SEAS THE DAY

[maskormods]

T E S T D R I V E M E M E

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 ON THE TEST DRIVE MEME!

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.

Local residents are celebrating summer in full swing at the first-ever Chug Fest. On this sweltering June day, locals are gathered in the largest park downtown, where purveyors of craft sodas, homemade iced teas, astisanal milkshakes and (in the roped-off 21+ section) micro breweries are sharing their finest beverages. Why not quench your thirst, and buy some tasty treats from various food trucks to wash down?

There's just one problem—the tech-based super (...ish) villain team known as The Locksmiths have caused all bathroom ad port-a-john doors to be unopenable, and they're demanding one million dollars in cash before they'll reverse their evil deed! To maintain the anti-unlock field, they're circulating in the crowd, disguised as normal patrons. Do you seek them out to give people some relief, or are you too busy doing a little dance yourself?

02. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, with large numbers of citizens waiting to be awed by your very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Synthetic wonder! Whatever you might be, those words have meaning here. 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 or recently published PLoS papers. 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. If you let yourself get cornered, beware! Anything from personal questions about romantic chances to bedroom habits to dietary queries might be come up! Just be careful about insinuating anything about yourself and the De Chima Ambassador, Baal. A little innuendo will go a long, hard way.

De Chima is a city all about REMAKING YOURSELF. Sometimes it's about remaking a look, or an aesthetic. As part of a promotion for a new FABULOUS television show, one imPort will be giving another imPort a MAKEOVER. So step right up with your imPort victim/volunteer! You have a seemingly endless wardrobe to work with, a pair of scissors, and a Stephora make-up artist on hand. This is a chance for imPorts to redesign their fellow imPort's look to however they'd want it -- just be sure to clarify if you're the heroic SUBJECT to be makeover'd or the fabulous EXPERT who's doing the making over! And remember, it's all being filmed.

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has carried a reputation for ups and downs ever since imPorts began reappearing again, just those few years prior. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while a handful of others had 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, even with Ambassador Padme and imPort Mayor Baelish gracing the headlines. Everything from the classic bank heist to brutal bloodbaths can happen around the corner. You have to keep your eyes open and your mind sharp when you live in Maurtia Falls, and hostility against imPorts can spike. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping... #THANKS TONY STARK, #ya muffin.

In an effort to bring in more tourism to the Falls, a public works project focusing on the canal system has been recently finished! This includes a series of tours through the town, and has brought a new wave of guarded hope to nearby shopkeeps. So far, everything seems to be going as planned, and one can enjoy a nice boat ride down the canal with little issue! Maybe enjoy the nice breeze and bright sunshine, in a town that usually has frequent cloudy skies!

Or maybe, despite the carefulness of the Maurtia Falls Canal Corporation, there's a few snags along the way. As with all new programs, there's bound to be a few loose ends— ranging from boat trouble and a low-stakes rescue needing to be staged to get all passengers on dry land once again, all the way to a careless parent not watching as their child falls into the water below.

04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities; loud, busy and there's always some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement.

A few night clubs offer free entrance - just this once! And they are bound to notice that a man has taken up a spot in a local street, eating pancakes off of a fold out table and holding up traffic. Many people are taking pictures and more interested in whether or not this is performance art than ushering him out of the way. He does have an extra chair and table, however, and will welcome and feed company, especially imPorts.

Comments

[larped]

[ William's stomach twisted. You did, he wanted to protest — or was it you will? He hated that he had no immediate way of knowing. ]

What if you could have? [ Gentle, encouraging. ] Was there something you wanted to do, or see, or...

[dontwyattme]

I just... wanted to see more of the world. [ She paused, and smiled, sadly. ]

There's...someone back home who promised he would come and take me away, but I feel like it may never happen.

I want to experience so many things, and learn, and revel in the world out there, but I always seem to stay at my daddy's ranch.

[larped]

[ Someone back home? A look came over William's face, confused and faintly wounded again, but this time he looked away until he thought he had a handle on it. ]

Take you away to where?

[ And didn't a single one of the people who built her think it was sadistic to give her dreams like this and then keep her in a cage? ]

[dontwyattme]

Somewhere, anywhere... Just... away.

[ It was nebulous, her aspirations. IF they weren't nebulous, then Dolores might question them, or start to try to attain them, and they couldn't have that. ]

Teddy promised, but... I'm starting to wonder if that will ever happen.

[ It was always Teddy, wasn't it? It wasn't like she was going to be saved by any other loves in her life. ]

[larped]

[ William took a breath, looked at her as if he wanted to say something... but he hesitated a moment too long, and the impulse — or at least his ability to follow through on it — passed. ]

Maybe you don't have to wonder.

[ He offered a small smile, gesturing at the city around them with one hand, the green treetops of the park visible ahead. ]

Looks like you made it to 'somewhere' all on your own, Dolores.

[dontwyattme]

Is it on my own?

[ She asked, hands clasped behind her back, as she looked up. ]

I think it's on that...device's whim, right? The porter? I don't know if I could claim that I did it, when it was that. Can you?

[larped]

[ A quiet hm as that settled in. ]

No, I guess you're right. [ He took another quiet few steps, thoughtful, and added: ] You think maybe that means it happened for a reason?

[dontwyattme]

I don't know...

[ She looked around. ]

I certainly don't feel like I'm meant to be in a place like this. You might fit here, but I'm... I belong in a different world, you see.

[larped]

What do you mean?

[ He wanted to hear it in her own words. ]

[dontwyattme]

My world is...beautiful, but it's different. Yours is similar, so the fact that you're here makes sense. Mine is the open plain, beautiful mesas and open skies.

I don't fit in, here. A world like this wasn't made for me.

[ Oh, how things will change... ]

[larped]

[ He gives her a soft almost-smile, something private and understanding just for her. ]

I can't say I know exactly what that's like, but... I felt out of place in my world, too.

[dontwyattme]

[ When he smiled, Dolores offered him a slight duck of her head, and a gentle half-smile in return. ]

Do you? You look so comfortable here. I can't imagine you being out of place...anywhere.

[larped]

[ A surprised beat, and then he chuckled. ]

You're just saying that.

[dontwyattme]

[ Dolores's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. ]

Do I... give you the impression that I'm a liar?

[larped]

No, no, I...

[ He shook his head, sweetly flustered again. ]

I've just never had anyone tell me that before.

[dontwyattme]

[ Billy, you're smitten. ]

No?

I -- I can't imagine that. You're so...dashing. Like it's natural.

[larped]

[ It was all too easy for him to get drawn right back in again, at least long enough to hope she meant it. That it wasn't just — something she would say to anybody. ]

You're sweet. Maybe it's just— something about you.

[ And it didn't feel particularly dashing, getting butterflies over a little thing like that, but she didn't have to know. He looked upward as they rounded the corner to their destination, a wrought-iron arch over stone walls marking the entry to the tree-dotted green space. ]

[dontwyattme]

Is it?

[ She tipped her head, confusion clear across her face. She didn't get it, what he was trying to say, what he meant in that. She didn't think he understood her, if he was calling her sweet. She was just being honest. ]

I'm sure it isn't. You've probably... You probably have all sorts of ladies fawning over you. Way more important ones than a simple farmgirl.

[larped]

[ William thought of Juliet for a guilty moment. He wondered, if she were here, what he would do. The thought felt like an anchor. ]

Oh. Well, actually, this is an exclusive VIP tour. I've never offered it to anyone else.

[dontwyattme]

O-- Oh!

[ She finally realized that they had arrived, after being so distracted, and her head swung around, to look at everything before her. ]

You're far too kind. I don't -- This is too much.

[larped]

[ The trouble was, it was all too easy to forget anyone and anything else when he was with her. William couldn't help smiling, drawn in again by the way she looked at the world. ]

I thought you might like it.

[dontwyattme]

You're right!

[ She looked back at him, her mouth turned into a bright, wondrous smile. She leaned forward, marveling at it. ]

It's amazing. Th -- Thank you. For bringing me here.

[larped]

[ William ducked his head, biting his lip against a smile brightening to match hers. ]

No, thank you for joining me. [ She had no idea, he was sure, how much he meant that. ] But if you want to thank me, come down here to paint sometime.

[dontwyattme]

Oh, really? I'd -- I'd love to! I can already see it.

[ She reached her arms out, to form a frame with her fingers, framing part of the landscape, the water, the wildlife, some ducks swam into view. ]

I can already see it. In the morning, when the dew rests on the leaves, and the sun isn't quite clear on the horizon...

[larped]

[ He tracks her hands with his eyes, and listening to her, William actually sighs. ]

You really do make the whole world sound beautiful.