aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

Test Drive Meme #1

Hello, and welcome to our very first test drive! 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 July 17th and that Applications will open on July 24th, in preparation for the game’s official opening on August 3rd!

But first, two important notes!

1. The island of Mu 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.

Shipwrecked
The white sand of the beach ridges the island’s edge, even if the clear water soon becomes murky the further out you look across the horizon until the turquoise gleam of the tide disappears in a coil of surrounding fog. Indeed, your best prospects may very well be to strike out among the trees or the crags looming out over the foam-capped waves. There’s lumber to be found and made from the palm-like trees, potentially fruit or edible tubers of some kind if you forage about some. The further you travel, however, the more of your surroundings will reveal themselves in a steady unspooling of curiosities.

One corner of Mu’s current construct drops away into a sheer cliff, initially too dangerous to brave for all but the more daredevilish, but if one starts to scan the sharp rocks below, you might catch sight of what appears to be sodden planks of wood - a wreckage tossed up against the rocks. And a little further...a bobbing, shattered wreck of a lifeboat’s remains, potentially bearing supplies that might yet be salvageable.

Fashion what you can from the wood and stone around you or scavenge from the ruin of the land, if you like. But you can’t simply stand around and wait forever. It’s going to get dark sometime - and if a creature of unknown terror doesn’t catch you, the elements surely will.

Storytime

There’s a sense of camaraderie in this cove, you think. As the sun hangs low over the horizon, the world cast into orange hues, long shadows dispersed by roaring fires that dot across the beach.

That’s right, folks: it’s storytime.

There’s no one to preside over this meeting of the minds in Mu. Call it a vague recreation of things to come, if you like, some vaguely fatidic dreamlike state where you may find yourself drawn to the heat and company that awaits you by the fire. And from there, compelled to default to that old instinct that most of intelligent civilization has revered since they were advanced enough to paint geometric shapes on cave walls.

You tell a story.

Perhaps it’s a tragedy, a tale of woe and of personal loss. Perhaps it’s the sort of thing you’d break out after a few rounds of your alcoholic beverage of choice, clapping hands to your knees as you try to bite back your mirth long enough to spill the punchline. Perhaps it’s an adventure of some sort, some unbelievable rendition of your past exploits. The only common thread to be had, as those gathered around the fire share their tales, is the fundamental rule of a ritualistic sharing of stories such as this: its truth.

But how one chooses to define "truth" is, in its own way, another story entirely...

Dance, Sucker, Dance!
The beat of your heart in your chest is difficult to ignore. It judders with a pulsing, rhythmic quality. If you’re one of those that lacks a heart, the beat is still omnipresent and all-encompassing, until your entire body is unwittingly bobbing in time to a metronomic tune that seems ingrained into your very soul. It’s inescapable. You can’t seem to move unless it’s in time to the rhythm that’s now singing in every atom of your being.

But rest assured, you’re not alone in this musical curse. Everything, from the swaying trees to the waves against the beach, jumps in time to the music. And so do the monsters approaching you, that - wait a minute.

Monsters?

Oh, yes. Did we mention those?

It seems you’ve encountered the wrath of the Boogieman, who curses you to only dance to his infernal beat. If you wish to best him, you’ll have to either evade or destroy the blobs of greenish slime that serve as his minions, all in time to the hard beat of the tune in your head. Clear the radius of his curse or risk an open confrontation, if you dare. Don’t worry if you look foolish; chances are anyone else caught in the Boogieman’s thrall feels just the same.

Mu isn’t pulling any punches to start with. It is a flighty creation, after all, and seems to revel in displacing people into new and uncomfortable situations.

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Chara listens intently, as always. And as always...

The result of this story does not surprise them. That a monster would look towards the kindness of some, to avoid the simple truth of the matter.]

I see. If the man had simply provided what was offered, then she would not have died.

Her life was lost to a human's selfishness.

[Of course tiny Muffet's bedtime story had a moral of 'you should give your stuff to spiders whenever they ask for it'. Somebody in her childhood clearly has a lot of expensive bake sales to answer for.]

Perhaps, yes. But I do feel bound to point out that the spider had lived by the village for years, without ever noticing how much they suffered until someone brought it to her attention in a way she couldn't ignore.

We isolate ourselves to our own cost, I think.

She had no reason to suspect others lived contrary to herself in an environment that provided nothing but benefit to her person.

[Arguing for spiders, with spiders. They don't look even remotely convinced by her rationale.]

It was not her responsibility to forsake her own well-being to those who had never assisted her in kind.

Not her responsibility, no- but it was her choice to make, once she knew. She could have walked away, knowing that she could help, and none would have been the wiser.

But she would have always known...

Instead, she left her children at the MERCY of the humans that failed her. Is that truly fair?

All else aside, they should have had each other- spider monster children hatch in batches, a cluster of eggs feeding off the magic woven into the silk sac. More or less of them may survive, depending, but it's very rare for a spider monster to grow up without a collection of siblings around them.

Though... not entirely unheard of.

[She seems to hesitate a fraction of a second too long. Was there just a brief flicker of old pain across her face, for a moment? It's gone to soon to tell. She continues speaking, as though nothing happened.]

But yes. The world's mercy is unreliable at best, but it does occasionally come through. In her children's case, it did, though she couldn't have known it would.

[Touched upon something they shouldn't have, did they? Chara makes no note of it, aside from a slight narrowing of their eyes.

Life isn't fair. Everyone has their own story.]

I would suggest that her intentions, whilst good, had the potential to lead to more tragedy than simply leaving things as they were.

Perhaps they would have, perhaps not. The point is that she had no way of knowing- so either way, she made what she felt was the best choice she could with the information she had available.

It's easier for us, sitting by the fire and hearing a story, to decide. Harder, I suspect, to make decisions in the heat of the moment.

[...Ha ha.]

I would say so, yes.

I must congratulate you on such an interesting story. You must be proud to have such a tale as part of your heritage.

It's an odd little tangle of a culture- but I am proud of it, nevertheless.

My thanks to you for being a thoughtful audience, dearie. Feel free to come back to listen again- or to speak, yourself- any time you like.

[Muffet has the sneaking suspicion that there was a lot more depth to this conversation from their side than hers, in ways she can't quite see. But there's no delicate way to ask, so she falls back on genuine honesty- she really did enjoy their company, brief awkward moments aside.]

[Perhaps they'll see each other again.]

[She's given them much to think about. Or rather, she would have given them much to think about, were there any reason to consider it at all.

Still, all good things must come to an end. When they stand, Chara bows to her. It seems only proper to show respect to someone who has given them one, final piece of their own heritage to treasure, be it real or simply a hidden wish in their mind.]

I shall keep your words in mind, ma'am. Until we meet again.

[Muffet inclines her head in return, giving respect for respect.]

Go well, dearie. I look forward to seeing you again.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

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Wrapped <3