⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: SUMMERLANDS

[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 (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!

Comments

[hippocarnival]

... You keep it? It's your prize, you can do whatever you want.

[soft_focus]

[PROBLEM.] ...How am I going to know what to do with it.

[hippocarnival]

Uh--[He has never thought this deeply Abbott souvenirs.] What do you do with your teddy bear? You just have it around, right?

[Sure, specifically she carries it everywhere, but the idea applies right?]

[soft_focus]

[...Well. She looks to the bear.] ...Mnnn...

...I kept this with me from home, but...

...After I got stronger, I didn't need to hold it any more. I didn't want to get rid of it since it's really old though...

[It seemed a little mean to just abandon it, even if it's just a bear.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya smiles at that. Reira had absolutely grown stronger. He still had his reservations about her involvement in the lancers, but he's glad she broke so far out of her shell.]

Then maybe you should win a friend for your teddy bear, so it had company when you don't take it with you!

[soft_focus]

[Just wait until you learn about what came Before the Lancers, Yuuya.] ...Mnh?

[Also, what-] ...A friend..?

...but...

[.............] ...It's not like a duel monster... ...there's no heart...

[Reira that sounds creepy.]

[hippocarnival]

I--I know that. [He deflates quickly. Way to make it sound embarrassing.] It's just pretend. Nevermind, you can pick other things! It's just a gift because you won the game.

[soft_focus]

[REIRA UNDERSTANDS NOT.

Also.] ...Ok...

...But where do I put it..?

[hippocarnival]

In your trailer. Since you signed a contract, you should have one assigned to you that you'll share with someone else. It's your space, so you can decorate it if you want.

[A pause.] Uh, what job did the Ringmaster give you, anyway...?

[soft_focus]

Trailer? [Oh right, the place to stay. Well. She stares at the prizes, a little wide eyed.] ...Is decorating important..?

[Key questions here. Also-She shrugs at the question.]

...I have to do a few things, I think... ...I'm supposed to talk to someone 'supervising' about it.

[hippocarnival]

[That's... not as descriptive as he was hoping. Well, the Ringmaster probably wouldn't assign her anything dangerous. Right?] Well--it's just putting up things that you like. It makes a space feel more like it's yours, you know?

[She... probably doesn't. He knew Reira was young but surely she had some sort of normal childhood at one point... right?]

[soft_focus]

[WELL ABOUT THAT.] ....like mine..?

[uhhhhhhhhhhhh-] ....I've never done that before.

[For various, various reasons.] ...is it a 'self' thing..?

[hippocarnival]

Huh? [That's a weird way of phrasing it.] I guess? It's for yourself after all.

[soft_focus]

No, like...

A self. ...Niisama said I was starting to make my own self. [he'd never explained what it was other than important for a duelist though, and when she thought about it now it made her a bit lost.] ...when I refused an order, he said I was doing that... So is making things look like you the same thing?

[Look how you want, not look like you!]

[hippocarnival]

I... yes? [He mostly just looks confused trying to piece that together? Reira was confused about what "self" was? Did she not know who she was?

... Well, Yuya didn't always know who he was, but the things that were important to him always helped remind him.] Yeah, it's like that! If you have something that's yours, it's like a bit of proof of who you are.

[He smiles and points at his pendant.] Like this.

[soft_focus]

[It's a confusing prospect as a whole, but he's handling it pretty well for someone who has no idea what she's talking about. His explanation makes sense, too-and she stares at the pendant for a moment, apparently curious.] Mnn...

The pendant?

[There is, once again, an unspoken 'explain this'.]

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya nods.] I've always had it with me, and when I felt lost it helped me find my way forward. It reminds me to have the courage to keep going, you know?

[Like that whole Zarc situation.] It reminds me who I am. Putting stuff you like in your space is a lot like that.

[soft_focus]

Always..? [Hmmn. That's sort of odd, but she doesn't push it. She focuses on the part that matters. That whole...courage thing.]

....So then... ...you decorated your trailer with things like this?

[well there are limits reira-]

[hippocarnival]

[He rubs the back of his head sheepishly.] Eh, well... not my trailer here, but I have some stuff in my room back home!

[Not a lot, because Yuya's not very material... but there's little things with his imprint like his lunch box, the acrobat ball in place of a chair, and his duel disk and deck of course.]

[soft_focus]

[yuuya r u a hypocrite] ...So...does that mean you don't have a lot of self here?

[reira stop this]

[hippocarnival]

N... no! [This metaphor is falling about quickly. He pats his pendant.] I'm just carrying it around with me!

[soft_focus]

[She frowns.]

....I was talking about the trailer...

[hippocarnival]

I think you're taking this too literally. [But he doesn't really know how else to explain it.] It's just having things because you like them.

[soft_focus]

[Literal is all she has though Yuuya..................

.................also.] ....but I can't have everything I like...

[She knows this. Because she wasn't allowed ALL of the candy at Crow's.]

[hippocarnival]

But you can have some things. [He furrows his brow. Honestly this conversation is getting more messed up, but not just because of the metaphor tangling up. Just what happened to Reira...?

He crouches beside her and puts a hand on her shoulder, then points up at the prize wall.] Do you see anything on there you like?