[MU] - SEPTEMBER STORYTELLING

[lifeaftr_mods]

The Storyteller, when they greet you, has assumed the shape of an osprey. Their silhouette seems somewhat stooped, as though their materialization has come at an effort. When they speak, the words are quiet - nearly a whisper.

"New lands must be found. To that end, I will be absent for the time being. I will do my best to return promptly, but I cannot say when I will next be back."

A pause. A talon scratches the sand. The Storyteller lowers their head, plainly reluctant about what must be said next.

"I also cannot say what might occur, as a result of my absence. Mu is a capricious land that requires my constant mediation. Should it...misbehave, you will at least have the full understanding as to why. I leave you in Harv's capable hands, and - will try not to be gone long."

And with that, the scene transitions to a familiar setting.



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. Those of the nonverbal persuasion have, as of a request issued by Ren (catpiper), an alternative means of telling their stories if they so choose, in the form of the Chamber of Glyphs.

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

[savedbyasong]

Oh... [Still, he feels bad for embarrassing Connor. He leans back on him reaching up to play with a strand of his hair, confused but happy that Connor doesn't seem to be angry at him.

Shion doesn't seem to think Connor is being overly dramatic, at least eighty percent of Shion's life is melodrama.]

Still I'm sorry... if you got embarrassed...

[yourattention]

It's fine. [He probably deserves this, for throwing other people under the bus constantly.] I'm over it. I can't - don't control you.

[Connor doesn't actually stop Shion from playing with his hair, but he does shift so he's not actually leaning as heavily on Shion.]

[savedbyasong]

[That's probably for the best, Shion is smaller than Connor. He continues playing with his hair.] That doesn't mean you shouldn't tell me... When I do stuff that upsets you.

[When not if. He knows he is not great at... Many things and he and Connor's worlds are very different, there are a lot of cultural differences.]

[yourattention]

I'm not upset, I just - [Connor flips the notebook open and points to the page Shion showed earlier.] Do you know the fairytale, The Little Mermaid? That's what this is.

[Sort of. Actually, not really but close enough.]

[savedbyasong]

[Shion shook his head after a moment of thinking, he was much more well read than he once had been but it seemed Connor was constantly ahead of him on that front.] I haven't read The Little Mermaid. I don't know it.

[yourattention]

[Yeah, well. When you're so lonely in middle school that your yearbook page is literally just a list of your favorite books? You're maybe a little bit past "well-read" and edging into bookworm territory.]

It's about a mermaid who falls in love with a prince and saves him from drowning, only he doesn't know it. She asks if - [He pauses, like he's going to say something and then doesn't.] She wants to be human, so a sea witch gives her legs in exchange for her voice. The only problem is she must marry the prince she fell in love with otherwise she'll die and turn into sea foam.

[He hesitates again. He's obviously mixing together the Disney version and the original, but which ending?]

She almost does turn into seafoam, because the sea witch uses her voice to trick the prince, but it's all set right in the end and they get married.

[savedbyasong]

[A mermaid who falls in love with a prince and saves him from drowning, who wants to be a human and gives up her voice in exchange for legs. It sounds like a terrible deal, to have to marry the prince or die.

At least it had a happy ending, sort of?] Did she ever get her voice back? Did she remain a human? Surely she did because it would be really difficult for them to be together if she lived in the ocean. [He's only really got Connor's drawings to go from for any reference on mermaid. But he's imagining the Jormunn.]

[yourattention]

[He doesn't actually remember the sequel to The Little Mermaid, because like most people he's of the opinion that most of the Disney Sequels are garbage, but.]

Yeah. She got it back after they defeated the sea witch. Didn't really become human, though - as long as she's on land it's fine but if she goes in the water, it's back to fins.

[That much he remembers from the sequel.]

[savedbyasong]

So she got the best of both worlds. [She didn't have to leave her home forever but she got to be with the person she loved.

Even Shion is not naive enough to believe that anything in reality would end that way, but it's a story. Stories are allowed to be unrealistic.]