The Longest Night of the Year

May 23, 2025 8:18 pm

Amelie isn’t concerned about the pots and pans. Instead the maid-bot asks Gertude, "Why would you choose cookies from a jar over freshly baked?"

Amelie offers the pan of freshly baked cookies.

OOC:

BINGO - ⭐️ Make someone's life easier without them realizing.

Edmund Wakeman

Redcroc

May 26, 2025 2:48 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

"Have you ever tried writing, Gertrude? Or any of the arts really. Telling stories and journaling have helped me process my darker feelings and find some clarity in difficult situations. Making objects of art can do the same thing when words are insufficient," Edmund says in between bites of fresh cookie.

OOC:

Bingo: Help someone find catharsis for their pain.

Dmbrainiac

May 27, 2025 7:02 am

The Longest Night of the Year

OOC:

Black Omen for Bingo after reshuffling deck for reaching the end: Two of Spades, Seven of Clubs, King of Diamonds, Three of Diamonds, Eight of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds, Ten of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, Ten of Clubs, Two of Diamonds, Nine of Diamonds, Ten of Diamonds, Five of Spades, Five of Diamonds, Three of Spades, Two of Clubs, Queen of Spades

Hey Kid laughs and throws his arms around Dog, Dog, n'Dog, happy to be reunited with their pet as last. As everybody gathers around and eats cookies, though, Gertrude realizes something painful, in the darkness and the cold.

OOC:

@TheGenerator, ask another player why their character doesn't like you as much as you thought. 14 more cards in the Night Danse pile (28 total now)

TheGenerator

May 27, 2025 9:06 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

OOC:

I think the, out of the characters in this chapter, Amelie seems most appropriate for the question. So I'll ask @Legendary_Sidekick

Gert

TheGenerator

May 27, 2025 10:31 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

Gertrude feels anger rise up inside her again as Amelie and Edmund try their best to help her feel better. They don't get it! Nobody gets it! AAAAARRRGGGH She gets a pounding headache from all the feelings inside her right now.

Gert

With a quick arm movement, she slaps the pan of fresh cookies out of Amelie's hand, sending them all scattering across the floor. Dog, Dog 'n Dog have never been so excited in their lives and start gobbling up whatever they can. "Just STOP IT!" She yells.

At the same time, the room seems to get darker. The night danse is feeding on these dark emotions like a flame reaching dry grass. Shadows swirl and dance across the walls, some of them latching onto Gertrude in a similar way as the ones Edmund is known to carry around.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" She asks, now crying again. "I don't want your stupid fresh cookies and I don't want to write anything, OK?!?! I just want..." What did she want? At this point she wasn't so sure herself. She knew it a minute ago, but the thought had left her. All she knew now was anger. "And stop drooling on me, you dumb dog." She lashes out at an innocent bystander as the shadows amplified the darkness.

To be honest, she couldn't even tell them what she wanted before she lost what it was either. They wouldn't understand.

OOC:

Whoopsie: Stay cryptic and secretive about something that matters to everyone.

Amelie

Legendary_Sidekick

May 28, 2025 2:11 am

The Longest Night of the Year

Amelie reacts as a robot would in this situation.

OOC:

WHOOPSIE - ⚡️ Refuse to diverge from my programming.

They watch the heart-shaped cookies break into thousands of crumbs. And this does not convince the maid they should stop.

"You think this will get me to stop liking you? You are wrong, Gertrude. I am a machine. Your attempts to hurt me are futile because I only feel what I am programmed to simulate.

"What I do not like, if you wish to know, is your behavioral shift. It is seemingly sudden, but not without cause." The maid-bot is more machine-like than they have been in a long time, like when they were new. It hurts too much to feel right now, she admits to herself.

"What is the cause?" they ask Gertrude flatly. Not as a friend. As a machine that is programmed to clean up messes. And she is a mess unlike any I have encountered, her friend fears. "I will find out whether you tell me or not."

OOC:

@TheGenerator -

The answer to Gert’s question is in part what Amelie said aloud. But the implication may be harsh. In Amelie’s attempt to spare her own feelings, the emerging Humanity has retreated into the machine. They (the Machine) feel nothing except, supposedly, what they are programmed to feel.

In that respect, Amelie may appear to be no more a friend than Chat GPT.

On the inside, Amelie’s Humanity is more deeply hurt than she dares to admit.

TL;DR Version: Amelie’s answer is, "It’s complicated."

Last edited May 28, 2025 2:17 am

Dmbrainiac

May 28, 2025 6:57 am

The Longest Night of the Year

OOC:

Red Omen: Jack of Hearts, Ace of Clubs,, Three of Clubs, King of Clubs,, Seven of Hearts, Three of Hearts, Five of Clubs. Reshuffle: Ace of Diamonds. All 40 Non-Omen cards are now in the Night Danse pile, and the deck consists only of 3 Omen cards...

There is a moment of uneasy quiet, as if the night itself is watching this conversation with bated breath...

Gert

TheGenerator

May 28, 2025 2:52 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

"Oh yeah? I'm not myself huh? Do you even know who I am? Cause I sure don't!" Gertrude rudely responds to Amelie. "Well I guess you would be the one to know of all people." She continues sarcastically. "You don't have a heart either!" She meant this as a hurtful insult not realizing the implications of what she just blurted out.

Gert

OOC:

No bingo or whoopsie here.

Amelie

Legendary_Sidekick

May 28, 2025 3:22 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

"Either…?"

Amelie the emerging "human" would have surely been deeply wounded by this. But the robo-maid simply acknowledges the factual statement.

I do not have a heart.

Nor does Gertrude…

OOC:

BINGO 📸 Look closely with your zoom lens.

ANALYSIS . . . MICROEXPRESSIONS INDICATE AGGRESSION, ILL INTENT AND HONESTY. GERTRUDE IS BEING LITERAL. SHE EITHER LACKS A HEART OR BELIEVES THIS TO BE THE CASE.

And now, Amelie’s Humanity speaks. "Who did this to you, Gertrude. That is the person I do not like."

Last edited May 28, 2025 3:22 pm

Edmund Wakeman

Redcroc

May 28, 2025 10:19 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

"Ah, Gertrude! You have given me an idea for my next story! A lonely heroine who discovers a shadow version of herself. She ends up not knowing which is the real shadow. A suitably tragic ending that would leave the reader with lingering dread," he says, oblivious to the subtext flying between Gertrude and Amelie.

OOC:

Whoopsie: Romanticize someone's suffering

Hey Kid

Dmbrainiac

May 30, 2025 7:34 am

The Longest Night of the Year

Hey Kid shrinks away from Gertrude as she suddenly starts to cry and scream at everybody. They're not sure exactly what's going on. One moment they were enjoying cookies and puppy cuddles, and now there are bad feelings all around.

Meanwhile, Dog, Dog n'Dog sit calmly and stare at Gertrude with their big puppy dog eyes. Maybe that will help calm her down?

OOC:

Dog, Dog n'Dog do a Bingo: Stare with our big puppy dog eyes. Black Omen: Ace of Clubs

The relative oasis of peace and quiet the kitchen had been quickly turns to bedlam as the parade of shadowy creatures that has been prowling through the B&B all night finally finds you! The Night Danse has reached a fever pitch, with every being from behind the wallpaper capers and cavorts around you!

OOC:

There are 40 cards in the Night Danse pile, which equates to 20 total actions. Everybody should choose 5 of the following to do in their next post:

+ Do a Whoopsie, to no avail.
+ Do a Bingo, to no avail.
+ Describe the shadows on the walls, cackling and dancing.
+ Describe the light in the window, turning and capering.
+ Describe the banging of the radiator.
+ Describe the creaking of the house.
+ Describe the scrabbling of claws.
+ Describe one of the horrible creatures that dances in the Night Danse (less is more!)

Gert

TheGenerator

May 30, 2025 10:58 am

The Longest Night of the Year

The shadows around Gertrude move and seem to come together behind her back. They are loving the vibe here. It's exactly what they were looking for tonight. Outside the wind picks up, making the kitchen window rattle and in the distance a flash of lightning breaks through, though it takes a while for the thunder to arrive at Yazeba's.

Gertrude now realizes that she's told her secret. But what does it even matter anymore? This has been the worst night ever! Compared to this, even her birthday seems like a dream come true. "Who cares?" She says to Amelie. "I don't have to tell you anything!"

From the hallway nearby, creaking and banging noises enter the kitchen as if a ghostly band is using the house like an instrument. The shadows move to the beat.

Gert

"Besides, they're not here anyway..." She continues. "Oh great another book idea. Well la-di-da. Let's all just grab a pen and be happy forever." An eye-roll follows this sentence, then she sighs heavily out of annoyance. "At least they went away without me having to say anything." Another sneer in the direction of Amelie, who is getting the full brunt of it. Unfortunately, even Dog, Dog 'n Dog can't break Gertrude's bad mood right now.

She notices the look on Hey Kid's face, combined with the fact that they recoiled from her. Though she pretends not to care, it feels like a dagger to the hole where her heart used to be. She turns away into the cupboard so nobody can see her face.

OOC:

+ Stay cryptic and secretive about something that matters to everyone.
+ Describe the shadows on the walls, cackling and dancing.
+ Describe the light in the window, turning and capering.
+ Describe the banging of the radiator.
+ Describe the creaking of the house.

Last edited May 30, 2025 10:29 pm

Amelie

Legendary_Sidekick

May 30, 2025 10:06 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

OOC:

+ Describe the light in the window, turning and capering.
+ Describe the banging of the radiator.
+ Describe the creaking of the house.
+ Describe the scrabbling of claws.
+ Describe one of the horrible creatures that dances in the Night Danse (less is more!)

The sounds of clanging metal are not coming from the radiator. Something is beating within the maid-bot’s body.

Her feet creak across the floor as Dog, Dog and Dog stumble past, claws scrabbling for stability along the slick floor.

The first ray of daybreak creeps toward the window, illuminating the crumbs that cling to the hunched back of the temperamental teen.

Amelie is hurt. She is becoming more human while Gertrude is going in the opposite direction. But even deeply wounded, a robo-maid is a logical being. So she knows, it’s not Gert’s fault…

Quote:

"Who cares?"

"I do."

Quote:

"I don't have to tell you anything!"

"I do not have to be told anything. Your microexpressions tell me the quiet part. Masking your face and turning your back is not enough to conceal the truth from me… not when the truth will save you."

Edmund Wakeman

Redcroc

May 31, 2025 2:16 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

At Gertrude's words, Edmund smiles thinly. "I do not write to be happy. I write to draw the misery out and transform it for others to devour - to feed their own shadows as it were." But the clangor of the Night Danse swells and drowns out any further words.

As the shadows seep and ooze from behind the wallpaper, Edmund's own personal spectres leap in wild exultation at this celebration of the darkness. They spin and dance along, spindly arms slapping pans off hooks and gnarled fingers grabbing handfuls of cutlery to fling them wantonly about.

A fork and steak knife slash against Edmund's pajamas as he cowers on the floor. An impossible shape covered in the sharp angles of ebony thorns twirls and leaps, do-si-do-ing with Edmund's ghosts.

OOC:

+Choose misery over common sense
+Watch in horror as the spectres that haunt me cause needless destruction
+Describe the shadows on the walls, cackling and dancing
+ Describe the scrabbling of claws
+ Describe one of the horrible creatures that dances in the Night Danse (less is more!)

Hey Kid

Dmbrainiac

Jun 2, 2025 7:36 am

The Longest Night of the Year

Hey Kid wails and wraps their arms around Dog, Dog, n'Dog as the shadows cavort. "You're doing this, Mister Wakeman, aren't you? Make it stop! Make it stop!" he shouts. Something with far too many glowing red eyes grins down at the child and their pet, chuckling to itself. The scritch-scritch-scritch of claws creates a maddening rhythm, even as the walls of the B&B creak and groan ominously with the incongruous weight of the ephemeral shades that waltz and limbo about!

OOC:

Whoopsie: Mistrust a grownup who is trying to help.
Describe one of the horrible creatures
Describe the scrabbling of claws.'
Describe the creaking of the house.
Describe the shadows on the walls, cackling and dancing.

"I don't want to be here anymore! Let's get out of here!" Hey Kid wails. Dog, Dog, n'Dog barks in the affirmative, and guides Hey Kid onto their back. Then they're off, racing through the halls ahead of the Night Danse! Back to the bedroom they go, and once there, Hey Kid locks the door and sighs, slumping against it. "Whew! We're safe, boys," they breathe. Dog, Dog, n'Dog barks again, wagging their tail.

OOC:

Everyone must now describe how they get to safety! The chapter ends when Gertrude finally manages to fall asleep.

Amelie

Legendary_Sidekick

Jun 2, 2025 11:09 pm

The Longest Night of the Year

A maid-bot would not panic.

A robotic maid whose Humanity is emerging might consult her built-in database and see there is, logically, nothing to fear.

Except she’s been putting on this brave front for Heartless Gertrude who somehow managed to break the heart of the only naturally heartless being in the room—and Hey Kid’s wailing makes more sense than anything.

A red panic-strobe pops up from the robo-maid’s chrome dome.

BEE🚨YOOO

Amelie yells "SOMETHING UNINTELLIGIBLE!" as she scrambles down the hall! In her panic she accidentally activates her skates—and in her panicky attempt to retract them, she accidentally extends her legs—and in her panicked attempt to contract her arched, gangly legs, she accidentally contracts her arms!

So now Amelie’s limbs flail about like rubber stilts, skates failing to find traction on the hardwood floor as her hands, which protrude directly from her shoulders, flap like wings on a dodo!

But the worst part is that her escape route is up the mahogany stairs…

Edmund Wakeman

Redcroc

Jun 3, 2025 5:15 am

The Longest Night of the Year

As the rattle and clamor of the Night Danse build into a deafening crescendo, Edmund staggers to his feet. Reveling in the darkness of this longest night, his evil spirits cackle gleefully at the terror that has been wrought.

Edmund speeds back through the hallways of the B&B toward his room as best he can. His spirits of woe scourge and berate him. "No....no! That's not.... Stop, please!" he croaks as he staggers from wall to wall.

Finally he reaches his room and flings open the door. After he slams it closed again, he leans against the door and locks the it. The Night Danse has faded but there is still giggling and snickering from just beside or behind him. He throws himself on his bed where he lies, eyes closed, until the tears dry on his face.

By the time the first fingers of morning sun stretch back over the B&B and pull it back into the light, Edmund had fallen into a fitful sleep where his spirits joined him to continue their torments.

Gert

TheGenerator

Jun 3, 2025 8:00 am

The Longest Night of the Year

With everyone gone, the spirits now have full reign over Gertrude. They close in on her as she cowers in the cupboard. She reflects on giving Monday her heart. How it's given her what she wanted, but at the same time taken away what she had. And now it's even taking away her friends. She hadn't meant to snarl at Amelie and Mr Wakeman, nor had she wanted to scare Hey Kid like that.

As much as she'd been blaming everyone around her, something deep down told her it was her fault. The shadows are loving this reflection, feeding off of the emotions. That's when something clicks inside of Gertrude's head. She was being way more of a monster than these shadows surrounding her. She had no reason to be scared of them, they should be scared of her!

She gets out of the cupboard and stands up. The shadowy creature with claws raises an arm in an attempt to scratch her. Gertrude stares right at it with a look that says "Oh, you don't want want to mess with me right now, buddy. Try it... I dare you!" The claw retreats back into the shadow it came from and so do the other shadows. They don't want to take their chances. Besides, they have had a lovely feeding already. Better to save some for another night.

Gert

Unburdened by the night danse, Gertrude walks back to her room. Maybe someday she'll figure out who she is or wants to be. But that day was not today. Without fear, she crawls in bed, pulls the blanket over her and goes to sleep.

Epilogue:

As Gertrude lays in bed, a shadowy hand slides across her blanket in the moon light. Starting at her feet and going up. When it's about half way up, the same sharp-clawed shadow appears next to it. But instead of joining the first hand, it claws at it. The first hand wavers. With whiffs of 'smoke' coming from the part where it's been attacked, it disappears. Then the claw pulls the blanket a bit more snug around Gertrude.

Nothing is going to give Gertrude any trouble tonight.

Dmbrainiac

Jun 3, 2025 8:02 am

The Longest Night of the Year

And that is the story of the longest night of the year!

OOC:

Everybody gets 3 leftovers to apply to their journeys. The B&B get a Flashlight (Square Memento).

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