[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

iiii - even the endless stars above begin blurring together

[maku]

[ By the looks of things, this last memory takes place in Karin's own home. It's a sparsely decorated apartment, so clean and devoid of any personal touch that it's difficult to imagine anyone living here at all. It's only the stack of junk mail and old newspapers just inside the door and the quiet whirr of a treadmill coming from the bedroom that indicates there's any life in here at all.

Karin's bedroom is just as empty and cold as the rest of the apartment. Just her bed, her wardrobe and desk and the treadmill she's running on, with a look of weary dissatisfaction on her face. 'I don't need any drama,' she mutters to herself, apparently without prompting only for her attention to be drawn by the brisk trill of the doorbell ringing. She reaches out to turn the treadmill off and in the few seconds it takes for her to do so, whoever's on the other side of the door evidently gets impatient enough to hammer the doorbell a few more times.

Karin practically throws the door open, brandishing one of her bokken at whoever's making such a racket. 'Who's there?!' she demands. And then finally, she unclenches just a little when she sees she's pointing her sword right at the stunned Hero Club who all yelp in shock.

'Don't get so upset!' Fu splutters, jabbing a finger at her. 'We tried calling you a ton! Why'd you have your phone off?!'

Karin's wrong footed just long enough to go a little red, but then of course she starts spluttering too. 'What's it matter?! What d'you guys want?!'

Fu stares at her incredulously. 'What do we want?! We were worried so we came to check on you!'

That shuts Karin up. Yuna just smiles. 'That's good! I'm so glad you weren't passed out in bed or something.'

'Right. Well, here we are -- excuse me!' says Fu with a grin as she makes her way past Karin into the apartment. And, ignoring all Karin's spluttered protests, everyone else follows suit. Still leading the pack, Fu looks around the front room with a raised eyebrow. 'What a dull room...'

'That's so rude of you to say!' yelps Karin and it looks like she's halfway to kicking them all out when Fu just waves a hand dismissively.

'Right, right. Just take a seat, okay?'
'Are you kidding me?! This is MY place!'

In all the chaos of everyone getting themselves settled, someone manages to unpack all the bags the girls have been carrying and by the time they're done, the table in Karin's front room is groaning under the weight of snacks and sweets and sodas. Fu's busy preening over her good sense, Karin's once again demanding to know what they're up to. But Yuna, not for the first time and certainly not the last, disarms Karin with a brilliant smile and pops the top off a little white box she's been carefully carrying. And inside is a little sponge cake, iced and decorated with cream and strawberries and a little message piped on top.

'Happy birthday, Karin! Surprise! We just wanted to come wish you a happy birthday, that's all.'
'Yeah! Happy birthday.'

Karin stares at them, like she can't quite work out if this is some kind of prank or not. 'But... how did you...?'

Fu rolls her eyes and holds up a sheet of paper. It reads club sign-up form and there's some of Karin's writing scribbled on here. Including the date. 'It IS your birthday today, right? It says so right here.'

'Yuna noticed it the other day,' Togo chimes in as she and the other girls busy themselves with setting part hats on their heads.
'Yeah! We just had to throw you a party.' says Yuna, beaming. 'I really hope you don't mind surprises.'

There's more happy, excited chatter but all of it seems to wash over Karin. She's just staring at them all, unable to believe that they're here, that they'd do this, that anyone would care enough to even think about a party for her let alone go to all this trouble to throw one. Eventually they catch on to her silence and the attention is all back on Karin who finds herself frozen to the spot with something like stagefright.

'Are you okay, Karin?' Yuna asks while Fu muffles a laugh into her hand.
'Don't tell me you actually forgot today was your birthday!'

'Stupid.' Karin finally mutters, her voice tight with emotion. It sounds like she's trying very, very hard not to cry. 'Idiot, doofus, dork...!'

'Hey! What's with the name calling?!'

Karin finally looks up and she's so red you could fry an egg on her face. 'I've never had a birthday party!' she finally snaps. 'S--so I don't... I don't really know... what to say...'

There's a quiet moment, where no one's really sure what to say. Karin's blushing and fidgeting and not able to meet anyone's gaze and it seems like the awkward moment's going to go on forever. But then Yuna gives a quiet giggle -- no meanness or malice in her voice at all -- and simply repeats herself.

'Happy birthday, Karin.'

And somehow, Karin manages to go even redder. ]

[shatteredlenses]

[The emptiness of Karin's apartment is so sadly familiar that Ignis finds himself thinking of his own apartment and office at the Citadel. Personalization was something he never took the time to do. He kept things neat and clean because it was more efficient that way. It let him get the many tasks associated with his duty done as quickly as possible.

Besides, when all he usually did in his apartment was work, sleep or eat, what was the point of decorating?

Still, by the time the memory ends, Ignis is smiling remembering more than one birthday he would have worked straight through had his friends not shown up and dragged him off for a birthday party.

Even if it took a royal order to actually get him to relax and have fun.]

It's funny sometimes, how others know better than we do what we need, isn't it?

[There is a knowing look in his eyes, almost as if he expects her to deny it. It's what he would have done once, after all.]

[maku]

[ Her first instinct would usually be to snipe that the Hero Club doesn't know anything. A bunch of amateurs playing superhero, who'd been chosen on luck and nothing more, but she swallows all those familiar barbs back. For one, without context, they're not going to make a lot of sense.

And two, Ignis pretty clearly has her number. Outright protesting is going to be a little embarrassing but she's sure not going to just nod along. Instead she kicks absently at the ground, keeping her gaze low so she doesn't have to meet that knowing gaze. ]

S'not like they were gonna take no for an answer when they showed up with snacks and drinks and party hats. Seriously, who just buys party hats?

[ Someone throwing a grouchy friend a surprise party, obviously. And despite her complaints, her tone isn't quite as irritable as it could be. ]

They're all so pushy.

[shatteredlenses]

Pushy friends have the largest hearts.

[Ignis smiles, letting his good eye fall closed for a moment as he thinks back to simpler times before the four of them left on their ill-fated trip.]

If you find that embarrassing, imagine how much more embarrassing it would be to have the King and his Shield involved in it all. I will never forget walking into what I believed to be a private audience with his Majesty only to find him sitting there on his throne with a party hat on his head.

[Even worse, Clarus had been standing just to the side and behind the King, stern and serious as always, with a nearly identical hat on his head.]

Never have I wanted to wring the necks of, but also hug, my 'pushy' friends so much.

[maku]

[ Despite herself, Karin feels a little grin quirk up the corners of her mouth. She's not sure what she likes better -- the idea of Ignis' friends running around and plopping party hats on whoever would wear one, or the idea of the king joining in their shenanigans with ample enthusiasm. Either way, she finds herself suddenly thinking: he'd like them. The Hero Club. They sound just as pushy and full of sickeningly good intentions as Ignis' friends. ]

Yeah, I guess you win. At least we only had an audience of like, four and no one was royalty. As far as I know, anyway.

[ Togo's fancy enough to pass for royalty at least but that's not quite the same. ]

The least they could've done is take the trash, though. You know how long it took me to get rid of all that garbage? I have no idea how they eat so much.

[shatteredlenses]

They must fuel their good intentions with something, I suppose. Still, it is quite rude to leave the clean up to the birthday person.

[Gladio told him later that was the main reason they had the party at the Citadel. There was no way they were going to let Ignis clean up after his own surprise birthday party and they knew he would try if he was at any of their apartments.]

The best of intentions are not always the best thought out of intentions. I guess that is why the phrase 'It's the thought that counts' is so popular.

[maku]

You're telling me. Honestly, it kinda shocks me that they all even manage to get dressed and make it to school in the mornings.

[ She's grousing but there's no punch to her words. In fact, it's probably about as close to being openly fond that Karin has ever gotten. ]

If any of them ever turn up here, I'll make sure to introduce you.