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.

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LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

Nero | Devil May Cry 5 | spoilers likely

[devilarmory]

[a; caverns]

[Oddly enough, the environment itself didn't seem to bother Nero in the slightest. He stood casually as he looked around the caverns, a silver and red sword strapped to his back and his right arm a robotic prosthetic from the elbow down. Probably not the average person, all told.]

Okay...sure. [He shrugged, looking no worse than mildly inconvenienced by an unfamiliar cave in fuck-all only knew where. Might as well head upwards, since that was probably something resembling progress. Wandering in the direction of a tall ledge, he continued talking to himself dismissively.]

No demons, no Qliphoth roots, nothing? C'mon, I'm starting to think I took a vacation and nobody told me.

[b; embarrassing emo phase]

[Nero's change was immediately noticeable and incredibly baffling; it would be hard not to realize something was off, considering his hair was back in his face.]

[Oh, and the glowing demonic right arm. That was a bit of a tipoff.]

[But that wasn't right, to say the least. This arm had been--]

The hell...?

[He reached over his shoulder with the more human arm to make sure his sword was still there; it seemed like everything was more or less in place except for the obvious missing Devil Breakers. Shit, Nico was going to kill him.]

[And while that was not the most pressing issue at the moment, it was definitely a large one.]

[c; wildcard]

[i have no idea what i'm doing.]

b for baby

[devilswordme]

[ Nero, honey, you think your look is bad, Dante isn't wearing a shirt.. He seems to have no problem with this, though. Instead he's laughing, like you do when you see your baby nephew in his old threads. ]

Aw, look at you, kid! [ He's laughing. Asshole. ] You know, I kinda miss this look on you. Made you look real bitchy. Not that things have changed much.

[ He shrugs, casting a glance at Dat Arm. ]

Oh, hey, did you grow that back finally?

[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?

[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.

[devilarmory]

Don't remember anyone cutting your arm off, though I guess it wouldn't really shock me if you just turned around and sprouted a new one.

[look he's been impaled, he walked it off, arms are clearly a much different logical leap of stupidity!]

Whatever. Not all that interested in running around without a shirt, I'd probably catch hell from Kyrie. Not to mention Nico'd probably laugh me out of the car.

[devilswordme]

I cut my brother in half once. Didn't take, obviously.

[ How many times did he cut you, Dante?? This younger look really is making him nostalgic. Though the bangs are kind of annoying, Dante fusses with them, trying to part them down the middle. ]

That's just cause you weren't rocking a six pack at 18.

[ He's shredded, thanks. Though honestly he's a lot skinnier than the Dante Nero knows. ]

Something tells me she'd have a field day with your little emo look, too. The bangs really bring out your issues with authority.

[devilarmory]

[Flatly:] I noticed.

[thanks for the giant murder tree, dad.]

...You're not gonna tell her, are you?

[devilswordme]

[ Dante chuckles. Whatever, sometimes your brother tries to end the world, it's happened before!! He plucks Rebellion off of his back and stakes it in the ground, leaning against the pommel. ]

Tell her what? [ He grins, mischievously. Who's the adult here? ] That you used to be an angsty teen with anger issues? It's not like things have changed.