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etcelsior2018-12-15 11:19 am
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2018-12-15 11:19 am
Entry tags:
walking in a winter wonderland
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.
Although even Florida can get chilly during the winter, a relative heat wave is sweeping through, resulting in an impromptu Beach Body Competition sponsored by a local gym. ImPorts who are the buffest of the buff all the way down to the super skinniest (competing in separate weight classes, of course) are likely to be urged to join in for some fun in the sun and the extra attention they garner from native fans.
Those who just aren't interested in competing might be called in to judge another competition down the beach: a youth sand-sculpting contest! Only one team can walk away with the grand prize of a laser tag package, but can you bring yourself to be harsh on those wide, hopeful eyes?
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.
With Christmas coming, the producers behind a guerilla new reality show are hard at work getting new footage—starring you! Areas of the city with the most foot traffic have been absolutely blanketed in mistletoe. If you happen to pass beneath a sprig, you might find a small camera crew jumping out of nowhere, urging you to give the person next to you a smooch—and thanks to the strange radio waves coming out of the unit on the executive producer's wrist, you'll feel a little compelled to do so!
...except the compulsion isn't that strong, so those who don't kiss on the first meet can easily break out of it. Your next choice: give the camera crew a piece of your mind, or ask the would-be kissee out for coffee? They are pretty cute...
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. 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...
The downtown mall is tilting the balance solidly toward welcoming to imPorts with a Winter Welcome Festival. All the storefronts and many temporary kiosks occupied by local vendors are holding special sales, and newly arrived imPorts are given a coupon book to make the most of them. The food court has some free goodies for participants to mix and mingle.
Unfortunately, a local rogue with the alias of Klone Kringle is here to spoil the fun. After a small boom echoes throughout the mall, everything dissolves into chaos as dozens of copies of a man dressed in a polyester Santa Claus costume begin looting the retailers! The guns they wield that shoot snow and ice might not be lethal, but they can certainly slow you down (and give you a cold). Will you be the hero and help take down Kringle(s), or will you seize the opportunity to do some theft of your own?
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.
Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have passed, Christmas and New Year's Eve are coming up, but what about holidays from home? This weekend, the Nonah Cultural Center is hosting a one-day event during which attendees can share stories of their traditions and celebrations (whether they are related to winter holidays or completely different ones) and sharing them with others, either on a small stage with a microphone or in individual recording booths, so that these tales of cultural traditions can be preserved for others to learn about. ImPorts from worlds that are not variants of Earth are particularly encouraged to attend. Small refreshment tables will also be open to those who speak.
05. Jeopardy, Nevada by all rights shouldn't exist. A glowing neon city smack in the middle of the desert, the only reason it's still here is that the central nuclear power plant has tapped half a mile down into a subterranean lake for its water supply. So though the desert around it may be barren, the occupants of this small city are happily self sufficient. Those weird figures you see out of the corner of your eyes? Don't worry too much. Probably just weird radiation after effects. Jeopardy has a lot of those.
Saturnalia is just around the corner and Jeopardy is in full festive swing! The seven-day marathon of festivities includes a parade, with a ((cw: arachnophobia)) very special float from the Web Mistress's church; a day long city-wide paintball game; an attempt to break the world record for largest bingo game with everyone playing in dead silence; and a feast!
The final feast, of course, comes with the main event: ritual sacrifice. Of course, no one actually wants to do anything quite so base, in 2018, so the sacrifice is more metaphorical than actual: the kids of North Jeopardy High have spent three months building a giant chocolate Santa tied up in ropes to be slaughtered and fed to the city at large! Bon appetit!
Sora | Kingdom Hearts
[Is there anywhere better to be than the beach? Sora doesn't think so. And while he might be young and athletic and pretty tanned thanks to a lifetime of running around outdoors and enjoying the sun on the islands, he's not about to whip off his shirt and pose in a beach bod contest, no sir. That's not his proverbial cup of tea.
But when he sees a couple of little kids struggling with their sand sculpture he can't help but stop and offer his help before somehow, someway, he's been dragged down into the sand to help little Curtis and Lauren with their extremely complicated and ambitious design that looks eerily like a whale he's seen rather too much of before. He wasn't going to get involved but then someone mentioned laser tag and so what if Sora's a little older than the average contestant? Laser tag!]
Hey no, you don't wanna make the sand too wet now, you wanna put that on top of the base layer so it makes it stronger later or it's just gonna look like a mud pie. Pass me that- no not that one the other-
[And then the design's been picked up by a stray gust of wind and Sora, barefoot, sandy and grinning, is tearing off after it.]
Hey! Stop that paper!
Maurtia Falls
[It's one thing being used to visiting different worlds, but it's quite another thing being told you have to live in them now, so Sora's off to pick up some of the essentials - like pyjamas, socks, underwear, snacks - to make his new place feel a bit more like home when he's thoroughly taken in by the atmosphere. It reminds him of Christmas Town in a way (only with way less Heartless and the undercurrent of menace that a revived Oogie Boogie and his minions brought up), and the freebies are a pleasant bonus too. After getting a really good helping of cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows, Sora's sucking on a candy cane and idly perusing the stores and the seasonal goodies when he spots something out of the corer of his eye.]
Santa?
[That's when the boom happens and suddenly there's more than one Santa and he's being decidedly naughty. Sora is understandably appalled, and instead of doing the sensible thing and staying away from the gaggle of armed Santa Klones as one of them breaks the glass on a store front, there's a very peeved teenage boy taking off in pursuit, wielding a very large key and pointing it at the broken window.]
Hey! You're not Santa- woah!
[A blast of white heads in his direction and he's able to dodge roll out of the way just in time, though he seems to have acquired some frosted hair tips in the process.]
You're definitely on the naughty list when the real Santa finds out about this and then you'll be sorry!
Wildcard
[Hit me with your best shot! ]
maurtia falls!!
Though the situation isn't that great, and there's a bunch of fake Santas around her, she runs in the direction of his voice until she spots him and his frosted tips (nice look??). ]
Sora!
[ She's both glad to have found him in general and glad that she's arrived in time to help out, however little help she might be able to provide. ]
Re: maurtia falls!!
Kairi!
[But Sora isn’t the only one who’s noticed the new arrival. The Santa clone turns to look at Kairi, shoots Sora a nasty grin from behind his synthetic beard and points his gun at her. Sora’s eyes widen in alarm and he’s diving towards his friend in a effort to protect her.]
Look out!
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He does manage to protect her, knocking her over with his diving. He may be small in stature but she's even smaller, so the landing isn't very comfortable. She's just ... stuck under him.
And she groans a bit. ] Ugh ... Sora, what was that for?
[ She was ... too preoccupied looking at him and didn't even notice the icy projectile hurling towards her. Whoops. ]
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Not today mother-lover.]
You know what? You should chill out!
[And with that, Sora blasts a Blizzard spell from the tip of his Keyblade. It’s disappointing and not nearly as strong as it used to be - huh, guess Master Yen Sid was right about him needing to work on getting his powers back up to full strength- but it’s good enough to hit the guy and freeze his gun up. Ha ha, how’s that for irony?]
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Once he puts that Santa's gun out of commission, the man gets distracted by it and trying to get the ice off so it can work again. Which gives Kairi a moment to speak.
Sitting up a little and placing her hand on his arm. ]
Hey — let me help! We can outnumber him!
[ Granted, Kairi joining the battle is like getting 1/50th of another fighter considering her inexperience, but if he thinks he's going to stop her then he's got another thing coming. ]
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I’m so sorry, I thought he was gonna hit you with that thing! Are you okay?
[He takes her hand, the one that’s on his arm, and he helps her (and himself) up from the ground. When he’s sure she’s okay he gives her a big grin, one that’s full of his signature confidence.]
Let’s teach these bozos not to mess with Christmas.
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It's okay, I'm fine.
[ And then she's more than happy with his response to her, and she gives a confident smile in return as she summons her Keyblade. She has no real stance or form with it — in fact, she copies the way Sora's holding it, out of instinct (she did spend a long time in his heart, after all). But she looks as ready as she'll ever be. ]
Yeah! Let's get him while he's distracted! C'mon!
[ She's eager. And she's running off at him. Sora you should probably supervise. ]
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Sora takes a second to watch her call up Keyblade like she's been doing it all her life and can't help but feel a little bit of pride as she takes off before-
Oh no.
Oh dear this was perhaps not a very sensible plan.
Oh geez there's another Santa coming out of that broken window over there.]
Stop!
[He's not calling to Kairi, he's throwing a spell at the other goon before he gets any dumb ideas about using his freeze gun on her.]
Watch out, there's a whole bunch of 'em!
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So once she turns back toward him, he's already coming down on her with his gun, and it's all she can do to bring her Keyblade between her and him, and use all of her (admittedly little) strength to keep it from smacking right into her.
She's not at all strong enough to hold this for long, though, and she's slowly being pushed down to one knee as she tries to keep this blocking up. ]
S-Sora!
[ They ....... may or may not need to work on their teamwork. ]
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Satisfied that the guy he’s Stopped isn’t going anywhere, Sora turns to Kairi to see how she’s doing and gets the unpleasant surprise of seeing her taking the brunt of the Santa clone’s attack.]
Kairi!
[He runs full pelt towards her, Keyblade drawn and at the ready- he’s not sure if he should launch a
Fire spell, that might be overkill. Or literal kill, this isn’t a heartless after all, it’s a real person and that costume looks flammable.
But he does fire off a Strike Raid.]
Leave her alone, creep!
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Her arms fall to her sides like a great weight has been lifted, and then she stands up after a moment. ]
Thanks ... I think I'll stick by you instead.
[ Running off like that was a bad idea. It's safer close to him. Learned her lesson, she did. She's realizing what it's like to be in a fight and how different it is from how it looks. Sora and Riku have always made it look easy.
And she goes over next to him, readying her Keyblade as she spots another Santa off in the distance coming to join the fray. ]
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THIS MIGHT NOT ACTUALLY END UP GAME CANON also wildcard
Old habits are hard to break, apparently, so he starts out with recon. But this world is just too small, or maybe it's too crowded—he catches a few looks here and there when usually he's good at dodging attention. Maybe he's out of practice. At least it's cold enough that it's not weird for him to keep his hood up. Not that it matters whether anyone can see his face—who'd even know him?
Well, there's one person who maybe should, although Roxas knows from experience that he doesn't. He's standing at a corner when the light changes, the crowd parts, and there he is—Sora.
Roxas waits a beat. And then he runs.]
Fufufu
Following the crowd, he finds himself at a crosswalk, getting ready to head over to the other side of the street when the crowd thins out and for a moment, he doesn’t fully register what he’s seeing.
And then he does see.
For a moment he stops and blinks, not at all sure if he’s really seeing what he thinks he’s seeing or if his mind’s not conjuring up apparitions of figures he’d really rather not see. Now that he knows what the Organization was set up for, what their purpose is and what those telltale black hoods really hide beneath them, he feels a collision of surprise, anger and, dimly, fear, roil in his guts and his palms are just itching to call up his Keyblade and charge whoever that is down, especially when they turn tale and run.
That settles it.]
Hey!
[His voice might get lost in the general hubbub and bustle of the street, but soon people are having to check their step to avoid the teenager who’s hurtling over the crosswalk in hot pursuit.]
Stop!
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He's got the advantage of having moved first and not being blocked by people in the crosswalk. And he thinks, maybe, that he is faster than Sora, even if so much else about them is the same; he'd been so when they fought, easily outpacing his Somebody in combat.
But fighting isn't running, and he quickly encounters more people in his path, ready to shop or otherwise go about their day as he hurtles down the sidewalk. They don't expect to need to get out of anyone's way, so he's the one dodging and weaving, and it's slowing him down. Sora's catching up.
And then a thought occurs to him: why is he running? He's not afraid. He'd been winning.
He emerges into a brief clearing and makes a split-second decision. Instead of booking it away at double speed or trying to call a corridor, he stops and pivots immediately, summoning his Keyblade and striking out at about face-height.]
Why are you here?!
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He's gaining on the hooded figure and he's not about to lose...
He's not expecting them to stop. He's not expecting them to turn.
He's not expecting to come face to tip with a Keyblade pointed straight at him.
Sora skids to a halt, stunned and shocked by what he's seeing. His eyes go wide, his jaw drops and he takes a half step back before the end of Oblivion nearly takes his eye out.
Because he knows that Keyblade and he knows who wields it.]
Roxas?
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That had only made him angrier, a very short time ago—that he'd lost everything so Sora could awaken, given up his life, and Sora didn't even know he existed. Fine, then, he'd leveraged that ignorance to be as intimidating as possible and gain an edge on his other half. It had worked, too.
Except now it seems they're equally shocked, for very different reasons. There's a beat more of silence before he speaks again.]
What?
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You're... Roxas. You're really here?
[...is he dreaming again? Sora's pretty sure he's not, but then again he hadn't known what was real or made up when he'd been caught in his dream before.
But this is Roxas. He knows it has to be him. Who else could it be?]
Why are you here, I don't understand...
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[And Sora doesn't seem inclined to answer—every word he speaks just gives Roxas more questions, makes him more confused. It's almost a total reversal of their positions before; in the depths of their heart, Roxas had seen...and understood, a little, what made Sora different from him. Why the universe deemed him the chosen one. What he'd do with that comprehension was something he'd decide later, and it hadn't taken away any of his determination as he'd hammered away at a confused, oblivious, weaker Sora, and waited to see what his next move would be.
And then he'd found himself here.
There's no particular reason to reveal his face, but there's apparently no more reason to hide it, either. Roxas yanks his hood down and glares, the expression watered down by uncertainty.]
How do you know my name?
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But this is a Roxas he doesn't recognise. Every time he's looked into his Nobody's eyes, there's been understanding and acceptance in their familiar depths, but this time it's different. Roxas looks angry, frustrated and unsure and Sora would do anything to change that, but it's hard.
He doesn't understand how this is happening himself, either.]
Why wouldn't I know your name? You're Roxas. We're connected.
[He doesn't want to call him a Nobody. Ever since he learned that they had hearts, it seems like calling them that does a disservice to all that Roxas and Axel (and... well maybe the others too, he guesses) had suffered and been through in pursuit of a heart they didn't need to chase, no understanding that their own was all too close at hand.]
I'm here because of that porter thing but- Don't you... remember me?
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I remember you. But you never met me before.
[The first time, he'd been asleep. The second...well, a duel for control hardly counts as meeting.
He lowers his Keyblade, but keeps a firm grip on it as he holds it to the side. He's ready, not relaxed.]
Don't tell me you want to go again. You were losing.
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[Realisation dawns on Sora’s face rapidly. The only losing Sora had been in danger of doing when they’d last seen each other was losing himself down the dark path Xehanort had laid out at his feet like a path of cookie crumbs. There’s been nothing but quiet acceptance and resignation from the boy in front of him now, it had done nothing but fuel Sora’s desire to set right all the terrible wrongs that had been done to him in his name.
It doesn’t make sense to think they were fighting then, so Roxas has to be talking about some other time and maybe that makes sense, because if Roxas in the dream had been a dream, it stands to reason that he wouldn’t remember Sora in the waking world, right?
That has to be it.]
We were talking, and you shared your memories with me while I was dreaming. That’s what I remember. I don’t know why you don’t...
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heropa;
Ven had wandered down to Heropa's boardwalk in search of some good hot cocoa - nothing better on a chilly winter day! Even if it's only chilly by Florida standards - and while he hadn't gotten roped into the competition, he was enjoying everyone's creations. They were all so good with their hands! Really talented!!
And then a piece of paper had smacked him straight in the face.
He groans, pulling it off and trying to keep it off - ] Ow! What's...
[ He holds it up to the guy approaching him, squinting a little. He looks familiar. Like, really familiar, but he sure can't place where. ]
Hey! Is this yours?
S C R E A M I N G
[Sora’s tearing after it at full pelt and he’s so busy avoiding an ice cream cart he misses the initial moment when the kids’ sandcastle plans hit this poor unfortunate bystander in the face. He skids to a halt as he sees the paper faced boy turn to him and laughs sheepishly as he approaches, holding out a hand to offer his help.]
Oh no, I’m so sorry. Here, let me help you with tha-
[But it’s too late, the paper is removed from the face and all Sora can do is stop and gawp in complete shock and surprise at the sight of it.
Roxas. That’s Roxas.
He’s so stunned that he is quite literally speechless for a good few moments until he realises he can’t very well stand there catching flies while his mouth waits for his brain to catch up. He’s been asked a question and questions need answers!!]
Uh... yeah. Kind of... I mean it’s- I’m sorry. I- is it really you?
[looks like his brain still needs time to catch up.]
hey ❤︎ ❤︎
Still, it's unnerving. Maybe this guy knows him from before he lost his memory? Wait, maybe they were friends! From before Ven forgot everything!! This could be a real, honest friend who could teach him more about friendship and who he used to be! ]
Maaaaybe? [ He winces. Be more confident, Ventus. He stands taller, dusting off his shirt and thrusting that paper into the guy's hands. ] I mean, yes. It's me! Ventus! We were... we were friends before, right?