throws thumbtack confetti everywhere

[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 anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

Comments

[fridgeflower]

[ See? And that's... It's the last she knows. Everything seems as though it's closing in on her. Or opening up again. It's difficult to say. She's looking down again, tough, tapping a fingernail nervously on the table-top. After a long moment, she lets out a heavy breath that she tries to change into a laugh at the last minute, just to make it sound a little less sorry. ]

The world cut me off mid-thought. Josh yelled at me. I was going to yell back, but... [ Shrug. ] Now I'm here.

[xpostate]

[ oh. but that would put it right when... jesus. she doesn't even know, does she? of course frost wouldn't have said a word. ]

After he was thrown off the team? Nori said you were going to talk to him, and then... [ he falls silent, staring into his coffee. ]

[fridgeflower]

Yeah. [ After he was thrown off the team, and she'd told Nori where she was going, and then... ] You know, um... I keep trying to figure it out, but ever since I got here, I've felt... I don't know, like something's wrong? I feel like I'm waiting for something to sneak up on me.

[ And not for the first time, she reaches up with her good hand to press her fingers into the back of her head, but... There's nothing there to find. She transitions the gesture smoothly enough into something less odd, raking her fingers through her hair, tugging a tangle loose when she finds it. ]

I don't-- I don't want to say it, but... [ That's it, isn't it? Logically, it seems wrong, but the signs are there even if they don't match up to her current reality. ]

[xpostate]

[ he's not sure how to put it delicately, to phrase it in a way that will ease her into the revelation, but she deserves to know. he looks down at her hands and covers them with his, brows knitting together. ]

...The reason you don't remember anything after is because there wasn't anything to remember. [ he imagines it like a power outage, suddenly the lights cut off and they don't come back on again. he looks back up in her eyes, almost apologetic. ] That was how it ended.

[fridgeflower]

Oh.

[ Which is all she can accomplish for a moment. Having your suspicions confirmed doesn't always feel like a triumph, and this..? Well, for now, it feels like nothing. There's perhaps mild surprise, and her heart beats faster, but she reaches hard for the way that she used to be. She shuts her feelings down, puts everything on hold.

Her left hand tightens into fists under his. Her right doesn't manage it. ]

... Why? [ Was it like the bus? Something senseless? Something strange and unknown, like Jay? ] What about-- Is Josh alright?

[xpostate]

He was about as alright as you'd expect. [ that was true of all of them, that same kind of anger and helplessness that only brims closer to the surface now, but josh was the one covered in her blood. it's been years now since he's seen josh, he doesn't even know how to answer that question properly. how much he should even add to the already heavy news. ]

It was Stryker. He wanted to wipe us all out, and he certainly did his damnedest, but you were an obstacle. Dangerous. So he had you taken out.

[fridgeflower]

[ What she'd expect would be another broad attack, not something to eliminate her specifically. That was why she'd asked, and now? She's not sure if she's relieved, or if she should be, or... Well, she's not sure about much of anything. She doesn't know how to feel or what to say and, for a moment, everything within her just sort of stops. ]

I'm not... I'm not dangerous. [ Even though she might be, and she's always somewhere between knowing that she is and trying to deny it. ] I couldn't-- I--

What about my mom?

[xpostate]

She was devastated. You were all she had. [ she slapped him right in the face and he didn't even flinch. she deserved that, even if he didn't. ]

She left New York soon after, which was really for the best. Things only got crazier from there, and I never managed to keep track of her since.

[ he feels a little guilty of that, like there's something he should've done there. if not for gail than for laurie's memory. but he knows it's irrational, he was just a kid caught up in extinction. if anyone should've done more, it's the x-men, but he can't even entirely blame them that they couldn't spare it. ]

[fridgeflower]

[ She's not sure what she was expecting out of that question. The answer doesn't offer much comfort. Imagining her mom all alone... That just makes her feel worse, and still she doesn't have anything definite to say. She can't reach any sort of conclusion about this and what it all means.

She sits still for a moment, looking down at the table top, with everything slowly rising in her chest. She gets fidgety, her eyes burn again, and-- ]

O-okay. I think I'm about to freak out. I have to leave.

[xpostate]

[ he was afraid of this, because he knew it was coming. and here he is, the message bearer. just having got here and one of the few familiar faces will probably be avoiding him while she sorts herself out.

but no, that's selfish thinking. laurie just found out she dies, she deserves that time. she deserves for him to let her go for now. ]

Laurie, I'm sorry.

[fridgeflower]

No, it's-- Well, it's not okay, but-- [ She can't keep to one thought or sentence, and she isn't sure what she's trying to convey. Maybe that she's not upset with the messenger, just the message, and she doesn't really know how anybody's supposed to react to that, but maybe she shouldn't be inside or around other people when she can't hold it in anymore. She lets out a little huff as she moves to stand. ]

I don't know. I just have to go somewhere. You can finish here, and... do whatever. I'll-- I'll call later.

[xpostate]

[ david fights the urge to stand, the urge to follow after her. he ends up gripping the edge of the table again, bracing against it to keep himself in his seat. fighting himself between the two thoughts of "she needs space" and "she needs a friend". he ends up hanging his head, so he won't see her go. ]

Of course. It was... I'm glad I got to see you again.

[fridgeflower]

Yeah. [ She guesses she's glad, too. It hasn't been that long on her end, but he's glad to have somebody who's at least vaguely familiar. How familiar might have to be hashed out later, when she better has her mind around what's going on.

For now, she can only offer a little wave as she turns to leave the diner, not even able to manage a verbal goodbye. ]