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

[Muffet gives a delighted little laugh, one hand held primly in front of her mouth. He's a bit melodramatic, but she can appreciate a good compliment.]

Ah, what a charming response. But surely one cannot live off charm alone, yes? Properly nourishing food is very important- I admit, I don't often cook with coconut, but it's always been quite pleasant when I did.

You cook?

[Love of Cooking >>>>> Bug Hate

It shouldn't have been possible for Sanji to look any more starstruck, and yet he still manages it, leaping excitedly atop the tall palm.]

Of course! I knew it the moment I laid these unworthy eyes upon you! You're a lady of many great talents! Not all of these big boys are ready for eating, but I've found one that's aged perfectly so far, and I'm looking for more.

Well, mostly I bake- I make my living selling pastries- but I've found it's always wise to broaden one's skillset, so I've tried to learn about other kinds of cooking here and there, instead of only sticking to my specialty.

[Muffet looks genuinely excited about the coconuts, although she is at least trying to be calm and dignified about it- she has a proper reputation to maintain, after all.]

I do know a lovely recipe for coconut cookies, although I'm open to other ideas, if you have any.

A patissier! There's nothing more fitting than a sweetie making sweets! We'll have to swap recipes!

[While Muffet attempts to retain her dignity, Sanji giddily proves he has none of his own. She makes coconut cookies. He wants to eat her coconut cookies. He wants to eat them so badly! Cookies sprinkled with the deepest of affections~~~!]

You must let me watch you at work! Afterward, I'll find a way to make muffins too!

[Well, she's got a lot of affection for baking, anyway. But he does seem like a nice person, and she genuinely likes the idea of learning more about whatever interesting recipes he might know.]

And yet, you're the one offering sweet words~

I do always love seeing new techniques, one can learn so much from working with a colleague.

Although, speaking of unexpected new things- I don't suppose you've any idea how either of us got here? I certainly wasn't expecting to be on an island today, and I still haven't been able to figure out how I arrived so suddenly.

[Sanji has always been an expert at seeing affection where there is none. Poor Muffet is likely to never escape his delusions again. All because of some coconut cookies.

With a loud warning whistle, Sanji pushes one of the especially large double coconuts toppling to the beach. The impact sends sand flying, but Sanji is at least aware enough to ensure it flies away from Muffet.]

I may be used to strange islands, but I usually get there by ship. [He chuckles lightly.] This is just as new to me as it is to everyone else, I'd guess. I've sure as hell never heard of a devil's fruit like it, and the last time I was hit by gas, I remembered enough to realize why I'd passed out.

[Well, as long as he's still complimenting her, she won't complain. Muffet examines the coconut happily, and replies:]

Yes, the whole situation seems very strange. I wasn't even particularly near the ocean before this- we live in the mountains, back where I come from.

I do know someone who has some kind of ability to just... appear out of nowhere, without having to walk from one place to another, but I don't remember seeing him around before this, and I don't think he could go quite this far.

Perhaps someone else has a similar but more powerful version of that technique...

"The power to plop a whole bunch of strangers onto an uninhabited island at once" doesn't sound like it'd be all that useful in any situation.

[Sanji snorts at the very thought. He knows better than to underestimate any ability, no matter how useless it sounds, but that doesn't mean he's not going to laugh at it first. He smiles wide.]

But since it's allowed me to meet a marvelous patissier from the mountains, I'll have to thank the guy responsible before I boil him like a potato.

Well, if nothing else it might imply the ability to send us all back home without too much effort... but somehow, I doubt it's going to be that simple.

[She smiles, and replies in kind:]

I have been enjoying the lovely view, and I keep meeting such charming new people here- really, the problem is just that we were pulled away without asking first.

They ought to have had the sense to send an invitation, instead of being so incredibly rude. It might have led to a marvelous tourist industry, if they'd been smart enough to try it.

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

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