TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[inthenightmods]

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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Comments

Pikachu

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

You're Dead, Jim

[Pikachu's ears hang low as he loses himself in thought, staring into the fire. It's...strange. Part of him keeps thinking 'It's ok.' It is ok. His last memory before waking up here had been one of acceptance. Of resolve to do the right thing knowing what likely would happen so long as Ryme City and so long as Tim would have a chance.

But that's the thing. How can he know? Had it worked? Were they saved?

He sinks in on himself a little, tilts his head back, and stares upwards into the blackness at the edge of the bonfire's light.]

You can do it, Kid.

[It's whispered under his breath, tired but certain. Tim could do this. He's sure of it. He feels it in his jellies.]

And They Were Roommates

[Pikachu's not really in need of a bed or a bedroom in the way a human is. Something soft and cushy is all he asks, and maybe something with a little privacy.

So he's gone into one of the rooms, stolen a couple many of the pillows and has begun hoarding them under one of the beds, creating a nest of sorts.

That is until someone tries to take one of the pillows or sit on the bed over him.]

Hey! Watch it!

[paletteswap]

[This room looked unoccupied, and the 'No Humans Allowed' pillowfort underneath it had gone unnoticed by Kuai Liang who just wanted a place to sit down and figure out what's happening and investigate this tablet further. No such luck.

He startles and backs up from where he's sitting on the bed, sending shards of ice shooting out of his hand towards the... yellow.... fuzzy thing that crawls out from underneath it.

Okay, the icicle barrage was probably an overreaction.]

What are you doing under a bed?

[This is clearly Pikachu's fault.]

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

The real question is what are you doing sitting on my bed?

[Pikachu shakes his head to stretch after crawling out of his hiding place, then proceeds to look this intruder up and down in suspicion.]

[paletteswap]

[He's dressed like a fighter in a martial arts movie taking place in a different time. Knives tucked into various places, metal plating on his shoulders and gauntlets, and leather padded armor pieces protecting his front.]

I didn't know you were in here. Not that it would have stopped me.

[He is not intimidated by a small furry thing, now that he's actually seen it. And he's not getting off the bed.]

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

I see. So you're just rude all the time then?

[Pikachu, in turn, is not suitably intimidated by things he probably should be intimidated by, staring directly at this man without flinching]

dead jim

[stolenparts]

[Slowly, Robin crouches down beside Pikachu, in front of the fire. For awhile, he's silent, too.]

I'm worried about someone, too.

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

[There's something Pikachu had told time early on in their journey. 'We don't have to understand you to know what you're feeling'. Pokemon can sense something from the humans they share the world with. Like some faint shared pulse.

And he feels it, like the small tremors before a quake, before the boy speaks.

One ear quirks a little, tentative.]

....yeah?

[stolenparts]

Yeah...a little girl named Aya.

[He smiles a little. It's sad, even as he tries to be reassuring.]

But she's stronger than she knows. I want to believe that she'll make it alright on her own.

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

[Pikachu returns his own small, tired smile that similarly fails to be convincing although it is sincere.]

That's like Tim.

[a small nod]

...I mean...he's not a little girl but....but he can do it. He's gonna be ok.

[And he truly believes that]

What's your name, kid?

bonfire

[callada]

[Oh, is that a mink? He's heard of them before, but never seen one in person. Aren't they supposed to be... bigger, though? More human-like? Maybe this one's a child. Maybe it's a zoan user. Maybe an actual talking animal, because the world is always ready to throw something new out there.

It doesn't matter just now anyway. He hears that whisper, catches just enough of it to feel a pang of hope and sorrow and sympathy. The creature, whatever it is, has someone out there on the other side who will have to struggle on alone. Too familiar.

He approaches slowly, waves a little in greeting, then sits himself down, because talking to someone who barely reaches mid-shin while standing is going to hurt his neck. He taps ash off the end of his cigarette onto the ground, having momentarily forgotten the fact that he looks an utter nightmare, with blood streaked across his face and soaked deep into his clothing, harlequin makeup messy somewhere underneath all that.]

Did you just get here too?

Re: bonfire

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

[Even sitting this person is much much taller than any human Pikachu has ever known. He might even be taller than Charizard. And the blood everywhere doesn't help to make this person less intimidating. Pikachu has to lean his head back all the way to look at him.

He nods awkwardly, a little too stunned to speak coherently at first.]

Yeah.

[What do you say to a giant?]

You know those give you cancer right? Well...actually I guess that doesn't matter anymore.....

[callada]

Yeah. Nice icebreaker.

[The comment is dry enough, but there's an upward quirk of his lips. He's still too much in shock, too hurt, to really laugh, but it strikes him as funny. Welcome to death, did you know you're killing yourself?

It certainly isn't going to stop him. The only reason he's likely to slow down is to keep from running out of cigarettes because he has a feeling they might not be easy to come by here. He'll have to look into that soon. He exhales a long, slow breath, a plume of smoke that drifts toward the fire.]

Where are you from?

[Let's try starting there first, maybe it'll clarify a few things.]

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

Sorry [Pikachu flinches a little at the awkwardness] ....still, uh, getting used to this whole being dead thing myself.

[A small attempt at a smile]

I've spent my whole life in Ryme City. You ever been there?

roommates

[survivaltricks]

Ah--?!

[it hadn't occurred to Akira to check underneath the bed before claiming a room, buuuut now that he's been properly scolded for flopping onto the mattress? he kind of wishes it had!! with a jerky start, he hops off of the bed and onto his feet, pausing only momentarily in bewilderment before he crouches down to check underneath the bed frame]

[and that is when he finds himself face-to-face with a fuzzy yellow creature]

[. . .]

[that he is totally reaching out to poke in the forehead because what the fuck is having manners]

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

Hey! Watch it

[Pikachu frowns and wiggles out of reach.]

Didn't your mother ever teach you not to poke strangers?

[survivaltricks]

[holy shit IT TALKS]

[Akira jerks his hand back immediately]

Actually, she didn't.

[that was a rhetorical question, Akira]

Sorry. I can't help myself. You're just-- [a pause]

So fluffy. . .

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

....well....what about a dad or like...a friendly neighbor or something? .....a favorite teacher maybe?

[Pikachu steps out from under the bed but keeps an eye on this kid at all times]

Of course I'm fluffy. I'm a Pikachu. It's sort of part of the whole Pikachu-package.

[equinoctials]

[ Riku's hearing is not sharp enough to hear those whispered words beneath the low flutter of the bonfire or the snap-pops that kick sparks up to whirl into the perpetual night.

It's just enough to identify that those were intelligible words sighed out of the diminutive yellow rodent sitting within the ring of firelight, though.

And... for reasons, let's just say Riku isn't unfamiliar with talking rodents. ]

Sounds like... [ Riku pauses to almost drift his hand over his chin, only to gesture with that hand towards the bonfire. Maybe he couldn't hear exactly what words were said, but he recognizes that sigh. ] You miss someone.

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

[Pikachu peeks back over his shoulder to identify the owner of the voice. Another young person....

His ear twitches hesitantly a moment before he answers]

You might say it's more a "I'm going to really miss someone" kind of situation. And knowing that....sucks.

[equinoctials]

[ The King's voice was so much higher and lighter for all that he took up more space than Pikachu does, but a voice is a voice, and sometimes it can be what you least expect out of the package it comes in.

The sentiment he expresses, however? Something he's sure most of them who came in on the ferry can relate with.
Riku takes a knee, his lantern set on the cobblestone beside it. ]

I think you're gonna find a lot of people here feel the same way. It's okay to miss someone. And, yeah, it really sucks.

[ Momentarily at a loss for what else to say, he thinks about what the others would have done. The King would have prompted Riku to speak what's on his mind, reluctant to act on it though he was. Sora, Kairi? They somehow always knew exactly what to say to get to the heart of the matter. ]

...No matter how far apart you are, your hearts are still connected. When you think about the people important to you, don't you feel something?

Maybe talking about them will keep them a little closer.

you're dead, jim

[completelycrazy]

[...What? Is this yellow groundhog thing talking to him?

Talking.]

You can talk.

[There's a lot to take in, being dead and, um, here, but if Newt focuses on this oddity that probably has no bearing on anything, it means he gets to ignore the more pressing issues for a little while longer.

Totally worth it. Definitely.]

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

[Mouse. Wow, rude.]

And you can understand me! I know, it's surprising. This is new for me too.

[Pikachu gets up to his hind legs, nose twitching with a tentative sniff of this new stranger]

[ordinaryannie]

[Given her background, Antimony really should have considered the possibility that the truly absurd number of pillows sticking out from under the bed might mean someone is living under there. In her defense, most of the under-bed dwelling creatures she's familiar with are fond of rather more elaborate structures.

Also, given the approach towards furniture distribution in the rest of the rooms she'd peeked into, a pile of pillows beneath a bed isn't that out of place.

Still, she drops the pillow she'd been about to pull out like it's hot, wincing slightly in apology.]

Sorry. I didn't realize someone had claimed these.

[ryanreynoldsvoice]

[Pikachu doesn't answer right away as he's busy using his mouth to drag said pillow back into place in his nest.]

It's part of my lair. Or my cave. I'm still trying to pick a name for it. Lair sort of makes me sound evil but mancave kinda comes with that air of 'dude who tries too hard to prove he's cool.'

[ordinaryannie]

And we wouldn't want that.

[She sits back on her heels, hands resting on her knees and fingertips idly drumming in thought.]

Maybe sanctum? Less evil, more wizardly.