aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 009 )

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

☘ CITY SLICKER

[ Era isn't certain why she's being chased (something about pockets and her scales being too glossy?) but she is. Seeing no need to fight she simply grasps her Soul of the Ninja firmly in hand and uses the skills Oboro taught her in order to slip away. The alley is a good enough place to stay for the time being - at least until the guards lose interest in her, which Era is certain will be sooner rather than later given their apparent propensity for inventing laws on the spot.

All things considered, Era finds herself rather flattered that someone found her scales to be so glossy. There are few superficial things she prides herself in, but her Auri traits have always been one of them. ]

☘ SKY ISLANDS

[ The Sea of Clouds is one of Era's favourite places in Eorzea despite the permanent chill to the air. And while she's aware this is not entirely real she also doesn't believe that a good enough reason for the island she's on to be more reminiscent of the Western Highlands of all places. She loves the family she made in Coerthas, but that doesn't mean she has to love the climate there.

Shivering (she has never fared well with cold temperatures), Era thinks of the blistering deserts of Southern Thanalan, or the sun-kissed beaches of La Noscea. It doesn't surprise her as much as it probably should when her feet suddenly sink into soft, warm sand in place of a few ilms of snow on frozen ground.

She wiggles her now-bare toes in the sand and lets out a pleased hum. ]

☘ BEACH PARTY

[ Era has never been one for parties - too many people with too many expectations of her, and always so much politicsreal Era feels no shame whatsoever. No one will go hungry because she is gorging herself on dream-food.

She stretches out on the sand near enough to the water that the waves lap at her feet. Her Emerald Carbuncle is a comforting glow beside her, forcing giggles from her throat as it licks the salt water from her bare toes. It steals a piece of shrimp off her plate while she's distracted (which would be odd under any other circumstances as Carbuncles don't actually eat), skittering away when she reaches an arm out to tug on one of its tails in retaliation.

Maybe it's sad that the only time Era can ever truly relax is when she's not awake, but she doesn't regret her lifestyle - she does what she needs to, doing her best to live up to the expectations she's held to as the Warrior of Light. ]

☘ ETC.

{ feel free to give me your own prompt! I'm up for anything. :) }

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 009 )

Era Ra (Warrior of Light) ☘ Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood