metamemes | TEST DRIVE MEME #02

Entry tags:

!test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME #02

TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Good. [ he smiles as he lifts his cup to his lips again, lashes dipping over his eyes as he takes a sip.

it's something he hasn't given extensive thought to before, because he doesn't like to imagine a future without teddy, but the fact is.. there will be one eventually. teddy is beautifully mortal: he'll age and gray and eventually--hopefully after a long, fruitful life--die surrounded by his family.

and then billy will have to go on without him the best he can. and although the thought of it leaves him aching with dread, at least he won't be alone. ]

Please, [ he agrees, ] and you should get bacon if you still like it.

I do.

[ He already had some today! More would be better though. Loki briefly heads off to the counter to order himself some bacon pancakes and Billy some chocolate ones, as well as some fancy cookies for their drinks.

As he slides back into his seat with their food, he sighs. ]

Do you know Josh Foley, AKA Elixir?

I'm familiar with him.

[ mostly in passing. he knows josh is part of the five of krakoa, and that he would have been instrumental in resurrecting billy's mother if not for the fact that she'd done it herself first. ]

He's a good friend of David's. I think they went to school together, too.

[ Tossing his hands in the air, he huffs. ]

Well, everyone knows about him except me, apparently! [ Loki stabs his bacon-infused hel-scape of a pancake. ] It's quite annoying, how cute he is. Let's start there.

[ he laughs, hooking his ankle over loki's again as if in apology. ] To be fair, I hadn't really seen him until I visited Krakoa myself, and I was only on Krakoa because of Mom and Tommy.

[ and the whole mess with his grandfather, but mostly for his mom and tommy. krakoa is too messy for his tastes, thanks, and for someone coming from the kree/skrull empire, that's really, really messy. ]

I do like the gold. It's very pretty.

It is, and it's not fair when I pick out a very cute boy's entire wardrobe and then I get to see him wear it around, but he has a girlfriend. A girlfriend! I'm furious.

[ Furiously eating his pancakes, maybe. His knees knock with Billy's finding a place under the table to rest. ]

I'm not omnipresent or omniscient! I wish people would say if they're off the market instead of letting me make a fool of myself.

I don't think he's dating at the point I came from. [ so possibly the girlfriend doesn't work out. on the other hand, he shouldn't be encouraging loki with this, so he doesn't add any more to that comment.

instead, he takes a bite of his own pancake just because it's there, trapping loki's knees between his own to keep him from fidgeting any more with them. ]

Did you ask if they were interested in some sort of poly arrangement?

No, he has some terribly perfect girlfriend called ... I don't remember what she's called, I routinely purge her name from my memory, but it's something forgettable in any case. Lottie. Laura. She isn't even here so technically she doesn't exist and it wouldn't be cheating!

[ His legs behave when Billy captures them. Loki chins a hand as he eats, stuffing his face as he pouts. ]

Anyway, he's also into David, who is into Josh, but David is into me and I was into David until we went on a date and he ruined it. And when he insulted me in my own apartment later on.

Wow, this feels like a queer telenovela. [ he's watched his fair share of soaps, he knows.

the idea of david with someone other than his twin doesn't sit entirely right with him, but on the other hand.. it's not like he and tommy have sat down to discuss the way their relationships work. for all he knows, maybe tommy and david are poly, or have an open relationship, or some other configuration. it's not his business.

he taps the tines of his fork against his lower lip, quirking a look at loki. teddy isn't here either, but that doesn't mean he doesn't exist, and loki knows all that. he's just sulking, which is.. kind of cute. ] Does Peter fit into all this somehow? I mean, is he also into David and/or Josh, or is that a different arrangement? [ a beat, looking puzzled. ] .. And if Josh is into David but dating L-girlfriend, why wouldn't he also be open to you..? [ personalities or something? or just because he's loki? ]

Peter has nothing to do with this, this all happened prior to discovering I am irresistible to Spider-Men.

[ Peter sits firmly in a safe space in his mind, untouchable and separate from anyone else Loki feels attraction toward. He lowers his fork and looks uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his neck as he avoids Billy's gaze. ]

Around Valentine's Day the God of Love, Eros, cast a spell of infatuation. I was caught in it, as was David, and we ... [ Loki bites his lip to think of a way to explain, but that action probably says it all. ] We became intimate as a result.

Ohhh.

[ honestly, this is even messier than he thought, and loki's reaction is wildly telling.

he picks out a chocolate chip with his fork, putting it into his mouth to give himself a few moments to absorb it all. ] I'm suddenly grateful I didn't show up in February. [ who knows how much of a disaster that could have turned into, particularly given billy's inclination toward depression. ]

How did it conclude? I mean, you said David's still into you. [ but is that a good or bad thing? ]

I apologised for what I ... did. He said it was fine, neither of us was in our right minds, but I know his crush on me is phenomenal and I feel truly awful about what happened. I would never want to lead him on, I am attracted to him but he drives me crazy with all his questions. We're still friends and he's seeing some guy, a pirate. I don't know, I've been too busy with my spider to stay invested in other people's business.

[ Loki sighs, picking a bit of bacon out with his fork and nibbling on it. ]

Relationships are so time-consuming. Who knew?

[ Not him or Billy, surely!! ]

A.. pirate. [ well, that's not the strangest thing he's heard even in the last hour, but still. he wouldn't have pegged david for being into pirates. or loki. ... or his brother, for that matter, but it seems david's full of surprises. ]

He can be pretty intense, [ he agrees with a sigh. ] It's just who he is, I guess. [ the same can be said for a lot of them, really, their intensity just tends to be about other subjects.

he smiles at the last bit, flicking a chocolate chip at him. ] Turns out loving and wanting someone means spending a lot of time with them. --Did you want me to talk to David? Not about that specifically, I don't want to embarrass him. Just.. you know.

[ Going to eat that chocolate chip with his bacon, thank you. ]

No, don't say anything. I'm just venting. I think he may have moved on with the pirate, so it's fine, [ sighing dramatically, ] I wouldn't want to sway him away from the fine fellow by accident.

Edited 2022-03-09 20:23 (UTC)

[ his fingertips return to his lips to hide the amusement threatening. he's fairly certain that david's too practical to pine anyway, but loki's drama about it is worth not mentioning that fact. ]

Well, that's good. I wouldn't want you to have to fight a pirate anytime soon. [ though loki would probably win that one without much effort unless the guy is a very special pirate. ]

So you provided a whole wardrobe for Josh?

[ Oh, Josh. Let's go back to that, how fun. Loki slumps over his pancakes and if he had his vulpine ears they would lower. ]

I got him a few things. A lavender hoodie.

[ Josh looked awfully nice zipping it over his naked chest, urgh. Loki wishes he had never seen that. ]

I have Peter now, the rest of this matters not.

[ he pauses, then shifts in the booth, leaning back and moving both legs to one side of loki's so he can stretch his legs out and rest his heels on the seat next to the other man's hip. .. there's one good thing about being short, at least, because loki sure can't stretch out with those stupidly long legs of his. unless he changes shape, but that's cheating. ]

It kind of matters. [ he's hesitant to say it, because he's still piecing his thoughts together about it, but he's pretty sure he's right. ] But it depends on how you feel about Josh, and if it's anything like what you feel for Peter.

[ Loki's legs curl back under his own chair. ]

It's not that.

[ With his pout more of a moue of discontent, he frowns at his plate. ]

I don't enjoy feeling like a fool.

I know. [ he taps the toe of his shoe lightly against loki's thigh. ] But you're not one, and everyone knows that.

[ a week ago, he wouldn't have expected he'd be here, in another reality, discussing loki's love life, but life has a way of surprising you, doesn't it? ]

.. And from what I've gathered, he's a little bit of a himbo. [ indicating a small space between his thumb and index finger. ]

[ That makes Loki's lips twitch, failing to straighten them as he glances up at Billy. ]

Actually, he reminded me a little of you. [ Before Billy can give him a kick, he hurries to explain in a placating voice, ] He was beautiful.

[ Don't hurt him, okay. ]

[ he falters, then goes pink just when he thought he was done feeling flustered during this conversation. ]

Now you are flattering me. You see me often when you look at other people?

No, in fact. That's probably a disservice to Josh, he's perfectly nice in his own right.

[ Sipping his now cool coffee, he enjoys the sight of Billy's blush. He tries to lighten the sentiment. ]

I'm shallow and I like a good view, don't fret.

You can fool a lot of people, but I know for a fact you're not that shallow.

[ he's a little like the beach, really. there's a point where the safe shallows abruptly become the ocean, and if you're not prepared, that drop off can be terrifying. ]

Besides, I'm not fretting. [ his glance lingers against the red around loki's wrist, then drifts up to his eyes. ] I like that you think of me.

[ He has to do something to save face, it's all too easy for Billy to read and deconstruct him. Only fair, really, that Loki starts to push back a little (well within the bounds of the trust he is granted, of course). After all, what harm can words really do ... ?

He leans forward, lowering his voice and leaning on the arm that sports a bracelet-clad wrist. ]

If we didn't have our significant others I would kiss you until you were breathless and drag you onto my lap so that I could feel every inch of you under my hands.

[ his breathing catches so abruptly that it hiccups, eyes widening, ears beginning to resemble his cloak. that is not fair. ]

Loki. You can't just-- just say things like that. [ he can and apparently will, and even over breakfast. and he knows he's probably just doing it to tease him, but it's working, which is embarrassing him even more.

he presses both hands to his cheeks as if to hide or take away some of the heat there. ] And anyway, you'd have to date me first before any of that.

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject