lifeaftr_mods: (Default)
The Mods of LifeAftr ([personal profile] lifeaftr_mods) wrote in [community profile] aftr_stories2017-09-19 09:00 pm

[MU] - SEPTEMBER STORYTELLING

The familiar sensation of not sitting quite within the realms of reality is what greets you when consciousness first strikes. Opening your eyes, you may be one of the plenty who find the large, imposing door before you familiar - then again, perhaps not.

Sitting on the door itself is a large bearded dragon. Introductions probably aren't necessary at this point.

"One would think a god would be more aware of new additions to their home - perhaps thousand year naps are counterproductive in that regard." They flex their claws against the stone, beaded eyes concentrated on your form. "A good sign, wouldn't you say? The answers we all seek may rest below this very island."

That said, the door itself remains closed.

"It will take me a little longer to give you all access; in the meantime, I will refill the mana pool located in these ruins. Come and go from this place as you please. And do mind the heat, won't you?"

With that much said, the dream warps, slowly settling into the warm light of a large campfire.



It is time, once more, for you to tell a story. The setting will be familiar for oldcomers, and newcomers will recognize it from the introduction they received in their dreams. This too is a dream, and the ink-black dark is illuminated only by the bonfire surrounded by log seats. And seated around the fire are your fellow islanders, many of whom doubtless know the drill by now.

One by one, you will each have the opportunity to share your stories, as stories possess a certain undeniable power. Newcomers can tell whatever tale they wish, but for those who have been in LifeAftr for at least one Storytelling, only stories of their time in LifeAftr will count down the road. The story need not be long, or conventional, or even verbal; as long as the Storyteller knows it has been told, it will qualify.

If you prefer to keep your mouth shut, that's always an option, though you're more liable to benefit if you do. Perhaps you'd rather not relive any of your history, varied and variegated as it must be. Or maybe you're something of a compulsive un-truther, prone to embellishments and long, fanciful tangents. As long as the core of the story is true to its spirit, you are free to spin your tale however you like.

So choose well.
whiteas: (She did it anyway.)

Re: ota;

[personal profile] whiteas 2017-09-24 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
I want to go cliff diving.

[ she's not commenting on the rest of the story, he clearly has enough ego stroking on his own. ]
want_to_belong: (Side glance)

[personal profile] want_to_belong 2017-09-24 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
[He wasn't necessarily a master of words, or even of his emotions. There were very few he really opened up to. He didn't know, or trust, Jaune well enough to really throw himself out there, so he responded in a somewhat guarded way.]

You stopped.

[Sure, he noticed more than that, but considering the conversation they'd been having should he really engage?]
aurabble: (what is our teamwork)

[personal profile] aurabble 2017-09-24 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
You made a good point, and I agreed with you. I thought that would make you happy.

[His voice is very level, without any previous exuberance. Prompto shouldn't trust him. Jaune might not be able to hide his reactions, but he doesn't expect them to be best friends. Not after this.]
aurabble: (thank you very little)

[personal profile] aurabble 2017-09-24 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
[This is backfiring in all sorts of hellish ways and his expression hardens.]

It was five, I counted! [His movements have become tenser as he struggles to defend himself.] You know what? Go ahead and enjoy your naked or not naked bodies together in the water and sharing that space with them. I'll go enjoy my own personal jacuzzi!
aurabble: (aw she likes my hoodie)

[personal profile] aurabble 2017-09-24 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
[He hums thoughtfully.]

I guess so, if it was just us two we'd be more of a-- Anyway, we'll figure that out later! For now, team JD sounds catchy. Plus there's always your flying friend. [He gestures at the floating sprite.]
aurabble: (another fun field trip for team RNJR)

[personal profile] aurabble 2017-09-24 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
They are interesting. From what I can understand, anyway. [He's used to reading comic books rather than other books.]

A lot of them have tragic or violent endings. Weiss and I still live on Enso, if you ever want to grab one.
aurabble: (do you ever feel like a salt pile)

[personal profile] aurabble 2017-09-24 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
I'll treasure it forever. And make sure to find you the best jellyfish ever. [It will be a beautiful moment.]

That makes as much sense as inventing something as inconvenient as time does. [He nods.]

Good for him. [He's not crossing his arms, his tone defensive and oddly jealous nope not him.]
hyperlit: (if i could fly id be a bird)

[personal profile] hyperlit 2017-09-24 08:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Friend?]

[...ah. That's...not precisely a hurdle they've had to clear just yet, its lack of sentience. It is a tool, a piece of equipment they need to survive like any other.]


just a companion
intuits what i need

[personal profile] justribbing 2017-09-24 05:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ You know what they say about comedy and tragedy.

The real punchline has yet to come ]


A real birdbrain told me all about it once.

[ Sorry, Prompto, that's a dig at the chocobo 'do but also the guy never struck Sans as too bright, either. His ability to stick his foot in his mouth was legendary, and he'd barely even met the guy. ]

Not that any of us were too happy to hear it, but hey-- [ He shrugs. ] --who likes to hear they're dyin'?
souris_keteer: (Mikkie)

[personal profile] souris_keteer 2017-09-24 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Better to be safe than sorry. 'Sides, there's a bunch of illnesses and sicknesses we can get even when we're careful.
scourgingstars: (and not have to face the facts)

[personal profile] scourgingstars 2017-09-24 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
In my experience? Very, very few people. [Ardyn shrugged, tone light.]

Was it you who was afflicted, or another?

[personal profile] justribbing 2017-09-24 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Eh, bunch'a us.

[ 'All of the above'. Since 'us' is pretty self-inclusive. ]

Doesn't matter, it didn't start with you, so. [ Sans isn't going to waste the time and energy resenting someone for something they didn't do. Not when there are so many pettier reasons to be a dick. ]

So, for probing question redux-- [ He butchers the pronunciation, REE-ducks, like the only way he ever caught the word was on a written page. ] --just how old are you?

[personal profile] justribbing 2017-09-24 05:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah.

[ Sans's eyelights wander over the circle of gathered people, thoughtfully. ]

Speakin' of, I don't see our resident doc anywhere. Guess he wandered off. Wonder if that leaves us up the creek.
scourgingstars: (i am so much older than i can take)

[personal profile] scourgingstars 2017-09-24 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[Interesting. He (almost) definitely wasn't a daemon, and as far as Ardyn could see he didn't have any sign of infection. Perhaps there was something else out there in the wide multiverse that could simply remove it.]

[...That shouldn't have made him as angry as it did.]


Oh, even I'm allowed my secrets. I'm hardly going to confess to that in front of everyone, the next thing you know I'll be subject to everyone wondering if an old man can keep up with them, then asking if my hair color's natural or just covering copious amounts of gray.

[Another smile, though this one was more like Ardyn didn't really know what a sincerely friendly expression even was.]

Let us just say I look very good for my age, if I might say so myself.
yallstupid: (Sound of Silence)

[personal profile] yallstupid 2017-09-24 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[To be perfectly honest, Guzma is well beyond the point of caring who gets caught in the cross fire. He is racing on sheer adrenaline and thecpure rage and hatred he feels for the two people before him. It's unreal, how much Weiss reminds him of that crazy Aether woman - talking big and acting so self-righteous, like people ought to thank her for grossing on their grass. Like she should be praised for every word she spoke. Every word that was without fact, foresight, and held a hidden agenda of getting the items she so coveted.

He should have hit her so much harder.

And then there's her wall. Her muscle...her pawn. Disgusting, when Guzma quietly realizes that Jaune is just like how he used to be before; how he still still is, in certain regards. Perhaps that's why he hates the boy so much - the reminder of Guzma's flaws is reflected in this dim-witted, suckling mule. He wants to break that mirror image into thousands of tiny pieces, so that he may never see it staring back at him ever again. He doesn't need to remember how terribly he messed up, worse than all the other times. He doesn't need nor want to see himself chasing after a damnable woman he thought he actually meant something to. Who saw him as strong, worthwhile. ...Whatever, he'll get his eventually. All people like him do. Guzma would know, after all.

The sword shifts, and the older man simply lifts a brow and snickers softly, clapping his hands and nodding to the blade with a sneer.]


Hey, congrats, your Honedge evolved.

[His last words, probably, considering Jaune has now charged at him with his blade aloft. Guzma doesn't move an inch, still sneering, still snickering. Go right ahead, boy. Kill him. Kill him for hitting your precious little woman...and marring her pride. Kill him for combatting her way of doing things. Kill him and prove to her how great you are, how big and strong and worthwhile you are.

Prove to everyone you can sink that low.

There's a snap, and a beam of red light shoots out from within a pocket of Guzma's hoodie. Before he even forms completely, Golisopod's heavy, clawed arm lashes out, and had Jaune's rampage not been halted by Muffet's webs, he may have very well lost his arm. Does he remember this human? Yes, the scent is loosely familiar. Does he care? Not in the slightest. Golisopod rips apart the tense air with a roar aimed at Jaune - message very clear: you are now a threat; approach my Trainer again and I will fight to kill.

Guzma, on the other hand, looks on in horror. This has happened only once before, where the huge Pokémon had escaped his ball. It was the day he ran away from home. The day his father decided to up the damage dealt to his useless son who couldn't do anything right - Guzma, what is wrong with you? - worse than ever before...and his Pokémon escaped its pokeball to defend him. The act resulted in one of Golisopod's arms being broken that day, and Guzma's true colors to shine in a blotchy, red backdrop. He'd picked up his father's discarded golf club...and struck out in every sense of the word.

Very suddenly he's brought back to that time, when his friend was badly injured trying to protect him, like he's doing now. His brvado crumbles, and he flings himself at the insect, pulling at his arm and shell.]


Golisopod, get back in your ball. [Stern, but with a hint of fear. The Pokémon barely moves, growling at the trapped fly and flexing his claws.] Now!

[The tugging becomes a little more insistent. It's fine if he's painted as a monster, if he's insulted, or hurt or even killed. But not his Pokémon. Not his Pokémon.]
souris_keteer: (Mikkie)

[personal profile] souris_keteer 2017-09-24 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
H-He could just be late, that's all!

[Not trying to worry like he did over Marcille's vanishing act.]

[personal profile] justribbing 2017-09-24 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Sans is silent for a few moments, weighing whether he should say anything.

Shiro was kinda old, not frail, but maybe-- well, he's not gonna speculate aloud and ruin Mickey's day. ]


Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, you hear of anybody else who can patch people up if they get hurt? Might be good info to pass along.
souris_keteer: (Miki)

[personal profile] souris_keteer 2017-09-24 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[Mickey applauds!]

And doin' the right thing is it's own reward!

... By the way, what's cliff-diving?
souris_keteer: (Default)

[personal profile] souris_keteer 2017-09-24 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll keep these big ears of mine open! They're for more than decoration, ha-ha!

[personal profile] justribbing 2017-09-24 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ok.

That was pretty, uh, cute, Mickey. You charm everybody with that good and pure attitude? ]


Thanks a million. Anything I can do for you?

[ Fair's fair, after all, and Mickey's answered his questions a few times now without getting anything in return. ]

[personal profile] justribbing 2017-09-24 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I'd say you got the right to brag.

[ And at once, the skeleton is pushing himself upright, jabbing a thumb over the slope of one slouched shoulder: ]

How 'bout we take a walk, old man?

[ Because he's not exactly done with this, yet, but hey. He gets why he might not wanna talk around all these people.

But the fact is, LV or not, Ardyn seems to come from a place Sans can relate with, an understated bitterness about the twists and turns of fate imposed on people by those with the power to do it and none of the compassion to refrain from hurting others.

Sans is a little bitter, too, under all the exhaustion. Not saying he thinks that LV's justified or anything, but maybe this is more complicated than all that. ]
scourgingstars: (my love will laugh with me)

[personal profile] scourgingstars 2017-09-24 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[That earned a look that nearly passed for interest, Ardyn quickly calculating and evaluating the situation. Unless he very much missed his mark, the only birdbrain that would know about Starscourge would be the chocobo-crazed gunman over yonder. If this was a friend of his, then caution would have been wise. 'Would have been', if Ardyn recognized a single thing on this island as a real threat.]

[As it was, even if this situation came down to it, he still had more of an arsenal than it appeared. And the potential benefit was clear; he had to figure out what Sans knew as well as what he'd very clearly inferred in short order.]

[The smartest ones, Ardyn knew, were always the most dangerous.]


I see little problem with that. I'm not one for crowds, myself.
souris_keteer: (Default)

[personal profile] souris_keteer 2017-09-24 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[99% of the time, yes. And of course he just keeps up the charm.]

Aw, I'm all right! I got shelter, I got food, I got friends... Can't think of anythin' else I would need.
deranged_practicality: (Default)

Re: OOC || FORM

[personal profile] deranged_practicality 2017-09-25 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
Player name: Stareyes
Character name: Isabella
Character journal: [personal profile] deranged_practicality
Offering:

One, a story about Isabella and her husband met. A sort of meet-cute where Isabella went with her brother to the royal menagerie as a reward for putting up with various upper-class regency-era marriage market nonsense, and completely forgot she wasn't supposed to be such a big nerd in front of eligible men. Never the less, the young man she was talking about dragons to, showed up to get permission to court her. It's pretty clear from the story that Isabella's society is very sexist, and older Isabella is aware of how younger Isabella had to negotiate it. It's also clear that despite the fact Isabella didn't know her husband, Jacob, all that well when they got married, she loves him and is wistful about the memory.

The second is Isabella's visit to the swamps of Mouleen. She describes how the locals tend to hold possessions in common, so when her research party approached them, the people they met up with asked for most of their possessions and only stopped when Isabella refused to give them the blouse she was wearing. The way Isabella tells it, she had almost done it before her male companions stopped her. (Which was smart because of the giant swamp mosquitos, which carry all sorts of diseases.) Isabella noted it was more a test of the newcomers' willingness to adapt to the local custom than because the locals actually wanted their stuff, adn that for conditions in the swamp of Mouleen, sharing labor and goods was how the locals survived. (Perhaps for individuals to consider.)
deranged_practicality: (Default)

Re: POO AND YOU (seriously tho this is a PSA about shit)

[personal profile] deranged_practicality 2017-09-25 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
Very sensible advice. I can show others how to dig a latrine, though we will need to find a shovel.

But... if you eat, do you digest everything? Or do you eat?

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