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etcelsior2018-07-25 10:16 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2018-07-25 10:16 pm
Entry tags:
June's over? Julying.
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.
What a month, huh imPorts? Changing ages, mysterious shimmering explosions, and uncomfortable weather. The city of Heropa understands. That is why today the largest local water park is having an imPort appreciation day. The cost of entering is waved- so long as you’re willing to do a power display on the way in for the gathered crowds and kiddies. No explosions or mass destruction, folks, keep it family friendly and hopefully entertaining.
While it might be a drag to be treated a little like a circus freak to get in, the park itself is well worth it when it comes to cooling off and forgetting the horror happening elsewhere in the world. High-tech gadgets are here to improve experience. Water proof robot bar tenders wander around the many slides, floating rivers, and tanning areas (or swim around in the lounging pools) making free whatever you orders, alcoholic or virgin. They’re obedient to a fault, so if you want to waste their time by asking them to shake ice then pour it out fifteen times before putting the vodka in there, feel free. Only the people in line behind you will get annoyed. The robots themselves will just offer fun bar trivia and talk with the flair of a 1920s speakeasy bartender.
But of course it wouldn’t be a day for imPorts without a little bit of a weird twist. They’ve got to get the locals to pay top dollar to come watch everyone swim, after all. Some of those free drinks have an extra special free ingredient, one with random effects. Guess you should have read that size 1 font subsection on the ticketing booth that waives park liability. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones to receive a spiked drink, you’ll experience one of the following effects:
1)Hydrophilia – You couldn’t leave this pool even if you wanted to. Which you don’t. In fact, the idea of getting out of this pool is horrifying to you, who knows what could happen outside of these safe, watery depths? You’ll need to get others to bring you food and make some difficult bathroom choices, but for the next two hours even the threat of death would have trouble getting you out of the water.
2)Buddy system – When you took that final sip of drink your eyes fell on another person and you knew- just knew- that this was meant to be. At least for today. This person, whether you’ve ever met them before and whether they’re a human or an AI or a drink serving robot, is going to be your constant companion for as long as you’re in this water park. Whether they like (or know it) or not.
3)Razzle Dazzle – A purely physical effect. Your hair, skin, and even eyes start shifting colors. Some are more or less normal, bright, bright red hair for instance, while others are just out of this world. A shifting rainbow of Unicorn sparkle colored skin, bright yellow eyes, you name it. Anything you imagine, you could possibly be. At least for the next hour.
4) Safety First – The lamest of the effects, but it does make everything easier for the owner of the park. Rules are there for a reason, kids, no matter how nitpicky they may be. And by America, you are going to make sure everyone is following the rules. No running, no flip flops in the pool, no swimming within half an hour of eating, even some special individual rules that only you would think of must be enforced.
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-- c̨͟o͝͠r͟͞n͏ęr͜҉͞ed̶ ͢b͏͞y͜͏-- c̕ǫ̡҉r͘͡n͟͡e̶̢re͘d̀͏ ̴by ͘th͠͏i̛͟͝n͏g̸͏s̶̢ ͟th̀̕a̶͝t̴̢ ͡use͟d̷͞ ̛t̸̵̢o͏ ͡͝b̛͡e̷̛͞ p͢ȩó͝pl̸͜͜e҉.͘
De Chima is not what it once was. The city is covered by a strange shifting shimmer, and you don't even know how you ended up here, but you did. The sunlight splits into strange rainbow prisms, and everywhere you look things are growing. So quickly that if you stand and watch for more than a few seconds, you can see it growing in real time.
Not just growing. Changing. It isn't just the plants. The animals, the tech, the people, the land - everything is changing, morphing, dissolving. And you're changing, too...
y̛̜͈̪̹̤̲̣o̪̘̱u̸'̬̻̳͈͎r͖̯̫ͅe̸̠͕̟̜ ̧̝͇̠c̤̹͓͈̱̻̜h̼͔ͅa̝͇̟n҉̖̯ͅǵ̝i̖͎̫̜̩̝̻͞n̮̖͚̠̳͉g ͕̺̗̞̭ͅa̺̭̘͕͉̳̺n͙̦̹̙d̹̤̫̪̦͔ ̮̙i̝̺̺t͏̱̟͙̪̳͈ w̥͎̹̦͍o̩̬͍͍͕͠ṉ͓̠͖'̧̦̝̘͔̳̫t͓̫̹̥̬̹͕ s̪̤̗͙̦͎t̛̯̩͙̦͇̤o̴̘͍̝̣̼̙͙p͓̱̜̹͖
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.
The protests from earlier in the month have left their toll on Maurtia Falls, as the damage done from the riots are still being painted over, cleaned up, repaired and repaved.
Walking along the streets of the city, if you stick out at all like an ImPort (or even have a visible ImPort tattoo), you’re immediately honed in on by one of the various members of the clean-up crew, who wear bright yellow vests.
“You’re an ImPort, aren’t you?” They’ll say, gruff and slightly accusatory. “Well, help clean this up. You’re the reason this happened.” And with that, they’ll shove a vest, a broom, and a dust pan into your hands, before taking off. Maybe they were trying to get out of doing the work themselves in the end.
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. Today, the biggest buzz comes from a tech-cosmetics company, ReNew U, which is offering free tests of its new flagship product. What looks like a can of hair spray actually has the power to temporarily change one's appearance. A spritz to the face could add or remove freckles or provide a new makeup job; a spray to the head might provide not just a new hairstyle but new hair. And going all-over seems to change one's entire body! Of course, it only lasts until someone takes a shower, but why not experiment?
There's just one catch—thanks to the social component of ReNew U, these new looks aren't generating temporary changes out of thin air, they're copying the appearances of others in the area. Got a killer new haircut? So does someone else, thanks! Walk around for a while and you just might meet your doppelganger—so you're going to take a picture together and post it via the special ReNew U app, right? #twins #goodlooks
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Roland looks over at him at that.]
Only don't fall asleep. You won't be able to go on any of the water slides if you do.
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[ how did the kids at school say it, when they wanted to make a binding promise that lasted forever... ]
Like uh... a pinky promise!
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In order for that to be legally binding, you need to lock your pinky with mine, King Evan.
[With that, he holds out his pinky finger.]
I see you're acclimating well to school.
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Mm-hm! [ He hums, beaming. ] Fifth grade is really fun, Roland. Mrs. Jenkins is so nice, like Henny was, and the other kids have been asking me a lot of questions about my world. What Evermore's like, and they're teaching me a lot about this one too. What sorts of things I should be saying, what sorts of dance moves are popular, and oh - what kinds of ice creams everyone likes. I even got invited to a youth group next week!
[ The very religious youth group, given that they're in Florida, but Evan has yet to put two and two together just yet. ]
I had no idea middle school had so many of its own rules and customs. It's like its own mini kingdom...
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Well I'm just glad no one's bullying you. I'd hate to have to draw my sword again.
And yes, school can be pretty complicated. Just remember that you don't have to do everything your friends tell you to.
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[ And I never did, he would want to say, except well. It's not becoming to speak ill of friends, even if he's certain Tani is alive and well in Evermore. ]
I wish I could be doing more myself, but I'm not old enough here... right?
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[His statement gets a few raised eyebrows from people immediately surrounding them, but they go back to minding their own business soon enough.]
Like what? It's true we're a bit more protective of our children here than in Evermore, but it's also important to know a child's limits as well.
And anyone that can defeat the Horned One and Doloran the way you did, I don't think there's anything you can't do.
[Except maybe pass science class.]
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Evan's stare only grows more baffled at the insinuation. He could've taken a day off before being kidnapped to another dimension, and he could've actually gone flying with her? (Even though, frankly, he didn't want to be?) This is a weird, and kind of startling, realization. ]
Like running for Ambassador, or running the children's center, or... or.... [ He pauses, ] Well, doing something more than being a fifth grader. I'm not allowed to do much as the class president, either.
[ Is anyone really surprised he won the election by a landslide? ]
But then again, children like me are not supposed to do much besides their studies, right?
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Well... think about the children back at Evermore. They helped out in their own way of course, but they weren't running community centers either. They were mostly studying.
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He has an obligation to his people to learn more and to become the best king. For Evermore, and for Nella. No, especially for Nella. ] That's why they have all those "stay in school" pamphlets. So you can be an even better person when you grow up...
[ and if he studies, maybe he can bring that same knowledge back. if he remembers this world, anyway. ]
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[....Or rather, "something like that."
Roland loves Evan, truly. But he worries about how his world (or rather, a parallel to his world) might affect someone so truly optimistic. There was conflict in Evan's world, but nothing compared to how nasty his world could be.]
Not that I think anyone's worried about you, Evan.
[Okay look he's a good liar, okay?]
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[ Evan furrows his brow, having snapped out of his deep contemplation. The pamphlets were very worrying, in the sense that people had to be pulled out of school for all sorts of Reasons - but he didn't think it applied to him.
Or, well, maybe by "people" Roland means himself. That's a lot more understandable. ]
Well, I'll be okay, Roland. [ He beams, ] I've got you right by my side. As long as we're together, we can handle anything this world throws at me.
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Yes, I daresay you're right.
Are you finally relaxing?
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[ He hesitates, only because well - relaxing is feeling the absence of stress and worry, right? If that's "relaxing," then he's feeling it. Like a giant tension has been lifted off his shoulders.
Not for the first time, Evan thinks Roland is so, so much like his father. How does Roland know what he's feeling at all times, anyways? ]
Thank you, Roland. [ he tries to scoot closer, but well - those tubes don't like touching each other. ] Somehow, you always know what to say.
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