Mask or Menace | MODERATORS (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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etcelsior2016-10-25 02:36 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2016-10-25 02:36 pm
Entry tags:
Lies a place that few have seen.
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!
no subject
In the Civic, the man in black chuckles, already knocking the hammer back to crack a second shot through the SUV’s back window as they blow past. ]
I think they’re onto us. [ He has to raise his voice to clue Chilton in over the mess he’s made. Helping out in case Frederick is too focused on the road to have noticed. ]
no subject
You! Are enjoying this!
[In another world, or at least another state of mind, Chilton would have savored that fact. His captor/partner was clearly psychopathic. This was raw data unfolding beside him as they darted between cars, dashing over asphalt.]
no subject
[ The man in black finds the switch again with his middle finger, glass scrolled up to screen the wind and the sound of distant sirens into the softer hiss of air through the vents. He dials the heat up a touch with the tip of his knife, revolver turned over idle across his far knee.
Havoc wrought, he tips his head back to eye Chilton across the center console instead. ]
Doctor?
no subject
He didn't like the wheeze of heat flooding this stolen car. It felt thick to him, it pressured against his skin.]
The natives are only human. [It was almost a plea for compassion, but more realistically a complaint for restraint.] We stand to resurrect. They do not. So try to dial down the sadism, won't you? For you own good health.
[He made a sharp swerve, veering off the interstate. Seeking quieter, more anonymous roads.]
Because I have no qualms slipping a psychopath into a straitjacket. Especially one of the imPort variety.
no subject
Like a police dog, eager to bite. ]
You ever cut one open to make sure?
[ He’s genuinely curious, in an angling-to-help kinda way. There’s a flask on his belt; he pushes the knife away slow to trade it out so that he can unscrew the cap between them, watching Chilton all the while. Smells like tequila, while they’re busy breaking laws anyway. ]
Hell, you probably haven’t even cut on yourself.
Just take it for granted that you’re something superior. Anointed by the gods of this world to write prescriptions and rob banks.
no subject
[Mildly spoken in his airy tone, as if he knew how his voice sounded from the gleaming window of his ivory tower. The remark cut both ways; Chilton had Abel Gideon cut up that nurse, and Gideon had collected the debt to Chilton's own gut. It wasn't the sort of scar he would want to expose, not physically nor emotionally. The road they had taken that river-spawned off the highway now bled into a backwater street. The asphalt was bumpy, forgotten.
Chilton kept his smile tightly coiled.]
Unless, of course, you are offering? You know I need your consent.
[At that word, with that emphasis, he forced the car off the road, down the gentle grassy slope with the wheels drifting sideways -- psychically performed. Meanwhile his hand was outstretched, reaching for the man's face, glad for the exposure of the mouth thanks to that inviting tequila.
Sedative was waiting in his fingertips.]
ww spoilers in tags from here on down
Bandanna tugged down loose under his chin, arrogant, the man in black offers Frederick the first sip. And how is he repaid? Tires skipping over gravel and a hand to the face, that’s how.
For an instant, William’s jowls give cool against Chilton’s fingertips.
Then he’s gone, flash in pan heat tucked into a snarl of smoke that fills the cabin -- stinging, choking, swirling dark against the windows. His pistol rolls forgotten into the far door with a sound like a lead brick -- dead weight. ]
no subject
Chilton's powers only worked when he was conscious and focused, a state of mind highly enabled by a paucity of any stinging, choking smoke presently polluting his stolen car. He gasps, his nausea clogging his throat, gagging, and his vision blurs.
The engine kicks, then stalls. The car slides down the final little hill at a geometrically flawed angle -- it tips, its nose suddenly armed with too much velocity at the wrong side of gravity. It tips, metal screams. The shell puckers as it rolls, with Chilton locked inside, airbag squished against him.
A whimper, not a bang. Not a crash. Just a lapse -- the good doctor was not dead. Not immediately. Chilton struggling against the airbag, his own senses not yet meeting equilibrium, his head rushing with blood and heart pounding. The car was upside down, but he managed to dislocate his seat belt and had then kicked open the door, stumbling, gasping, coughing and crawling towards freedom.
The ground was dewy beneath his bare palms and slacked knees.]
no subject
He can buy a new flask. ]
Hell of a spill, [ he remarks, as he draws up on Chilton’s flank.
One swig from his flask, and he sets a boot heel into the doctor’s ribs and gives it a stout little shove. ]
You sure you should be moving?
no subject
[He spoke with a groan. It was sturdy enough of a footed shove to land Chilton on his side -- wincing, aching Frederick Chilton no longer moving freely. Feebly he tried to kick out at William, but his well-heeled shoe had angled too wide. Missed the lean man's gritty form entirely. Sedative seemed to have worn off, he thought. Figures.
Chilton stayed in the grass, cheek down and eyes upwards. Snake in the grass a little too on the nose.]
Go away.
[Such bold words.]
no subject
[ William straddles over him with a wide step, not half as keen on following directions as Chilton might like. He’s still gloating, measuring out his next move when something down low catches his eye.
Halfway to lifting his flask for a second shot, he stoops to hook his knife up in under the loose him of Frederick’s shirt instead. What he sees when he nudges the fabric up another few inches is enough to have him winding slowly back upright in a state of something like appreciation, blade at an easy jut away from his knee.
Tut. ]
I wish I could say I was surprised.
no subject
Chilton recognized it. He had tried to claw his way into that luxury time and time again.]
You collect scars? Would have pegged you more as someone with brutalized emotional tissue.
[Stilled muscles or no, Chilton's tongue still worked. It would lash against any appraisal, even as the doctor began to pinch up pieces of this puzzling man.]