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

"That's even more boring than the last story!!" He can't be serious, can he?! He has to be joking! Is it possible that he's finally found someone more boring than Choromatsu.

No. That's too grave an insult, even to someone like this.

"Where's the adventure? The romance? Heh, a true craftsman of stories knows to utilize matters of the heart to draw their crowds." Karamatsu nods, almost like he knows precisely what he's talking about.

Adventure? Romance? Well, the romantic aspect is something that is certainly more up Gladio's alley than Ignis', but he's not about to step down without a fight.

"Have you never heard the saying that one should not judge a book by its cover? Lets give these poor frogs a croaking chance, shall we?" A small smirk lifts the corner of his mouth and those who know him... Well, those who know him would already be on high alert considering the terrible pun and the smirk would just confirm the need to brace themselves for the worst of Ignis' odd humor.

"Two small ponds, both alike in clarity,
In fair Risorath, researchers amass,
From ancient text break to new discovery,
Where curious minds do make curious hands crass.
From algae covered depths of these two lakes
A pair of wave-cross'd frogs separated
Misadventure presenting loveless fakes
Render species recovery belated."

~~Eat your heart out, Eos Shakespeare.~~

What...what is this drivel?

Blind to the fact that Ignis is, in fact, blind, Karamatsu stares at him, mouth slightly ajar. His brain might be oozing out of his ears. He could be catatonic, actually- here sits Karamatsu, felled by only the most boring of tales.

"...The prince story was better." Oh, friend. You are...certainly in need of guidance. "We have a long way to go before you are ready for public showing..."

Haha. But of course-

"I will do the best for you that I can."

If Ignis could still roll his eyes, he undoubtedly would despite how rude the gesture is. Since he can't, he merely responds with a soft click of his tongue and a tilting of his head, "I didn't think it was that bad. The members of the Council are usually quite pleased with my reports."

Well, therein probably lies the problem. Giving reports and reviewing minutes for a bunch of cranky nobles who would rather be anywhere but in a meeting at 7am is a far cry from telling an interesting tale. Still, Ignis is nothing if not eager to learn.

"You are willing to teach me?" Ignis. Ignis, no... "If so, would it be rude to request my first lesson now? I have little else to occupy my attention at the moment."

At least, nothing he really wants to focus on. There is dealing with his lost vision, finding a way home, doing something to help Prompto out, but none of that really can be addressed until it is light again. It will be good to have a distraction so that his mind doesn't go into over-analyzing mode.

"That sounds like something my brother wishes he could say." Which just makes it twice as boring. Only Choromatsu could pretend to be inspired by the idea of councils and reports.

It's true then. All work and no play makes Ignis a dull boy-- who just made the ~~worst possible~~ best decision of his life. How could he turn down someone in need? Someone with so much potential...and an equally cool pair of sunglasses?

Yes. This is how true Cool Guys are born. Not from birth, but by his magnanimous influence.

"Heh. No problem. The first and most important lesson to remember... all stories can be improved with one, key ingredient."

"Women."

Put a knife through his skull. Please.

The sunglasses are pretty dang cool, even if they do mostly block the thin eyebrow that Ignis raises in Karamatsu's direction.

"Women?" The word is repeated as if Ignis isn't sure he heard correctly, "I'm afraid my duties have kept me from having a lot of experience with them. How exactly does randomly adding them to a story make it better?"

The people Ignis interacts with on a social level are few and mostly male. As far as females go, there was Iris who was like a little sister to him, so she hardly counted. The next closest person... Well, when he had still been training with Nyx, he ran into Crowe on occasion, but those interactions generally consisted of her attempting to ruffle the 'cute little trainee's hair' as she asked Nyx how his babysitting was going. She didn't mean anything cruel by it; teasing was just in her nature, but it didn't really encourage Ignis to foster a friendship with her as he had with Nyx.

"Can you give me an example? Perhaps, I will understand better then."

"Yes women." He sounds more than a little offended at the question. Ignis... what kind of terrible life have you led, up till this point? Blind in both sight and in heart...

He hasn't met someone this emotionally crippled outside of his brothers. It's almost daunting, but for once, Karamatsu has no intention of giving up. This poor man needs help- and he's just the NEET to provide it!

"Okay. Listen well... to the tale of Tsuru Nyōbō."

Or er... a very heavily edited version of it, at least.

Ignis has plenty of heart, thank you very much. It's just buried beneath many a layer and mask and biased toward his duty of taking care of a certain prince. What time does it have for women?

"It is a sad tale, that much is true. One that plucks at emotions, but would it not be the same if slightly altered to have the crane be male? Would his wife still not be grief-stricken to lose him? Would her worry for his illness not drive her to make the same mistakes as the man in the original tale did?"

Apologies, Karamastu-sensei. This student has never been one to sit back and withhold the questions he has on the lessons he's being given.

"Ah, my pupil, you're missing the entire point!" He slams a fist into the sand for emphasis, leaning in. "Think! A beautiful woman, willing to go to no ends in order to make a man happy... is it not the most heart-wrenching of tales? To lose such devotion, such love..."

It's a pure tragedy.

Ignis shakes his head. It's obvious his teacher feels very passionately about this point, but the advisor cannot bring himself to see it in the same way.

"I must be more blind than I thought," he presses his lips into a thin line making it clear he's thinking hard about this. "Perhaps another example will help. I have served my prince with both devotion and love since the age of six years. I dare say he would think it tragic if he were to lose my guidance and companionship. Are you seriously saying that the tragedy would be even greater if I were female? It seems preposterous. What does gender have to do with how much devotion and love I might be able to give to the one I serve?"

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

!!

:-D

wheezelaughing

:-) Iggy's warped sense of humor brings joy to my cold, dead English Major heart. LOL

1/2 my apologies there's been a lot of mod stuff to do!

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No apologies necessary! You're golden! :-D

Bless you <3

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