time to put your face on

[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.

The current craze sweeping the city and social media is getting people on their feet: the Camp Midnight Challenge! Based on a popular video game, the goal is to get the funkiest, silliest, most eye-catching dance sequence on video—with a twist! Successful completion of this challenge requires getting an imPort to join in a duo dance that incorporates their powers! Swarms of eager teens, tweens and would-be BlueTube stars are out and about on the sidewalk looking for newcomers to join in. If they spot you, you better come up with a good excuse or put your dancing shoes on!

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.

Today in De Chima, there's the unveiling of a brand new invention in the convention centre park! With a simple scan, it will print out your Closest Love Match of the other individuals present, along with your percentage of compatibility and a free coupon to get lunch with your new date if you match 90% or higher!

A little odd that it seems that nearly every couple has 90% or higher, isn't it? What's the probability that the scanner is broken?

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...

Local resistance to superheroes has made the city a popular gathering place for experimental engineers and scientists whose methods are misunderstood by the establishment, aka 'mad scientists.' Today, the latest creation of a former food scientist who used to work for Yell-O Desserts, is rising up in gooshy style!

From the canal that bisects the city rises a giant, gooshy, uh....thing. The blob slowly begins to ooze through town, growing larger as it consumes anything it comes across, absorbing it into its gooey depths. It's slow, but relentless, and doesn't have any obvious weak spots. Will you attempt to fight back and arrest its gelatinous progress, help the slow runners get away or make a break for it yourself? Or maybe see how good a dessert it makes?

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.

This month there's the release of a hot new movie about imPorts themselves, though in order to evade copyright, it seems that the imPorts on screen are simply amalgamations of several different imPorts through the years instead of staying faithful to one true story. They've got everything! Action! Romance! Death! Desire. It's a whole load of hooey, in other words, but it's hooey with a big budget. What this means, however, is that even the newest imPorts are being roped into this red carpet affair. Even if they're simply passing by on the street, an eager reporter may well step up to you, saying, "Oh, are you an imPort? Please, you must come in! No, I insist!"

If you succumb to their pushy ways, you'll find yourself in a gala, likely unprepared and underdressed for the flash of the cameras and an endless torrent of questions about what you want to do here as an imPort, whether or not you feel you'll find love in this place, whether or not you fear an inevitable port-out (despite the fact that you may have just gotten here!) and will be plied with food and, if you're of age, with plenty of booze.

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.

You're in luck! You're just in time for Jeopardy's traditional Valentine's Race!

The premise of the race is simple: hogtie your lover, throw them over your shoulder (or back, if needed), and carry them from the bank of the train station (it's actually not a train station, it's a non-functioning movie set that's been turned into a museum, but it's still called "the train station.") While the tradition says "lover," as long as the person you tie up has consented to it, it's allowed!

At the end of the race, the Mayor gives a short speech about love, and movies, and tradition. She's also baked thousands of Valentine's and heart-themed desserts for all participants and audience members! They just happen to all be... shaped like the actual heart organ, rather than the symbol.

Comments

[finnality]

[Finn pokes at his chin thoughtfully.]

Huh, so we've got some kinda weird time traveling biz going on here... [Even if he doesn't remember living a whole life in a pillow world, he doesn't seem too surprised by the situation. Just another day in the life.]

Okay, so right before I got zonked here, we'd all pretty much just finished this super huge battle. Ridonkulously huge... I'm talking Golb-sized huge. Because, it was Golb. That's what was going down.

[bassriff]

Oh thank glob. Okay, yeah, we're pretty much on the same page.

[ a beat. ]

You wanna ditch this mess, dude?

[finnality]

[He smiles as she confirms that they're from the same time. It's nice to be time buddies! And it means she already knows that Simon's back to normal and all.

At her question, he gives a solemn nod and declares without any hesitance:]

Totes. [And after a beat, he elaborates.] I think they're still buying my waiter get-up, so we got that.

[bassriff]

Sweet, let's just.

Go?

[ yeah. sure. nobody pays attention to the staff at these things, why would they pay her any mind if she's heading out with him. ]

Fern's around, bee-tee-dubs. Been here a few months.

[finnality]

[Going sounds like a good idea! He's ready to sneak out, but the mention of Fern makes him freeze in his tracks.]

Fern? [He says with a soft gasp. It feels like he had just planted what was left with him. Finn looks towards Marceline desperately.] He- he's here? He's alright?!

[bassriff]

He's fine. But--just here, I think. Sometimes peeps get dragged here after they're... [ she just kinda. drags a hand back through her hair, grimacing. ]

[finnality]

[He lets that sentence hang in the air at the moment while he tries to process it.]

...Oh. So it's that kind of deal. [The whole time point thing even applies to bringing back the dead. Finn takes a breath. And then he tries to walk himself through it.

Fern's here. And he's alive and well, and - it's been months, right? He's been able to do his own Ferny thing for all that time here, and I bet he's been getting all the sunlight he needs... [He starts to smile.] That's sweet. I'm mad happy for him!

[bassriff]

No, yeah, he's... good, man. We've actually been hangin' out sometimes? I wanted to get to know him as his own dude, and he remembered all the stuff you and me did, so... y'know. Made sense.

[ yeah. marceline has dwelled on that question a few times too, finn. for so many reasons. she just... keeps walking, waving a hand for finn to keep up, before she steps out into an alley. sun's not down yet, ugh. ]

He's been working through some junk. You know how that can be. [ she takes off her shades, slipping them over the collar of her top. ]

[finnality]

[Finn does feel reassured to hear that things have been going well enough for Fern. And with the shock settled in, he starts to pick up the pace. With a concerned glance towards the sun, he moves to join Marceline in the alley. And he nods along with her.]

Yeah... yeah, I get it. He's always had, like, mad junk to dealw ith. [He pauses and smiles at her.]

Thanks for... y'know, looking out for him and all. I'm glad it sounds like he's on his feet and all. You been okay here too?

[bassriff]

No problem, Finn. He's a good dude.

[ and without any of that concern finn just showed, marcy just keeps walking and talking towards the sidewalk. and passes through direct sunlight for a moment.

no sizzling. ]

I mean... existential this place always kinda wigs me out, I guess? And it sucks being split up from Bonnie like this, but--nah, day to day? I'm all right, man. Got a therapist and everything.

[finnality]

[Finn looks alarmed as she steps right into that sunlight. He starts to reach out, and his mouth opens, prepared to unleash a shriek- only to notice that she's completely fine with it.]

Whoa. Well, I'm glad things are mostly going alright and all. [So Bonnibel's not here either. At least Marceline seems to be soldiering on with it. But right now what he just saw is leaving more of an impression on his mind, so after a moment he puts it onto his words.]

So, like. Are you... are you all human-y now?

[bassriff]

Yeah, I was wondering when you were gonna ask about that. [ she exhales, seeming to consider her words for a moment. ] Now-now, yeah. But not all the time? I can turn it on and off. No powers when I'm like this, not even my demon stuff, but--well, y'know.

So, when'd you roll in?

[finnality]

Oh, so you can switch! [He takes that in with a thoughtful hum.] Well, that's gotta be better than being stuck as one or the other. [He knows she hasn't always exactly been thrilled about being a vamp. Now she can get the best of both worlds! Well, with the worst too.]

Also, I rolled on in... like, just the other day. Kinda feel like I'm still rollin', y'know? [He's experienced a lot of weird things in his life, to the point where most weirdness feels normal to him. But a civilization full of Actual Living, Breathing Humans? That's a bit less familiar territory for him, especially when it doesn't come with a computer mom.]