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aftr_ooc2019-05-16 08:53 pm
lifeaftr_mods) wrote in aftr_ooc2019-05-16 08:53 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 023 )
Test Drive Meme #23
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:
In conjunction with our monthly Test Drive Meme, Reserves are now open! Applications will open on April 24th!
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.
It's Hard Work
Today, Mu has sought to recreate the fantastic island of Io - the island where the local Avatar of Celebration resides. Io is resplendent with comforts and excitements designed for relaxation and delight, from wineries to play structures. One of the most popular draws are the bathhouses, which are massive, tiered structures of the utmost luxury. Multiple stories, hot and cold water, scented perfumes and shampoos...these bathhouses are designed for the utmost enjoyment and tranquility.
For paying customers, that is. Oh - did you think you were going to be relaxing? Not tonight. Tonight, you're on the bathhouse staff, and your job is to make those paying customers happy. Those customers, many of which appear to be nothing more than shadowy, faceless blobs of a vaguely humanoid shape, can make your life very miserable if they're unsatisfied with their care.
But if you don't do a fine enough job, you might very well regret it. The bathhouse patrons, strange as they may be, have one very particular talent, and that talent is luck. If they're satisfied with their care, you might find a handful of gold coins in the gutters when you're clocking out - and they may very well still be in your knapsack if you end up waking up on the shores of LifeAftr.
If they're not, however, you'd better be especially cautious for the next few hours. Slippery patches of ground will seem to appear with far more regularity, or a precarious stack of towels may tip over right as you're walking by, or the water heater will break as you're washing your hands and scald you from the elbows up in boiling hot water.
Do a good job, and you'll be rewarded. If not...well, at least it's only for the night, right?
A Drink With Jam and Bread
Also unique to the island of Io are the tea gardens, which are exactly what they sound like. With softly glowing lanterns and thick, fragrant groves of tea leaves growing wild, the tea house is nestled at the very center of the garden. Within, all manner of kettles and mugs and strainers can be found, as well as dried tea leaves, honeys, milks, and spices. You can mix and match your own blends, pick from some of the pre-existing teabags, or even wander about the garden to pluck a few tea leaves straight from the trees.
Some of these drinks are relatively harmless. Others...not so much. And they all tend to affect people differently, too.
[ ♆ ] Black tea will fill you with energy, far more than the high caffeine content might allow. You feel like you can run ten miles - no, twenty! This may also, however, reduce your conceptualization of your own limits. You might be able to feel like you can lift one thousand pounds...but unless you've got super-strength to compensate, you might end up hurting yourself trying to do exactly that.So take care which of these blends you sample. Some of these effects might even stack, which can really ruin your day.
[ ♆ ] Chai tea will give you the ability to breathe fire, though only in short bursts about five feet ahead of you. If you try mixing different things into your chai - such as honey or milk - you might find that you can breathe different colors of fire as well. Just...take care not to set anything on fire. Those lanterns are lit by all sorts of tiny, firefly-esque bugs, and if they feel antagonized, they'll try and burn you right back.
[ ♆ ] Chamomile tea will relax you completely and utterly. In fact, it'll make you incredibly sleepy. You might start feeling tired gradually, or you might conk out right on the spot. Almost any surface suddenly feels very comfortable and easy enough to sleep on, from the ground beneath your feet to your buddy over there. Chamomile: better than the world's greatest sedative, evidently.
[ ♆ ] Earl grey tea will allow you the ability to shift in phase: make yourself and any part of your body corporeal or incorporeal on a whim. Just be sure that you don't have your arms or legs sticking into any solid surfaces by the time the effects wear off - or that'll make for some very painful removal.
[ ♆ ] Green tea will drastically increase or decrease your tolerance for pain. Either you'll feel absolutely fine no matter what kind of punishment is heaped on you...or anything from sneezing to stepping on someone's foot can feel abruptly excruciating. It's worth noting that this does nothing for one's resistance to that kind of damage. Green tea only alters the sensation behind the pain, meaning that whatever damage you might undergo is liable to be damaging, no matter how much you might be able to shrug off.
[ ♆ ] White tea will dramatically increase your sensitivity to physical stimulus. This can be either enchanting or positively overwhelming. Imagine being able to lie down in the grass and feel each blade beneath you in excruciating detail. Imagine being able to feel every air molecule flicking across your skin. Whether this improves your day or absolutely ruins it is down to how much you enjoy that sort of thing.
We Don't Need Another Hero
Fun doesn't always go hand in hand with relaxation. Perhaps you're the sort who'd prefer to have your adrenaline pumping, grinning around a missing tooth as you lay a beatdown on your opponent. Maybe you need some excitement and some action to really feel like you're living. Sure, you might get a few bruises - but check out the other guy.
As Mu is more eager to please on this front than its real world counterpart, those keen on letting loose all their pent up energy will find a rather good area for it. Inexplicably located within the complicated twists and turns of the Honeycomb is the perfect location to hurl yourself into an all-out brawl; an almost stadium-like fighting arena. Shadowy silhouettes are piled into the seats in excited speculation - you can hear them hissing and sputtering in disappointment or delight, or erupting into cheers, whenever blood is spilled.
Or....not spilled, as it were.
Alongside the freedom to punch, kick, stab, and slash at one another without fear of permanent damage comes a complimentary arsenal for those who feel like getting creative. Honeycomb Sledgehammers, Cactus Clubs, and the ever popular arm holding onto another arm that's holding onto a knife are just a few of the weaponry that innocently rest at the edges of the battlefield, with a full selection limited by nothing more than your imagination.
Unfortunately, imagination is all it is - upon waking, those currently living in LifeAftr will find those weapons remain a fanciful dream...but the memories remain, nonetheless. And the aches might very well, too.
( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
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ugh.]
It's just been a while since I've seen you. I almost thought you weren't going to show up here.
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When is Rin from? He must be from the Summerlands, or later, and Yukio doesn't like the idea of a different Yukio (another different Yukio) living a life he hasn't had.]
Remember how you were in the Carnival for months but I remembered you still being at home? It's that sort of situation. I've been-- [not here, exactly] on an island like this one while you were still in the Carnival.
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The last time I saw you, Shura had dragged us into having a picnic with her. [You know. The one where Yukio got kind of trashed and so did Kuro.] We were in the Summerlands.
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[And then Rin gives Yukio a long, rambly, and incredibly dumb version of the events of LC endgame, complete with sound effects like "SHOOM!!!" and "WOOSSSSHHH!!!". Such gems include 'I TOTALLY DIED, but I got better', and 'THE RINGMASTER WAS THE THIRD MIRACLE ALL ALONG, DUDE' and 'ME AND THE BLUE ROSE ARE FRIENDS NOW' and god knows what else]
But yeah!! That's why my heart is back in me, now, and not in Kurikara. Also I can do this! [he holds his hands out, tongue sticking out to one side, and forms a swirl of ice between his palms] Bam! Ice!! I can do lightning, and wind, too!
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??????????]
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[Rin dispels the ice and focuses hard, placing both hands on his chest. Then, he draws out what looks like... well, a heart, albeit simplified and on FIRE, with a few spikes near the top that look like a small crown. His ears lengthen and a pair of nubbly horns grow from his forehead, and more brilliant white scales cover his body in patches]
Ta-da!! It's really pretty, isn't it? When I died, my Heart died, too. And when the Ringmaster revived me, my Heart came back to me instead of to the sword. And! Using the power I got from the Rose, I can hide it all by myself. And I think I could do magic with anything that counts as an "element" but... I don't wanna overdo it and explode or something.
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Congratulations. [He says, but he's taken a second to process what he's seeing, what Rin's said, and his tone is anything but congratulatory. There's that terrible bitterness again, curling in his chest, turning his words into acid as they pass between bared fangs.] Satan won't be expecting that.
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N...no. He won't.
[Rin shoves his Heart back inside, flames and extra demon-ness vanishing along with it]
... I didn't... um...
[he kicks at the ground awkwardly]
If this weren't a dream I might... be able to... hm.... I should uh. Go. Now. I guess.
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You don't have to go. [He says, though his tone hasn't changed much.]
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[blue flames fill in the gaps in his hand-wings, creating membranes where there were none. One big flap and Rin takes to the sky, over the trees.
Of course, it's not hard to follow a bright blue baby dragon... and he lands not too far away, sitting alone at a table]
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Why would he expect anything different? He's a terrible, selfish person who just hurts the people around him. It's obvious to everyone, even Rin.
When Rin flies off, Yukio doesn't follow him.
It's about ten minutes later, after sinking too deeply into his own thoughts and ignoring the idea of tea, that Yukio goes looking for his brother.]
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Hmm. Do you think if I drink a bunch of Early Grey or black tea or something, it'll wake me up? Or maybe if I drink some chamomile and fall asleep in the dream, I'll wake up in real life?
[the bug offers a helpful squeak]
.... I guess I can't speak bug even in my dreams.
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Can we... talk? [About what? Yukio isn't entirely sure, but they can't keep going like this. He never asked Rin to be there for him, but...
He's selfish.]
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What the hell else would he be doing.
He's Rin.
The bug squeaks again and goes back into its lantern, and Rin turns to look at Yukio]
You... wanna talk? [he says with the same incredulity and genuine surprise as if Yukio had just told him he was going off to clown school] This is a weird dream... But uh... sure. If you want, you know I'm always around to listen.
[Yukio never asked, but Rin was always there for him, anyway. He didn't need to ask]
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But we have to. [Talking hasn't ever worked. Not with Father Fujimoto, not with Shura, not with Rin. But Yukio's out of options. And he's always wished that talking worked.]
I just don't know what to say. I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to be a decent person, let alone a decent brother.
[That's too much. He knows it's too much but he has no idea what else he could have said.]
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[Yukio was so weird sometimes. ]
Um... well. You remember the stuff we learned in preschool? About the Golden Rule? "Treat others how you want to be treated". I know what you're gonna say, it's stupid kiddy stuff! But it's really not, Yukio. Just... think about how things you say and do might feel. I forget sometimes, too, and I say dumb stuff... But I always try to get better, you know? [Rin frowns] ... I'm rambling. I... don't know how to be a good person, either. I don't know if anyone does. I think everyone just makes it up as the go along.
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