[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

Yuka Ichijou | OTA

[shineinside]

-1- A painful reminder

[ "You really won't listen? You'd really listen to her rather than me? After everything?"

Yuka's first memory takes whoever is witnessing it along with her to a beautiful, alien landscape. Everything is made of crystal - trees rise in diamond branches, everything spirals in on itself in intricate glittering fractals. Beneath all of the glamour, though, it does resemble a scene out of the modern world - some of those crystal spires appear to have originally been lamp posts, as if this is a crystalized city park.

In this memory, an oppressive rain pours down over the sparkling hills. A short distance away, the actual scene plays out - Yuka and Kyouko are both there, but instead of their usual close-knit affection, they're facing off against each other as enemies.

"...Goodbye, Reflector Heart."

Yuka's powers in this memory seem radically different from what they are now. As she says farewell to her closest friend, a black circle spreads across the ground at her feet. A vine made of shadows rises from within, wraps itself around Kyouko's wrist, and hurls her with incredible force. She lands painfully, in a heap of mud and shattered crystal.

"Stop it! I don't want to fight you! I thought we were supposed to be partners, weren't we?! We're supposed to be fighting together, not each other!"

The duel goes on, a lot of the words exchanged left ambiguous by the lack of context. Kyouko pushes onward relentlessly, determined to get through to Yuka despite the countless dark vines lashing out at the world around her. Eventually, she will, but even then, this was never something that could be neatly resolved for good with hugs or encouraging words. It was never that simple.

The whole memory plays out less like something being experienced directly, and more like watching the events play out as a bystander. The real Yuka watches on from the sidelines quietly, a resigned expression on her face. She speaks, as much to the world as to anyone in particular. ]

Why would you show me this now? Did you really think there was any chance that I'd forget about what I did...?


-2- It's her brother or something



[ The other memory is a much more mundane one; however, Yuka doesn't even appear to be present for it.

The scene is pretty straightforward - it's Kyouko and Yuka's first meeting. Yuka alone on the school roof, trying to teach herself ballroom dancing off of youtube videos, followed by Kyouko walking in on her unexpectedly. It was an embarrassing incident, and a little ridiculous, but Kyouko pushed past the weirdness of the moment and the two got to talking like friends pretty quickly.

The only thing is... well, this was before they were Reflectors. So, to an unfamiliar observer, it just looks like Kyouko meeting some tall boy who's never appeared in this world. Regardless, the real Yuka - this time watching from just elsewhere on the same roof - looks to be in full-on panic mode, as if anyone seeing seeing this will cause her to burst into flames. Frantically, she tries to think of how to get out of having to explain this should anyone ask... ]

[[OOC: Conveniently, these backstory scenes have both been threaded out on museboxes in the past! The exact details have changed slightly (specifically the mechanics of Paragon Diamond's plan), but if you're curious, the general flow of the action can be checked out here for scene 1 and here for scene 2.

Yuka's memories are materializing in the third person - anyone who shows up for them will see them as if they were there as bystanders, along with Real Yuka.]]

2

[souris_keteer]

[What a nice little memory. Compared to all the blood and trauma other people are sharing, this is practically paradise.

... Sooo why is Yuka flailing around like a chicken when its head cut off? Is she embarrassed she wasn't that good a dancer at first?]

C'mon now, ain't nothin to be embarrassed about. Practice makes perfect!

[shineinside]

[Oh no, someone saw.]

I, um... Th-That's not me! It's... That's my brother, Ryouma. So, this isn't even my memory...

[Then why is she panicking like that?]

[souris_keteer]

[doubt.jpg]

Then whose are we seeing?

[shineinside]

That's, um...

[It pains her to think it, but sometimes you have to know when it's too late to pull off lying about something. Maybe this is part of starting a new life, too...]

...It doesn't have anything to do with the dancing part. I mean, I'd like to get better at that, too, it's just...

[She looks at 'Ryouma' again. Five foot ten and handsome. Eurgh, it's even weirder seeing her old self from the outside.]

...I didn't want anyone to see what I used to look like. I decided when I ended up here that I would just abandon the old me and live as Yuka Ichijou from now on...

[souris_keteer]

[Mickey watches her carefully, seeing the pain clear on her face. This isn't easy on her... so he has no right to make things difficult.]

... All right, then. I won't tell anyone what I saw. You're Yuka Ichijou, and that's that.

[daydreamy]

[ so hey

is it good if Kyouko just stands here quietly, holding Yuka's hand tightly in one of hers?

well it's happening, so get used to it. ]

[shineinside]

[ Yuka squeezes Kyouko's hand, as if reminding herself that she's really there. Contrasting the relationship they have now with the bitter memory of where they were not even that long ago pushes a familiar thought into the back of her mind, no matter how hard she tries to suppress it.

You don't deserve her. ]

...With the way things went... I never really got a chance to apologize properly.

[daydreamy]

You don't have to!

[ She says it maybe a little too insistently but the way she squeezes Yuka's hand in return is careful and gentle ]

That wasn't-- it wasn't your fault, okay?

[shineinside]

[ Kyouko means well, and Yuka understands that. But... 'It wasn't your fault' aren't the words she needs to hear right now. She turns slightly away, both from the memory in front of her and from the real Kyouko. ]

It's at least true that Diamond lied, and manipulated me to her own ends. But... I knew when I joined her that it would mean hurting you, and I did it anyway. Everything I said to you that day was my honest feelings. The fact that I came back in the end doesn't change any of that.

I know you want me to feel better about it, but neither of us can change the fact that I betrayed you. I need to come to terms with that and move forwards.

[daydreamy]

[ Kyouko purses her lips tight and for once, she's totally lost as to what to say. She's never really felt like that with Yuka before. It's always been as easy as anything for them to talk even right at the start and now that she doesn't know what to say, it almost frightens her a little bit.

So instead she just keeps clinging onto Yuka's hand, searching desperately for something to say. ]

I'm not... mad, you know? No matter what you did, I wasn't mad at you then and I'm still not mad at you now. So if you need... no, even if you don't feel like you need it, I'm gonna be there the whole way, okay? Just like always.

2.

[souldeterminant]

[This seems like a nice memory.]

[Frisk doesn't really grasp the full scale of what's going on -- whose memory is this, exactly? -- but they've never been one to fret the smaller details. What they see is a pair of teenagers, seemingly friends, having a nice conversation. The only thing they're a little disappointed about is the fact that Yuka stopped trying to dance so soon. You totally had it in the bag, dude. Invite your new friend!!]

[They glance over to the present Yuka, arching an eyebrow softly. Why is she so flustered... ? Oh, they get it. This must be her memory. Then, she must know what's coming next. In that case... they want spoilers. Frisk leans in conspiratorially.]

Are they gonna smooch?

[shineinside]

No, they're not!

[ Yuka stands bolt upright fast enough to almost jump out of her own skin. This... This could be construed as just Kyouko's memory, right? Let's go with that. Yeah. ]

Or at least... I guess eventually they will? But not in this memory.

[souldeterminant]

[Frisk glances to her again, humor creasing the edges of their eyes. They raise a finger and wag it at her sagely.]

You don't have to be embarrassed. Smooching is natural.

[They, being like 12, totally know this.]

[shineinside]

O-Of course it is, I just mean... [What DOES she mean?]

It's just kind of a personal memory. I don't want to spy on who Kyouko is or isn't kissing...

[souldeterminant]

Kyouko? [They echo the name, looking back towards the pair, and point towards the shorter girl.] Is that her? She's pretty.

2

[greatcleavage]

Oh, I didn't know you two came from the same world.

[Roy's comment is generic and abstract as he watches the memory play out; he'd yet to run into the two together, so this is somewhat of a revelation. Not a life-changing one, though perhaps one that is slightly bitter to a man who has no one from his own world here, and no one from a world that even seems to understand his.]

[But he forgets his brief irritation as he notices Yuka downright panicking, one eyebrow going up.] Are you okay?

[shineinside]

Yeah, I'm, uh...

[This sucks, but Roy's probably too smart to lie to.]

It's just... This memory is from a while ago, and I've changed so much since then that I feel kind of weird letting other people see it...

[greatcleavage]

...I feel I need to ask explicitly rather than make assumptions, and you are absolutely free to decline to answer, in which case I will make none. To the best of my ability, anyway.

[Roy would rather be a good man than a smart man. Although he'd prefer to be both if necessary.]

[shineinside]

[That does sound like the words of a good person. Roy's proven himself pretty open to new ideas, too, if the great attributes debate from earlier is any indication.]

...I'm actually... [No, wait, rephrase that.] I mean, I was originally a boy. I've been using my special abilities to stay in an alternate body ever since I washed up on the beach.

I panicked because I was kind of hoping nobody would find out about this, but I guess it's too late to worry about that now.

[greatcleavage]

Wait, so if the power you're using is subject to the same limitations as other powers, are you in danger of it potentially running out while you're here? [That's the first thing that crosses his mind, when she phrases it as 'special abilities'. Most of them he's seen demonstrated here have been limited.]

1

[thermalwind]

Seems more like this place is showing the memories our stories are coming from. [Keith crosses one leg under him and then the other, his arms crossed over his chest.]

I've heard from the others it's not usually like this. Means next time probably won't show anything.

[He looks at her, and back at the fading images. He isn't good at this sort of thing.]

That's something at least.

[shineinside]

...Yeah. I hear you normally just tell stories.

[That sounds a lot nicer than this, and she's not even an experienced storyteller.

What do you say when someone's just seen you at your worst?]

I guess you can probably tell at this point that I used to be a pretty awful person.

[thermalwind]

[He leans back and stares at her, his expression unreadable. He doesn't agree with what he's seen but it just builds more into the person he sees now.]

Sounds more like you just hadn't found out who you are. When you're messed up its hard to see anything else.

[He gestures to the whole place around them. As a Blade he'd learned all the things he'd been lacking and he still doesn't feel like he's worthy of the Black Lion or the team. He doesn't feel like he's worth anything but his actions do make a difference.]

Awful people don't consider how they're affecting everyone around them.

[shineinside]

...What does it say about you if you consider how your actions are going to hurt people you love, but go ahead with them anyway?