TEST DRIVE MEME ( 022 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #22

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 April 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.

To Dungeons Deep And Caverns Old
Caves are usually natural structures, though the one you find yourself within shows signs of manual influence. Brackets set into stones hold odd, glowing plants that illuminate the darkness with almost neon tones. Slightly sunken ceilings appear less threatening with the addition of great, wood beams to brace them upright, and traversing the more heavily inclined passages becomes far easier with the addition of roughly carved stairwells, worn smooth by the passage of many feet that have passed this way before you.

If it weren't for the way the ground tremors and rumbles underfoot, it would be a strange but otherwise pleasant scene. As it stands, that clamorous shaking only worsens the longer you stand here, rumbles like thunder vibrating through the stone in dense waves. An earthquake? A volcanic eruption?

...a cave-in? Regardless of the cause, that final option is becoming more likely to occur in your general vicinity, the longer these tremors continue. It's time to go - and quickly, before that option is lost to you entirely. To the left, or right? Up, or down? If you look up, if you really squint, a few shimmering rays of sunlight glimmer far, far above your head from a natural skylight, if you think you can survive whatever's happening on the surface. Or you can keep forging your way downward, deeper, and hope that there's a stable little alcove set somewhere in the stone where you can wait this whole thing out. There really are innumerable options in this labyrinthian underground - and what awaits you around the next corner could be your salvation or your downfall.

Your very long downfall. So watch your step.

What's My Age Again?
Last month, adventurers found themselves dealing with the aftermath of a volcanic eruption... and the odd, transformative effects the volcanic ash seemed to have upon them. Ever curious of what occurs in the waking world, Mu has once again sought to emulate this oddity, reshaping its visitors to fit the images of their past - or even their potential future. Waking up in your preteen body is the nightmare of many, but hardly the greatest oddity one might come across in a dream. Fifteen years younger, thirty years older - either way, you seem to be a tad displaced from who you are in the now. Those aware of this may find it something of a challenge, with vocal chords cracking for the first time in years, or creaking bones that don't move quite as fast as they used to. For others, however, nothing appears to be amiss at all; mentally or physically. Your memories may have leapt up to follow suit with these radical changes...or maybe you're an adult mind trying to cope with a toddler's body.

Perhaps this dream is precisely the chance you've been looking for. It's time to relive your childhood, or experience your golden years in peace. The calm, resort-like beachfront you find yourself upon will hinder neither. You could always go looking for answers - where you are, why this is happening to you - but there's no guarantee you'll be successful in locating any.

Maybe you'll get lucky, though, and find someone who believes you.

Worth A Thousand Words
The Chamber of Glyphs is a unique feature to LifeAftr, resting on the border between the waking world and Mu itself. An immense room of seemingly infinite length and height, every space, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling, is occupied by images scratched into stone with chalk and charcoal.

The drawings themselves also appear to be- unique. Beams of light from a chalked-in sun mingle with illustrations raindrops to create a shimmering rainbow. Roughly drawn animals leap away from those who approach, startled out of stillness, and ancient battles play out in never-ending loops upon the floor. Everywhere one looks, drawings seem to shift upon the walls, disappearing and reappearing elsewhere, or mingling with images that had not been there prior. A basin of endless chalk sits next to a firepit in the center of the room, ripe for the inspired artist to take to whatever blank canvas is available in the architecture - and there is always space available. If you're bored of watching the charcoal rabbits leap away to hide in green, chalky grass, perhaps there's a drawing of your own that's ready to come to life, a permanent fixture to the walls about you.

Or not. Take care with just what you decide to draw, as some images may not be content staying glued to flat surfaces. Outliners are perhaps exactly what one would expect them to be, and exactly what they sound like: something that's both out of bounds and out of line. Rogue outlines of chalk, charcoal, and paint, they break away from the surface upon which they were initially spawned to shamble after the living with often awkward shambling. Very few have been given the gift of depth, a fact that leaves most paper thin and prone to crumpling into scribbled heaps.

Though not the greatest of threats, it's best not to let them touch you. Those without depth or dimension may be quite eager to steal yours - and once you find yourself drawn into the two-dimensional spaces across the walls and floor, returning to normal will prove near impossible.

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[devilarmory]

The hell is wrong with you?

[this is a general question for which we may never have a suitable answer.]

Last time I checked, arms don’t just decide to grow back. [yeah uh about that] You lose your shirt somewhere, or did that get sold for rent too?

1000 words, 1000 emootiooons

[whosamacallit]

Put that down.

[ Her voice is a mixture of surprised, anxious, and offended. This place doesn't belong to either of them, and he's desecrating it.

Brennan walks over to him. She, for one, had expectations. ]

I expected anyone who sees this place realizes it has cultural significance. Not to me, and clearly not to you. [ Otherwise, he would've known what to expect. ] But to someone.

[ She wants to know who. She wants to study all of this. ]

2

[whosamacallit]

[ Temperance Brennan is twelve and nerdy and only dimly aware that she should be repressing some really awful trauma. She should be world famous, a woman who made all her dreams come true, but... she's a kid, and she's fine like this.

And she's fascinated by this other kid's survival skills. He totally has some, why would he not, what is not having faith in people. ]

Don't mind me, I'm watching because I wanna learn. [ A pause for thoughts on safety, though. ] I can clear the area.

[ And she goes and does just that, either unaware or not caring that she might be annoying him. ]

genji shimada | overwatch

[assoverelbow]

dungeons deep and caverns old
[This isn't exactly the kind of place Genji would expect to wake up one day. It's a far cry from the streets of Hanamura or the peaks of Nepal. It seems to be quite the opposite of the monastery, in fact, and isn't that strange?

Genji stands out like a beacon in the caverns - glowing a brilliant green, as he scrambles up a haphazard pile of rocks to get a vantage point. At the very least, he doesn't seem to be alone. From his perch he can spot other people in the caverns, and he raises his arm in greeting.]

Yo.

[His voice is slightly tinny, and if you can get a good look at him he seems to be made of plates of armor and cords.]

Where is this place?

what's my age again?
[Well, this is - this is bizarre. Genji can feel his blood pumping, feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, and there's a breeze in his hair.

There's also an unfortunate breeze elsewhere, but he's managed to find some cloth to wrap around himself so he's decent.]

This is crazy.

[There's awe in his voice he can't get rid of. He looks down at his hands, flexing his fingers, before he looks up with a grin. His hair - dyed bright green - flops in his face, free from how he used to style it.]

This is crazy!

[He's spent so long in that metal body, just a fragment of a man. But now, it seems, he's somehow back to being...himself?]

How did this happen?!

Mercy | Overwatch | Mind the CW

[caduceusoncall]

i. Youth Lost [cw: parental death]

[Sitting alone just above the tide's reach is a young girl. She can't be older than 8, maybe 10, despite the dark rings under her bloodshot eyes - her features are too small and delicate for a teenager. Her hair is frazzled, as if she's been pulling at it or knotting her fingers in it. The little girl stares out over the ocean and thinks of a thousand things. How beautiful it would be, if they were here to see it. How their honeymoon pictures on the living room wall featured beaches like these. How baffling it is that, in a world where idyllic scenes like this could exist, war and death could be there, too.

The girl scrunches her knees up to her chest and rests her forhead on her folded arms. This is a grieving Angela Ziegler, and she hasn't got the heart to question where she is or why.]

Crying won't help. [She whispers to herself, shoulders shaking with the effort of staying quiet. It may sound harsh, but it's her way of hanging on to what's left.] Not at all.

ii. Light The Way

This way!

[The voice rings clear over the rumbling of shifting stone, cast down the staircase as a lifeline to stragglers. And if you hesitate in following the voice - it leads to a yellow glowing outline of a woman up ahead - you will find yourself bathed in golden light as a firm hand grasps your shoulder and guides you along.

If the bright yellow wings and staff don't make you think of an angel, the metal halo probably does. You won't have time to admire your new guardian, however. She's urging you along and fanning her wings out as far as they'll go to light the way.]

There is no time to lose, we must move quickly.

iii. Wildcard

[Surprise me!]

Temperance Brennan | Bones

[whosamacallit]

To Dungeons Deep And Caverns Old

[ A heavy sigh and a very extra eyeroll are her first reaction. Buried alive. Again. At least this time it's in some massive cave system where she (probably) doesn't need to worry about running out of oxygen. The tremors are a little much, but this is dreamlike anyway, so it makes sense. What's one traumatic experience turned up to 11, right? Dreams are weird. She hates them.

There's nothing for it but to head for the light, so iff Brennan goes at a walk. The seismic waves, or the shockwaves from collapses in the caves, cause her to stumble now and then. One time, the sound of ricks cracking overhead makes her dive to save her limbs - sorry if she dives into you.

Or, if you prefer, she finds you at a dead end and looks up, at the light coming from above. ]

I can see what's up there if you give me a boost.


Worth A Thousand Words

[ If she draws a skeleton, will it come to life? Scientific curiosity almost gets the best of her. Brennan stands there, hands dusty with discarded charcoal. This place doesn't belong to her. She won't change what's here, even as it changes on its own.

A dolphin catches her eye, playful and energetic at her feet. She crouches down to get a closer look. ]

Not very realistic. Like cave paintings. More sophisticated than that. [ She talks like she's teaching. To a class, to an intern - or maybe like she's recording case notes.

Who's there? She looks up and talks to you. ]

What can you tell me about this place?

[ Brennan you can't just assume people know things. But in a dream, anything's possible. ]


Wildcard

[ Will match format too. She's from end of season 3 if you're canon familiar. Throw whatever at me or pm to drum something up. ]

i;

[assoverelbow]

[Genji is doing what Genji does best - getting into places he really shouldn't be. It's a part of his training, he would say, if his family and retainers were there to see him, but...

They don't seem to be anywhere. He seems to be all alone. Well, not quite alone. There's a girl here, by the ocean, curled up in a little ball like she wants the world to go away.

Genji's never been very good at following orders, so despite everything shouting at him to leave her alone, he approaches her.]

Crying is just your body letting everything go!

[Words he heard often, when training was too difficult and he pushed himself too far.]

It's okay!

[caduceusoncall]

[Angela is quick to wipe her eyes and look up at the newcomer, but slow to actually respond. He's so...happy. So confident in what he's saying. That crying is just her body letting everything go, that it's okay. It's in direct conflict with what she's learned throughout this whole ordeal of losing her parents: That crying is stagnation, it fixes nothing and helps no one. It won't stop war, it won't bring them back, it won't ensure peace so that nobody else has to endure this. This is the first time she's questioned that philosophy.

But...does he even know what it's like? Does he have any idea at all what that kind of loss is like? And if so, how can he possibly be happy and content despite it?

She has to clear her throat of unreleased emotion before she can ask:]

Who...are you?

Re: 1000 words, 1000 emootiooons

[the_archivist]

[Jon finishes off the drawing of the eye before he turns around to acknowledge the speaker. It feels right to have it there, watching. When had that feeling started to feel comforting rather than creepy? It's a long slope.

He regards the woman, charcoal still gripped in grubby fingers.]

Considering what I suspect holds sway over this place, I rather doubt you'd like that significance.

[assoverelbow]

Genji!

[The answer is immediate, with the same cheerful tone of voice. She must not be from Hanamura, Genji thinks, because she would know him if she was. Genji knows most of the kids his age there, even if there are people who disapprove of that.

His father always said that it was good if people flocked to his little sparrow, though, so why should they try to clip his wings?]

What's your name?

[whosamacallit]

You're assuming I'm bothered by conjecture. I'm not.

[ Brennan oh my god this isn't some academic standoff. ]

I'm interested in hearing it anyway.

[ Which... isn't quite extending the olive branch, but kind of is. ]

[the_archivist]

No really. You don't want to encounter it.

[He doesn't. Mike had been enough and he'd barely got out of that encounter. There are worse things the Vast has to offer.

He looks up at the ceiling, or the lack of it.]

The Vast. I thought fractals were more the Spiral, but I can see the links there. How far up do you think it goes?

[whosamacallit]

I didn't say I wanna encounter it. [ She's confused there, not sassy. ] It's starting to sound like superstition.

[ But hey, she too looks up, squinting at the endless walls, the unseen ceiling. ]

It might go on for infinity—we're not exactly in the realm of reality. [ And to her, reality is extremely mundane and devoid of magic. ] Is 'the Vast' what you call outer space?

[ Seems appropriately mythological. ]

[the_archivist]

That's for the best.

[He doesn't want to encounter it but somehow he's sure that he isn't going to have a choice at some point in the future.]

We're in a dream. Is superstition really that much of a problem?

[Dreams expose so very much and he thinks... no, he knows that some of them are not always his own.]

No, we call that outer space too. Although it most likely comes under the domain of- Have you ever looked up at the sky, or at the ocean, so wide and open and fathomless, and felt like it could swallow you?

[whosamacallit]

[ Well, put like that— ] No.

[ She still wouldn't write on another culture's artifacts, though.

His answer, while not much of an actual answer, is evocative enough that she can imagine what he means. Stargazing with her mother is a clear memory, less bitter now, sweeter, because she knows more about what happened and why. ]

Yeah. [ She pauses. ] Vast is a good word for those things. We're so miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

[ It makes her want to explore, ask questions, study. Her passion is forensic anthropology, but she follows developments in other science fields. Aka she's a huge nerd. ]

[the_archivist]

Well now imagine that but but as fear. How tiny you are, how insignificant. That's the Vast.

[Not one of his personal fears, but he'd never thought he'd be afraid of clowns and mannequins until he had to face the Stranger and stop the Unknowing.

He assumes the Unknowing was stopped. He doubts he would be here in any capacity if the ritual had been completed.]

You like to learn things.

[He doesn't mean to pry but it just... comes to him, a drip of knowledge around the edges of a door pressed tight shut against an ocean. And perhaps it comes easily because it calls to his... his... patron.]

Chidi Anagonye | The Good Place

[merimna]

Dungeons Deep

[Well, OK. He's dreaming about being in a cave. The cave is going to collapse. He's going to die. This is all... great. Just great! There's nothing concerning about this dream at all and it's definitely not some kind of self-inflicted torture. He can handle this.

No, he can't. If there is one thing Chidi is not good at, it's picking something. If there's another thing Chidi is not good at, it's directions - he once got lost on an escalator. This is a very, very bad combination.

So, if you find Chidi in the cave, you may find him crouched down, his palms on his head, and... groaning. As if groaning would stop the cave-in. It'd probably make it worse, actually. Should he not groan?

He groans louder. This is the worst.]

What's My Age Again?

[Oh god this is Chidi's worst nightmare, and as a man who suffers from debilitating anxiety, he has a lot of "worst nightmares." But this is... baaaaaad.

He's dreaming of himself as a 9-year old boy, or at least, he thinks it's a dream??? Because he's definitely not in Senegal. He seems to have all his memories of adulthood, but he's at a complete loss as to what on Earth (or... not-Earth) to do.

You may come across a young boy with thick glasses and a short afro, in a school uniform, wandering around talking to himself.]

Should I pretend to be a child? No, that's lying. Should I ask for help? No, that'd be inconveniencing people. They're dream people, so does that even matter? Of course it matters! Don't be ridiculous. How we treat others in our dreams is a reflection of our true selves...

Worth A Thousand Words

[Chidi is incredulous at what he's saying. Even in all his time spent in The Bad Place pretending to be The Good Place, he's never seen anything like these living drawings. Of course, he's too anxious to draw any of his own (is it ethical to bring life to non-living things...? That's a lot of responsibility) but he admires a drawn rabbit, smiling at it.]

Well, aren't you cute? Yes, you are!

[Unfortunately, Chidi fails to notice the Outliner, a humanoid figure with a drawn-on smile, shambling towards him from behind...]

Vera Misham | Ace Attorney

[veracus]

What's My Age Again?

[Vera is having a very strange dream. Of all things, she seems to be back to her 12-year old self. But it's only a dream, she thinks. There's nothing to really be afraid of, is there? Nobody can harm her in a dream.

She takes her sketchbook, shaped like a bear, and goes out to the beach to draw the ocean. She seems almost happy, peaceful, being alone drawing things. She never really got the chance to draw from real life, but it's a lot like copying a painting - you just have to get all the little details just so.]

Worth A Thousand Words

[Vera is not afraid of the drawings. She's had dreams like this before, many times, and it doesn't even cross her mind that any of the drawings could harm her. She actually seems happy, frolicking among the drawn wildlife, sketching a drawn rainbow in her sketchbook.

Until she finds the basin of chalk. And then, of course, she absolutely has to draw things for herself. She takes the chalk and draws and draws and draws, all over the walls, taking several square feet of wall up with her art. She's an extremely skilled artist, but her drawings take on a playful sketchiness, and seem to be largely of cute things - hibernating bears, squirrels, rabbits, and a lot of flowers. When they come to life, she smiles to herself.]

[merimna]

[Chidi is pacing back and forth when Somnus speaks to him.] Nope! I am not faring well. At all.

How... how are you faring well? Because I'm a hundred percent positive we're all going to die.

[veracus]

[Vera flinches when the strange woman approaches her. She just stares at her, her arms tightly clutching her sketchbook, wondering if this is a "bad person" or not, wondering if she should say something to her.

She's too scared to, however. She's too scared to even take a step backwards. Even in a dream, which this clearly is, she doesn't like being approached by strangers.]

[whosamacallit]

That sounds like something out of how myths are born. I like it.

[ She likes to think she's not afraid of anything or anyone—not the Salvadoran drug lord who locked her up for three days and tried to convince her she'd never be found, not the murderers she helps catch, not Booth with his alpha male swagger and his obeisance to outdated social mores—but then... things changed when Booth came back into her life. She feared she didn't know who she was, she feared being killed and fed to dogs, she feared being killed by a murderer who knew that Brennan could find them. She feared losing one of the most important people in her life, and she fears, still fears, that she has. That she failed him.

The Vast doesn't compare to Zack Addy confessing to murder in the name of the Gormogon tradition.

Luckily, this man with his mythological leanings changes the subject, and Brennan, who lbr here is quite proud and used to talking about herself, takes the opportunity immediately. ]

I do. I'm a scientist. The best forensic anthropologist in the world. [ She says it casually, because it's a fact. Forgive her. ] You strike me as... a folklorist, maybe. Either as a professional or an amateur.

[whosamacallit]

[ Lucky for this girl, Brennan is significantly less cold to anyone who looks like a scared kid. She's been that kid. She had bad foster parents. She got bullied in school constantly. ]

It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. [ Maybe her voice doesn't sound too much softer, but her gaze goes from intense and focused to warm(er) concerned. ] I'm just looking for more information. I don't know much.

[a_shadow]

[ Tex doesn't know what she's doing here in the caves. But she does know the sound of one panicked civilian who, she will discover, is crouched in the periphery of the cave. She is inclined to make her way out—but first, she'll go to the effort of rescuing the guy who groans and moans in response to the falling rocks and trembling ground.

She makes her way toward the sound. The LED lights on her armor will light the cave enough to show her the way, as well as making it possible for Chidi to spot her. ]

Come on. You don't want to be known as the guy who ducked and covered and died because of it, do you?

[the_archivist]

I suppose. In a way. But myths are less likely crush you.

[He counts them off in his head as she speaks - The Buried, The Hunt, The End, The Lonely.

The Beholding, all your secrets laid bare and exposed, the scrutiny, and he doesn't want to See it, but that part of him is hungry for it. Feed your god, before it starts to feed on you.

He should really see if he can find a statement. Apparently this dream world isn't enough to keep that at bay.]

I'm the Archivist.

[The words slip out easy as breathing. Easier actually since he has the distinct impression that if he stopped breathing it might not matter anymore. It takes him a few moments to realise what he's said and his lips twist in unhidden irritation. Really? Can he at least pretend that part of him isn't being swallowed whole?]

Jonathan Sims. The Archivist. Jon is fine Doctor Brennan.

[And there it is again, that drip drip drip of Knowing and that- great.]

[devilswordme]

Aw, c'mon, who pissed in your cereal?

[ Weird shit happens, Nero. Dante doesn't even miss a beat. There will never be an answer to that question. ]

Weirder shit has happened, kid. You remember how me and you met?

[ A little sword through the gut never hurt anybody, right? ]

Huh? Oh.

[ He looks down. Is that... oh, yeah, that's his amulet, isn't it? His face gets serious for like a split second before he turns back up and laughs. Is he OK? He's fine. He grins. This 19 year old boomer is fine. ]

Ohhh, man, you've gotta be kidding me. I haven't rocked this look in while. [ Dante, you've got a leather strap across your pecks, it's weird. He even sticks a finger in there—I mean, to be fair, it's his gun holster but still... ] Don't knock it if you ain't tried it. Shirtless ain't a bad look.