livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: SUMMERLANDS

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 (and should) read the full premise here.
Reserves and Applications are 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, 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 and Treasurer are currently open. Otherwise, we're pretty much down for anything, roles wise.

CURRENT STOP↴

⇨ THE SUMMERLANDS ⇦
The Summerlands are an idyllic realm inhabited by a population of former Summer Court fae. Generally speaking, they are a species of magical humanoids with pointed ears, unearthly beauty, sometimes wings, and a penchant for magic associated with the power of the sun and growth. They live a peaceful but uneventful existence here, under the leadership of their ruler, the Summer Maiden. The carnival is visiting here for a couple weeks to recuperate after some serious trouble caused by their last tour location, and for a few days of their stay the carnival grounds will be open, and newcomers/returning members will be drawn in for the festivities.

While outside visitors will be restricted to the carnival grounds and will not be able to explore the rest of the Summerlands, there are a few common features the carnival's current location will add to the usual experience.

► THE SUMMER FAE: There will be a mix of randos from across the multiverse summoned in by the Ringmaster, but the majority of carnival visitors are the local summer fae. While not exactly aloof, the summer fae there tend to be somewhat uncomprehending of the problems most mortals face. While they do have a concept of ethics, it is hard to compare to that of most of the carnival's visitors, and their outlook on things tends towards that of a very neutral perspective. Rather than having much interest in war or politics, they are primarily focused on enjoying existence and the celebration of nature.

► THE SUMMER LANDSCAPE: Though the winding forests will still prevent outsiders from leaving the carnival grounds, the shining mountain peaks and architecture of the fae can be seen on the horizon. If you want a better look, the Ringmaster's advice is to sign on as a full member, for the reasonable price is a single year of your life.

Those who app in during this TDM's run will be entering the game between Day 140 and onward - when signing your contract, you do not always leave the tent on the same day you entered. Sometimes the Ringmaster will create a time skip that causes you to emerge after festivities have wrapped up for convenience sake, so there is some flexibility as to when precisely you enter the game.

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. 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 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.

► TUNNEL OF "LOVE": A brand new attraction in the carnival, the Tunnel of Love is mostly what you'd expect from such a ride - two people sit in a boat together which journeys through some glitter filled caves, complete with mood music. Unfortunately, there is also something else in there with you... in the form a moody kraken living in the waters, who has very particular opinions about shipping, and may either stubbornly interfere with any attempted intimacy, or may politely encourage it. Or they may just generally be a dick if they're in no mood for either. The Ringmaster insists it is a romance expert.

► 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.

► 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!

► DUNK TANK: Sometimes acting like a dick will earn you the gentle reprimand of being sent to work in the Dunk Tank for the afternoon - you know that game where people throw balls at a target, and if they hit it you get dropped into the water? It's like that, only sometimes there are daunting (but harmless) critters in the water, or some other strange magical affects to spice things up. Hopefully, the visitors will have bad aim.

► 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Gongenzaka is a lot larger than the last time they likely saw each other, assuming Mieru is that far ahead for that matter. Thanks to the centaur-like state in fact, he's about 9 foot.

So he's a heck of a lot taller than the red-head running past him, not that it keeps him from noticing who that red-head is. They might not have personally traded names, but at the very least he knows it from the tournament matches, and so as he turns in astonishment he shouts-

"Mnn? Houchun-san?" Best to be Polite, that said.

"Uwahhhh!!!"

She is startled greatly by the clatter of hooves; easily as large as a solid vision monster, and the aura is clearly that of something very real. Mieru swipes her arm in front of her duel disk to keep the gems from sliding off, and it's the red one that her fingers clench around. The color of courage... the hue of his hachimaki! Finally she remembers the names and faces she pored over when divining the outcome of the Maiami tournament.

"Gongenzaka-kun is really a lancer...!" She shakes her head as she blinks repeatedly, taking in his appearance, learning where to aim her eyes. "Are all of you like this?"

Red is indeed a colour abundant on Gongenzaka's present form-the leaves and sakura flowers (which definitely wouldn't grow together like this) seem to permanently be in contrasting bloom in fact, with autumn shades blending around the blossoms. Gongenzaka stumbles only slightly in surprise at Mieru's shout, his ears betraying his emotions easily as they perk in alarm. "AUH-!! W-Well, it is true, I, the man Gongenzaka, am a Lancer, but-"

...He hasn't quite clued in to how she means 'lancer', but he does at least have the sense to catch onto the question of 'changes'. It's a big one after all, and certainly one that worried Yuuya the minute they encountered the other. "Mnh, Far from it, I assure you..! In fact I, the man Gongenzaka, am forced to admit that much of my own state is...quite uncommon, in its origins..." He gives a cough into a fist, moving on from that.

"That is not what matters, however. I, the man Gongenzaka, did not expect to see another from home so soon..! Have you come for the Carnival attractions, then?

She tilts her head from one side to the other. "Unusual origins..." Her occult sensibilities are piqued; she could spend all day asking exactly when his flowers bloomed and divining his entire tree of descendants as a result. Mieru sits down on a nearby bench and smooths out her skirt to make the seat comfortable. "Mieru has time."

Time to see the sights of the carnival. She might as well explain it. "Mieru isn't a lancer, so Mieru wasn't going anywhere with the lancers anyway. And after so many duelists were..." Her lips come together in a thin line. Mieru doesn't have words for what horrible things happened; didn't foresee it in more specific terms than "the tower", slept through so much of it, should have done more. But that's in the past; her interests are as always in the future. "Destiny drew us in this direction instead of staying there."

If Mieru ever does detect the 'unusual origin' of one particular change, it's not going to be a nice source at least. ...Mostly because it involved actually dying-something he has to explain to Yuuya yet, of course.

As it is, he listens to Mieru's explanation. The lancers had left, and from there, there was little else for Mieru to do...ahhh. So it makes sense then. The carnival did seek out those who felt lost somehow... "Mnnn...such is its tendency, I am told..." But if that was her reason for coming here then... "Auh-though, does that mean then that you're not merely here for the carnival itself..?" More specifically- "Did you forge a contract, perhaps?

⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: SUMMERLANDS

Admission Fees!

Re: Admission Fees!

omg it's true he is a 'lancer' now..................

And any lancer character who rides him is also a lancer

WE NEED TO GO DEEPER...