TEST DRIVE MEME #4

[inthenightmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #4

Hello and welcome to the In the Night test drive meme for September! Thanks for your interest in our game! Reserves open on September 20, and applications open on September 22.

While you're here...

• Take a look at our rules and faq pages to familiarize yourself with the game.
  
• Note that we have a reserve cap of 20, and a (current) application cap of 13 apps this month for new players, as the game has a player cap of 60. An accurate count of current players will always be available on the taken page.
  
• TDM threads can become game canon if both players wish. If the situation isn't something that could happen in-game, you're free to chalk it up to some strange hallucination, a shared dream, or other mysterious circumstance.
  
• Note that this is not limited to new characters threading with characters already in-game. If current players wish to thread out the TDM prompts as canon events, they are welcome to do so. They are welcome to make posts in the main comms for TDM events as well. Please note, however, that actual plot clues or happenings will not occur in TDM prompts.
  
• If you plan to apply, please keep in mind that we do require at least one sample thread on the application to be from our TDM (though it doesn't need to be the current TDM).
  
• You're welcome to use the provided prompts or come up with something on your own, but we do ask that all threads take place in our game's setting.

Thank you again, and we hope you'll choose to join us!

log prompts

GATHER YE ROSEBUDS WHILE YE MAY

With a cloud of mourning having weighed heavy on Beacon over the last month, the Lighthouse Keeper has decided to try and rally the community with a game: a selfie scavenger hunt! With the promise of (secret) prizes for those who play along, she's provided a list of 25 different items to track down and take a picture with. And, of course, all submissions will be public for others to view and comment upon. A town forum, Instagram-style. How fun! Feel like teaming up? Finding a companion to go searching with could make the task go by faster, as there's nothing saying that you can't both submit the same pictures so long as you take them together. And what's a proper game without company?

This prompt is a mini version of this month's Gather Up event.

IT'S RAININ' SIDEWAYS

Overall, the weather has been mild lately. Since Autumn hit, the standard has been overcast darkness blotting the stars and little wind. The rumble of thunder sounds just before the downpour begins, as if a switch has been flipped up in the clouds. If you're in the Invincible, the houses in the village, or any of the other solid establishments, it isn't anything to worry about, really. Mostly, it just means hunkering down until the storm passes. However...it seems that someone opted to build themselves a structure in the square that's proven not to be able to withstand these harsher elements. Whether you're the unfortunate sap in the tent or you're merely a bystander, one way or another, you notice its roof cave in, the beams placed to support it buckling inward and trapping the inhabitant inside. It's not enough to crush someone, but it'll surely be difficult to gather oneself as the wind and the rain bears down without mercy. Call for help and maybe someone will hear you, or be the good Samaritan that runs to their aid.

network prompts

I CAN'T *PBBT* UNDERSTAND *PBBT* YOUR ACCENT

Something's wrong. The things that you type and the things that you speak are transforming themselves upon being posted to the network. Or maybe that's not quite accurate, because everything in your posts are certainly your own words...it's just that indiscernible static has descended upon the page and crept into your audio, blocking out pieces of your statements--just enough to change the overall meaning of what you were originally saying. Efforts to clarify don't seem to be improving the situation, and it's hard to say if there's any way of fixing this. Maybe it's a comfort that the problem isn't isolated on your end; after all, that effectively takes the issue out of your hands to solve. Or maybe it's just the opposite. Maybe knowing that the network is experiencing widespread failures, however mild, fills you with a sense of dread and unease. One thing's clear, at least: you'll need a bit of luck to get your point across for the time being.

THE TITLE EQUIVALENT FOR WHEN YOUR GRANDMA COMMENTS ON YOUR UNRELATED FB STATUS AS IF SHE'S WRITING YOU A PERSONAL LETTER

Sometime in the recent past you had a problem. Maybe it was a dire emergency advertised to the community at large, maybe you became overwhelmed with stress and needed the ear of a close friend, or maybe it was just something embarrassing you were sharing in confidence. Unfortunately, regardless of what the message was, it looks like it disappeared the moment you hit send, as if it had been eaten by the network itself. It's been long enough now that you've brushed it off; you've been able to solve your problem one way or another and moved on. That's when it appears, unprompted, on the network for all to see, regardless of how private it was meant to be. Well, now you might have a bit of explaining to do.

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Comments

[bakabakyura]

[In Rosinante's defense, Masaomi isn't actually paying attention to what the guy is doing. He sees movement, catches a spot of color, and aims accordingly. When his eager rescuer falls flat on his face with a dirty splash... He kind of wants to cry.

That's not much of an option though. His makeshift shelter had been crafted in a single day by a single person who had no clue what he was doing. He only has himself to blame for the fact that his back is now the sole foundation holding up half of his wall. Himself and the damn, shitty, fucking terrible weather.

Crap.

Suddenly, there's a chest in front of his face. Masaomi blinks through his sopping wet bangs before delayed understanding has him reeling backward, sending more planks into the chaotic jumble of collapse. He curses, shoving free from the debris before rushing for Rosinante's exit. His lantern is clipped to his belt, rattling dangerously with every frantic stride. He's going to be in real trouble if he stays out here for long. But once he makes it outside, he turns back anyway. He's not running for shelter alone, not after this.]

[callada]

[He strains with the delay, but finally, the guy darts past him and he allows the makeshift shelter to collapse on itself as he lets go of the frame. That accomplished, he hurries back to his lantern and the staff of sorts that it's usually attached to, and hoists it back up. He's never favored the belt-lantern approach, though it's a popular one.

The rain is still pouring down, and the wind whips at his soggy clothing. They should probably get inside.]

C'mon, this way.

[Just a guess, but since he hasn't seen the guy around before, he's probably new, so Rosinante waves for him to follow as he strides toward the front door of the Invincible. The ground floor of the tavern and inn should be a warm, dry place to direct him to until he has somewhere else to go. Once inside, he asks:]

You must have just gotten here. Do you have a room yet? Or a cabin or something?

[mellowyellow]

[Masaomi will tease him about that lantern staff eventually. Right now is not the time.

He follows Rosinante through the gale, jogging two steps for each of his savior's lengthy strides. The moment the door slams behind them, he's shaking his head like a wet dog, sending droplets flying from his hair. It doesn't make him any less wet, but it does make everything around him more wet, and that makes him feel better.

Progress.]

Nah, no cabins. I'm not a picturesque cabin-in-the-woods kinda guy. Besides, I wanted to stick close to the fire.

[The fire that isn't going out, even in this storm. He misses it already, but he's not going back out there now.]

[callada]

[Rosinante would complain, but honestly, he's already wet too, so he does nothing more than set his mouth in a line of disapproval at the shaking. At least the guy had done that here, just inside, and not over at the bar or something. He can only imagine how pleased Will would be to be splattered with water while trying to work. Or trying to do anything, but if Will does anything other than work and drink coffee, he hasn't seen it yet.]

Don't know that I'd call them picturesque, but point taken. This location's more convenient. Sturdier than that shack you were trying to hide in, too.

[mellowyellow]

[That disapproving expression is nothing new to Masaomi, but he's never seen it coupled with quite so much mud and running costume makeup. In the dim light of their lanterns, the sight is a little discomforting. It takes a good amount of willpower for Masaomi to ignore it in the defiantly contrary way that should have come natural to him.]

Not a hard contest to win. You know, seeing as that shack's roof just tried to make love to my skull.

[He points to his head with both hands to emphasize this argument, but his shoulders slouch almost immediately after his sarcastic display. He doesn't have it in him to leave, so he can't really complain. No matter how much he wants to. A sigh signals his acceptance of defeat.]

...People really live here? What about you?

[callada]

[Yikes, that's... one way to put what happened just now.]

Yeah. There are rooms here upstairs. It was the only place we knew about when we first got here. Some have spread out, but I've stayed. Easier to help in a catastrophe if I'm near the center.

[Yeah, sorry guy, catastrophes apparently happen. Often enough where considering them is practical.]

Speaking of which, I need to head up and get cleaned up. I think there are a few empty rooms though, if you want to claim one and dry off.

[mellowyellow]

[The guy says "catastrophe" like it means "street fair." Masaomi is too tired, wet, and dead to unpack that one just yet. He just drips onto the entrance dispassionately.]

What do I do? Just start knocking on doors and asking where the nearest water heater is?

[callada]

If that's your style. But I think one of the ones at the end of the upper hall is still completely empty, unless someone else grabbed it before you in the last hour or so. Even if you're not staying there, you could use the shower.

[He shrugs, then waves a hand for the guy to follow toward the stairs.]

I'm Rosinante, by the way. And you?

[mellowyellow]

[Despite a million more important things to be surprised about, Masaomi can't help but focus on the unexpected fact that Rosinante can fit in the stairwell. Dude's a magician.

With that thought, Masaomi swallows, tightens his fists at his sides, and stomps after him.]

Masaomi. Just Masaomi's cool. No point in getting formal when we're already chatting over communal showers.

[callada]

Right. Well, there's enough to go around without doing too much sharing, I bet.

[It really is something of a wonder. He has to duck his head and skip steps, but he doesn't seem overly uncomfortable doing it - mostly because he's been at this for a few months now.

But his mastery of the staircase hasn't improved much since the first time he used it and before he makes it to the second floor he misses a step, his foot doesn't quite land, and he goes down with a muffled yelp and a sprawl of limbs as he rides his coat like an upside-down toboggan back down the stairs, then flops limply in a heap. A moment later he sits up and combs fingers through his hair, then hoists himself back onto his feet with the banister for assistance.]

[mellowyellow]

[This ridiculous stunt would have earned Rosinante a barking laugh if Masaomi hadn't been following him up the stairwell. Instead, the clumsy pirate gets a startled curse as Masaomi grabs the railing and leaps it, landing much softer than Rosinante on the other side. He blinks down at his savior, watching the dude pull himself back up like nothing happened.]

...Careful. Floor's wet.

[He comments with a helpful monotone.]

[callada]

[Very funny.

It's probably for the best that he's gotten very used to just completely disregarding snide commentary like that. He just restarts walking up the stairs as if the guy hadn't said anything and if it hadn't happened at all, once he's had a second first to check over his lantern and make sure it's all still together, which it thankfully is. It makes the falls worse - each time the flame's housing is jarred, he feels it in his chest. The casing is sturdy and yet, as he learned in that first month, sometimes not sturdy enough.

By sheer luck he makes it up the two flights without further incident, then gestures at a nearby door.]

Think that one's empty. Should have a shower, but I make no promises about it having any other furniture. Or hell, who knows. When I got here, the room I ended up in started with something like twelve chairs all crammed in there. Makes me wonder what the last residents were even up to.

[mellowyellow]

[Masaomi can give the guy props for not getting flustered, but it's kind of dull that way. Oh well. All that means is that next time, he'll have to come up with something even better.

Once Rosinante has passed him again, he climbs back over the railing and this time makes it to the correct floor. He takes the guy's helpful warning with a wave of his hand and a cheery grin.]

Got it. If I see anything that looks like it belongs in a cheap-o horror flick, I'm leaving it in front of your door.