TEST DRIVE MEME #5

[inthenightmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #5

Hello and welcome to the In the Night test drive meme for October! Thanks for your interest in our game! Reserves open on October 20, and applications open on October 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 10 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

MAMMA MIA

The town is quiet, the forest spirits behave business-as-usual, Rastus doesn't know what's up. Whatever's going on, you'll have to figure it out for yourself.

And you will, though the hallucinations are subtle at first: objects moving when they shouldn't, people's proportions looking just a bit off, voices in an empty room, and so on. Is it just your mind playing tricks in the darkness? Might be! As the days go on, the hallucinations are harder to ignore, no matter how much you may wish to wave them off as flukes. What's wrong with everyone's faces? When did all the howling start? Who do you hold onto when the world drops out from under you? And those hands...

While you might know it can't be real, it certainly feels real. But at least it can't last forever... Right?

This prompt is a mini version of the game's Bury a Friend event.

GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!

Although the month is already well underway, residents of Beacon will notice a brand new shipment being delivered to the general store—only this one comes via the forest, as a small legion of spirits quickly drop off crates of boxes at its doorstep before scampering back into the woods. Hopefully nobody is riding too hard on hoping for further rations or supplies, because opening them up quickly squashes any notions of a full month's restock. Instead, it looks like each crate is bursting with costumes! Coming in all shapes and sizes to fit anyone of any age or decree, there’s plenty to choose from. Something scary? Magical? Clever? Or maybe even a bit on the sultry side? Dig deep enough, and you’re sure to find something to suit your tastes, props, accessories, wigs and all!

If nothing else, surely you can find an alternate use for a bit of spare fabric in your size, but what's the harm of having a bit of fun? But, oh, be careful if you're playing dress-up while the hallucinations from the event are in play... These costumes might just have a funny effect on you. 🤔!

network prompts

S.O.S.

The morning is interrupted by an alert. The text, which helpfully converts itself to automated speech when opened, reaches every inbox across Beacon, refusing to disappear until acknowledged. The problem? The username it comes from is glitched and unreadable, and all attempts at responding directly appear fruitless. The message is simple, three words:

SOS. SEND HELP.
There's nothing that seems to be able to be done about it, but with the earnestness in which it appears, maybe it would be wise to discuss it with the other residents. Isn’t there something you can do, even to track down the source? Maybe that will help you better put it from your mind.

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME

The longer you stay in Beacon, the clearer it is that you’re here for the long haul. And, on that note, the clearer it is that this place is going to need a lot of work to meet your standards. Obviously there isn’t much that can be done about certain things, like the state of lighting, or some of your potentially missing powers, but there are a lot of things that would certainly improve your personal quality of life. And for that matter, maybe some of your ideas would be agreeable to others, as well.

Whether you’re here to call for the establishment of a club, a new business, or even some kind of monthly therapy circle, the best way to get your message across is to turn to the Network and give your pitch. Whatever skills you may be lacking in the organization of this project, there’s undoubtedly someone out there who can provide. What are you waiting for? No time like the present to start collecting signatures!

QUICKNAV
comms	|	network • logs • memes • ooc
pages	|	rules • faq • taken • mod contact • player contact • calendar • setting • exploration • item requests • full nav

Comments

dana scully, the x-files

[paraskeptic]

MAMMA MIA (here i go again).

[ considering everything that dana has been witness to in the past five years and her years of practice and belief in the catholic faith throughout her life, the idea of an afterlife shouldn't be that outlandish to her. it's not necessarily the fact that an afterlife exists that's shocking, it's the fact that it's this place with its odd rules and structure that she feels compelled to rebel against immediately out of frustration. that and the fact she remains in her own body, still feels the ache in her arches as she walks through the town in her heels, still wears the shirt she'd been killed in clinging uncomfortably to her body with her blood.

the most likely place to find answers from people who have been here long enough to fill her in on what she can expect and not just what she's been told by the people who'd told her the rules is the inn, but she'd like to find a clean shirt before she tries talking to anyone. she pulls her blazer tighter around her, both to block out the chill and hide the stains, and starts heading towards what looks like a general store.

she's a few feet into her journey when she hears a voice, and the voice in question is enough to make her freeze in her tracks.

"dana..."

the last two times she'd heard that voice, it had been over the phone. and one of those times was right before the woman the voice belonged to had been killed. ]

Missy?

[ it's not possible, or at least it shouldn't be. but then she's dead too now, isn't she?

dana swallows hard before turning slowly around, expecting to see her sister standing behind her. her mouth drops open slightly when she sees no one.

"dana."

the voice comes again, from the opposite side, and dana whirls around again, faster this time, a frantic gleam in her eyes. her pulse pounds rapidly in her chest, blood rushing through her ears, drowning the sound of the woods and the fire and the town out as she keeps searching for the source of the voice, but there's no one. she's alone. ]

Melissa? Melissa!

(darling can't you hear me) SOS.

I'm sure that my title doesn't carry the weight here that it did back home, but I'm a federal agent. My name is Dana Scully. I know I'm not the only one who received an SOS message on their device this morning and I want to find whoever sent it and send the help that they requested. In order to do that, a few questions need to be answered.

Has there been anyone who's gone missing in the past few days? Does this place have a history of disappearances and does anyone know the typical causes? If so, has anyone noticed a pattern?

If anyone's got any information, please contact me as soon as possible. If you're uncomfortable discussing this through the network, I can meet you in person. Thank you.

(take me through the darkness to the break of the day) WILDCARD.

[ you wanna get nuts? c'mon, let's get nuts! ]

username: subzero

[saibot]

Many have gone missing due to various circumstances.

It would be in your best interest to ignore any plea for help given on this network.

username: dana.scully

[paraskeptic]

Why is that?

[saibot]

It is probably a trap. There are those on this network you should not trust.

[paraskeptic]

[ her first instinct is to ask who, but she has the feeling that will only get her so far. ]

Can you give me an example of what you're talking about?

[saibot]

The lighthouse keeper can apparently eliminate us all on a whim.

SOS

[savingthrows]

is federal agent police

or soldier

maybe youre bad people

[paraskeptic]

Closer to police.

I suppose I don’t have an argument for that. I could tell you I’m not, but that wouldn’t necessarily make you believe me, right?

[savingthrows]

no

but you want to help

i dont know who needs help

but i can find them if you know who to look for

[paraskeptic]

That would be very helpful, but I’m afraid I don’t know who to look for. They had a username I couldn’t make out and any attempts I made to respond to it failed.

I do appreciate you wanting to help, though. Can I ask your name?

1/2

[savingthrows]

yes

SOS

[catholicisms]

People go missing here frequently. Some die and return, some are simply gone.

That said, I haven't heard of anyone disappearing in the past few days.

[paraskeptic]

Aside from the lanterns, what kills you when you're already dead?

I was told that it could be a trap. What would the purpose of that kind of trap be?

[catholicisms]

Spirits. Accidents. Infighting on occasion.

I'd guess the first of those three. There are some with incredible abilities, and their intentions aren't always peaceful.

[paraskeptic]

Would you mind giving me some examples? Do they typically use the network?

[ if she weren't from 1999, there might be a reference to the ring here. ]

mamma mia

[otrazhenie]

[ Being trapped within her own hallucinations is one thing, she's handled it before and made it through the other side in mostly one piece, but seeing others suffering from whatever is going on in Beacon? That's not something she can just by and let happen. She doesn't venture out beyond her apartment very often, remembering all too well what she'd been capable of the first time she'd dealt with hallucinations, but whenever she does she tries to help anyone she comes across. This time is no different.

Moving closer to the unfamiliar face, Elena holds her hands up, lantern helping illuminate her open yet slightly concerned expression. ]

Are you okay?

[paraskeptic]

[ scully whirls around again when she's addressed by another woman - not melissa, someone she doesn't recognize. another citizen of the town, judging by the lantern in her hand. dana straightens, tries to compose herself before she answers her question. ]

I'm fine. [ no, she's not, and not even just due to the events that lead her here, evident by the hole and blood ruining her shirt. ] I'm just looking - have you seen a woman around here? A little taller than me, red hair, wearing a long dress?

[ her voice tightens as she realizes she can't recall exactly what melissa had been wearing the night she'd been shot - just that it was a dress, nothing about the color or pattern or her shoes. how could she forget something like that? what kind of sister is she? ]

someone playing from x-files is SENDING ME (also mamma mia)

[saintjames]

[ Jim has seen this frantic energy more times than he could ever hope to count. It's the kind that takes over when panic starts to edge in. Gordon knows that something strange is going on— but unlike almost everyone else, he hasn't really felt the effects of it. Nothing like what he's witnessed in others— physical manifestations, literal voices whispering in ears.

Sometimes, he thinks he sees movement from the corner of his eye. Sometimes, he thinks he hears a cough, or the cocking of a gun— but it's nothing like this: this woman surging through the town, chasing nothing, shouting for someone only she can see.

She's not the first person to take off— but she is the first one that Jim doesn't recognize, and that's heading in a direction that only spells danger. ]

Hey—!

[ She doesn't hear him call out, but that doesn't stop his momentum as he jogs away from the bonfire and toward her— reaching out to catch her by the bicep as she shouts again to arrest her momentum and still her. Bring her attention around to him. He looks intently into her face when she does, checking her focus and how far into the hallucination she's fallen. ]

Hey. You alright?

omg hello!!!

[paraskeptic]

[ her eyes are wide and wild as she whirls around to look up at him, yanking her arm free from his grasp. her hand reaches behind her for her gun before she remembers she doesn't have it on her anymore, a fact that only makes her more wary. though she calms a little when the man addresses her and asks her attention; it takes her focus off of the voice she had heard.

'you alright.' sure. she's dead, shot to death after surviving numerous attempts on her life that should have succeeded, both natural and unnatural, by someone meant to have her back who didn't know what he was doing. and now she's hearing her sister calling for her, again, but can't find her. again. ]

Fine. [ she takes a couple steps back, surveying him up and down before looking around for melissa again. ] I - I'm looking for my sister.

heart eyes motherfucker

[saintjames]

[ He isn't really expecting an answer, nevermind an honest one. The question has more to to do with getting her attention than it has to do with anything else. But then, You alright can have any number of contexts. It can mean something as hilariously simple as are you still breathing? Gordon sure as hell has used it that way before.

But she jerks away and goes for her gun. Jim doesn't need to see it to know what that specific gesture means, the way she turns her body, the way her hand goes under her jacket and for her hip. How many times has he done it himself, after all? Gordon doesn't raise his hands all the way— just enough for it to appear faintly placating, and they lower once again when she settles into the moment instead of into the delusion.

Gordon doesn't look away from her. ]

Melissa, yeah, I heard you calling her.

[ He takes half a step toward her, but it's less to close the distance and more to change the angle with which they stand to one another. Somehow making the conversation more private, despite the fact nobody else is within earshot. ]

You're new, right?

large fries motherfucker

[paraskeptic]

[ his hands raise enough or her to see that he's unarmed, and there's enough familiarity in his stance and the way he's addressing her for her to suss out that he's law enforcement of some kind. that in and of itself isn't quite enough to get her to trust him, but it's enough to get her to listen to him, especially when he asks if she's new, which implies that he's not. ]

Yes. [ she nods, tension still evident in her form even as she relaxes out of flight or fight mode, eyes still darting around them in an attempt to spot her sister. not seeing (or hearing) her, they settle back on him. ] She was calling for me, but I can't find her.

MAMMA MIA

[oldtonew]

What are you doing?

[ It's difficult to tell the days apart without consulting the strange tablet device, but things have been bad lately. Strange voices in the trees. Flashes of movement out of the corner of her eye. And everyone is on edge, tense. Kettara has been on guard as well, preparing for a fight and been unable to find one.

She's wandered into the general store in search of some decent meat, since the hunting in Beacon is nonexistent, and that's when she hears the commotion.

She takes a cautious step forward, one hand on her axe. It's a human woman. Not wearing armor. ]

Are you hurt?

[ She keeps her distance, regardless. She's an orc and this one smells human, looks human. Most of them have been polite in Beacon, but the wariness remains. One of them will see her, know exactly what she is, and react accordingly. ]

[paraskeptic]

[ dana is distracted enough by hearing her sister to not quite register that the woman is speaking to her at first. she turns when she realizes she's being addressed, eyes wide and frightened, and they widen a little further at the sight of the woman - an orc is hardly the strangest life form she's ever seen, but this woman is the first one of her kind she's ever seen, and while she'd been aware of the possibility of other species in this place, this is the first time she's encountered one.

oddly, she's less phased by her than she is by having heard melissa. ]

No, I - I heard my sister calling for me. But I can't find her.

[oldtonew]

[ The woman looks surprised, eyes going wide, but doesn't show fear or anger. The situation itself seems like the more shocking element to everyone Kettara has met thus far in Beacon, and she's both relieved and unsettled by that. None of them humans here act the way she's expected them to, and her distrust of them marks her as strange, set apart from the rest of the community.

It's likely a test, something for her to struggle with. The afterlife was never meant to be easy.

Kettara flicks her ears, but doesn't come any closer. ]

There is no one else here. I would smell them.

[ Probably. Strange things have been happening. ]

[paraskeptic]

[ there's plenty of fear and anger, but to direct it at this woman when she's in the same situation as scully is and has done nothing to warrant it would be unfair. the fact that the woman isn't human isn't too high on her list of priorities right now. ]

You'd...are you sure there's no one else? We're sisters, is there a chance she could just smell like I do?