TEST DRIVE MEME ( 003 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #3

Hello, and welcome to LifeAftr! We’re pleased that you’re expressing an interest in the game. Here, you can test the waters, gauge how your character may fare in the world of LifeAftr, and even gain some in-game incentives, if you so choose.

Remember that Reserves will open on September 17th and that Applications will open on September 24th!

Two important notes:

1. LifeAFtr's test drives take place on the island of Mu, which exists apart from the real world and possesses a dream-like quality that characters are innately aware of from the moment they appear on its shores. No need to panic or fret. Dreams are odd things, after all - and anything can happen in them. Why would anyone question where their mind chooses to wander in its sleep?

2. Due to the nature of Mu, threads in our test drive can not only be accepted as thread samples in your application, but can be accepted as game canon as well. In fact, certain choices your character makes in Mu have the potential to bear in-game consequences, largely in the form of test drive reward items.

Don't Go into the Light
Night has fallen, so to speak - or the appearance of night has - and with it has come a curious phenomenon. All throughout the land of Mu, the odd flickering light has started to lick at your periphery. It looks almost like someone bearing a torch or a lantern, and if you listen hard enough, if you really squint...it almost feels like it must be someone familiar, calling you to their aid. Maybe it's a loved one, or a friend. Maybe it's just someone who's liable to spark your curiosity, or for those who are particularly tender of heart, the crying of a child in need of help.

Either way, it's undeniable: someone out there needs you. And the only solution is to follow the light until you find them, because surely that must be the origin of that voice and that disturbance, right..? The phenomenon of ghost lights, of ignis fatuus, may or may not be familiar to those falling prey to the siren call of these mysterious, hovering lights. But their end purpose is very similar. They intend to lead you gently along, calling to you with memories of those you love or remember, until you reach an inevitable, potentially fatal roadblock.

The island of Mu enjoys mimicking the dangers and pitfalls of LifeAftr, and your journey is liable to end in a variety of equally unpleasant ways if someone does not see fit to stop you and pull you free from your trance. Perils such as quicksand, drowning, walking off the edges of cliffs, or simply being led directly into the nest of some great predator, are more than abundant.

Better hope that someone finds you before they do.

No Swiping!
Enjoying your time on Mu? Succeeded in amassing some meager resources, retrieving some food or supplies?

Not for long you haven't!

Mu has done its best to mimic a creature found on the mainland, complete with all its annoying, scavenging tendencies. Slypers are almost foxlike in appearance, orange-red with a white-tipped tail and a long, triangular snout, and are notorious thieves. Anything that isn't bolted to the floor has the potential to be snatched should you turn your back for a second, thus rendering all your hard-earned work in hunting and gathering utterly pointless when your food or water ends up in a slyper's belly instead of your own.

They're not easy to trap or snare by any means, but if you're fast enough, you might be able to keep your belongings from being the crowning achievement in a dirty little thief's den.

Which might be easier said than done. On Mu, slypers work in packs.

What the Cluck!?
Someone on the island embarked on some well-advised exploration, but discovered, in the process, something decidedly less pleasant than what they were no doubt hoping to discover. And now Mu has taken the example of its more reality-based counterpart, and elected for devise a threat of its own, modeled after the threat in question.

The trees will tremble and the ground will shake. And drawing ever closer approaches...the fustercluck.

Initially, one might mistake the fustercluck as a hillock of some kind. A moving hillock. With talons and wings and fins and claws and teeth protruding out of it? Come to think of it, it's not a hillock at all.
(While the Fustercluck doesn't look anything like this, we still thought this gif was both topically relevant and too good not to include.)
It instead appears to be a vaguely gelatinous mass of appropriated limbs and body parts, tangled and gelled together. Thick with moss, grass, and accumulated body parts, this creature functions more or less like a katamari: propelling itself along, devouring and appropriating any living thing unfortunate enough to cross its path. Once ensnared by its many clawing, grabbing appendages, it will reel you into itself until you're thoroughly embedded in the mass, organs dissolved and digested, leaving nothing more than a collection of limbs that it will then use to carry itself across the island.

There is no known manner with which to destroy this creature. Only the foolish will engage; everyone else should run.

Though of course, on Mu, you could always try fighting it...

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

max | camp camp

[escampist]

a. don't go into the light
[If it weren't for the dreamlike feeling of all of this, Max would almost think he just wandered too far from Camp. But of course that's not it, because that'd mean he actually finally got away from that hellhole and he should be so lucky.

In his dreams, huh?

Then this whole deal with the lights happens. He squints as he tries to figure out just who and/or what he's dealing with, but it's near impossible to make anything out. Visually, anyway. What he hears is a different story.]

What the...?

[It's hard to mistake all those voices for anything else. That sure does sound like a bunch of the guys from camp calling for... help. His help. Further into the spooky looking woods. With the strange lights.

...

Max takes one look at this whole situation and turns right the fuck back around.]

Oh, fuck this!

b. no swiping
[So are you enjoying your time on weird dream island? The answer to that is probably no, you're not, because as you're minding your own business, suddenly there's a thwack! right near you. That noise would be a crudely sharpened stick, which just barely misses you and instead bounces off a nearby tree.

This is immediately followed by the appearance of one (1) very grumpy looking child.]

Goddammit, I missed! [He looks awfully frustrated. And almost pissed at you for existing right here in this spot.] Wasn't even one of those foxes. Figures.

B

[ofsterlingstuff]

[The girl startles quietly, with only a sharp intake of breath as she flinches away from the sudden attack. Or...not an attack? Hero's eyes flick from the stick to the boy, and back again, before she says anything.]

Foxes? [Her jumper is red, she guesses. But not very fox-y.]

[escampist]

Or something. Pretty sure it's foxes. [He shrugs and just walks over to his stick spear, picking it back up. It's not... all that effective at anything, but it's all he's got here.] Assholes stole my food. So then I tied a knife to this thing to take it back.

...Then they snatched the knife.

[He's not having a great day.]

Joke's gonna be on them when I stab them with my shitty stick, though.

b. how many tags can I have with rem before she's even in game

[achievementhunter]

[Better weird dream island than being awake, but some people are never satisfied, are they? With it being one of the only times they can steal a rare moment alone, Chara is more than content to wander about in an aimless fashion, stopping only when the occasion calls for it.

Such as when someone tries to skewer them with a makeshift spear.

The appearance of one (1) very grumpy looking child isn't too surprising, after that amazing show of force.]

Perhaps you may want to consider having your eyes tested.

[Because they sure are decked out in a neon yellow and green shirt, my guy. Colors not your strong point?]

more! more tags!

[escampist]

[Oh. My god. Are we getting all judgey now. Is this how it's gonna go? He is! Doing his best!]

Hey, screw you, I just heard a noise and went for it! I can't exactly take my time here, I'm dealing with some real slippery assholes!

I could give it another go. Betcha this time my aim won't be off.

Tag! Heaven! Now!!!

[achievementhunter]

[Like they're ever not judgey, really. But if he's going to take it as some kind of challenge, who are they to complain?]

Oh? Then please, show me what you can do.

[This should be entertaining.]

BIRD WE CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS

[escampist]

Oh, what, now I have to prove myself to you? To some random ass kid doing god knows what out here like a weirdo?

[Pot, kettle, etc. He's picking his shitty spear back up, because fuck you. And fuck those foxes. And fuck everything in general, as long as we're listing things.]

Man, you probably scared those fucking foxes away, too.

LIKE HELL WE CAN'T

[achievementhunter]

Says the child throwing sticks at people in the jungle.

[Really, how rude. They look entirely unimpressed, arching a brow at his back as he collects his stick.]

Betcha this time my aim won't be off. Your words, not mine.

But if you're that keen to avoid making a bigger fool of yourself...

[They start walking away.

3

2-]

[escampist]

[See, he was going to keep the stick with him out of spite at this point. But now he's being challenged and that means his spite is being challenged.

But them walking away does make it easier.

So on 1? On 1, Max chucks the spear at Chara.

...Which, in all honesty, is unlikely to cause any real damage even if it hits because... it's a really fucking awful crude spear. But the intent is certainly there.]

b) SWIPER NO SWIPING

[dontkillme]

[Hey, so uhhhhhhhhh

Guess who's one and only exposure to the Surface was getting beat to death and pelted with sticks and shit by humans entirely unprovoked? THIS GUYYY.

Needless to say, when Asriel almost gets speared (sticked), he freezes, eyes wide and glassy. He holds his hands up, staggering backward on shaking legs.]

I-I'm sorry!! I didn't mean to scare you! I'm not going to hurt you, I promise! I was just looking for food!

can't swipe if you're IMPALED

[escampist]

[oh god it's a furry is this a nightmare after all]

Jesus, alright, chill out. [Don't mind him as he does just... pick up his stick, though, he's still gonna need that. Then just looking at this... super distressed looking goat person, because that's a thing now.] Trust me, I could not possibly be less worried about you hurting me. And I'm not gonna stab you, I'm not about to waste the one weapon I've got here.

[He says after blindly chucking it at the first sign of movement.]

IMPALER NO IMPALING

[dontkillme]

[welcome to furaffinity street rules bitch]

You... you're not...?

[He stops his panicked backpedaling, hands still held up like Max might change his mind and jab him at any moment.]

O-oh. Um, good. Thanks. I... I really appreciate not being stabbed. Sorry if I'm interrupting your...

...

Er, why are you throwing sticks around, exactly? Is this a game?

idk that's a pretty tall order

[escampist]

Oh, yeah. It's a great game. Throwing sticks at trees. That's what the kids are into these days. Who needs an Xbox when you've got all this wood lying around, right?

[The sarcasm couldn't be thicker if he coated his words with sarcasm syrup.]

I'm trying to catch some thieves.

impaler pls

[dontkillme]

What's an Xbox?

[The Underground's still running on VHS, guy. Asriel used trollface memes in 2015. He's a bit... behind the times, when pop culture is involved.]

...Never mind. You're being sarcastic, I know. Let me, um... let me ask a better question. What did the thieves take? Maybe I can help you find them, no pointy sticks necessary!

[escampist]

...So you're not just a furry, but a sheltered one. Figures.

[He's not even gonna question this.]

They took some food. And my knife. Which is weird, because what does a fox even need a fucking knife for?

no swiping

[melasoneiros]

You know, [ Alex says, emerging from the forest, ]even with one eye... I can see what is and isn't vulpine.

[ She picks up the crude spear. ] I think it's in everyone's best interests if I confiscate this.

[escampist]

I wasn't looking, I was-- Hey!

[Oh you did not just take his spear! Sure, a shitty spear, he'll grant you. But it's his shitty spear.]

Oh, we are not doing this. That's theft and I've been robbed of enough here, thanks!

[He's just gonna... try to get that spear back. Which is hard because he's not very tall. It'll probably involve very ineffectual jumping. It's not impressive.]

[melasoneiros]

[ At a mere 5 feet tall, she's not very impressive herself. But she can still hold it out of reach, and yawns. ]

You're a child. I'm full-grown and hardened by battle. Really, it's the only logical decision anyone could make.

[ A pause. ] Unless you're as short on brains as you are on eyesight.

[escampist]

[he hates. this. so much. everything about this.]

Fuck you, you're not the boss of me! Hey, answer this, what's the logic in taking away the one weapon I got in this shithole? Pretty sure if I get attacked now, my blood's gonna be on your hands.

So unless you wanna live with that, give me back my shitty fucking spear and maybe I won't stab you with it!

[melasoneiros]

Strike two, brat.

[ She aims a hard kick at him. Face, body, legs, she doesn't really care where it lands, if it lands. ]

Keep talking like that to me, and we'll test the theory of whether or not anyone will miss you.

[ She's turned the spear around so that the sharp end is now pointed right at him. ]

[escampist]

[Oh, that hits and... well, he's a ten year old kid with all the power that implies, so he's pretty much knocked down with that. Well, he does sit up quickly, but still.]

Motherf--

[Yeaaaah, that hurt. And the sight of his own terrible spear turned against him? Does not make him feel any better.]

Okay, fine! Keep it if you care so much! Shit.

a

[magic_tada]

[Harrison looks around. This place was amazing! It was so magical so amazing!

'Oh fuck this!'

So full of Max.

Of course. Harrison makes his way over to his... campmate]

Max!

Where are we?

[escampist]

[Oh for fuck's sake, he thought he'd gotten away from everything Camp Campbell related. So much for that.]

Well, I'm gonna hazard a guess here and say not at camp. Which means wherever the hell this is, we're moving up in the world.

[magic_tada]

[Camp does suck, but it's better than... well.

Still... this place is.]

It's so Magical!

[He beams at Max]

I think you're right! I bet I can learn lots of magic here!

[escampist]

[Harrison, you're ruining the appeal of this place with all the magic talk.]

Yes, truly we're in a land of wonder and magic. Stunning.

...Try not to set yourself on fire.