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

[resipiscent]

Mm, well. Not necessarily. Everybody's different.

[She's joking, but his answer isn't facetious, despite the little smile he gets at her reply.]

I -- frankly, sort of.

[He gestures for her to follow him, then steps away from the post, beginning to move down the sidewalk. He doesn't like to have conversations like this and stay stationary.]

How much do you already know?

[radioclub_jp]

[Fine by her. She trots a few steps to catch up.]

Mm, not a lot. I had a look through the brochure on the way here. [The USSR, the nanites, the superheroes, and...] Have they really come up with a way to reverse brain death?

[resipiscent]

Right, so you know about the war. But -- from what I've seen, yeah. I've had a couple of people I know revive. It's -- weird. I'm not really much of a scientist, so I can't speculate on the method itself.

[radioclub_jp]

[She laughs softly.] I would have said something more like "miraculous!" [Considering that, you know, brain death is irreversible by definition.] It's as extraordinary as a cure for death in general.

[resipiscent]

Well, maybe that too. It's... certainly interesting.

[The fact that there is a death cure at all is indeed pretty amazing.]

[radioclub_jp]

What's your name, by the way? I forgot to ask.

[resipiscent]

Oh, uh -- Riku. [He didn't actually think to introduce himself.] And you're...?

[radioclub_jp]

Paprika. Nice to meet you.

[resipiscent]

[is that even a name

But then, Riku has no place to judge, so he simply nods.]

Likewise. Sorry it couldn't be under... less tense circumstances.

[radioclub_jp]

[yeah says the guy named after dirt, seriously

Paprika laughs a little.] Well, hey, that's not your fault, is it? I'm not even sure what everyone's so tense about.

[resipiscent]

Nah, it's not. But it's kind of a shame that that's what all the newbies have to come into. When I arrived it was quiet, like it was there, but it didn't impact anything concrete.

[radioclub_jp]

Mm, like you'd expect from a Cold War. But they've gone and warmed it up now, right? Has anybody been, y'know... bombed?

I can't remember if this is after Debrecen or not

[resipiscent]

Yes. A city that the US discovered to have been working with the Soviets. It wasn't a nuke or anything, if that's what you're asking. Not that that makes it a whole lot better, though.

[The concept of a nuclear bomb is new for him, only having learned about it since coming here, but it's not a real inviting one, and so he learned all he could about them. Know your enemy, even if it's a death shower.]

it is :D

[radioclub_jp]

Yeah, that's still terrible... [Meanwhile, being from Japan, the concept is decidedly not new to her. But even if it's not nuclear, the concept of World War III actually being a thing that is happening, currently, right now, that's harder to get her head around. It almost feels like... well, like a dream. Either way, it's never been Paprika's scene, worrying about politics and foreign wars and so on. Even Atsuko was never very invested in that sort of thing. The question on the average person's mind is more like, "Am I, or is someone I know, going to be bombed today? Probably not? All right." It sounds selfish, but what else can you really do?] ... Do they really want us to fight for them? The Americans, I mean.