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aftr_ooc2017-07-04 10:46 pm
lifeaftr_mods) wrote in aftr_ooc2017-07-04 10:46 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )
Test Drive Meme #1
Hello, and welcome to our very first test drive! 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 July 17th and that Applications will open on July 24th, in preparation for the game’s official opening on August 3rd!
But first, two important notes!
Remember that Reserves will open on July 17th and that Applications will open on July 24th, in preparation for the game’s official opening on August 3rd!
1. The island of Mu 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.
Shipwrecked
The white sand of the beach ridges the island’s edge, even if the clear water soon becomes murky the further out you look across the horizon until the turquoise gleam of the tide disappears in a coil of surrounding fog. Indeed, your best prospects may very well be to strike out among the trees or the crags looming out over the foam-capped waves. There’s lumber to be found and made from the palm-like trees, potentially fruit or edible tubers of some kind if you forage about some. The further you travel, however, the more of your surroundings will reveal themselves in a steady unspooling of curiosities.
One corner of Mu’s current construct drops away into a sheer cliff, initially too dangerous to brave for all but the more daredevilish, but if one starts to scan the sharp rocks below, you might catch sight of what appears to be sodden planks of wood - a wreckage tossed up against the rocks. And a little further...a bobbing, shattered wreck of a lifeboat’s remains, potentially bearing supplies that might yet be salvageable.
Fashion what you can from the wood and stone around you or scavenge from the ruin of the land, if you like. But you can’t simply stand around and wait forever. It’s going to get dark sometime - and if a creature of unknown terror doesn’t catch you, the elements surely will.
Storytime
There’s a sense of camaraderie in this cove, you think. As the sun hangs low over the horizon, the world cast into orange hues, long shadows dispersed by roaring fires that dot across the beach.
That’s right, folks: it’s storytime.
There’s no one to preside over this meeting of the minds in Mu. Call it a vague recreation of things to come, if you like, some vaguely fatidic dreamlike state where you may find yourself drawn to the heat and company that awaits you by the fire. And from there, compelled to default to that old instinct that most of intelligent civilization has revered since they were advanced enough to paint geometric shapes on cave walls.
You tell a story.
Perhaps it’s a tragedy, a tale of woe and of personal loss. Perhaps it’s the sort of thing you’d break out after a few rounds of your alcoholic beverage of choice, clapping hands to your knees as you try to bite back your mirth long enough to spill the punchline. Perhaps it’s an adventure of some sort, some unbelievable rendition of your past exploits. The only common thread to be had, as those gathered around the fire share their tales, is the fundamental rule of a ritualistic sharing of stories such as this: its truth.
But how one chooses to define "truth" is, in its own way, another story entirely...
Dance, Sucker, Dance!
The beat of your heart in your chest is difficult to ignore. It judders with a pulsing, rhythmic quality. If you’re one of those that lacks a heart, the beat is still omnipresent and all-encompassing, until your entire body is unwittingly bobbing in time to a metronomic tune that seems ingrained into your very soul. It’s inescapable. You can’t seem to move unless it’s in time to the rhythm that’s now singing in every atom of your being.
But rest assured, you’re not alone in this musical curse. Everything, from the swaying trees to the waves against the beach, jumps in time to the music. And so do the monsters approaching you, that - wait a minute.
Monsters?
Oh, yes. Did we mention those?
It seems you’ve encountered the wrath of the Boogieman, who curses you to only dance to his infernal beat. If you wish to best him, you’ll have to either evade or destroy the blobs of greenish slime that serve as his minions, all in time to the hard beat of the tune in your head. Clear the radius of his curse or risk an open confrontation, if you dare. Don’t worry if you look foolish; chances are anyone else caught in the Boogieman’s thrall feels just the same.
Mu isn’t pulling any punches to start with. It is a flighty creation, after all, and seems to revel in displacing people into new and uncomfortable situations.
( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
Shipwrecked-Beach
Just don't actually call him that. His pride has been battered enough this day.
The advisor's back is to the beach as he looks out over the water, arms wrapped around himself as if he is trying to fight off a chill even in the tropical weather. Strange. His Crownsguard uniform usually has a jacket, but that's nowhere to be found. And that's not the only strange thing. When Nyx gets closer, he'll find Ignis is wearing a pair of sunglasses. Not all that unusual in itself considering he's the group's driver, it's the fresh scars that show around the tinted lenses that catch the eye and hold it,
Looks like Nyx isn't the only one with unpleasant reminders of the battle he just came from.]
Re: Shipwrecked-Beach
Well. He does. But the waterlogged snowmobile distracts him from looking at the familiar young man. That certainly didn't belong on a beach.]
Really hope you didn't drive that thing here somehow.
[There's a laugh in his voice as he approaches, his dry and tattered jacket slung over his shoulder. It's only then that everything clicks together. His eyes go wide, taking in the sight of the normally well put together advisor looking like a drowned rat.
... And he probably would've teased him about that if a second later he hadn't noticed the scars.]
Ignis?
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One arm drops from around his waist to keep him steady against the snowmobile. Only once he's sure he's not going to embarrass himself farther by falling, does Ignis face the owner of that familiar voice.]
Nyx? Is that you?
[It can't be. It can't be. Is he actually still dreaming? Nyx Ulric died when Insomnia fell. While Gladio and Noctis had mourned the loss of their fathers, Ignis had silently mourned the loss of the Glaive who'd taught him much about properly wielding the daggers he so loved.
How is it he is here now? Did whatever brought them here have the power to raise the dead?]
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[There's a clear tone of worry in Nyx voice even if he tries to keep it casual. His eyes scan Ignis from head to toe, lingering on the scars. It makes his stomach does an uncomfortable flip. He's seen numerous types of injuries during his time with the Glaive and almost immediately his mind starts running through different scenarios.
But it's not hard to realize blindness was a result of the injury.
He shakes out his jacket and wrapping it around Ignis' shoulders.]
Here. My jackets pretty torn up, but it's dry and probably better then you standing around shivering.
no subject
[The words come out with a harsh, cutting edge that Ignis immediately feels apologetic for. Of all people, Nyx Ulric, Hero of the Kingsglaive, doesn't deserve to be snapped at because Ignis is already sick of feeling frustrated and helpless in this strange situation. Before he can ask for forgiveness, though, the jacket drops over his shoulders and he can't help but pull it tightly around himself, chin sinking into the collar. Ignis can smell blood, sweat, and death on it, but he can also smell home. A home he will quite literally never see again.
While one hand twists itself into the fabric, the other slips free, seeking Nyx's arm, hand, shoulder--whatever he can find. If it wasn't obviously from his scars, this blind searching very clearly indicates the worst about his vision.]
I'm sorry.
[His voice is soft, though he does manage to keep it steady.]
I never did learn to handle helplessness well.
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More importantly, Ignis was apologizing and Nyx had to snort.]
What're you apologizing for?
[C'mon Ignis, it's not like he's not used to people being harsh when emotions ran high.]
You're hardly helpless. You've just got a bit of learning to do. Good thing I'm here, huh?
[Although that brought him back to his initial question.]
But I need to know what happened. The last I checked you were on your way to Altissia with the Prince.
no subject
Well, it's good to know at least one of them still has their pride and ego intact.
The smile fades, though, when Ignis hears Nyx shift gears, casually directing their conversation from friendly banter to duty. Unconsciously, Ignis straightens his posture, the hand on Nyx'x arm tightening slightly.]
We got there. It took a while, but we got there after Noct finished forming the covenants with Titan and Ramuh.
I don't know how things went so far to bloody hell after that, but they did. The First Secretary agreed to let us hold the rite, but Gladio, Prompto, and I had to evacuate the whole city, while the Oracle and Noctis handled the Tidemother. And she was angry to be woke, so very angry, then the Six damned Nifs showed up...
[It's clear from how his speech patterns have changed that the memories Ignis is recounting are shifting from bad to downright traumatic. As if to punctuation an already clear statement, the advisor suddenly begins shaking.]
Prompto managed to get a hold of one of their smaller hover...ships and was going to fly Noct closer to the Tidemother.
[Ignis is fumbling for words, and he would be mortified if he was in the condition to realize how much his composure is shattering. He would never let the others see him like this and it is only the freshness of the trauma and the bond he shares with Nyx that allow it now. Back during their training days, the Glaive was able to understand what it was like to be an outsider in a city that didn't want them where Gladio and Noctis could not. More than once he had helped calm a younger Ignis when it had become too much for the teen to handle on his own.]
I don't even clearly remember how it happened. I just know I ended up pinned on the ground by several MTs with a shattered knee and a dislocated shoulder. The Chancellor showed up and after that it's just darkness and pain.
[He takes a deep breath, struggling not to let himself get lost in the suffocating wave of darkness and agony the memory drowns his mind with.]
I don't know what happened to the others, because I woke up here, but they survived. Prompto is here too, and he remembers things I don't--things about all of us.
no subject
There's a reason he doesn't talk about Selena.
When Ignis starts to shake, literally shattering before his eyes, Nyx moves with deliberate steps that should be loud enough for Ignis to hear. He pulls his arm free, but only for a second, and just so he can place his hands carefully on Ignis' upper arm, ducking his head to look him in the eye. It was something he'd done once or twice when they'd been younger when it seemed like the teenager had taken on too much.]
Hey, hey deep breath okay? [He let's go of one shoulder taking Ignis' hand and pressing it against his chest so that he can feel when Nyx takes a deep breath.] Match mine alright.
[He falls quiet again, taking deliberately deep breaths until that wave of memory is pushed back. It's only then that he speaks again.]
I've got you.
[He's going to have to find this Prompto later because he has about a million questions.]
no subject
By the Six, is Ignis glad Prompto isn't around to see him break down like this. The blonde is already carrying far too much on his shoulders and exhausting himself trying to be a pillar of strength for the advisor when he is cracked just as badly. Ignis is suppose to be the strong, steadfast one, not the other way around. Making Prompto's burden heavier is not something he can allow. Not when he's failing to do so much else.
Ignis takes a deep breath, packing away his emotions and trauma as best he can. Some boxes are too full. Some are too empty. Some are balanced precariously in the back of his mind and will eventually fall over, but for now, it's the best he can do. Hopefully, when everything comes spilling out again, it won't be nearly this bad.
After a couple more slow, deep breaths to make sure he is well and truly back to himself, Ignis curls his fingers under and lightly taps Nyx on the chest with his knuckles.]
I know you do. You're still good at that, even after all this time. I thank you for it.
[Of course, Nyx has his own traumas to keep at bay with such tactics, ones that didn't go away just because the teenager he'd been asked to spend time training had been pulled away to attend to his own duties. Who knew that when they met again, live-altering trauma would be one more thing they'd have in common.]
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[He keeps the hand against his chest, letting Ignis feel it rise and fall as he chuckles. Of course, Nyx had to learn by himself, for the most part, unless Crowe or Libertus caught him during those weak moments. That wasn't something he let happen often even if it meant hiding.]
Down the line, if you want to talk more I'm here. Don't bottle it up.
[But that could come later when Ignis had more than a few hours between him and the trauma.]
For now let's focus where we are and what's going on... You mentioned someone named Prompto? Where'd he run off too?
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[What exactly Ignis is agreeing to, he doesn't specify. He might just be acknowledging the truth of that first statement or he might be agreeing to seek Nyx out if he needs someone to talk to. The vagueness gives him wiggle room just so long as Nyx doesn't call him out on it.
His hand flattens back against Nyx's chest as the Glaive laughs, the motion causing a warm, safe feeling to flood through him. With his back to the snowmobile and Nyx's steady, solid, alive presence in front of him, Ignis feels like he can relax a little for the first time in far too long.]
Ah, yes. I don't know if you ever got to meet Prompto. He's Noct's friend from school. The blonde with hair that unfortunately reminds one of a chocobo's behind. He finished his training for the Crownsguard right before we left.
There are several wrecked ships a little farther inland and the chance there may be supplies in them was too great to allow them to go unexplored. Unfortunately, I'm in no condition to be climbing about a wreck, so he went to check them out himself. He was very hesitant to leave me alone, so I suspect he will be back soon.