TEST DRIVE MEME #6

[ringleaders]

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!

Comments

[handwringing]

Ketchup, really. Elsa narrowly avoids making a face at it (okay, she makes a little bit of a face).

"Really? So she convinced you?"

Elsa remembers, after what happened to the old Warden, the Ringmaster seemed to be leaning toward Sans to take on the job. She also seems to remember Sans not really wanting to. Though she's not sure how surprised she is that he took the position; the Ringmaster has a way of getting what she wants.

"And I'm the Treasurer, so we're both supervisors now."

[osteothropy]

"Guess so!" He puts the spoon between his teeth. You'd probably assume he was licking the tea off of it if he had a tongue or anything. "Lucky you didn't show up a month earlier. Castiel just missed it, too."

"Besides the... stuff already mentioned. It's kinda the same crew as before. Got some fun new people, anyway."

The last part is added a bit more quickly, like he's brushing off the first things he said as being kind of a bummer to think about.

[kingsroads]

He can't help but nod appreciatively as the snowflakes flutter around her hands. Instantly, Strange comes up with hundreds of questions about Elsa and her powers: is that magic, is it solely ice related, what all could she do, so on and so forth. Though, if she does know the feeling, then Strange has a feeling Elsa wants to do so much more than simple snowflakes.

"Well go on then! Show off some more, let's see what you can do!"

Restraint is for suckers.

[kingsroads]

I did! I started human as— [ well, not as she is because of the whole dog ears thing. There's a pause then Strange finishes the sentence with ] —as human as most others started.

[ It is a very lame finish. Still, Jade mentioned magic or at least a kind of magic. That's enough to get Strange's attention and are we talking about magic now, he loves talking about magic. ]

If you don't mind explaining, I'd love to hear about your kind of magic. Magic's a specialty of mine, after all.

[ explanation of Homestuck vs. person with the attention span of a goldfish, ROUND ONE, NO ITEMS, FIGHT. ]

[flambebe]

Time isn't one of those things that I have a great deal of. Got some fairly crucial things to take care of. [the majority of him is somewhat in denial, banking on the fact that this is still just some bizarre mmo that he got a very aggressive invitation to. because at this point that's starting to seem like the best possible option. the most likely is starting to seem like the 'i'm completely out of my mind' option.]

[all that to say, he has no idea that his protests are old hat to the residents.] And I'm not exactly a kid. You're pretty short, yourself.

cant believe im about to sell a yr of yuuri's life for katsudon.. if they have it

[tonkatsuki]

[Yuuri ducks his, embarrassed that his stomach spoke before he could even reply or get a quick hand shake before he falls into step. He feels a little guilty for taking up Yamato's time - but he has to admit its better than blindly wandering about at his own peril. He has, so far, not had the greatest luck with the sprite vendors.

Besides, the small smile made him feel slightly better about encroaching on Yamato's time. It was the first he'd seen so far.]

What show is on at the moment?

[ When the attention falls to his ice skates, and he shifts them a little, scooped in one arm and pressed tight against his chest. The steel of the blades barely glints in the light, sheathed as they are in their guards. ]

Yes. I'm one of the dime a dozen skaters certified by the JSF. [ He realises a second too late its probably a nonsense differentiation to a non-skater, and is quick to clarify. ]

I skate in competitions. Sometimes. [ He hand waves it quickly, just a little self conscious. A pair of skates isn't the usual carnival fare; then again, he hadn't really intended on ending up here, so perhaps it was a forgivable oversight. ]

but what if it's the best katsudon ever, would it be worth it

[walkonedge]

Right now? Probably Centre Stage. Magicians and stuff. The main thing in the Big Top starts a little bit later.

[ His steps are quick, weaving through the gradually thinning crowds walking in the opposite direction, but not too quick so that Yuuri can keep up as much as possible. It's easy to get lost in the Carnival if you're not careful and you don't know where you're going.

They're cutting through the Gamer's Circle now, the lights getting brighter and the atmosphere louder, game operators calling for customers to take a shot at the games. ]

You must be pretty good, then. [ He doesn't know much about ice skating, in all honesty, but Yuuri mentioned certifications, and competitions, so he's getting that impression, at least. ]

[thevictoriandetective]

"Yes."

He didn't like working for anyone, but there wasn't really another way to say it. A slight grimace as he said so.

Still, he wasn't entirely a jerk. And he liked to show off.

"Nice to meet you. Yes, I have, in fact, back home. A lot of people have heard of me and the cases I've...me and my partner, John Watson, have solved."

[handwringing]

Elsa laughs at that, glancing around a bit awkwardly. "Right here? Right now?"

Though she has gotten much more comfortable with using her powers around people, even if she didn't sign on with the Carnival to use them as entertainment. In fact, practicing her powers is what she came here for, so should she really hold back when someone is asking to see it?

It won't be like before, after all. She's not going to freeze Strange's head.

"Okay, well... here goes."

She thinks for a minute, thinking of the shape she wants her ice to materialize in. After a moment, she thrusts her hands forward, in a flurry of snowflakes, and poof! A scale model of Strange himself, only about four feet tall, stands between them, made of ice.

[handwringing]

Elsa has given up trying to figure out how Sans eats or drinks anything, if he's even really eating or drinking.

Lucky, she guesses. She's still pretty upset about the whole thing, but Sans is clearly trying to turn the conversation, so she lets him lead. "Some fun new people, hmm? Anyone in particular?"

[osteothropy]

He wasn't actually thinking specifically about Papyrus when he said that, but it only takes a few moments for him to remember. Right. She wouldn't even know about him, yet. Just like it was with Sophie. Weird.

"My brother, I guess," he says. He seems a little dazed as he says it. Maybe he has mixed feelings.

[handwringing]

Clearly, he doesn't like that at all. Not everyone takes to being part of the carnival structure immediately, after all. Someone who's used to being their own boss, even less so.

Elsa, though, wasn't one of those people; it's a bit nice, not being the one ultimately responsible for everything.

"So you're very famous. I'm guessing you didn't leave all that to come to the Carnival by choice."

[handwringing]

Yeah, Elsa would have mixed feelings about that, too (although not that mixed, after what just happened with the vampires). She misses Anna a lot, but not so much that she's sure she wants her here. She chose this, after all; she can wait until she goes home.

"I haven't met him yet." She can say this with certainty, she's pretty sure, because she assumes Sans's brother is also a skeleton and she would have noticed that. "What does he do?"

[osteothropy]

He definitely is a skeleton - at least Elsa doesn't ask whether Papyrus is a human or not. That question gets to be a bit taxing. Still, Sans sounds a bit troubled about the whole thing, even if he's trying to play it off as something relatively positive.

"He's a janitor, around here," he explains, with a bit of humour. "Which... when you meet him, you'll probably get why." He drinks more tea, contemplative. "...It's all gotten pretty complicated, though. In a bad way."

The last part is added tentatively, because he's not sure he wants to bring it up. It's been such a shitshow, though. He doesn't know what to do with himself.

[thevictoriandetective]

Sherlock was certainly used to being his own boss, he hated it when his brother used to push him around. Even now though, as he was loathe to admit it, he missed Mycroft.

"Not that famous." Well, it wasn't entirely a lie. He was pretty well-recognized in his local area. "It was...a miscalculation on my part."

I.e., he was an idiot.

Tohri Nishikikouji

[nishikikouji_tohri]

-unacceptable. Unacceptable!

[That's a surprisingly deep, aristocratic voice to be coming from a bird. Admittedly, not just any bird. From beak to tailtip he's nearly ten feet long - three quarters of that is bronze-black tailfeathers though, he's not quite four feet tall - and he has the most elaborate plumage. Crest, nuchal cape, saddle feathers, an absolute rainbow of color and pattern, and the handbag (wingbag?) he's got certainly doesn't harmonize.]

I'll have to ration my makeup! Live with nothing but touch-ups! How do these creatures expect me to work when I can't even look my best???

[Is that last directed at you? I think it's directed at you.]

I hope you people at least have tea.

[nishikikouji_tohri]

[There's a bird here that looks like this and is four feet tall, almost ten long counting that tail. He watches you in the gamer's circle and feels moved to comment in a surprisingly deep, aristocratic voice.]


Hmph. I suppose I will be charitable and say you have promise. The limitations of your species are not your doing, after all.

[handwringing]

She wonders what that's supposed to mean, though if Sans and Papyrus are anything like Anna and herself, she guesses they're pretty different people. She can't really imagine it, though; she'll just have to meet him and find out for herself.

"...I know something about things being complicated, with siblings." She hesitates too, because she doesn't really like talking about what happened, or even really thinking about it. She knows trying to pretend it didn't happen won't help her, but sometimes it's hard to face it head on.

"I don't know if you want to tell me, but... I might get it."

[osteothropy]

Sans knows all about finding it difficult to face things head on, too. They're probably more similar than either of them realize. Sans spends a long time hesitating before eventually saying something.

"...I spent so much time lying to him back home, now that I've been trying to come clean..." He trails off. Part of him wants to be mad at Papyrus for this, but he knows that's not even remotely fair.

"I guess it's just getting pretty obvious that he actually doesn't know anything about me. Which is... one hundred percent my own fault." Its hard to read his expressions, but he seems more like he's grimacing than grinning at the moment. "Guess it's starting to feel like maybe it'd be easier to not bother."

[handwringing]

"Most people end up here that way, the first time at least."

And then some of them are like Elsa, and keep coming back willingly. It is, technically, a dereliction of duty, but at least she should be able to go back with no one from home the wiser.

"A year does go by very quickly though. At least I always feel that way."

Allen Walker / D.Gray-man / New arrival

[showmystar]

^{MIRROR MAZE}

[It's Allen's first day in the carnival, several hours after signing a contract with the Ringmaster. He figures he may as well explore the place he'll be staying.

But somehow, rather than finding his way to the cookhouse, he's wandered all the way around and into the mirror maze. He's quite lost.

Allen stares down his reflection and its thousand clones. It is a black shadow of a man with empty eyes and a hollow grin]

You know you can't escape me, "Allen." I'm within you. Your body is mine.

[Unimpressed, Allen's tone is flat] I'm underage, sorry.

^{NOT YOUR WHEELHOUSE}

[Allen irritably flicks away a floating "star." He has been stuck at the very top of the ferris wheel for ten minutes now. With a stranger. And he doesn't want to make a scene and jump down.

Though it is tempting . . . He peers over the car's edge and sets it swinging, possibly throwing the stranger off-balance] How far down do you think we'd have to jump . . .? [Allen plz]

^{NOT TRYING VERY HARD TO LEAF}

[A white-haired boy sits cross-legged on the forest floor, eating some sort of fruit. Once you look closer, you'll notice it's something like an orange with a small, yellow flame inside, flickering away gently. He's taken such a large bite out of it, you can see the open flame.

He opens his mouth to finish it off, strange glowing fire and all. Sure hope that won't burn!]

^Wildcard!

[throw something at me!]

wheelhouse!

[showmystar]

Sorry about that! Could you pick up my boot, please?

[If Papyrus looks to follow the polite, soft voice, a young boy will be grinning sheepishly from high above him. He's hugging the rigging of the ferris wheel, caught in the act of clambering down from the top.

And he is, indeed, short one white boot, his clown pants caught on the metal]

Riku | Kingdom Hearts | Newcomer

[shadowsthedawn]

a; gamer's circle

[As Riku walks through the Gamer's Circle, he's taken aback by the sheer amount of people that are clustered around, moving from game to game or into other areas of the circus grounds. Even after becoming a Keybearer and visit different worlds on the regular, he doesn't think he's ever seen so many people in one place. The crush of the crowd makes it hard to take in the sights, giving Riku only glimpses of the games as the wave of people carry him by. But one catches his attention more than the others, prompting him to fight his way through to the game tent.

The set-up is simple enough, on the back wall of the tent a board is hung up with a large circle on it, with a small hole in the middle. On the counter sits a plastic water gun. The teen picks it up, curious. The smokey figure manning the counter leans closer.]

Why don't you give it a try? There are some nice prizes if you can manage to win.

[Riku considers that for a moment before shrugging and grasping the handle of the water gun. After all, it's just a game.

What's the worse that could happen?]

Double or nothing? [He's always had a competitive edge and he's practically oozing confidence at this point. help this child]

b; not your wheelhouse

[The Ferris Wheel had been enjoyable at first. It's the first time Riku has ever been on one and he enjoyed the sensation of being up so high, especially when his cart reached the top and the stars became so close he could reach out and touch them. The stars had been distraction enough for the next ten minutes, but after that he couldn't help but realize that the wheel has completely stopped moving.

And he's bored.

Staring out the side of the cart, he tries to gauge exactly how high up they are, before finally looking over at the person sharing the cart with him.]

How are your climbing skills?

[He might as well bring his company along on his escape plan.]

wildcard;

[Have another idea? Go for it! Or contact me at NearTheHeart]

Wildcard!!!!!

[destiny_key]

[It's one of the rare moments that Sora's actually doing the job he was contracted to do, which is to say, he's just broken up a fight and helped calm the crowd. He's only just now walking away, and wow what an exciting day this is turning out to be.

He almost can't believe his eyes when he sees a familiar head of silver hair weaving through the crowd, so he stops to rub at his eyes before dashing after it.

It's a struggle to get through the crowd, but he can't let this opportunity go to waste.]

Riku!? RIKU!

Not trying very hard

[fourtyninenames]

((Hi!! I don't play Lavi in game, I play someone else, but hitting you up with him was too good to pass up. :D))

[Fire alert! Lavi's arm shoots out from behind Allen to try and bock the fruit before he gets to it.] Whoa! I'm pretty sure that's not how you eat a flambé!