aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 013 )

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*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 013 )

Test Drive Meme #13

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 July 17th, and Applications on July 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.

Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat
When you wake, it's to the bucking of tumultuous ocean waves and the heavy sluice of rain. The boat you've found yourself on was probably seaworthy at some point, but it's been wind-battered and weatherbeaten to the point where it's begun, quite steadily, to sink into the choppy waves. Looks like you're all in the same, sinking vessel.

To make matters worse, it seems that the storm itself has a nasty sense of humor. It seems almost intuitive in its attempts to toss you from your footing on the deck and into the frothing waters below. Gusts of powerful wind try to tear you from the mast if you climb it, and the boat rocks perilously to try and tip you into the churning waves. Oh, and did we mention the lightning? Because there's lightning, and it seems to have a personal interest in incinerating your pitifully wooden little boat on the spot.

That doesn't mean you're completely helpless. There is an island in sight, one that resembles the waking land of Ensō, albeit somewhat far off, its silhouette fuzzy and indistinct from the curtains of rain. But if you can make it...

Well, anywhere's got to be better than here, right?

Gibbon No Quarter
It's been a year since the first adventurers were initially drawn to Mu's shores, and then, later, to Ensō's. And so, in celebration, the dream-island has cribbed only the best bits of the previous year for prospective explorers to sample on their way in.

Take now, for instance. You'll find yourself in a cage of all things, with the pound of drums and excited hoots of hungry simians to greet you upon waking. This particular breed of monkeys was once unique to Ensō, before travelers were forced to more or less thoroughly exterminate them. Devilishly smart and naturally inventive, gun monkeys are so named for their trademark weaponry - coconut guns, naturally - and their generally cunning capacity to craft tools out of very rudimentary resources.

And oh, right - they're also very carnivorous. They've set up a smoking bonfire in the center of the jungle clearing that makes up their temporary home, and if you don't figure out a way to come out of your cage (have you been doing just fine, perhaps?), then you're going to be next on the menu.

Think fast, or work with whoever's nearby, and you might have a chance. Or you could always call for help. That always works out, right?

To Be Continued
Stories, stories, stories. Anyone who's hung around the block for any length of time can tell you, dear newcomers, that those little things are of the utmost importance in this neck of the woods. There's no mistaking the purpose behind this inviting scene - log seats set up around a roaring campfire, and even a packet or two of marshmallows if you're feeling hungry.

It almost might be enough to distract you from the fact that there's no fuel for said fire. And what's more, the darkness surrounding the woodland backdrop is so impenetrable that you may as well be an isolated blot of warmth in an otherwise unforgiving void. And within that void, if you listen close, you might hear something - a snarling, an indistinct rumble of massive jaws parting, hungrily, in search of something alive.

If that flame burns out...well, something out there isn't fond of fire, and that's the only thing keeping it from claiming everyone seated here for its own enjoyment. But the good news is that there's a very easy way to keep this fire blazing well through the danger. Can you tell where this is going?

It's stories, of course. Regale us with tales of your past exploits, or with fairytales or nursery rhymes you remember from your childhood. Relay your tales of triumph and of grief, of laughter and of agony, of anything you can possibly imagine. As long as a story of some sort is being told, the fire will burn merrily onward, and the blanket of all-consuming darkness will be kept at bay.

Just try not to embellish too much. If your story is too vague, if it is more lies than it is something genuine, the fire might start to gutter dangerously low as a consequence. And that beast, whatever it is - oh, it's hungry.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

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Sorry. (Lucretia gives him a little embarrassed half-smile, then hurriedly corrects her work.) Third time lucky, huh?

(He looks so awkward... it seems like she is really weirding him out! She pauses with her pen still balanced, point on the paper, suddenly quite aware of the way that he's holding himself. It's probably the note taking thing, it probably isn't helping. She stashes her book away again, resolving not to take it out again until she has left this particular conversation.)

Oh. (Despite her own anxiety over making him uncomfortable, she can't help but snigger at what he says.) You met Lup first? (that's rough, buddy) Well, you've all but– survived the crash course, so to speak. It's all downhill from here.

And where I'm from in the timeline, Taako isn't... I haven't seen him date anybody before, not really. So you'll have to excuse my awkwardness too. But it is good to meet you, Kravitz.

[He's just working up both of their anxieties now and he knows it, but this is so off base for Kravitz he just has no clue how to deal with this everything. Obviously he knows cerebrally that Taako has friends, but his first meeting with Lup went so badly he feels like he's just waiting for someone to bust out and kick his ass at any available opportunity. Who knows what Lucretia is capable of. Probably a lot! It would do him well not to underestimate that.]

Really? Well, excuse my bad luck then. I have, uhm, spoken to... Barry? Do you know Barry? He's been much more pleasant.

[Even if they are both liches but he's supposed to have chilled the fuck out on that a little goddamn bit. At least he can put aside that there's nothing he can do here so sometimes you just die a little bit. It's fine.]

And, uhm... he hasn't? Would it be-- you don't have to tell me if it's rude, but how long have you known him? I don't think I got to meet him until he'd been around for quite some time, so it's difficult to say exactly where I know him versus... you? I guess? I'm sorry, I'm sure you know more than me here.

I'm aware of Barry, (she says, and her face remains completely neutral because she's just instinctively messing with him now. He's dating Taako and that goes hand in hand with having to interact with the six of them, and that comes with razzing. S'how it is, Lucretia doesn't make the rules.)

It's not rude. (He's angling for info, she gets it. This time she does smile.) I've known him for seventy-eight years. He's not very good at keeping these kinds of things secret, so...

(Strange, that she's only hearing about it now. It must be dream logic?)

[This is what he's expecting, honestly. Anyone who's friends with Taako in a capacity that spans seventy-eight years is here to drag his ass to the next dimension. He's at least getting a conversation out of her, not the shouting match that meeting Lup was. It had been a very stressful day. This has decidedly lower stakes.]

Oh. Yep, yes, that's a long time.

[She looks pretty young for seventy eight. Don't humans age more than that? That isn't important right now.]

I'm really not sure how his whole thing has worked. I've had some discussions here about his travel to the plane we met on but it's all a bit fuzzy. I.. assume I'll meet you eventually, in our actual world.

Too long, (she says, and for a moment she looks tired. It's hard, being one of the six people that Taako Taaco routinely dunks on. It's hard, and nobody understands.)

I suppose you will. Until then– am I allowed to give you spoilers? Or does that upset... something?

(It certainly seems to upset the fire: it flickers and burns suddenly low and Lucretia snorts, rolling her eyes.) Okay, okay. I suppose it doesn't really matter.

We've been planet jumping for seventy-eight years. Every cycle, our ship resets with us inside of it, and so... we are functionally immortal. If we die, we reappear on the ship at the start of the new loop. There is a new planet for each one, but our objective is the same: to search for the light of creation. With me so far?

[He's only beginning to get that much, frankly. Call him in a hundred years, once he will have hired his sister, and then see how he is. It'll be a lot, but as she says- spoilers.]

I've heard some different things while I've been here, so I imagine it's likely not an issue.

[Which of course, she continues, and he actually does know about this- though it wasn't too long ago that he learned about it.]

Oh, I-- yes, actually. I spoke to Barry about this a bit- Taako, as well. Outrunning that great... well, I'm not sure beast covers it. You're speaking of the Hunger, correct?

Yes. (Okay, if he knows about that, Lucretia probably doesn't have to fill him in on much more. That's good. The fire is definitely enjoying her explanation though.)

Lately, it has been... gaining distance in strides. (Her tone is casual; there is nothing to suggest how horrifying this statement is to Lucretia, who spends every new cycle they begin filled with dread. How much time will they have in this one? The Hunger is showing up faster and faster. Their rate of success in finding the Light is getting shakier.)

I think it has learned how to successfully pinpoint us with greater accuracy. It has been seventy-eight years, after all. (She sighs, and stares into the fire for a moment.) I... don't know when it will end. None of us do; but it feels like some kind of... ending is building.

Edited 2018-12-14 05:12 (UTC)

[It's hard not to know something when you've nearly been vored by it. Or at least, now he has words for what it was, what it was doing. Hunger is incredibly, incredibly apropos.

He leans forward, balancing his forearms on his legs, letting his hands lace between his knees. The fire may be attentive, but so is he.]

That's... very dangerous, yes. And a long time to be doing anything like that. But I think that may solidify that I am from your future. Or the memories I have are, to be fair. From what I know, you all travel for a hundred planes. I think you yet have more to come.

(Lucretia puffs up her cheeks, then exhales in a puff of breath, deeply relieved.)

Terrific. We thought that it might end up being one hundred. (Or, rather, they had all desperately hoped that it would. After all, they'd thought it all might stop on fifty once upon a time, and look how wrong they'd been about that.) That's good to know, thank you.

Kravitz, could I ask you something? (She's going to barrel ahead regardless of his answer, though she's glancing at her hands, a little embarrassed.) What... is Taako like, in the future? Is he happy?

[Frankly, it's not the question he was expecting to get. He doesn't know enough about her future to spoil it for her, as he hasn't met her, but Taako he could talk about. But what... does he say? Taako's complicated. Taako's completely insane, staring down a golem that nearly killed him and eating a rock. Taako is... soft hands on his on a pottery wheel, Taako is high pitched laughter when Kravitz says something sweet, Taako is his face pressed into a collarbone, shaking, flowers twisting around them both. How does he say, with definitiveness, that he's happy? How can he conceptualize that?]

I... I think he's looking for something. Or he was. He has ambition, but it's muddled. It's...

[It's a word he doesn't especially know how to relate to himself, but suddenly it seems close.]

It seems a bit lonely, to be frank. But I didn't know him very long before we came here. Here he's certainly lively. It would be a mistake to call him unhappy, he just seems... unfulfilled.

(She watches Kravitz's expression as best she can in little sidelong glances, trying to get more meaning from his words through his body language. This isn't the answer she thought that she would get. She thought that, having escaped the cycles, he would be happy. Not... lonely.

Lucretia looks a bit strained.)

Oh.

(What else is there to say? She really hates the idea of Taako being unfulfilled, that just doesn't fit with who he is as a person at all. Lucretia glances down at her hands and can't help thinking that she's failed him, some how.)

But he is safe, right?

[He doesn't mean to worry her. She certainly doesn't seem to want ill for him- in fact, just the opposite. But that's what makes it complicated to tell her facts like this. That Taako is-- still a work in progress, in lots of ways. He's only barely got a grasp of how deep that goes.]

He has friends who protect him. And while he is here, I will protect him. Even if he has some... less than intelligent ideas.

[Like that one time he blew up that ore even though Kravitz clearly said not to. Or when he drops out of trees or agonizes him with a lobster. It's just a lot.]

I don't know everything about his life. I'm sure he has more I'm not privy to.

... If I could stay, I could protect him.

(She's been practicing. A lot, lately. It's become more and more important to her that she step up instead of letting everybody else shield her from harm. She needs to get a hand on the ball that is this mission already, and by god, has she been preparing for that touch. Lucretia twines her fingers together, cracks her knuckles slowly, one at a time. Thinking, thinking.

This is a strange thing to have said to Kravitz, maybe. Like she's trying to prove something. She relents, releasing her hands, glancing up at him again.)

I'm... not surprised by that. He's always been quite secretive.

[It does register a bit as strange to him, or at least unexpected. She's friends with Taako- she must be able to defend herself in some manner. But he misses the meaning that comes with it anyway, so he simply moves on.]

I wish I could get him to open up a bit more, to be honest. I mean, I... I can't begrudge him for having a hard time talking about his feelings. But it can be so difficult to get him to talk to me.

[He doesn't know how much longer this will go on- what he might be able to learn. So if he can glean anything, he should try.]

Tell me, in your experience, is... is there anything I can do to reassure him? To let him know I'm here for him in a way he'll believe?

(Lucretia clicks her tongue, suddenly sympathetic.) I know exactly what you mean.

(The twins had been difficult, at first. Didn't help that it took a while for Lucretia to be able to tell them apart with confidence; didn't help that her first assumption of the both of them had been entirely wrong. When it had come to Taako, he hadn't really given her an inch until she had learned how to open up to him. He really had seen right through her, in some ways.)

I know that this isn't the answer you're looking for, but the best way to reassure him is just to be there. He's used to people leaving. He's used to being on his own with Lup, that's– uh, the default, in his mind, I think. (She looks at the fire, rubs her arm slowly as she speaks.) So I think the best way to let him know that is just to keep being physically there for him when you can. He might not always say that he needs it, but deep down, he does. He'll appreciate that.

[He listens with rapt attention, leaning forward like these are the only words thay matter. On one hand, it's reassuring to hear something he already does; he's very physical here, more than back in Faerün, a body that's his and real making everything more tangible. Whenever he's by Taako, it's just better, fingers in soft hair, arms around him with the new sensation of drifting off to sleep. He hopes Taako knows how happy he is when they get these moments. He hopes Taako is happy then, too.

He nods at her, swallowing the lump in his throat.]

Right. I'll stay by him. ... In your absence, of course.

[He gives her a small smile at that.]

Okay.

(It doesn't fully reassure her, as she doesn't really know him, but at least somebody will be there. Taako won't be alone. Of course he won't be alone anyway, not with Lup there beside him, but even so. Lucretia worries, sometimes.)

Thank you. Can– would it be okay if I gave you a message, to give to him?

[It makes sense. Of course it makes sense. Kravitz nods, leaning forward.]

I... of course, if I can. What is it?

[He'd worry about writing it down, as she seems intent on the written word, but... well, dreamscape. It likely won't do either of them much good. He'll just have to remember.]

(That does not occur to Lucretia, who is already scribbling furiously in her journal the moment that Kravitz says yes. Also she is writing in Elvish, of course, just to discourage any peeking.)

Dear Taako,
Apparently you're here without me, which I find deeply rude; I've at least had the pleasure of meeting your boyfriend in among very strange circumstances. So, basically normal circumstances, considering the state of my life so far. I wanted to let you know I'll probably see you soon, and that Kravitz is very nice. Let him be kind to you. He clearly thinks that you are the cat's pyjamas, or whatever.

Stay as safe as you can. Give Lup a hug from me.

(She rips the page out neatly, doesn't bother to sign it (he'll recognise the writing immediately, natch), and hands it over.)

Here.

[Oh my god Lucretia he's a half elf he probably knows that. He takes a quick peek but feels her prying eyes, and instead tucks it into his suit pocket. Maybe if he has a little time before this ends he'll be able to remember to say something.]

I'll give it to him. Uhm... thank you, for telling me what you have.

(she doesn't know that... you can't just ask somebody if they're half elf, kravitz)

Of course. It was good to meet you, even if this is... only a dream.

(She smiles, somewhat hesitantly, unsure of how to follow that up.) I suppose I'll... see you around? See you eventually? I'm not sure of what the correct wording should be in this case.

[He's just as awkward, a little chuckle on his lips but not at her expense.]

How about, may we meet again in the future.

[He stands, and gives her a little bow, almost like he knows their time is almost over. It's formal, sure, but that's the kind of shit he leans on when there isn't anything else.]

Best of luck, then.

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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 013 )

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