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etcelsior2019-12-20 12:35 pm
maskormods) wrote in etcelsior2019-12-20 12:35 pm
Entry tags:
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!
Not good enough to save him...
What right does he have to have them? He withdraws his hand.
... And then his thoughts get derailed by the camera crew and Xichen stares at that information for a long moment. Stunned. Kiss...?
That thought makes him blink again, and focus a little.
"You... could you bear if the price of your freedom is that?" Since he rejected even touch. He has to ask. And then, a moment after, softer. "I never wanted you to suffer. It will not undo... anything. But if you truly think you deserve... something, for what has been done. Instead heal, and do better."
Alone, if that is what the younger man wants. But not in pain. There is too much, and for all the excuses uttered by him at the Guanyin temple, Xichen knows that the man who once swore brotherhood with him has suffered plenty already. Would not more of it just make him retaliate more, in the end?
That's just because Meng Yao is that evil when he puts his mind to it.
Raising his head slowly at the question, he catches sight of what it will take to free him. His face had been pale because of blood loss and pain, but now curious points of color gather over his cheeks.
A kiss? From -
He struggles to stand, his pulse pounding in his ears.
"Blessings are not merely bearable." Meng Yao murmurs, glancing into Xichen's eyes, "I will heal...thanks to you. I owe you my life."
That... well, try to persuade Xichen in that.
Then he flinches as though burned.
"Owe me...? I as good as took your life, how can you..." Rising himself, he sighs softly.
"We should talk, should we not? Go still, after it, if you wish, but..."
That night, or day, that time at the Guanyin Temple. It should have been enough to settle all between them.
It had done quite the opposite.
See? He's so good.
The flinch, however, is not.
"You were protecting yourself." Meng Yao presses his lips together in a thin line, "We can talk...as long as you like..."
He will deny him nothing if he has any say.
"Zewu-Jun, I never moved. I promise you. I would never threaten your life."
They are suuuch a mess, each alone and both together.
"I was ready to give it to you, anyway. When you asked for it." Die with me.
But then he looks down, taking in a shaky breath.
"I think I know that you didn't move. I don't know--" How to go on. Xichen shakes his head, then raises his hand to cup the younger man's cheek, then presses a soft kiss above the cinnabar mark, letting his lips linger, and then an even softer ones on his lips.
"We should go somewhere more private."
They should be able to move now.
Maybe this one can be a better mess in time.
"Your eyes were sad." he possesses a memory with crystal clarity and so he will never forget those details, "I hurt you and if I let you die, my promise to you would mean nothing."
Yao searches Xichen's face, shivering under the gentle hands. His breath catches in his throat and he grabs hold of the front of the other man's robes. The pressure of lips on his lips is glorious and he nods shakily, unable and unwilling to look away from Xichen.
"Anywhere." and he will follow - as he demonstrates by leaving the mistletoe behind.
Sob.
They go. Xichen isn't sure how far, but in the end they wind up probably in a private booth somewhere warm with food. Xichen has little want for it, nor has he, but the younger man has lost a lot of blood. He needs sustenance.
At least the walk has given Xichen a little time for composure. He places his hands in his lap, but then blinks.
"... let me know if you will need any assistance."
One can do much, without a limb. And Jin Guangyao has always had pride, back when it was bright and pure, and later when he had authority to lean it upon. But Xichen still would help, if help is wanted.
;n; <3
"What about you?" Yao shifts, trying to find the best angle to reach his utensils and his cup. This will take time and, frankly, he is feeling very weak. He sighs quietly and shame makes his skin alternately hot and cold.
"You are welcome to ask me what you like. I will answer truthfully." that had never been in question before, but everything has changed, "Have your powers returned?"
back to the heartache
He shakes his head a little. "I don't have much appetite." And... "yes, I can feel my core once again." He couldn't, when Meng Yao had blocked it for him. So from his point of view, the last days have been its comfort flickering off and on.
Questions, on the other hand. Xichen looks down at the back of his palms, settled habitually, properly, on top of his thighs.
"If you had managed to run. Would you have found a way to be... happy?"
He doesn't know where to start. So there is one place.
no subject
"The spell wore off. I wasn't able to lift it." he regrets not doing so; for leaving Xichen with that unsettling feeling.
Happy? The word rings hollowly and he isn't sure he understands the meaning of it anymore. For so long, everything within him has been bent on revenge. Except when he was with Xichen.
He looks down at the table, shaking his head slowly.
"...how could I be happy without -" you?
no subject
Xichen's eyes close for a moment, then he shakes his head.
"I suppose... that doesn't really matter, anyway. I should not have asked. Instead...
"You might not have an answer ready. But can you - can you do something new, here?" He's struggling to find the words. He's not sure he'll be understood, this one time.
But it's so hard to give up on hope for others.
no subject
They keep missing one another - bound by rules and oaths, unable to speak freely - and he insists, voice hoarse:
"You can ask me anything." Yao struggles, grabbing onto Xichen's arm, "I want to live a peaceful life. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." he shakes and tightens his grip, "Especially not you."