TEST DRIVE MEME ( 021 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #21

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.

In conjunction with our monthly Test Drive Meme, Reserves are now open! Applications will open on March 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.

Come to Ink Of It
Mu is a strange land, and one that seems to take a conscious interest in the activities conducted upon the waking world. This month, its fixation takes an almost childish delight in emulating the ink-spattered wars and hazing that have occured on Ensō's shores - which is to say, Mu would absolutely enjoy a charming little game of Splatoon.

When you wake, it's in a labyrinth of soft, stonelike material that manages to be the rough consistency of foam. If you take the time to inspect it, you'll discover that it's as good at cushioning blows as it is serving as adequate cover...and it appears to have been shaped into plenty of buildings and barricades, threaded throughout the cavernous room in which you've found yourself. In fact, the whole place looks very much like a battlefield of some kind. In case you didn't get the picture, the paint gun in your hands should give you an inkling. Colors may be up to personal preference, but the rules are simple - solo, in a team, or as a double agent, your goal is to paint the town red, or blue, or purple, until victory is tasted in the form of aesthetic domination.

Do keep in mind, however, that battle cries may be a double-edged sword in this scenario. Unless you wanted green teeth.

I AM THE SHADOW, THE TRUE

-looks at smudged writing on hand-

...SHELF

What's more trouble than the true manifestation of all your darkest fears, desires, and secrets? The manifestation of all of the above that's just - not very well-made. In order for a shadow, a true self, to appear, one really should know themself somewhat consciously. Of course, this also applies true to the world in which they're standing; an effort Mu is willing to make, but not quite hitting the mark.

And by "not quite hitting the mark," we mean egregiously. "Shadows" are an off-brand simulation of what one might expect during a typical shadow event, though their attempts at acting like the character they should be are closer to emulating the opposite. Whether based upon a looser definition of canon, a fanon-style iteration of what your character might have been in worse hands, or simply going in a direction that veers into the territory of edgy Harry Potter OCs, your "Shadow" is here, and ready to be a nuisance.

Unlike ordinary Shadows, a "Shadow" cannot be accepted and dissipate as one would hope. Respite from these garish versions of who you really are will come only upon waking. So until then, enjoy attempting to explain just what, precisely, is dogging your every step, and probably refusing to shut up all the while. Though granted, if they share any of your powers - grossly magnified or otherwise - you might be grappling with them in far more ways than one.

A Bug's Eye View
The lush, verdant shores and the peaceful population of newly-arrived island of Cahypdo have been noticeably present on the minds of the islanders lately. Mu has shifted to reflect those thoughts, but as with many things Mu reflects, things have become a little...skewed. For, you see, the native inhabitants of Cahypdo are the Roaka, and as tree-people, they tower over much of the current inhabitants. They range from six to twelve feet in height, generally, but it seems that their heights have left a....very marked impression. The Roaka certainly tower over you now, even more than before - but so does everything else. Wherever you find yourself in the verdant, fertile valley that houses much of Cahypdo's plantlife - whether it's rich jungles or well-tended farmland - you'll be met with the same undeniable height difference.

Trees are dizzying heights to be scaled the same way a mountain might. Blades of grass and colourful flowers you might once have trodden on without a second thought are like a forest unto themselves. And the fields of crops you might have known from the waking world, like sweetcorn, peas, and tomatoes? Even a single ear of corn or a solitary tomato is now a much, much larger obstacle.

Just pray you don't run into any of the native creatures here, as even ordinary beasts can become potential dangers when they're all the size of giants relative to you, and can stamp you to jelly without so much as a second glance. Snaplings might regard you as a tasty little snack, tigerlilies might think you make for a fun little toy, and worst of all, the native Cahypdo entities known as hydrac, warped hybrids of sharks and dragons, might very well decide that you'd be a fine addition to their hoards.

There's a lot to look out for, when you're this small and the world is this big.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Penny Polendina | RWBY | Airlocked CRAU

[in4apounding]

»May I Splats You A Question«
[Penny eyes the rifle in her hands uncertainly. The familiar weight is something of a comfort, but the memories of her own recent failures make it mixed at best. At least it seems fake, question mark? She studies it for a second, testing the grip and weight.]

[She takes a second and aims it experimentally at a far wall.]

phoont

[Okay. Well. That's definitely a splat of bright orange paint on the wall. So that's a thing.]

Huh.

[Yeah, it's less than a minute later when Penny is taking a series of careful, rapid shots at a far wall, forming a bright orange smiley face on the far wall.]

....The aim's pulling a little to the left.

[Priorities.]

»CHAOS... CONTROL«
[Engaging the- thing? following her is probably a bad idea. Almost certainly.]

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Can. Can you please just stop.

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YOU'RE- THAT'S REALLY RUDE.

[It's definitely a bad idea, and she is spiralling into stress.]

[Help?]

»Wildcard«
[Hit me up with your own prompts!]

Chaos

[tokenflavortownie]

Penny? Was that you yelling?

[She heard and she's here now. This definitely feels like a dream.]

I heard some noise over this way. Are you and other Penny-

[.......Wait.]

Oh. Oh, no, I... think I can put together what the problem is.

[in4apounding]

[This is definitely some kind of dream, as evidenced by the way Penny isn't completely losing her shit.]

Yes? Who's- oh. Oh.

[ha ha well this is great she's just gonna be leaving right now]

[It's fine, this is fine.]

[Just gonna walk in a quick circle, trying to leave. And realizing she's trapped between Pyrrha and her doppleganger. It's fine. She's just gonna kind of hug herself a little.]

You- how. ....What are you doing here? How.

[This is very very wrong.]

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Please stop that.

[tokenflavortownie]

[It's totally fine, Penny. Pyrrha Nikos is here.]

That's... a complex question. But it's nice to see you, Penny.

[If the circumstances were better, she might even have noticed what was amiss... besides the obvious.

Her gaze tracks Penny, and the lesser Penny too.]

But, you know me, here to help. And it looks like you need help with a "evil" clone problem.

[in4apounding]

HOW ARE YOU HERE?

[The dream is rapidly becoming less dreamlike.]

This is the opposite of nice! We just talked and you were fine!

[tokenflavortownie]

[And now her hands are up in a defensive position.]

Whoa, easy! Just... breath, Penny. [Can she do that? Was that robo-racist?] I'm here because this is a dream. You're on an island in a dream, Penny.

[...]

That doesn't make any sense right now, but it does after you've been here a while.

[in4apounding]

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I can't dream, Pyrrha Nikos.

[She doesn't really sleep at all? Except in the simulation-]

Oh. Oh no, is this more memory stuff? Are they trying to make us remember things that didn't happen?

[tokenflavortownie]

Everyone can dream in a place like this.

[She doesn't quite understand the logistics of Mu, she'd have to find someone else whose been here longer to ask about it, but the general reasoning of How All Of This Works seems pretty obvious.]

...What? No, no, please don't worry about that. This is entirely different. They can't do anything to us anymore, remember?

[That nightmare is thankfully over.]

[in4apounding]

They shouldn't be able to do anything to YOU, you were free! They said lots of you had escaped! What happened!?

[>over]

[Sounds pretty fucking fake, but OKAY.]

rudeness

[motherfucking_ghost]

Uh. Wow. Your buddy sure has a fixation, doesn't she?

[Among the few of Church's skills: understanding binary.]

[Omega O'Malley Church's Shadow rubs his hands in a way that indicates maniacal glee.] Let ME take a crack at her. I could always use a new robot minion after the lat one turned out so...

Spanish?

Body-less.

That, too.

[in4apounding]

She isn't my buddy.

[Among Penny's skills - being too literal.]

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[And just. Kind of squinting at Shadow Church. Penny would very much like her doppleganger to stop being a thing that's happening, but. That sounds bad, even to someone with as weak a grasp on subtext as her.]

But- no, I'm not going to let anyone crack her. Probably. Unless she's evil, but I don't think she is? Just. Very annoying. ...And I think she might be mocking me, but that's just really rude, not evil.

Splats

[journalname]

Oh, how fun!

[Asgore doesn't have any ink weapons himself, but he approves of the smiley face graffiti!]

[in4apounding]

[Penny swings the rifle towards Asgore on instinct, before jerking it up towards the ceiling, eyes wide.]

[One last pellet of orange paint fires off from the rifle with a soft pop, arcing onto the ceiling between herself and Asgore with a wet impact.]

I'm so sorry! Are you all right?

[There's a distinct lack of orange ink on him, but. She needs to be sure.]

[journalname]

[Asgore jumps a little at the sound.]

Oh! Yes, of course - they are only paint guns. I am very sorry for startling you.

[in4apounding]

No no, it's okay. ...I'm sorry for almost shooting you.

[It could be really dangerous paint?]

[journalname]

Not at all. The younger people on the island made up a fun game a few weeks ago, where we all shot each other with those paint guns. It was a good time!

[so, somebody made their dad play paintball]

[in4apounding]

Oh. That does sound like it might've been fun.

[Despite this, she sounds a little unconvinced, on a personal level.]

How did you tell who won?

[journalname]

The object of the game was to cover the island and everything on it in ink. So I suppose whoever did that won.

[Shooting people with it was secondary in his mind, and in the Storyteller's, and absolutely the only important thing in everyone else's.]

It is magic, you see - it will dry invisibly, and protect whatever it touches from the island's defenses against invaders.

Splats

[guiltandearth]

[Asriel sits on a nearby bit of waist-high cover, paint gun in his paws, watching the entire thing.]

I, um, don't think that's how you're supposed to play this game.

[in4apounding]

It's supposed to be a game-?

[And then she turns and looks at Asriel and just. Freezes, for a second.]


....oh my gosh you're adorable.

[guiltandearth]

[He nods.] Yeah. You shoot people and try not to get shot. It's like a video game I used to play.

[A light blush crosses his furry cheeks at being called 'adorable', but he quickly tries to look serious.] Um. No, I'm not. [Of course, that just makes him more adorable...]

[in4apounding]

Oh. I see. ...I guess using paint for that would be a lot safer than usual.

[Do other worlds not train people to be bulletproof.]

You are though! You're all small and fuzzy.

[We're so sorry, Asriel.]

[guiltandearth]

[Asriel is really trying his hardest to look serious, but he's failing at it pretty bad. He just looks out of his depth.] I look normal. And I'm... [A big kid? No, that makes him sound even more immature.] almost a teenager. I'm not... adorable.

[And, he thinks, if this girl knew anything about him, she wouldn't be so quick to call him adorable.]

[in4apounding]

[You may be overestimating her minimum "cute" threshold, Asriel. Or her personal trauma, either/or.]

Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I've never seen- ...someone like you. I thought you were younger than that!

[...That probably doesn't sound better. It might actually sound worse.]

[guiltandearth]

[He shakes his head.] No. I'm twelve. [Technically, if you count all his resets, he's really hundreds of years old, but that would sound weird.

Still, he doesn't like being called... cute. Even if it is true. He sighs.] People give me that a lot.

[He tries to smile, to act normal for once.] Uh, what's your name? I'm Asriel.