aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 012 )

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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[ Papyrus might be somewhat oblivious to certain things, but he's nowhere near oblivious to everything - and one of the things he's particularly sensitive to is his brother's moods. ] Well!! Not yet, but I am getting the feeling that they may be in a bad mood?? I will simply!! Have to try again later!! When they are more receptive to friendship!! So!! I am going to give them some space!!

[ And mercifully sparing Sans from further stress, he cheerfully heads off in a random direction that's not towards the aggressive stomping lump of rock. Does he know where he's going? Absolutely not. But he is definitely going away, and that's the important thing. ]

[A lot of people took their first impressions of Papyrus and ran with them. Sans had heard it all - naive, lame, childish. To Sans, those snap judgments could always be turned back on the people making them. Where they saw impulsiveness or naivety, Sans saw bravery and confidence. Their loss.

It took a pretty cool person to recognize cool, and Papyrus practically oozed the stuff. Unfortunately, Papyrus only had him right now, and he couldn't help feeling the balloon of stress in his chest deflate with relief when his brother abandoned this latest show of that very cool bravery.

Sans wasn't all that cool, after all.]

I bet they'll chill out eventually.Y'know, once they're all stomped out. [He offers, appearing up near the shelter of rocks Papyrus was heading towards.] You can try again later. Maybe make them a mud pie or something.

Edited 2018-07-10 04:17 (UTC)

[ Sans thinks the world of him, in many ways. And Papyrus, despite his constant chiding about untidiness and laziness, thinks the world of his brother too; he strives to live up to Sans' high opinion of him, always. It means very much to him that Sans does the things he does.

And though Sans does his fair share of looking out for him, it's important that Papyrus does the best he can for his brother, too. If that involves putting aside something he was doing to make sure Sans doesn't stress out, even if it is an important thing like Making Friends and Socialising and Being Cool? He'll do it.

Sans is happier if he's away from the giant stompy rock, and in a strange place like this, it's all the more important to make sure his brother has less to worry about. ]

That...is an excellent idea!! Gifts are always a very good way of making friends!! No wonder they were so mad!! I will just have to make them an extra great and special gift to make up for my rudeness!! [ It's totally that and not the fact that the golem is SUPER HOSTILE and probably is not capable of friendship, yep.

But, now that he's not actively engaging in something extremely dangerous, there are more questions. ] Sans! Do you happen to know where we are?? [ He's not so clear on the details of how he got here, but boy this is a more...coherent dream than he's used to having. ]

[Peering out over the rock outcropping, Sans listened to Papyrus plan his next phase of friendship attack with the distant interest of someone genuinely curious and deeply preoccupied.]

Oh yeah, I'm full of it. [Good ideas, that is. Of course, Papyrus's question about being here jogs his attention back towards his brother.] Uh...

Not gonna lie, bro, it's got me stumped. Did you make dinner last night?

[It would explain the weird shared hallucination, even if Sans found it strange he couldn't remember...]

Edited 2018-07-10 05:58 (UTC)

[ Papyrus is similarly distracted by the scenery. He's only been one year on the Surface, after all. That's not long to get used to the wider variety of environments the world has to offer, and so a completely new place on top of that means he's raring to run everywhere and explore.

Not that he will, of course, that would mean leaving Sans behind. But he's thinking it. ]

Uh. I don't think so?? [ He might have asked "wait, are you saying my excellent spaghetti causes realistic dreams?" or something like that if he was paying more attention. He steps up a bit onto a rock and glances around. Cliffs, crags, more cliffs... ] I've heard of dreaming about places you've never been! But this seems a bit too absurd, even if you're here too!!

[ Of course Sans would be in his dreams, because that's his brother. Why would he not dream about him? But all this seems a bit...realistic...? He usually has weirder dreams than this. ]

[Sans nods, thoughtful, through Papyrus's musings. He had a few salient points, specifically how little sense it all made to either of them. The advantage of dreams is that you didn't question them.

He slumps down a little, ensuring they were hidden from the golem's eyeline before looking up at his brother, darting out a hand, and pinching him hard on the right radius.]

Edited 2018-07-10 16:29 (UTC)

[ Papyrus is far too busy observing the cliffs to notice Sans' sneak attack, so his sudden yelp is unsurprising. ]

SANS!! [ He flails about from this surprise attack. ] What was that for??

[ It's sort of a redundant question, because Sans is his brother and likes playing pranks on people and That Is What He Does. But he still asks, every time. ]

[Experiment concluded, Sans shrugs in affable response.]

Just double checking something. I don't think we're dreaming, bro. I'd have you pinch me too, but, y'know.

[Y'know.]

So if this is as real as it seems, we better get moving. I don't know any shortcuts here, you cool playing leader?

[ He definitely know.
He knows how it is, because that's always how it is.

It's why he has to look out for Sans. Especially now that they're in a strange place. But it's time to get moving! ]

Of course!! [ When is he ever not happy playing leader? Well, when Undyne's around, because Undyne's better at it. But still!!

He vaults over the rock in a swift movement and begins to carefully stride over the slowly downward-sloping ground. He can see green not so far away, so maybe there will be something new there? ]

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 012 )

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