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aftr_ooc2019-12-28 12:15 pm
lifeaftr_mods) wrote in aftr_ooc2019-12-28 12:15 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME ( 030 )
Test Drive Meme #30
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.
Reserves and Applications are always open, and are processed every weekend.
Two important notes:
Reserves and Applications are always open, and are processed every weekend.
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.
Polar Opposites
Adventurers in the waking world have had to contend with the temperamental island of Monsun, which has recently undergone some rather drastic changes. These changes have now become all the more evident in Mu. You see, upon waking here, you're likely to end up on one of two sides.
The east side is a frozen wasteland, rife with glaciers and beasts that you could expect to see in an ice age - woolly mammoths, sabre-toothed tigers, and dozens of others besides. While they're not innately hostile creatures, you should probably keep your distance...unless your idea of a good time is getting into a brisk fight with one or more of these beasts. Nothing like a good brawl to warm up the blood, after all!
What's more is that your body may also begin to reflect physical properties inherent to the region. This can be as simple as a thin layer of semi-permanent frost that settles over you, and as complex as sprouting icicle horns and spines all over your body. These changes can be slow to emerge or extremely painful, or relatively painless and immediate. If you get the odd ice-based power to shoot icicles out of your hands or slick the ground beneath you with frost on top of it, well...that's just a bonus, isn't it?
You can also expect to be pursued by the odd monstrous entity on top of these environmental hazards - so tread carefully!
There are benefits to this, however. Just like with the east side, sticking around on the heat-blasted part of this world may cause your body to reflect physical properties inherent to the region. Whether it's a fiery shimmer bathing your silhouette, your skin becoming blackened and veined with magma, or any other variation besides, is up to you. These changes can be slow to emerge or extremely painful, or relatively painless and immediate. And, of course, if you pick up a fire-based power or two in the interim, that's just a bonus. Maybe you can shoot fire from your hands now, or make whips of lava out of thin air. Pretty badass, right? Totally makes this potentially traumatic transformation worth it, right?
Well, we thought so.
Can't Let It Go
It is in the thick of winter, and while the tropical islands on LifeAftr are only intermittently reflecting this, the dreamworld of Mu is the exception here. You'll have to be careful when braving these thick, high-piled snowdrifts, however. You might see the occasional lump of snow that looks like someone nearby has made a couple of snowmen. That's nice, right? A good sign of civilization?
Not so. These are, in fact, creatures known as snowgoons, and they are very much hostile. So not only is it very cold, but you're being hunted by terrifying snowmen on top of it. They are intrinsically hostile, incredibly lethal, and what's more? They are relentless.
The best way to deal with these creatures is to keep them at a distance as much as possible; snowgoons are only really effective at close range. They can be picked off fairly easily from a distance, though we recommend figuring out some kind of way of generating heat to keep them at bay. These things, true to their appearance, despise fire and heat.
Hope you brought a flamethrower!
Mistletoe? More Like Mistlefoe
Ah, mistletoe. A long-standing wintertime tradition, often used to facilitate all sorts of romantical shenanigans throughout history. This isn't necessarily requisite, or forced, fortunately. In this wintery wonderland, most mistletoe is in its uncut, untendered state - little more than a parasitic fuzz clinging to the branches of the trees overhead.
You have a roughly equal chance of running into two different types of mistletoe. There is, of course, the conventional mistletoe, wherein you will more or less immediately experience the urge to express affection to whoever else is nearest. This can translate to romantic, familial, or platonic affection - cuddling, kissing, hand-holding, hugging, or just plain being nice to them, as per your comfort level. This may be a mutual affection...or it might not.
There is also the other type of mistletoe. Instead of a one true soulmate, this type will select your one true foemate.
Unfortunately for you, these two types of mistletoe are virtually indistinguishable from one another. It's entirely possible for one person to be affected by the former and another person to be affected by the latter simultaneously.
Good luck.
( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )
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The flames still lap at his skin, burning brightly with no inclination of that heat having died. There's still something fueling it...an emotion her wears visibly now, in how it burns through him - his skin, his very veins are alight with that not-so-hidden emotion that flows like hot magma through his body, raging endlessly until it is expelled as raw flame and bouts of steam from him hurried breaths as he matches on, forward in a direction that may not even be the right one. He just...wants to move. Away. Away from here. Off this island.]
Don't...touch me.
[It's delayed. ...No. No, it's not a response. It's a warning. A threat. Not directed at Luna, but who? No one else is here. No one but her and the two Pokemon that follow after them. Scizor hesitates, blinking at Luna, then at Incineroar, then back at his trainer with concern. He was told to stay back, but...there's certainly worry on the red insects face. His trainer has changed, both physically and emotionally, and at first he didn't mind it, but he knows. He understands. He can feel it.
Guzma's mad about something. Something he can't see, and looks around to try and find it in the snow.]
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You're makin' Scizor worry. [ "I'm worried." ] Did you want to fight a little more? You're still gonna get to, probably! This place is covered in snow!!
[ when he doesn't seem to respond, Luna looks down at the ground with a little bit of... agitation. Being nice all the time is hard. Especially when her legs are cold and her arms are practically sunburned. He meant well, but he was too rough. And they really do have a ways to go, if Scizor couldn't see anything from the air. He's just gonna keep the flaming inferno of hostility going the whole way. And....Luna's not sure she can handle that right now. He always got on her about not being honest with herself-- with him, and others. A smiley brat. But the truth is? She's afraid. She's a twelve year old kid in the middle of a frozen wasteland. A snowgoon grappled her ankle with the heaviest, densest snow, and she felt a chill rush through her body. She screamed.
Having Guzma is a comfort by itself, but not enough to outmatch the mood that he's casting on the group. Pokemon and humans alike.
She stops moving quite suddenly, and crouches down into the snow. ] I'm not gonna pretend to know what happened, but don't... [ she rolls a snowball up in her hands until it feels dense enough to fly, and then chucks it at the back of his head. ] ...don't take it out on us! Don't take it out on your friends, you...you big, mean giant! We've got a lot of walking to do and I'm not gonna spend the whole time walking with a fussy fire giant!!
[ her cheeks are a little red!! that was!! not her most classy insult!! but hopefully, it gets the point across. She's already getting another snowball ready. Aside from literally throwing herself at his leg, or having Incineroar battle Guzma, the Fire Type Pokemon, a snowball seems effective and the least distressing.
H-hopefully. She stands her ground and holds the next snowball much like a pokeball.
And her aim is pretty good. ]
Bastard. ♥ ]
1/3
It's not that! It's just--
2/4 - i lied.
OOMPH--!
3/4
BINCH HE AIN'T TAKING THE FALL FOR YOU.]
You...did you just hit me?!
[She did, didn't she?! That cheeky little brat! She totally threw a snowball at him! What in the hell possessed her to do that all of a sudden?! He ought to shove her head in the snow, see how she likes it! Why, he should...should--]
4/4
[Guzma snorts, putting a hand to his face before he begins to snicker and laugh, hard, throwing his head back as the flames start to die, and the burn of his arms and hand also seems to lessen. He laughs for a good, solid minute, combing his fingers through his hair and shaking his head. Unbelievable. This awful little tart...finally grew a spine.]
...Good aim, kid. 'Bout time you stood up to me proper. Not since Po Town, I think. [Guzma grins, wide and huge, arms crossed over his chest as he looks down at the little champion, now burning with the same heat he was a moment ago. Good. It suits her. Sometimes being forthright with what you're feeling is the best. Being hotheaded and stubborn sometimes is the only way to get your point across.] Sorry 'bout before, this place, uh...
[He sighs, straightening his back as his eyes close, brows knit together.] Forgot how rotten this world is, yeah. How it likes to play little tricks with y'all's mind... Cause you see things, feel things. Things what ain't really there... Your boy saw a nasty li'l reminder'a certain someone what he wouldn't mind roasting on a spit.
All too gladly. [AHEM.] Thanks for snapping me outta it, tiny, lets get a move on for real, yeah?
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R e a d y .
She stiffens when Scizor throws her under the bus-- but she would have claimed that snowball, anyway. He deserved it. And then...he laughs. She stands up straight, cheeks burning, looking quite bitter. He keeps laughing, and her anger begins to soften. ]
W-well...don't make a habit out of it. I'm, well.. [ she looks a little unprepared for his honesty. ] It doesn't matter how many times I come here...it's still scary. But I have to look out for my friends...do I have time to be scared, when we could be solving the problem, instead?
[ probably the most honest words to come out of her mouth to date. Her gaze lowers to the snow, where her finger marks temporarily have marked where the snowball came from.
"Wouldn't mid roasting on a spit."
She wonders who that could be. With obvious answers set aside, Guzma's lived such a..."social" life since he first arrived here, and he seems to have more going on than she realized before. Her gaze meets his, firmly. ]
Will you tell me? If they come back?
[ the best way to prepare for something like this? Is to know when he might fly off the handle. When to throw a snowball, when to give him distance, and when to pull on his arm, even though she'd be burned. When to hold Scizor back, if she ever needed to. ]
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At nearly everything.
He sighs again, and his expression softens a little bit. Not to point of smiles or anything, that ship has sailed with his laughter, but at least he acknowledges where he messed up. Baby steps.]
Yeah...yeah. Sorry. [He frowns, that word still a bit sour tasting on his tongue, sometimes.] Like I said, this island's been one'a my least favorites since I first stepped foot on it...most things've changed, but that don't make it better than what I remember of it... But I'll let y'all know. If I don't, y'got my full permission to sock me right in the face again.
Cooled my head real quick, yeah? Heh.
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But...no, she's here, on a frozen island with a fire giant. It isn't ideal, but...he is here. And despite what he would ever say, she's sure that he hasn't made her into a Trainer-Kebob because he cares about her. The chain around her neck supports that theory, warm against her palm where it had been pressed against her chest. ]
It's...it's okay. I'm not gonna apologize for calling you a fussy fire giant, though. I think that's one of my better nicknames. [ she quirks an impish smile and touches his arm briefly through the protection of his jacket-- not for long. Just a pat. ]
We're gonna get through this. You and me!! [ her eyes light up with determination. Incineroar steps up behind her, growling and pumping his well toned arms victoriously. Luna turns around and offers her hand out to him. ] And you guys, too, of course!!
[ Incineroar proceeds to high-five Luna, and the impact pushes her to the ground...and even though it's cold, and even though she was pretty mad a second ago...she laughs. Incineroar awkwardly reaches out and scoops her up and under his arm while she comes down from her jolly moment.
He did not mean to push her down.
It looks like someone here is also learning exactly how small Luna really is. ]
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Aand then she's giving him the whole shounen speech and Guzma rolls his eyes, dragging his fingers through his hair and quietly lamenting to himself over how it's going to grow out again and he won't be able to cut it. Ugh. Awful. His scalp has never felt more free than it had when he gave it a proper wash and an actual buzz in Havenwell. Those are the amenities one truly misses. That and a fucking toilet, my god.
A-Anyway, Luna is on the ground and Guzma can't help but snicker darkly at her - he has gallows humor, sue him - but she's up in the arms of her massive wrestlecat all over again. Right...right. Got to keep going. Here we go. Hopefully they can make it at least to one edge of the island and follow the shore line. That's their best bet unless they get super dang lucky. It's..going to be hard. Very hard, especially after just ten minutes of walking does Guzma shudder again and there's a brief flash of light and flame as his muscles tense - like lighting a helium filled balloon. The pop, and explosion of gas and flame.]
Shit. ...I need a minute. [He covers his face, his eyes, and bends his knees so he can squat down and just sort of exhale slowly.]
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He stops after a while and crouches, and while she wants to comfort him, she knows he'd resent it. And that's just fine!!! No more pep talk for you, mister. She nods thoughtfully and encourages Incineroar to turn away from him, to give him as much privacy as she can...in this wide open space. Scizor is watching, at least-- she'd know whether or not to turn this Incineroar around. But being up a little higher than normal, she watches the snow blow in over the mana pool and releases a puff of air that turns to steam in the--
...mana pool? ]
Guzma-- hey! [ she wiggles in Incineroar's arms until he lets her down, and she beams ear to ear. ] That's the pool, right?? Right there? [ she's pointing to that pool in all it's glory. The difference in temperature lifts a warm fog from the surface of the liquid. ]
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He just needs a minute to clear his head, and try not to see, hear, or feel Lusamine around him. Ugh...she can't seem to stop haunting him. That, and he can'thelp but always hear the trill of those horrible Nihilego whistling through the blizzard. It makes his skin crawl even more than Lusamine's face does. Hell, she just makes Guzma angry...the Ultra Beasts actually scare him.
He exhales again, trying to center himself like how he does when he meditates with Golisopod, but...Luna, please. He's trying to--wait.]
Wha--? [Standing up suddenly, Scizor falls forward into the snow, yelping as he sweeps Guzma's knees with a long, clawed arm. >8O YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!!] Agh--! Scizor! Stop--kid, what did you say?
[He's detangling himself from the steaming crater he left in the snow, as Guzma stands up and tries to peer in the direction Luna is pointing. Well, he'll be damned.] You....you're either real lucky, brat, or this world hates your boy as much as every other one does.
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[ granted, there is some snow...Incineroar roars and bounds easily through the snow. Luna is left behind, but all be damned if she isn't pushing 120% to get there!! Human speed is not as fast as Incineroar speed!! This was a poor choice in racing!!
Incineroar arrives at the pool and flexes his belt off victoriously!! The clear winner!! Her hands go up in the air as fists to cheer him on, and he graciously and arrogantly accepts her praise!!!! What a champion!!! ]
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[Guzma shakes his head with a long-suffering sigh and trudges along after them with Scizor in tow. Still, there's a brief smirk that tugs the corner of his mouth up a little bit. This brat...what lucky star was she born under to show up here again, in the worst of situations, and find him - who had the literal firepower to keep her warm and safe? How is it that she was able to find the mana pool out of sheer luck, when his strategy didn't even cut it? Honestly...whatever god she sucked up to, he's a bit jealous.
As they approach the mana pool, the air seems to get a little warmer. Not by much, but it's better than the hideous cold they're enduring only seconds ago. Guzma pushes past Incineroar and looks the pool over quickly. Yup, seems to be in tact, and usable. Excellent, they can leave this forsaken island to whatever fate has in store for it. Goodbye and good riddance.]
Y'all remember how to use one'a these? Otherwise you'll need to hold onto m--...my clothes so I can direct us back to Enso. [His, uh...his hand isn't exactly the best thing to hold onto right now, sorry. Hopefully the effects will reverse once they're off of Monsun. It's what Guzma expects, anyway...the changes didn't happen until her got here.]
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You just jump into it, right?
[ and probably other stuff, but she honestly doesn't really remember. She rolls up Guzma's jacket sleeves on her arms and looks heckin' ready to just dive into it. Head first!! Just like all of her best thought out plans!! ]
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[Guzma wades in, and immediately the steam that hisses from the pool is...thick. And dense. Haha, oops. Forgot he's still practically a hot tamale over here. Waving away the steam and smoke, Guzma frowns, putting his hands in to see if anything starts to bubble or boil. If it down...they might have a problem. He'd have to show Luna how to do this first, then follow after her. There's no way he's making her dive into boiling water for the sake of getting back somewhere. He's joked about cooking and eating her like a dragon when he was annoyed at her, or when she did something that grated his nerves, but he never meant like...literally cooking her. Christ.
No bubbles, just a lot of steam. That's good, that means the only change in temperature is probably just his body. Good. There won't be boiled brat-wurst anytime soon.]
Think 'bout where y'all wanna go. The other mana pools around, and the other islands they're each on. We;re going to Enso, so like...have that image in your head - the temple's mana pool. The one with the flowers. Once y'got a clear picture, you submerge, the water kinda...does it's thing.