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

[captainfuckingmagic]

Like Baltimore. You're not that far away from Baltimore.

[aggressiveapathy]

Baltimore is terrible. It's where hope goes to die. We're just where hope goes to seriously reconsider its life choices.

http://i.imgur.com/47S4VCN.gif — you come here often?

[buttpatting]

[Did he know who he was speaking to when he opened his mouth? Of course he did. Did he find it odd to see him in regular clothes? Of course he didn't. While the Will he knows has been torn apart and found himself inside a cell, he can't really expect the same to be true in the City.

A new start for everyone, after all. After a moment's surprise at seeing him enter, he simply reminded himself that things were not as they were back home, gave the tomato his attention, and let Will come buzzing to him like a moth to an open flame.

So: just a normal day when it came to the two of them, Hannibal would say.]

A simple soup with a side of bread, nothing more. Would you care to join me? It's rare I make a vegetarian course, but I felt a craving for it. You're always welcome at my dinner table, no matter where we are. Does that sound palatable to you, Will? Dinner with me again?

[fashionprincess]

But I have my Daddy's gold card. It should work, shouldn't it? [And if so he could do some shopping then get a plane ticket back home. And if it didn't he father or brother would certainly notice him missing.]

[buttpatting]

You can be whoever you want, and you can be whatever you want. For my own part, I've gone back to surgery, to working with the body instead of the mind. It was a difficult change, but one that benefited me and has benefited the injured. You want to go to school? Go to school. You want to join the FBI here? Join the FBI.

The only thing here to stop you is yourself, Abigail. No one can stand in your way, nor will I let anyone who tries succeed.

[The only thing that he'll ever let stop Abigail is himself. Nothing new with her paternal figures in that regard, right?]

[captainfuckingmagic]

Being drafted and put in a superhero city that's probably also full of super bad people isn't where hope goes to die.

[ incredulosity! or ness. you know, depending on how keen a grasp you have of grammar. ]

[alure]

Why did you go back?

[Her own fate can wait. In comparison to him- who thinks to much further in advance, who plans- her own destiny is easy to determine]

[buttpatting]

[What in the world is wrong with Baltimore besides the alarmingly high rate of murder? Did this man follow the Orioles and finally come to hate the city because of a bad game? Did he live there and find it less than pleasant? Is he just an idiot with a big mouth who needs to shut it before Hannibal feeds him something that makes Baltimore look like it's roses and shiny things (no seriously, how old is he)?

Mysteries. So many of them, so little time.]

As a happy resident of Baltimore, I can assure you this is not the place. [It's so serious, too. Don't fuck with Baltimore or they'll have a go. To Minnesota.] Why wouldn't detectives work with the police?

[aggressiveapathy]

Super is relative. Hero, villain, I don't think the porter even cares. So long as we make quality TV.

yOU!! YOU TREAT ME SO FINE COME HERE COME TO MY BOSOM

[hotbrains]

[there's just a fraction of a snarl in his tone] Oh, good. Just what the mental health industry here needed. I'm sure they'll welcome you in with open arms.

[buttpatting]

[Because

he doesn't

care

about the majority of people, why should he care about a whole new world comprised of people from completely different worlds? How many extra sessions would he need to learn about the normality of one to another in order to adjust his therapy accordingly?]

I found myself with a new set of skills that would be more profitable if I went back to the roots of my medical training. That, and there are already good psychiatrists here. [Just not great ones because that's Hannibal and only Hannibal.] What's one more change when the world itself is new and fresh? I found it more fitting.

[god_damned]

Unfortunately, in this world, your father doesn't exist. [ harsh. ] Therefore, no; no card of his will work here.

Most imPorts seek employment; I'd suggest you do the same.

[captainfuckingmagic]

[ He doesn't know he just heard someone tell him once! Brains on the sidewalk = better than being on a bus in baltimore. ]

Oh yeah? No, it looks like New York, I was just - it was a point of comparison. [ yes he is an idiot with a big mouth ] Territory? Perry and I tended to avoid the police usually, although sometimes we didn't. Didn't always catch the distinction.

[hotbrains]

[while he really doesn't know her as well as he'd like to think, some cues are fairly universal. there's a surge of something instinctive in will (guilt and protectiveness are so easily mistaken, sometimes), and his voice steadies. he can be the stable one, the one who knows what's going on and isn't scared. he can manage that for just a moment for abigail, of all people, in a new goddam dimension.]

Hey, hey. You know, most don't stay here forever. Most get sent back at some point, and from what I hear, you don't even remember the time here. It'll be like a bad dream. [WOW he is really bad at being comforting.]

keywords

[buttpatting]

[IKEA.

An offense to the mind and the body and his very soul. Frederick doesn't even have to try to be insulting.

His hair does that well enough. He doesn't need to open his mouth.]

My friend, simply because the desk is black does not mean it suits you. There are far better ones to be found, and ones you will make look far better with your presence, inside a hospital or in your own private office.

Asking for information is never vain, as long as there are those who can give it to you. There are plenty here. What would you like to know?

[fashionprincess]

This world? [Kuanosuke gives a nervous little laugh. The guy seems so serious but he can't be.]

[captainfuckingmagic]

[ wait ] What?

[buttpatting]

[Brains do not belong on the sidewalk. They belong in the freezer and the belly. Anywhere else is folly.

And sometimes they belong in the skull. Sometimes.]

It would be unwise to try and speak for every police officer, but I'm sure a private detective could find work with someone if there was a need and the skills were helpful enough.

If that's what you'd really like to pursue, I wish you luck. I must confess I'm a little taken aback by this apparent dislike of Baltimore. Were you once a fan of the Orioles?

[aggressiveapathy]

What what. They have reality TV in whatever backwoods dimension you came from.

[whocouldwinarabbit]

TAKE IT OFF AND PUT IT BACK ON AND I'LL CONSIDER GIVING YOU A BONUS TURN.

[god_damned]

Oh? Did you not realize? [ It seems not. ]

I said this City is similar to New York City, as in it is mostly a copy of the one you know. An alternate. The differences vary, depending upon your origin, but all imPorts have come from worlds different than this. You will find no one else of your world here unless the Porter designs to bring them in as well. I have the company of a handful who share the same origin as myself -- however, this is not always a common occurrence. As it stands, you will be very much alone.

Was this not obvious?

[fashionprincess]

First, I've never been to New York City. [Or perhaps he has, but he would have been far too young to really remember it.] Second, I've been here all of... [He trails off to check his nonexistent watch.] Well, not that long. And third, you really suck at this welcoming party thing.

[Once he's done he deflates and stares at the tags once more. Limited amount of money from them and he'd have to get a job. He was still a college student back home, when he decided to go that was. And he was trying to start a fashion business. He really couldn't see himself holding any job that would be easy to get...but without his father's money what was he supposed to do?]

i drop by from time to time i'd say.

[hotbrains]

I don't see why not. [the attempted smile is tired and tight and hardly believeable -- so again, nothing new. his eyes flick downwards to fix on the fruit in his hands, trying to guess what exactly it is that hannibal has in mind. his eyebrows furrow for a moment, and he seems to have missed the question itself.] Tomato soup? A little... Low brow for you, isn't it? [even with his talent for underselling hannibal's meals, campbell's and crackers isn't exactly what he would have expected. besides, the familiar face hasn't helped his derealisation, and his thoughts are inexplicably slow, almost sticky.]

[tesselate]

Guardians of the Galaxy?

[Hey when your boyfriend has privileges to edit Super Heropedia even teams from space fall under your radar.]

That means you're...probably from my world, actually. Getting back there, though? That's a totally different story.

[captainfuckingmagic]

[ harry takes issue with your... anatomical geography skills??? ]

I've never even been to Baltimore, it was just a comment, I didn't expect it to be the thing everyone got hung up on. Are all of you from Baltimore or something? [ what's an oriole ]