[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

[attheclocktower]

[The state she's in has left her thoughts in a state of chaotic self-deprecating disarray at best. Her rapid-fire, hiccuping sobs are leaving her lightheaded; it's an almost insurmountable task to gather them to really understand what he's saying, let alone formulate a response.

Does... does she want him to go? Does she...? No, what does she... if he wants to stay if he wants to help, then that's okay right? That's...

Her hand crawls forward an inch. And then, it's difficult to tell through the hiccups but if he listens, she is trying. Her breaths are coming in and out in sharp gasps each, trying to put some distance between them. Trying to slow it down.

If you want to help, then help her.]

[bloodyashes]

[The attempted motion is invitation enough. He takes her hands - just her hands - and squeezes gently, giving her an anchor to hold onto.]

In, two, three, out, two, three...

[He might not be help for much more than this, but - he's trying. His fingers squeeze hers in time, tighter on the inhale, looser on the exhale, as he tries to walk her through it.]

[attheclocktower]

[It's a while before it starts to really work. Hiccuping, gasping, makes it hard to regulate her breathing for a time. But eventually he'll notice her starting to grip his hand back. A grip that gets harder the more time goes on.

Eventually, she's able to speak again. Her head isn't fully clear, but...]

You didn't- you didn't have to do that.

[bloodyashes]

Was I supposed to leave you?

[He's not the person she's missing. Even if he is. His hands squeeze hers, now out of rhythm.

That doesn't mean that he can just leave it to someone else.]

[attheclocktower]

[She doesn't answer, can't really. One answer she refuses to give, and the other... well, she knows it wouldn't go over well. At all.]

I didn't... I didn't want you to know. You're not him. It's not fair, for me to treat you like him.

[For all she says that, the grip on his hand is still fairly tight.]

[bloodyashes]

Life's still not fair, last I checked.

[He hasn't let go.]

I don't know what that other me was thinking. I won't ever know. But I'm... trying. To work on learning to trust others again, and it'd look pretty stupid if I was doing that and then acted like I couldn't trust myself.

[Maybe... He isn't going to. Even though he glances away, clearly embarrassed by what he's about to say.]

So - it'd be a little forward to call us friends, but I'm not going to leave you behind, either.

[attheclocktower]

[For what it's worth, she's not looking, at least not to see his embarrassment. Instead she's listening what he's saying. Considering.]

... I'm a replica.

[It's... it's something she feels he should know. Trusting him, so he can trust her, and also because the other knew it too. Also she's not entirely thinking clearly at the moment.

At least her earlier reaction to his memory might make more sense now.]

[bloodyashes]

[He's smart enough to at least not say that he kind of got that impression from her first memory.

Instead he's quiet for a moment. Thinking. Turning over... What's already been a hell of a night in his head.]

...Unless you're planning on stealing someone's life and name and living as them, I don't think it matters. That's what really - that's where the problem is.

[And Izunia Lucis Caelum proved that you don't need replicas or clones or anything to do that, didn't he?]

[attheclocktower]

[She laughs in reply, a choked, wet sort of thing.]

N-no, no... I... I have my things, my life. That's all I want. That's all I ever wanted.

[It just took her a while to develop a lot of those things of her own, and to discover what was and wasn't hers.]

[bloodyashes]

Then I think I can handle it.

[Not 'I think it'll be okay,' because he doesn't know if it'll be okay, really. But if it isn't, he's pretty sure that it'll be the kind of okay that's not -

Not her fault, and therefore his job to manage.]