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aftr_ooc2018-04-13 08:39 pm
lifeaftr_mods) wrote in aftr_ooc2018-04-13 08:39 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 010 )
Test Drive Meme #10
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 April 17th, and Applications on April 24th!
Two important notes:
Remember that Reserves will open on April 17th, and Applications on April 24th!
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.
Friends on the Other Side
When you open your eyes, it is to a shadow-tinted cityscape. The buildings are clay-built and colorless, plunging seemingly infinitely onward into the sky before disappearing into a dense pool of foglike sky. The silence weighs heavily like a mantle across every inch of this place, and no matter how you squint at them, every structure seems strangely blurred, as though being viewed through distorted telescope lens, or in the reflection of a pool of water.
All told, it's probably obvious from the start that all is not well here.
That wouldn't be a problem, perhaps, if you were alone. Mu does not boast a great deal of flora and fauna, but what it does have is a creature capable of inflicting much in the way of misfortune - clockroach. They occupy this city in swarms of wraith-like wisps, both intangible and curiously amorphous. But when they draw close, they instill a sense of terror like no other, usually igniting one's fight-or-flight response as a result. Sure, they might not be capable of actually hurting you, but why should that matter, when they have a skill for inducing a sense of utter dread in their targets?
Ever try to get some sleep with fresh adrenaline pumping in your veins?
Pretty Fly for a...Fire Guy
With indigo-blue skies, lush fields of green, and miles of rippling grass hills for as far as the eye can see, Mu has cast you into the perfect and picturesque evening. As the imaginary sun lips the very edge of the horizon and the last glow of orange fades to the purple of dusk, the fields come to life with a smattering of bright, wavering lights.
While they glow a contented amber by default, those that fireflies warm to will find themselves bathed in a green-blue glow as those bulbous, organic lanterns tint with a soft, cool turquoise. A few of them might even settle across your arms and in your hair, if they take that much of a shine to you.
Of course, those the fireflies don't warm to will be able to note as such when they light up a blazing crimson, mere seconds before the insects spit a stream of glowing orange, molten-colored acid. It stings and burns in equal measure, just as likely to scald you as it is to set the surrounding fields aflame.
Flower You Doing That?
Adventurers were both wary and relieved to discover that the next island on the horizon, known as Ziziphus, appeared to be a rather vegetation-rich paradise. They were considerably less relieved to learn that this island contained predators just like all the rest of them, despite the rich green backdrop of its meadows and the promise of lush woodland at its heart.
So it is that you, too, will learn that sometimes tufts of ferns are not tufts of ferns at all...but dangerous creatures called spindlanks.
For despite their leafy appearance, spindlanks are very much carnivorous. Their size can vary from anywhere between six and ten feet tall when their appendages unfurl entirely. They burn as easily as any plant matter would, but the size of them can make them quite difficult to topple alone.
And they are almost always hungry.
no subject
Wait, why does he still feel fear about this? He knows himself and his wants. That Noctis will live is enough and he knows Noctis would not lie about such a thing. Not when they have no idea how long they have together. Not when there is so much emotion swirling in the air.
Ignis tilts his head then, almost as if he is listening for something. And he is. When the sound of scuttling and small wings hits his ears, he is not surprised.]
Those bloody roaches.
[He should have known. They've only been an irritant on Mu since it first appeared. Gently, he tugs Noctis in a direction away from the bugs. But, they will not run. Just walk.]
They are everywhere in this place. Running will do us no good. Lets walk. Talk. The best we can do until we are taken from here is distract ourselves from the fears they are attempting to increase inside of us.
no subject
Right. You're the one who knows this place way better than I do, after all.
[ He's content to just walk, anyway. Take it slow. He feels like he's been going for so long, so intensely, that he can take it easy with Ignis at his side is a damn blessing. ]
So, how long have you been here, Iggy?
no subject
[This time? What does he mean by that? Well, maybe it's better not to ask.]
I've been here... Astrals, has it been nine months already?
[My how time flies when you're busy trying to survive and save the lives of two kings that fate has wronged.]
Perhaps a little longer than that if you count the time I spent here before I was sent to the island itself. This dream world, it's something of a staging ground. Not everyone who comes here ends up on the island, but most who come to the island stop here first.
[Ignis looks blankly ahead as he continues speaking, footsteps sure despite the fact that Mu changes so constantly and he doesn't have his cane. Noctis is next to him and he knows nothing bad will happen with his King at his side.]
When I first arrived, it was so soon after my injuries in Altissia that the trauma kept me from remembering exactly what had happened, but a couple of months ago, I was sent back home for a few days. When I returned here, I remembered it all.
[He can't help but wonder now if Noctis will say something about Altissia. Did he eventually find out what happened that day? In his emotional state earlier, he spoke of things he shouldn't have known and Noctis said nothing. Ignis really isn't sure how to interpret that silence.]
no subject
[ He says it softly, quietly. About as long as he was in the network's grasp, then. Noctis exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair. It's hard to believe he was in that damn situation for so long. Maybe it's what remained with him of those roaches, but his chest tightens with anxiety as he thinks about it.
Breathe in, out. Noctis straightens his back and levels Ignis with a look he can't see. It's intense, searching, and he debates with himself for a while.
... Should he? Does he dare? ]
Altissia. [ It's no more than a whisper. His voice remains steady, somehow, and Noctis puts a hand on Ignis's shoulder. ] I know what happened in Altissia, Ignis.
[ He does because he doesn't want to keep that from Ignis. ]
no subject
Ignis stops dead in his tracks, hit with such an intense mix of relief and fear that he feels like he's going to be ill. All the color drains from his face as he tries to untangle his mind enough to actually say something. But what does he say? He took power he had no right to and suffered the consequences. It wasn't even enough to change anything and even knowing the discord that his actions caused within the group afterward--even knowing the pain his actions added to Noctis' already heavy burden--even then...
He would change nothing. It was a chance. One that didn't work out, but one he had to take. He had to try.
A deep breath breaks the silence between them as Ignis tucks his chin down into his chest, a change in posture that was common after Altissia. Something he'd managed to shed the urge to do while on the islands.]
Forgive me...
no subject
Ignis, [ Noctis says, both firm and soft at the same time. There is no trace of anger in his voice. Just a quiet, deep sadness he's grappled with ever since Ardyn told him.
Noctis takes Ignis's hand in both of his. ]
There's nothing to forgive. You... you made a choice, and I can't criticize you for that.
[ Even if the price Ignis paid was unfair. Even if the gods took something they had no right to. After all, Ignis is not the one Noctis is angry at. Never Ignis. ]
I only wish I-- could have done something to protect you from that pain, like you've always protected me.
CW: Suicide Ideation (even if he doesn't recognize it as such)
[The thought of adding to Noctis' burden is almost enough to bring Ignis to his knees. This is why he didn't want Noctis to know the truth. Noctis did nothing wrong. He gave everything even though he shouldn't have had to. How could Ignis do any less when given the chance?]
I offered them everything. My body. My mind. My life. Why didn't they take more than my blasted vision? I would have gladly given it all to save you! What was the point of Luna--of Pryna--showing me your death if I wasn't suppose to change it? Why make me see you pinned to the throne...
[Ignis voice chokes off then, his body trembling even more than it had before.]
Why was my life not enough? What more could I have given them? I just wanted to see you safe and happy. It's all I've ever wanted!
[He should stop there, but now that he's started, Ignis can't seem to turn off the words. The roll out of his mouth, scattered, confused, the product of someone whose had way too much time to think on his failures and no way to shut off his mind.
Even if he wanted to.]
Should I have gone with Ardyn? Would that have changed anything? Prompto... Oh Astrals, if he had me, he would never had gone after Prompto. I could have spared him so much pain! And, maybe....maybe I could have changed something before he killed me! The Crystal was there and I had the Ring and...
no subject
What was the point of Luna--of Pryna--showing me your death if I wasn't suppose to change it?
The words hit him like a blow to the stomach, to the heart. It's not an unfamiliar feeling; it's the same one he'd felt when Nari had used the hardlight both times. Noctis's throat feels tight, like the air's being punched out of his lungs a thousand, a million times.
Ignis knew.
He grips Ignis's arms.
Noct. Perhaps it might be best if we brought our journey to a close.
Ignis knew. Pryna showed him.
We've already lost so much. Too much.
His hands tighten on Ignis's arms. They're shaking, and Noctis brings him in for a tight, desperate hug. Ignis had known, that's why... that's why he'd tried to get Noctis to stop. What Ignis had seen before his vision had been snatched away from him--because he dared to put on the Ring to protect the king the Astrals had chosen, millennia before his birth--in that moment, when Noctis had yelled at him in that hotel room...
How badly did he scar Ignis's heart, too? ]
Don't. You... you gave up so much for me. It was more than you should have had to bear. You did nothing wrong, Ignis. If you had gone with Ardyn, he might have killed you to prove something to me, that I couldn't protect even more of the people I love.
no subject
[And that's all it takes to stop the words cold. Ignis returns the desperate hug almost immediately, head coming to rest against Noctis'. They haven't done this since they were children awakened by nightmares unwilling to bother the adults, unable to rest without the safe familiarity of the other. Tears finally make their way to his eyes, though they don't fall. Wishing for a moment not to end is a waste of energy. Time waits for no man, commoner or king. Ignis knows this without a doubt, but in this moment, he wishes. Despite the pain, he wishes this moment could last--could give them a chance to be instead of needing to fight fate every breathing moment.
Ignis never had that much of a childhood, but he wishes for it again with all the that is in his heart.]
Back then I knew you would say no, but I had to try. Even if it upset you, I had to try.
[As loathe as he is to break the silence, Ignis eventually does, voice soft.]
I had to be selfish. I've given so much for you and will never want to stop doing so, but then--right then--I had to do something for me.
[However, as if he's taken Noctis' words to heart, Ignis doesn't ask for forgiveness for that moment of selfishness. His words are a statement and an explanation. Nothing more.]