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

[egin]

If you have questions then, I'll answer them. It's the least I owe you.

( she has boys, twin boys. boys she never gets to see grow up, talk and learn. yet if shiro raised them then they must have been raised well, right? but his eyes, she knows that shade of blue. it's a color that still haunts her even though it's been close to two years.

satan... just what happens? )

You know... actually, you wouldn't since he didn't talk about me. ( she chuckles, sadly. ) Your first Yuri Egin fact then! The first time I met Shiro, I called him an yukiotoko. I called him that a lot and I can see why your name is Yukio now. You remind me of him a lot.

[reflash]

I don't know how much you would be able to answer. [Not enough. She's too far back to have answers to the things that are eating him alive.

And the little bit she is sharing doesn't encourage him.]

He trained me as an exorcist, so I'm not surprised that I take after him.

[But she's offering, which is more than anyone else had ever done.]

Do you know who my demonic parent is?

[egin]

Probably not a lot of what you want to know. ( a lot of WHAT she wants to know. )

That's not what I mean. He raised you, Yukio. I can see that.

( the question is one that earns him another quiet moment before she moves to stand, arms folded and brow furrowed. )

I can guess. It's not hard but I can't tell you why... ( she breathes in, short. ) I can't tell you why it is that way it is. At my point, Satan disappeared almost two years ago. Shiro thinks he's dead, his host body deteriorating beyond saving but I guess we were all wrong.

[reflash]

Yes, you were wrong. I don't know anything about the circumstances behind our birth, and Father Fujimoto died before I could get any information from him. [Yukio confirms.]

I didn't inherit any demonic traits. [That deserves an explanation, especially because of how Yukio looks right now. His tail flicks uneasily behind him, and he kind of... gestures at everything.] This is... complicated, but for the most part it's the result of a contract. Rin's the one who inherited the flames.

[egin]

( although she is looking at him, yukio's admission of shiro's death throws her off focus. it hits her harder than she expects. this was always expected to happen, right? but he seemed so invincible, so untouchable. he raised her children and then...

she can't take it. )

Wa-wait. Stop... you said Shiro died? Shiro's dead? How-- ( why does it feel like everything is falling down around her? children she births apparently from satan and now shiro's future death? ) Why?

[reflash]

Satan possessed him to try and get to my brother. [Which he thinks might sting, if the sickening suspicion growing inside him is true.]

Does that surprise you?

[egin]

Yes, it surprises me! He was my friend, I... I-- I didn't know... I didn't know any of this until right this moment!

( the tears that were threatening to fall are coming down in a torrent now. )

God. Where did I go wrong? I've given my children the hardest possibility imaginable and I get Shiro killed.

[reflash]

[She's a crybaby, and that hurts, that stings in the back of his throat and behind his clenched fangs. It isn't fair. None of this is fair.]

I think you know exactly where you went wrong.

[egin]

Because a lonely child made herself a friend!?

( it does sting but being told she knew where she went wrong when she knew nothing. it tips a scale inside her that sets that sadness on fire. she hates this, yelling at a boy, yelling at her son. )

I don't know what I did but you don't get to write me off so easily! Hate me, fine but don't blame me for something when neither of us knows what happened!

[reflash]

[She's yelling, and Yukio goes cold. Viciously, bitterly cold. Shiro raised him, after all.

IIf she were Rin, Shura, Shiemi Yukio would be yelling by now, clawed fists grabbing handfuls of her shirt, shoving her down. But she isn't. He doesn't know her. That tearstreaked face means absolutely nothing to him, no matter how much he's always wanted it to. She's standing there, yelling like he's done something wrong when she's the reason for everything wrong in his life, and he's fighting back with a lecturing tone and a fanged sneer.]

Hundreds of people have already died because of your "friend". Even more people will die if Satan gets what he wants.

Father Fujimoto killed himself to keep Satan from dragging my brother to Gehenna, and now the Vatican is going to kill my brother if he doesn't kill Satan.

The entire world is ending. Hostile demons are flooding Assiah and no one can stop them. That's what you did. Don't come crying to me because you don't want to take responsibility for your mistakes.

[egin]

I have fought all my life to save people ever since the moment I was taken by the Asylum. Ever since I became an exorcist, life is what matters most. I wouldn't needlessly throw that away for a "friend".

( and she is reminded of shiro in the moment so badly that it hurts but she won't let herself be slandered. she won't let her life's work, everything she was taught by her guardians and by her friends. she won't let it be tossed so easily into those blue flames of hate and death. )

You said Shiro never talked about me that I have been mentioned once in your whole life and this is what you've decided without even knowing? My life is not a mistake! Just because it's easy to blindly blame instead of seeking the truth doesn't mean you get to take that route. That's a coward's way out!

[reflash]

Then whose fault was it? Who tried to save the wrong person and ended up destroying the world? [That must be what it was, that must be what happened. Yuri fought to save someone who should never have been saved, she looked at Satan himself and decided he was worth trying to fight for.

Six months ago, he would have shot her in the head just to try and fix this. But that won't work here and now.]

[egin]

I tried and I failed but I'm not pregnant. He's gone and I wouldn't-- ( ugh. this isn't something she wants to think about, talk about especially with her child of all people. ) I don't know what happens that leads to your birth but I wouldn't throw the fate of the world away for the chance to have children. Why would I give birth to you both if I was sending you into a doomed world? Why would I do that to my children?

( if he has answers, or likes to pretend to do, then she has questions. )

Anyway... If you really are who you say you are, especially your brother then the Vatican should have killed you both. What happened?

[reflash]

Mephisto Pheles lied to the Vatican. He said we died, sealed away my brother's powers, and gave us to Father Fujimoto to raise. My brother was intended to be Sir Pheles' final weapon against Satan.

[egin]

And Shiro went along with this, no problem? Knowingly raising a child that Sir Pheles would try to use, and you mentioned he raised you as an exorcist but not your brother?

[reflash]

[Why did you save us?

That question has hung over him for years, weighing him down and clawing at him and never getting an answer besides a tired look and a turned back. But he can't get an answer, even now.

He never will. It's just going to keep hanging over him.]

I received a mashou from my brother when we were born, but because his demon heart was sealed he was unable to see demons until we were fifteen. [Yukio, on the other hand...]

Father Fujimoto trained me as an exorcist, and I currently hold the rank of Middle First Class Exorcist with meisters in Dragoon and Doctor. [He doesn't say how old he was when he earned it. There's no point to that.]

I teach page and exwire level Anti-Demon Pharmacology. You mentioned you teach Tamer classes?

[egin]

I see. I know how hard it is to be young and see demons, to have to train everyday. It must have been harder living two lives though. Was it hard keeping this life separate from the life you lived with your brother? ( she says lightly, quietly. a bit more gently. ) Two of my guardians were former exorcists but I never really learned anything until after they died when I was young and I was taken into the Asylum shortly after that.

( she sighs though, understanding. )

Really? You're so young though! I did my best as a Tamer, I taught classes and bred demons on the farm mostly. I really liked writing though so I've written a few books on the subject as well.