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livinglot2017-04-30 02:23 am
ringleaders) wrote in livinglot2017-04-30 02:23 am
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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:
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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[Steven picks up the pace, running towards the sound. It's easier to make it through the maze with something to guide him, and the mirror people seem a little less keen on messing around now that he's shown up.
After a few more twists and turns, Steven will see her, gasp with relief and wonder, and then go bolting for a desperate hug. Only to... run straight into a mirror reflection of her instead of the real deal. He tried.]
Ow!
[He falls on his butt, rubbing his face, the victim of a vicious sliding door attack. Some of the ominous Pearl reflections try to hold it together, but gradually burst out laughing.]
"My hero!"
[One of them says with a mock swoon.]
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just in time for Steven to throw himself at a mirrored panel behind her. She winces, turning as several of her reflections laugh at him. She frowns, snapping at them.]
Knock it off!
"Hmph!"
"Well you don't have to be rude."
[Pearl sighs, steps around a mirror in the middle of the hallway, and looks down at her fallen fellow gem.]
Steven. Are you all right?
[And now she sees that while he's in one piece, "all right" might not be quite the right term. Her brows raise in surprise and then furrow in confusion. She hadn't seen such poor shape shifting from Steven in quite some time. Had he been messing with it like he shouldn't be again? Why did he look like that?]
Oh my...Steven! That's...quite the look for you. Have you been messing with your shape shifting ability again? You know that's not good for you.
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PEARL!
[He'll get to the shapeshifting thing in a minute, he swears. His lion's tail is swishing back and forth excitedly, the matching ears raised high right interest. He's just... really happy to see her. He'll deal with the parts of this that are less ideal soon enough.]
I'm okay! [He lets go just enough to look up at her, mossy green fur and faintly glowing pink gemstones on his cheeks.] But - um... are you okay? Do you know where you are? I can explain, just... I dunno where to start!
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What had they done to her baby?]
Steven. I'm fine. I was merely tracking a strange creature that ran into this maze and got a little turned around. [There's a pause and she places a hand on his shoulder.] Now what do you know about all of this? When I left you were getting ready for bed...you couldn't possibly have beaten me here.
[One of the nearby Pearl reflections chuckles, whispering to an adjacent reflection.]
"That's what she thinks."
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It's... kind of complicated. But... because of time stuff... I've kind of been here for three months already? This place is all magic, and sometimes people just find their way here! That's what I did, and I guess that's what you did, too!
So, I guess I was going to bed at one point but I also got pulled out of our universe and into this one! At least... that's how I think it works?
[It's kind of a headache.]
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[Her hand covers her mouth. She's obviously surprised by this revelation, but at the same time the rest of his explanation makes sense...in a way. She's sure there's a longer, more exact explanation about how all of this works, but she knows better than to expect it from Steven. He's doing his best though and it is helpful. She lowers her hand, looking thoughtful. Processing this takes some time.]
So this is a separate universe where time passes at a different rate and is also effecting your appearance due to its magical properties.
[Pearl takes a breath.]
All right. What do we need to do to get out of here? []Pause and she adds.] And I don't mean the maze.
[Protective mom!Pearl mode was starting to kick in and she was going to do everything in her ability to get Steven out of here.]
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Um... I know you really want to leave, but... I can't. And neither can the others. [And maybe Pearl can't?? He really hopes she didn't accidentally steal anything...] It's complicated, but we're kind of on contract... and I promised I'd stay here for a whole year.
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Why? Not that a year is necessarily that long, but what requires you and the others to stay like that? What kind of contract did you agree to?
[Was it even allowed for a child to sign a contract? She wasn't up to date on Earth laws...although she did suppose this wasn't Earth so perhaps that concern was null and void anyway. Also, something else occurred to her and she frowned.]
Wait...what others? Who else is here Steven?
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[He starts counting them off on his fingers.]
Dad, Amethyst, Peridot, Lapis, Lars... Amethyst and Peridot have been here even longer than me!
[He rubs his fluff of hair, uncertainly.]
Sometimes people have to sign a contract because they accidentally broke or stole something. Dad didn't have enough tickets for a game he'd played, so...
[He trails off. He doesn't make a point of complaining about carnival stuff very often and has mostly just tried to roll with the punches, but he hates that his dad has to deal with it too.]
I ended up signing a contract so I could stay with him while he was here!
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Still, even if she trusted Steven it was a little difficult to believe at first. But she wanted to give him the chance to explain his point of voice on this. She barely hides the eye roll at the fact that Greg had gotten stuck here by not having enough tickets. That certainly sounded like a Greg thing to do.
Although...wait...did it cost to attend this carnival? What about this mirror maze?
She might have already breached these rules and not even realized it and would that make her any better? She glanced towards the reflections as they were being strangely silent. One Pearl was seated and munching on popcorn of all things and the others seemed to be just as entertained--watching and waiting this drama unfold.
Right, so they were no help. She sighs]
Steven. You shouldn't have had to do that. But I suppose it's to be expected.
[Pause. She can't just LEAVE him here...especially if THOSE are the only gems and humans here to supervise him. She can only imagine what's happened in the past three months without her and Garnet's watchful eyes.]
Is there anything I can do?
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Did you...
[He trails off, and rethinks how to phrase it.]
If you didn't do anything that would make you have to stay too... you should go home, if you want to. We're just going to be killing time here anyway, and it's kind of stressful sometimes, so...
[He probably shouldn't have told her it was stressful if he wanted her to leave, but oh well.]
I know the others would be really happy to see you! But... we... we should check to make sure you didn't do anything to get in trouble. It's really easy to make a mistake, here..."
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I can't go without you Steven. How would I ever explain that to Garnet?
[She considers his question.]
But what are some ways that a person gets...contracted? I didn't play any games and honestly Steven do you really think I would break anything?
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[He has to think. He didn't actually break any rules himself on his first time. it was probably easier for him, because paying for stuff like this is pretty common among humans.
But, there is one thing. He scratches at his hair nervously.]
Did you pay to enter at the gate?
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Well...I sort of just wandered in. I didn't see a ticket booth attendant and I was trying to catch this strange creature I saw. I thought it might be a corrupted gem and I didn't want to lose it in all the rides and games.
[She winces, returning her gaze to Steven.]
Don't tell me I messed up already and didn't even realize it.
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It's okay, Pearl. Even if you did... We'll be here together. I really missed you.
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Oh Steven. It will be all right. At least we can be together. And I've had to get used to strange places before, I'll figure this place out too.