I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS

[maskormods]

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.

Comments

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew turns to look when Gansey indicates his workplace, doing his best to make a mental note of the location. ]

You work in a studio?

[ He hasn't been here long enough to be able to keep up with everybody, especially not Gansey, who is a group of people all by himself.

Giving a laugh at "shared custody", Matthew relaxes back in the seat, thoroughly unanxious about the traffic (though perhaps he should be, considering that he's already going to be late.) ]

Yeah, it's weird. Not just having to take the bus. Lots of things.

[ Obviously. ]

I'm glad Ronan and you guys are here.

[ Also probably obvious. There's no telling what would happen to Matthew on his own in this kind of situation. ]

[quaerit]

[ Gansey nods, and sends a quick smile over at Matthew. ]

Photographic. It’s the job they gave me, not one I chose. You could find me in the Library or the Museum, too.

[ Those would be ones he chose. They are also operated by clones. ]

It’s weird for me too. I’d never worked before at all. We’ll get home, though, Matthew. I don’t know how yet, but we’ll do it. All of us. Just think of this as a sort of extended vacation, until we do.

[ He cannot leave Glendower behind. He has to believe they’ll go home. ]

[dreamkid]

[ Two out of three of those are places Matthew can easily imagine Gansey being. Well, he can imagine Gansey at a studio having his own portrait taken. ]

They just gave me a job, too. Do they do that for everybody?

[ He smiles again. At this point he's not so bothered by the situation, but it doesn't hurt to hear the reassurances again from Gansey. Everything will work out. ]

Yeah, a vacation where we get superpowers.

[ For the record, he thinks that's pretty cool. (Also for the record, in the chaos of arrival he managed to lose his file on day one and doesn't know what all his own powers are...) He runs his thumb along the inside of the car door, a small expression of one trouble that still lies on his mind. ]

And Ronan says not to worry about Mom while we're here.

[ To be clear, Matthew does not doubt Ronan--not about this, possibly not about anything. But he'd feel better if Aurora could be here, too, somehow. He's gotten used to having her back again. ]

[quaerit]

That's their standard procedure, yes. [ Gansey glances at him, giving him a smile. ] You don't have to keep it, if you don't want. You can find a job of your own. It's not like home, though. Our families' wealth is in a whole other world. Here we have to work.

[ That will be strange for Matthew, Gansey thinks. It had been strange for Gansey too, but there'd also been a part of him that liked it. He'd always wanted to be seen for more than just his money, and his name. Here, he's just like everyone else. He's learned how frustrating that can be, too, but overall, he hasn't hated that change. ]

Ronan's right about your mother. I've talked to many people here, and it seems that when we go home, we return to the same moment that we left. Your mother should never even know that you're gone.

[ Hopefully that will be comforting. Gansey means it to be, anyway. ]

[dreamkid]

Oh, yeah, I don't mind. I want to try it, you know? [ Matthew sounds pretty enthusiastic about it, actually. ] It can't be so bad; lots of people have jobs.

[ Matthew is probably not imagining this as realistically as Gansey, but his failures have never discouraged him from trying new things and he always does his best. (He'd also much rather be doing whatever paralegals do than fighting in a war.) ]

That must be right. You guys have been here for months, haven't you, but I never missed you.

[ So that is comforting, but when it comes to his mom Matthew has grown perhaps a little selfish and he still wants to be with her. ]

Maybe it's like how time runs different in Cabeswater.

[ Being the official "sit in the car and keep time outside" person, surely he's aware of this. ]

[quaerit]

[ Gansey isn’t surprised that Matthew knows about that. It doesn’t bother him; he’s never been secretive when it came to their quest, and Matthew has been with them often enough. Only when they were sure it was safe, but certainly when it pertained to his family. Gansey smiles at him. ]

Exactly like that. There’s a lot of things about this place that you’ll find similar to Cabeswater. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Porter had some sort of connection to ley lines.

[ It wouldn’t surprise him, he says, when what he means is that it’s his working theory. ]

What job did they give you, anyway? Presumably it involves school, too.