from being on her ass in the cold snow, and partly it's at the memory. "Well, Johnny was half the reason," she says, pushing her hair out of her face. "The other half is it was three am, in the middle of finals, and I needed that cold snap to stay awake. I'd run out of coffee."

And sleep? Sleep clearly wasn't happening: it was finals in biology at Harvard. None of them were sleeping until it was over, except maybe Bruce. He'd always been miles enough ahead of the rest of them that way that he was probably doing fine. But he also probably would have stayed up in solidarity.

"Sleep? Who needed sleep? Sleep was for non-majors." Bruce often saw his youth as isolated and awkward, and it was, but there are some good memories of labs and late nights. Way too much coffee and feeling like their minds were about to explode. Everyone was smart and hard working and academia was the best place for him. He probably should have never left it for actual research, but that was Bruce. Always too curious to say no.

Schoolwork did come naturally to him. It wasn't a struggle most of the time, outside of oral reports. He'd often finish his exams early and wait until other people were done before turning it in. It was the part of him that went to school too young and was self conscious about it. By that time though, he was in a good place. And he had Betty. Nothing could be bad when Betty was there.

He looks over at her with a smile and finally manages to sit up, rubbing at his back. "I don't miss the T on snowy days when everything was sludge. At least when this all becomes sludge we won't be stuck in close quarters on a moving machine."

Did you talk to the swamp guy cause I'm pretty sure he'd know but he might also be frozen.

Frozen seems like...possibly not helpful here.

Have you seen him? Does he need help getting unfrozen?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive (December & January)

Betty Ross | MCU

un - Starkflake

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Cold Call

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UN: The Brock Report

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