The Bad Ending Meme: Mask or Menace Edition

[crapbearer]

The Soviet Union had gone above and beyond in its attempt to possess the ImPorts and the tactical advantage they could potentially pose. It started with the creation of LACKEY, and the mass kidnapping of several ImPorts in early 2016, followed by the invasion and occupation of the ImPort Cities scattered across the United States East Coast.

But the ImPorts rose up against their attackers, fighting back and driving them out of the USA, right? Well... no. Not this time.

Somehow or another, before being driven out, the Soviet Union was able to kidnap and spirit away several ImPorts out of the United States to parts unknown. Having learned from past mistakes, the Soviets were able to hide their "liberated" ImPorts from the prying eyes of the ImPorts who were left behind, along with their United States captors — In fact, they even managed to sever or block their mental connection to the Network. A complete information blackout. No matter how many of the US ImPorts' powers were utilized, no matter what resources the US Government exhausted, this time the kidnapped ImPorts were nowhere to be found.

That was ten years ago.

The Bad Ending Meme

The year is 2026.

As the years passed, some of the US ImPorts lost hope, while others only felt their resolve strengthen. Everyone reacted to the loss differently, but every once in a while whispers of Lost ImPort sightings would waft about social media here and there, though ultimately nothing would come of it.

Until now.

Close to the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of the Lost ImPorts, rumors emerged once more — and for the first time, videos and images followed soon after. Videos and gifsets lifted from Communist social media sites began to pepper Rumblr, featuring aged-but-recognizable Lost ImPorts all over Soviet media: Political events, social happenings, talk shows, even visiting schools and hospitals. The Lost ImPorts in these images are all speaking fluent Russian, and what's more, they all look and sound very proud to be a part of what they're doing in the service of their country.

With the Lost ImPorts now back in the public eye in the United States, ten years older and ten years more brainwashed, it's only inevitable that they will come face-to-face with those they once called allies, isn't it?

Who are you? Are you a US ImPort, safe from Soviet imprisonment? Or are you a Lost ImPort, liberated from United States oppression? Or do you want to play in both possibilities?

NOTE: Don't worry about sticking to game canon. If your character couldn't have conceivably fallen into Soviet hands but you want them to be kidnapped anyway, go for it! This is all about having fun with an AU, after all. Heck, if your character was dropped from the game, or wasn't even a part of the game to begin with... whatever, throw 'em in if you're feeling it. :)

I'm pretty vague in a lot of these explanations. This is to give you the chance to take the idea and run with it however you want :D

Prompt Ideas

1. The Interim - Ten years. That's a long stretch for anyone involved. US ImPorts who've lost their friends, does the loss get any easier? Does the guilt and pain eat at you every day? How have you developed in the past ten years? Have you moved, changed jobs, forged new bonds? What are you doing these days, what is your daily life like? When those videos and images of the friends you lost finally surface, how do you react?
   
   Or perhaps you're fresh blood, Ported in after the disappearance of these so-called "Lost ImPorts," be it weeks or years. Are there any names you recognize in the list of the missing? Do you feel somehow disconnected from your peers, having not experienced the loss that they are?
   
   Lost ImPorts, what is your life like now that you've been liberated from Capitalist control? How does the government treat you? Talk about your responsibilities, your routine, your friends? Do you ever miss the United States, or simply pine for the friends who are still trapped there?
   
   Or were you even brainwashed at all? Perhaps you're one of the tougher cases, to this day being subjected to forceful reeducation techniques; Or, if the Soviets have lost interest in you, simply a test subject for experiments on ImPorts. Someone has to drive the flow of technological progress, after all!
   
   
2. Peace Talks - With tensions high and the threat of nuclear war edging ever closer, the UN has arranged for the two major superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, to meet in Geneva and possibly negotiate a peace treaty to de-escalate the threat of war and bring a peaceful end to the Cold War. Of course, what is a peace treaty without a silent show of power? Each side has brought a handful of ImPorts with them, as a show of "good will".
   
   You, loyal to your country's cause, are one of the handful chosen to meet with the enemy at the Peace Conference. There are some familiar faces there, some you haven't seen in ten years — Is the meeting amicable? Violent? Heartbreaking?
   
   
3. Open Borders - In conjunction with the Peace Talks, as another show of good faith, the United States and the Soviet Union have allowed their respective ImPorts to travel to one another's ImPort Cities. Both America and Russia have done quite a bit of cleaning and polishing, employing only the most cheerful and informative of tour guides to explain why their country is the best, the brightest, and the most suited to your needs as a person and an ImPort ♥
   
   Citizens of each city might come to watch and gawk at the strangers, while resident ImPorts will come to greet you — some with all the enthusiasm you'd grant a dear friend you'd thought lost forever. But ten years is a long time -- when you get to catching up, things might not go as you expected. Why can't the American Allies understand how oppressive and cruel the US Government is? Why can't the Soviet ImPorts understand that they've been kidnapped and brainwashed to believe what they do?
   
   
4. Undercover - Of course, not everyone's going to happily tour the facilities. Sometimes when you want a close-up look of what a country's really like, you gotta go incognito and dig deep, well beyond what they want you to see. What horrors (or even wonders) do you find when you look close? More importantly, if you're sneaking around where you shouldn't... who will find you?
   
   
5. Attack - Perhaps the peace talks didn't work out; Perhaps there were no peace talks. With the news of the Lost ImPorts alive and well in Russia, the US ImPorts — with government support — waste no time in launching an attack to rescue their stolen friends.
   
   With ten years of brainwashing between then and now, some resistance is to be expected from the Lost ImPorts. But who could have imagined they would stand their ground so firmly? They won't hesitate to attack those they once called friends for the sake of protecting their home and their friends; Some may even be willing to lay down their lives.
   
   
6. Capture & Interrogation - When one side captures an enemy ImPort, the only ones strong enough to take charge of guarding and interrogating them is another ImPort, right? Whether you've been captured by the other side, or are interrogating the enemy, the encounter is guaranteed to be tense.
   
   
7. Wildcard! Mix and match, make something up, go crazy!
   
   

Comments

Mighty Max | OTA

[crapbearer]

1.
The social media leaks of Max are a bit more difficult to recognize than the others; After all, there's a lot of growing to do between the ages of thirteen and twenty three. Now Max is a strapping young man with a chiseled jaw and lean, muscular physique, the very picture of military physical perfection.

For years now the Soviet Union has carefully crafted a public persona for Max, a face that the youth can connect to and fall in love with, bait to draw a whole new generation into the Communist Party. A student of one of the country's highest Universities, Max is intelligent, flirty and fun. As an ImPort and a celebrity, he frequents political events and talk shows. He expertly toes the line between sexy, funny, and adorable, leaving audiences and crowds flustered and giggling in his wake. At times when he needs to be vulnerable, he might tearfully mention how grateful he is to have been rescued from the United States' oppression, and lament his old friends still trapped there. But all in all, the public at large sees him as a harmless, handsome flirt and academic. The Soviet Union couldn't possibly be using him as a weapon, right? And he's so smart, surely the things he has to say are relevant and imporant.

Behind closed doors, in the Soviet military complexes, Max's bright eyes are cold and calculating. He is a brilliant strategist in military tactics and very successful in gathering intel for his age, and shows a promising future as a servant of the Communist Party, perhaps even taking on a leadership role in politics. The brainwashing and training have taken root and blossomed, and he will go to any length to preserve the greater good.

-

2.
Max attends the peace talks in stride with his fellow Soviet ImPorts, dialing up his cheerful persona for the crowds and the cameras as the event commences. He's in full Soviet uniform, looking quite handsome as he smiles and waves at the crowds and reporters, blowing a kiss at a group of swooning fans crowding behind the barrier.

It's a very public affair when the ImPorts are allowed to meet face to face again, and Max's eyes light up when he catches sight of old friends. How much of it is genuine and how much of it is practiced and rehearsed, well... truthfully, even he isn't sure anymore.
But Max makes his way over anyway as the crowd mingles, grinning as he approaches old friends — in full view of the cameras to capture the reunion, of course.

-

3.

It's surreal setting foot in Heropa once again after so long. Even just the airport, where once upon a time he'd set off on a mission to defend his former oppressors... he shakes his head at the thought. How naive he'd once been.

When he and his comrades are escorted into the city and dropped off at their hotel, there's an entire sea of ImPorts waiting there to meet him and the others who had been liberated. Max scans the crowd, making eye contact with someone he'd been looking for and approaches, grinning all the while.

7. make a starter of your own :)

[manofmanylegends]

A weary-eyed North American Viking leans against the upper floor banister and glances over the crowd and sighs. Honestly, Norman can't actually remember the last time he'd seen Max. Don't get him wrong, he's seen images plastered here and there; he knows what the boy looks like and has grown up to be. But that man is a stranger, all because of the Guardian's failure to do his sworn duty.

And that wouldn't have been the first Norman has ever failed; it's just that he couldn't afford to do so, not this time. Yet, that's exactly what happened. He'd failed. Spectacularly. There wasn't any way to recover after that.

Norman still remembers when the boy had alerted his comrades of the debrainwashing. He remembers struggling to protect the boy from himself and hordes of Soviet troops descending upon them. There are still marks on his body from the night he was driven to exhaustion and ripped away from the boy known as Max.

Who is this bright-eyed celebrity they're escorting into the hotel? Norman's gaze goes from the crowd to this handsome young model of Soviet society.

He can't keep watching this...

At least, not in person. So Norman heads to the hotel's bar, orders a drink, and watches TV. Of course, the same exact event being held in one of the hotel's halls is being televised, and why wouldn't it be?

Norman needs more than one drink.

It's only sometime later, when the crowds begin to subside, that Norman allows himself to confront a reality he'd failed to prevent. He steps out of the bar and heads toward the hall where the Soviet comrades are handling the stranger. That young man's beautiful blue eyes lock with his dark and sullen ones, and then there's recognition.

Feeling resigned, Norman simply waves.

[crapbearer]

Max remembers that day, too. It was the last memory he had of Norman; The memory of the US Government turning the man against him, of all the faith he'd once had in his Guardian being shattered as he tried to tear him away from the right path. It's heartbreaking even now, but Max has so much more going for him now.

His smile is practiced and looks genuine enough, and for good measure, Max spends a moment taking the man in, letting a bit of nostalgia and affection shine through in his expression before looking Norman in the eyes again. He approaches, feeling the slightest hint of disgust at his traitorous ex-friend, but moreso at the oppressors who had come between them. Still, none of that is betrayed in his expression; For all Norman would be able to tell, Max looks simply hopeful and nostalgic.

"Hey, big guy. Did you miss me?"