memesinthenight | TEST DRIVE MEME #05

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!tdm

TEST DRIVE MEME #05

Hello and welcome to the The Next Night's test drive meme for December-January! Thanks for your interest in this GPSL! We operate on a rolling application system. Applications are always open and will be judged on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Next Night is currently set to end in spring of 2021, so this will be the last TDM posted - but don't let that dissuade you! There are plenty of opportunities for new characters to get involved in current game events as the community of Beacon unites to deal with a world-ending foe.

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, 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 and encouraged to do treat the TDM like any other game-wide event. Current players are welcome to post logs or network posts using TDM prompts as desired.

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

the walls, the walls are coming down

After Dr. Solis' disappearance, the people operating the portal have occasionally struggled with bringing in new people. So they widen the parameters. Select all target sectors of the multiverse. Surely, this has to be better, right?

For some of you, the last thing you remember is dying. Maybe it feels like a moment ago, maybe a lifetime. But now you awake in darkness, with a lantern your only source of light, and a tablet that prompts you to sign on to a network at your side. The locals must be these strange thing surrounding you - some humanoid, some animal-like, others something else entirely, but they encircle you, masked faces pressing closer, until one shrieks and squeaks and takes you by the hand, or shoves you, or simply tries to herd you to the large bonfire in the center of an open square.

For others, you're quite sure you were just recently alive, and possibly in the middle of something important. And when the forest spirits try to haul you off, their hands pass right through you. Your lantern flickers. The network prompt blinks, but entering a username doesn't seem to get it to go anywhere until it finally lets you on as an anonymous guest user. Strange. But while you're here, you might as well enjoy the sights, right? Hopefully this is just some strange mistake and you'll wake up shortly with nothing more than a headache to show for it.

Note: for characters who are not dead, they will function as "ghosts" for this TDM - however you want to interpret that! If you decide to app them to the game, they will have to end up dead as part of their arrival in Beacon, but are allowed to remember the events of this TDM once they have died and wound up here.

As this is a fourth wall-style prompt, feel free to play any character you like for a brief visit to Beacon, but keep in mind that if you later decide to app them they will need to fit within the rules for appable characters. For situations involving characters previously in Beacon returning for this mini-event, any memory of previously being in Beacon is allowed but will automatically render the threads non-canon (or some strange hallucination).

Questions? Feel free to ask on the December Gameplan.

rat nicholas

Did you all forget the Rat King? Because the Rat King hasn't forgotten you. Just as you're picking up the monthly supplies and greeting the strangest round of newcomers yet, there's a thundering of paws, shrill little squeaks, and the glint of torchlight on sharp teeth. A wall of rats overtakes the town, threatening to trample anyone and anything in their path.

But if you manage to stay out of their way, you'll see a strange sight - the Rat King, body composed of hundreds of fleshy, furry rat bodies writhing and swaying, is being pulled on a large piece of scrap metal across the snow. And as they swarm, the King tosses gifts to and fro! Try not to get bonked in the head by a shrunken apple doll, or trip over a very pungent cheese rind. Among the strange rat-favored junk you might even find a few treasures in the form of actual sweets, or some lovely spirit-made garlands, though you might have to beat the rats to the good ones!

network prompts

Q&A

WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE
TO SEE THEM AGAIN

WHAT WILL YOU GIVE
TO KEEP THEM SAFE

KNOWING YOU GET NOTHING IN RETURN?

[The words appear on the network - sometimes when you go to make a post, sometimes interrupting what you were trying to type.

Maybe this place is just like that, or maybe there's someone looking for an answer?]

shivers

The brutal cold drags its teeth across your flesh with every biting gust of wind. You just want to get indoors, to safety - but the snow spirals thickly around you, blocking all vision, reflecting light from your lantern onto shards of ice that seek to dig in to any part of your exposed skin. You close your eyes, cover them with a hand, while branches crack and snap in the forest around you.

When you open them, you aren't where you were, and you are very alone. But the tablet in your pocket still has a signal. Maybe you can ask for help? Maybe someone knows how to guide you back?

(This is a mini-version of our upcoming event, Shivers (I've Got 'Em)!)

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[Well, hey, war and combat do couple themselves with a lot of valuable skills. Rosinante wouldn't argue that point at all, and he gives a solemn nod of understanding at the comment. Given his own background, he's well familiar.]

If we can all get there, I'd appreciate anything you can do to help. Of course, it's not just up to me, Law and Will probably have ideas of their own. And there's still the question of if we can even get to your world, or to any others except this one. I won't pretend to know how any of it works.

Law?

[ that's a new name he hasn't heard of before. though it's been years since his departure from beacon, daylight likes to think he remembers the names of everyone he met there. there weren't that many of them, after all.

his curiosity is made clear with the tilt of his helm, optics zipping on and off in an imitation of a blink. he doesn't need to do it but it helps reinforce his piqued interest. ] Are they one of the new faces to town? I don't think I've met... him(?) yet.

[Like he said, there's a lot to get Daylight caught up on.

He beams, because he can't help it. An opportunity to introduce someone to his favorite person in the whole world!]

He was just a kid when I knew him back home. We traveled together for about half a year. And now he's all grown up! He's a brilliant doctor, and swordsman, and I guess he ended up naming his whole crew in honor of me, and... You have to meet him! He's probably just upstairs reading, or working on something. I bet he'd love to meet you!

[Between the broad smile, the animated wave of his hands (don't mind the slight wine spill, oops) and the outpouring of affection, this is probably the most enthusiastic Daylight has ever seen Rosinante about anything at all. Ever. It's quite the transformation from before, when he kept so much to himself.]

[ rip wine but, at the same time, it is a reasonable enough sacrifice.

daylight is unable to hide his grin when he sees how alive rosinante becomes when he begins talking about law. it's definitely a far cry from the rosinante he knew when he was still in beacon. how time changes everyone.

something about the energy, the pride reminds him a lot of the way emer talks about his creators back on the colony. or how auntie eps loved to brag about the kids from the children's shelter she had patron over the years. ]

I would love to meet him! [ there's no way he's going to miss this chance. not when rosinante is practically offering it for him. ] You think he's in the inn now or somewhere around the village? I'd hate to bother him if you guys are busy right now.

Upstairs here, yeah! Either that or at Solis' lab, but he would've told me if he was heading over. He's been studying a sample of world eater tissue we collected from the one that was stuck in the portal!

[That is a whole other story and one Daylight absolutely deserves to hear, but - apparently later, because Rosinante knocks back the rest of the wine in his glass rather than elaborating. It's a good thing he's so big, and can just chug booze.

The glass rattles against the table as he slams it back down, then stands, still grinning.]

Come on! I'll introduce you.

[Law is, of course, not going to be especially friendly or welcoming, but hopefully he can at least manage generally cordial. Between having Law as his closest, dearest friend and then also dating Will, it's probably about to be pretty obvious that Rosinante has a Type and that type does not match his brilliant smiling face and wide, enthusiastic eyes as he beckons Daylight to follow him up the stairs. There's just no accounting for taste.]

[ daylight laughs and clearly agrees to the sudden change of plans, setting aside his glass on a table - sorry, spirits who are tending the inn or whoever it is. - and following up.

his new gain in height and size means he's got to be more careful while he ascends the stairs, not wanting it to give way under him. at least having to take it slow means they can chatter a bit more, especially since rosinante mentioned something so casually that it threw daylight off guard for a second.

because seriously- ] You guys had a closer encounter with a World Eater? And lived- [ er, to an extent. ] -to tell the tale?

Fuck, that must have been an intense situation for you to have been in.

[Daylight not just swearing but saying "fuck" of all things catches him totally off-guard. He glances over his shoulder as he goes up, looking a bit more bewildered than he'd care to admit.

But hey, people grow up, they change. He'd laugh if it weren't for the seriousness of the topic. His voice takes on a more somber tone as he explains.]

Intense is a word for it. Not everyone did live. It was a plan by the Night Market that went wrong. They managed to locate one out in space that was smaller than most. Maybe young, they thought. They got everything ready to trap it in the portal so they could study it, but all kinds of things went wrong. You remember how they would ask for spirits sometimes in payment? They had a bunch imprisoned down there for other research and they broke out when the World Eater got close. The things get into your head, too - without having even seen it, people were getting sick, were attacking each other, or just... lost all hope and ended things.

Everyone we met at the market when they used to come up died down there. Their only survivor was a weapons expert who hid early and hid well. We're lucky we got to her in time.

[The only bright point in that whole disaster. He still misses so many of the people who used to live in that station. Hell, he's wearing some of the makeup he got from Petra right now. She was as close a friend as many here ever were, even though they only knew each other briefly.]

... Oh.

[ oh fuck.

the night market. his memories of them are probably the faintest ones he has when he recalls beacon. but his memories of them are enough that his tanks twist and slosh at the thought of the faces flitting through his head now, wondering what their fates were at the end:

he remembers michelle and her kindness, her paper flowers. he remembers catherine and her twinkling eyes, her ability to bring back emer - not his emer but an emer - giving him a much needed sense of peace. he remembers pluto and her mysteriousness, her connections and resources allowing him to get a piece of home after so long...

he sighs and his winglets droop, the earlier cheerful mood between the pair now obviously gone. ]

I'm sorry that happened. I'm glad you guys were able to get to her in time too, the survivor. That must have been... [ he shakes his helm and his optics are flinty, dark, and angry. ] That was fucked up to go through.

I'm glad you didn't have to be there.

[Out of respect for the dead, he'll leave description of the event at that. The grotesque details are still fresh in his mind, but they don't need to be spoken aloud.]

If it wasn't small and trapped halfway through the portal, I don't think we could have beaten it. Weaver, their survivor, was crucial too since she had the bomb they were going to use to take it out once they were satisfied with their research. We don't have any more of those, but I think she can make another if we can get her the supplies. Hopefully it will be enough to deal with the one that's still out there.

... What happens after?

[ once the shock and the horror he feels about the night market's fate fades away enough, daylight finds himself wondering what happens next for the others.

past him would have never considered this, more focused on the moment and trying to get by the day, but, well, time changes everyone. daylight is a bit more forward-thinking now, especially for crises like these. ] When- [ not if. ] -you guys defeat the World Eaters, what will happen next for you all?

Not sure. I know what I'd like, but we still don't know if it's possible. I want to send information out. Maybe that means leaving, maybe not, but there are still more World Eaters out there, I assume, since the stars keep going out. People need to know.

[They finally come to the top floor, and Rosinante leads the way to the room shared by just him and Law, now. Two red painted handprints still mark the door, but Mary herself hasn't been seen in a while now.

Her paintings are still up in the room, too, visible when Rosinante opens the door. Looks like Law isn't here, though a recently-emptied mug and a book sit on the desk.]

Huh, let me check my tablet, maybe I missed a message from him.

[The star charts are still up, too - more now than there were, with more stars named for the people they've all lost along the way, and others circled in red. If he looks closely, Daylight might even see his own name under one - a larger, brighter star than average in the eastern sky.]

[ daylight naturally ends up drifting towards the star charts because, no matter where he goes, space will always be his home.

he inspects the charts and feels a twinge of sadness when he recognises some of the names written across the constellations and the stars. so many people have come and gone, huh? he hopes wherever they are, they're doing fine. if he was able to get back home maybe they had the same luck...? it's the best any of them can hope.

his winglets perk up at the sight of one name in particular, however- ]

Oh! [ he leans closer, adjusting his optics to make sure he wasn't seeing a mistake or something. because- really- ] Is that my name?

[No message, so wherever Law went it wasn't far and likely won't be long. That's good. He looks over at Daylight to see what he's looking at, then nods as he sets his tablet down on the desk and walks over.]

Yeah. Didn't think we'd ever see you again. And after all you'd done for this place, you deserved high honors. Can you imagine how hard our life would be here if we couldn't talk with the spirits?

You guys are still using the lessons I uploaded?

[ he's pretty touched to hear that. he didn't think it would prove so vital to the others, long after he vanished ]

Glad to see grandma's lessons on language paid off. [ he looks down at the star maps again, looking at his name on it with a little bit of awe. ] I- I'm surprised.

It was just... An off-the-cuff decision, to be honest. I thought it would be nice to speak with the spirits more, to better understand them so we could help each other out.

That's exactly it. We need their help, or at least their cooperation. And with a little conversation, most of them are willing to cooperate. I guess a lot of them still feel... Well, I'd say human, but other types of person, too. They're us, it turns out. People who were here in Beacon before it went dark, but also everyone who has come here and vanished since.

[Mary's still out there somewhere. Winters, too, and Robin, and all the rest of them. But they don't remember who they are now, not anymore.

He sighs as he looks at all the names on the charts, then frowns.]

Same with the green-eyes.

[ ah. the green-eyed spirits.

he hasn't thought of them in a long, long while. they were mostly brought up during his therapy sessions with quickswitch, in their attempts to figure out the root of his relationship dependency issues.

he crosses his arms, expression becoming more thoughtful. ]

Damn, I haven't thought of them for a long while. [ he tilts his helm, expression thoughtful as he takes in the bombshell of the spirits being former people. it's a lot to take in but there's something he knows he wants to immediately ask: ] Can I ask what was the difference or quality that separated the people who turned into spirits and the people who were turned into green-eyed ones?

I'd tell you if I knew. It seems like spirits can become green-eyes, maybe because they're already violent or maybe doing violent things causes it. Maybe it's random. And when we were in the mines, trying to track down the Wild Hunt - well, you know what happened to us at the hospital? It was like that all over again. There's a big green-eyed spirit that was trying to change them. Some of the things that resulted were some kind of mix, not quite green-eyed but halfway there. And now it seems like we see a lot more of them around, out there in the woods.

[He debates going into more detail, but holds back. A lot happened in the mines, and a lot happened to those poor people who had once tried to save them, even if they disagreed on Beacon's future. But thinking of the hospital still makes him feel sick, and the mines were even worse, rampant with hallucinations alongside the gore.

He steels himself mentally to explain better if Daylight asks, but outwardly he glances at his tablet again as if just casually distracted by something more interesting than that particular topic.]

[ daylight has lived long enough and learned enough hard lessons to tell when a topic needs to be dropped. not only for the other person's sake but his sake as well.

he can chase the answers at some other time. last thing he wants to do is sour the happy reunion he's having with rosinante. ] Glad you guys are doing okay. Sounds like you've made a lot of progress since the flood and I'm glad for you guys. I really am.

If there's a group that deserves to kick some ass and take names, it's you.

[He fights back the urge to shake his head, to say they don't deserve any such thing. It's not fair to the rest of them. They do deserve to benefit from all the hard work that's been done, even if he believes he doesn't.

Instead, he smiles a little and sets the tablet down.]

Thanks. Everyone here has been through so much, and has worked so hard to not only survive but to keep pushing forward. You know it, from your time here before. These people are all hard-working. Stubborn in the best way. I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else at the end of the world.

[ daylight can't help but smile at the comment, nodding in agreement. ] Yeah. Stubborn is definitely the best way to describe you guys.

[ he really does wish the guys the best.

whatever happens next, if he's involved with it or not, he wants them to succeed and get out of this winning. whatever the form is 'winning' for them right now. because when you're dead and on a dead planet, what can be done, feasibly? anything if you're the ones setting the rules. ]

So— You think we have time to do some mural painting? I’d love to see what you and the others chipped in because it looks great.

[Trust Daylight to come up with a great way to kill some time and put a smile on his face. He chuckles at the suggestion and turns toward the door, ready to head back downstairs.]

Yeah, let's do that. We can catch Law later. Come on.

Awesome! [ daylight stretches out his limbs, standing up much as he can while he tries (and fails) to keep his excitement over doing some art now. ] I’ve been itching to do a mural painting for a while. Was planning to do it with Emer but you know—

[ daylight is more than happy to fill the air with friendly chatter when they make their way to the mural. at the end of the day, day is happy that he’s back here.

it’s a little strange, definitely surreal, but he doesn’t regret that this is happening. ]

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TEST DRIVE MEME #05

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cw: implied suicide

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we can wrap up here if you want. it was such a joy to tag rosinante again with day. ; u ;