aftr_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

Entry tags:

*test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME ( 005 )

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 )

Threaded | Flat

All That Glitters.

[ ADMINISTRATOR: set command ;{ᴇʀᴀᴤɪɴɢ ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ᴈʀᴏᴍ "ʙᴀᴋᴇʀᴤᴛʀᴇᴇᴛ.ʀᴘᴅ"
;{4ᴛʜ ᴡᴀʟʟ ᴀᴄᴋɴᴏᴡʟᴇᴅɢᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴤᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ 15% ᴋᴇʏ ᴤᴇᴛ; <ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ394702{ᴜɴᴘᴜʀɪᴈʏ} ᴏɴʟʏ>
...
...
... ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ᴅᴇʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ ]

[ Wow, physicality is marvelous. He takes the time to enjoy all five senses while he has them. The crystal cavern looked inviting. Perhaps, maybe not the best term... it looked like the yellow brick road. Zacharie didn't need to follow it, though. He was mighty damp from his swim upwards through something not plastic. All things considered, though, he's not going deeper into the cavern. Why? Because he has the marvelous choice not to! A puppetmaster would be pushing him in, he can sit comfortably outside and go through his knapsack, stitched with his name.

A sewing kit.
A machete.
Three apples.
A bolt of cloth.

The sewing kit and bolt of cloth must have been serendipitous, nothing more. He rolled well on his entry. Zacharie might be a breathing, living human man now, but he still thinks in mechanics that no longer exist. Look at all this color! This high defintion. Those crystals are definitely tempting, right? You could shave them down for tools if you ventured in. His machete looked like it could endure.

Nope. Freedom of choice. No matter how much he knew he should go in the cavern, he's sitting down and peeling an apple with the machete. ]

Edited 2017-11-14 05:24 (UTC)

All That Glitters

[Boy, one minute you're about to cross a line you can never uncross, and the next? Well, you're sitting bolt upright in a cave full of glowing crystals. Fingers still curled around your knife, cramping from the stress of gripping the handle so damn hard. Your shirt is on, despite being absent only moments ago. You are slightly damp.]

[What a weird world.]

[Majima's body shakes with silent laughter and after a moment he lets his head fall back in exasperation. Well? What is this shit? Has he finally died, taken a bullet in the heat of battle, been dealt one too many blows to the head and bit the proverbial dust? What will Makoto do now? His warped reflection in the crystal ceiling mocks him with a cruel grin.]

[...he's, uh. He's not grinning. So his reflection shouldn't be grinning.]

What the fuck? Oh shi-

[Majima rolls out of the way just in time to avoid a chunk of crystal breaking free and falling to the ground with a brassy resonance. It's vaguely humanoid in shape, with hands groping slowly outward for his prone form and a twisted shadow of a mouth just beneath the glowing "face", smirking. Boy does it piss him right the hell off, too.]

[All he can do is stare at it dumbly. This makes no sense. This is literally not a possibility. He was not here just a few seconds prior. All he has is a knife for fuck's sake, this is rock-paper-scissors basics, he loses by default.]

[Somebody wanna explain or, at the very least, get him moving?]

Wildcard/High Tide

[How he got out of the caves is a blur at this point. All Majima knows is that he's been here too long and something is seriously not right. No matter where he goes, the water level follows. You can find him in any number of locations across Mu, wringing out his shirt and swearing profusely under his breath. Water laps at his heels as he trudges upwards, always upward, and finally comes to rest in the branches of a tree.]

[If you aren't the type to approach a soggy, one-eyed man with a knife, he'll call out to anyone who gets near:]

Hey, the hell's goin' on here?!

All That Glitters

[ Normally, he'd like to think he'd be prepared for surprises. Planning, gathering information and executing heists has been his life for the past year - he knows what he's doing. But maybe he'd grown complacent after the main dangers back home had been dealt with. Because he hadn't expected to nod off in the back of a van and wake up... here.

He doesn't even know where here is. There's never been a palace that looks like this - glittering and bright with the eeriest sense of being watched, or at least that there's something here other than just himself.

With no weapon to hand, and without the security to know he has time to cycle through his own mind to see if there's any way he could pull out a Persona against all odds, Akira does the next best thing and steps back until his back is pressed against the wall, against the uneven bumps of crystal. Less chances for a surprise attack this way. ]

All right. Let's go.

[ Find an exit. Instead of carving a path in, he's going to carve a path out. ]

High Tide/Wild Card

[ When he's finally out of that stupid cave, Akira immediately flops, boneless to the ground and just lies there. Exhausted and for all his confidence, a little shaken. ]

No more solo infiltration.

[ He'd probably lie there for a lot longer, but it becomes apparent that the water level isn't just lapping lazily at his body. It's rising around him, and quickly.]

.... Shit.

[ It's been A Day. Let him have a swear.

He scrambles to his feet, and immediately starts looking around for some high ground or something he can used to counteract the rising tides around him. And then he spots some of the eerie and bizarre looking floatation devices bobbing merrily in the distance.

...

... fuck it, he'll take it.

Anyone who may also be bobbing along on the rising tides may eventually come across him, sprawled out across one of the floaties, much as he'd been sprawled out on the beach earlier. This is fine.]

Crystals Are Forever

[Let it never be said that Setsuna is a violent person. The route of least resistance is the one she prefers by far. If a battle can be won by talking and coming to terms with one another then that's all the better for both parties. However, try as she might, there is no reasoning with these creatures.

A sudden bolt of lightning appears and illuminates the caves as it strikes one of the crystal creatures, promptly shattering it. Thank goodness her techs are still usable here.]

Please! I can tell there is still life in you, isn't there? We do not have to fight.

[Desperate as her plea is to reason with the human-like shapes embedded within the crystal it does Setsuna no good. The creatures continue to hobble towards her, slowly spreading out so to block off any route of escape. Help?]

Crystals Are A Girl's Best Friend (cw: related to the crystalline disease, body horror, death. i couldn't resist. if your character wants to put Setsuna out of her misery that is fine by me. mu is just a dream it's fiiine.)

[When did it happen? Was it when she stopped to try and heal another infected by the disease and her hand brushed those crystal like growths. Or was it during a close fight with the creatures where she had to rely on her chakrams at close range. It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment it all went wrong.

Setsuna has her cloak pulled tightly around her, obscuring most of her body from view as she trudges through the caves. Her right arm feels heavy, feels wrong in every sense of the word as the crystals eat away at it. No amount of healing magic would turn back the growths. If this is how it ends then she's going to offer what aid she can before it's too late.

She forces herself on, smile on her face that sometimes wavers and gives way, though she's trying her very best to mask the pain when she comes across whoever she meets down here in the caves.]

How are you doing? If you need any help then allow me to assist you.

[Her forehead feels clammy, hair matting against her skin as a fever sets in. But she has to remain strong. There are so many that have placed their hope in her after all.]

The Tide Is High / Wildcard

[The rising water is definitely a concern. Thank goodness for these well placed... Flotation devices. The odd design gives Setsuna pause for a moment before she grabs one and hurries over to the nearest person she can find.]

Here, take this. The water won't be as much of a worry if you hold onto it... I hope.

[It's probably ocean worthy despite the weird design, right...??

When not offering to help others stay afloat, Setsuna can be found floating in the water on her own inflatable thing. Between the rising water, her cloak, long hair and the intricate hair ornament on her head, Setsuna is doing a great impression of some kind of half-drowned angel. Paddle over and say hello?]

it's high ~~noon~~ tide.

[ Okay, wow. Ai's never had a dream like this before. Then again, she doesn't usually remember her dreams, and the ones that she does end up recalling tend to be things that are a little more boring and dull on the scale, something that she's almost questioning when she sees— ]

[ Yes, she's speaking those words out loud. And yes, she's going to be looking at the nearest person and asking: ]

[ Horrible. She is literally the worst. ]

a crappy endeavor. (literally!)

[ ... ]

[ It's probably strange that a cute teenage girl like her is speaking those words without a hint of shame at all in her face or even the slightest bit of emotion settling there ]

[ But you probably should actually stop her before she starts pulling down her skirt. "Probably" being the key word here. There's also the option to do the exact opposite, of course. ]

( OOC: Basics you need to know: Ai is a young teenage girl from a modern day city that is suffering a condition that causes her to have issues feeling emotions, but she pretends to have them. Those with empathy abilities are free to notice this! Her world also deals with 'soulmates', in a way, because of her condition, too. Also if you want to wildcard it up, I'm pretty open to that, too, just hit me up. )

Edited 2017-11-14 21:59 (UTC)

high tide

[He draws breath.]

[That's new.]

[You never really need to account for these sorts of things when you exist between the closed-book pages of someone else's repressed memories. You don't need to worry about not being tangible, about not needing food or rest or a break from the chaos and depressed clamor in a deteriorating household, the fractured nuclear family. It's just not a primary concern, or any sort of concern at all. You exist, and that's the end of it. That's the extent of it, and even that can get to be dubious at times.]

[Now, however, it's the furthest thing from it. He flexes fingers - one, two, three, four, five - and smiles in a brief, startled tearing across his features. Look at him. He has skin, muscles, bone. Fingers that respond when he tells them to move. This is being alive, in more than the metaphorical and mnemonic sense. This is living.]

[A bright burst of laughter bubbles out from his throat as he stands, reveling in the sensation of icy saltwater clinging to his jeans. He doesn't seem eager to go looking for a way to stay afloat just yet; he's far too elated.]

all that glitters; cw for body horror likely

Stepping outside the shell of maladjusted suburbia had been its own ecstatic trip into the unknown. Visualizing the sky, breathing the air in a set of his own lungs, getting to view things properly for himself...

It had been incredible. It still is, in many respects. The transition to the dark curves of the cave walls, the glistening of moisture from the tapering stalactites, the wealth of glittering, greenish crystal, had been just as agreeable as all the rest. A limited pool of experiences, it turns out, makes every new experience profound in its own way.

As it turns out, learning what it means to have preferences is another part of that sordid tale. Cramped spaces, labyrinthine tunnels, glistening sprouts of crystal blanketing the walls and ceiling and certain pools of the floor - none of that, he finds, he minds in the least. Perhaps he will at some point, but for now the whole lot of it is novel enough for him to look past that entirely. Largely because he's beginning to refamiliarize himself with the concept that defined his existence, the one tangible sensation he can still remember in its bleak and unending entirety.

Pain.

No matter how he tries to brush at the gritty cling to the pads of his fingers, it still burns with a feverish pitch he can't ignore. There's a glistening pocking of green cresting at the beds of his nails, at the peaks of his knuckles, at the point where his fingers connect with the meat of his palm. And no matter how he picks at them, they remain resolutely stuck there like turquoise garnets, like glittering pimples, like the world's worst and most painful case of acne. Which isn't fair; he never even got to have acne. He got to skip that step.

This isn't fair.

He keeps walking in meandering, straggling paths without any purpose or direction to his step, far more concerned with the growths sprouting on his left hand than he is with the lumbering mass of crystal that's begun to draw closer and closer.

He's starting to draw attention he doesn't yet realize he doesn't want.

All that glitters is a knife in the back.

[Well lit spaces are the bane of any stealth mission. Keith crouches behind a cluster of crystals with his hood pulled over his face. His dark armor won't help him here. He'll have to put his own skills to the test. He'd come into the caves on the trail of other people. People mean information. Or, as a Voltron those that need to be safeguarded.

He sticks to moving from cover to cover, pausing only to collect bits of cloth or the stray scrap of supplies. His own pack has been stowed away near the cave entrance. He'd go back and retrieve it once he was done.]

A - Successful dex roll

[The deeper inside the caves he goes the more he's sure there's something off about them. He can't quite put his finger on why he has a bad feeling. On either side of the crystal covered cave walls, the ruins of a civilization stretch out. Tools and houses, marred by the green crystals that glow like a forest of stars. He finds it beautiful if a little unsettling. Keith moves silently among them while taking care not to touch anything.

When he's crouched up against the edge and peering down he sees them. Tall, bi-pedal lumbering figures that move like humanoids. He moves slowly, edging along the wall to keep attention off him.] What the hell? ...they look like sentries...

[He needs to know what he's dealing with. He picks a small alcove in a wall to hunker down inside and watches them. When he catches people straying too close he drops down and reaches out while calling in a soft voice.] Hey. Back up, you don't want to go that way.

B - Failed both rolls

[He'd moved too fast and too much, one of the lumbering crystal beasts spotted him. Or maybe they spotted you. Whichever it is he spins to face them, drawing his knife and sending it spinning through the air. It curls through the space between him and his target striking home with the hiss of hard metal meeting crystal. He shouts,]

Hey! Get a move on, we need to go! [The knife has a string attached to it. He rips it back and calls again.] Did you hear me?! I said move it!

[Keith notes the speed of the crystalline monsters and if you're still not moving, closes the distance and grabs for you.]

I'll say it one last time. We. Need. To. Go!

It's high ti-GET ON THE BOAT!

[Cold water cuts through the haze like a steel scythe through wheat. He'd just surrendered to- Keith clears his mind and stares up at the clear blue sky. Patience. He can think about what happened after he gets out of the water. He turns with a deep breath in and dives under the water. The first objective, dry land. Second, access his surroundings for threats and information.

He can see what he can find out about getting in contact with everyone else and what happened after all that is achieved. It chafes. He wants to make sure they're all alright. But, if he rushes this it will take even more time he can't afford. Damn it!]

C - Help is on the way

[Struggling? Really need help? One swam floatie is coming your way at all speed thanks to a while timed kick. Its flat expression might be staring right into your soul. Hey, at least you won't sink.

If the floatation device misses you, don't worry. There's still help. Someone is there to pull you up to breach the surface or steady you. Dark armored and frowning, he reaches out to draw the floating swan...thing a little closer.] Keep kicking or you'll sink. I'll get you out of the water before the sharks come back.

D - Have you heard about frog man?

[The rising water has reached the rocks near the temple. Something dark moves through the waves crashing against them like a dark arrow. A black armored hand thrusts up out of the water and seizes hold of you or a rock and is followed by the rest of a person. Their face is covered in a mask, two glowing purple eyes might be fixed on you. They could be just staring straight ahead.]

Wait a minute, [A distorted voice issues forth and the mask drops away revealing a human face. Keith sucks in great lungfuls of air.] Don't leave. I need to ask you questions. [He transfers his grip completely to the rocks and hauls himself up out of the water.

He glares back at the sea behind him and turns his head to breathe. It had been a tiring time to get people out of the water and he still doesn't have a single clue where he is and why. He holds up his hand when his breath comes back.]

This all feel weird to you? I can't remember how I got here. Can you?

Insert something witty/Wildcard
[The wild option, pm me to plot it out and I'll write you a special top-level.]

Edited 2017-11-15 05:14 (UTC)

(all that glitters)

Oh! There's so many crystals here... this one is especially pretty...

[Says the young girl that has (perhaps, foolishly) taken several steps into this cavern and is now examining all of the sparkling rocks here. She even attempts to break one off from the wall here to get a closer look at...

... Maybe someone should tell her not to touch these, or that it would be better to step outside before something else decides to make itself known.]

(it's high tide)

[Well, it's a very good thing that Fran knows how to swim! Although, she can't just doggy-paddle forever, especially not in the proper attire for it. As such, Fran has made her way up to the top of the tallest tree she could find to sit in and rest, though it doesn't seem like the water is going to stop rising... this could be a problem.]

Excuse me! Do you know when the tide is going to go back down? This is a nice tree, but I don't want to be up here forever. The squirrels are not going to be happy having us trespassing in their homes for too long.

[She asks, to some random person that is either swimming by, or might even be here in the tree with her.]

All That Glitters

[ She wasn't sure how long she had been walking around for but the glittering walls caught her eye. At the very least, she was going somewhere important. Well, that's what she had hoped. If she went somewhere that seemed important she hoped that at least she would meet another person that could explain to her a little of what was going on.

A person. Or a cat. She would appreciate either.

It actually took her a few moments to realize that the crystals that she was walking towards may now also be walking towards her and she was far from scared but she didn't want to break (or kill) anything that was important. She braced herself, her axe up by her shoulder. ]

If you come closer, I can't guarantee your safety.

Edited 2017-11-17 06:32 (UTC)

[A: All that Glitters]

[All things considered, a glowing green cavern is a lot better than an entirely black cavern she can't see in, especially since it keeps making weird noises, and let's be real: Makoto's nerves are frayed enough.

Always.

So she's a bit jumpy, but not as jumpy as she would be if, say, it were completely dark. Which it's not. So she's fine. This is fiiiine. It's eerie, creepy, and being companion with only her own thoughts and footsteps for noise is totally not helping at all, but who cares, right?]

W-what was that-?!

[Something moved. She knows it. There's something in the reflection of the crystal caves; in the glimmering light, and the... creaking stones. And then, there's a noise from somewhere behind her. A motion. The sense of life.

She whirls around, and she punches it, with a shriek.

Hope that was a crystal monster and not, say, someone's face.]

[B: It's Hiiiiiiiigh Tide]

[No dramatic tumbleweeds skipping past, here, even though Makoto does technically carry a revolver. Sorry, cowboys.

She does, however, wake with a start, and a splutter of water and a-

Oh god. Where is she? This is... not home, or at least nowhere nearby that she's seen? She takes a moment to take stock of the area... but it just looks like a tropical beach. The water is nice and warm, the air thick with humidity, and...

... The water is now up over her legs and toward her stomach. It's rising, fast. She's barely gotten her bearings and she realizes she has to go - now. On the plus side, Makoto is fast. She's always been pretty quick with her footwork, and she's, outside of Akira, the fastest of the Persona users in the group, so she's good at putting the pedal to the metal - full throttle, nonstop.

Issue: She has no idea where she's going and it seems like no matter where she runs, the water is right there behind her. This is some weird nightmare... if it's even a dream, but being soaked to the bone at least feels real enough. It's a good ways through this that she... sort of trips over one of the flotation devices, and, desperate, grabs hold of it before getting onboard... or as much as she can.

... Really?

This is what it is?

... And besides...] Where... am I?

All that Glitters

[ Monsters. Even by Imaginaerium standards, there's something unpleasant about these ones. They don't seem to be here to fight, so much as to mindlessly, relentlessly hunt anything they can find. It's not like anything Reflector Shine's fought before. They aren't so fast, but sometimes they come in big enough swarms to cut off escape routes through sheer numbers. Escaping isn't always easy...

...but right when it looks like you're about to get overwhelmed, you suddenly feel a rush of energy flooding your body. You're stronger, faster than normal - hopefully enough to escape or fight back .]

These things are too dangerous! Just focus on getting out of there for now!

[ The source of the energy is a nearby elaborately-dressed girl, her body glowing as she channels her power to enhance the physical attributes of anyone in need of a boost. Unfortunately, she can't move while using enhancement magic, and if she stays put, soon she'll be the one in danger of being overwhelmed... ]

High Tide

[ Well. It looks dumb, but now isn't really the time to be picky, is it?

By the time the tide is flooding most of the countryside, Yuka is persistently paddling around the area on a goofy-looking floatation device, looking for anyone who isn't so lucky to have found something to float on. Or anyone else at all, really.

In case anyone's drowning, she's brought with her a second floaty-swan. Need a hand? Or a life raft with a stupid face on it? ]

Wildcard

[ Make something up! Or plot something with me at

ProfessorProf! ]

[[Character basics - magical girl who punches people's personal problems into oblivion in the dream dimension. Tiny, comes equipped with healing magic and stat buff magic and is pretty tough in a fist fight. She'll be transformed in all threads unless you catch her right as she arrives - un-transformed, she's close to a foot taller and looks distinctly masculine.]]

[ All That Glitters - Exploration Side ]

[ Getting out? What? Who would want to do that? When you come across Caulifla, a skinny girl with spiky black hair, she's not looking for a way out at all. She's looking around for more monsters to smash.

There's a lot of shattered, broken crystal forms lying around this particular cavern, too. A sign of how long she's been at this. ]

Come on! There's gotta be more of them than that! I've barely worked up a sweat!

[ Her voice is loud, her tone is brash. She seems more punk than anything. But she seemed to have done a good enough job so far. Approach her? ]

[ All That Glitters - Fighting Side ]

[ They're everywhere! Whether it's because you've been fighting them off before or just because you happened to stumble across a hoard of them, the crystal monstrosities have taken to an "overwhelm with numbers" strategy, practically climbing over each other to try and swarm all over you. ]

OI, WHERE THE HELL DO YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE GOING!?

[ That's definitely not the sound these crystal guys make. Punctuated by a ball of light appearing in their midst and exploding rather violently, destroying some and scattering the rest.

A girl leaps in. Wild hair, wild expression. ] Hey! You all right?

[ It's High Tide ]

[ When the water started rising, Caulifla was content to find a nice hill. When it started rising above the hill, she climbed a tree. And now, here she is, stuck in the top of a tree, water already starting to rise up her pant leg. It won't be long until she has to start swimming.

Come to the rescue maybe? ]

-All That Glitters-

"Why are they glowing?"

Atomic Robo, the world famous, globe trotting, mad scientist, artificially intelligent creation of Nikola Tesla, has yet to notice the various crystal monsters skulking about in the dark corners of the cave. He was more focused on the inanimate crystals for the moment.

"The energy has to come from somewhere if it's like this all the time. Maybe it's refracted from the surface somehow? Or maybe a chemical reaction powered by geothermal energy...I gotta get a sample of this stuff. Anyone bring a rock hammer?"

-High Tide-

The well dressed robot can't swim. It's not that he doesn't know how, so much as that he weighs a quarter ton. He just sink right down to the bottom. Fortunately, he also doesn't have to breath, so this is more of an annoyance than anything.

You can actually see him, safe from your swimmy duck thing, underneath you walking across the submerged island surface. Communication will be difficult, unless you both can figure out a way to get him to the surface somehow.

-A Crappy Endeavour-

Robo was watching the giant beetles with interest. If they were small, he'd be staying far away, but somehow giant bugs were less frightening. Especially when they weren't trying to eat him.

"They're...reversing natural digestion somehow! This is pure clay! Semi-relatedly: I'm really glad I don't have a sense of smell right now."

All that Glitters
The sound of an explosion and Zelgadis is making a planned retreat from a group of the crystal golems. Earth shamanism seems to work fine on both them and the walls, and Zelgadis's cloak and scarf are blocking skin contact between him and the crystals.

he spots another person, and motions towards them. "Come on. I don't intend on hanging around to see if that was all of them. There is a clear place ahead."

Not much of Zelgadis is visible, but some might find it concerning that glimpses of his fingers or the skin around his eyes are showing stony growths.

High Tide
Zelgadis can't swim. Not that he doesn't know how, but he is physically too heavy to support himself in water without using a spell to levitate. And at the moment, his magic reserves are low, so he's improvised a half-dozen floats in an awkward attempt to not drown.

I hope no one else needed those.

If he notices you looking at him, he's just going to stare back. "What?"

ALL THAT GLITTERS

[This is really not an offputting place at all!

It's clearly not the Underground, of course, but the whole thing has the tenor of a dream, so Asgore does not see any reason for alarm. Rin would like this, he thinks, and wonders again if he'll ever be able to take her to Waterfall after all.

The downside to being pretty calm about the underground cavern thing is, perhaps, that Asgore is also not particularly taken aback by the sudden appearance of nonhuman creatures. When one starts lurching towards him, he even starts to approach it himself - carefully, with a paw outstretched as if to take its hand in his.]

Gosh, are you okay? You seem like you are having some trouble.

HIGH TIDE

[So, fact: the island is slowly starting to flood. Asgore was quick to notice this when he woke up - you get to be very, very conscious of such things when you live underground for a time. Luckily, he doesn't seem to be wearing his cape and armor in this dream. They'd hinder him a lot in such conditions, and if the pink wool sweater he's got on instead is retaining a lot of water, well, so is all of his fur. It's not that bad. There's even lots of rafts around! How handy!

Another fact: Asgore does not even come close to actually fitting on these rafts.

Which is why it's probably easy to see how the monster king has ended up very uncomfortably perched in the upper branches of a tree, with the sad deflated remains of a dick raft tangled in the leaves by his feet. By rights, this probably shouldn't be able to hold his weight, but the water is high enough that the tree can't really sag all that far. At least it hasn't broken yet?

Despite everything, he'll offer a strained smile to anybody who happens to pass by.]

Ah...hello, there...

the tide is high but I'm holdin on

HEY!

[Yeah, you, you sad person on a dick raft or something. You're being hailed by a man on a shark! It's just a literal living shark and he is riding it like a horse and everybody seems super cool with this arrangement.

It's fine.

Judging from his...well, sharklike grin as he leans against Sharpedo's dorsal fin, Archie is very well aware of most people's probable reactions to this. What, he can't milk it a little?]

Need a ride? Water's risin' fast!

I'm gonna be your number two

[Alternately: these dirt things are Pokemon, right? They sure look more like a Pokemon than an "animal", which in Archie's limited experience are usually not very elemental in nature. Whatever they are, they don't seem interested in fighting, so he's just crouched a safe distance away, watching one.

Once one seems to take notice of him, Archie holds his hand out, offering it some sort of berry he found around. He doesn't move as it starts to sniff the air and approach.]

Heeey, little guy. Th' hell're you supposed to be? [it's also not super small but okay the man has a shark]

all that glitters
Ooooookaaaaaay, I still think all this is, like, a really crappy hologram, but what're you gonna do, am I right?

[ Wow, his voice is very loud, isn't it? It already carries in the cavern, but he should probably consider keeping it down, as there are... things in here. Things that are coming toward him, because they can't resist an idiot who's doing nothing but carrying on about how terrible this is and how the jackasses in charge need to try a little harder.

... Ugh, yeah, someone'd be completely justified in just socking him right in the face. But he's walking, finally, at least, and he's gesturing wildly with his hands. ]

--like these! Holy crap, can you get any tackier?

[ Like he has any room to talk. ]

high tide
[ And somehow, he ends up out in the water. In the heat. He's making a huge deal of the fact that he's having trouble finding a way out of this! Flailing arms, yelling, you know the deal. Maybe he should conserve that energy for actually swimming? ]

Anyone wanna give me a friggin' hand here?!

[ As if summoned by his screeching, on the horizon, it appears. For a while he just stops and stares at the thing bobbing along the waves...

And he lets loose a loud, obnoxious laugh. ]

Holy shit, it's a dickboat!

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.)

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.]

Threaded | Flat

Zacharie | OFF

Majima | Yakuza (0)

Akira Kurusu | Persona 5

Setsuna | I Am Setsuna