aftr_stories | [MU] - AUGUST STORYTELLING

Entry tags:

[MU] - AUGUST STORYTELLING

Those of you who were unlucky enough to perish following the current events will find yourselves waking just in time for the backdrop of a dream to swim into view. By the stroke of midnight on the 23rd of August, all the effects of the shattered merotome will fade.

You are yourselves for the night. Tomorrow, the penalties for the dead will settle in.

Better take advantage of your health while you can.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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. Newcomers may tell whatever stories they like!

For this month only, your deadline has been extended until September 3rd, 11:59pm EST to accomodate a later Storytelling!

Edited 2019-08-24 04:03 (UTC)

Player Name:
Character Name: Leonard Church
Character Journal:

motherfucking_ghost
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):
Remember that time everyone was switching bodies and powers and then fought a sentient clown box? Good times. Much better times to recount. He's super enthusiastic about it, exaggerating the details but, given the circumstances, not by a whole lot. Describing his weirdo tall body and the scalpel of many giant uses!!! But everyone gets some limelight.
Okay, so being a mini-sub was a wild weird time too. But at least he got to explore Atlantis with a pretty and dangerous fish-guy. There will eventually be part of the story where they fight a shadow walrus and he thinks he's cool as a cucumber instead of probably the fucko that got himself caught in a net. He laments that there was no actual treasure to be had.
Before the island made them all go crazy and at war, he did some exploring with Ignis. Swamps are gross but the guy got mud everywhere and it was pretty funny. And then they (eventually) find a witch house and they are perfectly polite about it thankyouverymuch and it was...it was pretty weird, actually. Also? Tigerlilly covered head to toe in muck. Guess who doesn't have dibs on washing that!
Public/Private: Public

Player Name: Echo
Character Name: Muffet
Character Journal:

prettypurpleparlor
Number of Offerings: Three.
Offering(s): First, she tells the story of Nastrandir, in its' brief and brutal resurrection. It was never truly her homeland, and she still carries some bitterness for being deceived and used in such a way, but it was still a land loved by its' people, and she's not so cruel as to deny them some last remembrance, however odd.

Next is the story of a kind Knight, who comforted her in her time of need. Maybe one day they'll return and maybe they won't, but she still remembers them, and wants to give them a chance to be remembered by others in turn.

Last is the story of a child who played in a garden. They aren't here anymore, either- and neither is the child who was so often by their side. But she remembers them, too.

Wherever they all are... whatever it is they're doing...

She hopes they're okay.

Public/Private: Unusually for Muffet, all three stories are private.

Player Name: Maggie
Character Name: Erika
Character Journal:

bitch4bitch
Number of Offerings: 1
Offering(s): Erika describes, with some audible discomfort, how the effects on Nastrandir left her entirely forgetting to look after Chip for an embarrassingly long time - and how, in the end, they managed to break her out of the island's effects.
Public/Private: Private

Player Name: Alex
Character Name: Kravitz
Character Journal:

deathfindsaway
Number of Offerings: 3

Offering(s):
- His first story is more of a reminder that this discussion doesn't get lost over everything that happened, but Legion had brought up making a museum. It's a nice idea and he's about it, and especially doesn't want it to get lost in the wake of what happened.

- The second one is a little more abstract and not seemingly directly about him; just a little tale of a man and a girl who had lost their memory, but regain it together. It's pretty transparent what this is about, and yet he still won't acknowledge it.

- Finally, just in case someone missed it, he'd like to remind everyone of the very big snakes on Nastrandir and not to fuck with them. Just. Just don't.

Public/Private: All public!

Player Name: Alex
Character Name: Beauregard
Character Journal:

lesbeau
Number of Offerings: 3

Offering(s):
- First, she's gonna try to warm up the crowd with the awesome story of how she has a gun now. Everyone can probably guess this is a bad idea for everyone involved, but she seems excited about it. It comes with a specific warning "not to try anything" or she's gonna have another one to tell next month.

- Second, she talks about what she was doing while everyone else was losing it, which was beating the active shit out of sirens. Specific shoutout to Castor, Keith, and Shepard on that one. If anyone else sees a siren on that island, she invites them to throw it into the ocean.

- And finally, in a maybe uncharacteristically Beau move, she... apologizes for the event. She talks about how she and a few others found the orb, and she had brought it back to Enso to study it further. She's clear to say that she's pretty sure it would have happened if she brought it closer or not, but still... her bad. Oopsy on that one. If anyone tries to fight her, see story 1.

Public/Private: All public!

Player Name: Maggie
Character Name: Ginko
Character Journal:

onegreeneye
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s): - A horrifically failed attempt at helping someone move along after a loss. Ginko’s description of the conversation is sparing, partly thanks to his own audible shame over how it went.

- An encounter with Hector, during the mess on Nastrandir.

- An encounter with Yukio that turned into a conflict. Both the stories from Nastrandir are shared with no effort to hide his horror at the extent to which the merotome impacted his friends' perceptions.

Public/Private: All private!

Player Name: Nina
Character Name: Agent Carolina
Character Journal:

uptightness
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):
- In which Carolina met a strange person (or what she thinks is a person). Yet, in the grand scheme of things, not quite as strange as one might think. The Reds and Blues have set the bar fairly high for her, but he had seemed to be talking to himself, or maybe having an argument with someone that no one could see. While there was a part of her that debated leaving him there, she thought better of it.
- She is not the right person to ask these questions to. No doubt Caboose or Grif would have said EAT IT, but Carolina errs on the side of caution, no matter what. If you want to put something in your mouth, don't turn to her for advice. But, she did attempt to give some help to someone that was clearly new?
- Why can't people follow orders? Run means run, unless you want to be... giant rock worm... snake? Reptile? Bait... But don't blame it on her if you get eaten.
Public/Private: Private

Player Name: lexy
Character Name: ren
Character Journal:

catpiper
Number of Offerings: 3

Offering(s):
She really misses them and it's hard to talk about, but being able to express that with another person was cathartic. She's not gonna mention any names, just how much her heart hurts and that it's going to be okay, because that's just how it is. People vanish and all she does is ask the ST to look out for some lost kids in the woods.

The event was rough and she's not going to go into great detail about it, namely because she can't remember much. She knows people helped her, that she made a lot of friends and there were people she didn't like at all. Her memory's fuzzy and she doesn't understand 'why it's weird like that' and why 'it felt like a fire in my heart' and she asks if 'it feels that way for you all the time,' even though she doesn't expect an answer.

Can robots have candy? Like, why can't they have candy? Is there a way to make electricity spicy? Science is dumb and hard, but she thinks it's wrong that robots can't enjoy the finer, delicious things in life. Someone explain how taste works immediately please. There's a robot who can't enjoy candyfruit and that's actually a crime.

Public/Private: 2 private, last public

Player Name: Zero
Character Name: Tim Wright
Character Journal:

postictal
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):

1) A story about experiencing a carnival for the first time. What started off as an effort to cheer Guzma up involved a lot of new things that Tim had simply never had a chance to encounter. He learned what a deep fried Oreo was. He learned how it felt to ride a tilt-a-whirl. It was...kind of nice? Which is a weirdness in and of itself.

2) A report on what he and Asgore discovered on B2 of Nastrandir. Namely: lots of fucking rocks. Consider this a public warning that this land is relatively unstable, and that people should be careful if they want to visit the region. There were useful mushrooms and plants in the area and such, but just...be careful, folks.

3) Lastly, the hardest thing of all. Confirmation that they're gone. He doesn't describe the period of grief that followed, but rather uses this story as a way of alerting everyone to the fact that Frisk and Chara are no longer on the archipelago. It's...hard for him to get through. Very hard.

Public/Private: The first is private. The second two are public.

Player Name: Zero
Character Name: The Drifter
Character Journal:

hyperlit
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):As is typical for them, they tell their stories nonverbally, with a mixture of text and drawings on the Chamber of Glyphs. This makes for some relatively clipped, impersonal telling, but they do their best.

1) Firstly, an apology for all they may have hurt. They behaved bluntly and cruelly to fellow teammates. They fought and attacked those on the perceived "other side." This apology is a troubled one; even the Drifter's clipped delivery does not fully mask that something about this has rattled them very deeply.

2) Veepherding! A public report on how the farming islet now has...these charming beasts. Don't stick your hands in their faces, but they're still a useful thing to have, due to their supply of wool.

3) Lastly, a somber comment for those who are not aware: the Knight is gone. They don't have any closure to offer, or any way of assuring that they knew that they would be missed. They simply...discovered that they were unable to contact them one day. The Drifter has since moved into their abode, to try and ensure that they could take care of all the bits and bobs that the Knight had taken such pains to cultivate: the bee house, the mosslings, and the place itself. They just...want to make sure that the place is still there, and still in good condition, should the Knight ever come back.

Public/Private: All are public!

Edited 2019-08-31 20:00 (UTC)

Player Name: Zero
Character Name: Agent Washington
Character Journal:

counterblows
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s): As always, Wash's tone for these "stories" is less of a story and more of a post-mission report. He's clipped, formal, brusque, and probably not terribly interesting to listen to.

1) The giant snakes on Nastrandir were kind of a nightmare to deal with, and he had to fight two of them on top of it. All in all, he doesn't really enjoy traveling on Nastrandir.

2) More fucking snakes. A guy who could turn INTO a snake, no less. That was even more of a nightmare. He probably wouldn't have been so trigger-happy if he weren't being...influenced at the time, but uh, at least no one died. Right?

3) Red vs. Blue. Asgore very nearly killed him. They were both lucky that they escaped this encounter intact, so to speak...not that it helped a whole lot. Wash died not long after.

Public/Private: All three are private!

Player Name: Heather
Character Name: Aziraphale
Character Journal:

bibliophilicbells
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s): First, Aziraphale takes them back to the very Beginning: He tells the story of a Garden. He tells the story of how perfect it was, how lush and verdant; of how each blade of grass, each plant within it thrived unlike any before or any after; of how the fruits that grew there were unprecedented in their size and sweetness (literally unprecedented entirely, actually) and variation. Orange trees, peach trees, pomegranate trees. Bananas. Coconuts. Figs. Berry bushes bursting with color and juice. Cherries, a personal favorite of his. Apples. One very specific apple. The apple that caused all the trouble. He tells this in great detail, eager to carry everyone into the memory with him. Those were... better times.

Next, he jumps ahead a few centuries, and tells the story of a bloody, unstable France. He rattles off the number of heads that went rolling. He talks about the executioners and their eager fingers, and how the guillotine blades weren't always as sharp as they ought to be. He skips the details on what happened, when that was the case. He shakes his head, mutters something-something-barbaric. The silver lining in this one is crepes, and the best plate of them he's ever had. He describes these in far more detail than the rest of the story, lingering for a particularly long while on the brilliant use of truffles in the dish.

Finally, to only the Storyteller, he speaks of the second nicest demon he's ever met, who also happens to be the only other nice demon he's ever met. He sounds a bit in awe the entire time, and a bit confused; he expresses some doubt as to whether or not this particular demon is really to be trusted, and sounds almost longing in his hope that that is, in fact, the case. He'd like some proof that there's good in everyone — that no one is unforgivable.

Public/Private: The first two stories are public; the last is private.

Player Name: Justine
Character Name: Crowley
Character Journal:

demonicmiracle
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):

All of Crowley's stories come across as if he's retelling a legend or a myth, something that's not entirely true, except for how they sort of are. He's got a way with words when he wants to, and isn't at all afraid to embellish things a little. Also, he's new, so he's definitely trying to get away with telling stories from home while he can.

1) He tells the story of the Black Knight, an enemy of the court of King Arthur who spread discord through the land, and was eventually slain by Gareth. He goes into a lot of detail about the sword fights, and it's hard to tell who, exactly, is supposed to be the protagonist in this story.

2) Next up is the temptation of Jesus, by Satan, in the desert. Crowley fails to mention that it was not, in fact, Satan who did the tempting, but he tells the rest of the story relatively closely to the Bible interpretation, just with more detail. There's no hiding something of wistfulness in his voice, though, as he describes how Jesus resisted every temptation, his faith in God unwavering, despite the fact the man ended up being executed rather brutally. Oddly enough, Crowley doesn't mention the resurrection. He doesn't think that's as important.

3) The final story is about the Anti-Christ, the destroyer of worlds, blah blah blah. He talks about the careful machinations of Hell to ensure that the American ambassador's wife was in the right place at the right time, and he describes the order of Satanic nuns who were responsible for swapping the Anti-Christ with the actual baby of the Ambassador. There's no talk of another couple, and a third baby, because he doesn't know the full story. Hell.... is dumb.....

Public/Private: Public

Player Name: James
Character Name: Faust
Character Journal:

wanderingdoctorfaust
Number of Offerings: 3
Offering(s):

Story 1: On today's show, the good doctor will be extensively discussing his recent experiences with the isle of Nastrandir and the events that have occurred within its borders thus far - whilst occasionally going off on brief tangents regarding his specific involvement with all that happened.
The first of these tangents is in regards to his official induction into the neutral team responsible for a majority of the destroyed sirens during the entire fiasco, as well as Faust's rather particular introduction to a certain paladin...

Story 2: The second of Faust's more extended tangents from the primary topic regards his rather embarrassing encounter with young Zidane: He had been performing reconnaissance for the siren-smashing squad when he suddenly received quite the fright from a tree-bound interloper! Fortunately, the good doctor reassures all present that the miscommunication was quickly rectified, and everything went forward according to plan!

Story 3: And last but not least: Faust's efforts in evacuating the islanders coming to their senses - he specifically mentions one brave monster who, in the face of their lingering brainwashing, found the strength to completely obliterate a siren with naught but a stray rock and an explosive throwing technique! Their strength in the face of such invasive brainwashing has left quite the impression on the good doctor, leaving him quite inspired by the young monster's example.

Public/Private: Public

Player Name: Shiny
Character Name: Legion
Character Journal:

forwearemany
Number of Offerings: 1
Offering(s): Fun times with a friend. They told, and showed, Horatio a bunch of stuff. Hopefully he has a better understanding of organics now.
Public/Private: Public.

Player Name: Vanessa
Character Name: Commander Shepard
Character Journal:

tenthstreetbred
Number of Offerings: 2! Pretty sure one of her stories needs to go to Something I just can't remember what right now.
Offering(s): Her first story is about a carefree game of tag with Ren. She can't help but smile through the lot of it. She hasn't been getting herself out there much at all recently, but hey. Better late than never, right?

Her second story is about her and Beau fighting as kids. This story also gets an amused chuckle out of her. That event was strange but honestly? That part was pretty worth it.
Public/Private: Public! She's trying to Branch Out again lol

Player Name: Neko Sandy
Character Name: Ignis Scientia
Character Journal:

shatteredlenses
Number of Offerings: 2
Offering(s):

Story 1: It's been a long time since Ignis has appeared at storytelling. He's lost so many people close to him that he's fallen back into the bad habit of holding it all inside and just surviving. It's not like he has many people to discuss things with anymore and he doesn't wish to overburden Ardyn when the redhead has enough to deal with as it is. Fortunately, he's not going out exploring alone like he has considered doing before, but that also means Church was front and center to see the mouthful of mud he got. At least the weird witch they met didn't turn them into frogs as well?

Story 2: The second exploration Ignis did was something of an uplifting experience, just not in the way he would have liked! Ah well, even if Ardyn will never let him live if down, the redhead did get him down in one piece!

Public/Private: Public, everyone could use a pick me up right now, right? ~~Perhaps not as literally as Iggy's second story, but...~~

Player Name: Naz
Character Name: Héctor
Character Journal:

vagabone
Number of Offerings: 1
Offering(s):
- Unusually for him, there is only one story told and it's private. A fairly calm account of what exactly happened on Nastrandir up until his 'death', all fact and very little feeling. Call him passive aggressive, if they must, but it was not a pleasant week.

Public/Private: Private

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

the first story ; of reds and blues

[The Drifter takes the time to illustrate their point, carefully. They draw a careful rendition of themself, firing a weapon. They don't illustrate a definitive opponent - this isn't relaying a specific incident. Instead, they emphasize the drawing with choppy waves at their own self's feet, and a particularly angry expression, albeit an exaggerated one.]

[There are other illustrations that surround this central, terrible figure. Pieces of automaton, reduced to scrap. Places where the ground has been scorched and torn into furrows. They are drawing all the chaos they have wrought.]

[Once complete, they turn to anyone who might be watching.]

owe apology

[They fold their hands in front of them and bow their head.]

continue to hurt
hurt others
become what was created to do

i am sorry

the third story ; of a child knight

[They're not the best at artistic endeavor, though they're also not the worst, either. All in all, efforts to look more anatomically and spatially correct are generally sacrificed for the sake of illustrating how the situation feels rather than how it literally looks. It's a loose grasp of stylism, but the Drifter isn't an artist. At least, they don't consider themself one.]

[The illustration they work at takes some time, and is rather simplistic in design. While the central figure is itself relatively colorless, portrayed in strokes of creamy whites and grays and charcoal blacks, they manage to infuse the surroundings with abstract swirls of color that gradually transition into other shapes: the Drifter, likely recognize from their red cloak and the blot of blue skin; a lankier version of the centerpiece with serrated horns and a longer, tattered cloak; a slender figure draped in scarlet, black, and white, surrounded by flames; a many-armed purple creature with multiple eyes and a crooked smile; and plenty others besides, with varying degrees of detail.]

[All of them stem from the large shape at the center, however. They were small, but they touched so many lives.]

[The Drifter looks back to anyone who might still be watching.]

knight
drifter
warrior
ally

[A pause. Then - ]

family

they are gone

[Muffet bows her head quietly, silent for a long moment. She's staring at the drawing of the Knight, the child she's quietly memorialized with her own silk and memories, all the others surrounding them.]

[A web.]

Thank you.

[Thank you for being their friend. Thank you for feeling this loss.]

[Thank you for remembering them too.]

OOC || FORM

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: OOC || FORM

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

IC || STORYTELLING

the drifter | ota

no subject

third story

no subject

tim wright | ota