TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

[lifeaftr_mods]

Test Drive Meme #5

Hello, and welcome to LifeAftr! 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 November 17th and that Applications will open on November 24th!

Two important notes:

1. LifeAFtr's test drives take place on the island of Mu, which 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, largely in the form of test drive reward items.

All That Glitters
The caves deep beneath the island's surface are not dimly lit; in fact, they practically sparkle with a strange, unearthly greenish light. Blame it on the crystalline growths that protrude plentifully from every nook and cranny, stalactites and stalagmites alike.

Their glow might be soothing to some, and viscerally terrifying to others, but one thing remains absolutely certain: based on the creaking, groaning noises of shifting rock and the high-pitched tinkle of breaking shards of crystal...

You aren't alone down here. The deeper in you venture, the more the thicker clusters of the things begin to move. And eventually, it will become plain to you that it isn't the crystal at all that's moving, but rather the thing inside of it - something vaguely humanoid shaped, bipedal, with arms and legs and the dull, pale glimmers in the region of what might almost pass for a face.

Formed entirely from crystal.

Upon spotting a living creature, each of them will begin to lurch closer and closer, arms outstretched. Every one is slow and cumbersome and even fragile enough to be smashed, if you dare venture close enough. But once they've trapped you, there is no escaping whatever fate they have in store for you.

And rest assured, it is not a pleasant one.

[The above prompt is a version of our Crystal Clear event from October! Feel free to give the event write-up a read for more information.]

It's High Tide
When you initially wake on the beaches of this strange island with its bleeding, dreamlike edges, you might notice that something seems deeply amiss...something like the fact that you're lying in a whole mess of seawater. Assuming you're not thoroughly soaked already, you'd better figure out a way to get to high ground, because the water level is rising very rapidly. Pretty soon, there might not be anywhere safe to go besides the trees, and even those might not be safe the longer this goes on.

Fortunately for you, if you can find them quickly enough, the island of Mu has helpfully provided some assistance for those who don't feel like doggy-paddling for the duration of the dream. Better hurry and hang onto them before you drown! Unless you'd rather doggy-paddle the whole way out, that is. In which case, we're sure the water feels great.

A Crappy Endeavor
In your travels on this strange new land, you might start to notice something following you. Something...oddly shaped, like a lot of dirt and clay that's consolidated into one great awkward moving lump of a creature. What lies beneath is far more like the common beetle...just much, much larger. And unfortunately for everyone involved, they have a very specific appetite:

Your poop.

Mu has produced a very close approximation of the creatures known as f'rshaymes, animals that go beyond merely being useful for disposing of all that nasty waste. Doiing so comes with significant benefits, as the combined process of mud and excrement as it goes through a F'rshayme's digestive system leaves behind pure clay for the...brave.

Often found in small herds of six to eight individuals, f'rshaymes are extremely docile and would be very easy to turn into a herd of your very own. How nice!

---

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[daydreamy]

[ ... that's a troubling pause. Kyouko sits up properly, popping up from the floor of her swanmobile with a furrowed brow. ]

Well, if you can transform that's... good, right?

[ She says it hesitantly -- it's clear something's bugging Yuka but she's not entirely sure what it might be and it seems a little rude to just take a stab in the dark. ]

[shineinside]

...I met and introduced myself to more people while I was transformed.

[ Nothing dangerous, at least. ]

[daydreamy]

Oh!

[ ... and then the penny drops. ]

... oooohhh. Um. You think any of them are gonna be-- like, weird about it? 'cause I'm just saying right now, if anyone's weird about it, I'm gonna punch them right in the nose. Maybe more than once.

[ depicted in this tag: a heroine. ]

[shineinside]

Please don't punch anyone... [ She'd honestly rather someone be weird about it than there be a whole scene. ]

I mean, they'll have to find out eventually, so I'll just deal with it when it happens. I'll be all right, as long as you're there for me.

[daydreamy]

Right! I'm not going anywhere.

[ She pushes herself up onto her knees so she can reach out from her little floatie and offer Yuka her hand to take. ]

All we've gotta do is stick together and it'll all work itself out, somehow. Probably. And if it doesn't, then we'll work it out together! Easy.

[shineinside]

[ Yuka smiles, takes Kyouko's hand, and squeeze lightly. ]

We've always made things work in the end, haven't we? This shouldn't be any different. [ You know, even that one time that one of them betrayed the other and tried to ruin everything. For example. ]

[gathersnomoss]

Well enough. I take it sorcery isn't that common where you come from?

[gathersnomoss]

Once we get away from the crystals, I'll need to cast a light spell.

[so, not really, no]

[journalname]

Ah. Will fire do?

[He summons a couple of fire bullets to hover in the air around his own body. His vision isn't terrible in the dark, but he doesn't want to alarm this new person by shooting fire near him.]

[gathersnomoss]

Fine's fine.

You're a sorcerer as well?

[that is also useful to know. Even if this guy is inconveniently nice, he's competent.]

[rainofterror]

[Oh, holy shit. Golisopods don't live anywhere near Hoenn, but Archie still knows one when he sees it. His smile turns easier, and he leans over to pat Sharpedo's side companionably.] What, and ditch my buddy? Not on your life! 'Sides, I ain't been through Alola in years.

[journalname]

I am a monster! My people are naturally magical.

[He'd offer a hand, but they're both moving a little too fast for that to be practical, so instead he just turns with a smile.]

My name is Asgore.

[gathersnomoss]

[Monster was a broad word; it could encompass anything from 'thing that scared the pants off some peasant farmer' to 'mazoku' (who probably wouldn't identify themselves unless they wanted to murder the witnesses). Play it as 'non-human with innate magical abilities'.]

Zelgadis. And I am a sorcerer.

[journalname]

It is nice to meet you, Zelgadis!

[gosh, are they going anywhere...]

We are headed farther down, I believe.

[shineinside]

I've met exactly three other people who can use magic, and none of it is quite that flashy.

[Bow.] I couldn't introduce myself earlier... I'm Yuka Ichijou.

[yallstupid]

[Holy shit, this guy is from his world! Guzma beams, happy to see another trainer after what's been actual months now, and he laughs, patting Golisopod on the head to approach a bit. The huge insect gurgles, a few bubbles spewing from his mouth as he wades towards Sharpedo, wriggling his antennae at the big shark.]

'Fraid we ain't in Alola neither, homie - not any island I know, anyway... But y'all want ground to stand on, there's a mountain what maybe a few miles out. [He indicates the peak jutting out from the the wooded jungle of the island.] And a few islets what most of us live on. Them places are safe, ain't no flooding just yet, but there's crowding like y'all don't even know...considering the mainland's sinking.

Take your pick, dog, and I'll lead y'there.

[mamaterasu]

[...Yeah, okay, she really needs to rescue this big guy. Ammy sighs, shaking her head, then hurries over the water via a few more lily pads she creates - like a path of stepping stones - and goes on a little journey herself. It may take perhaps a half hour or so to find a good tree that'd support the huge guy, but eventually the sound of a tree being felled (yes, it does make a sound) and slamming into the water will permeate the area. Cracks and snaps of other trees being broken by its fallen path will follow, and...give it a bit more time--

There she is! Ammy tugs an impressive log after her with her teeth, having kept a portion of one branch in tact for that reason. It's difficult to direct the huge log, but she manages a bit, slowly... Only once the big log floats toward where Asgore has, uh...nested, does Amaterasu bark at him to jump down and take hold of it. It's the most bizarre pool noodle ever, but it floats better than the ridiculous 'swan' thing.

Sturdier, too.]

[lapapesse]

[Doubt.jpg]

We'll need to find out eventually. If we are, even better.

[Makoto does look back over toward Akira, though, and frowns.] Sand doesn't naturally absorb water like rice does, but maybe giving it some time to dry in the air will help.

[journalname]

That is very nice magic!

[He calls after her as she hops away on the lilypads. How useful!

Not so much for someone of his size, of course, which is why he'll still be right here when she eventually comes back.]

Oh, golly. Where did you get that? [Asgore doesn't wait for an answer, wasting no time in carefully getting himself back into the water - ugh, wet boss monster - and clinging to the log. A better prospect than the tree, all things considered.] Thank you very much! I am afraid the floating rafts were a little...small, for me.

[covertizer]

[ respect your leader...! ]

If we come across anyone else, maybe they'll have more of a idea.

[ because, y'know. they're still here on these floaties. in the middle of the ocean with no one else around. can't really info gather like this. ]

Maybe there's a phone shop somewhere. That'd be convenient.

Claire "Lightning" Farron | Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns

[soulsflight]

All That Glitters

(Like she is going to go down without a fight. All she has is a traveling case and a knife (not to mention she isn't wearing the right shoes for this sort of encounter), but that isn't going to slow her down. Claire's body is still toned from all her adventures, though she no longer has her godly powers.

Freeing her knife from her belongings, she clicks the case closed and uses it as a shield. The rest is fancy foot work and some rather precise swipes with her knife. Maybe wearing heels isn't such a bad predicament if she can find their weak spot?

Yes, that is all she is considering at the moment. She can't afford to think beyond... To wonder why she has been taken from her heaven and thrown into hell again.)

Is that all you've got? I'm not yours! (She spent long enough crystallized, thank you.)

It's High Tide

(She is soaked, but she is stubbornly clinging to her belongings, keeping afloat by kicking her legs. Swimming can be a bit tiring, however once she spies the flotation device meant to aid her, she decides drowning doesn't sound so bad.)

The hell...? (Biting onto the handle of her traveling case, she uses both of her arms to swim, putting forth all her effort for the task. She isn't weak. She can get to high ground. At least this way her pride will be in one piece when she arrives.)

[lapapesse]

[Respect your strategist by not getting her a 'World's Best Mom' mug.]

Perhaps... but what are the odds we do? They could be anywhere... even...

[Pause. Frantic look over her shoulder.]

... Oh no.

[Phone shop? Who cares about that. Team Mom Makoto is now worried about people being pulled out to sea.]

Xion | Kingdom Hearts + Tower of Animus CRAU

[attheclocktower]

A Crappy Endeavor

Are you going to smother me in it, or something?

[It's an odd sort of thing to ask a mud-and-poop covered bug, kneeling in front of it and grimacing. She's stuck around long enough to realize the little herd in front of her... probably isn't dangerous. The one that's noticed her almost seems like it could be affectionate. Which is kind of a problem, in its own way.

She rubs at her bare neck, uncomfortably. Even in a dream, the collar being gone feels alien.]

It feels... like a dream. But my dreams aren't like this. Not anymore. Either it's nightmares or I don't dream anything, because of Excalibur. Something's going on. I just don't understand what, or why.

[She'll still question it less than she would if awake. But forgive her if she doesn't actually poke the bug things.]




All that Glitters

[It's here that she's almost most comfortable, strange and unnerving as it might be to say. An uncomfortable feeling of being watched, the sense of movement out of the corner of her eye or just out of her field of vision. Hell, wasn't there even a floor like this in the Tower?

In any case, she wears the caution, the wariness like a second skin.

And if you startle or surprise her, you might just find a giant key - confusing enough in and of itself, if you haven't seen it before - pointing at your face.]

SHINY ROCKS

[bloodyashes]

[He's heard about the infectious crystal a few times in passing, now - thanks, everyone at Storytelling - and it's embedded himself into his consciousness enough that DO NOT TOUCH is what immediately comes to mind even in the dream.

As a result, Asch's hair is bound up in a knot behind his head to keep even that safely out of risk of touching the crystals. Aside from that, though -

Well, he's a familiar face, at least, and immediately has his hands up in a 'not trying anything' gesture when the weapon is pulled on him (because it's unmistakably a weapon, whatever it is).]

It's the rocks you should be worried about, not me.

[It's... almost like what the Asch at the Tower would have said, except that there's no casual familiarity in it. Instead, there's the arms' reach guarded tone that he took with strangers before the Tower wore those walls down.]

Oh boy

[attheclocktower]

[And yet, almost is enough for reasonable doubt, at least so far as kneejerk reactions go. The Keyblade lowers slightly, the kind of easing that'd come from someone who doesn't see the person before them as a threat. That, and there's visible relief on her face, at least for now.]

Asch? You're... here too?

[Maybe there was something going on after all.]