etcelsior | SLAY BELLS RING

Entry tags:

test drive

SLAY BELLS RING

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, they won't let that spoil the fun. It's not beach weather, but it's time for a palm tree decorating contest to bring everyone into the holiday spirit! Note that isn't technically Christmas decorating. Pick a theme, any theme, from holidays to puppies to capitalism and have at. The natives will judge and vote for their favorite- so really, there's nothing wrong with a little pandering. The winner will get both the honor of having defeated their rivals, and a free lifetime supply of Italian frozen ice and hot dogs from the sponsoring local stand.

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?

Speaking of that Italian ice, there are some free samples being offered to tempt you into competing for the prize. And, shocking to no experienced imPort, someone has meddled with it just a bit. Each of the three flavors will have a different effect and, fates help us, they can be stacked, though the effects only last about an hour. Strawberry with fill you with team spirit, encouraging you to decorate a tree in a group or spontaneously form a new rock group. Even those that usually Only Work Alone will want to form a team. Lemon will spike your competitive nature. You're not just going to win, you are going to wave the severed heads of your competitors before their weeping mothers-, er, that is, win by a lot. Finally, lime flavor with up your silliness factor. Everything's fun and happy at the Holiday season, right? Why not pull a prank or two while you're here, or just enjoy a nice knock-knock joke with friends. Hopefully you didn't get that lemon-lime mix and now must pull the most epic prank ever or show that you are the single happiest person on this or any other world. That could get complicated.

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.

Although Nonah sees milder winters than some imPort cities, it's strangely snowy today, with icicles hanging everywhere. They definitely weren't there this morning, and no storm has passed through, so what gives? A downtown disturbance makes it clear: a would-be supervillain calling himself THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN has attacked. Is he some kind of mutant, a scientifically modified human, or is there just a lot of arctic-tech stuffed into his snowsuit? Whatever its source, he's spraying ice and snow far and wide from his hands, turning the area into a winter wonderland and absolutely ruining sales for local businesses that depend on foot traffic! Also, some citizens have been frozen in blocks of ice. That's bad.

Come, heroes, and defeat this icy menace! That, or build a really cool snowman. It's your call.

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!

Usually the feast focuses on the symbolic ritual sacrifice of a giant chocolate Santa Claus, but this year is a little different. In an effort to display their gratitude for imPorts keeping their city from being ground zero of the apocalypse, they are making an entirely different set of effigies: you! Instead of one Big Chocolate Santa there are over a hundred 1/6th scale chocolate humans, each lovingly recreated in the visage of their favourite imports. Whether or not that loving visage is accurate may be up for debate, but... Hey, want to eat a chocolate rendition of your own head? Now you can!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And here comes another man, just as tall, with a very similar ribbon across his forehead and even similar robes, his steps slow as he tries to take the whole place in. Trying and failing, for the most part, because it is too much and his mind is preoccupied.

But then he spots the familiar figure, besieged, and pauses for a moment. Wangji...

For the first time since finding himself in this strange place, there is a trickle of warmth in his heart, and he walks a little closer.

"Now, now, may I ask you all what the chocolate is for? Does it have any significance?"

That should get the attention away from Wangji, shouldn't it? And yes, he is willing to be the one surrounded, instead. It is always easier for him to deal with people than it is for his brother, after all.

It's unlike him, to be so preoccupied as to not notice his brother's approach. But Wangji is a shadow of himself, in this place, his mind constantly casting back to his last moments at home. To Wei Wuxian, somehow alive, after he searched for sixteen years. Even surrounded by children, his mind is half elsewhere.

He can't help but find his mind in Yiling, a young boy wrapped around his leg, bawling.

And then, a voice, his name--

But when Wangji hears words on the wind, they are not Wei Ying's. He turns his gaze up, his neutral expression marked with the barest surprise, but he may as well be emblazoned with it for how easily Lan Xichen can read his moods. He did not expect his brother here. He did not expect anyone.

The children turn their gazes at the same time, squeeling in delight to see a man who matches the current target of their obsession. They happily tell him about how imPorts saved the city, only a few weeks ago. How they saved the world. How now the entire Saturnalia celebration has been turned to honour them and isn't Chocolate so TASTY and wouldn't you like some? Tiny hands reach and offer gifts and chocolate, and it is all Lan Wangji can do to watch his brother so easily steer the situation he had lost himself in.

He knows better than this. He hasn't been raising the juniors for this many years to be so stumped with children. If it wasn't for how lost he felt, he would have handled it better.

Lan Xichen reminds him of his place, as he so often does.

He steps over, murmuring to the children. "They are serving more. If seconds are desired, you must go obtain them."

Despite the less than plain language, the children take the message, and run off, giggling, looking for more treats.

Wangji turns his eyes to Xichen, and they soften just the barest amount. Relief.

"Brother."

"Wangji." Softly. With the absence of children to protect, Xichen's face falls helplessly. It is a neutral expression, but it's still far from the always-ready gentle smile that has been his way for so long.

Though his eyes, if tired, are soft and warm.

"Are you... well?"

It's a start. Xichen has no many things that he can't end in his mind that at least coming up with one start in better than nothing. Everything here is too loud to think.

Wangji's brows pinch the slightest amount - the concern overtaking his features in ways his brother could read better than any - as he catches the expression on Lan Xichen's face.

He doesn't answer the question. He can't. He's far from well. He feels like he is suffering his grief freshly anew, as sharp as it was 16 years ago, all the stronger for the fermentation between. So all he could possibly say would be 'No', and he does not wish to burden his brother with it.

"You aren't," he says, instead, deflecting Xichen's worry back onto himself. "What happened?"

Xichen presses his lips just a little, unhappy with himself, because he does not want to worry Wangji, but lying is not - lying is not something he does much of, and he's never lied to his brother, nor does he intend to start.

Then he blinks.

What happened?

That question feels wrong, for several reasons. How, primarily.

"Wangji... To answer that, I need to ask you first - what is the last thing that you remember... before this world?"

Because he clearly does not remember the Guanyin temple, or he would not be asking, and he does not remember that...

The hair ornament suggests it should not be too long earlier, he remembers when he changed those, but still, that leaves many events. The last weeks have been very full of those.

Wangji’s eyebrows twitch, drawing in a little. That was a weird question? Why would—

But it didn’t matter. Maybe something had happened while he’d been out.

“Fairy on Dafan mountain. Sighting Wen Ning.” He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t mention Mo Xuanyu, because Lan Wangji knew it wasn’t him. But he couldn’t say Wei Wuxian’s name, either. He couldn’t lie about who he had found, so it was better to say nothing.

His heart fell in his chest, the pit opening in his stomach.

Not that it mattered. He’d lost him all over again.

... ah. Xichen nods, slowly.

"That was... some time ago, for me." Xichen tilts his head to one side, then adds, quietly, because as far as he can tell, the question will be there.

"Young master Wei is all right."

Yes, he knows. No, he is not going to play with Wangji's heart. He can see it already sinking.

His eyes shot up, abruptly, the shock on his face one that only ever registered so clearly when it had to do with Wei Ying, and even then - not this strongly since he had watched the man fall.

He recovered his composure, but then with a voice that was a little too quick for his usual careful, deliberate enunciation:

"You know? You've seen him? Some time ago - - how long?"

Xichen nods, slowly, just for a moment his face easing a little, because he can bring his brother this much.

"Before I came here, both you and him. Close, and all right. And yes, I know. I knew because you were living once more."

It's not a smile. But it is warmth in his eyes, and a sweetness. And he is completely honest.

It is both a relief, and a heart break. A relief, because he hadn't even got a chance to speak to Wei Ying - he had no idea the state of his mind or if he would consent to Wangji being around him at all. No idea where he's been, or what he's been through. He knows his brother wouldn't lie to him, so he knows this is the truth: somewhere, in his future, he and Wei Ying stand together side by side.

The last comment sends a stab of guilt through him, and his eyes lower. He knows the burden he's been on his brother. His Uncle. His clan. His Sect. He bears the scars of his own defiance and grief, but that doesn't mean his brother was unwounded by it. Having to watch it.

Lan Xichen isn't wrong. Wei Wuxian was not the only one to die on that cliff. He was merely the only one whose ghost didn't keep powering his body through the next 16 years.

"But not here." His voice is low, quiet.

The teasing taste of an actual future, and it's gone. Instead: a mystery and a loss renewed.

He desperately wishes to change the subject.

"The others?"

Has Xichen seen the rest of the sect? The juniors? Any of their peers?

Xichen has made many, many mistakes. A good portion of them have been in the judgment of character, of motivations, of interpreting words and actions.

But none of those mistakes have been when guessing Wangji's state of mind, Wangji's reasons, Wangji's character. So yes. He knows. And he can follow his line of thought now, nodding slightly.

"Not here, or at least not now. We will see what happens. I have seen no others that I know."

But he only has been here a very short while, it doesn't mean there are not.

This is a very large world, after all, though the means of transport make it so accessible for all.

And, perhaps, if young master Wei is here... this is a world that won't turn on him.

Though the disappointment is near unreadable on his face, he knows Xichen will be able to read it. Sometimes he wonders if Xichen knows his heart better than he does. Especially when he was younger, while he would wrestle with something, his brother would see past his conflicting thoughts and straight to his honest desire long before Wangji could admit it to himself.

Xichen is the only person in the world who's fully understood him, and Wangji could not be more grateful that his brother stepped into this world with him. It would be a hard enough adjustment on its own.

"We are here. There may be others. We will find them."

A part of him wants to inquire about the future that his brother alluded to - but the question never comes to his lips. His brother will tell him what he needs to know, when he's ready to tell him. Xichen only keeps things from him when he thinks its for the best, and Wangji trusts his judgement. He always has.

"I was given lodging, here," he murmurs. "I can take you there."

If Wangji is here and maybe needs him a little - if only to buffer between other people and the whole of everything happening inside his mind, that gives Xichen more than enough reason to focus. To keep going, rather than just...

Stop.

Whatever this place really wants of them, his brother is here. So he has something to protect. Something to live for. Perhaps even something to give, though it will be bittersweet, he's sure. Though he can see the questions, and he knows he will not resist them long.

"I would like that, please. And yes, we can find them - we will search." Slowly, he reaches to squeeze the back of Wangji's arm briefly, fingers delicate over the silk. Your wait will not be as long. Not anymore.

This much, Xichen is certain. However they have come here, Wangji has not gone missing for an extended period of time, so surely ...?

Wanji is not so certain. After a sixteen year wait, he has no doubt he could be forced to wait so long again.

But he just gives his brother a nod, and then turns to lead him back out through the crowds and out of the square. Luckily, he doesn't live too far, but neither does Lan Zhan start any extra conversation. He's turning things over in his mind, his brows a little tense where they meet, otherwise pristine. But it's easy for someone like Xichen to tell just how trouble he is - just how off balance this place has put him.

He scours his brain for something that will settle him, make talking easier, and he lands on:

"Completing daily patrols. This city the only one with spirits."

Talking about work was always easier than anything else.

Xichen wishes he could ease his brother's heart more. He knows - even in his own chaos and guilt and hurt, he knows that Wangji will find ease of mind. He will find again his own reason to believe in the world, in how the world can be.

But, as Wangji said...

Not here.

And, as so often in these sixteen years and more, Xichen can only do so much. Wangji's hope is held in a different pair of hands. That is probably right, too. Hands that are better than Xichen's.

"Wangji, how long have you been here?"

"Five days." So not too long, but long enough that he would have gone mad without giving himself something productive to do. A schedule.

"Others longer. Years."

He'd done a little research.

Xichen winces slightly at that thought.

"I am not sure ... how well we would do here for that long."

The thing is, he knows that Wangji was not missing for days, let alone years, after Dafan mountain. There are times when he and young master Wei were traveling, but none of it was unaccounted for. So what does this mean about this place?

Perhaps it is akin to the instant travel between places. Only all of what happens here happens in an instant?

"But it makes sense to know, to make it possible to prepare."

He doesn't respond to the first comment, merely lowers his eyes. His brother is absolutely correct, and he doesn't need to speak to confirm it. He's already going mad, in this place. His brother, he thinks, would cope better than him. Lan Xichen had always seemed to have an easier time figuring out other people's expectations, their needs, and coming up with a way to satisfy them. He has the diplomat's edge that Wangji lacks. He is the cold river stream to Wangji's jagged ice - sprung from the same source but one adaptable and the other not.

He hasn't exactly always envied it - he thinks it causes his brother a great burden, to be forced to twist and bend and satisfy others - but he admires it. It is a skill he lacks.

"Uncertain future. Named 'imPorts', foreigners, fleeting and ephemeral. Deified or disdained. Some remain a moth's heart beat, others never leave. Impossible to fully prepare."

Until recently, for the most part it was more natural and easy to mediate, soothe, adjust to the needs of others so there would be compromise. It's the way he is, and it pains him to watch conflict, even more injury, happen, and not try to alleviate it.

But that is not to say that Wangji is wrong. And with all his efforts coming to such dire results, the weight that he has occasionally felt over the years has crashed down on him tenfold, crushing him with every breath.

For the moment, he shakes his head. "It does not make us other than what we are." Beat. "Other than confused."

Because.. how.

"Life is fleeting and ephemeral. The future is always uncertain, though I wonder if our future isn't already somebody's past... Either way. What you feel right and wrong are still what can guide you." Not that he can ever question that Wangji will abide by that.

"Do your best. The rest is outside of our hands."

For this moment of talking to Wangji, of being strong and certain, he feels like this world might not have seemed so dark and overwhelming had not Xichen already been overwhelmed. Yes, it is a lot to take in, but there are so many people to get to know...

And he is too tired to try.

"Everything has changed, or nothing has. And we need to cross many rivers before je know.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

SLAY BELLS RING

Jeopardy ig

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject