[MU] - JANUARY STORYTELLING

[lifeaftr_mods]

For once, there is nothing that needs sharing before this particular dream. There is, perhaps, a lingering edge of tension, of anticipation, like a great jungle cat gathering their hindquarters just moments prior to making a leap.

But you knew that already, didn't you?

In any case, everything settles into place with the air of natural routine.



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.

Comments

OOC || FORM

[lifeaftr_mods]

Reply to this comment, having filled out the corresponding form, if you wish to participate in the Storytelling for non-compulsory AC. Non-compulsory AC allows for IC rewards such as Item Requests, but is not mandatory - though it will ICly benefit your character to try and participate, even if they're not the storytelling type.

Remember that those who have already undergone one Storytelling cycle must tell a story of their time in LifeAftr in order for it to count. Newcomes may tell whatever stories they like!

<b>Player Name:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> <b>Character Journal:</b> <user name="NAME"> <b>Number of Offerings:</b> List character's number of offerings here. A maximum of THREE STORIES can be told each Storytelling. <b>Offering(s):</b> Describe the story related here. A link to a past game or a wiki will suffice if you'd rather not write it all out, but it is helpful to note if your character was an engaging or enthusiastic storyteller, plainly unwilling and undetailed, or anything else of note! <b>Public/Private:</b> Is this story told for all to hear, or to the Storyteller privately? Please let us know!

IC || STORYTELLING

[lifeaftr_mods]

If you wish to thread out the relaying of your story so that other characters may react to it, you may do so here!

[lightlessfuture]

Player Name: Ruka
Character Name: The Knight
Character Journal: lightlessfuture
Number of Offerings: Two
Offering(s): bam
Public/Private: Public

[lightlessfuture]

[ The Knight has very little to say (nothing at all, in fact) but their sword finds a lot of work, drawing in the sand. Both stories are told in pictures, without words, though the Knight seems keen to clarify any questions.

They might get a little distressed if you accidentally smudge a picture, though they'll correct it in short order.

first:
These pictures produce a story about a smith who forged a 'perfect weapon'. Overcome by the product of his life's work, he begged to be struck down with it, so that his life could be ended by the blade's keen edge.

The warrior refused, and though the smith was left bereft for a time, he found another calling, and a kindred spirit in a warrior who had put down his arms to paint, instead. They remained happy, together.

second:
These pictures tell a story about an old stag beetle whose duty was to travel far and wide, through a kingdom brought to dust and ruin. Though the rest of his kindred were dead and gone, he still served. He was the last of his kind, or so he thought.

With a traveler's help, he found ways long lost, and remembered the way back to the place he was born. In that place, there was a freshly hatched egg, and the old stag realised he was not alone, and no longer the last. ]

[walkietalkie]

Player Name: Trace
Character Name: Clementine
Character Journal: this one
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):

( 1 ) She talks about where she got her hat. She was seven at the time, and she wanted to join the ball team she saw in the park near their house, but they were all older than her and they were all boys on top of that. So her dad went out and bought her a baseball cap, and one for himself too, and he'd take her out at least once a week (for a couple of months, anyway) to throw balls and hit them with a bat.

( 2 ) She tells the story of Lee, and what he did for her. It's basically a summary of Season 1, with a sentence's focus on each of the highlights - times when he protected her or saved her. Times when he taught her something important, like how to survive. And she talks about how he died. Bitten because she ran away to find parents who were dead already anyway, then shot by the very gun she's telling these stories to earn ammo for.

( 3 ) She tells the story about meeting Wade, found here.

Public/Private: Privately.

Re: OOC || FORM

[attheclocktower]

Player Name: Gorse
Character Name: Xion
Character Journal: attheclocktower
Number of Offerings: 2 (might add another later?)
Offering(s):

1. A story about parallels, about the past repeating itself. Namely, about Excalibur reacting to Asch the exact same way in LifeAftr he did in Animus
   
2. Training with Yuka and everyone, and relearning limits.

Public/Private: I think... public? Thinking is hard right now

[hyperlit]

Player Name: Zero
Character Name: The Drifter
Character Journal: hyperlit
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s): As always, these will be text-based adventures, supplemented with the odd physical demonstration of combat as the Drifter takes to shadowboxing and parrying and thrusting against an invisible opponent.

(1) A story about training with a nice man with a bat. They'll do their best to make a compelling narrative of it, complete with being afraid that they might have hurt him, but there's not much to the tale - though they will add that he did promise to help them find a rainbow. What a nice fellow!!!

(2) A story about meeting a brave little horned knight. The Drifter will stress their awe in meeting someone who, like them, is unable to speak. They are not quite alone as they'd assumed. They'll also be certain to stress the Knight's proven prowess in battle.

(3) A story about helping a feathered creature who also seems to be stricken with the inability to speak. They'd assumed that he was a member of the great birds of the Northern region of their home, but his gentle nature had quickly proven that wrong, and couldn't be more pleased as to that little detail. All told, they seem quietly...pleased and imbued with a strange resolve and camaraderie that they've endured only fleetingly. It might not be for the happiest reason, but in their mind, it is better to relate to someone out of an inability to speak than it is over terminal illness.

Public/Private: All public!

[yourattention]

Player Name: r
Character Name: Connor Murphy
Character Journal: yourattention
Number of Offerings: 2!
Offering(s):

1. A story about making a map and coming to terms with . . . being in LifeAftr.
2. A somewhat disjointed story that's half about some letters? And half about feeling guilty for things he can't change.

Public/Private: Private! Although the map is public, the the story concerning it is not.

[postictal]

Player Name: Zero
Character Name: Tim Wright
Character Journal: postictal
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s): His narration is tired and pretty droll, but the narratives are cohesive. They don't sound very off-the-cuff at all, despite the informality of his presentation; he's clearly thought very carefully about what parts of each tale he feels like sharing.

(1) A story about quicksand. This is why Tim Wright does not lead expeditions, ever, and he sounds utterly resigned to the result of the entire caper.

(2) That one time a small child thought his mouth was on fire. He pairs it with a reminder that he has a bunch of flare guns for free for anyone who needs them, hint hint, as well as a tacit plea for someone to show this child what fireworks are. He doesn't even really like them on principle, but he's pretty sure a kid like Ren would like seeing them.

(3) The time he learned about dabbing. He might not be caught up on the dankest of memes, but he's getting there.

Public/Private: All public, regrettably.

[yourattention]

Made a map.

[Connor unrolls a piece of papyrus which is a fairly detailed, if not entirely accurate (the inconsistent scale leaves a lot to be desired), map of a specific area of Ensō. Specifically, it's of E4-8 and D7/8 with an inset section mapping the islets. There's a path marked that seems to be, essentially, how one might get from the Temple to the monkey compound.

This show and tell appears to be in lieu of a "proper" story, but mostly because storytelling is the one time he knows everyone will be around.]

In case any of you are on Ensō and need to know relatively safe areas to be for what's coming up.

[ungrieved]

Player Name: Zero
Character Name: Gabe Goodman
Character Journal: ungrieved
Number of Offerings:3
Offering(s): Gabe is a theatrical storyteller prone to gross exaggeration - less to the betterment of himself and more to the detriment of others, curiously - and a penchant for physicality whenever possible. He gestures, signals, prances, imbues his stories with a great deal of "look at me I'm so special" dramatics. Gee wonder why

(1) He meets a kid with stupid-looking cat ears and mocks him incessantly. He puts a great deal of emphasis on how stupid those ears look, and doesn't mention the fact that Ritsuka super did hone in on Gabe's personal issues at all.

(2) The time he was grabbed by a horrible plant man, COMPLETELY UNFAIRLY. No mention is made of the fact that Gabe was being a horrid little shit by yanking Epsilon's vines in the first damn place.

(3) A snowball fight with Mickey Mouse that ends with Gabe claiming that the mouse hurt him terribly, pelting him with snowballs until Gabe was shivering and blue-lipped from the cold. This is not precisely untrue, as Mickey was a far better shot than Gabe himself, but he neglects to mention that he was already quite cold to begin with and chooses to push the blame entirely on Mickey. What a menace.

Public/Private: All gloriously, horribly public

[crosslaced]

Player Name: Star
Character Name: Laurent
Character Journal: crosslaced
Number of Offerings: 2
Offering(s):
1. A dramatic reading of one of his new Chuck Tingle books, stopping before it gets nsfw. Probably going to be 'Gay T-Rex Law Firm: Executive Boner' because I googled that one- presumably the parts to be read are exposition about how this guy came to be working at ???a dinosaur law-firm?????

He's not 4kids but blatantly sexual content will be omitted for the kids. i hope this is allowed, you did put these books into laurent's shitty, shitty hands

2. A story of organising the islanders before the sun dies. (x)He gives special mention to the Drifter, who he mistakenly thinks is one of the children, and expresses appreciation at his eagerness to help. What a good bean.

Public/Private: first is public, second is private.

[dedamastai]

Player Name: r
Character Name: Damianos
Character Journal: dedamastai
Number of Offerings: 2.
Offering(s):
1. It's not a very long story, but Damen will inform the Storyteller that he gave Laurent the books (even though technically it was supposed to wait until later) and they were well-received. Also he named the horse Chuck, so.
2. See I'm going to be nice and not also make everyone miserable with the knowledge of Chuck Tingle: his second story is just a casual retelling of some of the things he's learned from the Jormun. Not, like. About the event? More about the techniques and shit he's learned from sparring with them.
Public/Private: First is private, the second is public.

[ratsinadaze]

Player Name: Azazel
Character Name: Gobbet
Character Journal: ratsinadaze
Number of Offerings: 2 - or 1, depending on whether the Storyteller decides to count her second offering.

Offering(s):
1. A story about meeting the Jormun. The story diverges a bit, talking about all she's learned of the Jormun and expressing her admiration for them. She takes the time to explain to the group some of the best spots for ambushes and barricades and what she's been doing to help prepare.
2. A somewhat directionless story about how she met someone who was so impossibly different from her that she almost fucked up what little trust and friendship they'd built up through sheer lack of understanding. She dwells on how hard it is for her to comprehend the other person's point of view, even though she's since made amends and learned a bit more about the situation. The Storyteller might get the feeling it's more of something she wants to get off her chest than it is a proper offering, and she won't be upset if it doesn't count.

Public/Private: The first one is public, the second is private.

second

[souris_keteer]

[Mickey isn't 100% sure what the story is about, but he gets the gist of it, and he smiles.]

... I'm glad the little guy's not alone anymore.

[souris_keteer]

[Mickey whistles, clearly impressed.]

Wow, what to go!

[noctanotheroneout]

Player Name: Rosy
Character Name: Noctis Lucis Caelum
Character Journal: noctanotheroneout
Number of Offerings: Here
Offering(s): Noctis tells the story about how he met a really cool critter that hung around Xion. Might make mentions how a pet would be cool, as he never really had one growing up.
Public/Private: Public

[catpiper]

Player Name: Lexy
Character Name: Ren
Character Journal: catpiper
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):
story 1: is told quietly and with a mixture of overwhelming happiness and regret. It's about seeing Taako and Lup's auntie adventure in the last storytelling, watching the tiny elves be super happy, and being told she could call them aunt/uncle. Which clearly means something very important to her. She refers to them as Aunt Lup and Uncle Taako throughout the whole tale.

story 2: Snow party. She is incredibly excited to talk about the various things she did here and seems unable to finish one part before going onto another, making it some kind of wildass snow adventure. She'll talk about playing baseball, learning about snowmen, winning at snowball, losing at snowball, learning to dab. It's wild. What a blast!! She's so happy!

story 3: SHE GOT TO HELP and is thrilled to talk about cooking eggs and learning about spices. She will make it a point to say you need to take the salt out of the seawater before you put it on eggs and you shouldn't put fish in your shoes if you're going to eat it. These are Important Cooking Tips she learned that all islanders should know. What a nice day. She seems a bit too proud of herself for doing Nothing though.

Public/Private: First one is private and the rest are public.

[quietknight]

Player Name: Eric
Character Name: Sonje Forstner
Character Journal: quietknight
Number of Offerings: One
Offering(s): Sonje is not a great storyteller, though she does better in one on one conversations than she would in front of a group. She tells the story of the time she decided that paying off their family's debts through normal means was impossible, so she decided to gather up her grandfather's armor and gear and head out into the world to seek her fortune, with her parents very reluctant and tearful blessing.
Public/Private: Private

[wonderland_vogue]

[Oh boy is this ever not a story she wants to tell, but there's just something eating at her in order to say... something about it, at least.]

You know, I used to have a little brother. Used to, being the keyword.

A little backstory, I guess, our mother died when said little brother was a young child. Myself and my twin, Edward, wouldn't and couldn't just leave him by himself or give him to someone else. He was our little brother and just because disease played a part in everything didn't mean we couldn't... survive, right? I think we were maybe just barely teenagers at that point, taking care of a child by ourselves, whatever we had to do. Some days we went without in order for him to eat or sleep or whatever he needed. Didn't matter, him over us.

It went on like this for a few years, Edward and I picked up illusion magic and used our minds to basically fleece people out of their money since they couldn't... figure out how our games worked. They never involved the illusions, not our own games, now the gambling tables and such? Yeah, we rigged those with fake balls or whatever to win from whoever was running it. But never our own.

Though when we were adults, Edward and I already a good way into the mess and Keats just barely... He got sick, too, ended up being the same thing our mother had. No cure for it at the time, might be now, I don't know.

We did what we could, got different opinions, threatened a doctor that first told us the news as we thought it was bullshit and he wasn't trying. We... joined a necromantic cult since we had nowhere else to turn to, we thought it would do something, be able to stop whatever it was.

It didn't.

Eventually he succumbed to that illness and we were left with just the two of us, desperate to hold onto the other so we wouldn't lose the last family we had.

[wonderland_vogue]

Player Name: Star
Character Name: Lydia
Character Journal: wonderland_vogue
Number of Offerings: One
Offering(s): Oh look it's about the dead brother.
Public/Private: Public.

[darkova]

[Ingway's stories seem more like half sing-song half poems, done almost entirely in kenning]

First

[his first tale is literally about a wizard's caldron. The caldron was full of diamonds, and to try and claim it many people began to go to war. A foolish child tried to claim it to save his family from battle, and in revenge the magic caldron turned his family into rabbits, and he couldn't live with them anymore]

Second

[Later, a much more in soft song mostly to himself, Ingway tells of a frog that fell in love with a flower. He hated being small so much that he became a wolf... But in becoming powerful he grew too large, and couldn't see the flower anymore, and lost it forever. ]

[darkova]

Player Name: Jess
Character Name: Ingway
Character Journal: darkova
Number of Offerings: 2
Offering(s): Ingway tells the story of how the Valentine people became cursed to be pooka. And then the story of how he meet and then lost Mercades. Both are told in heavy metaphors so it's not clear both are about him.
Public/Private: Public

[thejaw]

Player Name: Caity
Character Name: Brian
Character Journal: thejaw
Number of Offerings: 2
Offering(s): Brian's storytelling is as fragmented and poorly done as usual, but unlike the stories he's told previously, this time he makes no distinction between himself and the person the story is about; it's told in first person.

(1) A story about a girl who insists on carrying around garbage. He sounds perplexed, but also the tiniest bit fond. The story has a distinctly bittersweet feeling, despite nothing bad happening during it.
(2) And another about the kitten he was given by Karamatsu. Brian talks of survival and protection, and how it was maybe stupid to take this thing in, and then how it licked his face until he woke up yesterday.

Public/Private: The first public, the second private.

[mamaterasu]

Player Name: Roxy
Character Name: Amaterasu
Character Journal: mamaterasu
Number of Offerings: Three!
Offering(s):
- One story will be how she met a very nice, little bug on the ice around Chol, and helped them to safety after a momentary snuggle session. It really didn't take her long at all to become quite endeared to them, but then again...she does has a soft spot for little bugs. ♥
- Ammy will detail her exploration of Chol and her talk with the Jormun leader, Munin, who she is also quite fond of. She will speak quite highly of the glorious fish lady and praise her abilities at conversation and working together for a common goal.
- The next will be a spattering of how many times she was approached and comforted, or fed, during her time when her energy was waning with the sun. She'll talk about each person's action and how grateful she is, praising each one for their kindness and generosity. There'll be a lot of affection when she's telling each one, and you can just feel the warmth in her heart over how good everyone here can be.
Public/Private: All open!