aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 004 )

Test Drive Meme #4

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.

Remember that Reserves will open on October 17th and that Applications will open on October 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.

Gone Apeshit
The peaceful island upon which you've found yourself is pleasant enough, isn't it? Clear turquoise waters, white sand, verdant copses of trees...it might be a little on the humid side, sure, but what's not to love?

The answer will come in the form of some decidedly simian ululations and howls that will inevitably start echoing through the trees, paired with the occasional loud, firework-like bang of some weapon being fired. The beach itself is safe, or as safe as beaches can possibly be, but setting foot into the jungle proper will prompt immediate, firepower-based retaliation from the group of monkeys that have elected to live there.

That's right: monkeys. Monkeys wielding rudimentary technology, no less, the most prominent example of such being the cannon-like, primitive firearms that shoot coconuts at interlopers. While their precision is not excellent, a direct or indirect hit can cause incredibly serious injury. Sure, you could opt to stay on the sidelines...but without any resources on hand, your only remaining solution is to either risk starvation or exposure, or to confront the gun-toting monkeys directly.

A pity Jumpman isn't here, huh?

Motherclucker
Congratulations! After who knows however long you might have spent exploring this strange new land - be it hours or eons or days or mere minutes - you've finally stumbled across some resources that may be viable! You've encountered a flock of bludroc, their nests brimming with speckled eggs that would surely taste delicious sucked raw or fried on a stone.

Unfortunately, this is a rather vast flock of the creatures, and they do not part with their offspring easily. While they lend themselves easily to domestication, these bludroc are quite wild, and quite unwilling to be beset upon by complete strangers. So if you encroach upon their territory, beware...for you may find yourself set upon by an abundance of pecking, flapping, screeching, colorful creatures.

Tick Tock
Mu's world is a curious one, no doubt. Its creatures often bear a strange resemblance to those in the world of LifeAftr proper, but some fauna can be found on no other landscape, in no other context, besides the dreamlike dips and peaks that only Mu can emulate.

One of those creatures is the clockroach.

Today, they seem strangely intent on flocking around those who have crossed into the lands of Mu for the first time; the uninitiated of LifeAftr. Their shapes are indistinct, to start with, but the click-whisper of rustling, mothlike wings almost sounds like your name, being uttered over and over...and over...and over...

They have a curious look to start with, make no mistake. But the longer you look, the more those forms start to solidify into a shadow to mirror your own, devoid of color or feature, but unmistakably resembling your general shape. While their edges are softly blurred and out of focus, their forms rapidly begin to solidify the more you interact with them. Speaking to them, touching them, even acknowledging them by looking their way, failing to ignore them utterly, will gradually start to bring them into greater clarity and focus. They do not speak. They merely follow - a shadow of your very own, unattached and allowed sentience.

Once they're solid enough to touch, you'll begin to hear a sound. A low, repetitive tick-tick of a timepiece, moving ever closer to some unseen deadline with terrifying regularity. It starts quietly, at first, but begins to grow louder, louder, until it drowns out all else.

The apparition may soothe and speak all it likes, but the artificial dread worming in your heart refuses to be shucked away. Everything else is a shadow hostile, a creature mistrusted. The fog is a tripwire that will surely trap you; that person approaching from over that hill? Doubtless here to kill you, and see that your invisible clock winds to an end.

But that dark storm boiling in the shadow behind you? Surely that has nothing to do with it...

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

there's not even a hamster or panflutes to save me from this mess

The thirteen-year old boy huffed out a sigh as he adjusted the cap on his head. It was just that kind of luck he went through - one day he was in an area full of snow, the next day - whoops, sorry Eric, looks like you've just woken up on a beach in your crappy jacket and pants and no one around, because, you know, that's something you totally wanna deal with. Not that he wasn't used to random bullshit being an issue, but usually someone else would've been around by this point.

Not this time, apparently. No sign of anyone anywhere, and he'd been waiting about a good hour. He was getting antsy, honestly, and he'd already taken his coat off, holding it close to him. Hmph. Logically, he could've taken his cap off as well - but possibly risk it being taken? Hahaha. Fuck no. The cap was staying with him.

But his impatience was getting the better of him, and for that, he began wandering into the jungle. It didn't feel like anything he did here would have consequence - something would happen, and hell, maybe he'd wake up at home, eat a full box of Cheesy Poofs to recover from whatever random crap was no doubt going to happen now, and tell the rest of the guys about it later.

That was about when he heard the sound of what he could only imagine were some seriously pissed-off gorillas from up ahead, and he froze in his path. Well. He wasn't alone, at least...

birds are stupid anyway

Eric Cartman would be the first to admit that he wasn't particularly good in physical education. Not in the least. He was the slowest in the class constantly, he was pathetic when it came to most sports - he actively dreaded baseball season most years because he knew hat everyone's parents were going to push them into baseball, and his mom would no doubt keep encouraging him to do it - "Eric, all your little friends are joining, why don't you?" And finally he'd break and he'd be in for another boring season.

The reason why this was mentioned was that he was currently running from a group of angry birds. Well. 'Running.' They were gaining on him pretty fast, made worse by the fact that he was holding his jacket over one arm and huffing as he--oh, SHIT.

He tripped over an exposed root of a tree on the ground, and....splat. Fell right on his face, and the two eggs he was carrying in his arms....cracked. "Oh, GODDAMMIT!"

And then the birds replied with a squawk. A still very furious squawk. Oh. Right.

Well, this wasn't going to be fun.

bug spray isn't going to help this, is it

Bugs. Bugs were pretty annoying, but they could still be swatted. Not like he was going to bother with that now, though. That was really more or less 'when they piss me off too much, it'll happen, it's a matter of time'. But that last word was something his mind latched onto. Time. Passage of time. Why? It wasn't like his cellphone was a thing to check time. No, that was probably back at home. And he didn't have a watch, either.

....Were those bugs speaking to him?

Eric, Eric, Eric, Eric...

The boy froze, gave the bugs a questioning look, and then frowned. "Okay, knock off the creepy bullshit, whoever is doing this. It's not funny, dude, I'm seriously. Who're you trying to kid--" And his breath caught in his throat.

The only thing that crossed his mind was a creeping sense of paranoia and the ever-present tick-tick-tick-tick....

As luck would have it, Cartman, you're not alone. Uta doesn't want to get hit by a coconut - blunt force trauma, while recoverable from, hurts like a bitch - but he does want to get around, which means he's prowling through the jungle.

He spots the kid, and pauses for a second. Doesn't seem like the place to find children in winter gear, but this is not a normal island, it'd seem. "You real?" His voice is flat as he comes out of the brush.

Eric's eyes slowly slid over to the other person. That a guy? ....Girl? Uh, none of the above? He half-felt like if he didn't include that last option his school principal would come out of nowhere and sock him in the jaw, but that was another story entirely. What he had to focus on currently socking him possibly in the jaw was monkeys. Angry, jungle-dwelling monkeys.

The person asked if he was real, and he shrugged. "Uh. About as real as you, dude. So I'd assume the answer is yes." He responds quietly, stepping back. Of course, this could be like that Imaginationland crap where that was a valid question to ask, but...let's not focus on it too much. This feels fairly unreal anyway. "I'm real. I think. And really confused."

Edited 2017-10-27 23:23 (UTC)

The sight and sound of a group of birds chasing after a kid was certainly something. For one that sure is a group of birds separated from the giant flock of them he saw earlier. And two, they've been drawn away from their nests and into the jungle where it's easier to get the drop on them. Perfect!

What follows is a loud howl as Keaton rushes in. The birds squawk, feathers fly and perhaps most importantly none of them feel like going for Cartman. Not when there's a hungry wolfskin in the middle of them all.

"Oh yeah, come to papa Keaton!" It might be hard to see with all the feathers and bludrocs flapping around, but Keaton is definitely holding two limp looking birds in one of his hands.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 004 )

Eric Cartman | South Park

YOU DON'T HAVE ANY TAGS SO. Sorry for the terrible. Also, Monkeys.

HAHAHA, ye, I didn't expect many people to want to interact with this one. Missed this muse tho.

birds are stupid but also delicious