aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 017 )

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

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[Calm is actually a good place to be and it takes a few moments, but Ignis manages to push back his frustration and calm himself as well. The hand on his shoulder is very helpful in doing that and he raises his own to give it a gentle squeeze. There's a deep-seated tiredness to his voice when he speaks again.]

With all due respect, Noct, none of this is fine and I'm very tired of everyone insisting it is.

[It obvious from his words, he's speaking of more now than his long-winded answer before.]

You're from far enough along; you know that. You know why I wanted us to turn back after Altissia.

[Noctis falls silent at the chastisement. He's heard the tone before countless times, and yet. There's nothing he can say to reassure his longtime friend this time. He'd only meant with the stream of info, Iggy.

He holds his breath a few seconds until it leaves him like a normal exhale. Perhaps a bit more of a huff. Hard for him to tell, himself. Yet he only briefly glances away before looking back at him. With his hand beneath Ignis' the way it is, Noct can't hide the way his hand slightly trembles. Whether it be pain, anger, fear, or some combination of them all...]

I do, and you know why I couldn't. [His voice doesn't portray any of them; only a tired sadness that's been far too common.] But I'm here. For however long this dream allows.

Not nearly long enough.

[Even if this Noctis breaks the patterns of the other versions of himself, how long will he be here? A year? Two? Neither is anywhere near enough to make up for the lifetime that has been taken from him.

Ignis gently wraps his fingers around that shaking hand and pulls it from his shoulder so he can fold it between his own. They are long passed the time where a gentle word or gesture can make everything okay, but he can't help but reach out anyway.]

Will you deny me the right to look for another way? A better ending for both yourself and Eos?

Edited (Typos!) 2018-11-28 11:39 (UTC)

[Well, he can't argue that. Noctis blinks as the other pulls his hand from his shoulder and cups it in both of his. He- remembers vaguely doing the same when they first met; when Iggy held out one hand to him.

He can't help the faint, sad smile crossing his lips; and hates the realization he's glad Ignis can't see it. The slight tremor ceases as he places his free hand over one of those holding his.]

No, I won't. [Because good luck ever trying to stop Ignis Scientia. The one-man army. ~~He got nerfed and it's only made him stronger.~~] And you won't be searching alone.

[Like he hasn't likely recruited Gladio already.]

[Prompto and Gladio and...Ardyn even, as strange as that may seem, but the redhead has a very vested interest in flipping Bahamut the middle finger, so maybe not so strange after all.

The relief that crosses Ignis' face when he hears that answer is strangely strong. He'd half been expecting a repeat of when he and Prompto had talked to the first Noctis that came here about this. That Noctis had told them not to look for another way; he'd accepted what was to come and he would be fine. It had been one request that neither he nor Prompto could follow and it had torn at them both. Perhaps that Noctis had been within the Crystal longer than this one and that is what led to the different answer? There is really no way for them to know and so Ignis pushes the question away.]

Thank you, Noct. Thank you.

[...Okay, that last one is rather hard to believe and yet isn't. Because giving the gods a middle finger or two seems right up his numerous times removed uncle's alley. Both from what they know of the man from experience, and what the Draconian tried to paint him as.

Be grateful, Ignis. He was literally just dropped like a hot potato when he woke on this very shore. Regardless of the answer as to how long the other Noctis had been within the Crystal, the words were still settling in his mind when he awoke here. And that relief is something he can't ignore. Even if he tried. It's like watching an invisible meteor falling off his friend's back as his grasp over their clasped hands tightens slightly in a brief squeeze. Hoping that conveys enough that he saw that expression and smiled faintly.]

Sounds like you guys have had it rough for a while. [He has no idea; they've yet to talk about much about this place despite the time shenanigans apparently he's experienced. Or other versions of himself. Same thing, really.] Whatever happens, you have my blessing.

[They need to get off this topic or they're gonna go further and further into a circular conversation.]

If I wake up over there, what can I expect? [Aside from the house and apparently a room full of chocobos.]

[Ignis nods, both in answer to the statement--rough barely begins to describe the last few months--but also in acknowledgment of the blessing. He will keep that blessing close to his heart; something to keep him moving forward when it seems like this whole thing is nothing more than a fool's errand.

The nod is followed by a squeeze on their hands and then Ignis is taking a deep breath to settle himself, shoulders drawing back in an unconscious habit. Ah, but isn't that a complicated question to answer?]

You should expect the unexpected.

[And, as vague as that answer is, it is also one of the most truthful Ignis can give.]

The local deity is called the Storyteller. They gain power from stories we gather to tell them approximately once a month. One might think that stories about surviving on a tropical island would grow boring after a while, but something always happens to 'mix it up' as people say. Often, it's something to do with the new islands that regularly appear, but there is really no telling what will happen from one island to the next.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 017 )

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/lies here BLEEDING IN THE MOONLIGHT

/joins you

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