TEST DRIVE MEME ( 006 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

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 )

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Aranea Highwind | FFXV

[commodorable]

[JUST DESERTS]

[Well, this certainly is a desert, all right. And really, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with a desert objectively, because heat is just heat and barren wastelands are just barren wastelands, and so long as you're prepared for those conditions, it's really nothing to whine or cry about in the grand scheme of things.

The problem is, while she is in fact dressed for desert conditions, it just so happens that the desert she's dressed for is a barren wasteland of snow, not scorched earth. Which means that all of a sudden her scarf feels more like a noose than a blessing around her neck, and she's acutely aware of just how heavy her fur-lined coat and leather cold-weather gear really is under the blaze of the burning sun.]

Dammit...

[Okay. All right. Keep your head in the game, Highwind. Get moving before the heat catches up, and find some water, or some shelter, or some sign of habitation, or...something.

Odd. She feels unusually confident about that prospect, for some reason. She can take care of herself. She knows how to survive. Even something like this isn't going to keep her down.

Yeah. Nothing to it but to do it, so she might as well get going.]

[LET'S GET KRAKEN]

[You know, it's a testament to all of the weird bullshit Aranea has seen in her life that she's not even remotely surprised when one minute an idle sailing adventure (and an inexplicable one that that) immediately and abruptly turns into TENTACLE DISASTER. Like it's even possible to go literally anywhere without running into a catastrophe like this.

Fortunately, she just so happens to be well-suited to aerial combat, and giant-ass tentacles can only reach so high. Now, if it manages to take out the ship entirely and deprive her of a place to land, she's going to be in for it, but —

Well. That's something to worry about another time.]

[WILDCARD]

[Choose your own adventure! Write me a starter (I tend to default to present tense brackets, preferably) and I'll hit you back!]

[want_to_belong]

[Once upon a time there was a happy little chocoboy wandering around the desert. Plenty of resources were available just across the river, but they came at the cost of happiness, so he decided to spend some time exploring the desert instead.

Except, this wasn't the desert. No, it was very definitely a dream place. Much like times before. He wondered if eating here even made a difference in the real world. Every time just one thing was consistent: new people. So, he trotted about, seeing what he could find with his awesome dream camera before they were zapped back to the real world.

As he wandered he spotted someone off in the distance. They didn't look like anyone he could readily pick out on the island, so he jogged towards them. She quickly became more familiar the closer he got - the outfit, that height, the gait, the hair... He didn't connect it immediately because he didn't expect to see her there, but once he got close enough he knew immediately.]

A... Aranea?!

[Though he had his winter clothes he wasn't wearing them, instead donning his usual gear. The type of gear that gave no coverage for his arms in the hot sun. Thank the astrals for Iggy and his sunscreen.]

Aranea!

[Once the surprised wore off he smiled broadly and waved from afar. Last he remembered seeing her, he'd just thanked her and headed off on his snowmobile.

Man, had things changed. He looked like Noct hadn't let them stay at a hotel for months, but otherwise he was doing all right.]

[commodorable]

[Now that's strange. That almost sounds like Shortcake, except that it can't possibly be Shortcake, because he is supposed to be riding a snowmobile toward Gralea at the moment and absolutely not out in the middle of the godsforsaken desert doing who knows what.

Except that just as her own body language serves as a tell to her identity even from a distance, so too does Prompto's — the way he runs, the way he never seems to stop moving, the way it's sometimes like he's ten pounds of energy crammed into a five-pound bag. That's the kid, all right.

...He seems happy, now. Good. That's the way it ought to be.]

The hell are you doing out here, kid?

[It's brusque, but not displeased. There are worse people to run across in a place like this, and let's be real: after that little adventure in the icy wilds, she's gotten sort of fond of the kid.]

...Huh. Looks like one of us dressed for the weather, at least.

[want_to_belong]

I could ask you the same thing.

[He jogged over to her, stopping a couple yards away and shifting his weight to rest mostly on one leg.]

Do you know where you are?

[From his tone, it sounded like he already knew. Or, at least, he had a pretty good idea.

Of course, she probably didn't. How would she ever be able to guess something like this? He could at least let her know it'd be okay. Pointing behind him, he continued.]

We've got a camp set up. Maybe. This is... kind of like a dream. But it looks like the place that we're really staying at, so maybe there'll still be a camp there.

Deserts not desserts, sadly

[budgetmage]

[ Walking through the desert, Aranea might notice something out of place. Namely, small floating lights. They seem to lead in a certain direction.

Assuming she follows them, which would be wise to continue the thread, she'll find herself at a small oasis, with a pool of water deep enough for drinking and a number of rocky outcroppings that can be used as shitty shelters from the sun.

A girl is waiting underneath one of those outcroppings, the trail of lights ending right at her. ]

[commodorable]

[You know what, it's not like she's got any better ideas, so she might as well follow the lights and see where they go. One direction is presumably the same as any other, and little lights speak of an intelligent design behind them. Which means at the end of this she'll either find a waiting friend or a clever foe, and either way it's better than wandering aimlessly.

...

And when it turns out to be an oasis, it definitely proves to be better than wandering aimlessly.]

...Mm. So you're the one behind those lights, huh.

[budgetmage]

Ah- A person! [ Isette looks momentarily shocked, but it quickly wears off.

She gives the new arrival a quick look-over. She's... clearly not dressed for the climate. Neither is Isette, though - she's ditched her patched-up hand-me-down cloak, now draped over the edge of the outcropping she's at to provide slightly more shade - but the rough wool of her clothes is still a horrible material for the sun and heat. ]

You're not... from around here either, are you?

Yeah, the lights were me. I was hoping to bring by some people who could point me to actual civilization. [ It seemed like a stupid idea to leave shelter and water when one suddenly finds themselves in a desert, but it's not like she wanted to stick around forever. ]