metamemes | TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

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TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

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.

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[ Similar thoughts over here, because incendiary arrows aren’t indoor ammo. This is why he asked where the vital organs were. ]

Yes, really! Only people that fly don’t need to carry cash, and there hasn’t been an Arrow-plane in over a decade.

[ Red Hood tried the trunk, so he’ll aim for the head. The arrow thwumps into the black-brown spot of disc flowers looking like the center of a sunflower - or an eye - but it barely has any effect.

He’s got its attention though. That’s something. Connor’s going to hold his own dodge as long as possible to give Jason more time to get clear. ]

Sometimes, you need money to get home. I’ll buy you a new phone.

Edited 2023-05-19 01:30 (UTC)

( he does get clear, which is what he needed. both guns get holstered as jason--pats around in his pockets for a minute. he doesn't have a batbelt, but he does carry his own assortment of useful bullshit, significantly more equipped now than he had been back in new amsterdam. thank you, non post apocalyptic futurey city, for being easier to carry his shit in. he pulls out a long thread of wire, and a taser.

squints over towards connor before he's yelling across the building, )

I can't fly. You know how many times I've had to stop at gas stations on the way back in the hood? I've lost count. An' the few times some fucker got the drop on me and broke it. No taxi wants to stop to let Red Hood in.

( he's bullied a few in the past. bullied his way into other people's cars, too. sometimes it just happens that way. in the meantime, he's pulling out a lighter, too. puts the taser back. )

You got anything useful on you? Aside from plain pointy sticks and sharp objects.

[ He doesn’t like where this is going, and he doesn’t even know where he’s going aside from away. There’s a mad scramble over dusty office furniture and at least one kick off a wall, before Connor can think about talking and running his fingers over the vanes of the arrows . ]

You should work on that. Do some community outreach. Soup kitchens.

[ Wooden, wooden, carbon, carbon… ]

Explosive, incendiary, and grappling, but I’ve only got one with firefighting foam. The building’s old.

[ So no. Nothing useful. A rampaging burning plant could send the whole place up.

A rampaging non burning plant is enough trouble. He puts another two arrows into it to encourage it to stay back, and the thing silently roars at him. ]

( another vine comes at his legs, and jason starts running off towards connor, dodging around the massive plant in the process. connor's got the sticking it full of things part of it down, so jason doesn't bother pulling out his guns to waste the last of his bullets. he has more, just--back in his bike, because there's only so many magazines he can hold on his person at one time with all the knives he's already hiding. )

Go in, or go long?

( the taser's still in his hand. he's flicking the dial up. looks to the ceiling for a brief moment before he's dodging around another vine. answers his own question-- )

Long. Get the sprinklers.

( connor's already ready for it, may as well make him useful. )

[ Get the - oh heck, all Bats are crazy. He glances up and confirms the sprinklers. Follows the pipes to the sensors and hopes like hell they still work.

Connor’s just going to get off the floor before he takes this shot, because this plan has dangerous written all over it. No doubt he’s Roy’s friend.

Time to do as much damage as possible - this first arrow hits the trunk of the plant, but it’s too green and alive. Sizzles rather than bursts into flame. Second shot hits below a sensor on the far side of the room. Not the closest target, but it looked the most flammable. ]

Get off the floor first!

( he needs to get a better jacket, is what he needs to do. get more room for a few more knives, maybe some batarangs just for fun. he'll steal tim's, because he knows tim went for the fancy ceramic shit. some extra flashbangs. always handy. he doesn't need room for more flexicuffs, jason doesn't usually leave people up enough to cause shit.

just like he doesn't plan to leave this plant up. the sprinklers start, and his jacket gets soaked quickly, hair sticking to his forehead as he ducks under another vine. unfortunately they're not in a nice abandoned warehouse with the very nice, high rafters, so jason settles on jumping on top of a close by table.

flicks the taser on with it pointed down and turns on the lock, because needing to use a fun stun gun as a projectile is always a possibility and being prepared for it is important. jason throws it, hard, in the direction of the plant. it doesn't ram into the plant itself, but close enough in the growing floor puddles that it's not going to matter. )

[ The fire's going out, but the sparks are flying. The plant monster is writhing in a way that plants shouldn't. They shouldn't have a nervous system - shouldn't really know pain, but watching this is ... unpleasant. Necessary, because a vine almost sweeps Connor straight into the water, but he's had better days. ]

You still in one piece?

( ew. see, this is why he should have packed the pesticides. would have made it a lot easier to just kill off the plant instead of squatting here, on someone's table, watching the building get soaked through while a massive plant monster goes through it's death throes. it's good the sprinkler system did work. it might not have been enough if they had aimed to set it on fire, given how fast that would have spread, but it's plenty for this. )

Not dead yet.

( yet, again, whichever. he does duck under a writhing vine, palming another knife just in case while they wait out the death of plantsaurus rex. )

That's encouraging. I'm not dead again either.

[ Connor is trying to mercy kill it faster by taking a few extra shots at vine and trunk. ]

How much of a charge on the taser?

A good question, that I should have an answer to.

( should, being the key word there. )

Pretty sure that's the one hundred thousand volts one. And it had new batteries.

[ There's a break in the rhythm of shots. The plant's just about down, anyway, so Connor has the luxury of time to shoot an incredulous look at Jason. ]

The equipment that you're willing to carry worries me.

( he's not worried about it anymore. jason has some projectiles, but not ones he wants to toss into that mess, so he opts to leave it to connor.

who clearly has a handle on it anyway. )

Seriously? I didn't even take out the C4. Or the lighter fluid.

Or the incendiary devices for them. Thanks for not bringing the building down on our heads.

[ He's more amused than anything. ]

That's a lot of ordinance for a normal day.

You never know when you might need to make a scene.

( or blow someone up, whichever. having c4 is never a bad idea. )

When the sprinkler's die down, wanna track down Lantern?

[ Connor can go months without so much as punching someone. Bats. They don't have pricklier personalities than Ollie, but it's close. ]

I try to keep my scenes under control. I did knock someone out with soup once.

[ But what's that? Jason has his full interest now - and then Connor catches himself and glances back and forth to the plant. ]

Which Lantern?

Rayner. I'm not searching out another Lantern, one annoying asshole's enough.

( do you think he wants to tolerate guy or hal when he has a perfectly acceptable, punchable lantern already here.

the sprinkler system stops, and jason's--tipping his head forward to shake the water out of his hair. )

Kyle's here? And he's not an asshole. He's a better person than most people give him credit for.

[ Who's damp? The smile on Connor's face is like the sun came out. He hasn't seen Kyle in forever, and they could definitely use a Lantern today. ]

When do we leave?

I spent a year hopping 'round with Rayner through the multiverse. He's an asshole.

( an important thing to establish before they go off and find him. mostly because they don't fight every four seconds anymore, so making it known jason is still certain he's an asshat is important. for reasons. )

[ A non-critical thing overall, but an important personal note if finding Kyle turns into the three of them having to work together. Which, given the plant monsters, is probably going to happen. ]

I appreciate that Kyle can be a strong personality with a unique perspective, and I won't try to change your opinion - but he's one of my best friends.

One of mine, too. Doesn't make him not an asshole.

( all of jason's friends are assholes. or most of them. he wouldn't have called kyle one of his best friends if it hadn't been voiced in this context - they tolerated each other before more than anything else. but he'll give it to connor, here.

as he steps down off of the desk and down into the water. )

It does from where I’m standing.

[ Which is in a puddle, tipping water out of quiver. ]

Why don’t you get us where we were going, and I’ll listen to you complain about whatever he’s done this time. I’m used to it.

Safehouse was upstairs. Probably flooded by now.

( oops. )

We can go to option 2. An' he hasn't done-- ( jason realizes, belatedly, that this both is and isn't a lie. kyle has done something, and it's been fucking with jason ever since because he keeps thinking about it. keeps waiting, and he doesn't even know what he's waiting for but it's driving him nuts. he bets that was the intent. which is an asshole move, but not one he's bitching about to someone he only vaguely recognizes. ) He doesn't need to have pulled stupid shit recently to still be an asshole.

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TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION

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