aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 021 )

Entry tags:

*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 021 )

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hahahaha! Let's go find some people to murder! I love to commit murder!

[Shadow Asgore has a lot going on. He appears to have poorly dyed his hair and beard black, he's wearing an ornate crown and cape that Asgore has absolutely never owned, he is not wearing a shirt, and he is totally shredded. Shadow Asgore has an eight-pack.

Asgore had hoped he was finished with this. He is extremely tired. His double is extremely loud.]

Perhaps you are hungry? We could go and eat some food?

[He's just walking along, trying to figure out some kind of bargain he can strike that will make the yelling stop for the rest of tonight. These dreams often include other people. Running into someone is, of course, a concern.

Running into Toriel is not even a thought in his mind.

Asgore stops up short immediately, looking both shocked and horrified. Oh. Neat. This is the first time he's seen her since she left, and it's this.

Shadow Asgore takes in the scene for a moment too.]

Hey, baby~

[Asgore turns the horrified look on the Shadow. Oh, this is hell. He's in actual hell. That makes sense!]

[Not coincidentally, the last thing Toriel is expecting - or wants to see - is Asgore. The dismay when she hears what's distinctly his voice, cheerfully saying he loves to commit murder which doesn't sound entirely out-of-character enough for her liking, is palpable.

When she actually sees Asgore, and his bizarre oversexualized double, she wonders if she can just... leave. But her own doppelganger speaks first, covering her cheeks in her paws.]

Ohhhhh, Gorey, you great big hunk of a man... why did I ever leave you?

[Shadow Toriel winks, leaning down to emphasize her sizable chest.]

Did you miss these?

[Toriel rubs her temple. Oh, this is indeed hell. She attempts to just pretend it isn't speaking.]

Asgore.

Edited 2019-03-20 16:36 (UTC)

You know it, girrrrrl.

[Asgore knows exactly what he's done to deserve this, but he's still not thrilled. He buries his face in his hands for a moment, the better to not observe what his Shadow and hers are doing. This kind of behavior did not happen the first time.]

Good evening, Toriel. I see you have met the Shadows.

[Breathe in, breathe out. It's only a dream. He can do this. Or at least, he hasn't got very much of a choice about it. The first priority has to be getting the Shadow out of here immediately. There is no second step at this point.]

I will give you that sparring match you wanted, if we can go down to the beach now?

Sparring? This will be an epic clash to the death! I will grind your dust into the sand!

[Asgore sighs. He'd be lying if he said he weren't seriously considering it. Dying probably lets you get out of Mu, doesn't it?]

[Toriel's expression is carefully composed, or as composed as she can make it with their doppelgangers hitting on each other.]

Do not "good evening" me, Asgore.

[The doppelganger leans over Toriel's shoulder, grinning a grin that looks strange on Toriel's face.] Oh, girl, why the hate? You know you looooooove him~

I do not.

What's this about a duel anyway? You two gonna fight to the death? Because I'd buy tickets for that. Especially if you were both naked. And wrestling.

[Toriel sighs.] Please do not fight to the death.

...my apologies.

[Was he not supposed to greet her at all? He doesn't know what the rules here are and he is too afraid to ask.]

I am not going to fight to the death. [He catches a look from his Shadow and adds:] Or wrestle. We are not wrestling.

Pansy. How are you ever gonna get any tail like that?

I d - that is not - ! [Oh, god.] I think he may be obligated to follow me if I leave, should I...?

[Like, should he just go?]

[Toriel's Shadow angrily sticks her hands on her hips, glaring at the real Asgore.] What? You're NOT wrestling?

[Toriel pinches her snout at all the... everything that is happening here. This is quickly becoming exhausting.] No. They are not wrestling. [Thank goodness.]

And yes. I am afraid that would be best.

[At the suggestion of leaving, Toriel's Shadow pouts not-quite-demurely. She bats her huge eyelashes at Asgore's Shadow.]

Oh, leaving so soon? You wouldn't go without little old me, would you?

No way! We still haven't had any fun yet~

[Shadow Asgore reaches out to grab Shadow Toriel's waist.

Asgore, who had already started off, watches this over his shoulder. He can't just leave Toriel with both of them. Even if she doesn't want his company, abandoning her with that would be much worse.]

Well, goodbye then. Here I go!

[He walks off into the trees, goes about three paces until he's behind some trees, and waits a moment.

...the Shadow is not following him. He goes back.]

Come now, we both know that your business is with me.

[Shadow Toriel reaches out in return and squeezes Shadow Asgore's shapely, well-toned butt, smiling devilishly at him.]

I'm so glad you're here. I missed you. You know how many long, long nights I've gone through just thinking of you? Of the nights we used to spend together? I can't take it anymore, Gorey! Ravish me!

[And she swoons in his arms.

The real Toriel, meanwhile, looks both horrified and disgusted at everything her doppelganger is saying.]

These are not my real thoughts.

[From her position swooning, Shadow Toriel smiles a huge, smug smile at the real Toriel.]

Of course they are, sweetheart. I'm you.

They are only things called Shadows.

[Shadow Asgore grins and just. Goes to start making out with Shadow Toriel. It's super gross.

Asgore, meanwhile, is trying furiously to look anywhere other than the Shadows or Toriel. It's hard to see him flushing through his fur, but you just know it's happening. Of course he knows that's not what Toriel's really thinking; his Shadow doesn't represent his thoughts.]

They appeared for a time in the waking world. Most of them were dangerous - they attempted to kill their doubles, or others. And some were more...like this. [Not a threat to anyone's lives, but generally just the worst.] I expect they will not last past our waking.

[Shadow Toriel makes out with Shadow Asgore right back, tangling her paws in his mane of poorly-dyed black hair as she shoves her tongue down his throat.

Toriel glares at them, but decides that at least they've shut up. For now. She turns to Asgore, her expression still perfectly composed.]

So I was correct in my assumption - this is a mere dream. But this "waking world" you speak of... I find it safe to assume it is not the Underground. And yet, you seem to have no small amount of experience with it. Why is that?

These islands have the power to bring people at random from other worlds. We do not know why it happens. It has been happening for years, and no one has discovered a way to return. I have been here over a year myself.

Sometimes, people find themselves in these dreams before they are brought here in reality. But not always.

[Still, he says it like an apology. Toriel doubtless has many better things to do than be brought to these islands. Although...he holds his arms in front of himself in an obvious gesture of unease.]

Time does not matter either. People may come from the same world, yet different years.

[He turns it over in his head. There's no phrasing he can come up with that will make this sound any less outlandish. Asgore lifts his head to look Toriel in the eye.]

Chara is here. Perhaps not in this dream, but here.

[Toriel listens carefully and quietly to Asgore's explanation. It's a lot for her to take in - alternate worlds that people are taken from. A "reality" that is nothing like the reality she knows. People coming from different times. It all sounds like a joke, and yet, she knows Asgore is not the type to lie. He is nothing if not honest.

At the words "Chara is here," though, she takes a sharp breath, the shock visible on her face... and her opinion completely changes.]

C-Chara? [Her expression becomes serious again.] That is impossible. Nothing can... [Her composure starts to leave her. She looks immensely sad.] Nothing can bring them back.

[She doesn't really think Asgore is lying, but the idea that Chara is alive is almost too much for her to handle. She's struggling to stay calm as she goes straight to denial.] Does this amuse you, Asgore? It is not enough for you to kill the children I have cared for, now you claim Chara is alive as well? Now you fill my head with these ridiculous ideas of other worlds and... and time travel? I did not take you for a liar as well.

You truly believe I would lie about them?

[It's a rhetorical question; he knows he's done nothing to make her think otherwise. That is why he was hesitant to tell her. But it would be too cruel to keep that to himself - she is their mother.

(He doesn't think to mention Frisk. He doesn't know if Toriel knows them.)

Asgore looks away again. He doesn't need her to believe him. Even if it's the truth, he cannot speak in his own defense. At least now, should she encounter them here or later, she will be...well, as prepared as one could be. When he first saw Chara again, it was a complete surprise, and he knows he was too shocked to react the way he would have liked. Toriel will do better.]

Well. I hope that you are able to see them again.

I do not know. There was a time I did not take you for a murderer either.

[She knows it's a cold thing to say. But she's confused, and sad, and angry - all her feelings about Asgore, this discussion that she ran away from for over a millennium, keep bursting out of her.

She takes a deep breath, trying to stay rational.]

I do not want them here, in this strange place. You must know that. I want them home. I want them safe. I want... [Her breath hitches.] I want Asriel, their brother, to be with them.

But I have long given all that up as nothing more than a foolish dream. Even if you are speaking honestly, our family, our old life, is over. You know that as well, do you not?

[Desperately, and quietly, she says:] If Chara is... if Chara is truly alive, please tell me they are doing well. Please tell me that they are happy. That they are safe here.

I do.

[A few years ago, he could not have answered that question with such certainty, if at all. He'd kept their home exactly the same, the children's room just as it was, and all of Toriel's things waiting for her return. He'd still held hope of regaining some measure of what he'd lost, and like a fool he had dangled that in front of Frisk.

But it was with them that he realized how foolish that hope was. It was for them that he gave it up.

And then to forget, and remember, and see his own life with new eyes while he was in Beacon - he knows he did no good, keeping his home like a memorial to all he'd lost. None of them would ever return to him. He didn't deserve it.

Even with that knowledge, he can't quite imagine clearing it all away. But he won't face that choice now. He will never see that home again.]

They are well. They are living with two human friends, a man called Tim and a child called Frisk. [He makes a sort of watery sound that's trying to be fond. He's not even sure what exactly he's on the edge of tears about, specifically.] Last year, Tim drew them both a birthday picture on the community rock, so that everyone would leave them gifts.

[He hadn't wondered too much at Frisk and Chara both being included; maybe their birthdays were just near each other.]

[She nods. She, of course, has no idea of all the things Asgore is thinking, but she has seen the state of New Home, practically a black and white photograph of her own home - to hear that Asgore has given up that foolish dream as well is reassuring.] Good.

[At Frisk's name, she looks surprised.] Frisk... you mean, the human child who dresses like Chara? They are here as well? [The last thing she remembers is hearing Frisk's name after they were attacked by that flower creature. Somehow, she knows without a doubt that the name of that human she took care of is Frisk, even if the rest of her memories of that moment are... less clear.]

[Asgore blinks, looking a little surprised as well.]

Yes, that is them. Forgive me, I did not know you knew them.

[He'd had a few suspicions, but he's never confirmed as much with Frisk themself. As a general rule, he doesn't like to initiate conversation with them; they deserve distance from the monster who tried to kill them if that's what they want.]

Yes, I knew them, although I did not know their name until very recently. I attempted to raise them as my own child, for a short time. [She frowns.] To protect them from you.

You do not remember? Before that flower attacked us all, you were going to kill them. I saved them from your attack, and that is when we had a... talk. About you, Asgore. About your cowardice. About your meekness.

Or is this more of... what did you call it... "people coming from the same time, yet different years"? Are you from before that flower appeared, and you only know Frisk by coincidence?

[Asgore's never been any good at lying, or hiding his feelings. Even strangers can usually read him, so Toriel should have no trouble telling that he has absolutely no idea what she's talking about.

A flower? She intervened? That isn't simply a matter of another time - he did fight Frisk, and he died without ever seeing Toriel again. Of course he knows that there are multiple versions of worlds out there. Muffet's from a place where he survived to see the Barrier broken. But to hear so directly about how things might have gone for himself is...odd.

If he'd delayed the fight a little longer, would Toriel have just shown up out of nowhere to stop it? Was she nearby when he...? Or are their worlds just not alike at all in that respect?

No matter what the case, he can't tell her what really happened. He can't.]

I...suppose that must be the case.

[She raises a brow. Yes, she can tell Asgore has no idea what she's talking about, but also that he's hiding something from her. It's as plain as day - he's definitely not a good liar.]

Something seems to be on your mind, Asgore. Are you not telling me the whole truth?

[Asgore sighs and rubs at his face with one big hand. Yep, he remembers that.]

It is not important.

[It's not. What good can possibly come of telling her about something that happened in another world a long time ago?]

Only a personal matter.

[Toriel sighs as well. She suspects Asgore is hiding more than a "personal matter" from her - it's not a very believable lie, considering what they were just talking about. And it must be very serious if Asgore is not spilling the beans.

But... there is no point to getting into a fight over it. She will let it go for now.]

Very well. I will not push, if that is the case.

[She looks at Asgore. Her expression is still serious, but a note of gratitude seeps into her voice.]

...You have my thanks for telling me about Chara. And for watching over them, as well as Frisk.

[Asgore's relief is palpable. He doesn't like dwelling on this topic - even if his own thoughts sometimes do.

And any shred of gratitude at all is more than he ever expected to hear from her again.]

...of course.

[Toriel nods. That is all she needs to say, for now.]

Then I will take my leave.

[And she turns on her heel and starts walking away, without another word. Her Shadow, though, stops making out with Shadow Asgore and starts following behind her...

But not before draping herself over the real Asgore, and whispering into his ear:] Hey, baby. Hope to see you around the block.

[Toriel stops walking. She tries to ignore the Shadow.]

You know, I wasn't lying earlier...

[Toriel glares at the Shadow. The Shadow rolls her eyes and follows her.]

[Asgore locks up in mute panic, leaning away from the Shadow but not able to bring himself to fully push her away. Does he not want to lay hands on her? Or does he not quite want her to go?

An ugly thought. He pushes it away, shuddering with unease as she and Toriel go. His Shadow comes to stand alongside him, folding his arms.]

You have got to get yourself some of that.

Please be quiet.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 021 )

the true shelf

oh this is going to be good

IS IT THOUGH

YES

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

want to start wrapping up?

sounds good!

no subject

no subject