TEST DRIVE MEME ( 001 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

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 )

Comments

[ichininyaanshi]

Yeah, somewhere.

[Finally. Tugging his hoodie back into place where it had flopped over his shoulder, Ichimatsu trudges over to the abandoned jar lying askew in the sand. Good, looks like it didn't break on impact with that Osomatsu's skull... he stomps back over and shoves it roughly into his brother's chest, pine tree marking the spot.]

Dunno where.

[relieable]

[Osomatsu takes the jar that is so roughly pushed into his chest. well, might as well dig in. he wishes he had some bread to put this on. or a spoon? guess he's eating with his hand]

Wonder how we got here.

[ichininyaanshi]

[Ichimatsu's only got one utensil available, but he actually likes Osomatsu enough not to pull a knife on him. Eh... look at him, he's doing fine. Ichimatsu shoves his hands deep into his pockets, not before using one to pull the mask back up over his nose. Sullenly, he glares out towards the jewel-bright sea horizon.]

I figured you guys sold me to pirates or something until I ran into Shittymatsu.

[.... actually... that should have just reinforced his theory. And now with Osomatsu-niisan here, it's alive and stronger than ever. Now who would be capable of something like that?]

[....]

... Todomatsu.

[relieable]

[just shoveling jelly into his mouth hungrily. yeah, he was starving! who knew that orange preserves were so good?!]

Mmm? [looks up from his jar, his mouth and the surrounding area covered in jelly. what are you, Osomatsu, an animal?]

...You think Todomatsu did this?

[ichininyaanshi]

Do you know any other dry monsters who would sell us out?

[Well, Iyami would. He definitely would. But Ichimatsu has his betrayal angle set up and he's gonna run with it until Todomatsu pops out of the bushes wailing about sand in his smartphone.]

[relieable]

[HMMMMM, he sucks on his fingers, then wipes his mouth with his arm]

...Yeah, I guess I could see Totty sellin' us to pirates. You think he got money? If he did, I'm gonna be pissed!

1/2

[ichininyaanshi]

[Ichimatsu's face darkens, and he turns to his brother with a slow, deliberate look.]

Niisan... you need to get your priorities in order.

[ichininyaanshi]

...

There aren't any cats here at all...

[relieable]

Oi! What the hell are your priorities?

[money is more important than cats fight him.

...actually don't. Ichimatsu's into some weird shit]

[ichininyaanshi]

[Ichimatsu doesn't reply. He just holds Osomatsu's gaze, pulling his mask down once again with one finger while the other draws from his hoodie pocket a... strip of jerky, salted and dry, peppered with a savory smell of dark-colored spices.]

[Hey onii-chan, did you have fun eating like a caveman?]

[Because he's shoving this entire strip into his own mouth and chewing like a rabid animal.]

[relieable]

[wh... what the hell was that for? why wouldn't you share that with 'niichan?!

Osomatsu just stares for a moment.

then goes back to eating his jelly without another word]

[ichininyaanshi]

So it's settled.

[Ichimatsu goes ahead and talks right around that mouthful, and judging by the way he's rummaging in his pocket, he probably has more.]

We'll find the cats, then get out of here.

[Ichimatsu aren't you... forgetting... someone.]

[relieable]

[Osomatsu didn't. agree to that at all. but you know what? it's fine. as long as they get out of here]

Sounds good to me! I'm ready for a beer.

[who are they forgetting...?]

/RUDELY BARGES IN HERE

[50shadesofburaza]

[HE CAME HERE TO HAVE A GOOD TIME AND HE'S HONESTLY feeling like he's home.

:|

Not that it's going to stop him, at all, but certainly somewhere deep, deep beneath that smiling interior, something twists. That's all it takes, huh? One additional family member.]

Aa, Chibita might have some sake on sale.

[Even if it sometimes tastes like stale piss. The perfect drink for brothers on a budget.

Plus, unlike some people, he didn't get food lovingly tossed at his head.]

[ichininyaanshi]

[Ah, there you are -- dear, missing brother, why didn't you just say you wanted food lovingly tossed at your head?]


[Here you go.]





[Except it's not food it's a fucking rock.]

Do you see Chibita anywhere around here, Shittymatsu?!

[Incidentally he's aiming for the sunglasses, but in all honesty he's probably going to miss his brother completely.]

[relieable]

[oh! it's Karamatsu! Osomatsu just watches, sucking the jelly off his fingers]

Maybe Todomatsu sold him to pirates, too. Maybe he has his oden cart! [he's dumb]

[50shadesofburaza]

[Heh. It's going to take more than a rock to defeat him, buraza. Karamatsu steps to the side grandly-

right into the path of the fucking rock. And down he goes. The glasses, unfortunately, stay in tact. Love... it hurts, does it not? That is how one comes to appreciate it most.

Besides, there's something more important to discuss.]

Todomatsu sold us to pirates?

[...That makes far too much sense.]

Who do you think was worth the most... was it a package deal?

[Aka; how much money do you think the devil made, selling off their souls?]

[ichininyaanshi]

[Karamatsu, how.]

[Well, it puts him in a better mood, in any case. Ichimatsu draws out an entire handful of jerky and holds it out between the three of them, letting his brothers help themselves to his haul. Though if they say anything about it, he's licking all of it and putting it back.]

Obviously he scammed them. Why do you think they stranded us here? Pirates don't want trash.

[aka us.]

[relieable]

[oh boy! jerky! Osomatsu will just take a couple of those, thanks]

I bet I was worth the most. I'm the cutest.

[50shadesofburaza]

[Two of those pieces disappear in a blur. He's not making the mistake of being too slow on an offer that was only for Osomatsu.]

No way! Perhaps they were on their way to sell me to the highest bidder... an international slave star. That was before the terrible storm, of course.

[ichininyaanshi]

[Yeah, yeah... eat up, you shitty NEET older brothers. He doesn't mind this time. It's not like three of them are harder to share between than six. Ichimatsu scowls, first at the eldest and then at the second-born.]

But we all have the same face...

[what fucking storm?????]

[relieable]

[there was a storm too?]

Whatever the case, what we need to do now is simple... We gotta find a way off this island. I think we need to gather as many rocks and debris as we can, and start writing stuff in the sand big enough so people can read it from the sky.

[50shadesofburaza]

[Of course there was a storm! All the best island adventures start with a storm.]

Ah, good plan.

...Ichimatsu. Go collect some rocks.

[Youngest does the labor, elders get to slack off.

I mean

Supervise.]

[ichininyaanshi]

[Wait, what? Why does he have to collect the rocks? Oh, he gets it... since Todomatsu and Jyushimatsu aren't around, he's next on the chopping block. A day in the life of the unlucky fourth. Well, if that's how it has to be, Karamatsu...]

[You should've said so earlier.]

Ehh? You want more rocks, Niisan? Sure.

[He produces one the size of his foot seemingly from nowhere.]

[relieable]

[hey. hey. no throwing rocks at Karamatsu's head. not when we need them.

if there are any left over after, Ichimatsu can knock himself out.

for now, Osomatsu steps in between them, casually blocking Karamatsu]

We'll all collect rocks! Hey, how about this. The guy who collects the most rocks will get something really special!