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etcelsior2015-08-22 08:10 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2015-08-22 08:10 pm
Entry tags:
The power is in your hands
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?
Noah Czerny / Raven Cycle / OTA
[It's quite a thing to wake up when you haven't slept for seven years. For a moment, Noah thinks he's finally faded away into the shadows, and this is the after-afterlife. A ghost fully rotted. His eyes flicker across the strange people surrounding him. A woman begins explaining something, but Noah isn't really listening. She doesn't seem to care, though, as a man ushers him out. He takes a sharp breath as the stranger makes contact, and then it hits him. A combo attack, really.
They can see him. And he's breathing. Two things that largely haven't truly happened in a long time. Noah Czerny had been dead for seven years. And now, just like that, he's not.
Terrified, Noah hardly notices the folder shoved into his hands before they effectively pack him in with a jostling body of strangers and brown folders.
Anyone in the crowd can see a slumped, rumpled boy muttering to himself, panicked] This is wrong. It's not mine, it's too heavy, what-- [The air about him suggests he's suddenly too large for his body, as if he's struggling to rise up and burst out of it. The air grows cold and static and the brochure, folder, and perhaps everything you are holding lift themselves into the air, smacking passersby in their face. Or yours.
Noah turns to the woman who was ushering him along, his pleading face contrasting his accusing voice] What did you do?
[the soldier is immediately on edge, fingering a weapon. stop Noah or yell at him. your choice]
TWO; It's still Virginia, Toto
[Noah was never about the details, in life or death. Rather, he only notices them. Things that most don't. It's an easy thing when you're floating among everyone else, a cloud just grazing the ground.
It's a lot harder when you're suddenly tethered to the earth like every other person. Noah has been dead for seven years, and now he is alive. Just like that. And that alone is enough to freak him out. He's experiencing every physical thing faded from memory at once, now, like he's forgotten how to block out the unimportant things. People whispering behind your back. The wind hitting his face and the minty scent of a particular bark that comes with it. The warmth of the Sun. A hand on his arm as a stranger stops him.
He turns to the man as if he expects to get hit. Wait. No. It's an old man, and he's asking for Noah's autograph. It's the fourth one today; his school uniform must scream early 2000s. Noah simply gapes at him like a dead fish trying to force in air.
The man continues, please, his granddaughter who would so appreciate it!]
I don't want to. Please . . . [He backs up, shaking his head. Regardless, a crowd gathers. Noah can only stare. Excited people whip out camera phones, ready for a spectacle.
Noah collapses. A ways from the bustling crowd, his ghost blinks into existence right next to you. He whines] Not again!
THREE; Heropa
[a boy in a mussed, faded uniform is seated at a table of one of the local shops. Before him is a tottering stack of donuts and a cup of hot chocolate. He's staring at the tower reverently, hesitant to eat them all. The skittish way he rubs his hands on his pants, glances around, simply holds the cup of cocoa, one would think he were a starving seventeen-year-old orphan or something. The nasty, purple bruise under his eye may just drive it home, though his flighty fingers have forgotten it.
In the next breath, he starts shoving the donuts into his mouth. Someone stop him before he pukes]
WHATEVER;
[throw me a starter, if you like! You can reach me at
2
And she is a girl riding side saddle in a dress that speaks more to 1950 than 2001, so Noah has that much going for him.
She yelps when she sees him and pulls her horse tightly away from him, and looks down.]
Aslan's mane, you gave me a shock! Are you quite well?
[She's already beginning to dismount.]
It's luck that we did not hit you. I am so glad it was on our side.
oh my god my dreams have come true. LUCY
His hands flutter over his pockets, lift as fingers fiddle with each other, then both drop to rub on his pants. Finally, he quietly speaks]
It wouldn't have mattered anyway. [he says it not in a self-deprecating way, but matter-of-factly. He really believes he wouldn't have been hurt. He really doesn't look damaged, though, save for a nasty bruise under his eye.]
8D
Sir, I assure you that it would have mattered a great deal to me if you had been hurt by me and mine without having done anything to us.
[She takes a look at him-]
But you have been hurt-
[There is something very gentle about how she says that, and she reaches up, her fingertips just near his eye. But she doesn't touch him. Not without permission.]
I may heal you, if you should desire it.
no subject
For a long moment, Noah stops moving entirely. He doesn't breathe. He doesn't shift. He doesn't so much as blink. This woman's concern keeps startling him]
It won't heal. My body's wounded, not my spirit. [His fingers pensively brush over his bruise, and just like that, the immobile spell is broken. He doesn't realize he's doing it.
The way she carries herself, though, reminds him of Gansey's charm and confidence. She doesn't seem to wear it like a suit like Gansey does, though, but rather as a part of herself. Is it just who she is?
He tilts his head inquisitively] Do you always offer to magically heal strangers?
no subject
[She says it with a bit of a defiant turn of her head.]
And the ones who I startle near to death with Phillip. I do not usually ride him, but my horse threw a shoe, and so it had to be him.
[Phillip is enormous; a huge stallion, and he's pressing his big head against Lucy's shoulder.]
But you speak queerly - I do not understand what you mean by your body. Is it not your body I would be healing, if you were to agree?
no subject
This isn't my body. Not really. [He turns, and for a moment, the bruise beneath his eye flickers into a dark hollow of a crushed skull's memory. Then he points, and it's again a bruise. His finger indicates a crowd gathered around a single point. It's the kind of crowd that only gathers at interesting disasters or, perhaps, teenage boys collapsed in the street] It's there.
If you wanted to help, could you maybe scare them away? Or distract them?
no subject
That is quite enough, thank you, be on your way!
[There's a person or two who seems to want to linger, but Lucy isn't letting it go.]
On your way, sir!
[Another moment goes by, and soon they're clearing out, and she turns.]
Well?
no subject
Thank you.
[Then he's suddenly standing right next to his body, as if Lucy may have blinked and missed him running over there. He stares down at his sleeping self, hesitant. He clearly doesn't really want to get back in there. But he doesn't want another crowd.
He takes a breath he doesn't need and steps into it. His ghost fades into his flesh, a projector's image slowly disappearing over the real thing, and Noah sits up. He climbs to his feet, rubbing his neck]
Oh, I'm Noah. [he stands on his tiptoes and extends a hand high, high up to Lucy]
no subject
She reaches down and shakes, and smiles, and there's a slight buzzy glow around her, like a halo.]
I am Lucy. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.
[She does like this handshake thing.]
A moment-
[And she's back down.]
no subject
Like dresses and glowing women]
Are you a princess? Or some rich chick from 1920? [He was never that good at history. Or fashion]
no subject
Why do you think I am a princess? Is it my age that make you think so?
[Everyone guesses princess, and she can't really fathom why; she doesn't know why people would guess that over queen, if they were going for royalty.]
no subject
[He says it with all the wisdom of a nine-year-old girl. Something about his innocent tone, though, says he knows exactly what he's saying.
Noah stop hitting on Lucy friggin' Pevensie]
no subject
Sir, I fear I will make you feel foolish if I tell you the truth of my station.
[Don't stop, her glowing has taken on a bubbly pink tone.]
But I know many truly beautiful queens.
no subject
[Yep, definitely not stopping. Noah glances up from his fiddling fingers and gives her a little grin]
no subject
Oh-
[She takes an apple out of one, hands it over.]
But how many queens have you met, Noah?
no subject
None. Except for you. [Because what else would make his claim foolish? Still, he doesn't regret it]
But I saw a lot of princess movies when I was little.
no subject
[She tucks her hands behind her back and leans forward a little, teasing now. If he's going to flirt, she's going to flirt back.]
I cannot pretend to be one, but I promise, it is much better to meet a queen.
(no subject)
(no subject)
3
Um. Excuse me?
no subject
[A hurried swallow, and he ducks his head] Do you need something?
no subject
[She gestures toward his cheek.]
If you'd like, I could heal that.
no subject
[He seems to airily consider that, like it's Very Serious Business. He's had this "smudge" under his eye for seven years. His friends have grown accustomed to it. Ronan wears his bruises like a badge. Adam like a contagious disease. But Noah's not them. Now that Noah has a new life here, should he shed it like an old coat?]
You know, that would be nice. It kind of hurts. [He says it like the thought of pain surprises and intrigues him, like it's a curious, newly discovered animal]
no subject
Sure! But I'd rather...
[She glances around the shop.]
Not do it with an audience? Would you mind coming to my house? It's not too far away. ...As long as you don't mind dogs. I have one. She can stay out in the yard if you don't want her in the house.
no subject
I don't mind. I think I like dogs. Only . . . [He stares down at his donuts, deliberating as if this is some Great Problem. Then he picks up the plate of donuts, dangerously balancing the stack. Noah nods, satisfied]
We can share them later. . . . As thanks?
no subject
Sure! Come on. It's not too far from here.