Mask or Menace | MODERATORS (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
maskormods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
etcelsior2015-06-27 04:13 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2015-06-27 04:13 pm
Entry tags:
safety first
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 to have fun!01. Your memory might be a haze still and you might even feel frustrated or anxious by the sudden news that you are no longer in your own world and that the Porter scientists and military cannot send you back. You don't get a chance to linger long in the underground Porter lab, but something is clearly amiss; light patches on the floor indicate something else used to sit in that spot in the room. Parts of the wall, floor and the tables look as if they have been refurbished in the past few months -- something happened in here some time ago. Something big.
You're ushered out quickly and then suddenly, you're enveloped in a faint blue blue light before you find yourself under the bright Floridian sun. Another soldier steps toward you with a smile, directing your attention to a car near a large gate. She mentions she'll be debriefing you soon, handing out a brown folder and a pamphlet. You don't see the digital tattoo on your wrist, but it's quickly explained on your way over to the car as you realize there are other confused faces nearby, all holding files of their own.
02. The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place. The locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to help cool you down in this awfully nauseating heat. Some of the locals might thank you for always lending your service to the nation and others might not say anything. In fact, some people might back away from any imPort who quite obviously looks like they aren't from around the neighborhood. Once in a while there's a look of disdain on someone's face and hushed voices. Something about "the outbreak" and "the government's gotta crack down on their medical files". "Some of them can't be right in the head" says another.
03. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, and though it's quieter, there are just as many citizens awed at your presence. Heavy winds have people grasping at their newspapers and constantly brushing hair out of their faces, but that doesn't distract them from crowding you in excitement if you're obviously from a different time or world, or just let it slip that you're a newcomer. Children and young teenagers are especially likely to ask for an autograph and a photo.
Some locals seem less enthused to see you. They never make an approach, but they can be overheard scoffing and muttering something about cameras. "Who do they think they are?" or "I don't like it... it reminds me of the government corruption back in the eighties." What could they be talking about?
04. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, is normally known for being a little more on the apathetic side, but there's been tension in the atmosphere lately. Nobody will outright state what it is that's rustled their jimmies, though you might find a newsstand with articles on recent and aggressive vigilante behavior within the city. "ImPorts: loyal to the cause of their own?" reads one newspaper article.
People are not as friendly in this city and go out of their way to avoid walking down the same sidewalk as the more obvious looking imPorts pass through. Local cops say nothing, but they scowl at those imPorts and utter something about "no badges" and "acting like authority figures".
05. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities. It's loud, busy and there's some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement. Anyone who they come to determine an imPort is bombarded with all sorts of offers; job offers, advertising gigs, spokesperson for advocating children stay in school, etc. Anything and everything! You name it. Shops offer discounts for food and clothing, whatever they need. People flock in droves with questions, but they all say the same thing. Thank you for your service to this country, Hero. You saved a lot of lives. Wow, feels great to be a hero, doesn't it?
SDFKHA he's gonna be a BFF before he knows it!
[Look at him, being all useful! He's actually enjoying this! But not half as much as he enjoys getting a closer look at those teeth.......
...of course, when he does, and when he can read Go! Go! Zeppeli! he can't help but open his mouth with surprise and gawk at Gyro a little. Or a lot.]
Whoa! Does that say...Zeppeli?! Holy shit, it does! What are the chances?!
Haha nice. He'll need someone without johnny,
Huuuuuh? [Pulls his hands away, slurping his tongue around his lips to stop any saliva from running down his chin. His expression gets a little more serious though. What are the chances? How would he know that name?]
What do you mean? You know it? 'Zeppeli'?
whines. WHINES. well i can definitely give him josuke.
[He thinks...he could use his comm to show Gyro what one looks like, but he's a little more interested now in the man's teeth. Or what's written on them.]
Yeah, I know a Zeppeli. Guy named Caesar. But I've heard of two others. A friend of my great gramps...and someone named Gyro. Never met either of 'em, but I've heard some interesting things. One of 'em you, or maybe you're another Zeppeli?
Haha yes. Definitely.
[Wait. Blink.]
Gyro? I'm Gyro. Someone told you about me? How the...
No, so who else was here? From my world? [Serious again, but not pissy serious this time, almost urgent.]
no subject
Yeah, I do! Kind of. I mean, he's not someone I know well or anything like that, but we've talked a few times and he's pals with my old man.
[Josuke shrugs and then...pauses.]
Hold up, you're Gyro?
[He's on the verge of grinning wider, clearly happy to meet someone face-to-face that he's heard about before, but then Gyro launches those questions at him and looks kind of...serious.]
Slow down, relax! It's not like I heard anything bad! [Except that Gyro's a cheater, but Josuke's not one to judge when it comes to that, you know? In fact, of the few things he'd learned about Gyro, he was most interested in that!] But the person I heard it from, his name was Diego. Had to be from your world 'cause he wasn't from mine...but he did tell me when he was here that our worlds are alternates of each other! Weird, right?!
no subject
You're dad here or- is the guy from your world and pals with him there? [Yikes, the idea of having your folks here, that'd suck. Happy he doesn't have to deal with that, though the thought of having to eventually is not settling in his stomach well.]
Yeah. Gyro. Gyro Zeppeli. [Uh, sorry? A cheater? Who ever told you that's a fucking liar. He doesn't need to cheat, he's got skill. Aaanndd he'll frown, puckering his lower lip out a little. Diego was here?]
Diego Brando. Really, before me? Alternates? [His eyes slim. What's that mean though, alternates, like those worlds the President can... No it'd be different. Maybe. But if there was another Caesar Zeppeli, was that some other him? Fuck, not if he goes by that name he isn't. Gyro's quiet for a moment, glancing off.]
He still here? That asshole. Diego. [Because if he is well.
He thinks he might owe the guy a drink, 'asshole' or not. Not that the guy deserves one, but in his opinion well, he was a fellow racer, deserving of that title of his, again, asshole or not. He's not aware of what happened after, what Johnny knows. Probably wouldn't deserve that drink then.]
no subject
[Josuke sighs and shakes his head.]
Maybe you'll get along, though. Seems like all Joestars and Zeppelis are meant to, at least from what I hear!
Anyway, I'm not really sure how to explain it because I'd never heard tell of alternate universes and whatever before speaking to Diego, but it seems like the worlds we come from are similar in a lot of ways, but not the same. And no...he's gone. Not really sure when, like I said, we weren't close and so I didn't keep tabs on him or nothing, but it's been a few months at least.
[He comes close to asking why Gyro doesn't like Diego, but figures he knows the answer already. Diego and Dio...they weren't the same person, but they were both Brandos. Maybe, where Gyro comes from, Diego'd caused a lot of trouble the way Dio had in Josuke's world. It sure as fuck wouldn't surprise him.]
no subject
-Joestars? You and him- what? You're Joestars, the alternates to Johnny?? [There's that serious urgency again.] Are any of you a 'Johnny' then? Shit's-he here?
A few months, nah he'd probably show his face then if he was, he likes the attention. [A small breath, moving to push his hair over a shoulder.] But just him, the one from my base world? Did he say anything about a 'corpse'? [That'd tell him if it's the Diego from his world anyway. Not that it really matters.]
no subject
Oh...ah...
[Rubs the back of his neck.]
...well, my great gramps is Jonathan and he's here. Nobody calls him Johnny, though. It's usually just Jojo or Jonathan. But he's a Joestar, and so's my old man. I'm...only half Joestar, myself. [He extends his hand.] Name's Josuke Higashikata.
And...Diego didn't say anything about a corpse that I know of. Did say something about a guy with my last name that had two navels, though!
no subject
No... so then that's him, a different one- Johnny... [Ah, he pauses, glancing down. Shit, he... he left him. It's not the same Jonathan, Jojo... Johnny, but still... Agh! he can't make some sort of amends with one that's not his own! Damnit! He's gotta at least meet this guy! Maybe he's nothing like Johnny and then he'll feel better about it. Well, a little better.]
Johnny's name is Jonathan Joestar and he stopped going by it, so it was Jojo or Johnny from there, so your grandfather, he's a different one... So that'll mean Johnny's gonna have kids, grandkids? Something like you but different? [Meaning he'll be okay, maybe. He's smiling now, letting out a small sigh. Well, some reassurance anyway. And haha, that means his dick works fine despite the whole legs thing, good for him.]
[But mostly... mostly good because that means everything that happens, there's more for Johnny after. As close as they came to kicking it, well, as Johnny did to kicking it. If there's another version of him with grandkids out there, then he could get them too. Then he could be okay even after Gyro, after he...]
Higashikata... [His brows furrow.] I know that name too... He was another racer. [Wait. So that means Johnny might end with someone from that family line? Does that old geezer have a daughter or something?]
Yeah, that's the one, some old Asian guy, Japanese. He's known for having two of them I guess. [A laugh.] Huuuuh do you have two belly buttons? Lemme see, lemme see! [Quick to shift out of that sad happy he was before. No point in dwelling. 'Sides, if he can get some peace of mind knowing Johnny's gonna be okay enough to fuck some girl and have kids later, well he'll just take that and smile.]
no subject
[But Josuke hopes that they aren't. And if they are? He hopes that their fates don't mirror one another exactly. After all, he knows now what happens to his great grandfather. And he could tell Gyro that, maybe even should, but...
...just finds that right now, for whatever reason, he can't. No matter how much he thinks he should, instead of the harsh truth, he finds himself offering up words that'll be a lot more comforting.
Is that why Joseph lied to Jonathan? Is this the same thing...? He feels sick.]
Ah...for what it's worth, my family's huge. Like, I hadn't met many of them before coming here, but when I got here there were a ton of them! So he probably does have grandkids or something.
[Yeah. Or something...]
Anyway, Iā!! WHOA!
[...feeling a little less sick and laughing again, though holding up his hands defensively to keep Gyro back and well away from his middle, thanks!]
I don't got two belly buttons, man! I've never seen anything like that in my life! Which...I guess goes to show you that maybe there's still a lot that's different between our worlds!
[And that gives Josuke a bit of hope for this Johnny fella. Maybe he winds up a lot better off than Johnathan?]
no subject
Heh, maybe. God those kids gotta the ugliest little shits. [He's says with the widest grin.]
Yeah, probably. Was just starting to get used to the idea of alternative worlds too. [Pulls back, leaning back against his horse who lets out a little snort. He smirks, patting at her side a few times before looking back to Josuke.]
But seems like whatever world you're from, might be a bit different from the one's I was learning about. Guess that means there's different kindsa alternative worlds, huh? Sounds really complicated. [A small shrug. Not that he can't to complicated.]
So this 'Caesar' guy... [Pauses... lifts a hand, scratching into his facial hair.] He as good lookin' as me?
no subject
Hey, now! My family's pretty great looking! And I don't care if this Johnny guy's from another world, I bet any kids he has are gonna be real lookers when they grow up!
[Which is to say, Josuke has never met an unattractive Joestar, so...there's really only one logical conclusion when it comes to looks! And it's that any descendant'll have 'em.]
Anyway, the whole alternate universes thing is complicated and I don't actually know a whole lot about it, so...
[He shrugs. And then...puckers his lips in thought, looking Gyro over as he considers the answer to the man's question. Finally, after a few moments, he shakes his head responds...]
Caesar's got nothing on you, man. His whole aesthetic's way different and while I'm not really into that whole western apparel scene, I really like your spin on it! It's in your face!
no subject
My spin on it, huh? Nyo- ho ho! Hoooooo-wee! I like that, and you do too, do ya kid? Sure it's not just in my smile? [Said as he gives another wide grin.]
no subject
Weeeeell, you do have a pretty winning smile, there's no doubt about that...but that's not what I mean by in your face!
[His shoulders shake a little with laughter.]
I'm talking about it being loud, like...bold! Not subtle! That's how style should be. You know, without being tacky.
no subject
Guess I put a lotta work into it, thanks. Gotta- gotta keep it fresh, fresh anda anda Italiano~ [Sung as he scratches with both hands at his 'beard rectangles'. Followed up with a laugh, moving to set a hand on his hip.]
Sure looking good yourself too, Josuke Hi-ga-shi-ka-taaa. [Grins.] Doubt everyone I meet here's gonna be as pleasant, and nostalgic!
no subject
Like you said, gotta keep it fresh! Not sure what you mean by nostalgic, though. Were you and that double-belly button guy buddies or something?
no subject
Nyo-hoho! No so much, but I'm just I'll be looking for anything to remind me of back there once I change places. That world, the new one? Looks like I'll feel outta place in more than one way. [Era. The era will displace him more than anything. A horse rider in a world full of cars and bicycles. Where everything is glass and cement and chrome. It'll be nice but even for a forward thinking guy like Gyro, it'll be over his head for a while.]