TIME TO GET READYYYYYY

[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?

In the wake of the recent blackout, neighborhoods are coming together to repair damage done by miscreants and share resources. In one of the commercial areas, retailers are taking advantage of the mild weather to hold a sidewalk sale. New arrivals and long-settled imPorts alike will receive a small discount at most stores, and while a few locals give them envious looks, many are just interested in what they might buy. You could set a trend, hero!

02. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, and though it's quieter than Heropa, there are still large numbers of citizens to be 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 remains high here, 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, favorite foods, and more!

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has had its ups and downs since imPorts started reappearing. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while others have swooped in to help the criminal industry thrive. More so here than the streets of any other imPort city, the battle between good and evil looks more like a war of escalation than a heroic tale. That might make the less than warm welcome imPorts are given in the city a little more understandable. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping. While some of these individuals have turned to crime, many locals seem more inclined to defend their native powered drug dealer than help the non-native hero bring them to justice. Who are you to tell them how to live?

There's still snow on the ground in Maurtia Falls, and some locals have decided to hold an impromptu snowman-sculpting contest. But...wait. That one looks familiar! Some of the snow people are definitely meant to be imPorts, but they aren't exactly flattering likenesses.

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. To be American is to be part of a melting pot, and that there’s more money to be made by the thriving local industries hardly hurts.

Go wander and get your shopping in, folks. Any imPort willing to be interviewed about how their New Year Resolution is going is instantly surrounded by a small gaggle of people.

Comments

[perverses]

[ He will! He's thinking, give him a second, and— ]

It does, but you wouldn't understand it, anyway! [ But that's fine because he has an idea, an idea worthy of one seriously mischievous grin. You should not trust this grin, Victor, that is the kind of grin it is. Shima sets the DVD aside and points at the book Victor has. ] Hope you already paid for that, because we're not stayin' here. Come on, I know where to find a TV!

[ And there he goes, turning around to weave past the tables of books and further up the sidewalk! ]

[pullback]

[ He does not trust that grin in the slightest, especially because Victor grew up with brothers and knows what sort of a grin that is. That's a grin that will get him in trouble. Really, this is his first day here, he'd rather not end up running from the law or having to explain himself to a shop owner or whatever Shima's going to do.

Still...he really wants to know what a TV is. So, with a sigh, Victor follows the young man. At least it's easy to see where Shima's going, what with that hair of his. ]

Where exactly are we going?

[perverses]

I didn't see an electronics store on this street, but there is a bar! Those always have TVs hangin' around the place.

[ A sports bar, to be more specific, which is exactly what Shima leads him to. It does look fantastically garish, however, though that doesn't seem to faze the kid when he stops outside it and waits for Victor to catch up, only to say, ]

You're older, so you should probably go in first, eh?

[ Yes, Victor, be his cover for getting into a bar unquestioned. They're not carding at the door just yet since it's only early evening, but someone's probably still keeping an eye on that door. ]

[pullback]

[ Oh good Lord this looks horrific. Victor isn't really a recluse per se. He'll go out to meet up with friends occasionally...like, once in a blue moon occasionally. That's enough social interaction for a while. But this? It's loud, there's people, he can smell the alcohol from here, this is like everything Victor does not like and he's wary as all hell. ]

Are the TVs really worth this?

[ His tone is equal parts confusion and derision. There's a good chance Victor's going to bolt in the next few seconds, nope, forget this, he can just look it up later. ]

[perverses]

I'd say so! They're pretty awesome, though if you're really gonna let a place looking kind of lame keep ya from finding out, well...!

[ Shima just shrugs a great big exaggerated shrug, like this is no skin off of his nose (which it isn't, so whatever, whatever). ]

That's up to you, right? But it's just a bar. What's the worst that could happen?

[pullback]

[ Victor Frankenstein is someone who needed moral support for buying his girlfriend a present and then almost backed out entirely. He's thinking of plenty of options about the worst that can happen.

Still, he's stuck in this weird world and desperately wants to learn about all of the new things it has to offer so in theory he should buck up and go into that bar and learn about television as well as other things about the world...but in practice, people have been staring at him enough already and he doesn't like this and he just wants to go home.

After a brief mental pep talk, he's (hopefully) gathered enough energy to venture in. Once more unto the breach, dear friends. ]

You're right. After all, it's only a bar.

[ He steps into the bar, assuming Shima's following him...and then ten seconds later just tries to about face and leave NOPE NOPE NOPE, FUCK THAT NOISE. ]

[perverses]

[ Too bad Shima is absolutely standing in his way, so good luck trying to get by him. It's not even like he's actively blocking the doorway, he's just there. Ten seconds in and Victor turns right back around to that, as well as him laughing. ]

Seriously? Already? Look, you don't even gotta do anything to see the TVs in here. [ Of course, them blocking the doorway like this is getting them stared at no matter what. Good job, man. ] It's that thing.

[ He points at one of the screens hoisted up and attached to the wall, angled so patrons can lurk at the bar and watch without straining their neck too much. Right now it's only the usual talking head sports reporters going over clips from last night's various games, which Shima himself wouldn't find interesting in the least, but, hey, they're not here for him. ]

[pullback]

[ Victor's about to protest that no, really, he doesn't want to be here before he looks up at the television.

Well. He wasn't expecting that. He pauses to watch, listening to the talking head explain those clips. So it wasn't a continual stream, the television could cut between two different...scenes, perhaps? At least one of which, a sports announcer was helpfully mentioning, was previously recorded. ]

Fascinating, [ Victor can't help but mutter, before he turns to Shima. ] Where can I find one of these to see how it works?

[ It's obviously electricity. And, while stitching up a wound might be the same from his time to now, the uses of electricity obviously weren't. ]

[perverses]

Do ya know where they're making you live yet? Wherever that is, it'll probably have one. Seems to me they went out of their way to furnish all those places.

[ Which makes sense. It's not like the imPorts showing up with nothing are going to have furniture and shit to put in a house. ]

Not sure anyone else you end up living with will appreciate you pulling it apart, though.

[pullback]

They said the location was in the file. I haven't yet looked at to where that is, though.

[ But how reassuring to hear the houses are furnished. If he had to find a place to live as well as furniture as well as navigating this world...it would be a bit cruel.

But back to the television. ]

How easy is it to find these things? If I can't take apart the one given, then I'll simply buy another to dismantle.

[perverses]

What? TVs? Uh, super easy? You can get 'em from any electronics store, even bigger than that one up there.

[ Okay, seriously, he doesn't know any of these things, so Shima finally gets around to asking, ]

What are you, from the dark ages or somethin'? You don't got any of this stuff there?

[pullback]

I'm not from the dark ages, though I am a bit behind. I arrived here from over a hundred years in the past.

[ Just said so casually. It's something that Victor can't believe either. Monsters, madmen, vampires, all those he's grown to accept. But time travel? Still, it must be true. After all, it would be far too elaborate a trick to pull on him if it wasn't. ]