TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

[metamods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces. Typically, a Confluence only occurs in one place at any given time. Typically.

These are not typical times.

Most of the Starfallen will arrive in Excelsior, Washington, slipping from the sky one by one, needing to be helped as they come floating down. To many citizens in Excelsior – individuals who are far from fond of metahumans – their arrival is a sign of bad things to come. It’s always a sign of bad things to come. This time, however, the bad things don’t come in the typical sequence. Instead, they’re dealing with a problem when the Starfallen begin to unwittingly arrive. What’s that problem? Plants with a rather problematic taste for flesh.

While Excelsior is hoping for spring to actually stick on the horizon, they’re warding off plants left and right. At least none of the plants seem to be able to spit fire – uh, yet?

In the midwestern part of the country, a huge barrage of rain has begun to settle over the land. Rain like this isn’t normal. Stormfronts usually keep moving forward, but this isn’t. And while rain isn’t a bad thing, this rain … is a deluge. A flood upon floods. Some Starfallen individuals will be showing up in the middle of this, arriving in both Little Love and Central City. Hope they can keep their heads above water!

Making matters worse is that everything seems a bit – planned? No, that’s not the right word. Like it’s all happened before. Or happening again. People all over are definitely noticing a strange uptick in déjà vu. Most worrying is how it seems to be happening everywhere.

EXCELSIOR

Ah, Excelsior – the city that doesn’t ask “why” something should be explored, but how quickly it can be explored. If only someone there had developed a swift measure to deal with a sudden influx of killer plants! The good news is that these plants haven’t killed anyone – not yet, anyway – but there is all the time in the world for that to change.

As the Starfallen arrive, they’re unlikely to notice the plants, and instead will see technological marvels all around them. Although Excelsior isn’t fond of Starfallen, they like the idea of welcoming them and getting them the hell out as quickly as possible. This philosophy results in all of the Starfallen being guided down to the ground, with further instructions awaiting them once they’re on two feet. (Or four. No one’s judging!) But once they land, they’re likely to notice that things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.

After all, someone in Excelsior failed to ask “why it’s bad to create an incredibly unlikely strain of plants that is genetically inspired by snapdragons, the flowers from those plumber games, and piranhas,” and instead went ahead with “how quickly can I do it?” Their experiment proved to be far too successful, aided by cutting-edge bioengineering technology.

Even though all Starfallen are encouraged to depart for the Midwest after they receive their teleportation devices, it’s apparent that the people of Excelsior need help. Right now, their chilly reception can easily be written off as a symptom of what’s happening. Dealing with newcomers at a time like this? Preposterous! People are injured from wild, flesh-eating plants. Obviously!

So, kind Starfallen – whether you’ve just arrived or came by when you heard word of the Confluence of trouble – will you give these dour folk the hand they so desperately need?

THE MIDWEST

Elsewhere, both Little Love and Central City are experiencing a flood of problems. Most of the problems are the result of the flood. While Little Love is known to be the quieter of the cities in this Confluence-ridden world, it finds itself dealing with a torrential downpour that it’s never seen before. Meteorologists quickly note that this is unnatural. All the way from Kansas to Illinois to Michigan there is rain, rain for as far as the eye can see. Flood warnings have no end in sight, and the people in these cities have asked for help from outside. If this rain doesn’t stop, all summer crops will be at risk!

The source of these problems? A Confluence. More specifically: a five-year-old girl who was born in Little Love just got news that her father died in an accident. Combine that with the incoming Confluence and the girl unwittingly unleashed her sadness upon the land.

Anyone investigating would learn that the rain began in Little Love, right before it began to spread upward and outward from the little town. Soon, Kansas, and then the entire Midwest, would feel the impact of her grief. Even when she sleeps, it doesn’t go away – her pain is a constant, after all. Finding her is key. No one can truly prevent a child’s grief, but perhaps they can help her realize her impact on the world and get her newly-arrived power under control.

DIADEM HOTEL

Whether you’ve gone to investigate the rather moist trouble or you’re just looking for some shut-eye, you’ve got a place that’s waiting for you. Need to clean up some plant-induced wounds? It’s time to hit the LUXURY HOTEL to ease any concerns.

The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings for just a small taste. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.

There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlet shops that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing a film called BARKS OF THE DEAD, a story about a zombified dog who protects a small family during the zombie apocalypse. Despite its taste for other dogs’ brains, this dog is fiercely loyal and will do anything for its owners.

EVERYWHERE: DÉJÀ VU

Less obvious and more innocuous are the strange stints of déjà vu all over. At first, it might seem like it’s a familiar thing you’ve seen before, but then you’re certain that you’ve ordered those chicken tenders before. Wait, you haven’t even been to this city before, much less this restaurant.

The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just that. Whole days will begin to feel like they’re repeating – surely they’ve solved that rain problem? Or the plant problem? Didn’t you hear that it happened?

Anyone keen to take notes might want to – assuming you haven’t just gotten that you did and they’ve been lost to time.

CLIFF NOTES.

➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Excelsior, Little Love, or Central City – with the bulk of them arriving in Excelsior. Their arrival will be expected and handled by a number of odd pieces of technology that help them as they fall from the sky itself. None of the locals will be happy to see the arrivals, but they’ll be so frazzled that they won’t be able to give them their usual chilly welcome. Vicious plants are on the loose and it’s not a meta’s fault. This might be meaningless to newcomers, but anyone who’s old hat at this will know that Excelsior can cause its own problems just fine, thank you.

➢ Arrivals who land in Little Love or Central City will arrive to a lot of rain. This much rainfall can impact the climate, daily life, crops – you name it. Arrivals will also be very, very soggy. If they’d like, they can ignore the trouble in favor of getting answers or heading to the hotel. No one’s obligated to lend a hand.

➢ Current Players are welcome to treat this as a bonus event. These events are canonically happening within the game but can be largely ignored if you'd prefer to use the month for personal plots. You can tag into the TDM, reference these prompts in network posts, or use them in your own logs.

➢ As for the time stuff, feel free to treat it as a wobbly time event! Mess with memories, get a character caught in the same day, or even just make someone feel like they’ve suddenly acquired precognition as a power. The sky’s the limit!

WILDCARD.

Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects.

Comments

Connor Hawke | DC Comics

[mendelian]

Excelsior

[ There’s an angry flower lolloping at Connor. Truth be told, it’s the least objectionable part of the past hour, which began with dropping out of the sky in downpour of people into… Metropolis? The skyline is wrong.

The flower has caught up with him and is repeatedly smashing itself against his ankles, which is more of a nuisance than anything. He’s just going to sidestep around it.

Apparently repeatedly. He has to wonder if this is still Gotham, and the real change is that it’s clean. ]

What do you want? I crashlanded right before you got here.

[ The flower splits its petals open, showing sharp, stamen teeth that it attempts to sink into Connor’s boot. He is, luckily, faster than a plant. ]

Please don’t make me fight a plant.

[ He’s just going to cross the street before he tries to reason with flora any longer. The plant rolls after him with its mouth in a snarl.

He could skewer it with an arrow.

No, he couldn’t. It’s alive, or at least mobile. It’s also ridiculous. He could stomp it flat with his shoe; it’s hardly a fair fight. It’s a flower.

No one tell Ollie and Roy he fled a flower fight. ]

OurPowers, Video, UN: GreenArrow

[ The not-unfamiliar sight of a masked superhero, this one clad in green and muddy orange, appears on a new account.

There’s quite a collection of broken @ and odd hashtags, including several that people may recognize like Green Lantern, Batman, and Superman, but also some that are clearly geared towards getting general attention of the trending and fyp variety. ]

Hi. I’m Green Arrow.

[ He’s also aware that the introduction is unnecessary, as it’s in the username, but Connor thinks it would be rude to not say hello. For an elder Gen Z, he doesn’t use social media much. He just wants to see if the rest of his family’s here - they had been together right before the meatball rain. Roy would be online, if he made it as far as a guild member funnelling the arrivals to Central City. ]

The big mall in downtown Central City is too big, if you know what I mean. Does anyone have any recommendations for stores that sell archery supplies, uniforms, and normal clothes?

I want to put together a list of about ten places to check out without spending hours in the mall. If there’s any other shops that you’d recommend, I’m listening.

[ That seems like enough to go by. “Hi, I’m Green Arrow” was probably more than enough for what he wants. He ends the live feed.

Within an hour, he has over 200 followers so he must be doing something right. ]

Wildcard

[ Open to anything! ]

( wildcard, idk on a rooftop or something, embrace the cliche )

[torchbearer]

[ kyle does some patrolling, loosely. it's a tough habit to break and while he's not keen on interfering at the big stuff, he can still give people a hand when they need it.

and that's when he spots — ]

Connor!

[mendelian]

[ He’s only on the roof because he thought he saw someone else on the roof, and was hoping to find out a little more about what was going on by meeting a native vigilante. Or catch a burglar in his spare time, it’s not like he’d ignore problems outside of Star City.

But he wasn’t expecting - ]

Kyle?!

[ He doesn’t know why he’s so surprised. Really, Connor has a short list of less than a half dozen people he expects to be around whenever his life is thrown into upheaval. He’d just assumed it was Ollie. ]

What on Earth is going on?

[torchbearer]

That depends. What are you asking?

[ what is going on requires specific answers for specific situations. he hovers for a moment before landing down next to him. ]

[mendelian]

[ Connor waves his bow at the city around them. ]

I fell out of the sky and got attacked by flowers. You’re here. If you can add anything else, that would answer the question.

If you can answer and not make me have more questions, I’d appreciate it.

[ He’s not going to get his hopes up though. ]

[torchbearer]

Yeah, sounds like Excelsior is having a time.

[ kyle mentally runs down what he knows before ticking it off his fingers for connor. ]

Okay, so there are a bunch of heroes. Sort of government sponsored guilds. One for the goodies, one for the reformed baddies. If you sign up, you get benefits but you also may get called on to do their work. Working without is harder and people trust you less, but it's doable.

A lot of Bats are here, from alternate universes and all that. We had Wonder Woman and Batman for a bit but they left.

[mendelian]

I think I’m having a time.

[ The answers don’t make him have less questions. He’s going to start with the more manageable ones, though. He can work his way up to the alternate universes. ]

I heard about the guilds. You joined the good one?

[ They’d snap a Green Lantern up in a minute. ]

[torchbearer]

[ kyle shakes his head. ]

Too dicey. I didn't like the idea of being given orders, so I'm back to the poor artist life.

[mendelian]

I told them I’d think about it. I told the "baddies" that I’m unreformed and unqualified.

[ Connor got the impression that they were like the Justice League, and he’s barely comfortable with the reservist-sequence arrangement he had there in the past. He is the third Arrow they’ll call. Right now, he might not even be that high. ]

You can’t be a starving artist yet. They said the debit cards would work for two months to ease the transition.

[torchbearer]

[ kyle nods absently at that. the choice doesn't surprise him. connor has always been reliable like that. he knows what he can do and what he's willing to. unlike kyle who often goes off the rails in the past. ]

I've been here since November. They helped but I'm well past that.

excelsior.

[reneger]

( jason would absolutely tell roy in an instant that he caught one of his crew running from a flower. he wouldn't even pause; his phone would be out, roy's contact would be pulled up, and he'd send a picture with a little "have you seen this shit man?".

unfortunately for him, he doesn't recognize this guy as one of roy's crew, looking at him from behind. which is how jason first finds him: making his way across the street to avoid a stalkerplant while jason rides his bike on the street itself. he slows down to a stop to let him pass, waits for the plant to be lined up just at the edge of the curb then--turns the bike and speeds up to run it over, squashing it into the pavement.

drops a boot down onto the sidewalk to hold the bike up moments after and takes off his bike helmet, so he can squint over at mister vaguely familiar but not familiar enough to place, like an uncomfortable itch refusing to go away at the space on his back that he just can't reach. )

It wasn't gonna stop until it got you. You're better off shooting 'em.

[mendelian]

[ The flower meets a horrifically violent end, and there’s a brief moment where he considers protesting. He doesn’t know it was sentient, and he eats plants so he’s going to chalk it up as overkill but not objectionable. ]

I think I could handle the flytrap if it “got me.”

[ There’s something vaguely familiar about the man, but recognition eludes him. ]

Do all the plants here move around?

[reneger]

Just the bitchy ones.

( excelsior isn't usually his turf, but things here'd been going sideways enough jason figured he may as well make himself useful. and there's the new arrival hoard, which is always good to stalk down. just in case. )

Some idiot let loose a science experiment, and they've opted to take bites out of whoever's closest. Don't leave 'em just cause you can handle them; when it grows up to be a big boy, it's chompers'll get bigger, too.

[mendelian]

... is the idiot named Poison Ivy?

[ Well, he did start the day in Gotham. He should probably check if that's a potential issue, and then try to remember anything he might have heard about her that might be important. Like how she's known for getting very offended when someone hurts plants.

He sighs inwardly. It's going to be a long day. ]

Understood. I'll shoot the plants so they don't grow up and eat civilians.

[ He doesn't have to say things like that outloud when he's at an ashram. ]

[reneger]

No one who's ever met Ivy'd call her an idiot.

( but that half answers the question of why this guy's vaguely familiar even if he can't quite place it. not everyone here knows poison ivy. eyes narrow, as jason shifts his weight fully onto the foot on the sidewalk. just in case he needs to make a jump for it. )

Where'd you come from?

[mendelian]

Idiot was your word, and I haven’t met her.

[ Are we defending Poison Ivy? She might be intellectually brilliant, but emotionally she’s probably shortsighted and self-centered. She’s an eco-terrorist: people have died because of her. That’s stupid. ]

We always moved around a lot. Either Idaho or Star City. More recently, I fell out of the sky three blocks down. Does it matter?

[reneger]

( so, roy's side of town. that makes sense. it's right on the tip of his tongue, this guy's name, but fuck if he can place it. how irritating. )

You look familiar. An' I don't usually lose names.

( may as well admit it. hiding who he is won't offer any benefits. )

[mendelian]

Connor Hawke.

[ Sometimes Green Arrow, but not at this particular moment. An entire island of mercs and assassins know who he is. Being discreet isn’t a priority, although he is still wearing the uniform under his orange hoodie. ]

And you are…?

ourpowers; un: green canary

[aucellus]

( the video response comes from a small child wearing his own green mask, but it looks like it was something he'd likely picked up from the dollar store: cheap plastic that fits over his eyes with a rubber strap keeping it on. )

You don't look like Green Arrow to me. Are you new? Or like an ultra secret Green Arrow 2.0?

[mendelian]

Green Canary, huh. I like it.

[ What a cute kid. He looks about Lian’s age. ]

And you got it. I’m the ultra secret Green Arrow 2.0. But I’ve still got blond hair like the original.

[aucellus]

It's what Harley called me after I took down evil Batman all by myself. So I figure, I'll keep it. It sounds cool.

( his dad hasn't told him anything about some super secret green arrow 2.0, but also he didn't know a lot of stuff before going back to the place mom was from. so that's not super surprising. )

Since I'm a superhero now. Like you, right?

[mendelian]

I've been told that "sounding cool" is an important part of the process.

[ Or was it looking cool? Coolness is high on certain priority lists. ]

I know a Black Canary. She might be the coolest person I know.

[ But he's going to just touch on this one little detail, very calmly, there is nothing to see here, kiddo. ]

You took down an evil Batman?

[aucellus]

She's my mom. And she's definitely the coolest person around.

( waay cooler than his dad. )

And yeah, evil Batman! He was going to shoot Wildcat so I took him out.

[mendelian]

She's your mom?

[ That's... interesting. Connor's not one to jump to conclusions, but there's a mop of blond hair and Green Canary is suddenly very on the nose.

He's not going to be annoyed about it yet. There's something odd - Dinah doesn't have a kid, that Connor's aware of, so there have to be some extenuating circumstances. Right? Ollie wouldn't hide an entire kid again. ]

Sounds like you're going to be cool by default, taking out evil Batmen. Where'd he come from, anyway? He never used to be evil.

[aucellus]

He wasn't Batman Batman. He was a different Batman! One with guns.

( batman isn't evil. he's one of the good guys, even if he's super messy and put a tracker in him which hurt way more than the pinch he said it would. )

I don't know where he came from, but he kidnapped me and Black Lightning's kids and Harley's kid to some weirdo's place. Where Batman's kids were? They had a room full of super old arcade games.