OH MY GOD YOU GUYS

[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, where 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 we already know 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 taking care of their regular business, 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; 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

[heart_wrenching]

[ It's really been an upsetting day, hasn't it? Winry might not have been filled in on all the abominations and apocalypses, but she sure does remember her life draining out of her body. She might not have pitched an unreasonable fit like some people, but not much she's been told yet has been much comfort either. Coming across Ed completely dead to the world is just the confusing and upsetting bullshit cherry on this confusing upsetting bullshit sundae. Being filled in on why exactly he's zonked out was just another not-actually-at-all-comforting revelation. ]


Ed . . . ? Ed!

[deaddy]

[Except Hughes is completely capable of taking hold of that shaking hand, his own barely even steady itself. He doesn't grip, just easing Roy's hand to his chest where this body has a beating heart and lungs taking in air before exhaling it.]

Knew you would.

[A beat.]

--no, actually, I was worried that you guys wouldn't figure it out quick enough if I wasn't around, but I guess it worked out.

[peacockpirateship]

[Aliens, Sabriel. It was aliens.]

[He crouches as low as he can, dropping the papers vaguely in her direction.]

Bombs away!

Arrival

[heart_wrenching]

[ It's really been an upsetting day, hasn't it? Winry might not have been filled in on all the abominations and apocalypses, but she sure does remember her life draining out of her body. And she might not have pitched an unreasonable fit like some people, but not much she's been told yet has been much comfort either. Coming across Ed and the Colonel completely dead to the world is just the confusing and upsetting bullshit cherry on this confusing upsetting bullshit sundae. ]


Colonel Mustang!? What's wrong with Ed?

[deaddy]

If it's a joke, I'm not in on it...

[He was pretty sure he was a goner, himself. There shouldn't be any way for him to be alive, and yet, he's standing here. With a body with a heartbeat and working organs and some such. No signs of bullet holes--he's checked. Multiple times. It doesn't make any sense to him, but he can't really be the one to lose it when Ed's already right on the edge of possible hysterics.]

[dejerate]

'Pup'?

[Okay, so. Yuichiro is. Evidently not actually an adult, clearly still a teenager. But at the same time, he's not sure how to take that. Whatever, that's clearly not the important thing here. Yuu sighs, rubbing a hand through his hair.]

We had a lot of stuff almost similar back home? Well. I mean, before the vampires took over and all. It's just none of it really works anymore, really. Outside of the stuff at the military headquarters anyway.

[Or wherever the vampires hole up as their bases.]

[peacockpirateship]

Eh?

[He turns around, that ridiculous blue cape swirling dramatically around his feet. Looking the other person up and down, and... huh.]

[Must be an alien.]

It is! How fantastic, right? Watch! They're having a battle!

[Shark you are way too excited about this.]

PRESSES FACE AGAINST

[almostbertram]

[Nearby:

A man, crouched behind a row of bushes, snapping away with a camera whose lens is poking ever-so-slightly past the leaves.

A man who, as soon as Mulder runs into view, springs up from his hiding place. The camera's still clutched in his hands, his eyes have gone wide, and there's a broken twig lodged in the fold of his lapels.

It's Byers.

Who else would it be?]

Mulder! [His voice is a harsh whisper at first, which he knows isn't nearly loud enough — but it's either that or shouting, and he doesn't want to draw attention to himself.

But then he notices someone staring at him.

And then he's like, Well. So much for that.

Louder, this time:] Mulder!

[irassible]

[ Hm.

Hm hm hm.

...hm. It looks for a moment that Six is thinking over what Yuu had to say, but all he comes up with in the end is: ]

What's a vampire?

[ It sounds like a semi-serious question, though; Yuu made them sound like conquerors, whatever they are, and he doesn't have much love for those. ]

IT'S RAAAAAAINIIIIIIINNGGGGGG

[burningbothends]

We nearly didn't!

[Roy bows his head, pulling in a deep, ragged breath and suddenly he's clutching Hughes with both hands despite the pain, greedily absorbing the familiar feel of the Amestrian uniform. When his fingers trip the new rank bars—Brigadier General—his breath hitches on a sob.]

Maes—I feel like I'm losing my mind! You're here. You're—[Another shaky, trembling inhale. Wetness drop to the ground below him.] Impossible.

[fullmetalbrat]

But you're— I've been to your—!

[He can't quite bring himself to finish either of those sentences. Reminding himself of the weight of that is too much while Hughes . . . something that looks like Hughes is standing right in front of him. The strain of being confronted with this is already showing through in his voice, beginning to raise in pitch and crack with the intensity of emotion building up. It's a little difficult to tell if it's dismay or anger or something else entirely. Maybe a combination of it all?]

[irassible]

[ His cape flaps and everything.

Absolutely must be a pirate.

But who cares about that?! ] ...they are? How?

[ Just gonna shove in close, share some shoulder space, yeah. He'll even go so far as he splay gloved hands on the glass and smush his face up close, because it's kind of hard to see with goggles on sometimes. ] Why? What for? Is there a war?

Who's winning?

[fullmetalbrat]

[winry everything is dumb and terrible

Ed lets out an extremely dignified grumbling whine and shifts on Roy's shoulder, lifting his head enough to frown blearily at her through the haze of sedatives and general battle-induced weariness.]

What . . .

[dejerate]

Wha--really? You've....never heard of them?

[That's. Actually kind of hard to imagine. A life without even reading about them or hearing about vampires in some old story kids might tell each other to scare everyone at camp or the like. There's a pause as he gives a shrug, tries to explain.]

They're bloodsuckers. Literally. Drink the blood of other humans to survive. They're about seven times stronger than the average human. Faster. They can heal. Near impossible to kill - unless you're with the army and have a Cursed Gear weapon like I do. Even then, the nobles are tougher still.

[At the least, while his tone may have some trace of bitterness, of frustration, it isn't entirely as filled with fury as it might have been previously. Because now he knows being a vampires is how Mika stayed alive all those years until they reunited. Mika is one of them. So Yuu can't say he hates every single vampire. Not anymore.]

[rideme]

Got it in one.

[There's a definite wink thrown Mulder's way -- even if it's hard to tell with the eyepatch and all.]

Qunari kids grow up in big groups -- Tamassrans raise us, teach us. Figure out where we're best going to fit in.

[heart_wrenching]

[ Wherever he's resting, she's sitting as near to him as she can. ]

Don't "what" me...


[ She says it without any venom. She's much more worried than anything else, but hey no use in showing just how much. ]

[glowsferatu]

I'm not seeing the connection. [ What the fuck is French, anyway?

Ashiah looks up to her mother, a few ill-tempered clicks escaping her lips. Kanaya is clearly interrupting her show, and that's so rude of her. ]

[fullmetalbrat]

[By now he's probably being deposited into a chair or bed where he can rest up without getting himself into still more trouble.]

Win . . . ry?

[This was not good for a number of reasons, but most importantly being that he was very sure Winry should not be caught up in whatever kind of bullshit was going on in this weird alien country.]

Whyyyy are you here.

[irassible]

[ Voidsent.

They're not exactly the same, though. Voidsent would be just as happy consuming aether as they would blood, or flesh and bone, but it's similar enough for him to cross his arms and look at the boy in a different light. He doesn't look like a fighter; he's not even full grown.

But that's the way of it sometimes, isn't it? ]

There any of those things here?

[pawdonnemoi]

[He opens his moth and then slowly closes it. Right, America and English.]

Er, Chat Noir means black cat. But it just doesn't have the same ring in English.

[His gaze flickers back down to the creature in the basket. He wants to ask what the heck it is but it somehow feels rude, like it might be this strange lady's child and that'd be pretty insulting.]

[heart_wrenching]

[ Well, if he's bitching then he can't be that bad off. ]

Same reason you are, probably.

[dejerate]

Not that I've seen yet.

[And. Well. Yuichiro is pretty sure if there were any vampires around, there wouldn't be nearly this many humans. Not out in the open anyway. More like, if they weren't military, they would be taken to the vampires the same way he had been. To be fed on in exchange for their 'protection'.]

But that doesn't mean there might not be the odd one or two around somewhere.

[fullmetalbrat]

Thought they wanted fighters.

[Probably. He hadn't really been paying attention to whatever they tried to explain when they brought him in.]

[heart_wrenching]

[ Yeah, about that. She's heard she has some kind of new abilities-- not that she wants them, or anything to do with this mess. Well, no use avoiding the topic. Ed can just pitch another fit if he feels like it. ]


I think they do.

[glowsferatu]

I would say that, on the whole, the majority of imPorts have no designs whatsoever towards heroism. During a wider crisis, you may see them participate, but it's far more subdued on a regular basis. There isn't really that much crime to fight.

I can't even imagine trying it in Heropa. There's hardly any crime to begin with, but you can hardly walk outside without tripping across three people in full costume. If you want crime, I'd try Maurtia Falls. Just...avoid any large, organized anti-crime initiatives there. They tend to be disastrous.

[ At least, the one she tried to organize was. Kind of puts her off the whole idea, anyway. ]