livinglot | TEST DRIVE MEME #7

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test drive meme

TEST DRIVE MEME #7

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, but will be CLOSING ON MAY 31ST! There is an upcoming game event that is going to make new arrivals during that period impractical.
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, Aquisitioner, and Wardrobe Manager are currently open. Otherwise, we're pretty much down for anything, roles wise.

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!

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Eh. [He just shrugs vaguely, having actually... only used the thing once. Her next question is more interesting anyway so he jumps on that instead!]

But then I couldn't condense and drop the resulting crystallization back onto this repulsive carnival, destroying it like it deserves!

Wouldn't it vaporize upon re-entry?

[That's definitely a ghost of a smile, but perhaps her cowl would hide it.]

[Perhaps, some several thousand years before, seeing them so obviously uncomfortable and perhaps frightened, she would have deliberately kept them around, perhaps demanded they amuse her for a little while in the absence of her precious Pearl.

But now things were a little different. This may be the traitor and matricidal quartz ... and her own lapis may well be a traitor alongside him. Tormenting them because of it wouldn't bring Pink back or make her feel better. What was the point of bothering?

After a solid minute or two of silence, possibly while they squirm, Blue Diamond sighs. It sounds terribly put-upon, as if the weight of this entire horrible circus was on her shoulders.]

Yes, of course. I believe your companion was preparing for some task in this place.

[And then she turns and vanishes from the tent in a brief ripple of deep blue cloth. She had her own duties to attend to soon, but there were things she would have to consider first, and work on reining in her grief again before it made working impossible. She had to keep herself on task now, or pay dearly for it.. The anxiety she leaves in her wake in comparison is utterly irrelevant.]

[Oh no, he's kind of on a roll here.]

Not if I used their water balloon technology against them! [He chuckles evilly.] Again! [Said chuckling turns into actual laughter, which does not sound like pleasant laughter one finds from normal non-crazy people.

Then he abruptly stops.]

Last time was neat!

[There is no way she's going to stop him now. Lacking her pearl, entertainment had to be found somewhere and this time it found her.]

What happened last time, if I might ask? Did the water balloon work?

[Somehow she doubted rubber would survive re-entry too, but she's not going to rain on that particular parade.]

It worked perfectly! Exactly as I had planned! [He sounds way too happy about this.] It destroyed everything! I annihilated the Dib human!

[Steven will just stand there and keep hold of Lapis's hand until Blue Diamond has departed fully. Waiting as long as she takes to decide to release them is agonizing, but he manages to hold it together long enough, through some miracle. He doesn't even really know what he's doing anymore.

Once Lapis's diamond is gone, he lets go of her hand only to wrap his arms around her in a hug, still quietly crying.]

[Lapis is literally ten seconds from collapsing from sheer anxiety and panic when Blue Diamond leaves, and Steven hugs her tightly. It's a hug that she returns, all tension leaving her body at once.

There's... a lot to unpack emotionally for Lapis rather suddenly, and she doesn't really want to deal with that in the moment. She pulls away only slightly from the hug after a few seconds, giving a smile with some seriously poorly hidden anxiety in it.]

I don't know how much I want to stick around here with her lurking about... Want to go somewhere else?

[Steven has never even encountered a diamond in person before, but now he has a sudden and visceral understanding of why so many of the gems seems to react in terror or awe when it comes to the idea of them. He's honestly sort of mad at himself for how easily he bent under the pressure, but at the same time... it can't possibly be worth starting a fight and putting Lapis in danger.

He swallows, trying to compose himself just a little, and nods.]

Yeah, me neither. I... I don't think I'm in the mood to practice anymore, anyway.

[That's putting it lightly.]

Everybody pays. One way or another.

[he tilts his head and gets a little closer, jumping atop one of the other ticket kiosks so he doesn't have to look up at her]

Wait, did you just say diamond? Since when do diamonds come in piss yellow? ... Or in the form of giant ladies, fer that matter.

[Only people that WANT other people to think they're respectful and therefore are actually pompous talk like that!!

... or, well, that's this kid's train of thought]

Jeeeeee-ZUS. I knew a guy who's was well over a thousand years old and even HE didn't talk as oldschool as you!! Pahahaha! Haaa... he's dead now.

.....our entire dojo speaks with this dialect....

[also.] .....1000 years?

Ruler? [Kinda odd, but he decides after a moment, that it works.] ...Indeed, she is an impressive leader, as far as I, the man Gongenzaka, have seen.

You would be correct however-more than likely, they would be no place near their original home! It is quite alright though, [he insists.] With who we have, we should fare fine.

[she'll find herself bubbled again immediately. yellow takes a moment to finish what she's doing, then turns to face peridot.]

You had plenty of time to re-evaluate your position, Peridot.

[yellow doesn't know what "piss" means, but she can guess from the context it's not something pleasant. how rude, her colour is flawless.]

Since always, organic.

[she swats at him. go away.]

Edited 2017-06-02 14:31 (UTC)

Blue...

[Uh Oh Spaghettio There's That Tone Again.

what else does blue want more than anything than pink back? THIS IS A BAD IDEA. REGRET.PNG.]

[Fun fact: The bubble is even more terrifying to be in when your last experience in it ended with your form being slowly crushed!

Peridot is hugging her knees again, for safety, and isn't it kind of hilarious how the fetal position is a universal thing even among species who were never actually fetuses? HILARIOUS.]

Y-yes. I have.

[Says Peridot in pretty much the saddest raspy squeak imaginable. Her eyes are wide and fixed on the larger gem. What does she want?]

[She knows that tone. She's heard it long enough, hasn't she? Yellow was capable of moving on but she ... wasn't. And maybe now she didn't have to. Ever.

She raises one hand as if to try to stop the argument she can feel is coming.]

No, I thought it out this time. It's not just ... just wanting her back. Not just for me.

[But of course it is her. How can it be anyone else but her?]

I have reason to believe the diamond of this ... 'carnival' can do exactly what she says she can. And if she can mend a shattered gem then our entire society will be mended as well. We were never meant to try to do this as three. We can be four again, Yellow. We can all finally be what we're supposed to be again.

[And of course in full outright honesty Blue's doing it for emotional reasons. But emotional reasons don't work on Yellow, and she's been preparing for that.]

And then we can all watch the cluster emerge together. Wouldn't that be nice?

[Nice for Yellow!]

Other world things…? Like in video games?

[ That's sort of interesting and is making him calm down a bit. He’s a gamer ~~and has probably played his world’s equivalent of Kingdom Hearts at some point~~, so he’d think of games when something like that was brought up. ]

I’d like to see that.. Are there more plants here? All over?

[ He had been focused on other things (games) before so he might have missed it. ]

[she knew it would be to restore pink, but yellow doesn't think it's possible. sure, blue has been promised, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. to her, this entire situation just shows how far blue has fallen into her grief. yellow had been hopeful that maybe blue was beginning to move on... this seems cruel, almost. to dangle that possibility in front of such a grief stricken being when it's impossible. it honestly makes her sad to hear the hope in blue's voice.]

Of course it would, I'd like nothing more. [said more the cushion her next statement, really.] But there's no way to know she'd come back the same! What makes you so sure this Diamond can fulfill what she's promised you?

[it's unheard of for someone to willingly lie to a diamond, but then so was rebelling.]

It's just not a good color!

[woops, too slow. He jumps over her attempted swat. Like he's some stupid bug! Jerk.]

Man. Slow AND ugly. Why do you think so highly of yerself again? Geez. Anyway... you need to come with me. The Ringmaster is gonna be pissed that you blew up one of her slaves, and I can't wait to see what she's gonna do to you. [spoken with childish glee, like a kid yelling "I'M GONNA TELL MOM AND YOU'RE GONNA BE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE" ]

Edited 2017-06-03 00:32 (UTC)

An entire dojo of old farts.

[ayep. He nods]

Yama-jii, the Captain Commander of the 13 Court Guard Squads, and supposedly the strongest Shinigami in history. [Zangetsu frowns] ... But he died like a bitch at the hands of the Quincy King. Which is why I'm here. I'm not leaving it to chance -- my master and I will kill that guy, even if we have to get extradimensional help.

No.. I imagine after so long broken, she will need time to recover and may need help doing so. The damage may even be significant. But it's not something we can't overcome with all of us working together.

[There was little they COULDN'T do when coordinated with the same goal, after all. It was simply so rare that such a thing was required, never mind giving them the motivation to bother.]

And we'll have all the time in the universe to make it right again. As for the Ringmaster.. I think .. you'll need to meet her yourself to understand. There's something about her I can't put into words, but I believe she is capable of more than repairing a shattered gem.

[She has no evidence of that presently, but she was also sure Yellow would understand once she encountered the woman.]

.. In fact, if she proves to be capable of restoring Pink, I may suggest that we extend an offer of alliance.

[Possibly the Diamond Authority's first. But if the Ringmaster could heal a broken diamond, what else could she do? Being her enemy would be disastrous.]

Do not disrespect the Gongenzaka dojo..!! [SERIOUSLY- And....]

Hmmm? ....If he holds such a rank, would it not make more sense for him to speak from such a place, rather than one of humility..? [Doing otherwise, in what SOUNDS like a military situation, would more than likely cause those beneath him to think him as less than impressive a leader after all...

...Hmm. That said. He gives credit where it is due, and bows.] ....Matters of death aside, it would seem that we are here for not so different reasons then.

I, the man Gongenzaka, am here to train, no more, no less.

Ffft. Train? You? What the hell are you training for? An eating contest? You're so weak I could crush you without even lifting a finger. [he speaks the words like he's saying the sky is blue and water is wet] Despite your appearance, your soul is as human as they come!

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TEST DRIVE MEME #7

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'piss yellow' HOOTS

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YEAH he's twelve. also holy shit I just say your display name. LEMONS FUCK LMAO

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