aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 018 )

Test Drive Meme #18

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 December 17th! Due to the holiday season, Applications will be opening on December 26th, with an app period shifted to end on January 2nd instead of the usual timeframe!

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.

Upsy Wars: Revenge of the Lift
Over the past sixteen months, adventurers have adjusted to the sight of a wide variety of odd and fantastical creatures, some friendlier than others. Of the more ferocious, it's wise to consider giving them a wide berth - from the indomitable fustercluck to living black holes to the deadly contagious quartzalcoatls. However, only one predator has gained the dubious title of "that weird flying mouth thing."

Invasive to LifeAftr, Upsy the elevator is not satisfied with haunting the memories of those who encountered it during its arrival in July. Now it's here to haunt your dreams, too! While capable of speech and some style of sentience on its home world, it seems LifeAftr has yet to agree with a machine that is equal parts flesh and metal. Driven to silence by whatever forces this world has exposed it to, Upsy is driven by one, basic instinct, and one alone.

To give you a lift, whether you want it or not.

Upsy’s attacks are abrupt and immediate. Swooping down from the sky, it will collect as many living things in its mouth as can fit, before closing its doors and soaring away. Want to leave? Don't worry; Upsy has no intentions of keeping you, or digesting you. Release from that fleshy mouth prison is as immediate as the initial attack. We hope you enjoy flying, because Upsy can spit even the heaviest of creatures a good hundred feet away from itself, at any altitude. Do look out below.

The Emoji Movie
Communication on the islands currently consists of Stones of Far Speech, a relatively adaptable system that is open to requests and suggestions for improvement. One such request has been met with a small bout of confusion, however; as adaptable as the Storyteller attempts to be, you kids with your mobile phones and your texting and emojis get a little beyond them, sometimes.

Beyond Mu as well, it seems.

When you asked for emojis, this is what you wanted, right? Exclusive to Mu, Emojees come in a variety of shapes and sizes; from knee-high yellow orbs with rows of sharp teeth that simply cannot stop laughing, to horse-sized poop emojees that - well. One can guess. Numbering in the hundreds and intending to convey their meaning by any means possible, it's a good idea to avoid prolonged contact with these happy little abominations.

The taller, more objective emojees will simply try to absorb those attached to them in an effort to become even larger, but the smaller infect their prey with the emotions they portray, influencing them into the perfect emotional state for consumption.

In hindsight, this is probably not what the children actually wanted...

Close enough.

Let It Go Snow
LifeAftr may be primarily tropical, but that doesn't mean some of its creatures don't appreciate a good white Christmas - and a white rest of the year, at that.

Gelfs are one such species. While they may be visually reminiscent of Santa's Little Helpers, these small creatures aren't about to start handing out presents. Having snuck onto Mu's metaphysical shores at the beginning of the month, these little critters have immediately set about doing what they do best - spreading ice and snow across the island, in increasingly hazardous quantities.

As the influence of the gelfs settles across Mu, it's quite possible that the abrupt cold snap will lead to severe consequences for any adventurous guests, unless you enjoy the prospect of an avalanche waiting to happen Now may be the best time to hunt these gelfs down, before such disaster can occur.

For those uninterested in massacring a local creature population (again), you may as well enjoy this winter wonderland while it lasts. Ice skating, snowball fights - and for those in the know, the time-honored competition to create the best dabbing ice sculpture. If you're lucky, you might even find a container of piping hot wassail - spiced apple cider - laying around.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

HELL

[Nightmares aren't foreign to Gobbet, though she admits she was hoping they'd subside after what they did back in the Walled City. It's a small mercy that there are less teeth and feelings of unearthly dread here on this idyllic beach. That said, this was a new and incomprehensible breed of horror bearing down on her. So new and so incomprehensible, in fact, that it takes a solid moment to even register that she's in danger.]

Oh shit.

[Gobbet scrambles to her feet, cursing the loose sand beneath her as she takes off towards the tree line where she's hoping the hellevator won't follow her. Unfortunately, Upsy is far too fast to outrun, and she finds herself transferred from a sandy beach to a wet, dark, uncomfortably humid place in the span of half a second. And in the other half of that second, she's being spat out at canopy level into the jungle. The branches slow her descent, although they do scratch her up a bit, and when she hits the jungle floor flat on her back, it knocks the breath out of her. She can feel the bruises spreading over her back and sides in real time, and is not unfamiliar with the feeling of broken ribs.

A desperate wheeze and groaning noise that might actually be a laugh chokes out of her.

Yeah, this might as well happen.]

😈 🐀 😈

[After a few minutes of laying in a puddle of drool (she hopes???) and catching her breath, Gobbet gets herself up and starts heading further into the jungle. What else is she going to do? Sit there and wait for that thing to come back? Fuck that. And while it hurts to move with broken (or at the very least badly bruised) ribs, she really has no choice.

She alternates on trying to work the spit out of her hair and reassuring her rats, which have survived the fall only slightly dazed and damp but otherwise intact. That's part of the reason she doesn't notice the red, horned orb that comes halfway up her shin in time to avoid tripping over it. The mischievous grin on it's face makes her think this was it's intention all along - to trip her and further aggravate her battered body. Calmly rising to her feet, Gobbet does the obvious thing to do when faced with such a situation.

She punts it into the trees. You might want to duck, it's sailing pretty damn fast.]

SNOW PROBLEM

[Shamanic garb is not known for being particularly warm to begin with, and hers is sleeveless, so when the temperature suddenly drops and snow starts falling through the jungle canopy, Gobbet just laughs. Yup. Broken, stranded, cold as hell. Sounds about right. Pretty tame for a Heoi nightmare, though.

Well, it could be worse. The elevator could be here. This snow could be flesh and teeth. This could be reality instead of a dream. So it's not so bad in the long run. Catch her in this little snowy patch of jungle packing a stockpile of snowballs while hiding in a large, hollow fallen tree for warmth. What is she planning to do with all those snowballs...?]

Wildcard
[Go with your heart.]

Edited (formatting errors are hell, FORMATTING ERRORS THAT DONT SHOW UP IN THE PREVIEW ARE WORSE) 2018-12-14 11:58 (UTC)

[ Gobbet kicks the emojee into the jungle and there's the clear sound of an oof as it connects with its accidental target. A few moments later, Lucretia emerges, brushing dirt from her robes and carefully stepping over vines.

She looks around, and when her eyes land on Gobbet she just raises an eyebrow, looking more tired than annoyed. ]

I'm going to assume that was unintentional.

[ A pause, as she looks over the orc, who looks more or less like Lucretia feels, and sighs. ]

And that you're...just as lost here as I am.

Oh, whoops. My bad.

[The words are automatic and diplomatic, but there's distinct tension in Gobbet's body as she faces the approaching figure more fully.

It's not often someone gets the drop on her, though she supposes she was sufficiently distracted by these hellish orb creatures to miss the sounds of Lucretia approaching. There's a flurry of motion on her as her rats hide from the newcomer in the folds and pockets of her clothing, but mostly she just stands there with her hands on her hips, eyes scanning the immediate area for an easy out if this person turns out to not be friendly.]

I mean it's a dream, right? 'Lost' isn't that big of a deal when you're gonna wake up in bed in an hour or two.

[ "Friendly" might be pushing it, but she's certainly not going to hurt anyone she doesn't have to. Nor does she seem especially wary of Gobbet herself. After so many years, Lucretia's at least confident in her ability to look after herself.

She frowns a little, as if in thought, and looks around the jungle. ]

It certainly...feels like a dream.

[ But she's seen a lot of weird shit in her day. ]

That doesn't necessarily mean that that's what it is.

I'll give you that my dreams usually have more rats and/or teeth, but what's the alternative?

[Gobbet shrugs. Picks at a spot between her tusk and teeth with an unkempt pinky nail. The thought that she has been taken somewhere against her will is preposterous. Who in their right mind would cross Kindly Cheng like that?]

I don't know about you, but it would take a hell of a lot to reach me, let alone actually kidnap me.

[Miles sees the figure crashing through the canopy and groans. Whatever was going on here was not going well.

Swinging down from his perch in a high branch on a thin filament of web, he stumbles over to her, wondering for a brief moment if she was dead. That was a pretty gnarly fall.

He's relieved, if a little surprised, when he hears that half-choked laugh rise from her.]

Hey....you okay?

Edited 2018-12-27 23:56 (UTC)

Oh yeah. [She croaks, pushing herself up onto her elbows.] Never been better.

[Honestly she's probably survived worse, objectively speaking, but boy does it suck in the present moment. Her primary concern seems to be on her pockets, however, which only makes sense when two dazed-looking rats crawl out onto her stomach, chittering unhappily.

Well. For whatever measure of "sense" can be made out of pocket rats.]

[Miles starts to reach out a hand in an offer to help her up...until the rats appear.]

Whoa! Are those-

[He withdraws his hand in surprise, jumping back slightly. It's not like he's never seen a rat before...he's from New York. He just hadn't been expecting them to crawl out of her pockets. But their docile behavior makes it plain they're supposed to be there, and his expression softens, looking curious.]

Are those your pets?

Yeah.

[She's not really paying attention, checking them over for damage. Luckily, she seems to have broken their fall. Satisfied that neither rat is mortally wounded, Gobbet gets herself upright and on two feet. (For what it's worth, she likely wouldn't have accepted the offered hand anyway. Nothing personal, she just doesn't know you yet, Miles.)]

Madness and Folly. Don't trust Folly, she's the white one. She bites.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 018 )

Gobbet | Shadowrun: Hong Kong

emojis

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HELL

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