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etcelsior2016-02-27 09:57 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2016-02-27 09:57 pm
Entry tags:
I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS
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. The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place. Despite the recent coup, 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 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. An upset voice wonders aloud: "More of them, when they just showed they can't protect us? That's just painting a bigger target on the city's back!" However, they're quickly hushed with a judgmental: "They helped save the cities, and it's the Soviets you should be angry with anyway! The imPorts are here to protect us!"
02. 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. Many people are out and about repairing damage from recent incidents, 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 spies. "How can we trust any of them now?"
03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, is not as friendly and its citizens tend to 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 mutter under their breaths resentfully about "vigilantes". However, not all locals turn the other way seeing imPorts; some of them will offer a polite enough smile and thank them for their help in overthrowing the trespassers. They don't stop to clarify what they mean, though.
04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities, although it saw the most damage in the battles for control of the porter cities. Despite this, 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. Advertisements are abound for imPorts to make appearances at various, televised celebrations, luring them in with promises of free food, merchandise, and payment.
YESSS
Either he fails to realize she's older or figures it doesn't really matter; he continues to address her with the easy familiarity of a peer. ]
Lucy.
[ He smiles, too. It takes him a second to work out her meaning, because she definitely doesn't talk like anyone he's used to. ]
Pretty recently. A couple days. It's really weird, right?
[ Weird but not as frightening as it had been for him the first day, at least. ]
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[She leans a little, easily, casual. She speaks oddly but her manner is friendly, sweet, and she matches him in familiarity.]
But it is good to see someone so easily smiling! I should hope that means you are acquainted with someone already settled in this world, and that you are not so alone as some are when they first arrive.
[She remembers the first few weeks, before she met the Musketeers, how lonely she was. It was hard to get to know people. She missed her family what felt like every moment.]
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Oh yeah, my brother's here, too, and his friends.
[ There's something special about the way he says "brother"--obviously affectionate, but maybe a little less obvious is the utter dependency Matthew has on him here, in this impossible place. In this war.
All that's still a little far over his head, though.
He crosses his arms and leans on his desk, peering at her with somewhat wider eyes. ]
You've really been here for a year?
[ Luckily he's already figured out--rather, it has already been explained to him, slowly and in small words--that Ronan has been here for months despite Matthew never missing him at home, because of how the Porter behaves. Otherwise the suggestion of the possibility that he might be here a year himself would likely cause him to freak out.
That is way too long for his mom to be by herself without anyone checking up on her. ]
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What is he called?
[Maybe she knows him. She knows a lot of people, so it's entirely possible. Or certainly, she may have heard of him.]
Yes, and I was not so fortunate to have my own brothers or my sister with me.
But you should not fret on it. You are not alone, and I will gladly also be your friend, should you so wish it.
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[ The last-name-first introduction is the Aglionby in him.
He smiles--BAM--and it almost turns into a laugh at her offer, delighted rather than amused. ]
Great! Let's do that, let's be friends.
[ He lifts a hand to his chin. ]
Where are you from?
[ He's really getting curious about that. ]
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Oh.
[That won't stop this friendship, but she worries, so-]
I do know your brother.
[The hesitation there should say everything he needs to know about that.]
Narnia. I have not met any here who know it.
And you?
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Yeah, he's-- It's not real easy for him to get along with people.
[ That's the way to say it, right? ]
Actually we're from Virginia, but it's a different Virginia. Our home isn't where it's supposed to be here.
[ He tilts his head. ]
I've never heard of Narnia, either. [ The way he imparts this information makes it sound less like Narnia must not be important enough to know and more like he's probably not heard of a lot of places. ] Where is it? Or where is it usually?
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[Because Lucy likes to imagine that even when people are unpleasant to her, they are pleasant to others.]
It is between Telmar and the sea, and north of Archenland. But I have met none who know it, and it seems to not even share any characteristics with this world.
But it is beautiful. If you should find yourself visiting, I would be so pleased to show you, should a thing like that be imaginable.
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[ That's Matthew speak for "I know you've met him but: I love him; actually he is kind of incredible; please try to understand him." It's the same code he uses when he talks to either of his brothers about the other one.
As such it does not have the highest success rate. Oh well. ]
You would? [ He smiles again, pleased, and thoroughly engaged even though he has no idea what those places are. ] Is it anything like here?
[ Probably not since she's not much like anything here. ]
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[Well, not exactly to Lucy, who he occasionally still torments. But whatever, that's a story for another day. She's already decided: Ronan Lynch gets another shot by virtue of Matthew's sweetness.]
It is very little like here, but I live on a farm outside of the city of De Chima, and it sometimes looks the same, when one is deep in the wooded parts. But Narnia is colder, with powerful winters and warm and pleasant summers.
Is your Virginia like this one? I have spoken a little to Adam Parrish, and he has said some of it, but he does not tell me things I think he considers usual.
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That's how Ronan is, too. [ Maybe he is not as kind to any, but baby animals and little brothers and people who need protecting, at least. And he's trying to put a lot of things back together now.
The way Lucy talks about her home is a little like how Aurora tells stories, as though she loves every single detail. Matthew might be a bit enchanted. ]
Some things are. Some things are really different. Ronan-- I mean, we have a house that's in the place our real house is, but it's not the same here.
And we don't have hover cars. I guess you don't have those, either?
[ They probably aren't much good deep in the woods, is what he's assuming. ]
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[She wrinkles her nose up.]
I have horses, however. And here, as well. Do you like horses?
[If he doesn't he should!!]
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Horses? [ He leans in further toward her, bright and enthusiastic. ] We never had any. How many do you have?
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[She leans forward a little.]
You could come by. I do not think I live so far away from your brother.
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I want to see them.
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[She takes his hand, and writes carefully the address down.]
I will not accept no for an answer, now.
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No, no, I definitely want to come over, [ he assures her, in case she really thinks he might try to back out now. ]
Maybe we could--
[ The (overdue?) arrival of the teacher signals the start of class and cuts him off; he's not looking to get in trouble on his first day (or ever.) But in a moment when the teacher isn't looking Matthew catches Lucy's eye again and mouths 'tomorrow?' ]
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What a good start to a day.]