livinglot | ⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: HEARTSTONE MANOR

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: HEARTSTONE MANOR

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!↴

CHECK OUT THIS MONTH'S FOURTH WALL EVENT!
MORE INFORMATION BENEATH THE CUT.

In the meantime, 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, Treasurer, and Doctor 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. 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!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ah... actually, I feel more comfortable as myself back home. I was more worried about how you guys feel about me." Nicole admitted. "Maybe... maybe I can ask about having the magic to change my appearance at will! Shapeshifting!"

"Ohhhh... ....Yeah, I guess even now you still stand out a bit..." She hums, but as Nicole brainstorms her way through, the light-being beams. "That's more like it~! You could decide if you like looking one way or another, and just stick with that while here, or even change it up on other days..." She starts rattling ideas off, practically bouncing in place. "Oh!! It would probably be really great if we ever have to do something serious for the Ringmaster too!! And-!"

Well. "....Imagine the possibilities even once you went home~!"

“Oh, there’s just so much I could do with all of this!” Nicole said, smiling widely. She went to take Carly’s hands in her own, squeezing them. “Oh, you’re such a wonderful friend, Carly. How can I thank you, hm?”

"It's exciting..!! I got a spell to turn into a bird, but it wasn't anything like this..." Ah-as her hands are squeezed, she's squeezing back, the excitement in the air catching. "Ahh~!! This is going to be great~"

Wait though wait-

"Eh! Th-Thank me?" Oh. "W-Well, I mean, the Ringmaster probably would have told you that a new contract would be needed anyway, s-so it's nothing I need a thanks for, aheheh..."

"But, even still...! You're my friend and you helped me out when it seemed like I had made a mistake!" Nicole pointed out. "Please, if there's anything I can do to show my gratitude, let me know, please!"

"AA-Aaaah....w...well..." Hoooh. She's never really found herself in this kind of spot before... ...Sort of weird.

And boy is there some pressure! "...Well! I don't know right now but...I can definitely say if I need a favor, I'll call in on it?"

"Of course!" Nicole said, quickly nodding her head. "Whatever it is you need, just let me know."

"Right~" And she sort of hopes that doesn't come, because she's. A little scared about what that could possibly entail. Not for herself, but for Nicole.

"Hmn....if you haven't signed yet... ...I guess the Ringmaster must be busy right now then, though-so what now?" She's done her stuff. Erm. She supposes Nicole has other stuff to work on, then...

"Unless you have anything else, I guess it's back to work for me." Nicole said, letting out a soft sigh, letting go of Carly's hands.

"I mean, I can't think of anything, not really..." Oooh-

"AH! Unless you have time to meet a pokemon~?"

[Perfect.

Because the creature looks small -- at least compared to the other wildlife he's encountered, which mostly comprises of equines and boars -- 9S assumes it means the creature isn't particularly strong or heavy.

As the creature zooms past, 9S attempts to catch him with a tackle. This is a great course of action and can't possibly go badly at all!]

[But it works! He's tiring now enough that android reflexes and maybe a bit of luck do the trick. They both hit the ground, he's wailing, and he's dense, all prickly quills and and smooth scales over lean saurian muscle that's busy freaking the hell out.]

Nooooooo! Oh god. Oh god. Don't eat me! Aaaaah!

[and he SQUIRM and SQUIRM and SQUIRM and SQUIRM did you ever pick up a cat that tried to resist by shoving your face with its feet, that's not exactly what's happening here, but he's gonna fight vigorously with those blunt claws trying to get free.]

[ OOC: eleanor is from early season 2 and so some PRETTY BIG HONKIN SPOILERS will probably come up in threads, if you spoilers for the good place are a thing you care about ]

a. arrival
[ eleanor doesn't remember getting here. at first she thinks it's gotta be some weird afterlife thing, but after she hears herself say what the fuck out loud and janet doesn't answer any of her calls, she starts to seriously consider the possibility that this has nothing to do with michael. and this doesn't seem really...bad place-y to her. honestly, very little is outside the realm of too weird to consider at this point.

she definitely doesn't have any cash, but for some reason the people at the front gate take a sock stuffed in her back pocket that she forgot to sneak into chidi's laundry pile as payment.

she walks into the carnival and just comes to a standstill, looking around with her hands on her hips. she draws in a breath and mutters to herself. ]

And I thought the clown paintings were bad. What the fuck do I do now? Fuck, I missed being able to say fuck.

[ at least she hasn't actually seen any clowns. yet. ]

b. gamer's circle
[ well, if she's here, she might as well attempt to have fun? her parents used to take her to the really shitty two-bit carnivals set up in the high school football field over the summer when she was a kid, and she got pretty good at cheating. which she isn't, yet, but she's clearly considering it, because she's pretty sure these are just as rigged as the ones back home. and oh look, now she's arguing with the spirit manning the water guns. keepin it classy, shellstrop style. ]

I once won a game of beer pong with actual beer goggles on, and I did in one shot. Well, I had two shots before that. My point is, I have great aim, and I'm not even drunk right now. Your game is rigged, Smokey.

c. wildcard

Edited 2017-11-04 21:22 (UTC)

a. admission/front gates
[ at first, drift is alarmed at how big the humans he's seeing are, until he realizes it's not that they're big, it's that he's small -- shrunk down to a height of only about 6', though everything else seems to be the same. he's even still got his swords, all three of them.

he finds it pretty odd that they're willing to take shanix for his admission fee, but he decides not to question it too hard.

he'll just be wandering around, questioning everything else, like: is he here for a reason? he has to be. it's true he's been feeling a little lost and desperate lately in his exile, drifting in both the physical and spiritual void of space in search of...something. not this. definitely not this. but maybe this is all part of a bigger picture, and he's just not standing far back enough to see it.

so have a very confused robot man with way too many swords looking lost and a little confused. he's spent some time on earth, but this is...decidedly not the same. ]

b. mirror maze
[ the mirror maze was definitely a mistake.

drift thought he'd try out some of the entertainment here, and he really should have just gone with the tunnel of love. that sounds...fun. this is just disorienting, and as he gets further into the maze, increasingly unnerving. he catches a glimpse of himself in one of the mirrors and his reflection shimmers -- still his old face, but not the one he wears now. deadlock. he blinks and it's gone, but then he starts hearing the voices, his own voice, sneering and cruel: you know, i thought i'd hit my lowest in rodion, but i never thought i'd be this pathetic... ]

Who's there? Show yourself!

[ drift's hands go to his swords and he spins around, looking for the source of the voice, but this...doesn't feel right. his old face appears in every mirror face around him -- some deadlock, some the face of the street junkie he'd been millions of years ago, all giving voice to an internal monologue he's done his best to smother: you hung yourself out to dry for your buddy rodimus, and now you don't have a home or a purpose. how many more lives do you think you have to save to make up for overlord? ]

That's enough!

[ but his protests do nothing. this must be some kind of test. primus must be testing him. but drift has no idea what he's supposed to do here. he looks like he expects his reflections to jump out at him, his usual cool starting to fall away. ]

c. wildcard

Edited 2017-11-04 22:07 (UTC)

[So if all of this isn't already weird enough, here's a mostly human girl with large, feathery wings and goggles walking right up to Drift out of nowhere and looking him over, occasionally stepping around just to get a good look at a different angle. She doesn't say anything or make eye contact with him -- just starts examining him like he's a new appliance on display, or something.]

[ it is really, really weird being roughly the same size of a human. he's also pretty sure he's never seen a human with wings before today. bemused, he watches her as she circles around him until it's clear she's not actually going to say anything, and honestly, it feels kind of weird being gawked at. he resets his vocalizer with something that sounds like a clearing of the throat. ]

Uh...can I help you?

[Oh. He talks. Rita only looks mildly surprised at that, but not at all ashamed about how she just treated him like an inanimate object.]

Oh. I thought you might've been a golem. [Or something like it. Standing around, looking around blankly... it's an easy mistake to make. Right?]

You're a robot, then? Artificial intelligence?

[ drift has no idea what a golem is, but the smile he offers is both bright and a little awkward. he likes humans, generally, a lot more than some of his fellow cybertronians, but pretty much all of them seem to assume that robots have to be made by someone. drift shakes his head. ]

Robot, yes -- artificial, no. I'm a Cybertronian. We're a race of living robotic life forms.

[ Well, she was alone — as alone as one can be in a carnival, anyway — arguing with the spirit one second and, the next, not so alone.

There's no sound or indication of someone having walked up, not with Childermass. He just appears where the was no one before, right out of the shadow the game's booth is throwing across the ground, severe old-fashioned clothing, raven feather sideburns, and all. Upside, he's definitely one of the more human-looking workers here and also definitely not a spirit, feathers aside. ]

They aren't actually smart enough to rig a game, ma'am, so you may want to rethink just how great that aim of yours is.

[ He says in an even, generally unimpressed way. Technically, dealing with trouble-making patrons isn't his job, but he was in the area and bored, so here we are. ]

Jesus, guy, wear a bell!

[ it is a purely kneejerk exclamation of surprise, because what the fuck, dude, who sneaks up on people like that? but after that moment passes, eleanor's immediately squinting at him, because...feathers? feathers. alright, she's dead, so whatever. ]

What do you mean they're not smart enough? Your average carnie barely has a GED. All carnival games are rigged.

[ which is why she's totally gonna cheat just to prove it. ]

[ The bell comment earns a short-lived frown, but then he's back to looking excruciatingly neutral. He'll raise an eyebrow at the rest of what Eleanor says. ]

An average carnie? [ Childermass turns to look at the shade, which... carries on standing there and waiting. Not much else. Then again, enough people assume this is a dream, so he supposes it doesn't matter to her. ] Well, if you think that, one must wonder why you play them at all.

[ Have a different looking old-fashioned person, Eleanor. Though this one is brimming with manic energy and has a mirrored coating over his eyeballs. The effect is bizarre, like one isn't entirely sure where Strange is looking.

But at her question, Strange gives Eleanor a confused frown. ]

You have fun, [ he says in a tone of pure 'well duh'. ] After all, it is a carnival.

Inorganic life forms, then... interesting. [Fortunately, this isn't the first such species she's encountered, so Rita has some idea of what that is. Of course, none of those species have really had much in common, so it's not like she can draw a lot of conclusions about these 'Cybertronians' from that knowledge alone.]

[He's smiling, it looks like, so maybe he won't mind if she keeps asking questions.] But not artificial, meaning... you don't have a creator?

That's right. That's what I meant by 'life forms' -- we're born, just like. Well, er, not exactly like you, but -- no, no one created us. Although I suppose that depends on how inclined you are to take sacred writings at face value -- lots of Cybertronians believe in Primus, our creation god, in one way or another. And another tradition describes a group of five, created from Primus's essence himself...

{ he's starting to chatter on into babbling territory, obviously very engaged on the subject of theological discussion. ]

[Pbbbth! 9S tightens his grip on the creature. Ugh, those quills are poing him in places he didn't know he had until now!]

Argh!

[Those clawed feet sure are hitting him everywhere!]

Quit wriggling! No one's going to eat you!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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⇨ TEST DRIVE MEME: HEARTSTONE MANOR

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eleanor shellstrop | the good place (new arrival)

drift | transformers idw (new arrival)

front gates

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b

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a!

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