Lies a place that few have seen.

[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 there's only one rule in Test Drive Meme Club: 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, while others might not say anything -- but if you have something nasty to say, better not say anything at all, right? This month has been a rocky one, and locals are beginning to eye imPorts with renewed scrutiny; if people like them can get superpowers, are imPorts really that special, after all? Some people usher their children away from anyone clearly not 'from around here,' while other natives may be brave enough to directly approach obvious imPorts and ask their thoughts on the war with Russia and what the imPort ambassadors are planning to do about it.

ImPorts are a divisive issues, even in pretty Heropa.

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 very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Science and technology are the lifeblood of this city, so you're likely to come across a good many locals taking your picture with the newest of devices. The imPort craze is at an all-time high, and you may find yourself cornered by overzealous imPort fans, media wannabes and opportunists alike, shoving cameras in your face.

Their questions are likely to be fairly mundane, however; get ready for an interview about your taste in romantic partners, personal underwear choices, favourite foods, and more!

Also, as the Halloween craze is reaching a fevered pitched, more and more children are running around in costumes of their favorite imPorts! Do you recognize any of these masks? Perhaps one of these costumes mimics YOU!?

...

Isn't that kinda creepy?

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania is populated by a whole lot of people who are having awfully bad days. With the emergence of locals with superpowers, many seem to have latched onto their new supercharged identities with an incredible amount of gusto. As your character walks down the street, they may find themselves accosted by a large man in his mid-20s, dressed in an ill-fitting spandex suit of orange and yellow. As he thrusts his finger into an imPort's face, the spandex rides up, turning into more of a crop-top, which he duly tugs back down before shouting, "You're not the special ones anymore, imPorts! Feel the wrath of Heartburn!"

Stupid name aside, he does seem to have superpowers as he breathes a large plume of fire. His aim still isn't great, though; it could hit the imPort in question, or be sent in the direction of a nearby local, or even a particularly flammable building.

What will you do, Hero?

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. This fine day, pumpkin spice seems to be in style, to the point at which you happen to be crashing an open pumpkin spice festival. From drinks to sweet treats to some other things that really, really shouldn't be pumpkin spice flavoured (pumpkin spice flavoured vodka, anyone? It tastes like regret!), everyone seems to be in the mood for the upcoming season.

Taste test a few samples and take in the hustle and bustle of the city, everyone! And hey, if just gorging yourself isn't enough, why not try your hand at the pumpkin carving contest going on? The competition is fierce!

Comments

benji ryans. original character.

[cestrumnocturnum]

CHARACTER INFO;

[ Click here for a debrief, if you like! Also includes a note on pronouns. ]

DE CHIMA;

[ As someone who goes out of her way not to be the centre of attention, the friendliness of people in De Chima works out to be Benji's living nightmare. Fortunately, after enough stammered answers and fluttery apology and refusals for picture taking, even the most relentless of newcomer imPort fans break off from her. Which is wonderful, because she was three seconds from swooning, whether genuinely or as a means of getting out of this situation.

Sitting heavily on the edge of a park fountain, she leans forward, elbows on knees, head in hands, and waits for her heartbeat to restore to a normal clip. It doesn't help that it feels unseasonably warm to her, and yet insists on her heavy knits and wools, long-sleeved.

The crush of a city, alive and prosperous and densely active, is overwhelming enough. She is used to tall buildings and paved road, and she is used to the empty shells of cars that stopped a decade ago and never started again, and to wind that blows through the skeletons of those tall buildings, and those paved roads empty of anything but debris, scorch marks, winding cracks.

Back of hand to forehead, she shifts to lie down on the raised concrete, no one paying her too much mind. The running fountain water to one side, the ambiance of the park to the other. ]

NONAH;

[ What romantic doesn't love the fall? Benji hadn't been sure what to picture when it came to the golden changing of the season in the middle of a city like Nonah, because the wreckage of New York City had been just a slightly colder, wetter version of itself come Halloween. But here we are, with flavours of pumpkin lacing food and drink, and Benji is willing to trade what meagre pocket money she has for a pastry with dense pumpkinny filling.

Which proves altogether too rich for her, but that's okay. She can be found sitting on a streetside bench of curled iron and wooden slats, crumbling the last of the dessert between her hands and letting it spill onto the sidewalk. A swarm of pigeons, wing to wing, crowd the area with the kind of twitchy, crawling movement of insects.

Long-limbed and badly postured, Benji keeps to herself, maybe only recognisable in passing from imPort gatherings, or glimpses on the network. ]

cw sexual vulgarity

[pillz]

[the smell of cigarettes crawls into her senses the next moment. then the scratch of shoes on concrete.

there's a boy standing over her. skinny, hipbones poking out like cut glass even under the fabric of his wifebeater, hair in spikes, sunlight glinting off the chain on his neck. there's something faintly anachronistic about the cut of his jeans and the sunglasses perched on his face, but it's hard to place. there are hypermasculine tanktop turd lords in the 50's, too.] They're probably hoping some bear comes up on your twinky ass for fanart purposes, [he tells her.] They way into that shit.

What's our name, sweetheart? [he's probably too young to be calling benji that, but he is clearly not the sort of young person who is bothered by such distinctions. he props his foot up on the concrete, just beyond her head, and looks down at her from the v of his crotch. ʘ‿ʘ✿]

[cestrumnocturnum]

[ Benji opens her eyes, twitching aside her hand to squint up at the person looming over her. She mouths 'bear?' as if forgetting to put her voice to the query, imagining pandas, you know, before becoming wholly distracted with the indignity of the moment. Peeling herself up to sit, her feet sink on either side of the fountain edge, boot splashing into clear water before she corrects herself with a twitch too late, denim cuff dark with water.

She swivels enough to sit, long limbs folding back into her own personal space. ]

Benji, [ she says. Her eyes stray then to the cigarette in hand. Wouldn't that be nice. Then back up to his face. ] You're not a 'they'?

[pillz]

Nah. [kavinsky's eyes are heavy-lidded, half-mast. the kind of indifference that takes careful study and real deliberation to fit just so. he glances at her wet foot, and then up at her face, which has regrettably moved out of the crosshairs of his groin.

then he sits himself down. manspreads all over the place, because-- of course.] I'm into good porn like the next guy, but they give me some fugly-ass partners. [completely inaccurate statement. ronan is impossibly good-looking. but kavinsky prefers lying to the truth whenever possible, and this stranger seems like a good place to whet his preferences on, hyuk hyuk.

he offers her the cigarette.] Kavinsky. Welcome to De Chima.

[cestrumnocturnum]

[ She takes the cigarette, eyes hooding by way of 'thank you'. Her hands are clean but each nail has a fine grey crescent beneath them, and they're ragged at the edges. There'd been only a slight warming up around the freckles at casual talk of porn and ugly partners, but when it comes to casual obscenities, she has worse friends than Kavinsky. Probably. Maybe.

It's just he's not a friend. But she will share a cigarette, taking a modest draw, holding onto it in her chest before sighing it out. Nerves calming. One last nip before offering it back.

She sits knees together, and with terrible posture. ]

He said sarcastically, [ she says, a touch of whimsy in her tone. The volume of her voice only barely makes it over the top of city noise ambience. ]

cw sexual vulgarity, underage .... things ... yeah.

[pillz]

[kavinsky shakes his head, accepting his cancer stick back. he finishes it with one last hard pull that should probably hurt his lungs more than it does. he flicks it into the street with a twang of his middle finger, and doesn't look to see where it lands.] Virginia's fucking sweet. North side if you want metrosexuals.

Go west, you can find someone who's up for sharing his cousin. And a mud pit. You don't know hick life until you've done a bellyflop in a mud pit. And fucked a couple of cousins. [he is an absurd specimen of teenager, but like many absurd teenagers, he is pretty sure that what he's doing is proportionally cool to how offensive it is.] Maurtia Falls has nothing on us.

You want I should introduce you to my cousin? [he doesn't look like a hick. there's a diamond stud in his ear, his jeans are modern. expensive. he's too young for her, anyway, but you wouldn't know it just by his creepy eyes.]

DE CHIMA.

[aojona]

[ In contrast to Benji's thick long-sleeves, Pablo tends to favor shorts no matter the season; denim over somewhat tattered black leggings, though he has a striped cardigan on to somewhat make up the difference. Though he has no qualms with being around people, spotlight makes him uneasy as well, and he does his best to focus on avoiding it, avoiding those kind of crowds. But the cities are big, and it can be easy to drift into the background once you know each city's rhythm.

He approaches the fountain, though not with any intent to disturb her; Pablo assumes she might be sleeping, which is hard enough to do outside without worrying if anyone will bother you, so he makes sure he's a couple feet away around the fountain's curve before he kneels down to dip his hands in the water to wash the spray paint from his palms and fingers.

He's careful, expression unchanged despite the sting, to scrub in such a way that the dry flakes of color come off only bit by bit so as not to taint the water, but if Benji were to move at all or make a sound, Pablo will be quick to apologize-- ]

Sorry. Um, I was trying to be quiet.

[cestrumnocturnum]

[ Sensing a presence nearby out in a universe reduced to the light bleeding red through her eyelids, Benji puts her hand into water, sleeve and all, in a singularly graceful attempt to sit up more suddenly than she ought. At least she didn't fall in, saved by the quick reflex of her other hand gripping the edge of sun-warmed concrete. ]

No-- [ Her laugh is not all the way a laugh, more of a sigh. ] No, I startled myself.

[ She wrings out just the corner of her sleeve, her focus going to where his hands are over the water, the care he's taking. With a smile that's just naturally hesitant, she notes-- ] That's what they used to be for, you know. Instead of just being pretty.

fjsakf I'M SORRY THIS IS SUPER LATE

[aojona]

[ Though he doesn't smile -- Pablo just isn't much of a smiler -- Pablo still tenses his shoulders in a quiet my bad sort of shrug, assuming she's letting him off the hook to spare his feelings, though he won't argue the point with her.

Withdrawing his hands from the water, he turns so that, still kneeling, his back is now leaning slightly against the lip of the fountain, then drops his gaze back to his hands, idly chipping at some paint from one thumbnail with the other. Then he looks toward Benji again, with curious interest. ]

Really? I actually didn't know that. [ His fingers curl, picking at flecks of paint with a somewhat fidgety, compulsive dedication. ] Then I wonder why that changed. I mean, I think the world does need more beauty -- it is, and there can never be too much of it, but, uh... like, it's also useful to be able to get clean when you need to, you know? At least for people without houses.

de chima.

[indocile]

( margaux is not unused to being looked at.

she is a 4'11" elf with lilac hair that falls to her waist in a world dominated by humans of average heights and with less story-book coloring. even if she weren't inclined to court that attention, she would have it; for such a little thing, she's strikingly difficult to miss. even the strange way people project onto the object of their interest isn't unusual, it's just a shift in what exactly they're projecting and why, and it's - intense, bold in a different way to what she's used to, and unrelenting. for the most part she handles it gracefully; laughs off questions she doesn't care for with non-answers that make the quesioners feel listened to, engages in casual conversations, poses for pictures and lets one young woman teach her to make a peace sign in her selfies. when she begs off, finally, she does so with light apologies and thanks for everyone's kindness but she really does have to check on her friend -

lying down beside benji on the concrete, she says, )

We're friends, now, I've told those people and so it must be true.

( which is a great way to make a new friend, actually. )

[cestrumnocturnum]

[ Benji opens her eyes, and turns her head, only to find an elf laying there. She knows her to be an elf from her slightness, the tapered ends of her ears, the sheen of her bright hair. Her mouth parts in surprise, but registers the thing her 'friend' says next by way of lifting her head to see past them both. There are still stragglers, curiously peering over, a few lifted cellphones quickly darting back down upon getting caught.

Relaxing back into her recline, Benji clasps her hands together high on her chest, as if to diminish the space she takes up. ]

You're the first elf I've seen, [ she says, her accent lilting, her tone gentle and tentative. ] I've not even put out any saucers of goat milk and rosemary.

[ That's fairies, but maybe it works on elves too. They're almost as unlikely. ]

[indocile]

I'd prefer red wine and for it to be indoors, ( very archly and with the easy immediacy of someone who knows the stories, too. not for this elf blank incomprehension or fifteen minutes of refuting myths; she rolls onto her stomach, leans her chin in her hands and smiles, too big to be playing at coy. ) If I get to choose.

I also accept tribute in the form of gold.

( or, you know, financial value. the whole world can fall apart and people still want something shiny and yellow, and - margaux, with her small collection of antique jewelry and the shimmering scarves she ties into her hair, can't exactly pretend to be immune. it's good to have something other people want and she's a practical sort of a girl, but it would be nice to hang onto the wealth for a bit, sometimes.

after a beat; )

Or credit! Goodbye, the barter system, yes? Hello, shiny money.

[cestrumnocturnum]

I'm still learning.

[ About shiny money.

And credit.

And gold, for that matter.

The other woman's smile is almost too bright, and very near, so Benji finds herself squinting up at the clear sky again, unrelaxed where she lies like a wooden plank, although Margaux ought not to take that too personally. She'd only been relaxed when she was near swooning. ]

Most people come from places like this place.

[indocile]

I like it.

( there's a twinge of guilt that comes with that announcement - it's good for her, sure, but what good is it doing anybody while she's spending an hour standing in her shower (her own! her own shower!) trying every one of the eleven things that she bought in that store dedicated to nothing but things to make you clean and nice? shampoo. conditioner. something for the bathtub with glitter in it.

her own bathtub!!

if she could just send some of this home-- )

I heard about this place, it's in Scotland - where they have running water. And almost a whole...it's bigger than any of the villages, it's better organised than the chateaus. Where everyone gets there guns from, up that way.

This is even better than that.