TEST DRIVE MEME ( 012 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #12

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 June 17th, and Applications on June 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.

There Goes the Neighborhood
Today, you're not merely waking up on an island. Oh, no. You're waking up in the world's most perfect suburb, complete with perfectly-trimmed lawns, white picket fences, and a uniformity that borders on the absurd. Not a fleck of paint is out of place, and not a blade of grass is out of line.

Mu has attempted to imitate the sort of fabricated happiness that adventurers dealt with in the month of May, but without the full power to shape fantasies to the whims of each individuals, has opted instead to attempt for a blanket, painfully generic alternative. It's a cheap attempt to mimic something that was already a falsehood to begin with, rote and uncommitted. Thus, much of this world is patchworked with palpable holes, both visible and otherwise: neighbors are featureless specters performing daily routines with robotic precision, entire swathes of the neighborhood are perfect replicas of the same painfully generic family, and, of course, there's you.

You obviously don't belong here. The framework of the narrative is so structured that it's not hard to realize things are amiss. The more you think about it, the more it seems like this entire fantasy is deeply, deeply amiss.

But then again, maybe not. Maybe you buy into it, completely and utterly. Maybe you're so eager to escape whatever life you lived prior to this one that you're all too eager to live in this Stepford-esque facsimile. The degree to which your character adheres to this structured world, and how much they remember from their true life, is up to you.

Do it for the Vine
This next scenario is far from pleasant, though it is much more real. The thick, tropical woodland might be difficult to traverse at first, but don't worry - it's about to get much harder. Do you like earthquakes? How about massive, twisting vines that swarm out from the undergrowth to attempt to snake up around your ankles and shins and root you in place, perhaps smother you in the dirt? Isn't it fortunate that you're being left to contend with both at once? Mu is compensating for the events of May, it seems; commemorating a god whose demise tore an island apart by mimicking with precision efficiency how that must have felt for everyone to bear dramatic witness.

The good news is that while the vines might be both eerily cunning and vast in number, they still are just plants, and plants can be easily pruned or burned. The subterranean rumbles of the ground as it cracks and ruptures underfoot might be less easy to contend with.

To that, our only suggest is simply to run. Good luck!

Taken for Granite
This particular brand of landscape is striped with cliffs and crags, a lifeless mountain range crooked along the horizon with rock the color of fired clay. And not far off from where you've stirred awake is...a rather eccentric rock formation.

By "eccentric", of course, we mean "moving". And by "moving" we mean "it is extricating itself from the ground like some unholy tectonic zombie and it's coming right at you RUN".

Formed entirely from an amalgamation of earth, rocks, ore, and valuable gems, the earth golem is surprisingly territorial for a glorified lump of mud. Approximately fifteen feet tall and half as wide, this lumbering creature has only one concern: the eradication of anything that steps into its territory. It is sensitive to vibrations in the ground, and is thus very difficult to hide from for those moving on foot. However, it is nearly blind and very stupid, preferring to wallop anything within reach using its massive, boulder-sized fists rather than employ any sort of strategy. Still, unless you're looking to travel to the other side of the area via the Golem Express, avoiding this creature's warpath may be a wise choice. Especially given its talent at re-assembling itself upon destruction.

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Comments

[fontofkindness]

[ For all Papyrus' eccentricities and faults (only some of which he'll admit to, and definitely not in public), his combat skill isn't lacking. The golem's slow, unwieldy movements are easy to read and just as easy to get away from.

He hmms loudly and thoughtfully, registering the words but not the joke. ]

I hadn't considered that...!! Well? Do you like nice blankets?

[ The golem goes in for another punch, which he easily avoids. ] No?? Wowie, you're not much of a talker! It's almost like you don't want to be friends at all?!

[ He crosses his arms, and then - oh wait wasn't there someone else here. He breaks his attention from the golem to look around until he spots Luna. ]

Human!! Do you know him? Is he always like this?? [ Names later, there's something more pressing right now. ]

[holdmyhand]

[ "Human." She shakes her head quickly-- part of being a pokemon trainer is recognizing the strength of others-- the strength of your faith in a team, and in others who face you...and Papyrus is not lacking. Even in playful conversation, the skeleton evades and practically runs circles around the giant golem, who is is so desperately trying to befriend. ]

I've never seen him, before...maybe he's new? [ the golem is swinging, but Papyrus' laid-back and intriguing nature occupy Luna's attention. ] You must be new here too, then! Are you really a skeleton?!

[ maybe he also enjoys jokes!!! like the one the washed up on shore with her many, many months ago. ]

[fontofkindness]

[ He seems about to say something else but-- ] Of course I'm a skeleton!! What other kind of monster could I possibly be?? [ Wait, wait, no hang on he's learned something from being around humans a bit more. He has to give.............the speech. ]

...Human! I realise that perhaps...skeletons may be scary to you!! I have become aware that humans also have skeletons, but inside?? And seeing skeletons walking around...is not something humans are used to!!

But!! There is nothing to worry about!! Because!!

I am an extremely great and extremely friendly skeleton!!

[ He nods sagely, scarf fluttering dramatically in the wind. The golem winds up for another swing in the background.......... ]

[holdmyhand]

[ the scarf!! It billows!! What a strong billow game!!! And what a wonderful and good skeleton-friend!! ]

Well, mister Extremely-Great-And-Friendly-Skeleton... I'm Luna! And, uh, I'm not sure what their name is... [ looking toward the Golem thoughtfully.. ] ...but maybe we can help name them?! Yeah!

[ NAME THE PROBABLY-FATIGUED GOLEM!!! A NEW GAME FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGES!!! ]

[fontofkindness]

Your name is Luna??

Wowie!! That's a great name!! Just as great as my name! Which is Papyrus!! [ "extremely great and friendly skeleton" is a good descriptor but not a good name, and what would you even shorten it to?? It'd just be a mouthful every time! No, it's good to have sensible, short names.

The golem's punch looks awfully close to hitting Papyrus, but with a quick turn he holds out a gloved hand. The blue glow of magic surges up the golem's arm, and it jerks violently to the side as the entire appendage drops to the ground.

You're blue now!! At least temporarily. ]

Hmmmm....But what kind of name would be good for our new friend?? Rocky?? Mossy?? Boulder...y?? [ He muses loudly as he holds the golem there (it's already struggling to get up again). Papyrus is bad at names. ]

[holdmyhand]

[ Papyrus. What an oddly fitting name-- though she's not familiar with the font context. That kind of name just seems to fit the skeleton somehow. She opens her mouth to respond, and then Mr. Golem turns blue, and she's left kind of agape!!!

But just for a moment!! Her arms are thrown in the air and she approaches Papyrus in this moment of safety!! Woah!! What?? Woah!!! ] Did you do that?! That's amazing!! Papyrus you're amazing!

[ he lists of his names and she crosses her arms a bit and tilts her head. ] Boulder...y? Rocky? [ her hand covers her mouth while she laughs-- they're great names, but they're awfully, uh... punny? ] Maybe we could name him Pebbles!