aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 011 )

Test Drive Meme #11

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 May 17th, and Applications on May 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.

Damn It, Todd
The island breeze is cool and pleasant, temperature-wise. The sun is beaming cheerfully overhead, and the waves lapping up against the beach are a crystalline aquamarine. The place may as well be a postcard, with how picturesque it is: from the thick copses of palm trees to the soft white sand, it's a truly gorgeous, becoming setting.

It makes up for the chaos of its inhabitants.

Mu has adopted what promises to be a highly frustrating backdrop for its dreamers, this fine evening. The island looks normal enough, seems normal enough, but for whatever reason, the physics and general behavior seems oddly...glitched.

We don't just mean in the general sense, either. At random intervals, you may find yourself being launched several feet in the air by an invisible abuse of physics, or clipping through trees at breakneck speeds. Maybe you're walking around several feet above the ground, or your hands are much larger than the rest of you. Regardless, the possibilities are virtually endless and promise to be, for the most part, quite harmless for those afflicted - just very annoying. Whether you're swimming in the air, repeating the same lines of dialogue over and over again, or stuck halfway through the ground, it's not clear how one is meant to undo these glitches once they set in.

You could always try helping each other! Though that may simply make things worse; who can say if these glitches might bleed into one another and complicate things even further?

(Oh, and they do. They absolutely do.)

This is Dragonna Suck
When you wake in a lovely, tranquil woodland, it perhaps seems too good to be true. The trees are dense with canopies flowering overhead, and the grass has formed a thick, plush carpet on the forest floor. There's the sound of birds chattering happily in the branches, and the rustle of forest creatures in the undergrowth. That's around the time that a loud, angry roar splits the silence, and something very large and very green barrels into the clearing you occupy with large, barklike claws.

This, dear adventurers, is a rootwyrm. While undeniably draconian in appearance, the effect is offset by the fact that the rootwyrm's skin is more akin to the texture of bark than it is scales. One can generally discern the age of these creatures by counting the number of rather stubby legs that support its ample middle - the youngest will only have two, while the oldest will have as many as twelve.

Rootwyrms move slowly, thanks to the turtle-like shell that sits astride their back in lieu of wings, but they make up for this by hitting quite hard in a fight. Instead of breathing fire, rootwyrms spit a caustic, stinging acid if they can't get close enough to their prey, though they'll be more than happy to try and dispatch you the old-fashioned way: with an extremely large set of reptilian jaws.

Did we mention they don't like trespassers? And that you're standing square in the middle of their territory?

You're Pollen My Leg!
The open spread of the grasslands allows for a clear view of the cloud-scudded sky. This particular setting is that of a meadow, vast and seemingly infinite, hosting a sweeping expanse of rolling hills. The wind's rippling over the fields of rich green and buff-colored grass lends itself to the impression that the hills are in constant motion, as if you're standing in the middle of a verdant ocean.

Naturally, such is not the case. As you roam the landscape, you'll probably notice the dollops of color sprinkled here and there: flowers growing in bright clumps amidst the tufts of grass.

They're not ordinary flowers. Why would they be? They're in full bloom, meaning that thick spores of pollen have begun to waft freely into the air. Careful not to draw too close, because this pollen, when inhaled, ingested, or otherwise interacted with in any nonspecific capacity, will have a variety of...side effects, depending on which particular plant's spores you've just unwittingly imbibed.

There are five variants you may encounter in your dream-travels, each of which will have a different result, depending on the color.

[ ♆ ] Blue flowers will induce short-term amnesia and general confusion. Forgetting your sense of identity, difficulty discerning the difference between right and left, and an intense sensation of vertigo are all common side effects.

[ ♆ ] Red flowers will make you intensely and inconsolably angry at just about everything. You know that guy who chewed gum behind your ear that one time? Fuck that guy! That person over there, with the yellow shirt? Fuck their shirt! Yellow is a stupid color, and you're stupid for wearing it!

[ ♆ ] Green flowers will induce a loss of one important sense - sight, smell, taste, touch, or hearing - though loss of powers is also known to have occurred.

[ ♆ ] Purple flowers will induce silence. We hope you aren't very talkative by nature, or that you can communicate exclusively via rude hand gestures, because now you can't speak at all.

[ ♆ ] Orange flowers will fill you an indescribable terror regarding just about everything. The slightest motion, the most innocent hello, the most harmless small animal - all will tap directly into every primal fight-or-flight response to danger you have.

These status effects can and will stack, by the by. Maybe start up a little game of pollen bingo, and see how many fanfiction tropes you can rack up in one day.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i. damn it, todd

[Weirdly, it's not until strange things start happening that this whole thing makes more sense to her. One moment, she's where she should be. The next, she's somewhere else entirely. Dreaming? That hadn't really made sense.

Not until she suddenly finds herself rushing ahead, distorted blocks clouding her vision. Wait, no, that's not right. Not rushing. Teleporting? No...

Clipping. Glitching.

As she sees someone nearby - someone, really? - she laughs a little.]

Wow... Seems like someone should have playtested this a little more, huh?

ii. you're pollen my leg

[Oh, now what is this? She stops to smell these absolutely beautiful flowers and the next her throat feels funny. Monika stands there in the meadow, staring ahead of her and with one hand on her throat.

No matter how she tries, she can't... seem to make a sound anymore. And that shouldn't be happening! This is all wrong!

It's not like she's supposed to be a silent protagonist, or anything! She isn't even the right role or genre for that. It's utterly ridiculous.

She drops her hands back to her side, sighing both sadly and silently. How is she supposed to give anyone a writing tip of the day like this?

Isn't this a sad sight?]

Playtested?! What kinda dream is this?

[The guy who she'd come across is in no better a state. While he's not clipping in and out of existence or objects, his wings are creating extended, flickering polygons. Periodically, they stabilize into their usual batlike form, but not enough to let him move too far.]

It's like a busted game...

It is, isn't it?

[Monika laughs a little, though her eyes widen when she gets a better look at this guy. Wow, that's a look, alright. Now what sort of game would someone like that be from?]

Like someone really messed up the code or something. I wonder what that means for us?

[Ah! A cute girl! Who looks sad. That's enough to tug at Nari's heartstrings as she comes over to investigate.]

Heya. Everything alright?

[Is there anything she can do to help?]

[Monika's mouth opens, instinctively ready to answer. But no sound comes out. She huffs a little in frustration, though without her voicing any of her thoughts it loses some of its effect.

She gestures a little helplessly at her throat and shakes her head. She's stuck with the silent protagonist deal for now.

Seriously, how cliche is that?]

Oh. Well, so ya can't talk. Hmm... I got a notebook if you wanna use a page to write what you wanna say down?

[Would that help?]

[Oh! That's perfect, actually. Monika nods enthusiastically at that. Ah, she ran into the perfect stranger, it seems.]

Cool. [Digging a notebook out. It's got cats all over it. Ignore the notes about roomba maintenance and weaponizing pigeons as you find a blank page. And then Nari hands the girl a pen.] Here ya go. As soon as you can talk again, I would like it back, please. It's got some important notes in it.

[If there's one thing Guzma's learned after months in this place? Never, ever trust a flower. The most innocent, beautiful looking bloom can sometimes be horrifically toxic or carnivorous. Heck, he's even seen shrubs with teeth, or whatever the heck those tall, spindly, spider-like moss wads even are... The addition of a whole garden of bright and colorful flowers has Guzma squinting at them uneasily, and he's not a damn idiot. He shucks his hoodie and his undershirt, tying the latter loosely around his nose and mouth so he can go about his business without breathing anything in.

Back on goes his hoodie and he zips it up nearly to the top - he's not a savage like some people (Kukui) to go bare-chested. Especially where he doesn't know if the pollen of these flowers could cause burns or rashes. He's half tempted to burn them all, just to be sure, but...that'd be a poor decision too, to make that shit airborne.

As he meanders through the flowerfield, he spots a young lady crouched down by a patch of the orange ones. Lord, a newbie...poor thing. Hopefully these aren't as bad as he's expecting them to be. Still, he holds upa hand and mumbles, half muffled through his makeshift face mask:]

Yo, homegirl, prob'ly ain't a good idea to go breathing in them flowers, yeah.

[Oh, now this... gentleman... is talking to her. She definitely doesn't recognize him. And really, why would she be dreaming about someone like this, anyway? That doesn't seem right at all.

Which is the sentiment she has at first as she turns to face him, except then that orange pollen does its work... and, instead, she jumps back.]

Aah! [...That was so undignified.] I-- They're just flowers, they're-- I-I'm fine!

[...What's with that freaked out response so suddenly?]

Whoa there, girly, I ain't gonna eat'cha.

[He's not fazed by this reaction, in all honesty - Guzma's seen it a hundred, maybe a thousand times. It comes with the territory of looking the way he does. His reputation precedes him, even in a faraway world like this. Holding up his hands in a pacifying gesture, he keeps himself back and out of arms reach, trying to appear as nonthreatening as possible. Heaven knows he's met all kinds of people here, and being cautious can save one's hide in a pinch.]

Just passing through, yeah? And I dunno 'bout you, but I been here long 'nuff to know flowers 'round these parts ain't just flowers. Now I don't go nothing y'all can use to cover up, but I can walk you back toward the islets.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 011 )

monika | doki doki literature club | warning for potential spoilers

i. (oh my gosh oh my gosh?? Bless u for playin Monika!!)

aw thanks! ❤

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ii. POWERSLIDES IN HERE

wow this is so late WHOOPS

WEEPS SAME.