TEST DRIVE MEME ( 009 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #9

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 March 17th, and Applications on March 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.

City Slicker
The walls of this place are uniform, gray-tinted, built from sandstone and clay. The architecture is deliberate and monochrome to an unkind extent; homogeneity, here, is the order of the day. All told, while a bit colorless, the place is not unpleasant, particularly with that periwinkle blue midday sky blanketed with soft tufts of cloud overhead.

Except for the shouts of armed guards pursuing you. You've broken the law, you see. Maybe your hair is too colorful, or your apparel contained pockets. Maybe you carried a weapon without a permit. Whichever one of those ridiculous, lengthy list of laws you've broken, it's put you in the guards' bad sights. Their technology hasn't progressed beyond that of spears and shields, but at least like this, you're being allowed something of a fighting chance.

We say "fighting," but really, your best bet is probably to try and avoid them. Mu has recreated the ironclad system present on the island of Ai'tuoh, though it's eased some of the unfair advantages stacked against you: the militia are no longer cunningly concealed among the populace, and they do not fight with needles slid into arms before you can understand what, precisely, has just gone wrong. This way, at least you have a chance to run before they seize and sedate you.

Which we recommend, by the way. The running.

Sky Islands, or Skylands
While waking on islands is all very well and good - practically par for the course in LifeAftr, in fact - one might need a moment to adjust to the strangeness of this one. This one, it turns out, is floating. Suspended in midair, this island is one of several dozens peppered throughout the sky. They drift to and fro, close to one another and then away again, but that's far from the most curious thing about them. No; their most peculiar quality is the fact that these islands shift, warping in shape as though caught in a state of perpetual flux. They ripple seamlessly from one visual to the next,: cycling through the varieties of an ice-swept tundra, a lush rainforest, a half-crumbled ruin, and infinite others in the span of mere hours.

And, if you concentrate just enough, you might find that these islands are pliable to even your will. You may be able to mold them like clay through focus of will alone, causing them to gradually shape into something familiar, even desirable: a home you miss, a place you wish you could see. But no matter how you try, you can only fabricate that which is non-sentient - plants, buildings, rocks, trees.

Just take care not to take things too far. You might find that the landscape does not take too kindly to being overly micromanaged. Too much projection of your conscious or subconscious desires will cause the entire thing to start to darken, crumble, and wither away...taking you with it.

And it's a very, very long fall back to earth.

[This prompt is a miniature version of our February event! Feel free to experiment with whatever details you uncover on the info post if you like!]

Kick Back, Relax
It's not all survivalist shenanigans and horrifying, mind-bending events. There are, in fact, plenty of moments of relaxation, of relief, and even fun to be had. Mu is not a wholly unkind being; it can allow you a much-needed respite in the form of something it suspects everyone might enjoy: a good old-fashioned party. A volleyball net has been strung between two palm trees. A length of driftwood table has been laden with any kind of food you could imagine might be found on an island: drinks served in coconut shells, carmelized shrimp, smoked oysters, skewers of fish. The aquamarine tide laps up at the soft white sand, and those who test the temperature of the shallows will discover that they are pleasantly warm.

And at the center of it all, a cheerful bonfire that kicks up hot flares of sparks into the warm, rich blue of the sky. What a peaceful sight! What a jovial celebration!

Better enjoy it while it's here.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Comments

♡

[splendored]

( Wataru is not one to forget his precious audience in his fantastical display, no matter how much concentration it takes. he's practically awestruck at his own creation, keenly wondering what limitations this trick holds, and just how much of it he can use to fill this world with wonder, with Amazing; it's a bit exciting and almost like a God, but he'd never want to be a God or something so central and pivotal. he's merely here to serve and provide, after all.

this girl is particularly lively with her reactions and he's eating it right up. this is exactly what he wants in an audience, and every hitch of her breath and mindful cupping of her palms furthers Wataru's smile into empowerment. )

I thank you for your applause! ♪ To me, it feels like being born again every time I hear it. Doesn't that mean I owe my life to you? How does one repay something like that? I wonder.

( with a turn to the young woman, he's finally taking in the sight of the one to so graciously bestow her appreciation on his performance. halfway through the Colosseum, Wataru moves to give a gentlemanly bow with her, his coat hanging off his shoulders and swaying with the movement. on the tree beside him? various coconuts becoming entwined, with grains of minerals and sand embedding themselves on. it's a shitty makeshift disco ball. )

Do you like to dance? Fuhahah, if not, never worry! I shall make something special, something Amazing, just for you. ☆

[sorewatopsecret]

[Goodness, Takane wasn't aware that audience participation was going to be a part of this happening. Towards the first set of his words towards her, she tilts her head to the side and glances upward in deep thought, her fingertips lightly touching her own chin as she considers his musings with more seriousness than an "average" person would deem necessary. Applause makes him reborn...? Was he like a phoenix or something...? As he turns towards her, she imparts a few of her own musings out loud:]

Dear me... Having someone's life owed to me sounds much a heavy responsibility, and seeking repayment a challenge, as there is not much that I find myself yearning for---

[She's interrupted by another question, though it seems like Takane doesn't mind at all. Rather, she was quite puzzled, but intrigued. Dance? Something special?]

A-"Amazing"...? [She repeats the English phrase curiously, before she responds with nonsense her own unique way.] Dancing is an activity I do not particularly find undesirable to partake in. It is a means to paint performances with emotions and messages with movement, in a way differing from that of words, yet carrying neither superiority nor inferiority to the latter...