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Mask or Menace | MODERATORS ([personal profile] maskormods) wrote in [community profile] etcelsior2019-01-25 09:32 pm
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time to put your face on


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.

apocultypse: (Engage.)

Nonah!

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
-- You have unparalleled timing. I was hoping to run into you, thank fuck I finally have! Excuse us. [Said a tall, confident, pointed-ear man who appeared to be armed only with a warm smile; the sort of grin that invited you to feel the heat of a midmorning sun with him. He took her by the arm, his pace immune to hesitation, and led her away from the fluster of strangers and their stranger questions.

Only when he was confident they remained out of earshot did Ishaq Duvainor turn to the damsel he just rescued.
]

Thought you needed a breather.
Edited 2019-01-30 02:38 (UTC)
anubitch: (listening)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ If she's a damsel, she certainly doesn't look, or feel, like one - the leather jacket pulled tight and crisp over muscled shoulders, face set in a scowl.

But it softens, a little, as he turns to her, and she glances back over her shoulder at the crowd. ]


Thanks. Yeah. Was never good at that sort of thing. [ She turns back to him, narrowing her eyes a bit at the ears, then meeting his gaze with a solid and straightforward one of her own. ]

So. Think it's safe to say you're one of us, then. ImPorts, or whatever the word is. I'm Takara.
apocultypse: (Reconsider.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
[He was ready with his hand already extended by the time she had said safe, Ishaq always eager to introduce himself. It was part of his easy charm, his frequency with followers -- he liked to make that personal connection. He thrived upon it. And in this ungodly world, he had only his fellow mortals to depend on. Just the way he had always wanted.

But then she said that name.

And then he dropped his hand.
]

Takara?

[His voice pitched at the final syllable, his bright smile strained. His dark eyes widened, sparked with incredulity and another emotion, a pulsing emotion he feared to put a name to.]

Do you, ah -- do you attend with any other names? Just -- just -- just Takara?

[He never stuttered. But he had never before met the multiverse doppelganger of his once-beloved-then-despised goddess of death.]
anubitch: (i don't like this)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her brows furrowed sharply. ]

Do I attend --? Seriously, if you try calling me Ms. Hurst, I'm going to go straight back out to the crowd and try my luck there. Takara's fine.

[ But he had recognized her name, that much was clear. And not in a way that looked particularly good. So she stood up a little straighter. ]

And if you're some kind of demigod come to try to kill me, I will say for the record, I have a lot less qualms with laying someone flat than I did a few months ago, and I'm a lot better at it now, too.
apocultypse: (Confront.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
Okay -- first! I am not a demigod. [Needless to say, Ishaq looked offended by accusation.] That would imply a stunted ambition on my part, and of the many insults slung my way that is not! One! Of them!

[He folded his arms. Petulantly! The formfitting black dress shirt, unbuttoned to a V down his chest, and black jeans indicated that Ishaq Duvainor, although clearly imPort, adapted easily to the aesthetic expectations of any given land.

Well. "When in Raith", right?
]

And I don't know if I'm trying to kill you! I haven't decided, this is -- deeply unusual in so, so many ways. I don't know if you're some facsimile of her, how would I know that? I don't even have my fucking cleric here!

[Whom he loved very much, he loved Celia, he didn't mean to take that tone.]
anubitch: (i don't like this)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Great, cool. God, then? Fantastic. [ She folded her arms in response, spine straightening as she stared him down. ]

You don't know if you're trying to kill me? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Who the hell is her? And what the fuck would you need a cleric for?
apocultypse: (Plead.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Because! Because my cleric serves her. [Because Celia's wisdom modifier isn't +0 unlike SOME ISHAQS, and he really could have used her council.] She serves Takara. The Lady of the Lasting Embrace. [He took a deep breath, held it. Exhaled.] Mistress of the Current. Lady of the River's End. Mortal heart in one hand, feather in the other -- would this mean anything to you?

[Surely the superlatives, surely her names would spark recognition. If this Takara was some measure of his own.]

She's a death goddess.

She is my death goddess.
anubitch: (you fuckhead)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ Takara rubbed a hand over her face, clearly frustrated. ]

Lady of the -- what? River? Embrace? What the fuck kind of names are those? Are they supposed to be euphemisms?

I mean, sure, the heart and the feather mean something - that's the whole Egyptian thing, right? Weighing the dead's heart against a feather to see if they're like, free of sin or whatever. Yeah, hate to tell you, I don't go walking around with dead hearts.

And that's my dad's whole set up. The Death god thing. I'm not a God. I don't even want to be a demigod, let alone end up one of those assholes.

[ But she frowns, the frustration ebbing away into confusion. ]

So, wait, you have a death Goddess that shares my name? That's kind of - that's sort of fucked up, right?
apocultypse: (Listen.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, literally every one of them is a euphemism. She's a goddess! Of death! Historically people are far from casual about her! [He took another deep breath, pinched the bridge of his nose. Collected himself.] Look, I'm sorry. This is honestly incredibly stressful for me, she and I have some... History, and...

[Not the time, not the place to delve into that.]

Mortal heart in one hand, feather in the other, yes. It's her lore. The judgement of death, that's her dominion. I myself uncovered the more obscure details, I would know.

[But even the censorship he had defied didn't mention anything about a father figure, no. She had a consort, perhaps a brother, but not a father entailed. The more this Takara talked, the more it became clear the Ishaq that just enough parallels remained to suggest one thing: she was a version of the goddess he once held so dear to his heart. She was a mirror image of her, but distorted. Friendlier. More mortal.

Yet deeper questions remained.
]

What is Egyptian? What is that? Outside the Empire?
anubitch: (profile)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
History. [ She would say something about how that sounded fair, because every God she ever met was an asshole, but, apparently he's a god too and Takara actually does sometimes have a filter, even if it's not a particularly fine one. So instead she just says the word very wryly. ]

Outside of the - what? The Empire? Is this some fucking Star Wars joke because I keep telling Tom I never bothered to watch them, but that doesn't stop him from making jokes about them whenever it occurs.

No. Egyptian. The ancient society? You know? Mummies, pyramids, all that jazz?

I'm a daughter of Anubis. The Egyptian God of Death.




... How do you not even know what an Egyptian is? Even six-year-olds are obsessed with mummies--
apocultypse: (Engage.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Yeah, he's not making that correction now. Think of it as... Aspirational.]

What's a Star Wars?

[He couldn't tell if it was her colloquial way of terming his upcoming GOD WAR, which surely had a parallel of some kind, but if it was then Ishaq liked it quite a lot.]

What's a mummies? What's a jazz, and why is there all of it? I'm understanding about three out of four words you're saying, I thought we were speaking the same Common.

[He snapped his fingers, his dark eyes widening with renewed enthusiasm. The clouding torment writ across his face faded before the usual sunshine he typically embodied.

Ishaq cast Comprehend Languages.
]

Okay, okay. Continue.

[He said but with like, a Jersey accent now.]
Edited 2019-01-30 03:49 (UTC)
anubitch: (displeased)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Takara stared at him with an open incredulity. ]

English. I'm speaking English.

Okay, buddy, what Pantheon are you from? You don't look Norse but I don't know who else of the old world Pantheons wouldn't fucking know what Egypt is.

[ Gently ignoring the questions about Star Wars, Mummies and Jazz, because not important!!! ]
apocultypse: (Question.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
["What's an English?" would be too repetitive at this point, and Ishaq could read a room. So he shrugged instead, offering a soft, sheepish smile.]

Don't suppose you're familiar with the Raithir pantheon? I'm assuming mine's on another plane of existence than the ones you're used to dealing with. I thought maybe there was only one material plane, but I'm not all that familiar with the fey lands, so maybe... Maybe not. Maybe a divergence of my known world. A divergence of a divergence, but not one too alien. You still have humans in your world, obviously.

[He pointed at her ear.]
Edited 2019-01-30 04:10 (UTC)
anubitch: (deep thought)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
No. Not a clue what that's supposed to be.

[ She sounded calmer, at least, now that she was starting to realise that they had just been talking at crossed wires for the last ten minutes. ]

Uh - yeah. We have humans. I thought that was all we had, but then I met a fucking medusa and a minotaur and some faeries, so, you know. Live and learn.

What are you supposed to be? An Elf? Is the Raithir Empire a Lord of the Rings thing?

But this- I mean, we're on my world. Earth. Or, well, some fucked up timeline version of it, anyway.
apocultypse: (Flirt.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Half-elf. [He pointed at his own ear.] And can you really be sure? If this is merely another timeline of yours? My magic works here, and my pantheon is most certainly not here. Never was. Well -- aside from you, and only right now. And even then you are not precisely her.

[He could see more the more her watched her, in the curve of her face. The way her eyes flashed. When Takara had still been on speaking terms, on dreaming terms with a younger Ishaq. She had always been so beautiful to him, even when she was incomprehensible and beyond human form. Even when she was further away from him.]

I see it more like a mirror placed in front of another mirror. Maybe every reflection is just a step further away from its sourced world. Maybe yours is ten, twelve, fifteen reflections away from mine. Maybe that is why I have known your name, and you are still halfway steeped in death. Even that is... Familiar.
anubitch: (displeased)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ She frowned, the reasoning pretty sound, even if she didn't like it, and she glanced off back toward the crowd. ]

This world is pretty close to mine. All the country names match up, anyway - except, you know, the fucking USSR, because that's a thing literally anyone needed. But that's...

[ A version of herself? A god?

A death god?

It wasn't an inaccurate concept - "halfway steeped in death". She just didn't like it.

She sighed. ]


Okay, so. Half elf god from another world with another Pantheon that isn't one of ours.

With a complicated history with a person who isn't precisely me.

I'm gonna say right now that if you start treating me like an ex you've never had, I'm not going to be afraid to deck you. Can we just - I'm not her. Okay? Whatever she did to you, that wasn't me, I don't know you from Adam.

Unless you're going to finally give me your name and it turns out to belong to some asshole I know, in which case maybe we should just fucking mud wrestle or something to get it out of our systems.
apocultypse: (Empower.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 04:32 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, exactly. You've got it right.

[WHAT WHAT +8 DECEPTION MODIFIER!!]

You catch on quickly, and that is reassuring, because as it stands you're the only reflecting thread of a connection I've really got here, and while I've always had a knack for making friends, well. Like you've said, this world is closer to your own than mine. I'll need a little guidance. If you're willing to help me out I mean. [His soft smile sharpened, his chin jutted out. Ishaq took a step closer to her, his hands at his side.

His tattooed hands. Sun inked on his right, moon on his left. A devastating eclipse of a man.
]

Oh no, no. I know. You're better than her. You're more mortal. That is everything, Takara, you have every saving grace she couldn't possibly possess.

[He offered his right hand, for a second coming of introduction.]

And it's my pleasure to meet you. I'm Ishaq Duvainor... of the Host Radiant.
Edited 2019-01-30 04:33 (UTC)
anubitch: (i don't like this)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Guidance. Not really sure I can offer much of that, I'm still trying to figure out of this whole thing is a fuck up from a time spell gone wrong, but.

[ She glanced down at his hand a little dubiously, but eventually took it, giving it a shake. ]

I am mortal. I think. Pretty fucking mortal, anyway. doesn't mean much when your friends can bring you back from the dead, though.

It's -- [ She paused. "Good" wasn't exactly true. ] -- interesting to meet you, Ishaq.

So uh. Is Host Radiant your pantheon, then? Because that's a weird name I've never heard for one before.
apocultypse: (Contemplate.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-01-30 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
Dominion over death. [His eyes narrowed, just briefly.] I've seen that. [The Lady of the Lasting Embrace did it to Felix.] They don't seem to come back in the same way, in my experience.

[He wondered if she came back in the same way. He had no pre-death Takara to compare, after all.]

The Host Radiant is my following. My community is somewhat persecuted, they try to keep as confounding as possible. Weird names are simply the currency in such circumstance, are they not?

[Yeah for CULTS.]
anubitch: (displeased)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-01-30 12:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Definitely not dominion. I fucking wish it was dominion. More like really elaborate deal making with death, and yeah, it's a fucking bad idea. No one goes to the Du'at and-- [ A pause. A frown. ] Oh. River. Huh. Yeah, that's an Egyptian thing, too.

Anyway, yeah. Don't try it, I don't fucking recommend it.

[ There's a large part of her that wishes her friends had just left her there. ]

Persecuted following, huh. So, a cult. [ Despife her lack of knowledge on a lot of godly subjects, she had been trying to research the Egyptian pantheon. Isis had a major cult in the Roman Empire.

So had Jesus Christ. ]


Well, I'm sure you'll scrounge up more worshipers. These things tend to escalate.

You know what's fucked up, though? I didn't even believe in God, let alone Gods, before this. Well, before the whole demigod thing I mean. Now I've met more of them than I could shove into a clown car. [ And then preferably off a cliff. ]
apocultypse: (Intrigue.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-02-01 07:55 am (UTC)(link)
I wouldn't call it a cult. [Even if it was precisely a cult, Ishaq kept other euphemisms for it. His hobby, his community, his family.] My Host Radiant is composed of like-minded individuals who care about each other and believe in the inherent potential that every mortal possesses. The power of the individual, the power that individual contributes to a collective. [A beat, and he tilted his head while looking at her, a soft smile on his lips. I'm sure you'll scrounge up more worshippers.] And I do appreciate your faith in me.

[She seemed caught on another parallel, with the river. He wouldn't push, but he noted it.]

Ah -- well. I suppose I came from the opposite perspective. Believing that the gods of my world would be invested in mortal affairs for the better. Instead I alone lead my followers to their own self-empowerment. Or perhaps the knowledge of belief remains, but the faith has withered.

Does that make sense?
anubitch: (profile)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-02-04 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She grunted, unenthused. ]

Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. But also probably left you pretty fucking disappointed. You're the first God I've ever met that's ever actually given a shit about mortals.

[ And honestly? She wasn't totally sure she believed that he did, either. Not that she felt like he was lying - he actually seemed pretty honest, especially when talking about his beliefs in mortals - but because it just seemed very implausible, to her. If he was a God, he had some kind of ulterior motive.

That was just how Gods worked. ]
apocultypse: (Engage.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-02-04 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[He tilted his head, his smile unwavering. Dark eyes watched her with a great, unspoken interest -- part of him wanted to possess her, given who she was a reflection of, given what that reflection meant to him. Part of him wanted to see her vibrant with her own potential.

All of him became magnetized.
]

I did suffer a great disappointment, yes. [He said, his chin tilting down, his smile soft. Reminiscent.] But shortly after that, a great awakening.

Tragedy and renewal so easily go hand in hand. One might think of them as easy companions.
anubitch: (Default)

[personal profile] anubitch 2019-02-13 03:27 pm (UTC)(link)

Yeah, trust me, I know all about the phoenix rising concepts. [ Very wryly. ] Not so sure I like the renewed version of me, if I'm totally honest, but.

[ She paused, shoulders falling as she glanced around. ]

At least it seems relatively peaceful here. Are you the only god here?

apocultypse: (Listen.)

[personal profile] apocultypse 2019-02-14 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Are you worried that there are multiple gods here? [A question embedded with sincere honesty; while Takara certainly seemed divine-averse, he hadn't gotten the impression that she wouldn't be able to handle herself against a godly individual. Quite the opposite, in fact, and that impression piqued his interest.

So her worry, if it were anxiety, would seem misplaced to him.
]

You needn't be, I think. You've got a certain... fire inherent to you, I can tell. A fire easily turned inferno. [He leaned in a little closer, his voice soft.] I've always been good at seeing potential.