TEST DRIVE MEME

[behind_the_box]

Starting now, we'll put up a new one of these very month! Feel free to use the current setting of Pandora (Christmas in July) or make up your own! You can also use the following scenarios if you'd prefer:

1. Mushroom Kingdom

Have you ever wanted to be a fairy? Well now you are, even if the answer was no! The City is a big, big place, all of a sudden. Houses are roomy affairs inside giant mushrooms, there are colorful flowers everywhere you look, and the animals are always friendly! Unfortunately, the only food items being sold in the market this month are fruit, fruit, and.... more fruit.

2. School Town

You may be too old to attend the academy, but that doesn't seem to matter; your attendance is mandatory anyway. Or perhaps you're there to teach, because you're the only resident of Pandora that possesses a certain skill. It doesn't matter if it can't be learned; you have to come up with a lesson plan anyway. At least the uniforms aren't some god awful color, right?

3. Zombie Apocalypse.

There's no coming back from death in Pandora, so you'd better do all you can to survive. Three quarters of the city are already infected, and this is the last stand. Are you going to pool your resources and try to make it together, or is it time to stop trusting others and go it alone until the month is over?

Comments

Is this a bad time to mention that she has actually ripped a heart out in canon before?

[allthetime]

I'm a troll! But not the kind humans seem to think of with the bridges and stuff. I'm from a different planet.

[And if he voiced his suspicions, she would only be able to shrug and say that it sounds pretty accurate. She only did it the one time though, sheesh. Everyone's a critic.]

X.x At this rate she might end up showing him how good she is at it... *facepalm*

[shatteredservice]

A troll?

[The disbelief is obvious in his voice. Especially when she adds the part about being from another planet.]

Are you sure you didn't mean to say you are delusional?

She'd rather watch someone else do it 8D

[allthetime]

Oh sorry! I didn't know that grey people with horns wings and timey-wimey powers are so common where you come from that it makes my origins sound dubious.

[How does she make such a snarky comment sound so friendly and playful? It is a gift.]

[shatteredservice]

I grew up in Ancient Ireland. The Fae could be anything they wanted and often were. I may not be used to...trolls if that is what you call yourself, but I am very used to other kinds of magical creatures.

Tell me, why wouldn't it make more sense for me to believe you are just one of them trying to mess with me than for me to believe your story about being from another planet?

[Someone should really tell him they are all from different planets here...]

[allthetime]

Because everyone here has come from another planet. Humans have this silly assumption that they're the center of everything when really your Earth is just a tiny speck in the eye of a really big frog.

[She's breaking it to him so gently!]

[shatteredservice]

You assume I'm human. I haven't been human in a long time.

[Though there are times when he still wishes he could be human again. Wishes...

No, best to not think about it. He's a servant and a shadow fit only to be used and thrown away. Better not to remember what it felt like to be human.]

And believe me. I know full well I am not the center of anything. If you wish to speak to someone who thinks himself the center of everything, I should tell you about this Archer I once knew...

[allthetime]

Well I was trying to be polite. Most of the time people get weirded out for some reason when I point out that they're dead.

[She sounds more amused than anything.]

You mean Gilgamesh right?

[shatteredservice]

I have lived and died more times than I have any right to by now. Living or dead. It really means little to me at this point.

[Liar.]

Gilgamesh? Is that his name? I only knew him first as Archer and later as the King of Heroes.

[Diarmuid pauses a moment.]

Yes, that title would be fitting for Gilgamesh, wouldn't it? That explains a few things...

[allthetime]

I really don't get why the thought of dying upsets people. When you get down to it it's really not that bad.

[Is she trying to comfort him? Or are her thoughts on death really that... special? The world may never know.]

He's pretty fun to hang out with if you humor him!

[shatteredservice]

[Diarmuid raises an eyebrow at her.]

And what if I think your thoughts on dying are just as strange as you think mine are? Why is it that death holds so little concern for you?

[And that comment just makes his eyebrow raise higher.]

Humor him? Why should I humor one who could not even be bothered to acknowledge my existence?

[allthetime]

Oh I meant the king of heroes thing. I wouldn't know what advice to give you for that problem.

[It isn't that Aradia is ignoring his first couple of questions. It's that she's answering the easier, less interesting ones first. ]

But that's not important. He's not important. You must have something in your culture --humans have so many! I'm jealous!-- like this right? A person or something like that who comes and guides the souls of the dead to where they need to go? Like a bee keeper or a shinigami or a skeleton with a long pointed fauna-trimming utensil.

[shatteredservice]

I believe the word you are looking for is 'scythe.'

[Diarmuid can't help but smile slightly at her quick words.]

And yes, my culture has them. In fact, some versions of my legend mistakenly claim my father was one such individual.

[His true birth father would be enraged to know just how thoroughly time had forgotten him. Deep down, this pleases Diarmuid to no end, though he would never say it out loud.]

Why do you ask?

[allthetime]

You could say that's what I live for! Guiding the souls of the dead has been part of the job description for time out of mind.

[And she's quite proud of her career choice!]

[shatteredservice]

So you are a Lord...Lady of the Dead?

[Diarmuid's expression becomes one of concern. Not for the reason she might expect though. He has no problems with what she is. It's...]

Just how strong are the people who brought us here if they can bring beings such as yourself?

[allthetime]

Maid of Time actually! Helping the dead out is just part of what I do. The rest is pretty much making sure things happen the way they're supposed to happen.

[Aradia considers his question, cupping her chin with a thoughtful hum.]

You know I'm not sure. It could be that I came along because I knew I was supposed to on a subconscious level. That happens to me a lot.

[shatteredservice]

That is...quite the job. Do you just do this on your world or--

[What a minute what did she just say?]

What do you mean things just happen to you if you know they are suppose to subconsciously? Doesn't that seems just a little weird to you?

[allthetime]

[Aradia shakes her head, but she's still smiling, ever patient.]

No see you don't get it. Think of time as a really big house. It's so big you can't possibly see everything inside no matter how hard you try so every time you go down a hall you aren't supposed to you create another mirror reality. I'm the housekeeper with the blueprint to the house and all of the keys so it's my job to make sure that in at least one instance everyone goes down the right hallway and does everything they're supposed to. Otherwise the house would just be a big mess! And sometimes that means directing my own actions from different points in time without realizing that's what I'm doing. So it's entirely possible the me who is here now told the me who wasn't here yet that this is where I needed to go.

[shatteredservice]

Okay...I think I got all of that...

[Diarmuid is probably lucky that he grew up during a time where the idea of there being alternate realms where time moves differently was fairly common. However knowing about Fairy Realms doesn't really help him puzzle out how exactly talking to oneself like she is suggesting works.

After a moment, he shakes his head.]

It's all right. If I don't have it all, I have most of it. Your life isn't often boring, is it?

[allthetime]

[She's so glad he gets it. Not many people do.]

Well it was boring for a while after I died. But I came back to life and it's been pretty interesting since then!

[shatteredservice]

[Growing up in Ancient Ireland has its advantages.]

Just because of how things change around here...

[He nods toward the city.]

...or because of your job? Can you still do your job here?

[allthetime]

Because of my job. I died and then came back to life a really long time ago and it's been an ongoing adventure since then.

[Aradia makes a small hum noise, pressing her finger to her bottom lip.]

Sort of! Not a lot of people die here.

[shatteredservice]

Your job aside, people not dying is usually looked at as a good thing.

[At least, it meant this strange place didn't regularly do things that killed people.]

So, since you can't do your job as much as usual, what do you do around here?

[allthetime]

I guess so but you'd think they'd get old enough to die of old age or something! I thought humans didn't live that long?

[She doesn't sound all that bothered by it, though.]

I like to people watch and explore the different islands. This place is really a lot bigger than it looks and there are so many neat things to find.

[shatteredservice]

I'm afraid natural death and I aren't very well acquainted so I can't really help you with that, though compared to many things, yes, the span of a human life is very short.

[He gives her a curious look.]

Do you not have a job then? How do you pay for anything? Do they trade here?

[allthetime]

Necessities are free! I tell fortunes if I need funds for anything.