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

cw for spiders i guess because EW

[relieable]

[Osomatsu was doing pretty good for himself, running in the sand and all. but then monster spider shot spider goo at him, and he fell face first into the sand. oh, god. this was it! he was going to die here, on an island out in the middle of nowhere.

he yelled for help, clawing at the sand and trying to get away with his arms since his legs were now unusable. he was persistent, at least]

cw: bugs in general?? guzma has problematic favs

[yallstupid]

[He can crawl as much as he wants, but it won't do much in the shifting sands. Besides that, Ariados reaches him in no time, and eventually even the hefty Golisopod will catch up to him, halting any further escape attempts with a loud bellow to hopefully scare him into not moving.

And if that's not scary enough, Guzma will plant his foot down on the man's back, grinning wickedly.]

'Ey, good job, guys, we caught ourselves a fly.

[relieable]

[what the... what was that sound? it was terrible scary! Osomatsu whines pitifully, just as Guzma steps on him. what did he do to deserve this?

he shakily turns his head over his shoulder, staring at the other man and his insect-brigade]

M-M-My wallet is in my pants! I think! Please don't kill me!

[yallstupid]

[The worst crime of all, exist (and also have the same face as his brothers). With a dark sort of cackle, Guzma crackles his knuckles. Oh, how he's longed to bash this asshole's face in. Both of them would have been ideal, and he half hoped throwing them at that weirdo with the Grimer would have killed them, but this is all well and good.]

That right? Never been paid to crush someone 'fore, but dang do I appreciate your genor--...yo, hold up. [Guzma removed his foot from Osomatsu's back, then nudges him over with his foot to get a better look, sinking into a squat to really peer down at him from a better vantage point.] You ain't one'a the two jokers I seen earlier. Dang ,how many of you chumps are there?!

[Yes, Guzma can tell the difference between the Matsu brothers. I mean, of course he can - all his grunts looked exactly alike, and he still knew them all individually by name (real name).]

[relieable]

[Osomatsu is turned over, so now he can look at his attacker in the face. suddenly, it's all becoming quite clear. this man was attacking him because he'd run into his brothers.

boy, if Osomatsu had a nickel for every time that happened...]

S-six! [he sputters, then scrambles to sit up] There's six of us! I've honestly never met you before! Promise!

[yallstupid]

Six?!

[Holy cow, their poor mother. Sighing loudly, because he knows he made a mistake, Guzma waves Ariados over to remove her webs and rubs a hand through his hair. Six of these assholes, fantastic. I mean, he can tell the ripe asshole apart from the others - there's an aura about him that just spells trash, but that other one...yikes. Just.

]

Yeah, I know you haven't, your face is different. ...Lil bit, anyway. Hold still, else she gonna bite you, and them legs'll swell up something fierce.

[Ariados is approaching, gashing her fangs at the webs and chewing it right up. She'll digest and reuse it later, but Guza isn't joking, those fangs of hers hold a very potent venom, and Ariados is a little, uh...enthusiastic about meal-time.]

[relieable]

[he's staying as still as he possibly can! there's no way Osomatsu wants to deal with a poisoned leg... or legs. and, yeah. staring at that spider, but he tears his eyes away from her to look at the man]

So... uh... Which of my brothers did you run into? If you can't remember their names, you can just describe them.

[yallstupid]

Sunglasses and perpetually ill. Which is what he makes me, too.

[Guzm grumbles under his breath, but at this close distance, Osomatsu may catch that even still. Ariados finishes up cleaning away the webbing, and she clicks her fangs proudly, scuttling over to Guzma for the praise she knows is coming. As if on cue, he rubs a hand on her immense backside, palming the space between her two back stingers.]

That's my girl... You did a good job, didn't you? Go chill out a while - Goli, you too. [Golisopod eyes Osomatsu for a moment, then does as he's told and lumbers away after Ariados to find some shade to relax in.]

[relieable]

Karamatsu. [Osomatsu says after hearing the word sunglasses] Well, it's no wonder you wanted to kill me on sight! [he laughs, as though this was normal for him. all a big misunderstanding!] Karamatsu's super painful, sometimes you just wanna punch his face in.

[yallstupid]

[Karamatsu...which one was that? I mean, the sunglasses wearing one was insufferable and annoying as hell, yeah, but that other one--oh wow. Never before has Guzma felt the urge, the need, the actually slam someone's face repeatedly against a sharp rock. Guzma doesn't like to dirty his hands like that - he's a bad guy, not a villain - but some exceptions have to be made.]

Dunno which that is, never got names, but y'all better be ready to throw your bro a funeral, 'cuz if I ever see 'im again, I'm gonna step on his dang throat and feed him to Ariados. ...So, pal</>. [Guzma claps a hand on Osomatsu's shoulder, leaning in with a hideous, sinister smile.] This stays between you'n me, yeah?

[relieable]

[oh. names. so Guzma had been describing more than one. well, that was a bit comforting, to know that he had several brothers here with him!

he looks at the hand on his shoulder, and the scary smile this man is wearing, and gulps]

S-sure... pal. My lips are sealed!