TEST DRIVE MEME ( 017 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #17

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 November 17th, and Applications on November 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.

Is Anyone There?
What initially promises to be a relaxing island getaway is anything but. The tropical backdrop is all there - swaying palms, crystalline shores, white sand beaches, the whole hog. It's as idyllic as Ensō ever gets in the real world, the waters sparkling just that much more with a polish of dream-shine.

The real problem here is that you're not alone.

While they might be little more than a misted, formless shape at first, they'll rapidly take a more solid form as time goes on: a specter of a single person of great emotional significance. Whoever you might be seeing, they're here to rouse some aspect of your life that was not fully resolved. Someone you did not mourn, someone you did not grieve, someone you loved, someone you cut ties with unkindly, someone who represents a chapter in your life that you have thus far sought to repress. Tailing you relentlessly, refusing to be ignored or brushed aside or forgotten, this specter is hungry for your attention to the exclusion of all else. They will bring every painful association to light and rub those wounds raw, to a terrifyingly parasitic extent. They crave your attention, your love, your devotion, your fear. They are tethered to you, and cannot tolerate the thought that you might pay attention to anyone or anything else.

However they might have been in life, however fondly or not you may remember them, this shadow of them is merely that: a shadow. Desperate for your attention, and likely to grow jealous if you dare direct it anywhere else. They can't live without you. Why should you get to live without them?

In fact...why should you get to live at all? If you don't give them the attention they crave, they might start to demand it a shade more vigorously. They're only going to grow more solid as time wears on - and while no one but you can see them, they have the power to affect you very physically if they so choose.

Choose Your Own Adventure
What you have before you, dear traveler, is a very linear path forward. Deep, tropical woodland, jungle-like in texture and evening-dark, and a well-trodden path that stretches onward in a seemingly infinite, winding road. There is no way to go but backwards or forwards. Or, for the particularly brave...well, you could try moving off the beaten path, but we wouldn't recommend it. As it happens, the surrounding vegetation in this area is mostly comprised of a very irritating sort of foe.

As it happens, most traditional mimics take the form of wooden chests to befuddle and then snack upon any intrepid explorers foolish enough to open a container without checking for teeth first. Such is not always the case, however! Mimicries are what we will tentatively dub...distant cousins of your more conventional mimic. In the waking world, most of them prefer to assume the form of bushes, waiting for an unsuspecting traveler to tread upon the roots that will then snap around their ankles and reel them in, leaves parting to reveal a row of very nasty, very pointed jaws. Tonight, on Mu, their aptitude at blending into the vegetation to prey on the absent-minded explorer is out in full force.

While mimicries are very skilled at impersonating their surroundings, there are plenty of holes in their disguise for those keen of eye. An alert enough traveler may glimpse a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes blinking out from the vegetation before they fade just as fast. Mimicries are highly hostile, prone to attacking once they feel you've drawn close enough for them to take a good chomp, and don't tend to let go of their prey until either it is dead or they are. Armed with spiny teeth and a terrier-like refusal of relinquish their grip under any circumstances, mimicries can vary from genuine danger to outright irritant.

The good news is that, despite their number, mimicries are terribly vulnerable to fire. Happy hunting!

Caught in the Rainbow Current
On the more peaceful side of things, you're also liable to wake on a much quieter island destination - and this time, neither ghosts from your past nor RPG-styled foes will be there to spoil your stay!

Instead, you can take heart in the drifting, multicolored lights that shimmer off the seafoam and flotsam. A bale of kaleidoshells are passing through this region, and they're certainly taking their time in doing so. Resembling a cross between turtles and dugongs, kaleidoshells are so named for their distinctive radiance. Their scales and rainbow-colored shells can get as large as six feet across. The shifting colors on their backs are both bright and reflective. A vast enough number of kaleidoshells can allow for the illusion of an underwater aurora borealis, which is precisely what is occurring now. Kaleidoshells are placid and peaceable creatures by nature in addition to being unfailingly pretty to look at. As they are largely sea-dwelling, their presence in the archipelago is usually seasonal. However, despite the autumn season, Mu has elected to make an exception. Kaleidoshells are particularly slow and unwieldy on land, and thus not much of a threat, but you're probably better off not trying to poach their eggs. They do, however, make a very fine sight around the waters of Mu, especially in this artificial evening. Luminescent, their rainbow patterns glow underwater with the dim pulse of drifting mood lights.

So relax, take in the sights...or wade in to swim alongside them, if you like. They won't mind the company, and there's something singularly enchanting about getting to swim in the tide of a rainbow.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

Comments

Futaba Sakura | Persona 5

[promiselisting]

[ ooc; Giving this another go! Prefacing this by saying that Futaba will not remember her previous stay at LifeAftr ]

Double Rainbow All the Way Across The Ocean

[ Okay that is. Really cool? Like.... she's heard about those beaches with the algae that glow in the dark. Bioluminescence in general. But most of those were like... invertebrates. Insects and jellyfish and the like. This was just. Something else entirely.

She wades out as far as she dares, but she looks out still further, to where the shimmering lights of the Kaleidoshells dance. You can catch her like this, shifting from foot to foot nervously. She definitely can't swim so she's nervous but it's still amazing to see, in its own way.

Alternately, you could be walking up right as she takes a deep breath, cups her hands around her mouth, and shouts: ]

But what does it MEAN?

[ when in doubt, shitpost. ]

Adventures of the Genre-Savvy

[ There's. A single Mimicry that isn't even trying to disguise itself? That's odd. Instead, it's barking and snarling at a tree, not unlike a rather rabid dog. Even odder. Or at least it will be until you get close enough to see Futaba sitting on a branch, clinging to the trunk like some kind of monkey. She looks... a mite bit flustered?

There's a stick that has very clearly been bitten into pieces right near both the mimicry and the tree Futaba is hiding in, by way of explanation. ]

I hate being right.

[ Help a girl out? ]

Ghosts of the Past (cw: P5 spoilers for through August, allusions to verbal abuse)

[ Well this. This is fine. Probably not even the first nightmare she's had like this. With her mother following her. Appearing in the corners of her eyes. Saying all those things, the things from the note, the things her relatives and neighbors all said. She ignores the specter at first, ignoring the hot, tight feeling in her chest. She wasn't supposed to be here. She's supposed to be gone.

The first time it more directly approaches though, Futaba lashes out, jerking her arm out of the reach of the ghost of her mother. ]

Stop it! I know you're not her!

[ But there's more of a shake to her voice than she'd like. The words are still hitting their mark, in one way or another. They'd fixed this. They'd fixed this. It wasn't her. She knew it wasn't. Just an echo of that fake and yet- why was she here? ]

Wildcard

[ Got another idea, hit me up! ]

double rainbows

[antepone]

[ The kaleidoshells are downright beautiful, and Mira finds herself kneeling at the water's edge. Behind her, her corgi and cat are in tow, and they seem pretty interested in this new person!

Mira jumps a little, when Futaba yells-- ]

It must be...

[ --and very seriously, she lifts her hands. ]

Aliens.

[promiselisting]

[ And Mira gets her back when Futaba jumps to see somebody nearby. And then there's small fuzzy things and cats are well and good and familiar but dogs are less so. A part of her wants to panic very thoroughly but then....

Oh thank goodness. Someone of culture. "Culture."

So instead, her arm only shaking a little, Futaba waves a hand out towards the ocean (no hand on the shoulder though sorry Mira. You need a level 4 in friendship for that) ]

Aliens. Aliens everywhere.

[antepone]

[ She absolutely doesn't mind. Mira laughs a little. ]

In all seriousness... Are you alright?

[promiselisting]

I mean... define "alright"?

[ Physically she's fine. A little cold and in her pajamas, maybe. Mentally? It's weird? Is this a dream? It kind of feels like a dream but part of her still feels like freaking out like she actually is somewhere different. Her dreams aren't usually this vivid anyway. ]

[antepone]

[ The corgi hangs back, sensing her discomfort, but the cat goes right up and sniffs at her. ]

Anise, be careful. [ And to Futaba.... ] Well... I guess that was a silly question. It's more than enough to freak you out, right? Suddenly finding yourself in a place like this.

[promiselisting]

[ That's okay. Cats are nice. Cats are good. And Futaba is crouching down to give this one some attention. And because it's not Morgana she abstains from bullying, even!

Cat petting is a nice soothing calming action. ]

Y-yeah... Whaaaat is this place, anyway. Pretty sure I've never dreamed something like this before.

Genre savvy

[thermalwind]

[A large bird lands next to her radiating heat. It turns its face towards her as something moves in the shadows of the tree line. A single note breaks the silence and the bird dives from the branch, catching fire as it slams into the mimic.

At the same time, glass-like blade hurls through the air and sinks into the mimicry right at the joined branches of its fake bush appearance. The bird leaps up and comes down again like a blazing fury. A man bursts out of the shadows and pins the creature to the dirt with a long jab of a spear made of coral, shells, and various other sea bits. He frowns at the struggling thing.]

That's the third one in thirty minutes. [He looks up, shifting his head so he can see her in the tree with both eyes.] Hey. Are you hurt?

[promiselisting]

[ Honestly her first instinct is that it's... Suzaku? Phoenix? She's pretty sure Joker has had one of those at some point or another. ]

Ugh, that's cheating! There's only supposed to be one random mimic per dungeon! [ Although there are some exceptions... ] Unless this is just... one of the native monsters to the area I guess. Or we're in one of those rooms where you have to find the real one among all the fakes.

[ Sorry Keith your question is going to go unanswered. Although if she's able to anxiety-babble at you like this she's probably fine? Probably. ]

[thermalwind]

Yeah, it's native. [He looks down at the ground and scans around. He pokes at the other brushes with his spear and prods the tree nearest to him.]

Like the odd black holes. And something I've only seen a distance but if you see this ball of organic stuff coming at you? Run.

And run if you see some elevator with a flesh inside. It won't swallow you. But you'll be gross when it spits you up wherever.

[promiselisting]

[ Futaba.... opens her mouth. Closes it. In another situation she might have laughed very immaturely. A part of her still wants to. ]

Ew? What even is this place?

[ Asked in more of a 'what is this I don't even' sort of way than anything. ]

[thermalwind]

A question we've all asked ourselves.

[It's a mess. A very big mess. He scans the area for any threats and with nothing else showing its face he whistles to Ember. The fire bird wings for the heavens as a blue wolf appears at his side. He briefly sets his hand on its back.]

Need a hand getting down? Looks like the coast is clear for now.

[promiselisting]

[ Well okay then, bye not-Suzaku/not-Phoenix? And. Hello glowy magic wolf, whose sudden appearance absolutely did not make her squeak and draw her legs a little bit further up into the air in surprise. ]

I-I, uh...

[ Now that the immediate threat is gone and she's faced with interacting with another stranger like this, now she can feel her throat closing as her words stick themselves in there.

For half a second she tries to figure out if she can 'politely' decline by just hopping down herself - she's probably made bigger jumps as a Phantom Thief. But she's not a Phantom Thief right now and so she scoots like two inches forward, and the ground seems to yawn beneath her, making her reel back and cling to the trunk more tightly. ]

Y-yeah. Maybe.

[thermalwind]

[Oh.

He recognizes that faintly visible struggle to trust a stranger let alone interact with them. Keith walks up to the tree and studies the branches.]

Okay. I'm Keith. This is Kosmo and the Phoenix is Ember.

There's a thick branch capable of holding you to your right and a little way down. Ease yourself down onto it. Let me know if you see a safe path down from there yourself. It looks like a straight ladder of branches down to the ground.

double rainbow

[ladytakamaki]

...Futaba?

[ forget the beach, forget the fish. futaba is here. ann runs up to her and immediately wraps her arms around her friend. ]

Futaba! You're here! [ she missed her small tech gremlin friend so, so much. ]

Re: double rainbow

[promiselisting]

Ah-!

[ Her gut instinct is to panic because don't scare a girl like that but thankfully it takes all of like two seconds to realize who it is. ... still kind of leaves her mentally reeling otherwise, though. ]

Ann-! You're squishing my spleen!

[ladytakamaki]

Sorry, sorry! [ she pulls away, but she's grinning cheekily. her eyes are a little teary, too. ]

It's been so long... I'm just so glad you're here.

[ well. not glad she was dragged here against her will. ]

[promiselisting]

[ Okay. Okay. Taking a second to breathe. And take stock. And... a... long time? But. Hm. The oddly misty sort of feeling to the world around her is making it hard to pin all the pieces down and together, but something about that feels... weird?

Easier question then. ]

Y-yeah... just, uh... where exactly is here?

[ladytakamaki]

This island specifically's called Mu.

[ yep. that's right futaba, there's an entire chain of them. welcome. ] It's one we only just discovered, so I don't really know a whole lot about it yet.

[ ... ] I've been here for at least three months, now. And I've missed you guys so much.

[promiselisting]

[ This is admittedly helping in sharpening her thoughts a bit. In retrospect she's not sure if that's a good thing, because now she's got a sharp pit of anxiety in her stomach, thinking about what she'd last remembered before... falling asleep, apparently? ]

Whoa, wait, back up. Three months? But... what about the rest of us? The plan?

[ She's... pretty sure she would have noticed if Ann was gone. Especially that long. That was almost longer than she even knew Ann anyway. This... what???

Well, at least they're at the same point, relatively speaking. ]

Ghosts

[pidgeypidge]

They're not really here. Whoever it is.

[It almost sounds hypocritical coming from her, considering the way things had been going, but she feels like it's important to point that out.]

I'm not sure why it's happening, but people have been seeing... other people. Or rather... the ghosts of other people who aren't here.

Ghosts

[promiselisting]

[ Don't! Scare a girl! Like that!

Futaba jumps and whips around and nearly wants to jump into or behind a tree or something. ]

Great. So I'm not- [ It's not happening again? ] It's mass hallucinations, I guess?

[ A very weirdly specific mass hallucination. Enough that Futaba's voice probably still is laced with suspicion. ]

[pidgeypidge]

Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you.

[Sometimes she really doesn't consider how quiet she can be. And it probably doesn't help that Futaba is already distracted. Oops.]

It's possible? [That's probably not comforting.]

I saw one of my best friends before. He kept trying to convince me to join him.

[Have the vaguest explanation ever.]

He was really here before. But he disappeared.

[promiselisting]

[ Okay that's. Okay. Sure. Fine.

Futaba holds up both her hands in 'one second' gestures. This is not the situation she usually finds herself in anymore and. Gotta say? Doesn't like it. ]

So you're saying this is a thing that just. Happens. People popping in and out all the time. And then you can just... see them as hallucinations?

[pidgeypidge]

[Listen, she knows how crazy this sounds. And if she hadn't already been dealing with it she probably wouldn't believe it either.]

Yea. I guess that is what I'm saying. Though it's only been... recently when we've started seeing people as hallucinations.

[Not that that makes it any better, but she feels the need to clarify.]

Are you alright?