lifeaftr | July Intro: Dancing in the Dark

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July Intro: Dancing in the Dark

INTRO LOG: JULY

Who: New arrivals, and you!
What: New souls arrive to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: July 4th - July 10th
Where: Primarily Io, as well as Ensō
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Last month, the island of Io saw a massive overhaul, as Eleu reunited with their lost half, Zum, to take their rightful place as the island's Avatar of Fun. Eleu'zum is aware that Io will not be remaining in the archipelago for much longer, and thus have opted to go all out in the celebration of their rejuvenation.

New arrivals may awake at any of the locations listed below.

Waterslides: Don't Let Me Get Down
For this week only, the waterslides threading throughout the bathhouses of Io have been equipped with some special new features, namely the light-up water jets laid out across the outdoor areas, as well as diving boards placed at extreme heights for thrill seekers. Sure, you could just sit around and relax in the heated water, but where's the fun in that?

The supplies at the bathhouses have also been outfitted with wide varieties of inflatable tubes and pool toys, pool noodles, beach balls, dive toys, and squirt guns of every shape, size, and color. And yes, we really do mean every possible type you can imagine.

So have a blast, get soaked, shoot off of high-speed waterslides, or try and avoid the chaos to get a little relaxation time - the choice is yours. But enjoy the bathhouses and pools while you have access to them, before Io disappears.

Go-Karts: Don't Lie Me Down
That new go-kart track by the vineyard is in dire need of some test drivers. With corkscrew turns and twisting roads, those tracks look very much like they might be a tad hazardous, especially if your kart goes off-track...but don't fear! No matter how badly you spin out, you'll find that your kart will never leave the road, thus keeping spectators safe from any and all roadside dangers.

However, just because they're safe from you doesn't mean that you're safe from them. You've got plenty of items to use against your fellow racers, but you've got nothing to protect yourself against the turrets mounted at the sides of the tracks, placed for the enjoyment of spectators who feel like getting a little more participatory. The roadside turrets are capable of spitting all sorts of additional threats upon racers: banana peels, balls of fire, jets of water, and so on.

However, bear in mind that this feature is a two-way street; climb onto one of those turrets to target racers, and they'll find that they'll have no difficulty targeting you in retaliation.

Whether you're here to watch, here to race, here to make things difficult, or simply here to place bets and keep score, you've still got plenty of drinks to wash away the shame of defeat, or celebrate your first place victory.

Hedge Maze & Butterfly House: Back into the Easy Days
Newly mounted atop the tea gardens is a brand new butterfly house, hosting a spectacular abundance of gloriously colorful specimens. With jewel-bright wings and unusually bold dispositions, one will find that these butterflies are very, very easy to behold up close. They don't seem to mind visitors at all, and will happily flutter down to light on the hands, head, and shoulders of whoever draws near, assuming they don't swat them away. The butterfly house comes equipped with small dishes of sugar water to feed them, if you desire, though you could just as easily simply spend time here to relax and look out across the island. From up here, you have quite the spectacular view.

The tea gardens have also gained a rather grandiose hedge maze threaded around the tea trees. The paler pathways are for leisurely, scenic strolls, or playful games of who can reach the finish line first. The darker pathways, on the other hand, are for the more competitive, as well as the more daredevilish; those who take those pathways will quickly find themselves racing to reach the exit before some rather large bees catch up to them.

Despite their potentially fearsome appearance, these creatures are quite harmless, but there's still nothing quite like turning around and seeing that buzzing loudly after you. If they catch you, the bees will promptly burst into a large cloud of multicolored glitter that will coat you from head to toe. And if anyone has any experience with glitter, that can be quite a pain to get rid of. You'll probably be shaking it out of your hair and brushing it from your joints for weeks.

Rollercoaster & Carnival: Overlooking Trouble Gone Bad
The rollercoaster is the newest addition to the Honeycomb, and it's as much a thrill to behold as it is to ride. There are no lines, no tickets, and no entry fees; simply climb aboard! Once the cart is full, or if no further passengers enter, it will take off at breakneck speeds, twisting and loop-de-looping in a breathtaking series of physics-defying turns and arcs.

That's not all, however. The campsites on Io have also opted to make some slight alterations to celebrate the Avatar's return to form. Those large, colorful tents have gone from mere sites of sleeping and relaxation to a full-blown carnival. There are booths where you can play simple ring-toss games and the like, as well as stands for the acquisition of cotton candy, popcorn, and just about any snack you'd find typical of a carnival...as well as a few flavors that might seem a tad bit unconventional. But, hey - as long as it's here, why not sample what's free to eat? Even if you might run into seaweed ice cream, squid-ink sundaes, crab-cake kettle-corn, and many more besides, peppered among your more ordinary flavors.

A small collection of rides have also been provided, of course; what carnival would be fit without them? A carousel with cariborn- or beowolf-styled mounts might be a bit strange to behold at first, but it rides just as well as any other. A small ferris wheel allows you to oversee the sights of Io at the peak of its curve, while whirling teacups can make for a delightful if potentially nausea-inducing escapade.

The island of Io will be disappearing from the archipelago as of July 10th, so you'd better enjoy these additions while you can! For once, there will be no strings attached!

All new arrivals will awake with knapsacks, their names stitched to the front. The contents of said knapsacks can all be found in your acceptance notices!

As a final note to those who participated in the Test Drive Meme, bear in mind that those threads, if all parties involved would like, can be game canon in the form of dream-like memories involving a place very much like this one, though the layout is considerably different.

Feeling a tad adrift? Make sure to check the Locations Page, which has details regarding the starting areas and a handy map for those who feel better with a bird's eye view!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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[She lifts a hand to block the splattering of water, then lets out a quiet snort of laughter. Whoops!!]

And neither was that! You good, though? Didn't break any bones on the way down or whatever?

[Seeing her laugh and be friendly made Zidane laugh back. It was an accident on both sides. No harm done.]

Well, at least we both seem to be in one piece at least! I am, anyway! [In response to her question.] What about you, though? That must have been a real shock, having someone land on your boat like that! [Yeah he knows that it's almost impossible to not be on your guard here to some extent. He still can't help but be concerned though.]

[She laughs again, kicking idly at the water.] Believe me, I am fine. Yeah, it was a surprise, but that's about it. [Gonna take more than a TEEN FROM THE SKY to shake her up!!]

How're you liking those slides?

Hmmm....well, they’re nothing like I’ve seen before. You’d definitely not get water slides or water parks on Gaia. [And now that he thinks about it.] Maybe I could get Regent Cid to come up with one. Persuading him that it’s a good idea might take a while though....

Man, you guys don't have water parks? That sucks.

Ooh boy, why would that be? This guy overly cautious, boring, what?

Well, it's a different world with different technology, I guess. But Gaia's not that bad. There's still a lot of stuff there. [And more importantly, it's home to him. It's where he belongs at the end of the day.]

[And he laughs at the comment on Cid.] Awwww Cid's all right! [The guy called Zidane an idiot once or twice and said he didn't know any manners but they trust each other.] He'd probably just wonder if I'm kidding or I hit my head.

I mean, I'd figure there's got to be some kinda stuff. But, what do you guys have to do there? [Now she's genuinely wondering.]

Well, that sounds like a him problem! Maybe he should have more of an imagination.

Geez, do you really want a whole list? We'd be here all day.

No imagination? Nah, I'm not sure I'd call the guy responsible for designing airships that don't power on Mist someone without imagination. [And as Zidane says this, it dawns on him that Erika might not know what Mist is. Well, not in the context he's talking about. Especially as it turned out Mist was made from stagnant souls filtered by a mechanical tree.]

Alright, what about... just a couple examples. Your top three favorite things to do.

[She hmms at that.] Okay, so, you sure are saying that like it's a big deal, so I guess it must be - but are you sayin' you got airships that run on... water vapor?

Top three? Hmm.... [Well that’s a tough one. He has a lot of hobbies and is willing to try new stuff. Although if he had to pick a few..] Well, I guess my number 1 pick would be spending time with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met back home! Followed by stealing treasure and acting! [The latter two of which are part of his job but that doesn’t make them any less fun.]

Nah, not that type of mist. But you’re right - that kind of invention is big deal to us. I get it might not be in your world and I don’t know what that’s like [Although he can’t avoid being curious since it seems to have more advanced technology than Gaia. Maybe Terra, too.] but since the Mist spawned monsters and sometimes had weird effects on people [as in it could them more aggressive and hostile] I’d say it’s a pretty revolutionary thing for us. That, and Mist only existed on the Mist Continent. None of us could take an airship elsewhere until then.

Gay.

[ok yeah listen she knows that literally speaking him being into a girl is not at all gay, but listen]

Okay, yeah, that does sound like a pretty big deal... okay, couple more questions, so does that mean you guys were from this Mist Continent? Also, could you confirm that you just listed theft as one of your favorite things, because that's pretty great.

[That's not a description he expected to hear but he thinks he gets what Erika means. He COULD talk about how deep his feelings about Dagger are which are far more complicated than "The most beautiful woman I've ever met" but being really honest about that is hard. So he'll give an awkward grin.] Ahahahahahaha. [Feelings are hard okay?]

But to answer both your questions.....first, I did say I was a thief, didn't I? [And a smug look appears on his face.] Member of Tantalus, the greatest and most daring thieves in the world! .......Or I was, anyway. I actually had to leave. But depending on how stuff back home, I might ask the boss if I can rejoin.....maybe....[But again, that's related to complicated feelings about Dagger. It might make less sense rejoin if she's in Alexandria and Tantalus are based in Lindblum.]

Oh, and uh....your other question. Yeah, we are from the Mist Continent! Well, most people are, anyway. I mean, I'm not really, but I ended up there as a kid. There are other continents but all the big towns and cities are on the Mist Continent.

Rrright. Might have forgotten that part. [Listen, there's a lot to keep track of in this place.

She nods slowly, though, as he explains.] Why'd you leave Tantalus?

[Hmm. Well he did say it when he made his embarrassing text post so best she forget that. The less said the better.

But why did he leave Tantalus? Boy, where does he start?]

Hmmmm....It’s a long story....Ah, well. It’s not as if we’re in a rush.....not in this dump, anyway. [But looking back on it, he never knew that leaving Tantalus would eventually cause him to be caught up in so many complicated events that ended in him and the others trying to save the universe. When at the beginning he wanted to help this one girl. Not that he regrets it for a moment but it is strange.]

Anyway, I wanted to help this girl. [And his eyes light up at the mention of said girl because guess who said girl is.] A princess, actually. My boss, my brothers in Tantalus and I were hired to kidnap her. A lot of things were going on at the time [Namely rumours about her mother wanting to start wars with other nations, which unfortunately turned out to be true] and we had to bring her to Lindblum for her safety. Turned out she was planning to leave home and wanted to be abducted anyway...[And then there is a thoughtful smile as he pauses. He really underestimated Dagger and how smart and determined she was back then.]........man, she really was something......

Anyway, to cut a long story short, things got crazy and something bad happened to her. I wanted to go and help her out but the boss didn’t agree. So I ended up leaving.

[Erika nods slowly as he explains. This is... actually sort of hilariously in line with what she's seen of this kid so far.]

So, the short, mushy way to put it is that you left for love.

[She's definitely starting to smirk as she says that, but there's a hint of something genuine to it.]

Ah.....um......[If it was just the smirk then Zidane might have avoided blushing slightly. Maybe he did let on more about how he felt about Dagger than he realised. Back then, he told himself “She’s cute and she needs help. That’s all that matters” even though there were a bunch of thoughts and feelings he did not understand at the time - that only grew the longer they traveled together.

Dagger is a lot of things to him but, most importantly, Zidane that the home he has yearned for all his life was with her. And he still has to tell her how he honestly feels. And then there is the fact that Dagger will be queen by the time he returns. That is another issue he has to sort out.

He loves her so much, but because of the hurdles he needs to face (which he intends to do this time) and maybe because he knows Erika less well and honest feelings are hard, he’s going to keep said complicated feelings to himself for the moment.]

Well, of course! I mean, she’s the most gorgeous lady I’ve ever met in my life! Pretty awesome and smart too! I mean, she was sheltered for most of her life but she still had the guts to jump off the castle roof when I was trying to chase her! Part of her escape plan too. [And a sigh] Man, she’d make a great thief if she wasn’t royalty.

[Fair enough; it's not like Erika is the best person to talk to about honest feelings, anyway.]

Fuckin' tragic. But, I mean, who's to say she can't be royalty and a thief?

[There's definitely an anti-monarchy joke to be made there, but she might save that one for someone who isn't head over heels for a literal princess.]

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July Intro: Dancing in the Dark

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