[MU] - DECEMBER STORYTELLING / MEMORY SHARE

[lifeaftr_mods]

Something is wrong.

This may not very well be obvious, at first. The Storyteller is not present to put forth yet another diatribe, informative or apologetic, and the backdrop of guttering flame and sandy campfire is as present as ever...albeit briefly.



Those who tell their stories will start to notice something...odd taking place. Indeed, no matter how they intend to begin their tale, the land of Mu will immediately start to warp to accommodate it, or something utterly unlike it, until storytellers and listeners alike may find themselves in an exact recreation of a seemingly random memory, in the most stark and painstaking of detail. There is no altering the memory, nor is there any preventing it once it's begun to play - you will simply have to witness memories that are not your own this go around.

Furthermore, stories that take place in worlds other than LifeAftr will be, frankly, inevitable. Those memories, too, will be recreated, to be relived by the teller and lived by the listener.

---

It is time, once more, for you to tell a story...with a slight twist! This is, in fact, our first player plot, as provided by Dragon! The initial setting will be familiar for oldcomers, and newcomers will recognize it from the introduction they received in their dreams.

Yet for this Storytelling only, people can imagine whatever stories they wish, from both their homes and their time on LifeAftr, as long as they don't mind the fact that others will be reliving those stories in the form of an impromptu memory share.

Even those who prefer not to voice their stories aloud are not safe this time around. If the memory is recalled in essence, Mu will shift to accommodate it in full.

There is, however, a benefit to this: those who venture memories to be relived will receive both a befuddled apology from the Storyteller, who will assert that this was most definitely not meant to happen (they're the Storyteller, not the Rememberer!), as well as a tired promise that the relived memories will be worth two offerings each, as if in compensation.

Not that it counts for much, probably.

Comments

[souris_keteer]

"Then what's the worst that could happen?" Mickey offers with a shrug. "If he says no, you'll feel bad, sure... but it won't be the end of things. You can start to move on, and he'll want to help."

time for a sudden jump in tag length i guess

[onegreeneye]

Ginko is quiet for a moment - a longer moment than his previous hesitations.

The worst that could happen. A few possibilities jump to mind right away, of course, some of them less likely than others. He had already said that he's pretty sure Epsilon wouldn't cut off contact with him, but that question of what could happen - he could stop talking to him, he could ignore him, he could hate him and his stupid, presumptuous feelings, because Ginko has no right to want something like this to begin with, least of all with someone like Epsilon.

He can't say that to this well-meaning... mouse-man who he just met. He couldn't say it to his brother.

Anyway, even if it could happen, he knows perfectly well most of it wouldn't, whatever the more stubbornly pessimistic parts of his mind might say.

However.

"...If he says no." He manages not to say when instead. "Whatever happens, he'll be considerate about it. He'll be careful of my feelings. Because that's how he is. I... might well have no idea how he actually feels about it. If he's uncomfortable, if he doesn't like having to know about that--"

Ginko sighs and drags his hands down his face, eyes squeezed shut. "I don't-- I don't want to bother him. Even a little. And things are... they were fine as they were. So, there was never any need to bring it up to begin with."

[souris_keteer]

Naturally, none of those worse options even factor in Mickey's head. This is someone who is practically bursting with optimism. He patiently waits out Ginko's thought process - love is a tricky subject, and even someone as naive as Mickey knows that.

"Wouldn't he be bothered knowing you're upset?" Mickey offers, not backing down. "Most friends are never bothered by their other friends needing help. If things won't change if he says no... Why not take the chance of him saying yes?"

[onegreeneye]

"...He probably would be." Ginko lets out a breath and ducks his head slightly. "But-- I can't risk it. And the chance of him saying yes is... pretty much nonexistent."

And, for once, it's not just Ginko's low self-esteem talking.

[souris_keteer]

"But it doesn't even sound like there is a risk." Mickey shrugs. "You just told me... he would still be with you, he'd want to help you, he'd want to keep being your friend. The only risk is him not returning your feelings... And that would be a bummer." To put it mildly. "But it would be the first step in moving on. Otherwise you're just hurting yourself for no reason. Things aren't gunna get better if you keep on making yourself feel bad."

[onegreeneye]

Ginko... isn't sure how to explain to Mickey what it is he's afraid of. How to say that even if things were the same they wouldn't be, that it wouldn't be fair to Epsilon to make him have to know about this... this stupid crush.

"...Wouldn't the feelings fade eventually either way?" He's... pretty sure that's how this works. "I can just keep ignoring them until then - especially since he's. Not here."

[souris_keteer]

"I suppose so..." Mickey chewed on his lower lip for half a moment. "... But you should be ready for the possibility of him popping him up. Some people here are from the same world. Just somethin' to keep in mind. If you want, you can keep pretending those feelings aren't there... But we won't be here forever, and you are going to see him again someday."

[onegreeneye]

"...Yeah. I guess he could show up." He's not sure how to feel about that, really, but... it might be a good thing? Better than Ryslig, anyway. And it would be nice to see him again.

Ginko opts not to mention that he and Epsilon aren't really from the same world; if they were to go home, they wouldn't see each other again at all. But that strikes him as probably missing the point, and he's undermined this... small mouse man's efforts to talk him through this enough already.

He makes himself smile, even if it's very slight. "Thanks, uh... don't think I got your name...?"

That seems like a good place to start, since he has... a few questions, frankly. Fortunately Ginko has seen enough not to be immediately thrown off by Mickey's appearance, but he's still not quite sure what to make of him.

[souris_keteer]

And thankfully, Mickey is grateful for the change in subject. Sure, he wanted to help, but he really did't know anything about love and romance and such difficult feelings. His first love was a day old, less than that, if you wanted to get technical.

So he offers a big, happy smile and a hand to shake. "I'm Mickey Mouse! It's nice to meet you." Despite the circumstances.

[onegreeneye]

Ginko reaches over to shake the offered hand, though the gesture is a little clumsy and unpracticed on his end. "Ginko. Nice to meet you too - though I think I've seen you around before."

[souris_keteer]

Mickey doesn't mind. He squeezes Ginkio's hand, making the shake warm and eager. "I guess I'm a little hard to miss." he even gives a small laugh. "I'm one of a kind around these parts!"

[onegreeneye]

"Ah... yeah, I'd say so." It's kind of comforting to hear that he seems so good-humored about it. Ginko can imagine that getting old really fast. "I take it people like you are more common in your own world?"

[souris_keteer]

Mickey just takes it in stride at this point. "You bet! In fact, my world doesn't have any humans at all. Only met them when I came here."

[onegreeneye]

"Really? Think I met a couple people from places like that in the last place I was."

Of course, he was just taking their word for it then, given Ryslig's tendency to just... turn non-humans into humans for the sake of convenience or something.

"Must have been pretty strange getting here. For... more than just the reasons having to do with showing up in a strange place like this, with no warning or explanation."

[souris_keteer]

"It took a while to get used to it," Mickey admits with the shrug of one shoulder. "But in the end, it doesn't really matter. The most important parts about us are on the inside."

[onegreeneye]

Ginko gives a small nod; he can certainly agree with that. "I'm glad you've adapted so well. I... guess I got some extra time to get used to people not looking human. Everyone in the last place I was did, until they started changing."

Even those who weren't human looked like they were upon arriving, which... can't have been pleasant.

[souris_keteer]

"The last place you did?" Mickey questions the unusual wording. You mean, home?"

[onegreeneye]

"Uh... no. No, I..." Ginko grimaces and lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck.

"This isn't the first time I've ended up in another world like this; last time, it was a place called Ryslig. That's where I, uh... ended up like this." His hand drifts up to rest on one of his horns.

[souris_keteer]

"Wait, what?!" Mickey shouts in shock. "You've been to a world other than your own before this? How?!"

[onegreeneye]

Ginko winces a bit at the volume, but shrugs his furry shoulders. "Well, I... I'm afraid I can't quite answer 'how' it happened. But, evidently, that's something that's happened to a few others here too. I was in the last world for... just about two years, I'd say, before ending up here."

[souris_keteer]

Mickey knows he shouldn't expect too much in the way of answers, but there's a shard of hope here, and he's clinging to it. "Do you know how you got out of it?"

[onegreeneye]

"No. Sorry." His tone is genuinely apologetic; he wishes he knew how he had gone from one place to another like that. Maybe from that they could work out how to get people home.

As it is, though, he's got no idea what it was that did it - assuming it wasn't just random chance. "All I know is that one day I was there, and the next I was here."

[souris_keteer]

Mickey sighs. Figures it was too good to be true. "I suppose if the Storyteller had any idea, they'd say something about it to you." Or at least say it in some vague, clue-ish way.

[onegreeneye]

"Probably, yeah. But as it is, it doesn't seem like they know much more than we do." He would absolutely take a vague riddle over this complete void of information.

"Maybe we'll... keep figuring things out as we go. Even if it takes a while, the fact that people can get moved from one of these worlds to another has to give us a route to figure something out."