aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 006 )

Entry tags:

*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 006 )

Test Drive Meme #6

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 December 17th! Due to the holiday season, Applications will be opening on December 26th, with an app period shifted to end on January 2nd instead of the usual timeframe!

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.

United We Stand
This particular month, Mu has seen fit to recreate the strange, dichotomous island of Monsun. Most of the information regarding this peculiar land can be found in the informational post linked, but as a quick rundown: Monsun's western side is a hot wasteland of a desert prone of disasters and mishaps, but will affect your character's emotional and psychological state in a positive sense, while its eastern side is a verdant forest filled with endless resources...as well as a tendency to bring out the absolute worst of your character.

The western region blazes with a vengeance, the imaginary sun roasting overhead. The psychological effects of this area of island will shine far more kindly upon you than the sun does; your character's best qualities have been brought to light, and the longer they remain here, the more profound those qualities will become.

This is probably a good thing, too. Because those cactus plants on the horizon seem to be moving closer...and closer...

In fact, they aren't really plants at all.

Those who squint may find themselves thinking of another, cuter version of sentient cacti found on other worlds, but the mutual relation to a certain desert plant is where the similarities come to an end. Walking cacti are silent predators who prefer to slowly approach their prey, avoiding being noticed by their targets until it is too late.

Luckily, these creatures do not rely on projectiles to attack. Rather, their needle thin spikes can extend up to one foot out of their bodies in a fast, powerful motion - more than enough to puncture flesh and muscle. If you've ever wanted to try death by acupuncture, these are your kind of monster... but if not, a sharp weapon or fire will certainly help whittle down their numbers.

Regardless, all of your best qualities will come to light quickly in a fight, whether it be courage, diplomacy, compassion, earnest hope, or whatever other positive traits you might bear. Such is Monsun's boon to you.

Divided We Fall
The east, on the other hand, is the polar opposite to that desert wasteland. The sun shines evenly through the thick spread of deciduous canopies, which shade you from the worst of that unforgiving heat. The verdant greenery is perfectly temperate and even tranquil.

A pity that you'll soon find your worst qualities manifesting at a rather rapid rate. The proper Monsun generally gives you a twenty-four hour window before your most despicable traits start to flourish, but Mu, it seems, has sped up the clock significantly.

Scattered across the rich landscape, a herd of deer can be found prancing eagerly about, seemingly oblivious to their potentiality as a food source. In fact, they hardly seem to react to the approach of foreign entities at all. They're quite placid, and content to sit idly back until attacked - at which point they'll do little more than flee at a brisk pace.

What an ideal set of circumstances, truly. But should anyone else impose upon your peace, you'd better hope they don't mind encountering you at your absolute worst.

Don't Fear the Succ
You wake on a boat. It's a very nice boat, make no mistake, weatherbeaten and worn as it may seem, but it's still a boat, and you're still surrounded with lapping waves, as far as the eye can see. Or as far as the eye can sea.

Still, no reason not to make the best of this, right? Just sit back, relax, and let the wind take you wherever it may. You hardly need to eat or sleep in the regular sense in dreams, and this might be a good deal more picturesque than many of the dreams you're probably used to. All told, this is really quite a nice diversion -

Hold on. Did something just bump up against the hull?

Yes, in fact. Something did. Something with long, long, reaching tentacles that will soon snake over the deck to try and grasp your vessel in a death grip much like that of a boa constrictor: designed to crush and destroy.

It seems you've run afoul of that legendary creature of the depths; the one that every sailor most fears.

A kraken.

Hope you're not averse to a little hentai.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From a biological perspective, no. Those are arms. You can tell because they have suckers along their entire length, which is usually the determinant.

[Roy has, by the time this explanation ends, already begun a vigorous duel with one of the tentacles, whacking at it with his greatsword while it pounds down, trying to break his guard.]

But the two terms are used interchangeably in common parlance.

Oh. Well... that's good to know. Thank you!

[As much as she loved learning new things, she wasn't entirely sure that this was the right time for a biology lesson? Then again, such knowledge was useful to have.]

Oh my goodness! Be careful!

[With that pointless outburst out of the way, she's already back to trying to hunt down a makeshift weapon. She's not entirely sure how useful she can be just yet, but she has a feeling her new companion will need help. And she doesn't want to stand around doing nothing.]

[In part, Roy had offered it to demonstrate that he is in control of the situation and there's no need for panic.]

[Now whether or not that's true is unclear, but at the very least he want to encourage a measured response.]

Out of curiosity, if I said 'take shelter, I'll handle this', would you listen?

[He expects the answer is no, but he has to ask.]

[She supposed it would be wiser to sit back and let the (she was assuming??) experts deal with the situation. But that had never been her style.]

That depends on whether or not you're able to handle it yourself. I won't run off and hide and leave you here to deal with something you're not actually capable of dealing with.

If you need help, and I'm capable of doing so, wouldn't it be smarter to work together?

Logically, that's a good question.

[The tentacle by now has snaked around Roy, trying to squeeze him. He responds by vigorously chopping at it, trying to get free before he's lifted off the deck entirely. Nonetheless, he seems perfectly calm about all this.]

I have certain ethical concerns about involving someone your apparent age in a potentially lethal combat -- would you let GO -- but I also recognize you might be more capable of fighting that I would expect based on my -- if this thing gives me a torso-sized hickey I am going to stab someone, probably the Storyteller -- own personal cultural expectations. The more legitimate question for me is whether or not pulling you in is likely to end in your death or serious harm without consideration for whether it ends in -- damn you, Power Attack, would you actually work for once?! -- my own, but since I have no actual authority over you and were I in your situation I personally wouldn't be comfortable just sheltering and watching, I recognize that you may choose to get involved regardless of my suggestion -- nrgh! [The tentacle at last manages to squeeze him enough to cut him off, even as he thrusts his sword practically through the thing.]

[Okay but how was he so calm about this?]

I thought so. And for your information, I'm quite capable, even if I don't look like it! What about you? Have you ever fought ... one of these before? I'm assuming this is a new thing.

[By this point, she's watching the arms curiously, trying to figure out if there might be some kind of weakness they can exploit. There has to be something! Or maybe she was just too used to going up against akuma with Chat. Maybe this was nothing like that. Either way, they needed to do something!]

Do we have any ideas for dealing with this? Or any suggestions for getting you out of there, for that matter?

[If nothing else, she could take directions well, even if she was used to being the one giving out the directions. But she recognized that this situation was different than anything she was used to.]

I'm sorry I'm not more useful. I've just ... well, I've never even seen something like this before!

[Because he's really, really used to this sort of thing. That's the long and the short of it.]

Everyone's new to adventuring at one point -- hit it with something! Throw something at it! If you can get it distracted for a couple of seconds...

[And there go his feet off the deck. Hmm, now he's becoming slightly less calm about all of this.]

If by adventuring you mean suddenly finding one's self on a strange boat in a strange place, fighting a weird tentacle-y beast thing, then yes. I'll admit that I'm new to the game.

[Wow, that just sounded like the plot line of a bad anime.]

So uh... does this sort of thing happen often? Should I be concerned?

[In the meantime, she's hunting around on the deck for something she can throw, because she's not going to ask to borrow his sword. Not finding anything else, Marinette lets out a frustrated sigh before taking off a shoe and throwing it as hard as she can at the arm holding Roy. She liked to think her aim was true, but the boat was rocking and the arm was flailing.]

If we get out of this, I better get that shoe back!

I'll owe you one if not.

[The shoe bonks off the tentacle, which twitches slightly in purely reflexive muscle motion. Still, Roy needs no other opening -- he swings his sword, which crackles with green light as it nearly severs the arm. The end curled around him springs free, dumping Roy back to the deck heavily, while the body-side half lunges back under the water with a heavy splash.]

As usual, my dignity is the first to die. [Roy slaps a hand down, pushing himself back up to a ready stance without delay.] Good shot. Yes, you actually kind of get used to this...

I mean... you won't really owe me anything. It's not like you asked to be here anymore than I did. Right?

[It worked? Success!]

Good job! Score one for us!

[And then she seems to remember her manners, as well as the fact that he's basically just saved her derpy little life.] Are you okay? [Not waiting for an answer, she's rushing over to where he'd fallen, trying to check for signs of damage. Though, what kind of outward signs did a giant sucker arm leave, anyway?]

Guess I've still got it. Really? I'm not sure I want to get used to this kind of thing... Do you think it's going to come back?

I'm fine, I'm fine. ['Fine' is a matter of degrees, as Roy has a distinct sucker-shaped bruise on his skull and other signs of contusions on what little of him was actually visible. Nonetheless, he seems to pay it no attention whatsoever -- and not so much to her, either, as his eyes fix on a point over her shoulder.]

Yes, I think it will, and also get behind me

[The sweep of his sword comes probably much closer to her head than she'd like as Roy parries the lash of a new tentacle.]

Glad to hear it! [Something told her that he probably wouldn't tell her even if he wasn't fine. Judging by the particularly-shaped bruise on his head, she was fairly confident in that assumption.]

Do you need to sit down for a minute?

[But no sooner than the words had left her mouth was he speaking up again, telling her to get behind him. Mari's eyes widened and she turned her head to look in that direction, only for her eyes to widen.]

O-okay! I'll do that.

[Obediently, she's scurrying to stand behind her rescuer. She has one shoe left which she'll save for a 'just in case' type of situation.]

We need a better strategy.

[Roy almost takes comfort in her reactions -- neither shrieky and panicked, nor arrogant and unconcerned. He can actually understand her mindset, and that's more than he can say of most people these days.]

It can tell where we are, clearly -- start moving back. I'll stay still. If it's drawn to motion or vibration or something, it will extend out to reach you, ideally past me.

[He twitches his sword slightly, to indicate the second part of the plan.]

Oh!

[She hadn't even considered that.]

Mhm.

[At that, she just nods and makes a point to move backward as noisily as she can manage with one shoe.]

How many more arms do you think it has? And uh... what happens when it runs out of arms?

[Something told her that they needed to figure out a way to get far away from here before that point.]

Well, if I were a giant sea monsters and I started losing limbs, I'd cut my losses sooner rather than later... [Roy watches the tentacle writhe in midair, ducking beneath it as it sweeps forward.]

I think I'm inclined to agree with you.

[At that point, she's also watching the tentacle and preparing to dodge out of the way if need-be. She wasn't keen on the idea of being smacked around or picked up.]

But hey, at least there's only one beastie?

[She's shrugging at that, and eyeing the tentacle warily.]

I'm Marinette, by the way.

[Roy doesn't answer immediately, waiting for the tentacle to slide past her, seeking out her voice or her movements or some other sign of her presence that he doesn't understand.]

[WHOCK! His sword lops through the tentacle with a noise midway between kicking a bucket of Jello and chopping through a pumpkin. A second writhing, twitching arm drops to join the first one in the boat.]

Roy Greenhilt. It's nice to meet you.

[She's going to take his silence as a yes, and she nods. And then she's back to making as much noise as she can as per their plan.

When his sword swings true and lops through the second tentacle, sending it down to join the first, Marinette fights the urge to grimace. Is this what it was going to be like for the next however long? If nothing else, it seemed simple enough to dispatch of them now that they had a plan.]

Kinda wish it was under more pleasant circumstances, but yea.

[And by this point, she's already on the lookout for the inevitable replacement arm.]

[At her comment, Roy lifts a hand from his sword and slaps it to his mouth, the better to muffle his laughter. He needs a moment to get back under control, and when he finally does, he can't hide his wry smile or amusement.]

I'm fighting a monster that is well within my power to handle, with a companion who's actually contributing meaningfully and competently. How much more pleasant do circumstances realistically get?

[While laughter was not the reaction she'd been expecting, she did have to appreciate the humor of the situation.]

I suppose if you put it that way, you have a point. If I'm going to find myself in a strange place, on a boat, fighting some beastie, I'd imagine that this is about as pleasant as I can hope for. At least I still have one shoe. And you don't seem crazy enough to jump in front of an attack meant for me...

[After a moment, she realizes what she's said, and shakes her head.]

Um! Anyway... Any thoughts on how we're meant to get back to land?

...I feel obligated to point out that I am in armor, armed, have a significantly higher hit point pool than you do, and have a moral and ethical obligation to minimize harm to others wherever possible, so if an injury is coming your way and I have the chance to prevent it, that is the only sane option.

[Makes him wonder what she'd been through before...]

I've never seen you before and I have no idea what I'm doing out here, so the chances are not terrible that this is all a dream.

[Marinette wanted to open her mouth and argue with that, but she had to admit that he had a point. He did have armor. And while she had no idea what a hit point pool even was outside the context of a video game, she supposed he'd probably be right about that, too.] ... Okay. I wouldn't call it sane, though.

[But that didn't mean she had to like it. And now that the thought had crossed her mind, she couldn't quite get rid of it.]

Are we in a video game? That would make you a warrior. And I'd be a-...

[What would she be? She never went warrior, so that was out. Healer, maybe?]

Compared to how I'd feel if I let you come to harm I could have reasonably prevented? It's absolutely the sane choice. Anything that doesn't kill you can be healed, but you have to live with the consequences of your choices and actions forever.

[Is that too philosophically deep? Not for Roy's sake, not for a man who's learned that lesson repeatedly and been told it directly.]

We're not in a video game. And for the record, I'm a fighter.

Sorry! I-... My friend is constantly doing that, even though I tell him not to.

[If she was honest with herself, Chat's logic was just as sound as Roy's, but that didn't mean she had to like it. In fact she hated it.]

You're right, though. I didn't mean to make light of it. I know it's the right thing to do...

[She's just blinking at that.]

Oh. My mistake! A fighter, then.

I completely understand, I wouldn't like it either, even if it was in fact the rational and logical choice. But pointing out that part helps a little, I think. [He shrugs, because really, what can you do? It is what it is, even if you don't like it.] In any case, let's just hope we don't have to put discussion into practice.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 006 )

Fear that Succ?

Re: Fear that Succ?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)