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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But we have been face-to-face, and I've caught enough off of yours to know I've hit the right notes.

( smaller dick is less subtle with his responses; the way his lips twitch, the frowns, when his breathing pattern changes. jason hasn't said anything the rest of them don't already know, but he knows a lot of this must be--new, to someone so damn small. )

You're better than him, Dick. Always have been.

[ He crosses his arms, defensive and uncomfortable. He's usually so much better at hiding his emotions.

He snorts. ]

Yeah right. I have years to go before I'm anywhere near his level.

[ He is, of course, thinking strictly in terms of skill. ]

Not like that.

( in a one-on-one fight, they all lose against him. he doubts that's changing until bruce fucks himself up bad enough he can't fight. but-- )

You'll figure it out eventually.

[ Dick just sighs. What's the point of bringing it up just to be vague? ]

You said five Robins. Who are they?

( it's hard to explain, and way too feelsy for jason to. he's read dick enough for today, probably. a hand raises, fingers extending out as he counts them off, )

You, me, Tim, Steph, and Damian. Steph isn't here anymore, but she had been. Tim's--around. Two of 'em, mine and one that's around your age. There's a smaller me, too. Damian's--here. One of 'em. He's older and angrier.

[ Dick's eyebrows go higher with every name listed, and the realization that most of them have doubles is... a lot. ]

That's... a lot of people.

[ He went from being the only Robin and the only kid Bruce took in to being part of an entire legacy. To say nothing of the fact that they know his secret and know more about him than he does.

Dick shifts uncomfortably. ]

Are they all cool with me?

[ Does he need to worry about someone throwing a knife and actually trying to hit him? ]

I'm the one who's had the rockiest relationship with Dick Grayson.

( he could go into the arkham incident. into the numerous fights. but none of that is useful nor relevant--well. unless they're taking into account jason's apparent inability to not fuck up with tiny little robins. but that's a later problem. easing worries is first priority, especially given--everything. this is all a lot for a fourteen year old to adjust to. )

Everyone loves you.

[ He shrugs. ]

You threw a knife toward me, not at me, so that's a better greeting than some people give me.

[ He's used to rockier first meetings.

A sly grin: ] I'm gonna quote you on that, you know.

Go for it. 's not new information for any of them. Dick's the favorite. The golden boy. Golden brat, in your case.

( a step forward, and jason raises his hand--to ruffle dick's hair. )

Only brat I throw knives at is Damian. Kid's a little demon. He sees it coming before it even leaves my hand, and he'd bitch at me harder if I didn't aim at him.

[ He snorts. ] Didn't anyone warn you not to feed my ego too much?

[ Dick could duck out of the way-- the number of people who can get away with ruffling his hair can be counted on one hand, but he doesn't quite move fast enough. Maybe he dropped his guard too much. Maybe he's too distracted.

Maybe Jason reminds him of someone he lost a long time ago.

For the very brief moment he allows the contact, a myriad of emotions flicker across his face. Wistfulness. Longing. Grief.

Before he side-steps out of the way and shuts down his expression so completely that it's totally not suspicious. Nothing to see here, officer.

Instead he holds out Jason's jacket, a physical barrier between the two of them. ]

Here. Not burned to a crisp, just like I promised.

( it's not quite the reaction he expects from dick grayson, of all people. but he figures--dick's spent years with bruce at this point, hasn't he? and not even today's bruce; shitty as he still is, he's picked up a few things regarding watching brats. this dick grayson has bruce when he was young and--stupider. jason remembers that bruce well enough, and he'd had him after dick had left.

jason pushes the domino mask back up against his face, before he's taking the jacket and slipping that back on, too. he takes his time, gives dick space to pull himself back together. )

I'm not as nice as the others--but if you need anything, you can give me a ring.

( he's patting down his pockets, until he pulls out a small earpiece. tosses it over to dick. )

Batcomms. I'm guessing you can figure it out on your own.

[ He can tell that Jason noticed his abruptness (of course he did, Dick's not always the best at hiding his feelings) but he's relieved that Jason doesn't push it. He really doesn't want to talk about it. Though it occurs to him that, if Jason knows about Robin, he knows what happened to Dick's family. It's not a secret back home, but it's still strange.

Dick's neutral expression changes to amusement. He's good at dealing with difficult people, Jason. This is nothing.

He catches the earpiece easily, giving it a cursory look before pocketing it. ]

It connects to all of us?

That is what batcomms means. I'm assuming none of them are gonna give a shit if I give you one. You're one of us.

( even if he is a tiny little brat with tiny little brat problems. jason hasn't figured those out yet, but he figures that's something for dick to dig into. the bigger one. they're running out of nicknames and aliases at this point; tim already gave up robin for tiny tim, running with two isn't anything new, but man is it going to be another mess. his dick can stick with being grayson, for now. it works.

speaking of-- )

You'll wanna call Grayson the first to work as your guardian. He's already got Tiny Tim, he can probably shove you both into the same room. Unless you want Tim, but he lives in a small room with his boyfriend, so.

[ He'll have to take the time to unpack the "one of us" part later. His reaction to having his hair ruffled has also been carefully compartmentalized.

Dick puts his free hand in his pocket, but his other hand is still holding the knife with the tip pointed to the floor.

He raises an eyebrow. ] Ditching me already?

( ah, right, the knife. dick's small, most his fucked-with sheaths aren't going to work for him, so jason yanks the sleeve of his jacket up and starts pulling off the one strapped to his forearm. there are four steel throwing knives strapped down inside of it, and jason tosses the entire thing on over. )

Trade me.

( knives aren't a choice toy, but they're what jason has in excess and they're handy for a lot of crap. )

Rocky relationship, remember? 'sides, I'm not the kind of guy you want to hang around for long. And considering this is where I throw in a threat about how I'm pretty sure you're not gonna fuck all of us over. But if you use all the info and shit I gave you to do it, I'll toss your tiny little body into a tiny little box you're not gonna be able to open from the inside and let it float down to the bottom of the Hudson River--well, I figured this'd be about when you took off.

[ Dick catches the sheath easily in one hand, then flips the knife and holds it handle-out to Jason.

The threat should scare him, he supposes, but it just makes him laugh a little. ]

Not going to use quick-set concrete to make sure I can't get out? I'm a little insulted.

[ He seems far calmer now, having gotten answers and been gifted knives. He examines them the way he was taught-- pull one out, check the sharpness and straightness, put it back in-- all done in a matter of seconds. ]

( the laugh just sets in that jason's gut instinct was, in all likelihood, right. which is all that really matters here. he reaches a hand out to take the knife, and tucks that one back in against the curve of his spine. the throwing knives he'd tossed dick's way are all well-kept; sharp, weighted well. he's not keeping shit on him that'll fuck him over, and he wouldn't hand over a shit toy to a kid either. )

If I was gonna make it easy on myself, I would.

[ Dick's forearm is much smaller, so he straps them instead to his upper arm and covers it with the sleeve of his hoodie. ]

Just making sure.

I'll stick to Diadem until I find a place. [ 'In case you feel the need to check up on me' goes unsaid but implied. Notice that he hasn't promised to contact anyone about guardianship. ]

( stalking is a love language of sorts, isn't it? and jason's already admitted to letting tim follow him around as long as it doesn't inconvenience him, it's not going to be long before he starts following dick around, either. but-- )

I wouldn't, if I were you. We've got safehouses throughout Central.

( also not really recommended for kids, but they're all places he'd shove damian at if he showed up. but damian isn't a kid. jason sucks in a breath through his teeth, before he's--dropping a hand down to sift through his pockets for a pen. gestures dick forward once he has it in hand. )

Lend me your arm. ( so he can slouch over and write on it, thank you. he's sure dick would remember it without writing it down (or maybe he wouldn't at this age, jason doesn't knkow know) but this also gives him opportunity to, if dick does let him in close, plant a tracker on him. ) I've got an apartment, not a great one but it's not a rundown warehouse. ( because it's kyle's old apartment that he stole from him to repurposes into a safehouse. ) If shit goes south at the Diadem and you need a quick place to hide.

Edited 2023-06-24 02:54 (UTC)

All of those pockets and you don't have paper? [ Still, he holds out his forearm. He's trusting Jason not to draw weird stuff on him but it doesn't seem like Jason's in the mood to.

He doesn't notice the tracker. He probably won't until he returns to the Diadem. ]

What's the likelihood things will go south at Diadem?

[ Not that he's been complacent. Someone with a grudge against Starfallen could easily infiltrate and cause chaos. Dick hasn't even eaten the food there, opting to eat where the citizens of Central would eat. Less likely he'll be recognized as a Starfallen and potentially poisoned.

You know. Fun paranoid thoughts like that. ]

( last time he fell asleep in the vicinity of a dick grayson, he'd almost had dicks drawn on his face. if this dick was a little older, or a little less new, jason would be returning the favor. luckily, he isn't, and so jason sticks to scrawling the safehouse address towards the inside of his elbow--high enough most people won't find it, also high enough that when jason's fingers brush his sleeve to plant the tracker, it's not suspicious. )

I'd put it at 60/40. Enough of a chance to keep an eye out for trouble anyway.

( jason never stayed there. jason also shredded his credit card the moment he was out of sight of the welcome committee. but jason may also be just a little more paranoid than dick. so. )

Safehouse has shelf stable food in the kitchen, too. Three days worth for me, so--probably a week's worth for a scrawny runt like you. ( so tiny. ) There's a burner phone in the kitchen drawer to the left of the sink.

Edited 2023-06-25 21:07 (UTC)

[ Flatly: ] I'm not scrawny.

[ Sure he's small for his age and, yeah, maybe villains fling him like a ragdoll sometimes, but that's part of the job.

He also realizes that the moment he protested to 'scrawny,' that's all he'll be called from now on. ]

You're really worried about this place, aren't you?

( i'm worried about you gives away too much. he is, and he'll continue to be--this isn't a place for a kid, even if that kid is a robin. even if it's dick grayson himself. everything here is fucky, and he doesn't--want this to get more messed up than it already is. )

Always plan for the worst, right? So shit can't catch you off guard.

( contingency on top of contingency, just in case. )

[ If he had any doubt that Jason wasn't trained by Bruce, it would be gone by now. Dick looks over the address on his arm, committing it to memory. After this, he can scope it out, just to make sure he knows where it is.

He pulls his sleeve down over his elbow. ]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that man-eating plants and ecological disasters aren't the worst that can happen here?

[ Both of those things, while bad, is just another Tuesday in Gotham. ]

There's a magic cult who wants us undone, currently working alongside an idiot who's being manipulated into creating a fascist governing system for metahumans.

( so. no. the plants aren't the worst part. the plants just make him wish poison ivy was their biggest problem. )

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