⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME #2

[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 Acquisitioner are currently open. 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 (NEW): 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? (NEW): 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

Barry Pruitt | OC

[tautness]

gamer's circle
[ The problem with the 'shoot the water guns into the target to try and win a prize' game is that you need multiple people. And Barry kind of wants this stuffed animal that is undoubtedly a reference to a pop culture thing that he doesn't get (what the fuck's a Pokemon, Barry doesn't know, but look at that adorable turtle thing.)

The barker's minimal help in getting people over, so Barry just screws up his courage to do the thing that he really doesn't want to do in the first place...talk to people.

So surprise! There's a pale, skinny, terrified looking man in his twenties who's lightly tapping you on the shoulder. ]

Uh, do you want to play? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, it'd, um, just be nice.

[ his expression is pure "oh my god this is such a bad idea" ]

not your wheelhouse
[ Oh my God he is going to die.

He's stuck here with a person he doesn't know (that's awful) in a ferris wheel (that's also awful) that's stuck at the highest point (THIS IS THE MOST AWFUL OF ALL). Barry's spent the past ten minutes in a state of near panic because what if the wheel breaks, I mean it's already broken to begin with, he doesn't know how he'll take it if he goes plummeting to the ground from here, I mean he has no idea how vampires survive getting smushed, this is awful and horrible and he is going to die.

Needless to say, he's a bit close to hyperventilating as he looks over the edge of the ferris wheel, gets a little bit queasy, then just shrinks back into his seat, making himself look like a tiny ball as much as possible. Less impact = less of his bones to break? Maybe? ]

They are working on this, right? [ he asks, for like the fifth time in the past five minutes. ]

[veinglory]

[His ride companion seems similarly worried, his brow furrowed as he tries to look anywhere BUT down. He's a stout chap with a gray complexion and perhaps most oddly, a Colonial era powdered wig.]

In theory, yes!

[His voice cracks, noticeably. Why did he get on this ride again, in spite of it always seeming to do this?]

[tautness]

[ with their powers combined, they are two useless, panicky lumps of flesh...one of whom is about to get more panicky. ]

Wait, what do you mean in theory? That's not an answer! [ pause ] Well, um, it is an answer but that's not a good answer!

[veinglory]

[Gottlieb waves his hands apologetically, a nervous smile on his face.]

Please sir, do try and remain calm! This ride has a tendency to do this, but it worked out fine last time it happened, I am sure we will be safe!

Miko Nakadai | Transformers: Prime

[pullingamiko]

Not Your Wheelhouse

Ferris wheels aren’t exactly Miko’s go-to ride, but they can still be fun sometimes. After all, they may be slow, but she can still appreciate the view… plus, she’s less likely to get sick on a ferris wheel than a roller coaster.

However. The view gets harder to appreciate when the wheel has been completely motionless for this long. Miko has no problem with hanging out up here with a stranger, but this is boring.

After a while, she leans abruptly over the side of the car, making it swing in the air. “Hey, what gives down there! How long’s it gonna take them to get this fixed?”

WILDCARD

((OOC: LIKE MIKO okay no just. Let’s do whatever! I’m very tired as I'm putting this together please bear with me))

[control_freak]

You know, the ferris wheel seemed like a good idea at the time. And there are things about it he does like. The feeling of the wind at this height, for example. And there's something exhilarating about being up so high.

But the view isn't interesting to him for very long, and actually being trapped with another person is... awkward? Or the awkwardness he imagines on the other person's behalf, having someone in their vicinity who doesn't want to talk to them at all. He grabs the rail of the swaying basket on reflex as she leans way out over its edge--

For a second, he thinks she's going to fall.

Or jump?

It's... not clear if it's a relief or a disappointment that she doesn't.

"Is having an answer going to help at all?"

Really, he knows the answer is probably no. But finally saying something seemed better than nothing.

[pullingamiko]

"Well, yeah," she insists, even though it absolutely would not. "I'd know if we're gonna be up here all night or what, and plan accordingly. Like, if we are, I can just get down from here myself."

Miko, no.

[control_freak]

.........wait, what?

Foster squints, trying to organise his thoughts into words; the fallacy there is so big and his vocabulary for conveying it seems really insufficient suddenly. He reaches up with one hand and moves as though to run one hand back through his hair, but stops and instead grabs a loose handful of what would be bangs if he ever let them fall forward. And just... holds it. He holds a handful of his own hair, pulling it at the roots just slightly.

"Why... if you can get down yourself... why don't you get down yourself? Why are you waiting?"

Is he missing... something????

[pullingamiko]

"Uh, 'cuz if it's gonna be moving again in like five minutes that'd be a huge waste of time and effort? The car would probably get down there way before I could."

She gestures pointedly at the ground and raises her eyebrows at him. Isn't it obvious?

"...Plus, it'd be pretty dumb if I fell and got splatted right before it started back up."

And... not if it didn't, apparently.

[tautness]

Last time?

[ Barry can't help but squeak as he just grabs onto the seat of the ferris wheel for his dear life. ]

[control_freak]

Is it obvious??

Don't ask him hard questions, Miko. He already hates feeling like he missed something. 'Dumb' isn't the word he'd have used, either. His first impulse is 'hilarious' but that's wrong. Even if it would be funny, in a well-timed sort of way. Maybe... tragic? That's how most people would word it, he can imagine it in a newspaper article. 'Teen girl dies in tragic ferris wheel accident.'

"Haha. Ferris wheels aren't actually that fast, so... it probably wouldn't."

Ah, laughing at her isn't right. Well, it's too late now. He can't go back and fix it.

"Also, falling might not kill you. You'd break a few bones, but if you landed right, you might not die--maybe you'd just break an arm or some ribs! Or you could be paralysed. And--"

He's thinking too hard about this, but too bad. The probability of dying versus just sustaining serious injury is your new topic of conversation. People have fallen from similar or even greater heights and walked away unscathed, he knows, but it's not very likely. People have also walked away from plane crashes unscathed. That doesn't mean you're very likely to survive one. Actually, if she didn't go head first and didn't land on something made of metal... she could probably live.

[pullingamiko]

Miko pouts a little at being laughed at, but she's quickly distracted. Fortunately, Miko isn't really one to dwell on that kind of thing.

"Well, you can't say that for sure. Climbing down would take a while, too."

She purses her lips thoughtfully. "Okay, true, I probably wouldn't die, but all that stuff would still suck. Like, breaking an arm might be better than being up here for five hours--" Would it really, Miko. "--But it wouldn't be better than just being stuck for, I dunno, fifteen more minutes or something."

Sam | Until Dawn - Not Your Wheelhouse

[bathingbird]

Ferris Wheels are exactly Sam's thing. She could remember as a child, going on them with her dad and watching as the world got smaller and smaller from up above. She would marvel at everyone below, moving and the brightly colored lights flashing.

Now that she was here, stuck for the the being, she figured she should spend time with the good of the the carnival, new additions to her body aside. And she was riding the ferris wheel with someone she didn't know. That wasn't bothering her, not at all. She didn't mind.

Miko, as she had comehough, to know her, seemed bored and high-strung over the whole thing, she didn't blame her though, soon she'd probably start being worried. She gave a small smile as she spoke. “Hey, Relax. Just drink in the sights. It's not so bad. I remember once being stuck on one of these things for twenty minutes with my dad when I was like six. It was one of the best times in my life.”

Sam | Until Dawn

[bathingbird]

TRYING TO LEAF
She felt like an idiot. Who takes a bargain from some stranger in exchange for money and their father's life? Sam Charleston, apparently. She had no choice in the matter, not really. If she hadn't, her dad would have a bullet hole in his head and her mom would too since the debt would fall to her. Dad was even more of an idiot for being a gambling addict and betting on football games like he had the money to even do so.

So, here she was, covered in thisles and thorns after getting out of the strange and unusual forest. Everything seemed to have a bright glow and she was sure she saw a purple frog in the pond she passed. Favorite color and everything but any animal that was purple besides a chameleon spelled trouble.

She stared at the circus, it was huge in appearance, crazy huge and it looked inviting but she just wanted to go home, be with her friends, go back to college, see that her parents were alright. That her dad wouldn't gamble anymore and put her mom's life in danger too. She knew it was wishful thinking, but she hoped her sacrifice taught want him some sort of lesson.

God, she just wanted to go home. With that in mind, she turned back into the forest. Boots crunching over leaves and twigs as she went. Being wary of her surroundings, a few moments later, her feet caught on a larger branch and she fell to her knees, scrapping them and her palms up on thicker, more harsh twigs in the process. She could already feel the flayed burn on her skin. “Damn it.”

MIRROR MAZE

This is the kind of thing she lived for. Fun house mazes, ferris wheels, games, animals everywhere despite the fact that she didn't like them having to be entertainment for human beings but she had to grow used to it and she would.

She moved through the maze at a slow pace, taking it all in. Her body grew disproportionate in size, grew long, grew shorter than she already was, and fat at that. She was grateful for that extra inch above 4'11 suddenly.

She stopped in front of a mirror that made her slightly shorter and thick, smiling as she made a face, sticking out her tongue and putting her fingers in her new cat ears as she crossed her eyes. Yeah, this wasn't so bad. “I'm acting like I'm ten again. Get a grip, Sam.”

She dropped smile, but she noted that the smile remained on the mirror image suddenly. She blinked, eyebrow raised as she made anothr face, but the smile remained. “Um...okay.”

As she was about to walk away from the strange... thing, she heard it. ”Poor Sam. Daddy ruined your life and now you're stuck here. I bet he doesn't care though, probably glad to be rid of his rally gathering daughter who caused him nothing but grief as a teenager.”

Sam blinked. “Excuse me? Who are you?” She turned around, looking about wildly.

”It was me, dumbass.”

She turned on the mirror image. Feeling a little bit of fear run through her. “Whatever you are. Shut up.”

The smile grew menacing. “But it's true. Isn't it? You mad him so sad and sometimes mad, all the time. Trying to get that vegan menu instated to the high school lunch menu, staging a rally against that kill animal shelter for inhumane ways of disposing animals. You always caused your parents hearts to ache. Sometimes, they thought of sending you off somewhere, just for awhile, until you got your head on straight.”

Sam's mouth set into a grim line. “You don't know anything about me.”

I know, everything about you.”

Sam decided to ignore it and turned on her heel, walking back into the fun house, deciding to look for the way out.

[control_freak]

Foster doesn't see any problem with Miko's maths. He pulls his hand away from his hair for a minute, leaving spaces where his fingers were tangled in it seconds ago.

In fact, now that she's said it, this is just a simple maths problem... one in which the only variable is her priorities.

"So I guess it depends on what matters more to you." He looks up, smiles. His blue eyes are quite bright now.

"Time wasted up here when you could be down there... or time you spend in pain when you could have just waited here."

[veinglory]

[For his part, the vampire at least seems to feel bad he can't be of any comfort to Barry.]

The Ringmaster would not allow you and I to be harmed... I think. No, no. I am sure. Sure! I mean, I am the only clown. What is a circus without a clown?

[pullingamiko]

...Okay, something about this conversation is a little weird. But she pretty much just waves it off; it doesn't strike her as something to be too worried about at the moment.

She thinks for a moment, then shrugs and slumps back into her seat. "I dunno. I guess having a broken arm would suck. I couldn't play guitar or anything."

[pullingamiko]

Miko huffs and drops back into her seat, crossing her arms. "I've been 'drinking in the sights' and I'm done. I dunno how you didn't go crazy stuck up in one of these, let alone have fun."

[tautness]

It'd be a pretty rubbish circus, [ Barry mutters, with a little frown as he thinks. After all, don't all circuses have clowns?

But then again, what kind of circus just has ONE clown? There's a pause and a frown before, ]

So, um, is there a hiring freeze or something?

Jimmy Novak | Supernatural

[empty_vessel]

Wild Card: The angel had been walking them into the reservoir. Water splashing around their ankles and Jimmy at the end of his rope, trying despserately to do something to avert this. The angel wasn't listening to Jimmy, the... guests were going wild, and there was no way this was going to end well. And then he heard something else. Someone else. Offering him a way out. But Jimmy'd signed on to help Castiel. 'Do the Lord's Work.' This? This was something else entirely. If he didn't get while the getting was good, Castiel would drag Jimmy down with him.

So he'd gone. Left Castiel and the... others heading into the water and crashed into a trailer. Gasping and feeling oxygen burn into new lungs as he coughs and gets his feet. His feet. Still wearing the trenchcoat and the suit, but he can fix that. He's still wobbly as he signs his name and shakes the offered hand. A year and a day of service is nothing compared to what he'd gotten away from. Jimmy's turned out to go familiarize himself with the grounds and makes it as far as the Backyard before he needs to sit down. A bench at a set of crossed paths is welcoming enough that Jimmy sinks down onto it to catch his breath and settle.



Wild Card: Jimmy was out. Out and free. And hungry. His last meal had been the burger and fries he'd had with the Winchesters, probably. Which was better left without further examination, really. Wandering around the grounds and trying to get his bearings, since he's gonna be here a while.

The Mirror Maze gets his attention first, until one of the reflections winks at him. Jimmy starts backing away as fast as he can, turning towards the lights and cheering of the Gamer's Circle as a distraction. And then the smells of the Cookhouse reach him. Jimmy doesn't know what they're making, but it smells divine. He's got enough cash to get him one of... whatever it is. Beef, peppers, onions, cheese and enough spice to strip a layer off his tongue, all stuffed into a split hard roll. He wolfs down as much as he can before the heat forces him to stop (and when he goes for the drink, figures out why they handed him milk instead of water.)

He's not coordinated enough to really eat and walk, so weaving through the crowds to find a bench or something to sit on is the best choice. Even if he does stick out by wearing a tan trenchcoat and a black suit in the middle of a carnival.

[veinglory]

No, quite the opposite! She seems quite eager to accept as many workers as she can.

[tautness]

Then how come there's only one clown? [ Barry pauses to think, momentarily distracted from SUDDEN DEATH AT THE HANDS OF A FERRIS WHEEL as he idly frowns. ]

Because, erm, it seems that working at a fair would be a good job for people who are just out of clown school or something like that. Right?

[ He is a clown = obviously he went to clown school. ]

[control_freak]

"And?" Foster looks... well, his face doesn't show much, honestly. But he's feeling something... something like disgust. Contempt?

Anger?

He gets it--he knows what she's thinking. Every second she spends up here is one second she's closer to being rescued. She has seconds to spare in her life. Or at least enough that she thinks she has them to waste.

But she doesn't. He moves to run his hand back through his half-wild hair again, but then knots his fingers in it again, a tangled fistful he isn't quite pulling.

"I know my opinion is... worthless. Garbage. But..." He lets go, runs his hand back through his hair again. He's locked eyes with her, and doesn't break it the entire time.

"You should remember that every second you spend waiting here is a second you could have spent down there." Doing something. Living.

Gale × OC

[moriturism]

MAKE LIKE A TREE AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE

[ Gale's strategy of angrily stomping around the forests only to end up on the skirts of the carnival over and over again isn't going so well, (un)surprisingly enough. It's also getting on her naturally thin, tense nerves, although to the outside viewers she's just getting quieter and quieter, her eyes filled with violent intent. Considering she's already sporting a few bruises it would be safe to assume she's no stranger to it. For now though, she's content with being irritated all by herself.

At leat until she moves closer to the entrance. ]

MOTHERFUCKERS!

[ Welp, never mind. ]

NO CHILL (WILDCARD)

[ Gale can be found inside the carnival (which she didn't pay to enter to by the black way) glaring at the diverse attractions, the people, the dirt. She's an equal chance hater.

Why would even approach her, seriously. ]

[pullingamiko]

"...Aaaand I'd like to still be able to do that?" Yeah this is going from slightly weird to very weird with ALARMING speed.

She squints at him in sheer confusion. "Dude, nobody said anything about your opinion. Like, I hardly know you, it's a little early for that kinda decision."

Miko glances toward the edge of the car again, giving a thoughtful, drawn-out hum. "I mean, yeah, maybe. Or I could break my neck and die."