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

[ohshitsweetflips]

Ughhhhhhh. Now he's saaad. Eeeeurrrgh. Taako sighs soulfully, glances to the heavens for strength. Now would be a great time to be arrested, actually. It's not too late, he can make that happen.

But no, someone has to. Do this. He guesses. "Listen, pipsqueak," he's not dragging his heels verbally, that quasi-hat is just eye-wateringly distracting. He glowers, waves it into proper invisibility, because shit. Enough of that.

"There, now I can stand to look at you. Listen, it was a good first take, okay? You just forgot a hat!" Doing good, great so far, strong start, "And then you psyched yourself out about it and made it kind of an eye-sore. Like, more than it was already." NOPE, sharp nosedive there, pull up. "I won't even like. Put a grade on that one, it's a trial run. Doesn't count. Okay?"

[fancylad]

Angus glances up at Taako. He doesn't seem much more annoyed than the usual Taako fare. Angus still feels a little guilty that the senior wizard had to be the one to step in and finish off vanishing the hat, but Taako's being incredibly forgiving here.

Maybe he's not doing too bad? It's really hard to say sometimes, with his teacher being who he is.

"Wait, do you usually assign me grades?" Suddenly, Angus drops everything because his skill is apparently being measured with a concrete number and/or letter. Is there a GPA Angus doesn't know about??? If it's less than a 4.0 his grandpa will be so posthumously peeved! "How have I been doing so far??"

[ohshitsweetflips]

Regrets, Taako has 'em. He should have known any mention of grading was just, nerd catnip, but this kind of energy leaves him looking a little taken aback nonetheless. Now he's never gonna be rid of him, good going. At least he's maybe not sad anymore?

Is nerd anxiety any better, though? "Well it's a, uh. A five point grading system, really uh, comprehensive. A lot of variables. Unfortunately I can't tell you what they are, trade secrets and all. Still workshopping it, it's in beta. You're doing fine, though, calm down. Really bounced back from the macaroon debacle."

Needless to say, this is total and complete bullshit, but as he's bullshitting it occurs to him maybe it shouldn't be. Look, he's got a gift, it only makes sense to regulate the distribution a little. Taako, unsure how this is being received, due to the invisibility, grins cautiously.

[fancylad]

Right. The macarons. So it's probably not a 4.0, but...

"Is there any opportunity for extra credit, sir?" he asks, testing the waters. Taako seems loath to let on any kind of concrete grade, which could mean anything. Taako is inscrutable that way, sometimes.

"Anyway, you should get invisible too, or those militia might get real peeved with you." He'd hate to leave Taako high and dry while Angus himself got off scot-free, especially after his brilliant plan of hiding in a trash can turned out to be not so brilliant, and Taako magnanimously brought new knowledge on hiding from the law.

[ohshitsweetflips]

"Sure, kid." Magic is always great for a few pranks, and getting Ango to commit them would be its own reward, worth handing out a little 'extra credit'. Though, it's not like he's gonna just, wake up and have that opportunity, is it. He's not about to say it but that's kinda unfortunate-feeling. "I mean, I'll consider it."

Which, oh yeah, right. Militia. Peeved is an understatement, though admittedly more because he's been stealing shit from various locales about town. Not really so much for any of this, but it's kinda funny that boy wonder is worried. Yeah, funny is what it is.

With an unusual lack of flourish, Taako assumes invisibility. Great, now they'll all invisible, including the trashcan. He shoots Angus a fingergun that can neither be seen nor accurately aimed. "Good lookin' out. Hey actually, you want some extra credit right now? Help me put this somewhere in the way."

[fancylad]

He'll consider it. That's probably as good as Angus is going to get. He'll take it.

Then Taako goes poof, and Angus absolutely can't see him, fingerguns or otherwise. Angus stops himself from complimenting Taako's ease with magic, since he's learned long ago that doing so can sound pretty patronizing. Like, of course Taako's good at magic. He's the wizard here. Or, you know, that's probably how that conversation would go.

"You mean the trash can, sir?" Angus thinks. "Oh! Good idea! We can hinder them if they get onto our trail! I gotta say sir, I'm usually the one doing the trailing, so I'm not as practiced at this!"

With that, he reaches out into the air in the direction he thinks the trash can was, walking towards it carefully. The sound of crashing fills the air, then, as an invisible boy knocks into an invisible tin can and sends both collapsing onto the ground.