livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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, and Wardrobe Manager 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

"I did?" Color him confused. He was on his way to meet Sora, after all, and he certainly never told him his name was Lea, because it wasn't anymore. To tell him so would be a lie. Not that Axel's not gifted with those... But still, he doesn't need to deceive Sora.

Abruptly, his legs totter a little, and he is forced to set Sora down. Problems with tiny hooves; while he personally can balance on damn near anything, he's got difficulty adapting to carrying others. His legs are thin, that doesn't help either, though they're surprisingly sturdy.

"I've been gone a while, looks like, only felt like a few weeks to me, but I traveled with the circus for about a year and a half, two years before that."

Sora lets go of Axel when his feet touch the ground, but doesn't move far beyond that. It does mean he has further up to look, but that's fine.

"Maybe you're just further behind than me? Lots of people come from different points in time. What's the last thing that happened to you back home?"

... Does this mean he gets to be Lea again? Maybe Organization XIII will collapse and he'll seize his name for himself again... But without a heart, it wouldn't feel right. Maybe something changes in the future. It's too much to hope that after all he's done, he'll still get his heart back.

"... I was coming to help you. I figured you deserved to know the truth, about what happened to Kairi..." He trails off, and rubs his head a little awkwardly. "I guess you know that now, though, huh? No need to rehash, you've got it memorized, right?"

Sora's face falls, just a little. He remembers that. He remembers what happened. He'd thought Axel was dead. But that was a while ago... And he came back. So it's fine, right?

"Yeah. I remember."

Sora surges forward, and wraps his arms around Axel again, around his middle this time.

"I forgave you a long time ago, though."

It takes a second, but Axel holds him back. He's not actually able to really cry, and Sora deserves better than crocodile tears, so Axel's just... uncharacteristically silent for a few seconds. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

He's tired of living like this, but he doesn't show it. Instead, he just grins again. "So, what do you think of the carnival so far? I know it can get kinda... crazy, but it's pretty fun, huh?"

It takes a second for Sora to let go, too. The glimmer of Roxas inside him twinges, and he squeezes tighter before removing himself from the taller man.

"Yeah! It's really great! Everyone's really nice, and there's not much fighting. It's kind of like a vacation!"

Kinda says something when this place is a vacation to him. But then again, his job is just to wander around and help people (something he already does), and no heartless in sight to fight. He gets to stay in one place for once, too. Pretty chill job, if you ask him.

"Yeah. It's pretty fun." Axel doesn't mention how his own job tends to be a bit more... violent. A master assassin at home, and a mercenary here. If Sora looks at the paperwork on the ground nearby, that'll become clear, but Axel's counting on him not bothering to read it. And also not stepping on it, he hopes. "'cept when things get messy. Who's the warden these days?"

Pff, papers? Who needs those? Reading is for nerds, Axel, gosh.

"The Warden? Umm, I think his name is... Sans?" Sora ponders. "I've never met him, though. Just his brother, Papyrus."

Nerds and apparently the Nightrider's underlings. THEY HAVE TO FILE REPORTS, SORA. IT SUCKS.

"Sans, huh? Jeez. Not surprised, but... A little surprised." He always struck him as lazy. Then again, Axel strikes most people that way too.

"And the other heads? The slots all fill up, or is it slow going?"

"Hehe. Well, I know Psi is the Foreman. And then there's a girl called... Peridot? And she's the head Engineer."

Sora stops to think. It's hard to keep track of everyone, so it takes him a sec.

"Lessee... Zecora is the Doctor. And there's a granny in charge of the kitchen, but I don't know her name. Oh, and Joker's the Stage Manager!"

"There's no one in charge of me, though. They told me that I'm under the Treasurer, but there's no one doing that now."

Huh. Some of those names are newer than others, but Axel knows most if not all. Looks like beside the losses of the other heads, not much has changed. "... That's a lot missing. Weird that they haven't been replaced yet."

A sneaking suspicion starts in his head, but he cuts it off. No need to even get thoughts above his station.

"Is it? It's mostly been the same since I got here. I guess they just haven't found anyone that can take it yet."

Although, now that he thinks on it, it's weird that Carly isn't Wardrobe Manager, despite the position being open and her being clearly qualified. So maybe it's a little weird.

"Maybe. Probably just that, yeah." He's not aware of Carly's situation, but he'd be suspicious if he were. The fae are capricious at best, and the Ringmaster may not have noticed her talents... But what doesn't she notice in her own Carnival?

"W-Well, I guess it's not a big deal, though. I've been pretty good about managing myself, and I get to help a lot of people in all the departments."

"Oh, what's your job, Axel? I'm a Patch, but it seems like no one ever knows what that is, haha."

"Means you get to watch the games, right? Fun. I'm one of the nightrider's underlings." Might as well tell him, he'd figure it out eventually. "And that's my report on where I've been you're standing on."

"Huh?" Sora looks down, jumps off the papers, then bends down to start to pick them up. "Oh, geeze, I'm sorry! I didn't know you had a report."

Sora scoops up the papers and attempts to shuffle them straighter. They're vaguely lined up and they've only got a little dirt on them, they're fine, right?

"Nightrider... What's that, again?"

Better Sora's feet than Axel's. His hooves would have put holes straight through.

"Nightrider's the other head of carnival security. They handle the outside needs, and command scouts and mercenaries." Sounds like an old OrgXIII position, to be honest. Axel frowns. "But sounds like there isn't one right now."

"Mercenaries..."

Yeah, sounds like the Organization alright. Sora frowns a little, too, though he supposes it's not like Axel -chose- this job.

"Um, I'm not sure if there is one or not. If there is, I don't know them."

"Yeah." He didn't choose his job, but that's not to say he's not well-suited to it. That he doesn't get satisfaction out of it, even. It's what he's good at, and he's glad to have the opportunity to do something for the Carnival.

He just wishes Sora didn't need to know about it. That he hadn't asked.

"If there is, I'll probably meet 'em when I turn in this paperwork."

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #5

Fiiiine, I guess.

victory

Axel's so confused, man.

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