livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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test drive meme

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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 read the full premise here.
Reserves and Applications are both 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 and the players agree to it.
If you are interested in additional IC and OOC plot responsibilities, consider applying for a Supervisor position. Treasurer, Wardrobe Manager, and Acquisitioner are currently open. More roles that currently need filling are listed here!

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. Visitors to the carnival comes from many different worlds today, as the ringmaster casts out her recruitment lures. 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 (pictured above) 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.

► NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE: Sometimes, even magical ferris wheels get stuck. The carnival's particular wheel is enchanted to create a particular out of this world experience - as you pass along the top, you feel as if they are so close to the sky that you can interact with the stars like baubles hanging above your head. Of course, the novelty probably wears off when the wheel is broken and you've been stuck enjoying the light show with some stranger for the last half hour. How are you going to pass the time?

► 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.

► WILL O' WISPS: The ringmaster's will o' wisps have gotten free, and she's asked that everyone keep and eye out and help her reclaim them regardless of their official jobs. Wisps are small creatures that burn both hot and cold and comes in a few different variations of the same basic theme. Handling them physically (or psionically, or magically, for that matter) is difficult due to their near intangible nature. Touching and being around them can result in confusion and a sensation similar to being comfortably drunk.

► 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!

► RIDDLE GAME: For a bit of fun, the ringmaster has left a variety of locked chests around the worker areas of the carnival, each with instructions and a riddle written on their lids. The chest will accept three guesses from each worker before refusing to respond to them any further. If you guess the right answer, the chest will open and you will be rewarded with some manner of fun magical knick knack. If you've run out of guesses, maybe you can conspire with someone else and promise to split the prize?

► CAPTURE THE... EGG?: The Ringmaster likes to keep things exciting for her employees, and this time she's devices a game that mixes an Easter egg hunt with capture the flag. She's hidden various metallic "eggs" around the carnival that chime like bells when people get near, and divided participants into three teams (red, blue, yellow of course.) The carnival has been divided into three zones, and the objective is to gather as many eggs as possible for your team (three points for gold, two for silver, one for copper.) However, when you are in a zone that doesn't belong to your team, if they can snatch off your team flag they can take you to "jail" and confiscate any eggs you may be holding for their team. When in doubt, bullshit the rules! This is a prompt, after all.

► 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

[Nah, that's just Sans, lying in the grass for some inexplicable reason. It looks like he was sleeping - up until Lambert kicked him in the side.]

Sup?

[He salutes the man vaguely, sounding a bit foggy.]

[ Rather than apologize, Lambert's response is to nudge Sans in the side, a little more gently this time than a kick. Sort of. It's hard to judge given that Sans doesn't have much padding.

Is it weird seeing a skeleton with a tail that can talk? Hell yes it's weird, even for a Witcher. But while Lambert still keeps a wary eye out for Sans to decide to start chewing on people's heads, he can acknowledge he's all right. Got a sense of humor anyway. ]

Weird place for a nap, don't you think?

Fairy dust makes me sleepy.

[He stretches out his arms, and then curls them behind his head. A skeleton superpower is apparently that he can sleep pretty much anywhere: standing, sitting, laying in the grass, whatever. It's all good.]

Going back to my station was impossible. Just gunna set up camp here and head back tomorrow.

[It's, like, 50ft away, at most. Also Sans can teleport.]

Hah. Now there's an idea.

[ Sans just has a way of making the ground look so comfy that Lambert can't help plopping down next to him, kicking his feet out and letting the jar rest by his side. Whatever world they're parked in now, the sky's not entirely like it is back home: two moons hang close enough that Lambert almost thinks he can reach out and snatch them away. ]

For being the Warden, you're a real lazybones.

[ Lambert and tact are barely acquainted on a good day. ]

I get that a lot.

[He flashes a brief peace sign in Lambert direction, though he's mostly closed his eyes now. He's not offended, though. That would be silly, when this is actually a stick he has to put a mild amount of effort into keeping up, which is a paradox in itself.]

But hey, ya don't deserve me at my best if ya can't handle me at my worst.

[Or something.]

This is your worst? I call bullshit.

[ Lambert snorts, but he doesn't push the point. It's too nice a night to really spend time goading other people into fights, the wisp's influence quieting even his restless instincts.

Apparently lulled by the lack of motion, a pink will o' wisp drifts out from the shadows, flickering overhead. ]

[Sans shrugs a shoulder in response. It'd be pretty hard to goad him into a fight anyway, especially when he's already having a perfectly good time being half asleep. He cracks open his eyes just enough to see the will o' wisp drift over towards them.]

Well, would'ja look at that.

[He comments, pointing up in the direction of the wisp but doing nothing to actually go get it himself. Maybe not his worst, but almost certainly his most lazy.]

Duty calls.

[ Lambert drawls out the word so that it comes out closer to sounding like dyoooty, pushing himself to his feet and snagging the jar as he goes. Spooked by the motion, the wisp darts away, but despite being thoroughly buzzed he still has Witcher speed and he lunges to catch it inside the jar, using his hand to trap it inside. ]

Hey, that tickles. [ Lambert snickers, making a face when the spectral 'flame' brushes against his palm. ] How do these things keep getting loose, anyway?

Probably the... [yawn] ...general lack of safety precautions. And, uh, the fact that they make your head all screwy.

[Did Lambert not know that? Sans can't imagine why he'd be using his hand like a bottle stopper if he did.]

[ He knows it, but Lambert's not generally known for giving a flying fuck about petty concerns like personal safety. Also, it beats having to down bottles of alcohol to get drunk enough to feel it. ]

If they were that important to her, you'd think she'd take better care of 'em. [ His speech has developed a noticeable slur, and he sits down hard in the grass again, less talking to Sans than thinking out loud. ]

You think this is what we all look like to her? Trapped inside a bubble even if we try to break free?

Guess so.

[Sans rolls over in the grass now, facing away from Lambert, his tail smacking against the grass in apparent agitation. He crosses his arms over his gut.]

But hey. Could be worse. [He laughs darkly.] Could be like that at home too.

[The joke is that it is like that.]

[ If Lambert were sober, he'd probably take that as a cue to shut the hell up, but instead he'll take this as a signal for oversharing. ]

That's exactly what it is back home. [ He jabs a finger in the air at nothing in particular, scowling. ]

Shit happens and I'm just supposed to take it and accept that it's 'destiny.'

[Sans is just gunna... sorta lie here almost face down in the grass. His tail is still going, apparently doing its own thing in reaction to his stirring emotions. Admittedly, Sans was a bit drunk even before he got some wisps to the face.

Which means this will be a winning conversation, no doubt.]

Yeah, but do you have to? Do you have to just accept that? Who's making you?

[ Lambert scoffs, quietly. ]

You don't get much of a choice when you're twelve years old. After that, all I knew was what they made me.

[ He pauses. ]

Signing that contract's probably the first thing I had a real choice about in a long time.

[His tail stops flapping around at that, instead curling over his legs protectively. He doesn't really notice it, or think about it that much. He's quiet for a little while.]

...Yeah. Okay.

So, isn't that a good thing, then? ...Right? It's gotta be something...

[ Lambert sighs, flopping back on the grass. Nearly toppling over the jar and letting the wisp flit out again, but his hand catches and turns it upside down at the last moment, trapping it against the glass. ]

Yeah, I guess it is. Beats my old job, anyway.

[Sans rolls so that he's fully on his front, propping his head up on his crossed arms. He's quiet for a little while, apparently just grooving on being drunk on the grass with Lambert, before eventually speaking again.]

So... are you gunna stay?

[ It takes him a few moments to answer, like he's taking time to actually considering and weighing the response. ]

Yeah, I guess so.

[ And then, because that's just too feelsy-- ]

At least until I get bored.

Heh heh. Fair enough.

[He's hard pressed to say much positive about the Ringmaster, but...]

Guess she probably doesn't actually see it like the wisp thing... not really. She's just... arrogant. N' stupid about a lot. I don't think she really gets why anybody'd want to leave.

[He wheezes out another laugh.]

And can ya blame here, with losers like us? What else is really out there?

Seems like a regular freak collector to me.

[ It's said without any rancor, though. Arguably, this might be the first time in Lambert's life where he looks relatively normal in comparison to everyone else. ]

You think she's planning to run this thing forever?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #4

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