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

No, that definitely sounded just like all the other cries of shock and fear he's ever caused. The sound of children having a good time? Unrealistic.

Five is a trained professional and used to dealing with having a tail on his ass. What he's not used to, though, is that tail being an incredibly persistent kid? What on earth is she hoping to accomplish with this?

He weaves through alleyways and over rooftops, jumping ahead in quick bursts of blue energy every so often. But he doesn't know the area well enough to jump too far out of sight, too many unknown variables in the equations, and he's starting to feel himself lose concentration. At first he's annoyed, then unnerved, and finally really kinda ticked off. What does she think this is, a game?

Her little ploy, of course, doesn't work at all. But he takes a second to crouch down behind a wall and shout indignantly across the distance. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Stupid enough to give away his position and halt his little void hopping movements long enough for her to drop to the ground herself, as if she can melt into the stone if she falls fast enough. Maybe she can cloak herself under the cover of, uh, paint darkness or something. She's crawling near some kind of cover, poking her head around corners as she steadily makes her way to where the voice came from.

And silence would surely be an asset here, except, you know. She's gotta say something. "It's okay if you can't see it. That doesn't make you 'stupid.' I think you just need 'glasses'-that kind of thing."

Is it throwing shade if she sounds sincere? Because she truly means it. It's an incredible invention, she's found. Sunglasses might work too, to block out of the rays of betrayal because he needs to look. There's something in sky, probably. She swears. For real. Clouds are important and he should definitely look up at it. It's fine. She won't shoot him with gaudy paint. That's illegal in the wild, wild dream west and she is a law abiding citizen. Trust her.

Oof, if that sick burn had been directed at somebody else, he would have surely approved. Whoever she is, this girl is clearly a master of insults deceptively disguised as sincerity. Unfortunately, right now it's just ruffling his already ruffled feathers even more and he narrows his eyes at the wall in front of him.

"I don't need--" You know what? This is stupid. He's not gonna argue with a child about his damn eyesight. Especially since he didn't even need glasses in his real, older body. So there.

Also, he's definitely clocked her movements by the sound of her voice. If he can just get a read on the exact distance... "Fine, and what am I looking for?" he calls out before shuffling along the wall a little, finally risking a quick peek just over the top to see if he can spot a flash of silver hair anywhere.

That 'flash' is more of an 'explosion' of silver hair when she catches some movement out of the corner of her eye and fixates on, what she assumes, is his slicked up brown hair. Because time is of the essence and she doesn't know how long it's gonna be before she catches him again. Portal hopping isn't her forte. She doesn't even have night vision. Anything but broad daylight is gonna make for rough hunting.

So she does what one would naturally do in this situation-he's probably seen her already and, if he hadn't, he's gonna now. Because she pushes herself up and starts running towards him, like he's a pile of surly cats she needs to adopt. So she's making some good time, yelling-"Look at the clouds-the clouds!"

Definitely don't look at her. And super duper don't look at her as she just shoots her own hand with the paint gun, shaking it out because that kinda hurt. It's for a good cause though because-

She's gonna hand turkey this punk. That's the Big Goal. Just shove it right on his shirt. But that's probably impossible to tell from the way she chucks the gun away from her. She's gotta go fast fast fast and can't be weighed down by nonsense. "Keep looking!"

After the life he's led, not a lot is really capable of throwing Five for a loop. He survived years of nuclear winter, was recruited by a literal time travel agency, killed all sorts of important historical figures. He's currently working on pretty much single-handedly preventing the end of the world. He's stuck in a child's body and, contrary to what Dolores would say, is still mostly coping okay!

But the sight of this girl full on sprinting at him, yelling about clouds and shooting her own damn hand, throwing the gun away like she's on a suicide mission? It strikes a peculiar, unfamiliar kind of bewildered shock into his jaded little heart and he stands up, staring at the impending collision like a deer in headlights.

And then, like any self-respecting pile of startled cats, he scatters into the winds at the last second, warping space around him with a single step back to appear behind the girl and watch her run face-first into the wall or whatever the hell is about to go down here.

The power, the sheer force of her lurch forward, is enough to keep her going despite her brain going stop, stop, stop at his sudden disappearance. She really thought her cloud distraction would work and she does hit the wall-not with a lot of force, but enough to make her purple coated fingers tag the stone instead of her intended target.

But whatever that's fine that's fine. Cheating is a valid way to victory and if she had that kind of zip, zappy ability she would use to her advantage during every game. It's fine. She's not mad, just disappointed, and that look remains as she pulls herself off the wall, staring at her inky handprint on the building. Well.

"You get ten points," She whispers to this feisty painter, wherever he may have zapped to. It's not like he's behind her or anything, so before the ink dries, she doodles a quick, messy '1 0' for him to find later. "Good job."

And as she spins on her heel to begin the tracking process all over again, determined to get him-

He's there and she's thrilled. Boy, she's getting better at this.

"I found you! Stay there, stay there!"

She's gotta rub her ink off the wall with her palm before it dries. Time to reload.

Five isn't above making an almost sympathetic face as the girl smacks into the wall, even though he literally directly caused this to happen. Really it was her own fault, but damn she's committed. Committed to what, is the question.

Disdain for any sort of ranking system is deeply ingrained in him, but even he can figure out this is probably something normal kids do when they're playing. It's still stupid, of course, and he rolls his eyes.

"You know points are meaningless, right? This whole thing--" And there she goes again. He sighs and shakes his head, accepting that he's just gonna have to keep jumping out of her way until he can get her off his back. "What do you want?"

Unfortunately, the next time she gets within reach he's gonna find out that he's jumped one too many times already, and whatever step away he tries to make isn't gonna save him.

Her gd time has come. The fake sun is shining, the clockroaches are chilling somewhere, there might be clouds shaped like cats in the sky, foretelling her victory, but she doesn't know since her eyes are trained on this kid. This void hopping cheater who isn't making a move to vanish now, which means-

What does she want, Dream Boy?

What she wants is victory and she will grab it with her own two terrible hands-literally.

"I want a gold star," She answers happily, as her hands cross the threshold of his personal space and she reaches to press her ink covered hand square against his chest. Hope he isn't a fan of that outfit. That color isn't gonna wash out for awhile. "Twenty points."

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 021 )

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