memesinthenight | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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!tdm

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Hello and welcome to the In the Night test drive meme for June! Thanks for your interest in our game! Reserves open on June 20, and applications open on June 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/application cap of ~~20 apps per month~~ (this has been waived for the first month!).
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.
Though threads can become canon, they cannot count toward AC.
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

YOU'RE DEAD, JIM

You haven't been in Beacon long when you find yourself in Bonfire Square, staring into the flames and thinking about how you ended up here. Maybe it was an accident, a sudden freak thing that you never saw coming until you woke up on the ferry, or maybe it's a miracle you made it as long as you did. Maybe death was a relief. Maybe it was just your time. Whatever the case, you can't help but reflect on your final moments as you linger in the firelight.

But however you died, it's behind you now, and you're here, stuck in this little town with just a few buildings and a smattering of other people. You're going to be here a while, so you may as well get to know your neighbors, but... Would it be cathartic to commiserate about your deaths? Or is your time better spent stocking up at the general store? Then again, you've got plenty of time, so why not catch a drink or two (or three) at the Invincible? Pretend you're unaffected by your death, and, well. Fake it 'til you make it, perhaps.

Point is, you have options. You're dead, you died, and this is your "life" now. Better get used to it.

AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

Currently, there's only one place to live (technically speaking) in Beacon: the Invincible, a tavern and inn located in Bonfire Square. Luckily, the place has working amenities (minus light), and the forest spirits don't charge anything for your stay. Unfortunately, it seems there may not be enough rooms for everyone. Guess you'll have to get cozy!

Maybe you'll try to pick a roommate from around town or in the bar downstairs, or maybe you'll just walk into the first room you see and choose that way. Want a room all to yourself? Get ready to fend off any potential intruders. And the fun doesn't end there.

The Invincible's rooms aren't all created equal. Some may have had their furniture stolen or become a dumping ground for unwanted pieces, resulting in a single bed, five dressers, and other equally distressing situations. Will someone sleep on the floor? Will you nail two beds together to form bunk beds? Maybe you just want to make this room into something more like home— potentially to your roommate's chagrin. Whatever you decide, this is where you're staying for now, so you might as well get comfortable.

network prompts

HACKER VOICE: I'M IN

In order to use the network, you have to register a username. Er, at least, that's how it's supposed to work. For some reason, new users have recently been able to bypass that requirement, allowing them to post anonymously. Time to troll strangers on the magical internet!

Eventually though, you'll need a username in order to use the tablet's other functions, like the direct messaging system. So hey, why not take advantage of the ability to source opinions, and workshop your potential usernames on the network? Share ideas, get feedback, steal ideas, critique others, and figure out what you want everyone to call you.

TURN ON YOUR LOCATION

When you wake up, you're in the woods. An iron shackle complete with a chain leashes you to a tree, and the only light you have is your lantern. You've never seen this area of the woods before. You certainly didn't go to sleep here.

Hm.

But, all is not lost. You find your phone in your pocket, as well as a scrap of paper covered back to front in cryptic scribbles. Are these clues to your location? They must be. You also spot a key dangling from a branch, though it's hanging from a tree you'll never be able to reach from here. Perhaps someone on the network will be able to lend you a hand...

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Everyone is, so they say.

[ new and newly dead. so they say. he could believe it of himself. walking into the house with trigon wasn't the same ballpark as facing the riddler.

what he'd give to punch that guy in the face right now, though. ]

Dick.

[ he shakes hands. brisk and professional. friendly, but not familiar. he doesn't expect anybody to be doing the same as he is. it takes a special kind of life for that.

and he'd rather be a lone wolf. things make sense. he misses kory, but he doesn't have to worry about the kids. ]

Where're you from, Gene?

Been hearin' that. Wouldn't'a pegged this place as purgatory, though.

( honestly, it don't even much feel like death.

dick's question is a familiar one, though. the 82nd airborne has boys from alaska all the way on over from hawaii. they speak a couple dozen languages between 'em, and have just about every skill from skinnin' and trappin' animals to singin' broadway. they've even got a big-league baseball player in dog company, some fella from the dodgers.

but the question puts him back in a time and a place that's so familiar that for a moment it's an ache in him. he hopes it ain't too hard to get another medic from division — they're already short a surgeon, they'll be feelin' his loss awful in that awful january cold. he ain't aggrieved for himself, but his men are family, and they'll hurt on this account. )

Agathine. Little town in Walker County, Alabama, sir.

( sorry, dick, you're gettin' sir'd. southern propriety comes knocking hard in the forties. plus, dick just has that way about him. self-assured. that brisk, professional handshake speaks volumes to his character. probably a no-nonsense fella, old enough to be a major by now if he were military (but ain't no way of tellin' that one way or another, gene's learned that folks here are from all manner of places and times and some worlds away, so he ain't about to assume). )

No, me neither.

[ pocket dimension is his first guess. a holding area or a world of its own. all his experience beside bruce only shows him the limit of it now. he wasn't along on any of those justice league missions.

shit. all he can do is keep people together. they can try to keep each other safe. figure things out.

starting with your sir, good sir. southern manners, is it? dick exhales. whatever he is, he's not on level with a soldier. he's just tense. and weighed. this is his responsibility now. ]

Michigan. Detroit. [ gotham, new jersey. but he's not interested in putting that in the front window. the first person he reaches for shouldn't be an obsessed, selfish vigilante who'd pull everyone here into his web. find out everything about them. use them.

dick reaches for him anyway.

(it's an effective strategy to cope with the situation.) ]

No need for the sir. I'm here, same as you.

( a duck of his head, as he steps out of the tent and to the small firepit he's built up. he's got hot water on in an old canteen, and he sets about makin' two cups of coffee. he holds one out to dick, though he won't be especial offended if dick don't take it.

he smiles a bit, just the slightest hint of mischief set into one corner of his mouth. settlin' back on his heels. )

You'll have to talk to my Pa about that one.

( it's softly playful. never let it be said he ain't a shit at least once in a while. )

But if it's a stickin' point to you, I'll refrain. But only if you swear you ain't a Tigers man.

( baseball, as it were. the detroit team has been a thorn in his side some years now. )

[ dick breathes out a laugh. endearingly stubborn. disarming, too. on purpose? but he can't even be mad at gene for this. or the coffee. it's making him think fondly of clark.

gene's trouble. ]

I swear.

[ gotham knights, all the way. he hasn't had time for baseball since... it's been a while. dick wraps his hand around the warm cup of coffee. ]

Were you on your own when you got here?

( he nods. hooks his fingers in the webbing of his belt, which he ain't bothered to shuck yet. call it a soldier's habit, but he's still listening for mortars overhead, ready to run towards danger at the first rallying cry of medic. he ain't come down off that yet. reckons it may be a while until he does. hell, a little distance and perspective has got him thinkin' shell-shock about himself, which ain't a thing he ever dared ascribe to. )

Near as I can tell. 1945 seems to be a distant memory for most of the folk here.

( he misses the boys of his battalion, but it won't try his soul to be apart from them. he likes people, sure, but he don't need them.

an' he wouldn't want any of his boys followin' him here, of all places. he kept them safe best he could, which was easier with a ghost on his side to do the scouting. love company got a reputation for bein' lucky as all get-out. the guys you wanted on your side when the chips were down. but without him there to pass on information from the dead, their luck's out.

he shakes his head. enough of that. done is done, ain't no use in speculation. alex'll mail the letter to his pa. al will come home from the pacific. and robbie won't ever have to see the war up close. )

You'll forgive my sayin', but I hope it's the same for you?

( they've been at this talk all of a few minutes, but dick hasn't struck him as the sort of fella that would rather have company in this land of the dead than see his people whole and hale, even if it meant their going-on without him. )

[ 1945 is more than a stone's throw away. dick won't say 2019 in return. not to a guy who's not seen the end of that war yet. timelines and pocket dimensions. jeez. it wouldn't be reassuring to say the allies win. that's not a guarantee for this guy making it through.

his jaw pulls tight as he studies his coffee. his brows draw together. ]

I don't think that we're dead.

[ if it's just him lying on the porch of that house, then kory and donna will help rachel. alfred would miss him. batman would move on. has moved on already, with jason. the sting of the changed locks sears dick abruptly. the unknown tracker he dug out of his arm. anyway he doesn't expect batman to come looking for him in a place like this. if he came looking at all.

he swallows. if this was death, he expects his parents here. not a bunch of other displaced souls from different times and places. they wouldn't have arrived all together. ]

I got here by myself, yeah.

( gene takes a sip of his coffee, thumbing at the battered tin lip of his mess cup. )

How d'you figure?

( he sounds curious more than anything. truth is, this place is so far beyond his ken that he hasn't even fully made his mind up. he can accept death because it seems the easiest explanation for whatever this all is, but it don't mean he can't examine other options, only that he ain't exactly imaginative enough for the figuring on his own. )

Just a hunch.

[ the explanation isn't fully formed. he could articulate. but it'd give away too much to a stranger. dick doesn't have the robin suit on him. only his utility belt and a collapsible staff. his badge and gun.

but no pearly gates or matching symbolism with any afterlives of human religion. he'd say he's right on the money.

(he was trained by the very best, after all.) ]

I've been asking around.

( a hunch, the fella says. well, far be it from gene to say a gut instinct ain't enough. captain st. amos trusted him just the same, didn't he? and gene sure don't feel dead. the ghosts he's known in his life don't get hungry, don't tire, don't crave warmth or companionship the way the breathin' do.

gene shifts on his feet, letting his weight roll back between the ball and the heel. he's silent a spell, though there ain't much trace of awkwardness to it. he's just a methodical thinker.

when he does speak, it's not to be argumentative or dismissive. he's just slow to come around to things that fall on the side of questioning authority. maybe it's the military man in him. )

I don't see why the folk here wouldn't be straight with us.

( gene tends to believe what he's told. takes folk at face value, good or ill. reggie was the one what'd be all in somebody's face by now, lookin' for answers. it's why he was a good spy. )

I don't see why they would be.

[ as gene measures his thoughts, dick meets him level. presenting his perspective. he and kory had been working out a system. before then, he and batman hadn't even needed to talk to know each other.

he doesn't want a team. he needs allies. not friends. he really shouldn't have accepted that coffee.

he drinks it anyway. ]

We're an odd bunch to have a vested interest in, to bring all the way here. They need us for something.

( the huff of breath that follows is just the faintest bit unsteady. )

Sounds right ominous when you put it like that.

( gene cocks his head to one side. takes another thoughtful drink of coffee. )

You figure it for a fight?

( one war to another? it's about all the skill he's got, unless they need fancy scrollwork done for a banister somewhere. it doesn't occur to him that it might be on account'a him seein' ghosts. that's a secret that reggie took to his grave, and that the hicks boys all take to theirs. )

I reckon my medical skills ain't up to date with what most of the rest of the folks here are used to. Sure, I can stitch up a wound all right, but I ain't the best there is.

( no shame in admitting there's more he'd have to learn. he had two weeks of first aid at fort bragg and three years on the ground. but he's heard tell there's folks here from the new millennium, and he knows — knows things've gone on to improve. his ma was a nurse in the great war, and even she'd thought so. war advances medicine, and medicine enhances war. it's the way of things. )

[ heh. ominous. hashtag gotham city. always some costumed bullshit going on. this is pleasant. ]

Could be.

[ easy answer. a world without light that they're now tied to. it's a little more poetic than he was expecting.

one war to another bears thinking about. least trigon isn't an immediate issue. (kory and donna are more than capable. he keeps telling himself that.)

he glances back up at gene. he's an easy guy to trust, which makes dick not want to. but going there is a choice, but he thinks he's backing the right horse here. ]

I'm from 2019, I know a few things. I'll try to bring you up to speed.

[ he won't pretend to be a doctor, but even basic first aid has improved some. and they need doctors. nurses. anyone who can step into those roles if needed, if they're going to stay alive. ]

( that earns a little smile, and gene ducks his head. )

Ah, anything you've got would be mighty appreciated. Least I showed up with my supplies.

( he gestures to his little makeshift tent, where the contents of his medical bag are neatly sorted atop the dresser he'd salvaged. several rolls of bandages and dressings, sulfa packets, a few morphine syrettes. he heads over to it, and starts to pack it all back up together. he sets his cup down beside the bag as he works, though if dick ventures closer gene'll let him see what he's got.

but he does give the other man a curious sideways glance. that's near a hundred years of history at his fingertips, but. he ain't gonna press the man with nothin' else but questions. gene's fine with some things staying a mystery. )

I only got one question for you. We cure polio yet?

[ despite himself, he smiles back. and follows, intent on knowing what they're working with. he doesn't know yet how limited supplies will be the longer they stay. ]

Only the one? [ if it were him, he wouldn't be able to stop asking. stop being so cute, gene. ]

Yeah, we did.

I mean, I could ask if the Royals ever win a championship, but... you know. I reckon some things ought to be left for the imagination.

( the agathine royals™ are a fictional team from his fictional hometown. just go with it, dick. )

Besides, ( a little jostle to dick's shoulder. ) I already know we win the war. You ain't speakin' German.

[ good job, gene. you get a laugh out of him. dick ducks his head to keep it to himself. ]

No spoilers, all right?

( he holds one hand up solemnly. )

Scout's honour. I mean, I ain't a scout, but. I've heard they're pretty big on that whole thing.

( he sees that smile!! you can't hide, dick. congrats you are now +1 pocket medic. but, back to business — )

Ain't allergic to sulfa, are you?

[ he's not here to make friends! go away! ]

Not as far as I know.

Good. Then if it turns out you're right, I'll make sure you don't die of infection.

( he can't promise he won't die from anything else. gene learned on the beaches of gela what he can and can't expect someone to reasonably survive, and where his own limits lie. don't mean he ain't been up against death a few times and come out victorious, but the reverse is also true. he's lost that fight. more than he'd like to. )

So. Michigan, huh? What do you get up to, there?

( he's got a leadership quality about him. this sense of taking charge, but gene don't figure him as military. hell, he could be a schoolteacher for all he knows. he's got that edge that'd be good for wrangling kids, like ysobel. )

[ he's not so quick to put himself in someone else's hands. but he may consider gene's, if it comes to something he can't sew up and hide himself. it may be harder to hide from a doctor's eyes, but he has stubbornness in spades to make up for that.

he can't promise. so he doesn't. ]

I'm a detective.

No kiddin'?

( there's a genuine sense of wonderment in his tone at that, and his expression lightens as he finishes packing dressings into his med kit. a boy who idolized cops grew up into a man that still carries a lotta respect for them and their ilk. oh, that ain't to say he's cotton-blind to the bad ones. he drew his gun only a handful of times in the war, and once was on one of his own squadmates. bad eggs in every batch.

once he's got his kit packed back up, he reclaims his cooling cup of coffee and leans against the old dresser to carry on the conversation. )

That's real swell. Lotta schooling to get there?

No kidding.

[ oh no, too cute. dick hasn't got a soft spot for cops: in gotham corruption was top down, but there were good people. in michigan things are a little easier. people leave him alone. less dirty cops. ]

Just exams.

[ he didn't finish university. ]

Huh. How about that. I may pick your brain some. See, my brother back home always wanted to be a cop.

( he says it carelessly, without thinking. but the truth is, if he really is dead he may never see al again. an' he may not be the same man gene knows if he does. the pacific, by all accounts, has been a worse war than what's gone on in europe. his pa wrote him to say he ain't heard from al in months, and due to the war department censorship, they ain't even got a clue where he's deployed.

al'd just about kill him, if gene showed up as a ghost. much as anyone can kill somethin' already dead, anyway. that's the reality, now. he may never see his brothers again. ready for it or not, that's a reality he'll have to stare down. it winds him, though he covers it with another careful sip of his coffee. homesickness hits like a truck some days. )

[ two types of cops. those who want to make a difference. and those who leap at the opportunity to flash a badge and get their way. ]

Sure.

[ he replies without thinking, too. harmless chatter to pass the time. assuming they can go back to where they came from. ]

Over another cup of coffee?

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preseance - 2019-06-19 22:07 (UTC) - Expand

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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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btw i love him.

ahh thank you! c: your dick is wonderful too i can hear him so perfectly in every tag

ah ty ty.

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