Mask or Menace | MODERATORS (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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etcelsior2017-05-25 08:16 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2017-05-25 08:16 pm
Entry tags:
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
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?
Today it's not just imPorts that are making a scene. Given the relatively high approval rating imPorts still pull in here, maybe it shouldn't shock locals and imPorted arrivals alike that new native metahumans are using the city to debute their new spandex and catch phrases while they try and take their own bite out of crime. You know what they say about those darn kids these days though, too much time watching TV instead of say, oh, learning about martial arts or surveillance techniques. Or that the world doesn't actually pause when they start their dramatic entrances like it does on the small screen. There are five teenagers today, each one dressed in elaborate costumes modeled after different birds of paradise (click one of these if you really need examples). And you better believe each one has a dramatic entrance speech concerning truth, Justice, and the American Way, a dramatic pose, and a polysyllabic name to go through before they all strike a team pose and shout 'Birds Of Prey, Uncaged!'
During this time the lone criminal they had swooped down to stop has long since stared running away. Early in the morning, they did this whole production to stop a litterer. Mid-afternoon, a jay walker. Finally, in the evening, they actually try stopping a mugging. Of course the thief and the stolen goods are busy getting away during their intros, a fact the robbed citizen keeps shouting at them through the whole two minute long affair.
It's up to you, dear imPort, to catch these escaping misdemeanors or thief and bring them to actual justice (or, if you're really kind, hand them over to the birds), to stop and tell these kids to get off your darn lawn, to give them hero-ing tips or a real villain to fight against, or to just keep walking and pretend this whole mess never happened. The choice is yours.
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!
These questions are better asked inside, however, as a tornado warning has been released for the county. No, they haven't had one here since the 90s, but you can never be too careful! With the torrential downpour currently hammering the city, some enterprising business people have taken to offering storm themed sales of food, drinks, and appliances. Is there any better way to send the rainy day than on nickle shot night at the local bar, where you cannot only get dangerously intoxicated but also ride the newest in fun and games, the Freudian Mechanical Bull? Come one come all and see how long you can stay clinging on as the bull bucks you physically and emotionally, spitting out catchy psychological phrases like 'do you think this will make your father love you?' or 'riding me for five minutes will never fix what you've done.' The bull will detect which sentences seem to get the best effect and keep barring down on that path. Sensitive about your mother? Better believe the whole bar is about to hear a lot about it.
Or if you're not up for that much fun, you can aid worried citizens in securing their homes and businesses against the possible storms. Help them board up holes in roofs, cast wards on their windows, or just point them towards the nearest insurance agent. Surely you wouldn't take advantage of them and sell them devices they don't need or learn where they keep their valuables and how to reach them at a time like this would you?...would you?
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?
Today is the semi-annual (that no one can quite seem to remember ever happening before) balloon festival. From dawn until well past midnight imPorts and natives alive can pay a small fee to ride in a beautifully colorful hot air balloon solo or in pairs. There is also wonder fried food and face-painting for the whole family. If this seems all a little too innocent and family friendly, don't worry. This being the Falls, there's always a chance for the morally flexible (or horribly naive) to make a little extra money. Some balloons are offering special, 100% totally free in no way catch-possessing deluxe rides to certain 'winners.' Strangely, it appears to 'win' all one has to do is agree to ride the hot air balloon over to another city, drop off one of the 'sand bags' attached to the side at a designated place, pick up a few new 'sand bags' and fly back! Those that can pilot their own balloon rather than needing a guide will be paid extra- they mean, win an extra special prize.
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. Natives may gather around new arrivals and ask both personal and broad questions about life as an imPort, what they are looking forward to, what their favorite article of underwear is. A few night clubs offer free entrance - just this once!
But you'll have to excuse the mess. See, a little while ago the city was a real zoo. Animals running everywhere, smashing store windows, eating aquariums, you know how these things can go. In fact, there are still a few stay old world monkeys jumping around, and maybe a baby gator or two in the sewer or prairie dogs in the parks. A small reward is still being offered for their rounding up.
Barbara Gordon / Oracle | DC Comics (Preboot / Convergence)
She wasn't exactly impressed with the tattoo- definitely not a design she'd have picked, were she the type. It was easy to hide, though, and as soon as that was out of the way, as long as she didn't go out of her way to draw attention, people's glances skipped right past her easily enough- the thought that the quiet girl in the wheelchair might be anything more than she appeared not one that occurred to most people. Even if she would never be happy about why that was, for now, letting people underestimate her was probably her best bet right now, at least until she had a better understanding of this place, how she got here, and the new powers buzzing in her mind- a constant input of information broadcasted from electronics all around her.
She'd experimented a bit with some programming on a cheap tablet, and was so far pleased with her results. It was similar enough to what she could do when her mind and body had been invaded by Brainiac- communicating with computers in their own languages, letting her mind become the world's most immersive HDL. A Clocktower all her own, in a weird state of being where mental and digital melded together.
She'd need more than that, though- and more than the rental accommodations she'd been provided with upon arrival. She needed a real base of operations, and she needed it soon.
Network (Anonymous voice message, voice obviously synthesized. Username: O)
Any Gotham Knights fans out here?
voice;
voice, private
Ted?
[This time, it's her own voice]
no subject
Hey, Babs. Long time no see.
no subject
[because you can't just ask someone why they're not dead]
no subject
[ He's quiet long enough that is seems like he's not going to say anything else, before he blurts out: ]
And the last time I saw you wasn't too long before I died.
no subject
[She doesn't sound surprised, just... a little disappointed. Finding him in this reality- there had been hope that maybe that meant there was some timeline where he'd never died.]
Well that... answers the next five or six questions I was going to awkwardly ask.
no subject
I've learned that it's just kind of best to blow right through the awkward part of this conversation from the start.
no subject
[the video feed flips on, showing her, shock of shocks, lit by the light of several monitors and what looks like one of those fake sunlight desktop lights, because she wouldn't have anything approaching a sleep cycle without one at this point, lbr.]
Hey. Even better. How are you?
no subject
Oh, you know. I've been worse.
no subject
Is anyone else we know here, that you know of? Anyone I should be watching out for?
a thousand years later i return to tag you back
un: l.dectus; text.
More of a Knights of the Round Table fan.
[ jokes. ]
text
text
Are you the squad leader?
no subject
no subject
no subject
I'm trying to think of a polite way to ask if you're from this reality or not, but I don't think there is one.
[Things she wishes were the weirdest things she's ever said.]
no subject
I'm not, but my side of the multiverse is similar. Superheroes, cold warfare, etc.
Sound familiar?
[ how many worlds are like her own? ]
no subject
no subject
Well, staying out in the cold is a little old hat these days.
[ for most people. ]
text; id is blue beetle iii!
Gotta say, I'm more of a soccer guy.
scary levels of encryption private
It's nice to talk to you again.
[She hopes. She never did live that recruitment attempt down. Dinah made sure of it.]
no subject
Sorry about the last time we talked, by the way. I promise that I'm usually not that zappy when I get overwhelmed. Or that yelly for that matter.
no subject
How long have you been here?
no subject
Two and a half years. Maybe a little more. I'm guessing you'll probably have questions about this place, and I'll probably have like 50% of the answers.