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

[suspensers]

Oh no, I'm definitely not from here. I don't normally leave the Good Place, actually.

[ A pause, and he rocked back and forth on his feet. ]

Actually, I'm really supposed to stay away from the humans, but they're so...fun.

[pullback]

[ That is not a reassuring statement in the slightest. Demons found humanity fun too, buddy. ]

So is the 'Good Place' an actual name or simply an attempt at a charming euphemism?

[suspensers]

[ How dare u compare him to a demon ]

Well, that's what we call it, but... I think you can get the gist. Good Place, Bad Place, there's not really much...guesswork there, if you catch my meaning.

[ It's with a smile, that he adds: ]

We just get the cream of the crop, in the Good Place.

[pullback]

I suppose you'd find my world's terms of 'heaven' and 'hell' a bit archaic.

[ he's watching u, Mr. Angel. ]

[suspensers]

Oh, just a bit.

But don't worry, the world still uses it. It's kind of this silly thing that humans always do, makes it sound like it has no purpose, or something like that.

[ He rolled his eyes. ]

It's not important, anyway.

[pullback]

I'd beg to differ. Names have more power than most realize. [ says the person who deliberately picked a symbolic name for one of the people he raised from the dead. ]

If there is an afterlife, calling it 'the good place'...it's entirely too dismissive.

[suspensers]

Well, it's nothing if not descriptive, isn't it?

Besides, I'm not the person you should take up with that. I'm a...peon, mostly. The big guy's the one who named it, not me. Of course, in the old days, we had to keep the language simple.

[pullback]

And there you go again. Why say 'the big guy' when it's obvious you mean God? [ Victor can't help but roll his eyes. There's a derivative tone in his voice, but whether it's due to the concept of God or Michael's continued use of euphemisms, it's hard to tell.

Hint: it's both. ]

[suspensers]

And I could call them by their real name, but that's still going to be a touch awkward, don't you think?

[ He shrugged, mildly. ]

He's my boss, not... some mysterious deity to me. We like to keep things casual.

[pullback]

We've never met before. How would it be awkward to call someone by their real name when talking with an absolute stranger?

[suspensers]

Because you'll know who I'm talking about, now.

Obviously.

[pullback]

But only after we've had our conversation. I still would have no idea what you were talking about if you hadn't provided proper context.

[ Victor...is just getting more and more annoyed with this conversation, he is trying his hardest to keep his cool, but there's a not-so-subtle level of annoyance in his tone of voice. ]

[suspensers]

But then you'd be more in the dark than before.

That wouldn't be very becoming of me, would it?

[ He asks. Innocently. ]

I can't be dishonest.

[pullback]

All in all I'd prefer bluntness to honesty.

[suspensers]

Maybe, but I'm not exactly here to make your dreams come true. I'm here to be the architect to paradise.

A place which, if I must be honest, you won't be going.

[pullback]

Perfectly understandable. After all, one has to actually believe in 'paradise' to go there in the first place.

[ he's dealt with vampires, witches, and demons but Victor is STILL that obnoxious atheist that takes the religion 101 class to sit in the back and laugh at everything. ]

[suspensers]

Actually, no. See, believing in something gives you a point bonus of five, but... It counts for more when you do good things to do it, instead of because you think some all-knowing god is out there watching.

In the long run, more altruistic atheists get in than not.

[pullback]

[ Wait, point bonus? ]

You mean to tell me that the eligibility of heaven and hell is decided by points?

[suspensers]

Well yes. Your tallies add up by how much good -- or evil -- you do in the world.

And also your taste in clothing, music taste, and taste in literature. It all adds up.