Mask or Menace | MODERATORS (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
maskormods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
etcelsior2017-08-25 07:25 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2017-08-25 07:25 pm
Entry tags:
KEMOSABE, JUMP ON IT!
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?
No matter how you feel about imPorts, there is one thing the community all must suffer through together: the weather. And time. Two, two things the community must suffer through together. However many things there are, today is celebrating the Dog Days of Summer. Literally. There is an adoption fair for every kind of dog you can imagine, and a few that really take imagination to call them ‘a dog.’ Like cats that have had doggy ear-shaped hats placed on their unwilling heads, or fish with decorative dog art painted on their bowl. Or that baby alligator on a leash with fur (glued? It looks glued) on its back. So while it’s a fine day to come and meet a new friend- or drop one off and run, hoping someone else will take it- it may also be a good day to stop the smaller animals and some wandering children from getting eaten by some of the more carnivorous creatures a few of the local eccentrics have decided to try to pawn off on the public. Or grab a snack from the fried food and ice cream stands and watch the madness. Whatever your choice, welcome to Florida, heroes.
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!
Wasn’t the forgiveness day festival wonderful? What, you weren’t in this world yet to attend? Well, never mind that! There’s still time for those willing to part with a few dollars to show your love for this new world and sympathy for the natives and imPorts alike that have been harmed in it. How? Why with a flower festival, of course! An entire block has been closed off for the seemingly endless sale of flowers of every shape and color. Technically, all the flowers have meanings and a few wandering guides are more than happy to help you pick out the bunch that may speak your true feelings to your intended target. It has all the potential to be a nice, sweet smelling day where you can express your love or eternal hatred or total ambivalence with living flora.
Of course, this is the science city. It can’t be something as simple as only normal, natural flowers. Some of the stands are nice enough to keep their technological wonders neatly labeled and separate from the rest of the foliage. Others aren’t so nice. The best way to get people to try a new thing is to spring it on an unsuspecting public, right? Right! Also for sale are roses that, if you prick your finger on the (oddly able to pierce through even superhuman strong, unbreakable skin) thorns you are compelled to spend the rest of the day with the first person you lay your eyes on. Never seen them before or hate their guts, it doesn’t matter. You simply feel awful when more than three feet away from them. To the point you will pass out if you’re away from them for more than five minutes. Hope you’re good at making quick bathroom runs.
There are also lilies that make birds flock to you and snap dragonsthat offer you supportive messages given in a squeaky voice every time you smell it. For those liking slightly more visibly engineered flowers, a multicolored daisy turns you into a Technicolor wonder, your clothes, hair, eyes, and skin changing rapidly from color to color without any apparent rhyme or reason (or respect for clashing). Putting the flower down will stop the changes, but you’re stuck in whatever random pattern it landed on until an hour passes and the effect wears off. Good luck with the festival!
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?
To say all is not right in the streets of Maurtia Falls is to more or less state the obvious, but this time, the criminal nature of this foe is a little... sillier than usual. One gentleman gifted with the powers of superspeed seems not to have grasped the true potential of his powers and instead of spending his time robbing banks or big businesses, he's decided to be the world's most efficient pickpocket. He zips through the street, pushing people over at superspeed and picking their pockets and snatching their pockets, leaving only a brown blur in his wake, evidently having lost the memo that primary colours are all the rage for costumed heroes and villains.The more heroically minded among you may want to go after this villain or save a grandma or two that have been unintentionally pushed straight into traffic... but the guy has to stop to rest sometime, and he's really begging for a beatdown with this kind of behaviour.
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!
Today the word on everyone’s lips is branding. It’s not enough to slap on some spandex or hand stitch a mask these days. That’s so 80s. Now is the time not only to get your hero/villain costume professionally made, it’s time for sponsorship! Why should natives be limited to just having some registered imPorts actually working at their place of business? A cape is basically a big, open banner just waiting for a logo. Or ten. Now, they can’t really promise money up front for anyone agreeing to wear their logo and work their slogan into a witty quip during an arrest, but they can do one better: free products. Get all the free socks you can wear by only fighting crime in Jane’s Honey of the Earth socks, underwear, and bras. Or negotiate for free dinners for life if you wear the logo and agree to only appear on dates eating at Overweigh burger shack.
Of course, there’s nothing like an unlikely team up to really get the media spotlight on an imPort (and the brand they now represent). If you fall for the hype or even just get herded over to an audition station (if you are walking down the road today, chances are you’re going to get unwillingly pulled in at least once), get ready to meet your new partner: this random stranger! The company will give you 10 minutes to get to know each other, then it’s time to grin, bear it, and think of the free merchandise as they ask you to perform at least one heroic feat as a team for their cameras. What that is, exactly, is up to you.
no subject
[ Ray mulls on that for a moment, but decides it does make its own weird sort of sense; he's already in a different dimension that has cities he's never heard of before, is it really any stranger that other dimensions would have similar incongruities? Hell, it's barely that much stranger than some of the things he's done or encountered back home. ]
I guess as far as bullshit goes, that isn't so bad. But it is weird. [ The bartender brings their drinks over, and Ray takes a sip from his. ] You sound pretty used to it.
no subject
Yeah. I'm pretty new here compared to some people but ya go outside to get some groceries and get chased down the street by a goddamn dinosaur, that's when ya stop caring about what should make sense and what doesn't.
no subject
[ Ray takes another drink, a longer one this time. ]
I mean, no one can really know for certain what all is or isn't possible in this-- and I guess any other world, too. Only God knows the answer to that one, so I try not to sweat it any more than I need to. It's our job to just roll with the punches.
no subject
[a pause, then:] What's it like? Back home.
no subject
[ But that's as much as he's saying on the subject for now... ]
And we do got America and everything there too of course, so... honestly, it seems way more similar than I'd have expected a different universe to be. Is that weird?
no subject
[weird shit he doesn't need to dig about, archie files that under. it's worked so far.]
I mean... what would ya expect? Even with my home region not existing here, the society and such is pretty similar. I expected more hot aliens, to be honest. I'm scandalised.
no subject
[ He takes another sip of his martini. ]
Although, as long as there's still some hot humans around then you won't hear me complaining much.
no subject
[he snorts.]
Men? Women? Anything in between? They got 'em all. Come to Maurtia Falls, get robbed then pick up some easy people in the many bars. Pray the taxi driver doesn't crash their stupid hovercab on the way home.
[he takes a swig.]
Fuckin' wonderland.
no subject
[ Then he sways his glass in his hand thoughtfully, stirring his drink with the motion. ]
But at least that sounds pretty promising. Especially considering I did already get robbed here...
no subject
Yeah, sorry. Too bad people from my world are only attracted to well dressed dinosaurs.
no subject
Oh, like I haven't heard that one before.
[ It doesn't even matter if Archie's being serious or just creative, Ray seems to be taking it in stride anyway; he's used to it. ]
But better dressed than me? Please. Not with those arms.
no subject
Fuck. Here I thought I had a Ph.D. in smartassery.
no subject
What can I say, I'm a natural. When life gives you lemons... [ Hm, there's some quip about sour fruits to be made that he's sure any of his friends, were they here, would go for. But joke's on them, they can't. ] Better acquire yourself a taste for 'em.
no subject
[ray must be fairly unlucky. bummer.]
Hey, if it makes ya feel better I can set out Crobat to go take a shit on him.
no subject
[ A wedge of lemon for his drink is starting to sound really good right about now, but Ray settles for pulling his olive off its toothpick and chewing on that instead. ]
But you'll want that tolerance for sour for whenever life ain't quite as sweet. [ Then he raises his eyebrow again. ] Who or what is Crobat? Not that I'm saying no.
no subject
[archie just holds up a pokéball and sends out the giant bat, it materialising sitting on its ass.
it cocks its head at ray.]
Bat-crooo?
[archie snorts, nodding to it.]
That's another bullshit that happens here.
no subject
[ And he would shrug dismissively, except he's too distracted by the giant bat that seemingly just appeared out of nowhere. Ray stares, then laughs in a half vaguely nervous/half confused sort of way, as one does. ]
Goddamn. Where did you even find that thing? Did they give it to you?
[ And were they going to give Ray one? God, he hopes not. ]
no subject
[he reaches out the pat crobat's head-- the bat chirping and leaning into his hand with a little smile.]
He came from my world. He's a good boy, ain't ya?
[oops babytalking]
no subject
[ Ray smiles nervously at crobat, unsure of what to really make of it (and also lowkey vaguely creeped out by bats, but... shh). ]
I never really got on board the whole exotic-animals-as-pets train, personally-- I only have cats at home. Didn't come in with me, though. [ His expression becomes more alarmed. ] Oh God, what if nobody feeds them?
no subject
[crobat seems to notice ray is a little upset about something (clearly not itself, right? it's perfect!!!) and its ears go back in sympathy, then prick up when he mentions feeding.]
Cats... they're, uh. Small, right? Like little lions? [his expression sours only for a moment. he really should know this by now.] --Ah, I'm sure someone'll notice you not bein' there. Or the cats'll take care of themselves. Or... the time thing.
no subject
[ Ray looks warily at Crobat for another few moments, then blinks and looks back over to Archie. ]
What time thing?
no subject
Well, there's... conclusive evidence... that suggests there's time bullshit involved with the Porter. Which means whenever you get home, maybe a couple seconds would've passed? It's kinda weird. There's some people here from the same place as me but they say what I di-- uhhh-- the last date I remember was a couple years ago for them.