livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: SUMMERLANDS

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test drive meme

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: SUMMERLANDS

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

Or, more specifically, Lost Carnival's test drive meme! This is an opportunity to try out your characters in the setting before you apply, or to put together samples for characters you've never played before. There are going to be options for both new arrivals and veteran characters. Before we get started, let's lay down some details:

You can (and should) read the full premise here.
Reserves and Applications are currently OPEN.
You can apply as a newcomer or as a "veteran" character who has been in the carnival for up to three years. In the case of veteran characters, you will need to come up with an explanation of why they haven't been around the carnival recently.
TDM threads can be used as game canon after the fact if both characters are accepted, the players agree to it, and it makes any sense contextually.
If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Head Cook and Treasurer are currently open. Otherwise, we're pretty much down for anything, roles wise.

CURRENT STOP↴

⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS ⇦
The Summerlands are an idyllic realm inhabited by a population of former Summer Court fae. Generally speaking, they are a species of magical humanoids with pointed ears, unearthly beauty, sometimes wings, and a penchant for magic associated with the power of the sun and growth. They live a peaceful but uneventful existence here, under the leadership of their ruler, the Summer Maiden. The carnival is visiting here for a couple weeks to recuperate after some serious trouble caused by their last tour location, and for a few days of their stay the carnival grounds will be open, and newcomers/returning members will be drawn in for the festivities.

While outside visitors will be restricted to the carnival grounds and will not be able to explore the rest of the Summerlands, there are a few common features the carnival's current location will add to the usual experience.

► THE SUMMER FAE: There will be a mix of randos from across the multiverse summoned in by the Ringmaster, but the majority of carnival visitors are the local summer fae. While not exactly aloof, the summer fae there tend to be somewhat uncomprehending of the problems most mortals face. While they do have a concept of ethics, it is hard to compare to that of most of the carnival's visitors, and their outlook on things tends towards that of a very neutral perspective. Rather than having much interest in war or politics, they are primarily focused on enjoying existence and the celebration of nature.

► THE SUMMER LANDSCAPE: Though the winding forests will still prevent outsiders from leaving the carnival grounds, the shining mountain peaks and architecture of the fae can be seen on the horizon. If you want a better look, the Ringmaster's advice is to sign on as a full member, for the reasonable price is a single year of your life.

Those who app in during this TDM's run will be entering the game between Day 140 and onward - when signing your contract, you do not always leave the tent on the same day you entered. Sometimes the Ringmaster will create a time skip that causes you to emerge after festivities have wrapped up for convenience sake, so there is some flexibility as to when precisely you enter the game.

NEW RECRUITS↴

You gotta start somewhere, right? These prompts are for characters who are arriving in the carnival for the first time, and who are destined to sign a contract. How they go about that is up to you, but in the meantime they can enjoy the sights and sounds of something truly out of this world. Will you become her most recent hire?

► ADMISSION FEES: After crossing into the carnival's realm and passing through the trees, most visitors will find themselves at the front gate - though not all choose to enter that way. If they enter legitimately, however, they will have to pass by a clerk who will trade admission and tickets for various attractions and rides in exchange for "anything of value." What is of value may seem highly subjective, and so some may struggle to produce payment at first, though in actuality the carnival will take anything from mundane currency to items of purely sentimental value.

► MIRROR MAZE: The mirror maze is a big attraction in the carnival, and stretches much further on the inside than it looks like it will on the outside. It's hard to get through, and what's more, after you've been in there for a while your reflections will start gaining a mind of their own - mostly in order to taunt and distract you with personal information. They don't know everything you know, but they know more than they should, and their mind games can be pretty hit or miss.

► GAMER'S CIRCLE: Almost all of the game booths are organized in a large ring around the Cookhouse, called Gamer's Circle. Your can play just about any carnival game you can imagine here, for a variety of prizes sometimes traditional, exotic, or outright magical. Dart tossing? Got it. That game with the water guns? Got it. Most of these booths are currently manned by humanoid spirits who look like they are made of smoke. If they can trick you into earning debt, they will.

► TUNNEL OF "LOVE": A brand new attraction in the carnival, the Tunnel of Love is mostly what you'd expect from such a ride - two people sit in a boat together which journeys through some glitter filled caves, complete with mood music. Unfortunately, there is also something else in there with you... in the form a moody kraken living in the waters, who has very particular opinions about shipping, and may either stubbornly interfere with any attempted intimacy, or may politely encourage it. Or they may just generally be a dick if they're in no mood for either. The Ringmaster insists it is a romance expert.

► TRYING TO LEAF: No matter where you came from, you seemingly emerged from a forest. Obviously, to get back home you should be able to go back in the same direction, right? It turns out you can't. Worse, trying too hard to get through the wood will result in you getting lost, or turned back to the carnival. The trees here are not normal, and are varying levels of alien, including things like trees with glowing fruit or orange flowers that constantly burn like candles.

► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to make a starter with your character experiencing their first theoretical change? Go for it!

VETERAN WORKERS↴

These prompts are tailored to the carnival's existing employees, the veterans. Odds are they've been here from somewhere between a few months and three years already, and know their way around the block. For them, this is just business as usual - and depending on their attitude towards their job, they may or may not contribute to a few people accidentally getting themselves a contract. Whatever you do, though, don't warn visitors away from the carnival - the ringmaster hates losing business like that.

► DO YOUR WORK: This one's pretty simple - just have your character doing whatever you'd like to have their job be! There is a big list of ideas over here, and you could use this to try things out with a character you intend to be a new arrival, as well.

► BREAK TIME: Whatever you were doing, it's break time! It's time for you to relax however you see fit. Do you enjoy some of the carnival attractions yourself, or is that old by now? Do you hang out in the Cookhouse to get a snack? Do you take a nap? Yolo, baby!

► DUNK TANK: Sometimes acting like a dick will earn you the gentle reprimand of being sent to work in the Dunk Tank for the afternoon - you know that game where people throw balls at a target, and if they hit it you get dropped into the water? It's like that, only sometimes there are daunting (but harmless) critters in the water, or some other strange magical affects to spice things up. Hopefully, the visitors will have bad aim.

► WILD CARD: Anything else you can imagine in this setting! There are a lot of possibilities and you're free to explore them. Check out the rest of the game info or the locations page for additional inspiration. Want to do a performance? Hang out in the Backyard? Choose whatever appeals!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[(RE-)ADMISSION]

[Reira, rather soundly...has Skipped Admission. There's 'reasons' involved, and it's a little complicated, but as such-despite signing on for a contract not long ago-she's politely walking right toward the gates, finding the gate clerk, and handing something over. It looks like...a teddy bear?

The cinder sprite looks at it a moment, and hands it back. No. No, small one, you might need tickets for most of the rides and things but you sort of have a tab to work with right now-]

Um-! No, I need to pay-

[This light battle of gently nudging things back and forth goes on for...A while.]

[TUNNEL OF LOVE (FOR LOOKING FABULOUS)]

[Reira is rather clueless about the points of a tunnel of 'love' so it's no surprise that she's not only gotten on a boat (The cinders really couldn't care less about this nonsense, see), but is now kicking her feet as said boat takes off alone... ...It feels like a rather boring ride all things considered, though she looks up at the glitter filled ceiling with relative interest.

At least until something splashes beside her.] Umn-?

[And then at the other 'beside' her.] Mnh?

[And then... ....Yep she's looking at a rather large set of eyes as the resident kraken makes its presence, staring, staring at the empty seat, staring at the little 7 year old...

Eventually it seems to decide that what is Clearly necessary here is something involving hair, and the poor girl is blinking rather confusedly as tentacles start trying to make some sort of up-do with the silver locks.]

[WILDCARD]

[Reira will be coming in as a newbie under relatively unique circumstance, so she isn't trying to leave...but she is going to be wandering in attempt to familiarize, since she wouldn't be present on the grounds AT ALL until the contract was signed! All that's really important for now is that she's a 7 year old girl who looks like this despite the many hoodie icons, and from there you can hit me with anything! I'm good for plenty.]

[Hopefully Reira doesn't startle too much when Yuya comes up from behind, reaching to stop the back and forth with the bear.] Don't worry about it, Reira. I'll handle it, so you don't need to pay for anything.

[He's so relieved to see Reira all right.]

[Too bad.

She startles.] UMH-!

[Maybe not as much as she would have days back, but it's still a bit startling. As it is.] ...You're supposed to pay to go on the rides, [she counters a little worriedly, except just as quickly as she says it, she realizes who said it.

And her eyes widen.] Y...Yuuya..!

I'll take care of paying! [He's used his party for exactly 0 else so far anyway.

He grins as she turns around, crouching down to her level.] It's a carnival, so you should just focus on having fun.

[Well that's great and all but now that you're here she has bigger questions.

Such as:] ...When did you get here though... ...I didn't see you in the other tent at all, and... [...And honestly she's not really sure how to broach the matter of Zarc right now. Obviously this HAS to be from after all that if he recognizes her. But. Well.]

...were you having fun..?

Uh, I've been here for a couple months, almost. [He's not getting much better at trying to explain that, though.

What other tent, though...?

Her question makes him pause and he tilts his head.] I guess that depends when you're talking about? But the carnival's fun, I promise!

...about the carnival... [What else would she talk about? WHAT ELSE MUST SHE WORRY ABOUT, the better question by far. Reira's brows furrow, and she ends up with the bear under her arm.] ....What else is there though? ...why does it depend..?

[All right, she's just panicking more do Yuya knows he's said the wrong thing. He reaches to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.] I've been here for a while is all. Let's start from the beginning... what was happening before you arrived at the carnival?

[Yuuya this isn't comforting at all. Asking about THAT nonsense?? Really? ...Well.

She frowns, but while glancing down, tries to think of how she should answer.] Umnnnh... ...We dueled, so...

...Zarc isn't here, with you, so... [It's a tad tricky to explain this without saying 'So I think I was dead', or similar, and as such her sentences trail off one after another before she manages to look back to him.] ...Everything's okay now, so that's what's important.

[Yuya's learning not to just start talking about what happens without knowing if the other person knows.

But she does know. If it wasn't Reira he'd be relieved someone else knows the truth, but... Reira was hurt because of what happened, wasn't she?]

That darkness isn't in me anymore... you pulled it out and saved me, you know? [He purses his lips in a tight smile.] So I'm going to save you, too.

[Well. About that.] Then...the reason I'm here...

[She's piecing the dots together, and she is quickly becoming UPSET. Not in the 'sad' way either, as she clenches her fists.] ...You're the reason that person took Zarc then..!

I didn't have to be saved! It was going to be okay! [She can hardly blame the Ringmaster for making a 'logical' decision, but it's still rather upsetting.] It's not just darkness that I pulled out..!

...There was still a person there...

[Well that's getting hit with the blame pretty quickly. It just makes Yuya more confused and he leans back in surprise at her outburst.] Reira, what--what's wrong?

[He remembers what he asked for. The Ringmaster saved Reira from Zarc, didn't she?] Hey, hey, it is going to be okay! It can't hurt anyone anymore, isn't that a good thing?

He wasn't going to hurt anyone any more..! That was the point! [But... Her face burns, and she looks down again.] ...I made her promise to let him go after a year, still... ...but she almost didn't do it! [Reira insists, shaking her head.]

Even though he's scared! And hurt! And...

[Well, Zarc did cause more than enough damage to warrant it. It's hard though, to think in that way. Very hard, and she grows quiet for a moment.]

...

[He did many, many things, but-] It's not just about making someone 'go away', when they hurt people. ...He was supposed to be able to grow up and get better that way.

...That's why I'm staying here now.

[Yuya furrows his brow. His expression contorts as Reira... defends Zarc? He can't believe what he's hearing. He hasn't dent it since arriving but the feeling but being overtaken by that darkness was still fresh. The hate, the blacking out, the--the way he almost lost himself.

He just doesn't understand it yet. Even if he is Zarc, that's such an evil part of him he wants nothing to do with.] Reira...

[He slowly pulls his hands away, uncertain what to do now that he's totally failed to comfort her.]

Wait, staying? You signed a contract?

[Reira nods, the motion as firm as her decisions leading her had been. ] I said, 'give him another chance'. If I'm not going to join him, and be his vessel...

...Then I'll help to look after him when he becomes a baby again, instead!

[wh] That's what's supposed to happen, right..? ...When the dimensions broke the first time, Leo said that you, and Yuzu, and the others, were all babies...

...So this way he starts again, and we help him get better..!

[The first sentence echos in his head and almost washes out the test of what Reira is saying. Join him, be his vessel....

(Become one, become one, become --)]

You shouldn't be his vessel anyway! [He snaps, sounding angrier than he means.] You should be Reira! You should just live yourself and if anyone has to be responsible for him it should be me!

I am still Reira..! [she shouts back, trying a little to avoid sounding scared.] ...I can't be anything but that, right now..!

...I don't even know where I'll go when a year is over. ...I know he'll be a baby now. ...but I don't know if we'll go to the same spot now, thanks to this...

But.. ...But I'm still going to look after him! [Reira you are seven. Reira you can't be a mom you're seven.]

She said we always go back to when we came from... [He fails to see the exception here, things area just going to be weird if they randomly go back with a baby.

He still doesn't understand where this sympathy cane from... but he's feeling guilty that she's taking on Zarc's responsibility.] You shouldn't even be worrying about taking care of Zarc. Don't... Don't worry about it right now, not here. If you asked her not to--not to get rid of him than she won't.

But we weren't in a 'somewhere', [she tries to explain, frowning.] It was just...a place before things. ...Before everything was ready to try again, I think.

[It's hard to explain-she certainly doesn't have the words to even begin trying, but at this point she supposes Yuuya is right. She can't worry about it for now...maybe she can ask someone how you're supposed to watch babies, or something. (Or maybe Reiji will help. Or Tsukikage-he'd probably be Great at it.)] ...She seems like someone that keeps promises, so...

[That weird, nebulous whiteness... yeah, he remembers that. He's not sure if that matters, he's no fairy magic expert.

He lets out a breath now that they're both done yelling.] I think she is, so don't worry about it. You've got a year.

[Yuya has a year, but frankly it's going to start with pretending Zarc doesn't exist.]

....How long do you have? [If this time thing works the way it does, then Yuuya has Less than a year. Oops!]

Huh? Not a lot less than that, it's only been a couple months...Gongenzaka's been here the longest. He's here, by the way, and Yugo. You remember Yugo, right?

...Yuugo? [Also: note to self, another lancer is here. But Yuugo??] ...I didn't meet Yuugo, I just knew he was part of Zarc like you were once...

[This is Fair.]

He participated in the friendship cup too! [Yuya gestures to his hair.] Spiky blue hair, loud, my face... I guess you mostly would have seen him on the tv screens.

[Yeeeeup. Not to mention the helmet. She just nods.] I know what his bike looks like...

[...Points toward her favor???]

Reira Akaba | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V | NEWBIE

Admission

holds cheeks like AAAAAAAAAAA

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