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

alice | resident evil films

[alicefelldown]

h a l l u c i n a t i o n s

[ The knife Alice carries should be red from all the hands she's cut but every time she strikes out with lightning fast reflexes, they're just gone, as if they were never there at all. There at the edge of the lantern's light, disappearing in and out of the bonfire's reach, around the corners of buildings... She sees them everywhere, feels them grabbing at her clothes, at the lantern at her waist.

And then there are the faces. Decomposed in places, dried blood and gore around the lips, eyes so very hungry. In every person she passes, she sees those eyes, each instance putting her more on edge until finally she snaps, grabbing the nearest person with her fist tight around the fabric over their chest and her knife at their throat. She only just manages to stop herself from doing something she would so very deeply regret. ]

You shouldn't sneak up on people, it's not polite.

[ There's tension in her voice and just the smallest hint of fear in her eyes showing through the tough exterior, and there's no mistaking the slight tremor in her hand that doesn't pull away the knife. Not yet. Not while they still have those eyes. ]


n e t w o r k

I just have one question. Do the dead stay dead here?

Hallucinations

[requiemshark]

[ It feels more than a little fucked up to be wearing armor when his fucking soul or whatever is stuck in a flimsy little lantern, so Sharkface hasn't been. There's really no point without anyone to fight. He was dead until suddenly he wasn't. Should have been easy, should have been a hail of bullets and something like a blaze of glory or at least some fragile peace, but no. He's upright, mobile, breathing. Not even a bruise for all that trouble.

And the Freelancers are still kicking somewhere out in the universe. Probably laughing. Probably think they've won.

He really ought to do something about that.

But that's for later, when he can get his hands on them and set those fuckers on fire. Right now there's a knife at his throat and he's got no armor at all, nothing but his survival suit and the flimsy clothes he's scavenged to cover it up with.

Sharkface grins. It hurts his face to smile, with the scars, but he does it anyway. ]

If you're going to threaten someone, commit.

[ He presses the muzzle of his pistol into her gut. She'll probably slit his throat if he moves wrong, but he'll get her too, and they'll all die hard. Won't that be nice? ]

[alicefelldown]

[ As long as she stays that way, Alice doesn't mind dying. It's been a long time coming, so many narrow escapes that shouldn't have been possible. She's done, she wants to be done, but the guilt over the part she played in the end of the world refuses to let her rest so long as she can keep fighting.

So go ahead and pull the trigger. Put her out of this misery. ]

I always do.

[ Her grip on him tightens just slightly — and then she releases it, lifting her free hand away from him and slowly easing the knife back. But she isn't stupid; she keeps it close enough to still get in that cut if he doesn't move the gun. She's taken down worse with more than a shot to the stomach, he won't stand a chance if he shoots her now. ]

But you're not my enemy.

[requiemshark]

[ Promises, promises. Sharkface leans forward a little, feeling the blade dig into his neck, but she relents before either of them can really test the line. Sharkface is almost disappointed. A fight would feel good right now, proof that his brain hasn't finally given up under the strain and sent him into a fever dream. Pain is real, anger is real. Everything else is relative.

He just laughs, low and hoarse. He doesn't know her. Has no reason in the world to care what she says. It would be easier just to walk away, but he stays. What else is there to do, in this place, except stand around and hope for a fight? ]

Nah. You're just friendly.

[ He holsters the pistol, not particularly concerned with what she does with the knife. ]

My enemies wouldn't hesitate.

[alicefelldown]

[ She can practically feel the way he's itching for a fight. Were she in a better place, both physically and mentally, she might have gone along with it to let off some of the nervous energy that's been building up. But until she has a better idea of what's really going on here, she's not risking it.

Taking a step back, she slips the knife down the side of her boot, a hand keeping her lantern from swinging too wildly, and then she's upright and giving him a somewhat amused but mostly unimpressed look. ]

Neither would mine. But I'm just trying to figure out if they had something to do with all of this.

[ Her appearance here, this strange darkness... The lanterns are the odd part that she doesn't quite understand, but do they have any proof that they work as they say? It's something she'll need to see for herself to fully believe. ]

[paraskeptic]

[ the hallucinations have graduated from voices to hands. dana's not sure which is worse. hearing the voices of family that she'd lost throughout the recent years and the hope that she'd find them in this place only to be told she was just one of many hearing and seeing things had been devastating, but the phantom hands are more invasive, threading through her hair and grabbing at her limbs and clothing, at one point winding around her neck.

she screams when one grabs her by the shirt, pulling her close with a knife to her throat, and it takes her a second to realize these hands aren't phantom; they're very real and attached to a very angry and frightened looking woman. she's a little past witty comebacks, but her voice betrays far less fear than she feels, even as her hands shake when she grips the other woman's arm - not to pull herself free, because she suspects the woman is far more skilled with that knife than she could hope to escape from, but in hopes of pulling the blade back a little bit.

it's definitely going against her training and the FBI's protocol, but she's also a little past caring about that. ]

I wasn't.

[alicefelldown]

[ It's the shaking in those hands that cuts through Alice's fear. cluing her into the other woman's own and confirming that this is, in fact, a real person. A living, breathing human being who isn't infected. She can feel it in her blood, the complete lack of infection in this area, and it's almost jarring after so many years of being surrounded by it. It's like seeing daylight after being in the dark for an incredibly long time, except that's far too ironic an analogy to actually use given their present circumstances.

Her hands unclench and release her, pulling away as Alice takes a step back, real emotion in her expression. Regret and apology, mostly, but also uncertainty. ]

Sorry. I guess I'm a little jumpy.

[paraskeptic]

[ dana lets go as the woman releases her, shaking off the contact, slight annoyance and frustration slowly replacing the fear. she seems fairly apologetic about threatening her with a knife, in any case, and she's not feeling all that stable herself, so she knows she shouldn't fault her for her reaction and is trying not to. much. ]

Yeah, I think that's going around.

[alicefelldown]

[ Leaning down slightly, Alice slips the knife down the side of her tall boot, hoping that by putting away the weapon she might earn back a few points with the other woman. Or, if nothing else, that tensions might ease just a little. ]

Do you know what's causing it?

[paraskeptic]

[ it works, at least in the case of easing the tensions. not currently feeling or seeing any hands or hearing any voices goes a long way to help with that, too, and dana's posture relaxes slightly, though she still keeps her hand at her side, close to her gun, just in case. ]

What we've been seeing? [ assuming that the woman's been seeing the same things she has. ] No. I've been told we're not the only ones to see it, though.

[alicefelldown]

[ Well, it had been worth a shot. She's glad to see the other woman physically relax, but even so, she keeps a close awareness of that gun. Alice herself is without her usual arsenal, but the knife is more than she needs to be a formidable opponent should her new acquaintance try anything. ]

I don't know if that's more comforting or concerning.

[paraskeptic]

[ she's not about to, unless the other woman tries pulling a knife on her again. scully's got the feeling that the one in her boot may not be the only weapon she's got on her and that she's plenty dangerous without it when she wants to be, so she remains on guard even with the immediate threat gone. ]

It's definitely not comforting.

network / un: parker

[webshoots]

If you buy the running theory of us all being dead, that'a firm no. Otherwise: sometimes yes, sometimes no.

[alicefelldown]

[ Sometimes no. Great. Just what she wanted to hear. ]

Does anyone ever come back wrong?

[webshoots]

[ alice, they're already all dead. ]

...Like, scales?

[alicefelldown]

[ There's worse than dead, okay! ]

More like eating each other.

[webshoots]

Zombies. You mean zombies.

That's a definite no.

[ YEESH. ]

[alicefelldown]

[ Yes, she means zombies. At least he's familiar enough with the concept to give a firm answer. ]

Well, that's one point in favor for this place.

[webshoots]

[ look, he's seen night of the living dead, alright. ]

That feels like a very low bar.

@regina

[itselbitch]

well
considering you're dead
and i'm dead
and all the rest of us that arrived are, you guessed it, dead

you're going to need to be a bit more specific about what you mean by dead

[alicefelldown]

Okay, I can do specific. Has anyone died and come back as a flesh-eating monster whose bite infects others who also become flesh-eating monsters?

[ Is that clear enough for you? ]

[itselbitch]

I can say with 100% certainty that I am not aware of anyone turning into zombies after dying

[ which really doesn't answer the question well since it limits the scope of the answer to. well. just eliot. and what he knows. which really only surmounts two a few months of information about deaths. oh well. ]

does that happen often where you're from?

[alicefelldown]

If you consider 7,000,000 of them to qualify as "often".

[itselbitch]

so
once in a blue moon?

[ he'd feel bad about being such a bitch if he weren't so bored. but. goddamn is he bored right now. ]

[alicefelldown]

[ Wow. Thanks, pal. ]

Sure, we can go with that.

Since you were so helpful with my first question, here's another: what are you most concerned about here?