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

It's one of the models I posed for so they could get my helm right.

[ The horned, green-and-golden clad figure that pipes up is almost identical to the doll the young man is holding, right down to a pair of bright green eyes. Long black-nailed fingers (also matching the toy!) pick out a sword to fit it in a plastic hand, and Loki smiles sidelong at the newbie meta, accent like American-Norwegian in a blender. ]

Don't forget my ancestral sword. I can't battle bad guys without Laevateinn.

[ Tim looks up at the man, who is casually wandering around in full regalia in the morning. As one does, presumably.

He glances back at the figure for the name. Loki. Well, that explains the costume choices. ]

Is Fenrir sold separately?

The Fenris Wolf isn't a resident of this nexus-realm, for which you should be grateful even if his model would be awfully cool. [ He ferrets through the box of heroes (tosses Iron Man to the back!!) and pulls out a plastic-y looking Sleipnir. ] I built him from trash-bins, flew around on him for a day. One more for your Norse myth collection.

[ A hand is offered to be shaken as his outfit shimmers in green light, then shifts into a green hoodie and jeans to match the other man's style. ]

Loki, God of Mischief. Hi.

I’m always grateful for less gods interfering on earth. Most of them are just trouble, and they’re not even the God of Mischief.

[ The tone is pleasant, but seriously, if this turns into Ragnarok, Tim’s going to be upset. After mentally checking that, no, they haven’t made any sort of agreement or bargain, he shakes Loki’s hand. ]

Nice to meet you. I’m Tim. Did you really make the horse out of garbage cans?

I did, I needed a ride in a hurry and I am nothing if not on-brand.

[ With an enigmatic wink! He does have a ~~terrifically handsome thank you~~ face that says Punch Me, Do Not Trust, so he couldn't blame Tim for suspecting the handshake of foul play but it is just that. A slightly cooler-than-human handshake. ]

Do you deal with gods often, Tim?

[ It's not so much the face (although yes, attractive and possibly smarmy/punchable), it's the fact that he calmly introduces himself as the God of Mischief. When you advertise like that, people are going to find you sus as hell. ]

No, not at all.

[ It would depend on your definition of god, and perhaps your deity hierarchy of choice, and even if the answer was yes, it would be no today. Tim Drake doesn't deal in gods; Robin does. So lying to the God of Mischief it is. He can't even make small talk about seeing the red one that likes to attack San Francisco on TV, because multiverse. ]

Except - does this count as dealing?

[ Lying is sus and it smells funny, but no need to mention that right now. Hmm. ]

This counts as a conversation.

[ He gives him a funny look, as anyone might when being asked if they were dealt with. ]

They interfere back home though, on your Earth? Is that not what you meant?

[ Then Tim is probably going to smell funny most of the time. At which point, is it even smelling funny anymore? ]

You say that like conversation and making a deal are mutually exclusive.

[ He would really know what sign he is wearing that is giving away his non-native status. He's been trying so hard to blend in. ]

Isn't that what all gods do?

Isn't that what you're saying you experienced?

[ Touche, Mister Tim, evading all his simple questions with questions!! He appreciates the worldplay, though. ]

I can leave, if you like. Let you spend some time with plastic-me, he talks far less but also lacks the funds to buy you a corndog.

I don't know if mere mortals can truly quantify what gods do.

[ Besides, "one of my besties is a demi-god" is wrecks what little (and evidently fading) chance he has of being seen as normal.

Anyway, there is suddenly something much more interesting in play than wordplay: junk food. ]

Two questions. Are we talking about an American-style corn dog, or a Korean corn dog?

[ It's not a no to either one, but the latter is far more interesting. ]

Whichever style you prefer, Tim. The reality of whatever we purchase matters not.

[ Loki lets an enigmatic smile linger and nods down the road, off to where the food trucks are parked to flank the crowds. ]

Perhaps you can quantify what happens to the wrong sort of corndog.

Edited 2022-04-18 07:13 (UTC)

The wrong type of corn dog is left to flollop about in the batter like a mattress in the swamps of Squornshellous Zeta.

[ He didn’t really miss a beat coming up with that. Tim traces the nod to the food trucks and hums a little. ]

I think, instead of worrying about whether or not they’re covered in pork belly and french fries, I should be worried about why the god of mischief would want to buy me a corn dog. Second question: is something about to happen to the food trucks?

Edited 2022-04-18 18:30 (UTC)

I mean ...

[ He heads over, leading the way and rubbing the back of his neck as he enjoys teetering on all of Tim's spiky responses. At the food truck he buys two corndogs and offers one over. ]

Pick, American or Korean. Which would you prefer to have? Close your eyes, trust me, and say which you would like to have in front of you. Go ahead.

[ He really isn’t sure about being shepherded along, but he’s certainly curious about the metahumans in this world - and Loki obviously qualifies if his action figure has a matching mount. So Tim goes along without protest or explaining that, no offense, but he doesn’t trust anyone.

He doesn’t completely close his eyes though and watches warily through a tangle of dark lashes. Sees what kind is proffered. ]

Korean.

[ Tim quickly moves to grab Loki’s wrists to prevent a swap or new purchase. If successful, then he’ll actually shut his eyes. ]

[ He waits for Tim to grab his wrists and smiles at the sight of him with closed eyes. Finally. Between one blink and the next (if those peepers were open) the corndog becomes a Korean version of itself and the scent on the breeze shifts immediately to reflect it. ]

One corndog, as requested.

[ Opening his eyes, he releases his grip on Loki and considers the corn dog with some suspicion. ]

Neat trick.

[ He sounds sorta grudgy about it, because there’s some meta handwaving going on when he couldn’t wave his hands. Teleportation? Transmutation? Magic? For a corn dog for a random guy on the street. ]

Are you going to tell me why we’re having corn dogs? The Norse god of the harvest was Freyr. I’m pretty sure Loki would spike the food with laxatives. “Mischief.”

You start quoting the eddas at me, I start walking away.

[ He munches on his own corndog, hand stuffed in a pocket that isn't holding his stick of deliciousness. Loki shrugs a shoulder. ]

I was hungry, I thought you might appreciate a snack too. Don't think too deeply on it.

“‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves”… no, that’s not right. I guess I’m fresh out of eddas; you’re safe.

[ Tim gives him a small smile. Oh, he’s absolutely going to think too hard about this. Gods don’t just do stuff because they’re… huh. ]

So gods really do just do stuff on Earth because they’re bored. Seeing as how it’s not an apple…

[ He takes a bite of the corn dog. Given the actual purchase and the hero status, he’s about 92% certain it won’t turn into anything unnatural-like. ]

We may gire and gimble in the wabe if the sun gets any hotter today.

[ The corndog is exactly that, and very tasty. Regular-tasty, not the sus kind. Loki looks amused, making his way to sit on a stone bench. ]

Why would I give you an apple when there are roasted meats and cheeses around?

[ Tim follows, but doesn’t have a seat. He’s short, and would prefer to look around from a better vantage point while they eat and chat. ]

Because it’s always an apple. Eris, Adam and Eve, Snow White. Iðunn.

[ Ahem. ]

Ancient or modern, take your pick. Forbidden fruit that they really should say no to? It’s always apples, and the apple always bites them.

[ He takes another bite to put a button on his argument. They even put it on a Twilight cover, but Tim won’t admit to knowing that. ]

Sorry, I’m a bit of a nerd.

Idunn doesn't pass out her crop lightly and do I look like an apple guy to you? Don't answer that, you saw me in horns and now have a bias.

[ Loki tilts his chin up as he basks in the sunshine, plus half a shadow of a somewhat short could-be hero. His own long legs stretch out, ankles resting either side of one of Tim's feet. ]

Myths are the text messages of the old worlds, don't take them too literally. You never know which tone they were penned in.

Who has a problem with horns?

[ He has friends with horns. He has enemies with them as well, but Tim’s keeping that quiet. ]

Sounds like a Judeo-Christian bias to me, and I’m an atheist. I only believe that immortals exist and style themselves as small g gods once I’ve met them.

But point taken, about the tone they were written in. In the version I know, you told her you had some “very special apples” for her.

Lots of people.

And I mean ... I am a god, but you can shave that down if your mind needs to in order to cope with it.

[ Loki shrugs, accustomed to being told he isn't what he is. It's as funny as being told he's a cosplayer of himself, at this point. ]

Idunn is one of the All-Mother triumvirate, whenever it is called on to rule, alongside Freyja and Gaea.

I can act like “lots of people” if you really want me to, but this seems to be keeping me un-smited so far. And I got free food out of the deal.

[ In short, lots of people are idiots, and he is not. ]

Semantics, I think. If you’re old enough and powerful enough, people will worship you as a god or close enough anyway. I’ll take your word about the triumvirate. I know more about the Greek pantheon.

But it is not semantics, it's literal.

[ He wouldn't bring it up with just anyone but the allure of talking to an intelligent person about it is ... strong. ]

All pantheons are real, all gods exist, no one need argue about it. All creation myths are true within their own right ...

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