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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!
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[Being Spider-Man means he's starting to get used to the swarms of people by necessity, but it helps that he has a mask on whenever that happens. There's a bit of a disconnect, and he gets why everyone would be so curious about him. Here in his regular clothes while taking a walk, not so much.]
What's your home like? Mine's a big city like this, so I'm pretty used to this many people, or even more honestly.
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Wow, really? Even more? [ She sounds genuinely impressed by that. She has to work to even imagine it. ]
I'm from an island. It's small, but I like it. It's my home.
[ There's a certain fondness to her voice when she says that. She may not have been born there, but the way she was taken in — and the way fate played a part in her finding her friends — it's important to her. ]
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[And he can't imagine calling anywhere else home either, the smile on his face warm and fond. Becoming something of a protector for it just makes Brooklyn all the more important now.]
I've never been to an island before. Is it tropical? [He's picturing something like Hawaiian postcards tbh.]
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[ That's not even an impossibility for her, either, considering her world jumping friends. They just have to find this "New York City" world and they're good to go. ]
Yeah, it's always hot there. It makes it easy to play on the beach every day.
[ Granted, she hasn't done it as much as of late, due to the lack of Sora and Riku and the need to attend school and all that. But her time playing on the beach is always a fond memory for her, and she's sure they'll do it more in the future. ]
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[He's more than open to the idea of different worlds and parallel universes, but actually traveling between them safely isn't something he knows much about. Nothing weird's happened to him ever since he got here though, so maybe he can go visit other worlds some day too.]
That sounds fun. I've been to the beach before back home, but the weather's not always good for going. Getting to go everyday would be nice.
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[ Giving him a warm smile to go with that. ]
Then if you ever come to mine, I'll show you around, too! We can go to the beach as much as you want.
[ Considering she's there just about every day herself. Friendly Kairi is friendly, though. ]
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[It's not like he's ever been, but the fact that he has no idea what's there to see AND there's a good chance of them getting swarmed by people regardless make him kinda reluctant to be here. Not like they have much of a choice though, so there's not much to do aside from make the best of it.
Somehow.]
So aside from getting harassed by TV crews, you find anything to do here?
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And he's asking someone who doesn't know what any of this stuff is if they've found anything to do. Kairi's been overwhelmed with things to do. ]
Yeah! Everything's new here. I want to try it all. [ A pause, as that doesn't exactly answer his question in a helpful manner, so — ] But I keep seeing people with these cups. I think they said ... Star Bucks? What's that?
[ ..... Congrats, you're now friends with someone who's never heard of Starbucks and is also fascinated by it simply because half the people she's passed have had things from it. It must be important if everyone is drinking it. ]
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[He knows that they're all from completely different worlds and all, but he was really imagining she was from somewhere like Hawaii. Now??? Is her island in the middle of nowhere maybe???? Or it's really just a world without Starbucks, imagine that.
But okay, he knows what they're doing next. He picks up his pace a bit, trying to find the closest Starbucks. In a big city like this, it shouldn't be too hard.]
It's a coffee place, but they got all kinds of drinks there. Coffee, tea, fraps, some food too. We might as well get some since it's cold.
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Nope, never. [ She'll pick up her pace to match his, clearly pretty amused by this now. She's kind of excited to try the new thing ... it's really that good, huh??? ]
I've never had coffee before, either. I mean, I know what it is — but I guess I've just never tried it.
[ She's a kid with plenty of energy to spare, she's never had a need for coffee. That's an adult thing. ]
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Well, now you get to have your first try at probably the most popular coffee place on Earth. [He'd say "in the world" but maybe it only applies to worlds that are Earth.
And at the next corner they turn, lo and behold, there's a Starbucks in all its green logo glory. It's not too packed with a line at least, but he can tell most of the seating's filled up already. Gotta make use of that free wi-fi.]
Here it is. Welcome to Starbucks.
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[ THAT'S EXCITING. She's genuinely interested in this, and she's already planning on taking Sora and Riku here when she finds them. She has to share this knowledge with them okay. And if it's really amazing, she wants to see the looks on their faces!!
And cue her looking on in awe at the store. Sorry, nothing really looks like this where she's from.
And after a moment of that staring, she grabs his arm to drag him in — ]
Come on! Let's go!
[ She's probably going to need a tutorial on how to order drinks here ...... ]
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[But he's getting dragged in regardless, isn't he...... As they step in, he wonders if this is the first time she's been to a coffee shop or bakery in general. There's the drink menus with some handwritten notes about the seasonal items, and the pastry display looks decked out and full. Even in a completely different world, Starbucks seems about the same as always to him.
He already knows what he's gonna get, and he remembers his own trouble the first time he ordered with how overwhelming the menu can be, so he turns to Kairi.]
What're you in the mood for? Coffee, tea, something else?
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But that's a good question. A difficult one to answer when she thinks about it truthfully — she doesn't know what she's in the mood for when most of what's on the menu is uncharted territory for her. So she goes with the most obvious option. ]
Well, if it's got the most popular coffee, then I should try that, right?
[ And it only makes sense to have the best coffee for her first experience for it!!! ]
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[What is Starbuck's most popular drink? He could probably look it up, but his eyes end up looking over at the seasonal menu. She might as well try a limited time coffee, right?]
The peppermint mocha's pretty good, and they have something called a... Juniper latte right now? I haven't tried that one before though. And then you can get it hot or cold, and there are three different sizes you can order, too.
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And ... hot's probably best right now. [ Considering the cold weather outside. ] In ... whatever size you think is best. Should I start small?
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[Putting aside how expensive Starbucks is so it'd be a waste no matter what though....... But he steps into line, looking back over to Kairi again.]
You think you got the hang of this now, or do you want me to order for her?
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[ And she quickly gets in line behind him. Because he should probably still do it first so she can see how it goes. They don't really have things like this on her island, okay. But that only makes it twice as exciting. ]
It can't be that hard, can it?
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[Thankfully the line's pretty short, so HERE IT COMES... TIME TO ORDER!! He orders a standard medium peppermint mocha, they ask for his name, and then he pays with cash on hand. With that done, he steps aside.]
Alright, your turn now.