aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 022 )

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 )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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!

[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?

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?

...Angela.

[She uncurls a little, curiosity winning out over the alternative of continuing to mope here forever. For the first time, her eyes take in the beach and ocean surrounding them in earnest. It's not where she went to sleep, that's for sure.

This. Must be a dream. Her brow furrows.]

I thought...that you couldn't imagine new faces in a dream.

Maybe! Maybe it's not a dream.

[He doesn't stop to think about why she's so sad. There must be some reason, but he can't puzzle it out. And what's more important, he thinks, is getting her to smile.]

I don't usually dream about stuff like this. My dreams usually have dragons! Father says that's a good sign.

Dragons? That sounds exciting.

[But he raises an interesting point. If this isn't a dream, then she is far from home, and that is concerning. Really there's not much left to go back to, so maybe she should just get used to this place being her new home. Angela looks up at Genji, and although her expression is tired, she doesn't look quite as miserable.]

I don't usually remember my dreams.

It is! Father says that means my bond with them is going to be really strong!

[He could explain more than nothing, but he doesn't think it needs to be explained. Everyone knows about the dragons the Shimadas call on for aid.

(This is a lie. Nobody knows about the dragons.)]

And that sounds really boring. Dreams are fun! You can do anything you want in them!

[Unsurprisingly, Angela has no idea what he means when he says that. And she doesn't think she'd get a satisfying answer out of Genji if she asks for clarification, otherwise she'd say as much. Instead, she focuses on the second thing he says.

Anything. There's one thought she really wants to indulge, but she isn't sure she should. But she's a child right now. She's a child, and that naive hope hasn't been squeezed out of her yet.]

Can you...visit with people? People that aren't- [She chokes a little on the words.] here anymore?

[It wouldn't be a real visit, it wouldn't really be them, she's hopeful not stupid. But is that something she could do? Just. Conjure them up at will, dream of happier times, on command?]

[Don't worry about it.]

Of course you can! Why wouldn't you be able to?

[There must be someone she misses a lot. That's why she's been crying. But dreams are special - you can see so many amazing, wonderful things in them.

He beams, raising his arms and waving them.]

It'd be like they never left!

I doubt that very much.

[Everything about Angela's expression and posture tightens. The words come out perhaps a bit more bitter than she means them to. It's just that, well. As desperately as she wants things to be what they were before, a part of her knows that's just not possible. This kind of pain has changed her, fundamentally, and even if they walked through the door tomorrow, things wouldn't be the same.

She'd very much like to believe they would, though. Alas, such is the curse of intellectualizing literally every emotion you have as a defense mechanism.]

[Oh. It seems like he's said something wrong.

He frowns, trying to puzzle it together. Whoever she misses must...not be able to come back. Genji doesn't quite understand, but...

He wants to help.]

Well...it could still happen!

[It's not that he's said something wrong, per se...just that her mind isn't in the space to hear it right now. His frown brings her back a little from that sharp edge. Makes her feel a little guilty for sounding so mean. Angela tries on a smile sheepishly. It looks forced, she's sure, but it's better than looking like she's about to cry, right?]

I guess. I shouldn't want to dream about them, honestly. It would just make it hurt worse.

[She sighs. Of all the things to tell a stranger in a dream. She should change the subject before she scares him off.]

You said you dream about dragons, right? What are they like?

[The smiles is forced, and Genji can tell but...At least it's a smile?]

I don't think it would!

[But he doesn't know for certain. The subject change, though, he can roll with.]

They're amazing! They're dragons, so of course they're amazing, but they're really cool and have all sorts of powers. They can make it rain!

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 022 )

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