memesinthenight | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Entry tags:

!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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[He hears her voice and sees the outline of her against the flames. Arya. His heart seizes in his chest at the very idea of her being here. While he had thought he came to terms with her death, Bran's letter had at least renewed hope in him that he would see her again, once his task beyond the Wall was complete and Cersei agreed to the ceasefire. After falling into the ice, he had assumed that all of that was ended. His family, his attempts to fight the Dead, he did his best and failed again.

That she was here didn't offer any comfort that he was wrong. Clearly something happened that brought her to this place, as dead as he was. He watched for a time, uncertain how to even approach her or what to say.

It was craven, but he was unsure and didn't know what would confront him in how she looked or what might be left from...however she died. He was still in his Wildling gear and likely didn't look much better. But finally gathering his courage, he answered her.]

I've never known the dead to sleep.

[ Arya had died slowly and hauntingly on the sea from thirst, a death off of any known maps, but she'd died with the knowledge that at least her family was alive and well and that her death had been something made by her own choices. It hadn't been much of a balm during those becalmed days, but it had been something. But when she turns her head and realizes that it's Jon beside her, Jon so much and not quite like how she remembers him looking last on the pier in King's Landing, her heart stalls. Starts up again twice as fast.

At least that part of her certainly doesn't feel dead. ]

You're right. They don't.

[ He'd taught her that long before she'd seen it for herself. Humanity blinks back into Arya's eyes in a second with a glassy little film of tears and she throws her skinny arms around Jon in his layers of fur and mail and leather right there beside the fire. Right there in public. It doesn't matter. No one knows them. For once Arya isn't worried about looking like the warrior she is.

Neither of them quite look like death has struck them, although Arya looks even skinnier than she had before her voyage. She pulls back to let her eyes rake over his face, his clothes, and back to his eyes. The ones that are just like hers. ]

So what happened to you? Is it true? Are we dead? [ As though her brother might still have the answer to everything. She has no reason yet to suspect that he's not exactly the same brother she'd just recently left behind. ]

[There's only a momentary look shared between them before she's jumping into his arms. He's quick to hold her, believing this to be the first time they've seen each other since he left for the Wall. All of the pent up emotion and grief he'd been ignoring finally released. He could feel his tears scatter in her hair, but held firm to her all the same.

He notices the differences, but there is the fact that she has grown up so much that takes his larger focus. He stares down at her when they pull back, seeing the differences between the girl he knew and the woman that was before him. She didn't seem to be killed in the way he might expect from the Long Night, but he doesn't have the strength or heart to ask her what happened.

No more than he can speak of his own journey.]

I don't know. [He looked around, unable to comprehend this place when set against what he experienced with his death before. This isn't right. Ser Beric had gone through the same as he had, so it wasn't simply in his mind or a mistake.

Why was this time different?]

Everyone seems to have died, but it isn't the same as before. There was nothing then.

[ The way he holds her... It's different than she expected. More like the time beneath the heart tree in the godswood, the first time he'd seen her again after so many years apart. She squeezes him harder because of it, renewed strength that she'd lost before she died again in her arms. It's a strange relief, but to be embracing Jon of all people is the greater one.

Perhaps he might have expected her to question what he meant by the same as before, but Arya already knows, so she doesn't. "How did you survive a knife through the heart?' she'd asked him, but she'd never been told the details. He's telling her now. ]

I thought there would be nothing, too.

[ She says it quietly, almost fearfully. She'd learned not to fear death, but now that it had come and passed and she was still here, still not understanding it, still waiting to learn more about what would happen to her, and now what would happened to Jon... ]

But what happened to you this time? You don't remember? [ She doesn't have the heart yet to tell him how she'd died, not when it takes a long moment to disentagled herself from his arms. ] Did something go wrong in the north? With Sansa?

[He suspected that Sansa told Arya of what he suffered, as it was something that was noteworthy enough to discuss. But it was strange that she hadn't questioned it a bit more. At the moment though, his mind was focused on seeing her again after so long apart. He would think about this later and might ask, but right now he wanted to think only of her.

Arya had always been astute and it made sense that she would expected nothing rather than the Seven Heavens. It was depressing though, knowing that their family was facing nothing than a contented afterlife.]

No. [He looked at her with a bit of confusion.] Did Sansa not tell you I'm- I was on Dragonstone? Tyrion suggested a plan to convince Cersei of a ceasefire. He told us to collect a wight and bring it south. During the expedition, we were surrounded by the army of the dead. Daenerys came for us and while the others were climbing onto her dragon, I stayed behind to buy them time.

[He hadn't survived it, obviously.]

[ Having not spoken with Beric about her while he was in the north, and having not yet had the chance to ask her about anything of the like, it's no wonder that Jon doesn't know she's seen the very same thing happen before in the riverlands, at the hands of the very priest that Jon had travelled with. It takes a lot to shock Arya now. Her brother will never be able to.

Or at least, that's what she'd thought. It takes a few seconds for what he's saying to sink in, and then her brows crunch into a confused little frown. She looks at him, suddenly concerned. Has he... forgotten so much? Is that possible, after all that had happened to them? After all that horror he'd gone through? ]

But... but that happened so long ago. You made it back from that mission. That's what Sansa said, that you were hurt, but... [ Hesitantly, she reaches out to touch him again, like she's afraid he might not really be there, like he might just be some confusing dream. ]

And then you came back north again. Home, to us. With Queen Daenerys. [ She says her name with hesitance and looks at him then, eyes wide and grey, suddenly a little frightened. ] Don't you remember?

Arya...I drowned under the ice. [He doesn't know what she's talking about. Was it denial? She at least was under the impression that he could secure help from Daenerys, even if Sansa seemed unwilling to consider that possibility, but Arya had always been on his side when it seemed no one else was. It wasn't strange to think that after all they suffered, she still was, even in death.

He looks at her in confusion, shaking his head.] I planned to return to Winterfell before Tyrion suggested we capture a wight to convince Cersei to a ceasefire. It would allow Daenerys to follow us, but I don't know what happened to them. She lost a dragon and nearly lost a second one saving us.

[He paid for her escape with his life. An even trade, he hopes, if only she goes North to rescue his people, hers now as well.]

I only received a raven about your return to Winterfell before leaving.

[ For the first time since arriving here, even with all that she's heard and seen, this is the first time that Arya has begun to feel truly scared. Jon doesn't remember. Is this... Is this even really Jon that she's speaking to then? Or some trick? But no, she can read only honesty in his voice. He isn't lying to her, and this isn't some other pretending to be him. That really is all he remembers. And he thinks he drowned. Arya tries to school her face, gets it mostly under control. It's difficult when it's Jon that she's speaking to. She never wants to be anything but herself around him. ]

But you didn't. You came back to me.

[ She hadn't quite meant to add the last two words, but she's said them now and she can't take them back. They belie how frightened she is growing. She takes Jon's gloved hand in hers and squeezes it. ]

It didn't matter if Cersei believed you. She didn't come anyway.

[ Arya swallows, her throat thick with the remembering. There are things she does not wish to tell him. Maybe... maybe she doesn't have to if he really does not remember.

What would be the purpose of breaking his heart anew? She bites her lip and looks up at him with a bittersweetness in her face. ]

The rest of it worked. I promise, even if you don't... if you don't remember, it worked. She helped us save the north. We won, Jon. Because of what you did.

[It should strike him as strange that they both had different memories and seemed to experience different times, but death was separate from all of that. When he was brought back, it seemed that no time had past. There was nothing and then his eyes opened in his office. Maybe it was no different here? Time was a concept and didn't exist. Their father could suddenly appear and it would be fresh for him.

But they would have an eternity to think about it. With her in front of him, she held his entire focus. You came back to me. Gods, he always would. He would have marched his men south if he had known where she was and brought to the Wall. It might have been safe for any of them, but he would have had her back.]

I meant to.

[The Dead had become an obsession. How was it he let them overshadow the news that Arya was alive and home? How could he have dismissed it?

His face darkened at the news of Cersei. No, of course she wouldn't, but at least Daenerys didn't let that stop her.]

Daenerys and her dragons? They came to Winterfell? Her armies?

[The relief is overwhelming, almost knocking him from his feet.]

But you're here? If it wasn't the Dead-

Yes. All of them. [ And then she smiles, just a little, to remember Jon riding in with dragons in the air above him. Her brother riding one himself in the battle. She'd been so proud of him. She would always be proud of him. ] We defended the castle.

[ But she winces a little when he asks how she died, biting her lip and closing her eyes for a moment to swallow the embarrassment of it all. She could have had any life she wanted. And she'd thrown it all away. ]

No. It was... it was me. [ Even the words sound like a wince. ] It was my own fault, Jon. [ The cloud of reasons why she left weigh on her now, as inexplicable currently as they'd been then, and she looks up at him apologetically. ]

You told me to come with you. But I didn't. [ She doesn't say where. Given what he's just said, she's afraid to speak in detail. The gap between them worries her. ] I should have.

Come with me? [The question is out before he can think better of it. Apparently in her memories, he was still alive and traveling somewhere. He could only assume that it was to King's Landing, since that seemed to be his inevitable destination, if his relationship with Dany had progressed any further than it had. Beyond that, he can't think of where else he would want to go?] You stayed behind in Winterfell?

[He doesn't want to know, not yet. All of this is still too soon and he's not yet wrapped his mind around even having his sister in his arms again. There were so many changes, ebbing away the last warmth he still possessed. She wasn't a girl, she was in the battle against the Dead and yet she still died.

He fell, he failed, but Daenerys hadn't. Even then, he still hadn't protected his sister from this fate.]

Maybe where I was going, it was better than where I ended?

You... you went north again. [ She leaves it at that, but it's a task to clear the hesitance and creeping fear from her face. Not now, not here, she decides, forcing a braver, happier face for him. This is not the place to tell him. I must, but... but not now. ] That's where we always truly belonged, you and me. The north.

[ With father. That truly was another life, it seemed so long ago. Finally, Arya disentagles herself completely and backs away, looking him over again. It's true. He has less scars, less wear than she remembers him with. How can that be possible? She might be new to his eyes looking as she does, but Arya has had more than a year to come to know Jon's face again. ]

We all got what we wanted, I think. [ But she does not sound happy when she says it. There's a Stark sadness in her eyes, one that he likely knows well himself, and the smile she gives him again is meant to soften it all. ] Until... until I failed and I woke up here. [ So much like Jon it seems like she should remember this detail their deaths have in common. It feels important to her, somehow. ]

[He belonged with Arya, that much was true, but the North, the Wall and beyond it...he doesn't know if he ever really did. His entire life was spent searching for a place that felt something close to home. Even in Winterfell, he was an outsider in a sense. It didn't belong to him the way it did to Ned Stark's trueborn children. The North was always a part of him, but belonging and returning beyond the Wall? He couldn't say that was the right choice.]

Wanted? [Did she mean the defeat of the dead or going back North? The dead had been his obsession for years, what he wanted was to save his people, to save them all from death. He never stopped to think what he wanted for himself, selfishly or even what life he wanted to lead now that he had a second chance.

In the end he didn't need to. He died, just as he assumed he would.] I wonder if this isn't what I wanted.

[Death and an end to it all.]

We're together now, that's where we belong.

[ It breaks her heart to hear him say it and it shows on Arya's face, but she can't say that did not suspect that of Jon at the end of it all. At the end of the fight, when he'd been stripped of so much, she'd been worried for him. Now, at least she could stay by his side and protect him, both body and soul. She can watch out for him here, better than she ever could in life.

And that's what she intends to do. ]

Don't say that. [ There's a thick emotion in her voice, and Arya has to clear her throat. ] Unless you mean to spend your afterlife with me. [ She tries for a playful tone and mostly gets there. She nods, agreeing. ]

At least this place got one thing right.

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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Dead again

these guys get stuck with the worst things in common

This is going to be so painful

Pls bring the pain also sry for the wait

Ditto

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