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.

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Comments

[ladytakamaki]

Really? [ that's actually really surprising. keith may be serious, but ann has a very high opinion of him. he's supported her through some really tough times, and vice versa. he's probably her closest friend here.

ann knows what it's like, though, to not have very many friends, either. it wasn't until she met the phantom thieves when she really had a full circle of friends other than shiho. maybe this is something she can bring up with him later.

for now, she just offers allura a smile. ] I can pretty much trust Keith with anything. He's been a really great friend, so I guess I'm just surprised that he really doesn't have a lot of friends back a home? In my case, it didn't take long for me to understand why he's the leader of Voltron.

[ she wishes she had held up as well as allura is now, back when shiho's ghost was around. ann had given in. she fell for the fake shiho's lies and manipulation. she can only hope that things don't get worse for allura now. ]

Hey, if you want a distraction from all of that, I'm here to help. We can talk about anything you want.

[diplomacycheck]

He's gotten better since joining us. When I first met them, I immediately saw that he went more by instinct than his pure skill. No doubt that caused some friction between himself and others. [She's being polite, yet means every word. Allura smiles faintly back.] He is, isn't he?

['Would a great friend and leader abandon their team?' Her smile wavers at the accusation that posed as a question. No. They had this argument once before, and it had nearly torn them all apart.

They have their disagreements, especially those where her father is involved, but she did not lie when she said she trusted him with her life. It is the kind of trust one needs with their leader when going into any battle, regardless of if it is life and death or simply an escort. Keith had more than proven himself.]

He- deserves far more credit than we gave him, decaphoebs ago. And I would like that, though I fear I'm having a difficult time concentrating.

[To the untrained eye, she might seem calm and serene right now. However, even clasped together, her hands tremble slightly before her.]

[ladytakamaki]

He's grown up a lot, then. That's pretty cool. [ she has no room to criticize him for what he used to be like, because ann's the same way. whoops. ] I know Shiro, Pidge, and Lance too. They all seem like they trust him as much as you do.

Of course! How about...I can tell you about where I come from? Since I know more about you than you know about me, obviously!

[ ann...please. ]

[diplomacycheck]

Figuratively and quite literally. He hit an Earthling growth spurt since I first met them all. [And the same day she first awoke in so long... Yet she doesn't dwell on the thought long enough for a brief flicker of something else to briefly shine in her eyes before it's snuffed out by the fact nearly all the rest of their little surrogate family is here. She's heard it several times by now, but it's still a relief to hear again. She would have hated to arrive and find herself alone.]

I hope it is mostly good things. [Though knowing Keith, it is likely mostly practical and honest information he shared. Something she'll appreciate even more if true.] Why not?

[ Allura... ]

[ladytakamaki]

Uh-huh! Definitely good things. I'm just excited to finally meet you!

[ at least...in the dreamscape. maybe allura will never show up on the islands. maybe ann will never really get to know her like she knows the others. the thought is a little sad...but with the time they have left, ann will make the most of it. she gives allura her brightest smile and nods. ]

Sooo... I'm guessing you haven't heard of a place called Tokyo before, have you? It's on Earth. I'm kind of assuming you aren't from there since you called Keith an "Earthling", by the way.

[diplomacycheck]

Likewise, it is nice to meet you as well.

[Even if it may not go beyond this particular dream. Her smile seems a little more genuine, regardless.]

Not that specific place, no. I am Altean; though these days Earth is home just as the Paladins have become my family.

[Despite how strange the animals they (read: Lance) has described, and how odd her team can be in general.]