TEST DRIVE MEME #7

[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, 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!

Comments

Blue Diamond | Steven Universe

[diamondsare]

[wheelhouse]

[Somewhere far below, a tall yellow lady is screaming about bringing down the fury of the diamonds.

And somewhere far above, is another diamond, curretly stuck on a ferris wheel. She's not bringing wrath down upon anything at all, because she's far too far above the ground to even hear that indignant yelling and far too fascinated with the way the stars seem to be just out of reach. She has of course seen plenty of stars before, but these were playing some sort of trick, gravitational lensing surely, that made it seem like she could reach out and touch them.]

Come here.

[Whoever she's been stuck with this whole time will be beckoned, with one blue hand and a surprisingly gentle voice for someone so tall and imposing.]

I wonder if perhaps though I cannot reach them, you might? This strange festival has many things that are not quite what they seem, these glittering stars too may be one of them.

[gamer's circle]

But what is the purpose of it?

[If anyone else wanted to play an ordinary game of ring toss, presuming normally the rings are faintly glowing solidified smoke in most games, they're going to be waiting a while. There's a very tall blue woman at the front of the line, a small number of tickets in one hand, and a controlled but puzzled expression on her face. The poor being of smoke and fire trying to get her to play is also apparently having to explain what play even is.

It's probably cutting in on his quotas or something.]

To try to win a fake animal? This is ... 'fun'?

[wildcard]

[She'd found the lake a little while ago and hasn't budged from its shore since, sitting carefully on the sand just outside of the reach of the tiny surface waves. The forest hadn't suited her but this, with its almost perfect mirror reflection of the night's sky, suited her just fine. It was tranquil, peaceful..

... She missed her Pearl.]

It's strange that I might find somewhere so full of organic life to be ... peaceful, after a fashion.

[There's no sense Blue is talking to anyone in specific, but she talks to herself often enough and this isn't about to stop anyone from responding if they wanted to.]

Tranquility never lasts. But while it does..

HEAVY BREATHING

[objectivous]

[what yellow is doing is, by the absolute vaguest definition, exploring. someone else might call it "stomping around in a tantrum", but yellow would call it doing something productive instead of sulking around like some of the other gems here. worthless rocks.

she notices blue (it's kind of hard not to recognise her) and just... stands in the trees, watching her for a moment. part of her is wondering what to do, but she eventually just pushes all that away and clomps on over to her fellow diamond, putting a hand on her shoulder.]

Blue.

[diamondsare]

[That's a familiar stomp! A .. quieter stomp than usual, but still familiar, and as Yellow approaches and sets a hand on her shoulder, the far more blue-colored diamond smiles faintly and reaches up to put her hand on Yellow's.]

I thought I heard you earlier.

[And she'd done nothing about it because Yellow is a diamond and can obviously take care of herself, the idea that this place could seriously be trouble is just laughable.]

Why don't you sit down? It's nice here, for an organic world.

[objectivous]

[she keeps her hand where it is, but doesn't move. sitting on the ground isn't really something she wants to do.]

I'll stand.

[behind blue, she makes a soft 'ugh' expression. yellow has no doubt blue's admiration of this planet is linked to pink diamond and the earth.]

It... is average. For an organic world. [she says instead.]

[diamondsare]

[Ah yes the ground, covered in sand which is surely going to get EVERYWHERE at this rate, but Blue is ignoring such things because surely sand wouldn't dare to stick to her. She will find out otherwise when she gets back up.]

You think so? It reminds me of [here it comes] Earth a little.

[For a moment her voice is a little wobbly and there's something suspiciously like a sniff but for once she seems to recover remarkably quickly.]

And yet very different. Not all the beings here are even organic, that does have to be in the favor of this place, doesn't it?

[objectivous]

[there it is.]

Not when they've been dragged here against their will.

[not that she gives a shit about any of that, but still.]

And the... mutations in form I've seen on a couple of my Court...

[diamondsare]

They stole you?

[She swivels around, eyes wide. Blue had chosen to be here, for a prize she very much wanted, and had assumed Yellow did too. Surely Homeworld wouldn't notice, it was only a year and a day and that might as well be an afternoon by human reckoning.

But being stolen was unspeakable sacrilege.]

I think we shall have words with the creature that rules this place. Being here voluntarily is acceptable but forcing a diamond to be here against her will is unacceptable!

[There's a pause as the rest of it sinks in, slowly, through the indignation of having a comrade treated as if she were a common gem.]

I had not seen other gems here yet. How badly are they corrupted?

WHEEL PROMPT

[otoko]

[Gongenzaka does not look like someone who can offer assistance to Blue Diamond on this case-he bears a centaur-like figure, and a mane of red maple and sakura, both things that would no doubt impede such efforts. And yet as his ears pick up upon the calm voice, he turns his head to answer.]

Hmm? [It takes but a moment to realize she speaks to the stars-Gongenzaka takes a moment more to stare toward her before speaking more clearly, and perhaps where many have heard redundancy, Blue Diamond will catch the antiquated humility of how he speaks.]

Miss-I, the man Gongenzaka, must ask; are you faring well, up there? ...The ride appears to have held its place longer than typical, and I, the man Gongenzaka, do not wish for a malfunction of equipment to cause any harm!

[diamondsare]

I am well for now, thank you.

[How nice, an organic being that obviously knows its place. As Gongenzaka speaks up, Blue turns to regard him with interest, a faint benign smile on her face. He's very UNUSUAL as far as she knew, but ... how many organic lifeforms was she really familiar with?]

This is not part of the purpose of this device, then? It's such a lovely view. Won't you join me? There's room, I think.

[She's got plenty of serenity for the moment to share; there were worse places to get stuck BY FAR.]

[otoko]

Auh, to an extent, it certainly is-I, the man Gongenzaka, have been told that the wheel holds itself in position for a short time to allow those in the seats the chance to interact with the stars; though, perhaps it is the fact that there are no others in the carriages at this time, that it stays where it is...

[He seems surprised by the suggestion-though he finds himself searching the base of the ride for something briefly in thought before he can respond. He is allowed to climb such devices in an emergency, as patrol... ...and searching reveals no controls to get HIM up there, so.] Hmm...

...Typically, to join you, I, the man Gongenzaka would require someone first bring the seat back down but...

...if allowed a moment, I could perhaps climb, [He decides, albeit offering an added warning.] ...However, it may shake your seat...

[diamondsare]

[It's such a lovely view of the sky and the carnival itself that Blue could appreciate this might actually be on purpose, because she's obviously gotten the best possible seat for such a view.

Such is the due owed a diamond.]

I am afraid I do not know how to work this primitive device, and can't assist with that. A little shaking is acceptable, I think. Mind the other organics as you come.

[After all squishing a person as he came up would really make Blue's current cup on the ferris wheel very messy once he arrived. Blood and goo and who knows what else!]

[otoko]

Of course! [Fortunately for everyone as he makes his way awkwardly up, the other cups are quite empty-also, he may have assumed she referred to his flowers. Simple matters, they are.

Gongenzaka climbs, and there is a slight dip and shake as he clambers into the cup, the fuchsia blossoms and leaves from his mane scattering somewhat as he does so-once somewhat settled into a seat (being 9 foot in height alone would no doubt make this cramped), he gives a slight bow.] My apologies for the mess; I, the man Gongenzaka, am not yet used to the plants covering my form...

[diamondsare]

[The rocking and shaking of the ride as something of Gongenzaka's inhuman form and size climbs it is weathered with a touch of amusement. Sure the entire thing could possibly collapse at ANY TIME but she would be fine.

He is a bit bigger than he looked from way down there, and Blue takes a moment to rearrange herself to allow for his considerable bulk, half politeness and half unwillingness to come into contact too much with all that peculiar stuff growing out of him.]

This is not your natural form?

[She reaches out as if to touch some of the flowers but hesitates before actually coming in contact. It's pretty, in a way.]

I did not realize the vegetation of this place was so invasive.. or parasitic. Is it uncomfortable?

wild card

[mirrortide]

[Lapis spends a lot of time at the lake, because hey, water powers, terraformer, and right now she'd decided to take a quick trip to calm her fucking nerves because Yellow Diamond is around and that CANT BE GOOD FOR ANYONE.

Naturally, she flew in.

Naturally, as soon as she sees Blue Diamond, her Diamond, Lapis banks too sharply, and with a completely composed noise that sounds like a surprised seagull, crash lands into the fucking water like shes new on the job with a brilliant splash.

All of her changes are still gone after her talk with Yellow Diamond, but when she surfaces, she completely and gracefully spits out water in surprise when she sees that Yes, Blue Diamond is Still There and Also Saw Her Acting Like A Complete Lunatic.]

M-M-My Diamond!

[.... SO ABOUT THAT TRANQUILITY NEVER LASTING.]

[diamondsare]

[Lapis has one thing going for her: there's so many damn lapises out there that Blue has no idea which one this is at all.

All she knows for certain is it's very obvious one of her gems just fell out of the sky and into the water in a very inelegant fashion. Blue observes this for a moment and then rises to her feet, heading for the water's edge with every intention of fishing Lapis out and setting her on land.

She might be tiny for a diamond, only the size of a quartz right now, but she still has all the strength of her proper size.]

Come, you're disturbing the reflection.

[Well, she's not angry! And that weird serenity can be a bit contagious, though it often comes with a side dose of melancholy. ..But this lapis has a few additions lapises generally don't, that's ... interesting.]

You've changed.

[mirrortide]

[Lapis, honestly would rather not. She would just rather sink to the bottom of the lake, but hey. Lapis isn't about to tell her Diamond "no". So she just swallows and paddles over to the shoreline with her weird webbed feet and hands.

She looks down and away in shame, but she does cross her arms in a salute.]

Er, sorry, My Diamond. I didn't... expect to see you here. At all. My form change is not because I wished it too, it's a side effect of being stuck- [An important choice of words-] in this place. I- I can change back temporarily, if this look displeases you.

[diamondsare]

You are not here by choice, then?

[That's a slight note of disapproval. Apparently if Blue is aware there even IS a choice, she's here because she wants to be, not because she's been tricked into it. Choosing this course is one thing.

Having one of her gems being stolen and manipulated on the other hand was another and simply not acceptable!

Lapis' changes are scrutinized with a faint frown. It's not corruption, she's certain of that, the Ringmaster must be doing it then. She'll have to do something about that; the woman might be Diamond of her circus but Blue rules far more than a motley collection of tents.]

If it is what you are forced to become then there is no shame in looking so. It suits your nature well enough, if one must have organic adaptions.

[And then there's a sigh, as if this is simply one more of countless trials before she settles back on the shoreline and smooths her skirt back out.]

When I leave I will take you with me. It may be some time however.

[mirrortide]

[Lapis whole-heartedly believes that the disapproval in Blue Diamonds' tone is directed at her, and she can't help but look away in shame. She'd just been growing used to the changes that had been forced upon her.

But then Blue Diamond speaks up, and it becomes clear it's not her that her Diamond is disappointed in but the very nature of this place.

And then she makes a remark of taking Lapis with her when she leaves, and her head snaps up. There's more than one reason for that jolt of cold terror down her spine.]

I- um, [No, Lazuli, shut the hell up.] I, er, humbly request to stay behind, my illustrious, wonderful and luminous Diamond.

[LAPIS SHUT UP RIGHT NOW]

[diamondsare]

Why?

[One simple word, tone and expression utterly mild, but it really can be the calm before the storm when it's Blue.]

WILDCARD hope this is ok

[squeedlyspooch]

[Zim absolutely despises the lake, but he's never been one to sit by and let large sources of water mock him, and this one is doing just that by merely existing. He's got plans - all kinds of genius plans - to deal with it! So many plans.

The only downside is that he's lacking in a base and stuff he can use to build with. Everything at the carnival is sadly primitive and he hasn't had much luck in stealing supplies with Peridot keeping an eye on him.

He's managed to wrangle up a pad of paper and a pen at least, so he's wandering over to the lake.]

Tranquil? [Zim was she even talking to you.....] It's all revoltingly filthy, is what it is!

[And he starts scribbling, making Undoubtedly and Horribly Evil Notes, muttering things about water and plants being disgusting and repulsive.]

[diamondsare]

[It's a quaint little native!

Blue overlooks the fact that she'd been talking to herself, because now she suddenly has company and one that apparently reviles the lake and its almost perfect mirror finish. Zim is studied for a moment, and then her gaze returns to the lake, searching for obvious filth beyond generic organic residue.

It looks alright to her.]

Is it? It seems clean, but I admit I am no expert on the cleanliness of aquatic biomes.

[squeedlyspooch]

Of course it is!

[Zim is about ten feet back from the edge of the lake, and is very clearly not about to get any closer. He's just throwing his hands in the air and... yelling at it. Yep.]

They're always filthy! No better than a city cesspool! Maybe even worse!

[It is also clear that he has issues when it comes to bodies of water.]

[diamondsare]

[She can't help but smile a little. It reminded her of the rambunctious way rubies could sometimes get out of hand, full of passion and fire, a little lacking in the higher intellect areas.]

That's too bad. It looks rather lovely from here, clear and calm.

[What's a cesspool?]

Perhaps it could be purified?

[squeedlyspooch]

Of course it could be. But who needs this much water just... There. Existing. Full of little single-cell organisms and bacteria and germs just waiting to get inside of you to start chewing on your organs....

[He shudders. Garbage people, that's who need lakes.]

[diamondsare]

Need, I imagine none save the things inside it. But want.. I enjoy this much water. More if possible. Perhaps without all the little things in it.

[Fish weren't required for the peace the waves brought after all!]

If it is only the life within it you worry about, then sterilization is simple enough. A large enough surge of radiation should neatly render it safe for you to enter without ... being chewed on.

[She's not going to laugh, but she wants to.]