aftr_ooc | 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

[People are making this game almost too easy for Asriel. It's obvious that nobody's played it, or that the people who have played it are very, very bad at it.

He pops out from cover, cocks his gun, and aims it at the first person he sees.

And immediately stops, standing up and dropping his gun to the floor. Because he'd recognize him anywhere.]

D-Dad?

[Asgore stops up short at the sound of that voice.

He's not entirely unprepared. He's gone through this once before with Chara, after all - he knows how this goes, with worlds and time and death. There's been so many people returned to him after he thought they were gone for good.

But it's always, always going to be different when it's one of his children.]

Asriel?

[He drops his gun and turns, eyes wide and already starting to tear up a little. At least there's no time wasted on disbelief.]

Asriel!

[Asriel doesn't know how to react to his father. He only gets to see him once a week and on holidays, if even that, these days... so seeing him here is unexpected. Seeing him here, in this strange dream world, holding a gun, is even less expected.

And now his father is acting like he hasn't seen him in a hundred years. He's about to cry. Asriel smiles nervously, frozen to the spot.]

U-uh, yeah. That's me. Hi.

[That paint gun is Asgore's single advantage in this game, in that it is fucking huge.

But he doesn't care about that. Asgore is not completely incapable of picking up on social cues, and Asriel's reaction is definitely not what one might expect. There's still too much going on here for him to quite stop, but he slows his roll a little, racing to drop to one knee in front of his son rather than scoop him up into a hug.]

I - oh, forgive me. I have - I have been here alone for quite some time.

[He tries to dash the tears from his eyes. Maybe Asriel's from a time before his death. If so, Asgore doesn't want to frighten him.]

How are you, Asriel? Are you well?

[Asriel would be immensely grateful to know that his father decided not to hug him. He's not really as big of a fan of his father's hugs as he used to be.

He doesn't understand what he means by "alone" though. He frowns.] Dad, you're not making any sense... we just visited you last week. Frisk tried to get you to watch some cheesy cartoon about friendship with me and Chara. Remember?

[That was even more awkward than this conversation, as all visits from his father were. Pretending to be normal around his mother was one thing, because she always noticed when he was putting on a front. Pretending to be normal around his father... that was harder.]

With...

[Asriel, Frisk, and Chara all together? Asgore's only heard of a couple variants on his world, and usually he can see the divergences in them easily - this particular event happened differently, or somebody made a different decision. But how on earth did that ever come to happen?]

...well, no. Gosh, this is going to sound rather complicated, but I suppose I may be from a different version of our world than you. That does happen sometimes here.

[obviously Asriel knows NOTHING about alternate timelines, WHY WOULD HE KNOW THAT]

[Of course, Asriel knows quiiiiiiiite a bit about alternate timelines. So, he thinks, he's saying the two timelines intersected somehow? This dream world brings people from different versions of reality together? How much does this Asgore know about him then? His Asgore knows that he used to be Flowey, but does this one? It doesn't seem like it.

He fakes ignorance just as he fakes happiness. ~~As in not very well.~~] Golly, like different dimensions? I thought that was just in sci-fi and stuff.

[what the fuck's a Flowey]

Is it? [also Asgore doesn't really watch a lot of sci-fi] Well, that is how it was first explained to me. I have not been at home for...golly, it must be two years now. But this is a very nice world to be in!

[Okay, he sorta doesn't like it a lot of the time. But he isn't just gonna tell Asriel that. It's been far, far too long since he spoke to his son for him to pick up exactly what's off about this interaction, but something's clearly off, and he doesn't want to make it worse.

He's being too presumptuous, probably - who does he think he is, greeting some other Asriel like this when he's got another, better father back home waiting for him? It's like that human story, with the man who sees ghosts from a terrible future.]

[Two years? He would never get used to this intradimensional time travel nonsense, even after all he'd done with it. It never made sense.]

That's a long time! I...

[He can't do this, he thinks suddenly. He can't look at this father who has never seen him, this father who didn't even know he was alive, and keep pretending that he's just a cheerful, happy-go-lucky little kid. His father deserves better than that, doesn't he? His father deserves to know the truth, not lies and lies and more lies.

He loses composure. Tears start to form in his eyes.]

I... I...

Oh, Asriel...

[Asgore's not quite sure what's prompting this, but he scoots forward, one hand lifted as if to either put it on Asriel's shoulder or offer a hug. It shouldn't be this strange; this used to be easy.]

[Asriel buries himself in his father's chest, hugging his massive frame as best he can, and starts bawling openly.

Between sobs, he mumbles, barely audible:] Dad... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... I...

[Asgore holds his son close. He's tearing up again as well (honestly he never really stopped), but he tries to suppress that. It might upset Asriel more.]

There, there. It is alright...everything is alright.

[What exactly Asriel thinks he has to apologize for is, at the moment, less important than comforting him.]

[Asriel keeps crying into his father's chest. He keeps doing it until the tears stop, until he calms down again. His father's embrace, his words, are warm and comforting, in spite of everything.

But how he is supposed to tell his father the truth? What is he supposed to say?

But he has to try. He sniffles, pulling away, and wipes at his eyes.

His voice is soft and hoarse as he speaks. He can barely look his father in the eyes.] Dad, I... I did a lot of... really bad things.

I'm... I've been lying to you, ever since we started talking. I've been pretending to just be myself, because... I want you to be happy. I want everyone to be... to be happy. But... I can't handle lying, over and over and over again...! [Panic is building to build in his voice - he takes a deep breath and tries to continue.] You need to know... I hurt everyone. Everyone. And I... I hurt you. And I hurt Mom. And I hurt Chara.

I hurt all of you... really badly. [Ugh, he thinks. He needs to tell him the whole truth. He tries again.

He takes another deep breath and looks down at the floor, his paws clenching into fists.] In my... dimension... I killed all of you.

[......welp, that's kinda a lot.

Asgore's not blind to the concept of other dimensions, of course. So if Asriel says that happened in his own world, well...bizarre as that sounds, he supposes it must be true. There was probably a time when someone would have thought it strange to hear what he's done - though that's a terrible comparison, of course, Asriel is only a child.

Well, the details of whatever happened there wouldn't really change anything.]

I - well, whatever has happened, it is alright.

[honestly he has so many friends who have kinda attempted to kill him at this point]

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 021 )

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