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etcelsior2017-07-25 11:47 am
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2017-07-25 11:47 am
Entry tags:
I'M BURNING FOR YOU
TEST DRIVE MEME
Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!
Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at someone else's thread, either!
And remember there's only one rule in Test Drive Meme Club: have fun!01. The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place, where locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to welcome you to their fair city. Some of the locals might thank you for always lending your service to the nation, while others might not say anything -- but if you have something nasty to say, better not say anything at all, right?
They are, however, in the middle of something of a pickle. While Do-It-Yourself cloning kits produced by the all American (and currently under intense investigation) company Heaven Scent may sound like a bit of harmless fun, it turns out there can be some negative side effects when they’re handed out to random members of the public. Who knew? Apparently a kit or two fell into native hands and, long story short, some teens took them to the local petting zoo. And now the sheepening has begun. Masses of poorly cloned, family friendly animals have over taken the Laying of Hands On Zoo therapeutic petting zoo. Worse, these seemingly unending masses of clever charmers have chewed their way out of most pens and taken to the streets. With absolutely no fear of humans, sheep are consuming every bit of vegetation in sight, goats are climbing fire escapes and into dumpsters, tiny horses are clogging the streets and confounding traffic cops, llamas are surrounding people in the street to eat their food, and the capybaras have taken over every body of water they can get access to, from local swimming pools to lawn sprinklers. Given the heat wave is still in full swing, none of this is helping the general mood of a local people that are now wary of going into pools, stuck in traffic jams, and having their ice cream consumed by belligerent alpacas in the street.
These creatures have one weakness, though: tipping. It’s not just for cows anymore. Thanks to the cloning kits being used waaay past their suggested limits, the clone qualities have really just gone downhill. Give a hard enough shove to make them fall onto their side and the animals will start disintegrating. Right there. In front of all those screaming kids. Maybe just herding them away or using some porter given powers will cause less emotional scarring to the local population? It’s up to you how to proceed, hero. But while doing nothing is an option, beware of roving petting zoo animals coming for that free drink in your hand or into the nice air conditioned resting spot you’ve set up in no matter how much you want to avoid getting involved.
02. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, and though it's quieter than Heropa, there are still large numbers of citizens to be awed at your very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Science and technology are the lifeblood of this city, so you're likely to come across a good many locals taking your picture with the newest of devices. The imPort craze remains high here, and you may find yourself cornered by overzealous imPort fans, media wannabes and opportunists alike, shoving cameras in your face. Their questions are likely to be fairly mundane, however; get ready for an interview about your taste in romantic partners, personal underwear choices, favorite foods, and more!
Believe it or not, there have been some recent…difficulties between the locals and the imPort community this month. Zombies roaming the streets, fires, yet another political campaign the American public was forced to listen to non-stop radio commentary about. But in typical American spirit, there is one surefire cure to times of trouble: merchandising and public service announcements. There are Let The Dead Die wrist bracelets, Only You! Can Prevent Swear-In Fires posters, and glitter-covered ribbon pins, stickers, and car magnets supporting…well it’s not terribly clear? Supporting not-terrible things happening seems to be the general gist. But most importantly, they’re all locally produced and for sale. Don’t you want to support your local community? The mobs of sales people certainly think you do. In fact, any imPort spotted not wearing some kind of patriotic flair will be alternatively pressured to get some and treated with hostility anywhere and everywhere they go. Even the mugger you may stop in a daily good deed will throw shade at your unpatriotic butt.
Alternatively, those wearing (out of genuine support or just to make the peer pressure stop) any pins, stickers, wrist bands, or what have you will face the challenge of local news crews asking you to do a quick PSA for the people. What advice do you have to give? Remember this is live TV, so try to make it good. Or, for the more morally ambiguous, as terrible as you can. Remember kids: Inky the imPort says it’s not breaking the law if you get away with it!
03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has had its ups and downs since imPorts started reappearing. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while others have swooped in to help the criminal industry thrive. More so here than the streets of any other imPort city, the battle between good and evil looks more like a war of escalation than a heroic tale. That might make the less than warm welcome imPorts are given in the city a little more understandable. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping. While some of these individuals have turned to crime, many locals seem more inclined to defend their native powered drug dealer than help the non-native hero bring them to justice. Who are you to tell them how to live?
Despite the shady reputation, this still is a city filled with families and local pride. Today is a family festival in the park! Come eat cheap (possibly not FDA inspected) food, from deep fried anything-that-will-fit-in-the-fryer, to cotton candy, to turkey legs, to you get the general idea. Or join in the numerous competitions happening, such as the egg toss, scavenger hunt, potato sack race or the semi-voluntary three legged race. What makes it semi-voluntary? Well, there’s a not-so-small registration free to participate, so some of them more non-scrupulous (and according to rumors, mob backed) ‘event coordinators’ have simply started chaining random people together when they’re not looking, then refusing to open the locks until the fee is paid. Actually participating in the race after payment is rendered is entirely optional, but if you want a chance to re-coup your losses by winning the first place cash prize you may want to give it a go. Weirdly, these cuffs seem to be enhanced somehow. Blame Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, or the fifty other technological genius imPorts that have arrived in the past few years, but these cuffs are immune to porter-given powers and lock picking. If you want out, you’ve got to pay. Or beat the guy up and face possible retaliation from local organized crime. Your fate is in your hands.
For those that aren’t there for food and managed to escape the competitions, there’s still a few side activities. No Maurtia Falls event would be complete without a good bit of under the table gambling. Whether you want to run a betting pool yourself or throw down some cash on which kid will hop the fastest in a potato sack, the good people of the Falls are there for you. And offering 10:1 odds on the kid in glasses.
04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities; loud, busy and there's some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement. To be American is to be part of a melting pot, and that there's more money to be made by the thriving local industries hardly hurts. Natives may gather around new arrivals and ask both personal and broad questions about life as an imPort, what they are looking forward to, what their favorite article of underwear is. A few night clubs offer free entrance - just this once!
Of all the cities, imPort fever is always the hottest and most reliable in Nonah. Sure there's been some recent troubles, but you can’t build anything new without a few stumbling blocks along the way, right? To show their dedication to making the local-imPort community really work, Nonah has started a Follow An ImPort to Work day initiative. Whatever government assigned job you have there is, suddenly, a child there shadowing you. Well, by suddenly we mean their parents appeared, gave a whirlwind of instructions, pat their kid on the head, and then left them in your tender care. For an entirely unspecified number of hours. Could be you got a surly teenager or a fanboy tween or a gurgling baby that has no idea what’s going on. Whatever age, the government was kind enough to have automatically registered you for the event, free of charge! Or warning.
Maybe you’ll make the best of it and teach the kid a thing or two. Maybe you’ll find some unsuspecting imPort visiting from another city to hand the kid off to. Maybe you’ll realize that absolutely no background checks have been run and small children are probably, entirely unsupervised, following around criminal masterminds or serial killers at this very moment. Maybe you and your new sidekick should do something about that, or at least check to make sure the fellow imPorts you see with a kid in tow are on the up and up. The future of the next generation is in your hands.
Finn | Star Wars: The continuing
Finn has never seen any of these animals before in his life. To be fair, he’s mostly only ever seen computer simulated wild life waiting to be destroyed/serving as distraction in mission scenarios. But even then, none of them had been so…
Cute.
Through a process he’s still not entirely sure of, Finn has managed to be roped in to become the body/lifeguard of an incredibly pushy group of kids trying to get into the pool. A pool now occupied by a whole family of giant, furry, long-toothed creatures currently happily plodding along in the water. Which he faces armed only with a skimming net, clearly meant to take out small insects and not large mammals. One such mammal, the largest of the group, sits in the shallow end, unmoving, apparently unblinking, looking straight into the former Stormtrooper’s very soul.
“Uh…here, boy? Girl?”
Maurtia Falls
They’d found him. Through space and time and whatever else, somehow the Order had followed them and was now going to drag him in for ‘questioning.’ That was the first, and for a half second, only thought in Finn’s mind as he felt a metal chain clasp around his ankle. He instantly reached for the lightsaber- Luke’s lightsaber- still at his hip and-
Found that rather going for his other ankle, there was another person on the other end of the chain.
“What?”
Wildcard
[[Start up anything here! Finn finds you dragging along a kid in Nonah? Ice cream attacks by sheep? Just a quiet moment in a coffee shop? I will reply.]]
Heropa: slams into this like the fist of an angry god.
Picture, if you will, an idilic, insane afternoon filled with cloned animals and frustrated pedestrians, and then - over the horizon, zooms a swan boat with Poe at the helm, flying at break neck speed with four children all stuffed in the boat with him. One on his lap, one clinging to his shoulders, and two stuffed into the co-pilot seat. This may be the best day of their lives.
He has been doing what really amounts to a ferry service, by delivering children to various parks that their parents cannot possibly be bothered to drive to, under current conditions. He is not responsible for the children. There are too many to ferry. But they are, for the most part, able to fend for themselves.
I mean, Poe learned to fly when he was six - what possible harm could come to them if he just dropped them off randomly in the middle of a petting zoo clone army?
The swan boat zips through the sky in a direct beeline for the pond - taking a sudden turn to loop around it, slowing down far too fast. The kids don't seem to care, they are screaming away happily. The boat hits the water right between two Capybara and splashes down, finally coming to a stop.
"Alright! Destination reached! Time to disembark!"
The kids all tumble out of the swan boat, the one in his lap helpfully elbowing him in the face as it does so, which makes him laugh and rub his chin.
"Alright, who needs a r--" He stops midway through his sentence, because that is when he actually looks up to see who's there. His eyebrows raise high, a momentary shock, and then the grin blossoms on his face so wide it could probably split it open, and he's already jumping out of the swan boat and running over.
"Buddy!!"
Re: Heropa: slams into this like the fist of an angry god.
"Poe!"
It's instinctual. Finn grins back and, still holding the pool skimmer like it's a vibro-spear he's being sent into battle with, takes a quick jog forward. Thus learning the all important reason 'don't be a fool, no running by the pool' is plastered everywhere. One boot hits a particularly potent puddle and down he goes, face first into the shallows. Luckily he's trained for this (okay, not this, but water fighting scenarios), so he doesn't hit his head on anything hard and life-threatening. Rather he just makes a big splash, mildly annoying his arch-Capybara who, with a huff, turns and paddles towards the newly delivered children in search of treats and pets. The pool straining floats sadly after it, no longer being wielded by the soggy stormtrooper.
Finn stands up in the waist deep water a moment later, now about 20 pounds heavier from the water logged jacket and pants, but still grinning as he sloshes his way over. Considering how they'd met, there really was no room for embarrassment with Poe.
"Man, is it good to see you. What in the galaxy is happening?"
no subject
"You have no idea how good it is to see you. I've been here for a month, already. I was worried you were still out like a light back home. Damn. Damn, it's good to see you." He pulled back, but only so he could grip Finn's shoulders and shake him a bit, getting a good look at him.
"We're in an entirely new Galaxy, pal."
no subject
"A month?"
He hadn't woken up in the med-bay. That would've made sense, seeing how the last thing he remembered involved fighting Ren and feeling like a human punching bag in a training room full of troopers. Maybe they'd healed him up then let him out? Whatever the case, it didn't matter and he shook his head as he clasped Poe's shoulder to underline that fact. That didn't matter, that they were in water didn't matter, that there were kids pointing and laughing didn't matter-
But a furry animal grazing is leg underwater? Uh, that mattered a little.
"Frack, Poe. These things aren't meat-eaters, right?"
Images of rathtars were suddenly dancing through his head. And there were so many damn civilians.
no subject
"Pretty sure they aren't. Mostly they seem to just stare into the distance and let other animals sit on them. It's pretty great." He turned his attention up to Finn, resisting the urge to just hug him again.
"Come on. They won't be able to get you in the bird boat."
no subject
"But, the kids..."
The kids, gaining confidence from the hooligans Poe dropped off, seemed to actually be doing fine. Emboldened now that no one had been killed by a herd of giant rodents in the water, most were happily swimming along side them. So, okay. No kids to worry about.
"Sure. Lead the way."
He shrugged off the jacket with some effort, the water making it want to become a second skin, as he sloshed through the water after Poe. He could at least help the stolen jacket dry, now that the original owner was here to see how he'd been treating it.
"This what you do now? Taxi kids?"
no subject
There were, of course, absolutely no controls, motors, or electronics of any kind. This was definitely not actually a vehicle meant to fly. There were handy foot pedals, though!
"Mostly I try not to go crazy worrying about you guys back home. They have me doing propaganda stuff for an energy drink company. Tastes absolutely disgusting, and feels like a kick to the face, but it'll keep you up for the rest of the night."
Maurtia Falls
"I don't know, but somebody's got some explaining to do."
He glares at the beefy mob enforcer who's just cuffed them, who's now explaining that they're entered into the three-legged race, and need to pay their entrance fee.
Re: Maurtia Falls
"Oh, man. I'm still in a coma, right? That's...that's too crazy."
Yes, that was the crazy part. Not the new world, not waking up and being told he has powers. This. This was the line. Frowning, Finn turned to look at his new ankle-mate.
"Tell me I'm right, here."
no subject
no subject
Five seconds later and they've learned the chain is immune to lightsabers. Lightsabers. He didn't think that was possible. He looked at the crackling blue blade in shock, turning it slightly this way and that, looking for something wrong with it.
Then remembering he knows zero about how this thing was built. Press buttons, get saber. That was about the extent of his knowledge.
"You are kidding me. Maybe I'm not doing it right."
no subject
Lando leans away from the crackling blade, turning back to the enforcer to reason with him. "Look, haven't you got some sort of hardship accommodation? I mean, I'd pay you, but I've been out of a job ever since my office burned down this month. And this kid's obviously new-- You're new, aren't you, kid? Can't you cut us a break?"
no subject
He should be trying to play this up. He can pick up what is being put down. But, tragically for all involved, Finn is possibly the worst liar to even walk through the porter. Small children that said 'no' to eating the cake with their face and hands covered in frosting were better than him.
But he does still have a lightsaber.
"Yeah, I'm new. Listen to the man."
no subject
"He's new, and he's armed. Both with that lightsaber, which could cut you clean in two in so much as a swish, and with the Force." Or so Lando assumes. "You don't want to see what'll happen when this kid gets inside your head, makes you spill all your dirty secrets. --Say, is that a cop I see over there?"
The enforcer, already eyeing Finn warily, turns his head at the mention of law enforcement. There is no cop, of course, but it's enough to get the guy doubting.
"So just let us go, forget this fee, and we'll call it even. Heck, I'll even throw in a deal for you." He fishes out a business card for the enforcer. The bold text reads Ugnaught Moving Company. "Next time you've got a load of cargo to move, you call me, I'll get you a discount. No questions asked."
(no subject)
FIIIIIIIIIIIIIINN!!!!
Luke looked absolutely, positively miserable. Being unregistered and barely working at his job, he didn't have that much money to begin with. Being bullied into participating in a three legged race had been bad enough without the ridiculous fee attached to it, and he hadn't been able to do much about it. Stupid strong-minded scoundrels...
Now on top of it, it looked like they had conned someone else into it, and this guy looked just as confused by this mess as he had at first.
"Sorry about all this."
It's not his fault, but he still felt bad.
Llllluuuuuukkkee
Misery apparently loved company, because if there were too sorrier sons of a nerf herder in this place, you'd have to look hard for them. Finn gave the chain a shake, then looked back up at the other man in confusion.
"Seriously, what's happening?"
no subject
"I've never heard of a race that forces you to pay first."
no subject
Finn had been raised by the First Order, true. Not exactly a conventional childhood. And he'd spent his only week in 'real life' running around with war heroes in the search of a near-mythical lost hero of the Republic. This could be something that just happens to people. He doesn't know. So the guy next to him gets to serve as his reality check.
"The chaining thing? Shouldn't we...run?"
no subject
"There's got to be some way out of these cuffs," Luke muttered, more to himself than Finn. "I just... need to figure it out."
It would be really nice if the Force would give him a clue right now.
no subject
His bad, he should have qualified. Though, as he takes a glance around and notices all the happy families and kids, his frown just deepens.
"What are they gonna do to these people?"
no subject
This poor guy, he seemed freaked out by this. Luke tried his best to give him a reassuring smile, his gaze shifting over to the people around them.
"Hopefully nothing; there's too many people around, and causing a commotion would just lead to unwanted attention..."
Luke trailed off, frowning as he caught sight of a couple of the goons hanging around near a condiment stand.
"Then again... maybe unwanted attention is the kind of attention we want..."
(no subject)
(no subject)
maurtia falls
Instead of panicking, Han just rolls his eyes upward, like he really cannot believe he's gotten stuck in this situation. Really. Forcibly cuffing people together for some race? He expected more creative ways of extortion out of you, Maurtia Falls, stop letting him down like this.
"I've got a lockpick right here," he says to Finn, palming said pick out of his jacket pocket with a small flourish. Why talk to the big "event coordinator" when he can just pick the lock on the cuffs, right? (Han has not gotten the memo that, uh, it's not going to work.) "I'll get us out of this mess."
no subject
"Ha- Mr. Solo?"
It couldn't be. About fifty years too young and, you know, currently alive. Dear Force. Did someone try to clone Han Solo?!
heropa
It's a giant droid (with yes, an Imperial insignia stamped on both shoulders), walking by the back of the "herd" of children Finn is trying to guard, and picking up one or two of the kids by the back of their shirts, before just walking away with them. They start wriggling around, trying to escape, and if it's a kidnapping, it's certainly the worst one ever.
"Stop doing that, you're going to fall and then it's going to be your fault if you get hurt- I said stop-"