memesinthenight | TEST DRIVE MEME #9

Entry tags:

!tdm

TEST DRIVE MEME #9

Hello and welcome to the In the Night test drive meme for March! Thanks for your interest in our game! In an effort to streamline our application process and avoid future confusion between incoming and existing players, we will no longer have a reservation period. Applications open on March 22, and will be judged on a first-come, first-served basis.

While you're here...
Take a look at our rules and faq pages to familiarize yourself with the game.
Note that we have a (current) application cap of 15 apps this month for new players, as the game has a player cap of 70. 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 top-leveling is not limited to new characters! If current players wish to post a starter, 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).
If you haven't already, please take a moment to look at our announcement regarding changes to the application cycle, which involves information concerning the 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

DANCING QUEEN (cw corpses)

When the ferry chugs up to the dock, its speakers are crackling with a happy song. What a fun way to bring in all the newcomers! Except... goodness, what's that terrible stench? The ferry docks and lowers its gangway as per usual, but the ship is quiet. No newcomers flock to the deck to disembark, and instead, the faint sound of buzzing flies can be heard over the breeze.

Boarding the ferry quickly reveals the source of the flies: decaying bodies, dozens of them, are littered throughout the ship. Some lie in bunks and could be asleep if it weren't for the rot, and others are strewn throughout the cargo hold and the deck. There are no lanterns among them, and there aren't any signs of fighting or struggle around the ship. Inspecting the bodies (if anyone seriously wants to do that) won't yield any definitive answers in terms of cause of death, but, oh. Though it's difficult to tell at first glance due to the decay, these bodies... They're residents of Beacon.

Maybe you find your friend or yourself or, oh, there's Rastus! And Robin! The gang's all here, albeit disgustingly—and Dancing Queen crackles over the speakers. Welcome, welcome!

—but before the ferry departs again, the corpses start to move. Moving about the ship, someone might first hear a sigh, or a sputter, or a little laugh, and maybe it could be brushed off as a trick of the mind until the bodies stand, hoisting themselves up with whatever limbs they have left, and drag themselves toward the deck. One by one, they slip clumsily over the railing and back into the lake, but not before they drop their disguises and slowly contort back into their usual forest spirit bodies (source).

Ugh. Frickin' spirits.

WELCOME TO OUR GAME: INTO THE DARK

In spite of the strange occurrences starting off the month, there's still work to be done in Beacon. Or perhaps it's precisely due to this that Rastus calls for the attention of anyone who will listen as they pass by his station at the bonfire. All but shoving a torch in your hand, he requests that you place it around one of the many locations that could use a source of light! A lot of new places have been discovered recently, after all.

In the event that you choose to choose to play with this prompt as game canon, please remember to report where you choose to place a torch on the item request page so the setting can be updated accordingly! For incoming players, this can be reported retroactively!

These efforts would be a great service to the community at large; Rastus reminds everyone that while the bonfire is a finite resource, it's still a resource that's meant to be utilized.

network prompts

IF YOU DIE IN THE GAME YOU DIE FOR REAL

Not long after the ferry shows up with, uh, no people and a whole lotta corpses (that turn out to be forest spirits playing a very uncool prank), Robin makes a post to the network!

Oh holy god uhhhh OK so no idea what's going on with the ferry this month, wow. Data from the portal is saying nobody new came through, so... nothing to worry about!!! Probably!! I really don't know anything more than you guys right now but I'm gonna get in touch with Dr. Solis. She'll have a better idea of what's going on than me. I'll get back to you all as soon as we figure out what's up.

In the meantime..........!!! I thought it might be fun to play some games to get our minds off stuff? How about hangman! Here's how to play if you don't know!

She attaches a little set of instructions for any characters not in the know. Fun stuff!

But, uh oh. If you get a letter wrong, you'll notice it's getting just a bit more difficult to breathe... Is the air particularly heavy today? Allergies, maybe? No, the feeling only gets worse as the game continues, each incorrect guess tightening an invisible noose around your neck.

The only way out is through, it seems, as nothing provides any relief save for winning a game. But what happens if you lose...?

(If asked, Robin also has no idea what's up with that. Heck! Maybe it's the lanterns acting up again? In any case, the weird hangman curse will resolve itself within a day or two.)

PARTICIPATION FOR CLOWNS

All at once, a notice arrives in everyone's inboxes. It appears to be some sort of strange attempt at a bingo card! It would, potentially, be a mystery as to who crafted this and, well, exactly what it's supposed to mean, were it not for the underlying message that accompanies it.

HELLO! HELLO? HELLO HELLO. ALL BRING CARD TO GET GIFT FOR ALL! YES! ONTO BODY LIBRARY GIFT IT GOES! THANK A MUCH!

The real problem here being, of course, that the librarian's apparent game is a bit, well, difficult to understand. Well, it's possible that it won't require any stringent rules. Ultimately, those who bring in a bingo card that has a row of marks in any particular fashion will receive a free gift compliment of the spirit as a way to promote the library. There might be some fabric missing where the shirt has been bitten into, but, hey, nobody's perfect.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She pulls a face when he does that... air flippy hand. Why is he like this.

Either way, he's talking again, and she shakes her head. ]

No... he did not. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to. It's alright.

[ She's no fool, she can see the look on his face, and she honestly doesn't want to upset him further, or force him to talk about anything that may cause distress. ]

I've no desire to dredge up ancient history.

[He sighs.]

But if you see my brother again you might ask him for the truth. I'd be very curious to know what he says.

As for the matter of your betrothed....

[He trails off as if considering her request, but he already has his answer.]

I understand.

[ She doesn't blame him, and honestly? It's not her business. That's all his, and if he ever wishes to go into more detail about it later, she'll be around to listen. ]

...Noctis and I are not betrothed.

[ Time to get that little piece of info out of the way. ]

We are friends and nothing more. But I would still ask that you try not to bother him, and I will tell him to do the same. His friends, too.

[Ardyn arches a brow at the news. It's too bad, he thinks. Proposing that the prince and the Oracle be wed was all part of a bigger scheme...his scheme....but a romantic core in his being truly had seen them as lovers. Maybe all he'd really seen was a chance to vicariously relive his memories of Aera.

Oh, well, their relationship isn't any of his business anymore.]

Your friend, then.

I will leave him unmolested but know I doubt that he and his retinue will be so magnanimous in kind.

[ Luna inwardly thinks it's too bad, too, but she's accepted that it is what it is now. Now, she's just entirely numb to the feelings she'd once harbored for the young king...

...it has been a trying few months. ]

Thank you. And in return, I will make sure that they will leave you be, too. To start fighting here would be ridiculous, and it solves nothing.

[ Working together as a unit instead of separately will benefit them all greatly. She hopes. She sighs. ]

Come, I will take you to where the Bonfire is. It seems to be the biggest source of light thus far. There is also the Lighthouse, but... I would not suggest trying to go there. I attempted it with a friend, and it did not end well for either of us.

[He rattles out a forced gasp.]

Oh?

What ill fate became you?

[They're all already dead, so it can't be that, can it?

There are things worse than death, however. He knows this better than anyone.]

My friend and I were ripped apart and then drowned in the lake.

[ Oh, he'd be very wrong. She shrugs her shoulders, brushing it off because much like in life, she really just doesn't care about death or dying all that much. ]

When I awoke, a week had passed, and I was in the church. It is a strange thing that the deceased can pass again, do you not agree?

[She died and came back?

It's not the response he wanted to hear.

He's felt death's cold embrace before. Every time his body died his essence contained within the Crystal would bring him roaring back to life.]

It's strange indeed. The inability to truly die is liberating at first but then the pain starts to pile up, doesn't it? And the very world itself becomes an eternal prison.

...You will never get used to it.

[ Well... out of everyone from home, he'd understand the feeling better than anyone, certainly. But his words ring true, and she nods. ]

Yes... the friend I was with stated he planned on continuously trying, now that he knew we would just come back. But... I have a bad feeling about that. Not that it matters, he is no longer here.

...No. I would imagine you would not. I suppose I simply don't understand. We are dead, and yet we are alive? This is supposed to be some sort of afterlife... this is not the afterlife or peace we were promised.

[ She looks up at him again as they make their way down the path and towards the glowing light of the bonfire. ]

I just don't particularly understand why we all ended up here. We are meant to help this world, but when that is done, then what?

"Then what", indeed. Isn't that always the question?

[He stops a moment to tap his toes in the dirt and shake out some discomfort in his foot then resumes walking.]

Maybe then we go home and carry out the ending of our tragic little story... Or maybe we will simply become nothing.

I've no more insight into that than you....

But I wonder... What makes you so certain we are supposed to save this world? Has someone told you this or are people just desperate to make sense of all the chaos?

Yes... yes, I suppose it is.

[ She hums at his suggestions, because honestly? Anything is possible, any one of those scenarios. ]

There were people here before us, apparently. I believe that was their goal... but they didn't do something right and they were all killed. [ A pause. ] ...again.

The spirits that I have spoken to seem to want help, at least. They said they want us to learn... but they are not making that particular process an easy one.

Learn what? How to end up less dead than our predecessors?

{He makes a wide gesture towards nothing in particular.]

Or maybe they want us to learn how to leave.

I don't know. Perhaps we are meant to free them...

[ Because she's not entirely convinced this isn't some sort of multi-universal purgatory. How does one who is already dead die again? She'll never understand it. ]

I don't think so... the very same friend who made the Lighthouse attempt with me also attempted to steal the very ferry we all arrived on. It did not work and he ended up sinking it... and yet...

...and yet some people who die here do not come back. Noctis died once here, he was gone for a few months... and then when he returned he did not recall any of his time here.

There are worse things than having to forget.

[Most of the memories Ardyn devoured helped him learn more about Lucis, it's true, but he carries so many now and there are a good number of them he'd like to lose.]

Ah, but it does rather put a damper on the collective effort to learn, doesn't it?

I suppose so, yes, but it is a phenomenon that I don't understand. Ignis seems to think that perhaps... perhaps those who come back with no memories are not even the same person.

[ Which may sound a little crazy, but given that there are people here from all walks of life and different universes? She won't discount it. ]

It does. Ah... but this must be a lot for you to take in, given you've only just arrived.

[ She's quiet for a few moments, before she stops again, just steps away from the Bonfire and civilization. She doesn't entirely trust Ardyn, of course, and for good reason. He probably feels the same way.

...And yet. ]

This is going to sound entirely insane, and I ask for your forgiveness for such. But talking to you has been like a breath of fresh air. Most people are frightened or nervous when they arrive here, but you've taken it all in stride.

[Ardyn quietly regards the Bonfire...

It would be easy to forge some new daemons, unleash his miasma and consume its light.

What would happen?

For a moment he entertains the idea but decides there's no point. Who would it serve? Not himself, not the gods, not the prophecy... Just the Scourge. There's a slight twinge in his breast; the feeling of his inner darkness wanting to spread, but he is easily able to contain it.

With a weary sigh, he looks back towards Lunafreya.]

Have I?

Well, it's a world of monsters and eternal night. I suppose I might have a higher tolerance for this than most.

[ Luna watches the flames for a few moments as well, weary. It's comforting, she supposes, in it's own way. The lack of sunlight is, in a word... maddening. She hadn't thought it would get to her the way it has -- perhaps between that and the fact that the people she has gotten closest to seem to be coming and going as if they were never here at all has taken a bit of a toll on her, to say the least.

Nyx was here just long enough before he'd disappeared like sand between her fingers, Noctis left and came back, as did Prompto...

...Ravus has hit her the hardest. He'd been here so briefly, she'd been so happy to see him and now he's gone. Her one comfort in this world, gone again. And here she stands with the man who not only gave her a swift ending, but killed her brother, having a rather pleasant conversation.

What a strange world, indeed. ]

...Do you ever get tired? [ She pauses, before gesturing with her free hand at... well. Everything. The darkness, specifically. ] Of this. Things like this.

[Ardyn watches her.

The strangeness of the conversation doesn't hit him quite as strongly. Like everything else, her death had mostly been a means to an end.

It was all meant to further motivate Noctis and make it easier to spread the Scourge. Without the Oracle's light, the nights had started to lengthen much more quickly.

Of course he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't find satisfaction in striking her down. She was, after all, the living conduit of the gods' will and had an annoying tendency to echo Bahamut's words at him.

That memory brings a slight grimace to his face that he pretends is a response to her question.]

Of the dark?

Oh, no, I prefer it.

[He gestures towards the sky.]

I've been in darkness longer than I've been in the light at this point.

...Do you not miss the light?

[ Weren't they supposed to be doing something with this torch? Whatever, they can deal with it later. For the moment, she pops the torch back into the Bonfire, before lightly looping an arm through Ardyn's as a mean to gently tug him towards the Invincible. She lets him go quickly enough, at least. ]

It isn't just the lack of light. Do you not grow tired of getting dragged into things like this? Darkness, daemons... fate.

[Ardyn tenses when she tugs on his arm, as if bracing himself for an attack.]

My feelings about such things are none of your concern, Oracle.

[ She ignores that, walking into the building so that she can find a table that they can sit and properly chat at. She settles her lantern down at her side, close to her feet as she takes a seat. ]

Lunafreya. [ It's blunt, and quick, the way she blurts her own name out. ] I am not an Oracle here, I am just Lunafreya. I was asking you that question because I find myself feeling those very things. I am tired and ready to rest, and yet here we are. Again. I am glad to be able to help if we can, but this feels a little... frustrating.

[Ardyn places a hand against the backrest of the seat across from her and leans sideways against it instead of sitting himself.]

Frustrating?

[He twists his head to look over his shoulder at the door. There's nothing there, but the point is just to look at something other than Luna.

Really, he doesn't want to share his feelings on fate, they're raw and personal but "frustrating" feels like too small a word for fate.]

You are tired of your work already? You've not been at it long.

Yes. Frustrating.

[ Of course he'd say that. She watches him wearily, placing her hands neatly into her lap. She hasn't been at it as long as he has, no. She can't even argue with him on that one. ]

I'm not tired of my work. I am tired of being pulled around, from one world with these problems to another afterlife with the exact same issues. Well... near same. Instead of daemons we have malicious spirits. Is there really no way we can pick one world to save first before heading off to the next?

[Slowly, he looks back at her.]

And here we are having saved no world at all.

What shall become of Eos without her King? My goodness things must be so dreadful there right now...

Indeed.

I was thinking the same thing, and I was very concerned for a long while. I would imagine that it must be dark and full of daemons.

[ She looks back up at him, head tilted slightly. ]

Now I wonder what it must be like if you are here. Without Noctis there and without you, what has changed, if anything, do you think?

TEST DRIVE MEME #9

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