metamods: (Default)
meta moderators ([personal profile] metamods) wrote in [community profile] metamemes2022-03-04 04:33 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME #02




TEST DRIVE MEME
Welcome to [community profile] metaheroes! As the game is invite-only, please bear in mind that new players must have an invitation from a current player to apply. Interested players who do not know anyone in the game can reach out to the mod team HERE to request an invite for the March app round. These invitations will be processed the day before reserves open. However, no invitation is necessary to play on the this test drive.

Threads from this post can be made game canon if players agree upon it. To facilitate this, this log has no new arrival prompt. Please see the PREVIOUS CONFLUENCES for general ideas as to how characters may have arrived. New characters will be arriving with the March 27th arrival log.

For players who do not want to thread out an arrival, they may backdate their characters' arrival to a previous Confluence. These characters were not picked up by the transportation spell used by the Alliance. These characters will have been living on their own for the last few months, so please address this in the 'Brainstorming' section of the application.


01. METASTRAVAGANZA — everywhere.
Things haven't been the same since Confluences started again. The last two months have been more exciting than the last twenty years! The skies are full of new heroes, the day is saved and threatened by unfamiliar faces, the media is having a field day trying to report on every single new face while companies try to snag them for brand deals.

But not everything in this world centers around costumed combat. Today is a perfectly normal day and you're tasked with the most dangerous mission of all - leading an every day life. Maybe you go to a perfectly normal job to maintain your secret identity - or maybe you've already abandoned that, living full time as your metahuman self.

The sun is shining, and even in the early hours of the morning, parties in the DOWNTOWN STREETS of those CITIES STRUCK BY THE RECENT CONFLUENCES are disrupting the reconstruction efforts that have gotten well underway. These parties celebrate meta efforts to save the day! The streets are full of booths selling food and hastily made knock-off toys of the newest heroes who haven't yet put a copyright on their costume.

But not everyone looks so thrilled about this celebration. Many people look disgusted at this celebration of metahumans interrupting their commute to work, muttering under their breath about what a pain in the ass metahumans are and how much destruction they've wrought in these few short months.

Meanwhile, school-aged metas board the bus to LOFTY HEIGHTS META SCHOOL, hidden somewhere in the sky. There, in-between learning about grammar and punctuation, they are trained to use their new abilities ... Notably, when powers training arrives, the new arrivals outshine the metas native to this world. Very few seem to have any powers on par with the new comers.

Later in the day, the Student Council holds an assembly dedicated to the responsible use of powers. They award any students who have helped save the day with accolades — as well as detention for skipping class to help out as an unlicensed hero. Whoops!

Maybe you should just skip today.


02. SEEDY UNDERBELLY — central city.
Central City is a hard place to live. The city is in almost constant peril, with constant power vacuums in organized crime and city government being filled by worse and worse people. Despite having the Guardian Alliance stationed at its center and doing their best to uplift the people and their citizens, the city suffers from a corruption so deep that it seems to be baked into the very concrete.

The Alliance does what it can to make the city a better place but it's a bandaid over a bigger wound. Because the nigh constant metahuman-centered destruction is the source of so many of Central City's problems - meta organizations are often the last resort for its people. Still, the Alliance makes sure to keep heroes on hand to punch muggers as well as run soup kitchens. Their healers provide healing free of charge, and many of their psychics are trained therapists who use their powers to soothe the citizens' many traumas.

But the real power in the city is held by people like FRANK KAFKA, a crime lord with a finger in every pie. Both guilds leave Kafka to his own devices because he officially possesses no metahuman abilities and he avoids any dealings with them. Tonight, his goons are running their favorite extortion scheme with a twist. A group of them marches through a run-down street, shaking down vulnerable families and businesses for protection money. If an individual resists, the gang threatens to bring the spectre of newly created metahumans down upon their head. Though Kafka himself is not present, his goons will give up his location under enough pressure.


03. NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM — excelsior.
With how often the city is destroyed, one wouldn't expect the MUSEUM OF EXCELSIOR to get much in the way of priceless artifacts, but the museum's basement vault is one of the most well guarded facilities in all the country. Practically impenetrable, it stores every conceivable relic of value. But today, thanks to some villainous meddling, there's a lapse in their security that aligns perfectly with the planned time for the changeover of an art exhibit, affording some enterprising thieves a chance at millions of dollars in priceless artwork.

Heroes affiliated with the Guardian Alliance are asked to patrol and keep these relics safe, while the members of the Society of Villainous Reformation are called upon to pay favors forward by getting in their way. As the untested new kids on the block, player characters draw the short straw and are sent in pairs to complete their task, regardless of whether it's to steal these artifacts or guard them.

Villains, now's the chance to get rich quick! Heroes, protect these treasures from falling into the wrong hands!


04. DINOTOPIA — excelsior.
Confluences are back.

And that means new unaffiliated supervillains are running rampant in the streets, causing the kind of directionless, clumsy chaos that the Guild typically frowns at. A little mischief is good if it serves as distraction for a heist, but this is...

Well...

This a very large velociraptor with human arms standing in the middle of Excelsior. If anyone asks, he calls himself DINO DAN. But why would you ask when he's busy transforming people into dinosaurs - or partially into dinosaurs - using his aptly named Dino-Ray? The people of Excelsior are used to a lot of chaotic shenanigans, but this is a little much even for them. The newly transformed dinosaur-people are losing themselves to their instincts and charging at bystanders. Of those that retain (or regain) their senses, some appear strangely delighted to have this new experience, while others wail in horror at their lost humanity.

As heroes line up to stop him, he'll tell anyone who listens about his displaced rage and the revenge he seeks on an unfair world that let him turn himself into a dinosaur. Not surprising, out of an Excelsior local. However, confronted by metas who can stop him, Dino Dan hooks the Dino-Ray on his belt and grabs a second ray-gun. Anyone he shoots with this one disappears with a comical POP!

Those unfortunate enough to be hit by this ray will find themselves standing in a land before time, right beside a research station. Those clever enough to pull out their cell phones will notice that they still have reception, and rule out time travel.

In addition to clippings of ancient and extinct plants, characters who venture inside will find a half dozen prehistoric humans have apparently been displaced through time and held captive in Dino Dan's remote island research station. If that wasn't obvious enough, his research notes suggest the use of time travel — though like all other dimensional travel, it stopped working in January.

Characters may trigger a trap in the research station and find themselves also temporarily transformed into reptiles, or they may take it upon themselves to rescue the poor folks this mesozoic maniac has been holding hostage! Whatever the plan: if he's causing havoc in the city, that has to mean there's there's a teleporter in his lab to get back. But there's no shortage of Guard T-Rexes blocking the path.
wordiness: (009)

[personal profile] wordiness 2022-03-11 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ he allows loki to take his hand, carefully curling his fingers with the other man's, and pretending not to notice the smug expression. ]

Of course it is. Where would you be moving it?
ikols: you can see it in my smile (made of dead mens money)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-03-11 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
Around, someplace close. Out of town if things get heated with another attack, but I want to stay in Central since this is where Peter does his patrolling.

[ His thumb rubs the soft instep of Billy's hand, fingers threading. ]

I'll make sure you have an open invitation and can find it.

[ Unlike the majority. ]

wordiness: (024)

[personal profile] wordiness 2022-03-11 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
Is he usually at your apartment? [ he wouldn't want to, er, teleport in on something, for instance. not that he would, but you never know. god knows billy and teddy have come close to being caught in some compromising positions in some places they probably shouldn't have been. and since teddy took the throne, they have even less privacy than they used to. ]

.. Also, does he cook?
ikols: before my inevitable escape (and now)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-03-11 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
Usually, yes, unless he crashes at his place. I leave the windows open for him to swing by if he wants to. [ Since Billy is asking for Reasons, he mildly adds, ] Mostly we hang out.

[ He arches a brow at the line of questioning, cocking his head. ]

Peter, cook? No, I do. Why?
wordiness: (013)

[personal profile] wordiness 2022-03-11 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
I mean, I'd text before coming by, but.. [ You Know.

his shoulder lifts in a small shrug, and he has to tug the sweater back up as it slips down his arm. ]
I was thinking that I don't know if the two of you eat real food or all takeout.
ikols: forever asking more (in wonderment at you & yours)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-03-11 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Billy doesn't need to text, he can drop in whenever and Loki will never really be mad. ]

We have steak once a week, if you want to come over for dinner. Perhaps you could meet him then, over sampling my honeyed roast potatoes.
wordiness: (026)

[personal profile] wordiness 2022-03-11 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
That could be fun. I'll bring a good bottle of wine. [ he's not planning to stick with the guilds either, so he may as well take full advantage of their monetary generosity while he has it.

not that, these days, he really needs a job, strictly speaking. he could probably make anything he needed.. but on the other hand, he knows for a fact that he's going to need to keep busy here. ]
Does he know anything about me?
unclenched: <user name="berks"> (pic#15527024)

dr. gaius grieves (thinker) | the suicide squad (2021)

[personal profile] unclenched 2022-03-11 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
{BEFORE READING ON! Please refer to this content warning & opt-out page detailing sensitive/triggering subjects with his character history.}

02. SEEDY UNDERBELLIES

[For a city that holds the mantle of being the murder capital of the world, Gaius isn’t all too phased by the possibility of a drive-by stabbing through these poorly lit streets. Out from the scorching taint of Satan and into their forest of pubes. From one habitat to another. Less with (1) starfish alien to analyze at his beck and call.

The chill breeze blowing through the alleyway is a much-needed touch of relief compared to the sweltering heat from his former workplace for thirty-some years. Constantly having to deal with the lingering sensation of the pools of sweat down his fucking balls underneath his velour tracksuit. The perfect representation of Mother Nature giving him a blowjob with the proper payoff.

His strides continue down the alleyway until he stops to find a mugger snatching the purse away from a (very) elderly woman. Her screams reach down the empty streets, with the mugger running past Gaius, accidentally dropping her wallet.

He scoffs under his breath, all the while picking her wallet up and slunk into the alleyway on his right.]


04. DINOTOPIA

[Here we go again. Another flaccid attempt at controlling the masses. Such a fascinating device to manipulate human genetics into pre-historic mammalia. A very creative attempt. Something he wished to dig his claws into. Everyone running away from the crisis was such an inconvenience. There is instinct scratching for Thinker to push an onlooker directly in front of the ray.

Hearing the wails of the victims from the Dino-Ray only served as an earache. That is until he spots an innocent civilian trip and falls from the surrounding chaos. They desperately look at Thinker, extending their arm out and crying for his help.

He does nothing. The beam hits the civilian, slowly morphing them into half human-half dinosaur.

And he smiles in delight.]


WILDCARD.

[Got another scenario to try out? Go for it! Drop me a line via PM or on Plurk ([plurk.com profile] robutting)!]
siracha: (yelbw31)

so sorry for the delay!

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ While she isn't especially the peppy sort (okay, fine, she isn't peppy at all) she isn't going to harsh anyone's good vibe either. As long as she proves herself capable enough to do her job and not ruin this operation, Yelena's willing to team up with a complete stranger.

When in Rome, and all.

The claws are ... admittedly interesting, and it's also not the weirdest thing she's seen, both as a Widow and also as someone living in the kind of world that she lives in, with its ant heroes, and Captain America, and the Crimson Dynamo (aka the Red Guardian). She's even marginally impressed with the finesse in which she pops the circle of glass out and hero-poses towards the ground. (It does cause a pang to settle in her chest for a moment, but she ignores it.)

It wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but — eh. She's seen worse entrances. ]


Mm. Yes. [ She jerks a thumb in her "partner's" direction. ] What she said.

[ It's all the thieves get to hear before Yelena is pulling out an extendable baton and moves in for the first culprit closest to her. ]
slidesrightoff: (Sleepy)

[personal profile] slidesrightoff 2022-03-11 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
Eddie nods in approval at that.

"Super tacky."

Especially since it's such a high-risk low-reward situation. There were so many better ways to take money from someone who has way too much.

"It will probably be thrown in a dumpster soon, unless they decide to pawn it for the designer name."
siracha: (HEEpisode601989)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
What the fuck!

[ This is literally the dumbest situation she has ever been unwillingly roped into, and while she yells in this idiot's direction (while also swearing at him in Russian, including all manner of words including: moron, idiot, shit-to-take-to-the-dumpster, worse-than-a-dead-cat, and other colourful choice words) she uses the weighted, struggling body of Krampus as a meat shield.

And he is actually an effective meat-shield, making attempts to drag himself out of the wild crossfire, but not daring enough not to get shot by stray bullets that seem to ricochet off of the floor and into the walls and up towards the ceiling. She pulls him along with her until one ... two ... three of the bullets find their way into his back, jerking him with the motion.

Yelena has never seen a worse shot. Even her at six years old could have made a better shot. ]


Stop, stop! Stop! [ she shouts, as Krampus' weight sags against her. The sharp tang of iron fills her nostrils as a pool of blood starts to gather on the floor around her.

She groans when the shooting stops and she's left with a ringing in her ears. ]
Agh! I have never seen anyone more useless than you.
siracha: (HEEpisode604055)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yelena opens her mouth to offer up a quip to match Natasha's, looking down at the length of her coat for a brief moment before she tilts her chin back up to meet her sister's gaze.

And then Natasha speaks again, and she can feel something in her break — just a little, just enough for her not to care that she's supposed to be some kind of hardened mercenary, or someone who travels the world freeing Widows still under the control of the Red Room's drug even if Dreykov himself no longer operates.

So she knows. Somehow she's back, Yelena doesn't know how, but she knows. What must it be like to have that kind of information? Does she know about Clint Barton?

She moves in to crush herself against her big sister, very barely remembering that she's still holding a nearly-full cup of bubble tea so she could move it out of the way. (She still wants to drink it later.) ]


You were not supposed to go.
siracha: (HEEpisode501898)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
No, it is actually pretty bad, but I've had worse.

[ Like, a lot worse. ]

The hot sauce makes it better.

[ And no, she will not apologize for her choices. ]

You're really blending into the crowd, huh? [ She gestures now to the balloon. ]
siracha: (HEEpisode501698)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, good. Well, you could have waited until tomorrow. Some newspaper would likely have a whole inventory for you to read through.

[ She raises an eyebrow, and echoes his shrug. ]
siracha: (01.)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
It's a Christmas classic, yes? With the — [ She makes the ever-familiar, over-popularized fake-yelling face, hands up to her cheeks.

It's been a hot minute since she's seen it though, so it takes her a moment to figure out what she's getting at. ]


Why? You think someone's rigged this building?
siracha: (HEEpisode504196)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 07:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ She shakes her head. ]

I'm okay. I was more worried that I only have the one rappel. [ Though she assumes at this point that nearly everyone here has some kind of helpful superpower, either from wherever they came from, or through the Confluence.

She still hasn't discovered her own yet, but ... for now she's happy to rely on the usual tools at her disposal.

She likes this woman too and assumes that whatever she means, she can handle herself. She looks like she can handle herself, on top of being no-nonsense, which is exactly the kind of person Yelena wants to work with. ]


If you're good, let's go.
siracha: (HEEpisode602260)

[personal profile] siracha 2022-03-11 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Yelena's mouth twists into a smile.

Oh, she likes this one. ]


I can.

[ A couple of the thieves have now made it back to where their rappel ropes are hanging from the ceiling, ready for their escape route. Yelena might usually go for throwing a knife into their legs to really stop them from mobilizing upwards, but she figures that they might have a bit of fun with them if they're still running around scared. Heck, they might lead them to more of their group for a happy gather-round.

Yes, okay, maybe she should be more hero and less ... a cat playing with her food, but eh. Her 'partner' did say interesting, yes?

The thieves begin their climb and its then that Yelena releases her blades, one for each of the two lines of rope, cutting their escape short. They fall, landing on their backs with a surprised thud, their jewels and trinkets flying out from their satchels. ]
arrowsguy: (Jfe7m7v)

[personal profile] arrowsguy 2022-03-11 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Right, the balloon. His eyes follow her gesture and he stares at it like he's just realized that he's carrying it except no, he's been carrying it for awhile.

He shakes his head. ]


Someone gave it to me and I just hadn't let it go yet.

[ That's his excuse and he's going to stick with it. ]

Might not be the best way to be subtle but no one's said anything to me. Most everyone's too busy...celebrating something. Did I miss a holiday?
ikols: to become the best yet (i'm just here)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-03-11 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
No, I haven't mentioned many people. I told him David was part of a gang I ran with as a teenager which is largely accurate, but since none of the rest of you were here it seemed surplus to requirements.

[ Overwhelming Peter with too much, too soon, has been something Loki has been avoiding. ]

I did mention Verity Willis, my best friend, in case she turns up. I should probably tell you about her too.
wordiness: (012)

[personal profile] wordiness 2022-03-11 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he turns an intrigued look on loki, taking in his profile with interest. ]

I'm actually incredibly interested to learn about someone you call your best friend.

[ for obvious reasons, but also out of general nosy curiosity. ]
dissemblance: (pic#15035411)

[personal profile] dissemblance 2022-03-11 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
she goes still — old instincts — but they melt into an embrace after a heartbeat. she may live in eternal anticipation of a knife at her back, but even if yelena chose to kill her for her many, many sins — would she fight her, now? hard to say.

instead, she just tucks herself in against yelena, cheek to cheek. it still amazes her, that her baby sister is now her height.


Hey, how many people get to die saving the universe, huh? I'd say I came out ahead of the game.

it's soft. playful. she feels curiously blank about it, numb on the matter of her own death. it's not peace, exactly, but it's as close as someone like her can ever get.

because it worked. yelena and all the rest — they get to live. that's what's important, that's what matters. dying is inevitable, and she's already spent a decade feeling like she was past her expiration date. all those second chances, all those near misses, all the things she walked away from. this way — it got to matter.
skagzz: (pic#15000575)

[personal profile] skagzz 2022-03-11 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ NO Tina doesn’t want to be alone again even if she doesn’t realize that’s what she (doesn’t) want ]

H E L P my adult responsible guardian man is ABANDONING MEEEEE

[ She stage whispers at him dramatically ]

Now they know we a we. I made it not weird.

ikols: gonna make him cream (he's my number one daddy)

[personal profile] ikols 2022-03-11 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
She can't be lied to, it gives her migraines of a sort. Everything Verity was ever told of magic or fairies or unicorns, it hurt her as a little girl. Cue me, for whom all these things are every-day, and she delighted in getting to know me.

[ There's a lot more to it than that, but that's the jist. ]

She's a New Yorker. Dyes her hair red, tattooed up both arms, big clunky glasses ... you would know her if you saw her.
skagzz: (fuk u)

[personal profile] skagzz 2022-03-11 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Tina does not like being turned down. Not that she’s not used to it and boy does she have the stamina to WEAR HIM DOWN DON’T WORRY

…but in that moment of irritation a trash can near them bursts into flames…
]

Everyone likes tea parties and you CLEARLY like pretty dresses.
wordiness: (010)

[personal profile] wordiness 2022-03-11 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ he winces, the idea of getting sick every time someone lied to him deeply disturbing. after all, while he and teddy try very hard to make sure their marriage is one in which they honestly communicate, they still fib to one another about harmless things, and god know most people lie now and then, often casually in their day to day lives. ]

It must have been difficult for her to get to know people growing up. How did you even meet her?

[ yes, he sees the irony of someone historically known as the god of lies befriending someone that he can't lie to. ]