etcelsior | we're all reponsible here

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[His eyebrows shoot up – but not because he's skeptical. He just didn't expect her to be so... official all of a sudden. It's impressive, really.]

That's cool. Seriously. I don't know anyone who even wants to join the army, but things are kind of weird right now in my country when it comes to that stuff.

[He enters the restaurant, immediately enticed by the overhead menu. He stands there, brow furrowed in deep concentration, trying to decide what to order.]

Do you like it?

[Does anyone like being in the army? Maybe that was a stupid question.]

[ "We're not good people anymore," says Armin back in the basement where what remained of the 104th huddled together, trying to block out the horrible screaming and crying of the men Levi and Hange tortured.

It's a far cry from what she imagined her enlistment to be. Sasha wants to do good and she thinks she has, but lately things haven't been so black and white. Maybe they never were.

Sasha's brow furrows. ]

Well, it's not a matter of liking it. [ But she doesn't hate it. She never would have forged such wonderful friendships or made precious memories if she had never joined. ] It's duty, after all. Someone needs to protect the civilians from the titans.

[That's probably about all he can expect for an answer to a question like that. Jayden intends to tell her that he respects her choice, that's a lot of commitment and such, except her final statement throws him for so much of a loop he forgets all that entirely. He tears his eyes from the menu to too her in the face, confused.]

What's a titan?

[ She grimaces slightly, gory memories flashing in her mind's eye. However, she maintains her composure to answer him. ]

Titan are mankind's enemy. [ Save for one exception. ] They're giant monsters who devour humans for no reason and they're incredibly dangerous.

[He starts to laugh, because he thinks she's joking. But he looks at her face and she's not laughing, so the mirth fades from his face.]

Wait, for real?

[ Some of the colour drains from her face at his laughter. It's no laughing matter and he doesn't seem to grasp that. It's not his fault of course, not if he comes from a titan-less world, but her voice is quiet and filled with traces of fear. ]

I'm not joking! Titans are dangerous! Especially the unpredictable ones! If you ever ran into one it's better to run if you can't fight it!

[She's certainly not kidding. Her world definitely has giant hideous people eaters. Or at the very least, she believes it does.

Jayden wonders for the first time if he's talking to a crazy girl.]

Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. We just don't have anything like that where I come from.

[ She feels bad for her reaction and earning a couple of stares in their general direction in the process. She gulps.

It's better he has this conversation with her. Jean would probably rip him a new one. Connie might not be as tolerant either given what happened with his village. Armin might be... but he lost his hometown to a titan invasion, just like Eren and Mikasa.

Sasha lived peacefully and ignorantly, like Jayden, though by no fault of their own. Well, mostly. Sasha feared the world beyond her village, hence her ignorance. However, titans were not common in her area while growing up. ]

A world without titans is better off. [ As strange as it is to her. ] You definitely never want to see one.

I'll count myself lucky.

[She doesn't seem crazy, just full of conviction. Jayden's a little envious of that, actually: knowing what side to be on.]

Where I come from, people just fight each other.

[He might sound a little bitter, but it's the righteous indignation of someone not caught in the fray of war. He knows better than to think they have anything in common, if she's really faced these titans, monsters he can't even picture.

He looks away, realizes it's his turn in line, and steps up so he can put in his order. He pays and steps off to the side, waiting to have his number called. Her words replay themselves in his head, and he wonders just how bad things are for her in her world.]

[ Sasha sticks by close, gaze extending to the floor in quiet discomfort before she glances back up at Jayden, now with a touch of guilt in her expression. Right... she's almost forgotten that if people aren't fighting titans wherever they're from, the enemy is humans.

It's too far off from her world. She hadn't known someday she would have to face the monarchy and be part of some plan to dismantle it. It all seems beyond her and her capabilities. ]

Humans shouldn't be fighting with each other.

No, but sometimes they aren't given a choice.

[Thankfully, his order comes up, and for a welcome distraction, Jayden grabs it. He's not sure how their conversation turned so serious so fast, and part of him thinks maybe talking about this kind of stuff with a girl he just met isn't very polite of him.]

Where do you want to sit?

[In the interim he can come up with a good subject change.]

Um...

[ She points toward one of the window seats. She's taken a liking to these kind, always wanting to peek through the glass and see what the locals are up to as they stroll down the street on their business. ]

There's good.

[ It may not be polite after all to continue this conversation, so she smiles and points at the menu. ]

They have so many selections to choose from! What kind is your favorite? Have you ever tried barbecue sauce?

[Window seats are fine by him. He heads over that way, weaving around the other people standing in line. He's happy to have something else to talk about, especially food. He laughs a little.]

Yeah, barbeque sauce is the bomb. I like plain old cheeseburgers the best, most of the time. You've had french fries, right?

[He got a side of those, just in case. It isn't right, if she's been living without fries.]

[ Her eyes practically light up. ]

Yes! It's a clever idea! Potato sliced into thin pieces and baked to golden-brown perfection with such soft insides... but crunchy skin! And the ketchup you can dip it in is great!

[He smiles. She gets so excited easily, and he's more than happy to show her the wonders of fast food.]

Here, we can share.

[He takes a seat in a booth by the window. He pushes the tray to the middle of the table, so she can have easy access to the box of fries.]

Want any ketchup?

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