TEST DRIVE MEME #02

[nextnightmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME #02

Hello and welcome to the The Next Night's test drive meme for July! Thanks for your interest in this GPSL! In an effort to streamline our application process and avoid future confusion between incoming and existing players, we do not have a reservation period. Applications open on July 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 Next Night.


• Note that we will have an application cap of 10 apps for new players for this upcoming round, and that 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 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. In addition, any threads from the TDM will be forward dated to when these mechanics are restored.


• 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.


• As we no longer plan to have a bimonthly game-wide HMD meme, we will require all new applications going forward to have a HMD post somewhere on the journal and we will ask for this as part of the application process.

Thank you again, and we hope you'll choose to join us!

log prompts

TERROR UNDER THE LAKE.

Emergency lights flare red as the Helix Station's alarm system futilely warns you and all around you to evacuate to the submarines in the hangar. The system was designed in case of a hull breach, or an assault by the Wild Hunt, who seek to hasten the end of life in this world and bring it to its inevitable closure. Hallways ought to be automatically shut off; sealed and pressurized against the threats outside to allow time for the Night Market, the inhabitants of the station, to escape.

The system was not designed to handle this sort of threat.

Word passed quickly through the intercoms - the containment in the portal room did not hold. The creature from beyond the stars was stronger than expected. The test subjects in their chambers broke loose, and now hell has descended on the Helix Station. In order to survive, you need to get up the stairs, and through a long maintenance corridor out to the submarine hangar - but the spirits that have come pouring down that hallway are ravenous and deadly. Behind you, the control center for the station's entire power system could be of some use in at least managing the situation, but some idiot barricaded himself inside, leaving you and everyone around you with only one real option: you'll have to fight for your lives and make it up the stairway - or find somewhere to hide and wait it out, and hope that help is on its way.

This is a miniature version of our event Beyond the Sea. Unlike the official event, there will be no mod-run exploration. Feel free to create your own spirits to fight, and to escape to the hangar bay or to die trying - only for your character to awaken in Beacon and find it was all a very vivid hallucination.

I SCREAM YOU SCREAM.

So, all that stuff happening in the Helix Station... pretty bad! The Vendor really feels for them. But there are other important things to worry about. For example, July 19th is International Ice Cream Day! And they have to be Ready.

The Vendor rolls their cart, which honestly rolls a bit wonky after everything that's gone down lately, to the middle of the park near the Bonfire. From there, the determined spirit tries to hand out as much ice cream as possible. They are peddling some new flavors, with sadly are lacking labels. Some flavors seem pretty straight forward by the looks of things, though characters won't know if they have earwax tobacco, BLT, or chocolate licorice until they taste it. Whether it's served in a cup or a cone, there's all sorts of flavors, and half the fun is the surprise!

That said, hawking ice cream all day and night... it's a lot of work! Occasionally, the vendor will scuttle to whoever is nearest, scoop extended. They are on break, and expect that the stand keep on scooping in their absence. You're up to the task, aren't you? Remember, the customer is always right!

network prompts

WHAT'S THE UGLIEST THING INSIDE OF YOU?

In the middle of the night (or close enough to it, who can tell in the dark?), an odd post appears. Trying to look at the user posting results in garbled nonsense, whatever it says is completely unreadable. The post itself seems to be a live feed of the Helix Station portal room, though it is so dark it is impossible to see what lingers in the dark. However, characters can hear some distant noise. Oddly enough, the noises manage to fill anyone that hears it with dread, anxiety, and even a sense of hopelessness.

If they listen too long, they feel compelled to confess something. The darkest thing they hold in their heart, whatever it is, they can't keep it in any longer. Maybe it's a comfort that on the network, maybe it won't be heard...

MISFIRE.

It seems as if the tablets and the network are all out of sorts, with half the crew down in the Helix station. The result? Messages are flying all out of order, and going to unintended recipients. Worse than that, the order and message itself seems to be getting scrambled.

This is your classic misfire prompt. Feel free to have fun with it, and let the message get as scrambled or as weird as you want!

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Comments

Ann Takamaki | Persona 5

[menaretrash]

A: Terror Under the Lake -

[ Ann Takamaki hasn't been here long. Rather, hasn't been dead long -- she's still having a real hard time believing that this is the actual afterlife and not some sort of weird bridge of the Metaverse. But after Yaldabaoth... well. It doesn't matter, and right now isn't the time to think about that.

This is all still so new and strange, and yet, after everything she's been through at home? This probably shouldn't be as odd as it is to her. So when she hears something over the intercoms about containment breach, her first instinct is to stiffen. Of course, this also doesn't last long, because the sound of angry spirits escaping from their holding areas is the next thing to hit her, along with screams.

She doesn't like running away from a fight, but she also knows when she's out classed and out numbered. And right now, the best way to figure this out, is to bow out and into safety. Which is exactly what she plans on doing -- as she rounds the corner, she accidentally bumps into someone and takes their wrist, dragging them under a stairwell with her to duck down and wait for some of these spirits to pass.

Very quietly, she whispers: ]

Hey. Sorry about that... do you have any ideas?

B: I Scream You Scream -

[ Ain't nobody telling Ann that she can't have ice cream. Especially after her little underwater lab adventure. She's got a sweet tooth that will never be satisfied, so when the Vendor rolls up, she's quick to flag them down with a bright smile. Except he just sorta shoves a cone in her face, that she accepts regardless. ]

Oh, thanks! [ It sort of looks like chocolate. Maybe. She's only half right -- it's chocolate with something else-- black licorice? She can't say it's the worst thing she's ever had, at least. She offers the Vendor a weary smile, when suddenly, he's shoving the scoop at her and walking off. Guess it's his break time.

She stares down at the scoop in her hand, and then back up at the people who pass by. ]

Jeez... [ She's a thief model, not an ice cream sales person. But she'll do her best. ] Um... ice cream? Anyone?

C: Wildcard -

[ Got any ideas you'd like to toss Ann's way? Go for it. Also, feel free to PM me if you want to hash out any extra deets. ]

I SCREAM

[vampirella]

( things topside are just not going well these days. they haven't been going well since Carmilla arrived, but it's safe to say they're even worse lately. this seems like a terrible time for the vendor to be hawking ice cream. the spirits sure don't seem to know how to read a room.

but also, even vampires stress eat sometimes. and if Carmilla is going to stress eat, you bet your ass there's only one option (besides blood). so, of course, at the question, she sighs. she really doesn't want or need ice cream, but also, )

Is there chocolate? ( that's the only way she'll possibly bother. )

Manjirou "Mikey" Sano - Tokyo Revengers

[rebelscause]

terror under the lake

i. [Is this what Hell looks like?

Mikey had always expected something more old-fashioned, but he supposes even the afterlife has to get with the times. He'd hoped to escape into nothingness, but he should have known his crimes were too great for that. Should he run? He'd have to face these torments eventually, and he doesn't have high hopes for success when it came to kicking a spirit.

Before the decision can be made for him, he chooses to move. Maybe if he's lucky he can put off facing his demons until he gets a better feel for this place.]

ii. [Upon waking, at least once he gets over the shock, anyone near Mikey in Beacon will be subject to his temper. Furious at the circumstances, and at what seems to be life, this angry 5'4" juggernaut will attempt to choke the first person he sees.]

i scream you scream

This is gross.

[Mikey isn't sure why he thought it might be any different. He doesn't deserve to enjoy a pleasant treat. Having said that, however, he doesn't stop licking at the cone in his hand. It could still be worse, and it's cold on his tongue.]

Don't eat it.

[He says as he continues to do the exact opposite of his warning.]

misfire

Possible the lantern not is behind to it leave?

[This should of course say: Is it not possible to leave the lantern behind?]

wildcard

[Anything else!]

i scream, you scream

[featherknives]

[Xayah gives him an odd look, her feathery ears twitching. You can't tell her what to do! She says nothing though and her eyes lock onto the vendor again. She won't be tricked with some crazy flavors- she knows what she wants and she goes straight for it. Chocolate on top of chocolate with chocolate syrup. With some chunks of chocolate.

The vendor looks uncomfortable with what she's doing, but she just gives them a pat and turns around, taking a bite out of ice cream, as if it isn't cold.]

If you don't like it, don't eat it.

TERROR II

[vampirella]

( look, she's had way worse greetings from strangers. it's almost like she's back in her hundreds when the Vordenburg family was actively sending hunters after her. still, just because she's had worse, doesn't mean she has to like it.

he lands the choke long enough for him to maybe realize that her breathing doesn't get suddenly short, before she tugs down on his arms at the elbows. she's much stronger than she looks, thanks to being 300+ years old. unless he's uncanny strong himself, it should be enough. )

Knock it off or I promise you I'll make you regret it.

jesse faden | control

[outlierdirector]

▼ TERROR UNDER THE LAKE

[ The strange isn't new to Jesse Faden, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control. It's been her life since she was a child. Even if most that time was spent trying to understand if she was crazy or not.

Which is why she knows they can't stay standing around this control center forever. At some point, they'll have to take the fight to the ghosts. Or, dimensional beings. Or, unknown alien life form. Any of those things could be it. ]

I'm guessing no one has a plan on what to do?

▼ MISFIRE

Really, though. I'm glad the fridges don't eat people here. They don't do that. Right?

▼ YOUR PICK
[ Have an idea? Throw it at her! ]

( prompt: misfire. )

[clarius]

You might want to check with the more senior members of the group for that.

I tried to sit on a bench earlier and it turned out to be a 'spirit' taking a nap. They were quite displeased with my lack of manners.

[ which is fair. ]

Terror Under the Lake

[primordialerebus]

[ Coraline gives the door one last kick, just to make sure the dumbass inside knows they're very possibly dooming someone to their death. She really hopes the guilt gets to them. Fucker. ]

Fight and get the fuck out I guess. Cuz like, full offense, but if I'm not getting through the door, I doubt anyone else will be.

[ She's pretty sure her femur's shattered from the force she's been applying. Not that it shows. ]

Xayah | League of Legends

[featherknives]

A. Terror under the Lake

[She could've easily flown over all those spirits in her way and reached the submarine hanger- she was swift and agile enough. Small to quickly dash in between the spirts, her clawed hands and feet slashing at the beings, several feathery stabs of her knives here and there. It is not too unfamiliar to her.

And what would've been a clean escape for her comes to a stop when she spots someone stuck at the end of a hallway. Some kind of lockers fell over and one of the more spindly spirits is trying to grab and crawl through whatever little space there is, but whoever is on the other side is fighting back. Which is good- it keeps spirit's attention away for her to send a flurry of daggers- the amount of it fills in the hallway, narrowly whizzing past the trapped person.]

Get down!

[Is the only warning she yells before recalling her blades and spearing through the creature, cutting it up into pieces.]

You alright there? [She dashes down the hall to inspect the turned over locker and maybe help lift it up.]

B. I scream, You scream

[Needless to say, Xayah has snatched the biggest scoop of chocolate icecream she could get. Her face, shoulders and hands are full of cuts and bruises from the earlier fight and she's looking forward to this dessert with a delight. Yes, she's adding more chocolate syurp on top of chocolate, what do you want?

When she's offered a scoop to work with, she gives it a look, a 'you must've taken a blow to the head' type of luck. She's tired and bloody head to toe, she's not working. She chomps into her icecream and turns around to walk away, muttering-] Find another bird to ruffle feathers.

C. Ugly side of you

After fighting so many humans in my life, it became a habit to kill them.
[She stares at the message she just wrote with a long look- it's not false. Clearly not something she's done since she died. No rest for the wicked, however...]

D. Misfire

I really need a massage... and manicure.

[Shooting feathers all day fucks up your nails.]

D

[menaretrash]

That makes two of us.

[ Misfire or not, Ann is 10000000000% in agreement here, dudette. ]

B

[callada]

[She turns, and finds someone has walked up behind her. Someone who typically doesn't have much interest in ice cream, honestly, but it's hot, and he could use something simple and pleasant to pretend for a moment that life here isn't so bad.

Except he saw who was at the cart and rather than moving ahead to get the treat, he just stands there, hands on his hips, smile on his face. He's been through some shit recently, if all the bandages on his arms and even one curled around his neck above his shirt collar are any indication.]

Vendor giving you a hard time?

[Please, he begs - please let this be the Xayah he knows. Please let someone have found and fixed her lantern; let this not be one from one of those supposed parallel worlds.]

[vampirella]

( the Vendor, the poor thing, sits there with scoop in claw, bemused and befuddled as to what they can do now. how will they take their break?? ? ? they offer the scoop to the next available body, snipping their spare claw in quiet hope of reprieve.

that's a second swing and a second miss, because Carmilla is not going to scoop ice cream for anybody but herself. and she's not here for the ice cream, anyway. )

Xayah? ( her dark eyes are a little wide and her expression a little skeptical. look, hallucinations and seeing what you want to see is sort of part of the package around here. and covered in blood does seem like the sort of horrible way she'd be forced to see Xayah, now that she's gone. and she has been, for long enough for it to hurt to see her. at least a little. )

C

[muthurfucker]

what are you

C

[primordialerebus]

u can fight w/o killing :C

[ She gets it can be a necessity, but this sounds like something different. ]

Catra | She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

[plentystrong]

Terror Under the Lake

[ Catra is not one for wasting time, or opportunities. So what you can see, should you unlucky enough to find yourself in her vicinity, is Catra going absolutely feral on the spirits. Her claws are out, and they cut through flesh and bone.

As she tears into the spirits, she growls and yells along to the rhythm of her blows. ]

You. Won't. Get me. This time!

I Scream You Scream

[ Catra is vaguely familiar with ice cream -- though the Fright Zone wasn't known for the variety of its diet, there was always contraband to be found if you knew where to look. And no one knew as well as Catra.

So she might as well have a snack, right? Take the good stuff where you can get it.

Unfortunately, her treat tastes of soap. ]

Blergh! Hey, vendor, what on Etheria did you put into this?

What's the Ugliest Thing Inside of You?

[ Thing is, Catra is a very strong-willed person. She wouldn't have survived this long if she wasn't. Yet, she feels the pull of the message just like everyone else, this urge to confess.

On the screen, she looks incredibly anguished as she divulges one of her deepest, darkest secrets. ]

I caught a mouse once and ate it raw.

ICE CREAM

[vampirella]

( hey Catra, it's your favorite big sister that you never asked for! she's not surprised by the cat girl choking on the ice cream, though she does lean over the cart to try and suss out if there's a bit of chocolate that isn't tainted with something weird. probably not, knowing her luck... )

What, does it taste like motor oil or something? Apparently, Snippy here likes wild flavors. ( she's not speaking from experience, exactly — Carmilla hasn't ever bothered to try and hit the vendor up for ice cream before. still, she's been long enough that she knows their gig. ) Where have you been, anyway?

ugliest thing

[muthurfucker]

Good source of protein.

[ it's gross, but hardly the worst thing ripley's seen or heard of, especially lately. also, from the looks of things, the woman was just following her baser instincts.

(maybe that's hypocritical, but xenomorphs aren't the only non-humans in the solar system and whatever breed catra is hasn't tried to kill or use her as an incubator lately.) ]

Ice Cream

[rereremembered]

[ Fitz has his own cone, a perfectly respectable(?) barbeque salmon flavor, and gives Catra a shrug. ]

Get something appalling, did you? Sorry, that happens sometimes.

terror under the lake.

[ieyui]

( The sight of Catra tearing in to the fiends is both frightening and captivating — but Yuna can’t sit still and gawk. She’s used to battle and blood, and even Kimahri can resemble the feral sort of display Catra is putting on.

But she feels inadequate, as a former summoner and white mage. Still, she casts Holy on a few of them and falls back against a wall. After having to heal a few wounds on herself and a couple others ...

She calls: )

Hey — can you clear the way up ahead? My energy is—

( Then she’s pinned up against the wall, claws sharp and raking at her chest. )

ripley! from alien3! | cw: cannibalisim

[muthurfucker]

TERROR UNDER THE LAKE

[ well, at least this is familiar.

ripley would wonder if she were still alive and if all that had happened on fiorina 161 was some sort of vivid hypersleep nightmare if not for the fact that she's still dressed in prison scrubs and missing her hair. this station isn't all that dissimilar to the stations and ships she's found herself in throughout her life (the mention of danger and a containment breach is especially familiar), so she's able to navigate the halls fairly easily, but if she thought coming out of hypersleep too soon was bad the combined effects of being planetside and underwater are worse.

she's found a quiet moment to take stock of herself, a hand rubbing absently at her chest. it just so happens she's around the corner of what looks like it once was a dining/kitchen area, but there's a spirit hunched over what was once a human body, eating its entrails.

she immediately ducks out of view, and fortunately the spirit doesn't seem to have noticed her. but when someone jogs by, also heading towards the subway hangar, she'll reach out and pull them aside, in the cover of an empty room. ]

Something's out there. We'll have to find another way.

THE UGLIEST THING

everyone around me dies except me.

[ which isn't quite true anymore, if what she's read up on is to be believed, and she remembers her death. but that doesn't change what had been true when she was alive. ]

WILDCARD

[ show me what you got! ]

terror under the lake

[rereremembered]

[ Fitz's tall, lanky form is not terribly easy to yank down but he compresses into a compact crouch readily enough. he's got practice with corridors and convenient cramped quarters, this is fine. ]

Ta. Er, what's out there?

The Ugliest Thing

[primordialerebus]

LMAO BIG FUCKING MOOD

Sebastian Michaelis | Kuroshitsuji | CW: eating people...

[untiltheend]

I. Terror Under The Lake

[Oh dear. Oh goodness. If whoever designed this place had concerns about the look of said place, they really should have provided better weapons than pieces of the décor. Oh well. As it is, Sebastian has fashioned himself a makeshift weapon out of ripping a seat out of the wall. Surely it will suffice to bludgeon something to death. Very quietly and softly:]

Please do try to be quiet. The noisiest person, I figure, will make for a good appetizer.

II. I Scream You Scream

[So, at some point the Vendor probably comes back after their break and expects to have their cart back. At which point Sebastian simply turns to smile at them.]

Oh, no no, [~*~*~*~] by all means [~*~*~*~] do take the rest of the day off. Certainly we would not want you to overwork yourself.

[Now shoo and let someone with some actual work ethic do his new job in peace. This is Sebastian's (after)life now, apparently. Selling ice-cream. Ignoring the poor now jobless Vendor, Sebastian turns to the nearest person, Customer Service Smile in place.]

Good afternoon! Will you not try a scope? Today's special is our Mystery Flavour, although if you desire a specific flavour, that too can be arranged.

[Has Sebastian taste-tested every ice-cream flavour available and memorised it? Maybe. Possibly.]

III. Ugliest Thing

I have eaten ill-tasting people.

[...Yes, that sure is the worst thing he's done in his life.]

i scream you scream.

[ieyui]

( Ice cream sounds ... nice. And terribly quaint in such a strange and frightening place. Yuna is tentative as she draws closer and looks Sebastian over. )

Could I have the mystery flavor?

( A small, sardonic sort of smile. )

I guess I’m feeling daring today.

yuna. 🌙 final fantasy x.

[ieyui]

i. terror under the lake.

( These aren’t like the fiends back home; not at all. Yuna knows how to deal with those. But it seems now her summoning abilities are just out of reach, and it’s taking her longer to be able to cast her usual white magic to help.

And there’s no one to lean on. Not Wakka, not Lulu, not—

She keeps running, both from the monsters and the thoughts of her comrades back home.

Just as claws — from nowhere — rend into her ...

She wakes up with a gasp. Her breath heaves, heavy and shaking ... )

ii. i scream, you scream.

( Oh no. This one tastes like pure salt.

Yuna tries to keep a straight face as she regard the cone — it looks like chocolate, but tastes terribly salty and horrible. It’d be rude and wasteful to throw it away, so ... She doesn’t. Not sure what to do, Yuna looks around sort of awkwardly ... Until she spots someone approaching. )

Excuse me ... Would you mind taking this off my hands? I scraped off the parts I touched, but I ... the flavor isn’t ... what I thought it’d be.

iii. the ugliest thing.

I just want him with me and safe, and what I’d do to get him back goes against the teachings I grew up devoted to.

iii

[featherknives]

[She may or may not be resonating with this too much.]

Let it comfort you that he's not stuck in this rotten place. You'll meet up again

Danse | Fallout 4 | OTA

[bleedingsteel]

The Ugliest Thing

I am hubris and hatred assembled. I need to be destroyed, for the sake of humanity


Misfire

Log: unknown time, unknown location.

I've discovered an intact pre-war stash of literature in the temporary shelter I've secured.

It appears to be a hidden cache of pornographic magazines.

@GENERAL (MISFIRE)

[cryonically]

What a remarkable find, soldier. Of all of us to find it, I'm glad it was you.

What kind of pornographic material are we talking?