IT'S TIME FOR DIPPING STICKS AND...

[erewhile]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Are you thinking about apping to to Cape & Cowl, but you want to get a feel of the setting and how your character will fit in it? Then you’ve come to the right place! Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, and don’t be afraid to throw yourself at anyone’s thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

1. As you exit the Porter Building, the ambient noises you heard, so faint back inside where you found yourself at the center of glowing platform alone – save for the black screen and the female voice who greeted you – erupt in every direction. Every corner you look is bustling with people and cars and bicycles; people going about their everyday life, unaware you’re one of them: an imPort.

2. Or perhaps your bizarre behaviour or appearance catches their attention. Maybe it’s the communicator you picked up before leaving. Either way, several Cityzens headed your way come to a full stop immediately, each one eyeing you differently. Some looks outright afraid, others seem intrigued, and then there are the others whose surprise fades quickly and they carry on past you without as much a second glance.

3. Confused? The Network seems like a good place to start with soliciting information. There appear to be three functions for you to access: AUDIO, VIDEO, and TEXT. Make some friends while you’re at it!

4. Maybe you’re just thrilled to be here and help. The night time is a great time to scope out the underbelly of the City and its criminals. There’s always something going on in its more troubled corners: breaking and entering, drugs or arms trafficking, an attempting kidnapping... the list goes on. The question is: what will you do, Hero?

5. Make up your own scenario, if you wish! You may have discovered the Porter has granted you the ability to make it hail cats. Or that your power of super speed is gone entirely. Maybe you’ve noticed the Statue of Liberty’s sporting a new look. It’s up to you!

Comments

[alure]

She needs people. It doesn't have to be us.

Does it?

[alure]

Then tell me what it means. To you.

[invoking]

No.

[ But they don't always get a say in that. ]

You don't have to do what she says.

[alure]

You mean you're not a hero?

[invoking]

[ A derisive snort. ]

Not at all. "Hero" is something you hear in history books or fairy tales.

They're called "superheroes" here.

[alure]

[A small pause where she makes a slightly amused face at the camera]

You think there's a difference?

[whocouldwinarabbit]

[text!]

SEX ED STARTS REAL EARLY FOR CITY TYKES.

[slightlyoffchilt]

The most pressing sign is a lack of remorse. Empathy is not necessarily impossible -- just highly selective, to the point where it's arguable that empathy is only possible if the subject is also a narcissist and thus only relates to people much like himself. Habits of deception and manipulation are common, performed daily. Maybe even compulsively. The most interesting quality -- beyond the cruelty and tendency to dehumanize others, I mean -- is the flagrant disregard for social norms.

Fascinating, isn't it?

[invoking]

These superheroes are not like anything I've ever heard of or seen before. They wear strange costumes and have code names.

To protect their identities, but it's all still a little odd.

Hannibal Lecter | NBC's Hannibal

[buttpatting]

[Hannibal, the tall thing that he is, is currently all but looming. His face is intense, his concentration fully focused, and he's a bit intimidating to behold.

To the tomato in his hand, at any rate. There are already three plump, beautiful ones in a plastic bag in his other hand, but he's debating the merits of the fourth. Is it rotund enough? Is it juicy enough? Is it worthy of even entering his refrigerator, can it suffice at a dinner? The mystery of fresh produce is one few people understand without standing around and looking like idiots, thumping watermelons against their ears and nodding their heads sagely—yes, this one is ripe, this one will be great at our mundane little get together we'll play up as fancy by using Styrofoam cups instead of plastic—or putting it back down and shaking their heads at the poor thing.

Which is a valid way to figure it out, of course, but hardly dignified. One will not find Hannibal thumping melons. In public, at least.

Weighing the tomato in his hand and squeezing it gently, he looks across the way to the poor soul coming across a crate of broccoli that he's investigated already and found to be wanting in the worst of ways.]

You might want to try the grocer's on the corner, if you're really needing broccoli. [It's said as a stranger being helpful, hardly condescending or with a sense of you poor sod, not being able to tell from a faint change of smell that produce has started to go bad.] That crate has all gone bad, and no amount of thorough cooking will save it. The kale next to it is in near perfection condition, at least?

[alure]

They could always just lie.

[whocouldwinarabbit]

WHAT'S THE INTEREST? NEED A LITTLE VACATION?

[fashionprincess]

['Scuse you, this boy is totally fashionable.

...In Japan.]

Yet you come up with these code names and costumes?

[He does find the Hissy Fit idea amusing. Not his kind of thing but amusing.]

I'M TO LAZY TO LOG IN AND LOG OUT IT'S OKAY

[aggressiveapathy]

Good. We've got pretty much just average, chubby and broody.

[alure]

So if you feel bad about killing someone, you don't count?

voice;

[hotbrains]

[oh god. oh god oh god oh god oh god. it's really her -- scarf and all. there's a few seconds where the only sound is will's breathing, as he tries to settle his nerves.]

A- Abi- You...

[a very long few seconds. it takes him a few half-stammered sentence starts before he plunges forward into a full phrase. will does his best to sound confident and bemused, as though these conversations are no big deal.]

It takes some getting used to, doesn't it? [he is trying his best not to leap on the mention of parents and stargazing and gosh does she want to go out and watch the comet this fall huh HUH?? HUH????]

[alure]

But they're still helping people instead of hurting? Still be heroic?

[invoking]

Well, of course. They do care about the City.

[ A beat. ]

Why?

[alure]

That still makes them a fairy tale hero, doesn't it? Most people want something when they help.

[whocouldwinarabbit]

IT'S THE AGE OF THE INTERNET, HONEYBUNCH. "THE STORK DID IT" ONLY LASTS SO LONG.

[invoking]

These people don't, I guess. They've never asked for anything in return from the City as far as I know.

[ He shakes his head then. ]

But you don't have to worry about that.

Re: voice;

[alure]

[Yes Will, she really, really does. Abigail, on the other hand, fails the cool test. The camera visibly jerks, but stays focused on the moon. Her voice, on the other hand, starts going a bit faster.]

It does. I- I just started being happy in my old life.

[alure]

I like to know someone's name before we start picking out nicknames.

[alure]

But that makes them real heroes. Rushing into danger when they only thing they'll get back is pain. It's...not normal, is it?

Re: BEST RPERS

[aggressiveapathy]

Ugh, I'd rather just be the clean up crew after. Someone else can have all the drama.